Northern peatlands store globally significant amounts of soil carbon that could be released to the atmosphere under drier conditions induced by climate change. We measured forest floor respiration (RFF) at hummocks and hollows in a treed boreal bog in Alberta, Canada and partitioned the flux into aboveground forest floor autotrophic, belowground forest floor autotrophic, belowground tree respir...

Deforestation is associated with increased atmospheric CO2 and alterations to the surface energy and mass balances that can lead to local and global climate changes. Previous modelling studies show that the global surface air temperature (SAT) response to deforestation depends on latitude, with most simulations showing that high latitude deforestation results in cooling, low latitude deforestat...

The paper describes the detailed techno-commercial analysis done on a 46 m2 solar air heating system developed in a food processing industry. The solar air heating system was connected to an indoor drier through a duct. A detailed performance analysis was undertaken on the system by loading with 75 kg of ripe mango flake. The product loaded was uniform in size having a thickness of 4mm. On a cl...

Ixodes ricinus horizontal movement within a humidity gradient and the influence of infection by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) on tick walking were investigated. Nymphs were placed within an arena containing a humidity gradient ranging from 45 to 95% relative humidity (RH). After 1 h of acclimation at 70% RH ticks were released so that they could either stay, or walk towards either the ...

A goal among community ecologists is to predict when and where trophic cascades occur. For example, several studies have shown that forest birds can limit arthropod abundances on trees, but indirect effects of bird predation (i.e. decreased arthropod damage to trees) are not always observed and their context is not well understood. Because productivity is one factor that is expected to influenc...

Article history: Received 6 May 2015 Received in revised form 16 March 2016 Accepted 19 March 2016 Available online 21 March 2016 Many studies of Quaternary climatemake use of terrestrial stable isotope records which are interpreted based on seasonal patterns of stable isotopes in modern precipitation. Multi-decade records of isotopes in rainfall allow testing of the assumed behavior of isotope...

We studied the diversity of oomycetes in a declining reed belt (Phragmites australis) of Lake Constance, Germany, using conventional baiting with specific reed and standard oak baits, accompanied by molecular techniques. Apart from an Aphanomyces sp. and a Phytophthora sp., baiting from reed rhizosphere samples from flooded, as well as drier, littoral sites revealed only Pythium spp. A total of...

Anticipated changes in climate and research findings on the drought sensitivity of beech have triggered controversial discussions about the future of European beech. We investigated the growth response of beech on the treeand stand-level in mature stands to three different thinning intensities (no thinning, strong thinning, very strong thinning) on a northeastand southwest-facing slope in South...

Results from 16 free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) sites representing four different global vegetation types indicate that only some early predictions of the effects of increasing CO 2 concentration (elevated [CO 2 ]) on plant and ecosystem processes are well supported. Predictions for leaf CO 2 assimilation (A net ) generally fit our understanding of limitations to photosynthesis, and the FACE ex...

An ecological-evolutionary classification of Amazonian triatomines is proposed based on a revision of their main contemporary biogeographical patterns. Truly Amazonian triatomines include the Rhodniini, the Cavernicolini, and perhaps Eratyrus and some Bolboderini. The tribe Rhodniini comprises two major lineages (pictipes and robustus). The former gave rise to trans-Andean (pallescens) and Amaz...