Background. The genus Pachypodium contains 21 species of succulent, generally spinescent shrubs and trees found in southern Africa and Madagascar. Pachypodium has diversified mostly into arid and semi-arid habitats of Madagascar, and has been cited as an example of a plant group that links the highly diverse arid-adapted floras of Africa and Madagascar. However, a lack of knowledge about phylog...

This study presents genetic data for nine Native American populations from northern North America. Analyses of genetic variation focus on the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Using mitochondrial, Y chromosomal, and autosomal DNA variants, we aimed to more closely address the relationships of geography and language with present genetic diversity among the regional PNW Native American populations. Patter...

This paper estimates the role of agronomic inputs in cereal yield improvements and the consequences for countries' processes of structural change. The results suggest a clear role for fertilizer, modern seeds and water in boosting yields. We then test for respective empirical links between agricultural yields and economic growth, labor share in agriculture and non-agricultural value added per w...

Genealogical trees have been constructed using mitochondrial ND5 gene sequences of 78 Damaster (s. str.) specimens from all over the Japanese Islands. Eight lineages (called races in this paper) have been recognized. The races are tightly linked to geography with sharp distribution boundaries between them. The races and their distribution ranges do not coincide with those of classical morpholog...

Climate remains an important driver of post-European vegetation change in the eastern United States NE IL PEDERSON , † , ANTHONY W. D ’AMATO , JAMES M . DYER 3 , DAV ID R . FOSTER 4 , DAV ID GOLDBLUM , JU ST IN L . HART 6 , AMY E . HES SL 7 , LOU I S R . I VERSON , S TEPHEN T . JACKSON , 1 0 , DAR IO MART IN BEN ITO 1 1 , BR IAN C . MCCARTHY 1 2 , RYAN W. MCEWAN 3 , DAV ID J . MLADENOFF 1 4 , A...

Israde-Alcántara et al. (1) drew on interpretations of a core from Lake Cuitzeo, Mexico to support the Younger Dryas (YD) Impact Hypothesis. A key aspect of their study was identifying and dating the YD interval in the sediments. The authors stated that they recovered impact indicators from a 10-cm-thick zone dating to 12.9 kcal BP but provided no direct numerical age control or chronological u...

Department of Geography and Geosciences, Institute of Geography, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, 2 Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems, Eberswalde, Germany, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Centro de Ecologia Funcional, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Qu...

Elisabeth M. C. Taminiau, Liesbeth Kester, Gemma Corbalan, Stephen M. Alessi, Erling Moxnes, Wim H. Gijselaers, Paul A. Kirschner, Jeroen J. G. Van Merriënboer a Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Open University of The Netherlands b The Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development c College of Education, The University of Iowa, d Department of Geography, University of Bergen e ...

1 Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University Lueneburg, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany 2 Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ovidius University, Constanta, Romania 3 Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Taxonomy and Ecology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 4 Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany 5 Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, P.O. Box 601203...

Microorganisms that reside on and in mammals, such as bats, have the potential to influence their host's health and to provide defenses against invading pathogens. However, we have little understanding of the skin and fur bacterial microbiota on bats, or factors that influence the structure of these communities. The southwestern United States offers excellent sites for the study of external bat...