| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 2. |
- Leebens-Mack, James H., et al.
(författare)
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One thousand plant transcriptomes and the phylogenomics of green plants
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 574:7780, s. 679-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Green plants (Viridiplantae) include around 450,000-500,000 species(1,2) of great diversity and have important roles in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Here, as part of the One Thousand Plant Transcriptomes Initiative, we sequenced the vegetative transcriptomes of 1,124 species that span the diversity of plants in a broad sense (Archaeplastida), including green plants (Viridiplantae), glaucophytes (Glaucophyta) and red algae (Rhodophyta). Our analysis provides a robust phylogenomic framework for examining the evolution of green plants. Most inferred species relationships are well supported across multiple species tree and supermatrix analyses, but discordance among plastid and nuclear gene trees at a few important nodes highlights the complexity of plant genome evolution, including polyploidy, periods of rapid speciation, and extinction. Incomplete sorting of ancestral variation, polyploidization and massive expansions of gene families punctuate the evolutionary history of green plants. Notably, we find that large expansions of gene families preceded the origins of green plants, land plants and vascular plants, whereas whole-genome duplications are inferred to have occurred repeatedly throughout the evolution of flowering plants and ferns. The increasing availability of high-quality plant genome sequences and advances in functional genomics are enabling research on genome evolution across the green tree of life.
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| 3. |
- O'Rourke, Joseph G., et al.
(författare)
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Venus, the Planet : Introduction to the Evolution of Earth's Sister Planet
- 2023
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Ingår i: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 219:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Venus is the planet in the Solar System most similar to Earth in terms of size and (probably) bulk composition. Until the mid-20th century, scientists thought that Venus was a verdant world-inspiring science-fictional stories of heroes battling megafauna in sprawling jungles. At the start of the Space Age, people learned that Venus actually has a hellish surface, baked by the greenhouse effect under a thick, CO2-rich atmosphere. In popular culture, Venus was demoted from a jungly playground to (at best) a metaphor for the redemptive potential of extreme adversity. However, whether Venus was much different in the past than it is today remains unknown. In this review, we show how now-popular models for the evolution of Venus mirror how the scientific understanding of modern Venus has changed over time. Billions of years ago, Venus could have had a clement surface with water oceans. Venus perhaps then underwent at least one dramatic transition in atmospheric, surface, and interior conditions before present day. This review kicks off a topical collection about all aspects of Venus's evolution and how understanding Venus can teach us about other planets, including exoplanets. Here we provide the general background and motivation required to delve into the other manuscripts in this collection. Finally, we discuss how our ignorance about the evolution of Venus motivated the prioritization of new spacecraft missions that will rediscover Earth's nearest planetary neighbor-beginning a new age of Venus exploration.
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| 4. |
- Widemann, Thomas, et al.
(författare)
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Venus Evolution Through Time : Key Science Questions, Selected Mission Concepts and Future Investigations
- 2023
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Ingår i: Space Science Reviews. - : SPRINGER. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 219:7
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work we discuss various selected mission concepts addressing Venus evolution through time. More specifically, we address investigations and payload instrument concepts supporting scientific goals and open questions presented in the companion articles of this volume. Also included are their related investigations (observations & modeling) and discussion of which measurements and future data products are needed to better constrain Venus' atmosphere, climate, surface, interior and habitability evolution through time. A new fleet of Venus missions has been selected, and new mission concepts will continue to be considered for future selections. Missions under development include radar-equipped ESA-led EnVision M5 orbiter mission (European Space Agency 2021), NASA-JPL's VERITAS orbiter mission (Smrekar et al. 2022a), NASA-GSFC's DAVINCI entry probe/flyby mission (Garvin et al. 2022a). The data acquired with the VERITAS, DAVINCI, and EnVision from the end of this decade will fundamentally improve our understanding of the planet's long term history, current activity and evolutionary path. We further describe future mission concepts and measurements beyond the current framework of selected missions, as well as the synergies between these mission concepts, ground-based and space-based observatories and facilities, laboratory measurements, and future algorithmic or modeling activities that pave the way for the development of a Venus program that extends into the 2040s (Wilson et al. 2022).
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