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- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 2. |
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 5. |
- Edwards, Ceiridwen J., et al.
(author)
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Ancient Hybridization and an Irish Origin for the Modern Polar Bear Matriline
- 2011
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In: Current Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0960-9822 .- 1879-0445. ; 21:15, s. 1251-1258
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are among those species most susceptible to the rapidly changing arctic climate, and their survival is of global concern. Despite this, little is known about polar bear species history. Future conservation strategies would significantly benefit from an understanding of basic evolutionary information, such as the timing and conditions of their initial divergence from brown bears (U. arctos) or their response to previous environmental change. Results: We used a spatially explicit phylogeographic model to estimate the dynamics of 242 brown bear and polar bear matrilines sampled throughout the last 120,000 years and across their present and past geographic ranges. Our results show that the present distribution of these matrilines was shaped by a combination of regional stability and rapid, long-distance dispersal from ice-age refugia. In addition, hybridization between polar bears and brown bears may have occurred multiple times throughout the Late Pleistocene. Conclusions: The reconstructed matrilineal history of brown and polar bears has two striking features. First, it is punctuated by dramatic and discrete climate-driven dispersal events. Second, opportunistic mating between these two species as their ranges overlapped has left a strong genetic imprint. In particular, a likely genetic exchange with extinct Irish brown bears forms the origin of the modern polar bear matriline. This suggests that interspecific hybridization not only may be more common than previously considered but may be a mechanism by which species deal with marginal habitats during periods of environmental deterioration.
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| 6. |
- Nobuoka, Jakob, 1977-
(author)
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Geographies of the Japanese Cultural Economy : Innovation and Creative Consumption
- 2010
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- What is the role of the consumer in the contemporary cultural economy? Where are culturaleconomy innovations and competitiveness created? This thesis aims to provide tentativeanswers to these questions by focusing on some illustrative examples from the Japanesecultural economy. However, rather than primarily describing firm strategies or industrialdynamics, emphasis is put on the places and practices of users. The thesis is based on a seriesof qualitative studies carried out between 2007 and 2009. In these studies various forms ofinteraction between consumption, innovation and space are highlighted. In the first article,media mix is analyzed. Media mix is the space in which media, images and narrativesinteract: a space where the user contributes to the introduction of new innovation into alreadyexisting concepts, and thereby, plays a crucial role in creating the mix. In the second article,the Akihabara district in Tokyo is analyzed. This is a place where consumers enable hightechnologyand popular culture to merge and where new trends and consumer cultures arecreated. In the third article, the mega event Comiket is analyzed. Comiket is a market foramateur artists involved in Japanese popular culture. It is a space where plagiarism andprovocation by mainstream Japanese popular culture are driving factors for creativity. Thethesis concludes by suggesting that the role of the consumer needs to be further emphasized inresearch on the cultural economy, as many users are active innovators, and create trends andpractices that shape global consumer cultures.
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