| 1. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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. |
- Broekman, Maarten J. E., et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating expert-based habitat suitability information of terrestrial mammals with GPS-tracking data
- 2022
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 31:8, s. 1526-1541
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: Macroecological studies that require habitat suitability data for many species often derive this information from expert opinion. However, expert-based information is inherently subjective and thus prone to errors. The increasing availability of GPS tracking data offers opportunities to evaluate and supplement expert-based information with detailed empirical evidence. Here, we compared expert-based habitat suitability information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with habitat suitability information derived from GPS-tracking data of 1,498 individuals from 49 mammal species.Location: Worldwide.Time period: 1998-2021.Major taxa studied: Forty-nine terrestrial mammal species.Methods: Using GPS data, we estimated two measures of habitat suitability for each individual animal: proportional habitat use (proportion of GPS locations within a habitat type), and selection ratio (habitat use relative to its availability). For each individual we then evaluated whether the GPS-based habitat suitability measures were in agreement with the IUCN data. To that end, we calculated the probability that the ranking of empirical habitat suitability measures was in agreement with IUCN's classification into suitable, marginal and unsuitable habitat types.Results: IUCN habitat suitability data were in accordance with the GPS data (> 95% probability of agreement) for 33 out of 49 species based on proportional habitat use estimates and for 25 out of 49 species based on selection ratios. In addition, 37 and 34 species had a > 50% probability of agreement based on proportional habitat use and selection ratios, respectively.Main conclusions: We show how GPS-tracking data can be used to evaluate IUCN habitat suitability data. Our findings indicate that for the majority of species included in this study, it is appropriate to use IUCN habitat suitability data in macroecological studies. Furthermore, we show that GPS-tracking data can be used to identify and prioritize species and habitat types for re-evaluation of IUCN habitat suitability data.
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| 3. |
- Cooke, Marcus S, et al.
(författare)
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Interlaboratory comparison of methodologies for the measurement of urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Biomarkers : biochemical indicators of exposure, response, and susceptibility to chemicals. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-5804. ; 14:2, s. 103-10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) is widely used as a marker of oxidative stress. Here we report the comparison of two, distinct chromatographic assays with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The chromatographic assays displayed good agreement (r =:0.89, p < 0.0001), whereas there was markedly worse, albeit still significant, agreement with the ELISA (high-pressure liquid chromatography followed by gas chromatography (HPLC-GC/MS), r = 0.43; HPLC with electrochemical detection (HPLC-EC), r = 0.56; p < 0.0001). Mean values differed significantly between the chromatographic assays and the ELISA (HPLC-GC/MS 3.86, HPLC-EC 4.20, ELISA 18.70 ng mg(-1) creatinine; p < 0.0001). While it is reassuring to note good agreement between chromatographic assays, this study reveals significant short-comings in the ELISA, which brings into question its continued use in its present form.
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| 4. |
- Cuni-Sanchez, Aida, et al.
(författare)
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High aboveground carbon stock of African tropical montane forests
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 596:7873, s. 536-542
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tropical forests store 40–50per cent of terrestrial vegetation carbon. However, spatial variations in aboveground live tree biomass carbon (AGC) stocks remain poorly understood, in particular in tropical montane forests. Owing to climatic and soil changes with increasing elevation, AGC stocks are lower in tropical montane forests compared with lowland forests. Here we assemble and analyse a dataset of structurally intact old-growth forests (AfriMont) spanning 44 montane sites in 12 African countries. We find that montane sites in the AfriMont plot network have a mean AGC stock of 149.4megagrams of carbon per hectare (95% confidence interval 137.1–164.2), which is comparable to lowland forests in the African Tropical Rainforest Observation Network4 and about 70per cent and 32per cent higher than averages from plot networks in montane and lowland forests in the Neotropics, respectively. Notably, our results are two-thirds higher than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default values for these forests in Africa8. We find that the low stem density and high abundance of large trees of African lowland forests is mirrored in the montane forests sampled. This carbon store is endangered: we estimate that 0.8 million hectares of old-growth African montane forest have been lost since 2000. We provide country-specific montane forest AGC stock estimates modelled from our plot network to helpto guide forest conservation and reforestation interventions. Our findings highlight the need for conserving these biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.
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| 5. |
- Trnka, Miroslav, et al.
(författare)
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Priority questions in multidisciplinary drought research
- 2018
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Ingår i: Climate Research (CR). - : Inter-Research Science Center. - 0936-577X .- 1616-1572. ; 75, s. 241-260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Addressing timely and relevant questions across amultitude of spatio-temporal scales,state-of-the-art interdisciplinary drought research will likely increase in importance under projectedclimate change. Given the complexity of the various direct and indirect causes and consequences of adrier world, scientific tasks need to be coordinated efficiently. Drought-related research endeavorsranging from individual projects to global initiatives therefore require prioritization. Here, wepresent 60 priority questions for optimizing future drought research. This topical catalogue reflectsthe experience of 65 scholars from 21 countries and almost 20 fields of research in both naturalsciences and the humanities. The set of drought-related questions primarily covers drought monitoring,impacts, forecasting, climatology, adaptation, as well as planning and policy. The questionshighlight the increasingly important role of remote sensing techniques in drought monitoring, importanceof drought forecasting and understanding the relationships between drought parametersand drought impacts, but also challenges of drought adaptation and preparedness policies.
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| 6. |
- Van Loon, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Drought in the Anthropocene
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Geoscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1752-0894 .- 1752-0908. ; 9:2, s. 89-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Drought management is inefficient because feedbacks between drought and people are not fully understood. In this human-influenced era, we need to rethink the concept of drought to include the human role in mitigating and enhancing drought.
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| 7. |
- Van Loon, Anne F., et al.
(författare)
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Drought in a human-modified world : reframing drought definitions, understanding, and analysis approaches
- 2016
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Ingår i: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1027-5606 .- 1607-7938. ; 20:9, s. 3631-3650
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the current human-modified world, or Anthropocene, the state of water stores and fluxes has become dependent on human as well as natural processes. Water deficits (or droughts) are the result of a complex interaction between meteorological anomalies, land surface processes, and human inflows, outflows, and storage changes. Our current inability to adequately analyse and manage drought in many places points to gaps in our understanding and to inadequate data and tools. The Anthropocene requires a new framework for drought definitions and research. Drought definitions need to be revisited to explicitly include human processes driving and modifying soil moisture drought and hydrological drought development. We give recommendations for robust drought definitions to clarify timescales of drought and prevent confusion with related terms such as water scarcity and overexploitation. Additionally, our understanding and analysis of drought need to move from single driver to multiple drivers and from uni-directional to multi-directional. We identify research gaps and propose analysis approaches on (1) drivers, (2) modifiers, (3) impacts, (4) feedbacks, and (5) changing the baseline of drought in the Anthropocene. The most pressing research questions are related to the attribution of drought to its causes, to linking drought impacts to drought characteristics, and to societal adaptation and responses to drought. Example questions include (i) What are the dominant drivers of drought in different parts of the world? (ii) How do human modifications of drought enhance or alleviate drought severity? (iii) How do impacts of drought depend on the physical characteristics of drought vs. the vulnerability of people or the environment? (iv) To what extent are physical and human drought processes coupled, and can feedback loops be identified and altered to lessen or mitigate drought? (v) How should we adapt our drought analysis to accommodate changes in the normal situation (i.e. what are considered normal or reference conditions) over time? Answering these questions requires exploration of qualitative and quantitative data as well as mixed modelling approaches. The challenges related to drought research and management in the Anthropocene are not unique to drought, but do require urgent attention. We give recommendations drawn from the fields of flood research, ecology, water management, and water resources studies. The framework presented here provides a holistic view on drought in the Anthropocene, which will help improve management strategies for mitigating the severity and reducing the impacts of droughts in future.
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