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A-maize-ing Diversity
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Analysis of a new maize resource reveals that a large number of genetic loci with small effects may underlie the wide variation seen in traits such as flowering time.
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Phenology Feedbacks on Climate Change
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A longer growing season as a result of climate
change will in turn affect climate through
biogeochemical and biophysical effects.
SCIENCE VOL 324
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Risks of Climate Engineering
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Observations indicate that attempts to limit climate
warming by reducing incoming shortwave radiation risk
major precipitation changes.
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Seasons and Life Cycles
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A conceptual framework. This table is a guide to determining how individual species are responding to an extended growing
season by observing the duration of peak season. The life history of a species—from the onset of greening through the end of
senescence—is illustrated by the length of the solid lines. Each case represents a shift in the timing (columns) and duration
(rows) of one or more species in a hypothetical three-species community that includes an early-, mid-, and late-season species.
The growing season begins when the first species greens and ends when the last species senesces. The peak season (gray shaded
area) occurs when all species have started and none have completed their life history. Reproductive life history events likely
begin before the peak season and are completed before its end. The final row and column list changes that can be observed
through frequent observations of surface greenness.
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The Last Glacial Maximum
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We used 5704 14C, 10Be, and 3
He ages that span the interval from 10,000 to 50,000 years ago
(10 to 50 ka) to constrain the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in terms of global
ice-sheet and mountain-glacier extent. Growth of the ice sheets to their maximum positions
occurred between 33.0 and 26.5 ka in response to climate forcing from decreases in northern
summer insolation, tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, and atmospheric CO2. Nearly all
ice sheets were at their LGM positions from 26.5 ka to 19 to 20 ka, corresponding to minima in
these forcings. The onset of Northern Hemisphere deglaciation 19 to 20 ka was induced by an
increase in northern summer insolation, providing the source for an abrupt rise in sea level. The
onset of deglaciation of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet occurred between 14 and 15 ka, consistent
with evidence that this was the primary source for an abrupt rise in sea level ~14.5 ka.
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Pleistocene Megafaunal Collapse, Novel Plant Communities, and Enhanced Fire Regimes in North America
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Although the North American megafaunal extinctions and the formation of novel plant communities are
well-known features of the last deglaciation, the causal relationships between these phenomena are
unclear. Using the dung fungus Sporormiella and other paleoecological proxies from Appleman Lake,
Indiana, and several New York sites, we established that the megafaunal decline closely preceded
enhanced fire regimes and the development of plant communities that have no modern analogs. The loss
of keystone megaherbivores may thus have altered ecosystem structure and function by the release of
palatable hardwoods from herbivory pressure and by fuel accumulation. Megafaunal populations
collapsed from 14,800 to 13,700 years ago, well before the final extinctions and during the BøllingAllerød
warm period. Human impacts remain plausible, but the decline predates Younger Dryas cooling
and the extraterrestrial impact event proposed to have occurred 12,900 years ago.
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Megafaunal Decline and Fall
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Declines in North American megafauna
populations began before the Clovis period
and were the cause, not the result, of
vegetation changes and increased fires.
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Warming Up Food Webs
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How do predator-prey interactions influence Warming Up Food Webs ecosystem responses to climate change?
VOL 323 SCIENCE
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Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation and ForestDegradation: Global Land-Use Implications
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Recent climate talks in Bali have made progress toward action on deforestation and forest degradation
in developing countries, within the anticipated post-Kyoto emissions reduction agreements. As a result
of such action, many forests will be better protected, but some land-use change will be displaced to
other locations. The demonstration phase launched at Bali offers an opportunity to examine potential
outcomes for biodiversity and ecosystem services. Research will be needed into selection of priority
areas for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation to deliver multiple benefits,
on-the-ground methods to best ensure these benefits, and minimization of displaced land-use change
into nontarget countries and ecosystems, including through revised conservation investments
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Ecological Restoration in the Light of Ecological History
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Ecological history plays many roles in ecological restoration, most notably as a tool to identify and
characterize appropriate targets for restoration efforts. However, ecological history also reveals deep human
imprints on many ecological systems and indicates that secular climate change has kept many targets
moving at centennial to millennial time scales. Past and ongoing environmental changes ensure that many
historical restoration targets will be unsustainable in the coming decades. Ecological restoration efforts
should aim to conserve and restore historical ecosystems where viable, while simultaneously preparing to
design or steer emerging novel ecosystems to ensure maintenance of ecological goods and services.
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