• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• GB close
• DE close
• AU close
• CA close

3D scans of two prototypes digitally fabricated using automated robotic concrete spraying. Computed deviation of the thickness achieved compared to that which was designed is included.

Patterns of movement of marine species can reflect strategies of reproduction and dispersal, species’ interactions, trophodynamics, and susceptibility to change, and thus critically inform how we manage populations and ecosystems. On coral reefs, the density and diversity of metazoan taxa is greatest in dead coral and rubble, which is suggested to fuel food webs from the bottom-up. Yet, biomass and secondary productivity in rubble is predominantly available in some of the smallest individuals, limiting how accessible this energy is to higher trophic levels. We address the bioavailability of motile coral reef cryptofauna based on small-scale patterns of emigration in rubble. We deployed modified RUbble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS) and emergence traps in a shallow rubble patch at Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, to detect community-level differences in the directional influx of motile cryptofauna under five habitat accessibility regimes. The mean density (0.13–4.5 ind.cm-3) and biomass (0.14–5.2 mg.cm-3) of cryptofauna were high and varied depending on microhabitat accessibility. Emergent zooplankton represented a distinct community (dominated by the Appendicularia and Calanoida) with the lowest density and biomass, indicating constraints on nocturnal resource availability. Mean cryptofauna density and biomass were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was blocked, driven by the rapid proliferation of small harpacticoid copepods from the rubble surface, leading to trophic simplification. Individuals with high biomass (e.g., decapods, gobies, and echinoderms) were greatest when interstitial access within rubble was unrestricted. Treatments with a closed rubble surface did not differ from those completely open, suggesting that top-down predation does not diminish rubble-derived resources. Our results show that conspecific cues and species’ interactions (e.g., competition and predation) within rubble are most critical in shaping ecological outcomes within the cryptobiome. These findings have implications for prey accessibility through trophic and community size structuring in rubble, which may become increasingly relevant as benthic reef complexity shifts in the Anthropocene. We address the bioavailability of coral reef cryptofauna in rubble based on small-scale patterns of emigration. We adapted the accessibility of Rubble Biodiversity Samplers (RUBS), models used to standardise biodiversity sampling in rubble (Wolfe and Mumby 2020), to explore the local movement patterns of rubble-dwelling fauna, with inference to predation processes within and beyond the cryptobenthos. Five treatments were developed to detect community-level differences in the directional influx of motile cryptofauna under various habitat accessibility regimes. Four of these treatments were developed by modifying accessibility into RUBS (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4176644/files) to understand limitations on the directional influx and movement of cryptofauna within coral rubble patches using four treatments; (1) open (completely accessible), (2) interstitial access (top closed), (3) surficial access (sides and bottom closed), and (4) raised (above rubble substratum). The fifth treatment involved a series of emergence plankton traps, designed to target demersal cryptofauna that vertically migrate from within the rubble benthos at night, given emergent zooplankton biomass and diversity are greatest at night. Fieldwork was conducted over several weeks (11th September to 5th October 2021) in a shallow (~3–5 m depth) reef slope site on the southern margin of Heron Island (-23˚26.845’ S, 151˚54.732’ E), Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Fig. 1). All collections were conducted under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority permit G20/44613.1.

Tree cores were sampled using increment borers. At each site three trees were chosen for coring, with two or three cores taken per tree. Cores were sanded and ring widths measured based on high-resolution images of the sanded cores. Cores were cross-dated and summary statistics used to compare cross-dating accuracy. The dataset contains the resulting dated ring width series. This dataset includes tree ring width data, derived from tree cores, that were sampled from sites across the Rhön Biosphere Reserve (Germany). At each chosen site three trees were cored, with two or three cores taken per cored tree. Data was collected in August 2021.

A lack of adequate high resolution climate proxy records for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) has prevented the extrapolation of climate–solar linkages on centennial time scales prior of the Holocene. Therefore, it is still unknown whether centennial climate variations of the last ten thousand years convey a universal climate change or merely represent a characteristic of the Holocene. Recently published high resolution climate proxy records for the LGM allowed us to extrapolate climate–solar linkages on centennial time scales ahead of the Holocene. Here we present the analysis of a high resolution pollen concentration record from Lake Kotokel in southern Siberia, Russia, during the LGM. The record reflects the dynamics of vegetation zones and temperature change with a resolution of ~ 40 years in the continental climate of north-eastern Asia. We demonstrate that our pollen concentration record, the oxygen isotope δ18O record from the Greenland ice core project NGRIP (NorthGRIP), the dust-fall contributions in Lake Qinghai, China, grain size in the Gulang and Jingyuan loess deposits, China, and the composite oxygen isotope δ18O record from the Alpine cave system 7H reveal cooler to warmer climate fluctuations between ~ 20.6 and 26 ka. Such fluctuations correspond to the ~ 1000-yr, 500-600-yr and 210-250-yr cycles possibly linked to the solar activity variations and recognized in high resolution Holocene proxies all over the world. We further show that climate fluctuations in the LGM and Holocene are spectrally similar suggesting that linkages between climate proxies and solar activity at the centennial time scale in the Holocene can be extended to the LGM. {"references": ["Vadim A. Kravchinsky, Rui Zhang, Ryan Borowiecki, Pavel E. Tarasov, Mirko van der Baan, Taslima Anwar, Avto Goguitchaichvili, Stefanie M\u00fcller, 2021. Centennial scale climate oscillations from southern Siberia in the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews, in press."]}

This file contains the AiNU data used for the article entitled by Physics-based material parameters extraction from perovskite experiments via Bayesian optimization (https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.11101).

Here, we investigate how stochasticity and age-dependence in energy dynamics influence maternal allocation in iteroparous females. We develop a state-dependent model to calculate the optimal maternal allocation strategy with respect to maternal age and energy reserves, focusing on allocation in a single offspring at a time. We introduce stochasticity in energetic costs– in terms of the amount of energy required to forage successfully and individual differences in metabolism – and in feeding success. We systematically assess how allocation is influenced by age-dependence in energetic costs, feeding success, energy intake per successful feeding attempt, and environmentally-driven mortality. First, using stochastic dynamic programming, we calculate the optimal amount of reserves M that mothers allocate to each offspring depending on their own reserves R and age A. The optimal life history strategy is then the set of allocation decisions M(R, A) over the whole lifespan which maximizes the total reproductive success of distant descendants. Second, we simulated the life histories of 1000 mothers following the optimisation strategy and the reserves at the start of adulthood R1, the distribution of which was determined, the distribution of which was determined using an iterative procedure as described . For each individual, we calculated maternal allocation Mt, maternal reserves Rt, and relative allocation Mt⁄Rt at each time period t. The relative allocation helps us to understand how resources are partitioned between mother and offspring. Third, we consider how the optimal strategy varies when there is age-dependence in resource acquisition, energetic costs and survival. Specifically, we include varying scenarios with an age-dependent increase or a decrease with age in energetic costs (c_t), feeding success (q_t), energy intake per successful feeding attempt (y_t), and environmentally-driven extrinsic mortality rate (d_t) (Table 2). We consider the age-dependence of parameters one at a time or in pairs, altering the slope, intercept, or asymptote of the age-dependence (linear or asymptotic function). Our aim is to identify whether the observed reproductive senescence can arise from optimal maternal allocation. As such, we do not impose a decline in selection in later life as all offspring are equally valuable at all ages (for a given maternal allocation), and there are no mutations. For each scenario, we run the backward iteration process with these age-dependent functions, obtain the allocation strategy, and simulate the life history of 1000 individuals based on the novel strategy. We then fit quadratic and linear models to the reproduction of these 1000 individuals using the lme function, nlme package in R. For these models, the response variable is the maternal allocation Mt and explanatory variables are the time period t and t2 (for the quadratic fit only), with individual identity as a random term. We use likelihood ratio tests to compare linear and quadratic models using the anova function (package nlme) with the maximum-likelihood method. If the comparison is significant (p-value <0.05), we considered the quadratic model to have a better fit, otherwise the linear model is considered more parsimonious. We were particularly interested in identifying scenarios where the fit was quadratic with a negative quadratic term. For each scenario, the pseudo R2 conditional value (proportion of variance explained by the fixed and random terms, accounting for individual identity) is calculated to assess the goodness-of-fit of the lme model, on a scale from 0 to 1, using the “r.squared” function, package gabtool. All calculations and coding are done in R. Iteroparous parents face a trade-off between allocating current resources to reproduction versus maximizing survival to produce further offspring. Optimal allocation varies across age, and follows a hump-shaped pattern across diverse taxa, including mammals, birds and invertebrates. This non-linear allocation pattern lacks a general theoretical explanation, potentially because most studies focus on offspring number rather than quality and do not incorporate uncertainty or age-dependence in energy intake or costs. Here, we develop a life history model of maternal allocation in iteroparous animals. We identify the optimal allocation strategy in response to stochasticity when energetic costs, feeding success, energy intake, and environmentally-driven mortality risk are age-dependent. As a case study, we use tsetse, a viviparous insect that produces one offspring per reproductive attempt and relies on an uncertain food supply of vertebrate blood. Diverse scenarios generate a hump-shaped allocation: when energetic costs and energy intake increase with age; and also when energy intake decreases, and energetic costs increase or decrease. Feeding success and mortality risk have little influence on age-dependence in allocation. We conclude that ubiquitous evidence for age-dependence in these influential traits can explain the prevalence of non-linear maternal allocation across diverse taxonomic groups.

Herbivory assessments were made at the plant community and species levels. We focused on three plant species with a widespread occurrence across the temperature gradient: cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis, Linnaeus), common mouse-ear (Cerastium fontanum, Baumgerten), and marsh violet (Viola palustris, Linnaeus). For assessments of invertebrate herbivory at the species level, thirty individuals per species of C. pratensis, C. fontanum, and V. palustris were marked in each of ten plots, using a stratified random sampling method where individuals were randomly selected, but the full range of within-plot soil temperatures was represented. For assessments of invertebrate herbivory at the community level, five 50 × 50 cm quadrats were marked at random points in eight of the plots that best captured the full temperature gradient. The community-level herbivory assessment was conducted on 19th June. The number of damaged plants was recorded out of 100 random individuals, selected using a 10 × 10 grid within each 50 × 50 cm quadrat. For the species-level herbivory assessment, individual marked plants were surveyed for signs of invertebrate herbivory every two weeks from 30th May to 2nd July, generating three time-points per species. At each survey, all marked individuals for each species were assessed within a 48-hour period. Plants were recorded as damaged or not damaged by invertebrate herbivores at each time-point. Further details of how phenological stage of development, vegetation community composition, soil temperature, moisture, pH, nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate were recorded are provided in the supporting documentation. This is a dataset of environmental data, vegetation cover, and community- and species-level invertebrate herbivory, sampled at 14 experimental soil plots in the Hengill geothermal valley, Iceland, from May to July 2017. The plots span a temperature gradient of 5-35 °C on average over the sampling period, yet they occur within 1 km of each other and have similar soil moisture, pH, nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate.

Poleward range extensions by warm-adapted sea urchins are switching temperate marine ecosystems from kelp-dominated to barren-dominated systems that favour the establishment of range-extending tropical fishes. Yet, such tropicalization may be buffered by ocean acidification, which reduces urchin grazing performance and the urchin barrens that tropical range-extending fishes prefer. Using ecosystems experiencing natural warming and acidification, we show that ocean acidification could buffer warming-facilitated tropicalization by reducing urchin populations (by 87%) and inhibiting the formation of barrens. This buffering effect of CO2 enrichment was observed at natural CO2 vents that are associated with a shift from a barren-dominated to a turf-dominated state, which we found is less favourable to tropical fishes. Together, these observations suggest that ocean acidification may buffer the tropicalization effect of ocean warming against urchin barren formation via multiple processes (fewer urchins and barrens) and consequently slow the increasing rate of tropicalization of temperate fish communities. In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2021) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation by seacarb is 2021-07-26.

# Data on: Projecting spatiotemporal dynamics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in the mainland of China [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz1z](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.vdncjsz1z) This dataset is the data used in the paper of Global change biology entitled "Projecting spatiotemporal dynamics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in the mainland of China". We use an integrated multi-model, multi-scenario framework to assess the impact of global climate change on SFTS disease in the mainland of China. ## Description of the data and file structure The predicted annual incidence of national SFTS cases with or without human population reduction under four RCPs under different climate change scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5) in the 2030s, 2050s, and 2080s. The value represents the annual incidence, and the unit is 105/year. The Dataset-1 file includes the predicted annual incidence of national SFTS cases with a fixed future human population under different climate change scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5) in the 2030s, 2050s, and 2080s. The Dataset-2 file includes the predicted annual incidence of national SFTS cases in the 2030s, 2050s, and 2080s with human population reduction (SSP2) under four RCPs. ## Sharing/Access information Data was derived from the following sources: * https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16969 This dataset is the data used in the paper of Global change biology entitled "Projecting spatiotemporal dynamics of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome in the mainland of China". We use an integrated multi-model, multi-scenario framework to assess the impact of global climate change on SFTS disease in the mainland of China. The SFTS incidence in three time periods (2030-2039, 2050-2059, 2080-2089) is predicted to be increased as compared to the 2010s in the context of various RCPs. The projected spatiotemporal dynamics of SFTS will be heterogeneous across provinces. Notably, we predict possible outbreaks in Xinjiang and Yunnan in the future, where only sporadic cases have been reported previously. These findings highlight the need for population awareness of SFTS in endemic regions, and enhanced monitoring in potential risk areas.  See the Materials and methods section in the original paper. The code used in the statistical analyses are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials.

Variable list for files: SW wind - Section table on Skomer (Standardised).csv / NW wind - Section table on Skomer (Standardised).csv / SE wind - Section table on Skomer (Standardised).csv /NE wind - Section table on Skomer (Standardised).csv and SW wind - Sections on Skokholm (Standardised).csv FID: Row ID (for use in ArcGIs) Count: Number of guillemots per section Area: Total area of each section () Density: Density of guillemots per section (number of birds/ Area) X_Centre: X coordinate of the central point of each section Y_Centre: Y coordinate of the central point of each section Sector: Section ID MeanUMedian; MeanUIQR, MeanUSkewness, MeanUCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of mean wind speed per section HorizontalMedian;HorizontalIQR,HorizontalSkewness,HorizontalCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of horizontal wind speed per section PMedian;PIQR,PSkewness,PCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of preessure per section TKEMedian;TKEIQR,TKESkewness,TKECV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of turbulent kinetic energy per section TIMedian;TIIQR,TISkewness,TICV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of turbulence intensity per section U_2Median;lU_2IQR;U_2Skewness;U_2CV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of vertical wind speed per section EpsilonMedian;EpsilonIQR,EpsilonSkewness,EpsilonCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of turbulent dissipation rate per section NutMedian;NutIQR,NutSkewness,NutCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of kinematic viscosity per section GustsMedian;GustsIQR,GustsSkewness,GustsCV: Median, interquartile range,skewness and coefficient of variation of instataneous gusts per section MeanSectorSlope: Mean slope per section ColPresence: Binomial variable, indicating whether a section has birds or not. This variable varies with classification, based on either the count of birds or the density per section Variable list for file: Section table on Skomer - with Mean cliff orientation and Slope (NOT-Standardised).csv FID: Row ID (for use in ArcGIs) Count: Number of guillemots per section Area: Total area of each section () Density: Density of guillemots per section (number of birds/ Area) X_Centre: X coordinate of the central point of each section Y_Centre: Y coordinate of the central point of each section Sector: Section ID MeanSectorSlope: Mean slope per section MeanSectorAspectCircular: Mean cliff orientation per section ApsectClass: Factor indicating whether the mean cliff orientation is lee- or windward to the SW wind ColPresence: Binomial variable, indicating whether a section has birds or not. This variable varies with classification, based on either the count of birds or the density per section Variable list for file: SW wind - Sections on Skokholm to predict colonies using cliff orientation and slope model from Skomer (NON - Standardised).csv FID: Row ID (for use in ArcGIs) Count: Number of guillemots per section Area: Total area of each section () Density: Density of guillemots per section (number of birds/ Area) Sector: Section ID MeanSectorSlope: Mean slope per section MeanSectorAspectCircular: Mean cliff orientation per section Wind is fundamentally related to shelter and flight performance: two factors that are critical for birds at their nest sites. Despite this, airflows have never been fully integrated into models of breeding habitat selection, even for well-studied seabirds. Here we use computational fluid dynamics to provide the first assessment of whether flow characteristics (including wind speed and turbulence) predict the distribution of seabird colonies, taking common guillemots (Uria aalge) breeding on Skomer island as our study system. This demonstrates that occupancy is driven by the need to shelter from both wind and rain/ wave action, rather than airflow characteristics alone. Models of airflows and cliff orientation both performed well in predicting high quality habitat in our study site, identifying 80% of colonies and 93% of avoided sites, as well as 73% of the largest colonies on a neighbouring island. This suggests generality in the mechanisms driving breeding distributions, and provides an approach for identifying habitat for seabird reintroductions considering current and projected wind speeds and directions. Methods detailed in manuscript: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecog.05733.