The history of South American tropical precipitation for the past 25,000 years.
(25/1038)
Long sediment cores recovered from the deep portions of Lake Titicaca are used to reconstruct the precipitation history of tropical South America for the past 25,000 years. Lake Titicaca was a deep, fresh, and continuously overflowing lake during the last glacial stage, from before 25,000 to 15,000 calibrated years before the present (cal yr B.P.), signifying that during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the Altiplano of Bolivia and Peru and much of the Amazon basin were wetter than today. The LGM in this part of the Andes is dated at 21,000 cal yr B.P., approximately coincident with the global LGM. Maximum aridity and lowest lake level occurred in the early and middle Holocene (8000 to 5500 cal yr B.P.) during a time of low summer insolation. Today, rising levels of Lake Titicaca and wet conditions in Amazonia are correlated with anomalously cold sea-surface temperatures in the northern equatorial Atlantic. Likewise, during the deglacial and Holocene periods, there were several millennial-scale wet phases on the Altiplano and in Amazonia that coincided with anomalously cold periods in the equatorial and high-latitude North Atlantic, such as the Younger Dryas. (+info)
Cooperation, control, and concession in meerkat groups.
(26/1038)
"Limited control" models of reproductive skew in cooperative societies suggest that the frequency of breeding by subordinates is determined by the outcome of power struggles with dominants. In contrast, "optimal skew" models suggest that dominants have full control of subordinate reproduction and allow subordinates to breed only when this serves to retain subordinates' assistance with rearing dominants' own litters. The results of our 7-year field study of cooperative meerkats, Suricata suricatta, support the predictions of limited control models and provide no indication that dominant females grant reproductive concessions to subordinates to retain their assistance with future breeding attempts. (+info)
Variation among biomes in temporal dynamics of aboveground primary production.
(27/1038)
Interannual variability in aboveground net primary production (ANPP) was assessed with long-term (mean = 12 years) data from 11 Long Term Ecological Research sites across North America. The greatest interannual variability in ANPP occurred in grasslands and old fields, with forests the least variable. At a continental scale, ANPP was strongly correlated with annual precipitation. However, interannual variability in ANPP was not related to variability in precipitation. Instead, maximum variability in ANPP occurred in biomes where high potential growth rates of herbaceous vegetation were combined with moderate variability in precipitation. In the most dynamic biomes, ANPP responded more strongly to wet than to dry years. Recognition of the fourfold range in ANPP dynamics across biomes and of the factors that constrain this variability is critical for detecting the biotic impacts of global change phenomena. (+info)
Thermoregulation during cold exposure after several days of exhaustive exercise.
(28/1038)
This study examined the hypothesis that several days of exhaustive exercise would impair thermoregulatory effector responses to cold exposure, leading to an accentuated core temperature reduction compared with exposure of the same individual to cold in a rested condition. Thirteen men (10 experimental and 3 control) performed a cold-wet walk (CW) for up to 6 h (6 rest-work cycles, each 1 h in duration) in 5 degrees C air on three occasions. One cycle of CW consisted of 10 min of standing in the rain (5.4 cm/h) followed by 45 min of walking (1.34 m/s, 5.4 m/s wind). Clothing was water saturated at the start of each walking period (0.75 clo vs. 1.1 clo when dry). The initial CW trial (day 0) was performed (afternoon) with subjects rested before initiation of exercise-cold exposure. During the next 7 days, exhaustive exercise (aerobic, anaerobic, resistive) was performed for 4 h each morning. Two subsequent CW trials were performed on the afternoon of days 3 and 7, approximately 2.5 h after cessation of fatiguing exercise. For controls, no exhaustive exercise was performed on any day. Thermoregulatory responses and body temperature during CW were not different on days 0, 3, and 7 in the controls. In the experimental group, mean skin temperature was higher (P < 0.05) during CW on days 3 and 7 than on day 0. Rectal temperature was lower (P < 0.05) and the change in rectal temperature was greater (P < 0.05) during the 6th h of CW on day 3. Metabolic heat production during CW was similar among trials. Warmer skin temperatures during CW after days 3 and 7 indicate that vasoconstrictor responses to cold, but not shivering responses, are impaired after multiple days of severe physical exertion. These findings suggest that susceptibility to hypothermia is increased by exertional fatigue. (+info)
Variability in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation through a glacial-interglacial cycle.
(29/1038)
The El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most potent source of interannual climate variability. Uncertainty surrounding the impact of greenhouse warming on ENSO strength and frequency has stimulated efforts to develop a better understanding of the sensitivity of ENSO to climate change. Here we use annually banded corals from Papua New Guinea to show that ENSO has existed for the past 130,000 years, operating even during "glacial" times of substantially reduced regional and global temperature and changed solar forcing. However, we also find that during the 20th century ENSO has been strong compared with ENSO of previous cool (glacial) and warm (interglacial) times. The observed pattern of change in amplitude may be due to the combined effects of ENSO dampening during cool glacial conditions and ENSO forcing by precessional orbital variations. (+info)
Dry season refugia of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes in a dry savannah zone of east Africa.
(30/1038)
Dry season survival of Anopheles funestus, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis in the Kilombero valley a dry savannah zone of east Africa, was investigated with over 400 collections from 23 areas, covering 300 sq km of the valley. Anopheles gambiae was found only in association with humans, in forested areas of high annual rainfall, while An. funestus occurred at high densities at the valley edge where large non-moving bodies of water remained. A large population of An. arabiensis was present along the river system throughout the middle of the valley, and mosquitoes probably derived from this population were occasionally caught in villages bordering the valley. No evidence was obtained of aestivation in any mosquito species. Anopheles gambiae was the most long lived, 6.3% compared to 2.0% of the An. arabiensis and 4% of the An. funestus surviving for four or more gonotrophic cycles, the approximate duration of the extrinsic cycle of most malaria parasites. Oocysts of malaria parasites were found in 5.4% of An. funestus and 2.3% of An. arabiensis from villages. Oocyst rates in An. funestus differed significantly between areas but not between houses within areas. Anopheles funestus is the most important dry season malaria vector in the valley, and remains in foci closely associated with groups of houses. All three species survive at high densities but as otherwise hidden refugia populations. (+info)
Solar forcing of drought frequency in the Maya lowlands.
(31/1038)
We analyzed lake-sediment cores from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, to reconstruct the climate history of the region over the past 2600 years. Time series analysis of sediment proxies, which are sensitive to the changing ratio of evaporation to precipitation (oxygen isotopes and gypsum precipitation), reveal a recurrent pattern of drought with a dominant periodicity of 208 years. This cycle is similar to the documented 206-year period in records of cosmogenic nuclide production (carbon-14 and beryllium-10) that is thought to reflect variations in solar activity. We conclude that a significant component of century-scale variability in Yucatan droughts is explained by solar forcing. Furthermore, some of the maxima in the 208-year drought cycle correspond with discontinuities in Maya cultural evolution, suggesting that the Maya were affected by these bicentennial oscillations in precipitation. (+info)
Dynamics of Haematobia irritans irritans (Diptera: Muscidae) infestation on Nelore cattle in the Pantanal, Brazil.
(32/1038)
From June 1993 to May 1995, horn fly counts were conducted twice a month on untreated Nelore cattle raised extensively in the Pantanal. Horn fly population showed a bimodal fluctuation and peaks were observed every year after the beginning (November/December) and at the end (May/June) of the rainy season, which coincided with mid-late spring and mid-late fall, respectively. Horn flies were present on cattle throughout the year in at least 64% of the animals. Mean horn fly numbers on animals did not exceed 85 flies/cow during peaks and were under 35 flies/cow in most of the remaining periods. The highest infestations (population peaks) were short and dropped suddenly within two weeks. Less than 15% of the animals in both herds could be considered as "fly-susceptible" - showing consistently higher infestations, or "fly-resistant" - showing consistently lower infestations. (+info)