Vegetation quality assessment: A sampling-based loss-gain accounting framework for native, disturbed and reclaimed vegetation

Governments and society increasingly are demanding that industrial projects result in a net positive impact (NPI) on biodiversity. Impacts are commonly measured in terms of losses and gains of area and quality of vegetation, where quality refers to how closely a site matches the condition of native vegetation in its undisturbed state. Existing vegetation quality frameworks share a number of limitations, including little or no replication, uncertain scope of inference, vulnerability to bias, and inability to measure error. Here we present the Vegetation Quality Assessment (VQA) framework, a sampling-based extension of Quality Hectares that measures vegetation quality in terms of overlap between the probability distributions of ecological indicators at a project site and in undisturbed (benchmark) vegetation of the same kind. Distribution overlap incorporates natural variation at the landscape scale and provides an intuitive measure of quality that varies between 0 and 1. Indicators are measured using a stratified-random sampling design that minimizes bias and supports inference at the scale of the project landscape. Confidence limits of quality and quality hectares are determined by bootstrapping; power and minimum sample sizes are estimated by Monte Carlo simulation. Multiple assessments track losses and gains of quality hectares and enable accurate accounting of progress to NPI. The VQA framework can be implemented using a variety of vegetation sampling methods, allowing existing vegetation databases to be leveraged as sources of data. We conclude by demonstrating the application of VQA at several mining operations in the Elk Valley of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. © 2023Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Proton- and Alpha-driven Instabilities in an Ion Cyclotron Wave Event

Ion-scale wave events or wave storms in the solar wind are characterized by enhancements in magnetic field fluctuations as well as coherent magnetic field polarization signatures at or around the local ion cyclotron frequencies. In this paper, we study in detail one such wave event from Parker Solar Probe's (PSP) fourth encounter, consisting of an initial period of left-handed (LH) polarization abruptly transitioning to a strong period of right-handed (RH) polarization, accompanied by a clear core beam structure in both the alpha and proton velocity distribution functions. A linear stability analysis shows that the LH-polarized waves are anti-sunward propagating Alfvén/ion cyclotron waves primarily driven by a proton cyclotron instability in the proton core population, and the RH polarized waves are anti-sunward propagating fast magnetosonic/whistler waves driven by a firehose-like instability in the secondary alpha beam population. The abrupt transition from LH to RH is caused by a drop in the proton core temperature anisotropy. We find very good agreement between the frequencies and polarizations of the unstable wave modes as predicted by linear theory and those observed in the magnetic field spectra. Given the ubiquity of ion-scale wave signatures observed by PSP, this work gives insight into which exact instabilities may be active and mediating energy transfer in wave-particle interactions in the inner heliosphere, as well as highlighting the role a secondary alpha population may play as a rarely considered source of free energy available for producing wave activity. © 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

From California’s Extreme Drought to Major Flooding Evaluating and Synthesizing: Experimental Seasonal and Subseasonal Forecasts of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers and Extreme Precipitation during Winter 2022/23

California experienced a historic run of nine consecutive landfalling atmospheric rivers (ARs) in three weeks’ time during winter 2022/23. Following three years of drought from 2020 to 2022, intense landfalling ARs across California in December 2022–January 2023 were responsible for bringing reservoirs back to historical averages and producing damaging floods and debris flows. In recent years, the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes and collaborating institu-; tions have developed and routinely provided to end users peer-reviewed experimental seasonal (1–6 month lead time) and subseasonal (2–6 week lead time) prediction tools for western U.S. ARs, circulation regimes, and precipitation. Here, we evaluate the performance of experimental seasonal precipitation forecasts for winter 2022/23, along with experimental subseasonal AR activity and circulation forecasts during the December 2022 regime shift from dry conditions to persistent troughing and record AR-driven wetness over the western United States. Experimental seasonal precipitation forecasts were too dry across Southern California (likely due to their over-reliance on La Niña), and the observed above-normal precipitation across Northern and Central California was underpredicted. However, experimental subseasonal forecasts skillfully captured the regime shift from dry to wet conditions in late December 2022 at 2–3 week lead time. During this time, an active MJO shift from phases 4 and 5 to 6 and 7 occurred, which historically tilts the odds toward increased AR activity over California. New experimental seasonal and subseasonal synthesis forecast products, designed to aggregate information across institutions and methods, are introduced in the context of this historic winter to provide situational awareness guidance to western U.S. water managers. © 2024 American Meteorological Society. This published article is licensed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse of this content and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).6 month embargo; first published 08 January 2024This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

PASSAGES: The Wide-ranging, Extreme Intrinsic Properties of Planck-selected, Lensed Dusty Star-forming Galaxies

The PASSAGES (Planck All-Sky Survey to Analyze Gravitationally-lensed Extreme Starbursts) collaboration has recently defined a sample of 30 gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). These rare, submillimeter-selected objects enable high-resolution views of the most extreme sites of star formation in galaxies at cosmic noon. Here, we present the first major compilation of strong lensing analyses using lenstool for PASSAGES, including 15 objects spanning z = 1.1-3.3, using complementary information from 0.″6-resolution 1.1 mm Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array and 0.″4 5 cm Jansky Very Large Array continuum imaging, in tandem with 1.6 μm Hubble and optical imaging with Gemini-S. Magnifications range from μ = 2 to 28 (median μ = 7), yielding intrinsic infrared luminosities of L IR = 0.2-5.9 × 1013 L ⊙ (median 1.4 × 1013 L ⊙) and inferred star formation rates of 170-6300 M ⊙ yr−1 (median 1500 M ⊙ yr−1). These results suggest that the PASSAGES objects comprise some of the most extreme known starbursts, rivaling the luminosities of even the brightest unlensed objects, further amplified by lensing. The intrinsic sizes of far-infrared continuum regions are large (R e = 1.7-4.3 kpc; median 3.0 kpc) but consistent with L IR-R e scaling relations for z > 1 DSFGs, suggesting a widespread spatial distribution of star formation. With modestly high angular resolution, we explore if these objects might be maximal starbursts. Instead of approaching Eddington-limited surface densities, above which radiation pressure will disrupt further star formation, they are safely sub-Eddington—at least on global, galaxy-integrated scales. © 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Decoding the gene regulatory network of endosperm differentiation in maize

The persistent cereal endosperm constitutes the majority of the grain volume. Dissecting the gene regulatory network underlying cereal endosperm development will facilitate yield and quality improvement of cereal crops. Here, we use single-cell transcriptomics to analyze the developing maize (Zea mays) endosperm during cell differentiation. After obtaining transcriptomic data from 17,022 single cells, we identify 12 cell clusters corresponding to five endosperm cell types and revealing complex transcriptional heterogeneity. We delineate the temporal gene-expression pattern from 6 to 7 days after pollination. We profile the genomic DNA-binding sites of 161 transcription factors differentially expressed between cell clusters and constructed a gene regulatory network by combining the single-cell transcriptomic data with the direct DNA-binding profiles, identifying 181 regulons containing genes encoding transcription factors along with their high-confidence targets, Furthermore, we map the regulons to endosperm cell clusters, identify cell-cluster-specific essential regulators, and experimentally validated three predicted key regulators. This study provides a framework for understanding cereal endosperm development and function at single-cell resolution. © 2024, The Author(s).Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Age-group differences in trust-related decision-making and learning

Facial impressions contribute to evaluations of trustworthiness. Older adults are especially vulnerable to trust violations, incurring risks for deception and exploitation. Using the newly developed social Iowa Gambling Task (S-IGT), we examined age-group differences in the impact of facial trustworthiness on decision-making and learning. In the congruent condition (CS-IGT), advantageous decks were paired with trustworthy faces and disadvantageous decks with untrustworthy faces. In the incongruent condition (IS-IGT), this pairing was reversed. Younger (n = 143) and older (n = 129) participants completed either the standard Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), CS-IGT, or IS-IGT. Both age groups preferred trustworthy faces in their initial choices. Older adults performed worse than younger adults across all tasks over time. Further, compared to younger adults, older adults performed worse on the IS-IGT, suggesting that incongruent facial cues interfered with older adults’ performance, which aligns with reduced sensitivity to negative social reputations in aging. Multilevel modeling also indicated that age-group differences were most pronounced across all tasks in the last 40 trials. Together these findings suggest that differences between younger and older adults in experience-dependent decision-making are magnified in social contexts that involve a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which may reflect age-related difficulties in integrating incongruent information. © 2024, The Author(s).Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Rainfall distributional properties control hydrologic model parameter importance.

Study region: Semi-arid region of the Western United States of America in 16.6 km2 WS10 watershed using data from the highly instrumented Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed managed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Services. Study focus: Hydrologic model parameters are generally designed to represent watershed physiographic properties. This study investigates the possible impact of climate forcing, particularly precipitation across a watershed, on model parameter identification – a topic that has historically received minimal attention. To address this gap, we conducted time-varying and time-aggregate sensitivity analysis of a physically based distributed hydrologic model on a heavily instrumented watershed under various observed and synthetic storm events to assess how the distributional properties of rainfall in space and time influence the importance model parameters. Particularly, we focused on a semi-arid watershed with an area larger than the typical convective storms in the region. New hydrologic insight: Results show that there is a significant variation in parameter importance following rainfall spatial and temporal properties and that characterizing the relationship between parameter importance and rainfall properties is essential for identifying parameter values that adequately capture the watershed behaviors. We further showed that a power-law function linking parameter importance to precipitation properties can extrapolate results to other climate regimes. More analyses across different watersheds, climate forcing, and models are required to improve our understanding and strategies for parametrization and calibration of watershed models. © 2024Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The impact of multifunctional enkephalin analogs and morphine on the protein changes in crude membrane fractions isolated from the rat brain cortex and hippocampus

Endogenous opioid peptides serve as potent analgesics through the opioid receptor (OR) activation. However, they often suffer from poor metabolic stability, low lipophilicity, and low blood-brain barrier permeability. Researchers have developed many strategies to overcome the drawbacks of current pain medications and unwanted biological effects produced by the interaction with opioid receptors. Here, we tested multifunctional enkephalin analogs LYS739 (MOR/DOR agonist and KOR partial antagonist) and LYS744 (MOR/DOR agonist and KOR full antagonist) under in vivo conditions in comparison with MOR agonist, morphine. We applied 2D electrophoretic resolution to investigate differences in proteome profiles of crude membrane (CM) fractions isolated from the rat brain cortex and hippocampus exposed to the drugs (10 mg/kg, seven days). Our results have shown that treatment with analog LYS739 induced the most protein changes in cortical and hippocampal samples. The identified proteins were mainly associated with energy metabolism, cell shape and movement, apoptosis, protein folding, regulation of redox homeostasis, and signal transduction. Among these, the isoform of mitochondrial ATP synthase subunit beta (ATP5F1B) was the only protein upregulation in the hippocampus but not in the brain cortex. Contrarily, the administration of analog LYS744 caused a small number of protein alterations in both brain parts. Our results indicate that the KOR full antagonism, together with MOR/DOR agonism of multifunctional opioid ligands, can be beneficial in treating chronic pain states by reducing changes in protein expression levels but retaining analgesic efficacy.12 month embargo; first published 01 February 2024This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Why the Sidewalk Ends: Analysis of Sidewalk Infrastructure in Tucson, Arizona

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone ProjectInequitable sidewalk infrastructure perpetuates social inequalities. Furthermore, good sidewalk infrastructure has many health, social, and environmental benefits. To study the inequitable sidewalk infrastructure in Tucson, I did a case study analysis of two neighborhoods of different socio-economic status. The neighborhood with higher income levels had more and better sidewalks. I conducted interviews with neighborhood representatives and the city of Tucson professionals to understand why this was. I found that the main issues with current sidewalk development were that the funding sources are problematic and the responsibility for sidewalk development often ended up on the property owners or developers. To remedy these issues, I propose a new funding source, a development tax, and a city-run program to target areas in the greatest need of sidewalk infrastructure.This item is part of the Sustainable Built Environments collection. For more information, contact http://sbe.arizona.edu

Paleozoic to Cenozoic History of Basin Subsidence in the Sub-Andean Zone of Bolivia and Argentina (21-22°S)

The Sub-Andean basin is composed of a stratigraphic record of former tectonic events that is currently involved and influences the Central Andean orogenic wedge. In this dissertation I explore a diverse dataset to constrain a long history of basin evolution and to propose implications of presented interpretations on questions that improve the knowledge of the basin. By analysis of subsurface data (well logs and seismic reflection profiles) coupled to field geology and geochronology/thermochronology I provide models of basin subsidence for the Silurian-Devonian, Carboniferous-Permian and the transition from Mesozoic-Cenozoic to the Andean foreland basin setting. In the second chapter, I describe the Silurian-Devonian from outcrops in the Inter-Andean zone, was interpreted in terms of key stratigraphic surfaces and extended into the subsurface beneath the Chaco plain. I found that basin subsidence changed between Silurian and Devonian periods, and that the Devonian defines an intra-cratonic basin setting with a depocenter farther northeast. In addition, northward variation of thickness and lithofacies oblique to the Sub-Andean ranges modifies the mechanical stratigraphy and the style of Andean deformation along strike. In the third chapter, I briefly discuss the Carboniferous-Permian record and provide novel geochronological constraints that help to clarify the widely argued depositional age and timing of the transition from a glacial to post-glacial setting, in addition to recycling of sediments among subsequent units. Another novel geochronological result is provided in the fourth chapter to support the interpreted position of a major regional unconformity below the Tacuru Group, coeval with formation of uplifted archs surrounding the region (Izozog, Michicola and proto-Eastern Cordillera) and denoted by incursion of exotic zircon ages in the basin that contrast with the prevailing Paleozoic record. These arches were the core for later formation of the system of Mesozoic rifts. In the fourth chapter I also interpret the arrival of foreland subsidence by Andean tectonics, refined by new geochronological results and along-strike correlations of seismic and stratigraphic events. I discuss the known events of foreland basin advance with the growth and style of structures along the Sub-Andean foothills. These events are extended across the Sub-Andean ranges to constrain thickness control points that were restored from their deformed locations to exhibit the shape of the stepwise flexural profiles. These profiles were then inverted by flexural modeling to present a profile of elastic thicknesses that best represents the region. The results point toward a required bimodal lithosphere rigidity with elastic thickness of ~20 km beneath the western Sub-Andean ranges and above ~50 km eastward toward the craton. Finally in the firth chapter, based on new low-temperature thermochronological data (apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He) and compared with previously published data and remodeled previous results, I propose a regional thermal history for the easter Eastern Cordillera and the Sub-Andean zone. This reconstruction takes into account both palinspastically restored structural cross-sections and the results of sequential flexural modeling to produce a regional history of cooling and inferred exhumation for the Central Andean orogenic wedge at 21-22°S.Release after 03/11/202