Remote Sensing

This dual conception of remote sensing brought us to the idea of preparing two different books; in addition to the first book which displays recent advances in remote sensing applications, this book is devoted to new techniques for data processing, sensors and platforms. We do not intend this book to cover all aspects of remote sensing techniques and platforms, since it would be an impossible task for a single volume. Instead, we have collected a number of high-quality, original and representative contributions in those areas

Adaptation to altitude in Heliconius butterflies

Local adaptation is an important process for studying recent evolutionary change. The environment changes drastically along steep clines, such as mountains, and diverse sets of challenges are predicted to drive local adaptation. Thus, these clines represent ideal settings to identify the traits and genomic mechanisms that allow some organisms to succeed across wide geographical ranges, which is a major goal of evolutionary biology. In this thesis I explore the environmental variables, phenotypic traits, and genomics underlying adaptation to altitude in the Heliconius butterfly genus. Firstly, using a collection of over 3500 wings I discovered that wing morphology varies predictably across elevations, with species and populations in the highlands having rounder wings than those in the lowlands. This study also highlighted that life-history, whether larvae are gregarious or solitary, determines the direction of wing sexual size dimorphism across species. Secondly, to understand the microclimates experienced in the wild by Heliconius butterflies, I measured hourly temperature and humidity for a full year in 28 sites across elevations and microhabitats on both sides of the Andes. The canopy greatly buffered the climate within the forest, but publicly available datasets failed to accurately predict these temperatures. Further, I found that species inhabiting higher altitudes were less tolerant to heat in the wild, while common-garden reared individuals of H. melpomene were equally tolerant after one generation, showing plasticity for this trait. Thirdly, with a dataset of over 600 whole-genome sequenced H. erato and H. melpomene individuals from four elevational clines, I found many parallel signatures of local adaptation to high altitude across clines and sides of the Andes, especially within H. erato. Finally, I studied the genomic basis of one of the traits I identified as being potentially involved in adaptation to altitude, wing shape. By combining common-garden rearing of highland and lowland populations of H. erato and H. melpomene and 666 whole-genome sequences from a published study, I found that wing aspect ratio is highly heritable, and identified relevant candidates for future functional studies. Overall, this work highlights that butterflies readily adapt to their local environment and that they do so in a more convergent fashion than previously thought. This thesis lays the groundwork for an exciting new branch of study for Heliconius research, where we combine the long fascination for their natural history and speciation, with new approaches to study how they adapt to the environment.University of Cambridge Earth System Science NERC Doctoral Training Partnershi

Forest landscapes and global change. New frontiers in management, conservation and restoration. Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference

This volume contains the contributions of numerous participants at the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference, which took place in Bragança, Portugal, from 21 to 24 of September 2010. The conference was dedicated to the theme Forest Landscapes and Global Change - New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration. The 128 papers included in this book follow the structure and topics of the conference. Sections 1 to 8 include papers relative to presentations in 18 thematic oral and two poster sessions. Section 9 is devoted to a wide-range of landscape ecology fields covered in the 12 symposia of the conference. The Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference register the growth of scientific interest in forest landscape patterns and processes, and the recognition of the role of landscape ecology in the advancement of science and management, particularly within the context of emerging physical, social and political drivers of change, which influence forest systems and the services they provide. We believe that these papers, together with the presentations and debate which took place during the IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference – Bragança 2010, will definitively contribute to the advancement of landscape ecology and science in general. For their additional effort and commitment, we thank all the participants in the conference for leaving this record of their work, thoughts and science

Urban Planet

Global urbanization promises better services and stronger economies but also carries risks and unforeseeable consequences. Urban Planet highlights the hopes and hindrances of our journey of urbanization and the need for a parallel evolution of our science and systems to ensure we reap the rewards. This title is also available as Open Access

Forest Pathology and Plant Health

Every year, a number of new forest pathosystems are discovered as the result of introduction of alien pathogens, host shifts and jumps, hybridization and recombination among pathogens, etc. Disease outbreaks may also be favored by climate change and forest management. The mechanisms driving the resurgence of native pathogens and the invasion of alien ones need to be better understood in order to draft sustainable control strategies. For this Special Issue, we welcome population biology studies providing insights on the epidemiology and invasiveness of emergent forest pathogens possibly by contrasting different scenarios varying in pathogen and host populations size, genetics, phenotype and phenology, landscape fragmentation, occurrence of disturbances, management practices, etc. Both experimental and monitoring approaches are welcome. In summary, this special issue focuses on how variability in hosts, pathogens, or ecology may affect the emergence of new threats to plant species

Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

This Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) has been jointly coordinated by Working Groups I (WGI) and II (WGII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report focuses on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and climate events, the impacts of such events, and the strategies to manage the associated risks. The IPCC was jointly established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in particular to assess in a comprehensive, objective, and transparent manner all the relevant scientific, technical, and socioeconomic information to contribute in understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, the potential impacts, and the adaptation and mitigation options. Beginning in 1990, the IPCC has produced a series of Assessment Reports, Special Reports, Technical Papers, methodologies, and other key documents which have since become the standard references for policymakers and scientists.This Special Report, in particular, contributes to frame the challenge of dealing with extreme weather and climate events as an issue in decisionmaking under uncertainty, analyzing response in the context of risk management. The report consists of nine chapters, covering risk management; observed and projected changes in extreme weather and climate events; exposure and vulnerability to as well as losses resulting from such events; adaptation options from the local to the international scale; the role of sustainable development in modulating risks; and insights from specific case studies