Kehitystä kuivuvassa maailmassa – ihmisen evoluution ympäristökontekstista

Ihmisen evoluutio on tapahtunut kuivuvassa ja viilenevässä maailmassa. Tämän trendin lisäksi Afrikan ja Euraasian fossiiliaineisto sekä ilmastohistoria osoittaa, että viimeisen neljän miljoonan vuoden aikana on ollut kolme voimakkaan muutoksen ajanjaksoa: 1) 2,8–2,4 miljoonaa vuotta sitten, jolloin tapahtui pohjoisten alueiden jäätiköityminen, ja Afrikan ilmasto kuivui ja viileni sekä muuttui kausittaiseksi; 2) 1,8–1,6 miljoonaa vuotta sitten, jolloin ympäristön kuivuminen ja ilmaston vaihtelut voimistuivat; 3) 1,2–0,8 miljoonaa vuotta sitten, jolloin jäätiköitymissyklit muuttuvat 100 000 vuoden sykliin. Nämä ajanjaksot ovat sattuneet yhteen varhaisihmisen evoluution avainkohtien kanssa. Näiden kolmen ajanjakson lisäksi myös nykyihmisen evoluutio ja leviäminen Eurooppaan sekä neandertalin ihmisen kohtalo kietoutuvat vahvasti ympäristön muutoksiin

Land mammals form eight functionally and climatically distinct faunas in North America but only one in Europe

Aim We use cluster analysis to delimit climatically and functionally distinct mammalian faunal clusters. These entities form regional species pools and are relevant to community assembly processes. Similar clusters can be differentiated in the fossil record, offering the potential for use as palaeoenvironmental proxies. Location North America within W178 degrees, W14 degrees, N83 degrees, N7 degrees and Europe within W32 degrees, E35 degrees, N80 degrees, N35 degrees. Major taxa studied 575 and 124 land mammal species from North America and Europe. Methods K-means clustering was used to subdivide North America and Europe into distinct faunas ranging in number from 3 (largest scale) to 21 (smallest scale). Each set of faunas was tested for significant differences in climate (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature) and functional traits (body mass, locomotion and diet). Results In North America, climatic differentiation exists at the scale where mammals are divided into 11 or fewer distinct faunas and, in Europe, at the scale where there are five or fewer faunas. Functional trait differentiation in body mass occurs at a larger spatial scale in North America (8 distinct faunas), but locomotor differentiation is present at all spatial scales, and dietary differentiation is not present at any scale. No significant differentiation in any functional trait at any scale was found in Europe. Main conclusions Faunal clusters can be constructed at any spatial scale, but clusters are climatically and functionally meaningful only at larger scales. Climatic (and environmental) differences and their associated functional trait specialisations are likely to be barriers to large-scale mixing. We argue, therefore, that functionally and climatically distinct faunal clusters are the entities that form regional species pools for community assembly processes. In North America, there are eight such mammal pools, but only one in Europe. Since the functional traits in our study are observable in the fossil record, functional trait analysis can potentially be used to diagnose climatically distinct regions in the past.Peer reviewe

The relative roles of CO2 and palaeogeography in determining Late Miocene climate: results from a terrestrial model-data comparison

The Late Miocene (∼11.6–5.3 Ma) palaeorecord provides evidence for a warmer and wetter climate than that of today and there is uncertainty in the palaeo-CO2 record of at least 150 ppmv. We present results from fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-vegetation simulations for the Late Miocene that examine the relative roles of palaeogeography (topography and ice sheet geometry) and CO2 concentration in the determination of Late Miocene climate through comprehensive terrestrial model-data comparisons. Assuming that the data accurately reflects the Late Miocene climate, and that the Late Miocene palaeogeographic reconstruction used in the model is robust, then results indicate that the proxy-derived precipitation differences between the Late Miocene and modern can be largely accounted for by the palaeogeographic changes alone. However, the proxy-derived temperatures differences between the Late Miocene and modern can only begin to be accounted for if we assume a palaeo-CO2 concentration towards the higher end of the range of estimates

CHARTER-hankkeen taustapaperi 1 : Tietoa ja arktisia näkemyksiä ilmasto- ja ympäristölainsäädännön tueksi

Non peer reviewe

“Rights for Life” scenario to reach biodiversity targets and social equity for indigenous peoples and local communities

Scenarios are a powerful way in which the scientific community can inform future policies for transformative change. Forthcoming scenario work holds promise for the Nature Futures Framework, which through the concept of relational values, seeks to recognize a multiplicity of value positions on human-environment relations, including those of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs). The objective of this Perspective paper is to propose a novel scenario skeleton titled "Rights for Life", which holds promise to achieve ambitious biodi-versity targets in a socially-equitable ways by focusing on the Nature's and IPLCs' rights. We demonstrate, through the case of Arctic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) herding, that the "Rights for Life" scenario seems to deliver better social equity outcomes than the recently proposed "Half Earth" and "Sharing the Planet" sce-narios that have been designed to achieve ambitious conservation and biodiversity targets. The "Rights for Life" scenario is particularly fit for sparsely-populated indigenous homelands and rural regions where local commu-nities depend on culturally important nature-based livelihoods for their well-being. We recommend that future scenarios targeting human-environment relations should not only consider non-western and relational value perspectives, but also recognize the importance of Nature's and IPLCs' rights for ensuring transformative change for equity and the environment. Clear recognition of such rights can function as a basis for new regulations, market-based governance instruments, policies, and participatory governance instruments ensuring that viola-tion of Nature's and IPLCs' rights by societal developments is recognized, avoided, minimized, or at least compensated for.Peer reviewe

Ecometrics: A trait-based approach to paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstruction

Peer reviewe

Coping with policy errors in an era of chronic socio-environmental crises

Since large-scale environmental disruptions have become chronic, policymakers need to consider the long-term consequences of urgent crisis decisions. We develop design principles for a decision platform addressing strategic environmental crisis management, by which we mean coordinated decisions during an environmental urgency that are sensitive to long-term path dependencies and policy errors. To enhance critical questioning of formal doctrines, the decision platform includes policymakers and sectoral experts as equal participants. The agenda for decisionmaking is structured around future scenarios to encourage the participants to imagine alternative ways of framing the decision problem. The agenda also discourages defensive heuristics with which decision-makers attempt to preserve their short-term reputation. The design principles for strategic environmental crisis management are based on urban experimentation. The barrier of implementation for similar experiments in other contexts is low because they assume no major overhaul in existing administrationPeer reviewe

The nature of the Old World savannah palaeobiome

Non peer reviewe

Facile synthesis of vanillin from fractionated Kraft lignin

More than 90 % of global lignin production comes from Kraft pulp mills but due to shortage of economical viable methods to valorise lignin, it is commonly burned for energy. Therefore, finding new routes to utilize Kraft lignin (KL) as a renewable raw material for the chemical industry is of significant economic and environmental importance. Herein we report a novel, two-step procedure for facile synthesis of vanillin from technical KL by combining solvent fractionation and catalytic oxidation reaction. From the studied green solvents, 1-propanol was the most attractive for one-step, single solvent fractionation as it afforded uniform, low molecular weight lignin fractions (Mw=1300 g·mol−1, Mn=580 g·mol−1) with yield of 46 wt%. Using this homogeneous lignin as a raw material, CuSO4 catalyzed oxidation reaction proceeds smoothly, and under optimized conditions a high vanillin yield of 10.9 wt% was achieved. The method reported herein is promising as it facilitates straightforward and high yield vanillin synthesis from commercially available technical KL.Peer reviewe