Technology transfer model for Austrian higher education institutions

The aim of this paper is to present the findings of a PhD research (Heinzl 2007, Unpublished PhD Thesis) conducted on the Universities of Applied Sciences in Austria. Four of the models that emerge from this research are: Generic Technology Transfer Model (Sect. 5.1); Idiosyncrasies Model for the Austrian Universities of Applied Sciences (Sect. 5.2); Idiosyncrasies-Technology Transfer Effects Model (Sect. 5.3); Idiosyncrasies-Technology Transfer Cumulated Effects Model (Sect. 5.3). The primary and secondary research methods employed for this study are: literature survey, focus groups, participant observation, and interviews. The findings of the research contribute to a conceptual design of a technology transfer system which aims to enhance the higher education institutions' technology transfer performance. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

Paleoclimate-induced stress on polar forested ecosystems prior to the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

The end-Permian extinction (EPE) has been considered to be contemporaneous on land and in the oceans. However, re-examined floristic records and new radiometric ages from Gondwana indicate a nuanced terrestrial ecosystem response to EPE global change. Paleosol geochemistry and climate simulations indicate paleoclimate change likely caused the demise of the widespread glossopterid ecosystems in Gondwana. Here, we evaluate the climate response of plants to the EPE via dendrochronology snapshots to produce annual-resolution records of tree-ring growth for a succession of late Permian and early Middle Triassic fossil forests from Antarctica. Paleosol geochemistry indicates a shift in paleoclimate towards more humid conditions in the Early and early Middle Triassic relative to the late Permian. Paleosol morphology, however, supports inferences of a lack of forested ecosystems in the Early Triassic. The plant responses to this paleoclimate change were accompanied by enhanced stress during the latest Permian as determined by high-resolution paleoclimate analysis of wood growth intervals. These results suggest that paleoclimate change during the late Permian exerted significant stress on high-latitude forests, consistent with the hypothesis that climate change was likely the primary driver of the extinction of the glossopterid ecosystems

A lithostratigraphic reappraisal of a Permian-Triassic fluvial succession at Allan Hills (Antarctica) and implications for the terrestrial end-Permian extinction event

Between Permian to Triassic, the Earth experienced climatic and biotic crises, included the greatest mass extinction at the Permian-Triassic boundary. These climatic and biological changes are reflected in both marine and terrestrial depositional systems. Over this time span, the Gondwana supercontinent hosted numerous large basins that may preserve the paleoenvironment response to global changes in the sedimentary record. This study provides a lithostratigraphic reappraisal of the latest Paleozoic-Mesozoic alluvial Beacon Supergroup at Allan Hills (Convoy Range), which is one of the most complete sedimentary sequences in Antarctica. Fieldwork stratigraphic-lithological observation, facies analysis, and petrographic characterization of sedimentary rocks allow the identification of six depositional units. The investigations point out for a conformable relationship between depositional and lithostratigraphic units, characterized by changes in the fluvial style. The reconnaissance of a “transitional interval” showing intermediate features between the Permian Weller Coal Measures and the Triassic Feather Conglomerate strengthen the conformable nature of the sequence across the Permian-Triassic boundary in this region. The lithological features of such interval strongly resemble those observed in the coeval deeply studied Eastern Australia successions crossing the Permian-Triassic boundary as well as the end-Permian extinction. More precisely, the uppermost coal occurrence, just above a glossopterid macroflora-bearing carbonaceous mudstone within the “transitional interval”, marks the disappearance of coal-peat forming Permian vegetation which corresponds with the terrestrial end-Permian extinction, thus representing one of the few end- Permian extinction records in Antarctica

High-Precision U-Pb Calibration of Carboniferous Glaciation and Climate History, Paganzo Group, NW Argentina

The duration and geographic extent of Carboniferous glacial events in southern Gondwana remain poorly constrained despite recent evidence for a more dynamic glacial history than previously considered. We report 10 high-precision (2σ ± \u3c0.1%) U-Pb ages for the Permian-Carboniferous Paganzo Group, NW Argentina, that redefine the chronostratigraphy of the late Paleozoic Paganzo and Río Blanco Basins, and significantly refine the timing of glacial events and climate shifts in the western region of southern Gondwana. Radiometric calibration of the Paganzo Group indicates three pulses of Carboniferous glaciation in the mid-Visean, the late Serpukhovian to earliest Bashkirian, and between the latest Bashkirian to early Moscovian. An abrupt shift in depositional style from high-sinuosity single-storied fluvial deposits and clay-rich paleosols to low-sinuosity multistoried feldspathic fluvial deposits intercalated with eolianites and calcic paleosols is constrained to the latest Moscovian and earliest Kasimovian. These constraints indicate a relatively abrupt climate shift from humid-subhumid to nonseasonal semiarid regional climate conditions that occurred significantly earlier than previously inferred (Early Permian). This period of high-latitude aridity was contemporaneous with a shift to dryland depositional environments and a major vegetation regime shift documented throughout the Pangean paleotropics in the Pennsylvanian

Paleoclimate-induced stress on polar forested ecosystems prior to the Permian–Triassic mass extinction

The end-Permian extinction (EPE) has been considered to be contemporaneous on land and in the oceans. However, re-examined floristic records and new radiometric ages from Gondwana indicate a nuanced terrestrial ecosystem response to EPE global change. Paleosol geochemistry and climate simulations indicate paleoclimate change likely caused the demise of the widespread glossopterid ecosystems in Gondwana. Here, we evaluate the climate response of plants to the EPE via dendrochronology snapshots to produce annual-resolution records of tree-ring growth for a succession of late Permian and early Middle Triassic fossil forests from Antarctica. Paleosol geochemistry indicates a shift in paleoclimate towards more humid conditions in the Early and early Middle Triassic relative to the late Permian. Paleosol morphology, however, supports inferences of a lack of forested ecosystems in the Early Triassic. The plant responses to this paleoclimate change were accompanied by enhanced stress during the latest Permian as determined by high-resolution paleoclimate analysis of wood growth intervals. These results suggest that paleoclimate change during the late Permian exerted significant stress on high-latitude forests, consistent with the hypothesis that climate change was likely the primary driver of the extinction of the glossopterid ecosystems

Leaf habit of Late Permian <em>Glossopteris</em> trees from high-palaeolatitude forests

<p>The leaf longevity of trees, deciduous or evergreen, plays an important role in climate feedbacks and plant ecology. In modern forests of the high latitudes, evergreen trees dominate; however, the fossil record indicates that deciduous vegetation dominated during some previous warm intervals. We show, through an integration of palaeobotanical techniques and isotope geochemistry of trees in one of the earliest polar forests (Late Permian, <em>c</em>. 260 Ma, Antarctica), that the arborescent glossopterid taxa were both deciduous and evergreen, with a greater abundance of evergreen trees occurring in the studied forests. These new findings suggest the possibility that deciduousness was a plastic trait in ancient polar plants, and that deciduous plants, migrating poleward from lower latitudes, were probably better adapted to high-disturbance areas in environments that were light-limited. </p