Adaptation to climate in widespread eucalypt species

AbstractThe long term success of revegetation efforts will depend upon the planted species’ resilience to climate change. Many widespread species grow across a range of climatic conditions and, thus, may possess adaptations that could be utilised to improve climate resilience of restored ecosystems. Species can achieve a widespread distribution via two main mechanisms; (1) by diverging into a series of specialised populations, or (2) through high phenotypic plasticity. The extent to which populations are specialised or plastic in response to climate will determine the seed-sourcing strategy required for optimal restoration outcomes under a changing climate. We examined genetic divergence and phenotypic plasticity in two widespread Eucalyptus species (E. tricarpa in southeastern Australia, E. salubris in southwestern Australia), to determine the nature of adaptation to climate in these species, and whether genomic screening might be a useful tool to assess climate adaptation.We examined nine populations of each species across climate gradients and, for E. tricarpa, trees originating from the same populations were also studied in two common garden field trials. We characterised responses in functional traits relevant to climate adaptation, including leaf size, thickness, tissue density, and carbon isotope ratio (δ13C). Genetic variation was assessed with genome scans using DArTseq markers, and ‘outlier markers’ were identified as being linked to regions of the genome that are potentially under selection.Evidence of both plastic response and genetic specialisation for climate was found in both species, indicating that widespread eucalypts utilise a combination of both mechanisms for adaptation to spatial variation in climate. The E. tricarpa common garden data suggested high plasticity in most of the measured functional traits, and the extent of plasticity in some traits (e.g. leaf size and thickness) varied among provenances, suggesting genetic variation for plasticity itself. In E. salubris, most functional traits showed little variation across the gradient. However, water use efficiency appeared highly plastic, as determined from the strong correlation between δ13C and recent precipitation (R2 = 0.83). Both species showed spatial partitioning of genetic variation across the gradient, and data for E. salubris revealed two distinct lineages. The genome scans yielded 16,122 DArTseq markers for “Lineage 1” of E. salubris, of which 0.1% were potentially adaptive ‘outlier loci’, and 6,544 markers for E. tricarpa, of which 2.6% were outliers. Canonical Analysis of Principal Coordinates (CAP) analysis showed that the outlier markers were correlated with climatic variables, and some were also strongly correlated with functional traits. An ‘Aridity Index’ was also developed from the CAP analysis that has potential as a tool for environmental planners to use for matching seed sources to target climates.Widespread eucalypts are likely to possess a capacity to respond plastically to a changing climate to some extent, but selection of seed sources to match projected climate changes may confer even greater climate resilience. Further study of the mechanisms of plasticity in response to climate may improve our ability to assess climate adaptation in other species, and to determine optimal strategies for ecosystem restoration and management under climate change

Life in a changing world: climate change impacts on common European birds

Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to be a major cause of extinctions. Therefore, a major aim of climate change ecology is to understand how species are being impacted and identify which species are most at risk. However, the ability to make these broad generalisations requires large-scale comparative analyses based on appropriate assumptions. This thesis investigates how European birds respond to changes in climate, the validity of several common assumptions, and identifies which species or populations are most at risk based on multiple long-term datasets. Our understanding of how different responses relate and how they affect population persistence is lacking. A conceptual hierarchical framework is introduced in chapter one to better understand and predict when climate-induced trait changes (phenology or physiology) impact demographic rates (survival or reproduction), and subsequently population dynamics. I synthesise the literature to find hypotheses about life-history and ecological characteristics that could predict when population dynamics will likely be affected. An example shows that, although earlier laying with warmer temperatures was associated with improved reproduction, this had no apparent effect on population trends in 35 British birds. Number of broods partly explains which species are most at risk of temperature-induced population declines. It is often assumed that populations within species respond similarly to climate change, and therefore a single value will reflect species-specific responses. Chapter two explores inter- and intra-specific variation in body condition responses to six climatic variables in 46 species over 21 years and 80 sites. Body condition is sensitive to all six variables (primarily in a non-linear way), and declines with warmer temperatures. I find that species signals might not exist as populations of the same species are no more alike than populations of different species. Decreased body condition is typically assumed to have detrimental consequences on species’ vital rates and population dynamics, but this assumption has rarely been tested. Expanding on chapter two, chapter three shows that temperature-induced declines in body condition have no apparent consequences on demography and population dynamics. Instead, temperature has strong effects on reproductive success and population growth rates via unknown traits and demographic rates. Much of the literature investigating climatic impacts assumes that temporal trends accurately reflect responses to climate change, and therefore investigate trait changes over time. In chapter four, I use two long-term datasets to demonstrate that, for four different types of trait responses, trait variation through time cannot be assumed to be due to warming. Non-temperature causal agents are important in explaining temporal trends, often resulting in reinforced effects. Consequently, the roles of climatic and non-climatic effects need to be understood to better predict those species most at risk. This thesis lays the foundations for more holistic climate change research that encompasses relationships among multiple response types, species and populations. Such knowledge will be vital for future conservation efforts

Alien Registration- Mclean, Margaret E. (Millinocket, Penobscot County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/7760/thumbnail.jp

Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Corporate Takeovers: Restraints on the Use of ESOPs by Corporate Officers and Directors to Avert Hostile Takeovers

In 1974, Congress enacted the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act (ERISA), which was designed to promote employee benefit plans and provide safeguards for the assets of the plans. An employee stock ownership plan is a device used by corporations which holds corporate stock as the primary asset of the employee benefit plan. Recently, corporate executives have seized the opportunity to use ESOPs as a defensive tactic for averting takeovers considered to be adverse to the corporation. However, provisions of ERISA, particularly relating to fiduciary duty, exclusive benefit, and prudence, seriously impede the use of an ESOP by incumbent management to avert takeovers. This article outlines and discusses ERISA and its application to corporate management utilizing an ESOP to avert a corporate takeover

Recovery following pneumonectomy: patients initial 2 year experience

Little is known about the recovery of patients after pneumonectomy and the impact of the surgery on the lifestyle of young, employed, ex-smokers and their families. This study was conducted to address this knowledge deficit, and gather information that would help health professionals to be able to assist people facing pneumonectomy. A qualitative study using van Manens methodological approach to interpretive phenomenology was chosen, in order to capture a full and rich understanding and meaning of the phenomenon that patients live. The names, age, operation, histological cell type, stage of disease, and disease free status of potential participants were obtained from a Lung Cancer Surgical Database after obtaining ethical approval for the study. Nine participants (three females and six males) met the inclusion criteria and gave informed consent for the study. Data collection comprised of open-ended interviews that were audiotaped, then transcribed verbatim into hard data. Data interpretation was based on the selective reading approach of van Manen from which six thematic statements arose. These are living the discomforts of treatment and recovery, discovering new limitations on myself; functional and emotional, my reliance on support, my financial security is threatened, my survival is at threat, and I wish I had known more. The study found that each participant had a unique experience of recovery and consequently the degree of recovery attained varied between participants. They all had a very strong desire to survive lung cancer and considered the risks of major surgery and loosing a lung to be insignificant compared to the certainty of loosing their life if they did not undergo surgery. This study provided a glimpse of what it was like for a group of patients to live the experience of life after a pneumonectomy and it provides a basis from which nurses can explore further the experiences of patients who are subjected to lung cancer surgery

Recovery following pneumonectomy: patients initial 2 year experience

Little is known about the recovery of patients after pneumonectomy and the impact of the surgery on the lifestyle of young, employed, ex-smokers and their families. This study was conducted to address this knowledge deficit, and gather information that would help health professionals to be able to assist people facing pneumonectomy. A qualitative study using van Manens methodological approach to interpretive phenomenology was chosen, in order to capture a full and rich understanding and meaning of the phenomenon that patients live. The names, age, operation, histological cell type, stage of disease, and disease free status of potential participants were obtained from a Lung Cancer Surgical Database after obtaining ethical approval for the study. Nine participants (three females and six males) met the inclusion criteria and gave informed consent for the study. Data collection comprised of open-ended interviews that were audiotaped, then transcribed verbatim into hard data. Data interpretation was based on the selective reading approach of van Manen from which six thematic statements arose. These are living the discomforts of treatment and recovery, discovering new limitations on myself; functional and emotional, my reliance on support, my financial security is threatened, my survival is at threat, and I wish I had known more. The study found that each participant had a unique experience of recovery and consequently the degree of recovery attained varied between participants. They all had a very strong desire to survive lung cancer and considered the risks of major surgery and loosing a lung to be insignificant compared to the certainty of loosing their life if they did not undergo surgery. This study provided a glimpse of what it was like for a group of patients to live the experience of life after a pneumonectomy and it provides a basis from which nurses can explore further the experiences of patients who are subjected to lung cancer surgery