Climatic niche shifts between species' native and naturalized ranges raise concern for ecological forecasts during invasions and climate change

Copyright © 2014 WileyAim: Correlative models that forecast extinction risk from climate change and invasion risks following species introductions, depend on the assumption that species’ current distributions reflect their climate tolerances (‘climatic equilibrium’). This assumption has rarely been tested with independent distribution data, and studies that have done so have focused on species that are widespread or weedy in their native range. We use independent data to test climatic equilibrium for a broadly representative group of species, and ask whether there are any general indicators that can be used to identify when equilibrium occurs. Location: Europe and contiguous USA. Methods: We contrasted the climate conditions occupied by 51 plant species in their native (European) and naturalized (USA) distributions by applying kernel smoothers to species’ occurrence densities. We asked whether species had naturalized in climate conditions that differ from their native ranges, suggesting climatic disequilibrium in the native range, and whether characteristics of species’ native distributions correspond with climatic equilibrium. Results: A large proportion of species’ naturalized distributions occurred outside the climatic conditions occupied in their native ranges: for 22 species, the majority of their naturalized ranges fell outside their native climate conditions. Our analyses revealed large areas in Europe that species do not occupy, but which match climatic conditions occupied in the USA, suggesting a high degree of climatic disequilibrium in the native range. Disequilibrium was most severe for species with native ranges that are small and occupy a narrow range of climatic conditions. Main conclusions: Our results demonstrate that the direct effects of climate on species distributions have been widely overestimated, and that previous large-scale validations of the equilibrium assumption using species’ native and naturalized distributions are not generally applicable. Non-climatic range limitations are likely to be the norm, rather than the exception, and pose added risks for species under climate change.Fundação para a Ciência e a Technologi

Breast feeding in Australia: A comparative study of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal women

The superiority of breast feeding over bottle feeding is universally acknowledged, and its crucial contribution to infant health is accepted by health authorities. Australia in recognition of the importance of breast feeding to infant health, aims to increase the prevalence of breast feeding. Breast feeding provides benefits for all children, however the health advantage that is gained by breast feeding in comparison to artificial feeding is more apparent among disadvantaged groups. Aboriginal Australians are identified as one such disadvantaged group. This study compares the available literature regarding the prevalence of breast feeding in Aboriginal and non Aboriginal women. It is apparent that breast feeding prevalence differs, between population groups within Australia. Aboriginal children are less likely to have been breast fed than non Aboriginal children. The comparison, indicates that there are deficiencies in the research regarding breast feeding prevalence in both population groups. Many factors affect a woman's decision to breast feed, and the duration of her breast feeding. These factors include, socioeconomic status, age, marital status, educational attainment, occupation and smoking status. These factors are clearly associated with breast feeding in non Aboriginal women. For Aboriginal women, the factors influencing breast feeding are more complex. It is recommended therefore, that it is essential for future research to examine the attitudinal and socialdeterminants of infant feeding practices in Aboriginal women. This is necessary, if educational or interventional strategies are to be effective for this population

Evaluation of correlated studies using liquid cell‐ and cryo‐transmission electron microscopy : hydration of calcium sulfate and the phase transformation pathways of bassanite to gypsum

Insight into the nucleation, growth and phase transformations of calcium sulfate could improve the performance of construction materials, reduce scaling in industrial processes and aid understanding of its formation in the natural environment. Recent studies have suggested that the calcium sulfate pseudo polymorph, gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) can form in aqueous solution via a bassanite (CaSO4·0.5H2O) intermediate. Some in situ experimental work has also suggested that the transformation of bassanite to gypsum can occur through an oriented assembly mechanism. In this work, we have exploited liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (LCTEM) to study the transformation of bassanite to gypsum in an undersaturated aqueous solution of calcium sulfate. This was benchmarked against cryogenic TEM (cryo-TEM) studies to validate internally the data obtained from the two microscopy techniques. When coupled with Raman spectroscopy, the real-time data generated by LCTEM, and structural data obtained from cryo-TEM show that bassanite can transform to gypsum via more than one pathway, the predominant one being dissolution/reprecipitation. Comparisons between LCTEM and cryo-TEM also show that the transformation is slower within the confined region of the liquid cell as compared to a bulk solution. This work highlights the important role of a correlated microscopy approach for the study of dynamic processes such as crystallisation from solution if we are to extract true mechanistic understanding

Measurement of the partial widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks

Using the entire OPAL LEP1 on-peak Z hadronic decay sample, Z -> qbarq gamma decays were selected by tagging hadronic final states with isolated photon candidates in the electromagnetic calorimeter. Combining the measured rates of Z -> qbarq gamma decays with the total rate of hadronic Z decays permits the simultaneous determination of the widths of the Z into up- and down-type quarks. The values obtained, with total errors, were Gamma u = 300 ^{+19}_{-18} MeV and Gamma d = 381 ^{+12}_{-12} MeV. The results are in good agreement with the Standard Model expectation.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.

Search for R-Parity Violating Decays of Scalar Fermions at LEP

A search for pair-produced scalar fermions under the assumption that R-parity is not conserved has been performed using data collected with the OPAL detector at LEP. The data samples analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 610 pb-1 collected at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) 189-209 GeV. An important consequence of R-parity violation is that the lightest supersymmetric particle is expected to be unstable. Searches of R-parity violating decays of charged sleptons, sneutrinos and squarks have been performed under the assumptions that the lightest supersymmetric particle decays promptly and that only one of the R-parity violating couplings is dominant for each of the decay modes considered. Such processes would yield final states consisting of leptons, jets, or both with or without missing energy. No significant single-like excess of events has been observed with respect to the Standard Model expectations. Limits on the production cross- section of scalar fermions in R-parity violating scenarios are obtained. Constraints on the supersymmetric particle masses are also presented in an R-parity violating framework analogous to the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.Comment: 51 pages, 24 figures, Submitted to Eur. Phys. J.

Measurement of the Strong Coupling alpha s from Four-Jet Observables in e+e- Annihilation

Data from e+e- annihilation into hadrons at centre-of-mass energies between 91 GeV and 209 GeV collected with the OPAL detector at LEP, are used to study the four-jet rate as a function of the Durham algorithm resolution parameter ycut. The four-jet rate is compared to next-to-leading order calculations that include the resummation of large logarithms. The strong coupling measured from the four-jet rate is alphas(Mz0)= 0.1182+-0.0003(stat.)+-0.0015(exp.)+-0.0011(had.)+-0.0012(scale)+-0.0013(mass) in agreement with the world average. Next-to-leading order fits to the D-parameter and thrust minor event-shape observables are also performed for the first time. We find consistent results, but with significantly larger theoretical uncertainties.Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J.

Measurement of the Hadronic Photon Structure Function F_2^gamma at LEP2

The hadronic structure function of the photon F_2^gamma is measured as a function of Bjorken x and of the factorisation scale Q^2 using data taken by the OPAL detector at LEP. Previous OPAL measurements of the x dependence of F_2^gamma are extended to an average Q^2 of 767 GeV^2. The Q^2 evolution of F_2^gamma is studied for average Q^2 between 11.9 and 1051 GeV^2. As predicted by QCD, the data show positive scaling violations in F_2^gamma. Several parameterisations of F_2^gamma are in agreement with the measurements whereas the quark-parton model prediction fails to describe the data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of Photon 2001, Ascona, Switzerlan

A measurement of the tau mass and the first CPT test with tau leptons

We measure the mass of the tau lepton to be 1775.1+-1.6(stat)+-1.0(syst.) MeV using tau pairs from Z0 decays. To test CPT invariance we compare the masses of the positively and negatively charged tau leptons. The relative mass difference is found to be smaller than 3.0 10^-3 at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts.

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio

Measurement of Rb in e+e- Collisions at 182 - 209 GeV

Measurements of Rb, the ratio of the bbbar cross-section to the qqbar cross- section in e+e- collisions, are presented. The data were collected by the OPAL experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies between 182 GeV and 209 GeV. Lepton, lifetime and event shape information is used to tag events containing b quarks with high efficiency. The data are compatible with the Standard Model expectation. The mean ratio of the eight measurements reported here to the Standard Model prediction is 1.055+-0.031+-0.037, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Phys. Letts