Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life.

Synthesizing trait observations and knowledge across the Tree of Life remains a grand challenge for biodiversity science. Species traits are widely used in ecological and evolutionary science, and new data and methods have proliferated rapidly. Yet accessing and integrating disparate data sources remains a considerable challenge, slowing progress toward a global synthesis to integrate trait data across organisms. Trait science needs a vision for achieving global integration across all organisms. Here, we outline how the adoption of key Open Science principles-open data, open source and open methods-is transforming trait science, increasing transparency, democratizing access and accelerating global synthesis. To enhance widespread adoption of these principles, we introduce the Open Traits Network (OTN), a global, decentralized community welcoming all researchers and institutions pursuing the collaborative goal of standardizing and integrating trait data across organisms. We demonstrate how adherence to Open Science principles is key to the OTN community and outline five activities that can accelerate the synthesis of trait data across the Tree of Life, thereby facilitating rapid advances to address scientific inquiries and environmental issues. Lessons learned along the path to a global synthesis of trait data will provide a framework for addressing similarly complex data science and informatics challenges

The hemispheric contrast in cloud microphysical properties constrains aerosol forcing

The change in planetary albedo due to aerosol−cloud interactions during the industrial era is the leading source of uncertainty in inferring Earth’s climate sensitivity to increased greenhouse gases from the historical record. The variable that controls aerosol−cloud interactions in warm clouds is droplet number concentration. Global climate models demonstrate that the present-day hemispheric contrast in cloud droplet number concentration between the pristine Southern Hemisphere and the polluted Northern Hemisphere oceans can be used as a proxy for anthropogenically driven change in cloud droplet number concentration. Remotely sensed estimates constrain this change in droplet number concentration to be between 8 cm−3 and 24 cm−3. By extension, the radiative forcing since 1850 from aerosol−cloud interactions is constrained to be −1.2 W⋅m−2 to −0.6 W⋅m−2. The robustness of this constraint depends upon the assumption that pristine Southern Ocean droplet number concentration is a suitable proxy for preindustrial concentrations. Droplet number concentrations calculated from satellite data over the Southern Ocean are high in austral summer. Near Antarctica, they reach values typical of Northern Hemisphere polluted outflows. These concentrations are found to agree with several in situ datasets. In contrast, climate models show systematic underpredictions of cloud droplet number concentration across the Southern Ocean. Near Antarctica, where precipitation sinks of aerosol are small, the underestimation by climate models is particularly large. This motivates the need for detailed process studies of aerosol production and aerosol−cloud interactions in pristine environments. The hemispheric difference in satellite estimated cloud droplet number concentration implies preindustrial aerosol concentrations were higher than estimated by most models

Federalism in multinational societies : Switzerland, Canada, and India in comparative perspective

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the politics of separatism in multinational federations. Switzerland, Canada, and India are investigated in detail. Switzerland is a multinational federation that has not experienced a separatist movement for more than one hundred and fifty years. In Canada, there is a significant separatist movement in the province of Quebec. India has experienced a number of violent secessionist crises in a number of states over the past two decades. The cases thus exhibit a range in the dependent variable (presence or absence of secessionist movements). This study adopts a legal-institutional approach to the problem of secession in multinational federations. This approach marries the classical understanding of federalism as a system of government with divided sovereignty to the more recent state-society and new institutional approaches in political science. Federalism is operationalized around three core institutions: constitutions, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and party systems. These three institutions are situated as the independent variables in the study. The dissertation argues that the institutional structure of federalism is a critical determinant of stability or instability (the presence or absence of secessionism) in multinational federations.Arts, Faculty ofPolitical Science, Department ofGraduat

The call for Khalistan : the political economy of Sikh separatism

Note:Focusing on the Sikh separatist movement, this thesis stresses the importance of the internal dynamics of nationalist movements. In particular, attention is given to the source of factionalism --different visions of the nation in the community, class, and leadership rivalry. The Sikh nationalist movement baa always displayed internal cleavages, and has always been in conflict with the central authorities. The current crisis in Punjab has resulted from a protracted internal conflict, between wealthy Jat Sikh farmers particularly of the Malwa region of Punjab (represented by the traditional party of Sikh nationalism, the Akali Dal), and poor Jat Sikh farmers especially of the Majha region (represented by the fundamentalist All-India Sikh Students' Federation and Sant Jamail Singh Bhindranwale). As these two groups vied for hegemony in the community, they both began agitations against the government of Indira Gandhi, which proved incapable of resolving the situation.Ce mémoire, par l'étude du mouvement séparatiste sikh, insiste sur l'importance de la dynamique interne des mouvements nationalistes. Il porte une attention particulière aux sources des factions: de différentes visions de la nation créèrent des rivalités communautaires, de classe et de leadership. Le mouvement nationaliste sikh a toujours été marqué de divisions internes et s'est toujours oppose aux autorités centrales. La crise actuelle au Pendjab découle d'un conflit interne prolongé entre riches fermiers sikhs jats, issus surtout de la région pendjabie du Malwa (et représentés par l'Akali Dal, traditionnel parti du nationalisme sikh), et pauvres fermiers sikhs jats, provenant en grande partie de la région du Majha (et représentés par Ia fondamentaliste All-India Sikh Students' Federation et Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale). Luttant pour la suprématie de la communauté, ces deux groupes se soulevèrent contre Ie gouvernement d'Indira Gandhi, incapable de contenir Ie tollé