Patterns of abundance across geographical ranges as a predictor for responses to climate change: Evidence from UK rocky shores

Aim: Understanding patterns in the abundance of species across thermal ranges can give useful insights into the potential impacts of climate change. The abundant-centre hypothesis suggests that species will reach peak abundance at the centre of their thermal range where conditions are optimal, but evidence in support of this hypothesis is mixed and limited in geographical and taxonomic scope. We tested the applicability of the abundant-centre hypothesis across a range of intertidal organisms using a large, citizen science-generated data set. Location: UK. Methods: Species' abundance records were matched with their location within their thermal range. Patterns in abundance distribution for individual species, and across aggregated species abundances, were analysed using Kruskal–Wallis tests and quantile general additive models. Results: Individually, invertebrate species showed increasing abundances in the cooler half of the thermal range and decreasing abundances in the warmer half of the thermal range. The overall shape for aggregated invertebrate species abundances reflected a broad peak, with a cool-skewed maximum abundance. Algal species showed little evidence for an abundant-centre distribution individually, but overall the aggregated species abundances suggested a hump-backed abundance distribution

Architecture and emplacement of flood basalt flow fields: case studies from the Columbia River Basalt Group, NW USA

The physical features and morphologies of collections of lava bodies emplaced during single eruptions (known as flow fields) can be used to understand flood basalt emplacement mechanisms. Characteristics and internal features of lava lobes and whole flow field morphologies result from the forward propagation, radial spread, and cooling of individual lobes and are used as a tool to understand the architecture of extensive flood basalt lavas. The features of three flood basalt flow fields from the Columbia River Basalt Group are presented, including the Palouse Falls flow field, a small (8,890 km2, ∼190 km3) unit by common flood basalt proportions, and visualized in three imensions. The architecture of the Palouse Falls flow field is compared to the complex Ginkgo and more extensive Sand Hollow flow fields to investigate the degree to which simple emplacement models represent the style, as well as the spatial and temporal developments, of flow fields. Evidence from each flow field supports emplacement by inflation as the predominant mechanism producing thick lobes. Inflation enables existing lobes to transmit lava to form new lobes, thus extending the advance and spread of lava flow fields. Minimum emplacement timescales calculated for each flow field are 19.3 years for Palouse Falls, 8.3 years for Ginkgo,and 16.9 years for Sand Hollow. Simple flow fields can be traced from vent to distal areas and an emplacement sequence visualized, but those with multiple-layered lobes present a degree of complexity that make lava pathways and emplacement sequences more difficult to identify