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Upward Migration (upward + migration)
Selected AbstractsTranslocation of 15N indicates nitrogen recycling in the mat-forming lichen Cladonia portentosaNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 2 2005C. J. Ellis Summary ,,Nitrogen translocation was measured in Cladonia portentosa during 2 yr growth in Scottish heathland. Translocation was predicted to occur if N is resorbed from senescent basal tissue and recycled within the thallus. ,,15N was introduced into either the lower (TU thalli) or upper (TD thalli) 25 mm of 50-mm-long thalli as 15N-NH4+, 15N-NO3, or 15N-glycine. Labelled thalli were placed within intact lichen cushions, either upright (TU) or inverted (TD). Vertical distribution of label was quantified immediately following labelling and after 1 and 2 yr. ,,Independently of the form of introduced label, 15N migrated upwards in TU thalli, with new growth being a strong sink. Sink regions for 15N during year 1 (including new growth) became sources of 15N translocated to new growth in year 2. Upward migration into inverted bases was minimal in TD thalli, but was again marked in new growth that developed from inverted apices. ,,Relocation of N to regions of growth could facilitate internal N recycling, a process postulated to explain the ecological success of mat-forming lichens. [source] Climate change-driven forest fires marginalize the impact of ice cap wasting on KilimanjaroGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 7 2005Andreas Hemp Abstract The disappearing glaciers of Kilimanjaro are attracting broad interest. Less conspicuous but ecologically far more significant is the associated increase of frequency and intensity of fires on the slopes of Kilimanjaro, which leads to a downward shift of the upper forest line by several hundred meters as a result of a drier (warmer) climate since the last century. In contrast to common belief, global warming does not necessarily cause upward migration of plants and animals. Here, it is shown that on Kilimanjaro the opposite trend is under way, with consequences more harmful than those due to the loss of the showy ice cap of Africa's highest mountain. [source] Predicting the effects of marine climate change on the invertebrate prey of the birds of rocky shoresIBIS, Issue 2004Michael A. Kendall By the end of the 21st century models of climate change predict that the air temperature over most of the British Isles will increase by between 2 and 3 °C and sea-level will rise by 40,50 cm. Over that period it will become windier and mean wave height will increase, as will the frequency of storms. These changes in climate and weather will impact the intertidal zone of the UK and will cause distribution changes in many of the common invertebrate species that live there. Where these changes are severe they may well impact on patterns of distribution of ducks and wading birds. In the British Isles a number of organisms live close to their geographical limits of distribution. Some of these species might be expected to extend their range as climatic restraints are relaxed. Species currently limited by cool summers or winter cold will move northwards. In most cases the effects on the distribution of waterbirds will be small. For example, the replacement of the Northern Limpet Patella vulgata by the Southern Limpet P. depressa is unlikely to adversely affect Eurasian Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus. Of wider concern is the possibility that as climate warms the abundance and productivity of brown algae will decrease. This is likely to have two significant effects for waders. First, it would represent a loss of potentially rich feeding grounds for species such as Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres that feed on small easily desiccated invertebrates living on or below the seaweed. Secondly, as algae die or are broken away the resulting debris is exported to sediment habitats where it considerably boosts the in situ production of bacteria at the base of the food web. An increase in sea-level will only have a major impact on the extent of rocky shore invertebrate communities where shore topography prevents the upward migration of the biota. Where a seawall limits shores, for example, biological production will be curtailed as the area available for colonization decreases. Increases in the size of waves and the frequency of storms will mimic increasing exposure and there will be a significant reduction in algal production in areas that are affected. [source] Climate change and its impact on the forests of KilimanjaroAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2009Andreas Hemp Abstract Cloud forests are of great importance in the hydrological functioning of watersheds in subhumid East Africa. However, the montane forests of Mt. Kilimanjaro are heavily threatened by global change impacts. Based on an evaluation of over 1500 vegetation plots and interpretation of satellite imagery from 1976 and 2000, land-cover changes on Kilimanjaro were evaluated and their impact on the water balance estimated. While the vanishing glaciers of Kilimanjaro attract broad interest, the associated increase of frequency and intensity of fires on the slopes of Kilimanjaro is less conspicuous but ecologically far more significant. These climate change-induced fires have lead to changes in species composition and structure of the forests and to a downward shift of the upper forest line by several hundred metres. During the last 70 years, Kilimanjaro has lost nearly one-third of its forest cover, in the upper areas caused by fire, on the lower forest border mainly caused by clearing. The loss of 150 km2 of cloud forest , the most effective source in the upper montane and subalpine fog interception zone , caused by fire during the last three decades means a considerable reduction in water yield. In contrast to common belief, global warming does not necessarily cause upward migration of plants and animals. On Kilimanjaro the opposite trend is under way, with consequences more harmful than those due to the loss of the showy ice cap of Africa's highest mountain. [source] 83 Comparative analysis of vertically migrating euglena viridis populations in tidal and non-tidal benthic environmentsJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2003M.B. KingstonArticle first published online: 12 JAN 200 Benthic populations of Euglena viridis exhibit vertical migration behavior on high energy intertidal beaches and along the sand banks of freshwater streams. This study examines similarities and differences in the migratory behavior and cell morphology of populations of E. viridis inhabiting Scripps Beach, La Jolla, California and Coble Brook, Burlington, North Carolina. The timing of migration was measured by counting the number of cells in samples collected from the sediment surface throughout the day. Sediment cores were extracted and sectioned to determine the vertical distribution of the population. Neutral density filters and opaque canisters were used to shade the substratum to 56%, 22%, 2%, and 0% of incident irradiance (Io) to examine the effect of light on cell morphology and migratory behavior. On intertidal beaches, E. viridis exhibited a tidal rhythm in vertical migration with cells migrating below the sediment surface at night (>15 cm) and during daytime high tides. In this habitat, the upward migration response was enhanced at irradiances lower than 100% Io but cell morphology was not altered by shading. On the banks of freshwater streams, E. viridis exhibited a diurnal migratory rhythm with both tear-drop and spherical morphologies observed throughout the day. The population was most concentrated at the surface around solar noon and at night it was located between 1 and 2 cm below the surface. Shading did not enhance upward migration but it did affect cell morphology. These results will be interpreted in the context of the dominant selection pressures in each environment. [source] A fossilized Opal A to Opal C/T transformation on the northeast Atlantic margin: support for a significantly elevated Palaeogeothermal gradient during the Neogene?BASIN RESEARCH, Issue 4 2002R. J. Davies ABSTRACT Rock samples , collected from a recent deep-water exploration well drilled in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel, northwest of the UK , confirm that a distinctive high-amplitude seismic reflector that cross-cuts the Upper Palaeogene and Neogene succession and covers an area of 10 000 km2 is an example of a fossilized Opal A to Opal C/T (Cristobalite/Tridymite) transition. Analysis of these rock fragments tied to an extensive two-dimensional and three-dimensional seismic database constrains the time at which the boundary was fossilized and in addition reveals the unusual geometrical characteristics of a relict bottom-simulating reflector. The diagenetic transformation of biogenic silica (Opal A) to Opal C/T is predominantly temperature-controlled and requires sediments that contain biogenic silica. The reflector (termed as Horizon E) probably initially represented a biosiliceous ooze or a siltstone that contained a component of biogenic silica that underwent transformation as the diagenetic front migrated upsection during burial. The parallelism it shows with a shallower early Pliocene reflector and its apparent upsection migration during a compressional episode in the basin indicate that it was active during the middle and late Miocene and ceased activity during the early Pliocene when there was between 200 and 400 m of overburden. The present-day burial depth of the boundary is ca. 700 m and the temperature at the inactive diagenetic front at the well location is 24 °C. Given these temperature and depth constraints, we hypothesize that even if this is an example of a relatively low-temperature Opal A to Opal C/T transformation, a temporarily elevated geothermal gradient of ca. 60 °C km,1 would have been required to initiate and arrest upsection migration of the boundary during the middle and late Miocene. Factors such as climatic deterioration and the onset of cold deep-water circulation are likely to only have had a contributory role in arresting the upward migration of the boundary. [source] | ||||||||||