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Determinants of the abandonment of previously announced capacity expansions are analyzed in eleven industries within the North American pulp and paper sector. Given the investor's initial confidence, extent of precommitment of resources, and post-announcement fresh news, abandonment's likelihood increases with unanticipated projects subsequently announced by rivals. The process suggests a continual auction with the winning projects and firms having certain systematic properties. Unexpected announcements by rivals promote abandonment only in less concentrated industries; elsewhere completion is actually encouraged. Short-run price competition is found highly sensitive to capacity utilization, and the market's geographic scope is tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine if non-native plant species are homogenizing species composition among widely dispersed plant communities. Twenty localities in North America. Species lists among localities were compared to measure the influence of non-native species richness at each locality on the Jaccard Index (JI) of similarity between localities. After removing the effects of distance, because shared native species decreased with distance, three (nonexclusive) lines of evidence indicate that non-native species promote homogenization. First, pairs of sites with a high combined total of non-native species tend to have higher similarity than those with a low total of non-natives. Second, for a given distance, more non-native than native species tended to be shared among localities. Third, whereas most of the site comparisons with high total non-native richness have a non-native/native JI ratio greater than 1 (often much greater), only half of the comparisons with low total non-native richness have a ratio greater than one. These findings provide quantitative support for the widely held, but rarely tested, notion that non-native species tend to homogenize biological communities because they are more commonly shared among communities. Such testing is important as non-native species could theoretically have no impact or even reduce homogenization among communities, if non-native colonizers consist of different species pools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local-regional (LR) species diversity plots were conceived to assess the contribution of regional and local processes in shaping the patterns of biological diversity, but have been used also to explore the scaling of diversity in terms of its alpha, beta, and gamma components. Here we explore the idea that patterns in the geographical ranges of species over a continent can determine the shape of small region to large region (SRLR) plots, which are equivalent to LR plots when comparing the diversity of sites at two regional scales. To test that idea, we analysed the diversity patterns at two regional scales for the mammals of North America, defined as the mainland from Alaska and Canada to Panama. We developed a theoretical model relating average range size of species over a large-scale region with its average regional point species diversity (RPD). Then, we generated a null model of expected SRLR plots based on theoretical predictions. Species diversities at two scales were modelled using linear and saturation functions for Type I and Type II SRLR relationships, respectively. We applied the models to the case of North American mammals by examining the regional diversity and the RPD for 21 large-scale quadrats (with area equal to 160,000 km2), arranged along a latitudinal gradient. Our model showed that continental and large-scale regional patterns of distribution of species can generate both types of SRLR relationship, and that these patterns can be reflected in LR plots without invoking any kind of local processes. We found that North American nonvolant mammals follow a Type I SRLR relationship, whereas bats follow a Type II pattern. This difference was linked to patterns in which species of the two mammalian groups distribute in geographical space. Traditional LR plots and the new SRLR plots are useful tools in exploring the scaling of species diversity and in showing the relationship between distribution and diversity. Their usefulness in comparing the relative role of local and regional processes is, however, very limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To quantify the latitudinal gradient in species richness in the New World Triatominae and to explore the species-energy and area hypotheses as possible causes. The gradient was studied for North and South America, between 43° N and 32° S. A database was constructed containing the geographical distribution of the 118 New World Triatominae species based on data extracted from several published sources. Species richness was recorded as the number of species present within 5° latitudinal bands. We used univariate and multivariate models to analyse the relationship between area within each latitudinal belt, land surface temperature, and potential evapotranspiration as explanatory variables, and species richness. All variables were georeferenced and data were extracted using a GIS. Species richness of Triatominae increases significantly from the poles towards the Equator, peaking over the 5°−10 ° S latitudinal band. It increases according to a linear model, both north and south of the Equator, although a quadratic model fits better to southern hemisphere data. Richness correlates with habitable geographical area, when it is analysed through a nonlinear multiple regression factoring out latitude, only in the southern hemisphere. Regarding the species-energy hypothesis, a multiple regression analysis controlling the effect of latitude shows a significant relationship between temperature and species richness. This effect is more pronounced in the southern hemisphere. Species richness shows a strong longitudinal trend south of the Equator (increasing to the east), but not north of the Equator. This differential pattern is reflected in significant interactions between longitude and both latitude and temperature in models of the species richness of the New World Triatominae. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a latitudinal gradient in species richness has been shown and analysed for obligate haematophagous organisms, and it shows that the species–energy hypothesis can account for this phenomenon. This relationship is stronger in the southern hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relative contributions of current vs. historical factors in explaining broad-scale diversity gradients using a combination of contemporary factors and a quantitative estimate of the temporal accessibility of areas for recolonization created by glacial retreat following the most recent Ice Age. The part of the Nearctic region of North America that was covered by ice sheets during the glacial maximum 20 000 BP. We used range maps to estimate the species richness of mammals and terrestrial birds in 48 400 km2 cells. Current conditions in each cell were quantified using seven climatic and topographical variables. Historical conditions were estimated using the number of years before present when an area became exposed as the ice sheets retreated during the post-Pleistocene climate warming. We attempted to tease apart contemporary and historical effects using multiple regression, partial regression and spatial autocorrelation analysis. A measure of current energy inputs, potential evapotranspiration, explained 76–82% of the variance in species richness, but time since deglaciation explained an additional 8–13% of the variance, primarily due to effects operating at large spatial scales. Because of spatial covariation between the historical climates influencing the melting of the ice sheet and current climates, it was not possible to partition their effects fully, but of the independent effects that could be identified, current climate explained two to seven times more variance in richness patterns than age. Factors acting in the present appear to have the strongest influence on the diversity gradient, but an historical signal persisting at least 13 000 years is still detectable. This has implications for modelling changes in diversity patterns in response to future global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents editors and publishers' notes for the January 2005 issue of the "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology." Opening of the publication's office in North America; International mix of the papers in the issue; Citing of a paper from Spain on the effect of CYP2C8 polymorphism on the disposition of (R)-ibuprofen; Paper submission.

Societal Impact Statement: Over the last 50 years, the practice of 'intercropping' (planting a mixture of several crops on the same field) has drawn growing attention in crop science. Given its high yields but low requirement for fertiliser or pesticides, it offers considerable advantages over conventional 'industrial' agriculture. Nevertheless, although research on intercropping has been conducted since the late 19th century, that work became largely invisible after 1945 as the rapid rise of industrial agriculture erased alternative approaches from view. Since the 1970s, however, intercropping and other alternatives have reappeared on the research agenda as the damaging impacts of industrial agriculture have become evident. Summary: Intercropping has long been of interest in agro‐ecology. Indeed, as the first generation of (English‐speaking) agro‐ecologists saw it, research on intercropping began in the 1970s and 1980s just as the field was beginning to emerge. Although the evidence confirms a rapid increase in such work from the 1970s, however, what nearly all agro‐ecologists then overlooked was the existence of two older traditions of work dating from the late 19th century. The aim of this paper is to explain why early agro‐ecologists were unaware of previous work. The history of research on intercropping in both the English‐ and German‐speaking worlds was traced using the journal literature as well as textbooks of agronomy. What this survey revealed is that in Europe and North America, agronomists had been working on intercropping since the 1890s, and during the interwar period and into the 1950s, the practice attracted considerable attention from colonial agronomists. Although this early work was in the public domain during the 1970s, however, few agro‐ecologists noticed it. There are various reasons why the first generation of agro‐ecologists might have known about but chose to ignore earlier work on intercropping. But more likely is that most members of that generation were simply unaware of the older work. For the forgotten history of intercropping, research appears to be just one aspect of a more general phenomenon during the 20th century in which a wide variety of 'alternative' cultivation practices were marginalised after 1945, only to re‐emerge from the 1970s as the social and environmental consequences of industrial agriculture came under attack. Over the last 50 years, the practice of 'intercropping' (planting a mixture of several crops on the same field) has drawn growing attention in crop science. Given its high yields but low requirement for fertiliser or pesticides, it offers considerable advantages over conventional 'industrial' agriculture. Nevertheless, although research on intercropping has been conducted since the late 19th century, that work became largely invisible after 1945 as the rapid rise of industrial agriculture erased alternative approaches from view. Since the 1970s, however, intercropping and other alternatives have reappeared on the research agenda as the damaging impacts of industrial agriculture have become evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many invasive and some native tree species in North America exhibit strong allelopathic effects that may contribute to their local dominance. Pyrogenic carbon (PyC; including soot, charcoal, and black carbon) is produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter and is widespread in forest soils. Many forms of PyC have sorptive properties that can reduce the bioavailability of allelochemicals. We investigated the potential for PyC produced by controlled pyrolysis of biomass ("biochar" [BC]) to reduce the allelopathic effects of black walnut (Juglans nigra) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides), a common native tree species and a widespread invasive species in North America, respectively. Seedling growth of two native tree species (Acer saccharinum [silver maple] and Betula papyrifera [paper birch]) in response to leaf‐litter‐incubated soils was examined; litter incubation treatments included leaves of black walnut, Norway maple, and a nonallelopathic species (Tilia americana [American basswood]) in a factorial design with varying dosages; responses to the known primary allelochemical of black walnut (juglone) were also examined. Juglone and leaf litter of both allelopathic species strongly suppressed seedling growth. BC treatments substantially mitigated these effects, consistent with the sorption of allelochemicals; in contrast no positive effects of BC were observed in leaf litter treatments involving controls or additions of nonallelopathic leaf litter. Treatments of leaf litter and juglone with BC increased the total biomass of silver maple by ~35% and in some cases more than doubled the biomass of paper birch. We conclude that BCs have the capacity to largely counteract allelopathic effects in temperate forest systems, suggesting the effects of natural PyC in determining forest community structure, and also the applied use of BC as a soil amendment to mitigate allelopathic effects of invasive tree species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess how and to what extent socioeconomic status and ethnicity/race of participants are reported in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on systemic sclerosis (SSc), and to estimate the representativeness of different ethnic/racial groups in SSc RCTs. Methods: We searched all published RCTs on SSc indexed in PubMed. We retrieved information on main features of RCTs published from 2000 onward and recorded for each study whether race/ethnicity was reported; how ethnicity/race was defined and assigned; and the number of patients included for each racial/ethnic group. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with race/ethnicity reporting. Proportion of races/ethnicities included in US‐based RCTs on SSc was examined and compared with US demographic data. Results: We included 106 studies, mostly conducted in Europe (42%) or North America (25%), published after 2010 (74%), and enrolling a total of 6,693 patients. About one‐third of studies provided information about race/ethnicity, with no improved reporting over time. Only 2 papers reported patient's socioeconomic status. Study location (US or intercontinental) was the only significant factor associated with a better reporting of race/ethnicity in multivariable analysis. In studies where race/ethnicity was reported, White patients were mostly represented (79%), followed by Asian (7%), and African American (6%). In the sensitivity analysis limited to studies from the US, underrepresentation of African American patients was observed in the 2000–2010 time period, but not later. Conclusion: Documentation of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status is poor in RCTs on SSc. More effort should be made to document race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status and to promote diversity in SSc RCTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus here on questions regarding the craft of producing operations management (OM) research manuscripts. Are the journals we publish in too siloed, with regard to participating authors and institutions? Likewise, are the OM departments we work in too intellectually siloed by virtue of journal choice—are there too many like minds? In light of who publishes in our journals and who we coauthor with, is our field "global enough" or is North America weighing too heavily? We also strive to answer a question faced by many OM departments: should highly published faculty be hired from other schools? How do such highly published authors influence those around them? We arrive at partial answers to these questions by exploring an extensive history of publication data from four journals: Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Management Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green's function approach is well‐established and widely used for modeling the surface mass loading displacements. Global mean Green's functions (MGFs) are commonly applied without considering local variations of the crustal structure. Derived from the modified layered Earth structure, the local Green's functions (LGFs) are theoretically beneficial to generate more accurate deformation, since they consider interior information of the local crust. This paper analyzed the differences among MGFs from Gutenberg–Bullen A model and two sets of LGFs derived from modified PREM Earth models consolidating with two crust models TEA12 and CRUST1.0, hereafter called PREMTEA and PREMCRU, respectively. Utilizing MGFs and two sets of LGFs, we modeled the corresponding 3D atmospheric loading displacements for 984 ITRF2014 stations and compared them with the ITRF2014 residuals. The results show that LGFs from PREMTEA and PREMCRU perform well in further promoting scatter reduction for ∼72%, ∼56%, and ∼85% of stations for the Up, East and North components, respectively. The improvements for the North components are significant (up to 3.6%). In particular, stations in the east coastal areas of North America and the west edge of Greenland exhibit further promoting scatter reduction for the East components (up to ∼2.5%), while those located in west coastline of North America show better performance for the North components. Nevertheless, there are significant anomalies in northern Europe for PREMCRU, the mutation margin of which should be carefully considered when using a resolution higher than 1°. In the area around station MORP (358.31°W, 55.21°N, sited at coastline of Britain), we suggest using PREMTEA model. Plain Language Summary: In any location worldwide, we employ a consistent set of numbers, known as load Green's functions that characterize the elastic properties of the Earth, to model the deformation caused by mass transfer on Earth's surface, which is referred to as surface mass loading effects. Most research and data products adopt same set of global mean Green's functions for any location on Earth, which neglects the differences in elastic properties of various regions of the Earth, leading to modeling errors to some extent. This study aims to optimize the modeling using local load Green's functions, with the objective of obtaining results that are more theoretically valuable. "Local" means that the Green's functions for each site are derived from an Earth model that takes into account the local crustal structure. The modeled atmospheric loading displacements exhibit enhanced alignment with GNSS position time series. This, in turn, further elucidates that deformations can be more attributed to atmospheric loading. Moreover, the model shows improved performance in the horizontal components when compared to the vertical components. Key Points: Local load Green's Functions enable a more precise modeling of loading displacements than global mean Green's FunctionsThe modeled atmospheric loading displacements based on Local Green's Functions can improve scatter reduction of GNSS position time seriesTwo sets of local load Green's Functions, based on CRUST1.0 model and TEA12 model, are compared. We recommend TEA12 for European region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an application of quantile generalized additive models (QGAMs) to study spatially compounding climate extremes, namely extremes that occur (near‐) simultaneously in geographically remote regions. We take as an example wintertime cold spells in North America and co‐occurring wet or windy extremes in Western Europe, which we collectively term Pan‐Atlantic compound extremes. QGAMS are largely novel in climate science applications and present a number of key advantages over conventional statistical models of weather extremes. Specifically, they remove the need for a direct identification and parametrization of the extremes themselves, since they model all quantiles of the distributions of interest. They thus make use of all information available, and not only of a small number of extreme values. Moreover, they do not require any a priori knowledge of the functional relationship between the predictors and the dependent variable. Here, we use QGAMs to both characterize the co‐occurrence statistics and investigate the role of possible dynamical drivers of the Pan‐Atlantic compound extremes. We find that cold spells in North America are a useful predictor of subsequent wet or windy extremes in Western Europe, and that QGAMs can predict those extremes more accurately than conventional peak‐over‐threshold models. Plain Language Summary: In this paper we propose a new data‐driven method to study climate extremes occurring simultaneously in multiple, possibly remote, locations. Such extremes can pose a greater threat to human societies than single, isolated extremes, as their effects may exacerbate each other and lead to correlated losses. The method we suggest requires fewer assumptions than conventional extreme value statistical techniques, and can help us to identify previously unknown relationships between the extremes themselves and their possible drivers. We exemplify its use by studying the co‐occurrence of periods of unusually cold weather in North America and subsequent uncommonly strong wind and abundant precipitation in Western Europe. We find that the new method has better predictive power for the European extremes than conventional statistical approaches. Furthermore, we confirm the results of previous studies suggesting an association between the wintertime extremes in North America and Western Europe. Key Points: Quantile general additive models (QGAMs) can model the relationship between compound climate extremes flexibly and robustlyNorth American cold spells show some predictive skill for wet or windy extremes in Western Europe, even when accounting for confoundersGiven relevant atmospheric predictors, QGAMs can predict these extremes more accurately than peak‐over‐threshold models in most regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because ungulates are important contributors to ecosystem function, understanding the "ecology of fear" could be important to the conservation of ecosystems. Although studying ungulate ecology of fear is common, knowledge from ungulate systems is highly contested among ecologists. Here, we review the available literature on the ecology of fear in ungulates to generalize our current knowledge and how we can leverage it for conservation. Four general focus areas emerged from the 275 papers included in our literature search (and some papers were included in multiple categories): behavioral responses to predation risk (79%), physiological responses to predation risk (15%), trophic cascades resulting from ungulate responses to predation risk (20%), and manipulation of predation risk (1%). Of papers focused on behavior, 75% were about movement and habitat selection. Studies were biased toward North America (53%), tended to be focused on elk (Cervus canadensis; 29%), and were dominated by gray wolves (40%) or humans (39%) as predators of interest. Emerging literature suggests that we can utilize predation risk for conservation with top‐down (i.e., increasing predation risk) and bottom‐up (i.e., manipulating landscape characteristics to increase risk or risk perception) approaches. It is less clear whether fear‐related changes in physiology have population‐level fitness consequences or cascading effects, which could be fruitful avenues for future research. Conflicting evidence of trait‐mediated trophic cascades might be improved with better replication across systems and accounting for confounding effects of ungulate density. Improving our understanding of mechanisms modulating the nature of trophic cascades likely is most important to ensure desirable conservation outcomes. We recommend future work embrace the complexity of natural systems by attempting to link together the focal areas of study identified herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased mobility of people around the globe has facilitated transferring species to new environments, where some have found suitable conditions and even become invasive. False indigo‐bush (Amorpha fruticosa L.) is a plant native to North America but has intentionally or unintentionally spread over the Northern Hemisphere, where it often becomes invasive. The plant is especially easily dispersed within the watersheds of large rivers, where seasonal flooding is regular. Seeds and other propagules are buoyant, and when the water recedes, new plants emerge, forming dense thickets where only a few other species can co‐exist. In order to sustain native biodiversity, spread control is needed. However, mechanical control and eradication measures currently in use are labor demanding and costly, while application of herbicides is limited. On the other hand, the plant possesses a number of beneficial properties, such as phytochemical applications (medical and insecticidal effects), biocoenotic uses (honey plant, ornamental features), and ecosystem services (soil stabilization, provision of food for animals, and fiber and biomass for industry, e.g., nanocellulose). For the reasons above mentioned, the plant is considered quite controversial, and the paper discusses both aspects: potential detrimental effects when introduced to new habitats and its beneficial uses for human society. In addition, the paper presents alternative measures of spreading control (e.g., grazing) and argues that exploiting it for beneficial purposes might help spread control, thus covering the expenses of controlling its distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Much of what is known about invasion biology is based on research conducted in North America and Europe, leading to limitations and potential biases in our knowledge. We address these limitations by conducting a systematic review to assess the literature on ecological studies of two major tropical and subtropical invasive plant species, Ageratina adenophora and Chromolaena odorata. Our goals were to: (1) collect the literature on the invasion biology of these species by broadly searching five databases (one international and four regional); (2) determine limitations to the international literature available in the ISI Web of Science (WOS); (3) quantitatively summarize the scope of the invasion literature on the two species; and (4) propose future studies based on what we found. Location: Global. Methods: Using specific search terms, we searched the literature for A. adenophora and C. odorata in the ISI WOS, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Indian Journals, Nepal Journals Online and African Journals Online (AJOL). We extracted information on journal titles, publication years, study area locations, habitats investigated and study focus. Results: We found 101 papers for A. adenophora and 61 papers for C. odorata, published from 1987 to 2015. A high percentage of the studies were conducted in China, western and southern Africa, and India. Studies from WOS most frequently focused on the mechanism of invasion, while studies from CNKI and AJOL focused on the impacts of the invader. Main conclusions: Web of Science is not sufficient for generalizing about the invasion biology literature, particularly if the goal is a comprehensive assessment that includes areas other than North America, Hawaii, Europe, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. In future systematic reviews, other databases should be used if possible, including those in languages other than English. For future research, several research areas should be studied more thoroughly for A. adenophora and C. odorata invasions, including possible multiple factors responsible for invasion, and impacts of co-occurring invasive species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we obtained the first leading mode and principal component 1 (PC1) of North Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). The PC1‐related SST anomalies, located relatively north/south, are referred to as North/South PC1 events. Model outputs, observations, reanalysis datasets and sensitivity experiments show that during the North PC1 events, an enhanced Aleutian low occurs and is located relatively north, favoring anomalous southerlies over western North America. The anomalous southerlies induce a strong warming anomaly over North America via warm advection of the anomalous southerlies and temperature advection of the climatological westerlies over North America. However, the Aleutian low anomaly and corresponding southerly anomaly associated with South PC1 events shift southward, favoring weakened effects of South PC1 events on atmospheric circulations and surface temperatures over North America. The meridional position of PC1 events deserves to be considered in the studies of the PC1 and its related climate changes. Plain Language Summary: Understanding of surface temperature variations is important since it largely affects human and society. This paper categorizes the North Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly events, which are associated with the first leading mode of North Pacific sea surface temperature, into North and South events according to their meridional positions. Using model outputs, observations, reanalysis datasets and sensitivity experiments, we found that the surface temperature anomalies over North America during the North events are quite different from those during the South events. During the North events, an enhanced Aleutian low occurs over high‐latitude North Pacific. The enhanced Aleutian low tends to induce anomalous southerlies over western North America. The anomalous southerlies favor warming anomalies over North America via the warm advection of anomalous southerlies and temperature advection of climatological westerly. However, the Aleutian low anomaly and meridional wind anomaly during the South events shift southward, leading to weakened effects of the South events on atmospheric circulations and surface temperatures over North America. Key Points: North American warming anomaly occurs during North Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly events located northThe warming anomaly is related to an enhanced Aleutian low anomaly located north and climatological westerlyDuring the events located south, North American surface temperature responses are weak due to a southward‐shift Aleutian low anomaly [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much has changed in the realms of occupational licensing since BJIR last ran a special issue on the subject in 2010. The number of occupations subject to licensing has been growing, the data available to investigate the incidence and effects of licensing have improved immeasurably, and the policy environment surrounding licensing has changed. This issue reflects these changes with eight papers from North America and Europe covering the incidence of licensing, and its effects on wages, inequality, employment, quality of service provision and rent extraction by the organizations who undertake licensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryland woodland ecosystems worldwide have experienced widespread drought‐ and heat‐related tree mortality events coupled with extreme wildfire behavior. In contrast to other forest types where the emphasis has been on the silvicultural enhancement of ecosystem resilience and restoration of structural heterogeneity, limited frameworks are available for management to improve drought resilience in semiarid woodlands. This challenge is especially acute in pinyon–juniper woodlands, a dominant vegetation type across western North America that has experienced extensive tree die‐off over the past several decades while simultaneously undergoing expansion in portions of its range. In this paper, we describe the critical and urgent need to manage for future drought resilience in these highly vulnerable ecosystems and synthesize the current state of knowledge on how to enhance woodland resilience to drought coupled with high temperatures and associated disturbances. We present a landscape prioritization framework for guiding management goals and practices that requires prioritization of efforts based on the need for action and the probability of a positive outcome. Four guiding factors include historical woodland structure and drivers of long‐term landscape change, current vegetation structure and composition, future climate suitability, and habitat and resource value. In summarizing the strength of evidence supporting our recommendations, we identify critical knowledge gaps and highlight the importance of adaptive management strategies that reflect current uncertainties. This will ultimately allow for improved management of diverse semiarid woodland ecosystems that are undergoing substantial changes due to past and present land use, biological invasions, and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Warming climate and precipitation changes induce notable shifts in climate zones. In this study, the latest generation of global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) and the previous generation CMIP5 under high‐emission scenarios are used together with observations and applied to the Köppen‐Geiger climate classification. The aim is to shed light on how projected warming and changes in precipitation will influence future climate zones and their associated ecosystems while revealing differences between the two model generations. Compared to CMIP5 models, CMIP6 models exhibit slightly improved performance in replicating the observed Köppen‐Geiger map for the historical (1976–2005) period and similar inter‐model agreement for the future. The models show major changes in climate zones with a range of projections depending on which ensemble subset is used: 37.9%–48.1% of the global land area is projected to change climate zone by the end of the century, with the most pronounced changes expected over Europe (71.4%–88.6%) and North America (51.2%–65.8%). CMIP6 models project a higher rate of areal climate zone change (km2/year) throughout the 21st century, which is mainly driven by their greater global land warming rates. Using a likely equilibrium climate sensitivity subset of CMIP6 models that is consistent with the latest evidence constrains the climate zone shifts, and their projections better match the results of CMIP5 simulations. Although the high warming rates of some CMIP6 models are less credible, the risks associated with them are greater, and they heighten the need for urgent action to preserve terrestrial ecosystems. Plain Language Summary: Köppen‐Geiger climate classification is a tool to map regional climate zones based on a region's temperature and precipitation. In recent decades, increasing temperatures and changing precipitation trends have started to affect the distribution of those climate zones, and more extensive changes are expected throughout the 21st century. In this paper, we assess the observed and expected changes in the global distribution of Köppen‐Geiger climate zones using observations along with the latest and the previous generation of global climate model projections. We find that shifts in climate zones are more pronounced in the latest generation of models due to their questionable greater global warming rate projections. Depending on which subset of model projections is used, up to half of the Earth's land area faces the risk of shifting to a different climate zone by the end of the century, with the greatest changes expected in Europe and North America. The rate of change (affected area per year) is also projected to accelerate through the 21st century, suggesting that vulnerable species and agricultural practices might have less time to adapt to changes in climate zones than previously projected. Key Points: Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) exhibits slightly improved performance in simulating the globally observed historical Köppen‐Geiger climate zones compared to CMIP5By the end of the century, 38%–48% of the global land area is projected to be in a different climate zone than todayThe rate of climate zone change is projected to accelerate, with more pronounced rates in CMIP6 due to considerably higher warming rates [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a composite absolute paleointensity record for Holocene paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) from central North America. Twelve full‐vector (inclination, declination, paleointensity) PSV records were assessed in order to build the composite record. Nine of the paleointensity records come from sediment paleomagnetic studies and are considered relative in intensity. Three of the paleointensity records come from absolute paleointensity measurements of archeological materials and lava flows. This paper develops a new method to normalize the sediment relative paleointensity records to the absolute intensity records. The final composite paleointensity record describes intensity variability over a region of Central North America delineated by 35°–48.6°N and 240.4–291.4°E (∼14° × 50°). This composite record shows a distinctive long‐duration (∼104 year) oscillation and a series of millennial‐scale intensity oscillations that are consistent over our study region. Plain Language Summary: This study develops a composite record of geomagnetic field intensity for the central North America for the last 8,000 years. This record is important for considering the total geomagnetic field variability I this region and its dynamo source(s). Key Points: We develop a new composite absolute paleointensity record for Holocene Central North AmericaWe develop a new renormalization technique to combine absolute paleointensity records and sediment relative paleointensity recordsThe final composite absolute paleointensity record has a distinctive long‐term trend and millennial‐scale variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Atmospheric inversions provide estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes between the surface and atmosphere based on atmospheric CO2 concentration observations. The number of CO2 observations is projected to increase severalfold in the next decades from expanding in situ networks and next‐generation CO2‐observing satellites, providing both an opportunity and a challenge for inversions. This study introduces the TRACE Regional Atmosphere–Carbon Ensemble (TRACE) system, which employ an ensemble‐based simultaneous state and parameter estimation (ESSPE) approach to enable the assimilation of large volumes of observations for constraining CO2 flux parameters. TRACE uses an online full‐physics mesoscale atmospheric model and assimilates observations serially in a coupled atmosphere–carbon ensemble Kalman filter. The data assimilation system was tested in a series of observing system simulation experiments using in situ observations for a regional domain over North America in summer. Under ideal conditions with known prior flux parameter error covariances, TRACE reduced the error in domain‐integrated monthly CO2 fluxes by about 97% relative to the prior flux errors. In a more realistic scenario with unknown prior flux error statistics, the corresponding relative error reductions ranged from 80.6% to 88.5% depending on the specification of prior flux parameter error correlations. For regionally integrated fluxes on a spatial scale of 106 km2, the sum of absolute errors was reduced by 34.5%–50.9% relative to the prior flux errors. Moreover, TRACE produced posterior uncertainty estimates that were consistent with the true errors. These initial experiments show that the ESSPE approach in TRACE provides a promising method for advancing CO2 inversion techniques. Plain Language Summary: To gain a better understanding of the main drivers behind atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) variations and trends, it is essential to accurately quantify CO2 exchanges—also known as fluxes—between the atmosphere and other components of the Earth system. It is generally not possible to directly measure surface CO2 fluxes at regional scales; however, fluxes can be inferred from a network of atmospheric CO2 concentration observations combined with atmospheric modeling and inversion methods, which seek to find the most likely fluxes given prior knowledge and observational evidence. This paper presents a new regional inversion framework called TRACE Regional Atmosphere–Carbon Ensemble (TRACE) for deriving CO2 fluxes at high resolution in space and time. One of the major innovations in TRACE is the ensemble‐based dual state and parameter estimation approach, which makes it computationally feasible to ingest large volumes of observations into the system. A series of experiments were carried out in a domain over North America to test the new framework in a controlled setting. In the experiments, we used synthetic tower observations of atmospheric CO2 concentrations to constrain parameters controlling terrestrial biogenic and oceanic CO2 fluxes. The results show that TRACE is capable of accurately estimating both the magnitude and spatial pattern of regional CO2 fluxes. Key Points: An ensemble‐based simultaneous state and parameter estimation approach is introduced for regional CO2 flux inversionsThe new dual‐state TRACE Regional Atmosphere–Carbon Ensemble (TRACE) framework provides a flexible platform for conducting coupled atmosphere–carbon data assimilationControlled experiments show that TRACE is effective at constraining regional CO2 fluxes using in situ CO2 concentration observations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the internal structure in complex, multi-unit organizations such as a multinational corporation (MNC) is not homogeneous throughout the organization, but is systematically differentiated so as to 'fit' the different environmental and resource contingencies faced by the different national subsidiaries. Based on a survey of 66 of the largest European and North American MNCs, yielding data on 618 cases of headquarters-subsidiary relations, it is shown that the different contextual conditions faced by the different subsidiaries of the MNC can be meaningfully classified into four generic situations. Furthermore, for each of these situations the exchange relation between the MNC headquarters and the subsidiary is characterized by a 'fit' governance structure consisting of a different combination of structural elements such as centralization of authority, formalization of rules and systems, and normative integration of members. Following the existing literature, these 'fit' structures are labeled in this paper as hierarchical, federative, clan and integrative. The multinational is then described as an internally differentiated organization in which each headquarters-subsidiary link corresponds to one or the other of these administrative forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of newsprint prices. This paper presents a model of price determination for newsprint in eastern North America. The first part of the paper contains a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon. The proposed theory indicates that costs and operating rate are the main determinants of newsprint prices. The model is then estimated with quarterly data extending from 1933 to 1971. The threshold regression technique is used to take account of the observed rigidities in price variations. The numerical results are in complete agreement with the suggested theory. They also indicate that the industry break-even point, where long-run equilibrium price meets average total cost, corresponds to an operating rate of approximately 70 per cent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats frequently inhabit caves and other subterranean habitats and play a critical role in subterranean food webs. With escalating threats to subterranean ecosystems, identifying the most effective measures to protect subterranean‐roosting bats is critical. We conducted a meta‐analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation and management interventions for subterranean‐roosting bats. We used network analyses to determine to what extent interventions for bats overlap those used for other subterranean taxa. We conducted our analyses with data extracted from 345 papers recommending a total of 910 conservation interventions. Gating of roost entrances was applied to preserve bat populations in 21 studies, but its effectiveness was unclear. Habitat restoration and disturbance reduction positively affected bat populations and bat behavior, respectively, in ≤4 studies. Decontamination was assessed in 2 studies and positively affected bat populations, particularly in studies focused on reducing fungal spores associated with white‐nose syndrome in North America. Monitoring of bat populations as an effective conservation strategy was unclear and infrequently tested. Only 4% of bat studies simultaneously considered other subterranean organisms. However, effective interventions for bat conservation had similarities with all other organisms. If other subterranean organisms are considered when applying interventions to conserve bats, they might also benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition of formation waters within the upper basaltic crust were calculated or measured at 24 sites on the northwest portion of the Juan de Fuca (JDF) Plate using data from sediment pore waters, scientific boreholes, and seafloor springs. Formation waters differ in composition across this ridge‐flank region because of variations in water‐rock reactions and residence times, exchange rates with overlying sediment pore waters, and microbial processes along flow paths. We interpret spatial variations in the solute composition of formation waters to resolve areas that are geochemically distinct or similar, lateral trends that result from water transport, areas where water‐rock reactions in the deeper crust are apparent, and sites of seawater recharge and formation water discharge. We provide evidence for large‐scale lateral flow associated with two (mostly) buried basement ridges on ∼1.4 and ∼3.5 Ma seafloor, which are subparallel to the JDF spreading axis to the west. Between these two ridges, where the seafloor and the sediment‐basement interface are relatively flat, formation waters have undergone extensive exchange with overlying sediment pore waters, consistent with a long residence time. Basaltic outcrops provide sites of seawater recharge and hydrothermal discharge, sometimes through the same feature, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of hydrogeologic conditions and processes. This work provides a blueprint for future plate‐scale studies to assess, for example, geologic controls of crustal age, spreading rate, and sedimentation on subsurface hydrologic patterns. Plain Language Summary: Seawater flows through the upper volcanic crust like groundwater in aquifers on land. As seawater moves through basaltic rocks it becomes altered from reaction with crustal rocks and microbes and from mixing with other fluids. The magnitude of this flow is significant with discharge from the oceanic crust equivalent to the discharge of Earth's rivers to the ocean. This paper combines geochemical data from crustal formation waters at 24 locations across a vast area in the northeastern Pacific Ocean offshore of North America. These data characterize hydrologic processes including: subseafloor areas that are well connected or isolated from each other, places where crustal formation waters appear to travel tens of kilometers through the seafloor, and other areas where sites separated by just a few kilometers are poorly connected. We also document sites where basaltic outcrops allow cool seawater to recharge into the ocean crust, and other outcrops where reacted crustal waters discharge. By combining data collected over decades at multiple sites across a vast region, we developed a nuanced understanding of subsurface plate‐scale transport of crustal formation waters, improving our understand of how the oceanic crust evolves and the impact it has on the composition of seawater. Key Points: Systematic differences in the chemical composition of ridge‐flank, crustal waters define patterns of solute transport within a 104 km2 areaSome ridge‐flank regions are hydrogeologically isolated, and other areas are connected across distances of kilometers to tens of kilometersHydrothermal discharge and recharge occur mainly though volcanic rock outcrops, with some outcrops both recharging and discharging [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric motors are highly customizable products that have to meticulously comply with the client's needs, commercial and legal requirements of each market. In this context, the configure‐to‐order (CTO) approach allows the user to define the product configuration at the time of the order and the supplier to develop a product that meets the customer's needs. This paper presents an object‐oriented knowledge‐based system (OOKBS) that integrates rule‐ and case‐based reasoning to verify the compliance of a variant‐rich and complex product—electric motors—in a multinational‐level company. The system adopts a modular structure to evaluate distinct compliance aspects, such as technical constraints and commercial requirements, and to improve the compliance assessment based on the designs of motors previously sold. The work targeted a product line with significant market share in North America, and is the result of a collaboration among the following teams: product compliance, international sales, engineering systems, and product engineering. In total, the system development involved nine experts from these areas. This study has the originality of presenting a product configuration system (PCS) that integrates rule‐based and case‐based approaches to verify the compliance of a modular product. The results indicate a reduction of 73% of internal technical queries within the prototype scope. Moreover, the system usability tests highlight the completeness of outcomes, quick access to information, and easy integration of automatic product compliance verification into the company's design flow. Furthermore, we discussed how the system was effectively implemented in a design routine based on both concurrent engineering and CTO scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of evidence for large‐scale glacial landscapes on Mars has led to the belief that ancient glaciations had to be frozen to the ground. Here we propose that the fingerprints of Martian wet‐based glaciation should be the remnants of the ice sheet drainage system instead of landforms generally associated with terrestrial ice sheets. We use the terrestrial glacial hydrology framework to interrogate how the Martian surface gravity affects glacial hydrology, ice sliding, and glacial erosion. Taking as reference the ancient southern circumpolar ice sheet that deposited the Dorsa Argentea formation, we compare the theoretical behavior of identical ice sheets on Mars and Earth and show that, whereas on Earth glacial drainage is predominantly inefficient, enhancing ice sliding and erosion, on Mars the lower gravity favors the formation of efficient subglacial drainage. The apparent lack of large‐scale glacial fingerprints on Mars, such as drumlins or lineations, is to be expected. Plain Language Summary: Water accumulates under ice masses, including glaciers and ice sheets, lubricating the base of the ice and accelerating ice motion. On Earth, this glacial motion has produced scoured landscapes in northern Europe and North America. Mars lacks such large‐scale glacial erosion even in areas with other signs of widespread glaciation. This paper uses the existing framework describing the physical interactions of water and ice, and how they affect ice motion, to show that a lack of landforms recording glacial erosion is expected even if glaciation were widespread on Mars. Key Points: Glacial hydrology feedback dynamics can explain the lack of glacial sliding on the Martian geological recordSubglacial water drainage develops faster, and is more resilient under lower Martian gravityThe fingerprints of Martian wet‐based glaciation are predicted to be channels and eskers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the status of the Finnish chemical industry in 2008. According to Finnish Chemical Industry Federation (CIF), the sector is facing tough times in 2008, and weak demand for paper in Europe and North America, high wood prices, and the U.S. recession have all hit hard. It mentions that the sector grew 4.5 in 2007, but reduced capacity in the paper and pulp industry, and is expected to hit the bottom line in 2008. Also, the output of the plastics sector declined almost 4% in 2007, because of the slowdown in the construction industry.

A growing body of empirical literature supports key assertions of the resource-based view. However, most of this work examines the impact of firm-specific resources on the overall performance of a firm. In this paper it is argued that, in some circumstances, adopting the effectiveness of business processes as a dependent variable may be more appropriate than adopting overall firm performance as a dependent variable. This idea is tested by examining the determinants of the effectiveness of the customer service business process in a sample of North American insurance companies. Results are consistent with resource-based expectations, and they show that distinctive advantages observable at the process level are not necessarily reflected in firm level performance. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed along with a discussion of the relationship between resources and capabilities, on the one hand, and business processes, activities, and routines, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares surface signatures of the zonally symmetric and asymmetric modes of stratospheric variability, which describe the strength of the polar vortex and a planetary wave‐1 pattern, respectively. Unlike a weak polar vortex followed by negative Arctic Oscillation–like anomalies, strong stratospheric wave activity features a polar vortex displacement with a deep planetary wave‐1 structure, resulting in positive North Atlantic Oscillation–like North American cooling in about 10 days. Moreover, the linkage between the stratosphere and surface is examined in two reanalyzes and four models of different configurations, which show more robust North American cooling following the displacement of the polar vortex due to strong stratospheric wave activity than the zonally symmetric weakening of the polar vortex. This suggests strong stratospheric wave activity acts as a better predictor for cold spells in the northern U.S. and Canada compared with a weak polar vortex. Plain Language Summary: A weak polar vortex in the winter stratosphere is likely associated with cold spells at the surface, yet there are large uncertainties in predicting surface cold events based on stratospheric signals. This study introduces a new method to separate stratospheric variability into the leading modes of zonally symmetric and asymmetric circulations. The zonally symmetric mode describes the strength of the polar vortex. A weak polar vortex is followed by cooling over northern Eurasia and midlatitude North America. In contrast, the zonally asymmetric mode characterizes a displacement of the polar vortex or a planetary wave‐1 pattern, with the positive phase featuring a high anomaly over North America and a low anomaly over Eurasia. This stratospheric wave pattern extends down to the surface, resulting in North American cooling and Eurasian warming in about 10 days. While both stratospheric modes are associated with surface cooling over North America, the linkage is more robust for the displacement than the zonally symmetric weakening of the polar vortex, based on analyses of several reanalyzes and models. This indicates that strong stratospheric wave activity serves as a better predictor for cold air outbreaks in the northern U.S. and Canada than the commonly used weak polar vortex events. Key Points: Distinct North American cooling signatures follow zonally symmetric and asymmetric modes of the stratosphereStrong stratospheric wave activity precedes positive North Atlantic Oscillation like North American coolingThe linkage between the stratospheric wave activity and the surface is robust in reanalyzes and models [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author reflects on the strategy of the editorial team of the journal in improving the standard of the journal. He says that the team will work on strengthening some aspects of the journal which includes increasing the number of submission, solidifying the position of the journal in North and South America and balancing the papers in various fields of regional science. He further states that the best strategy is to specify the nature of the journal.

This paper examines the issue of integration versus segmentation of the Canadian equity market relative to a global North American market. We compare the international and domestic versions of the CAPM, and find that integration, or the mean-variance efficiency of the global market index, is rejected by the data. Segmentation is the preferred model, based on a maximum likelihood procedure correcting for thin trading. We further divide the sample into securities that are interlisted in Canada and the U.S., and those that are not. Integration is rejected for both groups, which indicates that the source of segmentation can be traced to legal barriers based on the nationality of issuing firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the exposure of North American gold mining firms to changes in the price of gold. The average mining stock moves 2 percent for each 1 percent change in gold prices, but exposures vary considerably over time and across firms. As predicted by valuation models, gold firm exposures are significantly negatively related to the firm's hedging and diversification activities and to gold prices and gold return volatility, and are positively related to firm leverage. Simple discounted cash flow models produce useful exposure predictions but they systematically overestimate exposures, possibly due to their failure to reflect managerial flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest landscapes across western North America (wNA) have experienced extensive changes over the last two centuries, while climatic warming has become a global reality over the last four decades. Resulting interactions between historical increases in forested area and density and recent rapid warming, increasing insect mortality, and wildfire burned areas, are now leading to substantial abrupt landscape alterations. These outcomes are forcing forest planners and managers to identify strategies that can modify future outcomes that are ecologically and/or socially undesirable. Past forest management, including widespread harvest of fire‐ and climate‐tolerant large old trees and old forests, fire exclusion (both Indigenous and lightning ignitions), and highly effective wildfire suppression have contributed to the current state of wNA forests. These practices were successful at meeting short‐term demands, but they match poorly to modern realities. Hagmann et al. review a century of observations and multi‐scale, multi‐proxy, research evidence that details widespread changes in forested landscapes and wildfire regimes since the influx of European colonists. Over the preceding 10 millennia, large areas of wNA were already settled and proactively managed with intentional burning by Indigenous tribes. Prichard et al. then review the research on management practices historically applied by Indigenous tribes and currently applied by some managers to intentionally manage forests for resilient conditions. They address 10 questions surrounding the application and relevance of these management practices. Here, we highlight the main findings of both papers and offer recommendations for management. We discuss progress paralysis that often occurs with strict adherence to the precautionary principle; offer insights for dealing with the common problem of irreducible uncertainty and suggestions for reframing management and policy direction; and identify key knowledge gaps and research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) outbreak on global stock markets is investigated by analyzing the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the stock markets of 15 countries selected from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Using extremal dependence tests of contagion, it is found that contagion effects are widespread to global equity markets in four regions. Latin America and North America are highly exposed to contagion risks, followed by Europe, with Asia being least vulnerable. Based on the time window of the crisis severity index, it is found that Latin America is most likely to be affected. The results confirm that for countries with more severe epidemics, there are stronger contagion effects. Therefore, for the governing authorities of various countries, if they want to prevent the contagion of financial crises during the pandemic, strong and timely epidemic prevention measures are very necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many secondary deciduous forests of eastern North America are approaching a transition in which mature early‐successional trees are declining, resulting in an uncertain future for this century‐long carbon (C) sink. We initiated the Forest Accelerated Succession Experiment (FASET) at the University of Michigan Biological Station to examine the patterns and mechanisms underlying forest C cycling following the stem girdling‐induced mortality of >6,700 early‐successional Populus spp. (aspen) and Betula papyrifera (paper birch). Meteorological flux tower‐based C cycling observations from the 33‐ha treatment forest have been paired with those from a nearby unmanipulated forest since 2008. Following over a decade of observations, we revisit our core hypothesis: that net ecosystem production (NEP) would increase following the transition to mid‐late‐successional species dominance due to increased canopy structural complexity. Supporting our hypothesis, NEP was stable, briefly declined, and then increased relative to the control in the decade following disturbance; however, increasing NEP was not associated with rising structural complexity but rather with a rapid 1‐yr recovery of total leaf area index as mid‐late‐successional Acer, Quercus, and Pinus assumed canopy dominance. The transition to mid‐late‐successional species dominance improved carbon‐use efficiency (CUE = NEP/gross primary production) as ecosystem respiration declined. Similar soil respiration rates in control and treatment forests, along with species differences in leaf physiology and the rising relative growth rates of mid‐late‐successional species in the treatment forest, suggest changes in aboveground plant respiration and growth were primarily responsible for increases in NEP. We conclude that deciduous forests transitioning from early to middle succession are capable of sustained or increased NEP, even when experiencing extensive tree mortality. This adds to mounting evidence that aging deciduous forests in the region will function as C sinks for decades to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sea surface temperature (SST) observations in the North Atlantic since 1870 reveal a region of enhanced warming off the northeastern coast of North America, and a region of cooling to the south of Greenland. It has been hypothesized that these adjacent SST trends are a result of long‐term changes in the buoyancy‐driven ocean circulation—a slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. The impacts of these historical SST trends on the atmosphere are estimated using idealized atmospheric general circulation model experiments in which the global atmosphere is exposed to modern climatological forcing minus the aforementioned regional SST trends. The local response includes a negative North Atlantic Oscillation tendency and southward shift of the wind forcing for the subtropical gyre. Due to planetary wave propagation, the regional SST trends also induce a northward shift of the intertropical convergence zone over the Indian Ocean. Implications for climate feedbacks and projections are discussed. Plain Language Summary: The ocean surface is warming over most of the planet, with a couple of notable exceptions. One is over the North Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland, where the temperature of the ocean surface has actually been cooling by about 1°C since 1870. Nearby, extending off the northeastern coastline of North America is a region where the ocean surface has been warming much faster than the global ocean on average—by about 1.5°C since 1870. This side‐by‐side pair of accelerated warming and cooling trends is likely due to a slowdown of the ocean's overturning circulation, which carries large amounts of heat energy from the tropics toward the poles. This paper reveals the effects of those unusual ocean temperature trends in the North Atlantic on the atmospheric circulation using a computer model of the global atmosphere. The model simulations indicate that these ocean temperature trends are causing shifts in the jet stream, changing the way the winds propel the upper ocean currents, and even have impacts quite far away by moving the tropical rain belt northward in the Indian Ocean. Key Points: The impact of historical sea surface temperature trends in the North Atlantic since 1870 is simulated with a global atmospheric modelAdjacent warming and cooling trends in the North Atlantic Ocean induce a negative NAO‐like response and southward‐shifted gyre forcingPropagation of planetary waves away from the North Atlantic induces a northward‐shifted intertropical convergence zone in the Indian Ocean [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational requirements often impose limitations on the spatial and temporal resolutions of atmospheric CO2 inversions, increasing aggregation and representation errors. This study enables higher spatial and temporal resolution inversions with spatial and temporal error structures similar to those used in other published inversions by representing the prior flux error covariances as a Kronecker product of spatial and temporal covariances and by using spectral methods for the spatial correlations. Compared to existing inversion systems that are forced to degrade the resolution of the problem in order to bring the dimensionality down to computationally tractable levels, this inversion framework is able to take advantage of mesoscale transport simulations and more of the complexity of spatial and temporal covariances in the surface CO2 fluxes. This approach was successfully implemented over one month with an identical‐twin observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) using a set of assumptions about the prior flux uncertainties compatible both with continental‐scale uncertainty estimates and with comparisons of vegetation models to flux towers. The demonstration illustrates the potential of the newly developed inversion system to use high‐temporal‐resolution information from the North American tower network, to extract high‐resolution information about CO2 fluxes that is inaccessible to coarser resolution inversion systems, and to simultaneously optimize an ensemble of prior estimates. This demonstration sets the stage for regional flux inversions that can take full advantage of the high‐resolution data available in tower CO2 records and mesoscale atmospheric transport reanalyses, include more realistic prior error structures, and explore specifying prior fluxes with ensembles. Plain Language Summary: This paper describes a new inverse framework for deriving surface carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes at high spatial and temporal resolutions from atmospheric mole fraction measurements. We demonstrate the potential of the system over North America by inverting for subdaily biogenic CO2 fluxes while accounting for the complexity of spatio‐temporal structures in flux error covariances in a data‐based manner. Key Points: A new inversion system uses spectral methods for spatial correlations to do a 27 km subdaily inversion over North AmericaThe software package allows simultaneous optimization of multiple prior mean flux estimatesThe system is demonstrated over continental North America for a network of seven towers [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the geographical transfer of economic knowledge and practices from centres of neoliberalism in North America and Western Europe to post-soviet Ukraine. The paper argues that a ‘transition industry’ emerged in the wake of the disintegration of the soviet system whose purpose was to realize economic transition in central and eastern Europe. The paper discusses the emergence of a community of academic and professional economists affiliated to international financial institutions and academic and professional economic research organizations in Kyiv engaged in promoting the Washington consensus. This community identified the coal industry, located in the Ukrainian Donbas, as a barrier to structural economic reform and the political re-alignment of the country. The paper then examines the way the World Bank unsuccessfully attempted to force the coal industry to conform to its own policy prescriptions. The example points to the articulation not only of extra-local and internal processes of neoliberalization, but also with indigenous informal marketization. In this instance the World Bank's vision failed to materialize because state power could not be allied to its neoliberal project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is adoptive identity, the sense of who one is as an adopted person. The paper first considers how identity has been shaped by recent social changes, and then explores the meaning of adoptive identity and its developmental course. Three contexts of development are examined: intrapsychic, the family environment, and contexts beyond the family, including relationships with friends, connection to community, and culture. Implications for professionals who work with adopted persons and for needed research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tropical Medicine & International Health is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Precipitation changes in full response to CO2 increase are widely studied but confidence in future projections remains low. Mechanistic understanding of the direct radiative effect of CO2 on precipitation changes, independent from CO2‐induced SST changes, is therefore necessary. Utilizing global atmospheric models, we identify robust summer precipitation decreases across North America in response to direct CO2 forcing. We find that spatial distribution of CO2 forcing at land surface is likely shaped by climatological distribution of water vapor and clouds. This, coupled with local feedback processes, changes in convection, and moisture supply resulting from CO2‐induced circulation changes, could determine North American hydroclimate changes. In central North America, increasing CO2 may decrease summertime precipitation by warming the surface and inducing dry advection into the region to reduce moisture supply. Meanwhile, for the southwest and the east, CO2‐induced shift of subtropical highs generates wet advection, which might mitigate the drying effect from warming. Plain Language Summary: How precipitation changes in full response to increased CO2 remains unclear. Mechanistic understanding of how increasing CO2 alone changes precipitation can help us better predict future precipitation in full response to CO2 increase. We find that the precipitation responses are much stronger during summer than winter in North America. During summer, precipitation significantly decreases in central North America in response to the direct CO2 radiative effect, while in the southwest and the east, precipitation changes are small. There might be stronger longwave radiation forcing near the surface induced by CO2 increase in arid regions due to weaker masking effect of water vapor and clouds. This, along with local feedbacks, significantly warms the central region. Meanwhile, the direct forcing of CO2 induces northward shifts in subtropical highs, consequently generating anticyclonic anomalies. These wind anomalies result in drier air advected into central North America, leading to moisture divergence and hence reducing moisture supply. The reduced water supply, coupled with the warming, may decrease precipitation in the region. For the southwest and the east, the anticyclonic anomalies cause wetter air advected into the regions and generate moisture convergence, which increases moisture supply and might mitigate the drying effect caused by CO2‐induced warming. Key Points: Robust precipitation decreases during summer in response to CO2 direct radiative effect are identified in central North AmericaClimatology and changes of hydrological environment may collectively modulate the regional CO2 radiative effect on summer precipitationCO2‐induced circulation changes could alter the moisture supply to reshape the regional hydrological cycle [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate information about soil water retention curves (SWRCs) of sands is essential for evaluating groundwater recharge and vulnerability to contamination in many shallow sandy aquifers which are widespread on post glacial areas in Northern Europe and North America. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) allow to estimate SWRC from basic physical characteristics of soils, such as textural composition. However, in the case of clean sands which are dominated by a single textural fraction, PTFs should be based on more detailed information given by the particle size distribution. In this study we evaluated three parametric PTFs, which estimate parameters of the van Genuchten SWRC based on empirical correlations to the parameters of soil particle size distribution, and five semi‐physical PTFs, which derive the pore size distribution from particle size distribution. PTFs were compared to SWRCs fitted to the results of drainage experiments on sandy soil samples from six locations in Gdańsk region (northern Poland). Although in all samples the content of silt and clay fractions was low (<3.5%), the differences in actual content of fines strongly influenced the shape of SWRC. In contrast, the amount of gravel fraction (varying from 1% to 35%) did not have significant effect on SWRC. Semi‐physical PTFs were found to be more accurate than parametric PTFs. The best overall performance was shown by the semi‐physical Chang and Cheng PTF. Among the parametric PTFs the best accuracy was obtained with the Schaap and Bouten method. However, all considered functions showed limited accuracy in higher suction range. Additionally, infiltration experiments were performed on four sites. SWRCs were obtained from ring infiltrometer tests using the Beerkan estimation of soil transfer parameters (BEST) method and from the tension infiltrometer (TI) tests using numerical solution of the inverse problem based on the Richards equation. In almost all cases the wetting SWRCs were characterized by higher values of the pressure scaling parameter α compared to SWRCs measured in drainage experiments, which is consistent with the well‐known phenomenon of hysteresis in soils. However, the BEST method resulted in significantly higher α and hydraulic conductivity Ks than TI, probably due to activation of the largest soil pores during ponded infiltration. Core Ideas: Semi‐physical pedotransfer functions were more accurate than parametric pedotransfer functions.Comparison of water retention curves from drainage and infiltration experiments showed significant hysteresis.Ring infiltrometer tests provided higher values of the van Genuchten parameter α and the saturated hydraulic conductivity than tension infiltrometer tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP) is the single largest carbon flux of the terrestrial biosphere which, in turn, is responsible for sequestering 25%–30% of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. The ability to model GPP is therefore critical for calculating carbon budgets as well as understanding climate feedbacks. Earth system models (ESMs) have the capability to simulate GPP but vary greatly in their individual estimates, resulting in large uncertainties. We describe a machine learning (ML) approach to investigate two key factors responsible for differences in simulated GPP quantities from ESMs: the relative importance of different atmospheric drivers and differences in the representation of land surface processes. We describe the different steps in the development of our interpretable ML framework including the choice of algorithms, parameter tuning, training and evaluation. Our results show that ESMs largely agree on the physical climate drivers responsible for GPP as seen in the literature, for instance drought variables in the Mediterranean region or radiation and temperature in the Arctic region. However differences do exist since models don't necessarily agree on which individual variable is most relevant for GPP. We also explore a distance measure to attribute GPP differences to climate influences versus process differences and provide examples for where our methods work (South Asia, Mediterranean) and where they are inconclusive (Eastern North America). Plain Language Summary: Gross primary productivity (GPP) is the rate at which plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and excess in the atmosphere causes global warming and climate change. Changes in the amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide will impact the entire Earth System. We therefore need the ability to accurately calculate GPP, especially for different possible carbon usage pathways in the future. Earth system models or ESMs allow us to simulate various processes happening in the earth's atmosphere and biosphere including photosynthesis and can help us estimate GPP changes for such different pathways. However, ESMs can vary significantly in their simulated GPP estimates making it difficult to have confidence in using these estimates. We describe a ML framework to better understand where ESMs differ in calculating GPP so that we can address knowledge gaps in models. This approach allows us to understand the processes involved without having to run computationally expensive simulations. With improved models, we can also improve our ability to predict climate change outcomes for the future. Key Points: A machine learning framework to advance our understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle in earth system models or ESMs is proposedDifferences in the relative importance of atmospheric drivers of gross primary productivity highlights differences across modelsA method to attribute differences in productivity estimates from ESMs due to process representation versus atmospheric forcing is demonstrated [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost 200 years, the taxonomy of cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii), a salmonid native to Western North America, has been in flux as ichthyologists and fisheries biologists have tried to describe the diversity within these fishes. Starting in the 1950s, Robert Behnke reexamined the cutthroat trout and identified 14 subspecies based on morphological traits, Pleistocene events, and modern geographic ranges. His designations became instrumental in recognizing and preserving the remaining diversity of cutthroat trout. Over time, molecular techniques (i.e. karyotypes, allozymes, mitochondrial DNA, SNPs, and microsatellite arrays) have largely reinforced Behnke's phylogenies, but have also revealed that some relationships are consistently weakly supported. To further resolve these relationships, we generated de novo transcriptomes for nine cutthroat subspecies, as well as a Bear River Bonneville form and two Colorado River lineages (blue and green). We present phylogenies of these subspecies generated from multiple sets of orthologous genes extracted from our transcriptomes. We confirm many of the relationships identified in previous morphological and molecular studies, as well as discuss the importance of significant differences apparent in our phylogenies from these studies within a geological perspective. Specific findings include three distinct clades: (1) Bear River Bonneville form and Yellowstone cutthroat trout; (2) Bonneville cutthroat trout (n = 2); and (3) Greenback and Rio Grande cutthroat trout. We also identify potential gene transfer between Bonneville cutthroat trout and a population of Colorado River green lineage cutthroat trout. Using these findings, it appears that additional groups warrant species‐level consideration if other recent species elevations are retained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insects are the most ubiquitous and diverse group of eukaryotic organisms on Earth, forming a crucial link in terrestrial and freshwater food webs. They have recently become the subject of headlines because of observations of dramatic declines in some places. Although there are hundreds of long‐term insect monitoring programs, a global database for long‐term data on insect assemblages has so far remained unavailable. In order to facilitate synthetic analyses of insect abundance changes, we compiled a database of long‐term (≥10 yr) studies of assemblages of insects (many also including arachnids) in the terrestrial and freshwater realms. We searched the scientific literature and public repositories for data on insect and arachnid monitoring using standardized protocols over a time span of 10 yr or longer, with at least two sampling events. We focused on studies that presented or allowed calculation of total community abundance or biomass. We extracted data from tables, figures, and appendices, and, for data sets that provided raw data, we standardized trapping effort over space and time when necessary. For each site, we extracted provenance details (such as country, state, and continent) as well as information on protection status, land use, and climatic details from publicly available GIS sources. In all, the database contains 1,668 plot‐level time series sourced from 165 studies with samples collected between 1925 and 2018. Sixteen data sets provided here were previously unpublished. Studies were separated into those collected in the terrestrial realm (103 studies with a total of 1,053 plots) and those collected in the freshwater realm (62 studies with 615 plots). Most studies were from Europe (48%) and North America (29%), with 34% of the plots located in protected areas. The median monitoring time span was 19 yr, with 12 sampling years. The number of individuals was reported in 129 studies, the total biomass was reported in 13 studies, and both abundance and biomass were reported in 23 studies. This data set is published under a CC‐BY license, requiring attribution of the data source. Please cite this paper if the data are used in publications, and respect the licenses of the original sources when using (part of) their data as detailed in Metadata S1: Table 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the near extinction of bison (Bison bison) from its historic range across North America in the late 19th century, novel bison conservation efforts in the early 20th century catalyzed a popular widespread conservation movement to protect and restore bison among other species and places. Since Allen's initial delineation (1876) of the historic distribution of North American bison, subsequent attempts have been hampered by knowledge gaps about bison distribution and abundance prior to and following colonial arrival and settlement. For the first time, we applied a multidisciplinary approach to assemble a comprehensive, integrated geographic database and meta‐analysis of bison occurrence over the last 200,000 years, with particular emphasis on the 450 years before present. We combined paleontology, archaeology, and historical ecology data for our database, which totaled 6438 observations. We derived the observations from existing online databases, published literature, and first‐hand exploration journal entries. To illustrate the conservative maximum historical extent of occurrence of bison, we created a concave hull using observations occurring over the last 450 years (n = 3379 observations), which is the broadly accepted historical benchmark at 1500 CE covering 59% of the North American continent. Although this distribution represents a historic extent of occurrence—merely delineating the maximum margins of the near‐continental distribution—it does not replace a density‐based approach reconstructing potential historical range distributions, which identifies core and marginal ranges. However, we envision the observations contained in this database will contribute to further research in the increasingly evidence‐based disciplines of bison ecology, evolution, rewilding, management, and conservation. There are no copyright or proprietary restrictions on these data, and this data paper should be cited when the data are reused. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Vegetation structure is a key determinant of animal diversity and species distributions. The introduction of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) has enabled the collection of massive amounts of point cloud data for quantifying habitat structure at fine resolution. Here, we review the current use of LiDAR‐derived vegetation metrics in diversity and distribution research of birds, a key group for understanding animal–habitat relationships. Location: Global. Methods: We review 50 relevant papers and quantify where, in which habitats, at which spatial scales and with what kind of LiDAR data current studies make use of LiDAR metrics. We also harmonize and categorize LiDAR metrics and quantify their current use and effectiveness. Results: Most studies have been conducted at local extents in temperate forests of North America and Europe. Rasterization is currently the main method to derive LiDAR metrics, usually from airborne laser scanning data with low point densities (<10 points/m2) and small footprints (<1 m diameter). Our metric harmonization suggests that 40% of the currently used metric names are redundant. A categorization scheme allowed to group all metric names into 18 out of 24 theoretically possible classes, defined by vegetation part (total vegetation, single trees, canopy, understorey, and other single layers as well as multi‐layer) and structural type (cover, height, horizontal variability and vertical variability). Metrics related to canopy cover, canopy height and canopy vertical variability are currently most often used, but not always effective. Main conclusions: Light Detection and Ranging metrics play an important role in understanding animal space use. Our review and the developed categorization scheme may facilitate future studies in the selection, prioritization and ecological interpretation of LiDAR metrics. The increasing availability of airborne and spaceborne LiDAR data and the development of voxel‐based and object‐based approaches will further allow novel ecological applications, also for open habitats and other vertebrate and invertebrate taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]