ALBERT

Description: Analysis of sediment samples in the visible to mid infrared (IR) region requires small amounts of sample material and enables rapid and cost efficient geochemical analysis of mineral and organic sediment components. Here we use geochemical properties (total organic and inorganic carbon, biogenic silica, total nitrogen) from the ICDP deep drilling project PASADO to compare three different IR spectroscopy techniques: Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform IR Spectrometry (DRIFTS), Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform IR Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIRS) and Visible Near IR Spectroscopy (VNIRS). ATR-FTIRS and VNIRS are more rapid techniques compared to DRIFTS. Results show that calibration models developed using DRIFTS are most robust (correlation coefficient: R = 0.92 for TIC, R = 0.84 for BSi, R = 0.97 for TOC, R = 0.95 for TN). However, good statistical performance was also obtained by using ATR-FTIRS and VNIRS. When time and costs are limiting factors, these tools may be given preference for rapid biogeochemical screening.

Description: Abstract Monitoring programs are an essential tool for assessing and informing conservation efforts but the methods used to gather monitoring data directly influence results. This presents a challenge to conservation professionals when deciding on existing data to inform a given question. We illustrate the challenges of using monitoring data by comparing population trends from two large‐scale avian monitoring programs in the western United States: the Breeding Bird Survey and Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions programs. We used publicly available data to compare trend trajectory between 2008 and 2015 for 148 species across Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming. Trends were inconsistent for 62% of the comparisons, with species having opposite trends in 21 cases. The inconsistencies found within our species comparisons reflect the inherent differences between program sampling design and analytical approach. Periodically revisiting how and why we monitor natural resources is necessary to advance conservation and management as the lessons learned from long‐standing programs guide the development of more recent efforts. Our results emphasize that prior to management actions and policy decisions, managers must be aware of both the sampling design and appropriate ecological inference of any monitoring program.

Description: Ecology, Volume 94, Issue 5, Page 1005-1014, May 2013. The evolution of optimal life history strategies is central for the fitness of organisms in a given environment. Besides divergent selection, other factors may determine regional patterns of differentiation and contribute to life history evolution. In a common-garden environment over three years, we examined life history differentiation across different eco-geographical regions and effects of a specialist root-insect herbivore in the widespread European plant Centaurea stoebe, spotted knapweed. This plant occurs as two cytotypes with contrasting life cycles: monocarpic diploids and polycarpic tetraploids. In addition, the tetraploid cytotype has more recently become invasive in North America. We found significant regional differentiation in traits related to the timing of reproduction and reproductive allocation, but contrasting patterns in diploids and tetraploids. In diploids the degree of regional differentiation was higher compared to native tetraploids, and in the latter compared to invasive tetraploids. Furthermore, a pronounced shift in environmental conditions between the native and introduced range could have contributed to the differentiation between native and invasive tetraploids. The study also revealed the potential of the root-mining insect herbivore Agapeta zoegana, used as a biological control organism, to increase plant performance (presumably through overcompensatory growth), especially in the polycarpic tetraploids, and more so in the introduced populations. These findings suggest that patterns of regional differentiation in C. stoebe may be partly determined by divergent selection, but also strongly modulated by life cycle differences among geo-cytotypes. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance in applying a comprehensive and long-term approach when studying regional differentiation in plants.