Global ETD Search

61	High Phenotypic Plasticity, but Low Signals of Local Adaptation to Climate in a Large-Scale Transplant Experiment of Picea abies (L.) Karst. in Europe Liepe, Katharina Julie, van der Maaten, Ernst, van der Maaten-Theunissen, Marieke, Liesebach, Mirko 30 May 2024 (has links) The most common tool to predict future changes in species range are species distribution models. These models do, however, often underestimate potential future habitat, as they do not account for phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation, although being the most important processes in the response of tree populations to rapid climate change. Here, we quantify the difference in the predictions of future range for Norway spruce, by (i) deriving a classic, occurrence-based species distribution model (OccurrenceSDM), and (ii) analysing the variation in juvenile tree height and translating this to species occurrence (TraitSDM). Making use of 32 site locations of the most comprehensive European trial series that includes 1,100 provenances of Norway spruce originating from its natural and further beyond from its largely extended, artificial distribution, we fit a universal response function to quantify growth as a function of site and provenance climate. Both the OccurrenceSDM and TraitSDM show a substantial retreat towards the northern latitudes and higher elevations (−55 and −43%, respectively, by the 2080s). However, thanks to the species’ particularly high phenotypic plasticity in juvenile height growth, the decline is delayed. The TraitSDM identifies increasing summer heat paired with decreasing water availability as the main climatic variable that restricts growth, while a prolonged frost-free period enables a longer period of active growth and therefore increasing growth potential within the restricted, remaining area. Clear signals of local adaptation to climatic clines spanning the entire range are barely detectable, as they are disguised by a latitudinal cline. This cline strongly reflects population differentiation for the Baltic domain, but fails to capture the high phenotypic variation associated to the geographic heterogeneity in the Central European mountain ranges paired with the species history of postglacial migration. Still the model is used to provide recommendations of optimal provenance choice for future climate conditions. In essence, assisted migration may not decrease the predicted range decline of Norway spruce, but may help to capitalize on potential opportunities for increased growth associated with warmer climates. info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333.7 ddc:333.7 info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/630 ddc:630
62	Landscape-level heterogeneity of agri-environment measures improves habitat suitability for farmland birds Roilo, Stephanie, Engler, Jan O., Václavík, Tomáš, Cord, Anna F. 21 May 2024 (has links) Agri-environment schemes (AESs), ecological focus areas (EFAs), and organic farming are the main tools of the common agricultural policy (CAP) to counteract the dramatic decline of farmland biodiversity in Europe. However, their effectiveness is repeatedly doubted because it seems to vary when measured at the field-versus-landscape level and to depend on the regional environmental and land-use context. Understanding the heterogeneity of their effectiveness is thus crucial to developing management recommendations that maximize their efficacy. Using ensemble species distribution models and spatially explicit field-level information on crops grown, farming practice (organic/conventional), and applied AES/EFA from the Integrated Administration and Control System, we investigated the contributions of five groups of measures (buffer areas, cover crops, extensive grassland management, fallow land, and organic farming) to habitat suitability for 15 farmland bird species in the Mulde River Basin, Germany. We used a multiscale approach to identify the scale of effect of the selected measures. Using simulated land-use scenarios, we further examined how breeding habitat suitability would change if the measures were completely removed and if their adoption by farmers increased to meet conservation-informed targets. Buffer areas, fallow land, and extensive grassland were beneficial measures for most species, but cover crops and organic farming had contrasting effects across species. While different measures acted at different spatial scales, our results highlight the importance of land-use management at the landscape level—at which most measures had the strongest effect. We found that the current level of adoption of the measures delivers only modest gains in breeding habitat suitability. However, habitat suitability improved for the majority of species when the implementation of the measures was increased, suggesting that they could be effective conservation tools if higher adoption levels were reached. The heterogeneity of responses across species and spatial scales indicated that a mix of different measures, applied widely across the agricultural landscape, would likely maximize the benefits for biodiversity. This can only be achieved if the measures in the future CAP will be cooperatively designed in a regionally targeted way to improve their attractiveness for farmers and widen their uptake. info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/570 ddc:570 info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/333 ddc:333
63	Highway Development Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: Analysis, Critique and Advancement El-Khatib, Mayar January 2010 (has links) While decision-making under uncertainty is a major universal problem, its implications in the field of transportation systems are especially enormous; where the benefits of right decisions are tremendous, the consequences of wrong ones are potentially disastrous. In the realm of highway systems, decisions related to the highway configuration (number of lanes, right of way, etc.) need to incorporate both the traffic demand and land price uncertainties. In the literature, these uncertainties have generally been modeled using the Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) process, which has been used extensively in modeling many other real life phenomena. But few scholars, including those who used the GBM in highway configuration decisions, have offered any rigorous justification for the use of this model. This thesis attempts to offer a detailed analysis of various aspects of transportation systems in relation to decision-making. It reveals some general insights as well as a new concept that extends the notion of opportunity cost to situations where wrong decisions could be made. Claiming deficiency of the GBM model, it also introduces a new formulation that utilizes a large and flexible parametric family of jump models (i.e., Lévy processes). To validate this claim, data related to traffic demand and land prices were collected and analyzed to reveal that their distributions, heavy-tailed and asymmetric, do not match well with the GBM model. As a remedy, this research used the Merton, Kou, and negative inverse Gaussian Lévy processes as possible alternatives. Though the results show indifference in relation to final decisions among the models, mathematically, they improve the precision of uncertainty models and the decision-making process. This furthers the quest for optimality in highway projects and beyond. highway development decision making under uncertainty real options jump processes infinitely divisible distributions Lévy processes measure theory characteristic function characteristic exponent Lévy jump measure probability measure cádlág stochastic process Wiener process Poisson process compound Poisson process finite activity models jump diffusion models Merton model Gaussian jump process Kou model double exponential jump process leptokurtic volatility smile infinite activity models pure jumps process generalized hyperbolic model modified Bessel function negative inverse Gaussian model geometric Brownian motion model log-normal distribution model normality assumption heavy-tailed distribution asymmetric distribution quantile-quantile plot Rydberg algorithm parameter calibration moments cummulants sum of squares Monte Carlo simulation least-squares regression backward dynamic programming discrete-time Markov chain land price traffic demand highway service quality index data collection traffic volume Annual Average Daily Traffic Ontario Ministry of Transportation Land Registry Office Freedom of Information Act seasonality value of transportation types of transportation systems importance of highway systems cost of wrong decisions monetary cost private sector cost human cost land expropriation environmental cost irreversibility cost factor time cost factor political cost factor opportunity cost opportunity cost of wrong decisions economic cost of wrong decisions economic cost of mis-estimation economic profit of wrong decisions cost of inaction price of making right decisions scope of decisions rehabilitation decision land acquisition decision expansion decision uncertainty modeling land acquisition cost expropriation cost construction cost material cost Montréal-Mirabel International Airport Pickering Airport 407 Express Toll Route Highway 407 Statistics
64	Highway Development Decision-Making Under Uncertainty: Analysis, Critique and Advancement El-Khatib, Mayar January 2010 (has links) While decision-making under uncertainty is a major universal problem, its implications in the field of transportation systems are especially enormous; where the benefits of right decisions are tremendous, the consequences of wrong ones are potentially disastrous. In the realm of highway systems, decisions related to the highway configuration (number of lanes, right of way, etc.) need to incorporate both the traffic demand and land price uncertainties. In the literature, these uncertainties have generally been modeled using the Geometric Brownian Motion (GBM) process, which has been used extensively in modeling many other real life phenomena. But few scholars, including those who used the GBM in highway configuration decisions, have offered any rigorous justification for the use of this model. This thesis attempts to offer a detailed analysis of various aspects of transportation systems in relation to decision-making. It reveals some general insights as well as a new concept that extends the notion of opportunity cost to situations where wrong decisions could be made. Claiming deficiency of the GBM model, it also introduces a new formulation that utilizes a large and flexible parametric family of jump models (i.e., Lévy processes). To validate this claim, data related to traffic demand and land prices were collected and analyzed to reveal that their distributions, heavy-tailed and asymmetric, do not match well with the GBM model. As a remedy, this research used the Merton, Kou, and negative inverse Gaussian Lévy processes as possible alternatives. Though the results show indifference in relation to final decisions among the models, mathematically, they improve the precision of uncertainty models and the decision-making process. This furthers the quest for optimality in highway projects and beyond. highway development decision making under uncertainty real options jump processes infinitely divisible distributions Lévy processes measure theory characteristic function characteristic exponent Lévy jump measure probability measure cádlág stochastic process Wiener process Poisson process compound Poisson process finite activity models jump diffusion models Merton model Gaussian jump process Kou model double exponential jump process leptokurtic volatility smile infinite activity models pure jumps process generalized hyperbolic model modified Bessel function negative inverse Gaussian model geometric Brownian motion model log-normal distribution model normality assumption heavy-tailed distribution asymmetric distribution quantile-quantile plot Rydberg algorithm parameter calibration moments cummulants sum of squares Monte Carlo simulation least-squares regression backward dynamic programming discrete-time Markov chain land price traffic demand highway service quality index data collection traffic volume Annual Average Daily Traffic Ontario Ministry of Transportation Land Registry Office Freedom of Information Act seasonality value of transportation types of transportation systems importance of highway systems cost of wrong decisions monetary cost private sector cost human cost land expropriation environmental cost irreversibility cost factor time cost factor political cost factor opportunity cost opportunity cost of wrong decisions economic cost of wrong decisions economic cost of mis-estimation economic profit of wrong decisions cost of inaction price of making right decisions scope of decisions rehabilitation decision land acquisition decision expansion decision uncertainty modeling land acquisition cost expropriation cost construction cost material cost Montréal-Mirabel International Airport Pickering Airport 407 Express Toll Route Highway 407 Statistics

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