Institution
University of Maine
Education•Orono, Maine, United States•
About: University of Maine is a education organization based out in Orono, Maine, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Ice sheet. The organization has 8637 authors who have published 16932 publications receiving 590124 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Maine at Orono.
Topics: Population, Ice sheet, Climate change, Glacial period, Glacier
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: A meta-analysis comparing the ecological effects of variation within a species with the effects of species replacement or renewal shows that intraspecific effects may be comparable to, or sometimes stronger than, species effects.
Abstract: Human activity is causing wild populations to experience rapid trait change and local extirpation. The resulting effects on intraspecific variation could have substantial consequences for ecological processes and ecosystem services. Although researchers have long acknowledged that variation among species influences the surrounding environment, only recently has evidence accumulated for the ecological importance of variation within species. We conducted a meta-analysis comparing the ecological effects of variation within a species (intraspecific effects) with the effects of replacement or removal of that species (species effects). We evaluated direct and indirect ecological responses, including changes in abundance (or biomass), rates of ecological processes and changes in community composition. Our results show that intraspecific effects are often comparable to, and sometimes stronger than, species effects. Species effects tend to be larger for direct ecological responses (for example, through consumption), whereas intraspecific effects and species effects tend to be similar for indirect responses (for example, through trophic cascades). Intraspecific effects are especially strong when indirect interactions alter community composition. Our results summarize data from the first generation of studies examining the relative ecological effects of intraspecific variation. Our conclusions can help inform the design of future experiments and the formulation of strategies to quantify and conserve biodiversity.
506 citations
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University of Cambridge1, Florida Institute of Technology2, Fauna & Flora International3, Zoological Society of London4, National Autonomous University of Mexico5, Simon Fraser University6, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University7, World Wide Fund for Nature8, Georgia State University9, State Street Corporation10, Conservation International11, University of Maine12, United Nations Environment Programme13, The Nature Conservancy14, University of Oxford15, World Bank16, Wetlands International17, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources18, Imperial College London19, Natural Environment Research Council20, Clemson University21, George Mason University22, University of Queensland23, Bangor University24, BirdLife International25, World Resources Institute26, Wildlife Conservation Society27, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research28, Center for International Forestry Research29, Ocean Conservancy30, National University of Singapore31, Temple University32, Oregon State University33, University of East Anglia34
TL;DR: 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy are identified and are expected to help identify new directions for researchers and assist funders in directing funds.
Abstract: We identified 100 scientific questions that, if answered, would have the greatest impact on conservation practice and policy. Representatives from 21 international organizations, regional sections and working groups of the Society for Conservation Biology, and 12 academics, from all continents except Antarctica, compiled 2291 questions of relevance to conservation of biological diversity worldwide. The questions were gathered from 761 individuals through workshops, email requests, and discussions. Voting by email to short-list questions, followed by a 2-day workshop, was used to derive the final list of 100 questions. Most of the final questions were derived through a process of modification and combination as the workshop progressed. The questions are divided into 12 sections: ecosystem functions and services, climate change, technological change, protected areas, ecosystem management and restoration, terrestrial ecosystems, marine ecosystems, freshwater ecosystems, species management, organizational systems and processes, societal context and change, and impacts of conservation interventions. We anticipate that these questions will help identify new directions for researchers and assist funders in directing funds.
505 citations
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500 citations
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TL;DR: It is proposed that such microdiverse clusters arise by selective sweeps and persist because competitive mechanisms are too weak to purge diversity from within them, indicating a large predominance of closely related taxa in this community.
Abstract: Although molecular data have revealed the vast scope of microbial diversity, two fundamental questions remain unanswered even for well-defined natural microbial communities: how many bacterial types co-exist, and are such types naturally organized into phylogenetically discrete units of potential ecological significance? It has been argued that without such information, the environmental function, population biology and biogeography of microorganisms cannot be rigorously explored. Here we address these questions by comprehensive sampling of two large 16S ribosomal RNA clone libraries from a coastal bacterioplankton community. We show that compensation for artefacts generated by common library construction techniques reveals fine-scale patterns of community composition. At least 516 ribotypes (unique rRNA sequences) were detected in the sample and, by statistical extrapolation, at least 1,633 co-existing ribotypes in the sampled population. More than 50% of the ribotypes fall into discrete clusters containing less than 1% sequence divergence. This pattern cannot be accounted for by interoperon variation, indicating a large predominance of closely related taxa in this community. We propose that such microdiverse clusters arise by selective sweeps and persist because competitive mechanisms are too weak to purge diversity from within them.
499 citations
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TL;DR: A case is made that seasonality switches dominated by wintertime were instrumental in abrupt climate changes in the North Atlantic region during the last glaciation and into the Holocene as discussed by the authors.
495 citations
Authors
Showing all 8729 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
Clifford J. Rosen | 111 | 655 | 47881 |
Juan S. Bonifacino | 108 | 303 | 46554 |
John D. Aber | 107 | 204 | 48500 |
Surendra P. Shah | 99 | 710 | 32832 |
Charles T. Driscoll | 97 | 554 | 37355 |
Samuel Madden | 95 | 388 | 46424 |
Lihua Xiao | 93 | 495 | 32721 |
Patrick G. Hatcher | 91 | 401 | 27519 |
Pedro J. J. Alvarez | 89 | 378 | 34837 |
George R. Pettit | 89 | 848 | 31759 |
James R. Wilson | 89 | 1271 | 37470 |
Steven Girvin | 86 | 366 | 38963 |
Peter Marler | 81 | 174 | 22070 |
Garry R. Buettner | 80 | 304 | 29273 |
Paul Andrew Mayewski | 80 | 420 | 29356 |