Comment on Rust et al.: Human–Carnivore Conflict in Namibia Is Not Simply About Black and White

Carnivore conservationists agree that addressing the socioeconomic needs of people is critical to human-carnivore conflict mitigation. We therefore welcome studies that encompass complex social and cultural factors that affect the severity of human-carnivore conflict on Namibian farmlands. However, we contend that the recent study by Rust et al. (2016 Rust, N. A., J. Tzanopoulos, T. Humle, and D. C. MacMillan. 2016. Why has human–carnivore conflict not been resolved in Namibia? Society &; Natural Resources 29 (9):1079–94. doi:10.1080/08941920.2016.1150544[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was poorly designed, used inappropriate sampling methods, lacked quantitative information on their qualitative results, and ultimately produced unsupported conclusions about the role of historic apartheid and current racism in exacerbating human-carnivore conflict in Namibia. We outline our concerns regarding the methods used, and demonstrate that the conclusions drawn by Rust et al. were not supported by their data.     

The last 7500 cal yr B.P. of westerly rainfall in Central Chile inferred from a high-resolution pollen record from Laguna Aculeo (34°S)

We report multiproxy analyses of a sediment core obtained from Laguna Aculeo that spans the past 7500 years. Laguna Aculeo (33°50′S, 70°55′W) is one of the few natural inland lakes located in the Mediterranean zone of Central Chile, near the northern margin of the influence of the southern westerlies. The record shows elevated pollen counts of halophytes and seasonally drying of the lake basin prior to 5700 cal yr B.P., indicating severe aridity and warmer-than-present conditions. This was followed by the establishment of a fresh-water lake, along with an increase in arboreal and herbaceous plant diversity between 5700 and 3200 cal yr B.P. An intensification of this trend started at 3200 cal yr B.P., along with the abrupt decrease of halophytes until 100 cal yr B.P. Within this humid period, pollen accumulation rates show large-amplitude fluctuations, coeval with numerous turbidite layers, suggesting a highly variable and torrential rainfall pattern. This intense and variable precipitation regime is probably associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. We suggest that the modern Mediterranean climate of Central Chile was established at 3200 cal yr B.P. Paleovegetation and paleolimnological changes starting at 100 cal yr B.P. correlate with documented human activity surrounding the lake.     

Li abundances in eclogite minerals: a clue to a crustal or mantle origin?

The mineral phases of 33 eclogite and garnet clinopyroxenite samples from various tectonic settings were analysed for Li by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). In all samples, Li is preferentially incorporated into clinopyroxene (0.4 to 80 µg/g), whereas co-existing garnet contains only minor amounts of Li (0.01 to 3.7 µg/g). When present, glaucophane shows Li abundances which are similar to those of clinopyroxene, but phengite contains significantly less Li than clinopyroxene. Additional phases, such as amphibole, quartz, clinozoisite and kyanite, have low Li concentrations (<1 µg/g). No correlation is apparent between the Li contents and major-element compositions of clinopyroxene or garnet. On the basis of both measured Li concentrations in clinopyroxene and estimated Li abundances in the whole rocks, the investigated samples can be subdivided into high-Li and low-Li groups. These groups coincide with the mode of origin of the rocks. Metabasaltic (metagabbroic) eclogites from high-pressure terranes belong to the high-Li group whereas, except for one eclogite, all kimberlite- and basanite-hosted xenoliths have low Li contents. Samples from eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites associated with orogenic peridotites fall into both groups. It is suggested that the high-Li eclogites originated from basaltic oceanic crust whereby the notable Li enrichment of some samples was probably caused by low-temperature hydrothermal alteration prior to subduction. Furthermore, the low-Li eclogites and garnet clinopyroxenites may represent high-pressure cumulates from mafic melts percolating through the mantle.     

Climatic variability during the last 90 ka of the southern and northern Levantine Basin as evident from marine records and speleothems

The influence of the northern Atlantic and tropical monsoonal systems, as recorded by the River Nile, on the climate variability of the southeastern Mediterranean was studied in two cores taken by the R/V Marion Dufresne: one core taken SE of Cyprus representing the northern Levantine Basin (core 9501, 980 m water depth) and the other located ˜380 km further south, represents the southeastern Levantine Basin in an area influenced by the River Nile plume (core 9509, 884 m water depth). The study was performed at relatively high resolution using several proxies: δ¹⁸O of Globigerinoides ruber, sediment characteristics and index colour parameters in core sections representing the last 86 ka. A low-resolution alkenone sea surface temperature record was also measured. The time frame in both cores was mostly constrained by ‘wiggle’ matching with the nearby well-dated δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C record of the Soreq Cave, which is mainly influenced by the eastern Mediterranean water vapor. The sedimentary record of the southern core is strongly influenced by the River Nile contribution throughout the last 86 ka, as evidenced by the higher sedimentation rates compared with the northern core (20 cm/ka vs. 5 cm/ka), continuously darker sediment colour, and higher TOC values (0.6–0.9 vs. 0.25 wt% not including sapropels). During sapropels S1 and S3, present in both cores, the influence of the River Nile became more widespread, reaching as far as Cyprus. Yet, the influence of the River Nile remained stronger in the south, as evident by the higher TOC values in the southern core throughout the entire 90 ka period and the longer duration of S1 in the southern core. An anomalous low δ¹⁸O interval that is not recorded in western Mediterranean occurred between 58 and 49 ka in the Levantine Basin and is more developed in the northern core. This period correlates with D-O interstadial 14 and maximum northern hemisphere insolation during the lastglacial cycle, suggesting that the warming mainly impacted the northern Levant.The Eastern Mediterranean Sea and land area was considerably warmer than the western Mediterranean throughout the LGM – Holocene transition, and the δ¹⁸O_{G. ruber} drop of 4.5‰ is significantly greater than the 3‰ shift found for the western Mediterranean δ¹⁸O_{G. bulloides}, both differences reflecting an increased continental effect from the western to eastern Mediterranean. Comparison between the marine and the land δ¹⁸O records suggests that the origin of rain over the land is composed of mixed signal from the southern and northern Levantine Basin. The study of Δδ¹⁸O_sea–land variations demonstrates that various factors have influenced the sea–land relationship during the last 90 ka. The ‘amount effect’ has an important influence on rainfall δ¹⁸O during interglacial periods (particularly sapropel periods), whereas during glacial periods, increased land distances and elevation differences arising from decrease in sea level may have brought about decrease in δ¹⁸O of rainfall due to Rayleigh distillation processes. These influences were superimposed on those of sea surface water δ¹⁸O changes brought about by continental ice melting, and the strong effects felt in the southern Levantine Basin of the high River Nile input during periods of enhanced monsoonal activity.     

Metabolism of the S-triazine herbizide atrazine in early life stages of the zebrafish, Danio rerio

Increasing anthropogenic pollution of the environment can have adverse consequences for organisms which are more subtle than direct toxicity. Detectable levels of persistent pollutants remain even if the substance is no longer used. An example is atrazine, a herbicide in common use throughout the world but one which has been banned in Germany since 1992. As a lipophilic substance, atrazine is bioconcentrated which may lead to chronic intoxication or physiological stress. In order to withstand chemical stressors, many organisms possess detoxication enzymes, for example certain P-450 monoxygenases and glutathione S-transferases. But detoxication demands cellular energy, and in developing organisms, such as fish embryos which have particularly high energy needs for sustaining growth and organogenesis, the additional energy needs of detoxication may present additional stress. In this study, uptake of atrazine, cytochrome P-450 binding spectra, effects on microsomal and soluble glutathione S-transferase activities, and the initial detoxication steps of atrazine via microsomal and soluble glutathione S-transferases were studied using early life stages of zebrafish.     

Evidence from mantle xenoliths for relatively thin (<100 km) continental lithosphere below the Phanerozoic crust of southernmost South America

Garnet peridotite xenoliths in the Quaternary Pali-Aike alkali olivine basalts of southernmost South America are samples of the deeper portion of continental lithosphere formed by accretion along the western margin of Gondwanaland during the Phanerozoic. Core compositions of minerals in garnet peridotites indicate temperatures of 970 to 1160°C between 1.9 and 2.4 GPa, constraining a geothermal gradient which suggests a lithospheric thickness of approximately 100 km below this region. Previously, this lithosphere may have been heated and thinned to ≤80 km during the Jurassic break-up of Gondwanaland, when widespread mafic and silicic volcanism occurred in association with extension in southern South America. Subsequent cooling, by up to >175°C, and thickening, by about 20 km, of the lithosphere is reflected in low-temperature (<970°C) spinel peridotites by chemical zonation of pyroxenes involving a rimward decrease in Ca, and in moderate- and high-temperature (>970°C) peridotites by textural evidence for the transformation of spinel to garnet. A recent heating event, which probably occurred in conjunction with modal metasomatism related to the genesis of the Pali-Aike alkali olivine basalts, has again thinned the lithosphere to <100 km. Evidence for this heating is preserved in moderate- and high-temperature (>970°C) peridotites as chemical zonation of pyroxenes involving a rimward increase in Ca, and by kelyphitic rims around garnet. The majority of moderate- and high-temperature (>970°C) xenoliths are petrochemically similar to the asthenospheric source of mid-oceanic ridge basalts: fertile (>20% modal clinopyroxene and garnet), Fe-rich garnet lherzolite with major element composition similar to estimates of primitive mantle, but large-ion-lithophile and light-rare-earth element depletion relative to heavy-rare-earth elements, and with Sr, Nd, Pb, Os, and O isotopic compositions similar to MORB. In contrast, infertile, Mg-rich spinel harzburgite is predominant among low-temperature (<970°C) xenoliths. This implies a significant chemical gradient and increasing density with depth in the mantle section represented by the xenoliths, and the absence of a deep, low density, olivine-rich root below the southernmost South American crust such as has been inferred below Archean cratons. With respect to both temperature/rheology and chemistry/density, the subcontinental mantle lithosphere below southernmost South America is similar to that below oceanic crust. It is interpreted to have formed by tectonic capture, during the Paleozoic, of a segment of what had previously been oceanic lithosphere generated at a late Proterozoic mid-oceanic spreading ridge.     

DIVA post‐mission attitude reconstruction: the Great‐Circle Reduction

A brief overview and a first technical concept for the Great‐Circle Reduction step in the data reduction for the planned German astrometry and photometry satellite DIVA is presented.     

Black shale formation in the late Paleocene/early Eocene Arctic Ocean and paleoenvironmental conditions: New results from a detailed organic petrological study

The study of particulate organic matter (OM) in Arctic Ocean sediments from the late Cretaceous to the Eocene (IODP Expedition 302) has revealed detailed information about the aquatic/marine OM fluxes, biological sources, preservation and export of terrestrial material. Here, we present detailed data from maceral analysis, vitrinite reflectance measurements and organic geochemistry.