The Homo habitat niche: using the avian fossil record to depict ecological characteristics of Palaeolithic Eurasian hominins

Although hardly applied to human palaeoecology, bird fossils offer a unique opportunity for quantitative studies of the hominin habitat. Here we reconstruct the Homo habitat niche across a large area of the Palaearctic, based on a database of avian fauna for Pleistocene sites. Our results reveal a striking association between Homo and habitat mosaics. A mix of open savannah-type woodland, wetlands and rocky habitats emerges as the predominant combination occupied by Homo across a wide geographical area, from the earliest populations of the Lower Palaeolithic to the latest hunter-gatherer communities of the Upper Palaeolithic. This observation is in keeping with the view that such landscapes have had long standing selective value for hominins.     

The distribution of late-Quaternary woody taxa in northern Eurasia: evidence from a new macrofossil database

We present a database of late-Quaternary plant macrofossil records for northern Eurasia (from 23° to 180°E and 46° to 76°N) comprising 281 localities, over 2300 samples and over 13,000 individual records. Samples are individually radiocarbon dated or are assigned ages via age models fitted to sequences of calibrated radiocarbon dates within a section. Tree species characteristic of modern northern forests (e.g. Picea, Larix, tree-Betula) are recorded at least intermittently from prior to the last glacial maximum (LGM), through the LGM and Lateglacial, to the Holocene, and some records locate trees close to the limits of the Scandinavian ice sheet, supporting the hypothesis that some taxa persisted in northern refugia during the last glacial cycle. Northern trees show differing spatio-temporal patterns across Siberia: deciduous trees were widespread in the Lateglacial, with individuals occurring across much of their contemporary ranges, while evergreen conifers expanded northwards to their range limits in the Holocene.     

Lateglacial environmental and climatic changes at the Maloja Pass,Central Swiss Alps,as recorded by chironomids and pollen

Chironomids and pollen were studied in a radiocarbon-dated sediment sequence obtained from a former lake near the Maloja Pass in the Central Swiss Alps (1865 m a.s.l.) to reconstruct the Lateglacial environment. Pollen assemblages imply a vegetation development around the Maloja Pass from shrub tundra at the beginning of the Allerød to coniferous forest during the early Holocene with a lowering of the timberline during the Younger Dryas. Chironomid assemblages are characterized by several abrupt shifts in dominant taxa through the Lateglacial. The occurrence of taxa able to survive hypoxia in the second part of the Allerød and during the Preboreal, and their disappearance at the onset of the Younger Dryas cold phase suggest summer thermal stratification and unfavourable hypolimnetic oxygen conditions in the palaeo-lake during the warmer periods of the Lateglacial interstadial and early Holocene. Mean July air temperatures were reconstructed using a chironomid-temperature transfer function from the Alpine region. The pattern of reconstructed temperature changes agrees well with the Greenland δ¹⁸O record and other Lateglacial temperature inferences from Central Europe. The inferred July temperatures of ca 10.0 °C during most of the Allerød were slightly lower than modern values (10.8 °C) and increased up to ca 11.7 °C (i.e., above present-day values) at the end of the Allerød. The first part of the Younger Dryas was colder (ca 8.8 °C) than the second part (ca 9.8 °C). During most of the Preboreal, the temperatures persisted within the limits of 13.5–14.5 °C (i.e., ca 3 °C above present-day values). The amplitudes of temperature changes at the Allerød–Younger Dryas–Preboreal transitions were ca 3.5–4.0 °C. The temperature reconstruction also shows three short-lived cooling events of ca 1.5–2.0 °C, which may be attributed to the centennial-scale Greenland Interstadial events GI-1d and GI-1b, and the Preboreal Oscillation.     

Pollen‐inferred palaeoclimate reconstruction in the Alps during the Lateglacial and the early Holocene: how to estimate the effect of elevation and local parameters

The modern analogue technique (MAT) was applied to six pollen sequences from the Belledonne Massif (northwestern French Alps) to estimate the effect of altitude and local parameters on pollen‐based climate reconstruction during the Lateglacial and the early Holocene. The six sites (Le Vivier (345 m a.s.l.), Les Etelles (700 m a.s.l.), La Coche (980 m a.s.l.), Montendry (1330 m a.s.l.), Le Grand Leyat (1660 m a.s.l.), La Gouille (1800 m a.s.l.)) are located in different vegetation belts (mixed deciduous woods, conifer woods, alpine pastures with maple). The main vegetation changes in the past are recorded at each site. The evolution of four climate parameters (coldest month temperature, warmest month temperature, mean annual temperature, annual precipitation) was quantitatively inferred from pollen data using MAT. The curves obtained were compared to the Les Etelles site, which was the least affected by non‐local pollen transport. The results show consistent trends for the climate parameters reconstructed at the different sites. However, the reconstruction does not indicate a decrease in temperature values related to the increasing elevation. Difficulties in reconstructing the altitudinal variations of climate parameters from pollen data during the periods studied are discussed and perspectives for improvement are considered. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sedimentary iron inputs stimulate seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) population growth in carbonate sediments

The relationship between sedimentary Fe inputs and net seagrass population growth across a range of Posidonia oceanica meadows growing in carbonate Mediterranean sediments (Balearic Islands, Spain; SE Iberian Peninsula, Spain; Limassol, Cyprus; Sounion, Greece) was examined using comparative analysis. Sedimentary Fe inputs were measured using benthic sediment traps and the net population growth of P. oceanica meadows was assessed using direct census of tagged plants. The meadows examined ranged from meadows undergoing a severe decline to expanding meadows (specific net population growth, from −0.14 yr⁻¹ to 0.05 yr⁻¹). Similarly, Fe inputs to the meadows ranged almost an order of magnitude across meadows (8.6–69.1 mg Fe m⁻² d⁻¹). There was a significant, positive relationship between sedimentary iron inputs and seagrass net population growth, accounting for 36% of the variability in population growth across meadows. The relationship obtained suggested that seagrass meadows receiving Fe inputs below 43 mg Fe m⁻² d⁻¹ are vulnerable and in risk of decline, confirming the pivotal role of Fe in the control of growth and the stability of seagrass meadows in carbonate sediments.     

Evaluation of DNA Damage in the Marine Mussel Crenomytilus grayanus as a Genotoxic Biomarker of Pollution

Marine pollution affects all life processes in aquatic organisms. The genotoxic effect of pollution on the mussel Crenomytilus grayanus was assessed. Bivalves were collected from the ‘clean'(Vostochnaya Cove) and polluted(Nakhodka Bay) areas in the Peter the Great Bay. The degree of DNA damage in C. grayanus was determined by alkaline comet assay as mean percentage of DNA in tail, and the genetic damage index was calculated. Our results indicate that almost one-third of DNA in cells of gills and digestive gland of C. grayanus inhabiting the Nakhodka Bay had destructive changes compared to the individuals of this species from the Vostochnaya Cove. This study has shown that chronic pollution of the aquatic environment causes destructive changes to DNA in gill and digestive gland cells of C. grayanus.     

Coverage of Mars by Probes Slightly Off the Areostationary Orbit

This paper aims at investigating the feasibility of gaining complete and continuous coverage of an extended equatorial belt of Mars, under the effects of orbital perturbations. The problem could be solved by considering a minimum number of three probes, which move slightly off the Martian Areostationary Orbit. The proposed configurations allow the achievement of the goal without entailing corrective manoeuvres and presenting only a longitudinal motion with respect to the surface of Mars.     

Channelization of a large Alpine river: what is left of its original morphodynamics?

The Adige River drains 12 200 km² of the Eastern Alps and flows for 213 km within this mountain range. Similar to other large rivers in Central Europe, the Adige River was subject to massive channelization works during the 19th century. Thanks to the availability of several historical maps, this river represents a very valuable case study to document the extent to which the morphology of the river changed due to channelization and to understand how much is left of its original morphodynamics. The study was based on the analysis of seven sets of historical maps dating from 1803–1805 to 1915–1927, on geomorphological analysis, on the application of mathematical morphodynamic theories and on the application of bar and channel pattern prediction models. The study concerns 115 km of the main stem and 29 km of its tributaries. In the pre‐channelization conditions, the Adige River presented a prevalence of single‐thread channel planforms. Multi‐thread patterns developed only immediately downstream of the main confluences. During the 19th century, the Adige underwent considerable channel adjustment, consisting of channel narrowing, straightening, and reduction of bars and islands. Multi‐thread and single‐thread reaches evolved through different evolutionary trajectories, considering both the channel width and the bar/vegetation interaction. Bar and channel pattern predictors showed good correspondence with the observed patterns, including the development of multi‐thread morphologies downstream of the confluences. Application of the free‐bar predictor helped to interpret the strong reduction – almost complete loss – of exposed sediment bars after the channelization works, quantifying the riverbed inclination to form alternate bars. This morphological evolution can be observed in other Alpine rivers of similar size and similar massive channelization, therefore, a simplified conceptual model for large rivers subjected to channelization is proposed, showing that a relatively small difference in the engineered channel width may have a strong impact on the river dynamics, specifically on bar formation. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mixed-bed glacial landform imprint of the North Sea Lobe in the western North Sea

During the last glacial cycle an intriguing feature of the British-Irish Ice Sheet was the North Sea Lobe (NSL); fed from the Firth of Forth and which flowed south and parallel to the English east coast. The controls on the formation and behaviour of the NSL have long been debated, but in the southern North Sea recent work suggests the NSL formed a dynamic, oscillating terrestrial margin operating over a deforming bed. Further north, however, little is known of the behaviour of the NSL or under what conditions it operated. This paper analyses new acoustic, sedimentary and geomorphic data in order to evaluate the glacial landsystem imprint and deglacial history of the NSL offshore from NE England. Subglacial tills (AF2/3) form a discontinuous mosaic interspersed with bedrock outcrops across the seafloor, with the partial excavation and advection of subglacial sediment during both advance and retreat producing mega-scale glacial lineations and grounding zone wedges. The resultant ‘mixed-bed’ glacial landsystem is the product of a dynamic switch from a terrestrial piedmont-lobe margin with a net surplus of sediment to a partially erosive, quasi-stable, marine-terminating, ice stream lobe as the NSL withdrew northwards. Glaciomarine sediments (AF4) drape the underlying subglacial mixed-bed imprint and point to a switch to tidewater conditions between 19.9 and 16.5 ka cal BP as the North Sea became inundated. The dominant controls on NSL recession during this period were changing ice flux through the Firth of Forth ice stream onset zone and water depths at the grounding line; the development of the mixed-bed landsystem being a response to grounding line instability. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.