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The chief subject of this brief overview is a vetch species, once distinguished as Vicia calcarata Desf. and currently regarded as V. monantha Retz. subsp. triflora (Ten.) B. L. Burtt & P. Lewis, but we prefer to distinguish this taxon at species level as Vicia calcarata. It is a volunteer plant occurring regularly on ruderal sites in the local floras of the coastal and maritime areas of the Mediterranean Basin, and sporadically happens to be cultivated in fields. It has a more robust growth habit than V. monantha subsp. monantha, with usually three flowers per peduncle and larger seeds, rather constant morphological traits. In situ and on-farm observations on V. calcarata are scarce, relating mostly to the southern mainland of Italy and its islands, Spain, North Africa and Syria, where it is found in forests, grasslands, wheat fields, ruderal soils and along roadsides. On a global scale, there are 91 accessions of V. calcarata in six ex situ genebank collections in Alcala de Henares, Bari, Beirut, Gatersleben, Sadovo and St. Petersburg. In a series of ex situ field trials in Novi Sad, twelve accessions of V. calcarata produced average yields of 6.3 t ha−1 of forage dry matter and 1100 kg ha−1 of seed. There are promising perspectives for developing cultivars of V. calcarata, since the available divergence offers a solid basis for crop improvement. After a long fall, a novel rise of V. calcarata is yet to come.

There is evidence for early Pleistocene Homo in northern Europe, a novel hominin habitat. Adaptations enabling this colonisation are intriguing given suggestions that Homo exhibits physiological and behavioural malleability associated with a ‘colonising niche’. Differences in body size/shape between conspecifics from different climates are well-known in mammals, could relatively flexible size/shape have been important to Homo adapting to cold habitats? If so, at what point did this evolutionary stragegy arise? To address these questions a base-line for adaptation to climate must be established by comparison with outgroups. We compare skeletons of Japanese macaques from four latitudes and find inter-group differences in postcranial and cranial size and shape. Very small body mass and cranial size in the Southern-most (island) population are most likely affected by insularity as well as ecogeographic scaling. Limb lengths and body breadths show group differences that accord with the expectations of thermoregulation across the whole range of latitudes. Postcranial size appears to vary more than shape, yet there is also evidence that limb segments follow Allen's rule in the forelimb at least, suggesting differing climatic signals in different regions of the skeleton. In contrast to other intraspecific studies of catarrhine ecogeography, the results presented here demonstrate non-allometric latitudinal patterns in craniofacial shape in Japanese macaques, which align closely with what is seen in cold-adapted humans. These insights begin to provide a comparison for hominin adaptation to similar habitat diversity and the role of biological adaptation in shaping the evolution and dispersal of Homo species.

Background: Seed weight is a key fitness-related trait associated with plant adaptation and is commonly targeted in plantbreeding.Aims: We evaluated seed weight variation within and between Trichloris crinita and Trichloris pluriflora across theirgeographical ranges in Argentina.Methods: Genetic variation in seed weight was evaluated through a common garden experiment. To examine the possiblerole of such variation in local adaptation, we compared the seed weight of plants of populations raised in the commongarden with seed weight variation and ecogeographical variables across their original habitats. We also evaluatedexperimentally the effects of seed weight variation upon osmotic stress tolerance at germination.Results: Variation in seed weight existed in both species. Such variation had a genetic basis in T. crinita related to severalecogeographical variables. Larger seeds of T. crinita were associated with more stressful environments and producedlarger seedlings under both osmotic stress and non-stress conditions.Conclusions: Our results suggest that seed weight variation in T. crinita is likely adaptive, with large seed having anadvantage during early developmental stages, particularly under stressful conditions. Such knowledge should prove helpfulin selecting the most suitable populations for restoration and plant breeding. Fil: Marinoni, Lorena del Rosario. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina Fil: Zabala, Juan Marcelo. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina Fil: Parra Quijano, Mauricio. Tratado internacional sobre los recursos Fitogenéticos para la Alimentción y la Agricultura; Italia Fil: Fernandez, Roberto Julio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina Fil: Pensiero, Jose Francisco. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina

We have recently argued that marine interfacial surface tension must have a distinctive biogeography because it is mediated by fresh surfactant macromolecules released locally through the food web. Here we begin the process of quantification for associated climate flux implications. A low dimensionality (planar) equation of state is invoked at the global scale as our main analysis tool. For the reader&rsquo, s convenience, fundamental surfactant physical chemistry principles are reviewed first, as they pertain to tangential forces that may alter oceanic eddy, ripple, and bubble fields. A model Prandtl (neutral) wind stress regime is defined for demonstration purposes. It is given the usual dependence on roughness, but then in turn on the tension reduction quantity known as surface pressure. This captures the main net influences of biology and detrital organics on global microlayer physics. Based on well-established surrogate species, tangent pressures are related to distributed ecodynamics as reflected by the current marine systems science knowledge base. Reductions to momentum and related heat-vapor exchange plus gas and salt transfer are estimated and placed on a coarse biogeographic grid. High primary production situations appear to strongly control all types of transfer, whether seasonally or regionally. Classic chemical oceanographic data on boundary state composition and behaviors are well reproduced, and there is a high degree of consistency with conventional micrometeorological wisdom. But although our initial best guesses are quite revealing, coordinated laboratory and field experiments will be required to confirm the broad hypotheses even partially. We note that if the concepts have large scale validity, they are super-Gaian. Biological control over key planetary climate-transfer modes may be accomplished through just a single rapidly renewed organic monolayer.

Aegilops geniculata Roth is an annual grass relative to cultivated wheats and is widely distributed in North Africa. In order to understand the diversity of this species, 14 populations collected in different bioclimatic areas in northern Algeria were analyzed using morphological and biochemical characters. Principal component analyses (PCA) based on the inflorescence characters and ecological parameters allowed the separation of populations in two mainly bioclimatic clusters characterized by different morphological patterns. Populations originated from humid and sub-humid coastal areas were characterized by vigorous spikes. Samples collected from intermediate and high mountains with humid and semi-arid conditions had long and lanceolate spikes. Individuals with small and narrow spikes were characteristics of steppic highlands in semi-arid conditions and high mountains with humid bioclimate. Individuals were distinguished successively by spike width, spike length, rachis length and awns number. Electrophoretic analyses of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) based on the phenotypic variability and genetic distances revealed a significant variation within and between populations associated with bioclimatic conditions, in particular winter temperature. Genetic diversity was higher in populations growing under warm bioclimates than in those from cold bioclimates. These results suggest that a part of the variation for HMW glutenin variability is adaptive.

14 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables, 56 references. Prof. H.J.B. Birks, A. Aparicio and two anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments. F.J. Salgueiro helped with computer design of map figures and J.M. Rubio advised compiling climatic data., [EN]: The geographic ranges of heath species in Europe and the Mediterranean and their relationships with environmental (climatic and ecogeographic) variables and biological features are analysed by means of multivariate methods. In particular, TWINSPAN classifications into floristic elements and floristic regions, DCA floristic ordinations, CCA environment-constrained ordinations and CCA biology-constrained ordinations are carried out. Results of the analyses show a correspondence with conventional regionalization analyses based on broader criteria, and less correspondence with numerical analyses of other taxonomic groups at a similar scale. This lack of fit depends on the particular history and ecology of the taxonomic groups under study. A number of climatic (temperature and water stress) and geographic (coast length) variables are associated with different types of heaths according to their geographical ranges (continental, Mediterranean, Atlantic). Biological features of heaths account for a small part of the variation in range, but the association of temperate heaths with a preference for acid soils, of Mediterranean heaths with pubescence, and of Atlantic heaths with plant height is of interest. Heath species richness throughout Europe and the Mediterranean is analysed by multiple regression analyses and, apart from a strong influence of area size, a significant effect of water conditions, temperature and proximity to sea is detected. The area with the highest heath species richness is Western Mediterranean. Additional classification, ordination and multiple regression analyses of heaths in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal, the areas with the highest heath diversity) revealed similar patterns to those found in Europe and the Mediterranean. The effect of heterogeneity of the studied units at this latter scale is removed in the Iberian analysis because of the relative homogeneity of the units considered at this scale., [ES]: Se estudia la distribución geográfica de las especies de brezos en Europa y el Mediterráneo y sus relaciones con un conjunto de factores ambientales (climáticos y ecogeográficos) y rasgos biológicos por medio de métodos multivariantes. En particular, se llevan a cabo clasificaciones TWiNSPAN en elementos y regiones florísticas, ordenaciones florísticas (DCA) y ordenaciones restringidas por las características ambientales y los rasgos biológicos (CCA). Los resultados de estos análisis muestran una correspondencia alta con la regionalización convencional basada en varios criterios y una menor correspondencia con los análisis numéricos de otros grupos taxonómicos en un ámbito geográfico similar. Esta falta de correspondencia depende de la historia y ecología particulares de los grupos taxonómicos estudiados. Varias variables climáticas (temperatura y estrés hídrico) y geográficas (longitud de costa) están asociadas a tipos diferentes de brezos según su distribución geográfica (continental, mediterránea, atlántica). Los rasgos biológicos de los brezos explican una parte pequeña de la variación geográfica, pero debe resaltarse la asociación de los brezos templados con los suelos ácidos, de los brezos mediterráneos con la pubescencia y de los brezos atlánticos con el tamaño de la planta. La riqueza de especies de brezos en Europa y el Mediterráneo se analiza por medio de regresión múltiple y, aparte de un influencia fuerte del tamaño del área, se detecta un efecto significativo de las condiciones hídricas, la temperatura y la proximidad al mar. El área con mayor riqueza de especies de brezos es el oeste del Mediterráneo. Análisis adicionales de clasificación, ordenación y regresión múltiple de los brezos de la Península Ibérica (España y Portugal, las áreas con mayor diversidad de brezos) revelan patrones similares a los observados en Europa y el Mediterráneo. El efecto de la heterogeneidad de las unidades de área a esta última escala es eliminado en el análisis ibérico dada la relativa homogeneidad de las unidades de éste., Most of the research was funded by National Geographic Society (4474-91) and DGICYT (PB91-0894) grants.

International audience; Vavilovia formosa is a relict, endangered species from the highlands of the Caucasus and the Near East. Described in 1812, it has had an uncertain status and was finally recognized as a separate genus of tribe Fabeae (Fabaceae). Our informal international group was established in 2007 to revive the interest in this species as it had been seriously neglected for decades. Here, we provide an overview of the accumulated knowledge on V. formosa and present the results of the most recent multidisciplinary research. Three expeditions were made to two locations in Armenia in 2009, providing the material for anatomical, morphological, chemical and molecular analysis. Unlike previous attempts, ex situ conservation in Yerevan and in vitro propagation, important for potential interspecific hybridization, were successful. Molecular tools were used to clarify the taxonomic position of V. formosa, often considered the closest to the extinct ancestor of the whole tribe. The analysis of four informative regions of plastid and nuclear DNA showed that V.formosa belongs to the same clade as Lathyrus and Pisum, with a distinct status. Preservation and maintenance of V. formosa remains the only basis for further development of all other scientific aspects, especially breeding and uses in agronomy.

In this essay, the author describes coastal landscapes since XVIIe century. He tries to show that human glance on the coast was different at each period. To-day, coastal zones are increasingly under development pressure and all the forms of management and conservation have been changed. A model of each stage is purposed., Le littoral inventé à la fin du XVIIIe siècle ne correspond plus à celui d'aujourd'hui. Un effort de description s'impose pour rendre compte de la complexité des lieux. Les figurations proposées permettent de transcrire graphiquement autant le projet anthropologique que le programme mésologique qui définissent tout secteur côtier. La transformation de ce territoire du vide peut être ainsi mise en évidence visuellement pour les quatre derniers siècles., Bousquet Bernard. Du littoral. Essai d'identification. In: Cahiers du Centre nantais de recherche pour l'aménagement régional, n°35-36, 1990. Gros temps sur les côtes… Le littoral au péril de la mer… et des hommes. pp. 77-98.