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Brown bears (Ursus arctos) diverged from the cave bear lineage c. 1.2 million years ago and likely originated in Asia, where the oldest fossils belong to a Middle Pleistocene chronology. Brown bear fossils from the Middle Pleistocene are scarce in the Iberian Peninsula, especially when compared to the cave bear record and they are mainly located in the southern half of the peninsula. The oldest evidence in the Iberian Peninsula is from c. 250 ka, which is 300 ka younger than the oldest European records (~550 ka; L’Arago). Here we present the brown bear fossil assemblage from Postes cave (Fuentes de León, Extremadura, southern Iberian Peninsula). Postes cave has yielded some of the oldest evidence for brown bears in Iberia with a minimum date of 244 191±2261 a BP (number of identified specimens (NISP) = 4). Additionally, the uppermost part of the Pleistocene deposit has yielded one of the largest Middle Pleistocene brown bear collections in the Iberian Peninsula (NISP = 73) with a chronology roughly between 193 and 244 ka BP, comprising both cranial and postcranial remains and including a complete hemimandible. The Postes mandible fits well within the Middle Pleistocene brown bear range of variation, as it is significantly different in size and shape from the Holocene brown bears, based on geometric morphometric analyses. We show that these differences are due to allometry. This site provides more insight into the Middle Pleistocene morphological variation of brown bears in western Europe and underscores the need for additional Middle Pleistocene fossils in the northern half of Iberia to further test palaeobiogeographical hypotheses of this species’ entrance into the largest of the southern European peninsulas.

The climatological state and the seasonal variability of the Arabian Heat Low (AHL) and the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) are investigated over the Arabian Peninsula using the 1979-2019 ERA-5 reanalysis data. The AHL is a summertime feature, mostly at 15º-35ºN and 40º-60ºE, exhibiting a clear strengthening over the last four decades in line with the observed increase in surface temperature. However, no clear shift in its position is detected. The AHL has a center over the Arabian Gulf and eastern Arabian Peninsula, co-located with the highest surface temperatures, and another over central Saudi Arabia, driven by low-level wind convergence and subsequent increase in atmospheric thickness. The ITD is the boundary between the hot and dry desert air and the cooler and more moist air from the Arabian Sea. It lies along the Arabian Peninsula’s southern coastline in the cold season but reaches up to 28º N between 50º - 60º E in the summer months. While the former has a rather small diurnal variability, the latter shows daily fluctuations of up to 10º. The ITD exhibited a weak northward migration in the 41-year ERA-5 period, likely driven by the increased sea surface temperatures in the Arabian Sea. On interannual timescales, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, the Indian Ocean Dipole, and solar-geomagnetic effects play an important role in the AHL’s and ITD’s variability.

[Abstract] Aim: To understand spatial-temporal changes (beta-diversity) in coastal communities and their drivers in the context of climate change. Coastal ecosystems are extremely exposed and dynamic, where changes in seaweed assemblages have been associated with changing water temperatures. However, at local scale, the effects of changes in the upwelling events and related stressors seek further exploration. Location: Galicia rías, North West of the Iberian Peninsula. Methods: Using data collected in 42 sampling localities in Galicia rias and over two time periods (1998 and 2014), we analysed changes in the seaweed community's composition through time and space. We calculated the temporal beta-diversity index and spatial beta-diversity as the pairwise composition differences between sampling localities. We use generalized dissimilarity models, to identify local environmental drivers of spatial and temporal beta-diversity. Results: We found a significant change in seaweed communities of Galicia rias, between 1998 and 2014 (temporal beta-diversity). They were mostly related to species loss rather than to species replacement. The dissimilarity among localities (spatial beta-diversity) was significantly higher in 2014 than in 1998. Nitrate concentration was consistently predicted as the main driver of both temporal and spatial beta-diversity patterns. Main conclusions: Unlike other studies in marine ecosystems, our results suggest that observed changes in the structure of perennial seaweed assemblages in Galicia Rias might lead to a local biotic heterogenization, indirectly linked to climate change through changes in nutrients availability and the upwelling intensity. Changes in Galicia seaweed communities call scientific attention to the importance of local stressors in climate change studies. Portugal. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia; PTDC/BIA-BMA/31893/2017

In northern Australia, wild dog populations potentially interact with domestic dogs from remote communities, which would create opportunities for disease transmission at the wild-domestic interface. An example is rabies, in the event of an incursion into northern Australia. However, the likelihood of such wild-domestic interactions is ambiguous. Hybridisation analyses based on 23 microsatellite DNA markers were performed on canine-origin scats collected in bushland areas around remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Peninsula Area, Queensland. Sufficient DNA was extracted from 6 of 41 scats to assess the percentage of dingo purity. These scats most likely originated from two 'pure' domestic dogs (0% dingo purity), one hybrid (20% dingo purity) and three 'pure' dingoes (92%-98% dingo purity). The two domestic dog samples were collected in the vicinity of communities. The location of two of the dingo-origin samples provides genetic evidence that dingoes are present in areas close to the communities. The availability of anthropogenic food resources likely creates opportunities for interactions with domestic dogs in the region. The hybrid sample demonstrates the occurrence of antecedent contacts between both populations by means of mating and supports the likelihood of a spatio-temporal overlap at the wild-domestic interface. This represents the first genetic survey involving a wild dog population of equatorial northern Queensland, with evidence of dingo purity. Our results have implications for potential disease transmission within a priority area for biosecurity in northern Australia.

All coastal systems experience disturbances and many across the planet are under unprecedented threat from an intensification of a variety of stressors. The West Antarctic Peninsula is a hotspot of physical climate change and has experienced a dramatic loss of sea‐ice and glaciers in recent years. Among other things, sea‐ice immobilizes icebergs, reducing collisions between icebergs and the seabed, thus decreasing ice‐scouring. Ice disturbance drives patchiness in successional stages across seabed assemblages in Antarctica's shallows, making this an ideal system to understand the ecosystem resilience to increasing disturbance with climate change. We monitored a shallow benthic ecosystem before, during and after a 3‐year pulse of catastrophic ice‐scouring events and show that such systems can return, or bounce back, to previous states within 10 years. Our long‐term data series show that recovery can happen more rapidly than expected, when disturbances abate, even in highly sensitive cold, polar environments.

Allen's Hummingbird comprises two subspecies, one migratory (Selasphorus sasin sasin) and one nonmigratory (S. s. sedentarius). The nonmigratory subspecies, previously endemic to the California Channel Islands, apparently colonized the California mainland on the Palos Verdes Peninsula some time before 1970 and now breeds throughout coastal southern California. We sequenced and compared populations of mainland nonmigratory Allen's Hummingbird to Channel Island populations from Santa Catalina, San Clemente, and Santa Cruz Island. We found no evidence of founder effects on the mainland population. Values of nucleotide diversity on the mainland were higher than on the Channel Islands. There were low levels of divergence between the Channel Islands and the mainland, and Santa Cruz Island was the most genetically distinct. Ecological niche models showed that rainfall and temperature variables on the Channel Islands are similar in the Los Angeles basin and predicted continued expansion of nonmigratory Allen's Hummingbird north along the coast and inland. We also reviewed previous genetic studies of vertebrate species found on the Channel Islands and mainland and showed that broad conclusions regarding island–mainland patterns remain elusive. Challenges include the idiosyncratic nature of colonization itself as well as the lack of a comprehensive approach that incorporates similar markers and sampling strategies across taxa, which, within the context of a comparative study of island–mainland relationships, may lead to inconsistent results.

Chemical monitoring data sets such as those provided by the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) offer opportunities to evaluate the ecological risks of pesticides under large spatiotemporal scales and to evaluate the protectiveness of the current prospective risk-assessment framework. As a case study, we used the monitoring data set for the insecticide chlorpyrifos to perform a probabilistic risk assessment for Iberian surface-water ecosystems. The specific objectives of the study were 1) to assess the occurrence of chlorpyrifos in relation to different agricultural production land uses, 2) to assess the spatiotemporal variation in the exceedance of the European WFD short- and long-term environmental quality standards (maximum allowable concentration environmental quality standard [MAC-EQS] and annual average [AA] EQS), and 3) to perform a probabilistic risk assessment for freshwater invertebrates. A database that contains chlorpyrifos concentrations from 14 600 surface water samples taken between 2012 and 2017 in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) was analyzed, and chlorpyrifos was detected in 21% of these samples. The MAC-EQS was exceeded in 2% of the cases, whereas the AA-EQS was exceeded in 18% of the cases. The majority of the exceedances took place in the littoral areas of the eastern and southeastern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in areas with dominant citrus production during late spring, late summer, and autumn. The present study indicates unacceptable risks posed by chlorpyrifos to Iberian surface waters over the study period, although it was approved for use in Europe. The present study supports the need to perform further postregistration monitoring assessments with other pesticides following similar approaches, which can help to identify possible pesticide-misuse practices and improvements of the prospective risk-assessment framework. Environ Toxicol Chem 2021;40:500-512. © 2020 SETAC.

This research has received support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion-AEI-FEDER (proyecto PGC2018-093925-B-C33), Research Group IT1418-19 from the Eusko Jaurlaritza-Gobierno Vasco. AGO was supported by a Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558). NS was supported by a Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion postdoctoral contract (IJCI-2017-32804).

In the current context of climate change–induced warming, interest in analysing the impact of volcanic eruptions on the climate has renewed. The main conclusions from related papers indicate that volcanic eruptions alter the terrestrial radiative balance and cause cooling in the years after an eruption: known as “years without summer.” These episodes of cyclical cooling have been related to negative socio‐economic impacts (such as crop reduction, famine, and social unrest). However, the effect on precipitation has been studied less. Detailed studies on the economic impact of large eruptions are scarce, especially for historical eruptions. This study analysed the effects of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption on temperature and precipitation in the south‐east of the Iberian Peninsula and related economic and social effects. It was concluded that this eruption incited a significant decrease in maximum temperatures and stability, an increase in minimum temperatures, a decrease in average temperatures, and a significant increase in rainfall. This climatic context produced a decrease in cereal prices and a reduction in climatic risks (droughts and frosts). Therefore, the effects of the eruption of Krakatoa improved socioeconomic conditions in the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula. This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (CGL 2016‐75996‐R). S. G.‐G. acknowledges the support of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through a “Juan de la Cierva Incoporación” grant (IJCI‐2016‐29016).

The paper concerns a new forecast model that includes the class of undiagnosed infected people, and has a multiregion extension, to cope with the in‐time and in‐space heterogeneity of an epidemic. The model is applied to the SARS‐CoV2 (COVID‐19) pandemic that, starting from the end of February 2020, began spreading along the Italian peninsula, by first attacking small communities in north regions, and then extending to the center and south of Italy, including the two main islands. It has proved to be a robust and reliable tool for the forecast of the total and active cases, which can be also used to simulate different scenarios. In particular, the model is able to address a number of issues, such as assessing the adoption of the lockdown in Italy, started from March 11, 2020; the estimate of the actual attack rate; and how to employ a rapid screening test campaign for containing the epidemic.

The Gorgona guitarfish is a poorly documented ray found in the Eastern Pacific. It can be distinguished from its congeners due to its distinctive coloration and rostral cartilages. Here I document an extensive northern range expansion of almost 2000 km based on a juvenile specimen caught off the Baja California Peninsula. This specimen also represents the smallest documented individual of this species, along with the first quantitative morphometric data reported since the 1995 description. Additionally, an updated key to the guitarfishes of the North Eastern Pacific is included.

15 pages, 7 figures, The productivity of intertidal shellfish banks is affected by a wide variety of environmental parameters. In this study, a battery of multivariate analyses including generalized linear mixed models, hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed to define the spatial organization of sandbanks and to identify the variables driving the grouping. Grain‐size distribution and calcium carbonate, organic matter, Si and Al oxides, and trace metals content were the variables used to characterize the intertidal sediments. Field data were collected through the upper 50 cm in 57 sites located in shellfish sandbanks from five coastal inlets of the western Cantabrian coast (Rías Altas, north‐west Iberian Peninsula). Generalized linear mixed models showed that hardly any variable differed with core depth, and the hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis revealed that the banks organized around four clusters. This grouping was dictated by the influence of the imprint of the Cabo Ortegal complex material (with high levels of MgO, Mn, Cr, Ni, V and Fe2O3) or by the imprint of the Ollo de Sapo and Manto de Mondoñedo (high levels of SiO2, Rb, K2O and Ba). The multivariate analysis also separated the sandbanks with higher terrestrial influence in the inner part of the inlets (high levels of Al2O3, Zn, Ba and TiO2) from those with higher marine influence, which were located in the outer part (high levels of Sr, CaO and CaCO3). Furthermore, it was observed that both axes of main ordination were related to the annual average concentration of chlorophyll‐a and inorganic nitrogen in the water column above those sediments, highlighting the interdependence between chemical composition of the overlying water and sediments’ characteristics. This approach, combining parametric models and multivariate analyses of textural and geochemical sediment composition data, proved to be useful for characterizing intertidal substrates where shellfish species live, It was funded by the Consellería do Mar through the Operational Program of the European Fisheries Fund (Order of 10th August 2007, Diario Oficial de Galicia No 169 of 31st August 2007, pp. 14583–14595)

Spain and Portugal are two neighbouring countries, sharing regions with specific socio-economic challenges. These challenges arise now as promising sources of regional co-operation, namely in supporting the design of more tailored regional policies. In this context, the main aim of this paper is to discuss how neighbouring spaces within the Iberian Peninsula can be identified as sources for positive economic effects on the surrounding area. For this purpose, we will use Eurostat regional data, taking advantage of spatial autocorrelation analysis. Based on the developments related to Verdoorn's law, we explored the spatial approach for studying the latent correlations between the Iberian regions, in terms of local production. The results show that there are several Iberian contexts of economic success that can be considered as benchmarks for other regions. We also posit that policies' frameworks between neighbouring regions should be enhanced. These findings are relevant outputs to be considered by public institutions in the design of regional policies that promote more regional co-operation and support spreading effects from poles of development to neighbouring regions (reduction asymmetries). info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The phylogeny and species boundaries of Gazella subgutturosa and G. marica have been long debated. The achievements of past conservation efforts have been compromised by a lack of knowledge about the phylogeny and taxonomic status of different populations. We integrated the recent genetic findings by previous studies with morphometric analyses and ecological niche modeling (ENM) to assess discreteness among populations of these gazelle species in Asia. Taxonomic diversity of gazelles was investigated by using principal components analysis (PCA) based on 14 cranial measures of male skulls. Ecological niche divergence was examined based on a PCA on climatic factors and a species distribution modeling (SDM) with environmental variables. Morphometric results indicated substantial differentiation in size between skulls of the western Zagros Mountains including west and south‐western Iran and Arabian Peninsula from all other samples east of the Zagros Mountains from Iran to China. ENM also revealed that gazelles in the east and west of Zagros Mountains occupy distinct niches and that there are apparent areas of disconnection across the goitered gazelle suitable range. A complete divergent niche occupation was also observed between goitered gazelles of northern Mongolia and other populations of the species, except those in China. Taking the inferences from ENM and morphology together with previous genetics results, we conclude that gazelles in the west and south‐west of Iran may represent G. marica. Also, our combined analyses revealed divergence among gazelles of Iran, Central Asia, and Mongolia/China. These results may pave the way for future studies and have conservation implications particularly for reintroduction/supplementation programs., The phylogeny and species boundaries of Gazella subgutturosa and G. marica have been long debated. We integrated the recent genetic findings by previous studies with morphometric analyses and ecological niche modeling (ENM) to assess discreteness among populations of these gazelle species in Asia. These results may pave the way for future studies and have conservation implications particularly for reintroduction/supplementation programs.

The coastal aquifers and inland waters of the Long Xuyen Quadrangle and Ca Mau Peninsula of southern Vietnam have been significantly impacted by sea water intrusion (SI) as a result of recent anthropogenic activities. This study identified the evolution and spatial distribution of hydrochemical conditions in coastal aquifers at this region using Hydrochemical Facies Evolution Diagram (HFE-D) and Geographical Information System mapping. Hydraulic heads and water chemistry were measured at 31 observation wells in four layered aquifers during dry and rainy seasons in early (2005), and more recent (2016), stages of agricultural development. Hydrochemical facies associated with intrusion or freshening stages were mapped in each aquifer after assigning mixing index values to each facies. The position of groundwater freshening and SI phases differed in Holocene, Upper Pleistocene, Middle Pleistocene, and Lower Pleistocene aquifers. The geographic position of freshening and intrusion fronts differ in dry and rainy seasons, and shifted after 11 years of groundwater abstraction in all four aquifers. The spatial and temporal differences in hydrochemical facies distributions according to HFE-D reflect the relative impact of SI in the four aquifers. The study results provide a better understanding of the evolution of groundwater quality associated with SI in a peninsular coastal aquifer system, and highlight the need for improving groundwater quality and management in similar coastal regions.

Studying lithic raw material sourcing, processing and distribution is helpful when trying to reconstruct the territory, ecology, and cultural practices of Neanderthal groups. The use of multiple methods in such analyses allows for more refined characterizations to be made, helping to distinguish between materials better than any single method. Although 85% of the raw materials making up the Mousterian assemblage at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid Region of Spain) correspond to the available local geological resources, 10% is made of white/beige chert, which is not registered in regional geological cartography. Petrographic and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses were performed to determine the origin of this white/beige chert and thus shed light on the procurement strategies of the Neanderthal groups that occupied the rock shelter. The results show this chert to correspond to three different types of rock: quartz–kaolinite rocks from dykes, cretaceous marine cherts, and quartz fillings of cavities/fractures. These findings are in accordance with the geological features and formations present in the Lozoya valley, as recorded during a geoarchaeological survey, and indicate that the Neanderthals occupying the center of the Iberian Peninsula possessed a detailed knowledge of the landscape that allowed them to exploit its resources during MIS5a–early MIS4., The present research was partially funded by Spanish Project CGL2014‐54818‐P (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad/FEDER,European Union). Telmo Pereira's research was funded by the Programa Investigador FCT (IF/01075/2013).

The Republic of Korea has been considered to be relatively safe from earthquake hazards because of the geological location of the Korean Peninsula, which has a low level of intraplate seismic activity. However, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 5.4 struck the city of Pohang on November 15, 2017, causing 90 casualties and 52 million USD in property losses. During the recovery process after the earthquake, the Korean government provided individual disaster assistance to victims who reported their damages. However, the government disaster assistance could have been unfairly distributed among the socially vulnerable victims who essentially relied on that assistance. This study identifies whether the government disaster assistance was fairly distributed to socially vulnerable victims using a statistical model based on the data from the Pohang earthquake that occurred in 2017 in Korea. A conceptual model was constructed using a structural equation model (SEM) of three factors-social vulnerability, physical vulnerability, and the amount paid out in individual disaster assistance. Furthermore, interviews with and a survey of the victims were conducted to verify the problems identified by the conceptual model. This study found that socially vulnerable victims were less likely to take advantage of the government disaster assistance program.

The Formicidae are considered crucial components of the entomosarcosaprophagous fauna because they can delay the decomposition process, cause tissue postmortem damage and produce bloodstain patterns that may confuse investigations. Moreover, some studies suggest that the Formicidae can act as environmental and seasonal indicators. However, studies on this group on vertebrate carcasses are scarce, especially in the Iberian Peninsula and the southwest of Europe. Thus, comparative studies at different altitudes in a protected wild mountain area could provide useful information on its composition in such environmental conditions, their role as environmental indicators and their forensic implications. For this reason, the Formicidae sarcosaprophagous community was studied at three different altitudes, between 400 and 1,500 m, in a wild mountainous area in the southeast of Spain using a modified Schoenly trap, with two pitfall traps inside, baited with 5 kg piglets (Sus scrofa L.). This work illustrates an approach to the community of the Formicidae, as a representative of the sarcosaprophagous community in an altitudinal gradient, showing a great variability in its composition. Furthermore, when comparing our results with other studies carried out in the Iberian Peninsula, we are able to suggest certain species with a potential utility as geographic and environmental indicators. Thus, Iberoformica subrufa, Lasius brunneus, Lasius cinereus and Camponotus sylvaticus are species of special interest as they appeared in either one of the sampled areas or in the same region.

Coastal zones of Antarctica harbor rich but highly variable phytoplankton communities. The mechanisms that control the dynamics of these communities are not well defined. Here we elucidate the mechanisms that drive seasonal species succession, based on algal photophysiological characteristics and environmental factors. For this, phytoplankton community structure together with oceanographic parameters was studied over a 5-year period (2012–2017) at Rothera Station at Ryder Bay (Western Antarctic Peninsula). Algal pigment patterns and photophysiological studies based on fluorescence analyses were combined with data from the Rothera Time-Series program. Considerable interannual variation was observed, related to variations in wind-mixing, ice cover and an El Niño event. Clear patterns in the succession of algal classes became manifest when combining the data collected over the five successive years. In spring, autotrophic flagellates with a high light affinity were the first to profit from increasing light and sea ice melt. These algae most likely originated from sea-ice communities, stressing the role of sea ice as a seeding vector for the spring bloom. Diatoms became dominant towards summer in more stratified and warmer surface waters. These communities displayed significantly lower photoflexibility than spring communities. There are strong indications for mixotrophy in cryptophytes, which would explain much of their apparently random occurrence. Climate models predict continuing retreat of Antarctic sea-ice during the course of this century. For the near-future we predict that the marginal sea-ice zone will still harbor significant communities of haptophytes and chlorophytes, whereas increasing temperatures will mainly be beneficial for diatoms.

High-latitude dust (HLD) depositions on four glaciers of James Ross Island (the Ulu Peninsula) were analysed. The deposition rate on the selected glaciers varies from 11.8 to 64.0 g m(-2), which is one order of magnitude higher compared to the glaciers in Antarctica or elsewhere in the world. A strong negative relationship between the sediment amount and altitude of a sampling site was found. This is most likely caused by the higher availability of aeolian material in the atmospheric boundary layer. General southerly and south-westerly wind directions over the Ulu Peninsula - with exceptions based on local terrain configuration - help to explain the significantly lower level of sediment deposition on San Jose Glacier and the high level on Triangular Glacier. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrophotometry was used to estimate the relative proportions of the main and trace (lithophile) elements in the sediment samples. Both the sediment amount and the XRF results are analysed in a depth profile at each locality and compared among the glaciers, suggesting long-range transport of fine mineral material from outside James Ross Island. The distribution of aeolian sediment among the glaciers corresponds well with the prevailing wind direction on the Ulu Peninsula.