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8000 years ago, prior to Neolithic agriculture, Europe was mostly a wooded continent. Since then, its forest cover has been progressively fragmented, so that today it covers less than half of Europe's land area, in many cases having been cleared to make way for fields and pasture-land. Establishing the origin of Europe's current, more open land-cover mosaic requires a long-term perspective, for wh
Whilst the importance of fungal primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) has been recognised, few studies have empirically assessed how land-use patterns influence them. Here, we show the impacts of different land-use patterns on fungal PBAPs within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. Spanning a distance of ca. 600 km within this biome, we collected fungal bioaerosols in the fo
The relationship between sustainability and conflict is complex and often hard to define, yet the consequences of interaction can be catastrophic. Unsustainable practices and their consequences for the environment can contribute to conflict. War—and the energy and resource costs of preparing for war—can also have terrible impacts on the environment. In this Voices, we ask how sustainability and en
Plant responses to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, together with projected variations in temperature and precipitation will determine future agricultural production. Estimates of the impacts of climate change on agriculture provide essential information to design effective adaptation strategies, and develop sustainable food systems. Here, we review the current experimental
This study analyzed daily temperature data from 114 meteorological stations in the Qinling-Daba Mountains from 1980 to 2017, focusing on core zones (CE I ≥ 2274 m, CE II 1321–2274 m) and peripheral zones (PE I 668–1321 m, PE II < 668 m). Using 15 extreme temperature indices computed with RClimDex, we assessed the spatiotemporal patterns, trends, and response to climate warming of extreme temperatu
The dynamics of atmospheric CO2 concentrations during and following the last deglaciation have mainly been ascribed to carbon release from and uptake in oceans, primarily in the Southern Ocean. But recent studies also point toward a terrestrial influence. We quantify dynamic changes to northern terrestrial carbon stocks from the Last Glacial Maximum (21,000 years) until present at millennial time
Peatland trees are valuable archives of paleoclimatic information; however, gaps persist in understanding the relationships between tree growth, peatland hydrology, and hydroclimate variables. While previous research in peatlands has mainly focused on tree-ring widths (TRW), yielding inconclusive results, the potential of stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes in tree rings remains unexpl
Gross primary production (GPP) of the vegetation is the largest carbon exchange process of the global carbon cycle. Currently, within satellite-based remote sensing, GPP is generally modelled using linear light use efficiency models where GPP is related to photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by the green vegetation (APAR). These models work well on moderate to low spatiotemporal averaging
Climate, forest successional stage, and soil substrate age can alter herbivore communities and their effects on biogeochemical cycling, but the size and spatial variability of these effects are poorly quantified. To address this knowledge gap, we established a globally distributed network of 50 broadleaved old-growth forests across six continents, encompassing well-constrained local-scale gradient
The standard approach for visual place recognition is to use global image descriptors to retrieve the most similar database images for a given query image. The results can then be further improved with re-ranking methods that re-order the top scoring images. However, existing methods focus on re-ranking based on the same image descriptors that were used for the initial retrieval, which we argue pr
In many machine learning tasks, the premise is designed around predetermined targets and clear expectations of model behaviour. In such cases, there is a direct definition of the optimal mappings between inputs and outputs, which can be learned given sufficiently sized datasets and models. However, in many real-world scenarios, tasks are often not as well-posed and instead defined around detecting
Mercury (Hg) has been stored in permafrost peatlands for millennia. As permafrost thaw is predicted to increase with ongoing climate warming, Hg is at risk to be remobilized from those peatlands and hotspots for Hg methylation could potentially form. Monomethylmercury (MeHg) is a known neurotoxin and a health concern to northern communities if Hg is remobilized, transformed to MeHg and subsequentl
This paper is concerned with a recently proposed scalable protocol for vehicle platooning, known as the serial consensus protocol. This achieves coordination of second-order integrator systems through a series connection of first-order conventional consensus protocols, and has been theoretically shown to have advantageous stability and performance properties. We implement this protocol on a vehicl
This paper studies cone-preserving linear discrete-time switched systems whose switching is governed by an automaton. For this general system class, we present performance analysis conditions for a broadly usable performance measure. In doing so, we generalize several known results for performance and stability analysis for switched and positive switched systems, providing a unifying perspective.
We propose a method for estimating the 3D position of a target point, given multiple measurements of it, using mm-wave radar data. Given azimuth headings and range estimates from posed radar positions, we find the 3D position, using an approximate, but geometrically and statistically meaningful cost. The 3D position is found in an optimal way, using this approximate cost. By deriving the Lagrangia
We perform a validation analysis on the multipolar model of opinion dynamics. A general methodology for using the model on datasets of two correlated variables is proposed and tested using data on the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination rates and political participation in Sweden. The model is shown to successfully capture the opinion segregation demonstrated by the data and spatial correlat
We extend the generalized information criteria framework for model selection to high-dimensional sparse statistical jump models, a recent class of statistically robust and computationally efficient alternatives to hidden Markov models. Specifically, we derive expressions for the model fit and complexity to construct suitable information criteria for hyperparameter selection. In extensive simulatio
Accurate and reliable estimation of actual evapotranspiration (AET) is essential for various hydrological studies, including drought prediction, water resource management, and the analysis of atmospheric–terrestrial carbon exchanges. Gridded AET products offer potential for application in ungauged areas, but their uncertainties may be significant, making it difficult to identify the best products
