Ecology of the past

Kissling, W.D., Blach-Overgaard, A., Zwaan, R.E. & Wagner, P. (2016) Historical colonization and dispersal limitation supplement climate and topography in shaping species richness of African lizards (Reptilia: Agaminae). Scientific Reports 6, 34014. DOI: 10.1038/srep34014

Lutz, H.L., Weckstein, J.D., Patane, J.S.L., Bates, J.M. & Aleixo, A. (2013) Biogeography and spatio-temporal diversification of Selenidera and Andigena Toucans (Aves: Ramphastidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69, 873-883. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.017

Malhi Y. , Gardner T.A., Goldsmith G.R., Silman M.R., Zelazowski P. (2014) Tropical forests in the Anthropocene. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 39, 125-159. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-environ-030713-155141

Morueta-Holme, N., Engemann, K., Sandoval-Acuña, P., Jonas, J.D., Segnitz, R.M. & Svenning, J. (2015) Strong upslope shifts in Chimborazo’s vegetation over two centuries since Humboldt. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 12741-12745. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1509938112

Scientific methods in archaeology

November 10, 2016
WDG

Preparing my lecture for the new Scientific Methods in Archaeology course for VU Amsterdam and University of Amsterdam students studying a minor in Geoarchaeology. The focus will be on detecting human activity in the past, to illustrate this I will include Easter Island/Rapa Nui as a case study. We will focus on how palaeoecological evidence can be used to gain insights into past human activity. Whilst putting this together I discovered these nice documentaries looking at humans and their environmental impacts on Easter Island/Rapa Nui which I wanted to share, they show how much effort people would have had to put into altering their landscape:

For further information see also:

Rull, V., Cañellas-Boltà, N., Saez, A., Margalef, O., Bao, R., Pla-Rabes, S., Valero-Garcés, B. & Giralt, S. (2013) Challenging Easter Island’s collapse: The need for interdisciplinary synergies. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 1, DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2013.00003

Tropical forests in the Anthropocene

November 8, 2016
WDG

Seminar
Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics
University of Amsterdam

Tropical forests in the Anthropocene
by Prof. Yadvinder Malhi (University of Oxford)

16:00-17:00, 24 November 2016
Science Park, Amsterdam
If you want to attend please click here for full details.

ABSTRACT: Continue Reading

Biodiversity and global change in the tropics

November 7, 2016
WDG

Treub Maatschappij – Society for the Advancement of Research in the Tropics
&
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED),University of Amsterdam

“Biodiversity and global change in the tropics”

Coordinators: Carina Hoorn & W. Daniel Kissling
Time: Thursday 17 November 2016, 13:30-17:00
Location: University of Amsterdam, Science Park (click here for link to registration)

PROGRAMME Continue Reading

PhD position: When was the South Pacific colonised?

October 31, 2016
WDG

Funded PhD studentship at:
Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory
Department of Geography & Environment
University of Southampton

Title: When was the South Pacific colonised? A lake sediment approach to understanding climate:human drivers of ecosystem change on remote Pacific Islands

Supervisors: Sandra Nogue, Pete Langdon, David Sear (all University of Southampton), and William Gosling (University of Amsterdam)

Deadline: 2 January 2017

To find out more about the project, check eligibility criteria, and details of how to apply click here.

The team lake coring in the South Pacific. Photo Jon Hassall, see more: https://goo.gl/viiLSQ

Hall, S.A. (2010) Early maize pollen from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USA. Palynology 34, 125-137. DOI: 10.1080/01916121003675746

Janzen, D.H. (1967) Why mountain passes are higher in the tropics. The American Naturalist 101, 233-249. DOI: 10.1086/282487

Tovar, C., Arnillas, C.A., Cuesta, F. & Buytaert, W. (2013) Diverging responses of tropical Andean biomes under future climate conditions. PLoS ONE 8, e63634. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063634

Published open access:

Julier, A.C.M., Jardine, P.E., Coe, A.L., Gosling, W.D., Lomax, B.H. & Fraser, W.T. (2016) Chemotaxonomy as a tool for interpreting the cryptic diversity of Poaceae pollen. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 235, 140-147. DOI: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2016.08.004

Environmental change in the Yaque river area, northwestern Dominican Republic

October 14, 2016
WDG

Research Group of Palaeoecology & Landscape Ecology seminar by Thomas Olijhoek (MSc student at Utrecht University)

Title: Environmental change in the Yaque river area, northwestern Dominican Republic: Human impact before and after Columbus’ arrival in the New World

Date: Wednesday 26 October, 11:00-12:00

Location: Science Park 904 (please contact Henry Hooghiemstra for details if you want to attend)

Abstract: Multiproxy analysis of the 225-cm long sediment core Los Indios from the Yaque river valley in northwestern Dominican Republic (Hispaniola) shows environmental changes during the last 1150 cal yr BP. The observed changes show a period of little human distubance, followed by increasing human activity and a rapid intensification of these changes after Columbus’ arrival in AD 1492. The fastest changes on the landscape can be observed at 307 cal yr BP, when agricultural development in the Dominican Republic intensified.

Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn – Architect of the Capitol, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1380997

Full or Associate Professor in Earth and Climate at VU Amsterdam

October 13, 2016
WDG

I would like to publicize the current vacancy for a Full or Associate Professor within the “Earth & Climate” cluster at the VU Amsterdam. Having worked in Amsterdam now for just over two years I really enjoy living in the Netherlands, and find the academic environment very stimulating. There are strong links between the VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam (where I am based).

The VU Amsterdam are looking for someone with a strong track record in palaeoclimate and/or landscape modelling with a focus on Quaternary timescales. I am excited to see this vacancy and I am sure that there would be many opportunities to develop links with the Research Group of Palaeoecology & Landscape Ecology which I head up.

For full details on the vacancy click here closing date 1 November 2016.

OPEN ACCESS ONLINE:

Miller, C.S., Gosling, W.D., Kemp, D.B., Coe, A.L. & Gilmour, I. (2016) Drivers of ecosystem and climate change in tropical West Africa over the past ∼540 000 years. Journal of Quaternary Science online. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2893