Climate change is threatening natural ecosystems in the Earth, and arid regions of southern Africa are particularly exposed to further drying. Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. （Welwitschiaceae） is an unusual gymnosperm t...Climate change is threatening natural ecosystems in the Earth, and arid regions of southern Africa are particularly exposed to further drying. Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. （Welwitschiaceae） is an unusual gymnosperm tree that is recognized as an icon of the Namib Desert, southern Africa. Many aspects of its biology were investigated in the past, with a special emphasis for its physiology and adaptations, but nothing is known about its potential sensitivity to current climate changes. In this study, we adopted an approach based on distribution data for W. mirabilis and ecological niche models for clarifying the species-climate interactions and for predicting the potential impacts of climate change on W. mirabilis populations in three well-separated sub-ranges （northern, southern and central） in northwestern Namibia, southern Africa. We evidenced that the populations occurring in the northern sub-range have peculiar climatic exigencies compared with those in the central and southern sub-ranges and are particularly exposed to the impact of climate change, which will consist of a substantial increase in temperature across the region. These impacts could be represented by demographic changes that should be detected and monitored detailedly to plan efficient measures for managing populations of this important species on the long-term scale.展开更多
Efficient collection of water from fog provides a potential solution to solve the global freshwater shortage problem, particularly in the desert or arid regions. In this work, a flexible and highly efficient fog colle...Efficient collection of water from fog provides a potential solution to solve the global freshwater shortage problem, particularly in the desert or arid regions. In this work, a flexible and highly efficient fog collector was prepared by mimicking the back exoskeleton structure of the Namib desert beetle. The improved fog collector was constructed by a superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic patterned fabric via a simple weaving method, followed by in-situ deposition of copper particles. Compared with the conventional fog collector with a plane structure, the fabric has shown a higher water-harvesting rate at 1432.7 mg/h/cm2,owing to the biomimetic three-dimensional structure, its enhanced condensation performance enabled by the copper coating and the rational distribution of wetting units. The device construction makes use of the widely available textile materials through mature manufacturing technology, which makes it highly suitable for large-scale industrial production.展开更多
We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to study the trophic niche of two species of insectivorous lizards,the Husab sand lizard Pedioplanis husabensis and Bradfield’s Namib day gecko living sympatrically in t...We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to study the trophic niche of two species of insectivorous lizards,the Husab sand lizard Pedioplanis husabensis and Bradfield’s Namib day gecko living sympatrically in the Namib Desert.We measured theδ13C andδ15N ratios in lizard blood tissues with different turnover times(whole blood,red blood cells and plasma)to investigate lizard diet in different seasons.We also measured theδ13C andδ15N ratios in available arthropod prey and plant tissues on the site,to identify the avenues of nutrient movement between lizards and their prey.Through the use of stable isotope mixing models,we found that the two lizard species relied on a largely non-overlapping but seasonally variable array of arthropods:P.husabensis primarily fed on termites,beetles and wasps,while R.bradfieldi fed mainly on ants,wasps and hemipterans.Nutrients originating from C3 plants were proportionally higher for R.bradfieldi than for P.husabensis during autumn and late autumn/early winter,although not summer.Contrary to the few available data estimating the trophic transfer of nutrients in ectotherms in mixed C3 and C4/crassulacean acid metabolism(CAM)plant landscapes,we found that our lizard species primarily acquired nutrients that originated from C4/CAM plants.This work adds an important dimension to the general lack of studies using stable isotope analyses to estimate lizard niche partitioning and resource use.展开更多
基金supported by the LifeWatch-ITA European Research Infrastructure on Biodiversity and the Project LIFE+Man For C.BD.(LIFE09 ENV/IT/000078)
文摘Climate change is threatening natural ecosystems in the Earth, and arid regions of southern Africa are particularly exposed to further drying. Welwitschia mirabilis Hook. （Welwitschiaceae） is an unusual gymnosperm tree that is recognized as an icon of the Namib Desert, southern Africa. Many aspects of its biology were investigated in the past, with a special emphasis for its physiology and adaptations, but nothing is known about its potential sensitivity to current climate changes. In this study, we adopted an approach based on distribution data for W. mirabilis and ecological niche models for clarifying the species-climate interactions and for predicting the potential impacts of climate change on W. mirabilis populations in three well-separated sub-ranges （northern, southern and central） in northwestern Namibia, southern Africa. We evidenced that the populations occurring in the northern sub-range have peculiar climatic exigencies compared with those in the central and southern sub-ranges and are particularly exposed to the impact of climate change, which will consist of a substantial increase in temperature across the region. These impacts could be represented by demographic changes that should be detected and monitored detailedly to plan efficient measures for managing populations of this important species on the long-term scale.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(5197206321501127+3 种基金51502185)Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province(2019J01256)Postgraduate Research&Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province(KYCX191916)the funds from China postdoctoral science foundation grant(2019TQ0061)。
文摘Efficient collection of water from fog provides a potential solution to solve the global freshwater shortage problem, particularly in the desert or arid regions. In this work, a flexible and highly efficient fog collector was prepared by mimicking the back exoskeleton structure of the Namib desert beetle. The improved fog collector was constructed by a superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic patterned fabric via a simple weaving method, followed by in-situ deposition of copper particles. Compared with the conventional fog collector with a plane structure, the fabric has shown a higher water-harvesting rate at 1432.7 mg/h/cm2,owing to the biomimetic three-dimensional structure, its enhanced condensation performance enabled by the copper coating and the rational distribution of wetting units. The device construction makes use of the widely available textile materials through mature manufacturing technology, which makes it highly suitable for large-scale industrial production.
文摘We used stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to study the trophic niche of two species of insectivorous lizards,the Husab sand lizard Pedioplanis husabensis and Bradfield’s Namib day gecko living sympatrically in the Namib Desert.We measured theδ13C andδ15N ratios in lizard blood tissues with different turnover times(whole blood,red blood cells and plasma)to investigate lizard diet in different seasons.We also measured theδ13C andδ15N ratios in available arthropod prey and plant tissues on the site,to identify the avenues of nutrient movement between lizards and their prey.Through the use of stable isotope mixing models,we found that the two lizard species relied on a largely non-overlapping but seasonally variable array of arthropods:P.husabensis primarily fed on termites,beetles and wasps,while R.bradfieldi fed mainly on ants,wasps and hemipterans.Nutrients originating from C3 plants were proportionally higher for R.bradfieldi than for P.husabensis during autumn and late autumn/early winter,although not summer.Contrary to the few available data estimating the trophic transfer of nutrients in ectotherms in mixed C3 and C4/crassulacean acid metabolism(CAM)plant landscapes,we found that our lizard species primarily acquired nutrients that originated from C4/CAM plants.This work adds an important dimension to the general lack of studies using stable isotope analyses to estimate lizard niche partitioning and resource use.
