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1. Toward a Global Science of Conservation Genomics: Coldspots in Genomic Resources Highlight a Need for Equitable Collaborations and Capacity Building

   https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17729  

   Carneiro, Céline_M; Shields‐Estrada, Analisa; Boville, Alexandra_E; Alves‐Ferreira, Gabriela; Xu, Tianyi; Arnott, Ryan_L_Wong; Allen‐Love, Chloé_M; Puertas, Micaela; Jacisin, III, John_J; Tripp, Hannah_Chapman; et al (March 2025, Molecular Ecology)

   ABSTRACT Advances in genomic sequencing have magnified our understanding of ecological and evolutionary mechanisms relevant to biodiversity conservation. As a result, the field of conservation genomics has grown rapidly. Genomic data can be effective in guiding conservation decisions by revealing fine‐scale patterns of genetic diversity and adaptation. Adaptive potential, sometimes referred to as evolutionary potential, is particularly informative for conservation due to its inverse relationship with extinction risk. Yet, global coldspots in genomic resources impede progress toward conservation goals. We undertook a systematic literature review to characterise the global distribution of genomic resources for amphibians and reptiles relative to species richness, IUCN status, and predicted global change. We classify the scope of available genomic resources by their potential applicability to global change. Finally, we examine global patterns of collaborations in genomic studies. Our findings underscore current priorities for expanding genomic resources, especially those aimed at predicting adaptive potential to future environmental change. Our results also highlight the need for improved global collaborations in genomic research, resource sharing, and capacity building in the Global South. 

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2. Computing a Global Degree of Rate Control for Catalytic Systems

   https://doi.org/https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c03150?ref=pdf  

   Tian, H.; Rangarajan, S. (November 2020, ACS catalysis)

   Jones, Chris (Ed.)

   In this paper, we discuss the concept and properties of variance-based global sensitivity analysis, as an expansion of local sensitivity metrics (such as the degree of rate control), for modeling and design of catalytic reaction systems. Using an illustrative example and supporting theory, we show that: (i) for small variations in the parameters, global sensitivities are similar to local derivatives; (ii) for larger variations in the parameters (i.e., a larger parameter space), the global sensitivities provide a ranking of importance of parameters and impose a rigorous bound on the errors that arise from fixing one or more parameters to nominal values; and (iii) in general, the global sensitivities can be related to the extrema of local derivatives. We argue that the square root of the total global sensitivity of a parameter, computed by summing the global sensitivity of that parameter acting independently and in combination with others, is a “global” degree of rate control for catalytic systems. 

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3. Evolution is a double‐edged sword, not a silver bullet, to confront global change

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14410  

   Diamond, Sarah E.; Martin, Ryan A. (June 2020, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)

   Abstract Although there is considerable optimism surrounding adaptive evolutionary responses to global change, relatively little attention has been paid to maladaptation in this context. In this review, we consider how global change might lead populations to become maladapted. We further consider how populations can evolve to new optima, fail to evolve and therefore remain maladapted, or become further maladapted through trait‐driven or eco–evo‐driven mechanisms after being displaced from their fitness optima. Our goal is to stimulate thinking about evolution as a “double‐edged sword” that comprises both adaptive and maladaptive responses, rather than as a “silver bullet” or a purely adaptive mechanism to combat global change. We conclude by discussing how a better appreciation of environmentally driven maladaptation and maladaptive responses might improve our current understanding of population responses to global change and our ability to forecast future responses. 

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4. A generalized effective potential for differentially rotating plasmas

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0251633  

   Ebrahimi, Fatima; Haywood, Alexander (March 2025, Physics of Plasmas)

   Global stability of differentially rotating plasma is investigated using a generalized effective potential. We first, for a current-free system, obtain a general form of an effective potential in terms of the free energies of global curvature and gradients of rotation for non-axisymmetric disturbances. We then examine the stability of differentially rotating disks for several rotation profiles and present the associated effective potential for the onset of these instabilities in the MHD regime. In particular, results for global axisymmetric magnetorotational instability as well as local and global non-axisymmetric modes are presented. The latter constitute two distinct non-axisymmetric modes, a high frequency local MRI and a global low-frequency non-axisymmetric mode (the magneto-curvature mode, introduced in Ebrahimi and Pharr [Astrophys. J. 936, 145 (2022)]), confined either between two Alfvénic resonances or an Alfvénic resonance and a boundary. 

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5. Tropical root responses to global changes: A synthesis

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17420  

   Yaffar, Daniela; Lugli, Laynara F; Wong, Michelle Y; Norby, Richard J; Addo‐Danso, Shalom D; Arnaud, Marie; Cordeiro, Amanda L; Dietterich, Lee H; Diaz‐Toribio, Milton H; Lee, Ming Y; et al (July 2024, Global Change Biology)

   Abstract Tropical ecosystems face escalating global change. These shifts can disrupt tropical forests' carbon (C) balance and impact root dynamics. Since roots perform essential functions such as resource acquisition and tissue protection, root responses can inform about the strategies and vulnerabilities of ecosystems facing present and future global changes. However, root trait dynamics are poorly understood, especially in tropical ecosystems. We analyzed existing research on tropical root responses to key global change drivers: warming, drought, flooding, cyclones, nitrogen (N) deposition, elevated (e) CO₂, and fires. Based on tree species‐ and community‐level literature, we obtained 266 root trait observations from 93 studies across 24 tropical countries. We found differences in the proportion of root responsiveness to global change among different global change drivers but not among root categories. In particular, we observed that tropical root systems responded to warming and eCO₂by increasing root biomass in species‐scale studies. Drought increased the root: shoot ratio with no change in root biomass, indicating a decline in aboveground biomass. Despite N deposition being the most studied global change driver, it had some of the most variable effects on root characteristics, with few predictable responses. Episodic disturbances such as cyclones, fires, and flooding consistently resulted in a change in root trait expressions, with cyclones and fires increasing root production, potentially due to shifts in plant community and nutrient inputs, while flooding changed plant regulatory metabolisms due to low oxygen conditions. The data available to date clearly show that tropical forest root characteristics and dynamics are responding to global change, although in ways that are not always predictable. This synthesis indicates the need for replicated studies across root characteristics at species and community scales under different global change factors. 

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