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1. Scientific Communities Striving for a Common Cause: Innovations in Carbon Cycle Science

   https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-19-0306.1  

   Whelan, Mary E. ; Anderegg, Leander D. ; Badgley, Grayson ; Campbell, J. Elliott ; Commane, Roisin ; Frankenberg, Christian ; Hilton, Timothy W. ; Kuai, Le ; Parazoo, Nicholas ; Shiga, Yoichi ; et al ( September 2020 , Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society)

   Abstract Where does the carbon released by burning fossil fuels go? Currently, ocean and land systems remove about half of the CO 2 emitted by human activities; the remainder stays in the atmosphere. These removal processes are sensitive to feedbacks in the energy, carbon, and water cycles that will change in the future. Observing how much carbon is taken up on land through photosynthesis is complicated because carbon is simultaneously respired by plants, animals, and microbes. Global observations from satellites and air samples suggest that natural ecosystems take up about as much CO 2 as they emit. To match the data, our land models generate imaginary Earths where carbon uptake and respiration are roughly balanced, but the absolute quantities of carbon being exchanged vary widely. Getting the magnitude of the flux is essential to make sure our models are capturing the right pattern for the right reasons. Combining two cutting-edge tools, carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF), will help develop an independent answer of how much carbon is being taken up by global ecosystems. Photosynthesis requires CO 2 , light, and water. OCS provides a spatially and temporally integrated picture of the “front door” of photosynthesis, proportional to CO 2 uptake and water loss through plant stomata. SIF provides a high-resolution snapshot of the “side door,” scaling with the light captured by leaves. These two independent pieces of information help us understand plant water and carbon exchange. A coordinated effort to generate SIF and OCS data through satellite, airborne, and ground observations will improve our process-based models to predict how these cycles will change in the future. 

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2. Generational perceptions of promotion and tenure expectations by faculty in a striving university: A quest for legitimacy?

   https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12195  

   Véliz, Daniela ; Gardner, Susan K. ( January 2019 , Higher Education Quarterly)

   Striving universities seek to gain prestige in the academic market. One characteristic of striving universities is a change in the faculty reward system. In this study, we examined historical promotion and tenure criteria in five disciplinary units at one striving university and then conducted interviews with senior faculty and recently tenured faculty in each unit to better understand the striving dynamics at play. Findings demonstrated that pressures to seek legitimacy were a result of the faculty themselves, the institution’s desire to gain legitimacy through an increased research profile and the disciplinary ties outside the university.

    

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3. Female‐directed aggression by adolescent male chimpanzees primarily constitutes dominance striving, not sexual coercion

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24296  

   Enigk, Drew K. ; Emery Thompson, Melissa ; Machanda, Zarin P. ; Wrangham, Richard W. ; Muller, Martin N. ( May 2021 , American Journal of Physical Anthropology)

   Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are notable for exhibiting high levels of male‐to‐female aggression. Much of this aggression from adult males serves sexually coercive functions. Despite being smaller and lower‐ranking than adult males, adolescent males also engage in regular aggression against adult females. Here, we test whether the primary function of this aggression is sexual coercion, as in adult males, or, alternatively, whether adolescent males use aggression to establish social dominance over females.

   We analyzed 1771 copulations and 1812 instances of male‐initiated aggression between adolescent males (aged nine through 14 years) and adult females across 21 years of observation of the Kanyawara chimpanzee community in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

   Our test of the sexual coercion hypothesis revealed that adolescent males did not selectively target cycling females for aggression, nor did aggression against cycling females predict rates of copulation with those females. Our test of the social dominance hypothesis showed that males succeeded in dominating all adult females before, or soon after, dominating their first adult male. Additionally, we found that adolescent males dominated females approximately in the order of the females' own ranks, from the bottom to the top of the female hierarchy.

   Our data illustrate that the establishment of social dominance was more important than sexual coercion in explaining patterns of adolescent male aggression toward females. In comparison, evidence for sexual coercion was clear and compelling in adult males. These findings highlight that the primary function of male‐to‐female aggression differs between adolescent and adult males.

    

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4. Responsible RAD: Striving for best practices in population genomic studies of adaptation

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12677  

   Lowry, David B. ; Hoban, Sean ; Kelley, Joanna L. ; Lotterhos, Katie E. ; Reed, Laura K. ; Antolin, Michael F. ; Storfer, Andrew ( May 2017 , Molecular Ecology Resources)