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\"Situated south of the Dead Sea, near the famous Nabatean capital of Petra, the Faynan region in Jordan contains the largest deposits of copper ore in the southern Levant. The Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project (ELRAP) takes an anthropological archaeology approach to the deep-time study of culture change in one of the Old World's most important locales for studying technological development. Using innovative digital tools for data recording, curation, analyses and dissemination, the researchers focused on ancient mining and metallurgy as the subject of surveys and excavations related to the Iron Age (ca. 1200-500 B.C.E.), when the first local, historical state-level societies appeared in this part of the eastern Mediterranean basin. This comprehensive and important volume challenges the current scholarly consensus concerning the emergence and historicity of the Iron Age polity of biblical Edom and some of its neighbors, such as ancient Israel\"-- Provided by publisher.

An increase in retrogressive thaw slump (RTS) activity has been observed in the Arctic in recent decades. However, a gap exists between observations in high Arctic polar desert regions where mean annual ground temperatures are as cold as −16.5 °C and vegetation coverage is sparse. In this study, we present a ∼30 year record of annual RTS observations (frequency and distribution) from 1989 to 2018 within the Eureka Sound Lowlands, Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands. Record summer warmth in 2011 and 2012 promoted rapid RTS initialization, increasing active slumps from 100 in a given year or less to over 200 regionally and promoting RTS initiation in previously unaffected terrain. Differential GPS and remote sensing observations of 12 RTSs initiated during this period (2011-2018) provided a mean headwall retreat rate for all RTSs of 6.2 m yr−1 and for specific RTSs up to 26.7 m yr−1. To better understand the dynamics of climate and terrain factors controlling RTS headwall retreat rates we explored RTS interactions by correlating headwall retreat with climate factors (thawing degree days, annual rainfall and annual snowfall) and terrain factors (aspect and slope). Our findings indicate a sensitivity of cold permafrost in the high Arctic to climate-driven thermokarst initiation, but the decoupling of RTS dynamics from climate appears to occur over time for individual RTS as terrain factors take on a greater role controlling headwall retreat. Detailed observations of thermokarst development in a high Arctic polar desert permafrost setting are important as it demonstrates the sensitivity of this system to changes in summer temperatures and highlight differences to changes occurring in other Arctic permafrost regions.

Lowlands chili cultivation has lower productivity than highland areas in Indonesia. The increased assimilate translocation to fruit can support crop yield. Source-sink character is a method for yield evaluation. This study aimed to identify growth characteristics related to source-sink relationship and yield-limiting factors of lowland chili. This study used chili varieties adaptive to lowland conditions, namely Kencana, Lembang-1, Tanjung-2, and Ungara. The research was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three blocks as replications. The results based on cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) of yield and yield components, showed that Kencana and Lembang-1 were classified as small-diameter chili fruit that had a similarity of 65.02%, while Tanjung-2 and Ungara as large-diameter chili fruit groups with a similarity of 51.82%. The small-diameter chili fruit group had low efficiency in fruit partition because the supply of assimilate to fruit was distrupted due to competition with leaf growth and number of fruits. The large-diameter chili fruit group had high efficiency in fruit partition by increasing root growth and fruit development but minimizing vegetative shoot growth. Thus, Tanjung-2 and Ungara had greater biomass efficiency to fruit partitioning than Kencana and Lembang-1. It was concluded that the source of assimilate was identified as yield limiting factor in lowland chili varieties is study aimed to identify growth characteristics related to source-sink relationship and yield-limiting factors of lowland chili. This study used chili varieties adaptive to lowland conditions, namely Kencana, Lembang-1, Tanjung-2, and Ungara. The research was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three blocks as replications. The results based on cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) of yield and yield components, showed that Kencana and Lembang-1 were classified as small-diameter chili fruit that had a similarity of 65.02%, while Tanjung-2 and Ungara as large-diameter chili fruit groups with a similarity of 51.82%. The small-diameter chili fruit group had low efficiency in fruit partition because the supply of assimilate to fruit was distrupted due to competition with leaf growth and number of fruits. The large-diameter chili fruit group had high efficiency in fruit partition by increasing root growth and fruit development but minimizing vegetative shoot growth. Thus, Tanjung-2 and Ungara had greater biomass efficiency to fruit partitioning than Kencana and Lembang-1. It was concluded that the source of assimilate was identified as yield limiting factor in lowland chili varieties Lowlands chili cultivation has lower productivity than highland areas in Indonesia. The increased assimilate translocation to fruit can support crop yield. Source-sink character is a method for yield evaluation. This study aimed to identify growth characteristics related to source-sink relationship and yield-limiting factors of lowland chili. This study used chili varieties adaptive to lowland conditions, namely Kencana, Lembang-1, Tanjung-2, and Ungara. The research was conducted using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three blocks as replications. The results based on cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) of yield and yield components, showed that Kencana and Lembang-1 were classified as small-diameter chili fruit that had a similarity of 65.02%, while Tanjung-2 and Ungara as large-diameter chili fruit groups with a similarity of 51.82%. The small-diameter chili fruit group had low efficiency in fruit partition because the supply of assimilate to fruit was distrupted due to competition with leaf growth and number of fruits. The large-diameter chili fruit group had high efficiency in fruit partition by increasing root growth and fruit development but minimizing vegetative shoot growth. Thus, Tanjung-2 and Ungara had greater biomass efficiency to fruit partitioning than Kencana and Lembang-1. It was concluded that the source of assimilate was identified as yield limiting factor in lowland chili varieties

In Europe only some small isolated patches of forests with a high degree of naturalness still exist. These are forests, whose structure, composition and function has been shaped by natural dynamics without substantial anthropogenic influence over the long period. In this respect, Białowieża Forest is a unique location in Europe, with continuous forest cover for close to 12,000 years. The palynological, archaeological and historical data document only a weak anthropogenic fingerprint compared to other European lowland forests in Holocene history. Due to long-lasting protection, a large portion of the forest is still composed of stands originating from the pre-silvicultural period. Moreover, the stands of Białowieża Forest converted by silvicultural activities during the 20th century have the potential to recover owing to patches of stands with high naturalness, scattered throughout the forest. As conflict over management of the forest has recurred regularly for close to century, there is a need to summarize our knowledge on the forest history and natural assets, to help making scientifically informed decisions over its future. Expansion of a non-intervention approach to the Polish part of the forest is suggested to increase the stability of the entire ecosystem and enhance the chances for its successful adaptation to changing environmental conditions. This will increase the importance of Białowieża Forest as an open-door laboratory for biology, ecology, and forestry.

Mountain areas play a vital role in global water resources as they often generate disproportionally high runoff and seasonally delay runoff due to storage as snow and ice. Water originating from mountains is used to satisfy human water demand further downstream in the lowlands of the corresponding river basins. Although the relevance of mountains for water supply is widely acknowledged, our current quantitative knowledge of their relevance for human water use on a global scale remains limited to decadal averages. As both water demand and mountain water supply have a strong seasonality, it is crucial to assess the global relevance of mountain areas beyond the annual time scale. To this end, we examined the share of lowland surface water abstraction (LSWA) stemming from mountain runoff in all river basins larger than 10 000 km2 globally from 1990 to 2019, focusing on the intra-annual variability. We distinguished between essential runoff contributions from low and high mountains and potential mountain runoff contributions to LSWA. Essential mountain contributions are defined as the share of water abstractions in the lowlands that can solely be satisfied by mountain runoff, whereas potential mountain contributions are the share that can originate from the mountains but does not necessarily have to. Our results confirm a strong spatial heterogeneity in the contribution of mountain runoff to LSWA. Globally, 15% of annual LSWA can solely be satisfied by mountain runoff, with monthly variations between 9% and 23%, highlighting the strong seasonality in the reliance on mountain runoff for lowland water use. The share of potential mountain contributions is much higher (51% annually). Slightly less than half of the essential mountain contributions to LSWA are sourced from high mountains. This shows the disproportional relevance of these regions, constituting only around one-third of the total mountain area. Furthermore, our results show an increasing dependence of lowlands on mountain runoff contributions.

The Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) are recognized as the second largest peatland complex in the world. Due to variability in peat thickness across a large and heterogeneous landscape, the existing carbon (C) storage estimates for the HBL may contain large uncertainty. Here, we use geospatial variables that are associated with HBL peat formation, age, accumulation, and occurrence to understand the driving factors for peat depth variability and map peat depth and C storage at 30 m spatial resolution. The estimated average peat depth of HBL is 184(±48) cm with 90% of values falling between 89 and 264 cm. Based on the spatially explicit peat depth, the HBL total C storage is estimated to be 30(±6) Pg. Distance to the coastline is the most important indicator of peat depth where the depth increases with distance further away from Hudson Bay coastline, confirming that the time since peat formation is closely related to peat depth. Plain Language Summary The Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) contain the second largest peatland complex in the world. We used spatial data sourced from satellite observations and geospatial information that are associated with peat occurrence, age, formation, and accumulation to estimate peat depth and carbon storage at 30 × 30 m spatial details for the entire HBL. We combined several machine learning models together in a way that improves their ability to work well on new data with a technique called “stacking,” to improve the accuracy of peat depth estimation. The estimated average peat depth was 184 cm while the entire HBL stores 30 billion tonnes of carbon. The peat depth and carbon storage information presented in this study will help monitor and assess the vulnerability of carbon storage to anticipated changes in climate, resource development, land use, and disturbances that are intensifying in the region. They are also crucial for managing and protecting this vital ecosystem, quantifying the carbon cost of resource development, and for developing ecologically sound land management practices in the region. Key Points We use stacking, an ensemble learning technique designed to mitigate overfitting, to estimate peat depth in the Hudson Bay Lowlands (HBL) The average peat depth of HBL is 184 (±48) cm with 90% of depths falling within 89–264 cm HBL stores 30 (±6) Pg carbon (C) with average value of 86 (±35) kg m−2

Salak is native plant from tropics that is grouped in genus Salacca. Species number of this genus based on valid name is 23 species. The spread of salak species in the world has never been published full in one paper. Several publication often informed only one species of salak but the others informed more. Therefore this paper aims to present the distribution salak species in the world. All of specimen salak were observed from Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor; Herbarium Leiden, Netherlands; Herbarium Kewense, England. The specimens observed amounted to 515 sheets. Result showed the distribution of salak species is concentrated in three regions namely Borneo, Malay Peninsular, and Sumatra. Borneo island is highest diversity of salak because there were found 11 salak species, that indicated as centre of salak diversity and centre of salak origin in the world. Most of the species from this genus are restricted to very small areas. The salak habitat varied with wide range of altitudes, from 5 m fsl to 1700 m fsl, but most of them are in the lowlands. The species with the widest range of altitudes are S. dolicholepis but S. wallichiana and S. zalacca were most found in several regions. There is relationship between salak species and distribution areas statistically.

The northern mid-high latitudes experience climate warming much faster than the global average. However, the difference in the temperature change rates between permafrost and non-permafrost zones remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the temporal changes in temperature means and extremes across the Siberian lowlands (<500 m) over the past six decades (1960–2019) using in situ observations and reanalysis data. The results show that permafrost zones (0.39 °C/decade) have warmed faster than non-permafrost zones (0.31 °C/decade). The minimum values of the daily maximum ( TXn ) and minimum ( TNn ) temperatures changed faster than their maximum values ( TXx, TNx ), suggesting that low minimum temperatures increase faster, as evidenced by the considerably higher warming rate in the cool season (October–April, 0.43 ± 0.10 °C/decade, n = 126) than that in the warm season (May–September, 0.25 ± 0.08 °C/decade, n = 119). The change rates of TXx and TNx in permafrost areas were 2–3 times greater than those in non-permafrost areas; however, over the last ten years, TXx and TNx in non-permafrost areas showed decreasing trends. Moreover, faster-warming permafrost regions do not exhibit a faster increase in surface net solar radiation than slower-warming non-permafrost regions. While our findings suggest that carbon emissions from thawing soils are likely a potential driver of rapid warming in permafrost-dominated regions, the potential feedback between ground thawing and climate warming in permafrost regions remains uncertain.

Understanding the historical dynamics of forest communities is a critical element for accurate prediction of their response to future change. Here, we examine evergreen rainforest distribution in the Sunda Shelf region at the last glacial maximum (LGM), using a spatially explicit model incorporating geographic, paleoclimatic, and geologic evidence. Results indicate that at the LGM, Sundaland rainforests covered a substantially larger area than currently present. Extrapolation of the model over the past million years demonstrates that the current \"island archipelago\" setting in Sundaland is extremely unusual given the majority of its history and the dramatic biogeographic transitions caused by global deglaciation were rapid and brief. Compared with dominant glacial conditions, lowland forests were probably reduced from approximately 1.3 to 0.8 x 10⁶ km² while upland forests were probably reduced by half, from approximately 2.0 to 1.0 x 10⁵ km². Coastal mangrove and swamp forests experienced the most dramatic change during deglaciations, going through a complete and major biogeographic relocation. The Sundaland forest dynamics of fragmentation and contraction and subsequent expansion, driven by glacial cycles, occur in the opposite phase as those in the northern hemisphere and equatorial Africa, indicating that Sundaland evergreen rainforest communities are currently in a refugial stage. Widespread human-mediated reduction and conversion of these forests in their refugial stage, when most species are passing through significant population bottlenecks, strongly emphasizes the urgency of conservation and management efforts. Further research into the natural process of fragmentation and contraction during deglaciation is necessary to understand the long-term effect of human activity on forest species.

Vegetation modulates Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles. How its functions might change in the future largely depends on how it copes with droughts 1 – 4 . There is evidence that, in places and times of drought, vegetation shifts water uptake to deeper soil 5 – 7 and rock 8 , 9 moisture as well as groundwater 10 – 12 . Here we differentiate and assess plant use of four types of water sources: precipitation in the current month (source 1), past precipitation stored in deeper unsaturated soils and/or rocks (source 2), past precipitation stored in groundwater (source 3, locally recharged) and groundwater from precipitation fallen on uplands via river–groundwater convergence toward lowlands (source 4, remotely recharged). We examine global and seasonal patterns and drivers in plant uptake of the four sources using inverse modelling and isotope-based estimates. We find that (1), globally and annually, 70% of plant transpiration relies on source 1, 18% relies on source 2, only 1% relies on source 3 and 10% relies on source 4; (2) regionally and seasonally, source 1 is only 19% in semi-arid, 32% in Mediterranean and 17% in winter-dry tropics in the driest months; and (3) at landscape scales, source 2, taken up by deep roots in the deep vadose zone, is critical in uplands in dry months, but source 4 is up to 47% in valleys where riparian forests and desert oases are found. Because the four sources originate from different places and times, move at different spatiotemporal scales and respond with different sensitivity to climate and anthropogenic forces, understanding the space and time origins of plant water sources can inform ecosystem management and Earth system models on the critical hydrological pathways linking precipitation to vegetation. Global inverse modelling of plant water acquisition depth and isotope-based plant water use estimates demonstrate globally prevalent use of precipitation from distant sources, and that water-stressed ecosystems are well suited to using past and remote precipitation.