Search Results (3)

Unquestionably, the rapidly changing climate and, therefore, alterations in the associated bioclimate, constitute an alarming reality with implications for daily practice and natural capital management. This research displays the present and projected bioclimate evolution over Greece’s phytogeographical regions. For this purpose, ultrahigh-resolution computation results on the spatial distribution of the Emberger index’s Q2 classes of bioclimatic characterization are analyzed and illustrated for the first time. The assessments are performed over the reference period (1970–2000) and two future time frames (2021–2040; 2041–2060) under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios. By 2060 and under the extreme RCP8.5, intense xerothermic trends are demonstrated owing to the resulting significant spatial evolution mainly of the Arid–Hot, Semi-Arid–Very Hot, Semi-Arid–Hot, and Semi-Arid–Temperate Q2 classes, respectively, over the phytogeographical regions of Kiklades (up to 29% occupation), Kriti and Karpathos (up to 30%), West Aegean Islands (up to 26%), North East (up to 56%), and North Central (up to 31%). The RCP8.5 long-term period exhibits the strongest impacts over approximately the right half of the Greek territory, with the bioclimate appearing more dry–thermal in the future. In conclusion, the Emberger index provides an in-depth view of the Greek area’s bioclimatic regime and the potential alterations due to climate change per phytogeographical region. Full article

The external genital appendages of Noctuidae represent correlated–coevolved elements of a complex structure. The pathways of changes are delimited by some constraints, and they are parallelly evolved in different phyletic lines. Asymmetrical male external genitalia were found in Hadenini, in Polia and its closely related genera, but also in Anarta (s. l.). In Poliina, the asymmetry of the genital capsule is mostly expressed in the Holarctic Polia nebulosa species group, forming the basal split within Polia (s. str.). Higher species diversity, as a consequence of asymmetry connected with the split of functions between the right and left sides, was observed in Polia (s. str.) and in Anarta (s. l.). The highest level of expansivity was observed in the Holarctic Anarta, where some species are migrating and becoming invasive ones, while a bulk of species populates the steppic and mountainous habitats of North America and Central Asia. Parallelly, while some genera/subgenera of the subtribe Poliina are oligotypic and/or consist of strictly localised species, the sensu stricto Polia species with asymmetrical genital capsules are widely distributed. The diversification of the Hadulina phylogenetic line should have been initiated by the Messinian aridisation crisis. The core area of diversification of Poliina was connected with the Sino-Himalayan region, followed by expansion into the Holarctic boreo-nemoral zone. Full article

In this study, the present bioclimatic conditions and the estimated changes of the bioclimate over natural and agricultural areas of the Adriatic territory (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, and Slovenia) are analysed and presented. For this purpose, a survey on De Martonne’s bioclimate categories’ spatial distribution over the entire examined area and individual countries is conducted for the reference period (1981–2010) and for three more future time periods (2011–2040; 2041–2070; 2071–2100) under two emissions scenarios (ssp370/RCP7 and ssp585/RCP8.5). The very high spatial resolution (~300 m) results demonstrate that the potential future alterations of the Adriatic territory’s bioclimate indicate the probable acceleration of the trend towards warmer and dryer conditions by 2100 under the RCP8.5 scenario, with the Italian region’s agricultural areas mainly being influenced. Moreover, as the studied scenarios project, the bioclimatic impact will affect natural and agricultural areas. For the agricultural areas, the semi-dry class (the most xerothermic in the study area) will expand from 4.9% (reference period) to 17.7% according to the RCP8.5 scenario for the period 2071–2100. When over the natural areas, the related variation of the same class is from 0.9% to 5.6%. In general, the western part of the Adriatic coastline is more vulnerable to climate results than the eastern one. Full article