Widespread global peatland establishment and persistence over the last 130,000 y.

Glacial-interglacial variations in CO2 and methane in polar ice cores have been attributed, in part, to changes in global wetland extent, but the wetland distribution before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21 ka to 18 ka) remains virtually unknown. We present a study of global peatland extent and carbon (C) stocks through the last glacial cycle (130 ka to present) using a newly compiled database of 1,063 detailed stratigraphic records of peat deposits buried by mineral sediments, as well as a global peatland model. Quantitative agreement between modeling and observations shows extensive peat accumulation before the LGM in northern latitudes (>40°N), particularly during warmer periods including the last interglacial (130 ka to 116 ka, MIS 5e) and the interstadial (57 ka to 29 ka, MIS 3). During cooling periods of glacial advance and permafrost formation, the burial of northern peatlands by glaciers and mineral sediments decreased active peatland extent, thickness, and modeled C stocks by 70 to 90% from warmer times. Tropical peatland extent and C stocks show little temporal variation throughout the study period. While the increased burial of northern peats was correlated with cooling periods, the burial of tropical peat was predominately driven by changes in sea level and regional hydrology. Peat burial by mineral sediments represents a mechanism for long-term terrestrial C storage in the Earth system. These results show that northern peatlands accumulate significant C stocks during warmer times, indicating their potential for C sequestration during the warming Anthropocene.

Environmental change controls postglacial forest dynamics through interspecific differences in life-history traits.

A key goal of functional ecology is identifying relationships between species traits and environmental conditions. Here, the nature and significance of these relationships to community composition on long ecological timescales is investigated using paleoecological and paleoenvironmental data from coastal British Columbia, Canada. RLQ and fourth-corner analyses, two three-table statistical techniques, are used to link traits of the region's dominant woody plants to environmental conditions over the last 15 000 calendar years (cal yr) through a fossil pollen record derived from lake sediments. Both RLQ and fourth-corner analyses revealed highly significant correlations between plant traits and temporal changes in environmental conditions. Axis 1 of the RLQ explained 92% of the total covariance between plant species traits and paleoenvironmental variables and was correlated most strongly with temperature and relative growth rate. In general, climate change during the cold period following deglaciation favored species such as Alnus sinuata and Pinus contorta that exhibit a "fast" life-history strategy (e.g., high relative growth rate, short life span, low shade tolerance), whereas the relative climatic stability of the last 8000 cal yr favored species such as Tsuga heterophylla that exhibit a "slow" life-history strategy (e.g., low relative growth rate, long life span, high shade tolerance). Fourth-corner analyses revealed significant correlations between all paleoenvironmental variables (i.e., temperature, precipitation, summer insolation, vegetation density) and most plant traits (relative growth rate, minimum seed-bearing age, seed mass, height, life span, and shade, drought, and waterlogging tolerances). The strongest correlation was between paleotemperature and height, reflecting the positive effect of temperature on plant growth and development and the overarching competitive advantage that height confers. This research demonstrates that environmental conditions interact significantly with life-history and stress tolerance traits over long ecological timescales to determine forest composition. Climate is the ultimate control on postglacial forest composition and species abundances, but long-term community assembly is also constrained through interspecific differences in plant traits.

Digestive organ sizes and enzyme activities of refueling western sandpipers (Calidris mauri): contrasting effects of season and age.

We examined seasonal and age-related variation in digestive organ sizes and enzyme activities in female western sandpipers (Calidris mauri) refueling at a coastal stopover site in southern British Columbia. Adult sandpipers exhibited seasonal variation in pancreatic and intestinal enzyme activities but not in digestive system or organ sizes. Spring migrants had 22% higher total and 67% higher standardized pancreatic lipase activities but 37% lower total pancreatic amylase activity than fall migrants, which suggests that the spring diet was enriched with lipids but low in glycogen. Spring migrants also had 47% higher total intestinal maltase activity as well as 56% higher standardized maltase and 13% higher standardized aminopeptidase-N activities. Spring migrants had higher total enzymic capacity than fall migrants, due primarily to higher total lipase and maltase activities. During fall migration, the juvenile's digestive system was 10% larger than the adult's, and it was composed differently: juveniles had a 16% larger small intestine but a 27% smaller proventriculus. The juvenile's larger digestive system was associated with lower total enzymic capacity than the adult's due to 20% lower total chitinase and 23% lower total lipase activities. These results suggest that juvenile western sandpipers may process food differently from adults and/or have a lower-quality diet.