Article
Anthropology
Melissa A. Goodman-Elgar, BrieAnna S. Langlie, Nichole S. Davenport, Katherine M. Moore, Christine A. Hastorf
Summary: We assess interpretations of a burnt ceremonial structure from the Middle Formative period in Chiripa, Bolivia, through a systematic reconstruction of the fire. Our findings suggest that the fire was intentional and likely a ritual event.
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD AND THEORY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Ping Yang, Kam W. Tang, Hong Yang, Chuan Tong, Nan Yang, Derrick Y. F. Lai, Yan Hong, Manjing Ruan, Yingying Tan, Guanghui Zhao, Ling Li, Chen Tang
Summary: This study assessed the carbon footprint of aquaculture ponds in southeastern China and found that planktonic primary production and commercial feeds were the main carbon inputs, while planktonic respiration and sedimentation were the major carbon outputs. Water-to-air emissions of carbon greenhouse gases were low, but varied among the ponds. Methane emissions from the ponds were higher than some other agro-ecosystems. The findings suggest that improving production efficiency and reducing carbon-rich detritus accumulation can help minimize the climatic warming impacts of aquaculture production.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Chuan Tong, David Bastviken, Kam W. Tang, Ping Yang, Hong Yang, Yifei Zhang, Qianqian Guo, Derrick Y. F. Lai
Summary: Small-scale aquaculture operations are increasingly common worldwide, with this study specifically examining the greenhouse gas dynamics in shrimp ponds in southeastern China. The ponds were found to act as a CO2 sink and a CH4 source, with ebullition being the main emission pathway for CH4 during the farming period. This comprehensive year-long study enhances our understanding of carbon cycling in coastal aquaculture ponds and provides a scientific basis for updating greenhouse gas inventories.
Article
Anthropology
Mateusz Krupski, Maksym Mackiewicz, Cezary Kabala, Maciej Ehlert, Marzena Cendrowska
Summary: The two earthen mounds discovered in the Glubczyce Forest are anthropogenic features built before the soil transformation, most likely in prehistory. The study also reveals further traces of anthropogenic activity in the forest, indicating ancient human presence and practices linked to prehistoric climate changes.
PRAEHISTORISCHE ZEITSCHRIFT
(2021)
Article
Anthropology
Laura Tome, Eneko Iriartec, Antonio Blanco-Gonzalez, Margarita Jambrina-Enriquez, Natalia Eguez, Antonio V. Herrera-Herrera, Carolina Mallola
Summary: This paper presents the outcomes of a microcontextual geoarchaeological study conducted on earthen dwellings from the Early Iron Age village of Cerro de San Vicente. The study employed soil micromorphology, lipid biomarker analysis, XRD, and XRF analyses to investigate various aspects of the dwellings, including construction materials, site formation processes, and daily life practices. The results have shed light on the construction layers, floor use, maintenance, repaving, periods of abandonment and decay, and the presence of lipid biomarkers associated with dwelling functionality. The study significantly contributes to our understanding of ancient construction practices and the utilization of domestic spaces during the Early Iron Age.
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
(2024)
Review
Biology
Joseph R. McAuliffe
Summary: Heuweltjies in the Succulent Karoo of South Africa were thought to be constructed by termites, but recent findings show that they are actually formed as a response to the enriched soil around termite nests. The denser vegetation patches created by termites result in the formation of heuweltjies through windbreak effects and sediment deposition. This termite species plays a significant role in ecosystem engineering and niche construction.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Luca Casini, Nicolo Marchetti, Andrea Montanucci, Valentina Orru, Marco Roccetti
Summary: This paper presents the results of using pre-trained semantic segmentation deep learning models to detect archaeological sites in the Mesopotamian floodplains environment. The models were fine-tuned using openly available satellite imagery and vector shapes. A randomized test showed that the best model achieved an accuracy of approximately 80%. The integration of domain expertise was crucial in constructing the dataset and evaluating the predictions, considering the subjective nature of determining if a proposed mask is a valid prediction. Additionally, even inaccurate predictions can be valuable when interpreted by trained archaeologists in the proper context. The paper concludes with a vision for a Human-AI collaboration workflow that combines annotated datasets, refined by human experts, with predictive models that can generate heatmaps overlaid on imagery or be vectorized for further analysis in GIS software, allowing archaeologists to analyze and refine the dataset with new annotations.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sinead M. Crotty, Daniele Pinton, Alberto Canestrelli, Hallie S. Fischman, Collin Ortals, Nicholas R. Dahl, Sydney Williams, Tjeerd J. Bouma, Christine Angelini
Summary: This study reveals that the mussel, Geukensia demissa, has a significant effect on saltmarsh accretion in the southeastern US, with deposition being 2.8-10.7 times higher on mussel aggregations compared to other marsh locations. The study also predicts that mussels drive substantial changes to the magnitude and spatial patterning of accretion at marsh domain scales. Moreover, a manipulative experiment involving over 200,000 mussels shows that the faunal engineer has a much larger impact on relative marsh accretion rates than expected. Therefore, there is a critical need for empirical, experimental, and modeling work to understand the importance of faunal engineers in modifying the persistence of coastal ecosystems globally.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hans Von Suchodoletz, Giorgi Kirkitadze, Tiiu Koff, Markus L. Fischer, Rosa M. Poch, Azra Khosravichenar, Birgit Schneider, Bruno Glaser, Susanne Lindauer, Silvan Hoth, Anna Skokan, Levan Navrozashvili, Mikheil Lobjanidze, Mate Akhalaia, Levan Losaberidze, Mikheil Elashvili
Summary: The study highlights the importance of long-term human-environmental interactions in naturally fragile drylands, focusing on the semi-arid Shiraki Plain in the southeastern Caucasus. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the researchers analyzed geological, sedimentological, chronological, and paleoecological data to investigate regional paleoenvironmental changes and paleoseismicity during the Late Bronze/Early Iron Ages. The results indicate significant environmental changes during this period, driven by forest clear-cutting and aridification, but no clear evidence of seismic activity impacting the settlements.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yawen Liu, Yaman Liu, Minghuai Wang, Xinyi Dong, Yiqi Zheng, Manish Shrivastava, Yun Qian, Heming Bai, Xiao Li, Xiu-Qun Yang
Summary: A substantial decline of summertime aerosol loading aloft over the southeastern US in recent decades due to reduced anthropogenic aerosols has been identified. This interaction leads to a stronger decline in column-integrated aerosol optical depth and a greater increase in radiative fluxes over the southeastern than northeastern US. The anthropogenic-biogenic interaction explains more than 60% of the increasing trend in clear-sky surface downward radiative fluxes, with implications for achieving the Paris Agreement temperature targets.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Brent S. Hawks, W. Michael Aust, M. Chad Bolding, Scott M. Barrett, Erik Schilling, Jonah A. H. Fielding
Summary: Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) have been shown to be effective at mitigating erosion and sedimentation caused by forest operations. A study in the southeastern U.S. found that the implementation of BMPs was associated with reduced erosion rates, highlighting the importance of proper BMP measures in protecting water quality.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Andres Susaeta, Ester Gutierrez, Sebastian Lozano
Summary: The technical, allocative, and profit efficiency of longleaf pine forests in the southeastern United States were evaluated, and it was found that most of these forests were inefficient in ecosystem service production. The inefficiency in profit was more attributed to allocative inefficiency rather than technical inefficiency. Forest disturbances were found to potentially reduce technical inefficiency.
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
(2023)
Article
Geology
Annick Daneels, Marta Mateu, Hugo Fernandez, Salvador Pina, Hector Cabadas-Baez
Summary: This study presents a micro-morphological analysis of samples from Mesoamerican earthen architecture sites, comparing different soil features and their transformations in the manufacturing process. The findings highlight the existence of similar building techniques in different environments and the advantages of non-expansive clays and fine volcanic deposits for construction. The addition of mineral or vegetal temper is also observed to improve the mechanical properties of some soils.
BOLETIN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLOGICA MEXICANA
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Bin Cheng, Lingjuan Wang-Li, Nicholas Meskhidze, John Classen, Peter Bloomfield
Summary: The formation of inorganic fine particulate matter (iPM(2.5)) is controlled by the thermodynamic equilibrium partitioning of NH3-NH4+. Reduction in total H2SO4 is found to be more effective in reducing iPM(2.5) concentrations, especially under NH3-rich conditions. The response of iPM(2.5) to changes in total H2SO4 is more sensitive in summer due to the dominance of SO42- salts and high temperatures. Emissions of NH3 from Animal Feeding Operations greatly impact the partitioning of NH3-NH4+. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis shows a strong positive correlation between cation-NH4+ and anions-SO42- and NO3-.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Bin Cheng, Lingjuan Wang-Li, John Classen, Nicholas Meskhidze, Peter Bloomfield
Summary: This study investigated the spatiotemporal variations of atmospheric chemical conditions in rural and urban areas of the Southeastern U.S., finding that NH3 emissions may contribute to the formation of iPM2.5 at certain sites, while reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions can decrease iPM2.5 formation.
ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH
(2021)