Aim Macroevolutionary analysis is increasingly being used to study biodiversity responses climate change, for example by using phylogenetic node ages infer periods of diversification, or reconstruction traits adaptation particular stresses. Here we apply a recently developed macroevolutionary method investigate the diverse plant genus, Acacia, increasing aridity and salinity in Australia from M...

The California Floristic Province harbours more endemic plant and animal taxa and more identifiable subspecies than any other area of comparable size in North America. We present evidence that physical historical processes have resulted in congruent patterns of genetic diversity over the past 2-10 million years. Using a molecular clock approach we show that diversification and establishment of ...

Gamma spectroscopy was used for determination of radionuclides in sediment cores from the continental shelf off NW Africa to provide age control of the sediment record used for a study of aridification of the Sahel zone. Pb, Ra and Cs were measured in the upper part of a gravity core and the associated multicorer and used for aligning these cores. This provided information about the amount of s...

During the late Miocene, a dramatic global expansion of C4 plant distribution occurred with broad spatial and temporal variations. Although the event is well documented, whether subsequent expansions were caused by a decreased atmospheric CO2 concentration or climate change is a contentious issue. In this study, we used an improved inverse vegetation modeling approach that accounts for the phys...

The range of a species is the result of the relative contribution of spatial tracking of environmental requirements and adaptation to ecological conditions outside the ancestral niche. The appearance of novel habitats caused by climatic oscillation can promote range expansion and accompanying demographic growth. The demographic dynamics of populations leave a signal in \ patterns. We modeled th...

How do the feedbacks between tectonics, sediment transport and climate work to shape the topographic evolution of the Earth? This question has been widely addressed via numerical models constrained with thermochronological and geomorphological data at scales ranging from local to orogenic. Here we present a novel numerical model that aims at reproducing the interaction between these processes a...

[1] Precipitation in north-central (subtropical) Chile has been declining over the last 130 years. This is of concern in a region where precipitation is already low and which hosts considerable economic activity and a large population. Interannual variability of precipitation is primarily controlled by ENSO, but the reasons for the increasing aridity have remained elusive. Here we show that the...