Matching the Multiple Scales of Conservation with the Multiple Scales of Climate Change

Abstract:  To anticipate the rapidly changing world resulting from global climate change, the projections of climate models must be incorporated into conservation. This requires that the scales of conservation be aligned with the scales of climate-change projections. We considered how conservation has incorporated spatial scale into protecting biodiversity, how the projections of climate-change models vary with scale, and how the two do or do not align. Conservation planners use information about past and current ecological conditions at multiple scales to identify conservation targets and threats and guide conservation actions. Projections of climate change are also made at multiple scales, from global and regional circulation models to projections downscaled to local scales. These downscaled projections carry with them the uncertainties associated with the broad-scale models from which they are derived; thus, their high resolution may be more apparent than real. Conservation at regional or global scales is about establishing priorities and influencing policy. At these scales, the coarseness and uncertainties of global and regional climate models may be less important than what they reveal about possible futures. At the ecoregional scale, the uncertainties associated with downscaling climate models become more critical because the distributions of conservation targets on which plans are founded may shift under future climates. At a local scale, variations in topography and land cover influence local climate, often overriding the projections of broad-scale climate models and increasing uncertainty. Despite the uncertainties, ecologists and conservationists must work with climate-change modelers to focus on the most likely projections. The future will be different from the past and full of surprises; judicious use of model projections at appropriate scales may help us prepare.     

Coral Bleaching and Global Climate Change: Scientific Findings and Policy Recommendations

Abstract: In 1998, tropical sea surface temperatures were the highest on record, topping off a 50-year trend for some tropical oceans. In the same year, coral reefs around the world suffered the most extensive and severe bleaching ( loss of symbiotic algae) and subsequent mortality on record. These events may not be attributable to local stressors or natural variability alone but were likely induced by an underlying global phenomenon. It is probable that anthropogenic global warming has contributed to the extensive coral bleaching that has occurred simultaneously throughout the reef regions of the world. The geographic extent, increasing frequency, and regional severity of mass bleaching events are an apparent result of a steadily rising baseline of marine temperatures, combined with regionally specific El Niño and La Niña events. The repercussions of the 1998 mass bleaching and mortality events will be far-reaching. Human populations dependent on reef services face losses of marine biodiversity, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Coral bleaching events may become more frequent and severe as the climate continues to warm, exposing coral reefs to an increasingly hostile environment. This global threat to corals compounds the effects of more localized anthropogenic factors that already place reefs at risk. Significant attention needs to be given to the monitoring of coral reef ecosystems, research on the projected and realized effects of global climate change, and measures to curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Even those reefs with well-enforced legal protection as marine sanctuaries, or those managed for sustainable use, are threatened by global climate change.     

Long-run changes in radiative forcing and surface temperature: The effect of human activity over the last five centuries

We test two hypotheses that are derived from the anthropogenic theory of climate change. The first postulates that a growing population and increasing economic activity increase anthropogenic emissions of radiatively active gases relative to natural sources and sinks, and this alters global biogeochemical cycles in a way that increases the persistence of radiative forcing and temperature. The second postulates that the increase in the persistence of radiative forcing transmits a stochastic trend to the time series for temperature. Results indicate that the persistence of radiative forcing and temperature changes from I(0) to I(1) during the last 500 years and that the I(1) fingerprint in radiative forcing can be detected in a statistically measureable fashion in surface temperature. As such, our results are consistent with the physical mechanisms that underlie the theory of anthropogenic climate change.     

Impacts of changing frost regimes on Swedish forests: Incorporating cold hardiness in a regional ecosystem model

Understanding the effects of climate change on boreal forests which hold about 7% of the global terrestrial biomass carbon is a major issue. An important mechanism in boreal tree species is acclimatization to seasonal variations in temperature (cold hardiness) to withstand low temperatures during winter. Temperature drops below the hardiness level may cause frost damage. Increased climate variability under global and regional warming might lead to more severe frost damage events, with consequences for tree individuals, populations and ecosystems. We assessed the potential future impacts of changing frost regimes on Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) in Sweden. A cold hardiness and frost damage model were incorporated within a dynamic ecosystem model, LPJ-GUESS. The frost tolerance of Norway spruce was calculated based on daily mean temperature fluctuations, corresponding to time and temperature dependent chemical reactions and cellular adjustments. The severity of frost damage was calculated as a growth-reducing factor when the minimum temperature was below the frost tolerance. The hardiness model was linked to the ecosystem model by reducing needle biomass and thereby growth according to the calculated severity of frost damage. A sensitivity analysis of the hardiness model revealed that the severity of frost events was significantly altered by variations in the hardening rate and dehardening rate during current climate conditions. The modelled occurrence and intensity of frost events was related to observed crown defoliation, indicating that 6-12% of the needle loss could be attributed to frost damage. When driving the combined ecosystem-hardiness model with future climate from a regional climate model (RCM), the results suggest a decreasing number and strength of extreme frost events particularly in northern Sweden and strongly increasing productivity for Norway spruce by the end of the 21st century as a result of longer growing seasons and increasing atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. However, according to the model, frost damage might decrease the potential productivity by as much as 25% early in the century.     

Constraints on global fire activity vary across a resource gradient

We provide an empirical, global test of the varying constraints hypothesis, which predicts systematic heterogeneity in the relative importance of biomass resources to burn and atmospheric conditions suitable to burning (weather/climate) across a spatial gradient of long-term resource availability. Analyses were based on relationships between monthly global wildfire activity, soil moisture, and mid-tropospheric circulation data from 2001 to 2007, synthesized across a gradient of long-term averages in resources (net primary productivity), annual temperature, and terrestrial biome. We demonstrate support for the varying constraints hypothesis, showing that, while key biophysical factors must coincide for wildfires to occur, the relative influence of resources to burn and moisture/weather conditions on fire activity shows predictable spatial patterns. In areas where resources are always available for burning during the fire season, such as subtropical/tropical biomes with mid-high annual long-term net primary productivity, fuel moisture conditions exert their strongest constraint on fire activity. In areas where resources are more limiting or variable, such as deserts, xeric shrublands, or grasslands/savannas, fuel moisture has a diminished constraint on wildfire, and metrics indicating availability of burnable fuels produced during the antecedent wet growing seasons reflect a more pronounced constraint on wildfire. This macro-scaled evidence for spatially varying constraints provides a synthesis with studies performed at local and regional scales, enhances our understanding of fire as a global process, and indicates how sensitivity to future changes in temperature and precipitation may differ across the world.     

Neural network modelling for the analysis of forcings/temperatures relationships at different scales in the climate system

A fully non-linear analysis of forcing influences on temperatures is performed in the climate system by means of neural network modelling. Two case studies are investigated, in order to establish the main factors that drove the temperature behaviour at both global and regional scales in the last 140 years. In particular, our neural network model shows the ability to catch non-linear relationships among these variables and to reconstruct temperature records with a high degree of accuracy. In this framework, we clearly show the need of including anthropogenic inputs for explaining the temperature behaviour at global scale and recognise the role of El Niño southern oscillation for catching the inter-annual variability of temperature data. Furthermore, we analyse the relative influence of global forcing and a regional circulation pattern in determining the winter temperatures in Central England, showing that the North Atlantic oscillation represents the driven element in this case study. Our modelling activity and results can be very useful for simple assessments of relationships in the complex climate system and for identifying the fundamental elements leading to a successful downscaling of atmosphere–ocean general circulation models.     

Phenological tracking enables positive species responses to climate change

Earlier spring phenology observed in many plant species in recent decades provides compelling evidence that species are already responding to the rising global temperatures associated with anthropogenic climate change. There is great variability among species, however, in their phenological sensitivity to temperature. Species that do not phenologically "track" climate change may be at a disadvantage if their growth becomes limited by missed interactions with mutualists, or a shorter growing season relative to earlier-active competitors. Here, we set out to test the hypothesis that phenological sensitivity could be used to predict species performance in a warming climate, by synthesizing results across terrestrial warming experiments. We assembled data for 57 species across 24 studies where flowering or vegetative phenology was matched with a measure of species performance. Performance metrics included biomass, percent cover, number of flowers, or individual growth. We found that species that advanced their phenology with warming also increased their performance, whereas those that did not advance tended to decline in performance with warming. This indicates that species that cannot phenologically "track" climate may be at increased risk with future climate change, and it suggests that phenological monitoring may provide an important tool for setting future conservation priorities.     

Klimafolgenforschung

Some case studies are described to show progress, potentials and limits of present day climate impact research. The examples given cover impacts on Lakes worldwide, Europe's cost lines, landscapes in the USA, South America and in Germany and on the people living there. Forecasts using not only future scenarios of climatic but of socieal change as well are rare. It is rather state of the art to use future climate scenarios to analyse the vulnerability of today's regional structures. The objective is to identify weak points and measures to eliminate them. Mostly the analysis is based on the consideration of global climate scenarios on one hand and regionally specific economic patterns on the other. But now regionalized climate models and scenarios are used more and more to describe climate change. In most impact studies more accurate and concrete results are obtained and this is demonstrated in the Brandenburg study.     

土壤微生物呼吸热适应性与微生物群落及多样性对全球气候变化响应研究

土壤微生物呼吸热适应性被认为是决定陆地生态系统对全球变暖反馈作用的潜在重要机制,可能显著改变未来的气候变化趋势,然而,土壤微生物群落结构变化如何引起土壤微生物呼吸热适应性的研究目前尚存争议.该文针对气候变化对土壤微生物呼吸的影响研究,梳理了当前对土壤微生物呼吸的热适应性是否存在的争议和不同观点与结论,综述了气候变化对土...     

Bottom-up and climatic forcing on the worldwide population of leatherback turtles

Nesting populations of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Atlantic and western Indian Oceans are increasing or stable while those in the Pacific are declining. It has been suggested that leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific may be resource limited due to environmental variability derived from the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but this has yet to be tested. Here we explored bottom-up forcing and the responding reproductive output of nesting leatherbacks worldwide. We achieved this through an extensive review of leatherback nesting and migration data and by analyzing the spatial, temporal, and quantitative nature of resources as indicated by net primary production at post-nesting female migration and foraging areas. Leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific were the smallest in body size and had the lowest reproductive output due to less productive and inconsistent resources within their migration and foraging areas. This derived from natural interannual and multidecadal climate variability together with an influence of anthropogenic climate warming that is possibly affecting these natural cycles. The reproductive output of leatherbacks in the Atlantic and western Indian Oceans was nearly twice that of turtles in the eastern Pacific. The inconsistent nature of the Pacific Ocean may also render western Pacific leatherbacks susceptible to a more variable reproductive output; however, it appears that egg harvesting on nesting beaches is their major threat. We suggest that the eastern Pacific leatherback population is more sensitive to anthropogenic mortality due to recruitment rates that are lower and more variable, thus accounting for much of the population differences compared to Atlantic and western Indian turtles.     

Klimaänderung—Was weiß die Wissenschaft?

In the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), scientists worldwide are working on a holistic view of climate development. This accommodates highly complex interactions between natural occurrences, their effects and human activity as far as possible. Uncertainties are expressed in terms of confidence levels. The Third Assessment Report presents the following cases: Human activities have generally increased the atmospheric concentrations of green-house gases and their radiative forcings during the 20^th century. The resulting radiative forcing is positive (warming) with a small uncertainty range; that from the direct aerosol effects is negative (cooling) and smaller; whereas the negative forcing from the indirect effects of aerosols (clouds and water cycle) might be large but is not well quantified. An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming earth and other changes in the climate system. Observed changes in regional climate during the past 50 years have affected biological and hydrological systems in many parts of the world. There are preliminary indications that social and economic systems have also been affected. Local, regional and global environmental problems are often interlinked in ways that, in total, affect the sustainable satisfaction of human needs. The Projections of all SRES scenarios show an increase of the globally averaged surface temperature within the 21^st century at a rate which is very likely to be without precedent during at least the last 10,000 years, based on paleoclimate data. Adaptation is a necessary strategy at all scales to complement climate change mitigation efforts. Together they can contribute to sustainable development objectives.     

Anthropogenic factors and their potential impacts on the sustainable development of Abu Dhabi's terrestrial biological resources

SUMMARY

Since the discovery of oil, the United Arab Emirates has undergone a process of rapid development, increasingly affecting the ecosystems of the country. Limited scientific literature dealing with these ecosystems is available, although a process of comprehensive ecological research has been initiated over the last few years. Further information on the soils, vegetation, fauna and climate are required in order to initiate a process of sustainable use of natural resources.

Abu Dhabi Emirate was surveyed for anthropogenic factors in its habitats using an off-road vehicle, a global positioning system (GPS) and satellite imagery. The emirate was divided into six geomorphological units. Livestock was found to be the most common anthropogenic factor and is believed to have caused degradation of the natural vegetation. Agriculture, silviculture and urbanization were common and caused habitat loss and fragmentation. Rubbish dumping, earth moving and car tracks were also widespread, whereas air pollution and fences were limited. Four of Abu Dhabi's geomorphological units were classified as low-impact zones, two as low- to medium-impact zones and one as a medium- to major-impact zone. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and detailed ecological research were suggested as future mechanisms to implement sustainable development, and livestock control was suggested as a tool for habitat restoration.     

Benthic diversity gradients and shifting baselines: implications for assessing environmental status

The increasing pressure on marine biodiversity emphasizes the importance of finding benchmarks against which to assess change. This is, however, a notoriously difficult task in estuarine ecosystems, where environmental gradients are steep, and where benthic biodiversity is highly variable in space and time. Although recent emphasis on diverse, healthy benthic communities in legislative frameworks has increased the number of indices developed for assessing benthic status, there is a lack of quantitative baselines in benthic diversity that would enable comparisons across broad spatial scales, encompassing different environmental settings and bioregions. By taking advantage of long-term monitoring data, spanning hundreds of stations over the past 40 years, we provide a comprehensive analysis of benthic a, beta, and gamma diversity, encompassing the entire' salinity gradient of the open sea areas of the large, brackish-water Baltic Sea. Using a relatively simple measure, average regional diversity, we define area-specific reference conditions and acceptable deviation against which to gauge current conditions in benthic macrofaunal diversity. Results show a severely impaired condition throughout large areas of the Baltic for the assessment period 2001-2006. All ecosystems are plagued by baselines that shift in time and space, and their definition is not trivial, but average regional diversity may offer a transparent way to deal with such changes in low-diversity systems. Identifying baselines will be of increasing importance given the potential of climatic drivers to interact with local anthropogenic stressors to affect patterns of biodiversity. Our analysis provides an evaluation of the current condition in a system that has been heavily influenced by anthropogenic impact and changing oceanographic conditions, and it provides a basis for future impact assessment and ecosystem-based management.     

Anthropogenic Disturbance and Patch Dynamics in Circumpolar Arctic Ecosystems

Abstract: It has been 30 years since environmental concern was first expressed over the prospect of large-scale resource development in the Arctic. Human effects are more extensive within the tundra biome now than at any time in the past. With or without predicted climatic changes, interaction among different natural and contemporary anthropogenic disturbance regimes are bound to have a significant effect on local and regional vegetation patterns and plant migration. We summarize the results of recent studies of patchy anthropogenic disturbance. We pay particular attention to the natural regeneration of plant communities, emphasize patch dynamics over the medium term (20–75 years), and discuss the data in the context of popular models of vegetation change following disturbance. Disturbance is important because it produces patches of partially or totally denuded ground that permit propagule establishment but may also open affected areas to erosion. Even relatively low-intensity, small-scale disturbances have immediate and persistent effects on arctic vegetation and soils. On all but the wettest sites, the patches support new, relatively stable vegetation states. Where slope is minimal, such disturbances are capable of expanding over large areas in as short a time as 4 years. The effects result in an artificial mosaic of patches of highly variable quality and quantity that comprise feeding and nesting habitats for terrestrial herbivores.     

湿地碳汇功能探讨:以泥炭地和芦苇湿地为例

大量研究表明湿地是地球表层系统中的重要碳汇,对于吸收大气中的温室气体,减缓全球气候变暖有重要作用.由于近几十年来全球气候变暖和人类活动的影响,湿地碳汇功能不断减弱.文章以泥炭地和芦苇Phragmites australis湿地为例来分析湿地的碳汇功能发现:农业排水、土地利用方式的改变、大气中CO2体积分数升高、全球气候变化等人为和自然因素影响了泥炭地的碳汇功能,泥炭地的碳蓄积能力下降,逐渐由"碳汇"转变为"碳源";尽管芦苇湿地是CH4的重要来源,但其对CO2具有较强的碳汇作用,综合来看芦苇湿地的仍是温室气体的净汇;人工芦苇湿地污水净化系统的温室气体排放量高于天然芦苇湿地.分析表明,研究泥炭地和芦苇湿地在全球气候变化下的响应及反馈机制,确定合理的湿地开发模式将是未来湿地碳汇研究的主要方向.     

Gehen wir in eine neue Kaltzeit?

Recent climate conditions do not represent the climate of the last 600 million years. Paleoclimatic investigations using geological and biological archives document four-time alterations from ‘icehouse’ to ‘greenhouse’. Since 55 million years, the planet has been facing an ‘Icehouse’ climate decline. Around 30 million years ago, ice formation in Antarctica, and around 2,8 million years ago, ice formation on both hemispheres took place. The oscillation of glacial cycles with periods of ~100,000 years (glacials 80,000 years) and interglacials ~20,000 years) can safely be observed not until before the last ~800,000 years. These climate variabilities on different time scales influence the dynamics of the climate system and are also responsible for the interglacial since 11,660 years B.P. High frequency changes are variations embedded in low frequency periods. This natural climate variability permits to discriminate anthropogenic influences being discussed primarily on the basis of models. However, the detailed discrimination of the causes of the (multicausal) dynamics of the climate system is still in its infancy. This article discusses several scenarios against the background of natural variabilities.     

Plant-mediated and nonadditive effects of two global change drivers on an insect herbivore community

Warmer temperatures can alter the phenology and distribution of individual species. However, differences across species may blur community-level phenological responses to climate or cause biotic homogenization by consistently favoring certain taxa. Additionally, the response of insect communities to climate will be subject to plant-mediated effects, which may or may not overshadow the direct effect of rising temperatures on insects. Finally, recent evidence for the importance of interaction effects between global change drivers suggests that phenological responses of communities to climate may be altered by other drivers. We used a natural temperature gradient (generated by elevation and topology), combined with experimental nitrogen fertilization, to investigate the effects of elevated temperature and globally increasing anthropogenic nitrogen deposition on the structure and phenology of a seminatural grassland herbivore assemblage (lepidopteran insects). We found that both drivers, alone and in combination, severely altered how the relative abundance and composition of species changed through time. Importantly, warmer temperatures were associated with biotic homogenization, such that herbivore assemblages in the warmest plots had more similar species composition than those in intermediate or cool plots. Changes in herbivore composition and abundance were largely mediated by changes in the plant community, with increased nonnative grass cover under high treatment levels being the strongest determinant of herbivore abundance. In addition to compositional changes, total herbivore biomass more than doubled under elevated nitrogen and increased more than fourfold with temperature, bearing important functional implications for herbivores as consumers and as a prey resource. The crucial role of nonnative plant dominance in mediating responses of herbivores to change, combined with the frequent nonadditive (positive and negative) effects of the two drivers, and the differential responses of species, highlight that understanding complex ecosystem responses will benefit from multifactor, multitrophic experiments at community scales or larger.     

稳定氢氧同位素在定量区分植物水分利用来源中的应用

全球气候变化下陆地生态系统的适应性是当前科学研究关注的主题之一,了解生态系统如何响应及影响全球气候变化有利于人类对未来生存环境的预测和适应。生态系统中不同来源水分对植物生长相对贡献决的大小一定程度上决定了生态系统对气候变化的响应方式、程度和响应结果,因此跟踪和分析植物利用水分的来源是制定全球气候变化对策的一个重要研究内容。本文介绍了稳定氢氧同位素技术研究历史及其在定量区分植物利用水分的来源研究中的应用原理与具体方法。由于土壤水分在被植物根系吸收及随后沿导管向上传输的过程中,与外界环境不发生水分交换,因此不存在同位素的分馏过程,所以植物茎木质部水分同位素组成能反映出植物利用的来源水分同位素信息。通过比较植物茎木质部水分与植物利用的不同来源水分同位素值,利用二项或三项分隔线性混合模型(two-orthree-compartment linear mixing model),可以估算出植物对不同来源水分的相对使用量。而由于植物叶片水分同位素组成受到周围环境的温度、湿度、降雨和土壤水分的异质性等许多因素的影响,通过比较分析植物茎木质部水分和叶片水分同位素组成的差异可以得到植物周围环境的气候信息。植物利用水分的来源存在显著的季节性差异,并且,不同生活型植物在利用水分来源上存在明显不同。植物根系的分布及根深是决定植物利用水分来源的一个重要的因素,表层和深层根系的相对分布及其活性影响着植物吸收水分的范围。当然,利用线型分隔混合模型定量区分植物利用水分的不同来源,还有许多值得改进的地方,而且,尽管稳定同位素技术在植物科学中的应用正迅速发展起来,但利用稳定氢氧同位素来分析环境因素对植物影响的研究还只是刚刚展开,还有许多方面值得去进一步探索。     

Modeling the Effect of Climate Change on the Distribution of Oak and Pine Species of Mexico

Abstract:  We examined the vulnerability of 34 species of oaks ( Quercus ) and pines ( Pinus ) to the effects of global climate change in Mexico. We regionalized the HadCM2 model of climate change with local climatic data (mean annual temperature and rainfall) and downscaled the model with the inverse distance-weighted method. Databases of herbaria specimens, genetic algorithms (GARP), and digital covers of biophysical variables that affect oaks and pines were used to project geographic distributions of the species under a severe and conservative scenario of climate change for the year 2050. Starting with the current average temperature of 20.2 °C and average precipitation of 793 mm, under the severe warming scenario mean temperature and precipitation changed to 22.7 °C and 660 mm, respectively, in 2050. For the conservative warming scenario, these variables shifted to 21.8 °C and 721 mm. Responses to the different scenarios of climate change were predicted to be species-specific and related to each species climate affinity. The current geographic distribution of oaks and pines decreased 7–48% and 0.2–64%, respectively. The more vulnerable pines were Pinus rudis , P. chihuahuana , P. oocarpa , and P. culminicola , and the most vulnerable oaks were Quercus crispipilis , Q. peduncularis , Q. acutifolia , and Q. sideroxyla . In addition to habitat conservation, we think sensitive pine and oak species should be looked at more closely to define ex situ strategies (i.e., seed preservation in germplasm banks) for their long-term conservation. Modeling climatic-change scenarios is important to the development of conservation strategies.     

Changes in landscape and vegetation of coastal dunes in northwest Europe: a review

In coastal dunes, landscape changes are a rule, rather than an exception. This paper gives an overview of changes in landscape and vegetation with a focus on the past century. The history of dunes is characterised by phases of sand drift, alternated with geomorphological stability. The historical development of dune woodland during these stable phases has been documented for sites all over Europe. Vegetation reconstructions of historical open dune habitats however is very difficult due to limited preservation of fossil remains. People have drastically altered coastal dune landscapes through centuries of exploitation and more recently development of the coast. Historical land use has generally pushed vegetation back into a semi-natural state. During roughly the past century a tendency of increasing fixation and succession is observed on coastal dunes throughout northwest Europe. Six causes of change are discussed. 1) Changes in land use, mainly abandonment of agricultural practices, have led to the development of late successional stages such as scrub and woodland. 2) Crashing rabbit populations due to myxomatosis in the 1950s caused vigorous grass growth and probably stimulated scrub development. 3) A general tendency of landscape fixation is observed due to both natural and anthropogenic factors. 4) Eutrophication, mainly due to atmospheric nitrogen deposition is clearly linked to grass encroachment on acidic but also on some calcareous dunes. 5) The impact of climate change on vegetation is still unclear but probably lengthening of growing season and maybe enhanced CO₂ concentrations have led to an acceleration of succession. 6) A general anthropogenisation of the landscape occurs with rapid spread of non-native species as an important consequence. The reconstruction of a natural reference landscape is considered largely unattainable because of irreversible changes and the long tradition of human impact, in many cases since the development of the dunes. Two contradictory elements need reconciliation. First, the general acceleration of succession and scrub and woodland development in particular is partly caused by a decreased anthropogenic interference in the landscape and deserves more appreciation. Second, most biodiversity values are largely linked to open, early succession dune habitats and are threatened by the same tendency. Apart from internal nature management, in which grazing plays an important part, re-mobilisation of stable, senescent dunes is an important challenge for dune management.