Universität zu Köln

Dunai, Tibor J., Melles, Martin ORCID: 0000-0003-0977-9463, Quandt, Dietmar ORCID: 0000-0003-4304-6028, Knief, Claudia ORCID: 0000-0001-9939-6241 and Amelung, Wulf (2020). Whitepaper: Earth - Evolution at the dry limit. Glob. Planet. Change, 193. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. ISSN 1872-6364

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Abstract

At the land surface, the availability of water controls the evolution of life as well as the morphological development. It is currently hardly known how far both evolutionary processes interact in water-limited environments. While it is well considered that biotic processes contribute to weathering and therewith also prepare the landscape for erosion, little is known to what degree different landforms form barriers and corridors of life across geological time scales. Here, we present an example of how to tackle this complex interplay of biology and landscape evolution by introducing the Collaborative Research Centre CRC 1211 'Earth - Evolution at the dry limit'. A CRC is a German Research Foundation funding program, bringing together scientists from different disciplines to tackle jointly complex emergent research questions for up to twelve years. The CRC 1211 focuses on the arid cores of the Atacama Desert and the Namib Desert. Main objective is to disentangle how the shaping of land-surfaces by past episodes of wetter climate coevolved with the evolution of life. It is hypothesized that aridity was interrupted by punctuated wetter periods, which left fingerprints in surface processes and the radiation of the biota, with climatic thresholds beyond which biota could adapt to and influence landscape development. Specific desert landscape elements such as soil surface crusts, desiccation cracks and subsoil water potentially form underexplored refugia of life at particular sites, while old channels and alluvial fan systems potentially structure its dispersal at small to intermediate scales (< 100 m(2)), In addition, there are large-scale (> 10,000 km(2)) gradients in surface processes and biodiversity, likely controlled by the intensity and duration of fog or rainfall. To substantiate these hypotheses we combine expertise from the fields of population and (phylo-) genetics, molecular biology, biogeography, ecology, soil sciences, Earth-surface sciences, geomorphology, meteorology, (paleo-) climatology, (isotope-) geochemistry and physical dating to discover and evaluate the trajectories and thresholds of the evolution and isolation of life. While presenting here our current research strategy, we invite scientists from all over the world to link their research on related questions for the joint development of a global picture on how evolution of life was triggered and regulated by land-surface processes.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Dunai, Tibor J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Melles, Martin UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0977-9463 UNSPECIFIED Quandt, Dietmar UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-4304-6028 UNSPECIFIED Knief, Claudia UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-9939-6241 UNSPECIFIED Amelung, Wulf UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-316668
DOI:	10.1016/j.gloplacha.2020.103275
Journal or Publication Title:	Glob. Planet. Change
Volume:	193
Date:	2020
Publisher:	ELSEVIER
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	1872-6364
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language HYPERARID ATACAMA DESERT; CENOZOIC CLIMATE-CHANGE; SEA-LEVEL CHANGES; CHILEAN FORE-ARC; NORTHERN CHILE; ANDEAN UPLIFT; LATE MIOCENE; ARID SOILS; GEOGRAPHICAL-DISTRIBUTION; LANDSCAPE EVOLUTION Multiple languages Geography, Physical; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/31666