Host-Parasitoid Systems are Vulnerable to Extinction via P-Tipping: Forest Tent Caterpillar as an Example.

Continuous-time predator-prey models admit limit cycle solutions that are vulnerable to the phenomenon of phase-sensitive tipping (P-tipping): The predator-prey system can tip to extinction following a rapid change in a key model parameter, even if the limit cycle remains a stable attractor. In this paper, we investigate the existence of P-tipping in an analogous discrete-time system: a host-parasitoid system, using the economically damaging forest tent caterpillar as our motivating example. We take the intrinsic growth rate of the consumer as our key parameter, allowing it to vary with environmental conditions in ways consistent with the predictions of global warming.

Mutualism at the leading edge: insights into the eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-symbiont communities during range expansion.

The evolution of mutualism between host and symbiont communities plays an essential role in maintaining ecosystem function and should therefore have a profound effect on their range expansion dynamics. In particular, the presence of mutualistic symbionts at the leading edge of a host-symbiont community should enhance its propagation in space. We develop a theoretical framework that captures the eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-symbiont communities, to investigate how the evolution of resource exchange may shape community structure during range expansion.

First Measurement of Hard Exclusive π^{-}Δ^{++} Electroproduction Beam-Spin Asymmetries off the Proton.

The polarized cross-section ratio σ_{LT^{'}}/σ_{0} from hard exclusive π^{-}Δ^{++} electroproduction off an unpolarized hydrogen target has been extracted based on beam-spin asymmetry measurements using a 10.2  GeV/10.6  GeV incident electron beam and the CLAS12 spectrometer at Jefferson Lab.

Policy Analysis of CO Capture and Sequestration with Anaerobic Digestion for Transportation Fuel Production.

Low carbon fuel and waste management policies at the federal and state levels have catalyzed the construction of California's wet anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities. Wet ADs can digest food waste and dairy manure to produce compressed natural gas (CNG) for natural gas vehicles or electricity for electric vehicles (EVs). Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) of CO generated from AD reduces the fuel carbon intensity by carbon removal in addition to avoided methane emissions.