Publications by authors named "W J Nel"

Ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are small wood-boring insects that live in an obligate symbiosis with fungi, which serve as their primary food source. Beetles residing in the genus have evolved a unique association with a clade of that falls within the aptly named Ambrosia Clade (AFC). The discovery of the invasive polyphagous shot hole borer, , in South Africa, has heightened awareness of ambrosia beetles and their symbionts in the country.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The Global Rainfall Erosivity Database (GloREDa) is a first-of-its-kind open-access platform that provides rainfall erosivity values from nearly 4000 global stations, gathered through collaboration among researchers and organizations from 65 countries.
  • - The database includes hourly and sub-hourly rainfall records, offers annual and mean monthly erosivity data for most stations, and is hosted in the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) for long-term accessibility and future data enhancements.
  • - Using machine learning techniques, researchers have generated predicted global monthly erosivity datasets at a 1 km resolution, which can aid in modeling soil erosion, sediment distribution, climate impacts, and natural disaster assessments.
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The invasive ambrosia beetle, , was first reported in South Africa in 2018. The beetle has now spread to eight provinces of the country and has had a devastating impact on both native and non-native tree species. This is especially true for trees located in urban and peri-urban environments.

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Chemical weathering is regarded as a "geological thermostat", affecting the global carbon cycle and long-term climate stability, and hydrochemistry of river is the important way to study weathering. The Heilong River (Amur River), as one of the largest rivers in the temperate/cool temperate zone, has received few studies on the chemical weathering rate and its contribution to the global carbon cycle in the entire Chinese section. This paper presents the hydrochemistry of river water, lake water, and groundwater from the arid upper reaches, the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the middle reaches, and the fluvial plain in the lower reaches of the Heilong River.

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