AimThe Mediterranean Basin is a major hotspot of plant biodiversity, including forest trees. Over the past centuries, Mediterranean forests have been fragmented and over‐exploited, to which the threats of climate change are now added. Our aim is to better understand patterns and processes of tree biodiversity in the Mediterranean and to provide indicators complementing the traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation based on species counts and occurrences, using georeferenced phylogenetic diversity and endemism analyses in a spatial ecological context.LocationMediterranean Europe.MethodsUsing a dated phylogeny of the 64 Euro‐Mediterranean tree genera, we calculated phylogenetic diversity for all 50 × 50 km2 grid cells spanning Mediterranean Europe (n = 643) and compared values with those obtained for genus‐level taxonomic diversity. Then, we tested the relative influence of geography, past and present climate, and soil on tree diversity (phylogenetic or taxonomic) and its ge...

The possibility that some populations of tree species may have survived multiple Quaternary glacial–interglacial cycles in central Europe is discussed. The alternation of forest and non-forest phases observed in long pollen records shows a substantial correspondence with the variations in global ice volume and indicates that the last glacial has been one of the most unfavourable periods for tree survival in Europe. Therefore the species that have survived the last glacial period in central Europe may have reasonably persisted also during less severe glacial periods and ultimately since the beginning of the Quaternary. The history of Picea and Corylus exemplifies the possibility of a continuous presence of trees in Europe. Recognizing the persistence of tree populations is necessary to assess the timing of their genetic diversification. The importance of extending the observation of the species behaviour to the time scale of the whole Quaternary is highlighted, in order to explain the modern distribution of populations and species and to reach a better understanding of evolutionary processes.

A hundred pollen and plant macrofossil records from the Iberian Peninsula, Southern France, the Italian Peninsula, Greece and the Aegean, and the southwestern Black Sea area formed the basis for a review of the Quaternary distribution and extirpation of tree populations from Southern Europe. Following a discussion of the caveats/challenges about using pollen data, the Quaternary history of tree taxa has been reconstructed with attention to Taxodium/Glyptostrobus, Sciadopitys, Cathaya, Cedrus, Tsuga, Eucommia, Engelhardia, Carya, Pterocarya, Parrotia, Liquidambar, and Zelkova. The timing of extinction, distributed over the whole Quaternary, appears very diverse from one region to the other, in agreement with current biodiversity in Southern Europe. The geographical patterns of persistence/disappearance of taxa show unexpected trends and rule out a simple North to South and/or West to East trend in extirpations. In particular, it is possible to detect disjunct populations (Engelhardia), long-term persistence of taxa in restricted regions (Sciadopitys), distinct populations/species/genera in different geographical areas (Taxodium type). Some taxa that are still widespread in Europe have undergone extirpation in Medi-terranean areas in the lateglacial period and Holocene (Buxus, Carpinus betulus, Picea); they provide an indication of the modes of disappearance of tree populations that may be useful to evaluate correctly the vulnerability of modern fragmented plant populations. The demographic histories of tree taxa obtained by combined palaeobotanical and genetic studies is a most challenging field of research needed not only to assess species/population differentiation, but also to reach a better understanding of extinction processes , an essential task in the current global change scenario.

Resumen: El presente artículo trata de poner de manifiesto las posibles aportaciones de las obras Marxismo y filosofía, de K. Korsch, y de Historia y conciencia de clase, de G. Lukács, a la determinación de las tareas de una teoría social crítica hoy en día. Nos centraremos en cuestiones como la ideología, el diagnóstico de la cosificación y la crítica al positivismo. De este modo, nos confrontaremos con la actualidad de estas obras, fundamentales para el marxismo occidental, en el 100 aniversario de su publicación.

This scientific-research work is the first to publish a new global environmental and evolutionary concept for upgrading Homo Sapiens. It presents an alternative worldview to the rapid development of today’s consumer civilization, draws attention to the resource potential of the planet and the availability of all its vital reserves (water, gas, oil, basic mineral resources, fertile soils, etc.) and proposes ways in which Homo Sapiens can adjust its lifestyle to the new conditions. This book is intended as a guide for a wide range of readers and will be of interest to all scientists, ecologists, biologists, chemists, politicians, sociologists, students, graduate students, teachers and all those interested in saving the planet.

This is the first part of my research in the multiethnic neighborhood center of Teopancazco in Teotihuacan, located to the south of the Ciudadela. It stresses the interdisciplinary perspective of the project "Teotihuacan: elite and rulership. Excavations in Xalla and Teopancazco", directed by Linda R. Manzanilla