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Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale.

ABSTRACT. Calcareous tufa from five sites in southern Poland, representing several most typical conditions of tufa sedimentation, were chosen for 14C, '3C, and 180 measurements. These tufas were deposited in a high-energy turbulent stream (the Raerawka site), in streams with moderate but variable flow (Rzerzusnia and Trzebienice), and in semilimnic conditions (Sieradowice site). Sediments of the Gliczarow site represent spring travertines. In all but the latter site, direct comparison of 14C dates of carbonate and organic fractions was possible, leading to an estimate of initial apparent age of carbonate sediments. Clear correlation was found between the value of initial apparent age of tufas and the hydrodynamic conditions of sedimentation. Corresponding values range from ca 3900 yr (Raetawka) to 910 yr for semilimnic sediments (Sieradowice). Intermediate, almost identical values, equal to 2460 ± 200 yr and 2100 ± 160 yr, were obtained for tufas from Rzerzusnia and Trzebienice, respectively. Detailed sedimentologic classification of tufaceous deposits is presented and some primary and secondary factors affecting the accuracy of radiocarbon dates of various types of tufas are also discussed.

The isotopic composition of oxygen in freshwater calcareous tufa seems to be a sensitive indicator of past climatic changes. Results of measurements of δc18O and δc13C in tufa samples dated with the 14C method are used to reconstruct Holocene climatic changes in southern Poland. Values of δc18O obtained on tufa samples from four sites (Raclawka, Rzerzuŝnia, Trzebienice, Sieradowice) representing different hydrodynamic conditions of tufa sedimentation seem to form a selfconsistent series. These values, with some simplifying assumptions concerning the course of tufa sedimentation, were therefore used to estimate mean annual temperatures in the interval ca. 9500-2000 yr B.P. When the resulting curve of thermal changes in southern Poland is compared with changes of deposition and erosion of tuffaceous sediments and with results of other methods of reconstruction of paleoclimate in central Europe, a reasonable agreement among the different specific methods is seen.

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A bstract: The stratigraphy of the Upper Silesian Keuper, a continental, mudstone-dominated succession is poorly known, although the already renowned, newly discovered veterbrate localities highlight the growing demand for a more precise intra-regional correlation and an appropriate stratigraphic reference framework. A major lithostratigraphic unit, preliminarily proposed for the middle Keuper (i.e., above the Schilfsandstein; Stuttgart Formation in "Stratigraphische Tabelle von Deutschland", 2002) by Przegląd Geologiczny, 63: 103 113), is described in detail. The redefined Grabowa Variegated Mudstone-Carbonate Formation, the unit pre viously based on inaccurately presented information, includes the Upper Gypsum Beds and the Steinmergel keuper in the traditional scheme from Germany (= Weser and Arnstadt formations). Three members are formally defined: the Ozimek (Mudstone-Evaporite) Member, the Patoka (Marly Mudstone-Sandstone) Member and the Woźniki (Limestone) Member. Two significant bone-bearing horizons (Krasiejów and Lisowice) are placed within the Patoka Mbr. The formation thickness in a composite, regional reference section of the Upper Silesian Keuper, based on the new Woźniki K1 and Patoka 1 well profiles, is approximately 215m thick. The Grabowa Fm generally correlates with the Norian stage, with the base located in the undefined upper Carnian, and is topped by a major, erosive disconformity and sedimentary sequence boundary, near the Norian-Rhaetian boundary. However, hiatuses in the Silesian middle Keuper succession are located and paired with a cannibalistic type of sand-mud flat deposition, largely controlled by Early Cimmerian movements of tectonic blocks associated with the Kraków-Lubliniec shear zone.

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