Taxonomy, evolutionary history, and ecological dominance of Themeda and Heteropogon.

Heteropogon and Themeda grasses are common and significant components of the C4 savannas which have recently gained more attention for conservation and biodiversity research. The two genera have been the subject of ecological research due to their widespread and dominant species H. contortus and T. themeda. Like many tropical plant lineages, however, in-depth knowledge necessary for the management of these ecosystems is still lacking. This thesis focuses on the diversity of Heteropogon and Themeda in respect to evolution, ecology, and systematics. In this thesis, phylogenetic analyses indicated that the evolutionary history of Heteropogon and Themeda is being driven by complex evolutionary processes and their origin is dated back to the Miocene grassland expansion. I interpreted those discordant phylogenetic placements between plastid and nuclear trees as underlying polyploidization or hybridization within the groups. Dating analyses indicated that most species originated in the Miocene grassland expansion. Widespread species, H. contortus and T. triandra did not originate until the Late Miocene and quickly spread throughout the Tropics in the Pleistocene. Climatic niche characteristics and geographic distributions of Heteropogon and Themeda shed light on macroecological patterns, adaptation by functional traits, and the evolution of climatic niche and functional traits. I found that Heteropogon and Themeda species are separated into savanna and wetland groups. This is supported by differences in precipitation regimes of the two habitats and functional traits (e.g., plant height, leaf area, and awns). In an evolutionary context, biomes were shifted from savannas to wetlands, and niche divergence occurred. Functional traits changed by habitat preferences and show lability in the lineage. Integration of morphology and new ecological and phylogenetic evidence derived from this thesis were used in new generic and species reclassifications of Heteropogon and Themeda. I conclude that the generic description of Heteropogon should be narrowed, and I accept three species, while that of Themeda expanded to accept 26 Themeda species and 2 varieties. Phylogenetic relationships determine diagnostic morphological characters in generic and species delimitations. This new systematics of Heteropogon and Themeda demonstrates how to apply various biological data in taxonomic revision, and to summarize biodiversity information of Heteropogon and Themeda

Assessing above and belowground recovery from ammonium sulfate addition and wildfire in a lowland heath: mycorrhizal fungi as potential indicators.

Atmospheric pollution containing soil‐nitrifying ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄) affects semi‐natural ecosystems worldwide. Long‐term additions of (NH₄)₂SO₄ to nitrogen (N)‐limited habitats, including heathlands, increase climate stress affecting recovery from wildfires. Although heathland vegetation largely depends on ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ErM) to access soil N, we lack detailed understanding of how prolonged exposure to (NH₄)₂SO₄ may alter ErM community composition and host plants' reliance on fungal partners following wildfire and affect recovery. Simulation of atmospheric pollution ((NH₄)₂SO₄) occurred bi‐weekly for 5 years after a 2006 wildfire in a UK heathland. Ten years after treatments ceased, we measured vegetation structure, lichen and lichen photobiont composition, soil characteristics, ErM colonization, ErM diversity in roots and soil, and assessed ErM potential as novel recovery indicators. Heather height and density, and moss groundcover, were greater in N‐enriched plots. Lichen community indices showed significant treatment effects, but without differences in photobionts. Soil pH and Mg were significantly lower in treated plots while soil cation exchange capacity was significantly higher. There were no detectable differences in ErM composition and keystone ErM taxa between control and treated plots. Soil carbon stock measures were variable. Our results indicate atmospheric pollution following fire can have significant lingering effects above‐ and belowground. ErM diversity and root colonization were not assessed in the original N‐addition experiment; we advocate for their inclusion in future studies as an integral part of the recovery assessment toolkit. We show that mycorrhizal fungi diversity is a viable ecological tool and summarize key steps for ErM identification

Seeking a Hideout: Caves as Refuges for Various Functional Groups of Bryophytes from Terceira Island (Azores, Portugal).

Caves represent sites of great geological and biological interest. For most taxonomic groups, caves represent one of the most challenging ecosystems due to their extreme conditions. However, these places are rich in biodiversity, and some groups, such as bryophytes, can take advantage of these conditions. Bryophytes from twelve caves on Terceira Island (Azores archipelago) were sampled and compared in terms of species richness, abundance, and composition. The results revealed a high species richness of bryophytes, with one-fifth of the species being threatened and one-third endemic. Moreover, the dominance of bryophyte species, as determined by different functional groups, varies depending on the sampled cave and, consequently, the environmental variables. This is evident from the high β-diversity values obtained, demonstrating significant dissimilarities in species composition among the surveyed caves. Both macro- and microclimatic variables significantly influenced the richness and abundance of bryophyte species in different ways, depending on the functional group studied. Highlighting bryophyte diversity in cave environments, this study points to the need for effective management strategies to preserve and protect these unique and ecologically significant communities. These places can serve as refuges for some species, even for bryophytes, a taxonomic group with a long-distance dispersal strategy

Everyday Protection: Learning from United Nations Protection of Civilians Sites

‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) has been a dominant focus of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in recent decades. At the same time, ‘Protection of Civilians’ is a contested and ambiguous concept, with its practical meanings often established in the realities of implementation. The introduction to this special issue argues that ‘Protection of Civilians sites’ (established in South Sudan in 2013) are important for understanding how protection commitments and policies have worked in practice. Subsequent articles examine the everyday experiences of PoC sites, showing how this is a crucial lens for understanding PoC interventions in South Sudan and more widely

Current status of the cryopreservation of embryogenic material of woody species.

Cryopreservation, or the storage at liquid nitrogen temperatures (-196°C), of embryogenic cells or somatic embryos allows their long-term conservation without loss of their embryogenic capacity. During the last decade, protocols for cryopreservation of embryogenic material of woody species have been increasing in number and importance. However, despite the large experimental evidence proved in thousands of embryogenic lines, the application for the large-scale conservation of embryogenic material in cryobanks is still limited. Cryopreservation facilitates the management of embryogenic lines, reducing costs and time spent on their maintenance, thus limiting the risk of the appearance of somaclonal variation or contamination. Somatic embryogenesis in combination with cryopreservation is especially useful to preserve the juvenility of lines while the corresponding clones are being field-tested. Hence, when tree performance has been evaluated, selected varieties can be propagated from the cryostock. The traditional method of slow cooling or techniques based on vitrification are mostly applied procedures. For example, slow cooling methods are widely applied to conserve embryogenic lines of conifers. Desiccation based procedures, although simpler, have been applied in a smaller number of species. Genetic stability of the cryopreserved material is supported by multiloci PCR-derived markers in most of the assayed species, whereas DNA methylation status assays showed that cryopreservation might induce some changes that were also observed after prolonged subculture of the embryogenic lines. This article reviews the cryopreservation of embryogenic cultures in conifers, fruit species, deciduous forest species and palms, including a description of the different cryopreservation procedures and the analysis of their genetic stability after storage in liquid nitrogen

John Hammond and the Explosion of Print in 1641: Commercial and Political Opportunities

One of the great values of Thomason’s collection of civil war tracts and newsbooks is the opportunity that it affords for analysing the nature of the print trade during a key phase of the so-called ‘print revolution’. Given the so-called ‘explosion’ of cheap print that accompanied the descent into civil war, and the vital role that print played in the political and religious turmoil of the revolutionary decades, it is vital to explore the role that stationers played, and to reflect upon their identities, not least in terms of the relationship between commercial motives and ideological imperatives. This chapter reconstructs and analyses the imprint of one such stationer, John Hammond, and explores his activity as both a commercial and a political actor. As such, it addresses the vital but vexed issue of the relationship between profit and politics in the world of early modern publishing