Patterns of distribution and diversification in the Madagascar-centred tribe Danaideae (Rubiaceae)

The tribe Danaideae is centred in the Western Indian Ocean Región (including Madagascar and the neighbouring Comoras, Mascarenes, and Seychelles archipelagos). This group o f plants encompasses three genera, the Malagasy endemic Payera (with 15 species) and Schismatoclada (with 47 species), and the mostly Western Indian Ocean genus Danais (with 42 species). The members of the tribe are restricted to three bioclimate zones in Madagascar: humid zone harbouring littoral forests and lowland rainforests along the east; subhumid zone covering highland rainforests along the central highlands; and montane zone mostly in the central highlands above the subhumid zone and characterized by ericoid thickets. We reconstructed a robust phylogeny of Danaideae to investígate the geographic and diversification patterns in Payera and Schismatoclada, using the Bayesian method and combined plastid (matK, ndhF, and trnT-F) and nuclear (nrITS) data. We sampled ca 75% o f species richness o f Payera and Schismatoclada, covering the entire geographic ranges o f Danaideae. The results of this study will be presented and discussed.The tribe Danaideae is centred in the Western Indian Ocean Región (including Madagascar and the neighbouring Comoras, Mascarenes, and Seychelles archipelagos). This group o f plants encompasses three genera, the Malagasy endemic Payera (with 15 species) and Schismatoclada (with 47 species), and the mostly Western Indian Ocean genus Danais (with 42 species). The members of the tribe are restricted to three bioclimate zones in Madagascar: humid zone harbouring littoral forests and lowland rainforests along the east; subhumid zone covering highland rainforests along the central highlands; and montane zone mostly in the central highlands above the subhumid zone and characterized by ericoid thickets. We reconstructed a robust phylogeny of Danaideae to investígate the geographic and diversification patterns in Payera and Schismatoclada, using the Bayesian method and combined plastid (matK, ndhF, and trnT-F) and nuclear (nrITS) data. We sampled ca 75% o f species richness o f Payera and Schismatoclada, covering the entire geographic ranges o f Danaideae. The results of this study will be presented and discussed

Stakeholder mobilisation and sports stadium regeneration: antecedent factors underpinning the formation of the Our Tottenham community network

Research question: Within sport management, there is a lack of empirical research on the reasons why stakeholders mobilise. This article identifies four antecedent factors underpinning the formation of the Our Tottenham community network: a network formed by community groups in Tottenham to challenge, inter-alia, the stadium-led regeneration scheme. Research methods: The research draws on a longitudinal, qualitative case study, involving interviews, participant observation of community meetings, and analysis of documents. Results and Findings: Four factors underpinned the development of the Our Tottenham community network. The erosion of local democracy and the violation of reciprocity are categorised as reactive forces, in which mobilisation occurred as a response to the behaviour of the Council and the football club. Protecting community interests and increasing salience were driven more by the needs of the community and are categorised as proactive forces underpinning mobilisation. Implications: In the context of this case study, we argue that mobilising efforts occurred due to the presence of both reactive and proactive forces. This helped the Our Tottenham network to build a salient stakeholder coalition. The findings also suggest that focal organisations need to recognise how their behaviour can create the antecedent conditions for stakeholder mobilisation and put in place structures that enable community stakeholders to have a voice during stadium-led regeneration

Editorial : environmental governance of urban and regional development – scales and sectors, conflict and cooperation

Recent years have continued to see a concern for the detrimental environmental impacts of human economic activities particularly in the form of enhanced global warming, sea level rise, land degradation and deforestation. Although it can be argued that economic development and growth remain the priority for governments at a variety of spatial scales or levels, these same governments also express a desire through a growing number of policy initiatives to make such development more sustainable and environmentally-friendly. A growing interest amongst policy makers has been in identifying the ways in which environmental protection measures can be made complementary to economic development aims. Rather than seeing the environment and the economy in opposition, there has been a focus on the growth potential from developing a green or low-carbon economy (OECD, 2011). At the urban and regional scale governments have increasingly begun to try and position themselves as destinations for new forms of green economy investments as a source of a new round of capital accumulation (GIBBS and O’NEILL, 2014). In total then, questions around the environment, climate change and sustainability look set to grow in importance for decision makers in cities and regions

Transplanting the leafy liverwort Herbertus hutchinsiae : A suitable conservation tool to maintain oceanic-montane liverwort-rich heath?

Thanks to the relevant landowners and managers for permission to carry out the experiments, Chris Preston for helping to obtain the liverwort distribution records and the distribution map, Gordon Rothero and Dave Horsfield for advice on choosing experimental sites and Alex Douglas for statistical advice. Juliane Geyer’s help with fieldwork was greatly appreciated. This study was made possible by a NERC PhD studentship and financial support from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Scottish Natural Heritage.Peer reviewedPostprin

Birmingham’s Eastside story: making steps towards sustainability?

Sustainability has come to play a dominant discursive role in the UK planning system, particularly relating to urban regeneration. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the role that sustainability plays in a major regeneration programme, known as Eastside, currently underway in Birmingham, the UK. That this £6 billion redevelopment is now widely talked about by such key players as Birmingham City Council and the Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands, as having a central sustainability agenda points to the growing importance of the ideal of sustainability in planning and regeneration agendas. In this paper, we investigate in detail how and why sustainability has become part of the planning discourse for Eastside and critically evaluate what impact, if any, this is having on public policy decision-making

Gymnosperms on the EDGE

Driven by limited resources and a sense of urgency, the prioritization of species for conservation has been a persistent concern in conservation science. Gymnosperms (comprising ginkgo, conifers, cycads, and gnetophytes) are one of the most threatened groups of living organisms, with 40% of the species at high risk of extinction, about twice as many as the most recent estimates for all plants (i.e. 21.4%). This high proportion of species facing extinction highlights the urgent action required to secure their future through an objective prioritization approach. The Evolutionary Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) method rapidly ranks species based on their evolutionary distinctiveness and the extinction risks they face. EDGE is applied to gymnosperms using a phylogenetic tree comprising DNA sequence data for 85% of gymnosperm species (923 out of 1090 species), to which the 167 missing species were added, and IUCN Red List assessments available for 92% of species. The effect of different extinction probability transformations and the handling of IUCN data deficient species on the resulting rankings is investigated. Although top entries in our ranking comprise species that were expected to score well (e.g. Wollemia nobilis, Ginkgo biloba), many were unexpected (e.g. Araucaria araucana). These results highlight the necessity of using approaches that integrate evolutionary information in conservation science

Cenozoic evolution of the steppe-desert biome in Central Asia

The origins and development of the arid and highly seasonal steppe-desert biome in Central Asia, the largest of its kind in the world, remain largely unconstrained by existing records. It is unclear how Cenozoic climatic, geological, and biological forces, acting at diverse spatial and temporal scales, shaped Central Asian ecosystems through time. Our synthesis shows that the Central Asian steppe-desert has existed since at least Eocene times but experienced no less than two regime shifts, one at the Eocene–Oligocene Transition and one in the mid-Miocene. These shifts separated three successive “stable states,” each characterized by unique floral and faunal structures. Past responses to disturbance in the Asian steppe-desert imply that modern ecosystems are unlikely to recover their present structures and diversity if forced into a new regime. This is of concern for Asian steppes today, which are being modified for human use and lost to desertification at unprecedented rates

Characteristics of outdoor falls among older people: A qualitative study

Background Falls are a major threat to older people’s health and wellbeing. Approximately half of falls occur in outdoor environments but little is known about the circumstances in which they occur. We conducted a qualitative study to explore older people’s experiences of outdoor falls to develop understanding of how they may be prevented. Methods We conducted nine focus groups across the UK (England, Wales, and Scotland). Our sample was from urban and rural settings and different environmental landscapes. Participants were aged 65+ and had at least one outdoor fall in the past year. We analysed the data using framework and content analyses. Results Forty-four adults aged 65 – 92 took part and reported their experience of 88 outdoor falls. Outdoor falls occurred in a variety of contexts, though reports suggested the following scenarios may have been more frequent: when crossing a road, in a familiar area, when bystanders were around, and with an unreported or unknown attribution. Most frequently, falls resulted in either minor or moderate injury, feeling embarrassed at the time of the fall, and anxiety about falling again. Ten falls resulted in fracture, but no strong pattern emerged in regard to the contexts of these falls. Anxiety about falling again appeared more prevalent among those that fell in urban settings and who made more visits into their neighbourhood in a typical week. Conclusions This exploratory study has highlighted several aspects of the outdoor environment that may represent risk factors for outdoor falls and associated fear of falling. Health professionals are recommended to consider outdoor environments as well as the home setting when working to prevent falls and increase mobility among older people

Dispersal limitations and historical factors determine the biogeography of specialized terrestrial protists

Recent studies show that soil eukaryotic diversity is immense and dominated by micro-organisms. However, it is unclear to what extent the processes that shape the distribution of diversity in plants and animals also apply to micro-organisms. Major diversification events in multicellular organisms have often been attributed to long-term climatic and geological processes, but the impact of such processes on protist diversity has received much less attention as their distribution has often been believed to be largely cosmopolitan. Here, we quantified phylogeographical patterns in Hyalosphenia papilio, a large testate amoeba restricted to Holarctic Sphagnum-dominated peatlands, to test if the current distribution of its genetic diversity can be explained by historical factors or by the current distribution of suitable habitats. Phylogenetic diversity was higher in Western North America, corresponding to the inferred geographical origin of the H. papilio complex, and was lower in Eurasia despite extensive suitable habitats. These results suggest that patterns of phylogenetic diversity and distribution can be explained by the history of Holarctic Sphagnum peatland range expansions and contractions in response to Quaternary glaciations that promoted cladogenetic range evolution, rather than the contemporary distribution of suitable habitats. Species distributions were positively correlated with climatic niche breadth, suggesting that climatic tolerance is key to dispersal ability in H. papilio. This implies that, at least for large and specialized terrestrial micro-organisms, propagule dispersal is slow enough that historical processes may contribute to their diversification and phylogeographical patterns and may partly explain their very high overall diversity