Dominant species' resprout biomass dynamics after cutting in the Sudanian savanna-woodlands of West Africa: long term effects of annual early fire and grazing

The potential of forest to regenerate after harvesting is a key element for sustainability of the ecosystem. For semi-arid tropical savanna environments, managing resprouts after tree cutting is ideally suited because of the natural ability of many indigenous species to regenerate vegetatively. Regeneration in this ecosystem is, however, prone to many disturbance factors such as fire and grazing by livestock. In this paper, we used a factorial experiment to examine the long-term effects of annual early burning and grazing on dominant species' resprout biomass dynamics after selective cutting in the Sudanian savanna-woodlands of Burkina Faso, West Africa Burning decreased shoot mortality of Crossopteryx febrifuga while grazing increased that of Detarium microcarpum. Burning, in later measurement years, reduced resprouts' size of Acacia macrostachya, C. febrifuga and D. microcarpum while an increased basal area was observed for Combretum glutinosum. There was no significant evidence of grazing hampering growth. Moderate livestock grazing could be integrated in the forest management prescriptions in Burkina Faso for the sake of multi-purpose uses, while more attention should be paid to burning practices to lower fire severity, as complete fire exclusion is utopian in this savanna ecosystem

The asymmetric distribution of the essential histidine kinase PdhS indicates a differentiation event in Brucella abortus

Many organisms use polar localization of signalling proteins to control developmental events in response to completion of asymmetric cell division. Asymmetric division was recently reported for Brucella abortus, a class III facultative intracellular pathogen generating two sibling cells of slightly different size. Here we characterize PdhS, a cytoplasmic histidine kinase essential for B. abortus viability and homologous to the asymmetrically distributed PleC and DivJ histidine kinases from Caulobacter crescentus. PdhS is localized at the old pole of the large cell, and after division and growth, the small cell acquires PdhS at its old pole. PdhS may therefore be considered as a differentiation marker as it labels the old pole of the large cell. Moreover, PdhS colocalizes with its paired response regulator DivK. Finally, PdhS is able to localize at one pole in other α-proteobacteria, suggesting that a polar structure associating PdhS with one pole is conserved in these bacteria. We propose that a differentiation event takes place after the completion of cytokinesis in asymmetrically dividing α-proteobacteria. Altogether, these data suggest that prokaryotic differentiation may be much more widespread than expected

Trusting Datification Through Labification

Trust is both an ongoing challenge for governments, and a ubiquitous term among civil servants with public debates around whether trust in government is declining. This has been exacerbated by big data and different technology and communications platforms, with public failures in privacy or use of the data potentially contributing to declining trust in government. Big data presents new opportunities and challenges for government agencies in how they function and deliver services. This chapter examines the trust and big data literature, describing the current state of play internationally. It then questions whether the trend of policy innovation labs (PILs) can provide new pathways forward for government in the management of data, and retaining citizen trust. PILs play a critical role in governments’ attempts to address big data issues. They often provide an experimental environment where innovative tools and techniques can be employed. Critically, they use tools and techniques that foster trust and collaboration, which means they may go some way to address the much-debated trust deficit around big data