Spatial and temporal genetic dynamics of the grasshopper <i>Oedaleus decorus</i> revealed by museum genomics.

Analyzing genetic variation through time and space is important to identify key evolutionary and ecological processes in populations. However, using contemporary genetic data to infer the dynamics of genetic diversity may be at risk of a bias, as inferences are performed from a set of extant populations, setting aside unavailable, rare, or now extinct lineages. Here, we took advantage of new developments in next-generation sequencing to analyze the spatial and temporal genetic dynamics of the grasshopper &lt;i&gt;Oedaleus decorus&lt;/i&gt; , a steppic Southwestern-Palearctic species. We applied a recently developed hybridization capture (hyRAD) protocol that allows retrieving orthologous sequences even from degraded DNA characteristic of museum specimens. We identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in 68 historical and 51 modern samples in order to (i) unravel the spatial genetic structure across part of the species distribution and (ii) assess the loss of genetic diversity over the past century in Swiss populations. Our results revealed (i) the presence of three potential glacial refugia spread across the European continent and converging spatially in the Alpine area. In addition, and despite a limited population sample size, our results indicate (ii) a loss of allelic richness in contemporary Swiss populations compared to historical populations, whereas levels of expected heterozygosities were not significantly different. This observation is compatible with an increase in the bottleneck magnitude experienced by central European populations of &lt;i&gt;O. decorus&lt;/i&gt; following human-mediated land-use change impacting steppic habitats. Our results confirm that application of hyRAD to museum samples produces valuable information to study genetic processes across time and space

Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management

Urban areas are a particular landscape matrix characterized by a fine-grained spatial arrangement of very diverse habitats (urban mosaic). We investigated arthropods to analyse biodiversity-habitat associations along five environmental gradients (age, impervious area, management, configuration, composition) in three Swiss cities (96 study sites). We considered total species richness and species richness within different functional groups (zoophagous, phytophagous, pollinator, low mobility, and high mobility species). Information theoretical model selection procedures were applied and predictions were calculated based on weighted models. Urban areas yielded on average 284 arthropod species (range: 169-361), with species richness correlating mostly with heterogeneity indices (configuration and composition). Species richness also increased with age of urban settlement, while enlarged proportions of impervious area and intensified habitat management was negatively correlated. Functional groups showed contrasted, specific responses to environmental variables. Overall, we found surprisingly little variation in species richness along the gradients, which is possibly due to the fine-grained spatial interlinkage of good (heterogeneous) and bad (sealed) habitats. The highly fragmented nature of urban areas may not represent a major obstacle for the arthropods currently existing in cities because they have probably been selected for tolerance to fragmentation and for high colonisation potential. Given that built areas are becoming denser, increasing spatial heterogeneity of the urban green offers potential for counteracting the detrimental effects of densification upon urban biodiversity. By quantifying the expected effects along environmental gradients, this study provides guidance for managers to set priorities when enhancing urban arthropod species richnes

Mitigating the negative impacts of tall wind turbines on bats: Vertical activity profiles and relationships to wind speed.

Wind turbines represent a source of hazard for bats, especially through collision with rotor blades. With increasing technical development, tall turbines (rotor-swept zone 50-150 m above ground level) are becoming widespread, yet we lack quantitative information about species active at these heights, which impedes proposing targeted mitigation recommendations for bat-friendly turbine operation. We investigated vertical activity profiles of a bat assemblage, and their relationships to wind speed, within a major valley of the European Alps where tall wind turbines are being deployed. To monitor bat activity we installed automatic recorders at sequentially increasing heights from ground level up to 65 m, with the goal to determine species-specific vertical activity profiles and to link them to wind speed. Bat call sequences were analysed with an automatic algorithm, paying particular attention to mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii) and the European free-tailed bat (Tadarida teniotis), three locally rare species. The most often recorded bats were the Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and Savi's pipistrelle (Hypsugo savii). Mouse-eared bats were rarely recorded, and mostly just above ground, appearing out of risk of collision. T. teniotis had a more evenly distributed vertical activity profile, often being active at rotor level, but its activity at that height ceased above 5 ms-1 wind speed. Overall bat activity in the rotor-swept zone declined with increasing wind speed, dropping below 5% above 5.4 ms-1. Collision risk could be drastically reduced if nocturnal operation of tall wind turbines would be restricted to wind speeds above 5 ms-1. Such measure should be implemented year-round because T. teniotis remains active in winter. This operational restriction is likely to cause only small energy production losses at these tall wind turbines, although further analyses are needed to assess these losses precisely

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202

Author correction : a global database for metacommunity ecology, integrating species, traits, environment and space

Correction to: Scientific Data https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-019-0344-7, published online 08 January 202

"Kultur" als Form symbolischer Gewalt: Grenzziehungsprozesse im Kontext von Migration am Beispiel der Schweiz

Die Schweiz gilt international als Modell eines gelungenen Multikulturalismus, dann nämlich wenn es das Zusammenleben der vier Sprachgruppen (Romands, DeutschschweizerInnen, TessinerInnen, RäteromanInnen) betrifft. Ein sprachlicher wie auch religiöser Pluralismus ist und war stets ein Grundbaustein des Selbstverständnisses der „Willensnation“ Schweiz. Geht es aber um MigrantInnen präsentiert sich die Geschichte anders, denn in diesem Falle erscheinen religiöse und ethnisch-kulturelle Pluralität vorwiegend als problematisch. MigrantInnen gehören entsprechend den öffentlichen und politischen Diskursen nicht zum multikulturellen Staat, vielmehr sind Prozesse kollektiver Grenzziehungen und damit Schließungsmechanismen zu beobachten, in denen Ethnizität, Religion und Kultur zu den wichtigsten Differenzierungsmerkmale werden, wie Gemeinsamkeiten gegen innen (SchweizerInnen) und Barrieren gegen außen (Ausländer, Migranten, Muslims, etc.) hergestellt werden. Ich argumentiere in diesem Kapitel, dass sich dieser „Kulturdiskurs“ im letzten Jahrzehnt verstärkt hat und gleichzeitig semantischen Verschiebungen unterworfen war. Mittels der Grenzziehungsperspektive wird historisch nachvollzogen, wie Zuwanderung und Integration in politischen Debatten und Gesetz zunehmend kulturalisiert und ethnisiert wurden. Ein Fallbeispiel aus der Forschung dient mir anschließend der Veranschaulichung dieser theoretischen Perspektive und dieses „neuen“ Essentialismus

Perspectivas actuales de los sujetos de derecho

En este volumen se recogen las intervenciones del II Seminario Internacional Permanente del Departamento de Derecho Internacional, Eclesiástico y Filosofía del Derecho de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid que se desarrolló en el curso académico 2010-2011Presentación / Rafael de Asís Roig. - Algunas reflexiones sobre el individuo en Derecho Internacional / Castor Díaz Barrado. - Sobre capacidad y derechos / Rafael de Asís Roig. - Derecho Común versus Derecho Especial : el individuo como sujeto del derecho de libertad de conciencia y religiosa en España y Portugal / Alejandro Torres Gutiérrez. - Las empresas transnacionales como actores y sujetos «potenciales» en la sociedad internacional / Romualdo Bermejo García. - Las minorías religiosas como sujetos de derechos en España : un sistema de desigualdad / José María Contreras Mazario. - Los colectivos como sujetos de Derecho / Olga Sánchez Martínez. - De «protectorado internacional» a Estado «protegido» (¿Es Kosovo un Estado?) / Cesáreo Gutiérrez Espada - Contra el Derecho Internacional : imperialismo americano y subjetividad jurídica / Cristina García Pascual. - Cooperación constitucional e internacionalidad de la Iglesia católica / Paulino Pardo Prieto. - El individuo como titular de la libertad religiosa : aproximación a un problema de filosofía jurídica / Fernando Arlettaz. - La adopción de un procedimiento de comunicaciones individuales : ¿asignatura pendiente en la consolidación de la «subjetividad internacional del niño»? / Mª del Rosario Carmona Luque. - La persona con discapacidad como sujeto de derechos : análisis desde dos modelos / Patricia Cuenca Gómez. - Los sujetos de Derecho Internacional y los desastres internacionales / Carlos R. Fernández Liesa. - Los inmigrantes como colectivo : ¿son sujeto de Derecho Internacional? / Rosana Garciandía Garmendia. - La empresa : ¿Sujeto de Derecho Internacional? : Importancia de la cuestión / Hilda Garrido Suárez. - La tolerancia étnica y religiosa en los proyectos para la independencia del Estado búlgaro de la dominación otomana, el punto de partida del concepto legal sobre la protección de los derechos fundamentales de las minorias en Bulgaria / Ángel Hristov Kolev. - El régimen jurídico del profesorado y de la asignatura de religión católica en la escuela pública. Comentario a la STC 51/2011 de 14 de abril / Andrés Murcia González. - El sujeto de derecho en Pufendorf / Antonio Pele. - ¿Puede un sujeto de Derecho Internacional juzgar a otro? Algunas consideraciones sobre la inmunidad de jurisdicción de las organizaciones internacionales / Juan Jorge Piernas Lópe