Wave-sheltered embayments are recruitment hotspots for tropical fishes on temperate reefs

© Inter-Research 2016. Poleward redistribution of species, facilitated by global warming, will be compromised if habitats at higher latitudes do not support the species' early life stages. For tropical reef fishes, reef structure may mediate colonisation of temperate regions; however, an understanding of key habitat requirements for colonisation is currently lacking. We show that density, diversity (taxonomic and trophic) and species richness of newly recruited tropical reef fishes were greater in embayed than exposed reefs in 2 mid-latitude temperate zones, where coastal waters are rapidly warming: southeastern Australia (30.5-33° S) and western Japan (32-33.5° N). Dietary generalists (e.g. planktivores and herbivores) and specialists (corallivores) associated more commonly with embayed reefs. Wave exposure was a stronger predictor of the density and richness of dietary generalists than water temperature, latitude, predatory fish densities, reef rugosities, benthos and distance to river mouths. Corallivores were strongly associated with branching corals, which were exclusive to highly sheltered reefs. We also explored habitat associations of 7 focal species within a coral reef, One Tree Island (OTI), Great Barrier Reef. Four species associated with wave - sheltered over exposed reef on OTI and temperate Australian reef. However, Abudefduf vaigiensis, Pomacentrus coelestis and Acanthurus triostegus associated more with wave-sheltered reef in temperate regions. We hypothesise that cool temperate waters promote greater sheltering of some warm-adapted, tropical fishes by impacting their swimming/physiological performance. Results suggest availability of embayed temperate reefs may influence where some tropical fishes colonise with warming waters, through impacting recruitment. Wave exposure of reefs should be considered when predicting geographic responses of tropical fishes to climate change

The Role of Information Literacy in the Provision of Virtual Reference Services at the Enquiry Desk

Virtual Reference (VR) tools are a useful means of allowing remote interaction between librarians and library users. This paper focuses on the use of synchronous VR tools and their potential for fostering information literacy. The use of chat software, co-browse and Second Life was surveyed and follow-up interviews were undertaken. Conclusions: The three tools investigated all have merits as ways of promoting information literacy within VR services at the enquiry desk, with chat being the most popular because of its stable and user-friendly nature, and the ease with which it can be integrated with other products such as blogs, webpages and co-browse tools.Published versio

The changing face of food poverty with special reference to Wales

As a marker of current austerity policies, the growth of the emergency food aid landscape has become recognisable through the ‘food bank’. These places of charitable food-redistribution have seen their presence increase within an evolving social policy context. Understanding food bank use as two modes of ‘experience’, this thesis has mapped both the quantitative geographical ‘experience’ of the food bank, alongside the qualitative ‘experience’ gained from understanding why people have turned to them for help.Attending to the quantitative rise of the food bank as a means of support, this thesis has recognised that there has been substantial changes within the recent socio-political landscape of the UK that have stimulated food bank growth as an inadequate response to rising levels of poverty. In approaching the knowledge construction of the geospatial distribution of food banks across Wales, this thesis provides clarity to the organisational structures of both; the Trussell Trust Foodbank Network, and independent food banks.As a social policy, the Welfare Reform Act (2012) has been concluded within this thesis as holding the bonds of responsibility for driving the quantitative rise in food bank numbers across Wales. Recognition of increased ‘need’ triggered the opening of food banks as a way of providing emergency relief where social security failed. This thesis has mapped the growth of food banks in Wales and has recognised further growth as being attended to the rise in neoliberal policies of recent governments (1998-2015).Employing several data collection methods, the qualitative experience of food poverty has been illuminated through semi-structured thematic interviews and focus group interviews conducted with service providers detailing how the changing landscape of social security, and the ways in which the rise in attitudes of individualism have changed the acceptability of social security. Analysed within a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, the key conceptual themes within this thesis centre upon the rise of a deserving and undeserving attitude within poverty, and how this resides within a neoliberal attitude of structure and agency driven poverty. Service provider interviews have been augmented by biographical focused semistructured interviews with service users, detailing their experience of having to resort to food bank use as their only means of sustenance. Here service users identified with a deserving and undeserving narrative, identifying with the structural and agency driven poverty as a cause of food bank use. Applying this approach, service users placed a hierarchical attitude to food bank use and furthered this distinction between the deserving and the undeserving user

The food bank : a safety-net in place of welfare security in times of austerity and the Covid-19 crisis

The food bank has become a charitable safety-net for those who have been failed by the social security system in times of austerity and during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article we evidence the rise of food banking in the context of declining social security, examining the decade of austerity in the UK and the Covid-19 period. We also contextualise the process of normalisation of food banks as a new safety-net in a reduced welfare state. We argue that the welfare state has failed to address a fundamental ‘Want’ – namely, food securit

Sediment pollution impacts sensory ability and performance of settling coral-reef fish

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Marine organisms are under threat globally from a suite of anthropogenic sources, but the current emphasis on global climate change has deflected the focus from local impacts. While the effect of increased sedimentation on the settlement of coral species is well studied, little is known about the impact on larval fish. Here, the effect of a laterite “red soil” sediment pollutant on settlement behaviour and post-settlement performance of reef fish was tested. In aquarium tests that isolated sensory cues, we found significant olfaction-based avoidance behaviour and disruption of visual cue use in settlement-stage larval fish at 50 mg L−1, a concentration regularly exceeded in situ during rain events. In situ light trap catches showed lower abundance and species richness in the presence of red soil, but were not significantly different due to high variance in the data. Prolonged exposure to red soil produced altered olfactory cue responses, whereby fish in red soil made a likely maladaptive choice for dead coral compared to controls where fish chose live coral. Other significant effects of prolonged exposure included decreased feeding rates and body condition. These effects on fish larvae reared over 5 days occurred in the presence of a minor drop in pH and may be due to the chemical influence of the sediment. Our results show that sediment pollution of coral reefs may have more complex effects on the ability of larval fish to successfully locate suitable habitat than previously thought, as well as impacting on their post-settlement performance and, ultimately, recruitment success

The benefits system in Wales

This evidence supports the call for further devolution of powers in Wales, especially those that increase the ability for Wales to tackle poverty. Doing so, our work here evidence that the 10 years of austerity following the election of the Coalition Government of 2010 opened a chasm for rising socio-inequalities for Wales. This chasm has ensured that low-income people and communities in Wales were hit hard because of Covid-19 and during lockdown.In this evidence we call for further devolution of powers that will enable the Welsh Government to provide equitable financial stability for the people of Wales. Our evidence draws on our own primary research and is supported by a wealth of secondary research from academics, activists and civil society organisations who work on the frontline in supporting those in needs across Wales. This evidence discusses the current levels of poverty inWales and highlights the rising incidence of food bank use as a key identifier. Moreover, the evidence also acknowledges the potential economic impact in Wales as the pandemic dust settles and discusses the attainment (and gaps) of Local Assistance Schemes, furlough, taxation, UC, and the recent £20 uplift. Finally, we end with a significant discussion of evidence surrounding the proposal for a trial of a Universal Basic Income in Wales and discuss the link between this and the Wellbeing of Future Generations in Wales