Key Trends in Policy for Low-Energy Built Environments: a 20-year Review

In a review of policy frameworks for low-energy buildings and built environments over 20 years in England, the paper identifies a transition from the early years when the connection between energy and the built environment was only just beginning to be recognised, through to a more coordinated approach to carbon and buildings in the period to 2010. It identifies fives key trends: a greater reliance on regulation; the growing importance of the retrofit agenda; more tightly targeted subsidies; more finely tuned market-based instruments to shape and structures energy efficiency and decentralised renewable energy markets; and a shift from the dominance of market rationality towards a more nuanced understanding of how inter-related change in energy systems and built environments is achieved

Peatlands and the carbon cycle: from local processes to global implications - a synthesis

Peatlands cover only 3% of the Earth's land surface but boreal and subarctic peatlands store about 15-30% of the world's soil carbon ( C) as peat. Despite their potential for large positive feedbacks to the climate system through sequestration and emission of greenhouse gases, peatlands are not explicitly included in global climate models and therefore in predictions of future climate change. In April 2007 a symposium was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, to advance our understanding of peatland C cycling. This paper synthesizes the main findings of the symposium, focusing on (i) small-scale processes, (ii) C fluxes at the landscape scale, and (iii) peatlands in the context of climate change. The main drivers controlling most are related to some aspects of hydrology. Despite high spatial and annual variability in Net Ecosystem Exchange ( NEE), the differences in cumulative annual NEE are more a function of broad scale geographic location and physical setting than internal factors, suggesting the existence of strong feedbacks. In contrast, trace gas emissions seem mainly controlled by local factors. Key uncertainties remain concerning the existence of perturbation thresholds, the relative strengths of the CO2 and CH4 feedback, the links among peatland surface climate, hydrology, ecosystem structure and function, and trace gas biogeochemistry as well as the similarity of process rates across peatland types and climatic zones. Progress on these research areas can only be realized by stronger co-operation between disciplines that address different spatial and temporal scales

Mapping the coevolution of urban energy systems: pathways of change

Abstract. The interface of a long-standing movement for sustainability at the urban scale and the imperatives of the carbon-reduction agenda are driving change in urban energy systems. This paper seeks to address the nature of that change and, in particular, to consider how different pathways of change are emerging. To do this it draws on the coevolution and pathways literatures to interrogate a database of current urban energy initiatives within the UK. This analysis reveals the multiple pathways of change though which new modes of energy production and consumption are being developed to deliver carbon reductions through the reconfiguring of urban energy systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these changes for urban governance and for carbon reductions

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

Insufficient Evidence of Purported Lunar Effect on Pollination in Ephedra

It has been suggested that the timing of pollination in Ephedra foeminea coincides with the full moon in July. The implication is that the plant can detect the full moon through light or gravity and that this trait is an evolutionary adaptation that aids the navigation by pollinating insects. Here we show that there is insufficient data to make such a claim and we predict that pollinations of E. foeminea do not in general coincide with the full moon

Neighbourhood sustainability frameworks - a literature review

Frameworks for assessing the sustainability of the built environment are entering a new phase with the introduction of neighbourhood scale tools. This paper is a review of the current literature on these frameworks, as well as building-scale tools, to provide a milestone for future studies. Notably, the author found few papers focusing on neighbourhood schemes exclusively with large gaps in our knowledge. Some existing research compares and critiques the content of frameworks; other research focuses on the interaction between a framework and the development process, its actors, and institutions; and other work assesses the real-world performance of developments built using frameworks. Neighbourhood frameworks provide a more holistic approach to sustainable development than building frameworks, covering environmental, social, and economic sustainability. However, there is little consensus on what this means (or should mean) in practice with coverage varying with regional context and design principles, as well as accusations of environmental bias. The evidence that frameworks influence the sustainability of individual projects is mixed (with some criteria more affected than others) though it is thought they have pushed up the standards of sustainability generally. Likewise it is uncertain whether they promote sustainability as a value amongst users. However, they are useful for those committed to sustainability to show their credentials and defend their decisions. As the tools are voluntary and market-based, it is important they provide additional value to developments; this has been shown to be the case. This impact is greater for those already interested in sustainability or looking to promote a ‘green’ image. This literature review identifies several gaps in the research of Neighbourhood Sustainability Frameworks, these include: their effect on the development process and planning, barriers to their uptake, and improvements to frameworks and the way they are used

Detecting evolutionarily significant units above the species level using the generalised mixed Yule coalescent method

1. There is renewed interest in inferring evolutionary history by modelling diversification rates using phylogenies. Understanding the performance of the methods used under different scenarios is essential for assessing empirical results. Recently, we introduced a new approach for analysing broadscale diversity patterns, using the generalised mixed Yule coalescent (GMYC) method to test for the existence of evolutionarily significant units above the species (higher ESUs). This approach focuses on identifying clades as well as estimating rates, and we refer to it as clade-dependent. However, the ability of the GMYC to detect the phylogenetic signature of higher ESUs has not been fully explored, nor has it been placed in the context of other, clade-independent approaches. 2. We simulated >32 000 trees under two clade-independent models: constant-rate birth-death (CRBD) and variable-rate birth-death (VRBD), using parameter estimates from nine empirical trees and more general parameter values. The simulated trees were used to evaluate scenarios under which GMYC might incorrectly detect the presence of higher ESUs. 3. The GMYC null model was rejected at a high rate on CRBD-simulated trees. This would lead to spurious inference of higher ESUs. However, the support for the GMYC model was significantly greater in most of the empirical clades than expected under a CRBD process. Simulations with empirically derived parameter values could therefore be used to exclude CRBD as an explanation for diversification patterns. In contrast, a VRBD process could not be ruled out as an alternative explanation for the apparent signature of hESUs in the empirical clades, based on the GMYC method alone. Other metrics of tree shape, however, differed notably between the empirical and VRBD-simulated trees. These metrics could be used in future to distinguish clade-dependent and clade-independent models. 4. In conclusion, detection of higher ESUs using the GMYC is robust against some clade-independent models, as long as simulations are used to evaluate these alternatives, but not against others. The differences between clade-dependent and clade-independent processes are biologically interesting, but most current models focus on the latter. We advocate more research into clade-dependent models for broad diversity patterns