The UK risk assessment scheme for all non-native species

1. A pest risk assessment scheme, adapted from the EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organisation) scheme, was developed to assess the risks posed to UK species, habitats and ecosystems by non-native taxa. 2. The scheme provides a structured framework for evaluating the potential for non-native organisms, whether intentional or unintentional introductions, to enter, establish, spread and cause significant impacts in all or part of the UK. Specialist modules permit the relative importance of entry pathways, the vulnerability of receptors and the consequences of policies to be assessed and appropriate risk management options to be selected. Spreadsheets for summarising the level of risk and uncertainty, invasive attributes and economic impact were created. In addition, new methods for quantifying economic impact and summarising risk and uncertainty were explored. 3. Although designed for the UK, the scheme can readily be applied elsewhere

The Sneeuberg: A new centre of floristic endemism on the Great Escarpment, South Africa

The Sneeuberg mountain complex (Eastern Cape) comprises one of the most prominent sections of the Great Escarpment in southern Africa but until now has remained one of the botanically least known regions. The Sneeuberg is a discrete orographical entity, being delimited in the east by the Great Fish River valley, in the west by the Nelspoort Interval, to the south by the Plains of Camdeboo, and to the north by the Great Karoo pediplain. The highest peaks range from 2278 to 2504 m above sea level, and the summit plateaux range from 1800 to 2100 m. Following extensive literature review and a detailed collecting programme, the Sneeuberg is reported here as having a total flora of 1195 species of which 107 (9%) are alien species, 33 (2.8%) are endemic, and 13 (1.1%) near-endemic. Five species previously reported as Drakensberg Alpine Centre (DAC) endemics are now known to occur in the Sneeuberg (representing range extensions of some 300–500 km). One-hundred-and-five species (8.8%) are DAC near-endemics, with the Sneeuberg being the western limit for most of these. Ten species (0.8%) represent disjunctions across the Karoo Interval from the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) to the Sneeuberg. In all, some 23 significant range extensions, eight new species, and several rediscoveries are recorded. We conclude by recognising the Sneeuberg as a new centre of endemism along the Great Escarpment, with floristic affinities with the Albany Centre and the DAC, and links to the CFR

Cross-correlating WMAP5 with 1.5 million LRGs: a new test for the ISW effect.

We present the cross-correlation of the density map of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) and the temperature fluctuation in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as measured by the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe observations. The LRG samples were extracted from imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 5 based on two previous spectroscopic redshift surveys, the SDSS LRG and the 2dF–SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) surveys designed to have average redshifts of z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55. In addition, we have added a higher redshift photometric LRG sample based on the selection of the AAOmega LRG redshift survey at z ≈ 0.7. The total LRG sample thus comprises 1.5 million galaxies, sampling a redshift range of 0.2 2 of the sky, probing a total cosmic volume of ≈5.5 h−3 Gpc3. First, we find that the new LRG sample at z ≈ 0.7 shows very little positive evidence for the Integrated Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect. Indeed, the cross-correlation is negative out to ≈1°. The standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model is rejected at ≈2–3 per cent significance by the new LRG data. We then analyse the previous samples at z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55. As found by other authors, these results appear consistent with the standard ISW model, although the statistical significance remains marginal.We also reproduce the same result for the magnitude-limited SDSS galaxy samples of Giannantonio et al. Taking the z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55 LRG results in combination with the new z ≈ 0.7 sample, the overall result is now more consistent with a null detection than with the standard ΛCDM model prediction. We then performed a new test on the robustness of the LRG ISW detections at z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55. We made eight rotations through 360° of the CMB maps with respect to the LRG samples around the galactic pole. We find that in both cases, there are stronger effects at angles other than zero. This implies that the z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55 ISW detections may still be subject to systematic errors which combined with the known sizeable statistical errors may leave the z ≈ 0.35 and z ≈ 0.55 ISW detections looking unreliable. We have further made the rotation test on several other samples where ISW detections have been claimed and find that they also show peaks when rotated. We conclude that in the samples we have tested, the ISW effect may be absent and we argue that this result may not be in contradiction with previous results

Angular correlation function of 1.5 million luminous red galaxies: clustering evolution and a search for baryon acoustic oscillations

We present the angular correlation function measured from photometric samples comprising 1,562,800 luminous red galaxies (LRGs). Three LRG samples were extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging data, based on colour-cut selections at redshifts, z ~ 0.35, 0.55 and 0.7 as calibrated by the spectroscopic surveys, SDSS-LRG, 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ), and the AAOmega LRG survey. The galaxy samples cover ~7600 s.q.deg of the sky, probing a total cosmic volume of ~5.5 h^-3} Gpc^3. The small and intermediate scale correlation functions generally show significant deviations from a single power-law fit with a well-detected break at ~1 h^-1 Mpc, consistent with the transition scale between the 1- and 2-halo terms in halo occupation models. For galaxy separations 1-20 h^-1 Mpc and at fixed luminosity, we see virtually no evolution of the clustering with redshift and the data is consistent with a simple high peaks biasing model where the comoving LRG space density is constant with z. At fixed z, the LRG clustering amplitude increases with luminosity in accordance with the simple high peaks model, with a typical LRG dark matter halo mass 10^13-10^14 h^-1 M_sol. For r < 1 h^-1 Mpc, the evolution is slightly faster and the clustering decreases towards high redshift consistent with a virialised clustering model. However, assuming the HOD and LCDM halo merger frameworks, ~2-3 per cent per Gyr of the LRGs is required to merge in order to explain the small scales clustering evolution, consistent with previous results [abridge].Comment: Replaced to match the version accepted by MNRAS, Halo model analysis and additional systematic tests are include

The 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO Survey: the LRG 2-point correlation function and redshift-space distortions

We present a clustering analysis of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) using nearly 9000 objects from the final, three-year catalogue of the 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO (2SLAQ) Survey. We measure the redshift-space two-point correlation function, ξ(s) and find that, at the mean LRG redshift of shows the characteristic downturn at small scales (1 h−1 Mpc) expected from line-of-sight velocity dispersion. We fit a double power law to ξ(s) and measure an amplitude and slope of s0 = 17.3+2.5−2.0 h−1 Mpc, γ = 1.03 ± 0.07 at small scales (s 4.5 h−1 Mpc). In the semiprojected correlation function, wp(σ), we find a simple power law with γ = 1.83 ± 0.05 and r0 = 7.30 ± 0.34 h−1 Mpc fits the data in the range 0.4 < σ < 50 h−1 Mpc, although there is evidence of a steeper power law at smaller scales. A single power law also fits the deprojected correlation function ξ(r), with a correlation length of r0 = 7.45 ± 0.35 h−1 Mpc and a power-law slope of γ = 1.72 ± 0.06 in the 0.4 < r < 50 h−1 Mpc range. But it is in the LRG angular correlation function that the strongest evidence for non-power-law features is found where a slope of γ = −2.17 ± 0.07 is seen at 1 < r < 10 h−1 Mpc with a flatter γ = −1.67 ± 0.07 slope apparent at r 1 h−1 Mpc scales. We use the simple power-law fit to the galaxy ξ(r), under the assumption of linear bias, to model the redshift-space distortions in the 2D redshift-space correlation function, ξ(σ, π). We fit for the LRG velocity dispersion, wz, the density parameter, Ωm and β(z), where β(z) = Ω0.6m/b and b is the linear bias parameter. We find values of wz = 330 km s−1, Ωm = 0.10+0.35−0.10 and β = 0.40 ± 0.05. The low values for wz and β reflect the high bias of the LRG sample. These high-redshift results, which incorporate the Alcock–Paczynski effect and the effects of dynamical infall, start to break the degeneracy between Ωm and β found in low-redshift galaxy surveys such as 2dFGRS. This degeneracy is further broken by introducing an additional external constraint, which is the value β(z = 0.1) = 0.45 from 2dFGRS, and then considering the evolution of clustering from z 0 to zLRG 0.55. With these combined methods we find Ωm(z = 0) = 0.30 ± 0.15 and β(z = 0.55) = 0.45 ± 0.05. Assuming these values, we find a value for b(z = 0.55) = 1.66 ± 0.35. We show that this is consistent with a simple ����high-peak’ bias prescription which assumes that LRGs have a constant comoving density and their clustering evolves purely under gravity

Draft genome sequence of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) provides a resource for trait improvement

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is the second most widely grown legume crop after soybean, accounting for a substantial proportion of human dietary nitrogen intake and playing a crucial role in food security in developing countries. We report the ∼738-Mb draft whole genome shotgun sequence of CDC Frontier, a kabuli chickpea variety, which contains an estimated 28,269 genes. Resequencing and analysis of 90 cultivated and wild genotypes from ten countries identifies targets of both breeding-associated genetic sweeps and breeding-associated balancing selection. Candidate genes for disease resistance and agronomic traits are highlighted, including traits that distinguish the two main market classes of cultivated chickpea—desi and kabuli. These data comprise a resource for chickpea improvement through molecular breeding and provide insights into both genome diversity and domestication