384 research outputs found
Immigrant integration policy-making in Italy. Regional policies in a multi-level governance perspective
This article contributes to the debate on the local governance turn' by considering a recent immigration context: the Italian case. We analyse integration policies and governance processes in three regions: Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. The aim is to shed new light on the multi-level governance relations that shape immigrant integration policies, taking into account the interdependencies of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of multi-level governance. The analysis points out the emergence of different multi-level governance arrangements and highlights the relevance of institutional and organisational factors in accounting for local differentiation. General traditions and established public-non-governmental organisation relations in the social policy field, the internal organisation of the regional administration (specialised staff versus general bureaucratic apparatus), and the role of ideology appear to make a difference. The implications of this analysis for multi-level governance scholarship are discussed, emphasising the need for a middle-range theory approach. Points for practitioners Multi-level governance is considered by policy scholars as a promising approach to make sense of increasingly complex policymaking processes, implying the interaction between different levels of government and between public and non-public actors. By considering the politically sensitive immigrant integration issue, this article attempts to point out how multi-level governance relations concretely take shape at the regional level in Italy, and which factors account for regional differentiation. Our study suggests that contextual and organisational factors are particularly relevant, that is, social policy traditions, the regions' internal organisation and the individual civil servants' attitudes. Nevertheless, politics should also be carefully taken into account
Analysing diet of small herbivores: the efficiency of DNA barcoding coupled with high-throughput pyrosequencing for deciphering the composition of complex plant mixtures
Background
In order to understand the role of herbivores in trophic webs, it is essential to know what they feed on. Diet analysis is, however, a challenge in many small herbivores with a secretive life style. In this paper, we compare novel (high-throughput pyrosequencing) DNA barcoding technology for plant mixture with traditional microhistological method. We analysed stomach contents of two ecologically important subarctic vole species, Microtus oeconomus and Myodes rufocanus, with the two methods. DNA barcoding was conducted using the P6-loop of the chloroplast trnL (UAA) intron.
Results
Although the identified plant taxa in the diets matched relatively well between the two methods, DNA barcoding gave by far taxonomically more detailed results. Quantitative comparison of results was difficult, mainly due to low taxonomic resolution of the microhistological method, which also in part explained discrepancies between the methods. Other discrepancies were likely due to biases mostly in the microhistological analysis.
Conclusion
We conclude that DNA barcoding opens up for new possibilities in the study of plant-herbivore interactions, giving a detailed and relatively unbiased picture of food utilization of herbivores
Highly overlapping winter diet in two sympatric lemming species revealed by DNA metabarcoding
Sympatric species are expected to minimize competition by partitioning resources, especially
when these are limited. Herbivores inhabiting the High Arctic in winter are a prime example
of a situation where food availability is anticipated to be low, and thus reduced diet
overlap is expected. We present here the first assessment of diet overlap of high arctic lemmings
during winter based on DNA metabarcoding of feces. In contrast to previous analyses
based on microhistology, we found that the diets of both collared (Dicrostonyx
groenlandicus) and brown lemmings (Lemmus trimucronatus) on Bylot Island were dominated
by Salix while mosses, which were significantly consumed only by the brown lemming,
were a relatively minor food item. The most abundant plant taxon, Cassiope
tetragona, which alone composes more than 50% of the available plant biomass, was not
detected in feces and can thus be considered to be non-food. Most plant taxa that were
identified as food items were consumed in proportion to their availability and none were
clearly selected for. The resulting high diet overlap, together with a lack of habitat segregation,
indicates a high potential for resource competition between the two lemming species.
However, Salix is abundant in the winter habitats of lemmings on Bylot Island and the nonSalix
portion of the diets differed between the two species. Also, lemming grazing impact on
vegetation during winter in the study area is negligible. Hence, it seems likely that the high
potential for resource competition predicted between these two species did not translate
into actual competition. This illustrates that even in environments with low primary productivity
food resources do not necessarily generate strong competition among herbivores
Repeatedly Northwards and Upwards: Southern African Grasslands Fuel the Colonization of the African Sky Islands in Helichrysum (Compositae)
The Afromontane and Afroalpine areas constitute some of the main biodiversity hotspots of Africa. They are particularly rich in plant endemics, but the biogeographic origins and evolutionary processes leading to this outstanding diversity are poorly understood. We performed phylogenomic and biogeographic analyses of one of the most species-rich plant genera in these mountains, Helichrysum (Compositae-Gnaphalieae). Most previous studies have focused on Afroalpine elements of Eurasian origin, and the southern African origin of Helichrysum provides an interesting counterexample. We obtained a comprehensive nuclear dataset from 304 species (≈50% of the genus) using target-enrichment with the Compositae1061 probe set. Summary-coalescent and concatenation approaches combined with paralog recovery yielded congruent, well-resolved phylogenies. Ancestral range estimations revealed that Helichrysum originated in arid southern Africa, whereas the southern African grasslands were the source of most lineages that dispersed within and outside Africa. Colonization of the tropical Afromontane and Afroalpine areas occurred repeatedly throughout the Miocene-Pliocene. This timing coincides with mountain uplift and the onset of glacial cycles, which together may have facilitated both speciation and intermountain gene flow, contributing to the evolution of the Afroalpine flora.This work received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PID2019-105583GB-C22/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the Catalan government (“Ajuts a grups consolidats” 2021SGR00315 and FI grant to C.B.-G. 2022FI_B 00150). The Ph.D. thesis was carried out under the Ph.D. program “Plant Biology and Biotechnology” of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Additional support was provided by the Czech Science Foundation GAČR project no. 20-10878S to R.S. and F.K. and long-term research development project (RVO 67985939) of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Additional funds were obtained from the Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Higher Education (NUFU; project AFROALP-II, no 2007/1058) and the Research Council of Norway (project SpeciationClock, no 274607) to C.B.Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Taxon Sampling
2.2. DNA Extraction, Library Preparation, Target Capture, and Sequencing
2.3. Molecular Data Processing and Phylogenetic Analyses
2.4. Divergence Time Estimation
2.5. Ancestral Range Estimation
3. Results
3.1. Alignment Processing and Filtering
3.2. Phylogenetic Analyses
3.3. Divergence Time and Ancestral Range Estimation
3.4. Number, Type, and Directionality Estimation of Biogeographical Events
4. Discussion
4.1. Utility of Target-Enrichment Strategies in Reconstructing the Radiation of Helichrysum
4.2. The Early History of Helichrysum and Colonization of Madagascar
4.3. Repeatedly Northwards
4.4. Repeatedly Upwards
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Reference
Kinned to be Norwegian : transnational adoptees' positioning in relation to whiteness and the negotiation of nationhood
Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd in Nations and Nationalism on 13 April 2019.Available online: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nana.12525acceptedVersio
Measurement of the top quark mass using the matrix element technique in dilepton final states
We present a measurement of the top quark mass in pp¯ collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The data were collected by the D0 experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.7 fb−1. The matrix element technique is applied to tt¯ events in the final state containing leptons (electrons or muons) with high transverse momenta and at least two jets. The calibration of the jet energy scale determined in the lepton+jets final state of tt¯ decays is applied to jet energies. This correction provides a substantial reduction in systematic uncertainties. We obtain a top quark mass of mt=173.93±1.84 GeV
Legal Paradigm Shifts and Their Impacts on the Socio-Spatial Exclusion of Asylum Seekers in Denmark
This chapter discusses the genesis of Denmark’s asylum accommodation system and recent legal and socio-spatial changes as a reaction to the increase of arrivals. By elucidating the structures and objectives of asylum accommodation, I present that the state’s further tightening of restrictive reception and accommodation policies significantly impacts the socio-spatial configurations of accommodations, refugees’ access to housing and their well-being. I discuss the links between the tensioning of laws, the reduction of living conditions and the (re-)constitution of large accommodations as means of socio-spatial exclusion. Applying the case of Denmark’s Hovedstaden Region (Capital Region), I finally argue that asylum accommodation is a central instrument of Denmark’s approaches to strategically isolate forced migrants and to deter them from migrating to Denmark
Range Expansion Drives Dispersal Evolution In An Equatorial Three-Species Symbiosis
A-09-14International audienceBackground Recurrent climatic oscillations have produced dramatic changes in species distributions. This process has been proposed to be a major evolutionary force, shaping many life history traits of species, and to govern global patterns of biodiversity at different scales. During range expansions selection may favor the evolution of higher dispersal, and symbiotic interactions may be affected. It has been argued that a weakness of climate fluctuation-driven range dynamics at equatorial latitudes has facilitated the persistence there of more specialized species and interactions. However, how much the biology and ecology of species is changed by range dynamics has seldom been investigated, particularly in equatorial regions. Methodology/Principal Findings We studied a three-species symbiosis endemic to coastal equatorial rainforests in Cameroon, where the impact of range dynamics is supposed to be limited, comprised of two species-specific obligate mutualists –an ant-plant and its protective ant– and a species-specific ant parasite of this mutualism. We combined analyses of within-species genetic diversity and of phenotypic variation in a transect at the southern range limit of this ant-plant system. All three species present congruent genetic signatures of recent gradual southward expansion, a result compatible with available regional paleoclimatic data. As predicted, this expansion has been accompanied by the evolution of more dispersive traits in the two ant species. In contrast, we detected no evidence of change in lifetime reproductive strategy in the tree, nor in its investment in food resources provided to its symbiotic ants. Conclusions/Significance Despite the decreasing investment in protective workers and the increasing investment in dispersing females by both the mutualistic and the parasitic ant species, there was no evidence of destabilization of the symbiosis at the colonization front. To our knowledge, we provide here the first evidence at equatorial latitudes that biological traits associated with dispersal are affected by the range expansion dynamics of a set of interacting species
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