Experimental evidence that novel land management interventions inspired by history enhance biodiversity

1. To address biodiversity declines within semi-natural habitats, land-management must cater for diverse taxonomic groups. Integrating our understanding of the ecological requirements of priority (rare, scarce or threatened) species through ‘biodiversity auditing’, with that of the intensity and complexity of historical land-use, encourages novel forms of management. Experimental confirmation is needed to establish whether this enhances biodiversity conservation relative to routine management. 2. Biodiversity auditing and historical land-use of dry-open terrestrial habitats in Breckland (Eastern England) both encourage management incorporating ground-disturbance and spatio-temporal variability. To test biodiversity conservation outcomes, we developed 40 4-ha management complexes over three successive winters, of which 20 were shallow-cultivated (rotovation) and 20 deep-cultivated (ploughing), stratified across 3,850-ha of closed-sward dry grassland and lowland heathland (collectively ‘dry grassland’). Complexes comprised four 1-ha sub-treatments: repeat-cultivation, first-time-cultivation, one-year-old fallow and two-year-old fallow. We examined responses of vascular plants; spiders; true bugs; ground, rove and ‘other’ beetles; bees and wasps; ants; and true flies on treatment complexes and 21 4-ha untreated controls. Sampling gave 132,251 invertebrates from 877 species and 28,846 plant observations from 167 species. 3. Resampling and rarefaction analyses showed shallow- and deep-cultivation both doubled priority species richness (pooling sub-treatments within complexes) compared to controls. Priority spider, ground beetle, other beetle, and true bug richness were greater on both treatments than controls. Responses were strongest for those priority dry-open-habitat associated invertebrates initially predicted (by biodiversity auditing) to benefit from heavy physical-disturbance. 4. Assemblage composition (pooling non-priority and priority species) varied between sub-treatments for plants, ants, true bugs, spiders, ground, rove and other beetles; but only one-year-old fallowed deep-cultivation increased priority richness across multiple taxa. 5. Treatments produced similar biodiversity responses across various dry grassland ‘habitats’ that differed in plant composition, allowing simplified management guidance. 6. Synthesis and applications. Our landscape-scale experiment confirmed the considerable biodiversity value of interventions inspired by history and informed by systematic multi-taxa analysis of ecological requirements across priority biota. Since assemblage composition varied between sub-treatments, providing heterogeneity in management will support the widest suite of species. Crucially, the intended recipients responded most strongly, suggesting biodiversity audits could successfully inform interventions within other systems

Crop Updates 2002 - Lupins

This session covers twenty four papers from different authors: LUPIN INDUSTRY ISSUES AND RESEARCH DIRECTIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Amelia McLarty LUPIN CONVENOR DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE VARIETIES 1. Evaluation of lupinus mutabilis in Western Australia, Bob French, Laurie Wahlsten and Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture 2. Adaption of restricted-branching lupins in short-growing season environments, Bob French, Laurie Wahlsten, Department of Agriculture ESTABLISHMENT 3. Moisture delving for better lupin establishment, Dr Paul Blackwell, Department of Agriculture 4. Lupins, tramlines, 600mm rows, rolling and shield spraying … a good result in a dry season! Paul Blackwell and Mike Collins, Department of Agriculture 5. Lupin wider row spacing data and observations, Bill CrabtreeA, Geoff FosberyB, Angie RoeB, Mike CollinsCand Matt BeckettA,AWANTFA, BFarm Focus Consultants and CDepartment of Agriculture NUTRITION 6. Lupin genotypes respond differently to potash, Bob French and Laurie Wahlsten, Department of Agriculture 7. Consequence of radish competition on lupin nutrients in a wheat-lupin rotation, Abul Hashem and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture 8. Consequence of ryegrass competition on lupin nutrients in a wheat-lupin rotation, Abul Hashem and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture PESTS AND DISEASES 9. Fungicide sprays for control of lupin anthracnose, Geoff Thomas and Ken Adcock, Department of Agriculture 10. Estimated yield losses in lupin varieties from sowing anthracnose infected seed, Geoff Thomas, Department of Agriculture 11. Effect of variety and environment (northern and southern wheatbelt) on yield losses in lupins due to anthracnose, Geoff Thomas and Ken Adcock, Department of Agriculture, 12. A decision support system for the control of aphids and CMV in lupin crops, Debbie Thackray, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture and Department of Agriculture 13. Integrated management strategies for virus diseases of lupin, Roger Jones, Crop Improvement Institute, Department of Agriculture, and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of WA 14. Quantifying yield losses caused by the non-necrotic strain of BYMV in lupin, Roger Jones and Brenda Coutts, Department of Agriculture, and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 15. Screening for pod resistance to phomopsis in various lupin species, Manisha Shankar1, Mark Sweetingham1&2and Bevan Buirchell2 1Co-operative Research Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 2 Department of Agriculture 16. Lupin disease diagnostics, Nichole Burges and Dominie Wright, Department of Agriculture QUALITY AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT 17. To GM or not to GM pulses – that is the question, Dr Susan J. Barker, The University of Western Australia 18. Towards a management package for grain protein in lupins, Bob French, Senior Research Officer, Department of Agriculture 19. Yield and seed protein response to foliar application of N among lupin genotypes, Jairo A Palta1&2, Bob French2&3and Neil C Turner1&2 , 1 CSIRO Plant Industry, Floreat Park, 2 CLIMA, University of Western Australia,3Department of Agriculture 20. Foliar nitrogen application to improve protein content in narrow-leafed lupin, Martin Harries, Bob French, Laurie Wahlsten, Department of Agriculture, Matt Evans, CSBP 21. Effect of time of swathing of lupins on grain protein content, Martin Harries, Department of Agriculture 22. Putting a value on protein premiums for the animal feed industries: Aquaculture, Brett Glencross and John Curnow, Department of Fisheries, Wayne Hawkins, Department of Agriculture 23. Progress in selecting for reduced seed hull and pod wall in lupin, Jon C. Clements, CLIMA, University of Western Australia 24. Contact details for principal author

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in the diphoton decay channel at s√=8 TeV with ATLAS

Measurements of fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s√=8 TeV. The analysis is performed in the H → γγ decay channel using 20.3 fb−1 of data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is extracted using a fit to the diphoton invariant mass spectrum assuming that the width of the resonance is much smaller than the experimental resolution. The signal yields are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution. The pp → H → γγ fiducial cross section is measured to be 43.2 ±9.4(stat.) − 2.9 + 3.2 (syst.) ±1.2(lumi)fb for a Higgs boson of mass 125.4GeV decaying to two isolated photons that have transverse momentum greater than 35% and 25% of the diphoton invariant mass and each with absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.37. Four additional fiducial cross sections and two cross-section limits are presented in phase space regions that test the theoretical modelling of different Higgs boson production mechanisms, or are sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. Differential cross sections are also presented, as a function of variables related to the diphoton kinematics and the jet activity produced in the Higgs boson events. The observed spectra are statistically limited but broadly in line with the theoretical expectations

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30