The Landscape Archaeology of Knettishall Heath, Suffolk and its Implications

This paper briefly describes the results of archaeological fieldwork carried out in an area of heathland, currently managed as a nature reserve, in East Anglia. Although the earthworks recorded are for the most part unremarkable, they demonstrate the variety and intensity of human exploitation which shaped this ‘traditionally managed’ habitat. They also serve to emphasise the extent to which modern conservation management can radically change the long-term character of individual places

Call to action: how can the US Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative succeed?

With more than 1·2 million people living with HIV in the USA, a complex epidemic across the large and diverse country, and a fragmented health-care system marked by widening health disparities, the US HIV epidemic requires sustained scientific and public health attention. The epidemic has been stubbornly persistent; high incidence densities have been sustained over decades and the epidemic is increasingly concentrated among racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minority communities. This fact remains true despite extraordinary scientific advances in prevention, treatment, and care—advances that have been led, to a substantial degree, by US-supported science and researchers. In this watershed year of 2021 and in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the USA will not meet the stated goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, particularly those goals relating to reductions in new infections, decreases in morbidity, and reductions in HIV stigma. The six papers in the Lancet Series on HIV in the USA have each examined the underlying causes of these challenges and laid out paths forward for an invigorated, sustained, and more equitable response to the US HIV epidemic than has been seen to date. The sciences of HIV surveillance, prevention, treatment, and implementation all suggest that the visionary goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative in the USA might be achievable. However, fundamental barriers and challenges need to be addressed and the research effort sustained if we are to succeed

The prevalence of non-breeders in raptor populations: evidence from rings, radio-tags and transect surveys

Age-specific survival and breeding (ASSAB) models were developed with data from 146 common buzzards (Buteo buteo) radio-tagged in southern Britain during 1990-1998, in a 120-km(2) study area that had on average 25 egg-laying pairs. Survival checks were aided by philopatric behaviour and a maximum annual tag failure rate of 7%: minimum survival rates, that were estimated by assuming death of buzzards with lost tags, were close to maximum rates that were estimated using only the recorded deaths. First-year survival rate estimates for 35 buzzards fitted in 1990-1991 with 25-30-g backpack radios were 69-74% (minimum-maximum), close to the 61-71% for 16 buzzards with 12-g tail-mount radios; the backpacks transmitted for 2-4 yr. Overall survival rates were 66-73% in the first year, 91-97% in the second and 88-91% thereafter. Survival estimates from 258 recent British ring recoveries were lower in the first and second years, at 55% and 75%, but similar (88%) thereafter. Most deaths were from natural causes (40%) or interaction with artefacts (36%). ASSAB models. from radio-tracking and the observed 1.71 young clutch(-1), predicted breeding by 16-21% of all the buzzards present in spring, or up to 25% with the minimum likely productivity of 1.4 young clutch(-1) or 12% net emigration. Ringing data predicted breeding rates of 33-38%. The models were tested with density data from nest surveys and new radio-corrected-transect and truncation-mark-resighting estimates of buzzard numbers. Surveys in autumn and late winter estimated breeding rates of 21-25%. The high non-breeder density in spring. of three other buzzards for each paired bird with eggs, has important implications for understanding evolutionary fitness, predation and population ecology

Analysis of the costs and benefits of alternative solutions for restoring biodiversity. Final report to Defra, December 2010

The potential benefits of implementing biodiversity conservation at a landscape-scale are increasingly recognised, with the aim of developing a more dynamic landscape, with greater resilience to environmental change. The integration of environmental, economic and social factors is essential for effective evaluation of such a landscape-scale approach and this recognition of multi-functionality is essential in incorporating an ecosystems approach into policy making