Ecosystem service provision by road verges

1. Roads form a vast, rapidly growing global network that has diverse, detrimental ecological impacts. However, the habitats that border roads (‘road verges’) form a parallel network that might help mitigate these impacts and provide additional benefits (ecosystem services; ES). 2. We evaluate the capacity of road verges to provide ES by reviewing existing research and considering their relevant characteristics: area, connectivity, shape, and contextual ES supply and demand. We consider the present situation, and how this is likely to change based on future projections for growth in road extent, traffic densities and urban populations. 3. Road verges not only provide a wide range of ES, including biodiversity provision, regulating services (e.g. air and water filtration) and cultural services (e.g. health and aesthetic benefits by providing access to nature) but also displace other habitats and provide ecosystem disservices (e.g. plant allergens and damage to infrastructure). Globally, road verges may currently cover 270,000 km2 and store 0.015 Gt C/year, which will further increase with 70% projected growth in the global road network. 4. Road verges are well placed to mitigate traffic pollution and address demand for ES in surrounding ES‐impoverished landscapes, thereby improving human health and well‐being in urban areas, and improving agricultural production and sustainability in farmland. Demand for ES provided by road verges will likely increase due to projected growth in traffic densities and urban populations, though traffic pollution will be reduced by technological advances (e.g. electric vehicles). Road verges form a highly connected network, which may enhance ES provision but facilitate the dispersal of invasive species and increase vehicle–wildlife collisions. 5. Synthesis and applications. Road verges offer a significant opportunity to mitigate the negative ecological effects of roads and to address demand for ecosystem services (ES) in urban and agricultural landscapes. Their capacity to provide ES might be enhanced considerably if they were strategically designed and managed for environmental outcomes, namely by optimizing the selection, position and management of plant species and habitats. Specific opportunities include reducing mowing frequencies and planting trees in large verges. Road verge management for ES must consider safety guidelines, financial costs and ecosystem disservices, but is likely to provide long‐term financial returns if environmental benefits are considered

The Grizzly, December 5, 2019

Ursinus Cancels Swimming Seasons After Hazing Investigation • Students Detail Harassment on Main Street • Summer Internship Tips with CPD • Get to Know: Spring Break Service Trip • Opinion: Ursinus\u27 Judicial System is Broken • Q&A with Senior Linebacker Jake McCain • Women\u27s Basketball Walk-on Proves She is More Than Just a Ballerhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1597/thumbnail.jp

Improving Global Knowledge Exchange for Mental Health Systems Improvement

Policymakers globally are paying increasing attention to the challenges of providing more accessible and integrated mental health care. For transformative change to take place, thought needs to be given to the structure and form of evidence-informed change strategies at all levels: individual, organizational, community and complex, large systems. Yet few frameworks specifically consider the transfer of evidence-based programs across jurisdictions at regional and national levels; most are focused on local service implementation. This paper examines how a specific analytical model developed to assess and develop Knowledge Exchange (KE) can be applied to regional and national KE initiatives.  It specifically examines the efforts of the International Knowledge Exchange Network for Mental Health (IKEN-MH), and the associated community of interest on change and improvement, to support mental health systems change at these levels. Using a theoretical model, the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework (Kitson, Harvey, & McCormack, 1998, Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2002), we explore systems change efforts according to the constructs of evidence, context and facilitation. By matching some exemplars in the use of KE for mental health best practice against this model, the potential strategies of the IKEN-MH to assist transformational change emerge

Improving Global Knowledge Exchange for Mental Health Systems Improvement

Policymakers globally are paying increasing attention to the challenges of providing more accessible and integrated mental health care. For transformative change to take place, thought needs to be given to the structure and form of evidence-informed change strategies at all levels: individual, organizational, community and complex, large systems. Yet few frameworks specifically consider the transfer of evidence-based programs across jurisdictions at regional and national levels; most are focused on local service implementation. This paper examines how a specific analytical model developed to assess and develop Knowledge Exchange (KE) can be applied to regional and national KE initiatives.  It specifically examines the efforts of the International Knowledge Exchange Network for Mental Health (IKEN-MH), and the associated community of interest on change and improvement, to support mental health systems change at these levels. Using a theoretical model, the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework (Kitson, Harvey, & McCormack, 1998, Rycroft-Malone, et al., 2002), we explore systems change efforts according to the constructs of evidence, context and facilitation. By matching some exemplars in the use of KE for mental health best practice against this model, the potential strategies of the IKEN-MH to assist transformational change emerge

Wildlife-friendly farming benefits rare birds, bees and plants

Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, especially for threatened and near-threatened species. One widely implemented response is ‘wildlife-friendly farming’, involving the close integration of conservation and extensive farming practices within agricultural landscapes. However, the putative benefits from this controversial policy are currently either unknown or thought unlikely to extend to rare and declining species. Here, we show that new, evidence-based approaches to habitat creation on intensively managed farmland in England can achieve large increases in plant, bee and bird species. In particular, we found that habitat enhancement methods designed to provide the requirements of sensitive target biota consistently increased the richness and abundance of both rare and common species, with 10-fold to greater than 100-fold more rare species per sample area than generalized conventional conservation measures. Furthermore, targeting landscapes of high species richness amplified beneficial effects on the least mobile taxa: plants and bees. Our results provide the first unequivocal support for a national wildlife-friendly farming policy and suggest that this approach should be implemented much more extensively to address global biodiversity loss. However, to be effective, these conservation measures must be evidence-based, and developed using sound knowledge of the ecological requirements of key species

Towards Improved Quantum Simulations and Sensing with Trapped 2D Ion Crystals via Parametric Amplification

Improving coherence is a fundamental challenge in quantum simulation and sensing experiments with trapped ions. Here we discuss, experimentally demonstrate, and estimate the potential impacts of two different protocols that enhance, through motional parametric excitation, the coherent spin-motion coupling of ions obtained with a spin-dependent force. The experiments are performed on 2D crystal arrays of approximately one hundred $^9$Be$^+$ ions confined in a Penning trap. By modulating the trapping potential at close to twice the center-of-mass mode frequency, we squeeze the motional mode and enhance the spin-motion coupling while maintaining spin coherence. With a stroboscopic protocol, we measure $5.4 \pm 0.9$ dB of motional squeezing below the ground-state motion, from which theory predicts a $10$ dB enhancement in the sensitivity for measuring small displacements using a recently demonstrated protocol [Science $\textbf{373}$, 673 (2021)]. With a continuous squeezing protocol, we measure and accurately calibrate the parametric coupling strength. Theory suggests this protocol can be used to improve quantum spin squeezing, limited in our system by off-resonant light scatter. We illustrate numerically the trade-offs between strong parametric amplification and motional dephasing in the form of center-of-mass frequency fluctuations for improving quantum spin squeezing in our set-up.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Enhancing road verges to aid pollinator conservation: A review

Road verges provide habitats that have considerable potential as a tool for pollinator conservation, especially given the significant area of land that they collectively cover. Growing societal interest in managing road verges for pollinators suggests an immediate need for evidence-based management guidance. We used a formal, global literature review to assess evidence for the benefits of road verges for pollinators (as habitats and corridors), the potential negative impacts of roads on pollinators (vehicle-pollinator collisions, pollution, barriers to movement) and how to enhance road verges for pollinators through management. We identified, reviewed and synthesised 140 relevant studies. Overall, the literature review demonstrated that: (i) road verges are often hotspots of flowers and pollinators (well established), (ii) traffic and road pollution can cause mortality and other negative impacts on pollinators (well established), but available evidence suggests that the benefits of road verges to pollinators far outweigh the costs (established but incomplete), and (iii) road verges can be enhanced for pollinators through strategic management (well established). Future research should address the lack of holistic and large-scale understanding of the net effects of road verges on pollinators. We provide management recommendations for enhancing both individual road verges for pollinators (e.g. optimised mowing regimes) and entire road networks (e.g. prioritising enhancement of verges with the greatest capacity to benefit pollinators), and highlight three of the most strongly supported recommendations: (i) creating high quality habitats on new and existing road verges, (ii) reducing mowing frequency to 0–2 cuts/year and (iii) reducing impacts of street lighting