The epiphytic bryophyte community of Atlantic oak woodlands shows clear signs of recovery following the removal of invasive Rhododendron ponticum

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Recovering understanding

The history of theoretical progress is also a history of increases in the skill with which innovations are linguistically proposed. One dimension of this refinement is the difficulty of the task of recovering past understandings theoretical terms. A study of ancient philosophy reveals vivid examples. Standard approaches to ancient texts provide evidence of, but do not sufficiently illuminate, the difficulty. My biology of language, and essentially diachronic, approach focuses neither on understanding the ancients, nor on overcoming the difficulty in understanding them, but rather on understanding those features of the difficulty which my approach makes apparent. George Steiner provides the starting point for a discussion of ways of understanding the difficulty. Leonard Palmer’s paper on Greek justice is represented as the minimal standard of methodological care required of any attempt to overcome it. The terms, logos and cause, are examined as examples of our difficulty in understanding inherited theoretical language

The use of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) in dental practice

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a clear, odourless liquid indicated for desensitisation of non-carious tooth lesions and molar incisor hypomineralisation. It is also useful for arresting carious lesions in adults and children who are high caries-risk and/or have difficult-to-control, progressing carious lesions, those who are unable to tolerate invasive treatment, elderly populations, and those who are medically compromised or have additional care and support needs. SDF may be used to manage lesions that are too extensive to restore but not associated with pain and/or infection. This can be important particularly where extractions might be contra-indicated for medical or behavioural reasons. This paper summarises the global evidence for the effectiveness and safety of SDF, describes what it is, its mechanisms of action and presents recommendations on how to use it. There are details on indications/contra-indications and risks/benefits to be considered in the use of SDF also discussion of how to approach SDF's side effect of black staining of carious tooth tissue. We give an example of an information sheet (Appendix S1, see online supplementary information) that may be used when discussing SDF with patients, particularly for primary teeth in children, but adaptable for the permanent dentition and for adults.</p

Data from: Understorey plant community composition reflects invasion history decades after invasive Rhododendron has been removed

1) A growing awareness of the destructive effects of non-native invasive species has led to a massive increase in removal programmes around the world. Little is typically known about what happens to sites following the removal of the invasives, however, and the implicit assumption that the native community will return, unaided, to pre-invasion conditions is often left untested. 2) We assessed recovery of the native understorey plant community following removal of the non-native invasive Rhododendron ponticum L. from Scottish Atlantic oak woodland. We recorded understorey community composition in sites covering a gradient of increasing R. ponticum density, and across a separate series of sites covering a chronosequence of time since R. ponticum removal. We then compared both of these series to the target community found in uninvaded sites. We also analysed differences in soil chemistry between the sites to test for chemical legacy effects of invasion in the soil. 3) Native understorey cover declined as R. ponticum density increased, with bryophytes dropping to less than a third of the cover present in uninvaded sites and forbs and grasses being completely extirpated under dense stands. 4) Cleared sites showed no evidence of returning to the target community even after 30 years of recovery, and instead formed a bryophyte-dominated ‘novel community’, containing few of the typical oak woodland vascular plants. 5) Contrary to expectation, soil pH, C:N ratio, and nutrient concentrations (N, P, K, Ca and Mg) were not affected by the invasion of R. ponticum, and chemical legacy effects in the soil were not responsible for the failure of the native community to revert to pre-invasion conditions. Instead, we hypothesise that the rapid formation of a bryophyte mat, coupled with the often-substantial distances to potential seed sources, hindered vascular plant recolonisation. 6) Synthesis and applications. Clear evidence of invasion history can be detected in the understorey plant community even decades after the successful removal of invasive R. ponticum. This finding demonstrates that native communities may be unable to recover effectively of their own accord following invasive species removal and will require further management interventions in order to achieve restoration goals.30-Jun-201

Invasion by Rhododendron ponticum depletes the native seed bank with long-term impacts after its removal

Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1538-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Spaces for Participatory Design Innovation

This paper presents a model to guide the design of participatory design (PD) projects, which was generated through methodological reflection on a programme of digital health and care research. Building on wide use of the term spaces within PD literature and theory, the model comprises seven spaces that can be designed to support diverse stakeholders to engage in a PD process. The model encourages reflection on the capacity of participants to critically and creatively engage with the concepts being proposed, in order to design a process to scaffold participation. Aiming to support PD practitioners and researchers to identify the combination and sequence of hybrid spaces required to move participants and concepts towards resolved designs, the model guides the careful design of each space supported by examples of practice. The model is also designed to enable reflective practice and articulation of PD processes to support integration within multidisciplinary collaborations

One-Size Does Not Fit All—A Networked Approach to Community-Based Monitoring in Large River Basins

Monitoring methods based on Indigenous knowledge have the potential to contribute to our understanding of large watersheds. Research in large, complex, and dynamic ecosystems suggests a participatory approach to monitoring—that builds on the diverse knowledges, practices, and beliefs of local people—can yield more meaningful outcomes than a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Here we share the results of 12 community-based, participatory monitoring projects led by Indigenous governments and organizations in the Mackenzie River Basin (2015–2018). Specifically, we present and compare the indicators and monitoring methods developed by each of these community-based cases to demonstrate the specificity of place, culture, and context. A scalar analysis of these results suggests that the combination of core (common) indicators used across the basin, coupled with others that are meaningful at local level, create a methodological bricolage—a mix of tools, methods, and rules-in-use that are fit together. Our findings, along with those of sister projects in two other major watersheds (Amazon, Mekong), confront assumptions that Indigenous-led community-based monitoring efforts are too local to offer insights about large-scale systems. In summary, a networked approach to community-based monitoring that can simultaneously engage with local- and watershed-level questions of social and ecological change can address gaps in knowledge. Such an approach can create both practices and outcomes that are useful to local peoples as well as to those engaged in basin-wide governance