The status of the world's land and marine mammals: diversity, threat, and knowledge

Knowledge of mammalian diversity is still surprisingly disparate, both regionally and taxonomically. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status and distribution of the world's mammals. Data, compiled by 1700+ experts, cover all 5487 species, including marine mammals. Global macroecological patterns are very different for land and marine species but suggest common mechanisms driving diversity and endemism across systems. Compared with land species, threat levels are higher among marine mammals, driven by different processes (accidental mortality and pollution, rather than habitat loss), and are spatially distinct (peaking in northern oceans, rather than in Southeast Asia). Marine mammals are also disproportionately poorly known. These data are made freely available to support further scientific developments and conservation action

Playing Games in Many Possible Worlds

The results in this paper consider cases in which the underlying worlds of a two-player Socratic game are either constant-sum games or strategically zero-sum games, a class that generalizes constant-sum games to include all games in which the sum of payoffs depends linearly on the interaction between the players. When the underlying worlds are constant sum, we give polynomial-time algorithms to find Nash equilibria in both the observable- and unobservable-query models. When the worlds are strategically zero sum, we give efficient algorithms to find Nash equilibria in unobservablequery Socratic games and correlated equilibria in observablequery Socratic games

Landscapes of becoming social. Database.

Systematic review. Database

Landscapes of becoming social: A systematic review of evidence for associations and pathways between interactions with nature and socioemotional development in children

Background. Existing research indicates that spending time in nature is associated with diverse aspects of children’s health and wellbeing. Although fundamental to later life chances and health, no systematic reviews, to our knowledge, have focused specifically on the effects of interaction with nature on socioemotional functioning in childhood. Objectives. Amongst children, what is the consistency of associations between the availability of or spending time in nature on socioemotional function and development? Furthermore, which child behaviours and states independently associate with socioemotional function and availability of or spending time in nature, and what is the consistency of associations between these behaviours and states and contact with nature? Data sources. Embase, Environment Complete, MEDLINE, and APA PsycINFO. Eligible studies were backward and forward snowball-searched. Study eligibility criteria. Studies investigating effects of, or associations between, availability of or interaction with nature on socioemotional or proximal outcomes in children under the age of 12 years were included in this review. Study appraisal and synthesis methods. The internal validity of studies investigating socioemotional outcomes were based on assessments of elements of study design, conduct, and reporting to identify potential issues related to confounding or other biases. The number of analyses indicating positive, negative, and non-significant associations between availability or interaction with green space and the outcomes were summed. Results. A total of 223 eligible full-texts, of which 43 pertained to socioemotional outcomes and 180 to proximal outcomes, met eligibility criteria. Positive associations between availability of and spending time in green space were found with children’s intra- and interpersonal socioemotional function and development. Proportions of positive findings ranged from 13.9% to 55% across experimental and observational research, exposures, populations, and contexts. Modifying and mediating factors were identified. We found consistent evidence for improved aspects of cognition and, for children over six years, reduced risk of obesity and overweight in association with green space; consistent links between movement behaviours in the experimental, but not observational research; tentative trends suggesting associations with play, motor skills, language, screen time, and communication skills; little evidence for positive associations between green space and mood, physical wellbeing, and stress; some evidence for associations with healthy birth outcomes, and little evidence for direct associations between availability of green space and asthma and allergy prevalence, however, mediation via, for example, air pollution was likely. Limitations. We identified few studies without either probable or severe risk of bias in at least one item. Improved study quality may therefore result in different results. Restricting analyses to include only studies considered at low risk of bias indicated similar or slightly lower proportions of positive findings. Risk of bias in proximal outcomes was not assessed. Conclusions. The empirical evidence for benefits of availability of and interaction green space for child socioemotional function and development must currently be considered limited. A number of proximal indicators were identified. Systematic review registration number. PROSPERO ID: CRD42019135016