Gaia’s Navy: The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s Battle to Stay Afloat and International Law

This Article critically examines the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and its self-appointed role to protect oceanic life. In Part I, the Article examines the history of this radical environmental group, the role performed by its charismatic leader, Paul Watson, its organizational structure, its strategies and tactics, its governing philosophy, and its attitudes to violence. Part II provides a history of the various direct actions carried out by the group; it examines the organization’s ongoing confrontations with the Japanese whaling fleet, documents the current legal travails the group and its leader are experiencing, and asks whether its methods are counterproductive to its stated goals. Part III critically evaluates the group’s claims that they are acting at the behest of international law, finding that such claims are fallacious. It goes on to evaluate the international maritime law that the group could potentially be subject to in light of recent legal developments

Biological control of Verticillium dahliae by Talaromyces flavus

Verticillium dahliae causes vascular wilt in a wide range of host plants. Control of Verticillium wilt is by soil disinfestation and to a lesser extent by crop rotation or, for a few host plants, by growing resistant varieties. For environmental reasons, the development of alternatives to chemical soil disinfestation is being sought. Biocontrol by microbial agents is one of the options. The potential of Talaromyces flavus as a biocontrol agent in management of the disease is the subject of the thesis.The effect of the pathogen on plants was studied to adequately interpret results of biocontrol experiments. Under controlled conditions, a linear relationship was demonstrated between pathogen inoculum density in soil and its population density on roots or in sap extracted from stems. In field experiments, incidence of stem infection by V. dahliae and yield of tubers showed a clear dose-response relation to the amount of pathogen inoculum applied to soil. Incidence of stem infection and density of stem colonisation by the pathogen gradually increased during the season. For studying the effects of antagonists on dynamics of V. dahliae a quantitative bioassay is recommended using eggplant as a test plant.Recovery of viable propagules from old samples of seeds coated with ascospores of T. flavus in a clay formulation indicated that products containing the antagonist may have a long shelf life. On the pelleted seeds, a significant proportion of the ascospores had survived a storage period of 17 years.In pot experiments with field soils, the fungus moved from seed tubers of potato and seeds of eggplant coated with ascospores to the developing roots, including the root tips, the site where V. dahliae infects the root, albeit at a low density. The population of T. flavus decreased log-linearly with distance from the seed. Results suggest that passive movement along the growing root is one of the main factors involved in colonisation by the fungus.The potential of T. flavus to control V. dahliae was evaluated in several experiments. Its application to senescent stems collected from a field with a diseased potato crop reduced viability of microsclerotia. Incorporating an alginate wheat-bran preparation of T. flavus in soil (0.5% w/w) was followed by a decrease of &gt;90% of the population of V. dahliae in soil. The microbial antagonist also reduced colonisation by V. dahliae of roots and infection of eggplants. Although to a lesser extent than with the antagonist, alginate wheat-bran without T. flavus also reduced pathogen colonisation. T. flavus was tested for efficacy to control wilt in two independent field experiments with potato. After application of a T. flavus preparation, stems were less densely colonised by V. dahliae in the treated plots than in the control plots in the first growing season of experiment 1 and in the second growing season of experiment 2. A reduction in plant colonisation by the pathogen was not followed by higher yields of potato tubers. Although population density of T. flavus in soil had not increased during the growing season, it remained at a higher level in treated plots than in non-treated plots, also in the second year after introduction of the antagonist.Treatment with combinations of T. flavus with Bacillus subtilis , Fusarium oxysporum or Gliocadium roseum gave similar control of root colonisation and stem infection by V. dahliae as application of the single antagonists. The results suggest that T. flavus is compatible with these antagonists.The significance of propagule distribution in soil for the performance of mycoparasites was demonstrated using a simple model. Progress of infection of the host fungus was slower with a random distribution than a uniform distribution of mycoparasite propagules. With a random distribution, the average distance between propagules was 40-50% smaller than with a uniform distribution.The results of the experiments presented in this thesis and in the literature, demonstrate that T. flavus has the potential for biocontrol of V. dahliae . However, thus far the results with this antagonist tend to be inconsistent. Control is often partial or even fails completely. This means that application of T. flavus as a single control method has little commercial potential. For the time being, biocontrol is considered as a method to be applied in combination with cultural methods, biological disinfestation, the use of tolerant cultivars or the selective application of chemical control. The next step in further research should focus on the nature of the inconsistency of biocontrol using this fungus.</p

Geographical representation under a single nationwide district: the case of the Netherlands

Previous studies have demonstrated the common occurrence of constituency focus in parliamentary questions, which is most often attributed to electoral incentives. If an electoral system makes use of a single nationwide district, however, these district-oriented electoral incentives do not apply. MPs may still substantively represent a geographical region, because they are motivated to stand up for a specific region for other reasons. This article explores the extent to which Dutch MPs pay attention in parliamentary questions and debates to specific regions. We find that those with stronger ties to a region, and especially MPs who reside in a region, are more likely to mention it in parliamentary questions and speeches. In addition, we find that this effect is stronger for provinces where regional attachment among residents is relatively stronger. NWO464.18.108Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Preference votes without preference? Institutional effects on preference voting: An experiment

A classical question of political science is to what extent electoral systems influence voting behaviour. Yet, many of these studies examine how different electoral systems affect the election results in terms of vote distribution across parties. Instead, we investigate how electoral rules affect intra party preference voting. Given the importance of the debate on the personalization of politics, insight into how electoral rules shape intra-party choice is a valuable contribution to the literature. In our study, we focus on the effect of two specific rules: the option to cast a list vote and on a single versus multiple preference votes. The results of experiments conducted in Belgium and the Netherlands show that electoral rules indeed influence voting behaviour with regard to intra party preference voting, although differences exist between the Netherlands and Belgium. Moreover, we find that the option to cast a list vote equally affects votes for the first candidate on the list, as well as lower positioned candidates. This suggests that preference votes might be less preferential than has often been assumed.The Institutions of Politics; Design, Workings, and implications ( do not use, ended 1-1-2020

Scrutiny and policymaking in local councils: how parties use council tools

Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Analyse van raadsinstrumenten laat zien: ook in gemeenteraden heerst het monisme

Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Turnout in European parliament elections 1979-2019

The European Parliament (EP) has seen a gradual increase in its powers since the introduction of direct elections in 1979. Scholars have focused on both individual-level and aggregate factors to explain turnout rates in EP elections over time, including increased levels of EU politicization and the rise in support for Eurosceptic parties. However, one strand of analysis seems to partially have been overlooked: Some earlier research on EP election turnout claimed that absolute turnout rates across the EU should be used with care, as a number of ‘structural factors’ influences these shares and with this, affects estimates of actual voter turnout. Are such structural variables still relevant in a time where European politics are becoming increasingly salient among the wider public, pro- and anti-EU sentiments may increase citizens’ inclination to vote and trust in EU institutions may be getting increasingly important? Based on various estimates, we find that structural factors can still be characterized as determinants in EP elections, but that the power of structural factors to explain turnout at the EU level, compared to non-structural factors, has decreased. Nonetheless, EU-wide (average) EP turnout rates, as widely reported, are not likely to be good reflections of actual trends in EP turnout over time.Security and Global Affair