Semantic Support for Computational Land-Use Modelling

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A Semantic Workflow Mechanism to Realize Experimental Goals and Constraints

Postprin

An Ontology for Experimentation with a Social Simulation of Land Use Change

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Taxonomy of grain legumes

The taxonomy; of grain legumes is relatively uncomplicated compared to that of cereals, brassicas and some other groups of plants because, in general, only limited gene pools have been available for selection and subsequent plant breeding. Then again, intergeneric legume hybrids are not known in nature and artificial crosses attempting to create them are seldom, if ever, successful [64]. Indeed, the genetic barriers between species and species groups are often substantial [86,87]. The classification' of interfertile species and infraspecific variants is inherently more difficult and the taxonomic situation in grain legumes is not exceptional. In some instances the available information would now seem to justify updating of the taxonomic framework

FEARLUS-G : A Semantic Grid Service for Land-Use Modelling

The project is supported by the UK Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) under the “Pilot Projects in E-Social Science” programme (Award Reference: RES-149-25-0011).Postprin

Illustrating a new 'conceptual design pattern' for agent-based models of land use via five case studies—the MR POTATOHEAD framework

This chapter presents a "conceptual design pattern" (CDP) that represents key elements of standard ABM/LUCC models in a comprehensive logical framework and includes basic functionality and data often present in ABM/LUCC models. The CDP illustrates the key building blocks for ABM/LUCC models, creating a template to assist scholars new to the field to understand existing models and design their own models. Second, the framework facilitates direct comparison of the structure and function of existing models. We present five separately developed models within this framework (SLUDGE, SOME, FEARLUS, LUCITA, and SYPRIA), demonstrating how multiple models can be represented and compared within the same meta-structure. The exercise highlights elements common to all models, demonstrates the unique contributions of each model, reveals commonalities between models, and highlights processes associated with land-use change that are not covered by our models. The CDP as presented here is very much a work in progress, and we welcome feedback from other ABM/LUCC developers, in the hopes of ultimately developing a shared model representation that will accelerate the development of not only ABM/LUCC, but also the theory of land-use change

Representation of decision-making in European agricultural agent-based models

The use of agent-based modelling approaches in ex-post and ex-ante evaluations of agricultural policies has been progressively increasing over the last few years. There are now a sufficient number of models that it is worth taking stock of the way these models have been developed. Here, we review 20 agricultural agent-based models (ABM) addressing heterogeneous decision-making processes in the context of European agriculture. The goals of this review were to i) develop a framework describing aspects of farmers' decision-making that are relevant from a farm-systems perspective, ii) reveal the current state-of-the-art in representing farmers' decision-making in the European agricultural sector, and iii) provide a critical reflection of underdeveloped research areas and on future opportunities in modelling decision-making. To compare different approaches in modelling farmers' behaviour, we focused on the European agricultural sector, which presents a specific character with its family farms, its single market and the common agricultural policy (CAP). We identified several key properties of farmers' decision-making: the multi-output nature of production; the importance of non-agricultural activities; heterogeneous household and family characteristics; and the need for concurrent short- and long-term decision-making. These properties were then used to define levels and types of decision-making mechanisms to structure a literature review. We find most models are sophisticated in the representation of farm exit and entry decisions, as well as the representation of long-term decisions and the consideration of farming styles or types using farm typologies. Considerably fewer attempts to model farmers' emotions, values, learning, risk and uncertainty or social interactions occur in the different case studies. We conclude that there is considerable scope to improve diversity in representation of decision-making and the integration of social interactions in agricultural agent-based modelling approaches by combining existing modelling approaches and promoting model inter-comparisons. Thus, this review provides a valuable entry point for agent-based modellers, agricultural systems modellers and data driven social scientists for the re-use and sharing of model components, code and data. An intensified dialogue could fertilize more coordinated and purposeful combinations and comparisons of ABM and other modelling approaches as well as better reconciliation of empirical data and theoretical foundations, which ultimately are key to developing improved models of agricultural systems.Swiss National Science Foundatio

The use of phylogeny to interpret cross-cultural patterns in plant use and guide medicinal plant discovery: an example from Pterocarpus (Leguminosae)

The study of traditional knowledge of medicinal plants has led to discoveries that have helped combat diseases and improve healthcare. However, the development of quantitative measures that can assist our quest for new medicinal plants has not greatly advanced in recent years. Phylogenetic tools have entered many scientific fields in the last two decades to provide explanatory power, but have been overlooked in ethnomedicinal studies. Several studies show that medicinal properties are not randomly distributed in plant phylogenies, suggesting that phylogeny shapes ethnobotanical use. Nevertheless, empirical studies that explicitly combine ethnobotanical and phylogenetic information are scarce.In this study, we borrowed tools from community ecology phylogenetics to quantify significance of phylogenetic signal in medicinal properties in plants and identify nodes on phylogenies with high bioscreening potential. To do this, we produced an ethnomedicinal review from extensive literature research and a multi-locus phylogenetic hypothesis for the pantropical genus Pterocarpus (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae). We demonstrate that species used to treat a certain conditions, such as malaria, are significantly phylogenetically clumped and we highlight nodes in the phylogeny that are significantly overabundant in species used to treat certain conditions. These cross-cultural patterns in ethnomedicinal usage in Pterocarpus are interpreted in the light of phylogenetic relationships.This study provides techniques that enable the application of phylogenies in bioscreening, but also sheds light on the processes that shape cross-cultural ethnomedicinal patterns. This community phylogenetic approach demonstrates that similar ethnobotanical uses can arise in parallel in different areas where related plants are available. With a vast amount of ethnomedicinal and phylogenetic information available, we predict that this field, after further refinement of the techniques, will expand into similar research areas, such as pest management or the search for bioactive plant-based compounds

UK food and nutrition security during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID‐19 pandemic is a major shock to society in terms of health and economy that is affecting both UK and global food and nutrition security. It is adding to the ‘perfect storm’ of threats to society from climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, at a time of considerable change, rising nationalism and breakdown in international collaboration. In the UK, the situation is further complicated due to Brexit. The UK COVID‐19 Food and Nutrition Security project, lasting one year, is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and is assessing the ongoing impact of COVID‐19 on the four pillars of food and nutrition security: access, availability, utilisation and stability. It examines the food system, how it is responding, and potential knock on effects on the UK’s food and nutrition security, both in terms of the cascading risks from the pandemic and other threats. The study provides an opportunity to place the initial lessons being learnt from the on‐going responses to the pandemic in respect of food and nutrition security in the context of other long‐term challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss