Urban agriculture in shared spaces : the difficulties with collaboration in an age of austerity

The expanding critical literature on Urban Agriculture (UA) makes links between the withdrawal of state services and the institutionalisation of volunteering, while observing that challenging funding landscapes can foster competitive environments between third sector organisations. Where these organisations are forced to compete for survival at the expense of collaboration, their ability to collectively upscale and expand beneficial activities can be compromised. This paper focuses on a lottery-funded UA project and draws predominantly on observations and interviews held with project staff and growing group volunteers. Research conducted in Wythenshawe, Manchester (UK), highlights difficulties experienced by organisations attempting to function in an environment disfigured by depletion, illustrating conflicts that can arise between community groups and charitable organisations competing for space and resources. Inter-organisational dynamics are considered at two scales; at the grassroots level between growing groups, and at a structural level between project partners. In a landscape scarred by local authority cutbacks and restructures, a dearth of funding opportunities and increasingly precarious employment, external initiatives can be met with suspicion or hostility, particularly when viewed as superfluous interventions. The resulting “siege mentality” reflects the need for organisational self-preservation but perhaps paradoxically results in groups with similar goals and complementary ideologies working against each other rather than in cooperation. Keywords: Urban Agriculture; critical geography; neoliberalism; community growing; urban farmin

Evidence for an Intermediate-mass Milky Way from Gaia DR2 Halo Globular Cluster Motions

We estimate the mass of the Milky Way (MW) within 21.1 kpc using the kinematics of halo globular clusters (GCs) determined by Gaia. The second Gaia data release (DR2) contained a catalogue of absolute proper motions (PMs) for a set of Galactic GCs and satellite galaxies measured using Gaia DR2 data. We select from the catalogue only halo GCs, identifying a total of 34 GCs spanning $2.0 < r < 21.1$ kpc, and use their 3D kinematics to estimate the anisotropy over this range to be $\beta = 0.46^{+0.15}_{-0.19}$, in good agreement, though slightly lower than, a recent estimate for a sample of halo GCs using HST PM measurements further out in the halo. We then use the Gaia kinematics to estimate the mass of the MW inside the outermost GC to be $M(< 21.1 \mathrm{kpc}) = 0.21^{+0.04}_{-0.03} 10^{12} \mathrm{M_\odot}$, which corresponds to a circular velocity of $v_\mathrm{circ}(21.1 \mathrm{kpc}) = 206^{+19}_{-16}$ km/s. The implied virial mass is $M_\mathrm{virial} = 1.28^{+0.97}_{-0.48} 10^{12} \mathrm{M_\odot}$. The error bars encompass the uncertainties on the anisotropy and on the density profile of the MW dark halo, and the scatter inherent in the mass estimator we use. We get improved estimates when we combine the Gaia and HST samples to provide kinematics for 46 GCs out to 39.5 kpc: $\beta = 0.52^{+0.11}_{-0.14}$, $M(< 39.5 \mathrm{kpc}) = 0.42^{+0.07}_{-0.06} 10^{12} \mathrm{M_\odot}$, and $M_\mathrm{virial} = 1.54^{+0.75}_{-0.44} 10^{12} \mathrm{M_\odot}$. We show that these results are robust to potential substructure in the halo GC distribution. While a wide range of MW virial masses have been advocated in the literature, from below $10^{12} \mathrm{M_\odot}$ to above $2 \times 10^{12}\mathrm{M_\odot}$, these new data imply that an intermediate mass is most likely

Sustainable regeneration : everyday landscapes of food acquisition, Pendleton

The report is structured as follows. Chapter two provides the context to the research, outlining why a study of food acquisition and digital inclusion is necessary in Pendleton at this time, and why both issues are linked to the current regeneration programme. Chapter three sets out the methodology employed along with details of the recruitment of participants. Chapter four provides a detailed analysis of the findings from the digital skills side of the research including: digital usage, confidence and competence, and digital skills and shopping, and chapter five focuses on findings related to the food landscape. Chapter six summarises the key findings by identifying what is going well, making recommendations for changes at a variety of scale, as well as specific recommendations for the on-going regeneration programme, and recommendations for further research

Urban agriculture : evaluating informal and formal practices

Urban agriculture (UA) is a fast-increasing element in many settlements in the Global North. This paper reviews the diversity of UA activity, ranging from legal to illegal, formal to informal. Focusing particularly on current research on UA projects in England, including small-scale guerrilla gardening and large community projects supported by community and government funding, we look at the realities of UA. We suggest that it is under-theorised as previous research has focused on practicalities and activism. In particular, we highlight the problematic contribution of UA to food production, the wider value in terms of community development, health and wellbeing, and warn of the danger of the ‘local trap’

Global patterns of extinction risk and conservation needs for Rodentia and Eulipotyphla

AIM: To explore global patterns in spatial aggregations of species richness, vulnerability and data deficiency for Rodentia and Eulipotyphla. To evaluate the adequacy of existing protected area (PA) network for these areas. To provide a focus for local conservation initiatives. LOCATION: Global. METHODS: Total species, globally threatened (GT) species, and Data Deficient (DD) species richness were calculated for a 1° resolution grid. Correspondence analyses between global species richness against GT species richness were performed. To assess PA network adequacy, a correspondence analysis was conducted to identify areas of high richness and GT species richness that have poor protection. RESULTS: Six hotspots were identified for GT eulipotyphlans, encompassing 40% of GT species. Three of these contain higher numbers of GT species than would be expected based on their overall species richness. Ten priority regions were identified for GT rodents, which together contain 34% of all GT species. Six contain higher numbers of GT rodent species than would be expected based on their overall species richness. For DD species, 15% of DD eulipotyphlans were represented within three priority regions, whereas 18 were identified for rodents, capturing 53% of all DD species. Areas containing lower numbers of protected GT eulipotyphlan species than expected include Mexico; Cameroonian Highlands; Albertine Rift; Tanzania; Kenya; Ethiopia; western Asia; India; and Sri Lanka. Areas containing lower numbers of protected GT rodent species than expected are Borneo, Sumatra and Sulawesi. Five eulipotyphlans and 44 rodents have ranges which fall completely outside of PAs. MAIN CONCLUSION: Rodentia and Eulipotyphla priority regions should be considered separately to one another and to other mammals. This analysis approach allows us to pinpoint and delineate geographical areas which represent key regions at a global level for rodents and eulipotyphlans, in order to facilitate conservation, field research and capacity building at a local level

The Last Survivors: current status and conservation of the non-volant land mammals of the insular Caribbean

The insular Caribbean is among the few oceanic-type island systems colonized by non-volant land mammals. This region also has experienced the world’s highest level of historical mammal extinctions, with at least 29 species lost since AD 1500. Representatives of only 2 land-mammal families (Capromyidae and Solenodontidae) now survive, in Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and the Bahama Archipelago. The conservation status of Caribbean land mammals is surprisingly poorly understood. The most recent IUCN Red List assessment, from 2008, recognized 15 endemic species, of which 13 were assessed as threatened. We reassessed all available baseline data on the current status of the Caribbean land-mammal fauna within the framework of the IUCN Red List, to determine specific conservation requirements for Caribbean land-mammal species using an evidence-based approach. We recognize only 13 surviving species, one of which is not formally described and cannot be assessed using IUCN criteria; 3 further species previously considered valid are interpreted as junior synonyms or subspecies. Of the 12 reassessed species, 5 have undergone a change in threat status since 2008, with 3 species (Capromys pilorides, Geocapromys brownii, Mesocapromys angelcabrerai) increasing in extinction risk by 1 IUCN category, and 2 species (Plagiodontia aedium, Solenodon paradoxus) decreasing in extinction risk by 2 categories. Only 1 change in threat status represents a genuine change; all other changes are mainly associated with new information becoming available. Hunting, habitat loss, and invasive species represent major threats to surviving species, and conservation of the highly threatened Caribbean land-mammal fauna will require a range of targeted management strategies

The perception level on the impact of integrated livestock-fish production systems towards the environmental pollution

The integrated farming activities have become more popular in the last decade. It expects to increase productivity by optimizing the land and minimizing environmental pollution. The study aims to understand the perception level of society towards the environmental pollution of the integrated livestock-fish production system on raising catfish and laying duck (Clarias sp and Anas platyrhynchos). The study was conducted in Desa Balunijuk, Bangka. The questionnaire was used for the data collection technique through a face-to-face interview by following the health protocol of Covid-19. Two stages of data collection were applied: before and after treatment of Probio_Fm. Qualitative descriptive was employed to analyze the data. The respondents were the society who lived nearby the location of the study. A mixture of probiotics was employed on the feed and the catfish pond. The study found that the perception was significantly different between before and after treatment of Probio_Fm particularly on the negative environmental effects such as odor pollutants due to unmanaged animal waste. It occurred at the very beginning of the study during the wet season before the probiotic treatment. Interestingly, during the dry season, the probiotic treatment was regularly applied. The odor pollutant impact decreased even not having a bad odor at all. The waste both absorbed in the sand and was streamed through the drain pipeline. However, most of the respondents were not disturbed due to the odor pollutant surrounding the integrated livestock-fish production system. It articulated that the probiotic treatment worked effectively in unraveling the bacteria so that the pollutant level decreased drastically. The study recommended various solutions to the problems: the draining pipeline should be repaired, the animal feed should use probiotics to achieve optimal use of nutrition, consistent and effective feeding should be applied, and the cleanliness of the duck house should be properly maintained. The monitoring and evaluation of the environmental impact towards the integrated livestock-fish production system should involve relevant stakeholders such as a village government, the management, and society as a whole so that the healthy and environment-friendly integrated fisheries activity can be achieved

Probing ultrafast carrier dynamics and nonlinear absorption and refraction in core-shell silicon nanowires

We investigate the relaxation dynamics of photogenerated carriers in silicon nanowires consisting of a crystalline core and a surrounding amorphous shell, using femtosecond time-resolved differential reflectivity and transmission spectroscopy at photon energies of 3.15 eV and 1.57 eV. The complex behavior of the differential transmission and reflectivity transients is the mixed contributions from the crystalline core and the amorphous silicon on the nanowire surface and the substrate where competing effects of state filling and photoinduced absorption govern the carrier dynamics. Faster relaxation rates are observed on increasing the photo-generated carrier density. Independent experimental results on crystalline silicon-on-sapphire help us in separating the contributions from the carrier dynamics in crystalline core and the amorphous regions in the nanowire samples. Further, single beam z-scan nonlinear transmission experiments at 1.57 eV in both open and close aperture configurations yield two-photon absorption coefficient \$beta$ (~3 cm/GW) and nonlinear refraction coefficient \$gamma$ (-2.5x10^-4 cm2/GW).Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure