Behavioral, morphological, and ecological trait evolution in two clades of New World Sparrows (Aimophila and Peucaea, Passerellidae)

Copyright 2020 Cicero et al. The New World sparrows (Passerellidae) are a large, diverse group of songbirds that vary in morphology, behavior, and ecology. Thus, they are excellent for studying trait evolution in a phylogenetic framework. We examined lability versus conservatism in morphological and behavioral traits in two related clades of sparrows (Aimophila, Peucaea), and assessed whether habitat has played an important role in trait evolution. We first inferred a multi-locus phylogeny which we used to reconstruct ancestral states, and then quantified phylogenetic signal among morphological and behavioral traits in these clades and in New World sparrows more broadly. Behavioral traits have a stronger phylogenetic signal than morphological traits. Specifically, vocal duets and song structure are the most highly conserved traits, and nesting behavior appears to be maintained within clades. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between open habitat and unpatterned plumage, complex song, and ground nesting. However, even within lineages that share the same habitat type, species vary in nesting, plumage pattern, song complexity, and duetting. Our findings highlight trade-offs between behavior, morphology, and ecology in sparrow diversification

Ensuring Economic Viability and Sustainability of Coffee Production

Coffee, the world’s favorite beverage, provides livelihoods for at least 60 million people across dozens of countries. Yet this beloved drink is experiencing a sustainability crisis. A sustained decline in world coffee prices has squeezed coffee producers, and thrown a tremendous number of producers below the global extreme poverty line. This report presents our research into sustainability within the coffee sector, including the results of our analytical and empirical modeling, and provides several recommendations

Ensuring Economic Viability & Sustainability of Coffee Production

For this report, we developed a new economic model of supply and demand in the coffee sector, which forms the core of our quantitative analysis. The model simulates a global price equilibrium between 136 consuming countries and the farming decisions in 3024 coffee-growing regions. Our report is also grounded in extensive desk research and at least 72 interviews with 86 people, representing producers, small and large companies, civil society organizations and multi-stakeholder platforms, research institutions and academics, and others. It has also been strengthened by feedback we have received through other channels, including via email and particularly in response to public presentations at events organized by the ICO and the European Coffee Federation in June 2019 and by the World Coffee Producers Forum in July 2019

New paths for modelling freshwater nature futures

Freshwater ecosystems are exceptionally rich in biodiversity and provide essential benefits to people. Yet they are disproportionately threatened compared to terrestrial and marine systems and remain underrepresented in the scenarios and models used for global environmental assessments. The Nature Futures Framework (NFF) has recently been proposed to advance the contribution of scenarios and models for environmental assessments. This framework places the diverse relationships between people and nature at its core, identifying three value perspectives as points of departure: Nature for Nature, Nature for Society, and Nature as Culture. We explore how the NFF may be implemented for improved assessment of freshwater ecosystems. First, we outline how the NFF and its main value perspectives can be translated to freshwater systems and explore what desirable freshwater futures would look like from each of the above perspectives. Second, we review scenario strategies and current models to examine how freshwater modelling can be linked to the NFF in terms of its aims and outcomes. In doing so, we also identify which aspects of the NFF framework are not yet captured in current freshwater models and suggest possible ways to bridge them. Our analysis provides future directions for a more holistic freshwater model and scenario development and demonstrates how society can benefit from freshwater modelling efforts that are integrated with the value-perspectives of the NFF. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]</p

Review of \u3ci\u3e Baby Bird Portraits by George Miksch Sutton\u3c/i\u3e by PaulA. Johnsgard

I love this book. First and foremost, it is a collection of important paintings beautiful in their own right. George Miksch ( Doc ) Sutton was one of the most influential ornithologists and bird artists of the twentieth century and a leader in painting living birds in the field. Among his more important contributions were several paintings of nestling and young birds, many of them now in a collection at Chicago\u27s Field Museum. Baby Bird Portraits reproduces thirty-four of these studies, many for the first time, in outstanding color, making them available in a single volume. This is a significant book both for aesthetic and scientific reasons. The portraits are charming, and they are accurate, reflecting Doc Sutton\u27s eye for detail. Painted from living models, the colors too are accurate, in a sphere where accurate plates, in some instances, cannot be found in other sources. Writing this as a person who studies sparrows, I value the twenty-seven paintings of rarely illustrated cardinal grosbeaks and New World sparrows as a particularly welcome addition to the literature. In many instances the plates include detailed drawings of legs and feet. Some of these, published earlier in several short papers, proved a significant resource for my Guide to the Sparrows of the United States and Canada (1996). It is a joy to have them reprinted and available in one place. Sutton has a knack for paintin