The potential of restored landfill sites to support pollinating insects

Habitat restoration is an important tool in reducing the current decline in biodiversity. To determine the success of restoration, ecologists have previously focused on species richness or on the presence of rare species; little is known of species interactions. This study examines both the potential of restored landfill sites to support pollinating insects and how flower-insect interactions can be used in determining successful restoration. These are important attributes of ecosystem function. Standard belt transects were used to record flowering insect pollinated plants and flower-visiting insects on nine paired restored landfill and reference nature sites, in the broader Northamptonshire region (UK). Over the duration of this study, an area of 25,000m2 was surveyed for floral characteristics and approximately 138,000 floral units were counted from 98 plant species. A total of 201 flower visitor surveys were performed, with 942 flower-visiting insect samples taken. Flowering plant species richness and abundance of floral resources on restored landfill sites were not found to be significantly different from those on reference sites and the flower-visiting insect assemblages were similar in terms of species-richness and abundance. Interaction structures were examined and whilst the plant-insect assemblages had few species in common, both showed similar levels of nestedness and connectance. The differences in the species but similarity in the functioning of these assemblages emphasise the importance of examining interaction structures within a functional approach to the evaluation of restoration. There are 2,200 landfill sites in England and Wales covering some 28,000 ha, and this study highlights that their restoration can potentially provide an important resource for the conservation of pollinating insects and the services that they provide for both natural and agricultural plants

Vegetation cover and grasslands in the vicinity accelerate development of carabid beetle assemblages on restored landfill sites

There is increasing evidence that rare and scarce carabid species of conservation importance are frequent in brownfield sites such as restored landfill. However, this potential has largely been unexplored and was investigated here by examining carabid species composition, richness, and abundance in relation to habitat quality and landscape structure on landfill sites in comparison to paired reference sites of existing wildlife value. Sampling was conducted by collecting carabids in ten pitfall traps set along two 100 m transects on each of nine restored landfill and their paired reference sites in the East Midlands region of the UK. A total of 1014 individuals representing thirty seven carabid species were found during April to September in 2007 and 2008. On the landfill sites, generalist species were common, while no nationally rare or scarce species were found. Neither species richness nor diversity of carabid species was found to be different from that of the reference sites. Seeding during restoration was found to have a strong positive effect on richness and diversity, with seeded landfill sites tending to be similar to reference sites in terms of carabid species composition. Marked differences in diversity and richness were also attributed to variation in the amount of local vegetation cover, with presence of grassland in the surrounding landscape having a positive effect on carabid assemblages. We suggest that initial seeding may be an appropriate conservation strategy to improve beetle diversity and richness, coupled with management in terms of cutting to increase the potential of these sites for carabid conservation at the landscape scale

Experimental loss of generalist plants reveals alterations in plant-pollinator interactions and a constrained flexibility of foraging

Species extinctions undermine ecosystem functioning, with the loss of a small subset of functionally important species having a disproportionate impact. However, little is known about the effects of species loss on plant-pollinator interactions. We addressed this issue in a field experiment by removing the plant species with the highest visitation frequency, then measuring the impact of plant removal on flower visitation, pollinator effectiveness and insect foraging in several sites. Our results show that total visitation decreased exponentially after removing 1–4 most visited plants, suggesting that these plants could benefit co-occurring ones by maintaining high flower visitor abundances. Although we found large variation among plant species, the redistribution of the pollinator guild affected mostly the other plants with high visitor richness. Also, the plant traits mediated the effect of removal on flower visitation; while visitation of plants which had smaller inflorescences and more sugar per flower increased after removal, flower visitors did not switch between flower shapes and visitation decreased mostly in plants visited by many morpho-species of flower visitors. Together, these results suggest that the potential adaptive foraging was constrained by flower traits. Moreover, pollinator effectiveness fluctuated but was not directly linked to changes of flower visitation. In conclusion, it seems that the loss of generalist plants alters plant-pollinator interactions by decreasing pollinator abundance with implications for pollination and insect foraging. Therefore, generalist plants have high conservation value because they sustain the complex pattern of plant-pollinator interactions

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

Background: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. Methods: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. Findings: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96–1·28). Interpretation: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. Funding: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Effectiveness of a national quality improvement programme to improve survival after emergency abdominal surgery (EPOCH): a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial

BACKGROUND: Emergency abdominal surgery is associated with poor patient outcomes. We studied the effectiveness of a national quality improvement (QI) programme to implement a care pathway to improve survival for these patients. METHODS: We did a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial of patients aged 40 years or older undergoing emergency open major abdominal surgery. Eligible UK National Health Service (NHS) hospitals (those that had an emergency general surgical service, a substantial volume of emergency abdominal surgery cases, and contributed data to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit) were organised into 15 geographical clusters and commenced the QI programme in a random order, based on a computer-generated random sequence, over an 85-week period with one geographical cluster commencing the intervention every 5 weeks from the second to the 16th time period. Patients were masked to the study group, but it was not possible to mask hospital staff or investigators. The primary outcome measure was mortality within 90 days of surgery. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN80682973. FINDINGS: Treatment took place between March 3, 2014, and Oct 19, 2015. 22 754 patients were assessed for elegibility. Of 15 873 eligible patients from 93 NHS hospitals, primary outcome data were analysed for 8482 patients in the usual care group and 7374 in the QI group. Eight patients in the usual care group and nine patients in the QI group were not included in the analysis because of missing primary outcome data. The primary outcome of 90-day mortality occurred in 1210 (16%) patients in the QI group compared with 1393 (16%) patients in the usual care group (HR 1·11, 0·96-1·28). INTERPRETATION: No survival benefit was observed from this QI programme to implement a care pathway for patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery. Future QI programmes should ensure that teams have both the time and resources needed to improve patient care. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

The potential of restored landfill sites to support pollinating insects

Habitat restoration is an important tool in reducing the current decline in biodiversity. To determine the success of restoration, ecologists have previously focused on species richness or on the presence of rare species; little is known of species interactions. This study examines both the potential of restored landfill sites to support pollinating insects and how flower-insect interactions can be used in determining successful restoration. These are important attributes of ecosystem function. Standard belt transects were used to record flowering insect pollinated plants and flower-visiting insects on nine paired restored landfill and reference nature sites, in the broader Northamptonshire region (UK). Over the duration of this study, an area of 25,000m2 was surveyed for floral characteristics and approximately 138,000 floral units were counted from 98 plant species. A total of 201 flower visitor surveys were performed, with 942 flower-visiting insect samples taken. Flowering plant species richness and abundance of floral resources on restored landfill sites were not found to be significantly different from those on reference sites and the flower-visiting insect assemblages were similar in terms of species-richness and abundance. Interaction structures were examined and whilst the plant-insect assemblages had few species in common, both showed similar levels of nestedness and connectance. The differences in the species but similarity in the functioning of these assemblages emphasise the importance of examining interaction structures within a functional approach to the evaluation of restoration. There are 2,200 landfill sites in England and Wales covering some 28,000 ha, and this study highlights that their restoration can potentially provide an important resource for the conservation of pollinating insects and the services that they provide for both natural and agricultural plants

Plant community composition and attributes reveal conservation implications for newly created grassland on capped landfill sites

Biodiversity conservation through restoring degraded habitats or creating new habitats is advocated in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Restored grasslands on capped landfill sites are semi-natural habitats that could potentially support a wide range of plant communities. However, it is unknown whether these re-created habitats represent a significant resource in terms of biodiversity conservation. The UK National Vegetation Classification (NVC) was used to study these communities on nine restored capped landfill sites together with paired reference sites in the East Midlands region of the UK during 2007. Plant species data were collected by random quadrats along two 100 m transects from each site. The effects of restoration were investigated by examining plant attributes and Ellenberg indicators on restored landfill sites in comparison to paired reference sites. A total of 170 plant species were found from both sets of sites. There were no significant differences for most of the plant attributes between restored landfill sites and reference sites, though reference sites had significantly higher mean frequencies of native plants, nationally decreasing species and perennial species. In total 26 broad NVC community types were identified of which more than 70% fell within mesotrophic grassland (MG). The diversity of NVC communities confirms that underlying environmental factors such as soil fertility are important, dictating the type of plant communities that exist. It is recommended that management of these capped landfill sites should be targeted towards specific NVC community types to meet conservation target

Influence of habitat quality, landscape structure and food resources on breeding skylark (Alauda arvensis) territory distribution on restored landfill sites

The skylark (Alauda arvensis) lost half its number after it underwent a decade of rapid decline from the mid-1970s onwards and since then has continued to decline albeit at a reduced rate. Its listing as a UK Red-List and Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) Priority Species has helped focus conservation action in an attempt to halt the decline and stabilise populations by restoring degraded habitats or by creating new habitats. Newly created grassland on restored landfill sites are semi-natural habitats that could potentially contribute to this process, however the extent to which these areas support breeding populations is unknown. Territory densities of breeding skylarks were studied on nine restored landfill sites in the East Midlands region of the UK during May to July 2008. The effects of restoration were investigated by examining how habitat quality, landscape factors and food resources determined territory densities. Mean vegetation height and size of sites were found to be significant predictors of the number of breeding skylarks at the local scale, whilst percentage of woodland, grassland and open habitat in the surrounding landscape had an influence at a larger scale. Mean larval and adult invertebrate abundance and species richness in skylark territories in restored landfill sites were found to be similar to that of reference sites of recognised nature conservation value. Restoration of landfill sites could be targeted toward species-specific goals since such sites could play a role in meeting targets for habitat and/or species restoration targets in the UK BA