Genetic Conservation in a Climate of Loss: Thinking with Val Plumwood

In February 2008 the Svalbard Global Seed Vault had its official opening. The vault is a co-operative project: while its construction was largely funded by the Norwegian Government, its management also involves the Global Crop Diversity Trust and others, and its seed samples are being provided by governments and organisations all over the world. The vault is located in the Svalbard Archipelago, and has been dug into a mountainside. The project's architects hope that the location's remotenessalongside a thick layer of rock and permafrostwill ensure the survival of the seed samples in the face of any political conflict or environmental catastrophes that may occur elsewhere in the world. In short, the facility aims to provide seed insurance in a time of uncertainty, instability and change. According to accounts in the press, this bank is a `doomsday vault carved into a frozen mountainside on a secluded Arctic island ready to serve as a Noah's Ark for seeds in case of a global catastrophe' (Mellgren)

Oriënterende meting van ammoniakemissie Holcim Sleufvloer type B = Explorative ammonia emission measurements on the Holcim grooved floor type B

This report describes open flux chamber measurements on the Holcim grooved floor type B for dairy cattle compared to a slatted concrete floor as references. Results show that ammonia emission was 39% compared to the slatted floor. However it should be noticed that this are only explorative measurements that need validation at full scale

Trait evolution and historical biogeography shape assemblages of annual killifish

International audienceAim: Different species assemblages of annual killifish possess replicated body size distributions yet have unique sets of species in each area of endemism. Here, we use models of trait evolution and historical biogeography to discover how size variation originated and has been restructured.Location: South America.Taxon: Austrolebias (Cyprinodontiformes).Methods: We sampled 63 individuals from 26 Austrolebias species. Using phylogenetic trees (BEAST2), data on environmental variables at sampling locations and size data, we compare different models for trait evolution (SURFACE, l1OU) of body size and niche traits. We model the historical biogeography of the areas of endemism (BioGeoBEARS) and use both analyses in combination to reconstruct the history of four species assemblages.Results: We present new phylogenetic trees for Austrolebias and use them to show that large size principally arose within a single area driven by a shifted selection optimum for a subset of the species in that area. We suggest that ecological interactions triggered size divergence and that this large‐bodied lineage subsequently spread to two other areas. A second assemblage may have been shaped by adaptation to a new environment without an associated increase in size divergence. A third assemblage, which has the smallest size range and the most recent origin, is phylogenetically clustered, and we found no evidence of environmental filtering.Main conclusions: Assemblage similarity in Austrolebias is the result of contrasting ecological, evolutionary and historical processes. Modelling trait evolution together with historical biogeography can help to disentangle the complex histories of multispecies assemblages. This approach provides context to commonly used tests investigating the role of ecological processes from phylogenetic data and generates new testable hypotheses on the processes that generated trait diversity and assemblage similarit

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Loudly sing cuckoo : More-than-human seasonalities in Britain

This research was funded by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, grant number AH/E009573/1.Peer reviewedPostprin