Planning for biodiversity in the wider countryside: recognising opportunities, overcoming barriers.

There is an increasing imperative to conserve the biological diversity of the world to ensure its future viability and integrity. The traditional approach in England has been to protect a series of small, isolated sites. Recent research has demonstrated the inadequacies of this approach, suggesting a need to direct energies more towards conservation in the surrounding wider countryside. However, there are considerable difficulties associated with achieving biodiversity objectives in the wider countryside, as there is a heavy reliance on non-statutory planning mechanisms. Whereas solutions to biodiversity conservation have generally been seen to lie in the realm of natural science, this thesis recognises the need for a better understanding of the people, policies and activities involved in the process. It therefore couples social science perspectives with an understanding of ecological science principles, in order to investigate the issues affecting the implementation of biodiversity conservation plans in three case studies in south west England. By employing a range of qualitative techniques this research: defines a number of conservation objectives for the study areas; uses conservation objectives as a basis for conducting a content analysis of biodiversity planning documents, in order to uncover potential implementation opportunities and barriers; presents the results in an analytical framework; explores and refines these through a series of semi-structured interviews with key biodiversity actors. This research uncovers a complex set of interacting issues. These issues relate to partnership styles of working, building agreement and trust, variable levels of knowledge about habitat and species in the wider countryside, restoration techniques, indicative strategies, strategic targeting of resources, financial support to farmers and other land managers, the role of monitoring, and policy responses to recent agricultural crises. The results attest to the importance of a social-scientific understanding of biodiversity planning, in particular, of the forces which drive or obstruct the implementation of local solutions. The thesis concludes with a number of recommendations, based on original evidence, aimed at improving the implementation of biodiversity plans in the wider countryside

THE BIG PICTURE - SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING APPLICATIONS IN RANGELAND ASSESSMENT AND CROP INSURANCE

Livestock Production/Industries, Risk and Uncertainty,

GNSS Shadow Matching in a Changing Urban Environment

This publication describes apparatuses, methods, and techniques for performing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) shadow matching in a changing urban environment. To do so, a user equipment (e.g., a smartphone) utilizes a comprehensive positioning algorithm. The smartphone can measure a signal strength of satellites of the GNSS. When the signal strength matches an expected shadow, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can utilize GNSS data, area network data, inertial data, and an Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm. The Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm uses GNSS shadow matching data to increase user location accuracy in the urban environment. When the signal strength does not match the expected shadow, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can estimate user position using GNSS data, area network data, inertial data, and other optional localization signals (e.g., step counting, visual matches against a known model of a street-level visual map). Then, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can compare and quantify differences between the signal strength with the expected shadows, and quantify discrepancies between an estimated user location from various localization signals. Based on the differences between the signal strength and the expected shadows, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can determine and map changes in the urban environment. When the GNSS shadow matching determines user location with a high degree of confidence and accuracy, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can use this information to find discrepancies in other localization signals that rely on a map model (e.g., terrain height data, street-level visual maps, WiFi® hot spots). Lastly, the comprehensive positioning algorithm can adjust updates from the Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm near unmodeled physical features (e.g., buildings, bridges, tunnels) in the urban environment

Performing GNSS Shadow Matching for User Equipment with Varied Carrying Positions

This publication describes apparatuses, methods, and techniques for performing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) shadow matching for user equipment (e.g., smartphones) with varied carrying positions, such as in a user’s hand, pocket, purse, backpack, and so forth. To do so, the smartphone utilizes an Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm to find line-of-sight (LOS) signals of satellites of the GNSS. Then, the Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm estimates a signal-strength degradation of the LOS signals due to the carrying position, such as when the user puts their smartphone in their pocket. After estimating the signal-strength degradation of the LOS signals, the Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm adjusts LOS signals and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals with the estimated signal-strength degradation of the LOS signals. Finally, the Urban Canyon Positioning Algorithm computes GNSS shadow matching by adjusting parameters (e.g., the median and the standard deviation) of the signal strength of all the signals (LOS and NLOS) received by the smartphone

Defining Landscape Resistance Values in Least-Cost Connectivity Models for the Invasive Grey Squirrel: A Comparison of Approaches Using Expert-Opinion and Habitat Suitability Modelling

Least-cost models are widely used to study the functional connectivity of habitat within a varied landscape matrix. A critical step in the process is identifying resistance values for each land cover based upon the facilitating or impeding impact on species movement. Ideally resistance values would be parameterised with empirical data, but due to a shortage of such information, expert-opinion is often used. However, the use of expert-opinion is seen as subjective, human-centric and unreliable. This study derived resistance values from grey squirrel habitat suitability models (HSM) in order to compare the utility and validity of this approach with more traditional, expert-led methods. Models were built and tested with MaxEnt, using squirrel presence records and a categorical land cover map for Cumbria, UK. Predictions on the likelihood of squirrel occurrence within each land cover type were inverted, providing resistance values which were used to parameterise a leastcost model. The resulting habitat networks were measured and compared to those derived from a least-cost model built with previously collated information from experts. The expert-derived and HSM-inferred least-cost networks differ in precision. The HSM-informed networks were smaller and more fragmented because of the higher resistance values attributed to most habitats. These results are discussed in relation to the applicability of both approaches for conservation and management objectives, providing guidance to researchers and practitioners attempting to apply and interpret a leastcost approach to mapping ecological networks.This project was funded by the Forestry Commission GB and the National School of Forestry at the University of Cumbria. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Experimental Heat Transfer Supporting Simulated Water Well Performance on Mars

Favorable indications of massive quantities of water on Mars have initiated studies of potential changes to human Mars missions. Using a technique known as a Rodriguez Well to melt the ice, store the resulting water in a subsurface ice cavity until needed, and then pump water to the surface for use is one potential means to effect these changes. A computer simulation of the Rodriguez Well in a terrestrial environment is one of the engineering tools being used to characterize the performance of this type of well on Mars. An experiment at the NASA Johnson Space Center is gathering data for convective heat transfer and evaporation rates at Mars surface conditions so that this computer simulation can be properly modified to predict performance on Mars. While quantitative results await processing, tests have indicated that a pool of water can be maintained at 1C to 2 C while at Mars surface temperatures and pressures

Teasing apart fine- and coarse-scale effects of environmental heterogeneity on tree species richness in Europe

The environmental heterogeneity–biodiversity relationship is generally hypothesised to be positive, with greater heterogeneity leading to greater biodiversity. However, the generality of positive environmental heterogeneity–species richness relationships is often debated, with some studies finding non-significant or even negative relationships. Negative relationships have primarily been found at fine spatial scales. Both negative and positive relationships have a basis in ecological theory. Environmental heterogeneity at coarse scales opens up niche space to allow more species to coexist; whereas high local heterogeneity, for instance in topography, may lead to increased local extinction due to micro-fragmentation, or dominance of species suited to heterogeneous conditions. However, it is difficult to attribute how much of the variance is explained at different scales within the same modelling framework.Here, we use a new data-aggregation method which enables us to include both fine- and coarse-scale environmental heterogeneity within the same analysis. Using this method, we were able to tease apart the fine- and coarse-grain effects of topographic heterogeneity on European tree species richness. At the coarse scale (0.5 degrees), we found a positive effect of range in elevation on tree species richness. However, when measuring range in elevation using a fine-scale moving window of radius 500 m, we found a negative relationship with tree species richness. This supports existing research that has shown negative relationships between environmental heterogeneity and species richness at finer spatial grains. Because we were able to include a measure of both local and landscape-scale topographic heterogeneity in the same model, for the first time we could fully capture the effects of both scales on coarse-grain species richness while accounting for the effect of the other scale