Climate conditions and resource availability drive return elevational migrations in a single-brooded insect.

Journal ArticleCopyright © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.This is the authors accepted version. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s00442-014-2952-4Seasonal elevational migrations have important implications for life-history evolution and ecological responses to environmental change. However, for most species, particularly invertebrates, evidence is still scarce for the existence of such migrations, as well as for the potential causes. We tested the extent to which seasonal abundance patterns in central Spain for overwintering (breeding) and summer (non-breeding) individuals of the butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni were consistent with three hypotheses explaining elevational migration: resource limitation (host plant and flower availability), physiological constraints of weather (maximum temperatures) and habitat limitation (forest cover for overwintering). For overwintering adults, abundance was positively associated with host plant density during two intensive survey seasons (2007-2008), and the elevational distribution was relatively stable over a 7-year period (2006-2012). The elevational distribution of summer adults was highly variable, apparently related both to temperature and habitat type. Sites occupied by adults in the summer were on average 3 °C cooler than their breeding sites, and abundance showed negative associations with summer temperature, and positive associations with forest cover and host plant density in 2007 and 2008. The results suggest that the extent of uphill migration in summer could be driven by different factors, depending on the year, and are mostly consistent with the physiological constraint and habitat limitation hypotheses. In contrast, the patterns for overwintering adults suggest that downhill migration can be explained by resource availability. Climate change could generate bottlenecks in the populations of elevational migrant species by constraining the area of specific seasonal habitat networks or by reducing the proximity of environments used at different times of year.Universidad Rey Juan Carlos/Comunidad de MadridSpanish Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessBritish Ecological SocietyRoyal Societ

Increasing turbidity in the North Sea during the 20th century due to changing wave climate

Data on Secchi disc depth (the depth at which a standard white disc lowered into the water just becomes invisible to a surface observer) show that water clarity in the North Sea declined during the 20th century, with likely consequences for marine primary production. However, the causes of this trend remain unknown. Here we analyse the hypothesis that changes in the North Sea's wave climate were largely responsible by causing an increase in the concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the water column through the resuspension of seabed sediments. First, we analysed the broad-scale statistical relationships between SPM and bed shear stress due to waves and tides. We used hindcasts of wave and current data to construct a space–time dataset of bed shear stress between 1997 and 2017 across the northwest European Continental Shelf and compared the results with satellite-derived SPM concentrations. Bed shear stress was found to drive most of the inter-annual variation in SPM in the hydrographically mixed waters of the central and southern North Sea. We then used a long-term wave reanalysis to construct a time series of bed shear stress from 1900 to 2010. This shows that bed shear stress increased significantly across much of the shelf during this period, with increases of over 20 % in the southeastern North Sea. An increase in bed shear stress of this magnitude would have resulted in a large reduction in water clarity. Wave-driven processes are rarely included in projections of climate change impacts on marine ecosystems, but our analysis indicates that this should be reconsidered for shelf sea regions

Climate change and crop exposure to adverse weather: changes to frost risk and grapevine flowering conditions

Open Access Article© 2015 Mosedale et al.The cultivation of grapevines in the UK and many other cool climate regions is expected to benefit from the higher growing season temperatures predicted under future climate scenarios. Yet the effects of climate change on the risk of adverse weather conditions or events at key stages of crop development are not always captured by aggregated measures of seasonal or yearly climates, or by downscaling techniques that assume climate variability will remain unchanged under future scenarios. Using fine resolution projections of future climate scenarios for south-west England and grapevine phenology models we explore how risks to cool-climate vineyard harvests vary under future climate conditions. Results indicate that the risk of adverse conditions during flowering declines under all future climate scenarios. In contrast, the risk of late spring frosts increases under many future climate projections due to advancement in the timing of budbreak. Estimates of frost risk, however, were highly sensitive to the choice of phenology model, and future frost exposure declined when budbreak was calculated using models that included a winter chill requirement for dormancy break. The lack of robust phenological models is a major source of uncertainty concerning the impacts of future climate change on the development of cool-climate viticulture in historically marginal climatic regions.European Social FundNatural Environment Research Council (NERC

Asymmetric constraints on limits to species ranges influence consumer-resource richness over an environmental gradient

ArticleABSTRACT Aim There is little consensus about the relative roles of biotic versus abiotic factors in setting limits to species distributions or in generating geographical patterns of species richness. However, despite the probable importance of host availability in governing the distribution and diversity of consumers, few studies have simultaneously tested the effects of resource distribution and diversity on consumer ranges and richness patterns. Location Sierra de Guadarrama, central Spain. Methods We examined the effects of biotic resources, consumer attributes and climate on the ranges and species richness patterns of 43 specialist butterflies at 40 sites over a 1800-m elevational gradient. Evidence for resource use was based on comprehensive field records of oviposition and larval feeding on host plants. Results We show that limitation by either biotic interactions with resources (the distributions and parts eaten of the larval host plants) or intrinsic dispersal ability was stronger at upper than lower elevational range limits for butterflies. Both resource and consumer richness followed a unimodal, humped pattern over the elevational gradient, but host plant richness peaked 300 m lower than butterfly richness. In addition, whereas changes in butterfly species richness were roughly symmetrical around peak richness over the gradient studied, the host plants showed markedly lower species richness at high elevations (> 1750 m). Butterfly species richness increased with host plant resource diversity and relative humidity, with a steeper response to host plant richness in cooler sites (at higher elevations). Main conclusions The results demonstrate the role of bottom-up control by resource availability in limiting consumer distributions and richness. Importantly, resource limitation had increasing relevance towards the coolest parts of environmental gradients and those poorest in resource species, with potential consequences for ecological responses to environmental change.Universidad Rey Juan Carlos/Comunidad de Madrid . Grant Number: URJC-CM-2006-CET-0592 Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness . Grant Numbers: CGL2005-06820/BOS , CGL2008-04950/BOS , CGL2011-30259 , CGL2013-48277-P , CGL2014-57784-

Old concepts, new challenges: adapting landscape-scale conservation to the twenty-first century

This is the final version of the article. Available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Landscape-scale approaches to conservation stem largely from the classic ideas of reserve design: encouraging bigger and more sites, enhancing connectivity among sites, and improving habitat quality. Trade-offs are imposed between these four strategies by the limited resources and opportunities available for conservation programmes, including the establishment and management of protected areas, and wildlife-friendly farming and forestry. Although debate regarding trade-offs between the size, number, connectivity and quality of protected areas was prevalent in the 1970–1990s, the implications of the same trade-offs for ongoing conservation responses to threats from accelerating environmental change have rarely been addressed. Here, we reassess the implications of reserve design theory for landscape-scale conservation, and present a blueprint to help practitioners to prioritise among the four strategies. We consider the new perspectives placed on landscape-scale conservation programmes by twenty-first century pressures including climate change, invasive species and the need to marry food security with biodiversity conservation. A framework of the situations under which available theory and evidence recommend that each of the four strategies be prioritized is provided, seeking to increase the clarity required for urgent conservation decision-making.L. Donaldson was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) CASE studentship (Grant Number NE/L501669/1) in partnership with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Cassini detection of Enceladus' cold water-group plume ionosphere

This study reports direct detection by the Cassini plasma spectrometer of freshly-produced water-group ions (O+, OH+, H2O+, H3O+) and heavier water dimer ions (HxO(2))(+) very close to Enceladus where the plasma begins to emerge from the plume. The data were obtained during two close ( 52 and 25 km) flybys of Enceladus in 2008 and are similar to ion data in cometary comas. The ions are observed in detectors looking in the Cassini ram direction exhibiting energies consistent with the Cassini speed, indicative of a nearly stagnant plasma flow in the plume. North of Enceladus the plasma slowing commences about 4 to 6 Enceladus radii away, while south of Enceladus signatures of the plasma interaction with the plume are detected 22 Enceladus radii away. Citation: Tokar, R. L., R. E. Johnson, M. F. Thomsen, R. J. Wilson, D. T. Young, F. J. Crary, A. J. Coates, G. H. Jones, and C. S. Paty ( 2009), Cassini detection of Enceladus' cold water-group plume ionosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L13203, doi:10.1029/2009GL038923

Optimality-based Analysis of XCSF Compaction in Discrete Reinforcement Learning

Learning classifier systems (LCSs) are population-based predictive systems that were originally envisioned as agents to act in reinforcement learning (RL) environments. These systems can suffer from population bloat and so are amenable to compaction techniques that try to strike a balance between population size and performance. A well-studied LCS architecture is XCSF, which in the RL setting acts as a Q-function approximator. We apply XCSF to a deterministic and stochastic variant of the FrozenLake8x8 environment from OpenAI Gym, with its performance compared in terms of function approximation error and policy accuracy to the optimal Q-functions and policies produced by solving the environments via dynamic programming. We then introduce a novel compaction algorithm (Greedy Niche Mass Compaction - GNMC) and study its operation on XCSF's trained populations. Results show that given a suitable parametrisation, GNMC preserves or even slightly improves function approximation error while yielding a significant reduction in population size. Reasonable preservation of policy accuracy also occurs, and we link this metric to the commonly used steps-to-goal metric in maze-like environments, illustrating how the metrics are complementary rather than competitive

Natural adaptive immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae lung infection

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important respiratory pathogen and a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. As well as invasive disease S. pneumoniae also colonises the nasopharynx. Colonisation with S. pneumoniae is nearly universal in infants, dropping to 10% in adulthood. This frequent exposure has potential for developing and boosting natural adaptive immune responses. However naturally-acquired immune responses that protect against subsequent lung infection with S. pneumoniae are not fully understood. This thesis investigates the targets and function of naturally-acquired IgG to S. pneumoniae in humans and additionally the mechanisms of protection from lung infection following experimental colonisation in mice. The target and function of naturally-acquired IgG in human sera and pooled intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) preparations was assessed. IVIG, pooled from >1000 adult donors provides a tool to investigate the natural antibody responses to S. pneumoniae within a population. Data indicate that naturally-acquired human IgG predominantly binds to non-capsular antigens on the surface of S. pneumoniae and can target surface exposed protein antigens. In vitro assays indicate that antibodies to non-capsular targets may be functional, enhancing phagocytosis and killing of S. pneumoniae. In vivo human IgG protected against lung infection. Cellular depletion demonstrated that protection within the lung required neutrophils and clearance of S. pneumoniae from the blood required macrophages. A model of lung infection in the absence of bacteraemia using S. pneumoniae strain EF3030 was developed. This model allowed assessment of the immune responses to S. pneumoniae colonisation of the nasopharynx that protect against re-infection specifically within the lung. Prior nasal colonisation with S. pneumoniae EF3030 was protective against subsequent lung infection. Cellular depletion strategies and challenge in antibody-deficient mice demonstrated that protection against lung infection required the development of both humoral and cell-mediated immunity

A life course assessment of health management in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development

As the UK population expands and adverse health increases with the ageing population, health care services are under pressure to meet demands. Thus, it is necessary to understand how individuals manage their health at different stages in adulthood and identify the health and social factors across life associated with different approaches to health management. Data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, a British birth cohort study following 5362 individuals from birth to 68 years, were used to measure health management across adult life. Measures of health professional consultation at age 43, women’s management of symptoms and general health in midlife and health check attendance at age 68 were developed from the rich data archive. Associations were tested between health and social factors from childhood and adulthood (socioeconomic position, health, health care utilisation, lifestyle, personality and family support) and health management outcomes using multivariable regression models and structural equation modelling. Associations between measures of health management from earlier, mid and later adulthood were tested to explore patterns of health management across adult life. Childhood serious illness was associated with higher consultation at age 43 and with lower self-management in midlife and lower health check attendance in later life in women, although these associations largely operated through adult factors. Worse health in adulthood and more health care utilisation were associated with a higher likelihood of proactive health management approaches. Higher social class across life was associated with lower consultation, higher self-management and attending more health checks. Positive health behaviours were associated with higher levels of self-management and higher health check attendance. The correlates of health management differed between health challenges and life course stage. Proactive management of one health challenge was sometimes associated with the proactive management of another at a later stage in the life course. This suggests that whilst some individuals may have a greater propensity to proactively manage their health throughout adulthood by various means, other individuals may take little or no action when responding to health challenges; this group should be encouraged to better engage with proactive health management

Density and abundance of badger social groups in England and Wales in 2011-2013

This is the final version of the article. Available from Nature Publishing Group via the DOI in this record.In the United Kingdom, European badgers Meles meles are a protected species and an important wildlife reservoir of bovine tuberculosis. We conducted a survey of badger dens (main setts) in 1614 1 km squares across England and Wales, between November 2011 and March 2013. Using main setts as a proxy for badger social groups, the estimated mean density of badger social groups in England and Wales was 0.485 km(-2) (95% confidence interval 0.449-0.521) and the estimated abundance of social groups was 71,600 (66,400-76,900). In the 25 years since the first survey in 1985-88, the annual rate of increase in the estimated number of badger social groups was 2.6% (2.2-2.9%), equating to an 88% (70-105%) increase across England and Wales. In England, we estimate there has been an increase of 103% (83-123%) in badger social groups, while in Wales there has been little change (-25 to +49%).We are grateful to the thousands of landowners for their kind co-operation in granting access to their land. This study was funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as part of England and Wales national research activities. Fieldwork was conducted by staff of the National Wildlife Management Centre. Access to data from the 1985–88 survey was licensed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, to whom the rights of the Nature Conservancy Council had passed