How the European Union does not work: national bargaining success in the Council of Ministers

We know surprisingly little about whether the content of European Union legislation reflects the preferences of some Member States more than others. The few studies that have examined national bargaining success rates for EU legislation have conceptual and methodological weaknesses. To redress these problems I use a salience-weighted measure to gauge the relative success of Member States in translating their national preferences into legislation, and test two plausible, competing hypotheses about how the EU works: that no state consistently achieves more of what it really wants than any other, and that large Member States tend to beat small ones. Neither hypothesis receives empirical support. Not only do states differ far more significantly in their respective levels of bargaining success than previously recognised, but some of the smaller states are the ones that do especially well. The paper‟s main contribution -- demonstrating that the EU does not work as most people think it does -- sets the stage for new research questions, both positive and normative. In the last section I make a tentative start answering two of the most important: which factors explain the surprising empirical results, and whether differential national bargaining success might undermine the legitimacy of the integration process.

Robotic multiwell planar patch-clamp for native and primary mammalian cells

Robotic multiwell planar patch-clamp has become common in drug development and safety programs because it enables efficient and systematic testing of compounds against ion channels during voltage-clamp. It has not, however, been adopted significantly in other important areas of ion channel research, where conventional patch-clamp remains the favored method. Here, we show the wider potential of the multiwell approach with the ability for efficient intracellular solution exchange, describing protocols and success rates for recording from a range of native and primary mammalian cells derived from blood vessels, arthritic joints and the immune and central nervous systems. The protocol involves preparing a suspension of single cells to be dispensed robotically into 4-8 microfluidic chambers each containing a glass chip with a small aperture. Under automated control, giga-seals and whole-cell access are achieved followed by preprogrammed routines of voltage paradigms and fast extracellular or intracellular solution exchange. Recording from 48 chambers usually takes 1-6 h depending on the experimental design and yields 16-33 cell recordings.

Breeding success of Spotted Flycatchers Muscicapa striata in southern England - is woodland a good habitat for this species?

The UK population of the Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata has declined markedly in the last 30 years but there have been few recent studies of the species. This study examined the relationship between nest success and the predominant habitat type around Spotted Flycatcher nests in two contrasting areas of England. A breeding population in eastern England, a region where numbers of Spotted Flycatchers are known to have decreased dramatically in recent decades, was compared with another in southwest England, where numbers have remained stable or even increased. Whilst there was no difference in breeding success between the two study areas, there were significant differences between habitats, with garden nests more successful than those in farmland or woodland, at both egg and chick stages. Estimates of productivity per nesting attempt were also lower in farmland and woodland, with nests in gardens fledging twice as many chicks as those in either woodland or farmland. The proximate cause of lower success in farmland and woodland was higher nest predation rates during both egg and chick stages. In terms of nesting success, farmland and woodland appear to be similar in quality for this species, but both appear to be suboptimal habitats when compared with gardens, providing evidence of a problem on the breeding grounds for this species, in at least these two habitats.

Breeding success of Spotted Flycatchers Muscicapa striata in southern England - is woodland a good habitat for this species?

The UK population of the Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata has declined markedly in the last 30 years but there have been few recent studies of the species. This study examined the relationship between nest success and the predominant habitat type around Spotted Flycatcher nests in two contrasting areas of England. A breeding population in eastern England, a region where numbers of Spotted Flycatchers are known to have decreased dramatically in recent decades, was compared with another in southwest England, where numbers have remained stable or even increased. Whilst there was no difference in breeding success between the two study areas, there were significant differences between habitats, with garden nests more successful than those in farmland or woodland, at both egg and chick stages. Estimates of productivity per nesting attempt were also lower in farmland and woodland, with nests in gardens fledging twice as many chicks as those in either woodland or farmland. The proximate cause of lower success in farmland and woodland was higher nest predation rates during both egg and chick stages. In terms of nesting success, farmland and woodland appear to be similar in quality for this species, but both appear to be suboptimal habitats when compared with gardens, providing evidence of a problem on the breeding grounds for this species, in at least these two habitats.

Declining survival rates in a reintroduced population of the Mauritius kestrel: evidence for non-linear density dependence and environmental stochasticity

1. We studied a reintroduced population of the formerly critically endangered Mauritius kestrel Falco punctatus Temmink from its inception in 1987 until 2002, by which time the population had attained carrying capacity for the study area. Post-1994 the population received minimal management other than the provision of nestboxes. 2. We analysed data collected on survival (1987-2002) using program MARK to explore the influence of density-dependent and independent processes on survival over the course of the population's development. 3.We found evidence for non-linear, threshold density dependence in juvenile survival rates. Juvenile survival was also strongly influenced by climate, with the temporal distribution of rainfall during the cyclone season being the most influential climatic variable. Adult survival remained constant throughout. 4. Our most parsimonious capture-mark-recapture statistical model, which was constrained by density and climate, explained 75.4% of the temporal variation exhibited in juvenile survival rates over the course of the population's development. 5. This study is an example of how data collected as part of a threatened species recovery programme can be used to explore the role and functional form of natural population regulatory processes. With the improvements in conservation management techniques and the resulting success stories, formerly threatened species offer unique opportunities to further our understanding of the fundamental principles of population ecology.

Incubation success of released hand-reared pheasants Phasianus colchicus compared with wild ones

We investigated previously observed but unexplained differences in incubation success between wild and hand-reared common pheasants Phasianus colchicus. Hand-reared birds are widely released in late summer in Britain and elsewhere to supplement wild stocks for shooting purposes. We radio-tracked 53 wild and 35 previously released reared female pheasants occupying simultaneously the same areas on a game-keepered estate in eastern England between February and mid July 1999 and 2000. Predation of adult birds was comparatively low for both wild and reared birds, and overall survival did not differ between years or between groups. However, of 52 nests incubated by wild females 49% hatched, whereas of 30 nests incubated by reared pheasants only 22% hatched. Mayfield estimates of daily nest survival probability thus differed significantly between groups. However, predation of eggs was similar for both wild and reared birds. Instead the observed difference in hatch rates was due to nest abandonment, with more reared females (41%) deserting apparently unmolested nest sites than wild females (6%).