Functional benefits of predator species diversity depend on prey identity

1. Determining the functional significance of species diversity in natural enemy assemblages is a key step towards prediction of the likely impact of biodiversity loss on natural pest control processes. While the biological control literature contains examples in which increased natural enemy diversity hinders pest control, other studies have highlighted mechanisms where pest suppression is promoted by increased enemy diversity. 2. This study aimed to test whether increased predator species diversity results in higher rates of predation on two key, but contrasting, insect pest species commonly found in the rice ecosystems of south-east Asia. 3. Glasshouse experiments were undertaken in which four life stages of a planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) and a moth (Marasmia patnalis) were caged with single or three-species combinations of generalist predators. 4. Generally, predation rates of the three-species assemblages exceeded expectation when attacking M. patnalis, but not when attacking N. lugens. In addition, a positive effect of increased predator species richness on overall predation rate was found with M. patnalis but not with N. lugens. 5. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions that morphological and behavioural differentiation among prey life stages promotes functional complementarity among predator species. This indicates that emergent species diversity effects in natural enemy assemblages are context dependent; they depend not only on the characteristics of the predators species, but on the identity of the species on which they prey.

Crops and cultures in the Pacific: new data and new techniques for the investigation of old questions

Fifty years ago Carl Sauer suggested, controversially and on the basis of theory rather than evidence, that Southeast Asia was the source area for agriculture throughout the Old World, including the Pacific. Since then, the archaeobotanical record (macroscopic and microscopic) from the Pacific islands has increased, leading to suggestions, also still controversial, that Melanesia was a center of origin of agriculture independent of South-east Asia, based on tree fruits and nuts and vegetatively propagated starchy staples. Such crops generally lack morphological markers of domestication, so exploitation, cultivation and domestication cannot easily be distinguished in the archaeological record. Molecular studies involving techniques such as chromosome painting, DNA fingerprinting and DNA sequencing, can potentially complement the archaeological record by suggesting where species which were spread through the Pacific by man originated and by what routes they attained their present distributions. A combination of archaeobotanical and molecular studies should therefore eventually enable the rival claims of Melanesia versus South-east Asia as independent centers of invention of agriculture to be assessed.

Adapting to the effects of climate change on water supply reliability

This paper presents preliminary results from an assessment of the barriers to adaptation to water supply shortage in a case study catchment in south east England with multiple supply companies. The investigation applies a conceptual framework, which distinguishes between generic barriers affecting the ability of supply companies to make adaptation decisions, and specific barriers to the implementation of each option. The preliminary analysis suggests that whilst there is a widespread awareness of the challenge of climate change, and a conceptual understanding of the need for adaptation, some of the generic barriers that will affect detailed evaluations and actual adaptation decisions have yet to be approached. The analysis also shows that different individual adaptation options are assessed differently by different stakeholders, and that there are differences in the barriers to adoption between supply-side and demand-side measures. First, however, the paper develops the general conceptual framework for the characterisation of the barriers to adaptation used in the study.

Chemistry and biology of maculalactone A from the marine cyanobacterium Kyrtuthrix maculans

Maculalactone A is the most abundant secondary metabolite in Kyrtuthrix maculans, a marine cyanobacterium found in the mid-high shore of moderately exposed to sheltered rocky shores in Hong Kong and South East Asia. This species appears to survive as pure colonies forming distinct black zones on the rock. Maculalactone A may provide K. maculans with a chemical defense against several marine organisms, including the common grazer, Chlorostoma argyrostoma and settlement by larvae of the barnacles, Tetraclita japonica, Balanus amphitrite and Ibla cumingii. The natural concentration of maculalactone A varied with season and also with tidal height on the shore and although a strong positive linear correlation was observed between maculalactone A concentration and herbivore grazing pressure, manipulative experiments demonstrated that grazing pressure was not directly responsible for inducing the biosynthesis of this metabolite. The potential of maculalactone A as a natural marine anti-fouling agent (i.e. as an alternative to environmentally-damaging copper- and tin-based anti-fouling paints) was investigated after achieving a gram-scale synthesis of this compound. Preliminary field trials with anti-fouling paints which contained synthetic maculalactone A as the active principle have confirmed that this compound seems to have a specific activity against molluscan settlers.

Overseas trained teachers: part of a problem or part of a solution?

Overseas trained teachers (OTTs) have grown in numbers during the past decade, particularly in London and the South East of England. In this recruitment explosion many OTTs have experienced difficulties. In professional literature as well as press coverage OTTs often become part of a deficit discourse. A small-scale pilot investigation of OTT experience has begun to suggest why OTTs have been successful as well as the principal challenges they have faced. An important factor in their success was felt to be the quality of support in school from others on the staff. Major challenges included the complexity of the primary curriculum. The argument that globalisation leads to brain-drain may be exaggerated. Suggestions for further research are made, which might indicate the positive benefits OTTs can bring to a school.

Are the NICE guidelines for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder being used in primary care?

This study aims to: 1) assess the proportion of General Practioners (GPs) who are aware of or who have read the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE; 2005a) guidelines for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), 2) compare this with the proportion of other mental health disorders found by previous research and 3) establish the prevalence of OCD in primary care. Questionnaires were sent to all GPs (n = 795) and practice managers (n = 157) in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, South East England. These contained 19 questions and took 5 min to complete. After the first set of responses, larger practices were visited and telephoned to encourage further responses. The response rates were 10.1% from GPs and 19.1% from practice managers. In all, 48.7% of the GPs were aware of the NICE guidelines for OCD and 30.3% reported that they had read them – higher than for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but lower than for depression. Of registered patients, 0.2% were diagnosed with OCD, lower than the 1.1% found in epidemiological studies.

Designing and implementing livestock value chain studies: a practical aid for Highly Pathogenic and Emerging Disease (HPED) control

Value chain studies, including production system and market chain studies, are essential to value chain analysis, which when coupled with disease risk analysis is a powerful tool to identify key constraints and opportunities for disease control based on risk management in a livestock production and marketing system. Several production system and market chain studies have been conducted to support disease control interventions in South East Asia. This practical aid summarizes experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of such value chain studies in South East Asia. Based on these experiences it prioritizes the required data for the respective purpose of a value chain study and recommends data collection as well as data analysis tools. This practical aid is intended as an adjunct to the FAO value chain approach and animal diseases risk management guidelines document. Further practical advice is provided for more effective use of value chain studies in South and South East Asia as part of animal health decision support.

Think local, act local? Issues of co-ordination and integration in Local Agenda 21

The political response to the complex package of environmental problems which threaten the future of our planet has been to introduce a new agenda of environmental action based on the principles of sustainability and subsidiarity. This has been crystallised in world agreements signed at the Earth Summit in Rio. One of these, Agenda 21, calls for the governments and communities of the world to prepare action plans for their areas which can build consensus between the various stakeholder groups and feed the principles of sustainable development back into their policies and day-to-day practices. This paper explores the experience of Local Agenda 21 type processes at three levels in the South East of England: the regional, county (sub-regional) and local level. In particular it undertakes a critical appraisal of the success of these participatory and consensus-building exercises in developing an integrated and co-ordinated approach to environmental action planning. It concludes that, although much useful work has been done in raising awareness and modifying policy and practice, there are significant cultural and institutional barriers which are hindering progress.

Testing the statistical significance of sector & regional diversification

The question as to whether it is better to diversify a real estate portfolio within a property type across the regions or within a region across the property types is one of continuing interest for academics and practitioners alike. The current study, however, is somewhat different from the usual sector/regional analysis taking account of the fact that holdings in the UK real estate market are heavily concentrated in a single region, London. As a result this study is designed to investigate whether a real estate fund manager can obtain a statistically significant improvement in risk/return performance from extending out of a London based portfolio into firstly the rest of the South East of England and then into the remainder of the UK, or whether the manger would be better off staying within London and diversifying across the various property types. The results indicating that staying within London and diversifying across the various property types may offer performance comparable with regional diversification, although this conclusion largely depends on the time period and the fund manager’s ability to diversify efficiently.

The implications of the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy reforms for land use and landscape quality in England

The assessment of the potential landscape impacts of the latest Common Agricultural Policy reforms constitutes a challenge for policy makers and it requires the development of models that can reliably project the likely spatial distribution of land uses. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of 2003 CAP reforms to land uses and rural landscapes across England. For this purpose we modified an existing economic model of agriculture, the Land-Use Allocation Model (LUAM) to provide outputs at a scale appropriate for informing a semi-quantitative landscape assessment at the level of ‘Joint Character Areas’ (JCAs). Overall a decline in the cereal and oilseed production area is projected but intensive arable production will persist in specific locations (East of England, East Midlands and South East), having ongoing negative effects on the character of many JCAs. The impacts of de-coupling will be far more profound on the livestock sector; extensification of production will occur in traditional mixed farming regions (e.g. the South West), a partial displacement of cattle by sheep in the upland regions and an increase in the sheep numbers is expected in the lowlands (South East, Eastern and East Midlands). This extensification process will affect positively those JCAs of mixed farming conditions, but it will have negative impacts on the JCAs of historically low intensity farming (e.g. the uplands of north-west) because they will suffer from under-management and land idling. Our analysis shows that the territorialisation between intensively and extensively agricultural landscapes will continue.

The impact of installer business models on the uptake of residential microgeneration in the UK: Evidence from a nation-wide survey

This paper arises from a doctoral thesis comparing the impact of alternative installer business models on the rate at which microgeneration is taken up in homes and installation standards across the UK. The paper presents the results of the first large-scale academic survey of businesses certified to install residential microgeneration. The aim is to systematically capture those characteristics which define the business model of each surveyed company, and relate these to the number, location and type of technologies that they install, and the quality of these installations. The methodology comprised a pilot web survey of 235 certified installer businesses, which was carried out in June last year and achieved a response rate of 30%. Following optimisation of the design, the main web survey was emailed to over 2000 businesses between October and December 2011, with 317 valid responses received. The survey is being complemented during summer 2012 by semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of installers who completed the main survey. The survey results are currently being analysed. The early results indicate an emerging and volatile market where solar PV, solar hot water and air source heat pumps are the dominant technologies. Three quarters of respondents are founders of their installer business, while only 22 businesses are owned by another company. Over half of the 317 businesses have five employees or less, while 166 businesses are no more than four years old. In addition, half of the businesses stated that 100% of their employees work on microgeneration-related activities. 85% of the surveyed companies have only one business location in the UK. A third of the businesses are based either in the South West or South East regions of England. This paper outlines the interim results of the survey combined with the outcomes from additional interviews with installers to date. The research identifies some of the business models underpinning microgeneration installers and some of the ways in which installer business models impact on the rate and standards of microgeneration uptake. A tentative conclusion is that installer business models are profoundly dependent on the levels and timing of support from the UK Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Heat Incentive.

Ranking of interventions to reduce dwelling overheating during heatwaves

Extreme weather events, including heatwaves, are predicted to increase in both frequency and severity over the coming decades. Low house building rates and a growing population mean there is a need to adapt existing dwellings. Research presented here uses dynamic thermal simulation to model the effect of passive heatwave mitigating interventions for UK dwellings. Interventions include a range of additions and modifications to solar shading, insulation and ventilation. Results are presented for typical end and mid terrace houses, with four orientations, two occupancy profiles and using weather data from the 2003 heatwave. Results show the effectiveness of interventions that reduce solar gains through the building fabric, such as external wall insulation and solar reflective coatings. Internal wall insulation is shown to be less effective and can increase the overheating problem in some cases. Control of solar gains through glazing, using shutters and fixed shading, are also effective, particularly for south, east and west-facing rooms. Results are also presented which demonstrate how it is possible to select combinations of interventions that both eliminate overheating and reduce space heating energy use. The cost of interventions is also considered in the final analysis.

Regulation of surface water quality in a Cretaceous chalk catchment, UK: an assessment of the relative importance of instream and wetland processes

To investigate the relative importance of instream nutrient spiralling and wetland transformation processes on surface water quality, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations in a 200 m reach of the River Lambourn in the south-east of England were monitored over a 2-year period. In addition, the soil pore water nutrient dynamics in a riparian ecosystem adjacent to the river were investigated. Analysis of variance indicated that TN, TP and suspended sediment concentrations recorded upstream of the wetland were statistically significantly higher (P<0.05) than those downstream of the site. Such results suggest that the wetland was performing a nutrient retention function. Indeed, analysis of soil pore waters within the site show that up to 85% of TN and 70% of TP was removed from water flowing through the wetland during baseflow conditions, thus supporting the theory that the wetland played an important role in the regulation of surface water quality at the site. However, the small variations observed (0.034 mg TN l-1 and 0.031 mg P l-1) are consistent with the theory of nutrient spiralling suggesting that both instream and wetland retention processes have a causal effect on surface water quality.

Bohemian graduates in the UK: disciplines and location determinants for entering creative careers

The human capital and regional economic development literature has become increasingly interested in the role of the ‘Bohemian occupations’ on economic growth. Using UK higher education student micro-data, we investigate the characteristics and location determinants of creative (bohemian) graduates. We examine three specific sub-groups: creative arts & design graduates; creative media graduates; other creative graduates. We find these disciplines influence the ability of graduates to enter creative occupations and be successful in the labour market. We also highlight the role of geography, with London and the South East emerging as hubs for studying and providing Bohemian graduates with more labour market opportunities.