1,721,095 research outputs found
Implications for biodiversity of the deployment of commercial scale short rotation willow coppice
No full textWillow short rotation coppice (SRC) is seen as an important renewable energy source within temperate regions including the UK and its deployment within the agri-environment is supported by a number of goverment policies. Willow SRC represents a significant land use change and its deployment has raised questions regarding the possible impacts on biodiversity and the delivery of ecosystem services. This work assessed the impact of three commercial willow SRC plantations on ecosystem processes through the use of herbivory, decomposition and predation bioassays. Comparisons were also made between the willow SRC plantations and the abundance and diversity of: summer ground flora and winged invertebrates in the alternative land use options of set-aside and cereal crops; predatory ground invertebrates and small mammals in winter wheat and barely. In comparison to cereal crops the willow SRC plantations contained a higher abundance and species richness of ground flora and small mammals, and a higher abundance and family richness of predatory ground invertebrates. Ground flora richness was higher in the set-aside land than within the willow SRC. The ground flora community within the willow SRC was markedly different to both set aside and arable land with a shift from an annual and ruderal to competitive and perennial dominated community. The composition of winged invertebrate Orders also varied between the land uses with higher numbers of Hymenoptera and Hemiptera trapped within the willow SRC plantations than within the arable and set-aside land. No differences were detected on rates of predation on invertebrate prey, seedling herbivory and decomposition between willow SRC and set-aside land. In comparison to cereal crops higher rates of decomposition and higher rates of predation by small mammals in the autumn were recorded in willow SRC. Overall the results suggest that, willow SRC plantations may benefit farm-scale biodiversity by providing a habitat where plants and animals that are uncommon on alternative land use can persist. Moreover positive effects on the species richness of small mammals and the abundance and richness of predatory invertebrates may have positive implication for natural pest control both within willow SRC plantations and possibly on surrounding landscape. Comparisons to set-aside did, however, highlight that willow SRC is not a panacea for all species and care must be taken in the location and fraction of the landscape that is devoted to this cro
Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity
No full textKohli, Brooks A, Rowe, Rebecca J (2019): Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity. Journal of Mammalogy 100 (2): 285-298, DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz054, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz05
Identifying potential environmental impacts of large-scale deployment of dedicated bioenergy crops in the UK
No full textThere is momentum, globally, to increase the use of plant biomass for the production of heat, power and liquid transport fuels. This review assesses the evidence base for potential impacts of large-scale bioenergy crop deployment principally within the UK context, but with wider implications for Europe, the USA and elsewhere. We focus on second generation, dedicated lignocellulosic crops, but where appropriate draw comparison with current first-generation oil and starch crops, often primarily grown for food.For lignocellulosic crops, positive effects on soil properties, biodiversity, energy balance, greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, carbon footprint and visual impact are likely, when growth is compared to arable crops. Compared to replacement of set-aside and permanent unimproved grassland, benefits are less apparent. For hydrology, strict guidelines on catchment management must be enforced to ensure detrimental effects do not occur to hydrological resources. The threat of climate change suggests that action will be required to ensure new genotypes are available with high water use efficiency and that catchment-scale management is in place to secure these resources in future. In general, for environmental impacts, less is known about the consequences of large-scale deployment of the C4 grass Miscanthus, compared to short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and poplar, including effects on biodiversity and hydrology and this requires further research.Detailed consideration of GHG mitigation and energy balance for both crop growth and utilization suggest that perennial crops are favoured over annual crops, where energy balances may be poor. Similarly, crops for heat and power generation, especially combined heat and power (CHP), are favoured over the production of liquid biofuels. However, it is recognized that in contrast to heat and power, few alternatives exist for liquid transportation fuels at present and research to improve the efficiency and energy balance of liquid transport fuel production from lignocellulosic sources is a high current priority.Although SRC, and to a lesser extent energy grasses such as Miscanthus, may offer significant benefits for the environment, this potential will only be realized if landscape-scale issues are effectively managed and the whole chain of crop growth and utilization is placed within a regulatory framework where sustainability is a central driver. Land resource in the UK and throughout Europe will limit the contribution that crops can make to biofuel and other renewable targets, providing a strong driver to consider sustainability in a global context.<br/
Embedding the delivery of antenatal vaccination within routine antenatal care: a key opportunity to improve uptake
No full textImproving the uptake of vaccination in pregnancy has been highlighted as a priority by the World Health Organisation, yet establishing the optimal location for delivery of the antenatal vaccination program remains a topic of debate internationally. In many countries, antenatal vaccines are usually delivered within Primary Care (under the lead of general practitioners [GPs] or family physicians), yet this often presents a logistic barrier to accessing vaccination, and increasing evidence demonstrates that embedding vaccination within routine antenatal care visits may significantly improve uptake. In this commentary, we discuss recent evidence to support this approach, including anonymous feedback from patients and staff at our own institution, in which a dedicated midwife-led vaccine clinic has recently been set up. Furthermore, we highlight a number of individual and institution-level barriers which would need addressing before this approach can be routinely adopted, and suggest targets for future education and research
Fig. 2 in Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity
No full textFig. 2.—Morphospace derived from phylogenetic discriminant function analysis (DFA) based on eight craniodental measurements for 32 small mammal species. The first two discriminant functions (DF) account for 93.8% of the morphological variation. The percentage explained by each DF is included in the axis labels. Points are labeled with species abbreviations corresponding to Appendix I. Shape and color of points correspond to the diet group predicted for each species based on size-corrected morphology (see key in upper right-hand corner). Polygons are convex hulls showing the distribution of the predicted diet groups in morphospace. Species whose diets were misclassified (predicted diet group did not match a priori diet category; n = 8) are indicated with an asterisk.Published as part of Kohli, Brooks A & Rowe, Rebecca J, 2019, Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity, pp. 285-298 in Journal of Mammalogy 100 (2) on page 290, DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz054, http://zenodo.org/record/785053
Fig. 1 in Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity
No full textFig. 1.—Boxplots showing variation within and among habitat guilds for the relative medullary thickness (RMT) of the kidney (A) and hair density (B) as well as hair density among geographic affinity groups (C). Plotted values are the log-transformed values for 32 species of small mammals. Asterisks indicate significantly different means among groups from tests accounting for phylogenetic relatedness and covariation in body size. Letters identify groups that differed in nonphylogenetic tests. The RMT mesichabitat guild contains two outliers: Neotoma cinerea (bushy-tailed woodrat) above the group average and Sorex navigator (western water shrew) below the group average. For hair density, the mesichabitat outlier is N. cinerea.Published as part of Kohli, Brooks A & Rowe, Rebecca J, 2019, Beyond guilds: the promise of continuous traits for mammalian functional diversity, pp. 285-298 in Journal of Mammalogy 100 (2) on page 289, DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz054, http://zenodo.org/record/785053
A systematic review of life cycle assessments of bioenergy chains for heat, power and liquid transportation fuel
No full textLife cycle assessments (LCAs) have been used broadly throughout the bioenergy sector, primarily to assess greenhouse gas emissions and energy balances of various energy production chains. However, variations in methodology and reporting of LCAs often make results incomparable. To compare LCA results, it is necessary to dismantle each individual LCA and reassemble it using set units and stating precise system boundaries. This has been done for numerous biomass-to-energy chains, including biomass for heat, power and liquid transport fuels. Summarising these reassembled LCAs into production-chain specific diagrams allows simple comparison between production chains, but more importantly highlights the process steps with the greatest impact or variation
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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