How much flower-rich habitat is enough for wild pollinators? Answering a key policy question with incomplete knowledge.

In 2013, an opportunity arose in England to develop an agri-environment package for wild pollinators, as part of the new Countryside Stewardship scheme launched in 2015. It can be understood as a 'policy window', a rare and time-limited opportunity to change policy, supported by a narrative about pollinator decline and widely supported mitigating actions. An agri-environment package is a bundle of management options that together supply sufficient resources to support a target group of species. This paper documents information that was available at the time to develop such a package for wild pollinators. Four questions needed answering: (1) Which pollinator species should be targeted? (2) Which resources limit these species in farmland? (3) Which management options provide these resources? (4) What area of each option is needed to support populations of the target species? Focussing on wild bees, we provide tentative answers that were used to inform development of the package. There is strong evidence that floral resources can limit wild bee populations, and several sources of evidence identify a set of agri-environment options that provide flowers and other resources for pollinators. The final question could only be answered for floral resources, with a wide range of uncertainty. We show that the areas of some floral resource options in the basic Wild Pollinator and Farmland Wildlife Package (2% flower-rich habitat and 1 km flowering hedgerow), are sufficient to supply a set of six common pollinator species with enough pollen to feed their larvae at lowest estimates, using minimum values for estimated parameters where a range was available. We identify key sources of uncertainty, and stress the importance of keeping the Package flexible, so it can be revised as new evidence emerges about how to achieve the policy aim of supporting pollinators on farmland.LVD was funded by NERC (NE/K015419/1), CC by Defra and Natural England (flower density data); MB and CC by BBSRC Defra, NERC, the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust under the Insect Pollinators Initiative (BB/I000925/1 and Agriland - BB/H014934/1).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/een.1222

Landscape effects on nest site selection and nest success of Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in lowland wet grasslands

Capsule: Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus avoid nesting close to small woodland patches but nest predation rates do not vary with distance to woodland patches, either because risky areas are avoided or perceived nest predation risk does not reflect actual risk. Aims: To explore the effects of woodland patches in wet grassland landscapes on nest distribution and success of Lapwings. Methods: We quantified the effect of woodland patches on the distribution and outcome of Lapwing nests across four wet grassland sites by mapping nest distribution and monitoring nest outcomes. Results: Lapwing nested significantly further from woods than expected by chance. Neither nest predation rates nor the probability of predation occurring at night (thus primarily mammalian predators) or day (primarily avian predators) varied in relation to distance from woodland patches. Conclusions: High levels of nest and chick predation in wet grassland landscapes limit the capacity for breeding wader populations to be self-sustaining. Consequently, identifying manageable landscape features that influence predation rates is an important focus of conservation research. Lapwing avoid breeding close to woodland but, as nest predation rates do not vary with distance from woodland patches, their removal may increase the area of suitable nesting habitat but is unlikely to substantially influence productivity

From Ovid to Covid: The metamorphosis of Advanced Decisions to Refuse Treatment into a safeguarding issue

Purpose This paper aims to examine Advance Decisions to Refuse Treatment (ADRTs) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider the development of ADRTs, the lack of take up and confusion among the general public, clinicians and health and social care staff. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a conceptual piece that reflects on ADRTs in the particular context of COVID-19. It considers professional concerns and pronouncements on ADRTs. Findings ADRTs have a low take up currently. There is misunderstanding among public and professionals. There is a need for raising awareness, developing practice and a need to allay fears of misuse and abuse of ADRTs in clinical, health and social care settings. Originality This paper is original in considering ADRTs as a safeguarding issue from two perspectives: that of the person making the ADRT and being confident in respect for the decisions made, and of clinicians and other professionals being reflexively aware of the need to accept advance decisions and not acting according to unconscious biases in times of crisis. Practical implications We make recommendations that reflexive training and awareness becomes the norm in health and social care, that reform of ADRTs is undertaken to prevent misunderstandings and that the person becomes central in all decision-making processes

Brittle Temperature of Rubber under Variable Stress

Abstract 1. The temperature at which natural and synthetic elastomers fracture on bending depends on the rate of application and the magnitude of the stress applied. The slower the rate of bending and the less the angle of bend, the lower will be the temperature of fracture. 2. A study of the stresses under varying types of service at subzero temperatures must be made in order to select intelligently the laboratory test conditions which will best simulate performance in the field. 3. In the case of synthetic elastomers having high fracture temperatures, the addition of certain types of plasticizers serve to correct this difficulty.</jats:p

Brittle Point of Rubber on Freezing

Abstract The need for a simple method of determining brittle points which would be adaptable to a large number of materials led the writers to develop the apparatus described below. There is presented here, for the first time, brittle point data on certain natural and synthetic rubber compositions. The study of the variation with temperature of the mechanical properties of elastomers is of immediate practical and theoretical interest. Recently Kistler attempted a correlation of temperature-strength data of polymers with their chemical structure. On the other hand, the increasing use of synthetic high polymers at low temperatures for insulation and mechanical purposes requires a more complete knowledge of their behavior under conditions of extreme cold. The determination of the brittle point offers a simple method for investigating the possible use of a new material at low temperatures. In 1928 Kohman and Peek described a method whereby a small strip of material at a known temperature was bent quickly through 90° by a hammer blow. They found that within rather wide limits the brittle temperature was independent of the sample dimensions and bending angle, but that a high rate of deformation was necessary for reproducible results. The brittle point was found to be definite and reproducible within ±2° C for the materials studied. Using this method, Kemp determined the brittle point range of crude and vulcanized rubber, balata, guttapercha, and paragutta.</jats:p

Implementing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as mindfulness skills courses offered as an adjunct to individual therapy: a feasibility and effectiveness study of mixed staff and patient groups in secondary care

There is growing evidence regarding the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions offered to diagnostically diverse groups of participants. This study examined the feasibility and effectiveness of adapted Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) groups offered to NHS patients in a secondary-care Psychology and Psychotherapy Service. The group was run as an adjunct to individual therapy and accepted referrals from all therapists in the service, so participants had experienced a range of therapeutic approaches prior to attending the group. The nine groups run during the project also included staff participants, as part of a capacity-building strategy. Results indicate high levels of acceptability, with low drop-out rates. Standardized outcome measures were used to examine the effectiveness of the group, and patient participants demonstrated improvements which were statistically significant. Qualitative feedback from group participants and referrers was positive. The findings support implementation of MBCT as part of a package of psychological therapy interventions. Further research regarding this form of MBCT is discussed

Comparison of Natural and Synthetic Hard Rubbers

Abstract The wartime replacement of natural rubber by synthetics required an unusual expenditure of effort by the hard rubber industry in a short time. At first, curtailment of normal production, coupled with War Production Board restrictions of formulations, mitigated the urgency for synthetic hard rubber research. It soon became evident, however, that a complete line of synthetic hard rubbers would be desirable. These materials could be fabricated with standard rubber processing equipment, and would offer physical and electrical equivalents for the various grades of natural hard rubber developed during nearly a century. A program was started in these laboratories with the realization that rapid progress might be difficult; research on the compounding of natural hard rubber over the years had failed to produce improvements in overall properties compared with the original “ebonites”. The latter, according to the accepted nomenclature, are simple mixtures of rubber with large proportions of sulfur vulcanized by heating until chemical saturation of the rubber is almost complete. The first approach to the problem was through a study of vulcanizing characteristics and through examination of the hard products resulting from the reaction of sulfur with butadiene-styrene copolymers. As the program progressed, the work was extended to cover the processing of GR-S for ebonite fabrication and the compounding of GR-S hard rubbers for specific applications. Studies also were conducted relating to the compounding and processing of hard nitrile rubbers, and new tests were developed to suplement standard procedures used in the physical evaluation of hard rubbers.</jats:p