Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Oak processionary moth ( Thaumetopoea processionea ) (OPM) Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae) is a serious forestry pest and risk to public health in the UK. The economic and environmental cost of chemical pesticides in managing OPM has driven the need for sustainable, strategies which fit into integrated pest management frameworks, including the use of novel biocontrol methods such as conservation biocontrol. Carcelia iliaca Ratzeburg, 1840 (Diptera: Tachinidae), a specific parasitoid of OPM, is currently the main biocontrol agent of the UK OPM population. However, basic information on C. iliaca life history and rates of parasitism are currently lacking, partly driven by the risks OPM pose to human health, making both study and incorporation of biocontrol into management plans difficult. Here, we design and validate a molecular diagnostic assay based on loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to detect C. iliaca from OPM larval tissue samples collected in the field, overcoming the challenges of studying problematic invasive species such as these. To assess assay performance, diagnostic sensitivity, which was 91%, and specificity, which was 75%, are used alongside limit of detection (600 pg). We discuss the wider applications for LAMP as a cost‐effective tool for studying the natural enemies of insect pests which can be used to inform conservation biocontrol management strategies.

Untangling the patterns and proximate drivers of intraspecific genetic and phenotypic structuring informs our understanding of the evolutionary processes shaping diversity. This study investigated morphological and genetic structuring of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) populations across varying spatial scales in a single, complex, dendritic river catchment and examined the potential natural and anthropogenic environmental features driving this structuring. Morphometric and hierarchical genetic structuring analyses of fish from 22 sampling sites in the River Foyle catchment, Ireland (~ 4500km²) identified 19 morphologically distinct groups and 15 genetically distinct populations, separated by river distances ranging from 0.4 km to 188 km. Isolation by Distance was the main factor shaping both genetic and morphological divergence, indicating that strong philopatry is one of the major drivers of the observed population structuring in this system. However, both natural and anthropogenic environmental variables also explained pairwise genetic and morphological differences between sampling sites. Thus, the pairwise differences in the area of woodland in the upstream catchment, water phosphorus concentration, biological oxygen demand, catchment slope, urban area in upstream catchment, altitude, site specific percentage of canopy cover and dissolved oxygen concentration in the river channel were correlated with genetic divergence. The pairwise differences in the concentration of suspended solids, the extent of bankside overhang, the composition of bedrock, boulder and cobble substrates, watercourse width, catchment slope and site altitude were correlated with between-site morphological differences. We hypothesise that local differential selection pressures comprising both natural environmental variation and variation resulting from anthropogenic effects, in combination with strong philopatry and random genetic processes drive the clearly defined genetic and phenotypic patterns described here.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a major disease of cattle in the UK, placing a significant economic burden on the taxpayer. The causative agent, Mycobacterium bovis , has a wide host range, including the European badger ( Meles meles) . While badgers have been implicated in the transmission and maintenance of infection in cattle in areas of endemic disease, their role at the edge of the endemic area is poorly understood. Here we present data on the prevalence of infection in badgers collected along the southern edge of England’s bTB epidemic. Stakeholders across five counties (Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and East Sussex) submitted found-dead badgers for post-mortem examination and testing by bacterial culture. The overall prevalence, as confirmed by whole genome sequencing, was 6.5% (28/428), ranging between 1.1% (1/88) in Hampshire and 13.0% (14/108) in Oxfordshire. The commonest M. bovis clade in badgers was B6-62, which was predominant in 4/5 counties. B6-62 was also the commonest clade found in cattle and was detected in all counties except East Sussex where, although absent from the cattle population, it was detected in local badgers. This study highlights the co-incidence of infection in badgers and cattle in parts of the southern edge area consistent with localised clustering of infection in both species.

Tropilaelaps spp. are invasive mites that cause severe disease in Apis mellifera colonies. The UK has deployed an elaborate surveillance system that seeks to detect these mites early in any invasion to allow the best opportunity to eradicate any incursion. Effective field and laboratory protocols, capable of reliably detecting low numbers of mites, are key to the success of any intervention. Here we compared the efficacy of established field monitoring using brood removal with an uncapping fork, and brood ‘bump’ methods with novel methods for Tropilaelaps detection modified from Varroa monitoring schemes. In addition, we monitored the efficacy of the laboratory method for screening for mites in hive debris by floating mites in ethanol. Our results clearly indicated that novel methods such as uncapping infested brood with tweezers, catching mite drop using sticky traps and rolling adult bees in icing sugar were all significantly more likely to detect Tropilaelaps than existing methods such as using an uncapping fork on infested brood, or the brood ‘bump’ method. Existing laboratory protocols that sieved hive debris and then floated the mite containing layer failed to detect Tropilaelaps mites and new efficacious protocols were developed. Our results demonstrated that the national surveillance protocols for Tropilaelaps mite detection required modification to improve the early detection of this damaging invasive mite.

Organic food systems are recognised as an important component in meeting United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. A leverage points perspective can help to identify approaches which have the potential to facilitate transformative systemic change towards organic and sustainable farming. Using fuzzy cognitive maps developed from expert stakeholder opinions, we modelled a system of drivers of organic food production and consumption in the United Kingdom, according to the UN Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture systems framework. The most influential concepts in the uptake of organic systems were related to system norms and values and social structures, such as short-term economic thinking, landowner engagement, and relationships with certification bodies. However, in a scenario analysis, organic stakeholders identified relatively shallower leverage points as more likely to change under a sustainable future, resulting in limited systemic change. This demonstrates the need for policies targeting system norms, values and social structures relating to food systems to facilitate the transition to organic and sustainable farming.

Populations of anadromous brown trout, also known as sea trout, have suffered recent marked declines in abundance due to multiple factors, including climate change and human activities. While much is known about their freshwater phase, less is known about the species' marine feeding migrations. This situation is hindering the effective management and conservation of anadromous trout in the marine environment. Using a panel of 95 single nucleotide polymorphism markers we developed a genetic baseline, which demonstrated strong regional structuring of genetic diversity in trout populations around the English Channel and adjacent waters. Extensive baseline testing showed this structuring allowed high‐confidence assignment of known‐origin individuals to region of origin. This study presents new data on the movements of anadromous trout in the English Channel and southern North Sea. Assignment of anadromous trout sampled from 12 marine and estuarine localities highlighted contrasting results for these areas. The majority of these fisheries are composed predominately of stocks local to the sampling location. However, there were multiple cases of long‐distance movements of anadromous trout, with several individuals originating from rivers in northeast England being caught in the English Channel and southern North Sea, in some cases more than 1000 km from their natal region. These results have implications for the management of sea trout in inshore waters around the English Channel and southern North Sea.

Peat‐forming wet woodlands (forested wetlands) are naturally occurring carbon‐dense ecosystems that have considerable potential to form an important part of net zero woodland establishment and peatland strategies, as well as provide crucial co‐benefits to restore biodiversity and regulate hydrological systems. Despite their potential, temperate peat‐forming wet woodlands have been widely lost, are critically understudied and are being overlooked in land‐use strategies. Unlike temperate ‘dry’ woodlands, some wet woodlands are peat forming and can store large amounts of carbon below‐ground in peat in addition to the carbon in the tree biomass. The complex structure of these peat‐forming wet woodlands creates high abiotic heterogeneity, resulting in a wide variety of microhabitats to support high levels of biodiversity, and this structural complexity can also increase water storage in the landscape and slow flood flows, providing natural flood protection. Co‐written by experts in academia and UK Government, we highlight critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of peat‐forming wet woodlands that, once addressed, could form the basis for radical changes to their inclusion in net zero and land‐use policies. Policy and practice implications: The significant role that peatland restoration has to play in reaching net zero presents an immediate policy opportunity to consider the full range of ecosystems to achieve net zero targets, while protecting and enhancing socio‐ecological sustainability. In co‐writing this paper, our aim is to stimulate discussion and sharing of knowledge between those involved in research, policy and practice in order to strengthen the evidence base for peat‐forming wet woodland re‐establishment and future management. We call on researchers, policymakers and land managers to take temperate wet woodlands from understudied and overlooked, to integrated ecosystems that hold great promise in the contributions they can make as nature‐based solutions.

When addressing global development, it is imperative to recognize the relationship between food security and child mortality. Despite the targeted goals of SDGs 2 (zero hunger) and 3 (good health and well-being), Nigeria continues to grapple with relatively high rates of child malnutrition, alongside persistent challenges in child mortality and food insecurity that affect its population significantly. This study employed the Nigeria Living Standard Survey (NLSS) dataset with 11,655 households to estimate the impact of food (in)security on child mortality using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The study shows that food insecurity is predominant in the rural northern and urban southern part of Nigeria. Child mortality rates were found to be influenced by various factors such as maternal education, maternal age, geopolitical zones, place of residence, and access to healthcare facilities, showcasing a complex interplay of positive and negative impacts. The empirical estimates revealed that households’ food insecurity had a significant impact on child mortality in Nigeria. Hence, in order to achieve the SDG’s 2 and 3 in Nigeria, a more concerted effort should be geared towards food security and child mortality among the Nigerian rural and urban communities. The insights from this study underscore the importance of prioritizing interventions that drives food security, enhancing nutritional access, and tackling underlying social determinants to substantially reduce child mortality rates. It is imperative for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and communities to integrate complementarity approaches in developing sustainable solutions that safeguard the well-being and prospects of Nigeria's children.

In the context of risk analysis, horizon scanning activity is a necessary component of any foresight process. This applies also to the specific context of biological invasions, supported and accelerated by climate change and global trade. Today, various institutions and research centres are equipped with a set of tools and methods for early warning on emerging threats. In the case of plant pests, web signals, trade data, community science data and sentinel plants are important sources of information, then analysed and elaborated through multicriteria approaches. The scope of this paper is to provide an overview of current practices, highlighting strengths and shortcomings, and to inform future research and policy initiatives about opportunities to address global change in this field.

The evaluation of the potential for newly arrived species to survive and the determination whether a founder population can become established and subsequently spread and cause negative impacts are crucial considerations when performing a pest risk assessment in plant health. Climate change has clear consequences concerning the potential range of pests, and their potential for spread and impacts. Despite its importance, no guidance exists to support the evaluation of whether and how climate change should be incorporated into pest risk assessment. This paper reviews how climate change has been considered so far, not only in the area of pest risk assessment but also in other domains and provides guidance on how its incorporation could affect the overall assessment. Furthermore, from this analysis, some possible solutions for incorporating climate change into pest risk assessment are provided, taking into account that its outcomes have profound political, economic, social and environmental implications.

Climate change is widely recognized as a critical global challenge with far-reaching consequences. It affects pest species by altering their population dynamics, actual and potential distribution areas, as well as interactions with their hosts and natural enemies. Climate change thus has potentially important implications for multiple areas of the pest risk analysis (PRA) process. The importance of including climate change in PRA may vary depending on the climatic context of the PRA area in relation to the speed of climate change. If climatic changes within the time horizon of interest are minimal, their potential impact on pest risk is reduced accordingly. For PRAs in a changing climate, we need to be concerned with how future climates could alter our assessment of the risks currently posed by each pest species. While climate can influence the distribution and abundance of pests and hosts alike, its significance will vary depending on the situation. The inclusion of climate change within a PRA also presents challenges. The dynamic nature of climate change, with its complex interactions and uncertainties, can make it difficult to predict and assess the future risks posed by pests accurately. Uncertainties related to future predictions may be much greater than the potential effects associated with climate change and species’ responses to it. This paper outlines examples of the effects of climate change on hosts and different groups of pests, including invertebrates, pathogens, weeds and vector species. The aim is to review the opportunities and challenges of incorporating climate change into PRA, offering insights for a variety of stakeholders including policymakers on this topic.

As part of the 2020–2030 strategic framework for the International Plant Protection Convention, a focus group on climate change was established in 2021. The focus group includes scientists and plant health officials from around the world. The group has been raising awareness of the importance of climate change to plant health, promoting the consideration of climate change in all IPPC activities and drafting technical resources for NPPOs. The group is due to continue its activities until 2025.

The prevailing climatic conditions found in a region are the primary determinant of the suitability of that area to support pests and diseases. Pest risk assessment is the primary biosecurity tool used to assess that suitability, but the changing climatic conditions owing to greenhouse gas emissions are rarely considered. Future changes in temperature and rainfall patterns may make the environmental suitability of a region more or less favourable for existing populations and cause populations to move to other regions where those pests and diseases may not be established. Future projections of climate change are uncertain, which makes it challenging to incorporate climate change into pest risk analysis, but aspects of human psychology can help us think about how to communicate the risks within the constraints of those uncertainties more effectively. Here we review the broad trends, magnitude and uncertainties of climate change, and the interpretation of climate change scenarios, and make recommendations for appropriate framing and communication of the future risks posed by climate change within pest risk assessments.

One promising account for autism is implicit mentalizing difficulties. However, this account and even the existence of implicit mentalizing have been challenged because the replication results are mixed. Those unsuccessful replications may be due to the task contexts not being sufficiently evaluative. Therefore, the current study developed a more evaluative paradigm by implementing a prompt question. This was assessed in 60 non-autistic adults and compared with a non-prompt version. Additionally, parents of autistic children are thought to show a genetic liability to autistic traits and cognition and often report mental health problems, but the broader autism phenotype (BAP) is an under-researched area. Thus, we also aimed to compare 33 BAP and 26 non-BAP mothers on mentalizing abilities, autistic traits, compensation and mental health. Our results revealed that more evaluative contexts can facilitate implicit mentalizing in BAP and non-BAP populations, and thus improve task reliability and replicability. Surprisingly, BAP mothers showed better implicit mentalizing but worse mental health than non-BAP mothers, which indicates the heterogeneity in the broader autism phenotype and the need to promote BAP mothers’ psychological resilience. The findings underscore the importance of contexts for implicit mentalizing and the need to profile mentalizing and mental health in BAP parents.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b has been detected in great skuas ( Stercorarius skua ) across different colonies on islands off the shore of Scotland, Great Britain during summer 2021. Of eight skuas submitted for post-mortem examination, seven have been confirmed as being infected with this virus using a range of diagnostic assays. Here we overview the outbreak event that occurred in this species, listed as species of conservation concern in Great Britain.

Background This national study investigated hospital quality and patient factors associated with treatment location for breast cancer surgery. Methods By using linked administrative data sets from the English National Health Service, the authors identified all women diagnosed between January 2, 2016, and December 31, 2018, who underwent breast‐conserving surgery (BCS) or a mastectomy with or without immediate breast reconstruction. The extent to which patients bypassed their nearest hospital was investigated using a geographic information system (ArcGIS). Conditional logistic regressions were used to estimate the impact of travel time, hospital quality, and patient characteristics. Results 22,622 Of 69,153 patients undergoing BCS, 22,622 (32.7%) bypassed their nearest hospital; and, of 23,536 patients undergoing mastectomy, 7179 (30.5%) bypassed their nearest hospital. Women who were younger, without comorbidities, or from rural areas were more likely to travel to more distant hospitals (p < .05). Patients undergoing BCS (odds ratio [OR], 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.36–2.50) or mastectomy (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.14–2.02) were more likely to be treated at specialist breast reconstruction centers despite not undergoing the procedure. Patients receiving mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction were more likely to travel to hospitals employing surgeons who had a media reputation (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.28–4.52). Patients undergoing BCS were less likely to travel to hospitals with shorter surgical waiting times (OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.46–0.92). The authors did not observe a significant impact for research activity, hospital quality rating, breast re‐excision rates, or the status as a multidisciplinary cancer center. Conclusions Patient choice policies may drive inequalities in the health care system without improving patient outcomes.