Hobart is embarking on a journey to becoming a ‘smart city’, a global phenomenon where cities are using
networks of sensors to provide better services to citizens. From Dublin to Barcelona, Singapore to Bogota, smart
cities have better connected public transport, more efficient waste collection, and more open and transparent
data services. However, smart cities have also been criticised for 1) being ‘placeless’ as the same suite of
technologies and services are adopted in cities around the globe; 2) reinforcing inequities as marginalised people
are further disadvantaged and disempowered by the adoption of technologies aimed at the wealthy and
educated; and 3) further disconnecting the community from nature experiences.
Abstract. A substantial portion of tropospheric O3 dry deposition occurs after diffusion of O3 through plant stomata. Simulating stomatal uptake of O3 in 3D atmospheric chemistry models is important in the face of increasing drought induced declines in stomatal conductance and enhanced ambient O3. Here, we present a comparison of the stomatal component of O3 dry deposition (egs) from chemical transport models and estimates of egs from observed CO2, latent heat, and O3 flux. The dry deposition schemes were configured as single-point models forced with data collected at flux towers. We conducted sensitivity analyses to study the impact of model parameters that control stomatal moisture stress on modeled egs. Examining six sites around the northern hemisphere, we find that the seasonality of observed flux-based egs agrees with the seasonality of simulated egs at times during the growing season with disagreements occurring during the later part of the growing season at some sites. We find that modeled water stress effects are too strong in a temperate-boreal transition forest. Some single-point models overestimate summertime egs in a seasonally water-limited Mediterranean shrubland. At all sites examined, modeled egs was sensitive to parameters that control the vapor pressure deficit stress. At specific sites that experienced substantial declines in soil moisture, the simulation of egs was highly sensitive to parameters that control the soil moisture stress. The findings demonstrate the challenges in accurately representing the effects of moisture stress on the stomatal sink of O3 during observed increases in dryness due to ecosystem specific plant-resource interactions.
Ozone pollution and climate change are extremely likely to threaten future crop production in important agricultural regions around the World with the Mediterranean, South and East Asia and mid-West US being particularly at risk with implications for food security. Modelling methods used to assess risk of ozone pollution have developed in recent years away from empirical approaches based on dose-response relationships towards more process-based models. The DO3SE-Crop model has developed from an ozone deposition and effects model (having used flux-response relationships to assess damage) to a crop model capable of assessing the effect of ozone on photosynthesis and carbon allocation. Working within the AgMIP-ozone activity, DO3SE-Crop has been calibrated and evaluated against experimental ozone fumigation datasets for wheat cultivars from Spain (Mediterranean Europe), China and India and is able to assess the influence of climate variables on crop growth and yield as well as the effect of ozone on instantaneous photosynthesis and senescence. We find that the ozone effect on senescence is the primary determinant for yield loss in wheat. We are further developing the model to assess ozone effects on nutritional quality since we know that ozone is an important limiter of translocation of nitrogen to the grains. The establishment of DO3SE-Crop will allow assessments of the future impacts resulting form the combined effects of ozone and climate change on supply and nutritional aspects of food security. Importantly, this can include an assessment of the yield improvements between current and near- to mid-term future conditions for a range of adaptation options proposed for wheat in response to climate change including management of irrigation, growing season and development of new varieties from crop breeding with targeted physiological traits such as enhanced gas exchange and improved water use efficiency.
Abstract. Ozone (O3) air pollution is well known to adversely affect both the grain and protein yield of wheat, an important staple crop. This study aims to identify and model the key plant processes influencing the effect of O3 on wheat protein. The DO3SE-Crop model was modified in this work to incorporate nitrogen (N) processes, and we parameterised the O3 effect on stem, leaf, and grain N using O3 fumigation datasets spanning 3 years and four O3 treatments. These modifications mean that the newly developed DO3SE-CropN model is the first crop model to include O3 effects on N processes, making it a valuable tool for understanding O3 effects on wheat quality. Our results show that the new model captures the O3 effect on grain N concentrations and the anthesis leaf and stem concentrations well, with an R2 of 0.6 for the increase in grain N concentration and an R2 of 0.3 for the decrease in grain N content under O3 exposure. However, the O3 effect on harvest leaf and stem N is exaggerated. Overestimations of harvest leaf N range from ∼20 % to 120 %, while overestimations of harvest stem N range from ∼40 % to 120 %. Further, a sensitivity analysis revealed that, irrespective of O3 treatment, early senescence onset (simulated as being ∼13 d earlier in the treatment with very high O3 vs. the low-O3 treatment) was the primary plant process affecting grain N. This finding has implications for the breeding of stay-green cultivars for maintaining yield, as well as quality, under O3 exposure. This modelling study therefore demonstrates the capability of the DO3SE-CropN model to simulate processes by which O3 affects N content and, thereby, determines that senescence onset is the main driver of O3 reductions in grain protein yield. The implication of the sensitivity analysis is that breeders should focus their efforts on stay-green cultivars that do not experience a protein penalty when developing O3-tolerant lines, to maintain both wheat yield and nutritional quality under O3 exposure. This work supports the second phase of the Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) by investigating the impacts of tropospheric O3 on wheat, with a focus on wheat quality impacts that will subsequently affect human nutrition.
British urban parks are a creation of the 19th century and a central feature in the Victorian image of the city. In the UK, parks are at a critical juncture as to their future role, prospects and sustainability. This article contributes to renewed interest in ‘social futures’ by thinking forward through the past about the trajectory of Victorian public parks. We outline six images of what parks might become, derived from traces in history and extrapolations from current trends. These projections diverge in terms of adaptations to funding and governance, management of competing demands and organisation of use. In contrast to a dominant Victorian park ideal and its relative continuity over time, we are likely to see the intensification of increasingly varied park futures. We draw attention to interaction effects between these differing images of the future. Excavated from the Victorian legacy, the park futures presented have wider potential inferences and resonance, including beyond the UK. By mapping divergent visions for parks, we call for a public debate about how parks might be re-imagined in ways that draw upon their rich heritage and highlight the pivotal role of civil society actors in shaping future pathways between possible, probable and preferable futures.
Abstract. A substantial body of empirical evidence exists to suggest that elevated O3 levels are causing significant impacts on wheat yields at sites representative of highly productive arable regions around the world. Here we extend the DO3SE model (designed to estimate total and stomatal O3 deposition for risk assessment) to incorporate a coupled Anet–gsto model to estimate O3 uptake; an O3 damage module (that impacts instantaneous Anet and the timing and rate of senescence); and a crop phenology, carbon allocation, and growth model based on the JULES-crop model. The model structure allows scaling from the leaf to the canopy to allow for multiple leaf populations and canopy layers. The DO3SE-Crop model is calibrated and parameterised using O3 fumigation data from Xiaoji, China, for the year 2008 and for an O3-tolerant and sensitive cultivar. The calibrated model was tested on data for different years (2007 and 2009) and for two additional cultivars and was found to simulate key physiological variables, crop development, and yield with a good level of accuracy. The DO3SE-Crop model simulated the phenological stages of crop development under ambient and elevated O3 treatments for the test datasets with an R2 of 0.95 and an RMSE of 2.5 d. The DO3SE-Crop model was also able to simulate O3-induced yield losses of ∼11 %–19 % compared to observed yield losses of 12 %–34 %, with an R2 of 0.68 (n=20) and an RMSE of 76 g m−2. Additionally, our results indicate that the variance in yield reduction is primarily attributed to the premature decrease in carbon assimilation to the grains caused by accelerated leaf senescence, which is brought forward by 3–5 d under elevated O3 treatments.
Botanical dietary supplements, as compared with nutritional supplements or single-component pharmaceutical drugs, are typically less-refined preparations derived from bulk plant material and, as such, require a modified approach to their development, production, and evaluation. An integrated, multidisciplinary team of scientific and clinical investigators is required in order to develop high quality phytomedicines and rigorously evaluate their safety and efficacy. Research on botanicals involves unique challenges as plant source materials frequently vary in chemical content and may contain unwanted pesticides, heavy metals, contaminant plant species, or other adulterants. Ideally, a botanical formulation should be standardized, both chemically and biologically, by a combination of analytical techniques and bioassays. This combination approach provides multiple measures by which reproducible quality and efficacy of botanical supplements may be achieved, and is particularly useful for botanical products for which the active compound(s) have not yet been identified. Safety and toxicity should be evaluated during the supplement development process in both in vitro and in vivo systems. A number of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods can aid in the assessment of purity, bioavailability, toxicity, metabolism, and molecular target profiling of botanical extracts. Clinical investigators must appreciate the complexity of multi-component phytomedicines and adjust trial protocols accordingly. This review highlights practical considerations of value to basic science and clinical investigators engaged in the study of botanical supplements. Lessons and examples are drawn from the authors experience in designing and developing a red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) standardized extract for evaluation in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials
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