Predictors of successful return to parkrun for first-time adult participants in Scotland.

Physical activity is essential for promoting good health and reducing burdens on healthcare systems. parkrun organise free weekly events where participants complete a 5km route. Studies have identified characteristics of participants associated with lower levels of participation.

New Parkrunners Are Slower and the Attendance Gender Gap Narrowing Making Parkrun More Inclusive.

Parkrun is a weekly mass-participation event. Finishes are recorded, with the resulting database potentially containing important public health information. The aim of this study was to identify characteristics of events that overcome barriers to participation, and to identify changing patterns in the demographics of participants.

The seaweed fly (Coelopidae) can facilitate environmental survival and transmission of E. coli O157 at sandy beaches.

The sustainable management of recreational beaches is essential for minimising risk of human exposure to microbial pathogens whilst simultaneously maintaining valuable ecosystem services. Decaying seaweed on public beaches is gaining recognition as a substrate for microbial contamination, and is a potentially significant reservoir for human pathogens in close proximity to beach users. Closely associated with beds of decaying seaweed are dense populations of the seaweed fly (Coelopidae), which could influence the spatio-temporal fate of seaweed-associated human pathogens within beach environments.

Larval exposure to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid impacts adult size in the farmland butterfly .

Populations of farmland butterflies have been suffering from substantial population declines in recent decades. These declines have been correlated with neonicotinoid usage both in Europe and North America but experimental evidence linking these correlations is lacking. The potential for non-target butterflies to be exposed to trace levels of neonicotinoids is high, due to the widespread contamination of agricultural soils and wild plants in field margins.

Are neonicotinoid insecticides driving declines of widespread butterflies?

There has been widespread concern that neonicotinoid pesticides may be adversely impacting wild and managed bees for some years, but recently attention has shifted to examining broader effects they may be having on biodiversity. For example in the Netherlands, declines in insectivorous birds are positively associated with levels of neonicotinoid pollution in surface water. In England, the total abundance of widespread butterfly species declined by 58% on farmed land between 2000 and 2009 despite both a doubling in conservation spending in the UK, and predictions that climate change should benefit most species.

Male-specific genotype by environment interactions influence viability selection acting on a sexually selected inversion system in the seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida.

In the seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida, a large chromosomal inversion system is affected by sexual selection and viability selection. However, our understanding of the interaction between these two selective forces is currently limited as research has focused upon a limited range of environments. We allowed C.

Sex-biased phoretic mite load on two seaweed flies: Coelopa frigida and Coelopa pilipes.

Two hypotheses explain male-biased parasitism. Physiological costs of male sexually selected characteristics can reduce immunocompetence. Alternatively, ecological differences could generate male-biased parasitism.