Application of the Danish pesticide load indicator to arable agriculture in the United Kingdom.

Pesticides are an important component of worldwide agriculture systems and have contributed to significant increases in crop quality and yields and therefore to food security. However, despite their societal benefits, pesticides can be hazardous to humans and the environment. Therefore, effective pesticide polices are needed that balance the societal and economic benefits with the unintentional and undesirable environmental and health impacts.

Early warning systems in biosecurity; translating risk into action in predictive systems for invasive alien species.

Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the most severe threats to biodiversity and are the subject of varying degrees of surveillance activity. Predictive early warning systems (EWS), incorporating automated surveillance of relevant dataflows, warning generation and dissemination to decision makers are a key target for developing effective management around IAS, alongside more conventional early detection and horizon scanning technologies. Sophisticated modelling frameworks including the definition of the 'risky' species pool, and pathway analysis at the macro and micro-scale are increasingly available to support decision making and to help prioritise risks from different regions and/or taxa.

Phylogenetic analyses suggest that diversification and body size evolution are independent in insects.

Background: Skewed body size distributions and the high relative richness of small-bodied taxa are a fundamental property of a wide range of animal clades. The evolutionary processes responsible for generating these distributions are well described in vertebrate model systems but have yet to be explored in detail for other major terrestrial clades. In this study, we explore the macro-evolutionary patterns of body size variation across families of Hexapoda (insects and their close relatives), using recent advances in phylogenetic understanding, with an aim to investigate the link between size and diversity within this ancient and highly diverse lineage.

Diet Evolution and Clade Richness in Hexapoda: A Phylogenetic Study of Higher Taxa.

Hexapoda, the insects and their relatives, includes over half of all described species. Because large proportions of this diversity cluster within a small set of phytophagous groups, dietary substrates have been proposed to shape patterns of richness within the clade through antagonistic coevolution and zones of ecological opportunity. Here we explore these processes in the context of a recent dated phylogeny of Hexapod families.

Phylogenetic distribution of extant richness suggests metamorphosis is a key innovation driving diversification in insects.

Insects and their six-legged relatives (Hexapoda) comprise more than half of all described species and dominate terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Understanding the macroevolutionary processes generating this richness requires a historical perspective, but the fossil record of hexapods is patchy and incomplete. Dated molecular phylogenies provide an alternative perspective on divergence times and have been combined with birth-death models to infer patterns of diversification across a range of taxonomic groups.