Summary1. Rangelands, produced by grazing herbivores, are important for a variety of agricultural, hunting, recreation and conservation objectives world-wide. Typically, there is little quantitative evidence regarding the magnitude of the grazing impact of different herbivores on rangeland habitats to inform their management. 2. We quantified the grazing and trampling impact of sheep, cattle, red deer Cervus elaphus , rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus , mountain hares Lepus timidus and red grouse Lagopus lagopus on open-hill habitats in 11 areas of upland Scotland. The degradation of heather in upland Scotland Calluna vulgaris -dominated habitats, of conservation significance at a European scale, has been attributed, anecdotally, to increasing sheep and red deer populations. 3. Field indicators of habitat condition were used to generate a five-point scale of impact in vegetation polygons of seven habitats. The presence of each herbivore species was attributed on the basis of 'signs' of occupancy. A Bayesian regression model was used to analyse the association of herbivore species with grazing impact on plant communities, controlling for environmental attributes. 4. Overall the presence of sheep was associated with the largest increase (7/11 areas) in grazing and trampling impact of all herbivores. Cattle had the second largest impact but generally this was restricted to fewer areas and habitats than sheep. In contrast, impacts associated with wild herbivores tended to be small and only significant locally. 5. Although red deer presence was associated with a significantly lower impact than sheep, this impact increased with increasing deer density at both land-ownership and regional scales. For sheep there was little or no evidence of density dependence. 6. Synthesis and applications . The higher impact associated with sheep presence probably reflects their greater aggregation because of their limited ranging behaviour, exacerbated by sheep being herded in places convenient for land managers. Consequently, future reductions in sheep numbers as a result of reform of European Union farming policies may limit the extent of their impact, but not necessarily the local magnitude. However, reductions in sheep stocks may lead to increases in deer densities, with greater impact, particularly in heather-dominated habitats. Where habitat conservation is a priority this may well require a reduction in deer numbers.
The need for policy makers to understand science and for scientists to understand policy processes is widely recognised. However, the science-policy relationship is sometimes difficult and occasionally dysfunctional; it is also increasingly visible, because it must deal with contentious issues, or itself becomes a matter of public controversy, or both. We suggest that identifying key unanswered questions on the relationship between science and policy will catalyse and focus research in this field. To identify these questions, a collaborative procedure was employed with 52 participants selected to cover a wide range of experience in both science and policy, including people from government, non-governmental organisations, academia and industry. These participants consulted with colleagues and submitted 239 questions. An initial round of voting was followed by a workshop in which 40 of the most important questions were identified by further discussion and voting. The resulting list includes questions about the effectiveness of science-based decision-making structures; the nature and legitimacy of expertise; the consequences of changes such as increasing transparency; choices among different sources of evidence; the implications of new means of characterising and representing uncertainties; and ways in which policy and political processes affect what counts as authoritative evidence. We expect this exercise to identify important theoretical questions and to help improve the mutual understanding and effectiveness of those working at the interface of science and policy.
Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.
Intentional childlessness in Britain has been investigated by means of a postal questionnaire survey of married women who to date had never had a child. These wives were categorized according to their fertility intentions. As a group the wives were well-educated, likely to be employed and to be married to men in professional or managerial occupations, although there were some with husbands in manual occupations. The main reason perceived by the wives for their decision not to have children was the value they placed on the freedom they consequently gained. A majority of the wives felt there were no disadvantages in remaining childless. The remainder who felt that there were disadvantages identified these as: missing the positive features of children; possible loneliness and lack of support in old age; feelings of deviancy; and economic and social discrimination resulting from their childlessness.
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