Recent changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of familiar biological events have been one of the most conspicuous signs of climate change. However, the lack of a standardized approach to analysing change has hampered assessment of consistency in such changes among different taxa and trophic levels and across freshwater, terrestrial and marine environments. We present a standardized assessment of 25 532 rates of phenological change for 726 UK terrestrial, freshwater and marine taxa. The majority of spring and summer events have advanced, and more rapidly than previously documented. Such consistency is indicative of shared large scale drivers. Furthermore, average rates of change have accelerated in a way that is consistent with observed warming trends. Less coherent patterns in some groups of organisms point to the agency of more local scale processes and multiple drivers. For the first time we show a broad scale signal of differential phenological change among trophic levels; across environments advances in timing were slowest for secondary consumers, thus heightening the potential risk of temporal mismatch in key trophic interactions. If current patterns and rates of phenological change are indicative of future trends, future climate warming may exacerbate trophic mismatching, further disrupting the functioning, persistence and resilience of many ecosystems and having a major impact on ecosystem services.

in all months, and mean precipitation increased in most months (Fig. 2a). 68Spatial variability in climatic change (Fig. 2b,c), necessitates local matching of phenological 69 and climatic datasets rather than the use of regionally-averaged climate data (e.g. Central 70England Temperatures) or large-scale climatic indicators (e.g. North Atlantic Oscillation). 71We did not make the restrictive assumption that biological events would be related to annual CSP precip varied less among trophic levels than the upper limit (Fig. 3d,f) consumers were less than those for primary consumers (Fig. 5a). This occurred because, 195averaged across species, the opposing climate responses of primary producers and secondary 196consumers are more similar in magnitude than are those for primary consumers (Fig. 3), 197 effectively "cancelling each other out". Our models suggest greater average advances for 198 crustacea, fish and insects than for other groups, such as freshwater phytoplankton, birds and 199 mammals (Fig. 5b). However, response-variation is high for crustacea (Fig. 5b). not estimated for marine plankton data (see above), and so the second-phase LME models 441 were run twice: once to examine correlations with temperature and precipitation for all but 442 the marine plankton phenological series (9,800 series), and once to examine only correlations 443 with temperature for the whole data set (10,003 series).

Abstract:Tracer investigations were combined with a geographical information system (GIS) analysis of the 31 km 2 Girnock catchment (Cairngorm Mountains, Scotland) in order to understand hydrological functioning by identifying dominant runoff sources and estimating mean residence times. The catchment has a complex geology, soil cover and topography. Gran alkalinity was used to demonstrate that catchment geology has a dominant influence on baseflow chemistry, but flow paths originating in acidic horizons in the upper soil profiles controlled stormflow alkalinity. Chemically based hydrograph separations at the catchment scale indicated that ¾30% of annual runoff was derived from groundwater sources. Similar contributions (23-36%) were estimated for virtually all major sub-basins. υ 18 O of precipitation (mean: 9Ð4‰; range: 16Ð1 to 5Ð0‰) and stream waters (mean: 9Ð1‰; range: 11Ð6 to 7Ð4‰) were used to assess mean catchment and sub-basin residence times, which were in the order ¾4-6 months. GIS analysis showed that these tracer-based diagnostic features of catchment functioning were consistent with the landscape organization of the catchment. Soil and HOST (Hydrology of Soil Type) maps indicated that the catchment and individual sub-basins were dominated by hydrologically responsive soils, such as peats (Histosol), peaty gleys (Histic Gleysols) and rankers (Umbric Leptosols and Histosols). Soil cover (in combination with a topographic index) predicted extensive areas of saturation that probably expand during hydrological events, thus providing a high degree of hydrological connectivity between catchment hillslopes and stream channel network. This was validated by aerial photographic interpretation and groundtruthing. These characteristics of hydrological functioning (i.e. dominance of responsive hydrological pathways and short residence times) dictate that the catchment is sensitive to land use change impacts on the quality and quantity of streamflows. It is suggested that such conceptualization of hydrological functioning using tracer-validated GIS analysis can play an important role in the sustainable management of river basins.

Allelic variation at seven hypervariable tri- and tetranucleotide microsatellite loci was used to determine levels of population differentiation between 14 populations of red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus) in northeast Scotland, UK. Despite the potential for long-distance dispersal in grouse, and a semicontinuous habitat, significant population divergence was observed (mean RST = 0.153; P < 0.01) and an isolation-by-distance effect detected (Mantel test: P < 0.001). Examination of the spatial trend in principal component scores derived from allele frequencies among populations highlighted a barrier to gene flow that was confounding a simple isolation-by-distance effect. This barrier corresponded to an area of unsuitable habitat for grouse associated with a river system that bisected the study area. Mean genetic relatedness was higher for males than for females in all but one of the study populations, suggesting that the territorial behaviour and natal philopatry displayed by cocks have a manifold effect in generating the observed spatial genetic structure. Lower female relatedness values suggest a higher level of female-mediated gene flow, which is sufficient to prevent the loss of genetic variation from within populations and the onset of inbreeding effects. The potential consequences of local subdivision for red grouse populations are discussed.

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2001. Flow requirements of spawning Atlantic salmon in an upland stream: implications for water resource management. Journal of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management 15: 1-8. Wiens JA. 2002. Riverine landscapes: taking landscape ecology into the water. Freshwater Biology 47(4): 501-515. Youngson AF, Malcolm IA, Bacon PJ, Soulsby C. 2004. Longresidence groundwater and mortality of salmonid eggs: low hyporheic DO limits natural recruitment of fry.

Summary1. We present an empirical, analytical model that estimates both temperature and seasonal response functions for the growth of wild juvenile fish without the need for costly tank experiments in less realistic conditions. 2. Analysis of monthly recapture data on the lengths and weights of individual wild juvenile fish demonstrates that simple temperature-driven models of growth can be less informative than more realistic, empirical, models. 3. A case study of wild Atlantic salmon parr ( Salmo salar ) showed that: most growth took place in a 10-week period in spring, at temperatures below those that previous published models report as necessary for rapid growth and at faster rates than the maximum that previous models predicted. 4. Temperature and fish size allometry explained 45% of growth variation, but the effects of temperature were significantly and markedly different at different seasons. 5. Seasonal effects explained an additional 18% of the variation and were strongly associated with the abundance of potential 'drift' food. 6. The seasonal patterns for growth in length and weight were different, implying differential allocation of resources to structural and reserve tissues. 7. The growth patterns of sexually maturing male parr and emigrants also differed in comparison to other parr. 8. Condition factor, length at first capture and seasonal interactions with both early maturity and smolting explained another 7% of the variation. 9. However, individual fish did not grow consistently better, or worse, than the 'average' fish. 10. This study emphasizes the necessity to test the adequacy of laboratory-based physiological models with suitably detailed field data and to focus model refinement by identifying processes which otherwise confound interpretation.

The successful resolution of human-wildlife conflicts requires the participation of local communities and other stakeholder groups in formulating management decisions. In the uplands of the United Kingdom, a controversial conservation issue concerns the relationship between the conservation of a legally protected raptor, the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) and the management of a gamebird, the Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus). We used multicriteria analysis to evaluate the perspectives of two groups of stakeholders, grouse managers and raptor conservationists, and the acceptability to them of different management solutions to this conflict. Both groups quantified the relative importance of evaluation criteria and used these as a basis for comparing different upland and Hen Harrier management options. In relation to upland management, grouse managers placed more importance on economic criteria than did raptor conservationists, who valued natural-environment criteria more highly. Intensively managed grouse moors, involving the control of harrier numbers, were ranked most highly by grouse managers and managed nature reserves by raptor conservationists, but both groups also ranked legally managed grouse moors highly. When evaluating Hen Harrier management options, grouse managers considered time scale and cost the most important criteria, whereas raptor conservationists considered the effects on harrier populations to be most important. Harrier quota schemes were the management solution most favored by grouse managers, whereas raptor conservationists preferred allowing harriers to attain natural densities. Notably, however, one technique that has already been partly tested in the field-the use of diversionary feeding was scored highly by both groups and thus holds promise for some form of compromise. This exercise highlighted the value of these objective techniques for developing dialog and trust between stakeholder groups, and it highlighted the need to conduct further research to test the effectiveness of different management options. There was broad agreement that the workshop moved the prior positions of individual stakeholders and was a valuable tool in helping to resolve human-wildlife conflicts.Utilización de Modelos de Decisión con Grupos de Interés para Reducir Conflictos Humanos-Vida Silvestre: un Estudio de Caso Rapaz-Codorniz Resumen: La solución exitosa de conflictos humanos-vida silvestre exige la participación de comunidades locales y otros grupos de interés para la formulación de decisiones de manejo. Un tema controvertido de conservación en las tierras altas del Reino Unido se refiere a la relación entre la conservación de una rapaz legalmente protegida (Circus cyaneus) y el manejo de una ave de presa cinegética ( Lagopus lagopus scoticus). Utilizamos análisis de criterios múltiples para evaluar las perspectivas de dos grupos de interés (manejadores de Lagopus lagopus scoticus y conservacionistas de rapaces) y su aceptabilidad de diferentes soluciones de manejo de este conflicto. Ambos grupos cuant...