ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9850-5717
Current Organisations
New York Botanical Garden
,
University of Newcastle Australia
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Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 18-01-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-02-2019
DOI: 10.1111/PADM.12575
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-11-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-09-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-022-32637-X
Abstract: Species radiations, despite immense phenotypic variation, can be difficult to resolve phylogenetically when genetic change poorly matches the rapidity of ersification. Genomic potential furnished by palaeopolyploidy, and relative roles for adaptation, random drift and hybridisation in the apportionment of genetic variation, remain poorly understood factors. Here, we study these aspects in a model radiation, Syzygium , the most species-rich tree genus worldwide. Genomes of 182 distinct species and 58 unidentified taxa are compared against a chromosome-level reference genome of the sea apple, Syzygium grande . We show that while Syzygium shares an ancient genome doubling event with other Myrtales, little evidence exists for recent polyploidy events. Phylogenomics confirms that Syzygium originated in Australia-New Guinea and ersified in multiple migrations, eastward to the Pacific and westward to India and Africa, in bursts of speciation visible as poorly resolved branches on phylogenies. Furthermore, some sublineages demonstrate genomic clines that recapitulate cladogenetic events, suggesting that stepwise geographic speciation, a neutral process, has been important in Syzygium ersification.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-12-2022
Abstract: Local government amalgamations, mostly aimed at improving financial sustainability, remain a strongly contested public policy option. Proponents of amalgamation tend to emphasise the advantages of scale and plan around population size targets. By contrast, some scholars note the importance of understanding the needs and tastes of residents for local public services and stress the dangers of amalgamation dominated by population size considerations alone. In this paper, we conduct a robust empirical investigation of a recent amalgamation program dominated by population size considerations. Our results suggest that local government boundaries constructed principally to secure scale benefits have largely failed to deliver on the pecuniary promise of its public policy proponents. We conclude by offering some central public policy recommendations aimed at ensuring that future amalgamation programs might be more successful.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 20-08-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.08.18.256750
Abstract: Myanmar is highly bio erse, with more than 16,000 plant, 314 mammal, 1131 bird, 293 reptile, and 139 hibian species. Supporting this bio ersity is a variety of natural ecosystems—mostly undescribed—including tropical and subtropical forests, savannas, seasonally inundated wetlands, extensive shoreline and tidal systems, and alpine ecosystems. Although Myanmar contains some of the largest intact natural ecosystems in Southeast Asia, remaining ecosystems are under threat from accelerating land use intensification and over-exploitation. In this period of rapid change, a systematic risk assessment is urgently needed to estimate the extent and magnitude of human impacts and identify ecosystems most at risk to help guide strategic conservation action. Here we provide the first comprehensive conservation assessment of Myanmar’s natural terrestrial ecosystems using the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems categories and criteria. We identified 64 ecosystem types for the assessment, and used models of ecosystem distributions and syntheses of existing data to estimate declines in distribution, range size, and functioning of each ecosystem. We found that more than a third (36.9%) of Myanmar’s area has been converted to anthropogenic ecosystems over the last 2-3 centuries, leaving nearly half of Myanmar’s ecosystems threatened (29 of 64 ecosystems). A quarter of Myanmar’s ecosystems were identified as Data Deficient, reflecting a paucity of studies and an urgency for future research. Our results show that, with nearly two-thirds of Myanmar still covered in natural ecosystems, there is a crucial opportunity to develop a comprehensive protected area network that sufficiently represents Myanmar’s terrestrial ecosystem ersity.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-08-2020
Abstract: Decentralised government – such as local government – allows for better tailoring of goods and services and hence higher levels of economic welfare. However, inequities in wealth can mean that some local governments experience difficulty trying to provide for the needs of their citizens. To try to mitigate these disparities, most systems of local government feature a program of untied equalisation grant transfers. However, proponents of equalisation grants schemes have struggled to provide a convincing moral justification for the practice: often scholars resort to rather unconvincing appeals to Pigou's famous normative dictum that equals should be treated equally. We propose that the natural law Principle of Subsidiarity is a more appropriate and robust moral justification for equalisation grant transfers. Moreover, we show how adoption of a subsidiarity justification would lead to improved grants practice that could be expected to avoid some of the serious problems that plague existing equalisation grant schemes.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-10-2018
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Kate Armstrong.