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Impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation on distribution and population size of many taxa are well established. In contrast, less is known about the role of within-patch habitat quality for the spatial dynamics of species, even though within-patch habitat quality may substantially influence the dynamics of population networks. We studied occurrence patterns of two Orthopteran species in relation to size, isolation and quality of habitat patches in an intensively managed agricultural landscape (16.65 km(2)) in the Swiss lowland. Occurrence of field crickets (Gryllus campestris) was positively related to patch size and negatively to the distance to the nearest occupied patch, two measures of patch geometry. Moreover, field crickets were more likely to occur in extensively managed meadows, meadows used at low intensity and meadows dominated by Poa pratensis, three measures of patch quality. Occurrence of the large gold grasshopper (Chrysochraon dispar) was negatively related to two measures of patch geometry, distance to the nearest occupied patch and perimeter index (ratio of perimeter length to patch area). Further, large gold grasshoppers were more likely to occupy patches close to water and patches with vegetation left uncut over winter, two measures of patch quality. Finally, examination of patch occupancy dynamics of field crickets revealed that patches colonized in 2009 and patches occupied in both 2005 and 2009 were larger, better connected and of other quality than patches remaining unoccupied and patches from which the species disappeared. The strong relationships between Orthopteran occurrence and aspects of patch geometry found in this study support the \"area-and-isolation paradigm\". Additionally, our study reveals the importance of patch quality for occurrence patterns of both species, and for patch occupancy dynamics in the field cricket. An increased understanding of patch occupancy patterns may be gained if inference is based on variables related to both habitat geometry and quality.

Numerous studies across different research fields have shown that both male and female referees consistently give higher scores to work done by men than to identical work done by women 1 , 2 , 3 . In addition, women are under-represented in prestigious publications and authorship positions 4 , 5 and women receive ~10% fewer citations 6 , 7 . In astronomy, similar biases have been measured in conference participation 8 , 9 and success rates for telescope proposals 10 , 11 . Even though the number of doctorate degrees awarded to women is constantly increasing, women still tend to be under-represented in faculty positions 12 . Spurred by these findings, we measure the role of gender in the number of citations that papers receive in astronomy. To account for the fact that the properties of papers written by men and women differ intrinsically, we use a random forest algorithm to control for the non-gender-specific properties of these papers. Here we show that papers authored by women receive 10.4 ± 0.9% fewer citations than would be expected if the papers with the same non-gender-specific properties were written by men. Gender discrimination is very much an issue in academia generally and in astronomy specifically. Through machine learning techniques, astronomy papers authored by women are shown to have 10% systematically fewer citations than those authored by men.

The detection of the accelerated expansion of the Universe has been one of the major breakthroughs in modern cosmology. Several cosmological probes (Cosmic Microwave Background, Supernovae Type Ia, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations) have been studied in depth to better understand the nature of the mechanism driving this acceleration, and they are being currently pushed to their limits, obtaining remarkable constraints that allowed us to shape the standard cosmological model. In parallel to that, however, the percent precision achieved has recently revealed apparent tensions between measurements obtained from different methods. These are either indicating some unaccounted systematic effects, or are pointing toward new physics. Following the development of CMB, SNe, and BAO cosmology, it is critical to extend our selection of cosmological probes. Novel probes can be exploited to validate results, control or mitigate systematic effects, and, most importantly, to increase the accuracy and robustness of our results. This review is meant to provide a state-of-art benchmark of the latest advances in emerging “beyond-standard” cosmological probes. We present how several different methods can become a key resource for observational cosmology. In particular, we review cosmic chronometers, quasars, gamma-ray bursts, standard sirens, lensing time-delay with galaxies and clusters, cosmic voids, neutral hydrogen intensity mapping, surface brightness fluctuations, stellar ages of the oldest objects, secular redshift drift, and clustering of standard candles. The review describes the method, systematics, and results of each probe in a homogeneous way, giving the reader a clear picture of the available innovative methods that have been introduced in recent years and how to apply them. The review also discusses the potential synergies and complementarities between the various probes, exploring how they will contribute to the future of modern cosmology.

ABSTRACT Historically, metallicity profiles of galaxies have been modelled using a radially symmetric, two-parameter linear model, which reveals that most galaxies are more metal-rich in their central regions than their outskirts. However, this model is known to yield inaccurate results when the point spread function (PSF) of a telescope is large. Furthermore, a radially symmetric model cannot capture asymmetric structures within a galaxy. In this work, we present an extension of the popular forward-modelling Python package lenstronomy, which allows the user to overcome both of these obstacles. We demonstrate the new features of this code base through two illustrative examples on simulated data. First, we show that through forward modelling, lenstronomy is able to recover accurately the metallicity gradients of galaxies, even when the PSF is comparable with the size of a galaxy, as long as the data are observed with a sufficient number of pixels. Additionally, we demonstrate how lenstronomy is able to fit irregular metallicity profiles to galaxies that are not well-described by a simple surface brightness profile. This opens up pathways for detailed investigations into the connections between morphology and chemical structure for galaxies at cosmological distances using the transformative capabilities of JWST. Our code is publicly available and open source, and can also be used to model spatial distributions of other galaxy properties that are traced by its surface brightness profile.

In winter 2013/2014 a roost of long-eared owls in Bojnice Spa (central Slovakia) was formed by two subgroups situated 12 meters apart from each other. The diets of both subgroups and the direction of the owls’ departure from the roost were studied at monthly intervals. Owls of the Pinus-subgroup left the roost in a significantly different direction compared with the owls in the Picea-subgroup. The common vole was the most hunted prey in both subgroups. However, comparing the alternative prey of the two subgroups, the wood mouse and other mammals were found significantly more often in pellets of the Picea-sub-group, whereas birds were more frequent in pellets of the Pinus-subgroup. Our results suggest that the different prey hunted by the two subgroups may be a consequence of diverging hunting areas with different availability of alternative prey species.

Across Europe, patches of un‐cropped land (field margins, fallows, etc.) have been established and managed as part of agri‐environment schemes (AES) to counteract the decrease in farmland biodiversity. Various studies demonstrate a positive impact of such un‐cropped land on different taxa. However, there is potential to further improve the efficiency of fallow options for farmland birds. In a long‐term monitoring, 12 breeding farmland bird species and sizes of perennial fallows were recorded from 1992 to 2015 in a 6.1 km2 area in Switzerland. Furthermore, habitat composition and fallow characteristics were mapped in 2012. We calculated population trends, analyzed habitat associations and revealed the impact of fallow habitat characteristics on territory density. The proportion of fallows in the study site increased from 1.4% (1992) to 8.5% (2012). Population trends of six of 12 censused species increased significantly over the same time, four species showed no trend and trends of two species decreased. Seven species were analyzed in more detail, for five of them fallows were overrepresented around their territory center points compared to arable fields and grassland. The overall territory density of these five species was higher in small fallows which were not placed next to a wood and which held bramble rubus spp., shrubs and the tall‐growing forb goldenrod (Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea). Our study confirms that perennial fallows are a highly suitable option to support different farmland birds in arable landscapes. Yet, we recommend optimizing fallows through careful site selection and management, such that they are not established on shady locations and are structurally diverse by allowing brambles, shrubs, and tall‐growing forbs to occur. We suggest adapting the Swiss AES in this regard. Biodiversity‐related advisory services available for farmers could increase the probability that fallow options are implemented and managed properly for targeted species. We report the key role of the agri‐environment scheme option “perennial fallow” for breeding farmland birds in Switzerland. Five of seven analyzed species appeared to prefer fallows over arable fields and grassland in their territories. Yet, we recommend optimizing fallows in respect to farmland birds, as their overall territory density was higher in small patches which were not placed next a wood and which held bramble rubus spp., shrubs and the tall‐growing forb goldenrod (Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea).

Gravitationally lensed curved arcs provide a wealth of information about the underlying lensing distortions. Extracting precise lensing information from extended sources is a key component in many studies aiming to answer fundamental questions about the Universe. To maintain accuracy with increased precision, it is of vital importance to characterize and understand the impact of degeneracies inherent in lensing observables. In this work, we present a formalism to describe the gravitational lensing distortion effects resulting in curved extended arcs based on the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the local lensing Jacobian and their directional differentials. We identify a non-local and non-linear extended deflector basis that inherits these local properties. Our parameterization is tightly linked to observable features in extended sources and allows one to accurately extract the lensing information of extended images without imposing an explicit global deflector model. We quantify what degeneracies can be broken based on specific assumptions on the local lensing nature and assumed intrinsic source shape. Our formalism is applicable from the weak linear regime, the semi-linear regime all the way up to the highly non-linear regime of highly magnified arcs of multiple images. The methodology and implementation presented in this work provides a framework to assessing systematics, to guide inference efforts in the right choices in complexity based on the data at hand, and to quantify the lensing information extracted in a model-independent way.

Knowledge about associations between habitat and population density is essential for ecological studies and management alike, for instance, to identify high-density areas worthy of protection. Furthermore, habitat-density associations are important for setting targets, e.g. in agri-environmental schemes. However, habitat associations need to be constant across management units, which may be entire countries; otherwise management should be targeted at smaller, internally homogenous regions. We use data on 13 Swiss farmland bird species from 128 study sites to test for the generality of the association between territory density and six key habitat descriptors: the density of hedges and woodland edges, and the proportion of meadows, pastures, crops and fallow land at each study site. We modelled observed territory counts in overdispersed Poisson regressions, with and without zero-inflation, and including the interactions between four geographical regions and six habitat descriptors. To test for spatial transferability of habitat-density associations, we also fitted the corresponding main-effects models. As a continuous alternative to discrete regions, we fitted models with altitude and its interactions with habitat, to test for the generality of habitat-density associations across the 1885 m altitudinal gradient in our study (365-2250 m a.s.l.). Finally, we tested for nonlinearity as a possible reason for geographical non-transferability of habitat-density associations. The interactions between either region or altitude and habitat-density associations were important in 10 of 13 species, showing that habitat-density associations were not transferable. Discrete regions were the best descriptor of the spatial variation in habitat-density associations in seven species, and altitude in six. Simple overdispersed Poisson regressions were superior to zero-inflated models for 12 of 13 species. For 6 species nonlinearity was a sufficient explanation for the observed non-transferability. Non-transferability of habitat-density relationships might stem from biological reasons or from methodological inconsistencies. To distinguish between them, to suggest better management actions and to improve species habitat models, focused habitatdensity studies ought to be replicated at various sites. Our study emphasizes the need for spatial stratification of conservation measures (e.g. agri-environmental schemes), otherwise, they may be inefficient or even harmful. Ideally, the spatial extent of internally homogenous regions ought to be investigated for efficient conservation management.

Nature Astronomy 1, 0141 (2017); published 26 May 2017; corrected 19 June 2017 In the version of this Letter originally published, the author's name in ref. 11 was incorrect and should have read ‘Reid, I. N.’