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What does it really mean to be legally married? The answer seems to vary depending on the cultures, religions and laws of different countries. From English teenagers eloping to Gretna Green to tie the knot without their parents' permission, to whether a wife can own property, it's clear that marriage law is different depending on where you live and when. Now, the main debate centres on whether the law should be changed so that same-sex couples can marry. The Scottish and UK governments, plus a number of US states, are to legislate to allow same-sex marriage, prompting both celebration and outrage. But amongst all the assumptions, there are few facts, and the debates about same-sex marriage in the UK and the US are taking place in an informational vacuum filled with emotion and rhetoric. 'Legally Married' combines insights from history and law from the UK and Scotland with international examples of how marriage law has developed. Scot Peterson and Iain McLean show how many assumptions about marriage are contestable on a number of grounds, separate fact from fiction and explain the claims made on both sides of the argument over same-sex marriage in terms of their historical context.

Rational choice theorists of religion have assumed that Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations advocates a free market in religion, which, they argue, leads to increased religious vitality. In fact, while Smith opposed direct government subsidies for religion and argued that a free market was the first-best solution, as a second-best policy he advocated religious regulation, including state-appointed clergy and the reduction of clergy income. Smith's rational choice approach to religion, which springs from his understanding of public goods, externalities and the need for civil peace, and government stability, can still provide direction for social scientific research, but it does not always support a policy of religious free markets.

Rational choice theorists of religion have assumed that Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations advocates a free market in religion, which, they argue, leads to increased religious vitality. In fact, while Smith opposed direct government subsidies for religion and argued that a free market was the first-best solution, as a second-best policy he advocated religious regulation, including state-appointed clergy and the reduction of clergy income. Smith's rational choice approach to religion, which springs from his understanding of public goods, externalities and the need for civil peace, and government stability, can still provide direction for social scientific research, but it does not always support a policy of religious free markets. Adapted from the source document.

Many academic disciplines, including history, law, sociology, and religious studies, bear on the relationship between society and religion, or more narrowly between the state and faith communities. The authors approach this question with the tools of political science. This paper examines the evolution of religion-state relations in the UK. Religions make incompatible truth claims which may involve claims over civil power. When a state contains groups of people of different religions, those groups may make incompatible truth claims, not merely against the state, but against one another. The structure of this Article is as follows. They first set out relevant facts about the two religious settlements in the treaty-state of Great Britain, with particular attention to the accommodations that had been reached by the time of the American Revolution between English and Scottish conceptions of religious toleration, and between the state and the most recalcitrant religious groups.

Wild populations of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite) have declined across nearly all of their U.S. range, and despite their importance as an experimental wildlife model for ecotoxicology studies, no bobwhite draft genome assembly currently exists. Herein, we present a bobwhite draft de novo genome assembly with annotation, comparative analyses including genome-wide analyses of divergence with the chicken (Gallus gallus) and zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genomes, and coalescent modeling to reconstruct the demographic history of the bobwhite for comparison to other birds currently in decline (i.e., scarlet macaw; Ara macao). More than 90% of the assembled bobwhite genome was captured within <40,000 final scaffolds (N50 = 45.4 Kb) despite evidence for approximately 3.22 heterozygous polymorphisms per Kb, and three annotation analyses produced evidence for >14,000 unique genes and proteins. Bobwhite analyses of divergence with the chicken and zebra finch genomes revealed many extremely conserved gene sequences, and evidence for lineage-specific divergence of noncoding regions. Coalescent models for reconstructing the demographic history of the bobwhite and the scarlet macaw provided evidence for population bottlenecks which were temporally coincident with human colonization of the New World, the late Pleistocene collapse of the megafauna, and the last glacial maximum. Demographic trends predicted for the bobwhite and the scarlet macaw also were concordant with how opposing natural selection strategies (i.e., skewness in the r-/K-selection continuum) would be expected to shape genome diversity and the effective population sizes in these species, which is directly relevant to future conservation efforts.

Amphibians can be important consumers in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats and may represent an important energetic link between the two, particularly in the tropics, where amphibian species richness and abundance are high. In the past 20 years, amphibian populations have declined dramatically around the world; numbers have decreased catastrophically in protected upland sites throughout the neotropics, usually resulting in the disappearance of over 75% of amphibians at a given site, particularly those species that breed in streams. Most studies of amphibian declines have focused on identifying causes and documenting changes in adult abundance, rather than on their ecological consequences. Here, we review evidence for the potential ecological effects of catastrophic amphibian declines, focusing on neotropical highland streams, where impacts will likely be greatest. Evidence to date suggests that amphibian declines will have large-scale and lasting ecosystem-level effects, including changes in algal community structure and primary production, altered organic matter dynamics, changes in other consumers such as aquatic insects and riparian predators, and reduced energy transfers between streams and riparian habitats. Furthermore, because of habitat and functional differences between larvae and adults in most amphibians, the loss of a single species is akin to losing two species.

Studies of trophic-level material and energy transfers are central to ecology. The use of isotopic tracers has now made it possible to measure trophic transfer efficiencies of important nutrients and to better understand how these materials move through food webs. We analyzed data from thirteen 15N-ammonium tracer addition experiments to quantify N transfer from basal resources to animals in headwater streams with varying physical, chemical, and biological features. N transfer efficiencies from primary uptake compartments (PUCs; heterotrophic microorganisms and primary producers) to primary consumers was lower (mean 11.5%, range <1% to 43%) than N transfer efficiencies from primary consumers to predators (mean 80%, range 5% to >100%). Total N transferred (as a rate) was greater in streams with open compared to closed canopies and overall N transfer efficiency generally followed a similar pattern, although was not statistically significant. We used principal component analysis to condense a suite of site characteristics into two environmental components. Total N uptake rates among trophic levels were best predicted by the component that was correlated with latitude, DIN:SRP, GPP:ER, and percent canopy cover. N transfer efficiency did not respond consistently to environmental variables. Our results suggest that canopy cover influences N movement through stream food webs because light availability and primary production facilitate N transfer to higher trophic levels.

As part of the Tropical Amphibian Declines in Streams (TADS) project, we estimated macroinvertebrate production and constructed quantitative food webs for four headwater stream reaches in the Panamanian uplands: two that had experienced massive amphibian declines and two with unaffected amphibian populations. As expected for forested headwaters, allochthonous materials were the dominant energy source. Total macroinvertebrate biomass and production ranged from 231 to 360 mg ash-free dry mass m⁻² and from 3.1 to 4.4 g ash-free dry mass m⁻² y⁻¹, respectively, and did not appear influenced by the presence or absence of amphibians. However, macroinvertebrate functional structure differed between pre- and post-decline sites, with shredder production significantly higher in pre-decline sites and scrapers significantly higher in post-decline sites. Taxonomic differences between pre- and post-decline sites were also evident. There was a shift in scrapers from smaller-bodied taxa (e.g., Psephenus) in pre-decline sites to larger-bodied groups (e.g., Petrophila) in post-decline sites. Detrital pathways were dominant in these systems, with shredders and collectors accounting for most energy flow. However, scrapers were well-represented and they were food-limited in these systems, particularly in the presence of larval amphibians at pre-decline sites. Ecological effects of catastrophic amphibian declines ranged from subtle shifts in taxonomic composition and functional structure of remaining consumers to changes in the availability and relative importance of autochthonous energy sources.

Wild populations of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite) have declined across nearly all of their U.S. range, and despite their importance as an experimental wildlife model for ecotoxicology studies, no bobwhite draft genome assembly currently exists. Herein, we present a bobwhite draft de novo genome assembly with annotation, comparative analyses including genome-wide analyses of divergence with the chicken (Gallus gallus) and zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) genomes, and coalescent modeling to reconstruct the demographic history of the bobwhite for comparison to other birds currently in decline (i.e., scarlet macaw; Ara macao). More than 90% of the assembled bobwhite genome was captured within 14,000 unique genes and proteins. Bobwhite analyses of divergence with the chicken and zebra finch genomes revealed many extremely conserved gene sequences, and evidence for lineage-specific divergence of noncoding regions. Coalescent models for reconstructing the demographic history of the bobwhite and the scarlet macaw provided evidence for population bottlenecks which were temporally coincident with human colonization of the New World, the late Pleistocene collapse of the megafauna, and the last glacial maximum. Demographic trends predicted for the bobwhite and the scarlet macaw also were concordant with how opposing natural selection strategies (i.e., skewness in the r-/K-selection continuum) would be expected to shape genome diversity and the effective population sizes in these species, which is directly relevant to future conservation efforts.

Allochthonous inputs of detritus represent an important energy source for streams in forested regions, but dynamics of these materials are not well studied in neotropical headwater streams. As part of the tropical amphibian declines in streams (TADS) project, we quantified benthic organic matter standing stocks and organic seston dynamics in four Panamanian headwater streams, two with (pre-amphibian decline) and two without (post-decline) healthy amphibian assemblages. We also measured direct litterfall and lateral litter inputs in two of these streams. Continuous litterfall and monthly benthic samples were collected for 1 year, and seston was collected 1-3 times/month for 1 year at or near baseflow. Direct litterfall was similar between the two streams examined, ranging from 934-1,137 g DM m⁻² y⁻¹. Lateral inputs were lower, ranging from 140-187 g DM m⁻¹ y⁻¹. Dead leaves (57-60%), wood (24-29%), and green leaves (8-9%) contributed most to inputs, and total inputs were generally higher during the rainy season. Annual habitat-weighted benthic organic matter standing stocks ranged from 101-171 g AFDM m⁻² across the four study reaches, with ~4 x higher values in pools compared to erosional habitats. Total benthic organic matter (BOM) values did not change appreciably with season, but coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM, >1 mm) generally decreased and very fine particulate organic matter (VFPOM, 1.6-250 μm) generally increased during the dry season. Average annual seston concentrations ranged from 0.2-0.6 mg AFDM l⁻¹ (fine seston, <754 μm >250 μm) and 2.0-4.7 mg AFDM l⁻¹ (very fine, <250 μm >1.6 μm), with very fine particles composing 85-92% of total seston. Quality of fine seston particles in the two reaches where tadpoles were present was significantly higher (lower C/N) than the two where tadpoles had been severely reduced (P = 0.0028), suggesting that ongoing amphibian declines in this region are negatively influencing the quality of particles exported from headwaters. Compared to forested streams in other regions, these systems receive relatively high amounts of allochthonous litter inputs but have low in-stream storage.