Lancaster University

Grazing abandonment in Iceland: unearthing the consequences for root biomass and community-level root functional traits

Abstract Background and aims In northern ecosystems, plants allocate biomass predominantly to roots, which are central to the transfer of recent photosynthate from plants to soil and thus soil carbon accumulation. Grazing typically modifies above-ground vegetation composition and...

Adjusting to becoming parents by adoption: a systematic review of qualitative research through thematic synthesis

Research highlights the varying experiences individuals have when seeking to become parents for the first time or wishing to extend their existing family through adoption. This review synthesizes qualitative literature on these experiences. Nine papers were analyzed using themati...

A novel metamaterial for tunable load-bearing and broadband vibration isolation based on combined double-helix and chiral unit cell

In the advanced high-performance mechanical systems, such as those in aerospace, automotive powertrains, and precision instrumentation, demand components that can simultaneously provide structural support and mitigate harmful vibrations. However, achieving an optimal balance betw...

Epistemic norms for AI safety and alignment research

Abstract Mainstream AI research emphasises capability growth and tolerates low failure rates when average-case performance is high. AI safety and alignment research has a different mission: to ensure that catastrophic failures never occur, under sparse evidence, adversarial dynam...

Eruption source parameters for a Canadian mafic explosive eruption: an example from Sii Aks (Tseax) volcano

Abstract Observations from tephra fall deposits are needed to constrain input parameters used to model tephra fall hazard, but this is challenging for mafic Canadian volcanoes, which are often in remote locations. Here, we present eruption source parameters (ESPs) for the approxi...

Sowing the seeds of exploitation: colonial statecraft and racial capitalism at Britain’s agricultural border

Abstract The reproduction of the global agri-food system is, at a systemic level, conditional on the exploitation of migrant labour, raising the question of how exploitation became the default mechanism through which states regulate the sector. This paper disentangles the conting...