Both intensity and type of habitat management in grasslands and heathlands affect spider communities. With high intensity management, spider communities often lack diversity and are dominated by a fewr‐selected species affiliated with bare ground. Low intensity management produces more complex communities introducing more niches for aerial web spinners and climbing spiders. The preferred management will be site‐dependent and may not be appropriate for all spiders in all situations, particularly for some rare or threatened species. Providing natural cover is recommended when using extreme forms of management or intensive grazing (particularly by sheep). In extreme cases, or where trampling is heavy, the litter layer should be conserved. We advocate research and survey before and after major management implementation. Habitat management for spiders should not be considered alone, but integrated into a holistic plan. Management for spiders may conflict with rare plant conservation and small reserves should examine the viability of providing two contrasting regimes.

Common approaches to mapping green infrastructure in urbanised landscapes invariably focus on measures of land use or land cover and associated functional or physical traits. However, such one-dimensional perspectives do not accurately capture the character and complexity of the landscapes in which urban inhabitants live. The new approach presented in this paper demonstrates how open-source, high spatial and temporal resolution data with global coverage can be used to measure and represent the landscape qualities of urban environments. Through going beyond simple metrics of quantity, such as percentage green and blue cover, it is now possible to explore the extent to which landscape quality helps to unpick the mixed evidence presented in the literature on the benefits of urban nature to human well-being. Here we present a landscape approach, employing remote sensing, GIS and data reduction techniques to map urban green infrastructure elements in a large U.K. city region. Comparison with existing urban datasets demonstrates considerable improvement in terms of coverage and thematic detail. The characterisation of landscapes, using census tracts as spatial units, and subsequent exploration of associations with social–ecological attributes highlights the further detail that can be uncovered by the approach. For example, eight urban landscape types identified for the case study city exhibited associations with distinct socioeconomic conditions accountable not only to quantities but also qualities of green and blue space. The identification of individual landscape features through simultaneous measures of land use and land cover demonstrated unique and significant associations between the former and indicators of human health and ecological condition. The approach may therefore provide a promising basis for developing further insight into processes and characteristics that affect human health and well-being in urban areas, both in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Powdery mildews are some of the most common and dangerous biotrophic plant pathogens. They attack more than 10, 000 plant species, and can be found mainly in temperate and sub-tropical zones. This review evaluates the effects of most important abiotic conditions on powdery mildew namely temperature, humidity, light quality, air composition (mainly CO₂ and ozone concentration) and movement. With the most intensively studied factors, temperature and humidity, powdery mildew species vary in their requirements, this variation occurring in different phases of their life cycle. Generally, temperatures between 13 and 30 °C were optimal for their development, with conidial germination being the least and sporulation the most affected part of the life cycle and lower marginal temperatures only prolonging the latent period. The role of moisture in their development is more elusive; free moisture inhibits dispersal and germination of conidia and extension of hyphae of most powdery mildews. However, for further development high relative humidity is preferred and free water is required for release and dispersal of ascospores. Light most affects the pathogen indirectly through its effect on the host. Although germination and appressorial maturation is possible under low illumination and darkness, light is needed for completion of the disease cycle. A suitable photoperiod (alternating day and night) favors optimal development, e.g., continuous light reduces infection. The effect of CO₂ concentration is complex; sometimes an increased concentration of CO₂ causes more intensive disease, sometimes less or no effect at all. Most environmental factors also affect the host thus affecting the pathogen indirectly; other factors (e.g. UV or CO₂) mainly directly affect the pathogen. Hypotheses on the possible effect of predicted climate change on pathosystems are discussed.

Throughout Earth history a small number of global catastrophic events leading to biotic crises have caused mass extinctions. Here, using a technique that combines taxonomic and numerical data, we consider the effects of the Cenomanian—Turonian and Cretaceous—Tertiary mass extinctions on the terrestrial spider fauna in the light of new fossil data. We provide the first evidence that spiders suffered no decline at the family level during these mass extinction events. On the contrary, we show that they increased in relative numbers through the Cretaceous and beyond the Cretaceous—Tertiary extinction event.

Patient choice and access to health care is compromised by many barriers including travel distance. Individuals with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can seek free specialist care in Britain, without a referral, providing flexible access to care services. Willingness to travel beyond local services for preferred care has funding and service implications. Data from an enhanced HIV surveillance system were used to explore geodemographic and clinical factors associated with accessing treatment services.

Ageing and urbanisation pose significant challenges for public health and urban planning. Ageing populations are at particular risk from hazards arising from urbanisation processes, some of which are in turn exacerbated by climate change. One approach for mitigating the negative effects of urbanisation on ageing populations is the leveraging of the beneficial effects of urban green infrastructure as a public health intervention in the planning process. We assessed the potential of available theoretical frameworks to provide the context for such leverage. This involved active engagement with academics and practitioners specialising in ageing, green infrastructure and health and well-being through a knowledge-brokering approach. We concluded that an integrated and comprehensive framework on the socio-cultural-ecological determinants of health is lacking. To address this, we present a set of principles for overcoming challenges to knowledge integration when working at the intersection of green infrastructure, ageing, health and well-being. Our findings—and the co-production process used to generate them—have wider significance for trans-disciplinary research into the benefits of the natural environment to human health and well-being as well as other complex and interconnected topics associated with global grand challenges.