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This thesis, “Taxonomy and conservation ecology of the genus Pinguicula L. (Lentibulariaceae)”, consists of 4 chapters. An abstract for each chapter is as follows: Chapter 1: Red List assessments of the genus Pinguicula L. The genus Pinguicula L. (Lentibulariaceae), comprising of 91 taxa all of which are carnivorous, is repeatedly collected from the field and is grown by amateur collectors. The current status of many Pinguicula taxa in the wild is mostly unavailable due to little information although a number of taxa are endemic to a small area and those are thought to be threatened. The International Union for Conservation (IUCN) Red List Categories and Criteria is a standard for evaluating the risk of extinction. In this chapter, all the 91 taxa recognised were evaluated using the criteria, Extent of occurrence (EOO) and Area of Occupancy (AOO), based on herbarium specimens. The results suggest that at least 61 % of taxa are evaluated as threatened, and the risk is higher in “Mexico and Central America”than “Europe and Western Asia”, both of which are Pinguicula biodiversity hotspots. Urgent action for the conservation of the taxa and their habitats will be necessary. Chapter 2: Phylogenetic analyses of the genus Pinguicula L. The current taxonomy of the genus Pinguicula is based on the flower morphology, and it is divided into three subgenera, Isoloba, Pinguicula, and Temnoceras. Some recent molecular analyses, however, suggest that the results do not agree with the current subgeneric classification based on the morphological characters. In this chapter, three DNA regions, matK and trnK, rpl32-trnL in chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) in nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) from 81 Pinguicula taxa, were sequenced. The three results are inconsistent with the taxonomy based on floral morphology. The molecular results, particularly ITS, infer that most of Pinguicula taxa are monophyletic within each geographic area. Chromosome and basic numbers are also agreed well with their distributions. Concerning the same seasonal growth cycle, forming winter rosettes or hibernacula, it is not just simply ecologically convergent but the taxa within the same region are phylogenetically closely related to one another. Phylogenetic trees inferred from the three regions and combined genes are also somewhat different from one another. Further research with other genes will be necessary to support the theory discussed in this chapter. Chapter 3: The effect of geographical and environmental factors on patterns of species richness in the genus Pinguicula L. A number of Pinguicula species are confined to a small geographical area and those are often endemic to the area while only a few species are distributed widely. This chapter explored what geographical and environmental factors affect species richness of Pinguicula. Four geographical factors, land area (km2), latitude of country centroid, mean elevation, mean distance to nearest coastline (km), and six Koeppen-Geiger climate categories, A (tropical-type climate category), B (dry-type climate category), C (temperate-type climate category), D (cold-type climate category), E (polar-type climate), and H (alpine-type climate) for each country were used for the analyses to determine whether the number of taxa in all countries, Europe and Western Asia, Northeastern Asia, and America were correlated with those factors. Overall, relatively weak positive correlations were found between the number of taxa and those factors. Remarkable results in this study have suggested that species richness is significantly correlated with land area, i.e. large countries have more species, probably due to diversity of climates. Furthermore the number of taxa is significantly correlated with climate B (dry) in all countries and America. The result implies that an impact of species richness in Mexico correlated with B (dry). Species richness of Pinguicula is particularly seen insmall wet places surrounded by large dry areas. More detailed studies on local ecology will be necessary to consider the distribution of the genus. Chapter 4: A revision of the genus Pinguicula L. The most recent revision of the genus Pinguicula was attempted by Casper in 1966, but the number of species expanded from 46 to almost double with some new sectional delimitations. Taxonomic confusion is, however, often seen and therefore a revision with recent knowledge is necessary. In this study, a review of literature and over 6,800 herbarium specimens from 167 herbaria was performed, and as a result, 91 Pinguicula taxa (89 species and 2 varieties) have been recognised. Based on the phylogenetic analysis in Chapter 2, a new sectional delimitation of the genus is proposed. In this study, the 91 taxa were divided into 11 sections including newly proposed sections, Alpinae, Andinae, Caribensis, Elongatae, Membraniformis, Mesoamericana, and Pumiliformis, as well as existing sections, Cardiophyllum, Isoloba, Nana, and Pinguicula. Keys to section and species, a brief description, distribution maps, and line drawings for each taxon are provided. Due to limited availability of materials on this occasion, some Italian taxa newly described in the recent years were unable to be examined in this study.

Studies of avian ecological immunology attempt to describe the biotic and abiotic factors which explain natural variation in immune function within and among free-living bird species. Understanding this variation and the trade-offs associated with maintaining appropriate immune defences and individual life history variables has important implications for the conservation of endangered species, many of which are characterised by small population size and reduced genetic diversity. Such species often display increased susceptibility to infectious diseases as a result of inbreeding depression and are prone to the effects of novel parasites and pathogens. This thesis aims to explain the variation in immune function in the endangered, island-endemic Mauritius parakeet (Psittacula echo), a species which has passed through a considerable population bottleneck but now thrives by virtue of ongoing conservation management despite the presence of a highly infectious disease. Identifying the ecological, environmental and genetic elements which define individual immunity offers the potential to predict the survival probability of juvenile individuals in a disease landscape thereby representing an exciting prospect for the field of conservation reintroduction biology. Interactions among indices of immune function are investigated at the individual level for Mauritius parakeets and also at the species level with the sympatrically occurring and non-native Indian ringneck parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Patterns of species-level genetic diversity of the Mauritius parakeet spanning two decades are examined and interspecies variation in immune function and genetic diversity is explored. Productivity and survival of Mauritius parakeets is summarised during and after a disease outbreak and an in depth analysis of the predictors of infection status and immunocompetence in this species is offered. This study highlights the complexity of the immune system and the challenges faced when trying to characterise it among individuals in an ecological context. I reveal a declining trend in species-level genetic diversity among Mauritius parakeets due to low natural dispersal demonstrating the importance of adaptively managing endangered species. I illustrate how, as a result of population bottlenecks or contrasting evolutionary histories that the Mauritius parakeet displays an attenuated immune function when compared to the Indian ringneck parakeet. I find no evidence to suggest that genetic diversity or inbreeding predicts disease infection in Mauritius parakeet nestlings and finally I use long-term monitoring data to cherry pick suitable individuals for reintroduction.

Postnatal depression is detrimental to maternal health and wellbeing, associated with poor developmental outcomes in children, and has prevalence estimates ranging from 13-60%; as such it is of significant public health concern and its origins are of interest from an evolutionary perspective. A growing movement within evolutionary research highlights the utility of evolutionary theory to elucidate the origins of health issues and indicate both novel approaches to treatment and prevention. A relatively longstanding, yet largely untested, existing evolutionary approach to postnatal depression proposes that it is a mechanism facilitating maternal investment decisions. More recently it has also been framed, somewhat complementarily, as the result of an evolutionary mismatch. Using the responses to a retrospective survey study which collected the complete reproductive histories of women and was uniquely designed to capture their experiences of postnatal depression, the first data chapter of this thesis explores whether there is support for adaptationist hypotheses that postnatal depression exhibits good design as a mechanism guiding maternal reproductive trade-offs. The results, combined with critiques put forward here and by other authors, suggest an alternative approach to postnatal depression is warranted. A limitation of both evolutionary and more traditional approaches to postnatal depression is that the commonly recognised risk factors for the condition fail to capture all the women who develop the condition. Recent developments in research into general depression, as opposed to postnatal depression, have highlighted the role of the immune system in symptom aetiology. This has led to a number of evolutionary researchers proposing that depression reflects an evolved inflammatory response to biological and social threat, with perceived social threat acting as an indicator of the likelihood of imminent biological threat. Inflammation then acts as the ultimate risk factor in the causal pathway to depression, and by extension postnatal depression, and suggests more attention needs to be paid to the social perceptions of women during pregnancy and early motherhood. Data chapters 3-6 explore the social pressures surrounding women about motherhood, the role such pressures play in generating feelings of shame (an emotional marker of social threat causally linked to general depression development), and the ability of shame to predict postnatal depression. Particular attention is paid to pressures surrounding socially approved levels of maternal investment, namely in the form of bonding. Bonding is of interest due to the documented association between postnatal depression and poor bonding as well as the pressures placed on women in contemporary, developed populations, highlighted by sociologists and feminist scholars, as a result of the emphasis on the importance bonding for child development. The role of social isolation, another form of social threat linked to general depression, in postnatal depression risk is also assessed. In so doing, a new model for maternal emotional investments is developed based on embodied capital theory and the results of two further data sets are presented - the first is a longitudinal survey study tracking women across the perinatal period assessing their experience of social pressure, shame, and postnatal depression, and the second an experimental priming study designed to assess if social threat can be primed using popular and social media relating to mothering. Results derived from these studies are supportive of the perception of social threat being a largely unrecognised risk factor in postnatal depression and the thesis concludes with a discussion of the public health implications which stem from this novel insight.

Anthropogenic impact, through animal trade, climate change, habitat fragmentation and globalisation, is a principal cause of global species redistributions and community rearrangements. Species introduced accidently or intentionally to non-native ranges may adapt to survive and proliferate, and native species threatened by environmental change may need to adapt in situ, or track more tolerable conditions through extra-range dispersal. Under both scenarios, we must facilitate greater understanding of the mechanisms that underlie adaptation within a complexity of ecosystem dynamics, which in turn will inform management strategies for both introduced species, and preserving biodiversity. Here, I explore mechanisms that support adaptive potential to rapid environmental change across taxa, and model them to the introduced ringneck parakeet Psittacula krameri. This species has recently successfully traversed extensive climate gradients in establishing introduced global populations. Some of this success may be attributable to morphological, behavioural, physiological or phenological adaptations, and therefore the species represents an opportunity for exploring rapid adaptation. I initially review the navigation of dispersal and invasive pathways, and the importance of specific character traits toward adaptive potential, before identifying genetic and non-genetic adaptive mechanisms (pertinent across taxa) that may help explain observed establishment and population growth of the ringneck parakeet. Mutations as the basis for an evolutionary adaptive response are examined, alongside the significance that the origin and extent of such polymorphisms may have toward a rapid adaptive response. I consider the role of selective sweeps and polygenic models as genetic processes for an adaptive response, alongside non-genetic mechanisms such as phenotypic plasticity and epigenetics that may better support rapid adaptation. Finally, I assess avian literature to interpret genetic and plastic responses as explanations for adaptive potential.

By integrating the corpus of existing knowledge with new information gained by applying geo-archaeological techniques as well as more traditional techniques to fresh archaeological investigations at Black Patch and elsewhere, the aims of the research are to look at the economy, social organization and ritual behaviour of life in the Middle and Late Bronze Age on the South Downs in the light of modern archaeological theory to consider the questions ‘Why were these areas chosen for settlement?', ‘What caused their abandonment?' and ‘What can we learn about the life of the people associated with the settlements?'. The combination of field walking, field survey and soil sampling has shown the presence of a Neolithic flint spread, woodland clearance and agriculture before and during the period of site settlement at Black Patch. The positioning of the Hut platforms and enclosures across existing lynchets, the modification of the existing field system, the establishment of a new one and the adoption of more intensive farming techniques (manuring, weeding and crop location and rotation) would imply a change of social order and the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle for some. The existence of centrally placed hearths in huts found at Black Patch brings into doubt the existing day/night life/death metaphor currently commonly used for this period. Structured deposition points to a society concerned with agricultural fertility. The abandonment of Black Patch identified by Drewett and the dearth of later dated artefacts, at about the same time as the abandonment of the only other positively identified Deverel-Rimbury site in the immediate area, Itford Hill, suggests another change of social order, with livestock becoming more important as the Downland area around Black Patch appears then to be used only by nomadic herders. Areas to the west of the River Ouse which had been settled earlier developed more complicated specialist production sites. These have yet to be found east of the River Ouse.

Many carnivore populations were in decline throughout much of the 20th century, but due to recent conservation policies, their numbers are stabilising or even increasing in some areas of the world. This, compounded with human population growth, has caused increased livestock depredation by carnivores, which threatens farmer livelihoods, particularly those in developing countries such as Namibia. How to resolve this so-called “conflict” between carnivores and livestock farmers remains challenging, in part because some mitigation strategies have proven somewhat ineffective or unacceptable. By using a case-study approach on the commercial farmlands of northcentral Namibia, I aimed to understand the complexity of the human dimensions affecting coexistence between carnivores and people in an unprotected working landscape. Specifically, my objectives were to 1) develop a participatory decisionmaking exercise to analyse the views of stakeholders on how they would like carnivores to be managed in unprotected lands, 2) understand how the media framed financial incentives to improve human-carnivore coexistence, and 3) determine if there were any underlying social, economic or political causes of negative human-carnivore interactions on commercial livestock farms. To answer objective 1, I developed a new decision-making exercise that combined Q-methodology and the Delphi technique to determine whether a diverse group of stakeholders could agree on how to manage carnivores on commercial farmland. A strong agreement was reached by participants: providing conservation education and training on livestock husbandry were acceptable and effective ways to improve coexistence with carnivores. This new also method highlighted areas of disagreement between stakeholders and showed that there were two different narratives on how carnivores should be managed. This method could be used by policy makers to help with participatory decision-making for resolving other conservation conflicts. To answer objective 2, I undertook content analysis of national newspapers to determine how the media framed articles on financial incentives to mitigate this conservation conflict. The most common (30%) financial incentive discussed was compensation - many (61%) of these articles framed compensation positively. However, upon categorising these articles into those where respondents were enrolled in compensation schemes compared with those who were not, a clear pattern emerged: articles were more likely (89%) to be framed ambivalently or negatively when respondents had experience of this financial incentive compared with respondents that did not. These results can help conservationists plan more effective communication interventions and anticipate issues that can affect the success of mitigation strategies. To answer objective 3, I undertook eight months of participant observation on livestock farms and interviewed 69 respondents and found that reported livestock depredation was associated with increased instances of poaching of wildlife and stealing of livestock. This association appeared to be partly due to farmer-worker relations: when employees felt happy, respected and were paid a liveable wage, they were incentivised to perform well in their job. This resulted in livestock that were managed more effectively and therefore less likely to be killed by predators. Furthermore, these well-paid employees were not incentivised to steal or poach to supplement their income, which limited the extent of game poaching and livestock theft on the farm. These findings underline the fact that this conservation conflict is extremely complicated, driven by many social, economic and political factors that may not be apparent initially. In conclusion, this thesis has found that the conflict between carnivores and livestock farmers is a truly wicked problem, affected by a multitude of complex layers. Only by exploring the entangled web of drivers will we ever begin to create positive, lasting change for both people and predators.

Recent decades have seen unprecedented loss of global biodiversity with amphibians among the most affected species. Emerging infectious diseases have being linked to declines and may result in very rapid extinctions, with chytridiomicoses and ranaviroses cited as diseases with the greatest impact. However, demonstration of a link between population declines and infectious pathogens is not always straightforward and becomes harder if pre-outbreak data are not available. With this thesis I combine observational, experimental and modelling approaches to analyse the spread and impacts of emerging agents on amphibian assemblages. In Iberia, the first case of Bd-infection and consequent mass mortality was documented in 1997 in Sierra de Guadarrama (Spain), leading to the decline of common midwife toads (Alytes obstetricans). In Portugal, impacts were first recorded in 2009 in Serra da Estrela and here described. Bd led to a collapse of midwife toads in high altitude areas. However, despite being regarded as a highly susceptible host to Bd, midwife toads seem to exhibit strong variation in the prevalence of infection across small geographic scales. Although present at lower elevations, an altitudinal envelope prevented chytrid from causing mortality among this amphibian assemblage. Through ongoing monitoring, I detected the asynchronous emergence of a second pathogen: a Ranavirus. The new virus had the capacity to infect multiple hosts, leading to massive annual die-offs in different taxa, life stages and across the altitudinal range. Data recorded prior to the first outbreak, as well as observations at a comparable site with similar geoclimatic features, illustrated the collapse of the amphibian community in relation to potential drivers. Laboratory experiments and field observations showed that S. salamandra larvae were resistant to the disease chytridiomycosis despite sharing Bd-positive sites with dying Alytes. These results contrast with other higher elevation systems where salamander larvae often overwinter. This prolonged exposure increases the chances of infection and supports the idea that the impact of a pathogen can be mediated by host life history. The mediation of a pathogen impact by the host natural history and/ or particular behaviour was also demonstrated on newts. The lethal effects of Ranavirus annual exposure on the newt population were amplified by host phenology causing a strongly imbalanced adult sex ratio. Modelling showed how behaviour may influence recovery. Following mass mortality, population recovery will be faster if there is an even sex ratio. Bd-mediated declines and extinctions may occur in species with certain life history traits, whereas Ranavirus CMTV-like strains seem to have a broader impact across amphibian species. Good surveillance and monitoring are key steps for effective management and conservation of wild populations. Sustainable conservation of wild amphibian assemblages is dependent on long-term population persistence and co-evolution with these lethal pathogens.

International trade in wildlife is a major threat to biodiversity conservation. CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which entered into force in 1975, is the primary mechanism for maintaining sustainability in international wildlife trade. However, CITES boasts few conservation successes and its regulatory approach is proving ineffective in many cases. In this thesis I recommend reforms to international wildlife trade interventions both within and beyond CITES, which would enable the Convention to more effectively govern trade and lead to the improved conservation status of trade-threatened species. In chapter two, I review typical and atypical interventions in CITES and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the Convention. I argue that trade measures need to go beyond regulation and should be multi-faceted, reflecting the socio-economic, cultural and economic complexity of wildlife trade and I outline key areas of research to inform these interventions. In chapter three I focus on high-value wildlife and argue that a regulatory response to poaching for international trade is an inadequate long-term conservation strategy and interventions should involve incentivizing local communities to conserve wildlife, the re-examination of sustainable off-take mechanisms, including regulated trade, ranching, and wildlife farming, and demand management measures. In chapter four, I critically evaluate CITES from an economic perspective through a case study on the trade in pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) in Asia. I assert that to more effectively manage trade CITES should seek to understand markets and the impact of trade controls and address demand for wildlife as well as supply. In chapter five, I investigate the influence of non-state actors on decisions to amend the CITES Appendices. I find that they are successful in influencing decision-making, but they also claim unwarranted campaign victories and seek to abuse CITES, and Parties should exercise caution when interpreting non-state actor policy advice. In chapter six I discuss the contribution this thesis makes to conservation science and implications for governing wildlife trade before drawing final conclusions.

This thesis examines the experiences, circumstances and difficulties faced by young homeless people residing in hostels in the county of Kent, South East England, especially those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ). My research suggests that there is an increase in LGBTQ youth homelessness due to young people 'coming out' at younger ages than before and encountering difficulties in their family homes that lead to their homelessness. I refer to this as 'the paradox of progress'. Due to political advances in gay rights and an increased media presence of charismatic LGBTQ proponents, youth are changing their outlook on sexuality and gender identity, but paradoxically due to generational differences, some meet adversities at home. Yet, this research also shows that an ensuing prevalence and increase of LGBTQ youth in homeless hostels across the county is a significant concern that thus far has been overlooked. In this thesis I demonstrate that youth homelessness is distinct from adult homelessness and is often misunderstood. Using data obtained through anthropological fieldwork over a period of one year, combined with my professional experience as a support worker working in local homeless hostels for over eight years, I examine and analyse the structural violence and inequalities that young people encounter as they attempt to cope with their homelessness caused by various factors such as deprived family backgrounds, class and a housing crisis that has predominantly affected disadvantaged youth. The long-term dedicated ethnographic fieldwork approach of my research has enabled me to glean insights about current ideas about home, homelessness, and also experiences of young people who live in difficult circumstances, subsequently enabling this research to challenge contemporary understandings of and responses to youth homelessness. Homeless youth navigate their lives in localities where ideas of 'home' hinge upon idealised heteronormative family life trajectories and generalised stigmas of youth homeless as beggars, rough sleepers or substance misusers and as culpable for their own predicaments. In this thesis, I discuss how the lack of or slim options for housing and support available to homeless youth in Kent, reflect upon how the State and the general public homogenise and stigmatise youth who are from working class backgrounds, thus creating further disadvantages that subject them toward structural violence. The anthropology of youth literature (e.g. Wulff 1995, LeVine and New 2008, Peluso 2015) suggests that the agency of young individuals should not be underestimated or subsumed under broader adult studies but that their lives ought to be studied in their own right. My ethnographic data contributes to such literature and further engages the anthropology of home, gender and sexuality to understand the issues that come together to comprise contemporary youth homelessness in Britain. Ethnographic research is well suited to explore intimate topic such as sexuality and homelessness, and thus far anthropologists have not studied LGBTQ youth homelessness. To date, the monitoring of sexual orientation and gender identity in the voluntary sector uses unrealistic figures that obscure the severity of LGBTQ youth homelessness. Subsequently LGBTQ individuals are not recognised by funding bodies and the State as a significant population and therefore resources are not allocated to alleviate their challenges and/or support them. This thesis argues that a prominent reason for LGBTQ youth homelessness is the paradox of progress; that the broader political advances in LGBTQ rights are not yet resonating in the reality and lived experiences of LGBTQ individuals in Kent. Young people who are both homeless and a sexual or gender minority, experience exclusion by living outside of the norm in terms of their sexuality/gender identities, as well as living outside of normative institutions such as, the educational system, home and the family. Furthermore, I suggest that conflicting generational views toward 'alternative' sexualities and genders contribute to the increasing numbers of LGBTQ youth in homelessness services. This thesis contributes to the limited ethnographic studies available regarding youth homelessness in anthropology. It also aims to offer insights to broad literatures in social, political, economic and applied anthropology, the anthropology of youth, the anthropology of care, kinship studies, the anthropology of Britain and the anthropology of home and homelessness. Additionally, it has the potential to be of interdisciplinary interest, as it draws on insights from the disciplines of sociology, human geography as well as literature from queer and gender studies. Finally, this research will inform homelessness and housing policies and facilitate a better understanding of the under-researched topic of LGBTQ youth homelessness. The outcomes of my research suggest that policy makers in voluntary and government agencies need to employ a culturally sensitive approach to housing policy for youth and young individuals who identify as LGBTQ and those that are homeless.