South-West Asia (or the Middle-East), shown in Figure 1, is a relatively data sparse region of the world however it is interesting for several reasons. It is a region marked by political conflict. Rapid population growth and water scarcity are common throughout the area, rendering it sensitive to changes in climate. This emphasizes the importance of good meteorological and climatic knowledge to...

Natural resource-related conflicts can be extremely destructive and undermine environmental protection. Since the 1990 s co-management schemes, whereby the management of resources is shared by public and/or private sector stakeholders, have been a main strategy for reducing these conflicts worldwide. Despite initial high hopes, in recent years co-management has been perceived as falling short o...

Nowhere are the barriers to a functional health infrastructure more clearly on display than in the Goma region of Democratic Republic of Congo. Kaboru et al. report poorly integrated services for HIV and TB in this war-torn region. Priorities in conflict zones include provision of security, shelter, food, clean water and prevention of sexual violence. In Goma, immediate health priorities includ...

To understand host-parasite interactions, it is necessary to quantify variation and covariation in defence traits. We quantified parasite resistance and fitness tolerance of a polymorphic damselfly (Ischnura elegans), an insect with three discrete female colour morphs but with monomorphic males. We quantified sex and morph differences in parasite resistance (prevalence and intensity of water mi...

Adaptation to altitude hypoxia under conditions of conflict between thirst and defensive motivation was studied. The subjects adapted to altitude hypoxia made three times more attempts to drink from a water bowl despite receiving an intense shock. Adaptation to altitude hypoxia increased the stability of an initiated drinking reaction over intense shock. In adapted animals that began to drink, ...

Wetlands in the arid western United States provide rare and critical migratory bird habitat and constitute a critical nexus within larger social-ecological systems (SES) where multiple changing land-use and water-use patterns meet. The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Utah, USA, presents a case study of the ways that wetland managers have created adaptive management strategies that are respo...