Atmospheric measurements of isoprene and other volatile organic compounds (VOC) are limited in much of the world. This stems from having few instruments which are robust, can be run autonomously in real-world conditions, and are reasonably low cost. One such instrument is the iDirac, developed with NERC funding, which was designed to meet these criteria and to measure isoprene. In this project, we will establish an international network of research scientists who are committed to expanding the available longer-term observations of isoprene and monoterpenes in undersampled regions and to developing innovative lower-cost alternatives, flux and atmospheric reactivity measurements. Such developments would greatly enhance our understanding of the fluxes of biogenic species and of the oxidative removal of these and many other trace species from the atmosphere. The partners are Alex Guenther (UC Irvine, USA), Yuan Bin (Jinan University, PRC), and Kerneels Jaars (SAEON, RSA) who contribute a unique set of expertise and facilities. The group will work together on three main topics: (i) improving the instrument design for better performance and ease of construction and deployment; (ii) piloting new uses (extending the range of species measured, deploying in new, under-sampled locations, and integrating it into new systems novel applications); (iii) identifying new opportunities for development and deployment. This will be achieved through a mix of on-line collaboration, exchange of expertise and personnel, and use of measurement facilities. The ultimate objective is to kickstart an international group working collegiately on iDirac-related developments, loosely analogous to the grass-roots, collegiate approach used for the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN).

Ten percent of the world's population depend on the ocean for a readily accessible source of protein and employment, with the majority (95%) living in developing countries. Poor coastal communities are at the frontier for climate change impacts, compounded by population growth and food demand, but are among the least resilient to the challenges of the future. SOLSTICE-WIO will focus on coastal communities in nine developing countries and island states in eastern Africa, interlinked culturally and ecologically and collectively known as the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. All nine (South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Somalia, Madagascar, Comoros) are on the list of Official Development Aid recipients, with five identified as Least Developed Countries. In the WIO over 100 million people live within 100 km of the ocean, with a significant proportion employed in local fisheries. This leaves the region highly dependent on the ocean for economic stability, food security, and social cohesion. These coastal communities have limited adaptive capacity to cope with dramatic reductions in fish stocks caused by overfishing, habitat destruction, and increasing environmental pressures - all aggravated by climate change. The decline of WIO fisheries has had profound socio-political ramifications, from the rise of piracy to general political instability. A clear example of the devastating effect of a fish stock reduction is the collapse of the Chokka Squid fishery in South Africa. SOLSTICE-WIO will use this as a case study to demonstrate the strengths of a holistic approach to human-ecosystem-fisheries research and the potential solutions this can offer. The squid fishery was the 4th most valuable fishery in South Africa, bringing foreign currency into one of the poorest provinces. It was directly employing 5000 fishermen with 30,000 dependents. The 2013 crash had a devastating effect on the Eastern Cape, yet the underlying reasons are unknown: local fishermen believe the collapse was caused by environmental change. Until the mechanisms behind the collapse are understood, there is little potential for aiding recovery or guiding adaptation. SOLSTICE-WIO will provide this urgently needed understanding to help inform the fishery and Government as to the fate of the local ecosystem, whether it will recover, and whether the crash could have been predicted or prevented. How will SOLSTICE achieve this? The key to stability of living marine resources lies in an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), which sees human-natural systems as a whole, integrated entity rather than separately considering individual target species. Simply put: you cannot manage something you don't understand, nor can you adapt to change through management improvements unless you can describe, measure and understand the changes. The core strength of SOLSTICE-WIO lies in its integral approach to food security, drawing on UK expertise in physical oceanography, marine ecology, autonomous observations, environmental economics and the human dimension,and WIO expertise in fisheries, the marine economy and regional policy development. SOLSTICE will provide the region with the state-of-the-art technology to deliver cost-effective marine research and provide the information needed to achieve maximum potential from the region's living marine resources. In the UK marine robotics, ocean models and novel data products from satellite observations have developed rapidly in the last decade, and now underpin Blue Economies and Ocean Governance in Europe. These technologies are highly agile and ready to be applied in the developing world as cost-effective ways to maximise understanding and sustainable exploitation of living marine resources. Such "technology leapfrogging" can overcome the severe lack of research ships in the WIO and save decades of effort in developing predictive modelling systems from scratch.

Ten percent of the world's population depend on the ocean for a readily accessible source of protein and employment, with the majority (95%) living in developing countries. Poor coastal communities are at the frontier for climate change impacts, compounded by population growth and food demand, but are among the least resilient to the challenges of the future. SOLSTICE-WIO will focus on coastal communities in nine developing countries and island states in eastern Africa, interlinked culturally and ecologically and collectively known as the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. All nine (South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Somalia, Madagascar, Comoros) are on the list of Official Development Aid recipients, with five identified as Least Developed Countries. In the WIO over 100 million people live within 100 km of the ocean, with a significant proportion employed in local fisheries. This leaves the region highly dependent on the ocean for economic stability, food security, and social cohesion. These coastal communities have limited adaptive capacity to cope with dramatic reductions in fish stocks caused by overfishing, habitat destruction, and increasing environmental pressures - all aggravated by climate change. The decline of WIO fisheries has had profound socio-political ramifications, from the rise of piracy to general political instability. A clear example of the devastating effect of a fish stock reduction is the collapse of the Chokka Squid fishery in South Africa. SOLSTICE-WIO will use this as a case study to demonstrate the strengths of a holistic approach to human-ecosystem-fisheries research and the potential solutions this can offer. The squid fishery was the 4th most valuable fishery in South Africa, bringing foreign currency into one of the poorest provinces. It was directly employing 5000 fishermen with 30,000 dependents. The 2013 crash had a devastating effect on the Eastern Cape, yet the underlying reasons are unknown: local fishermen believe the collapse was caused by environmental change. Until the mechanisms behind the collapse are understood, there is little potential for aiding recovery or guiding adaptation. SOLSTICE-WIO will provide this urgently needed understanding to help inform the fishery and Government as to the fate of the local ecosystem, whether it will recover, and whether the crash could have been predicted or prevented. How will SOLSTICE achieve this? The key to stability of living marine resources lies in an ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF), which sees human-natural systems as a whole, integrated entity rather than separately considering individual target species. Simply put: you cannot manage something you don't understand, nor can you adapt to change through management improvements unless you can describe, measure and understand the changes. The core strength of SOLSTICE-WIO lies in its integral approach to food security, drawing on UK expertise in physical oceanography, marine ecology, autonomous observations, environmental economics and the human dimension,and WIO expertise in fisheries, the marine economy and regional policy development. SOLSTICE will provide the region with the state-of-the-art technology to deliver cost-effective marine research and provide the information needed to achieve maximum potential from the region's living marine resources. In the UK marine robotics, ocean models and novel data products from satellite observations have developed rapidly in the last decade, and now underpin Blue Economies and Ocean Governance in Europe. These technologies are highly agile and ready to be applied in the developing world as cost-effective ways to maximise understanding and sustainable exploitation of living marine resources. Such "technology leapfrogging" can overcome the severe lack of research ships in the WIO and save decades of effort in developing predictive modelling systems from scratch.

* Context The Earth's vegetation is changing in response to climate change, increased concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, and harvesting for fuel, food and building materials. These changes can accelerate or reduce climate change by altering the carbon cycle, and also affect the livelihoods of those who use natural resources in their day-to-day lives. One of the most important ways to understand vegetation change and its impacts, is to make careful measurements of the same patches of vegetation ("plots") repeatedly. Networks of these plots have produced surprising findings, challenging theory and models of vegetation responses to climate change. E.g. in Latin America, a network of these plots has shown that tropical forests are not soaking up as much carbon as predicted. Networks of these on-the-ground plot measurements are the only way to get a detailed view of how vegetation is currently changing. However at the moment, different researchers do not combine their data to understand regional patterns of change. This project will address this by bringing together researchers collecting plot data in southern African woodlands to share data and answer the big questions about what is happening to the vegetation in the region. The southern African woodlands are the largest savanna in the world (3 million km2), and support the livelihoods of 160M people. Many of these people are poor and depend upon the woodlands for 25% of their income and to support their agriculture. Theory and models suggest that these woodlands will be sensitive to increased atmospheric CO2 and other environmental changes underway: this is because, unlike forests, woodlands maintain a balance in the competition between trees and grasses, allowing both types of plant to co-exist. Small changes that benefit trees (such as more CO2 in the atmosphere) might rapidly change woodlands into a tree-dominated system. This would mean that they store more carbon, but might reduce the diversity of plants on the ground. It is also possible that human use of these woodlands, particularly wood harvesting for fuel, is altering their diversity and reducing the "services" that they provide. Currently we have no way to know if these changes are happening - satellite data and models can help, but need to be validated with plot measurements. * Aims and objectives Understanding the response of southern African woodlands to global change is the long-term goal of SEOSAW. It will do this by creating a regularly re-measured, systematic plot network. The stepping stones to this network are to: 1) develop an online data-sharing platform to exchange existing plot data so that we can look for signs of widespread change 2) combine NERC-funded data from 486 plots with data from 1,783 plots measured by others, to create a network that covers the whole region 3) use this new data set to better understand the processes that allow trees and grasses to co-exist, to allow modellers to make better predictions of future change 4) encourage researchers to make measurements in similar ways in the future, so that we can more easily detect changes 5) create a plan for future plot measurements that covers the whole region, and makes best use of the available time and money. * Who will benefit? SEOSAW will fill a large gap in the network of plots in tropical regions and benefit: - modellers of the Earth's vegetation will be able to test their models against reality in one of the most difficult to model biomes - scientists using satellite data to map vegetation will now be able to calibrate and validate their maps in all types of tropical vegetation - Those modelling the carbon cycle, who need to know how much carbon is being taken up by the woodlands Conservationists will also benefit, as SEOSAW will identify parts of the region that have unique or particularly diverse woodlands, helping to prioritise conservation efforts.

Over 70% of the earth's surface is ocean. As a global population, we are entirely reliant upon a healthy ocean: it contributes to the renewal of freshwater; it absorbs over a quarter of global carbon dioxide, and it produces half the oxygen we breathe. The ocean has the potential to make significant contributions to sustainable development. Many developing countries already depend on their ocean resources for food, work and livelihoods. Yet we are reaching an ocean health crisis: cumulative pressures such as over-exploitation of its resources, ocean plastics and pollution and climate change, all compounded by multiple competing uses, are pushing the ocean ecosystem to a tipping point. There is an urgent need for more integrated ocean governance, to ensure greater balance between ocean conservation and sustainable use (Sustainable Development Goal 14) and realise the ocean's potential to contribute to poverty reduction, human health, healthy ecosystems on land, climate change mitigation and adaptation, equitable economic growth and decent employment. "We are the sea...we must wake up to this ancient truth...It is time to create things for ourselves, to create established standards of excellence that match those of our ancestors." It is with this spirit that the ONE OCEAN Hub will transform our response to the urgent challenges facing our ocean. The Hub will weave learning from the ocean, and traditional knowledge of the peoples who rely upon it, with scientific excellence, innovative legal approaches and artistic methods. Our aim is to bridge the disconnections in law, science and policy across all levels from the local to the international. We aim to empower vulnerable communities, woman and youth in the blue economy and catalyse the inclusive and integrated governance approaches required to ensure a healthy ocean and flourishing communities and economies. The Hub will specifically address the challenges of South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Fiji and Solomon Islands in realising the economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits from the ocean. It aims to support these countries' efforts towards developing a sustainable and fair blue economy by providing new scientific data and tools to engage different sectors and groups within society, particularly vulnerable communities, woman and youth, in identifying opportunities, risks and trade-offs to: i) prevent and mitigate negative development impacts connected to the ocean, ii) participate in traditional and emerging ocean activities, and iii) predict the socioeconomic benefits of ocean conservation. The Hub pioneers integrating law and arts, policy, informatics, education, history, anthropology, and philosophy to provide targeted advice on coherent and flexible, pro-poor and gender- sensitive, climate-proofed and transparent laws and policies across the areas of environmental, human rights, science and technology, trade and investment. The Hub will further integrate biology, physics, chemistry, oceanography, ecology, mathematics, socio-environmental sciences and law to advance understanding of sustainable fisheries in the face of climate change impacts, as well as socio-economic and cultural considerations. The Hub will also increase understanding of conservation and extraction options for deep-sea mineral, biological and freshwater resources, integrating biology, ecology, geology, socio-environmental sciences and law. Through innovative use of arts the hub will transcend traditional boundaries in policy, law, and between ocean stakeholders from local communties to international organisatons, to respectfully and effectively include local communities' traditional knowledge in decision-making at the national and local level on the blue economy. The Hub will develop the integrated governance frameworks and strengthen the capacity within commnities to drive innovative approaches to a fair and sustainable blue economy for South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Fiji and Solomon Islands