The graduation season is all but over, and those attending the ceremonies have been struck by the high proportion of be-gowned foreign students collecting their parchments.

This week's Audit Scotland report into the state of Scotland's universities draws the evidence together.
It raises some big questions about the sustainability of the current model for funding higher education. It also draws attention to a neglected part of the heated debate about immigration.
And it chimes with a new report from the Fraser of Allander Institute, urging politicians of all hues and parliaments to review all their economic thinking in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The massive challenges aren't ahead, they say - they're already here.
And one of the points they make is about that student question; how to make Scotland an attractive destination for international recruits?
Universities have become a vital part and strength of the Scottish economy, but there's a risk of complacency around the policy choices required to keep them there.
Auditor-General Caroline Gardner has pointed out that teaching and research are being cross-subsidised by sources of income that may not continue at current levels.
While government funding per student is squeezed, much of the shortfall is made up by the lucrative business of attracting foreigners to study for Scottish degrees.
The number of EU students studying in Scotland rose 97% in the decade to 2014-15.
That can be largely explained by the Scottish government paying tuition fees (unless you're from England, Wales or Northern Ireland. It's an EU thing - EU citizens from other countries have to be treated in the same way as those in Scotland, but not those from other parts of the same country).
The number from outside the EU, who pay hefty fees, was up 58%. So by 2014, there were 20,800 EU/non-UK students in Scottish higher education, and 29,200 non-EU.
Along with other UK students, the share of those with homes outside Scotland has risen from one in four in 2005-06 to one in three two years ago.
What does this mean for income?
In the decade to 2014-15, cash terms income from non-EU tuition fees rose from Â£140m to Â£438m. The growth rate was even higher in the four oldest, "ancient" universities - St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh - up in real terms by 190%.
In 2014, the report shows there were more than 7,600 Chinese students in Scottish higher education.
The next biggest nationality was 4,100 Americans, up 22% in five years, and then German, Irish and Nigerian.
Indians are big spenders on higher education outside the sub-continent, but numbers have fallen 57% to 1,400, in only five years.
They have been put off by British attitudes to issuing visas, by the high profile given to reports of the murder of an Indian student in Salford five years ago, and changes in the exchange rate can be a help or a hindrance to this bit of trade.
The market is a fickle one. While British universities offer prestige, they're competing with heavily-marketed competitors in English-speaking countries. Other countries make it more attractive by throwing in a work permit for perhaps a couple of years.
That way, you can make the direct link from your hard-won skills and knowledge and their practical application.
You can make valuable contacts to take back to your home country, and you can be of additional support to the country in which you've studied.
That is in an economic sense, but also offers Britain significant "soft power" in influencing foreigners' thinking about the country.
Scotland had such a "fresh talent" arrangement with the Home Office immigration team, but it was ended by the incoming UK government in 2010.
There was pressure exerted for relaxation of student visa rules and work permits by former Lib Dem business secretary Sir Vince Cable, who was responsible for universities until last year, and also from George Osborne at the Treasury and from David Cameron.
The universities were lobbying on it too. But there was an immovable object in the way of such change - the Home Secretary, one Theresa May.
The front runner to become next prime minister continues to see international students as immigrants, and they are counted as such. Apparently, this is in line with international statistics standards.
This responds to security worries about migrants entering Britain on student visas, some of them to "study" at bogus colleges, and many staying after courses have finished.
There have been moves to crack down on visa application abuse. The number applying to pursue further education courses fell sharply after 2011, while visas for university continued to climb past 160,000 per year.
However, this means that the high-earning business of attracting legitimate students to real universities runs counter to the (failed) UK government policy of reducing net immigration numbers.
The Office for National Statistics examined this in some detail earlier this year, looking at the UK as a whole.
It found the net migration meant 192,000 overseas students in the UK in 2014-15, and 24,000 UK residents going abroad to study. The UK was the second most popular global destination, after the USA.
EU students can currently come and go, without any controls. Those who go to universities in England and Wales have to pay fees, so these are less attractive than the option of Scotland.
Non-EU students need visas, and around three-quarters of international students in the UK in 2014-15 were non-EU nationals.
So the net figure for migrating students in 2014-15 was 168,000, which is almost exactly half the total net migration figure for last year.
By excluding students, and treating them as a positive export earner, the government would put a big dent in the problem it created with its immigration target.
The complication is that the numbers are not that reliable. Official figures repeatedly show a significant gap between students arriving and students departing, which most are expected to do when they complete their courses.
This is not easily explained. Some go on to post-graduate courses, some find jobs with a sponsoring employer, some overstay their visa and a few get married to UK nationals.
The gap is highlighted by the campaign group Migration Watch, suspecting the student visa system is being widely abused. The ONS acknowledges that its statistics, based on a survey of travellers through British ports of entry, need to be improved.
The Audit Scotland report was drawn up before the referendum result. It suggested that dependence on foreign student income was a risk that universities needed to manage.
The Indian market has already declined sharply. Slowdown in the world economy, and particularly in China, could add to that effect.
Conversely, cheaper fees, once charged in weakened sterling, may boost fees income by making Britain more attractive.
Either way, the market is bound to change, and significantly, once Britain splits from the European Union.
But the perception in the market is already changing, as potential applicants look at Britain, with little clarity about their future status, and a national vote widely perceived as telling foreigners that they're not welcome.
That message is also going out to internationally-mobile research and teaching staff.
And as both Scotland and the UK punch well above their weight in attracting research funding from the European Commission, that makes for multiple sources of uncertainty for university finance directors.


Spectators at the Games and on TV have taken to Twitter to highlight what they see as shortcomings at the Rio Olympics, using the hashtag #RioProblems.

A number of issues have emerged in the first week of the sporting showpiece, including the green diving pool, empty seats at venues and a shortage of food for hungry fans, prompting people to air their grievances online. But is it a fair reflection of what is happening in Brazil?
The hashtag peaked on Monday, with thousands sharing video of alleged muggings on the streets of Rio during the Olympics, although it has not been independently verified as taking place over the past week.
#RioProblems has also accompanied other issues at the host venues, such as the wrong national anthem being played ahead of the Nigerian men's football fixture against Japan.
It has also been accompanied by several Twitter accounts set up under the same name, although they all appear to have been set up before the Games, with some registered as early as two years ago, perhaps in anticipation of issues arising at South America's first Olympics.
Journalists have used the hashtag to highlight the issues affecting them in the media bubble, from late courtesy buses to coffee shortages.
The sign in this tweet translates as: "Due to technical issues, we suspend the coffee service in this refreshment station. We apologise for any inconvenience."
Meanwhile, others spotted an easy opportunity for a joke.


Glasgow Warriors must win at least one of their December clashes with Racing 92 to stand a chance of progression in the European Champions Cup, according to head coach Gregor Townsend.

Warriors sit second in Pool 1 with five points from two matches and only the top team assured a quarter-final berth.
Their double-header with the French champions begins in Paris on Saturday.
"It'd be great if we could win them both and that's the target," said Townsend.
"But we need to be going into our final two games having had at least one win over these two games."
The corresponding group game takes place when Racing travel to Scotstoun on 16 December.
Glasgow, who have never reached the last eight of Europe's top-tier competition, hammered Leicester Tigers at Scotstoun in their opening fixture.
A week later, however, Townsend's side were thrashed in similarly emphatic style by Munster, following the death of their head coach, Anthony Foley.
Warriors met Racing in last year's pool stages, losing the first match in Paris, before recording a 22-5 victory over the Top 14 champions at Kilmarnock's Rugby Park.
While Glasgow were already eliminated by then, a star-studded Racing went on to reach the final, where they were beaten by Saracens.
The wealthy Parisians' squad features the likes of All Blacks greats Dan Carter and Joe Rokocoko, Argentine Juan Imhoff and a host of French internationals, as well as former Warriors phenomenon, Leone Nakarawa, the Fijian lock.
"They're among the top three, top four sides in Europe," said Townsend. "They were runners-up last year and French champions so that gives you the right to be classed among the best in Europe.
"They've spent a lot of money to become one of the leading lights in Europe. They've got some of the best players the game has ever seen.
"So we know the tests ahead of us, we know the players in their team will play close to their maximum in the Champions Cup.
"Last year (in Paris) we had chances against them. We had a few line breaks that didn't lead to tries. And then in the second half they just got the upper hand, especially in the set-piece. We know we'll have chances, we've just got to make sure we take them."
After a trio of Pro12 defeats yielding a cumulative points tally of 64 conceded and just 23 scored, Townsend insists the challenging fixture is the perfect opportunity to halt a poor run of form.
"I think it is (the ideal game)," he said. "You want a challenge. It's a different competition; we've been disappointed with our results in the Pro12.
"The focus is now on something totally different - a new team, a different type of rugby and an opportunity for us. We know if we can go out there and win, we'll be in a really strong position in our group."


Fiji's former military leader Frank Bainimarama has been sworn in as prime minister of the Pacific nation after an emphatic election win.

Mr Bainimarama and his FijiFirst Party secured 32 out of the 50 seats in parliament and an outright majority, the election office said.
His closest rival, Sodelpa Party, won 15 seats.
Wednesday's polls were the first in Fiji since Mr Bainimarama seized power in a coup in 2006.
International observers have described the election as credible, conducted in a "atmosphere of calm" with an absence of electoral misconduct or "evident intimidation".
FijiFirst took 59.2% of the vote, the Fijian Elections Office said, with an election turnout of almost 84%.
Official results were delivered on Monday but by Sunday Mr Bainimarama had claimed victory.
Promising to govern "for the wellbeing of all Fijians", he also paid tribute to the military.
"It is because of their legacy that today we have a democratically elected parliamentary government," he said.
Fiji has seen four coups since 1987 attributed mainly to tensions between indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians.
In 2006, Mr Bainimarama ousted the elected government of Laisenia Qarase, accusing it of corruption and bias towards indigenous Fijians. Since then, Fiji has been under military rule.
Mr Bainimarama said he wanted to end the instability and in these elections discarded the race-based voting system.
His authoritarian rule is seen to have brought stability and economic growth to the country.
But human rights groups accuse him of placing severe restrictions on freedom of speech through media censorship and intimidation of critics, as well as interference with the judiciary.
Regional allies Australia and New Zealand have long been calling for polls to take place.


Sexual abuse at a children's home in County Down was equal to, if not worse, than abuse at Kincora Boys Home, an inquiry has been told.

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry is examining allegations of abuse at Rubane House, Kircubbin.
The inquiry estimates that 200 of Rubane's 1,050 former residents have made allegations of serious sexual or physical abuse.
A total of 13 Northern Ireland institutions are being investigated.
The Kircubbin home was run by the De La Salle religious order, which has already accepted some children were abused.
A lawyer acting for the inquiry said more than 200 children had claimed they were abused at Rubane House, which was open from 1950 to 1985.
A total of 55 former residents have come forward to the inquiry to allege that they were physically or sexually abused.
Their public testimony will begin next week.
Other documentation, including police reports, suggest that a further 150 boys also made allegations of abuse in the past, but have not contacted the inquiry.
The sex abuse allegations ranged from watching children in the shower to rape, while physical abuse ranged from corporal punishment to serious assault.
The inquiry has heard that the paedophile priest, Fr Brendan Smyth, was among the offenders.
Some children also alleged that they were sexually abused by older boys in the home.
The lawyer added that in 1997, a senior police officer, Det Ch Supt Eric Anderson described the sexual abuse of children at Rubane House as "rampant" and likened the scale of the abuse at Rubane House to that of Kincora Boys Home in east Belfast.
Kincora Boys Home was the subject of a high-profile child abuse scandal in the 1980s.
Three senior care staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys in their care.
In 1997, Mr Anderson wrote to the director of public prosecutions about the Rubane House allegations: "I consider the complaints made to show it to be on a par with, if not worse than, the abuse at the Kincora children's home.
"Sexual abuse by a considerable number of the De La Salle brothers on the children, and consequently between children was rampant."
The HIA inquiry was set up in 2013 to investigate child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995.
The Rubane House allegations form the third module of its public hearings.
It had previously been examining what happened to children sent from Northern Ireland to institutions in Australia.


The exposure of a Chinese teenager who vandalised an Ancient Egyptian artwork has led to a wave of anger among China's internet users.

On Friday a microblogger posted a photo of graffiti at a Luxor temple complex saying: "Ding Jinhao was here."
A 15-year-old boy from Nanjing was then named and his date of birth and school were posted online, reports say.
His parents have apologised to a local newspaper, saying they are sorry for his actions, Chinese media say.
Luxor, on the bank of the Nile, is home to a large temple complex, built by Amenhotep III, who lived in the 14th Century BC, and later by Rameses II.
The graffiti was found carved on an ancient stone relief by a tourist named Shen, who visited Luxor three weeks ago. After he posted it on his Sina Weibo microblogging account, more than 100,000 net users commented.
"We want to apologise to the Egyptian people and to people who have paid attention to this case across China," Mr Ding's mother told local newspaper Modern Express on Saturday.
She added that the teenager, now a middle school student in Nanjing, committed the act when he was younger and had realised the seriousness of his actions.
Ding Jinhao's father also appealed for the public to let his son be, saying: "This is too much pressure for him to take."
The boy's identification led to the hacking of his primary school's website, the Global Times newspaper said.
The incident comes as another example of the growing phenomenon of Chinese internet users exposing private information about those perceived to have done wrong.
In recent months a number of officials have been felled or shamed by information made public via microblogs.
Egypt's ministry of antiquities was quoted as saying the damage to the temple wall was superficial and measures were being taken to restore it.
But this latest controversy comes days after Wang Yang, one of China's four vice-premiers, said on 17 May that the "uncivilised behaviour" of some Chinese tourists was harming the country's image.
Chinese tourists spent $102bn (Â£67bn) overseas last year, up 40% on the year before, and the UN World Tourism Organisation says China is now the single biggest source of global tourism income.


Two black men have been shot dead by police in the US this week, the latest in a line of similar incidents, many of which have led to protests.

Philando Castile was shot in his car in St Paul, Minnesota, on Wednesday as he reached for his driving licence, his girlfriend said in a Facebook Live video taken during the aftermath.
His death follows that of Alton Sterling, who was shot dead by police during an incident in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday.
What do we know about the two victims?
The 32-year-old had worked in the canteen of a school in St Paul for more than 10 years, his uncle Clarence told media in Minnesota. The JJ Hill Montessori Magnet School in the city listed Mr Castile as a cafeteria supervisor on its website.
On his Facebook page, Clarence later re-posted comments by a Minnesota bishop, Divar Kemp, calling Philando Castile "an a1 genuine man who was killed because he obeyed what the officer asked him".
Mr Castile's cousin, Antonio Johnson, told the Star Tribune newspaper his cousin had graduated with honours from St Paul Central High School.
Mr Castile was "a black individual driving in Falcon Heights who was immediately criminally profiled and he lost his life over it tonight", he said.
He added that Mr Castile was "very non-confrontational" and "a real upstanding citizen".
The Star Tribune said Mr Castile had only minor offences on his criminal record.
Little is publicly known about Mr Sterling, 37.
The father of five sold CDs and DVDs in the car park in which he died, family members told media in Louisiana.
"If you asked Alton for the shirt off his back, he'd give it to you," his aunt, Lorna, told The Advocate newspaper. "Alton would give you the world."
One broadcaster, 9News, said Mr Sterling had a long criminal record, that included several battery, drug, and burglary charges. It said he was also arrested in 2009 for resisting an officer and illegally carrying a weapon.
But Lorna Sterling said her brother had sought to earn a living after his last conviction in 2011.


A cancer patient who spent the proceeds of his house sale and racked up major credit card debts pursuing his "bucket list" faces bankruptcy restrictions.

Ian Roderick Gibson owed about £77,000 to credit card firms by June 2011.
While he received £23,000 from the sale of his house in Belfast two years earlier, none of that went to his creditors, the High Court was told.
He said: "I became obsessed with doing the things I wanted to do before I died, as I believed I was dying."
Mr Gibson was adjudicated bankrupt on his own petition back in 2011 and would have been discharged a year later in normal circumstances.
However, the official receiver sought a further Bankruptcy Restrictions Order (BRO) against him due to alleged culpable misconduct in his financial affairs.
Mr Gibson admitted to having debt problems for up to 15 years before his bankruptcy petition.
Asked the reasons for not having the funds to pay what he owed, he referenced The Bucket List, a 2007 movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as two terminally ill men going on a road trip to complete unfulfilled wishes.
"I was using one credit card to pay off another for a long time, with the debt increasing all the time," he said.
"I'm afraid I felt a bit sorry for myself when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and couldn't get the film The Bucket List out of my mind, so I spent money from the sale of my house, rather foolishly I think.
"I also suffer from depression which I've had for many years. Unfortunately I had a heart attack last September which has not helped at all. I think I need a new start."
According to a report from his doctor, the cancer was diagnosed at an early stage and successfully treated - subject to regular reviews - in 2007.
Finding nothing in the GP's report to account for Mr Gibson's apparent belief about his health and future, the judge said his illness carried little weight in terms of the conduct under scrutiny.
She pointed out that he had been financially irresponsible prior to his diagnosis.
"More importantly, the extravagant dissipation of the £23,000 began in July 2009 - two years after his illness," she said.
She imposed a seven-year order that, taking into account an interim period already served, will run until June 2019.


Scientists at Heriot-Watt University are working with an entirely new type of solid matter.

Spontelectric materials carry a massive electric charge and could explain why life has been able to exist on Earth.
It's been cold recently, but not as cold as in this laboratory on the edge of Edinburgh. Helium gas has to be very cold before it turns to liquid, but using liquid helium is only the start of the process.
Prof Martin McCoustra shows me his ultra-high vacuum chamber. Because to create spontelectrics you need not only low temperatures but what he describes as "very, very, very low pressures".
How low?
"If you think about your household vacuum cleaner," he says, "the pressure is about one-hundredth of atmospheric.
"We go to at least a hundred-billionth of atmospheric pressure.
"We can also cool a little bit of the inside of that down to just a few degrees above absolute zero."
To these extremes, add a gas like nitrous oxide or carbon monoxide. Something made up of fairly simple molecules.
The unexpected happens: the gas becomes a solid. And no ordinary solid at that.
Until now it's been possible to divide solid matter into two types. If the molecules are arranged regularly it's a crystal. Less regularly arranged, it's an amorphous material like glass.
Spontelectric materials break that binary. They're a new type of solid matter, the first to be discovered for decades.
They were first created by the astrophysicist Prof David Field and his colleagues at Aarhus University in Denmark. Martin McCoustra's team at Heriot-Watt is further exploring their properties.
The most remarkable of these is that they are spontaneously electric - hence the name spontelectric.
The solid has a massive electric field of more than 100 million volts per metre. Although you don't measure spontelectrics in metres - they're a film just a few tens or hundreds of molecules thick.
Why might this matter? Because of stardust.
The lab environment in which spontelectrics are created - high vacuum, extreme cold, a silica substrate and simple gas molecules - mimic the conditions in the clouds of dust and gas that dot interstellar space. The nurseries in which stars are born.
Prof McCoustra says: "If these observations of these electric fields are translated into that interstellar environment, then there is potential for impacting on the charge balance in these dense clouds from which we make stars and planets."
He says the presence in the dust clouds of molecules like carbon monoxide could have had huge implications for life on Earth.
"It's strange that actually we need molecules to help us form small stars.
"If you take molecules out of the picture and you assume that all your gas is atomic hydrogen, the only things you can make are massive stars. If you want to make smaller stars like our Sun you need to have molecules."
And small - some might say insignificant - stars like our own matter, at least to us.
He adds: "If you don't get small stars you don't necessarily get stars that live very long.
"You won't get evolution on planets."
There is just one catch. So far, spontelectric solids are too small for us to see.
"The human hair is about one micron across," the professor says.
"We're working with films that are typically between ten and 50 nanometres, which is a hundred times smaller."
That means spontelectrics can only be looked at indirectly for now, with an infra-red spectrometer.
As well as laughing gas and carbon monoxide the Heriot-Watt team is now working with a more complex molecule, ethyl formate. The temperature required to transform that into a spontelectric solid is not quite so low.
In years to come there could be spinoffs for our everyday world.  One possibility could be better and longer lasting video displays if the spontelectric effect can be used to make new kinds of organic light emitting diodes.
Until then it's giving us an tantalising glimpse of a possible answer to one of the biggest questions of the lot: why we're here at all.


A Nebraska state senator has resigned amid a political row sparked by a photo he posted on Twitter mocking women protesting against Donald Trump.

Bill Kintner retweeted a post implying that three female protesters were too unattractive to be sexually assaulted.
The tweet drew criticism from other lawmakers, who threatened to submit legislation to boot him out of office.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world took to the street on Saturday, supporting a range of causes.
Mayor resigns over Michelle Obama post
Mr Kintner retweeted a comment Sunday by conservative radio personality Larry Elder that mocked female protesters.
Mr Elder had posted a photo of three women holding signs apparently referring to Mr Trump's taped boast about grabbing women by the genitalia.
The radio host had commented: "Ladies, I think you're safe."
On Wednesday morning Mr Kintner posted his resignation on Facebook saying: "I look forward to not having to spend 75 more days with politicians."
"To paraphrase Richard Nixon, You won't have Bill Kintner to kick around anymore," he added.
Mr Kintner had already been under fire for the past five months after a sex scandal provoked calls for him to resign.
The Republican lawmaker was fined $1,000 (Â£795) last year after admitting to using his work laptop computer to have cyber-sex with a stranger online.
Other politicians around the country have faced criticism over social media postings about Saturday's women's rights protests.
Indiana Republican state Senator Jack Sandlin shared a meme on Sunday showing women marching through Washington.
It included the caption: "In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years" - referencing the former first lady's fitness campaigns.
In a follow-up post, he denied having posted the image, implying that he had been the victim of hacking.
President Trump was criticised during his election campaign for implying that the women who had accused him of sexual assault were too unattractive for him.


Future warming could have "profound implications" for the stability of freshwater ecosystems, a study warns.

Researchers said warmer water affected the distribution and size of plankton - tiny organisms that form the basis of food chains in aquatic systems.
The team warmed plankton-containing vessels by 4C (7F) - the temperature by which some of the world's rivers and lakes could warm over the next century.
The findings appear in the journal Global Change Biology.
"Our study provides almost the first direct experimental evidence that - in the short-term - if a [freshwater] ecosystem warms up, it has profound implications for the size structure of plankton communities," said lead author Gabriel Yvon-Durocher from Queen Mary, University of London.
"Essentially, what we observed within the phytoplankton (microscopic plants) community was that it switched from a system that was dominated by larger autotrophs (plants that photosynthesise) to a system that was dominated by smaller autotrophs with a lower standing biomass."
Dr Yvon-Durocher added that a greater abundance, but lower overall biomass, of smaller phytoplankton had "very important implications for the stability of plankton food webs".
"This meant that the distribution of biomass between plants and animals changed from a... situation where you had a large amount of plants and a smaller amount of animal consumers to an 'inverted pyramid' where you have a smaller quantity of plant biomass and a larger amount of animal biomass," he told BBC News.
"Systems that tend to have larger consumer biomass relative to the resource biomass tend to be less stable over time."
Dr Yvon-Durocher explained that phytoplankton played a key role in the food webs of oceans, rivers and lakes.
"An inordinate amount of the primary productivity and carbon draw-down in ocean and freshwater ecosystems are carried out by microscopic planktonic organisms."
Because the tiny plants are able to produce their own food by using energy from sunlight, they are an important food source for zooplankton - microscopic animals that are not able to synthesise their own food.
The zooplankton are also a vital food for other creatures higher up the the food chain.
"Understanding the dynamics of these communities is going to be crucial in understanding how marine and freshwater ecosystems will respond to changes in temperature."
Fresh insight
For their experiment, the team of UK and Spanish researchers used 20 mesocosms, which are containers that allow scientists to study freshwater ecosystems in a controlled environment.
"We were able to, in a relatively small plot of land, have 20 replicated ecosystems - half of which we warmed, and the other half we kept at an ambient year-round temperature," explained Dr Yvon-Durocher.
"The great advantage of using the mescosm set-up is that it allows the manipulation of an entire ecosystem.
"There is an absolute wealth of literature on the effects of warming and climate change on single species, but we understand very little about what happens at a community level."
Commenting on their results, the team said: "These findings could provide some novel insights into how future warming might change the distribution of organism size and biomass in freshwater ecosystems.
"The size structure of plankton communities is a key driver of rates of carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling."
They added that warming waters could have an impact on a global scale.
However, Dr Yvon-Durocher said that it did not mean that the future for aquatic ecosystems was looking bleak.
"What it means is that the make-up of ecological communities are likely to profoundly change as a result of warming," he suggested.
"It may mean that the species' composition might change, but what we don't understand is how those changes are going to affect the functions of the ecosystems.
"That is the next step."


Controversial US far-right figure Mike Enoch should be prevented from entering Australia, a government MP has said.

Mr Enoch, real name Mike Peinovich, has been criticised for promoting white nationalism and making disparaging comments about Jews and Muslims.
He is scheduled to speak at a nationalist convention, DingoCon, in July, according to a Facebook page called the Australian Fascist.
George Christensen, a conservative MP, has said he should be denied a visa.
"Like radical Islamic sheikhs that come here to spread messages of hate, these people should not be allowed into the country," Mr Christensen told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has the power to refuse a visa to anyone deemed "not to be of good character".
Asked whether Mr Enoch had applied for a visa, Mr Dutton's department said it did not comment on individual cases.
Australia has previously denied or cancelled visas to people including anti-abortion campaigner Troy Newman, "pick-up artist"  Julien Blanc and singer Chris Brown.
He is a US writer responsible for a podcast called the Daily Shoah - a reference to the Holocaust.
The podcast has promoted white supremacy and denigrated religious and non-white groups.
The Anti-Defamation League, an anti-bigotry group, has described the website which hosts the podcast as "racist and anti-Semitic", crediting it with encouraging widespread abuse on social media.
In January, Mr Enoch's identity was revealed as Mike Peinovich, a former tech worker who lives in New York.
A convention organised by The Dingoes, an Australian ultra-nationalist group operating anonymously on the internet.
Tickets to the conference have been advertised for A$88 (Â£50; $65). The number 88 is reference to "heil Hitler" - as "h" is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
The Dingoes describe themselves as "politically-incorrect larrikins in our national tradition who take great enjoyment in ridiculing the grievance-mongering of our media and imported popular culture".
Mr Christensen said he regretted appearing on a podcast run by the group in February.
"It has since been pointed out to me they're extremely anti-Semitic, regularly make racial-based slurs and they subscribe to white nationalism," he told the ABC on Monday.


Shrewsbury Town have signed teenager Dominic Iorfa on an initial month's loan from League One rivals Wolves.

The 18-year-old right-back went straight into the squad for Tuesday night's trip to Colchester.
Iorfa's arrival brings Town's quota of loan players back up to six following the return of Miles Storey to Swindon.
That meant Nathaniel Mendez-Laing being left out at Colchester, to comply with the rule of only five loan players allowed in a matchday squad.
"He gives us a bit of cover there," Town boss Mike Jackson told BBC Radio Shropshire.
"He'll give us something different. He's quick, a good size, and a good addition to the squad."
The England Under-18 international came through the youth system at Molineux.


Angela Eagle looks set to launch a bid for the Labour leadership after Jeremy Corbyn rejected pleas to stand down.

The former shadow minister - who quit in a mass walkout of frontbenchers - is expected to run as a "unity" candidate.
Another ex-shadow minister Owen Smith is also said to be considering a bid.
Mr Corbyn rejected an attempt by Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson to persuade him to stand down, insisting he would not "betray" the party members who elected him last year.
Asked if she was launching a leadership bid as she left home earlier, Ms Eagle said: "I will be saying something later today."
Mr Watson and other senior figures fear the party is facing a threat to its existence following an unprecedented vote of no confidence in Mr Corbyn by Labour MPs.
Mr Watson told BBC News: "My party is in peril, we are facing an existential crisis and I just don't want us to be in this position because I think there are millions of people in this country who need a left-leaning government."
Labour-supporting trade unions indicated in a statement that they would not stand in the way of a contest if it was carried out "through the proper democratic procedures provided for in the party's constitution".
In a speech to students in London on Wednesday evening, Mr Corbyn said that while he recognised not everybody supported the direction in which he was taking the party, he had the mandate to carry on.
"I also recognise that the mandate was given by hundreds of thousands of ordinary people joining in the political process," he said to cheers from supporters.
He was briefly heckled, with one man shouting: "What about Europe? Where were you when we needed you?"
Ms Eagle, who was drafted into Mr Corbyn's top team as the shadow business minister and first secretary of state last year, is one of 20 members of the shadow cabinet to have quit since Sunday in protest at his leadership.
It is understood she has the support of the 51 Labour MPs and MEPs needed to mount a challenge.
The BBC understands former shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith and his "friends" are canvassing support among Labour MPs for a possible leadership bid, although Ms Eagle and her team are thought to be hoping to persuade him to "back off".
Former home secretary Alan Johnson, who led the Labour In campaign in the EU referendum, added to the pressure on Mr Corbyn with a scathing denunciation of his performance.
In a letter to his local constituency party, he accused the Labour leader of an "inability to take responsibility, demonstrate leadership or give the slightest indication that he is capable of moving beyond meaningless platitudes".
Mr Watson blamed Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for refusing to allow Mr Corbyn to resign.
"I went to see Jeremy today to see whether we could find a way of getting a negotiated settlement but he was unwilling to move from the position he is in. We are still in an impasse," he said.
"He has obviously been told to stay by his close ally John McDonnell. They are a team and they have decided they are going to tough this out. So it looks like the Labour Party is heading for some kind of contested election."
Mr McDonnell dismissed the claim as "ludicrous" and indicated that he was confident Mr Corbyn would see off any challenge to his leadership.
Addressing students at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he bitterly condemned the MPs trying to oust Mr Corbyn.
"It was like a lynch mob without the rope," he said. "If Jeremy had walked on water during the (referendum) campaign he would have been blamed for the loss. What we are watching is a leadership coup."
The fear for the rebels seeking to oust Mr Corbyn is that the party members who elected him by a landslide last year will rally behind him again, leaving him even more firmly entrenched as Labour leader.
There has been speculation about whether Mr Corbyn would have the automatic right to stand under Labour Party rules or whether he will also need to secure 51 nominations from MPs and MEPs in order to get on the ballot paper.


A breast surgeon who intentionally wounded his patients has had his 15-year jail term increased to 20 years.

Ian Paterson, 59, who appeared at the Court of Appeal via video link, was told his current sentence was "not sufficient" to reflect the seriousness and the totality of his offending.
Paterson was found guilty in May at Nottingham Crown Court of 17 counts of wounding with intent.
Jurors also convicted him of three further wounding charges.
Explaining the decision to increase his jail term, one of the three Appeal Court judges - Lady Justice Hallett - told Paterson his victims had been, "left feeling violated and vulnerable".
She described his treatment of patients as "brutal and sustained".
"They have lost their trust in others, particularly some in the medical profession," she said.
"Some have experienced long-term psychological effects."


The number of homeless children being housed in temporary accommodation rose by more than a third in the last three years, according to official figures.

The Local Government Association says councils are now providing temporary housing for 120,540 children with their families.
It says the growth rate - equivalent to an extra secondary school's worth of children per month - is unsustainable.
The government said the figures were a worry but still below the peak of 2006.
Based on the latest figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government from March 2017, the figures show a net increase of 32,650 (37%) since the second quarter of 2014 - an average of 906 extra children every month - just 40 fewer than the number of pupils in the average secondary school.
Councils say the net cost of providing temporary accommodation has tripled in the last three years, as the extra demand for places increases pressure on local government.
And the LGA, which represents 350 councils in England, says councils need to be able to build more genuinely affordable homes and provide the support that reduces the risk of homelessness in the first place.
This means councils being able to borrow to build and to keep 100% of the receipts of any home they sell to reinvest in new and existing housing.
Council leaders are also calling for an adaption to the implementation of welfare reforms to reduce the risk of homelessness and for access to funding to provide settled accommodation for families that become homeless.
Councillor Martin Tett, the association's housing spokesman, said: "Whilst the government's indication [that] it will explore ways to enable councils to build more homes is encouraging, these new homes can't appear overnight, and the demand is urgent.
"Councils are working hard to tackle homelessness, with some truly innovative work around the country - and we now need the government to support this local effort by allowing councils to invest in building genuinely affordable homes and taking steps to adapt welfare reforms to ensure housing remains affordable for low-income families."
The LGA sets out the lengths that councils are going to in order to tackle homelessness in their area in a new report.
Examples include innovative modular housing, dynamic purchasing systems and offers of housing in private rented sector.
A DCMG spokesman said: "We're clear that whilst temporary accommodation is vital in making sure that no family is without a roof over their head, councils have a responsibility to find secure good quality accommodation as quickly as possible.
"This government is determined to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping - that's why we're investing Â£550m to help tackle the issue."


The man and woman accused of murdering Becky Watts exchanged text messages about kidnapping "a pretty girl", a court has heard.

Becky's stepbrother Nathan Matthews, 28, and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, deny murder.
Bristol Crown Court heard the pair sent Facebook messages and texts referring to pornography and schoolgirls months before Becky was killed.
The 16-year-old's dismembered body was found in a shed in March.
Crime intelligence analyst Shaun Groves told the jury Facebook conversations and instant messages were exchanged between Ms Hoare and Mr Matthews last November and December.
The court heard one message sent on 20 November, from the Facebook profile of Mr Matthews, read: "Blonde school girls I be tapping? Hmmm LOL xxx".
Text messages exchanged on 9 December, the jury was told, read "Bring me back two pretty schoolgirls", and a reply of "LOL yeh, I will just kidnap them from school".
Another message read "Just went into Costcutters and saw a very pretty girl. Almost knocked her out to bring home LOL"
The reply ordered them to do it, the court heard.
Earlier Mr Groves told the court Ms Hoare had searched for online articles about the missing teenager on 23 February, four days after she was last seen alive.
On a day in which a juror was dismissed by the judge because he recognised a witness, the court heard Mr Matthews sent a text to his mother - Becky's stepmother - on 24 February, which said "the police have searched Shauna's house and obviously found nothing".
He later sent a text to his boss saying he would not come into work for four weeks due to "major family issues".
"Everything is crazy, I'm very sorry," he wrote.
The court heard a log of phone calls between Mr Matthews and Karl Demetrius, who has pleaded guilty to assisting an offender, on the night Becky's body was allegedly moved to the shed, was deleted.
Mr Matthews, 28, of Hazelbury Drive, South Gloucestershire, admits killing his stepsister but denies murder and conspiring to kidnap her.
He also admits perverting the course of justice, preventing Becky's burial and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Miss Hoare, 21, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap, the weapons charge, perverting the course of justice and preventing a burial.
Two other men, Donovan Demetrius, 29, and James Ireland, 23, deny assisting an offender.
The trial continues.


Battered by a five-year civil war at the onset of its independence, Tajikistan has struggled with poverty and instability in the two decades since it became its own state.

The country remains strongly dependent on Russia, both for its economy and to help counter security problems. In particular, Tajikistan depends on Moscow to help fight drug smuggling from neighbouring Afghanistan and an emerging radical Islam movement.
Tajikistan is also expanding its ties with China: Beijing has extended credits and has helped to build roads, tunnels and power infrastructure. Chinese firms are investing in oil and gas exploration and in gold mining.
Population 7.1 million
Area 143,100 sq km (55,251 sq miles)
Major languages Tajik, Uzbek, Russian
Major religion Islam
Life expectancy 65 years (men), 71 years (women)
Currency Tajik somoni
President: Emomali Sharipovich Rakhmon (Rakhmonov)
Emomali Rakhmon, a former cotton farm boss, was elected to president in 1994. He was re-elected in 1999 for a seven-year term - and won a third term in 2006, in an election international observers decried as neither free nor fair. He secured a fourth term in 2013.
Rakhmon played a vital role in Tajikistan's civil war, helping the pro-Communist effort to remove Islamist rebels from Dushanbe in the early 1990s.
After years of civil war and violence, some stability returned to Tajikistan. The president has a firm grip on power, however. But he enjoys popular support and citizens appear thankful for the end of the civil war.
The US-based human rights watchdog Freedom House rated Tajikistan as "not free" in its 2014 Freedom of the Press report. The report accused President Rakhmon's government of maintaining "intense pressure" on Tajik independent media.
The authorities also routinely block websites and social media platforms, including Russia's Odnoklassniki, Facebook and YouTube. But users are adept at using proxies to get around this. Opposition websites operate mainly from abroad.
Some key dates in Tajikistan's history:
13th century - Genghis Khan conquers Tajikistan and the rest of Central Asia, which becomes part of the Mongol Empire.
1860-1900 - Tajikistan is divided, with the north coming under Tsarist Russian rule while the south is annexed by the Emirate of Bukhara.
1921 - Northern Tajikistan becomes part of the Bolshevik-designated Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), which also included Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, part of northern Turkmenistan and southern Kazakhstan. In 1929, Tajik ASSR becomes a Soviet Socialist Republic, separate from Uzbekistan.
1991- Supreme Soviet declares Tajikistan independent from the Soviet Union; Rahmon Nabiyev, a Communist leader, wins Tajikistan's first direct presidential election with 57% of the vote. But in 1992 anti-government demonstrations in the country escalate to a civil war that lasts for five years.
2013 - President Rakhmon wins another seven-year term in elections several months after the government blocks major foreign websites like Facebook and Radio Free Europe. Zayd Saidov, a businessman arrested for setting up an opposition party before the elections, is jailed for 26 years on a number of charges, including fraud, corruption and having sexual relations with a minor.


Barbour jackets and quilted jackets worth thousands of pounds have been taken in a "smash and grab" raid in Gretna Green.

The incident happened at about 18:00 on Sunday at the Gretna Green Woollen Mill.
PC Graeme McKirde said they were examining CCTV footage and carrying out door to door inquiries.
He said they also wanted to hear from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious on Sunday evening.
"This has the hallmarks of a smash and grab type raid and those responsible seem to know what it is they were after," he added.


Swansea City play Bradford City in football's Capital One Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

It is the Welsh club's first major cup final in their 100 year history and victory will see them gain a place in Europe next season.
The Swans have enjoyed a remarkable rise over the last 10 years, but how much do you know about Wales' only Premier League club?
David Dulin gives a quick guide to Swansea City.
- Swansea Town FC was formed 1912 and joined the Football League in 1921.
- The club adopted the same all-white strip as Swansea RFC when formed but have since on occasions used black shorts and socks as part of the home kit.
- The club's nickname is the Swans or the Jacks. The reason behind the latter is not clear, but there are two possible origins: One is the reputation of local seamen "Jack Tars" in the early 19th Century, while the other is the black retriever dog called Swansea Jack who rescued no fewer than 27 people from drowning in the River Tawe and Swansea Docks during the 1930s.
- The club became Swansea City in 1971 when the town was granted city status.
- After having to apply for re-election to the league in 1975, the Swans secured successive promotions under player-manager John Toshack in 1978 and 1979.
- The Swans reached the old Division One in 1981 and the following season remained in the top six all campaign before successive relegations followed.
- Swansea City were formally wound up on 20 December 1985. But a group of directors put together a rescue package and permission was granted for the club to continue fixtures.
- During the 2001/02 season the club found itself facing bankruptcy and it took a supporters' buyout of controversial Australian businessman Tony Petty to rescue the Swans.
- The club narrowly avoided relegation from the Football League on the final day of the 2002/03 season but have not looked back since.
- Promotion to League One came in 2005 along with the switch from their Vetch Field home to the Liberty Stadium.
- In 2008, the Swans reached the Championship and in 2011 became the first Welsh club to reach the Premier League.
- This is the club's centenary this season.
- Swansea's all-time top goal scorer is Ivor Allchurch, who found the net 166 times in two spells for the club, between 1949-58 and 1965-68.
- Allchurch is also the club's most capped Wales player, winning 68 caps.
- The record transfer fee paid is Â£5.5m to Valencia for Pablo Hernandez in August 2012
- The record transfer fee received is Â£15m from Liverpool for Joe Allen in August 2012.
The club's first appearance at the old Wembley came in 1994 when they won the Autoglass Trophy - a competition for teams in the lower divisions of the Football League. They won the same competition, albeit under a different name, in 2006.
Before this season, the furthest Swansea had reached in the League Cup (which has had various sponsors before Capital One) was the fourth round.
Should they win on Sunday, next season will be the club's first match in Europe since 1991 when they lost 8-0 to AS Monaco in the European Cup Winners' Cup first round second leg.
Entry to that competition came through the Welsh Cup which the Swans won 11 times but no longer compete in.
The Swans have never won the FA Cup but reached the semi-final in 1926 and 1964.
- Kevin Cullis holds the record for Swansea's shortest-lived manager, lasting just seven days in February 1996. The former Cradley Town youth manager had no experience of senior football management. His tenure was one-and-a-half games after it was reported senior players took charge of a half-time team talk in his second match in charge.
- In 2000, Jamaican striker Walter Boyd hit the headlines for receiving a red card when he came on as a substitute and was sent off before play restarted for striking a Darlington player. That record has since been matched.
- Goalkeeper Willy Gueret was arrested in the directors' box at Bury while celebrating winning promotion from League Two in May 2005. His arrest came for arguing with officers.
- In the same year, Swansea left their Vetch Field home. But while the last league game was taking place - 10 days before the last match was held there - fans stripped all the signage from the North Bank and the club shop to take as souvenirs.
- In 2013, defender Angel Rangel took to the snowy streets of Swansea to give food to homeless people in the city.
- Swansea's Carling Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea was marred when Chelsea's Eden Hazard kicked the ball out from underneath a club ball boy and the player was sent off.
- Cyril the Swan was invented in the late 1990s and made the headlines almost instantly.
- In 1999, he was banned by the club for two matches after clashing with then Norwich City director of football Bryan Hamilton during a League Cup tie.
- In the same year, he was fined Â£1,000 for a solo pitch invasion while celebrating a goal against Millwall in the FA Cup.
- He also appeared on the National Lottery and needed an odd number to be drawn as the bonus ball or he would be replaced by a black Swan called Sid the Cygnet. No 47 came up.
- In 2001, Cyril ripped the head off Millwall's mascot Zampa the Lion and drop-kicked it into the crowd.
- Also that year, he faced an assault claim following an annual mascot grand national meet at Huntingdon racecourse, but that was later dropped.
- In 2005, Cyril married Cybil the Swan and his antics since then have been somewhat muted.
If you are a Swansea fan you can send us your pictures from Wembley or around the world as you follow the game, and we will publish a selection.


A British man was among the 116 people killed when the Air Algerie AH5017 passenger jet crashed in Mali, the UK Foreign Office has said.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane, which was travelling from Burkina Faso to Algiers, on Thursday amid severe storms.
Almost half of the passengers on board were French, including a family of 10.
The Briton is yet to be identified but the FCO said it was providing support to his family "at this tragic time".
Writing on Twitter, Prime Minister David Cameron said he was "deeply saddened" by the British man's death.
French President Francois Hollande earlier confirmed there were no survivors in the crash.
He said one flight data recorder had been recovered, after French troops reached the crash site near Mali's border with Burkina Faso.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said it was believed the crash was linked to the weather conditions, but said "no theory can be excluded at this point".
Burkina Faso authorities said the passenger list included 51 French people and 27 people from Burkina Faso.
The six crew members were Spanish, according to the Spanish pilots' union.


Tributes have been paid to a woman and man believed to have been killed in a double murder by a man who then fell to his death.

Tracy Gabriel, 40, and Keith Taylor, 43, were found dead following a disturbance at a block of flats in Aberdeen on Tuesday evening.
Ms Gabriel's family said she was "a much loved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and cousin".
And Mr Taylor's family described him as a "happy go lucky lad".
Police Scotland said their deaths were being treated as murder.
Witnesses described seeing another man fall to his death from the 12th floor of Donside Court in the Tillydrone area of the city shortly after police arrived.
He has been named locally as 57-year-old Hugh Gallacher.
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner will investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
A statement released by Mr Taylor's family said he had a "great sense of humour and was always laughing and joking".
It continued: "His dad taught him to Scuba dive and they enjoyed many diving trips in and around the Moray coast.
"Keith met his wife when he worked in Holland in the oil and gas sector. They then moved to Aberdeen and got married in 2013. He was a loving husband and was devoted to his mum and dad plus his older brother."
A statement from Ms Gabriel's family read: "Tracy was a much loved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and cousin. Born in Aberdeen, Tracy spent most of her younger years in the Alford and Huntly areas.
"She then moved to Aberdeen whilst in her twenties and latterly lived in the Tillydrone area. She was well known in the community and well liked by her friends and family. She will be sadly missed."
Ms Gabriel's father Alex told the Daily Record: "Tracy was a very cheery, generous person who would give you the last pound in her pocket.
"Maybe she was sometimes too generous to the wrong people, who took advantage of her.
"All she ever wanted to do was make sure everyone was okay. I can't believe something like this has happened to her."
Ms Gabriel, who is originally from Huntly, is reported to have been a mother of four children.
Her daughter Samantha, 21, told the Daily Record: "I'm struggling to believe this has happened."
One woman who said she had known Ms Gabriel since they were at school together told BBC Scotland she had lost "a great friend".
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she had not been aware of any serious problems between Ms Gabriel and the man believed to have killed her.
Writing on Facebook, a friend of Mr Taylor said: "I would like to say rest in peace to one of my oldest best friends Keith Taylor.
"Man we had so much fun and crazy times too and I remember all the trouble we didn't mean get into to but it just happened.
"You will always be in my life man RIP Keith."


In the wake of US-led air strikes on an Islamic State (IS) convoy near the Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, media have been awash with rumours that IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed or injured.

The apparent silence of IS sources on the issue could be evidence that something has happened to al-Baghdadi.  But there was a similar lack of official IS denial of rumours that the group's spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, had been killed in air strikes earlier this year - something that later turned out to be unfounded.
A Twitter account purportedly belonging to Adnani has claimed Baghdadi should be on his way to a speedy recovery, but the account is almost certainly fake, as it refers to Adnani in the third person at one point. Were it real, Twitter would have deleted it some time ago, having cracked down on all traces of an official IS presence on its platform.
Regardless of the veracity of the present reports, it is of interest to assess what impact Baghdadi's death would have on the fortunes of IS.
IS is heavily invested in the image of Baghdadi, who had projected himself as a caliph for a year before a caliphate was declared in June 2014.
One of the signs of this was Baghdadi's original declaration rebranding the group as Isis - the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant- in April 2013, an evolution from the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).
Isis implied an Islamic state entity whose presence in Iraq and Syria was a mere geographic accident, and subject to future expansion.
ISI on the other hand, had implied an independent emirate that could perhaps be subsumed into the long-term global project of al-Qaeda.
The shift from ISI to Isis was marked with slogans such as "the promised project of the caliphate" and songs like "Close ranks and pledge allegiance to Baghdadi".
Thus, IS's basis for claiming to be a state and caliphate is closely tied to Baghdadi's persona, which initially thrived on hiding behind audio messages.
Key also to Baghdadi's legitimacy in the eyes supporters is his claimed lineage from the Prophet Muhammad's family and tribe, as well as scholarly knowledge of religious jurisprudence.
The problem then is to find a viable successor to Baghdadi in the event of his death. No other figure in IS is publicly cultivated to claim the position of caliph, with credentials of education in Islamic law.
In addition, the persona of Baghdadi is credited with ISI's rise, to a transnational entity that controls contiguous territory and has all the trappings of a state.
Senior figures within IS - such as members of the Shura Council, which supposedly gave legitimacy to the caliphate declaration - remain otherwise unknown.
Nothing suggests that other high-ranking IS figures, such as Adnani and field commanders such as Omar Shishani and Shaker Abu Waheeb, are being projected as potential successors to Baghdadi.
Therefore IS could find itself in disarray in the event of Baghdadi's death if it cannot immediately achieve consensus on a successor who can live up to his legacy and command allegiance from the world's Muslims.
Indeed, the group's rank-and-file is by no means monolithic. Many members - particularly from likeminded jihadi groups such as Jamaat Ansar al-Islam- have pledged allegiance on the notion that IS is a "winning horse" that can project itself as a caliphate.
If that credibility disappears, the pledges of allegiance, which it should be noted are made to Baghdadi as "caliph of the Muslims", could well vanish.  Members would then revert to their original group identities, reducing Islamic State's ranks.


Dumbarton remain just two points clear of Livingston in the relegation play-off place after drawing at home to Greenock Morton in the Scottish Championship.

Darren Barr had an effort saved as the Sons tried to force a lead.
Morton's Ross Forbes hit the post with 10 minutes left, Denny Johnstone firing the rebound wide.
Gregor Buchanan went close moments later at the other end but Derek Gaston was alert to smother the chance.


Marcus Willis' hopes of another surprise Wimbledon run were ended by Ukrainian ninth seed Illya Marchenko in the final round of qualifying.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The Briton, 26, won seven matches before losing to Swiss great Roger Federer in the second round last year.
The world number 374 could not repeat the feat 12 months later, going down 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-4) to Marchenko.
Derby's Jay Clarke, 18, earlier lost 2-6 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-4 6-1 to Austrian Sebastian Ofner.
Katy Dunne, the last British woman left in qualifying, lost 7-5 3-6 6-2 to Belgian second seed Alison van Uytvanck in round two.
Willis had used all his grass-court ability to see off fellow Briton Liam Broady on Wednesday, but struggled physically when back in action less than 24 hours later.
"I would have needed not a miracle, but him to not be how he was or to be hurt himself," said Willis.
"I still went out and fought and did everything I could, but on his service games I didn't really have a sniff."
Marchenko, 29, was the first to require treatment for a neck issue after seven games, but he recovered sufficiently to break serve and clinch the first set.
It was Willis who then began to suffer, calling for the trainer before playing on with his knee strapped.
Marchenko, ranked 117th after a high of 49th in the world last year, raced through the second set and saved a break point early in the third.
Urged on by a packed crowd on the new televised show court at the Bank of England Sports Centre, Willis forced a tie-break but could not keep pace with the stronger Marchenko.
Willis and Clarke must content themselves with a wildcard into the doubles at the All England Club.
Clarke, ranked 360th in the world, suffered an agonising defeat from two sets up in his first five-set match.
"Physically I didn't feel too bad, it was more mentally," he said. "I wasn't close to cramping but fatigue was starting to set in."


Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says the African Champions League holders are in a difficult position after failing to take advantage of a star-struck Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and not press home their early dominance as they began the defence of their title on Friday night.

Mosimane said they could only blame themselves for not capitalising on a quick start in Atteridgeville, just outside Pretoria, where they were 2-0 up after just six minutes as their Ugandan visitors seemed to suffer from stage fright.
We have ourselves to blame for putting ourselves in this position so we need to take ourselves out of this position
Sundowns had the lion's share of possession in the first leg of their last 32-tie after that, but still allowed KCCA to get back into the game and net a potentially vital away goal in the 69th minute.
"We have ourselves to blame for putting ourselves in this position so we need to take ourselves out of this position. So we have to fight for it. We have the experience, we have the game, we have the personnel.," said Mosimane, voted Africa's Coach of the Year for 2016.
It means a tenuous lead for the return leg of the second round tie in the Ugandan capital where KCCA need win only 1-0 to go through on the away goals rule.
Mosimane says Sundowns will have to defend well in the return but also pointed out his own team's good away record in winning last year's crown. He said KCCA would be forced to leave gaps at the back as they went in search of victory in front of their own supporters
"It won't be an easy game for them either because they have to push everybody upfront to go score And then we can play on the break also because we've got that ability."
KCCA surprised Mosimane with their work ethic and their recovery after conceding goals to centre backs Bangaly Soumahoro and Ricardo Nascimento so early in the game
"They worked hard. They are a hard working team, they really worked off the ball, they fight, they run, they don't give up, they have the hope," he said of the Ugandan champions, who are also current league leaders in their domestic competition.
Sundowns now face the possibility of joining the likes of recent champions who have come unstuck in embarrassingly early fashion in defence of their crown.
Last year it was TP Mazembe who went out before the group phase and two years before that Egypt's Al Ahly were handed a shock second round defeat by their namesakes from Benghazi in Libya.


While Scotland decides its future on 18 September, the result will be published of another significant vote by one of the country's historic sporting institutions.

Members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews have been sending their replies to a postal ballot on whether to admit women to the club for the first time in its 260-year history.
The result will be made known in the early evening of Thursday when a statement will be issued by the Fife-based organisation.  If, as expected, the vote favours the admission of women it will be a significant step forward for the game.
While it won't make any practical difference to the thousands of female golfers in the UK, it will help one of the game's governing bodies perform its duties free from rising criticism that was undermining its authority.
Golf has been regarded as out of step with modern society because several men-only clubs hold positions of great influence - none more so than the Royal and Ancient, which in 2004 spawned the limited company that runs the Open Championship and acts as rule-maker for the game.
The championship committee that organises the Open is made up by members from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. Provided there is the anticipated "yes" vote, this means women will have a route to become involved in the running of golf's oldest and most revered tournament.
It is a significant move because the club will regain a moral authority that was slipping from its grasp.  "We've done this really because of our governance role in the game," said R&A chief executive Peter Dawson when he announced the ballot in March.
"Sport has been changing, society has been changing and golf is part of that. We think it's time this change is made.
"You can always ask that question: 'Why now? Why not 10 years ago?' The R&A have been considering this. It's been on our agenda, on our radar, for quite some time," Dawson added.
"The feeling is as society changes, as sport changes, as golf changes, it's something the R&A needs to do."
Back in March, Dawson stated a "no" vote would be "undesirable".  Indeed, were the move to be rejected it would leave many questioning the R&A's right to have any future influence on the running of the game.
During the ballot process, Dawson has been at pains not to be drawn any further into the debate. He did not want to say anything that might upset the membership.
Originally the vote, which would have required a two-thirds majority, was scheduled to take place at the club's annual business meeting. That's why they had no choice but to use the same date as the Scottish referendum.
However, it soon became clear that this was a matter for the entire club, not just the 300 or so members who typically attend the business meeting.  Therefore a postal ballot of all 2,400 members was organised and only a simple majority is required to enact the historic move.
Too many recent Opens have been overshadowed by the men-only issue.  Whenever the championship has been played at St Andrews, Muirfield, Royal St George's and Royal Troon, it has detracted from the tournament.
The irony is that the Old Course at St Andrews is a public facility open to all. Unfortunately that fact was often lost amid arguments of elitism and discrimination.
Headlines portraying golf as a pompous, male chauvinist sport take away from the great champions competing for the prized Claret Jug.
In the wake of the vote being announced, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers have been mulling over the issue of men-only membership at Muirfield, while at Sandwich there are increasing signs of movement on the issue.
Royal Troon appear to have no plans to move from single-sex membership. However, they point out that the town's ladies club use the course, which is scheduled to stage the 2016 Open.
While the R&A have no desire to remove these clubs from the championship rota, they must also know how the men-only issue undermines the sport.  They should be able to influence change to more inclusive policies if they have female members.
"I think if they're honest, they are bowing to pressure because they would probably like to keep it as it is, as it has been for the last 200 years," Dame Laura Davies, Britain's leading female player in the modern era, was quoted as saying.
"I'm sure a lot of people won't like it. Everyone probably thinks it should happen but it's their club, they're the members and, if they want to keep it the way it is, that's their decision.
"But I think, in a modern world, it's about time they did have some lady members. If they offered me a membership of the R&A, I'd snap their hands off. If they let lady members in then great; if they don't then that's their prerogative."
Sports minister Helen Grant has urged a vote to allow women members and it would be a surprise if the membership reject the proposal.
Certainly the committee would not have called the vote and backed the idea of women members if they thought there was much chance of defeat.
Unlike the referendum, this seems an easier vote to call and so expect 15 or so women from prominent positions in the golfing firmament to soon be invited to join its most historic club.


Scorpions, parakeets and turtles have all been found living wild in the UK, according to a new study.

The study, led by the University of Hull, studied sightings and population numbers for creatures introduced into Britain over the last 150 years.
It found 13,000 yellow-tailed scorpions and between 30,000 and 50,000 ring-necked parakeets in south-east England.
About 10 coatis, which are also known as Brazilian aardvarks, and about 20 snapping turtles were also found.
The coatis, which are members of the racoon family and hail from North America, are thought to be living wild in Cumbria.
The snapping turtles, also from North America, are believed to be living in parts of Kent, London, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.
The scorpions originate from north-west Africa and southern Europe and the ring-necked parakeets come from Africa and Asia.
Report author Dr Toni Bunnell, of the University of Hull, said it was thought some of the animals had originally been kept as pets but were released when their owners could no longer look after them.
"If you get enough turfed out in the same area and they can survive and the habitat suits them, then you have got a breeding population. That seems to be what's happening."
She added that other species were thought to have escaped from private collections.
The report was commissioned by the Eden television channel.


Ian Bell's Test career is probably over following his decision to captain Warwickshire, Michael Vaughan believes.

Ex-England captain Vaughan says the demands of the job, coupled with England's good form, make it unlikely Bell can ever get back in the squad.
Bell, 33, has replaced Varun Chopra as captain of the county side but still harbours England ambitions.
"I really don't see how Ian Bell at this stage of his career will get back in the side," Vaughan said.
"I think he'll struggle. When you see someone take over a county captaincy it's almost the final bow of a career," he told BBC Radio 5 live's Tuffers and Vaughan Cricket Show.
"I might be proven wrong because of the amount of runs he'll possibly score for Warwickshire . But when you get the opportunity to captain your county side, it's such a big job, a day in day out job."
Bell, who has played 118 Tests for England, was dropped for the current tour of South Africa after a poor run of form.
He said: "I know as much as anyone my last 10 Test matches weren't good enough. I was very short of runs so I'm not going to sit here and say I didn't deserve to be dropped.
"For me now it's about dusting myself off, getting back to doing what I do and that's scoring runs and getting stuck into Warwickshire."
England play the fourth and final Test against South Africa on Friday with the series already won.
Former England spinner Phil Tufnell said: "This England side now are just moving forward at such a pace, everyone who's coming in now is contributing massively and there's such a buzz about it, we haven't really thought about Ian Bell or him not being there.
"He's got a tough task. He will go back to Warwickshire and will score a mountain of runs because he's a class player but is there any room for him? Only time will tell."


An Illinois college student has died after being hit by a hammer during an athletics competition.

Ethan Roser, 19, was accidentally struck by the hammer on Saturday afternoon at the campus of Wheaton College in suburban Chicago.
The 19-year-old, who was volunteering at the event, died in hospital after paramedics treated him at the scene.
In track and field the hammer is a metal ball, weighing between 9-16lb (4-7kg), attached to a thin wire.
The competitor usually spins around several times before throwing the ball.
Mr Roser, a first-year student from Cincinnati, Ohio, was the son of Christian missionaries who spent his early years in Zimbabwe, reports the Washington Post.
His brother, Johnathan, wrote on Saturday on Facebook that his sibling had been "called home to be with our Lord".
"We are in shock and struggling to comprehend how we will live without him."
Wheaton College President Philip Ryken asked the campus community to pray for Mr Roser's loved ones.


Thousands of bikers will complete a lap of the Isle of Man TT course later in memory of all racers who have lost their lives to the sport.

The Simon Andrews Legacy Lap was set up in 2014 following the Worcestershire TT star's death at the North West 200.
Simon's sister Claire Jupp said this year would have "added poignancy" after the deaths of rising stars Billy Redmayne and Malachi Mitchell Thomas.
On Saturday, a further two competitors were killed on the event's opening day.
Sidecar driver Dwight Beare, 27, crashed near the Rhencullen section of the Mountain Course while Paul Shoesmith, 50, from Cheshire, died in a crash on Sulby Straight during solo practice.
Last year more than 5,000 riders took part in the tribute lap.
Manx soldier Mr Redmayne, 25, died in April after sustaining serious head injuries during a crash at the Oliver's Mount Spring Cup in Scarborough.
Mitchell Thomas, 20, from Chorley in Lancashire, died earlier this month after crashing during the Supertwins race at the NW200 in Northern Ireland.
Both men had been hoping to make their debuts at this year's TT festival.
Ms Jupp said: "It is very important that fallen racers are not forgotten. Last year the procession stretched back for 15 miles, which shows the respect that exists."
The "legacy lap", which will have a full police escort, will set off from the TT grandstand at 10:00 BST.


Brazilian digital artist Matheus Toscano has been re-creating football moments in the classic "8-bit" style - inspired by the games consoles of yesteryear.

And, like those classic gaming machines, what the images lack in realism they more than make up for in character.
For the World Cup, Toscano, who makes the images on his tablet, faithfully re-created the most significant moments - biting and all.
Toscano has been creating the images since 2012, but the World Cup has brought him a wave of new fans.
"With no ambitions, I created a Twitter account and a blog to share my work, and the reactions were quite positive," he told the BBC.
"It is a hobby that I do in my free time. I did not expect to be such a success."
His hobby could extend further if his hopes of raising money to create a retro-style football game are met.
Below is a selection of World Cup moments, as drawn by Toscano. The rest of his work can be found on the project's website, 8Bit-Football.com - but don't expect to see a picture of Brazil's thumping loss to Germany.
"There were so many goals that I did not know what to draw," Toscano said.


A group opposed to Aberdeen FC's plans to build a new stadium on the outskirts of the city has vowed to continue its campaign despite facing online abuse.

The Say No To Kingsford Stadium group told BBC Scotland it had been inundated with abuse from some fans.
An incident in which weed killer was sprayed over one campaigner's garden has also been reported to police.
However, a spokesman for the group said the incidents would not stop them campaigning.
Aberdeen FC wants to leave its current home at Pittodrie and build a new stadium and football academy at Kingsford, near Westhill.
Say No To Kingsford Stadium argues that it is green belt land and the development would have a hugely negative impact locally.
Its spokesman said no-one in the group was anti-football and they would support the right development in the heart of the city.
An Aberdeen FC spokesman said the club condemned any online abuse.
The Dons had been considering a relocation to Loirston, to the south of Aberdeen, a proposal which had been marred by planning difficulties.
Chairman Stewart Milne has described Kingsford as "an ideal location for supporters".


Myanmar, also known as Burma, was long considered a pariah state, isolated from the rest of the world with an appalling human rights record.

From 1962 to 2011, the country was ruled by a military junta that suppressed almost all dissent and wielded absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions.
The generals who ran the country stood accused of gross human rights abuses, including the forcible relocation of civilians and the widespread use of forced labour, including children.
The first general election in 20 years was held in 2010. This was hailed by the junta as an important step in the transition from military rule to a civilian democracy, though opposition groups alleged widespread fraud and condemned the election as a sham.
It was boycotted by the main opposition group, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) - which had won a landslide victory in the previous multi-party election in 1990 but was not allowed to govern.
Country Profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
A nominally civilian government led by President Thein Sein - who served as a general and then prime minister under the junta - was installed in March 2011.
However, a new constitution brought in by the junta in 2008 entrenched the primacy of the military. A quarter of seats in both parliamentary chambers are reserved for the military, and three key ministerial posts - interior, defence and border affairs - must be held by serving generals.
Despite this inauspicious start to Myanmar's new post-junta phase, a series of reforms in the months since the new government took up office has led to hopes that decades of international isolation could be coming to an end.
This was confirmed when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a landmark visit in December 2011 - the first by a senior US official in 50 years - during which she met both President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi.
The newly re-elected President Obama followed suit in November 2012, and hosted President Thein Sein in Washington in May 2013, signalling the country's return to the world stage.
The EU followed the US lead, lifting all non-military sanctions in April 2012 and offering Myanmar more than $100m in development aid later that year.
Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi
Life in pictures
Connecting with Aung San Suu Kyi
The largest ethnic group is the Burman or Bamar people, distantly related to the Tibetans and Chinese. Burman dominance over Karen, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Rohingya, Chin, Kachin and other minorities has been the source of considerable ethnic tension and has fuelled intermittent protests and separatist rebellions.
Military offensives against insurgents have uprooted many thousands of civilians. Ceasefire deals signed in late 2011 and early 2012 with rebels of the Karen and Shan ethnic groups suggested a new determination to end the long-running conflicts, as did a draft ceasefire agreement signed between the government and all 16 rebel groups in March 2015.
Simmering violence between Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya erupted in 2013, the official response to which raised questions at home and abroad about the political establishment's commitment to equality before the law.
A largely rural, densely-forested country, Myanmar is the world's largest exporter of teak and a principal source of jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires. It has highly fertile soil and important offshore oil and gas deposits. Little of this wealth reaches the mass of the population.
The economy is one of the least developed in the world, and is suffering the effects of decades of stagnation, mismanagement, and isolation. Key industries have long been controlled by the military, and corruption is rife. The military has also been accused of large-scale trafficking in heroin, of which Myanmar is a major exporter.
The EU, United States and Canada imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar for some time, and among major economies only China, India and South Korea have invested in the country.
Myanmar's wealth of Buddhist temples has boosted the increasingly important tourism industry, which is the most obvious area for any future foreign investment.


Apple has won a key patent case against rival Samsung at the US International Trade Commission (US ITC).

The US ITC upheld a 2011 decision which found that Samsung had infringed Apple patents in the production of mobile phones, media players and tablets.
The US ITC has ordered that Samsung devices affected by the ruling are banned from the US.
But that ban is on hold while US President Barack Obama reviews the decision.
The President has 60 days to assess the US ITC's findings, although analysts say he is unlikely to overturn the commission's decision.
"We are disappointed that the ITC has issued an exclusion order based on two of Apple's patents," Samsung said in a statement.
"The proper focus for the smartphone industry is not a global war in the courts, but fair competition in the marketplace."
Apple hailed the decision, placing it in the context of the tech giants' global patent battles.
"With today's decision, the ITC has joined courts around the world in Japan, Korea, Germany, Netherlands and California by standing up for innovation and rejecting Samsung's blatant copying of Apple's products," said the company.
The ruling applies to two patents.
The first is the so-called "Steve Jobs patent", named after the company's founder, which involves touch-screen technology.
The other patent is related to the audio socket on devices.
"It's another significant victory for Apple," intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller told the BBC, "especially because the famous Steve Jobs patent is a pretty foundational patent."
Four other patent infringements asserted by Apple were turned down by the US ITC.
Apple and Samsung have been fighting patent battles for years and across 10 countries.
The fight has escalated after Samsung overtook Apple last year to become the global leader in smartphone sales.
In Washington on Friday, a federal appeals judge heard testimony in a separate patent case between the two companies relating to a decision last year, in which Samsung was found to owe Apple $1bn (Â£645m) for infringing on patents.
That penalty was later struck to $450m, but Apple appealed against the ruling. A verdict in that case has not yet been issued.
Separately, last weekend President Obama issued the first presidential veto in 26 years relating to a US ITC decision.
That veto overturned a ban on older models of Apple's iPhones and iPads because of its "effect on competitive conditions in the US economy".
Friday's ruling is widely seen as a victory for the company.
"In a way. the noose is tightening. Apple step by step actually is gaining leverage against Samsung," says Mr Mueller.


Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions, Theresa May refused to say whether the Conservatives will keep the same protections for the state pension if they win the general election.

The claim: Pensioners would be £872 worse off if the triple-lock was taken away. The triple-lock is a commitment to raise the basic state pension by average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher.
Reality Check verdict: In the long-term, pensioners would be worse off without the triple-lock. How much worse off would depend on what replaces it. Ian Blackford's figure is a forecast of what would happen if the state pension was only increased in line with inflation predictions for the next five years. He appears to have misspoken, because the research actually said that pensioners would lose £817 over five years.
Responding to a question from Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader in Westminster, she pledged that pensioners' incomes would continue to rise, but would not specify by how much.
The government is currently committed to maintaining the pension triple-lock until 2020, which means it will raise the basic state pension by average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is higher.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP are all committed to maintaining the triple-lock.
But the Work and Pensions Committee has said it should be scrapped on the grounds that it is "unsustainable" and "unfair" on younger families.
It suggested that pensions should rise in line with earnings and be protected against inflation being higher than earnings, but with no minimum annual increase.
John Cridland, who published a report on the future of state pensions last month, suggested that the triple-lock would also eventually need to be abandoned in favour of an earnings link.
In the long-term, the triple-lock is a big issue, with the number of people of pension age per person of working age forecast by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to rise considerably over the next 50 years.
Speaking on BBC Newsnight, Mr Blackford cited research from the House of Commons Library, which found that "over a five-year period, pensioners would be £872 worse off if the triple lock was taken away".
Giving a bit more detail, the library was asked to take Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts for the next five years of inflation and average earnings figures.
It then compared what would happen to pensions under different scenarios.
It turned out that protecting it in line with with earnings would make almost no difference, because average earnings are expected to be more than 2.5% throughout the period.
Protecting only in line with inflation would cost a total of £642 over five years for a pensioner on the basic state pension and £817 over five years for someone on the new state pension.
Mr Blackford presumably remembered that figure wrongly when he said it would cost £872.
Clearly these figures are based on forecasts for what will happen in the future, which are uncertain. An alternative is to look at how much the triple-lock has cost in the past as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has done.
The triple-lock makes a particularly big difference in periods of relatively low earnings growth and low inflation as the UK has experienced recently.
It found that the triple-lock had cost about an extra £6bn a year compared with only protecting with earnings and £4bn a year compared with adjusting in line with inflation.
The IFS made this chart showing the difference in the percentage of national income spent on the state pension with or without the triple-lock, also based on OBR forecasts.
The IFS suggested that the government should decide what proportion of earnings it wants the state pension to be and then stick to that, rather than arbitrarily increasing it gradually through the triple-lock.
What happens to the triple-lock is highly significant because it has made such a difference in incomes for pensioners compared with workers.
In-work benefits are protected less generously than state pensions.
The Resolution Foundation brought out research recently suggesting that pensioner households on average are better off than working households after housing costs have been taken into account.
Taking income after housing costs makes a huge difference because pensioner households are more likely to own their own homes and to have relatively small or paid-off mortgages.
Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann told Newsnight that the triple-lock was particularly unfair on younger families because it was putting pressure on the government to keep raising the pension age to keep pension costs down, so the time when they could claim their own pensions was being delayed.
Among the options for replacing the triple-lock are:
Read more from Reality Check
Follow us on Twitter


Plans to create a "tram-train" link between Glasgow Airport and the city centre have been unveiled.

The £144m Glasgow Airport Access Project could see journey times cut to 16.5 minutes and would bypass the need to use the busy M8.
It would involve a specially-designed hybrid tram-train using the existing railway network and on-street tracks.
It comes seven years after the Scottish government scrapped plans for a direct rail link on the grounds of cost.
If approved the system would be operational by 2025, with construction due to begin in 2022.
Four tram-trains per hour would run in each direction taking travellers between Glasgow Central Station, Paisley Gilmour Street and the airport.
The tram-trains would travel from Glasgow Central to Paisley before joining a new tram-line system to complete the journey to the airport.
The interchange point at Paisley Gilmour Street would allow passengers destinations on the Ayrshire and Inverclyde train lines to access the service.
The proposals are part of the £1bn city deal announced for Glasgow in 2014.
The leader of Glasgow City Council Frank McAveety said the project was "essential".
The Labour councillor said: "We've long argued that a new rail link between the airport and the city centre is essential for the thousands of tourists and business travellers who fly into and out of Glasgow every day.
"The airport already supports thousands of jobs but this new rail link, which is the single biggest element of our City Deal, will be the catalyst that takes us to a new level, vastly improving the customer experience and generating even more jobs and inward investment."
Those behind the scheme say that more than 80% of passengers and staff currently travel to and from the airport by road, with the M8 already experiencing serious congestion during peak times.
According to their figures, the airport injects about £170m into the local area every year.
Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bob Grant said there was a strong business case for the project.
He said: "A direct rail link is crucial to allow our companies to compete more effectively.
"Glasgow Airport is a key economic driver for the whole of Renfrewshire and greater Glasgow. Our most important asset needs an effective transport infrastructure which will allow businesses to service new markets, attract and retain staff and maintain a competitive advantage."
Scotland's Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf said he would be working with Renfrewshire and Glasgow City Councils and the airport on the plans.
He said: "I look forward to continuing to work with the project team in order to assist them produce a robust and transparent business case which clearly sets out the impacts and a realistic and well informed assessment of all costs of any proposals to ensure informed decisions are made."
The proposals will now be discussed by councillors in Renfrewshire and Glasgow before they go for approval by the Glasgow City Region Cabinet - made up of the leaders of both councils - in December.


Two former first ministers say government ministers should be scrutinised more closely to strengthen democracy in the Scottish Parliament.

16 January 2017 Last updated at 17:17 GMT
Lord McConnell called for a realignment of MSPs towards their constituents and less-centred on parties and for increased scrutiny of ministers. He said: "Government does a better job when it is challenged and ministers do a  better job when they fear being challenged."
Looking towards the future, given the changing nature of wider global politics, was a key aim of Henry McLeish. He called for Holyrood to have "a bigger identity in Scotland because we want to strengthen our democracy and democracy, in my view, is at risk at the present time".
The former Holyrood leaders were giving evidence to the newly-formed Commission for Parliamentary Reform.