Making transboundary risks governable: reducing complexity, constructing spatial identity, and ascribing capabilities.

PubMed

Lidskog, Rolf; Uggla, Ylva; Soneryd, Linda

2011-03-01

Environmental problems that cross national borders are attracting increasing public and political attention; regulating them involves coordinating the goals and activities of various governments, which often presupposes simplifying and standardizing complex knowledge, and finding ways to manage uncertainty. This article explores how transboundary environmental problems are dealt with to render complex issues governable. By discussing oil pollution in the Baltic Sea and the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, we elucidate how boundaries are negotiated to make issues governable. Three processes are found to be particularly relevant to how involved actors render complex issues governable: complexity reduction, construction of a spatial identity for an issue, and ascription of capabilities to new or old actor constellations. We conclude that such regulation is always provisional, implying that existing regulation is always open for negotiation and criticism.

The Role of Governance in Connecting Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods: Lessons from Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allan, Andrew; Lim, Michelle; Islam, Nabiul; Salehin, Mashfiqus; Munsur Rahman, Md.

2015-04-01

National legal, policy and decision-making frameworks often undervalue or ignore ecosystem services (ES) and the ways in which they can affect livelihoods, and research projects may under-estimate the role of governance in translating research effectively into practice. Better coordination of ES and livelihoods can be fatally undermined by existing institutional frameworks and through poor implementation and follow-up of policy decisions. This can have drastic impacts on resilience as the reality may be very different from the policy intentions. The ESPA Deltas project integrates physical modelling, a multi-season social survey, scenario development and stakeholder engagement, and a governance analysis component has been incorporated into each. The project has comprehensively assessed the legal, policy and institutional context in Bangladesh, identifying barriers to legal and policy implementation through intensive stakeholder engagement and desk study at local, national and international levels. There has been a high degree of agreement in the findings from each of these independent processes and across the districts assessed. This presentation illustrates how the governance research has been incorporated into the development of qualitative scenarios. It also demonstrates the extent to which policy implementation considerations have been factored into the biophysical modelling and social survey work. It identifies the challenges for adaptation strategies in Bangladesh, and draws on successful examples of policy implementation there (e.g. disaster management) to propose governance interventions that might enhance the resilience of delta inhabitants, especially in the light of the informal governance context. This research facilitates implementation of targeted governance interventions and supports the development of tools that can aid policy-makers in evaluating the impact of policy decisions on ecosystem services and livelihoods.

The Role of Governance in Connecting Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods: Lessons from Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allan, A.; Lim, M. M. L.; Islam, N.; Salehin, M.; Rahman, M. M.

2014-12-01

National legal, policy and decision-making frameworks often undervalue or ignore ecosystem services (ES) and the ways in which they can affect livelihoods, and research projects may under-estimate the role of governance in translating research effectively into practice. Better coordination of ES and livelihoods can be fatally undermined by existing institutional frameworks and through poor implementation and follow-up of policy decisions. This can have drastic impacts on resilience as the reality may be very different from the policy intentions. The ESPA Deltas project integrates physical modelling, a multi-season social survey, scenario development and stakeholder engagement, and a governance analysis component has been incorporated into each. The project has comprehensively assessed the legal, policy and institutional context in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta in Bangladesh, identifying barriers to legal and policy implementation through intensive stakeholder engagement and desk study at local, national and international levels. There has been a high degree of agreement in the findings from each of these independent processes and across the districts assessed. This presentation illustrates how the governance research has been incorporated into the development of qualitative scenarios. It also demonstrates the extent to which policy implementation considerations have been factored into the biophysical modelling and social survey work. It identifies the challenges for adaptation strategies in Bangladesh, and draws on successful examples of policy implementation there (e.g. disaster management) to propose governance interventions that might enhance the resilience of delta inhabitants, especially in the light of the informal governance context. This research facilitates implementation of targeted governance interventions and supports the development of tools that can aid policy-makers in evaluating the impact of policy decisions on ecosystem services and

The National Atlas of Ecosystem Services: Spatially Explicit Characterization of Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

The US EPA’s Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is conducting transdisciplinary research to develop tools to enable decision-makers at all levels of governance to proactively conserve ecosystem services. One of these tools is a National Atlas of Ecosystem Services which ...

Networked governance and the management of ecosystem services: The case of urban environmental stewardship in New York City

Treesearch

James J.T. Connolly; Erika S. Svendsen; Dana R. Fisher; Lindsay K. Campbell

2014-01-01

Urban environmental stewardship groups have become an essential component of the governance structure that regulates ecosystem services in cities. New York City is one example where these groups have grown rapidly in number, size, and visibility since the 1970s. In this article, we combine quantitative survey data with qualitative interview data to examine the...

Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program

Science.gov Websites

Toggle navigation logo garis Home About Search Contact About Us History The Mojave Desert Ecosystem providing dynamic, sustainable, land management decision-making at the ecosystem level. Its numerous mission of the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program is to provide government agencies throughout the Mojave

Creating a Safe Place: SRE Teaching as an Act of Security and Identity Formation in Government Schools in Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gross, Zehavit; Rutland, Suzanne D.

2016-01-01

This study seeks to analyse the components that contribute to Special Religious Education (SRE) classes in government schools in Australia being considered as a "safe place" and the ways in which they facilitate an understanding of the students' own religious and cultural identity. Our research focuses on one of the small faiths,…

Identity theft and your practice.

PubMed

Asbell, Lisa

2010-01-01

Medical identity theft is a growing problem in America. The federal government has passed laws to help "prevent" identity theft. However, several powerful medical associations are fighting the legislation. Americans need to know what is happening with these laws and why these laws are important to protect providers from lawsuits and consumers of healthcare from medical identity theft.

Leaf bacterial diversity mediates plant diversity and ecosystem function relationships.

PubMed

Laforest-Lapointe, Isabelle; Paquette, Alain; Messier, Christian; Kembel, Steven W

2017-06-01

Research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has demonstrated links between plant diversity and ecosystem functions such as productivity. At other trophic levels, the plant microbiome has been shown to influence host plant fitness and function, and host-associated microbes have been proposed to influence ecosystem function through their role in defining the extended phenotype of host organisms However, the importance of the plant microbiome for ecosystem function has not been quantified in the context of the known importance of plant diversity and traits. Here, using a tree biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiment, we provide strong support for the hypothesis that leaf bacterial diversity is positively linked to ecosystem productivity, even after accounting for the role of plant diversity. Our results also show that host species identity, functional identity and functional diversity are the main determinants of leaf bacterial community structure and diversity. Our study provides evidence of a positive correlation between plant-associated microbial diversity and terrestrial ecosystem productivity, and a new mechanism by which models of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships can be improved.

Governance and Corporate Identity in Network Universities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Robert

1992-01-01

A discussion of university autonomy and institutional image is presented with reference to politics at the newly established University of New England (Australia). Elements of institutional image or identity are examined, including (1) symbolic issues such as logo and location of administration; (2) leadership and management structures; (3)…

Organism-Sediment Interactions Govern Post-Hypoxia Recovery of Ecosystem Functioning

PubMed Central

Van Colen, Carl; Rossi, Francesca; Montserrat, Francesc; Andersson, Maria G. I.; Gribsholt, Britta; Herman, Peter M. J.; Degraer, Steven; Vincx, Magda; Ysebaert, Tom; Middelburg, Jack J.

2012-01-01

Hypoxia represents one of the major causes of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning loss for coastal waters. Since eutrophication-induced hypoxic events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense, understanding the response of ecosystems to hypoxia is of primary importance to understand and predict the stability of ecosystem functioning. Such ecological stability may greatly depend on the recovery patterns of communities and the return time of the system properties associated to these patterns. Here, we have examined how the reassembly of a benthic community contributed to the recovery of ecosystem functioning following experimentally-induced hypoxia in a tidal flat. We demonstrate that organism-sediment interactions that depend on organism size and relate to mobility traits and sediment reworking capacities are generally more important than recovering species richness to set the return time of the measured sediment processes and properties. Specifically, increasing macrofauna bioturbation potential during community reassembly significantly contributed to the recovery of sediment processes and properties such as denitrification, bedload sediment transport, primary production and deep pore water ammonium concentration. Such bioturbation potential was due to the replacement of the small-sized organisms that recolonised at early stages by large-sized bioturbating organisms, which had a disproportionately stronger influence on sediment. This study suggests that the complete recovery of organism-sediment interactions is a necessary condition for ecosystem functioning recovery, and that such process requires long periods after disturbance due to the slow growth of juveniles into adult stages involved in these interactions. Consequently, repeated episodes of disturbance at intervals smaller than the time needed for the system to fully recover organism-sediment interactions may greatly impair the resilience of ecosystem functioning. PMID:23185440

Risk and markets for ecosystem services.

PubMed

Bendor, Todd K; Riggsbee, J Adam; Doyle, Martin

2011-12-15

Market-based environmental regulations (e.g., cap and trade, "payments for ecosystem services") are increasingly common. However, few detailed studies of operating ecosystem markets have lent understanding to how such policies affect incentive structures for improving environmental quality. The largest U.S. market stems from the Clean Water Act provisions requiring ecosystem restoration to offset aquatic ecosystems damaged during development. We describe and test how variations in the rules governing this ecosystem market shift risk between regulators and entrepreneurs to promote ecological restoration. We analyze extensive national scale data to assess how two critical aspects of market structure - (a) the geographic scale of markets and (b) policies dictating the release of credits - affect the willingness of entrepreneurs to enter specific markets and produce credits. We find no discernible relationship between policies attempting to ease market entry and either the number of individual producers or total credits produced. Rather, market entry is primarily related to regional geography (the prevalence of aquatic ecosystems) and regional economic growth. Any improvements to policies governing ecosystem markets require explicit evaluation of the interplay between policy and risk elements affecting both regulators and entrepreneurial credit providers. Our findings extend to emerging, regulated ecosystem markets, including proposed carbon offset mechanisms, biodiversity banking, and water quality trading programs.

Consequences of a government-controlled agricultural price increase on fishing and the coral reef ecosystem in the republic of kiribati.

PubMed

Reddy, Sheila M W; Groves, Theodore; Nagavarapu, Sriniketh

2014-01-01

Economic development policies may have important economic and ecological consequences beyond the sector they target. Understanding these consequences is important to improving these policies and finding opportunities to align economic development with natural resource conservation. These issues are of particular interest to governments and non-governmental organizations that have new mandates to pursue multiple benefits. In this case study, we examined the direct and indirect economic and ecological effects of an increase in the government-controlled price for the primary agricultural product in the Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific. We conducted household surveys and underwater visual surveys of the coral reef to examine how the government increase in the price of copra directly affected copra labor and indirectly affected fishing and the coral reef ecosystem. The islands of Kiribati are coral reef atolls and the majority of households participate in copra agriculture and fishing on the coral reefs. Our household survey data suggest that the 30% increase in the price of copra resulted in a 32% increase in copra labor and a 38% increase in fishing labor. Households with the largest amount of land in coconut production increased copra labor the most and households with the smallest amount of land in coconut production increased fishing the most. Our ecological data suggests that increased fishing labor may result in a 20% decrease in fish stocks and 4% decrease in coral reef-builders. We provide empirical evidence to suggest that the government increase in the copra price in Kiribati had unexpected and indirect economic and ecological consequences. In this case, the economic development policy was not in alignment with conservation. These results emphasize the importance of accounting for differences in household capital and taking a systems approach to policy design and evaluation, as advocated by sustainable livelihood and ecosystem-based management frameworks.

Consequences of a Government-Controlled Agricultural Price Increase on Fishing and the Coral Reef Ecosystem in the Republic of Kiribati

PubMed Central

Reddy, Sheila M. W.; Groves, Theodore; Nagavarapu, Sriniketh

2014-01-01

Background Economic development policies may have important economic and ecological consequences beyond the sector they target. Understanding these consequences is important to improving these policies and finding opportunities to align economic development with natural resource conservation. These issues are of particular interest to governments and non-governmental organizations that have new mandates to pursue multiple benefits. In this case study, we examined the direct and indirect economic and ecological effects of an increase in the government-controlled price for the primary agricultural product in the Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific. Methods/Principal Findings We conducted household surveys and underwater visual surveys of the coral reef to examine how the government increase in the price of copra directly affected copra labor and indirectly affected fishing and the coral reef ecosystem. The islands of Kiribati are coral reef atolls and the majority of households participate in copra agriculture and fishing on the coral reefs. Our household survey data suggest that the 30% increase in the price of copra resulted in a 32% increase in copra labor and a 38% increase in fishing labor. Households with the largest amount of land in coconut production increased copra labor the most and households with the smallest amount of land in coconut production increased fishing the most. Our ecological data suggests that increased fishing labor may result in a 20% decrease in fish stocks and 4% decrease in coral reef-builders. Conclusions/Significance We provide empirical evidence to suggest that the government increase in the copra price in Kiribati had unexpected and indirect economic and ecological consequences. In this case, the economic development policy was not in alignment with conservation. These results emphasize the importance of accounting for differences in household capital and taking a systems approach to policy design and evaluation, as advocated by

Identity federation in OpenStack - an introduction to hybrid clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denis, Marek; Castro Leon, Jose; Ormancey, Emmanuel; Tedesco, Paolo

2015-12-01

We are evaluating cloud identity federation available in the OpenStack ecosystem that allows for on premise bursting into remote clouds with use of local identities (i.e. domain accounts). Further enhancements to identity federation are a clear way to hybrid cloud architectures - virtualized infrastructures layered across independent private and public clouds.

Arctic mosses govern below-ground environment and ecosystem processes.

PubMed

Gornall, J L; Jónsdóttir, I S; Woodin, S J; Van der Wal, R

2007-10-01

Mosses dominate many northern ecosystems and their presence is integral to soil thermal and hydrological regimes which, in turn, dictate important ecological processes. Drivers, such as climate change and increasing herbivore pressure, affect the moss layer thus, assessment of the functional role of mosses in determining soil characteristics is essential. Field manipulations conducted in high arctic Spitsbergen (78 degrees N), creating shallow (3 cm), intermediate (6 cm) and deep (12 cm) moss layers over the soil surface, had an immediate impact on soil temperature in terms of both average temperatures and amplitude of fluctuations. In soil under deep moss, temperature was substantially lower and organic layer thaw occurred 4 weeks later than in other treatment plots; the growing season for vascular plants was thereby reduced by 40%. Soil moisture was also reduced under deep moss, reflecting the influence of local heterogeneity in moss depth, over and above the landscape-scale topographic control of soil moisture. Data from field and laboratory experiments show that moss-mediated effects on the soil environment influenced microbial biomass and activity, resulting in warmer and wetter soil under thinner moss layers containing more plant-available nitrogen. In arctic ecosystems, which are limited by soil temperature, growing season length and nutrient availability, spatial and temporal variation in the depth of the moss layer has significant repercussions for ecosystem function. Evidence from our mesic tundra site shows that any disturbance causing reduction in the depth of the moss layer will alleviate temperature and moisture constraints and therefore profoundly influence a wide range of ecosystem processes, including nutrient cycling and energy transfer.

Natural enemies govern ecosystem resilience in the face of extreme droughts.

PubMed

He, Qiang; Silliman, Brian R; Liu, Zezheng; Cui, Baoshan

2017-02-01

Severe droughts are on the rise in many regions. But thus far, attempts to predict when drought will cause a major regime shift or when ecosystems are resilient, often using plant drought tolerance models, have been frustrated. Here, we show that pressure from natural enemies regulates an ecosystem's resilience to severe droughts. Field experiments revealed that in protected salt marshes experiencing a severe drought, plant-eating grazers eliminated drought-stressed vegetation that could otherwise survive and recover from the climate extreme, transforming once lush marshes into persistent salt barrens. These results provide an explicit experimental demonstration for the obligatory role of natural enemies across the initiation, expansion and recovery stages of a natural ecosystem's collapse. Our study highlights that natural enemies can hasten an ecosystem's resilience to drought to much lower levels than currently predicted, calling for integration into climate change predictions and conservation strategies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Decoding ecosystem services using a DSRP approach ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Remediation to Restoration to Revitalization (R2R2R) is a place-based practice that requires ongoing communication amongst agencies, local governments, and citizens. One of the challenges is that each of these entities have different relationships with and responsibilities to sites where R2R2R unfolds. Sediment remediation and habitat restoration project goals, community planning, and lived experiences diverge in scale, focus, and interaction depending on the agency or individual. A DSRP approach can be useful to identify and explain how different individuals and organizations value a space. We applied some Distinctions-Systems-Relationships-Perspectives (DSRP) approach (Cabrera et al., 2015) to develop a framework to sort and classify data and identify ecosystem services collected through inductive methods like participant observation and document analysis. The framework that emerged from the analysis includes neighborhood components that individuals, organizations, and local governments may discuss in the context of their community. The characteristics are a mix of built environment types, structural dimensions, personal experiences, and human-environment relationships and include: parks/open spaces, trails or connections, housing, schools, infrastructure, local businesses, macro-economy, natural features, governmental rules or regulations, demographics/crime statistics/health care facilities, safety, self-determination or participation, identity, social coh

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy

PubMed Central

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. PMID:25394857

Phylogenetic structure of soil bacterial communities predicts ecosystem functioning.

PubMed

Pérez-Valera, Eduardo; Goberna, Marta; Verdú, Miguel

2015-05-01

Quantifying diversity with phylogeny-informed metrics helps understand the effects of diversity on ecosystem functioning (EF). The sign of these effects remains controversial because phylogenetic diversity and taxonomic identity may interactively influence EF. Positive relationships, traditionally attributed to complementarity effects, seem unimportant in natural soil bacterial communities. Negative relationships could be attributed to fitness differences leading to the overrepresentation of few productive clades, a mechanism recently invoked to assemble soil bacteria communities. We tested in two ecosystems contrasting in terms of environmental heterogeneity whether two metrics of phylogenetic community structure, a simpler measure of phylogenetic diversity (NRI) and a more complex metric incorporating taxonomic identity (PCPS), correctly predict microbially mediated EF. We show that the relationship between phylogenetic diversity and EF depends on the taxonomic identity of the main coexisting lineages. Phylogenetic diversity was negatively related to EF in soils where a marked fertility gradient exists and a single and productive clade (Proteobacteria) outcompete other clades in the most fertile plots. However, phylogenetic diversity was unrelated to EF in soils where the fertility gradient is less marked and Proteobacteria coexist with other abundant lineages. Including the taxonomic identity of bacterial lineages in metrics of phylogenetic community structure allows the prediction of EF in both ecosystems. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Process-based principles for restoring river ecosystems

Treesearch

Timothy J. Beechie; David A. Sear; Julian D. Olden; George R. Pess; John M. Buffington; Hamish Moir; Philip Roni; Michael M. Pollock

2010-01-01

Process-based restoration aims to reestablish normative rates and magnitudes of physical, chemical, and biological processes that sustain river and floodplain ecosystems. Ecosystem conditions at any site are governed by hierarchical regional, watershed, and reach-scale processes controlling hydrologic and sediment regimes; floodplain and aquatic habitat...

Building a Governance Ecosystem: Themes and Recommendations from the Rhode Island Education Governance Forum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romans, Angela N.; Raynor, Alethea Frazier; Thompson, Joanne

2017-01-01

The Rhode Island Education Governance Forum--organized and facilitated by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform (AISR) convened in November 2016 to engage local education stakeholders in learning and dialogue about governance issues in the state. Forum participants included teachers, school and district leaders, public officials, and leaders…

Linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services for public policy.

PubMed

Wong, Christina P; Jiang, Bo; Kinzig, Ann P; Lee, Kai N; Ouyang, Zhiyun

2015-01-01

Governments worldwide are recognising ecosystem services as an approach to address sustainability challenges. Decision-makers need credible and legitimate measurements of ecosystem services to evaluate decisions for trade-offs to make wise choices. Managers lack these measurements because of a data gap linking ecosystem characteristics to final ecosystem services. The dominant method to address the data gap is benefit transfer using ecological data from one location to estimate ecosystem services at other locations with similar land cover. However, benefit transfer is only valid once the data gap is adequately resolved. Disciplinary frames separating ecology from economics and policy have resulted in confusion on concepts and methods preventing progress on the data gap. In this study, we present a 10-step approach to unify concepts, methods and data from the disparate disciplines to offer guidance on overcoming the data gap. We suggest: (1) estimate ecosystem characteristics using biophysical models, (2) identify final ecosystem services using endpoints and (3) connect them using ecological production functions to quantify biophysical trade-offs. The guidance is strategic for public policy because analysts need to be: (1) realistic when setting priorities, (2) attentive to timelines to acquire relevant data, given resources and (3) responsive to the needs of decision-makers. © 2014 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

Ecosystem services and integrated water resource management: different paths to the same end?

PubMed

Cook, Brian R; Spray, Christopher J

2012-10-30

The two concepts that presently dominate water resource research and management are the Global Water Partnership's (GWP, 2000) interpretation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and Ecosystem Services (ES) as interpreted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA, 2005). Both concepts are subject to mounting criticism, with a significant number of critiques focusing on both their conceptual and methodological incompatibility with management and governance, what has come to be known as the 'implementation gap'. Emergent within the ES and IWRM literatures, then, are two parallel debates concerning the gap between conceptualisation and implementation. Our purpose for writing this review is to argue: 1) that IWRM and ES have evolved into nearly identical concepts, 2) that they face the same critical challenge of implementation, and 3) that, if those interested in water research and management are to have a positive impact on the sustainable utilisation of dwindling water resources, they must break the tendency to jump from concept to concept and confront the challenges that arise with implementation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem service valuations of mangrove ecosystems to inform decision making and future valuation exercises.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Nibedita; Sutherland, William J; Dicks, Lynn; Hugé, Jean; Koedam, Nico; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2014-01-01

The valuation of ecosystem services is a complex process as it includes several dimensions (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) and not all of these can be quantified in monetary units. The aim of this paper is to conduct an ecosystem services valuation study for mangroves ecosystems, the results of which can be used to inform governance and management of mangroves. We used an expert-based participatory approach (the Delphi technique) to identify, categorize and rank the various ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems at a global scale. Subsequently we looked for evidence in the existing ecosystem services literature for monetary valuations of these ecosystem service categories throughout the biogeographic distribution of mangroves. We then compared the relative ranking of ecosystem service categories between the monetary valuations and the expert based analysis. The experts identified 16 ecosystem service categories, six of which are not adequately represented in the literature. There was no significant correlation between the expert based valuation (the Delphi technique) and the economic valuation, indicating that the scope of valuation of ecosystem services needs to be broadened. Acknowledging this diversity in different valuation approaches, and developing methodological frameworks that foster the pluralism of values in ecosystem services research, are crucial for maintaining the credibility of ecosystem services valuation. To conclude, we use the findings of our dual approach to valuation to make recommendations on how to assess and manage the ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems.

Ecosystem Service Valuations of Mangrove Ecosystems to Inform Decision Making and Future Valuation Exercises

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Nibedita; Sutherland, William J.; Dicks, Lynn; Hugé, Jean; Koedam, Nico; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2014-01-01

The valuation of ecosystem services is a complex process as it includes several dimensions (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) and not all of these can be quantified in monetary units. The aim of this paper is to conduct an ecosystem services valuation study for mangroves ecosystems, the results of which can be used to inform governance and management of mangroves. We used an expert-based participatory approach (the Delphi technique) to identify, categorize and rank the various ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems at a global scale. Subsequently we looked for evidence in the existing ecosystem services literature for monetary valuations of these ecosystem service categories throughout the biogeographic distribution of mangroves. We then compared the relative ranking of ecosystem service categories between the monetary valuations and the expert based analysis. The experts identified 16 ecosystem service categories, six of which are not adequately represented in the literature. There was no significant correlation between the expert based valuation (the Delphi technique) and the economic valuation, indicating that the scope of valuation of ecosystem services needs to be broadened. Acknowledging this diversity in different valuation approaches, and developing methodological frameworks that foster the pluralism of values in ecosystem services research, are crucial for maintaining the credibility of ecosystem services valuation. To conclude, we use the findings of our dual approach to valuation to make recommendations on how to assess and manage the ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems. PMID:25243852

Principles for Sustainable Governance of the Oceans

PubMed

Costanza; Andrade; Antunes; den Belt M; Boersma; Boesch; Catarino; Hanna; Limburg; Low; Molitor; Pereira; Rayner; Santos; Wilson; Young

1998-07-10

Pressures being exerted on the ocean ecosystems through overfishing, pollution, and environmental and climate change are increasing. Six core principles are proposed to guide governance and use of ocean resources and to promote sustainability. Examples of governance structures that embody these principles are given.

School Federation Governing: Translation or Transformation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baxter, Jacqueline; Wise, Christine

2013-01-01

This article examines the ways in which being a member of a federation governing body impacts upon the governor identities of individuals. Using an ideographic case study based upon a single academy federation, the investigation employs a framework for identity analysis to analyse qualitative in-depth interviews with members within governing…

Bringing ecosystem services into integrated water resources management.

PubMed

Liu, Shuang; Crossman, Neville D; Nolan, Martin; Ghirmay, Hiyoba

2013-11-15

In this paper we propose an ecosystem service framework to support integrated water resource management and apply it to the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia. Water resources in the Murray-Darling Basin have been over-allocated for irrigation use with the consequent degradation of freshwater ecosystems. In line with integrated water resource management principles, Australian Government reforms are reducing the amount of water diverted for irrigation to improve ecosystem health. However, limited understanding of the broader benefits and trade-offs associated with reducing irrigation diversions has hampered the planning process supporting this reform. Ecosystem services offer an integrative framework to identify the broader benefits associated with integrated water resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin, thereby providing support for the Government to reform decision-making. We conducted a multi-criteria decision analysis for ranking regional potentials to provide ecosystem services at river basin scale. We surveyed the wider public about their understanding of, and priorities for, managing ecosystem services and then integrated the results with spatially explicit indicators of ecosystem service provision. The preliminary results of this work identified the sub-catchments with the greatest potential synergies and trade-offs of ecosystem service provision under the integrated water resources management reform process. With future development, our framework could be used as a decision support tool by those grappling with the challenge of the sustainable allocation of water between irrigation and the environment. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Natural capital and ecosystem services informing decisions: From promise to practice

PubMed Central

Guerry, Anne D.; Polasky, Stephen; Lubchenco, Jane; Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Daily, Gretchen C.; Griffin, Robert; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Bateman, Ian J.; Duraiappah, Anantha; Elmqvist, Thomas; Feldman, Marcus W.; Folke, Carl; Hoekstra, Jon; Kareiva, Peter M.; Keeler, Bonnie L.; Li, Shuzhuo; McKenzie, Emily; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Reyers, Belinda; Ricketts, Taylor H.; Rockström, Johan; Tallis, Heather; Vira, Bhaskar

2015-01-01

The central challenge of the 21st century is to develop economic, social, and governance systems capable of ending poverty and achieving sustainable levels of population and consumption while securing the life-support systems underpinning current and future human well-being. Essential to meeting this challenge is the incorporation of natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides into decision-making. We explore progress and crucial gaps at this frontier, reflecting upon the 10 y since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We focus on three key dimensions of progress and ongoing challenges: raising awareness of the interdependence of ecosystems and human well-being, advancing the fundamental interdisciplinary science of ecosystem services, and implementing this science in decisions to restore natural capital and use it sustainably. Awareness of human dependence on nature is at an all-time high, the science of ecosystem services is rapidly advancing, and talk of natural capital is now common from governments to corporate boardrooms. However, successful implementation is still in early stages. We explore why ecosystem service information has yet to fundamentally change decision-making and suggest a path forward that emphasizes: (i) developing solid evidence linking decisions to impacts on natural capital and ecosystem services, and then to human well-being; (ii) working closely with leaders in government, business, and civil society to develop the knowledge, tools, and practices necessary to integrate natural capital and ecosystem services into everyday decision-making; and (iii) reforming institutions to change policy and practices to better align private short-term goals with societal long-term goals. PMID:26082539

Natural capital and ecosystem services informing decisions: From promise to practice.

PubMed

Guerry, Anne D; Polasky, Stephen; Lubchenco, Jane; Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca; Daily, Gretchen C; Griffin, Robert; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Bateman, Ian J; Duraiappah, Anantha; Elmqvist, Thomas; Feldman, Marcus W; Folke, Carl; Hoekstra, Jon; Kareiva, Peter M; Keeler, Bonnie L; Li, Shuzhuo; McKenzie, Emily; Ouyang, Zhiyun; Reyers, Belinda; Ricketts, Taylor H; Rockström, Johan; Tallis, Heather; Vira, Bhaskar

2015-06-16

The central challenge of the 21st century is to develop economic, social, and governance systems capable of ending poverty and achieving sustainable levels of population and consumption while securing the life-support systems underpinning current and future human well-being. Essential to meeting this challenge is the incorporation of natural capital and the ecosystem services it provides into decision-making. We explore progress and crucial gaps at this frontier, reflecting upon the 10 y since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. We focus on three key dimensions of progress and ongoing challenges: raising awareness of the interdependence of ecosystems and human well-being, advancing the fundamental interdisciplinary science of ecosystem services, and implementing this science in decisions to restore natural capital and use it sustainably. Awareness of human dependence on nature is at an all-time high, the science of ecosystem services is rapidly advancing, and talk of natural capital is now common from governments to corporate boardrooms. However, successful implementation is still in early stages. We explore why ecosystem service information has yet to fundamentally change decision-making and suggest a path forward that emphasizes: (i) developing solid evidence linking decisions to impacts on natural capital and ecosystem services, and then to human well-being; (ii) working closely with leaders in government, business, and civil society to develop the knowledge, tools, and practices necessary to integrate natural capital and ecosystem services into everyday decision-making; and (iii) reforming institutions to change policy and practices to better align private short-term goals with societal long-term goals.

Governing metropolitan green infrastructure in the United States

Treesearch

Robert F. Young; E. Gregory McPherson

2013-01-01

In this paper we explore whether the enhancement of urban ecosystem services through largescale metropolitan treeplanting initiatives is being planned and executed as a component of traditional municipal government or represents new transdisciplinary strategies in environmental governance Drawing on qualitative interviews with...

Identity effects dominate the impacts of multiple species extinctions on the functioning of complex food webs.

PubMed

Harvey, Eric; Séguin, Annie; Nozais, Christian; Archambault, Philippe; Gravel, Dominique

2013-01-01

Understanding the impacts of species extinctions on the functioning of food webs is a challenging task because of the complexity of ecological interactions. We report the impacts of experimental species extinctions on the functioning of two food webs of freshwater and marine systems. We used a linear model to partition the variance among the multiple components of the diversity effect (linear group richness, nonlinear group richness, and identity). The identity of each functional group was the best explaining variable of ecosystem functioning for both systems. We assessed the contribution of each functional group in multifunctional space and found that, although the effect of functional group varied across ecosystem functions, some functional groups shared common effects on functions. This study is the first experimental demonstration that functional identity dominates the effects of extinctions on ecosystem functioning, suggesting that generalizations are possible despite the inherent complexity of interactions.

Adaptive governance of riverine and wetland ecosystem goods and services

EPA Science Inventory

Adaptive governance and adaptive management have developed over the past quarter century in response to institutional and organizational failures, and unforeseen changes in natural resource dynamics. Adaptive governance provides a context for managing known and unknown consequenc...

Ecosystem-Based Management and the Sustainable Delivery of Marine Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogarty, M.; Schwing, F. B.

2016-12-01

Ecosystem-Based Management can provide an essential framework for the sustainable delivery of a broad spectrum of marine Ecosystem Services (ES) essential to human well being. Key elements of the approach involve the specification of clearly articulated goals for EBM; the development of an accompanying Marine Ecosystem Services Assessment (MESA) designed to evaluate the status of delivery of these services; and strategies for the implementation of management options designed to achieve the stated goals of the program. The specification of goals is the purview of managers. In the United States under the provisions of the National Ocean Policy, Regional Planning Bodies are charged with the responsibility of articulating goals and developing strategies to meet these goals. Government agencies, in concert with the broader scientific community, hold the responsibility for assessing the status of the delivery of ecosystem services in relation to designated objectives and advising on appropriate management strategies. In this presentation, I will illustrate the specification of a MESA for the Northwest U.S Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME). The approach focuses on the evaluation of ES indicators and additional metrics related to threats and impacts to the sustainable delivery of these services. Results are combined into an overall index of status of the NES LME.

Tree species, tree genotypes and tree genotypic diversity levels affect microbe-mediated soil ecosystem functions in a subtropical forest.

PubMed

Purahong, Witoon; Durka, Walter; Fischer, Markus; Dommert, Sven; Schöps, Ricardo; Buscot, François; Wubet, Tesfaye

2016-11-18

Tree species identity and tree genotypes contribute to the shaping of soil microbial communities. However, knowledge about how these two factors influence soil ecosystem functions is still lacking. Furthermore, in forest ecosystems tree genotypes co-occur and interact with each other, thus the effects of tree genotypic diversity on soil ecosystem functions merit attention. Here we investigated the effects of tree species, tree genotypes and genotypic diversity levels, alongside soil physicochemical properties, on the overall and specific soil enzyme activity patterns. Our results indicate that tree species identity, tree genotypes and genotypic diversity level have significant influences on overall and specific soil enzyme activity patterns. These three factors influence soil enzyme patterns partly through effects on soil physicochemical properties and substrate quality. Variance partitioning showed that tree species identity, genotypic diversity level, pH and water content all together explained ~30% variations in the overall patterns of soil enzymes. However, we also found that the responses of soil ecosystem functions to tree genotypes and genotypic diversity are complex, being dependent on tree species identity and controlled by multiple factors. Our study highlights the important of inter- and intra-specific variations in tree species in shaping soil ecosystem functions in a subtropical forest.

Tree species, tree genotypes and tree genotypic diversity levels affect microbe-mediated soil ecosystem functions in a subtropical forest

PubMed Central

Purahong, Witoon; Durka, Walter; Fischer, Markus; Dommert, Sven; Schöps, Ricardo; Buscot, François; Wubet, Tesfaye

2016-01-01

Tree species identity and tree genotypes contribute to the shaping of soil microbial communities. However, knowledge about how these two factors influence soil ecosystem functions is still lacking. Furthermore, in forest ecosystems tree genotypes co-occur and interact with each other, thus the effects of tree genotypic diversity on soil ecosystem functions merit attention. Here we investigated the effects of tree species, tree genotypes and genotypic diversity levels, alongside soil physicochemical properties, on the overall and specific soil enzyme activity patterns. Our results indicate that tree species identity, tree genotypes and genotypic diversity level have significant influences on overall and specific soil enzyme activity patterns. These three factors influence soil enzyme patterns partly through effects on soil physicochemical properties and substrate quality. Variance partitioning showed that tree species identity, genotypic diversity level, pH and water content all together explained ~30% variations in the overall patterns of soil enzymes. However, we also found that the responses of soil ecosystem functions to tree genotypes and genotypic diversity are complex, being dependent on tree species identity and controlled by multiple factors. Our study highlights the important of inter- and intra-specific variations in tree species in shaping soil ecosystem functions in a subtropical forest. PMID:27857198

Biological invasions, ecological resilience and adaptive governance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chaffin, Brian C.; Garmestani, Ahjond S.; Angeler, David G.; Herrmann, Dustin L.; Stow, Craig A.; Nystrom, Magnus; Sendzimir, Jan; Hopton, Matthew E.; Kolasa, Jurek; Allen, Craig R.

2016-01-01

In a world of increasing interconnections in global trade as well as rapid change in climate and land cover, the accelerating introduction and spread of invasive species is a critical concern due to associated negative social and ecological impacts, both real and perceived. Much of the societal response to invasive species to date has been associated with negative economic consequences of invasions. This response has shaped a war-like approach to addressing invasions, one with an agenda of eradications and intense ecological restoration efforts towards prior or more desirable ecological regimes. This trajectory often ignores the concept of ecological resilience and associated approaches of resilience-based governance. We argue that the relationship between ecological resilience and invasive species has been understudied to the detriment of attempts to govern invasions, and that most management actions fail, primarily because they do not incorporate adaptive, learning-based approaches. Invasive species can decrease resilience by reducing the biodiversity that underpins ecological functions and processes, making ecosystems more prone to regime shifts. However, invasions do not always result in a shift to an alternative regime; invasions can also increase resilience by introducing novelty, replacing lost ecological functions or adding redundancy that strengthens already existing structures and processes in an ecosystem. This paper examines the potential impacts of species invasions on the resilience of ecosystems and suggests that resilience-based approaches can inform policy by linking the governance of biological invasions to the negotiation of tradeoffs between ecosystem services.

Ecosystem Indicators and Tools in the Gulf of Maine

EPA Science Inventory

The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment is a U.S.-Canadian partnership of government and non-government organizations focused on the health, environmental quality and productivity of the Gulf of Maine. In 2006, the Ecosystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) commenced acti...

Designing a systematic landscape monitoring approach for quantifying ecosystem services

EPA Science Inventory

A key problem encountered early on by governments striving to incorporate the ecosystem services concept into decision making is quantifying ecosystem services across large landscapes. Basically, they are faced with determining what to measure, how to measure it and how to aggre...

Ecosystem management: A comparison of greater yellowstone and georges bank

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burroughs, Richard H.; Clark, Tim W.

1995-09-01

Ecosystem management links human activities with the functioning of natural environments over large spatial and temporal scales. Our examination of Greater Yellowstone and Georges Bank shows similarities exist between human uses, administrative characteristics, and some biophysical features. Each region faces growing pressures to replace traditional extractive uses with more sustainable extractive or noncommodity uses coupled with concern about endangered species. Ecosystem management as a set of practical guidelines for making decisions under evolving expectations is far from complete, and it embodies new demands on individuals and institutions. In each system these challenges are considered relative to: the public's symbolic understanding of the management challenge, ecosystem management ambiguities, information availability, information use, administrative setting, and learning capabilities of governance organizations Progress in making ecosystem management operational may occur as refinements in content and approach make it an increasingly attractive option for resource users, the public, and government officials.

76 FR 9015 - Reschedule-Meeting of the Local Government Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-16

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-9267-4] Reschedule--Meeting of the Local Government Advisory Committee AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Local Government... ways EPA can engage local government officials in Gulf Coast Ecosystem restoration efforts and other...

Status of the US EPA’s National Atlas of Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is focused on transdisciplinary research to develop tools to enable decision-makers at all levels of governance to proactively conserve ecosystems services. A major product from the ESRP ...

Biological invasions, ecological resilience and adaptive governance.

PubMed

Chaffin, Brian C; Garmestani, Ahjond S; Angeler, David G; Herrmann, Dustin L; Stow, Craig A; Nyström, Magnus; Sendzimir, Jan; Hopton, Matthew E; Kolasa, Jurek; Allen, Craig R

2016-12-01

In a world of increasing interconnections in global trade as well as rapid change in climate and land cover, the accelerating introduction and spread of invasive species is a critical concern due to associated negative social and ecological impacts, both real and perceived. Much of the societal response to invasive species to date has been associated with negative economic consequences of invasions. This response has shaped a war-like approach to addressing invasions, one with an agenda of eradications and intense ecological restoration efforts towards prior or more desirable ecological regimes. This trajectory often ignores the concept of ecological resilience and associated approaches of resilience-based governance. We argue that the relationship between ecological resilience and invasive species has been understudied to the detriment of attempts to govern invasions, and that most management actions fail, primarily because they do not incorporate adaptive, learning-based approaches. Invasive species can decrease resilience by reducing the biodiversity that underpins ecological functions and processes, making ecosystems more prone to regime shifts. However, invasions do not always result in a shift to an alternative regime; invasions can also increase resilience by introducing novelty, replacing lost ecological functions or adding redundancy that strengthens already existing structures and processes in an ecosystem. This paper examines the potential impacts of species invasions on the resilience of ecosystems and suggests that resilience-based approaches can inform policy by linking the governance of biological invasions to the negotiation of tradeoffs between ecosystem services. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Urban transitions: on urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems.

PubMed

Ernstson, Henrik; van der Leeuw, Sander E; Redman, Charles L; Meffert, Douglas J; Davis, George; Alfsen, Christine; Elmqvist, Thomas

2010-12-01

Urbanization is a global multidimensional process paired with increasing uncertainty due to climate change, migration of people, and changes in the capacity to sustain ecosystem services. This article lays a foundation for discussing transitions in urban governance, which enable cities to navigate change, build capacity to withstand shocks, and use experimentation and innovation in face of uncertainty. Using the three concrete case cities--New Orleans, Cape Town, and Phoenix--the article analyzes thresholds and cross-scale interactions, and expands the scale at which urban resilience has been discussed by integrating the idea from geography that cities form part of "system of cities" (i.e., they cannot be seen as single entities). Based on this, the article argues that urban governance need to harness social networks of urban innovation to sustain ecosystem services, while nurturing discourses that situate the city as part of regional ecosystems. The article broadens the discussion on urban resilience while challenging resilience theory when addressing human-dominated ecosystems. Practical examples of harnessing urban innovation are presented, paired with an agenda for research and policy.

Addressing the Multiple Drivers of Wetland Ecosystems Degradation in Lagos, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agboola, J.; Ndimele, P. E.; Odunuga, S.; Akanni, A.; Kosemani, B.; Ahove, M.

2015-12-01

Several body of knowledge have noted the importance of wetland ecosystems in climate moderation, resource supply and flood risk reduction amongst others. Relevant as it may, rapidly increasing population and uncontrolled urban development poses a challenge in some regions and require understanding of the ecosystem components and drivers of change over a long period of time. Thus, the main thrust of this paper is to analyse multiple drivers of wetland ecosystems degradation in the last 30 years in the Lagos megacity using field study, desktop review, satellite data and laboratory analysis. Key drivers identified includes: conversion of wetlands to settlements and waste sink, land use planning that neglects wetland conservation and restoration, ineffective legal status for wetlands, over exploitation leading to degradation and fragmentation of wetland ecosystems governance. In stemming further loss of this vital ecosystem, this study adopted and proposed respectively, the Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact and Response (DPSIR) and Integrated Planning Approach (IPA) frameworks in analysing policy and governance issues in wetland development. These analyses figured out amongst others, strict conservation and sustainable use of wetland resources, habitat restoration, climate adaptation measures, legal protection and wetland management institution as major responses to current multiple pressures facing wetland ecosystems in Lagos. For these frameworks to be made meaningful, weak coordination among government agencies and institutional capacity in implementation and law enforcement, unsustainable resource extraction by private/business organization and issues on alternative sources of income on the part of the local communities amongst others needs to be addressed.

Governance, Identity, and Counterinsurgency: Evidence from Ramadi and Tal Afar

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

seen as the improvement of governance in the form of effective and efficient ad- ministration of government and public services. How- ever, good...army; they fight the United States, and this is seen as an honorable endeav- or; no central control of resistance groups. • Terrorists - foreigners who...to hold their turf in a war against an enemy who seems to be every- where but is not often seen . The cost has been high: in the last 6 weeks, 21

A framework for the resilience of seagrass ecosystems.

PubMed

Unsworth, Richard K F; Collier, Catherine J; Waycott, Michelle; Mckenzie, Len J; Cullen-Unsworth, Leanne C

2015-11-15

Seagrass ecosystems represent a global marine resource that is declining across its range. To halt degradation and promote recovery over large scales, management requires a radical change in emphasis and application that seeks to enhance seagrass ecosystem resilience. In this review we examine how the resilience of seagrass ecosystems is becoming compromised by a range of local to global stressors, resulting in ecological regime shifts that undermine the long-term viability of these productive ecosystems. To examine regime shifts and the management actions that can influence this phenomenon we present a conceptual model of resilience in seagrass ecosystems. The model is founded on a series of features and modifiers that act as interacting influences upon seagrass ecosystem resilience. Improved understanding and appreciation of the factors and modifiers that govern resilience in seagrass ecosystems can be utilised to support much needed evidence based management of a vital natural resource. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Plant Identity Influences Decomposition through More Than One Mechanism

PubMed Central

McLaren, Jennie R.; Turkington, Roy

2011-01-01

Plant litter decomposition is a critical ecosystem process representing a major pathway for carbon flux, but little is known about how it is affected by changes in plant composition and diversity. Single plant functional groups (graminoids, legumes, non-leguminous forbs) were removed from a grassland in northern Canada to examine the impacts of functional group identity on decomposition. Removals were conducted within two different environmental contexts (fertilization and fungicide application) to examine the context-dependency of these identity effects. We examined two different mechanisms by which the loss of plant functional groups may impact decomposition: effects of the living plant community on the decomposition microenvironment, and changes in the species composition of the decomposing litter, as well as the interaction between these mechanisms. We show that the identity of the plant functional group removed affects decomposition through both mechanisms. Removal of both graminoids and forbs slowed decomposition through changes in the decomposition microenvironment. We found non-additive effects of litter mixing, with both the direction and identity of the functional group responsible depending on year; in 2004 graminoids positively influenced decomposition whereas in 2006 forbs negatively influenced decomposition rate. Although these two mechanisms act independently, their effects may be additive if both mechanisms are considered simultaneously. It is essential to understand the variety of mechanisms through which even a single ecosystem property is affected if we are to predict the future consequences of biodiversity loss. PMID:21858210

Multi-Ecosystem Assessment of Mercury Bioaccumulation in Fishes: Habitat, Landscape, and Biogeochemical Drivers of Fish Mercury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eagles-Smith, C.; Ackerman, J.; Herring, G.; Willacker, J.; Flanagan, C.

2014-12-01

Mercury (Hg) is a globally distributed contaminant that threatens ecosystem health across aquatic environments. The complexity of the Hg cycle and its primary drivers, coupled with dynamic food web processes that govern biomagnification, result in marked spatial variability in Hg bioaccumulation across aquatic ecosystems. However, it is unclear if patterns of bioaccumulation are consistent in magnitude and direction across ecosystem types. We synthesized data from several studies spanning more than 200 individual sites, comprising four distinct ecosystem classifications (estuaries, sub-alpine lakes, rivers, and managed wetlands). Within each ecosystem, we compared fish Hg concentrations among replicated sub-habitats and also evaluated the influence of land use, landscape composition, and biogeochemical drivers on fish Hg concentrations. We found substantial variability in fish Hg concentrations among adjacent sub-habitats within ecosystems. In estuarine environments, fish Hg concentrations were 7.4x higher in seasonal-saline wetlands than adjacent tidal wetland habitats. In riverine alcoves, preliminary data suggest that fish Hg concentrations were 1.5x higher than in fishes from paired mainstem river habitat. Among managed wetland habitats, fish Hg concentrations in rice fields were 2x higher than those in managed seasonal wetlands that were subjected to identical wetting and drying patterns. Across ecosystems, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in surface waters were consistently correlated with fish Hg concentrations, highlighting its importance in Hg methylation and transport processes. Yet, the strength and direction of the relationships varied among habitat types. For example, fish Hg concentrations were positively correlated with DOC concentrations in riverine environments, whereas we found a negative correlation in alpine lakes. Instead, the most important determinant of fish Hg concentrations in alpine lakes was conifer tree density within a

Digital Health Services and Digital Identity in Alberta.

PubMed

McEachern, Aiden; Cholewa, David

2017-01-01

The Government of Alberta continues to improve delivery of healthcare by allowing Albertans to access their health information online. Alberta is the only province in Canada with provincial electronic health records for all its citizens. These records are currently made available to medical practitioners, but Alberta Health believes that providing Albertans access to their health records will transform the delivery of healthcare in Alberta. It is important to have a high level of assurance that the health records are provided to the correct Albertan. Alberta Health requires a way for Albertans to obtain a digital identity with a high level of identity assurance prior to releasing health records via the Personal Health Portal. Service Alberta developed the MyAlberta Digital ID program to provide a digital identity verification service. The Ministry of Health is leveraging MyAlberta Digital ID to enable Albertans to access their personal health records through the Personal Health Portal. The Government of Alberta is advancing its vision of patient-centred healthcare by enabling Albertans to access a trusted source for health information and their electronic health records using a secure digital identity.

Exploring global history through the lens of history of Chemistry: Materials, identities and governance.

PubMed

Roberts, Lissa

2016-12-01

As global history continues to take shape as an important field of research, its interactive relationships with the history of science, technology, and medicine are recognized and being investigated as significant areas of concern. Strangely, despite the fact that it is key to understanding so many of the subjects that are central to global history and would itself benefit from a broader geographical perspective, the history of chemistry has largely been left out of this process - particularly for the modern historical period. This article argues for the value of integrating the history of chemistry with global history, not only for understanding the past, but also for thinking about our shared present and future. Toward this end, it (1) explores the various ways in which 'chemistry' has and can be defined, with special attention to discussions of 'indigenous knowledge systems'; (2) examines the benefits of organizing historical inquiry around the evolving sociomaterial identities of substances; (3) considers ways in which the concepts of 'chemical governance' and 'chemical expertise' can be expanded to match the complexities of global history, especially in relation to environmental issues, climate change, and pollution; and (4) seeks to sketch the various geographies entailed in bringing the history of chemistry together with global histories.

An ecosystem approach to management: a context for wilderness protection

Treesearch

Paul A. Gray; Robert J. Davidson

2000-01-01

Sustainable development, ecosystem management and ecosystem health are three prominent catch phrases that now permeate the scientific and popular media, and form the basis of a growing number of private sector, government and academic programs. This discussion paper briefly explores the definition and application of these concepts as a context for wilderness protection...

Description of the General Equilibrium Model of Ecosystem Services (GEMES)

Treesearch

Travis Warziniack; David Finnoff; Jenny Apriesnig

2017-01-01

This paper serves as documentation for the General Equilibrium Model of Ecosystem Services (GEMES). GEMES is a regional computable general equilibrium model that is composed of values derived from natural capital and ecosystem services. It models households, producing sectors, and governments, linked to one another through commodity and factor markets. GEMES was...

Roadmapping Future E-Government Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bicking, Melanie

Global electronic markets, virtual organisations, virtual identities, virtual products and services, and Internet-related crime are growing in prominence and importance. In a world that is increasingly non-physical and borderless, what are government's roles, responsibilities and limitations? The Internet plays a central role within the transformation process from traditional governments towards modern and innovative government that the requirements of an Information Society. Based on the findings of the eGovRTD2020 project, that aims at identifying key research challenges and at implementing a model for a holistic government with horizon 2020, this paper explains the necessity to investigate and understand the Internet and in particular government's role and responsibilities in it. Furthermore, the paper provides a research roadmap that details how to address certain issue related research questions.

Ecosystem-based management and refining governance of wind energy in the Massachusetts coastal zone: A case study approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumin, Enid C.

While there are as yet no wind energy facilities in New England coastal waters, a number of wind turbine projects are now operating on land adjacent to the coast. In the Gulf of Maine region (from Maine to Massachusetts), at least two such projects, one in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and another on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine, began operation with public backing only to face subsequent opposition from some who were initially project supporters. I investigate the reasons for this dynamic using content analysis of documents related to wind energy facility development in three case study communities. For comparison and contrast with the Vinalhaven and Falmouth case studies, I examine materials from Hull, Massachusetts, where wind turbine construction and operation has received steady public support and acceptance. My research addresses the central question: What does case study analysis of the siting and initial operation of three wind energy projects in the Gulf of Maine region reveal that can inform future governance of wind energy in Massachusetts state coastal waters? I consider the question with specific attention to governance of wind energy in Massachusetts, then explore ways in which the research results may be broadly transferable in the U.S. coastal context. I determine that the change in local response noted in Vinalhaven and Falmouth may have arisen from a failure of consistent inclusion of stakeholders throughout the entire scoping-to-siting process, especially around the reporting of environmental impact studies. I find that, consistent with the principles of ecosystem-based and adaptive management, design of governance systems may require on-going cycles of review and adjustment before the implementation of such systems as intended is achieved in practice. I conclude that evolving collaborative processes must underlie science and policy in our approach to complex environmental and wind energy projects; indeed, collaborative process is fundamental to

The President’s Identity Theft Task Force: Combating Identity Theft a Strategic Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-11

27 a. Safeguarding of Information in the Public Sector ............... 27 b. Responding to Data Breaches in the Public...72 APPENDICES Appendix A: Identity Theft Task Force’s Guidance Memorandum on Data Breach Protocol...government, and the private sector. Consumers, overwhelmed with weekly media reports of data breaches , feel vulnerable and uncertain of how to protect

From food to pest: Conversion factors determine switches between ecosystem services and disservices.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Laura Vang; Christensen, Andreas E; Danielsen, Finn; Dawson, Neil; Martin, Adrian; Mertz, Ole; Sikor, Thomas; Thongmanivong, Sithong; Xaydongvanh, Pheang

2017-03-01

Ecosystem research focuses on goods and services, thereby ascribing beneficial values to the ecosystems. Depending on the context, however, outputs from ecosystems can be both positive and negative. We examined how provisioning services of wild animals and plants can switch between being services and disservices. We studied agricultural communities in Laos to illustrate when and why these switches take place. Government restrictions on land use combined with economic and cultural changes have created perceptions of rodents and plants as problem species in some communities. In other communities that are maintaining shifting cultivation practices, the very same taxa were perceived as beneficial. We propose conversion factors that in a given context can determine where an individual taxon is located along a spectrum from ecosystem service to disservice, when, and for whom. We argue that the omission of disservices in ecosystem service accounts may lead governments to direct investments at inappropriate targets.

Aboriginal fractions: enumerating identity in Taiwan.

PubMed

Liu, Jennifer A

2012-01-01

Notions of identity in Taiwan are configured in relation to numbers. I examine the polyvalent capacities of enumerative technologies in both the production of ethnic identities and claims to political representation and justice. By critically historicizing the manner in which Aborigines in Taiwan have been, and continue to be, constructed as objects and subjects of scientific knowledge production through technologies of measuring, I examine the genetic claim made by some Taiwanese to be "fractionally" Aboriginal. Numbers and techniques of measuring are used ostensibly to know the Aborigines, but they are also used to construct a genetically unique Taiwanese identity and to incorporate the Aborigines within projects of democratic governance. Technologies of enumeration thus serve within multiple, and sometimes contradictory, projects of representation and knowledge production.

[Ecosystem services of Chongyi Hakka Terraces].

PubMed

Miao, Jian Qun; Wang, Zhi Qiang; Yang, Wen Ting; Sun, Song; Huang, Guo Qin

2017-05-18

An economic evaluation of the main ecosystem services of Chongyi Hakka Terraces can help to demonstrate the contributions of the terrace system to Hakka society, on the basis of which the protection of Hakka Terrace system could be undertaken by the local government. In view of the social and economic characteristics of Chongyi Hakka Terrace ecosystem and its location, an index system was established to evaluate the service function, and a qualitative analysis was conducted for these functions and their importance. Besides, based on the data collected in 2014, with a combination of physical quality and economic value, a quantitative analysis was carried out for its nine ser-vice indicators. The findings were as follows: firstly, among the nine evaluation indicators, the phy-sical quality and the economic value of soil conservation both ranked the highest, the former being 76457 kg·hm -2 and the latter 105033 yuan·hm -2 , accounting respectively for 72.2% and 30.0% of the total mass and total value of the Hakka Terrace ecosystem. Secondly, the unique service functions of Hakka Terrace ecosystem could be embodied in its cultural heritage and landscape, the corresponding economic values reaching up to 100000 yuan·hm -2 and 46333 yuan·hm -2 respectively, ranking the second and third highest among the nine indicators. Thirdly, the agricultural pro-ducts from the Hakka Terrace were vital welfare for the local residents, but their physical quality and the economic value only accounted for 6.1% and 10.4% of its total mass and total value respectively. As a result, the service functions of the Hakka Terrace ecosystem would be dramatically undervalued with respect to agricultural products only. These economic figures could reveal the huge contributions which the Hakka Terrace ecosystem had made to the society, not only raising awareness of the necessity to preserve the agricultural heritage by the administrators and the public, but also providing efficient data support

Tearing the Fabric of Canada: The Broadcast Media and Canadian Identity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiss, Elaine F.

This paper explores the perceived threat of American cultural "imperialism" in Canada, the effect of constant exposure to American broadcasting on the Canadian national identity, the role broadcasting plays in shaping Canadian identity, and the efforts by the Canadian government to "Canadianize" its broadcasting. A brief…

The challenges of incorporating cultural ecosystem services into environmental assessment.

PubMed

Satz, Debra; Gould, Rachelle K; Chan, Kai M A; Guerry, Anne; Norton, Bryan; Satterfield, Terre; Halpern, Benjamin S; Levine, Jordan; Woodside, Ulalia; Hannahs, Neil; Basurto, Xavier; Klain, Sarah

2013-10-01

The ecosystem services concept is used to make explicit the diverse benefits ecosystems provide to people, with the goal of improving assessment and, ultimately, decision-making. Alongside material benefits such as natural resources (e.g., clean water, timber), this concept includes-through the 'cultural' category of ecosystem services-diverse non-material benefits that people obtain through interactions with ecosystems (e.g., spiritual inspiration, cultural identity, recreation). Despite the longstanding focus of ecosystem services research on measurement, most cultural ecosystem services have defined measurement and inclusion alongside other more 'material' services. This gap in measurement of cultural ecosystem services is a product of several perceived problems, some of which are not real problems and some of which can be mitigated or even solved without undue difficulty. Because of the fractured nature of the literature, these problems continue to plague the discussion of cultural services. In this paper we discuss several such problems, which although they have been addressed singly, have not been brought together in a single discussion. There is a need for a single, accessible treatment of the importance and feasibility of integrating cultural ecosystem services alongside others.

From COS ecosystem fluxes to GPP: integrating soil, branch and ecosystem fluxes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kooijmans, L.; Maseyk, K. S.; Vesala, T.; Mammarella, I.; Baker, I. T.; Seibt, U.; Sun, W.; Aalto, J.; Franchin, A.; Kolari, P.; Keskinen, H.; Levula, J.; Chen, H.

2016-12-01

The close coupling of Carbonyl Sulfide (COS) and CO2 due to a similar uptake pathway into plant stomata makes COS a promising new tracer that can potentially be used to partition the Net Ecosystem Exchange into gross primary production (GPP) and respiration. Although ecosystem-scale measurements have been made at several sites, the contribution of different ecosystem components to the total COS budget is often unknown. Besides that, the average Leaf Relative Uptake (LRU) ratio needs to be better determined to accurately translate COS ecosystem fluxes into GPP estimates when the simple linear correlation between GPP estimates and COS plant uptake is used. We performed two campaigns in the summer of 2015 and 2016 at the SMEAR II site in Hyytiälä, Finland to provide better constrained COS flux data for boreal forests. A combination of COS measurements were made during both years, i.e. atmospheric profile concentrations up to 125 m, eddy-covariance fluxes and soil chamber fluxes. In addition to these, branch chamber measurements were done in 2016 in an attempt to observe the LRU throughout the whole season. The LRU ratio shows an exponential correlation with photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) but is constant for PAR levels above 500 µmol m-2 s-1. Mid-day LRU values are 1.0 (aspen) and 1.5 (pine). The correlation between LRU and PAR can be explained by the fact that COS is hydrolyzed with the presence of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase, and is not light dependent, whereas the photosynthetic uptake of CO2 is. We observed nighttime fluxes on the order of 25-30 % of the daily maximum COS uptake. Soils are a small sink of COS and contribute to 3 % of the total ecosystem COS flux during daytime. In a comparison between observed and simulated fluxes from the Simple Biosphere (SiB) model, the modelled COS and CO2 ecosystem fluxes are on average 40 % smaller than the observed fluxes, however, the Ecosystem Relative Uptake (ERU) ratios are identical at a value of 1.9 ± 0

Protecting our life support systems: US federal research and policy on ecosystem services

EPA Science Inventory

In the United States, a broad range of federal entities are conducting research related to ecosystem services, and government agencies at all levels are increasingly interested in measuring the outcomes of proposed policy options in terms of ecosystem service benefits. However, ...

Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach.

PubMed

Bannar-Martin, Katherine H; Kremer, Colin T; Ernest, S K Morgan; Leibold, Mathew A; Auge, Harald; Chase, Jonathan; Declerck, Steven A J; Eisenhauer, Nico; Harpole, Stanley; Hillebrand, Helmut; Isbell, Forest; Koffel, Thomas; Larsen, Stefano; Narwani, Anita; Petermann, Jana S; Roscher, Christiane; Cabral, Juliano Sarmento; Supp, Sarah R

2018-02-01

The research of a generation of ecologists was catalysed by the recognition that the number and identity of species in communities influences the functioning of ecosystems. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) is most often examined by controlling species richness and randomising community composition. In natural systems, biodiversity changes are often part of a bigger community assembly dynamic. Therefore, focusing on community assembly and the functioning of ecosystems (CAFE), by integrating both species richness and composition through species gains, losses and changes in abundance, will better reveal how community changes affect ecosystem function. We synthesise the BEF and CAFE perspectives using an ecological application of the Price equation, which partitions the contributions of richness and composition to function. Using empirical examples, we show how the CAFE approach reveals important contributions of composition to function. These examples show how changes in species richness and composition driven by environmental perturbations can work in concert or antagonistically to influence ecosystem function. Considering how communities change in an integrative fashion, rather than focusing on one axis of community structure at a time, will improve our ability to anticipate and predict changes in ecosystem function. © 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Successful conservation of global waterbird populations depends on effective governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amano, Tatsuya; Székely, Tamás; Sandel, Brody; Nagy, Szabolcs; Mundkur, Taej; Langendoen, Tom; Blanco, Daniel; Soykan, Candan U.; Sutherland, William J.

2018-01-01

Understanding global patterns of biodiversity change is crucial for conservation research, policies and practices. However, for most ecosystems, the lack of systematically collected data at a global level limits our understanding of biodiversity changes and their local-scale drivers. Here we address this challenge by focusing on wetlands, which are among the most biodiverse and productive of any environments and which provide essential ecosystem services, but are also amongst the most seriously threatened ecosystems. Using birds as an indicator taxon of wetland biodiversity, we model time-series abundance data for 461 waterbird species at 25,769 survey sites across the globe. We show that the strongest predictor of changes in waterbird abundance, and of conservation efforts having beneficial effects, is the effective governance of a country. In areas in which governance is on average less effective, such as western and central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, waterbird declines are particularly pronounced; a higher protected area coverage of wetland environments facilitates waterbird increases, but only in countries with more effective governance. Our findings highlight that sociopolitical instability can lead to biodiversity loss and undermine the benefit of existing conservation efforts, such as the expansion of protected area coverage. Furthermore, data deficiencies in areas with less effective governance could lead to underestimations of the extent of the current biodiversity crisis.

Successful conservation of global waterbird populations depends on effective governance.

PubMed

Amano, Tatsuya; Székely, Tamás; Sandel, Brody; Nagy, Szabolcs; Mundkur, Taej; Langendoen, Tom; Blanco, Daniel; Soykan, Candan U; Sutherland, William J

2018-01-11

Understanding global patterns of biodiversity change is crucial for conservation research, policies and practices. However, for most ecosystems, the lack of systematically collected data at a global level limits our understanding of biodiversity changes and their local-scale drivers. Here we address this challenge by focusing on wetlands, which are among the most biodiverse and productive of any environments and which provide essential ecosystem services, but are also amongst the most seriously threatened ecosystems. Using birds as an indicator taxon of wetland biodiversity, we model time-series abundance data for 461 waterbird species at 25,769 survey sites across the globe. We show that the strongest predictor of changes in waterbird abundance, and of conservation efforts having beneficial effects, is the effective governance of a country. In areas in which governance is on average less effective, such as western and central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and South America, waterbird declines are particularly pronounced; a higher protected area coverage of wetland environments facilitates waterbird increases, but only in countries with more effective governance. Our findings highlight that sociopolitical instability can lead to biodiversity loss and undermine the benefit of existing conservation efforts, such as the expansion of protected area coverage. Furthermore, data deficiencies in areas with less effective governance could lead to underestimations of the extent of the current biodiversity crisis.

Ecosystem services as assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessment.

PubMed

Munns, Wayne R; Rea, Anne W; Suter, Glenn W; Martin, Lawrence; Blake-Hedges, Lynne; Crk, Tanja; Davis, Christine; Ferreira, Gina; Jordan, Steve; Mahoney, Michele; Barron, Mace G

2016-07-01

Ecosystem services are defined as the outputs of ecological processes that contribute to human welfare or have the potential to do so in the future. Those outputs include food and drinking water, clean air and water, and pollinated crops. The need to protect the services provided by natural systems has been recognized previously, but ecosystem services have not been formally incorporated into ecological risk assessment practice in a general way in the United States. Endpoints used conventionally in ecological risk assessment, derived directly from the state of the ecosystem (e.g., biophysical structure and processes), and endpoints based on ecosystem services serve different purposes. Conventional endpoints are ecologically important and susceptible entities and attributes that are protected under US laws and regulations. Ecosystem service endpoints are a conceptual and analytical step beyond conventional endpoints and are intended to complement conventional endpoints by linking and extending endpoints to goods and services with more obvious benefit to humans. Conventional endpoints can be related to ecosystem services even when the latter are not considered explicitly during problem formulation. To advance the use of ecosystem service endpoints in ecological risk assessment, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Forum has added generic endpoints based on ecosystem services (ES-GEAE) to the original 2003 set of generic ecological assessment endpoints (GEAEs). Like conventional GEAEs, ES-GEAEs are defined by an entity and an attribute. Also like conventional GEAEs, ES-GEAEs are broadly described and will need to be made specific when applied to individual assessments. Adoption of ecosystem services as a type of assessment endpoint is intended to improve the value of risk assessment to environmental decision making, linking ecological risk to human well-being, and providing an improved means of communicating those risks. Integr Environ Assess Manag

Framing Research on School Principals' Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crow, Gary; Day, Christopher; Møller, Jorunn

2017-01-01

This paper provides a basis for a tentative framework for guiding future research into principals' identity construction and development. It is situated in the context of persisting emphases placed by government policies on the need for technocratic competencies in principals as a means of demonstrating success defined largely as compliance with…

Nursing professional identity: an infant or one with Alzheimer.

PubMed

Yazdannik, Ahmadreza; Yekta, Zohreh Parsa; Soltani, Aliasghar

2012-02-01

Each group or profession has its own discourse. Discourses create identity, support institutions and reproduce power relationships. Professional identity of Iranian nurses, which has recently had the opportunity to represent itself in social arena, needs investigation. This study aimed to make internal aspect of this identity clear. This study was conducted by discourse analysis, using data of 23 semi-structured individual interviews and 4 focus group interviews with nurses and senior nursing students of Tehran and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, to evaluate their professional identity. In professional self-concept, elements like spirituality value and low financial benefits were identified as well as conflicting features of holiness and humility, identity emerging, identity escape, low professional self-confidence and justice seeking, lost professional authority and pride. Nursing professional identity has been formed based on cultural social structure, values and beliefs governing health system. This is a spectrum of a growing and emerging identity to a developed but forgotten identity. Although nursing discourse is subordinate in health system discourse, signs of moving toward professional maturity have emerged.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection Update: U.S. Government Takes Steps to Promote Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection Through Meaningful Use Guidelines.

PubMed

Cahill, Sean; Makadon, Harvey J

2014-09-01

Collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI) in healthcare settings and in electronic health records (EHRs) is essential to understanding, addressing, and reducing LGBT health disparities. The federal government took two key steps in early 2014 in support of asking SO/GI questions in clinical settings as part of the meaningful use of EHRs. First, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology issued proposed 2015 Edition Certified EHR Technology (CEHRT) Criteria, which suggest Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) code sets for SO/GI data collection in 2017. To facilitate the effective and accurate collection of SO/GI data, 153 LGBT and HIV groups recommended that the national coordinator request that the National Library of Medicine develop new codes to reflect SO/GI data. Second, the Health Information Technology Policy Committee submitted recommendations to the national coordinator, including the recommendation that "CEHRT [certified EHR technology] provides the functionality to capture … sexual orientation, gender identity." If the national coordinator accepts this recommendation, it will be put up for public comment in fall 2014 along with other Stage 3 proposed rules. Also, the 2017 Edition CEHRT Notice of Proposed Rule Making Criteria will be up for comment in fall 2014. Final Stage 3 Meaningful Use Guidelines will be published in summer 2015, and other key steps will take place into 2017. A critical parallel step is the training of clinical staff on LGBT health disparities and how to use SO/GI data and manage them in ways that meet the clinical needs of LGBT patients and protect confidentiality and privacy. We must also educate LGBT community members about why offering this information is important for their health and how collecting SO/GI data in EHRs is an important step to understanding LGBT health, reducing disparities, and improving outcomes.

Connecting Communities: Identity, Language and Diaspora

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Jean

2005-01-01

This paper compares government and media views on citizenship, language and identity with the perspectives of a particular group of British citizens who are fluent speakers of English but retain an allegiance to their other languages. Firstly, it discusses recent official and newspaper reports in the UK relating to issues of citizenship and…

Conserving mangrove ecosystems in the Philippines: transcending disciplinary and institutional borders.

PubMed

Farley, Joshua; Batker, David; de la Torre, Isabel; Hudspeth, Tom

2010-01-01

Humans are rapidly depleting critical ecosystems and the life support functions they provide, increasing the urgency of developing effective conservation tools. Using a case study of the conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture, this article describes an effort to develop a transdisciplinary, transinstitutional approach to conservation that simultaneously trains future generations of environmental problem solvers. We worked in close collaboration with academics, non-government organizations, local government and local communities to organize a workshop in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The primary objectives of the workshop were to: (1) train participants in the basic principles of ecological economics and its goals of sustainable scale, just distribution and efficient allocation; (2) learn from local community stakeholders and participating scientists about the problems surrounding conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture; (3) draw on the skills and knowledge of all participants to develop potential solutions to the problem; and (4) communicate results to those with the power and authority to act on them. We found that the economic and ecological benefits of intact mangroves outweigh the returns to aquaculture. Perversely, however, private property rights to mangrove ecosystems favor inefficient, unjust and unsustainable allocation of the resource-a tragedy of the non-commons. We presented the workshop results to the press and local government, which shut down the aquaculture ponds to conserve the threatened ecosystem. Effective communication to appropriate audiences was essential for transforming research into action. Our approach is promising and can be readily applied to conservation research and advocacy projects worldwide, but should be improved through adaptive management-practitioners must continually build on those elements that work and discard or improve those that fail.

Conserving Mangrove Ecosystems in the Philippines: Transcending Disciplinary and Institutional Borders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farley, Joshua; Batker, David; de La Torre, Isabel; Hudspeth, Tom

2010-01-01

Humans are rapidly depleting critical ecosystems and the life support functions they provide, increasing the urgency of developing effective conservation tools. Using a case study of the conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture, this article describes an effort to develop a transdisciplinary, transinstitutional approach to conservation that simultaneously trains future generations of environmental problem solvers. We worked in close collaboration with academics, non-government organizations, local government and local communities to organize a workshop in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The primary objectives of the workshop were to: (1) train participants in the basic principles of ecological economics and its goals of sustainable scale, just distribution and efficient allocation; (2) learn from local community stakeholders and participating scientists about the problems surrounding conversion of mangrove ecosystems to shrimp aquaculture; (3) draw on the skills and knowledge of all participants to develop potential solutions to the problem; and (4) communicate results to those with the power and authority to act on them. We found that the economic and ecological benefits of intact mangroves outweigh the returns to aquaculture. Perversely, however, private property rights to mangrove ecosystems favor inefficient, unjust and unsustainable allocation of the resource—a tragedy of the non-commons. We presented the workshop results to the press and local government, which shut down the aquaculture ponds to conserve the threatened ecosystem. Effective communication to appropriate audiences was essential for transforming research into action. Our approach is promising and can be readily applied to conservation research and advocacy projects worldwide, but should be improved through adaptive management—practitioners must continually build on those elements that work and discard or improve those that fail.

Ecosystem services and livelihoods in deltaic environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholls, R. J.; Rahman, M. M.; Salehin, M.; Hutton, C.

2015-12-01

While overall, deltas account for only 1% of global land area, they are home to more than a half billion people or ca. 7% of the world's population. In many deltas, livelihoods and food security are strongly dependent on ecosystem services, which in turn are affected by various environmental change factors, including climate variability and change, modifications to upstream river, sediment and nutrient fluxes, evolving nearshore ecosystems, and delta-level change factors such as subsidence, changing land use and management interventions such as polders. Key limits include scarcity of fresh water, saline water intrusion and the impacts of extreme events (e.g. river floods, cyclones and storm surges), which constrain land use choices and livelihood opportunities for the deltaic populations. The ESPA Deltas project takes a systemic perspective of the interaction between the coupled bio-physical environment and the livelihoods of rural delta residents. The methods emphasise poverty reduction and use coastal Bangladesh as an example. This includes a set of consistent biophysical analyses of the delta and the upstream catchments and the downstream Bay of Bengal, as well as governance and policy analysis and socio-demographic analysis, including an innovative household survey on ecosystem utilization. These results are encapsulated in an integrated model that analyses ecosystem services and livelihood implications. This integrated approach is designed to support delta-level policy formulation. It allows the exploration of contrasting development trajectories, including issues such as robustness of different governance options on ecosystem services and livelihoods. The method is strongly participatory including an ongoing series of stakeholder workshops addressing issue identification, scenario development and consideration of policy responses. The methods presented are generic and transferable to other deltas. The paper will consider the overall ESPA Deltas project and

Ecosystem Services Flows: Why Stakeholders' Power Relationships Matter.

PubMed

Felipe-Lucia, María R; Martín-López, Berta; Lavorel, Sandra; Berraquero-Díaz, Luis; Escalera-Reyes, Javier; Comín, Francisco A

2015-01-01

The ecosystem services framework has enabled the broader public to acknowledge the benefits nature provides to different stakeholders. However, not all stakeholders benefit equally from these services. Rather, power relationships are a key factor influencing the access of individuals or groups to ecosystem services. In this paper, we propose an adaptation of the "cascade" framework for ecosystem services to integrate the analysis of ecological interactions among ecosystem services and stakeholders' interactions, reflecting power relationships that mediate ecosystem services flows. We illustrate its application using the floodplain of the River Piedra (Spain) as a case study. First, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to model the dependence relationships among ecosystem services. Second, we performed semi-structured interviews to identify formal power relationships among stakeholders. Third, we depicted ecosystem services according to stakeholders' ability to use, manage or impair ecosystem services in order to expose how power relationships mediate access to ecosystem services. Our results revealed that the strongest power was held by those stakeholders who managed (although did not use) those keystone ecosystem properties and services that determine the provision of other services (i.e., intermediate regulating and final services). In contrast, non-empowered stakeholders were only able to access the remaining non-excludable and non-rival ecosystem services (i.e., some of the cultural services, freshwater supply, water quality, and biological control). In addition, land stewardship, access rights, and governance appeared as critical factors determining the status of ecosystem services. Finally, we stress the need to analyse the role of stakeholders and their relationships to foster equal access to ecosystem services.

Digital Identity Formation: Socially Being Real and Present on Digital Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bozkurt, Aras; Tu, Chih-Hsiung

2016-01-01

Social networks have become popular communication and interaction environments recently. As digital environments, so as ecosystems, they have potential in terms of networked learning as they fulfill some roles such as mediating an environment for digital identity formation and providing social and emotional presence. Based on this phenomenon, the…

Weaving Strands of Writer Identity: Self as Author and the NNES "Plagiarist"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ouellette, Mark A.

2008-01-01

While plagiarism is often viewed in terms of ethical binaries, scholars in composition studies have recognized plagiarism as part of literacy practices governing identity construction. In this light, what is at stake is how writers construct identity by positioning stance-claims according to the standards of respective discourse communities. For…

Co-Flocculation of Yeast Species, a New Mechanism to Govern Population Dynamics in Microbial Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Rossouw, Debra; Bagheri, Bahareh; Setati, Mathabatha Evodia; Bauer, Florian Franz

2015-01-01

Flocculation has primarily been studied as an important technological property of Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains in fermentation processes such as brewing and winemaking. These studies have led to the identification of a group of closely related genes, referred to as the FLO gene family, which controls the flocculation phenotype. All naturally occurring S. cerevisiae strains assessed thus far possess at least four independent copies of structurally similar FLO genes, namely FLO1, FLO5, FLO9 and FLO10. The genes appear to differ primarily by the degree of flocculation induced by their expression. However, the reason for the existence of a large family of very similar genes, all involved in the same phenotype, has remained unclear. In natural ecosystems, and in wine production, S. cerevisiae growth together and competes with a large number of other Saccharomyces and many more non-Saccharomyces yeast species. Our data show that many strains of such wine-related non-Saccharomyces species, some of which have recently attracted significant biotechnological interest as they contribute positively to fermentation and wine character, were able to flocculate efficiently. The data also show that both flocculent and non-flocculent S. cerevisiae strains formed mixed species flocs (a process hereafter referred to as co-flocculation) with some of these non-Saccharomyces yeasts. This ability of yeast strains to impact flocculation behaviour of other species in mixed inocula has not been described previously. Further investigation into the genetic regulation of co-flocculation revealed that different FLO genes impact differently on such adhesion phenotypes, favouring adhesion with some species while excluding other species from such mixed flocs. The data therefore strongly suggest that FLO genes govern the selective association of S. cerevisiae with specific species of non-Saccharomyces yeasts, and may therefore be drivers of ecosystem organisational patterns. Our data

Situating Cyberzone: Black lesbian identity in comics.

PubMed

Howard, Sheena C

2018-04-25

Cyberzone is a fitting place to start any discussion around Black lesbian identity in comics, as it is the first comic book that this researcher could find which features a Black lesbian female lead superheroine. Cyberzone was self-published by Jimmie Robinson in 1994 and later re-vamped into a mini-comic series called Amanda and Gunn with Image Comics. First, this article deconstructs Cyberzone through the lens of Cultural Prism Theory (CPT). Second, this article situates Cyberzone within the framework of CPT to address Cyberzone's place within the comic book ecosystem. Finally, this essay offers a close reading of Cyberzone, issues #1-#4, against the backdrop of the intersectional framework Black Queer Identity Matrix. During this process, the researcher demonstrates how Cyberzone is a powerful site of resistant cultural commentary.

Nursing professional identity: an infant or one with Alzheimer

PubMed Central

Yazdannik, Ahmadreza; Yekta, Zohreh Parsa; Soltani, Aliasghar

2012-01-01

Background: Each group or profession has its own discourse. Discourses create identity, support institutions and reproduce power relationships. Professional identity of Iranian nurses, which has recently had the opportunity to represent itself in social arena, needs investigation. This study aimed to make internal aspect of this identity clear. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by discourse analysis, using data of 23 semi-structured individual interviews and 4 focus group interviews with nurses and senior nursing students of Tehran and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, to evaluate their professional identity. Findings: In professional self-concept, elements like spirituality value and low financial benefits were identified as well as conflicting features of holiness and humility, identity emerging, identity escape, low professional self-confidence and justice seeking, lost professional authority and pride. Conclusions: Nursing professional identity has been formed based on cultural social structure, values and beliefs governing health system. This is a spectrum of a growing and emerging identity to a developed but forgotten identity. Although nursing discourse is subordinate in health system discourse, signs of moving toward professional maturity have emerged. PMID:23833602

Ecosystem Services Flows: Why Stakeholders’ Power Relationships Matter

PubMed Central

Felipe-Lucia, María R.; Martín-López, Berta; Lavorel, Sandra; Berraquero-Díaz, Luis; Escalera-Reyes, Javier; Comín, Francisco A.

2015-01-01

The ecosystem services framework has enabled the broader public to acknowledge the benefits nature provides to different stakeholders. However, not all stakeholders benefit equally from these services. Rather, power relationships are a key factor influencing the access of individuals or groups to ecosystem services. In this paper, we propose an adaptation of the “cascade” framework for ecosystem services to integrate the analysis of ecological interactions among ecosystem services and stakeholders’ interactions, reflecting power relationships that mediate ecosystem services flows. We illustrate its application using the floodplain of the River Piedra (Spain) as a case study. First, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to model the dependence relationships among ecosystem services. Second, we performed semi-structured interviews to identify formal power relationships among stakeholders. Third, we depicted ecosystem services according to stakeholders’ ability to use, manage or impair ecosystem services in order to expose how power relationships mediate access to ecosystem services. Our results revealed that the strongest power was held by those stakeholders who managed (although did not use) those keystone ecosystem properties and services that determine the provision of other services (i.e., intermediate regulating and final services). In contrast, non-empowered stakeholders were only able to access the remaining non-excludable and non-rival ecosystem services (i.e., some of the cultural services, freshwater supply, water quality, and biological control). In addition, land stewardship, access rights, and governance appeared as critical factors determining the status of ecosystem services. Finally, we stress the need to analyse the role of stakeholders and their relationships to foster equal access to ecosystem services. PMID:26201000

Global drivers and tradeoffs of three urban vegetation ecosystem services.

PubMed

Dobbs, Cynnamon; Nitschke, Craig R; Kendal, Dave

2014-01-01

Our world is increasingly urbanizing which is highlighting that sustainable cities are essential for maintaining human well-being. This research is one of the first attempts to globally synthesize the effects of urbanization on ecosystem services and how these relate to governance, social development and climate. Three urban vegetation ecosystem services (carbon storage, recreation potential and habitat potential) were quantified for a selection of a hundred cities. Estimates of ecosystem services were obtained from the analysis of satellite imagery and the use of well-known carbon and structural habitat models. We found relationships between ecosystem services, social development, climate and governance, however these varied according to the service studied. Recreation potential was positively related to democracy and negatively related to population. Carbon storage was weakly related to temperature and democracy, while habitat potential was negatively related to democracy. We found that cities under 1 million inhabitants tended to have higher levels of recreation potential than larger cities and that democratic countries have higher recreation potential, especially if located in a continental climate. Carbon storage was higher in full democracies, especially in a continental climate, while habitat potential tended to be higher in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. Similar to other regional or city studies we found that the combination of environment conditions, socioeconomics, demographics and politics determines the provision of ecosystem services. Results from this study showed the existence of environmental injustice in the developing world.

Global Drivers and Tradeoffs of Three Urban Vegetation Ecosystem Services

PubMed Central

Dobbs, Cynnamon; Nitschke, Craig R.; Kendal, Dave

2014-01-01

Our world is increasingly urbanizing which is highlighting that sustainable cities are essential for maintaining human well-being. This research is one of the first attempts to globally synthesize the effects of urbanization on ecosystem services and how these relate to governance, social development and climate. Three urban vegetation ecosystem services (carbon storage, recreation potential and habitat potential) were quantified for a selection of a hundred cities. Estimates of ecosystem services were obtained from the analysis of satellite imagery and the use of well-known carbon and structural habitat models. We found relationships between ecosystem services, social development, climate and governance, however these varied according to the service studied. Recreation potential was positively related to democracy and negatively related to population. Carbon storage was weakly related to temperature and democracy, while habitat potential was negatively related to democracy. We found that cities under 1 million inhabitants tended to have higher levels of recreation potential than larger cities and that democratic countries have higher recreation potential, especially if located in a continental climate. Carbon storage was higher in full democracies, especially in a continental climate, while habitat potential tended to be higher in authoritarian and hybrid regimes. Similar to other regional or city studies we found that the combination of environment conditions, socioeconomics, demographics and politics determines the provision of ecosystem services. Results from this study showed the existence of environmental injustice in the developing world. PMID:25402184

Navigating the transition to ecosystem-based management of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

PubMed Central

Olsson, Per; Folke, Carl; Hughes, Terry P.

2008-01-01

We analyze the strategies and actions that enable transitions toward ecosystem-based management using the recent governance changes of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as a case study. The interplay among individual actors, organizations, and institutions at multiple levels is central in such transitions. A flexible organization, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, was crucial in initiating the transition to ecosystem-based management. This agency was also instrumental in the subsequent transformation of the governance regime and provided leadership throughout the process. Strategies involved internal reorganization and management innovation, leading to an ability to coordinate the scientific community, to increase public awareness of environmental issues and problems, to involve a broader set of stakeholders, and to maneuver the political system for support at critical times. The transformation process was induced by increased pressure on the Great Barrier Reef (from terrestrial runoff, overharvesting, and global warming) that triggered a new sense of urgency to address these challenges. The focus of governance shifted from protection of selected individual reefs to stewardship of the larger-scale seascape. The study emphasizes the significance of stewardship that can change patterns of interactions among key actors and allow for new forms of management and governance to emerge in response to environmental change. This example illustrates that enabling legislations or other social bounds are essential, but not sufficient for shifting governance toward adaptive comanagement of complex marine ecosystems. PMID:18621698

Advancing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning science using high-density tree-based experiments over functional diversity gradients.

PubMed

Tobner, Cornelia M; Paquette, Alain; Reich, Peter B; Gravel, Dominique; Messier, Christian

2014-03-01

Increasing concern about loss of biodiversity and its effects on ecosystem functioning has triggered a series of manipulative experiments worldwide, which have demonstrated a general trend for ecosystem functioning to increase with diversity. General mechanisms proposed to explain diversity effects include complementary resource use and invoke a key role for species' functional traits. The actual mechanisms by which complementary resource use occurs remain, however, poorly understood, as well as whether they apply to tree-dominated ecosystems. Here we present an experimental approach offering multiple innovative aspects to the field of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) research. The International Diversity Experiment Network with Trees (IDENT) allows research to be conducted at several hierarchical levels within individuals, neighborhoods, and communities. The network investigates questions related to intraspecific trait variation, complementarity, and environmental stress. The goal of IDENT is to identify some of the mechanisms through which individuals and species interact to promote coexistence and the complementary use of resources. IDENT includes several implemented and planned sites in North America and Europe, and uses a replicated design of high-density tree plots of fixed species-richness levels varying in functional diversity (FD). The design reduces the space and time needed for trees to interact allowing a thorough set of mixtures varying over different diversity gradients (specific, functional, phylogenetic) and environmental conditions (e.g., water stress) to be tested in the field. The intention of this paper is to share the experience in designing FD-focused BEF experiments with trees, to favor collaborations and expand the network to different conditions.

The research and implementation of a unified identity authentication in e-government network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Zhou

Current problem existing in e-government network is that the applications of information system are developed independently by various departments, and each has its own specific set of authentication and access control mechanism. To build a comprehensive information system in favor of sharing and exchanging information, a sound and secure unified e-government authentication system is firstly needed. The paper, combining with practical development of e-government network, carries out a thorough discussion on how to achieve data synchronization between unified authentication system and related application systems.

Contrasting effects of intra- and interspecific identity and richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi on host plants, nutrient retention and multifunctionality.

PubMed

Hazard, Christina; Kruitbos, Laura; Davidson, Hazel; Taylor, Andy F S; Johnson, David

2017-01-01

A major gap in our understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships concerns the role of intra- and interspecific diversity of mycorrhizal fungi, which are critical for plant fitness, biogeochemical cycling and other processes. Here, we test the hypothesis that the identity and richness of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi at the intra- and interspecific levels affect ecosystem multifunctionality by regulating plant and fungal productivity, soil CO 2 efflux and nutrient retention. Microcosms containing Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings colonized by different ECM fungal isolates, in monocultures and mixtures, enabled us to test for both intra- and interspecific identity and richness effects, and transgressive overyielding. Intra- and interspecific identity had modest but significant effects on plant and fungal productivity and nutrient retention, but no effect on CO 2 efflux. Intraspecific richness increased plant root productivity and ECM root tips but decreased hyphal length, whereas interspecific richness had no effects. Interspecific mixtures outperformed the most productive monocultures in only 10% of the cases, compared with 42% for the intraspecific mixtures. Both intra- and interspecific identity and richness of ECM fungi regulate ecosystem multifunctionality, but their effects on the direction and magnitude of individual variables differ. Transgressive overyielding suggests that positive niche complementarity effects are driving some of the responses to intraspecific richness. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

Ecosystem services: from theory to implementation.

PubMed

Daily, Gretchen C; Matson, Pamela A

2008-07-15

Around the world, leaders are increasingly recognizing ecosystems as natural capital assets that supply life-support services of tremendous value. The challenge is to turn this recognition into incentives and institutions that will guide wise investments in natural capital, on a large scale. Advances are required on three key fronts, each featured here: the science of ecosystem production functions and service mapping; the design of appropriate finance, policy, and governance systems; and the art of implementing these in diverse biophysical and social contexts. Scientific understanding of ecosystem production functions is improving rapidly but remains a limiting factor in incorporating natural capital into decisions, via systems of national accounting and other mechanisms. Novel institutional structures are being established for a broad array of services and places, creating a need and opportunity for systematic assessment of their scope and limitations. Finally, it is clear that formal sharing of experience, and defining of priorities for future work, could greatly accelerate the rate of innovation and uptake of new approaches.

Interregional flows of ecosystem services: Concepts, typology and four cases

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schröter, Matthias; Koellner, Thomas; Alkemade, Rob; Arnhold, Sebastian; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Frank, Karin; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Kastner, Thomas; Kissinger, Meidad; Liu, Jianguo; López-Hoffman, Laura; Maes, Joachim; Marques, Alexandra; Martín-López, Berta; Meyer, Carsten; Schulp, Catharina J. E.; Thober, Jule; Wolff, Sarah; Bonn, Aletta

2018-01-01

Conserving and managing global natural capital requires an understanding of the complexity of flows of ecosystem services across geographic boundaries. Failing to understand and to incorporate these flows into national and international ecosystem assessments leads to incomplete and potentially skewed conclusions, impairing society’s ability to identify sustainable management and policy choices. In this paper, we synthesise existing knowledge and develop a conceptual framework for analysing interregional ecosystem service flows. We synthesise the types of such flows, the characteristics of sending and receiving socio-ecological systems, and the impacts of ecosystem service flows on interregional sustainability. Using four cases (trade of certified coffee, migration of northern pintails, flood protection in the Danube watershed, and information on giant pandas), we test the conceptual framework and show how an enhanced understanding of interregional telecouplings in socio-ecological systems can inform ecosystem service-based decision making and governance with respect to sustainability goals.

Adaptive governance to promote ecosystem services in urban green spaces

EPA Science Inventory

Managing urban green space as part of an ongoing social-ecological transformationposes novel governance issues, particularly in post-industrial settings. Urban green spaces operate as small-scale nodes in larger networks of ecological reserves that provide and maintain key ecosys...

Organizing urban ecosystem services through environmental stewardship governance in New York City

Treesearch

James J. Connolly; Erika S. Svendsen; Dana R. Fisher; Lindsay K. Campbell

2013-01-01

How do stewardship groups contribute to the management of urban ecosystem services? In this paper, we integrate the research on environmental stewardship with the social-ecological systems literature to explain how stewardship groups serve as bridge organizations between public agencies and civic organizations, working across scales and sectors to build the flexible...

Integrated modelling of ecosystem services and energy systems research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwala, Matthew; Lovett, Andrew; Bateman, Ian; Day, Brett; Agnolucci, Paolo; Ziv, Guy

2016-04-01

The UK Government is formally committed to reducing carbon emissions and protecting and improving natural capital and the environment. However, actually delivering on these objectives requires an integrated approach to addressing two parallel challenges: de-carbonising future energy system pathways; and safeguarding natural capital to ensure the continued flow of ecosystem services. Although both emphasise benefiting from natural resources, efforts to connect natural capital and energy systems research have been limited, meaning opportunities to improve management of natural resources and meet society's energy needs could be missed. The ecosystem services paradigm provides a consistent conceptual framework that applies in multiple disciplines across the natural and economic sciences, and facilitates collaboration between them. At the forefront of the field, integrated ecosystem service - economy models have guided public- and private-sector decision making at all levels. Models vary in sophistication from simple spreadsheet tools to complex software packages integrating biophysical, GIS and economic models and draw upon many fields, including ecology, hydrology, geography, systems theory, economics and the social sciences. They also differ in their ability to value changes in natural capital and ecosystem services at various spatial and temporal scales. Despite these differences, current models share a common feature: their treatment of energy systems is superficial at best. In contrast, energy systems research has no widely adopted, unifying conceptual framework that organises thinking about key system components and interactions. Instead, the literature is organised around modelling approaches, including life cycle analyses, econometric investigations, linear programming and computable general equilibrium models. However, some consistencies do emerge. First, often contain a linear set of steps, from exploration to resource supply, fuel processing, conversion

Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality.

PubMed

Hautier, Yann; Isbell, Forest; Borer, Elizabeth T; Seabloom, Eric W; Harpole, W Stanley; Lind, Eric M; MacDougall, Andrew S; Stevens, Carly J; Adler, Peter B; Alberti, Juan; Bakker, Jonathan D; Brudvig, Lars A; Buckley, Yvonne M; Cadotte, Marc; Caldeira, Maria C; Chaneton, Enrique J; Chu, Chengjin; Daleo, Pedro; Dickman, Christopher R; Dwyer, John M; Eskelinen, Anu; Fay, Philip A; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Hillebrand, Helmut; Iribarne, Oscar; Kirkman, Kevin P; Knops, Johannes M H; La Pierre, Kimberly J; McCulley, Rebecca L; Morgan, John W; Pärtel, Meelis; Pascual, Jesus; Price, Jodi N; Prober, Suzanne M; Risch, Anita C; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schuetz, Martin; Standish, Rachel J; Virtanen, Risto; Wardle, Glenda M; Yahdjian, Laura; Hector, Andy

2018-01-01

Biodiversity is declining in many local communities while also becoming increasingly homogenized across space. Experiments show that local plant species loss reduces ecosystem functioning and services, but the role of spatial homogenization of community composition and the potential interaction between diversity at different scales in maintaining ecosystem functioning remains unclear, especially when many functions are considered (ecosystem multifunctionality). We present an analysis of eight ecosystem functions measured in 65 grasslands worldwide. We find that more diverse grasslands-those with both species-rich local communities (α-diversity) and large compositional differences among localities (β-diversity)-had higher levels of multifunctionality. Moreover, α- and β-diversity synergistically affected multifunctionality, with higher levels of diversity at one scale amplifying the contribution to ecological functions at the other scale. The identity of species influencing ecosystem functioning differed among functions and across local communities, explaining why more diverse grasslands maintained greater functionality when more functions and localities were considered. These results were robust to variation in environmental drivers. Our findings reveal that plant diversity, at both local and landscape scales, contributes to the maintenance of multiple ecosystem services provided by grasslands. Preserving ecosystem functioning therefore requires conservation of biodiversity both within and among ecological communities.

Australian shellfish ecosystems: Past distribution, current status and future direction.

PubMed

Gillies, Chris L; McLeod, Ian M; Alleway, Heidi K; Cook, Peter; Crawford, Christine; Creighton, Colin; Diggles, Ben; Ford, John; Hamer, Paul; Heller-Wagner, Gideon; Lebrault, Emma; Le Port, Agnès; Russell, Kylie; Sheaves, Marcus; Warnock, Bryn

2018-01-01

We review the status of marine shellfish ecosystems formed primarily by bivalves in Australia, including: identifying ecosystem-forming species, assessing their historical and current extent, causes for decline and past and present management. Fourteen species of bivalves were identified as developing complex, three-dimensional reef or bed ecosystems in intertidal and subtidal areas across tropical, subtropical and temperate Australia. A dramatic decline in the extent and condition of Australia's two most common shellfish ecosystems, developed by Saccostrea glomerata and Ostrea angasi oysters, occurred during the mid-1800s to early 1900s in concurrence with extensive harvesting for food and lime production, ecosystem modification, disease outbreaks and a decline in water quality. Out of 118 historical locations containing O. angasi-developed ecosystems, only one location still contains the ecosystem whilst only six locations are known to still contain S. glomerata-developed ecosystems out of 60 historical locations. Ecosystems developed by the introduced oyster Crasostrea gigas are likely to be increasing in extent, whilst data on the remaining 11 ecosystem-forming species are limited, preventing a detailed assessment of their current ecosystem-forming status. Our analysis identifies that current knowledge on extent, physical characteristics, biodiversity and ecosystem services of Australian shellfish ecosystems is extremely limited. Despite the limited information on shellfish ecosystems, a number of restoration projects have recently been initiated across Australia and we propose a number of existing government policies and conservation mechanisms, if enacted, would readily serve to support the future conservation and recovery of Australia's shellfish ecosystems.

Australian shellfish ecosystems: Past distribution, current status and future direction

PubMed Central

Gillies, Chris L.; McLeod, Ian M.; Alleway, Heidi K.; Cook, Peter; Crawford, Christine; Creighton, Colin; Diggles, Ben; Ford, John; Hamer, Paul; Heller-Wagner, Gideon; Lebrault, Emma; Le Port, Agnès; Russell, Kylie; Sheaves, Marcus; Warnock, Bryn

2018-01-01

We review the status of marine shellfish ecosystems formed primarily by bivalves in Australia, including: identifying ecosystem-forming species, assessing their historical and current extent, causes for decline and past and present management. Fourteen species of bivalves were identified as developing complex, three-dimensional reef or bed ecosystems in intertidal and subtidal areas across tropical, subtropical and temperate Australia. A dramatic decline in the extent and condition of Australia’s two most common shellfish ecosystems, developed by Saccostrea glomerata and Ostrea angasi oysters, occurred during the mid-1800s to early 1900s in concurrence with extensive harvesting for food and lime production, ecosystem modification, disease outbreaks and a decline in water quality. Out of 118 historical locations containing O. angasi-developed ecosystems, only one location still contains the ecosystem whilst only six locations are known to still contain S. glomerata-developed ecosystems out of 60 historical locations. Ecosystems developed by the introduced oyster Crasostrea gigas are likely to be increasing in extent, whilst data on the remaining 11 ecosystem-forming species are limited, preventing a detailed assessment of their current ecosystem-forming status. Our analysis identifies that current knowledge on extent, physical characteristics, biodiversity and ecosystem services of Australian shellfish ecosystems is extremely limited. Despite the limited information on shellfish ecosystems, a number of restoration projects have recently been initiated across Australia and we propose a number of existing government policies and conservation mechanisms, if enacted, would readily serve to support the future conservation and recovery of Australia’s shellfish ecosystems. PMID:29444143

Benefits of investing in ecosystem restoration.

PubMed

DE Groot, Rudolf S; Blignaut, James; VAN DER Ploeg, Sander; Aronson, James; Elmqvist, Thomas; Farley, Joshua

2013-12-01

Measures aimed at conservation or restoration of ecosystems are often seen as net-cost projects by governments and businesses because they are based on incomplete and often faulty cost-benefit analyses. After screening over 200 studies, we examined the costs (94 studies) and benefits (225 studies) of ecosystem restoration projects that had sufficient reliable data in 9 different biomes ranging from coral reefs to tropical forests. Costs included capital investment and maintenance of the restoration project, and benefits were based on the monetary value of the total bundle of ecosystem services provided by the restored ecosystem. Assuming restoration is always imperfect and benefits attain only 75% of the maximum value of the reference systems over 20 years, we calculated the net present value at the social discount rates of 2% and 8%. We also conducted 2 threshold cum sensitivity analyses. Benefit-cost ratios ranged from about 0.05:1 (coral reefs and coastal systems, worst-case scenario) to as much as 35:1 (grasslands, best-case scenario). Our results provide only partial estimates of benefits at one point in time and reflect the lower limit of the welfare benefits of ecosystem restoration because both scarcity of and demand for ecosystem services is increasing and new benefits of natural ecosystems and biological diversity are being discovered. Nonetheless, when accounting for even the incomplete range of known benefits through the use of static estimates that fail to capture rising values, the majority of the restoration projects we analyzed provided net benefits and should be considered not only as profitable but also as high-yielding investments. Beneficios de Invertir en la Restauración de Ecosistemas. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Current status of the East Sea Ecosystem in a changing world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sang Heon; Kang, Chang-Keun; Lee, Chung IL; Kwak, Jung Hyun

2017-12-01

The East/Japan Sea (hereafter the East Sea) is changing quickly. Warming and structural changes in the East Sea have been reported by CREAMS, an acronym of ″Circulation Research of the East Asian Marginal Seas″, which began in 1993 as an international research program to understand the water mass structure and circulation in the East Sea (Kim and Kim, 1996; Kim, 1997; Kim et al., 2001, 2002). A subsequent research program of the EAST-I, an acronym of ″the East Asian Seas Time-series″, was launched by PICES (North Pacific Marine Science Organization) and financially supported by the Korean government, allowing us to deepen our knowledge about rapidly changing processes in the East Sea (Chang et al., 2010). Although there has been considerable progress in developing a mechanistic understanding of the East Sea ecosystem responses to disturbances, more comprehensive studies are needed to address the impacts of the frequency and intensity of disturbances on marine ecosystems. The most important question of the research has been: how do environmental changes affect structural and functional biodiversity? Recently launched research on ″Long-term change of structure and function in marine ecosystems of Korea″, which has been supported by the Korean government since 2011, has given an unprecedented insight into the ecosystem dynamics in the East Sea. It therefore seems an appropriate time to devote a special issue to the topic of ″Current status of the East Sea ecosystem in a changing world″.

Group Identity, Deliberative Democracy and Diversity in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser-Burgess, Sheron

2012-01-01

Democratic deliberation places the burden of self-governance on its citizens to provide mutual justifying reasons (Gutmann & Thompson, 1996). This article concerns the limiting effect that group identity has on the efficacy of democratic deliberation for equality in education. Under conditions of a powerful majority, deliberation can be repressive…

Bridgework ahead! Innovation ecosystems vis-à-vis responsible innovation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foley, Rider; Wiek, Arnim

2017-02-01

Public funding agencies largely support academic research as an effort to stimulate future product commercialization and foster broader societal benefits. Yet, translating research nurtured in academic settings into such outcomes is complex and demands functional interactions between government, academic, and industry, i.e., "triple helix," organizations within an innovation ecosystem. This article argues that in the spirit of responsible innovation, research funding should build bridges that extend beyond the triple helix stakeholders to connect to peripheral organizations. To support that argument, evidence from agent network analysis gathered from two case studies reveals strong and weak connections, as well as gaps within innovation ecosystems in Switzerland and metropolitan Phoenix, USA. This article offers insights on how innovation ecosystems are aligned or misaligned with responsible innovation.

Taking aim at medical identity theft. Document security key element to comply with government regulations.

PubMed

Raymond, Colette

2010-01-01

Sensitive paper documents, such as patient records, customer data, and legal information, must be securely stored and destroyed when no longer needed. This is not only a good business practice that reduces costs and protects reputations, but also a legal and regulatory imperative. According to some experts, medical identity theft is the fastest-growing form of identity theft in North America. The Federal Trade Commission's Red Flags Rule, due to take effect June 1, 2010, requires banks; credit card companies; and, in some situations, retailers, hospitals, insurance companies, health clinics, and other organizations to store confidential personal information that can expose consumers to significant identity theft risks. This also includes healthcare providers and other organizations that are considered creditors according to their billing/payment procedures. This article highlights the steps healthcare providers must take to ensure data security.

In the ruins of representation: identity, individuality, subjectification.

PubMed

Papadopoulos, Dimitris

2008-03-01

This paper explores a threefold shift in our understanding of identity formation and self-relationality: from an essentialist understanding of identity, to discursive and constructivist approaches, to, finally, the notion of embodied subjectification. The main target of this paper is to historicize these ideas and to localize them in the current social and political conditions of North-Atlantic societies. The core argument is that these three steps in reformulating the concept of identity correspond to an emerging form of subjectivity, affirmative subjectivity, which is bound to the proliferation of the post-Fordist reorganization of the social and political realm. The three theoretical shifts and their social situatedness will be illustrated through a rereading of some ideas from Lev S. Vygotsky's late theory, Michel Foucault's account of government and Jacques Rancière's political philosophy.

Ecosystem services: From theory to implementation

PubMed Central

Daily, Gretchen C.; Matson, Pamela A.

2008-01-01

Around the world, leaders are increasingly recognizing ecosystems as natural capital assets that supply life-support services of tremendous value. The challenge is to turn this recognition into incentives and institutions that will guide wise investments in natural capital, on a large scale. Advances are required on three key fronts, each featured here: the science of ecosystem production functions and service mapping; the design of appropriate finance, policy, and governance systems; and the art of implementing these in diverse biophysical and social contexts. Scientific understanding of ecosystem production functions is improving rapidly but remains a limiting factor in incorporating natural capital into decisions, via systems of national accounting and other mechanisms. Novel institutional structures are being established for a broad array of services and places, creating a need and opportunity for systematic assessment of their scope and limitations. Finally, it is clear that formal sharing of experience, and defining of priorities for future work, could greatly accelerate the rate of innovation and uptake of new approaches. PMID:18621697

Some steps toward a central theory of ecosystem dynamics.

PubMed

Ulanowicz, Robert E

2003-12-01

Ecology is said by many to suffer for want of a central theory, such as Newton's laws of motion provide for classical mechanics or Schroedinger's wave equation provides for quantum physics. From among a plurality of contending laws to govern ecosystem behavior, the principle of increasing ascendency shows some early promise of being able to address the major questions asked of a theory of ecosystems, including, "How do organisms come to be distributed in time and space?, what accounts for the log-normal distribution of species numbers?, and how is the diversity of ecosystems related to their stability, resilience and persistence?" While some progress has been made in applying the concept of ascendency to the first issue, more work is needed to articulate exactly how it relates to the latter two. Accordingly, seven theoretical tasks are suggested that could help to establish these connections and to promote further consideration of the ascendency principle as the kernel of a theory of ecosystems.

A Proposed Cosmology of Identity in the Sociotechnical Ecosystem of Homeland Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-12-01

extremist violence based on “what we know about the psychological and social factors motivating young people to join extremist groups.”6 The consistent...Veblen (1857–1929), an American sociologist and economist.56 If we look at the historical co-evolution of human societies and technology, we see that...in self-perceived identity and physical behaviors when the psychological attachment to avatars becomes an authentic experience. The concept of

Global Mapping of Provisioning Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bingham, Lisa; Straatsma, Menno; Karssenberg, Derek

2016-04-01

Attributing monetary value to ecosystem services for decision-making has become more relevant as a basis for decision-making. There are a number of problematic aspects of the calculations, including consistency of economy represented (e.g., purchasing price, production price) and determining which ecosystem subservices to include in a valuation. While several authors have proposed methods for calculating ecosystem services and calculations are presented for global and regional studies, the calculations are mostly broken down into biomes and regions without showing spatially explicit results. The key to decision-making for governments is to be able to make spatial-based decisions because a large spatial variation may exist within a biome or region. Our objective was to compute the spatial distribution of global ecosystem services based on 89 subservices. Initially, only the provisioning ecosystem service category is presented. The provisioning ecosystem service category was calculated using 6 ecosystem services (food, water, raw materials, genetic resources, medical resources, and ornaments) divided into 41 subservices. Global data sets were obtained from a variety of governmental and research agencies for the year 2005 because this is the most data complete and recent year available. All data originated either in tabular or grid formats and were disaggregated to 10 km cell length grids. A lookup table with production values by subservice by country were disaggregated over the economic zone (either marine, land, or combination) based on the spatial existence of the subservice (e.g. forest cover, crop land, non-arable land). Values express the production price in international dollars per hectare. The ecosystem services and the ecosystem service category(ies) maps may be used to show spatial variation of a service within and between countries as well as to specifically show the values within specific regions (e.g. countries, continents), biomes (e.g. coastal, forest

Appreciating the Contribution of Senior Managers to Further Education College Governance in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Ron; James, Ian

2013-01-01

This article starts from the recognition that senior staff contribute to the operation of further education college governance through working time, professional insight and public performance. The theoretical underpinning for the article draws upon social identity theory, governance accountability and the psychological contract for senior staff…

Urban Stormwater Governance: The Need for a Paradigm Shift.

PubMed

Dhakal, Krishna P; Chevalier, Lizette R

2016-05-01

Traditional urban stormwater management involves rapid removal of stormwater through centralized conveyance systems of curb-gutter-pipe networks. This results in many adverse impacts on the environment including hydrological disruption, groundwater depletion, downstream flooding, receiving water quality degradation, channel erosion, and stream ecosystem damage. In order to mitigate these adverse impacts, urban stormwater managers are increasingly using green infrastructure that promote on-site infiltration, restore hydrological functions of the landscape, and reduce surface runoff. Existing stormwater governance, however, is centralized and structured to support the conventional systems. This governance approach is not suited to the emerging distributed management approach, which involves multiple stakeholders including parcel owners, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. This incongruence between technology and governance calls for a paradigm shift in the governance from centralized and technocratic to distributed and participatory governance. This paper evaluates how five US cities have been adjusting their governance to address the discord. Finally, the paper proposes an alternative governance model, which provides a mechanism to involve stakeholders and implement distributed green infrastructure under an integrative framework.

Frontiers in Ecosystem Science: Energizing the Research Agenda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weathers, K. C.; Groffman, P. M.; VanDolah, E.

2014-12-01

Ecosystem science has a long history as a core component of the discipline of Ecology, and although topics of research have fluctuated over the years, it retains a clear identity and continues to be a vital field. As science is becoming more interdisciplinary, particularly the science of global environmental change, ecosystem scientists are addressing new and important questions at the interface of multiple disciplines. Over the last two years, we organized a series of workshops and discussion groups at multiple scientific-society meetings, including AGU to identify frontiers in ecosystem research. The workshops featured short "soapbox" presentations where speakers highlighted key questions in ecosystem science. The presentations were recorded (video and audio) and subjected to qualitative text analysis for identification of frontier themes, attendees completed surveys, and a dozen additional "key informants" were interviewed about their views about frontiers of the discipline. Our effort produced 253 survey participants; the two largest groups of participants were full professors (24%) and graduate students (24%); no other specific group was > 10%. Formal text analysis of the soapbox presentations produced three major themes; "frontiers," "capacity building," and "barriers to implementation" with four or five sub-themes within each major theme. Key "frontiers" included; 1) better understanding of the drivers of ecosystem change, 2) better understanding of ecosystem process and function, 3) human dimensions of ecosystem science, and 4) problem-solving/applied research. Under "capacity building," key topics included: holistic approaches, cross-disciplinary collaboration, public support for research, data, training, and technology investment. Under "barriers" key topics included: limitations in theoretical thinking, insufficient funding/support, fragmentation across discipline, data access and data synthesis. In-depth interviews with 13 experts validated findings

The design of a corporate identity for a department of medical illustration: a case study.

PubMed

Thompson, G

2001-06-01

This paper outlines the author's attempt to design and introduce a corporate identity into the Department of Medical Illustration at the South Buckinghamshire NHS Trust. It is intended to furnish the reader with an insight into the process of designing a corporate identity and to relate one department's experience. This may be useful for those who wish to develop a corporate identity of their own or contribute, as a department, towards an identity for their own Trust or other institution. A major change in government policy about the identity of NHS Trusts has meant that use of the department's new logo has had to be abandoned in favour of the new NHS corporate identity.

A Framework for Resilience-based Governance of Social-Ecological Systems

EPA Science Inventory

Panarchy provides a heuristic to characterize the cross-scale dynamics of social-ecological systems and a framework for how governance institutions should behave to be compatible with the ecosystems they manage. Managing for resilience will likely require reform of law to account...

STATE OF THE LAKES ECOSYSTEM CONFERENCE AND SUITE OF INDICATORS

EPA Science Inventory

The State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) is a biennial assessment and report from the governments of the U.S. and Canada on progress toward meeting the goals of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). The SOLEC approach has three main elements: 1) The bienn...

A watershed-based adaptive knowledge system for developing ecosystem stakeholder partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Hebin; Thornton, Jeffrey A.; Shadrin, Nickolai

2015-11-01

This study proposes a Watershed-based Adaptive Knowledge System (WAKES) to consistently coordinate multiple stakeholders in developing sustainable partnerships for ecosystem management. WAKES is extended from the institutional mechanism of Payments for Improving Ecosystem Services at the Watershed-scale (PIES-W). PIES-W is designed relating to the governance of ecosystem services fl ows focused on a lake as a resource stock connecting its infl owing and outfl owing rivers within its watershed. It explicitly realizes the values of conservation services provided by private land managers and incorporates their activities into the public organizing framework for ecosystem management. It implicitly extends the "upstream-to-downstream" organizing perspective to a broader vision of viewing the ecosystems as comprised of both "watershed landscapes" and "marine landscapes". Extended from PIES-W, WAKES specifies two corresponding feedback: Framework I and II. Framework I is a relationship matrix comprised of three input-output structures of primary governance factors intersecting three subsystems of a watershed with regard to ecosystem services and human stakeholders. Framework II is the Stakeholder-and-Information structure channeling five types of information among four stakeholder groups in order to enable the feedbacks mechanism of Framework I. WAKES identifies the rationales behind three fundamental information transformations, illustrated with the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and the Strategic Action Program of the Bermejo River Binational Basin. These include (1) translating scientific knowledge into public information within the Function-and-Service structure corresponding to the ecological subsystem, (2) incorporating public perceptions into political will within the Service- and- Value structure corresponding to the economic subsystem, and (3) integrating scientific knowledge, public perceptions and political will into management options within the Value

Ecosystem health: I. Measuring ecosystem health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaeffer, David J.; Herricks, Edwin E.; Kerster, Harold W.

1988-07-01

Ecosystem analysis has been advanced by an improved understanding of how ecosystems are structured and how they function. Ecology has advanced from an emphasis on natural history to consideration of energetics, the relationships and connections between species, hierarchies, and systems theory. Still, we consider ecosystems as entities with a distinctive character and individual characteristics. Ecosystem maintenance and preservation form the objective of impact analysis, hazard evaluation, and other management or regulation activities. In this article we explore an approach to ecosystem analysis which identifies and quantifies factors which define the condition or state of an ecosystem in terms of health criteria. We relate ecosystem health to human/nonhuman animal health and explore the difficulties of defining ecosystem health and suggest criteria which provide a functional definition of state and condition. We suggest that, as has been found in human/nonhuman animal health studies, disease states can be recognized before disease is of clinical magnitude. Example disease states for ecosystems are functionally defined and discussed, together with test systems for their early detection.

Merging paleobiology with conservation biology to guide the future of terrestrial ecosystems.

PubMed

Barnosky, Anthony D; Hadly, Elizabeth A; Gonzalez, Patrick; Head, Jason; Polly, P David; Lawing, A Michelle; Eronen, Jussi T; Ackerly, David D; Alex, Ken; Biber, Eric; Blois, Jessica; Brashares, Justin; Ceballos, Gerardo; Davis, Edward; Dietl, Gregory P; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Doremus, Holly; Fortelius, Mikael; Greene, Harry W; Hellmann, Jessica; Hickler, Thomas; Jackson, Stephen T; Kemp, Melissa; Koch, Paul L; Kremen, Claire; Lindsey, Emily L; Looy, Cindy; Marshall, Charles R; Mendenhall, Chase; Mulch, Andreas; Mychajliw, Alexis M; Nowak, Carsten; Ramakrishnan, Uma; Schnitzler, Jan; Das Shrestha, Kashish; Solari, Katherine; Stegner, Lynn; Stegner, M Allison; Stenseth, Nils Chr; Wake, Marvalee H; Zhang, Zhibin

2017-02-10

Conservation of species and ecosystems is increasingly difficult because anthropogenic impacts are pervasive and accelerating. Under this rapid global change, maximizing conservation success requires a paradigm shift from maintaining ecosystems in idealized past states toward facilitating their adaptive and functional capacities, even as species ebb and flow individually. Developing effective strategies under this new paradigm will require deeper understanding of the long-term dynamics that govern ecosystem persistence and reconciliation of conflicts among approaches to conserving historical versus novel ecosystems. Integrating emerging information from conservation biology, paleobiology, and the Earth sciences is an important step forward on the path to success. Maintaining nature in all its aspects will also entail immediately addressing the overarching threats of growing human population, overconsumption, pollution, and climate change. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

76 FR 34650 - Models for a Governance Structure for the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-14

... Identities in Cyberspace AGENCY: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of the Secretary, and National Institute... National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC or ``Strategy''). The Strategy refers to this... cyberspace to U.S. innovation, prosperity, education and political and cultural life, and the need for a...

Bringing the ecosystem services concept into marine management decisions, supporting ecosystems-based management.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tweddle, J. F.; Byg, A.; Davies, I.; Gubbins, M.; Irvine, K.; Kafas, A.; Kenter, J.; MacDonald, A.; Murray, R. B. O.; Potts, T.; Slater, A. M.; Wright, K.; Scott, B. E.

2016-02-01

The marine environment is under increasing use, putting pressure on marine ecosystems and increasing competition for space. New activities (e.g. renewable energy developments), evolving marine policies (e.g. implementation of marine protected areas), and climate change may drive changes in biodiversity and resulting ecosystem services (ES) that society and business utilise from coastal and marine systems. A process is needed that integrates ecological assessment of changes with stakeholder perceptions and valuation of ES, whilst balancing ease of application with the ability to deal with complex social-economic-ecological issues. The project "Cooperative participatory assessment of the impact of renewable technology on ecosystem services: CORPORATES" involved natural and social scientists, law and policy experts, and marine managers, with the aim of promoting more integrated decision making using ES concepts in marine management. CORPORATES developed a process to bring ES concepts into stakeholders' awareness. The interactive process, involving 2 workshops, employs interludes of knowledge exchange by experts on ecological processes underpinning ES and on law and policy. These enable mapping of benefits linked to activities, participatory system modelling, and deliberation of policy impacts on different sectors. The workshops were attended by industry representatives, regulatory/advisory partners, and other stakeholders (NGOs, SMEs, recreationalists, local government). Mixed sector groups produced new insights into links between activities and ES, and highlighted cross-sector concerns. Here we present the aspects of the process that successfully built shared understanding between industry and stakeholders of inter-linkages and interactions between ES, benefits, activities, and economic and cultural values. These methods provide an ES-based decision-support model for exchanging societal-ecological knowledge and providing stakeholder interaction in marine planning

Bringing the ecosystem services concept into marine management decisions, supporting ecosystems-based management.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tweddle, J. F.; Byg, A.; Davies, I.; Gubbins, M.; Irvine, K.; Kafas, A.; Kenter, J.; MacDonald, A.; Murray, R. B. O.; Potts, T.; Slater, A. M.; Wright, K.; Scott, B. E.

2016-12-01

The marine environment is under increasing use, putting pressure on marine ecosystems and increasing competition for space. New activities (e.g. renewable energy developments), evolving marine policies (e.g. implementation of marine protected areas), and climate change may drive changes in biodiversity and resulting ecosystem services (ES) that society and business utilise from coastal and marine systems. A process is needed that integrates ecological assessment of changes with stakeholder perceptions and valuation of ES, whilst balancing ease of application with the ability to deal with complex social-economic-ecological issues. The project "Cooperative participatory assessment of the impact of renewable technology on ecosystem services: CORPORATES" involved natural and social scientists, law and policy experts, and marine managers, with the aim of promoting more integrated decision making using ES concepts in marine management. CORPORATES developed a process to bring ES concepts into stakeholders' awareness. The interactive process, involving 2 workshops, employs interludes of knowledge exchange by experts on ecological processes underpinning ES and on law and policy. These enable mapping of benefits linked to activities, participatory system modelling, and deliberation of policy impacts on different sectors. The workshops were attended by industry representatives, regulatory/advisory partners, and other stakeholders (NGOs, SMEs, recreationalists, local government). Mixed sector groups produced new insights into links between activities and ES, and highlighted cross-sector concerns. Here we present the aspects of the process that successfully built shared understanding between industry and stakeholders of inter-linkages and interactions between ES, benefits, activities, and economic and cultural values. These methods provide an ES-based decision-support model for exchanging societal-ecological knowledge and providing stakeholder interaction in marine planning

National Identity, Patriotism and Studying Politics in Schools: A Case Study in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuen, Timothy; Byram, Michael

2007-01-01

After reunification with the People's Republic of China in 1997, Hong Kong was turned into a special administrative region. The new government has repeatedly emphasised the development of national identity and patriotism. One of the locations where these issues might be expected to appear is in the teaching of Government and Public Affairs (GPA),…

A Bioacoustic Record of a Conservancy in the Mount Kenya Ecosystem.

PubMed

Wa Maina, Ciira; Muchiri, David; Njoroge, Peter

2016-01-01

Environmental degradation is a major threat facing ecosystems around the world. In order to determine ecosystems in need of conservation interventions, we must monitor the biodiversity of these ecosystems effectively. Bioacoustic approaches offer a means to monitor ecosystems of interest in a sustainable manner. In this work we show how a bioacoustic record from the Dedan Kimathi University wildlife conservancy, a conservancy in the Mount Kenya ecosystem, was obtained in a cost effective manner. A subset of the dataset was annotated with the identities of bird species present since they serve as useful indicator species. These data reveal the spatial distribution of species within the conservancy and also point to the effects of major highways on bird populations. This dataset will provide data to train automatic species recognition systems for birds found within the Mount Kenya ecosystem. Such systems are necessary if bioacoustic approaches are to be employed at the large scales necessary to influence wildlife conservation measures. We provide acoustic recordings from the Dedan Kimathi University wildlife conservancy, a conservancy in the Mount Kenya ecosystem, obtained using a low cost acoustic recorder. A total of 2701 minute long recordings are provided including both daytime and nighttime recordings. We present an annotation of a subset of the daytime recordings indicating the bird species present in the recordings. The dataset contains recordings of at least 36 bird species. In addition, the presence of a few nocturnal species within the conservancy is also confirmed.

Beyond diversity: how nested predator effects control ecosystem functions.

PubMed

Schneider, Florian Dirk; Brose, Ulrich

2013-01-01

The global decline in biodiversity is especially evident in higher trophic levels as predators display higher sensitivity to environmental change than organisms from lower trophic levels. This is even more alarming given the paucity of knowledge about the role of individual predator species in sustaining ecosystem functioning. The effect of predator diversity on lower trophic level prey is often driven by the increasing chance of including the most influential species. Furthermore, intraguild predation can cause trophic cascades with net positive effects on basal prey. As a consequence, the effects of losing a predator species appear to be idiosyncratic and it becomes unpredictable how the community's net effect on lower trophic levels changes when species number is declining. We performed a full factorial microcosm experiment with litter layer arthropods to measure the effects of predator diversity and context-dependent identity effects on a detritivore population and microbial biomass. We show that major parts of the observed diversity effect can be assigned to the increasing likelihood of including the most influential predator. Further, the presence of a second predator feeding on the first predator dampens this dominant effect. Including this intraguild predator on top of the first predator is more likely with increasing predator diversity as well. Thus, the overall pattern can be explained by a second identity effect, which is nested into the first. When losing a predator from the community, the response of the lower trophic level is highly dependent on the remaining predator species. We mechanistically explain the net effects of the predator community on lower trophic levels by nested effects of predator identities. These identity effects become predictable when taking the species' body masses into account. This provides a new mechanistic perspective describing ecosystem functioning as a consequence of species composition and yields an understanding beyond

The Role of Herbivory in Structuring Tropical Seagrass Ecosystem Service Delivery

PubMed Central

Scott, Abigail L.; York, Paul H.; Duncan, Clare; Macreadie, Peter I.; Connolly, Rod M.; Ellis, Megan T.; Jarvis, Jessie C.; Jinks, Kristin I.; Marsh, Helene; Rasheed, Michael A.

2018-01-01

Seagrass meadows support key ecosystem services, via provision of food directly for herbivores, and indirectly to their predators. The importance of herbivores in seagrass meadows has been well-documented, but the links between food webs and ecosystem services in seagrass meadows have not previously been made explicit. Herbivores interact with ecosystem services – including carbon sequestration, cultural values, and coastal protection. Interactions can be positive or negative and depend on a range of factors including the herbivore identity and the grazing type and intensity. There can be unintended consequences from management actions based on a poor understanding of trade-offs that occur with complex seagrass-herbivore interactions. Tropical seagrass meadows support a diversity of grazers spanning the meso-, macro-, and megaherbivore scales. We present a conceptual model to describe how multiple ecosystem services are influenced by herbivore pressure in tropical seagrass meadows. Our model suggests that a balanced ecosystem, incorporating both seagrass and herbivore diversity, is likely to sustain the broadest range of ecosystem services. Our framework suggests the pathway to achieve desired ecosystem services outcomes requires knowledge on four key areas: (1) how size classes of herbivores interact to structure seagrass; (2) desired community and management values; (3) seagrass responses to top–down and bottom–up controls; (4) the pathway from intermediate to final ecosystem services and human benefits. We suggest research should be directed to these areas. Herbivory is a major structuring influence in tropical seagrass systems and needs to be considered for effective management of these critical habitats and their services. PMID:29487606

Nanotechnology and the need for risk governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renn, O.; Roco, M. C.

2006-04-01

After identifying the main characteristics and prospects of nanotechnology as an emerging technology, the paper presents the general risks associated with nanotechnology applications and the deficits of the risk governance process today, concluding with recommendations to governments, industry, international organizations and other stakeholders. The International Risk Governance Council (IRGC) has identified a governance gap between the requirements pertaining to the nano- rather than the micro-/macro- technologies. The novel attributes of nanotechnology demand different routes for risk-benefit assessment and risk management, and at present, nanotechnology innovation proceeds ahead of the policy and regulatory environment. In the shorter term, the governance gap is significant for those passive nanostructures that are currently in production and have high exposure rates; and is especially significant for the several `active' nanoscale structures and nanosystems that we can expect to be on the market in the near future. Active nanoscale structures and nanosystems have the potential to affect not only human health and the environment but also aspects of social lifestyle, human identity and cultural values. The main recommendations of the report deal with selected higher risk nanotechnology applications, short- and long-term issues, and global models for nanotechnology governance.

Clinical governance and infection control in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Masterson, R G; Teare, E L

2001-01-01

The recent organizational changes in the NHS have at their core the concept of clinical governance. Although initially poorly defined and understood this term has now taken on a clear identity, placing quality alongside fiscal probity and corporate governance at the top of NHS priorities. Integral to clinical governance are the basic elements of clear national standards for services and treatments that are to be locally delivered through assured, monitored, high quality healthcare. It is within this framework that workers in infection control must develop their own methods of applying clinical governance. This review explores the implications that the strategy of clinical governance holds for the speciality of infection control, emphasizing the benefits its active adoption can bring and highlighting the key relevance of clinical risk management in this setting. It illustrates clinical governance as a tool to engage colleagues on a multi-disciplinary front, most particularly the crucial link to senior Trust management.

Social Class, Identity and the "Good" Student: Negotiating University Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearce, Jane; Down, Barry; Moore, Elizabeth

2008-01-01

Through the use of narrative portraits this paper discusses social class and identity, as working-class university students perceive them. With government policy encouraging wider participation rates from under-represented groups of people within the university sector, working-class students have found themselves to be the objects of much…

Do temperate tree species diversity and identity influence soil microbial community function and composition?

PubMed

Khlifa, Rim; Paquette, Alain; Messier, Christian; Reich, Peter B; Munson, Alison D

2017-10-01

Studies of biodiversity-ecosystem function in treed ecosystems have generally focused on aboveground functions. This study investigates intertrophic links between tree diversity and soil microbial community function and composition. We examined how microbial communities in surface mineral soil responded to experimental gradients of tree species richness (SR), functional diversity (FD), community-weighted mean trait value (CWM), and tree identity. The site was a 4-year-old common garden experiment near Montreal, Canada, consisting of deciduous and evergreen tree species mixtures. Microbial community composition, community-level physiological profiles, and respiration were evaluated using phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and the MicroResp ™ system, respectively. The relationship between tree species richness and glucose-induced respiration (GIR), basal respiration (BR), metabolic quotient (qCO 2 ) followed a positive but saturating shape. Microbial communities associated with species mixtures were more active (basal respiration [BR]), with higher biomass (glucose-induced respiration [GIR]), and used a greater number of carbon sources than monocultures. Communities associated with deciduous tree species used a greater number of carbon sources than those associated with evergreen species, suggesting a greater soil carbon storage capacity. There were no differences in microbial composition (PLFA) between monocultures and SR mixtures. The FD and the CWM of several functional traits affected both BR and GIR. In general, the CWM of traits had stronger effects than did FD, suggesting that certain traits of dominant species have more effect on ecosystem processes than does FD. Both the functions of GIR and BR were positively related to aboveground tree community productivity. Both tree diversity (SR) and identity (species and functional identity-leaf habit) affected soil microbial community respiration, biomass, and composition. For the first time, we identified

A comparison of tools for modeling freshwater ecosystem services.

PubMed

Vigerstol, Kari L; Aukema, Juliann E

2011-10-01

Interest in ecosystem services has grown tremendously among a wide range of sectors, including government agencies, NGO's and the business community. Ecosystem services entailing freshwater (e.g. flood control, the provision of hydropower, and water supply), as well as carbon storage and sequestration, have received the greatest attention in both scientific and on-the-ground applications. Given the newness of the field and the variety of tools for predicting water-based services, it is difficult to know which tools to use for different questions. There are two types of freshwater-related tools--traditional hydrologic tools and newer ecosystem services tools. Here we review two of the most prominent tools of each type and their possible applications. In particular, we compare the data requirements, ease of use, questions addressed, and interpretability of results among the models. We discuss the strengths, challenges and most appropriate applications of the different models. Traditional hydrological tools provide more detail whereas ecosystem services tools tend to be more accessible to non-experts and can provide a good general picture of these ecosystem services. We also suggest gaps in the modeling toolbox that would provide the greatest advances by improving existing tools. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem history of South Florida; Biscayne Bay sediment core descriptions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ishman, S.E.

1997-01-01

The 'Ecosystem History of Biscayne Bay and the southeast Coast' project of the U.S. Geological Survey is part of a multi-disciplinary effort that includes Florida Bay and the Everglades to provide paleoecologic reconstructions for the south Florida region. Reconstructions of past salinity, nutrients, substrate, and water quality are needed to determine ecosystem variability due to both natural and human-induced causes. Our understanding of the relations between the south Florida ecosystem and introduced forces will allow managers to make informed decisions regarding the south Florida ecosystem restoration and monitoring. The record of past ecosystem conditions can be found in shallow sediment cores. This U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report describes six shallow sediment cores collected from Biscayne Bay. The cores described herein are being processed for a variety of analytical procedures, and this provides the descriptive framework for future analyses of the included cores. This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with the North American Stratigraphic Code. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Realizing the potential of ecosystem services: a framework for relating ecological changes to economic benefits.

PubMed

Wainger, Lisa; Mazzotta, Marisa

2011-10-01

Increasingly government agencies are seeking to quantify the outcomes of proposed policy options in terms of ecosystem service benefits, yet conflicting definitions and ad hoc approaches to measuring ecosystem services have created confusion regarding how to rigorously link ecological change to changes in human well-being. Here, we describe a step-by-step framework for producing ecological models and metrics that can effectively serve an economic-benefits assessment of a proposed change in policy or management. A focus of the framework is developing comparable units of ecosystem goods and services to support decision-making, even if outcomes cannot be monetized. Because the challenges to translating ecological changes to outcomes appropriate for economic analyses are many, we discuss examples that demonstrate practical methods and approaches to overcoming data limitations. The numerous difficult decisions that government agencies must make to fairly use and allocate natural resources provides ample opportunity for interdisciplinary teams of natural and social scientists to improve methods for quantifying changes in ecosystem services and their effects on human well-being. This framework is offered with the intent of promoting the success of such teams as they support managers in evaluating the equivalency of ecosystem service offsets and trades, establishing restoration and preservation priorities, and more generally, in developing environmental policy that effectively balances multiple perspectives.

Shifting the balance of power? Culture change and identity in an English health-care setting.

PubMed

McDonald, Ruth

2005-01-01

A recurring theme in Government policy documents has been the need to change the culture of the NHS in order to deliver a service "fit for the twenty-first century". However, very little is said about what constitutes "culture" or how this culture change is to be brought about. This paper seeks to focus on an initiative aimed ostensibly at "empowering" staff in an English Primary Care Trust as a means of changing organisational culture. It presents findings from an ethnographic study which suggests that this attempt at "culture change" is aimed at manipulating the behaviour and values of individual employees and may be interpreted as a process of changing employee identity. Employees reacted in different ways to the empowerment initiative, with some resisting attempts to shape their identity and others actively engaging in projects to bring their unruly self into line with the ideal self to which they were encouraged to aspire. The challenges presented by the need to respond to conflicting Government policies created tensions between individuals and conflicts of allegiance and identity within individual members of staff. Alternative forms of self-hood did not merely replace existing identities, but interacted with them, often uncomfortably. The irony is that, whilst Government seeks to promote culture change, the frustrations created by its top-down target-driven regime acted to mitigate the transformational and reconstitutive effects of a discourse of empowerment aimed at achieving this change.

Gender identity and sport: is the playing field level?

PubMed

Reeser, J C

2005-10-01

This review examines gender identity issues in competitive sports, focusing on the evolution of policies relating to female gender verification and transsexual participation in sport. The issues are complex and continue to challenge sport governing bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, as they strive to provide a safe environment in which female athletes may compete fairly and equitably.

Navigating transformations in governance of Chilean marine coastal resources

PubMed Central

Gelcich, Stefan; Hughes, Terry P.; Olsson, Per; Folke, Carl; Defeo, Omar; Fernández, Miriam; Foale, Simon; Gunderson, Lance H.; Rodríguez-Sickert, Carlos; Scheffer, Marten; Steneck, Robert S.; Castilla, Juan C.

2010-01-01

Marine ecosystems are in decline. New transformational changes in governance are urgently required to cope with overfishing, pollution, global changes, and other drivers of degradation. Here we explore social, political, and ecological aspects of a transformation in governance of Chile's coastal marine resources, from 1980 to today. Critical elements in the initial preparatory phase of the transformation were (i) recognition of the depletion of resource stocks, (ii) scientific knowledge on the ecology and resilience of targeted species and their role in ecosystem dynamics, and (iii) demonstration-scale experimental trials, building on smaller-scale scientific experiments, which identified new management pathways. The trials improved cooperation among scientists and fishers, integrating knowledge and establishing trust. Political turbulence and resource stock collapse provided a window of opportunity that triggered the transformation, supported by new enabling legislation. Essential elements to navigate this transformation were the ability to network knowledge from the local level to influence the decision-making processes at the national level, and a preexisting social network of fishers that provided political leverage through a national confederation of artisanal fishing collectives. The resultant governance scheme includes a revolutionary national system of marine tenure that allocates user rights and responsibilities to fisher collectives. Although fine tuning is necessary to build resilience of this new regime, this transformation has improved the sustainability of the interconnected social–ecological system. Our analysis of how this transformation unfolded provides insights into how the Chilean system could be further developed and identifies generalized pathways for improved governance of marine resources around the world. PMID:20837530

A Bioacoustic Record of a Conservancy in the Mount Kenya Ecosystem

PubMed Central

Muchiri, David; Njoroge, Peter

2016-01-01

Abstract Background Environmental degradation is a major threat facing ecosystems around the world. In order to determine ecosystems in need of conservation interventions, we must monitor the biodiversity of these ecosystems effectively. Bioacoustic approaches offer a means to monitor ecosystems of interest in a sustainable manner. In this work we show how a bioacoustic record from the Dedan Kimathi University wildlife conservancy, a conservancy in the Mount Kenya ecosystem, was obtained in a cost effective manner. A subset of the dataset was annotated with the identities of bird species present since they serve as useful indicator species. These data reveal the spatial distribution of species within the conservancy and also point to the effects of major highways on bird populations. This dataset will provide data to train automatic species recognition systems for birds found within the Mount Kenya ecosystem. Such systems are necessary if bioacoustic approaches are to be employed at the large scales necessary to influence wildlife conservation measures. New information We provide acoustic recordings from the Dedan Kimathi University wildlife conservancy, a conservancy in the Mount Kenya ecosystem, obtained using a low cost acoustic recorder. A total of 2701 minute long recordings are provided including both daytime and nighttime recordings. We present an annotation of a subset of the daytime recordings indicating the bird species present in the recordings. The dataset contains recordings of at least 36 bird species. In addition, the presence of a few nocturnal species within the conservancy is also confirmed. PMID:27932917

Getting personal: ethics and identity in global health research.

PubMed

Simon, Christian; Mosavel, Maghboeba

2011-08-01

'Researcher identity' affects global health research in profound and complex ways. Anthropologists in particular have led the way in portraying the multiple, and sometimes tension-generating, identities that researchers ascribe to themselves, or have ascribed to them, in their places of research. However, the central importance of researcher identity in the ethical conduct of global health research has yet to be fully appreciated. The capacity of researchers to respond effectively to the ethical tensions surrounding their identities is hampered by lack of conceptual clarity, as to the nature and scope of the issues involved. This paper strives to provide some clarification of these ethical tensions by considering researcher identity from the perspective of (1) Guillemin and Heggen's (2009) key distinction between procedural ethics and ethics in practice, and (2) our own distinction between perceptions of identity that are either symmetrical or asymmetrical, with the potential to shift research relationships toward greater or lesser ethical harmony. Discussion of these concepts is supported with ethnographic examples from relevant literature and from our own (United States (US) Government-funded) research in South Africa. A preliminary set of recommendations is provided in an effort to equip researchers with a greater sense of organization and control over the ethics of researcher identity. The paper concludes that the complex construction of researcher identity needs to be central among the ethical concerns of global health researchers, and that the conceptual tools discussed in the paper are a useful starting point for better organizing and acting on these ethical concerns. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services.

PubMed

Andersson, Erik; Barthel, Stephan; Borgström, Sara; Colding, Johan; Elmqvist, Thomas; Folke, Carl; Gren, Åsa

2014-05-01

Within-city green infrastructure can offer opportunities and new contexts for people to become stewards of ecosystem services. We analyze cities as social-ecological systems, synthesize the literature, and provide examples from more than 15 years of research in the Stockholm urban region, Sweden. The social-ecological approach spans from investigating ecosystem properties to the social frameworks and personal values that drive and shape human interactions with nature. Key findings demonstrate that urban ecosystem services are generated by social-ecological systems and that local stewards are critically important. However, land-use planning and management seldom account for their role in the generation of urban ecosystem services. While the small scale patchwork of land uses in cities stimulates intense interactions across borders much focus is still on individual patches. The results highlight the importance and complexity of stewardship of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services and of the planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

Transforming Ecosystems: When, Where, and How to Restore Contaminated Sites

PubMed Central

Rohr, Jason R; Farag, Aïda M; Cadotte, Marc W; Clements, William H; Smith, James R; Ulrich, Cheryl P; Woods, Richard

2016-01-01

Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: “When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?” Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore—biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else—and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems. PMID:26033665

Transforming ecosystems: When, where, and how to restore contaminated sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rohr, Jason R.; Farag, Aïda M.; Cadotte, Marc W.; Clements, William H.; Smith, James R.; Ulrich, Cheryl P.; Woods, Richard

2016-01-01

Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: “When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?” Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore—biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else—and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems.

Participation Politics: African Parents' Negotiation of Social Identities in School Governance and Its Policy Implications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Byron A.; Duku, Ntombozuko S.

2008-01-01

Although there is evidence of parental participation in school governance in South Africa, the question of how these parents manage their participation in these affairs is largely unanswered. This question represents one of the major exclusions in the existing reflections on the school governance debate in the country. Using a qualitative…

Rising tides, cumulative impacts and cascading changes to estuarine ecosystem functions.

PubMed

O'Meara, Theresa A; Hillman, Jenny R; Thrush, Simon F

2017-08-31

In coastal ecosystems, climate change affects multiple environmental factors, yet most predictive models are based on simple cause-and-effect relationships. Multiple stressor scenarios are difficult to predict because they can create a ripple effect through networked ecosystem functions. Estuarine ecosystem function relies on an interconnected network of physical and biological processes. Estuarine habitats play critical roles in service provision and represent global hotspots for organic matter processing, nutrient cycling and primary production. Within these systems, we predicted functional changes in the impacts of land-based stressors, mediated by changing light climate and sediment permeability. Our in-situ field experiment manipulated sea level, nutrient supply, and mud content. We used these stressors to determine how interacting environmental stressors influence ecosystem function and compared results with data collected along elevation gradients to substitute space for time. We show non-linear, multi-stressor effects deconstruct networks governing ecosystem function. Sea level rise altered nutrient processing and impacted broader estuarine services ameliorating nutrient and sediment pollution. Our experiment demonstrates how the relationships between nutrient processing and biological/physical controls degrade with environmental stress. Our results emphasise the importance of moving beyond simple physically-forced relationships to assess consequences of climate change in the context of ecosystem interactions and multiple stressors.

75 FR 82575 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-30

... 9000-AL60 Federal Acquisition Regulation; Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel AGENCY... requirement of collecting from contractors all forms of Government-provided identification once they are no...D Inspector General Audit Report No. D-2009-005, entitled ``Controls Over the Contractor Common...

VOC Metabolite Emissions from the Brachypodium/Soil/Microbe Ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, D.; Shilling, J.; Guenther, A. B.; Lindenmaier, R.

2017-12-01

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emitted from plants and associated microbiota are important for understanding the plant responses to environmental perturbations. VOC emissions from plants are the largest source of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere, which influence oxidants and aerosols leading to complex feed backs and interactions between atmosphere and biosphere. The integrated Plant-Atmosphere-Soil Systems (iPASS) Initiative is a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) project aimed at deciphering fundamental principles that govern the plant ecosystem, from plant genotype through multiple scales to ecosystem traits and response. We take the opportunity of iPASS initiative, and measured VOC metabolite emissions from the Brachypodium/Soil/Microbe Ecosystem. In the experiments, we have been working on (1) identifying VOC metabolites emitted by Brachypodium plants using dynamic vegetation enclosure measurements, (2) understanding the relative contribution of plants, microbes, and soil to VOC emissions, (3) investigating changes that occur in these emissions under different induced stress, and (4) relating VOC emissions from the plant/soil/microbe ecosystem to plant genotype. Taking advantage of experiment results, we also can develop a noninvasive technique for quantifying plant stress by using VOC observations, use VOC observations to improve screening tool for identifying stress resistant phenotypes, and apply the measurements into earth system modeling for better understanding of the impacts of stress on ecosystems.

Coastal livelihood transitions under globalization with implications for trans-ecosystem interactions

PubMed Central

Stevens, Kara; Williams, Nicholas E.; Sistla, Seeta A.; Roddy, Adam B.; Urquhart, Gerald R.

2017-01-01

Anthropogenic threats to natural systems can be exacerbated due to connectivity between marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, complicating the already daunting task of governance across the land-sea interface. Globalization, including new access to markets, can change social-ecological, land-sea linkages via livelihood responses and adaptations by local people. As a first step in understanding these trans-ecosystem effects, we examined exit and entry decisions of artisanal fishers and smallholder farmers on the rapidly globalizing Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. We found that exit and entry decisions demonstrated clear temporal and spatial patterns and that these decisions differed by livelihood. In addition to household characteristics, livelihood exit and entry decisions were strongly affected by new access to regional and global markets. The natural resource implications of these livelihood decisions are potentially profound as they provide novel linkages and spatially-explicit feedbacks between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Our findings support the need for more scientific inquiry in understanding trans-ecosystem tradeoffs due to linked-livelihood transitions as well as the need for a trans-ecosystem approach to natural resource management and development policy in rapidly changing coastal regions. PMID:29077748

Coastal livelihood transitions under globalization with implications for trans-ecosystem interactions.

PubMed

Kramer, Daniel B; Stevens, Kara; Williams, Nicholas E; Sistla, Seeta A; Roddy, Adam B; Urquhart, Gerald R

2017-01-01

Anthropogenic threats to natural systems can be exacerbated due to connectivity between marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, complicating the already daunting task of governance across the land-sea interface. Globalization, including new access to markets, can change social-ecological, land-sea linkages via livelihood responses and adaptations by local people. As a first step in understanding these trans-ecosystem effects, we examined exit and entry decisions of artisanal fishers and smallholder farmers on the rapidly globalizing Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. We found that exit and entry decisions demonstrated clear temporal and spatial patterns and that these decisions differed by livelihood. In addition to household characteristics, livelihood exit and entry decisions were strongly affected by new access to regional and global markets. The natural resource implications of these livelihood decisions are potentially profound as they provide novel linkages and spatially-explicit feedbacks between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Our findings support the need for more scientific inquiry in understanding trans-ecosystem tradeoffs due to linked-livelihood transitions as well as the need for a trans-ecosystem approach to natural resource management and development policy in rapidly changing coastal regions.

Progress Towards an Open Data Ecosystem for Australian Geochemistry and Geochronology Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McInnes, B.; Rawling, T.; Brown, W.; Liffers, M.; Wyborn, L. A.; Brown, A.; Cox, S. J. D.

2016-12-01

Technological improvements in laboratory automation and microanalytical methods are producing an unprecedented volume of high-value geochemical data for use by geoscientists in understanding geological and planetary processes. In contrast, the research infrastructure necessary to systematically manage, deliver and archive analytical data has not progressed much beyond the minimum effort necessary to produce a peer-reviewed publication. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the majority of publically funded data is underreported, and what is published is relatively undiscoverable to experienced researchers let alone the general public. Government-funded "open data" initiatives have a role to play in the development of networks of data management and delivery ecosystems and practices allowing access to publically funded data. This paper reports on progress in Australia towards creation of an open data ecosystem involving multiple academic and government research institutions cooperating to create an open data architecture linking researchers, physical samples, sample metadata, laboratory metadata, analytical data and consumers.

GETTING PERSONAL: ETHICS AND IDENTITY IN GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH

PubMed Central

Simon, Christian; Mosavel, Maghboeba

2011-01-01

‘Researcher identity’ affects global health research in profound and complex ways. Anthropologists in particular have led the way in portraying the multiple, and sometimes tension-generating, identities that researchers ascribe to themselves, or have ascribed to them, in their places of research. However, the central importance of researcher identity in the ethical conduct of global health research has yet to be fully appreciated. The capacity of researchers to respond effectively to the ethical tensions surrounding their identities is hampered by lack of conceptual clarity, as to the nature and scope of the issues involved. This paper strives to provide some clarification of these ethical tensions by considering researcher identity from the perspective of (1) Guillemin and Heggen’s (2009) key distinction between procedural ethics and ethics in practice, and (2) our own distinction between perceptions of identity that are either symmetrical or asymmetrical, with the potential to shift research relationships toward greater or lesser ethical harmony. Discussion of these concepts is supported with ethnographic examples from relevant literature and from our own (United States (US) Government-funded) research in South Africa. A preliminary set of recommendations is provided in an effort to equip researchers with a greater sense of organization and control over the ethics of researcher identity. The paper concludes that the complex construction of researcher identity needs to be central among the ethical concerns of global health researchers, and that the conceptual tools discussed in the paper are a useful starting point for better organizing and acting on these ethical concerns. PMID:21426482

Pathologizing dissent: identity politics, Zionism and the 'self-hating Jew'.

PubMed

Finlay, W M L

2005-06-01

This article discusses problems with Kurt Lewin's notion of self-hatred among Jews (Lewin, 1941/1948), and illustrates the ways in which the concept is used in identity politics. It argues that the way the notion of self-hatred is often used makes it problematic as a psychological concept because it requires that we accept particular definitions of group identities and particular political positions as central to those identities. Often, however, such issues are disputed by group members. Examination of the literature illustrates that it is rarely a straightforward decision whether those behaviours or attitudes identified as manifestations of self-hatred are best explained in this way. The function of the self-hatred concept in current debate over Israeli policy is described as an example of how arguments over identity are part of political conflict. In the case of current Middle Eastern politics, the concept of self-hatred is used by rightwing Zionists to label those who criticize policies of the current Israeli government as disloyal and pathological.

Druze Linguistic Landscape in Israel: Indexicality of New Ethnolinguistic Identity Boundaries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Isleem, Martin

2015-01-01

The Druze community in Israel is a distinct religious community currently undergoing important ethnolinguistic shifts. The government's implementation of an official policy has led to the deconstruction and reshaping of the Druze political and national identity to one that differs substantially from that of the Palestinian minority in Israel. In…

The need to disentangle key concepts from ecosystem-approach jargon.

PubMed

Waylen, K A; Hastings, E J; Banks, E A; Holstead, K L; Irvine, R J; Blackstock, K L

2014-10-01

The ecosystem approach--as endorsed by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) in 2000-is a strategy for holistic, sustainable, and equitable natural resource management, to be implemented via the 12 Malawi Principles. These principles describe the need to manage nature in terms of dynamic ecosystems, while fully engaging with local peoples. It is an ambitious concept. Today, the term is common throughout the research and policy literature on environmental management. However, multiple meanings have been attached to the term, resulting in confusion. We reviewed references to the ecosystem approach from 1957 to 2012 and identified 3 primary uses: as an alternative to ecosystem management or ecosystem-based management; in reference to an integrated and equitable approach to resource management as per the CBD; and as a term signifying a focus on understanding and valuing ecosystem services. Although uses of this term and its variants may overlap in meaning, typically, they do not entirely reflect the ethos of the ecosystem approach as defined by the CBD. For example, there is presently an increasing emphasis on ecosystem services, but focusing on these alone does not promote decentralization of management or use of all forms of knowledge, both of which are integral to the CBD's concept. We highlight that the Malawi Principles are at risk of being forgotten. To better understand these principles, more effort to implement them is required. Such efforts should be evaluated, ideally with comparative approaches, before allowing the CBD's concept of holistic and socially engaged management to be abandoned or superseded. It is possible that attempts to implement all 12 principles together will face many challenges, but they may also offer a unique way to promote holistic and equitable governance of natural resources. Therefore, we believe that the CBD's concept of the ecosystem approach demands more attention. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Governing Education in a Complex World. Educational Research and Innovation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Tracey, Ed.; Köster, Florian, Ed.

2016-01-01

What models of governance are effective in complex education systems? In all systems an increasing number of stakeholders are involved in designing, delivering, and monitoring education. Like our societies, education systems are increasingly diverse regarding students, teachers, and communities, as well as the values and identities we expect…

Transforming ecosystems: When, where, and how to restore contaminated sites.

PubMed

Rohr, Jason R; Farag, Aïda M; Cadotte, Marc W; Clements, William H; Smith, James R; Ulrich, Cheryl P; Woods, Richard

2016-04-01

Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: "When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?" Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore-biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else--and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems. © 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.

Functional ecomorphology: Feedbacks between form and function in fluvial landscape ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Stuart G.; Heffernan, James B.; Sponseller, Ryan A.; Welter, Jill R.

2007-09-01

The relationship between form and function has been a central organizing principle in biology throughout its history as a formal science. This concept has been relevant from molecules to organisms but loses meaning at population and community levels where study targets are abstract collectives and assemblages. Ecosystems include organisms and abiotic factors but ecosystem ecology too has developed until recently without a strong spatially explicit reference. Landscape ecology provides an opportunity to once again anneal form and function and to consider reciprocal causation between them. This ecomorphologic view can be applied at a variety of ecologically relevant scales and consists of an investigation of how geomorphology provides a structural template that shapes, and is shaped by ecological processes. Running water ecosystems illustrate several principles governing the interaction of landscape form and ecological function subsumed by the concept of "Functional Ecomorphology". Particularly lucrative are ecosystem-level interactions between geologic form and biogeochemical processes integrated by hydrologic flowpaths. While the utility of a flowpath-based approach is most apparent in streams, spatially explicit biogeochemical processing pervades all landscapes and may be of general ecological application.

Ecosystem Engineering by Plants on Wave-Exposed Intertidal Flats Is Governed by Relationships between Effect and Response Traits.

PubMed

Heuner, Maike; Silinski, Alexandra; Schoelynck, Jonas; Bouma, Tjeerd J; Puijalon, Sara; Troch, Peter; Fuchs, Elmar; Schröder, Boris; Schröder, Uwe; Meire, Patrick; Temmerman, Stijn

2015-01-01

In hydrodynamically stressful environments, some species--known as ecosystem engineers--are able to modify the environment for their own benefit. Little is known however, about the interaction between functional plant traits and ecosystem engineering. We studied the responses of Scirpus tabernaemontani and Scirpus maritimus to wave impact in full-scale flume experiments. Stem density and biomass were used to predict the ecosystem engineering effect of wave attenuation. Also the drag force on plants, their bending angle after wave impact and the stem biomechanical properties were quantified as both responses of stress experienced and effects on ecosystem engineering. We analyzed lignin, cellulose, and silica contents as traits likely effecting stress resistance (avoidance, tolerance). Stem density and biomass were strong predictors for wave attenuation, S. maritimus showing a higher effect than S. tabernaemontani. The drag force and drag force per wet frontal area both differed significantly between the species at shallow water depths (20 cm). At greater depths (35 cm), drag forces and bending angles were significantly higher for S. maritimus than for S. tabernaemontani. However, they do not differ in drag force per wet frontal area due to the larger plant surface of S. maritimus. Stem resistance to breaking and stem flexibility were significantly higher in S. tabernaemontani, having a higher cellulose concentration and a larger cross-section in its basal stem parts. S. maritimus had clearly more lignin and silica contents in the basal stem parts than S. tabernaemontani. We concluded that the effect of biomass seems more relevant for the engineering effect of emergent macrophytes with leaves than species morphology: S. tabernaemontani has avoiding traits with minor effects on wave attenuation; S. maritimus has tolerating traits with larger effects. This implies that ecosystem engineering effects are directly linked with traits affecting species stress resistance and

Ecosystem Engineering by Plants on Wave-Exposed Intertidal Flats Is Governed by Relationships between Effect and Response Traits

PubMed Central

Schoelynck, Jonas; Bouma, Tjeerd J.; Puijalon, Sara; Troch, Peter; Fuchs, Elmar; Schröder, Boris; Schröder, Uwe; Meire, Patrick; Temmerman, Stijn

2015-01-01

In hydrodynamically stressful environments, some species—known as ecosystem engineers—are able to modify the environment for their own benefit. Little is known however, about the interaction between functional plant traits and ecosystem engineering. We studied the responses of Scirpus tabernaemontani and Scirpus maritimus to wave impact in full-scale flume experiments. Stem density and biomass were used to predict the ecosystem engineering effect of wave attenuation. Also the drag force on plants, their bending angle after wave impact and the stem biomechanical properties were quantified as both responses of stress experienced and effects on ecosystem engineering. We analyzed lignin, cellulose, and silica contents as traits likely effecting stress resistance (avoidance, tolerance). Stem density and biomass were strong predictors for wave attenuation, S. maritimus showing a higher effect than S. tabernaemontani. The drag force and drag force per wet frontal area both differed significantly between the species at shallow water depths (20 cm). At greater depths (35 cm), drag forces and bending angles were significantly higher for S. maritimus than for S. tabernaemontani. However, they do not differ in drag force per wet frontal area due to the larger plant surface of S. maritimus. Stem resistance to breaking and stem flexibility were significantly higher in S. tabernaemontani, having a higher cellulose concentration and a larger cross-section in its basal stem parts. S. maritimus had clearly more lignin and silica contents in the basal stem parts than S. tabernaemontani. We concluded that the effect of biomass seems more relevant for the engineering effect of emergent macrophytes with leaves than species morphology: S. tabernaemontani has avoiding traits with minor effects on wave attenuation; S. maritimus has tolerating traits with larger effects. This implies that ecosystem engineering effects are directly linked with traits affecting species stress resistance

Ecosystem services provided by a complex coastal region: challenges of classification and mapping.

PubMed

Sousa, Lisa P; Sousa, Ana I; Alves, Fátima L; Lillebø, Ana I

2016-03-11

A variety of ecosystem services classification systems and mapping approaches are available in the scientific and technical literature, which needs to be selected and adapted when applied to complex territories (e.g. in the interface between water and land, estuary and sea). This paper provides a framework for addressing ecosystem services in complex coastal regions. The roadmap comprises the definition of the exact geographic boundaries of the study area; the use of CICES (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) for ecosystem services identification and classification; and the definition of qualitative indicators that will serve as basis to map the ecosystem services. Due to its complexity, the Ria de Aveiro coastal region was selected as case study, presenting an opportunity to explore the application of such approaches at a regional scale. The main challenges of implementing the proposed roadmap, together with its advantages are discussed in this research. The results highlight the importance of considering both the connectivity of natural systems and the complexity of the governance framework; the flexibility and robustness, but also the challenges when applying CICES at regional scale; and the challenges regarding ecosystem services mapping.

Ecosystem services provided by a complex coastal region: challenges of classification and mapping

PubMed Central

Sousa, Lisa P.; Sousa, Ana I.; Alves, Fátima L.; Lillebø, Ana I.

2016-01-01

A variety of ecosystem services classification systems and mapping approaches are available in the scientific and technical literature, which needs to be selected and adapted when applied to complex territories (e.g. in the interface between water and land, estuary and sea). This paper provides a framework for addressing ecosystem services in complex coastal regions. The roadmap comprises the definition of the exact geographic boundaries of the study area; the use of CICES (Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services) for ecosystem services identification and classification; and the definition of qualitative indicators that will serve as basis to map the ecosystem services. Due to its complexity, the Ria de Aveiro coastal region was selected as case study, presenting an opportunity to explore the application of such approaches at a regional scale. The main challenges of implementing the proposed roadmap, together with its advantages are discussed in this research. The results highlight the importance of considering both the connectivity of natural systems and the complexity of the governance framework; the flexibility and robustness, but also the challenges when applying CICES at regional scale; and the challenges regarding ecosystem services mapping. PMID:26964892

Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems.

PubMed

Yun, Seong Do; Hutniczak, Barbara; Abbott, Joshua K; Fenichel, Eli P

2017-06-20

We merge inclusive wealth theory with ecosystem-based management (EBM) to address two challenges in the science of sustainable management of ecosystems. First, we generalize natural capital theory to approximate realized shadow prices for multiple interacting natural capital stocks (species) making up an ecosystem. These prices enable ecosystem components to be better included in wealth-based sustainability measures. We show that ecosystems are best envisioned as portfolios of assets, where the portfolio's performance depends on the performance of the underlying assets influenced by their interactions. Second, changes in ecosystem wealth provide an attractive headline index for EBM, regardless of whether ecosystem wealth is ultimately included in a broader wealth index. We apply our approach to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, focusing on the interacting community of three commercially important fish species: cod, herring, and sprat. Our results incorporate supporting services embodied in the shadow price of a species through its trophic interactions. Prey fish have greater shadow prices than expected based on market value, and predatory fish have lower shadow prices than expected based on market value. These results are because correctly measured shadow prices reflect interdependence and limits to substitution. We project that ecosystem wealth in the Baltic Sea fishery ecosystem generally increases conditional on the EBM-inspired multispecies maximum sustainable yield management beginning in 2017, whereas continuing the current single-species management generally results in declining wealth.

Ecosystem-based management and the wealth of ecosystems

PubMed Central

Yun, Seong Do; Hutniczak, Barbara; Abbott, Joshua K.; Fenichel, Eli P.

2017-01-01

We merge inclusive wealth theory with ecosystem-based management (EBM) to address two challenges in the science of sustainable management of ecosystems. First, we generalize natural capital theory to approximate realized shadow prices for multiple interacting natural capital stocks (species) making up an ecosystem. These prices enable ecosystem components to be better included in wealth-based sustainability measures. We show that ecosystems are best envisioned as portfolios of assets, where the portfolio’s performance depends on the performance of the underlying assets influenced by their interactions. Second, changes in ecosystem wealth provide an attractive headline index for EBM, regardless of whether ecosystem wealth is ultimately included in a broader wealth index. We apply our approach to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, focusing on the interacting community of three commercially important fish species: cod, herring, and sprat. Our results incorporate supporting services embodied in the shadow price of a species through its trophic interactions. Prey fish have greater shadow prices than expected based on market value, and predatory fish have lower shadow prices than expected based on market value. These results are because correctly measured shadow prices reflect interdependence and limits to substitution. We project that ecosystem wealth in the Baltic Sea fishery ecosystem generally increases conditional on the EBM-inspired multispecies maximum sustainable yield management beginning in 2017, whereas continuing the current single-species management generally results in declining wealth. PMID:28588145

Ant-mediated ecosystem processes are driven by trophic community structure but mainly by the environment.

PubMed

Salas-Lopez, Alex; Mickal, Houadria; Menzel, Florian; Orivel, Jérôme

2017-01-01

The diversity and functional identity of organisms are known to be relevant to the maintenance of ecosystem processes but can be variable in different environments. Particularly, it is uncertain whether ecosystem processes are driven by complementary effects or by dominant groups of species. We investigated how community structure (i.e., the diversity and relative abundance of biological entities) explains the community-level contribution of Neotropical ant communities to different ecosystem processes in different environments. Ants were attracted with food resources representing six ant-mediated ecosystem processes in four environments: ground and vegetation strata in cropland and forest habitats. The exploitation frequencies of the baits were used to calculate the taxonomic and trophic structures of ant communities and their contribution to ecosystem processes considered individually or in combination (i.e., multifunctionality). We then investigated whether community structure variables could predict ecosystem processes and whether such relationships were affected by the environment. We found that forests presented a greater biodiversity and trophic complementarity and lower dominance than croplands, but this did not affect ecosystem processes. In contrast, trophic complementarity was greater on the ground than on vegetation and was followed by greater resource exploitation levels. Although ant participation in ecosystem processes can be predicted by means of trophic-based indices, we found that variations in community structure and performance in ecosystem processes were best explained by environment. We conclude that determining the extent to which the dominance and complementarity of communities affect ecosystem processes in different environments requires a better understanding of resource availability to different species.

Protecting Our Life Support Systems: An Inventory of US Federal Research on Ecosystem Services

EPA Science Inventory

In the United States, a broad range of federal resource management and environmental agencies are conducting research related to ecosystem services, and government agencies at all levels are increasingly interested in measuring the outcomes of proposed decision and policy options...

Integrating plant ecological responses to climate extremes from individual to ecosystem levels.

PubMed

Felton, Andrew J; Smith, Melinda D

2017-06-19

Climate extremes will elicit responses from the individual to the ecosystem level. However, only recently have ecologists begun to synthetically assess responses to climate extremes across multiple levels of ecological organization. We review the literature to examine how plant responses vary and interact across levels of organization, focusing on how individual, population and community responses may inform ecosystem-level responses in herbaceous and forest plant communities. We report a high degree of variability at the individual level, and a consequential inconsistency in the translation of individual or population responses to directional changes in community- or ecosystem-level processes. The scaling of individual or population responses to community or ecosystem responses is often predicated upon the functional identity of the species in the community, in particular, the dominant species. Furthermore, the reported stability in plant community composition and functioning with respect to extremes is often driven by processes that operate at the community level, such as species niche partitioning and compensatory responses during or after the event. Future research efforts would benefit from assessing ecological responses across multiple levels of organization, as this will provide both a holistic and mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to increasing climatic variability.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Constructing nurses' professional identity through social identity theory.

PubMed

Willetts, Georgina; Clarke, David

2014-04-01

The profession of nursing continues to struggle with defining and clarifying its professional identity. The definitive recognition of nursing as a profession was the moving of training from the hospital apprentice model to the tertiary sector. However, this is only part of the story of professional identity in nursing. Once training finishes and enculturation into the workplace commences, professional identity becomes a complicated social activity. This paper proposes social identity theory as a valuable research framework to assist with clarifying and describing the professional identity of nurses. The paper outlines the key elements of a profession and then goes on to describe the main concepts of social identity theory. Lastly, a connection is made between the usefulness of using social identity theory in researching professional identity in nursing, recognizing the contextual nature of the social activity of the profession within its workplace environment. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Identifying legal, ecological and governance obstacles and opportunities for adapting to climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cosens, Barbara; Gunderson, Lance; Allen, Craig R.; Benson, Melinda H.

2014-01-01

Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resilience provides a bridging concept that predicts that change in ecological and social systems is often dramatic, abrupt, and surprising. Adapting to the uncertainty of climate driven change must be done in a manner perceived as legitimate by the participants in a democratic society. Adaptation must begin with the current hierarchical and fragmented social-ecological system as a baseline from which new approaches must be applied. Achieving a level of integration between ecological concepts and governance requires a dialogue across multiple disciplines, including ecologists with expertise in ecological resilience, hydrologists and climate experts, with social scientists and legal scholars. Criteria and models that link ecological dynamics with policies in complex, multi-jurisdictional water basins with adaptive management and governance frameworks may move these social-ecological systems toward greater sustainability.

Extended benefit cost analysis as an instrument of economic valuated in Petungkriyono forest ecosystem services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damayanti, Irma; Nur Bambang, Azis; Retnaningsih Soeprobowati, Tri

2018-05-01

Petungkriyono is the last tropical forest in Java and provides biodiversity including rare flora and fauna that must be maintained, managed and utilized in order to give meaning for humanity and sustainability. Services of Forest Ecosystem in Petungkriyono are included such as goods supply, soil-water conservation, climate regulation, purification environment and flora fauna habitats. The approach of this study is the literature review from various studies before perceiving the influenced of economic valuation in determining the measurement conservation strategies of Petungkriyono Natural Forest Ecosystem in Pekalongan Regency. The aims of this study are to analyzing an extended benefit cost of natural forest ecosystems and internalizing them in decision making. The method of quantification and valuation of forest ecosystem is Cost and Benefit Analysis (CBA) which is a standard economic appraisal tools government in development economics. CBA offers the possibility capturing impact of the project. By using productivity subtitution value and extended benefit cost analysis any comodity such as Backwoods,Pine Woods, Puspa woods and Pine Gum. Water value, preventive buildings of landslide and carbon sequestration have total economic value of IDR.163.065.858.080, and the value of Extended Benefit Cost Ratio in Petungkriyono is 281.35 %. However, from the result is expected the local government of Pekalongan to have high motivation in preserve the existence of Petungkriyono forest.

Between Efficiency, Capability and Recognition: Competing Epistemes in Global Governance Reforms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chan, Jennifer

2007-01-01

This article examines global governance reforms as a site of contestation between three different "truths"/epistemes (the market, human rights principles, and cultural identity) in terms of the competing principles of efficiency, capability, and recognition. Nancy Fraser's conceptions of participation parity and a dialogical approach of…

Resolving an identity crisis: Implicit drinking identity and implicit alcohol identity are related but not the same.

PubMed

Ramirez, Jason J; Olin, Cecilia C; Lindgren, Kristen P

2017-09-01

Two variations of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT, assess implicit associations held in memory between one's identity and alcohol-related constructs. Both have been shown to predict numerous drinking outcomes, but these IATs have never been directly compared to one another. The purpose of this study was to compare these IATs and evaluate their incremental predictive validity. US undergraduate students (N=64, 50% female, mean age=21.98years) completed the Drinking Identity IAT, the Alcohol Identity IAT, an explicit measure of drinking identity, as well as measures of typical alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. When evaluated in separate regression models that controlled for explicit drinking identity, results indicated that the Drinking Identity IAT and the Alcohol Identity IAT were significant, positive predictors of typical alcohol consumption, and that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was a significant predictor of hazardous drinking. When evaluated in the same regression models, the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, was significantly associated with typical and hazardous drinking. These results suggest that the Drinking Identity IAT and Alcohol Identity IAT are related but not redundant. Moreover, given that the Drinking Identity IAT, but not the Alcohol Identity IAT, incrementally predicted variance in drinking outcomes, identification with drinking behavior and social groups, as opposed to identification with alcohol itself, may be an especially strong predictor of drinking outcomes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecological role and services of tropical mangrove ecosystems: a reassessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Shing Yip; Primavera, Jurgene H.; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid; McKee, Karen; Bosire, Jared O.; Cannicci, Stefano; Diele, Karen; Fromard, Francois; Koedam, Nico; Marchand, Cyril; Mendelssohn, Irving; Mukherjee, Nibedita; Record, Sydne

2014-01-01

Knowledge of thresholds, spatio-temporal scaling and variability due to geographic, biogeographic and socio-economic settings will improve the management of mangrove ecosystem services. Many drivers respond to global trends in climate change and local changes such as urbanization. While mangroves have traditionally been managed for subsistence, future governance models must involve partnerships between local custodians of mangroves and offsite beneficiaries of the services.

[Womanhood today--identity experiences and identity crises].

PubMed

Kast, V

1985-01-01

Modern women's identity crises and the various possibilities of identification along the way towards a new identity can be seen as her attempts to develop out of the depressive situation that her once normal role identity had, to a large extent, placed her in. Under this aspect, even concepts of living that are seen by many to be problematic can be justified as leading along the way towards identity, which is so essential for human relationships and interpersonal empathy.

Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in dynamic landscapes

PubMed Central

Brose, Ulrich; Hillebrand, Helmut

2016-01-01

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) and its consequence for ecosystem services has predominantly been studied by controlled, short-term and small-scale experiments under standardized environmental conditions and constant community compositions. However, changes in biodiversity occur in real-world ecosystems with varying environments and a dynamic community composition. In this theme issue, we present novel research on BEF in such dynamic communities. The contributions are organized in three sections on BEF relationships in (i) multi-trophic diversity, (ii) non-equilibrium biodiversity under disturbance and varying environmental conditions, and (iii) large spatial and long temporal scales. The first section shows that multi-trophic BEF relationships often appear idiosyncratic, while accounting for species traits enables a predictive understanding. Future BEF research on complex communities needs to include ecological theory that is based on first principles of species-averaged body masses, stoichiometry and effects of environmental conditions such as temperature. The second section illustrates that disturbance and varying environments have direct as well as indirect (via changes in species richness, community composition and species' traits) effects on BEF relationships. Fluctuations in biodiversity (species richness, community composition and also trait dominance within species) can severely modify BEF relationships. The third section demonstrates that BEF at larger spatial scales is driven by different variables. While species richness per se and community biomass are most important, species identity effects and community composition are less important than at small scales. Across long temporal scales, mass extinctions represent severe changes in biodiversity with mixed effects on ecosystem functions. Together, the contributions of this theme issue identify new research frontiers and answer some open questions on BEF relationships

Standards of conduct for NASA special government employees

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1967-01-01

NASA regulations prescribing standards of conduct for all NASA employees, including special government employees, were approved by the Civil Service Commission on September 19, 1967, and by the Administrator on October 12, 1967, and were published in the Federal Register (32 F.R. 14648-14659) on October 21, 1967. The standards of conduct regulations are issued under Executive Order 11222 of May 11, 1965 (30 F.R. 6469, 3 C.F.R. 1965 Supp.; 5 C.F.R. 735.104), and Chapter 735 of the Federal Personnel Manual. For the convenience of special government employees, those portions of the NASA standards of conduct regulations which are applicable only to special government employees, Part F and Appendixes E, F, and G, are reissued in this handbook. Except for references to 'parts,' 'subparts,' 'sections,' etc., the text is identical to that published in the Federal Register.

Germline Genetic Modification and Identity: the Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genomes

PubMed Central

Scott, Rosamund; Wilkinson, Stephen

2017-01-01

Abstract In a legal ‘first’, the UK removed a prohibition against modifying embryos in human reproduction, to enable mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs), a move the Government distanced from ‘germline genetic modification’, which it aligned with modifying the nuclear genome. This paper (1) analyzes the uses and meanings of this term in UK/US legal and policy debates; and (2) evaluates related ethical concerns about identity. It shows that, with respect to identity, MRTs and nuclear genome editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas-9 (now a policy topic), are not as different as has been supposed. While it does not follow that the two should be treated exactly alike, one of the central reasons offered for treating MRTs more permissively than nuclear genetic modification, and for not regarding MRTs as ‘germline genetic modification’, is thereby in doubt. Identity cannot, by itself, do the work thus far assigned to it, explicitly or otherwise, in law and policy. PMID:29670305

Germline Genetic Modification and Identity: the Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genomes.

PubMed

Scott, Rosamund; Wilkinson, Stephen

2017-12-01

In a legal 'first', the UK removed a prohibition against modifying embryos in human reproduction, to enable mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs), a move the Government distanced from 'germline genetic modification', which it aligned with modifying the nuclear genome. This paper (1) analyzes the uses and meanings of this term in UK/US legal and policy debates; and (2) evaluates related ethical concerns about identity. It shows that, with respect to identity, MRTs and nuclear genome editing techniques such as CRISPR/Cas-9 (now a policy topic), are not as different as has been supposed. While it does not follow that the two should be treated exactly alike, one of the central reasons offered for treating MRTs more permissively than nuclear genetic modification, and for not regarding MRTs as 'germline genetic modification', is thereby in doubt. Identity cannot, by itself, do the work thus far assigned to it, explicitly or otherwise, in law and policy.

An infinite set of Ward identities for adiabatic modes in cosmology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hinterbichler, Kurt; Hui, Lam; Khoury, Justin, E-mail: khinterbichler@perimeterinstitute.ca, E-mail: lh399@columbia.edu, E-mail: jkhoury@sas.upenn.edu

2014-01-01

We show that the correlation functions of any single-field cosmological model with constant growing-modes are constrained by an infinite number of novel consistency relations, which relate N+1-point correlation functions with a soft-momentum scalar or tensor mode to a symmetry transformation on N-point correlation functions of hard-momentum modes. We derive these consistency relations from Ward identities for an infinite tower of non-linearly realized global symmetries governing scalar and tensor perturbations. These symmetries can be labeled by an integer n. At each order n, the consistency relations constrain — completely for n = 0,1, and partially for n ≥ 2 — themore » q{sup n} behavior of the soft limits. The identities at n = 0 recover Maldacena's original consistency relations for a soft scalar and tensor mode, n = 1 gives the recently-discovered conformal consistency relations, and the identities for n ≥ 2 are new. As a check, we verify directly that the n = 2 identity is satisfied by known correlation functions in slow-roll inflation.« less

Ecosystem services

Treesearch

Trista Patterson

2014-01-01

Since its inception, the ecosystem service approach has stimulated interest from numerous planning, management, and partnership perspectives. To date, however, research that quantifies ecosystem services in the study area (in the form of explicit ecosystem service studies) has been limited. This chapter reviews and synthesizes the concept of ecosystem services,...

Tropical botanical gardens: at the in situ ecosystem management frontier.

PubMed

Chen, Jin; Cannon, Charles H; Hu, Huabin

2009-11-01

Tropical botanical gardens (TBGs) should have a leading role in in situ conservation by directly promoting several initiatives, including the reintroduction of important or valuable native species, focused habitat restoration, 'assisted migration' of species that are vulnerable to climate change, and creative local collaboration with governments, NGOs and indigenous peoples. Compared with temperate gardens, TBGs face heightened challenges for ex situ conservation, including greater absolute amounts of biodiversity, need for resource mobilization, risk of introducing invasive species and potential genetic introgression within living collections. Meanwhile, the ecosystems surrounding TBGs have undergone widespread and rapid conversion. Here, we provide several illustrations of the effectiveness of TBGs in achieving their mission of preserving tropical biodiversity at the frontier of in situ ecosystem management.

Plant Species and Functional Group Combinations Affect Green Roof Ecosystem Functions

PubMed Central

Lundholm, Jeremy; MacIvor, J. Scott; MacDougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-01-01

governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green roof ecosystems. PMID:20300196

Plant species and functional group combinations affect green roof ecosystem functions.

PubMed

Lundholm, Jeremy; Macivor, J Scott; Macdougall, Zachary; Ranalli, Melissa

2010-03-12

Green roofs perform ecosystem services such as summer roof temperature reduction and stormwater capture that directly contribute to lower building energy use and potential economic savings. These services are in turn related to ecosystem functions performed by the vegetation layer such as radiation reflection and transpiration, but little work has examined the role of plant species composition and diversity in improving these functions. We used a replicated modular extensive (shallow growing- medium) green roof system planted with monocultures or mixtures containing one, three or five life-forms, to quantify two ecosystem services: summer roof cooling and water capture. We also measured the related ecosystem properties/processes of albedo, evapotranspiration, and the mean and temporal variability of aboveground biomass over four months. Mixtures containing three or five life-form groups, simultaneously optimized several green roof ecosystem functions, outperforming monocultures and single life-form groups, but there was much variation in performance depending on which life-forms were present in the three life-form mixtures. Some mixtures outperformed the best monocultures for water capture, evapotranspiration, and an index combining both water capture and temperature reductions. Combinations of tall forbs, grasses and succulents simultaneously optimized a range of ecosystem performance measures, thus the main benefit of including all three groups was not to maximize any single process but to perform a variety of functions well. Ecosystem services from green roofs can be improved by planting certain life-form groups in combination, directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. The strong performance by certain mixtures of life-forms, especially tall forbs, grasses and succulents, warrants further investigation into niche complementarity or facilitation as mechanisms governing biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in green

An "Information Ecosystem" to meet the data requirements of the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

USDA’s Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) Network consists of 18 locations across the continental United States comprised of government, university and NGO supported sites. LTAR research on the sustainability of agricultural production and associated provision of ecosystem services relies upon ...

A New Application to Facilitate Post-Fire Recovery and Rehabilitation in Savanna Ecosystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carroll, Mark L.; Schnase, John L.; Weber, Keith T.; Brown, Molly E.; Gill, Roger L.; Haskett, George W.; Gardner, Tess A.

2013-01-01

The U.S. government spends an estimated $3billion per year to fight forest fires in the United States. Post-fire rehabilitation activities represent a small but essential portion of that total. The Rehabilitation Capability Convergence for Ecosystem Recovery (RECOVER) system is currently under development for Savanna ecosystems in the western U.S. The prototype of this system has been built and will have realworld testing during the summer 2013 fire season. When fully deployed, the RECOVER system will provide the emergency rehabilitation teams with critical and timely information for management decisions regarding stabilization and rehabilitation strategies.

Ecosystem Vulnerability Review: Proposal of an Interdisciplinary Ecosystem Assessment Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weißhuhn, Peter; Müller, Felix; Wiggering, Hubert

2018-06-01

To safeguard the sustainable use of ecosystems and their services, early detection of potentially damaging changes in functional capabilities is needed. To support a proper ecosystem management, the analysis of an ecosystem's vulnerability provide information on its weaknesses as well as on its capacity to recover after suffering an impact. However, the application of the vulnerability concept to ecosystems is still an emerging topic. After providing background on the vulnerability concept, we summarize existing ecosystem vulnerability research on the basis of a systematic literature review with a special focus on ecosystem type, disciplinary background, and more detailed definition of the ecosystem vulnerability components. Using the Web of ScienceTM Core Collection, we overviewed the literature from 1991 onwards but used the 5 years from 2011 to 2015 for an in-depth analysis, including 129 articles. We found that ecosystem vulnerability analysis has been applied most notably in conservation biology, climate change research, and ecological risk assessments, pinpointing a limited spreading across the environmental sciences. It occurred primarily within marine and freshwater ecosystems. To avoid confusion, we recommend using the unambiguous term ecosystem vulnerability rather than ecological, environmental, population, or community vulnerability. Further, common ground has been identified, on which to define the ecosystem vulnerability components exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. We propose a framework for ecosystem assessments that coherently connects the concepts of vulnerability, resilience, and adaptability as different ecosystem responses. A short outlook on the possible operationalization of the concept by ecosystem vulnerabilty indices, and a conclusion section complete the review.

Ecosystem Vulnerability Review: Proposal of an Interdisciplinary Ecosystem Assessment Approach.

PubMed

Weißhuhn, Peter; Müller, Felix; Wiggering, Hubert

2018-06-01

To safeguard the sustainable use of ecosystems and their services, early detection of potentially damaging changes in functional capabilities is needed. To support a proper ecosystem management, the analysis of an ecosystem's vulnerability provide information on its weaknesses as well as on its capacity to recover after suffering an impact. However, the application of the vulnerability concept to ecosystems is still an emerging topic. After providing background on the vulnerability concept, we summarize existing ecosystem vulnerability research on the basis of a systematic literature review with a special focus on ecosystem type, disciplinary background, and more detailed definition of the ecosystem vulnerability components. Using the Web of Science TM Core Collection, we overviewed the literature from 1991 onwards but used the 5 years from 2011 to 2015 for an in-depth analysis, including 129 articles. We found that ecosystem vulnerability analysis has been applied most notably in conservation biology, climate change research, and ecological risk assessments, pinpointing a limited spreading across the environmental sciences. It occurred primarily within marine and freshwater ecosystems. To avoid confusion, we recommend using the unambiguous term ecosystem vulnerability rather than ecological, environmental, population, or community vulnerability. Further, common ground has been identified, on which to define the ecosystem vulnerability components exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. We propose a framework for ecosystem assessments that coherently connects the concepts of vulnerability, resilience, and adaptability as different ecosystem responses. A short outlook on the possible operationalization of the concept by ecosystem vulnerabilty indices, and a conclusion section complete the review.

Preface: Ecosystem services, ecosystem health and human communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plag, Hans-Peter

2018-04-01

This special issue contains a collection of manuscripts that were originally intended to be included in the special issue on "Physics and Economics of Ecosystem Services Flows" (Volume 101, guest editors H. Su, J. Dong and S. Nagarajan) and "Biogeochemical Processes in the Changing Wetland Environment" (Volume 103, guest editors J. Bai, L. Huang and H. Gao). All of them are addressing issues related to ecosystem services in different settings. Ecosystem services are of high value for both the ecosystems and human communities, and understanding the impacts of environmental processes and human activities on ecosystems is of fundamental importance for the preservation of these services.

Diversity and distribution of Archaea in global estuarine ecosystems.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaobo; Pan, Jie; Liu, Yang; Li, Meng; Gu, Ji-Dong

2018-05-09

Estuarine ecosystem is a unique geographical transitional zone between freshwater and seawater, harboring a wide range of microbial communities including Archaea. Although a large number of Archaea have been detected in such ecosystem, the global patterns in archaeal diversity and distribution are extremely scarce. To bridge this gap, we carried out a comprehensive survey of archaeal communities using ca. 4000 publicly available archaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences (>300 bp) collected from 24 estuaries in different latitude regions. These sequences were divided into 1450 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% identity, suggesting a high biodiversity that increased gradually from the high- to low-latitude estuaries. Phylogenetic analysis showed that estuarine ecosystem was a large biodiversity pool of Archaea that was mainly composed of 12 phyla. Among them, the predominant groups were Bathyarchaeota, Euryarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota. Interestingly, archaeal distribution demonstrated a geographical differentiation in that Thaumarchaeota was dominated in the low-latitude estuaries, Bathyarchaeota in the mid-latitude estuaries, and Euryarchaeota in the high-latitude estuaries, respectively. Furthermore, the majority of the most abundant 20 OTUs demonstrated an overrepresented or underrepresented distribution pattern in some specific estuaries or latitude regions while a few were evenly distributed throughout the estuaries. This pattern indicates a potential selectivity of geographical distribution. In addition, the analysis of environmental parameters suggested that latitude would be one of the major factors driving the distribution of archaeal communities in estuarine ecosystem. This study profiles a clear framework on the diversity and distribution of Archaea in the global estuarine ecosystem and explores the general environmental factors that influence these patterns. Our findings constitute an important part of the exploration of the global ecology of Archaea

Ecosystem engineering affects ecosystem functioning in high-Andean landscapes.

PubMed

Badano, Ernesto I; Marquet, Pablo A

2008-04-01

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that change the distribution of materials and energy in the abiotic environment, usually creating and maintaining new habitat patches in the landscape. Such changes in habitat conditions have been widely documented to affect the distributions and performances of other species but up to now no studies have addressed how such effects can impact the biotically driven physicochemical processes associated with these landscapes, or ecosystem functions. Based on the widely accepted positive relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functions, we propose that the effects of ecosystem engineers on other species could have an impact on ecosystem functions via two mutually inclusive mechanisms: (1) by adding new species into landscapes, hence increasing species diversity; and (2) by improving the performances of species already present in the landscape. To test these hypotheses, we focused on the effects of a high-Andean ecosystem engineer, the cushion plant Azorella monantha, by comparing the accumulation of plant biomass and nitrogen fixed in plant tissues as species richness increases in landscapes with and without the engineer species. Our results show that both ecosystem functions increased with species richness in both landscape types, but landscapes including A. monantha cushions reached higher outcomes of plant biomass and nitrogen fixed in plant tissues than landscapes without cushions. Moreover, our results indicate that such positive effects on ecosystem functions could be mediated by the two mechanisms proposed above. Then, given the conspicuousness of ecosystem engineering in nature and its strong influence on species diversity, and given the well-known relationship between species diversity and ecosystem function, we suggest that the application of the conceptual framework proposed herein to other ecosystems would help to advance our understanding of the forces driving ecosystem functioning.

Estuary ecosystem restoration: implementing and institutionalizing adaptive management: Institutionalizing adaptive management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ebberts, Blaine D.; Zelinsky, Ben D.; Karnezis, Jason P.

We successfully implemented and institutionalized an adaptive management (AM) process for the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program, which is a large-scale restoration program focused on improving ecosystem conditions in the 234-km lower Columbia River and estuary. For our purpose, “institutionalized” means the AM process and restoration program are embedded in the work flow of the implementing agencies and affected parties. While plans outlining frameworks, processes, or approaches to AM of ecosystem restoration programs are commonplace, establishment for the long term is not. This paper presents the basic AM framework and explains how AM was implemented and institutionalized. Starting with amore » common goal, we pursued included a well-understood governance and decision-making structure, routine coordination and communication activities, data and information sharing, commitment from partners and upper agency management to the AM process, and meaningful cooperation among program managers and partners. The overall approach and steps to implement and institutionalize AM for ecosystem restoration explained here are applicable to situations where it has been less than successful or, as in our case, the restoration program is just getting started.« less

Ecosystem services as a common language for coastal ecosystem-based management.

PubMed

Granek, Elise F; Polasky, Stephen; Kappel, Carrie V; Reed, Denise J; Stoms, David M; Koch, Evamaria W; Kennedy, Chris J; Cramer, Lori A; Hacker, Sally D; Barbier, Edward B; Aswani, Shankar; Ruckelshaus, Mary; Perillo, Gerardo M E; Silliman, Brian R; Muthiga, Nyawira; Bael, David; Wolanski, Eric

2010-02-01

Ecosystem-based management is logistically and politically challenging because ecosystems are inherently complex and management decisions affect a multitude of groups. Coastal ecosystems, which lie at the interface between marine and terrestrial ecosystems and provide an array of ecosystem services to different groups, aptly illustrate these challenges. Successful ecosystem-based management of coastal ecosystems requires incorporating scientific information and the knowledge and views of interested parties into the decision-making process. Estimating the provision of ecosystem services under alternative management schemes offers a systematic way to incorporate biogeophysical and socioeconomic information and the views of individuals and groups in the policy and management process. Employing ecosystem services as a common language to improve the process of ecosystem-based management presents both benefits and difficulties. Benefits include a transparent method for assessing trade-offs associated with management alternatives, a common set of facts and common currency on which to base negotiations, and improved communication among groups with competing interests or differing worldviews. Yet challenges to this approach remain, including predicting how human interventions will affect ecosystems, how such changes will affect the provision of ecosystem services, and how changes in service provision will affect the welfare of different groups in society. In a case study from Puget Sound, Washington, we illustrate the potential of applying ecosystem services as a common language for ecosystem-based management.

Species effects on ecosystem processes are modified by faunal responses to habitat composition.

PubMed

Bulling, Mark T; Solan, Martin; Dyson, Kirstie E; Hernandez-Milian, Gema; Luque, Patricia; Pierce, Graham J; Raffaelli, Dave; Paterson, David M; White, Piran C L

2008-12-01

Heterogeneity is a well-recognized feature of natural environments, and the spatial distribution and movement of individual species is primarily driven by resource requirements. In laboratory experiments designed to explore how different species drive ecosystem processes, such as nutrient release, habitat heterogeneity is often seen as something which must be rigorously controlled for. Most small experimental systems are therefore spatially homogeneous, and the link between environmental heterogeneity and its effects on the redistribution of individuals and species, and on ecosystem processes, has not been fully explored. In this paper, we used a mesocosm system to investigate the relationship between habitat composition, species movement and sediment nutrient release for each of four functionally contrasting species of marine benthic invertebrate macrofauna. For each species, various habitat configurations were generated by selectively enriching patches of sediment with macroalgae, a natural source of spatial variability in intertidal mudflats. We found that the direction and extent of faunal movement between patches differs with species identity, density and habitat composition. Combinations of these factors lead to concomitant changes in nutrient release, such that habitat composition effects are modified by species identity (in the case of NH4-N) and by species density (in the case of PO4-P). It is clear that failure to accommodate natural patterns of spatial heterogeneity in such studies may result in an incomplete understanding of system behaviour. This will be particularly important for future experiments designed to explore the effects of species richness on ecosystem processes, where the complex interactions reported here for single species may be compounded when species are brought together in multi-species combinations.

Ecosystem Services

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecosystem goods and services are the many life-sustaining benefits we receive from nature and contribute to environmental and human health and well-being. Ecosystem-focused research will develop methods to measure ecosystem goods and services.

Effective Ecological Restoration of Collapsed Ecosystems - Linking Soil, Water and Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petursdottir, Thorunn; Finger, David

2014-05-01

All natural resources, utilized by humans are embedded in complex social-ecological systems (SESs). To maintain the systems' sustainability, the SESs needs to be managed within their resilience optimum, considering both social and ecological elements. Throughout the centuries the humankind has often failed in doing so. Overexploitation of natural resources has thus widely disrupted equilibrium within the respective SESs, driving unforeseen changes of ecosystems worldwide. Anthropogenic factors such as poor institutional structure on resource utilization and weak policies in combination to environmental factors like droughts, fires or other unpredictable events have ruptured ecosystems' resilience and caused global degradation on a scale that currently threatens the Earth's welfare. As an example it's worth to mention that up to 40% of the world's agricultural land is severely degraded mainly due to unsustainable landuse. Once an ecosystem, or part/s of it, have collapsed, ecological restoration is almost always necessary to overcome the threshold/s that may prevent the system from self-recovering. It also re-activates the system's environmental cycles like the water, carbon and nutrient circulation. Although soil is the fundamental body of terrestrial ecosystems, water availability is of equal importance and should be taken more into consideration in restoration than currently is done. Based on that, we will focus on how to best manage effective large-scale ecological restoration (LSER) of collapsed ecosystems and link it to water catchment areas. LSER is a fundamental social-ecological activity that substantially can improve ecosystem condition, human livelihood and if well organized, facilitate improved management of natural resources. By definition, restoration of ecological integrity and functions is the fundamental basis for all restoration activities. But to achieve long-term sustainability of LSER activities the initial set of rules/policies established by

Co-Evolutions of Ecosystems, Societies, and Economy in Dryland Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jiquan; Ouyang, Zutao; John, Ranjeet; Dong, Gang; Fan, Peilei

2015-04-01

This presentation aims at the interactive changes of the natural system (NS) and the human system (HS) as well as the feedbacks in time and space for dryland Asia where multiple administrative units from several countries experience similar climates, ecosystems, cultures, and traditions but different governments, land uses, economic development, and demographic changes (e.g., ethnical composition). We compiled and examined the changes in major measures for ecosystems (e.g., PAR, LAI, GPP, ET), economy (GDP, export/import, EGS), and human demography (e.g., population, health, education) between 1981 through 2011 (30+ variables) for six Central Asian countries (Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) and two East Asian countries (Mongolia and China). Particular attention was made to understand the co-evolutions of the ratios between the elements of HS and NS, such as: GDP: GPP, PET: FWW, R: PDSI, EGS: GPP, etc., so that feedbacks and interactions can be empirically studied. Spatial and temporal changes of each measure, as well as their ratios, were quantified to highlight the relative contributions of human activities (e.g., policy) and biophysical changes (e.g., climate). We found some tight connections between the HS and NS variables, but the co-evolutions have to be understood in the context of governments, policy, and other major institutional shifts.

Power, Professional Naiveté and Environmental Icebergs: Navigating the Bioethics Ecosystem.

PubMed

Valadares, Kevin J

2016-01-01

Doing bioethics in the public arena of healthcare, government, business or academia takes courage and stamina. The effort involved must be greater than just supporting clients through disciplined arguments and an ongoing process of clarification. Beyond the argument, for ethicists to be of value, they must understand the importance of navigating power structures within the bioethics ecosystem and to recognize their own professional naiveté.

Coastal Zone Ecosystem Services: from science to values and decision making; a case study.

PubMed

Luisetti, T; Turner, R K; Jickells, T; Andrews, J; Elliott, M; Schaafsma, M; Beaumont, N; Malcolm, S; Burdon, D; Adams, C; Watts, W

2014-09-15

This research is concerned with the following environmental research questions: socio-ecological system complexity, especially when valuing ecosystem services; ecosystems stock and services flow sustainability and valuation; the incorporation of scale issues when valuing ecosystem services; and the integration of knowledge from diverse disciplines for governance and decision making. In this case study, we focused on ecosystem services that can be jointly supplied but independently valued in economic terms: healthy climate (via carbon sequestration and storage), food (via fisheries production in nursery grounds), and nature recreation (nature watching and enjoyment). We also explored the issue of ecosystem stock and services flow, and we provide recommendations on how to value stock and flows of ecosystem services via accounting and economic values respectively. We considered broadly comparable estuarine systems located on the English North Sea coast: the Blackwater estuary and the Humber estuary. In the past, these two estuaries have undergone major land-claim. Managed realignment is a policy through which previously claimed intertidal habitats are recreated allowing the enhancement of the ecosystem services provided by saltmarshes. In this context, we investigated ecosystem service values, through biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates. Using an optimistic (extended conservation of coastal ecosystems) and a pessimistic (loss of coastal ecosystems because of, for example, European policy reversal) scenario, we find that context dependency, and hence value transfer possibilities, vary among ecosystem services and benefits. As a result, careful consideration in the use and application of value transfer, both in biophysical estimates and welfare value estimates, is advocated to supply reliable information for policy making. Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of payments for ecosystem services on wildlife habitat recovery.

PubMed

Tuanmu, Mao-Ning; Viña, Andrés; Yang, Wu; Chen, Xiaodong; Shortridge, Ashton M; Liu, Jianguo

2016-08-01

Conflicts between local people's livelihoods and conservation have led to many unsuccessful conservation efforts and have stimulated debates on policies that might simultaneously promote sustainable management of protected areas and improve the living conditions of local people. Many government-sponsored payments-for-ecosystem-services (PES) schemes have been implemented around the world. However, few empirical assessments of their effectiveness have been conducted, and even fewer assessments have directly measured their effects on ecosystem services. We conducted an empirical and spatially explicit assessment of the conservation effectiveness of one of the world's largest PES programs through the use of a long-term empirical data set, a satellite-based habitat model, and spatial autoregressive analyses on direct measures of change in an ecosystem service (i.e., the provision of wildlife species habitat). Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) habitat improved in Wolong Nature Reserve of China after the implementation of the Natural Forest Conservation Program. The improvement was more pronounced in areas monitored by local residents than those monitored by the local government, but only when a higher payment was provided. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of a PES program depends on who receives the payment and on whether the payment provides sufficient incentives. As engagement of local residents has not been incorporated in many conservation strategies elsewhere in China or around the world, our results also suggest that using an incentive-based strategy as a complement to command-and-control, community- and norm-based strategies may help achieve greater conservation effectiveness and provide a potential solution for the park versus people conflict. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Medical identity theft: prevention and reconciliation initiatives at Massachusetts General Hospital.

PubMed

Judson, Timothy; Haas, Mark; Lagu, Tara

2014-07-01

Medical identity theft refers to the misuse of another individual's identifying medical information to receive medical care. Beyond the financial burden on patients, hospitals, health insurance companies, and government insurance programs, undetected cases pose major patient safety challenges. Inaccuracies in the medical record may persist even after the theft has been identified because of restrictions imposed by patient privacy laws. Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH; Boston) has conducted initiatives to prevent medical identity theft and to better identify and respond to cases when they occur. Since 2007, MGH has used a notification tree to standardize reporting of red flag incidents (warning signs of identity theft, such as suspicious personal identifiers or account activity). A Data Integrity Dashboard allows for tracking and reviewing of all potential incidents of medical identity theft to detect trends and targets for mitigation. An identity-checking policy, VERI-(Verify Everyone's Identity) Safe Patient Care, requires photo identification at every visit and follow-up if it is not provided. Data from MGH suggest that an estimated 120 duplicate medical records are created each month, 25 patient encounters are likely tied to identity theft or fraud each quarter, and 14 patients are treated under the wrong medical record number each year. As of December 2013, 80%-85% of patients were showing photo identification at appointments. Although an organization's policy changes and educational campaigns can improve detection and reconciliation of medical identity theft cases, national policies should be implemented to streamline the process of correcting errors in medical records, reduce the financial disincentive for hospitals to detect and report cases, and create a single point of entry to reduce the burden on individuals and providers to reconcile cases.

Obscuring ecosystem function with application of the ecosystem services concept.

PubMed

Peterson, Markus J; Hall, Damon M; Feldpausch-Parker, Andrea M; Peterson, Tarla Rai

2010-02-01

Conservationists commonly have framed ecological concerns in economic terms to garner political support for conservation and to increase public interest in preserving global biodiversity. Beginning in the early 1980s, conservation biologists adapted neoliberal economics to reframe ecosystem functions and related biodiversity as ecosystem services to humanity. Despite the economic success of programs such as the Catskill/Delaware watershed management plan in the United States and the creation of global carbon exchanges, today's marketplace often fails to adequately protect biodiversity. We used a Marxist critique to explain one reason for this failure and to suggest a possible, if partial, response. Reframing ecosystem functions as economic services does not address the political problem of commodification. Just as it obscures the labor of human workers, commodification obscures the importance of the biota (ecosystem workers) and related abiotic factors that contribute to ecosystem functions. This erasure of work done by ecosystems impedes public understanding of biodiversity. Odum and Odum's radical suggestion to use the language of ecosystems (i.e., emergy or energy memory) to describe economies, rather than using the language of economics (i.e., services) to describe ecosystems, reverses this erasure of the ecosystem worker. Considering the current dominance of economic forces, however, implementing such solutions would require social changes similar in magnitude to those that occurred during the 1960s. Niklas Luhmann argues that such substantive, yet rapid, social change requires synergy among multiple societal function systems (i.e., economy, education, law, politics, religion, science), rather than reliance on a single social sphere, such as the economy. Explicitly presenting ecosystem services as discreet and incomplete aspects of ecosystem functions not only allows potential economic and environmental benefits associated with ecosystem services, but also

A New Perspective on Changing Arctic Marine Ecosystems: Panarchy Adaptive Cycles in Pan-Arctic Spatial and Temporal Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiese, F. K.; Huntington, H. P.; Carmack, E.; Wassmann, P. F. J.; Leu, E. S.; Gradinger, R.

2016-02-01

Changes in the physical/biological interactions in the Arctic are occurring across a variety of spatial and temporal scales and may be mitigated or strengthened based on varying rates of evolutionary adaptation. A novel way to view these interactions and their social relevance is through the systems theory perspective of "Panarchy" proposed by Gunderson and Holling. Panarchy is an interdisciplinary approach in which structures, scales and linkages of complex-adaptive systems, including those of nature (e.g. ocean), humans (e.g. economics), and combined social-ecological systems (e.g. institutions that govern natural resource use), are mapped across multiple space and time scales in continual and interactive adaptive cycles of growth, accumulation, restructuring and renewal. In complex-adaptive systems the dynamics at a given scale are generally dominated by a small number of key internal variables that are forced by one or more external variables. The stability of such a system is characterized by its resilience, i.e. its capacity to absorb disturbance and re-organize while undergoing change, so as to retain essentially similar function, structure, identity and feedbacks. It is in the capacity of a system to cope with pressures and adversities such as exploitation, warming, governance restrictions, competition, etc. that resilience embraces human and natural systems as complex entities continually adapting through cycles of change. In this paper we explore processes at four linked spatial domains in the Arctic Ocean and link it to ecosystem resilience and re-organization characteristics. From this we derive a series of hypotheses concerning the biological responses to future physical changes and suggest ways how Panarchy theory can be applied to observational strategies to help detect early signs of environmental shifts affecting marine system services and functions. We close by discussing possible implications of the Panarchy framework for policy and governance.

Brokering Identity and Learning Citizenship: Immigration Settlement Organizations and New Chinese Immigrants in Canada

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhu, Yidan

2015-01-01

This paper examines citizenship learning and identity construction of new Chinese immigrants in a Canadian immigration settlement organization (ISO). I address the gap between the concept of "settlement" and "citizenship" generated by government-funded ISOs and new immigrants' actual practices in these programs. I adopt Dorothy…

Extravagance in the commons: Resource exploitation and the frontiers of ecosystem service depletion in the Amazon estuary.

PubMed

de Araujo Barbosa, Caio C; Atkinson, Peter M; Dearing, John A

2016-04-15

Estuaries hold major economic potential due their strategic location, close to seas and inland waterways, thereby supporting intense economic activity. The increasing pace of human development in coastal deltas over the past five decades has also strained local resources and produced extensive changes across both social and ecological systems. The Amazon estuary is located in the Amazon Basin, North Brazil, the largest river basin on Earth and also one of the least understood. A considerable segment of the population living in the estuary is directly dependent on the local extraction of natural resources for their livelihood. Areas sparsely inhabited may be exploited with few negative consequences for the environment. However, recent and increasing pressure on ecosystem services is maximised by a combination of factors such as governance, currency exchange rates, exports of beef and forest products. Here we present a cross methodological approach in identifying the political frontiers of forest cover change in the estuary with consequences for ecosystem services loss. We used a combination of data from earth observation satellites, ecosystem service literature, and official government statistics to produce spatially-explicit relationships linking the Green Vegetation Cover to the availability of ecosystems provided by forests in the estuary. Our results show that the continuous changes in land use/cover and in the economic state have contributed significantly to changes in key ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, climate regulation, and the availability of timber over the last thirty years. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water, ecology and health: ecosystems as settings for promoting health and sustainability.

PubMed

Parkes, Margot W; Horwitz, Pierre

2009-03-01

Despite the proposed ecological and systems-based perspectives of the settings-based approach to health promotion, most initiatives have tended to overlook the fundamental nature of ecosystems. This paper responds to this oversight by proposing an explicit re-integration of ecosystems within the healthy settings approach. We make this case by focusing on water as an integrating unit of analysis. Water, on which all life depends, is not only an integral consideration for the existing healthy settings (schools, hospitals, workplaces) but also highlights the ecosystem context of health and sustainability. A focus on catchments (also know as watersheds and river basins) exemplifies the scaled and upstream/downstream nature of ecosystems and draws into sharp focus the cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary context of the social and environmental determinants of health. We position this work in relation to the converging agendas of health promotion and ecosystem management at the local, regional and global scales--and draw on evidence from international initiatives as diverse as the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Using water as a vehicle for understanding the systemic context for human wellbeing, health promotion and disease prevention draws inevitable attention to key challenges of scale, intersectoral governance and the complementary themes of promoting resilience and preventing vulnerability. We conclude by highlighting the importance of building individual and institutional capacity for this kind of integration--equipping a new generation of researchers, practitioners and decision-makers to be conversant with the language of ecosystems, capable of systemic thought and focused on settings that can promote both health and sustainability.

75 FR 28771 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2009-027, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-24

... Acquisition Regulation; FAR Case 2009-027, Personal Identity Verification of Contractor Personnel AGENCIES... of collecting from contractors all forms of Government provided identification once they are no..., titled Controls Over the Contractor Common Access Card (CAC) Life Cycle, was performed to determine...

Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES): Pilot Project - Marine Mammal Tagging and Tracking

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

project . NOPP is an innovative collaboration of federal agencies that support ocean research partnerships among academia, government, industry, and...1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Marine Arctic Ecosystem Study (MARES): Pilot Project ...Francis.Wiese@stantec.com Award Number: N0001415IP00085 LONG-TERM GOALS The overarching goal of the MARES project is to understand the

Does Biodiversity-Ecosystem Function Literature Neglect Tropical Ecosystems?

PubMed

Clarke, David A; York, Paul H; Rasheed, Michael A; Northfield, Tobin D

2017-05-01

Current evidence suggests that there is a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but few studies have addressed tropical ecosystems where the highest levels of biodiversity occur. We develop two hypotheses for the implications of generalizing from temperate studies to tropical ecosystems, and discuss the need for more tropical research. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparing intra- and inter-specific effects on litter decomposition in an old-field ecosystem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Crutsinger, Greg; Sanders, Dr. Nathan James; Classen, Aimee T

2009-09-01

Plant species can differ in the quantity and quality of leaf litter they produce, and many studies have examined whether plant species diversity affects leaf-litter decomposition and nutrient release. A growing number of studies have indicated that intra-specific variation within plant species can also affect key ecosystem processes. However, the relative importance of intra- versus inter-specific variation for the functioning of ecosystems remains poorly known. Here, we investigate the effects of intra-specific variation in a dominant old-field plant species, tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima), and inter-specific variation among goldenrod species on litter quality, decomposition, and nitrogen (N) release. We found thatmore » the nutrient concentration of leaf litter varied among genotypes, which translated into 50% difference in decomposition rates. Variation among other goldenrod species in decomposition rate was more than twice that of genetic variation within S. altissima. Furthermore, by manipulating litterbags to contain 1, 3, 6, or 9 genotypes, we found that S. altissima genotype identity had much stronger effects than did genotypic diversity on leaf-litter quality, decomposition, and N release. Taken together, these results suggest that the order of ecological importance for controlling leaf-litter decomposition and N release dynamics is plant species identitygenotype identity>genotypic diversity.« less

Assessment of Goods and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (AGAVES), San Pedro River Basin, U.S./Mexico

EPA Science Inventory

A consortium of federal, academic, and non-government organizations (NGO) partners have established a collaborative research enterprise in the San Pedro River Basin to develop methods, standards, and tools to assess and value ecosystem goods and services. The central premise of e...

Role of wood production in ecosystem management : proceedings of the Sustainable Forestry Working Group at the IUFRO All Division 5 conference, Pullman, Washington, July 1997

Treesearch

R. J. Barbour; K. E. Skog

1997-01-01

The presentations at this symposium discussed concepts of ecosystem management and sustainability as viewed by various levels of government and private land managers. The theme was to integrate ecology, silviculture, forest operations, wood products, and economics to find ways to develop healthy sustainable ecosystems under financially sound management practices....

Social identity change: shifts in social identity during adolescence.

PubMed

Tanti, Chris; Stukas, Arthur A; Halloran, Michael J; Foddy, Margaret

2011-06-01

This study investigated the proposition that adolescence involves significant shifts in social identity as a function of changes in social context and cognitive style. Using an experimental design, we primed either peer or gender identity with a sample of 380 early- (12-13 years), mid- (15-16 years), and late-adolescents (18-20 years) and then measured the effect of the prime on self-stereotyping and ingroup favouritism. The findings showed significant differences in social identity across adolescent groups, in that social identity effects were relatively strong in early- and late-adolescents, particularly when peer group identity rather than gender identity was salient. While these effects were consistent with the experience of change in educational social context, differences in cognitive style were only weakly related to ingroup favouritism. The implications of the findings for theory and future research on social identity during adolescence are discussed. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative Associations Between Achieved Bicultural Identity, Achieved Ego Identity, and Achieved Religious Identity and Adaptation Among Australian Adolescent Muslims.

PubMed

Abu-Rayya, Hisham M; Abu-Rayya, Maram H; White, Fiona A; Walker, Richard

2018-04-01

This study examined the comparative roles of biculturalism, ego identity, and religious identity in the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims. A total of 504 high school Muslim students studying at high schools in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, took part in this study which required them to complete a self-report questionnaire. Analyses indicated that adolescent Muslims' achieved religious identity seems to play a more important role in shaping their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation compared to adolescents' achieved bicultural identity. Adolescents' achieved ego identity tended also to play a greater role in their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation than achieved bicultural identity. The relationships between the three identities and negative indicators of psychological adaptation were consistently indifferent. Based on these findings, we propose that the three identity-based forces-bicultural identity development, religious identity attainment, and ego identity formation-be amalgamated into one framework in order for researchers to more accurately examine the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims.

Monitoring ecosystem quality and function in arid settings of the Mojave Desert

USGS Publications Warehouse

Belnap, Jayne; Webb, Robert H.; Miller, Mark E.; Miller, David M.; DeFalco, Lesley A.; Medica, Philip A.; Brooks, Matthew L.; Esque, Todd C.; Bedford, Dave

2008-01-01

Monitoring ecosystem quality and function in the Mojave Desert is both a requirement of state and Federal government agencies and a means for determining potential long-term changes induced by climatic fluctuations and land use. Because it is not feasible to measure every attribute and process in the desert ecosystem, the choice of what to measure and where to measure it is the most important starting point of any monitoring program. In the Mojave Desert, ecosystem function is strongly influenced by both abiotic and biotic factors, and an understanding of the temporal and spatial variability induced by climate and landform development is needed to determine where site-specific measurements should be made. We review a wide variety of techniques for sampling, assessing, and measuring climatic variables, desert soils, biological soil crusts, annual and perennial vegetation, reptiles, and small mammals. The complete array of ecosystem attributes and processes that we describe are unlikely to be measured or monitored at any given location, but the array of possibilities allows for the development of specific monitoring protocols, which can be tailored to suit the needs of land-management agencies.

A Socio-Ecological Approach for Identifying and Contextualising Spatial Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Priorities at the Sub-National Level

PubMed Central

Bourne, Amanda; Holness, Stephen; Holden, Petra; Scorgie, Sarshen; Donatti, Camila I.; Midgley, Guy

2016-01-01

Climate change adds an additional layer of complexity to existing sustainable development and biodiversity conservation challenges. The impacts of global climate change are felt locally, and thus local governance structures will increasingly be responsible for preparedness and local responses. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options are gaining prominence as relevant climate change solutions. Local government officials seldom have an appropriate understanding of the role of ecosystem functioning in sustainable development goals, or access to relevant climate information. Thus the use of ecosystems in helping people adapt to climate change is limited partially by the lack of information on where ecosystems have the highest potential to do so. To begin overcoming this barrier, Conservation South Africa in partnership with local government developed a socio-ecological approach for identifying spatial EbA priorities at the sub-national level. Using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and vegetation distribution models, the authors have spatially integrated relevant ecological and social information at a scale appropriate to inform local level political, administrative, and operational decision makers. This is the first systematic approach of which we are aware that highlights spatial priority areas for EbA implementation. Nodes of socio-ecological vulnerability are identified, and the inclusion of areas that provide ecosystem services and ecological resilience to future climate change is innovative. The purpose of this paper is to present and demonstrate a methodology for combining complex information into user-friendly spatial products for local level decision making on EbA. The authors focus on illustrating the kinds of products that can be generated from combining information in the suggested ways, and do not discuss the nuance of climate models nor present specific technical details of the model outputs here. Two representative case studies from rural South Africa

A Socio-Ecological Approach for Identifying and Contextualising Spatial Ecosystem-Based Adaptation Priorities at the Sub-National Level.

PubMed

Bourne, Amanda; Holness, Stephen; Holden, Petra; Scorgie, Sarshen; Donatti, Camila I; Midgley, Guy

2016-01-01

Climate change adds an additional layer of complexity to existing sustainable development and biodiversity conservation challenges. The impacts of global climate change are felt locally, and thus local governance structures will increasingly be responsible for preparedness and local responses. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options are gaining prominence as relevant climate change solutions. Local government officials seldom have an appropriate understanding of the role of ecosystem functioning in sustainable development goals, or access to relevant climate information. Thus the use of ecosystems in helping people adapt to climate change is limited partially by the lack of information on where ecosystems have the highest potential to do so. To begin overcoming this barrier, Conservation South Africa in partnership with local government developed a socio-ecological approach for identifying spatial EbA priorities at the sub-national level. Using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and vegetation distribution models, the authors have spatially integrated relevant ecological and social information at a scale appropriate to inform local level political, administrative, and operational decision makers. This is the first systematic approach of which we are aware that highlights spatial priority areas for EbA implementation. Nodes of socio-ecological vulnerability are identified, and the inclusion of areas that provide ecosystem services and ecological resilience to future climate change is innovative. The purpose of this paper is to present and demonstrate a methodology for combining complex information into user-friendly spatial products for local level decision making on EbA. The authors focus on illustrating the kinds of products that can be generated from combining information in the suggested ways, and do not discuss the nuance of climate models nor present specific technical details of the model outputs here. Two representative case studies from rural South Africa

Bridging Food Webs, Ecosystem Metabolism, and Biogeochemistry Using Ecological Stoichiometry Theory

PubMed Central

Welti, Nina; Striebel, Maren; Ulseth, Amber J.; Cross, Wyatt F.; DeVilbiss, Stephen; Glibert, Patricia M.; Guo, Laodong; Hirst, Andrew G.; Hood, Jim; Kominoski, John S.; MacNeill, Keeley L.; Mehring, Andrew S.; Welter, Jill R.; Hillebrand, Helmut

2017-01-01

Although aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists are well aware of the crucial importance of ecosystem functions, i.e., how biota drive biogeochemical processes and vice-versa, linking these fields in conceptual models is still uncommon. Attempts to explain the variability in elemental cycling consequently miss an important biological component and thereby impede a comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes governing energy and matter flow and transformation. The fate of multiple chemical elements in ecosystems is strongly linked by biotic demand and uptake; thus, considering elemental stoichiometry is important for both biogeochemical and ecological research. Nonetheless, assessments of ecological stoichiometry (ES) often focus on the elemental content of biota rather than taking a more holistic view by examining both elemental pools and fluxes (e.g., organismal stoichiometry and ecosystem process rates). ES theory holds the promise to be a unifying concept to link across hierarchical scales of patterns and processes in ecology, but this has not been fully achieved. Therefore, we propose connecting the expertise of aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists with ES theory as a common currency to connect food webs, ecosystem metabolism, and biogeochemistry, as they are inherently concatenated by the transfer of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous through biotic and abiotic nutrient transformation and fluxes. Several new studies exist that demonstrate the connections between food web ecology, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem metabolism. In addition to a general introduction into the topic, this paper presents examples of how these fields can be combined with a focus on ES. In this review, a series of concepts have guided the discussion: (1) changing biogeochemistry affects trophic interactions and ecosystem processes by altering the elemental ratios of key species and assemblages; (2) changing trophic dynamics influences the transformation and fluxes of matter

Bridging Food Webs, Ecosystem Metabolism, and Biogeochemistry Using Ecological Stoichiometry Theory.

PubMed

Welti, Nina; Striebel, Maren; Ulseth, Amber J; Cross, Wyatt F; DeVilbiss, Stephen; Glibert, Patricia M; Guo, Laodong; Hirst, Andrew G; Hood, Jim; Kominoski, John S; MacNeill, Keeley L; Mehring, Andrew S; Welter, Jill R; Hillebrand, Helmut

2017-01-01

Although aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists are well aware of the crucial importance of ecosystem functions, i.e., how biota drive biogeochemical processes and vice-versa, linking these fields in conceptual models is still uncommon. Attempts to explain the variability in elemental cycling consequently miss an important biological component and thereby impede a comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes governing energy and matter flow and transformation. The fate of multiple chemical elements in ecosystems is strongly linked by biotic demand and uptake; thus, considering elemental stoichiometry is important for both biogeochemical and ecological research. Nonetheless, assessments of ecological stoichiometry (ES) often focus on the elemental content of biota rather than taking a more holistic view by examining both elemental pools and fluxes (e.g., organismal stoichiometry and ecosystem process rates). ES theory holds the promise to be a unifying concept to link across hierarchical scales of patterns and processes in ecology, but this has not been fully achieved. Therefore, we propose connecting the expertise of aquatic ecologists and biogeochemists with ES theory as a common currency to connect food webs, ecosystem metabolism, and biogeochemistry, as they are inherently concatenated by the transfer of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous through biotic and abiotic nutrient transformation and fluxes. Several new studies exist that demonstrate the connections between food web ecology, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem metabolism. In addition to a general introduction into the topic, this paper presents examples of how these fields can be combined with a focus on ES. In this review, a series of concepts have guided the discussion: (1) changing biogeochemistry affects trophic interactions and ecosystem processes by altering the elemental ratios of key species and assemblages; (2) changing trophic dynamics influences the transformation and fluxes of matter

Ecosystem extent and fragmentation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sayre, Roger; Hansen, Matt

2017-01-01

One of the candidate essential biodiversity variable (EBV) groups described in the seminal paper by Pereira et al. (2014) concerns Ecosystem Structure. This EBV group is distinguished from another EBV group which encompasses aspects of Ecosystem Function. While the Ecosystem Function EBV treats ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling, primary production, trophic interactions, etc., the Ecosystem Structure EBV relates to the set of biophysical properties of ecosystems that create biophysical environmental context, confer biophysical structure, and occur geographically. The Ecosystem Extent and Fragmentation EBV is one of the EBVs in the Ecosystem Structure EBV group.Ecosystems are understood to exist at multiple scales, from very large areas (macro-ecosystems) like the Arctic tundra, for example, to something as small as a tree in an Amazonian rain forest. As such, ecosystems occupy space and therefore can be mapped across any geography of interest, whether that area of interest be a site, a nation, a region, a continent, or the planet. One of the most obvious and seemingly straightforward EBVs is Ecosystem Extent and Fragmentation. Ecosystem extent refers to the location and geographic distribution of ecosystems across landscapes or in the oceans, while ecosystem fragmentation refers to the spatial pattern and connectivity of ecosystem occurrences on the landscape.

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments

PubMed Central

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J.

2016-01-01

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people’s attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties—namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased—but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception. PMID:27725715

Swiss identity smells like chocolate: Social identity shapes olfactory judgments.

PubMed

Coppin, Géraldine; Pool, Eva; Delplanque, Sylvain; Oud, Bastiaan; Margot, Christian; Sander, David; Van Bavel, Jay J

2016-10-11

There is extensive evidence that social identities can shape people's attitudes and behavior, but what about sensory judgments? We examined the possibility that social identity concerns may also shape the judgment of non-social properties-namely, olfactory judgment. In two experiments, we presented Swiss and non-Swiss participants with the odor of chocolate, for which Switzerland is world-famous, and a control odor (popcorn). Swiss participants primed with Swiss identity reported the odor of chocolate (but not popcorn) as more intense than non-Swiss participants (Experiments 1 and 2) and than Swiss participants primed with individual identity or not primed (Experiment 2). The self-reported intensity of chocolate smell tended to increase as identity accessibility increased-but only among Swiss participants (Experiment 1). These results suggest that identity priming can counter-act classic sensory habituation effects, allowing identity-relevant smells to maintain their intensity after repeated presentations. This suggests that social identity dynamically influences sensory judgment. We discuss the potential implications for models of social identity and chemosensory perception.

The Large Marine Ecosystem Approach for 21st Century Ocean Health and International Sustainable Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Honey, K. T.

2014-12-01

The global coastal ocean and watersheds are divided into 66 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), which encompass regions from river basins, estuaries, and coasts to the seaward boundaries of continental shelves and margins of major currents. Approximately 80% of global fisheries catch comes from LME waters. Ecosystem goods and services from LMEs contribute an estimated US 18-25 trillion dollars annually to the global economy in market and non-market value. The critical importance of these large-scale systems, however, is threatened by human populations and pressures, including climate change. Fortunately, there is pragmatic reason for optimism. Interdisciplinary frameworks exist, such as the Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) approach for adaptive management that can integrate both nature-centric and human-centric views into ecosystem monitoring, assessment, and adaptive management practices for long-term sustainability. Originally proposed almost 30 years ago, the LME approach rests on five modules are: (i) productivity, (ii) fish and fisheries, (iii) pollution and ecosystem health, (iv) socioeconomics, and (v) governance for iterative adaptive management at a large, international scale of 200,000 km2 or greater. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), World Bank, and United Nations agencies recognize and support the LME approach—as evidenced by over 3.15 billion in financial assistance to date for LME projects. This year of 2014 is an exciting milestone in LME history, after 20 years of the United Nations and GEF organizations adopting LMEs as a unit for ecosystem-based approaches to management. The LME approach, however, is not perfect. Nor is it immutable. Similar to the adaptive management framework it propones, the LME approach itself must adapt to new and emerging 21st Century technologies, science, and realities. The LME approach must further consider socioeconomics and governance. Within the socioeconomics module alone, several trillion-dollar opportunities exist

Forest Ecosystem Services and Eco-Compensation Mechanisms in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongbing; Zheng, Peng; Liu, Tianxing; Liu, Xin

2011-12-01

Forests are a major terrestrial ecosystem providing multiple ecosystem services. However, the importance of forests is frequently underestimated from an economic perspective because of the externalities and public good properties of these services. Forest eco-compensation is a transfer mechanism that serves to internalize the externalities of forest ecosystem services by compensating individuals or companies for the losses or costs resulting from the provision of these services. China's current forest eco-compensation system is centered mainly on noncommercial forest. The primary measures associated with ecosystem services are (1) a charge on destructive activities, such as indiscriminate logging, and (2) compensation for individual or local activities and investments in forest conservation. The Compensation Fund System for Forest Ecological Benefits was first listed in the Forest Law of the People's Republic of China in 1998. In 2004, the Central Government Financial Compensation Fund, an important source for the Compensation Fund for Forest Ecological Benefits, was formally established. To improve the forest eco-compensation system, it is crucial to design and establish compensation criteria for noncommercial forests. These criteria should take both theoretical and practical concerns into account, and they should be based on the quantitative valuation of ecosystem services. Although some initial headway has been made on this task, the implementation of an effective forest eco-compensation system in China still has deficiencies and still faces problems. Implementing classification-based and dynamic management for key noncommercial forests and establishing an eco-compensation mechanism with multiple funding sources in the market economy are the key measures needed to conquer these problems and improve the forest eco-compensation system and China's forestry development in sequence.

[Management of large marine ecosystem based on ecosystem approach].

PubMed

Chu, Jian-song

2011-09-01

Large marine ecosystem (LME) is a large area of ocean characterized by distinct oceanology and ecology. Its natural characteristics require management based on ecosystem approach. A series of international treaties and regulations definitely or indirectly support that it should adopt ecosystem approach to manage LME to achieve the sustainable utilization of marine resources. In practices, some countries such as Canada, Australia, and U.S.A. have adopted ecosystem-based approach to manage their oceans, and some international organizations such as global environment fund committee have carried out a number of LME programs based on ecosystem approach. Aiming at the sustainable development of their fisheries, the regional organizations such as Caribbean Community have established regional fisheries mechanism. However, the adoption of ecosystem approach to manage LME is not only a scientific and legal issue, but also a political matter largely depending on the political will and the mutual cooperation degree of related countries.

Natural ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fleishman, Erica; Belnap, Jayne; Cobb, Neil; Enquist, Carolyn A.F.; Ford, Karl; MacDonald, Glen; Pellant, Mike; Schoennagel, Tania; Schmit, Lara M.; Schwartz, Mark; van Drunick, Suzanne; Westerling, Anthony LeRoy; Keyser, Alisa; Lucas, Ryan

2013-01-01

Natural Ecosystems analyzes the association of observed changes in climate with changes in the geographic distributions and phenology (the timing of blossoms or migrations of birds) for Southwestern ecosystems and their species, portraying ecosystem disturbances—such as wildfires and outbreaks of forest pathogens—and carbon storage and release, in relation to climate change.

Ocean Commission Report Includes Key Recommendations for Science and Governance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2004-05-01

The preliminary report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, released on 20 April, calls for ecosystem-based management of the oceans, dramatically restructuring federal governance oversight of ocean issues, and doubling the federal ocean and coastal research budget over the next five years to $1.3 billion per year. The report by the congressionally-mandated and presidentially-appointed commission includes nearly 200 recommendations for establishing a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy framework.

An integrated organisation-wide data quality management and information governance framework: theoretical underpinnings.

PubMed

Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Pearce, Christopher; Liyanage, Harshana; Liaw, Gladys S S; de Lusignan, Simon

2014-01-01

Increasing investment in eHealth aims to improve cost effectiveness and safety of care. Data extraction and aggregation can create new data products to improve professional practice and provide feedback to improve the quality of source data. A previous systematic review concluded that locally relevant clinical indicators and use of clinical record systems could support clinical governance. We aimed to extend and update the review with a theoretical framework. We searched PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, ABI Inform (Proquest) and Business Source Premier (EBSCO) using the terms curation, information ecosystem, data quality management (DQM), data governance, information governance (IG) and data stewardship. We focused on and analysed the scope of DQM and IG processes, theoretical frameworks, and determinants of the processing, quality assurance, presentation and sharing of data across the enterprise. There are good theoretical reasons for integrated governance, but there is variable alignment of DQM, IG and health system objectives across the health enterprise. Ethical constraints exist that require health information ecosystems to process data in ways that are aligned with improving health and system efficiency and ensuring patient safety. Despite an increasingly 'big-data' environment, DQM and IG in health services are still fragmented across the data production cycle. We extend current work on DQM and IG with a theoretical framework for integrated IG across the data cycle. The dimensions of this theory-based framework would require testing with qualitative and quantitative studies to examine the applicability and utility, along with an evaluation of its impact on data quality across the health enterprise.

Who Benefits from Ecosystem Services? A Case Study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suwarno, Aritta; Hein, Lars; Sumarga, Elham

2016-02-01

There is increasing experience with the valuation of ecosystem services. However, to date, less attention has been devoted to who is actually benefiting from ecosystem services. This nevertheless is a key issue, in particular, if ecosystem services analysis and valuation is used to support environmental management. This study assesses and analyzes how the monetary benefits of seven ecosystem services are generated in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, are distributed to different types of beneficiaries. We analyze the following ecosystem services: (1) timber production; (2) rattan collection; (3) jelutong resin collection; (4) rubber production (based on permanent agroforestry systems); (5) oil palm production on three management scales (company, plasma farmer, and independent smallholder); (6) paddy production; and (7) carbon sequestration. Our study shows that the benefits generated from these services differ markedly between the stakeholders, which we grouped into private, public, and household entities. The distribution of these benefits is strongly influenced by government policies and in particular benefit sharing mechanisms. Hence, land-use change and policies influencing land-use change can be expected to have different impacts on different stakeholders. Our study also shows that the benefits generated by oil palm conversion, a main driver for land-use change in the province, are almost exclusively accrued by companies and at this point in time are shared unequally with local stakeholders.

Who Benefits from Ecosystem Services? A Case Study for Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Suwarno, Aritta; Hein, Lars; Sumarga, Elham

2016-02-01

There is increasing experience with the valuation of ecosystem services. However, to date, less attention has been devoted to who is actually benefiting from ecosystem services. This nevertheless is a key issue, in particular, if ecosystem services analysis and valuation is used to support environmental management. This study assesses and analyzes how the monetary benefits of seven ecosystem services are generated in Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, are distributed to different types of beneficiaries. We analyze the following ecosystem services: (1) timber production; (2) rattan collection; (3) jelutong resin collection; (4) rubber production (based on permanent agroforestry systems); (5) oil palm production on three management scales (company, plasma farmer, and independent smallholder); (6) paddy production; and (7) carbon sequestration. Our study shows that the benefits generated from these services differ markedly between the stakeholders, which we grouped into private, public, and household entities. The distribution of these benefits is strongly influenced by government policies and in particular benefit sharing mechanisms. Hence, land-use change and policies influencing land-use change can be expected to have different impacts on different stakeholders. Our study also shows that the benefits generated by oil palm conversion, a main driver for land-use change in the province, are almost exclusively accrued by companies and at this point in time are shared unequally with local stakeholders.

Community dynamics and ecosystem simplification in a high-CO2 ocean.

PubMed

Kroeker, Kristy J; Gambi, Maria Cristina; Micheli, Fiorenza

2013-07-30

Disturbances are natural features of ecosystems that promote variability in the community and ultimately maintain diversity. Although it is recognized that global change will affect environmental disturbance regimes, our understanding of the community dynamics governing ecosystem recovery and the maintenance of functional diversity in future scenarios is very limited. Here, we use one of the few ecosystems naturally exposed to future scenarios of environmental change to examine disturbance and recovery dynamics. We examine the recovery patterns of marine species from a physical disturbance across different acidification regimes caused by volcanic CO2 vents. Plots of shallow rocky reef were cleared of all species in areas of ambient, low, and extreme low pH that correspond to near-future and extreme scenarios for ocean acidification. Our results illustrate how acidification decreases the variability of communities, resulting in homogenization and reduced functional diversity at a landscape scale. Whereas the recovery trajectories in ambient pH were highly variable and resulted in a diverse range of assemblages, recovery was more predictable with acidification and consistently resulted in very similar algal-dominated assemblages. Furthermore, low pH zones had fewer signs of biological disturbance (primarily sea urchin grazing) and increased recovery rates of the dominant taxa (primarily fleshy algae). Together, our results highlight how environmental change can cause ecosystem simplification via environmentally mediated changes in community dynamics in the near future, with cascading impacts on functional diversity and ecosystem function.

The relationship between the spatial scaling of biodiversity and ecosystem stability

PubMed Central

Delsol, Robin; Loreau, Michel; Haegeman, Bart

2018-01-01

Aim Ecosystem stability and its link with biodiversity have mainly been studied at the local scale. Here we present a simple theoretical model to address the joint dependence of diversity and stability on spatial scale, from local to continental. Methods The notion of stability we use is based on the temporal variability of an ecosystem-level property, such as primary productivity. In this way, our model integrates the well-known species–area relationship (SAR) with a recent proposal to quantify the spatial scaling of stability, called the invariability–area relationship (IAR). Results We show that the link between the two relationships strongly depends on whether the temporal fluctuations of the ecosystem property of interest are more correlated within than between species. If fluctuations are correlated within species but not between them, then the IAR is strongly constrained by the SAR. If instead individual fluctuations are only correlated by spatial proximity, then the IAR is unrelated to the SAR. We apply these two correlation assumptions to explore the effects of species loss and habitat destruction on stability, and find a rich variety of multi-scale spatial dependencies, with marked differences between the two assumptions. Main conclusions The dependence of ecosystem stability on biodiversity across spatial scales is governed by the spatial decay of correlations within and between species. Our work provides a point of reference for mechanistic models and data analyses. More generally, it illustrates the relevance of macroecology for ecosystem functioning and stability. PMID:29651225

Valuing ecosystem services from wetlands restoration in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jenkins, W.A.; Murray, B.C.; Kramer, R.A.; Faulkner, S.P.

2010-01-01

This study assesses the value of restoring forested wetlands via the U.S. government's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley by quantifying and monetizing ecosystem services. The three focal services are greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, nitrogen mitigation, and waterfowl recreation. Site- and region-level measurements of these ecosystem services are combined with process models to quantify their production on agricultural land, which serves as the baseline, and on restored wetlands. We adjust and transform these measures into per-hectare, valuation-ready units and monetize them with prices from emerging ecosystem markets and the environmental economics literature. By valuing three of the many ecosystem services produced, we generate lower bound estimates for the total ecosystem value of the wetlands restoration. Social welfare value is found to be between $1435 and $1486/ha/year, with GHG mitigation valued in the range of $171 to $222, nitrogen mitigation at $1248, and waterfowl recreation at $16. Limited to existing markets, the estimate for annual market value is merely $70/ha, but when fully accounting for potential markets, this estimate rises to $1035/ha. The estimated social value surpasses the public expenditure or social cost of wetlands restoration in only 1 year, indicating that the return on public investment is very attractive for the WRP. Moreover, the potential market value is substantially greater than landowner opportunity costs, showing that payments to private landowners to restore wetlands could also be profitable for individual landowners. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Ecosystem Jenga!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Umphlett, Natalie; Brosius, Tierney; Laungani, Ramesh; Rousseau, Joe; Leslie-Pelecky, Diandra L.

2009-01-01

To give students a tangible model of an ecosystem and have them experience what could happen if a component of that ecosystem were removed; the authors developed a hands-on, inquiry-based activity that visually demonstrates the concept of a delicately balanced ecosystem through a modification of the popular game Jenga. This activity can be…

Alpine ecosystems

Treesearch

P.W. Rundel; C.I. Millar

2016-01-01

Alpine ecosystems are typically defined as those areas occurring above treeline, while recognizing that alpine ecosystems at a local scale may be found below this boundary for reasons including geology, geomorphology, and microclimate. The lower limit of the alpine ecosystems, the climatic treeline, varies with latitude across California, ranging from about 3500 m in...

Bahasa Gado-Gado in Indonesian Popular Texts: Expanding Indonesian Identities through Code-Switching with English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Nelly

2017-01-01

This study explores the relationship between language selection and identity construction in contemporary Indonesia through an examination of the function of English, a language that still receives stigma from many Indonesians and the government, particularly in Indonesian popular texts published after 1998. Utilizing hybrid critical approaches…

Cryptic Methane Emissions from Upland Forest Ecosystems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Megonigal, Patrick; Pitz, Scott

This exploratory research on Cryptic Methane Emissions from Upland Forest Ecosystems was motivated by evidence that upland ecosystems emit 36% as much methane to the atmosphere as global wetlands, yet we knew almost nothing about this source. The long-term objective was to refine Earth system models by quantifying methane emissions from upland forests, and elucidate the biogeochemical processes that govern upland methane emissions. The immediate objectives of the grant were to: (i) test the emerging paradigm that upland trees unexpectedly transpire methane, (ii) test the basic biogeochemical assumptions of an existing global model of upland methane emissions, and (iii) developmore » the suite of biogeochemical approaches that will be needed to advance research on upland methane emissions. We instrumented a temperate forest system in order to explore the processes that govern upland methane emissions. We demonstrated that methane is emitted from the stems of dominant tree species in temperate upland forests. Tree emissions occurred throughout the growing season, while soils adjacent to the trees consumed methane simultaneously, challenging the concept that forests are uniform sinks of methane. High frequency measurements revealed diurnal cycling in the rate of methane emissions, pointing to soils as the methane source and transpiration as the most likely pathway for methane transport. We propose the forests are smaller methane sinks than previously estimated due to stem emissions. Stem emissions may be particularly important in upland tropical forests characterized by high rainfall and transpiration, resolving differences between models and measurements. The methods we used can be effectively implemented in order to determine if the phenomenon is widespread.« less

Possibilities for global governance of converging technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roco, Mihail C.

2008-01-01

institutions; and (d) making international agreements and partnerships. Several possibilities for improving the governance of converging technologies in the global self-regulating ecosystem are recommended: using open-source and incentive-based models, establishing corresponding science and engineering platforms, empowering the stakeholders and promoting partnerships among them, implementing long-term planning that includes international perspectives, and institute voluntary and science-based measures for risk management.

Australia's TERN: Building, Sustaining and Advancing Collaborative Long Term Ecosystem Research Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

HEld, A. A.; Phinn, S. R.

2012-12-01

TERN is Australia's Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (www.tern.org.au) is one of several environmental data collection, storage and sharing projects developed through the government's research infrastructure programs 2008-2014. This includes terrestrial and coastal ecosystem data collection infrastructure across multiple disciplines, hardware, software and processes used to store, analyse and integrate data sets. TERN's overall objective is to build the collaborations, infrastructure and programs to meet the needs of ecosystem science communities in Australia in the long term, through institutional frameworks necessary to establish a national terrestrial ecosystem site and observational network, coordinated networks enabling cooperation and operational experience; public access to quality assured and appropriately licensed data; and allowing the terrestrial ecosystem research community to define and sustain the terrestrial observing paradigm into the longer term. This paper explains how TERN was originally established, and now operates, along with plans to sustain itself in the future. TERN is implemented through discipline/technical groups referred to as "TERN Facilities". Combined, the facilities provide observations of surface mass and energy fluxes over key ecosystems, biophysical remote sensing data, ecological survey plots, soils information, and coastal ecosystems and associated water quality variables across Australia. Additional integrative facilities cover elements of ecoinformatics, data-scaling and modelling, and linking science to management. A central coordination and portal facility provides meta-data storage, data identification, legal and licensing support. Data access, uploading, meta-data generation, DOI attachment and licensing is completed at each facility's own portal level. TERN also acts as the open-data repository of choice for Australian scientists required to publish their data. Several key lessons we have learnt, will be presented

Governing sex workers in Timor Leste.

PubMed

Harrington, Carol

2011-01-01

This paper argues that international security forces in Timor Leste depend upon civilian partners in HIV/AIDs "knowledge networks" to monitor prostitutes' disease status. These networks produce mobile expertise, techniques of government and forms of personhood that facilitate international government of distant populations without overt coercion. HIV/AIDs experts promote techniques of peer education, empowerment and community mobilisation to construct women who sell sex as health conscious sex workers. Such techniques make impoverished women responsible for their disease status, obscuring the political and economic contexts that produced that status. In the militarised context of Timor Leste, knowledge of the sexual conduct of sub-populations labelled high risk circulates among global HIV/AIDs knowledge networks, confirming their expert status while obscuring the sexual harm produced by military intervention. HIV/AIDs knowledge networks have recently begun to build Timorese sex worker organisations by contracting an Australian sex worker NGO to train a Timorese NGO tasked with building sex worker identity and community. Such efforts fail to address the needs and priorities of the women supposedly empowered. The paper engages theories of global knowledge networks, mobile technologies of government, and governmentality to analyse policy documents, reports, programmes, official statements, speeches, and journalistic accounts regarding prostitution in Timor Leste.

Clarifying the confusion: old-growth savannahs and tropical ecosystem degradation

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Ancient tropical grassy biomes are often misrecognized as severely degraded forests. I trace this confusion to several factors, with roots in the nineteenth century, including misinterpretations of the nature of fire in savannahs, attempts to reconcile savannah ecology with Clementsian succession, use of physiognomic (structural) definitions of savannah and development of tropical degradation frameworks focused solely on forests. Towards clarity, I present two models that conceptualize the drivers of ecosystem degradation as operating in both savannahs and forests. These models highlight how human-induced environmental changes create ecosystems with superficially similar physiognomies but radically different conservation values. Given the limitation of physiognomy to differentiate savannahs from severely degraded forests, I present an alternative approach based on floristic composition. Data from eastern lowland Bolivia show that old-growth savannahs can be reliably distinguished by eight grass species and that species identity influences ecosystem flammability. I recommend that scientists incorporate savannahs in tropical degradation frameworks alongside forests, and that savannah be qualified as old-growth savannah in reference to ancient grassy biomes or derived savannah in reference to deforestation. These conceptual advances will require attention not only to tree cover, but also to savannah herbaceous plant species and their ecologies. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation’. PMID:27502372

Interactions between spatially explicit conservation and management measures: implications for the governance of marine protected areas.

PubMed

Cárcamo, P Francisco; Gaymer, Carlos F

2013-12-01

Marine protected areas are not established in an institutional and governance vacuum and managers should pay attention to the wider social-ecological system in which they are immersed. This article examines Islas Choros-Damas Marine Reserve, a small marine protected area located in a highly productive and biologically diverse coastal marine ecosystem in northern Chile, and the interactions between human, institutional, and ecological dimensions beyond those existing within its boundaries. Through documents analysis, surveys, and interviews, we described marine reserve implementation (governing system) and the social and natural ecosystem-to-be-governed. We analyzed the interactions and the connections between the marine reserve and other spatially explicit conservation and/or management measures existing in the area and influencing management outcomes and governance. A top-down approach with poor stakeholder involvement characterized the implementation process. The marine reserve is highly connected with other spatially explicit measures and with a wider social-ecological system through various ecological processes and socio-economic interactions. Current institutional interactions with positive effects on the management and governance are scarce, although several potential interactions may be developed. For the study area, any management action must recognize interferences from outside conditions and consider some of them (e.g., ecotourism management) as cross-cutting actions for the entire social-ecological system. We consider that institutional interactions and the development of social networks are opportunities to any collective effort aiming to improve governance of Islas Choros-Damas marine reserve. Communication of connections and interactions between marine protected areas and the wider social-ecological system (as described in this study) is proposed as a strategy to improve stakeholder participation in Chilean marine protected areas.

Interactions Between Spatially Explicit Conservation and Management Measures: Implications for the Governance of Marine Protected Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cárcamo, P. Francisco; Gaymer, Carlos F.

2013-12-01

Marine protected areas are not established in an institutional and governance vacuum and managers should pay attention to the wider social-ecological system in which they are immersed. This article examines Islas Choros-Damas Marine Reserve, a small marine protected area located in a highly productive and biologically diverse coastal marine ecosystem in northern Chile, and the interactions between human, institutional, and ecological dimensions beyond those existing within its boundaries. Through documents analysis, surveys, and interviews, we described marine reserve implementation (governing system) and the social and natural ecosystem-to-be-governed. We analyzed the interactions and the connections between the marine reserve and other spatially explicit conservation and/or management measures existing in the area and influencing management outcomes and governance. A top-down approach with poor stakeholder involvement characterized the implementation process. The marine reserve is highly connected with other spatially explicit measures and with a wider social-ecological system through various ecological processes and socio-economic interactions. Current institutional interactions with positive effects on the management and governance are scarce, although several potential interactions may be developed. For the study area, any management action must recognize interferences from outside conditions and consider some of them (e.g., ecotourism management) as cross-cutting actions for the entire social-ecological system. We consider that institutional interactions and the development of social networks are opportunities to any collective effort aiming to improve governance of Islas Choros-Damas marine reserve. Communication of connections and interactions between marine protected areas and the wider social-ecological system (as described in this study) is proposed as a strategy to improve stakeholder participation in Chilean marine protected areas.

Connecting marine ecosystem services to human well-being: insights from participatory well-being assessment in Kenya.

PubMed

Abunge, Caroline; Coulthard, Sarah; Daw, Tim M

2013-12-01

The linkage between ecosystems and human well-being is a focus of the conceptualization of "ecosystem services" as promoted by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. However, the actual nature of connections between ecosystems and the well-being of individuals remains complex and poorly understood. We conducted a series of qualitative focus groups with five different stakeholder groups connected to a small-scale Kenyan coastal fishery to understand (1) how well-being is understood within the community, and what is important for well-being, (2) how people's well-being has been affected by changes over the recent past, and (3) people's hopes and aspirations for their future fishery. Our results show that people conceive well-being in a diversity of ways, but that these can clearly map onto the MA framework. In particular, our research unpacks the "freedoms and choices" element of the framework and argues for greater recognition of these aspects of well-being in fisheries management in Kenya through, for example, more participatory governance processes.

IdentityMap Visualization of the Super Identity Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The Super Identity Model is a collaboration with six United Kingdom universities to develop use cases used to piece together a person's identity across biological, cyber, psychological, and biographical domains. PNNL visualized the model in a web-based application called IdentityMap. This is the first step in a promising new field of research. Interested future collaborators are welcome to find out more by emailing superid@pnnl.gov.

IdentityMap Visualization of the Super Identity Model

ScienceCinema

None

2018-06-08

The Super Identity Model is a collaboration with six United Kingdom universities to develop use cases used to piece together a person's identity across biological, cyber, psychological, and biographical domains. PNNL visualized the model in a web-based application called IdentityMap. This is the first step in a promising new field of research. Interested future collaborators are welcome to find out more by emailing superid@pnnl.gov.

Mistaken identity: activating conservative political identities induces "conservative" financial decisions.

PubMed

Morris, Michael W; Carranza, Erica; Fox, Craig R

2008-11-01

Four studies investigated whether activating a social identity can lead group members to choose options that are labeled in words associated with that identity. When political identities were made salient, Republicans (but not Democrats) became more likely to choose the gamble or investment option labeled "conservative." This shift did not occur in a condition in which the same options were unlabeled. Thus, the mechanism underlying the effect appears to be not activated identity-related values prioritizing low risk, but rather activated identity-related language (the group label "conservative"). Indeed, when political identities were salient, Republicans favored options labeled "conservative" regardless of whether the options were low or high risk. Finally, requiring participants to explain the label "conservative" before making their choice did not diminish the effect, which suggests that it does not merely reflect inattention to content or construct accessibility. We discuss the implications of these results for the literatures on identity, priming, choice, politics, and marketing.

Cryptic diversity and ecosystem functioning: a complex tale of differential effects on decomposition.

PubMed

De Meester, N; Gingold, R; Rigaux, A; Derycke, S; Moens, T

2016-10-01

Marine ecosystems are experiencing accelerating population and species loss. Some ecosystem functions are decreasing and there is growing interest in the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The role of cryptic (morphologically identical but genetically distinct) species in this biodiversity-ecosystem functioning link is unclear and has not yet been formally tested. We tested if there is a differential effect of four cryptic species of the bacterivorous nematode Litoditis marina on the decomposition process of macroalgae. Bacterivorous nematodes can stimulate or slow down bacterial activity and modify the bacterial assemblage composition. Moreover, we tested if interspecific interactions among the four cryptic species influence the decomposition process. A laboratory experiment with both mono- and multispecific nematode cultures was conducted, and loss of organic matter and the activity of two key extracellular enzymes for the degradation of phytodetritus were assessed. L. marina mainly influenced qualitative aspects of the decomposition process rather than its overall rate: an effect of the nematodes on the enzymatic activities became manifest, although no clear nematode effect on bulk organic matter weight loss was found. We also demonstrated that species-specific effects on the decomposition process existed. Combining the four cryptic species resulted in high competition, with one dominant species, but without complete exclusion of other species. These interspecific interactions translated into different effects on the decomposition process. The species-specific differences indicated that each cryptic species may play an important and distinct role in ecosystem functioning. Functional differences may result in coexistence among very similar species.

Designing a post-genomics knowledge ecosystem to translate pharmacogenomics into public health action.

PubMed

Dove, Edward S; Faraj, Samer A; Kolker, Eugene; Ozdemir, Vural

2012-01-01

Translation of pharmacogenomics to public health action is at the epicenter of the life sciences agenda. Post-genomics knowledge is simultaneously co-produced at multiple scales and locales by scientists, crowd-sourcing and biological citizens. The latter are entrepreneurial citizens who are autonomous, self-governing and increasingly conceptualizing themselves in biological terms, ostensibly taking responsibility for their own health, and engaging in patient advocacy and health activism. By studying these heterogeneous 'scientific cultures', we can locate innovative parameters of collective action to move pharmacogenomics to practice (personalized therapeutics). To this end, we reconceptualize knowledge-based innovation as a complex ecosystem comprising 'actors' and 'narrators'. For robust knowledge translation, we require a nested post-genomics technology governance system composed of first-order narrators (for example, social scientists, philosophers, bioethicists) situated at arm's length from innovation actors (for example, pharmacogenomics scientists). Yet, second-order narrators (for example, an independent and possibly crowd-funded think-tank of citizen scholars, marginalized groups and knowledge end-users) are crucial to prevent first-order narrators from gaining excessive power that can be misused in the course of steering innovations. To operate such 'self-calibrating' and nested innovation ecosystems, we introduce the concept of 'wiki-governance' to enable mutual and iterative learning among innovation actors and first- and second-order narrators. '[A] scientific expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less, until finally knowing (almost) everything about (almost) nothing.' [1] 'Ubuntu: I am because you are.' [2].

Designing a post-genomics knowledge ecosystem to translate pharmacogenomics into public health action

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Translation of pharmacogenomics to public health action is at the epicenter of the life sciences agenda. Post-genomics knowledge is simultaneously co-produced at multiple scales and locales by scientists, crowd-sourcing and biological citizens. The latter are entrepreneurial citizens who are autonomous, self-governing and increasingly conceptualizing themselves in biological terms, ostensibly taking responsibility for their own health, and engaging in patient advocacy and health activism. By studying these heterogeneous 'scientific cultures', we can locate innovative parameters of collective action to move pharmacogenomics to practice (personalized therapeutics). To this end, we reconceptualize knowledge-based innovation as a complex ecosystem comprising 'actors' and 'narrators'. For robust knowledge translation, we require a nested post-genomics technology governance system composed of first-order narrators (for example, social scientists, philosophers, bioethicists) situated at arm's length from innovation actors (for example, pharmacogenomics scientists). Yet, second-order narrators (for example, an independent and possibly crowd-funded think-tank of citizen scholars, marginalized groups and knowledge end-users) are crucial to prevent first-order narrators from gaining excessive power that can be misused in the course of steering innovations. To operate such 'self-calibrating' and nested innovation ecosystems, we introduce the concept of 'wiki-governance' to enable mutual and iterative learning among innovation actors and first- and second-order narrators. '[A] scientific expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less, until finally knowing (almost) everything about (almost) nothing.' [1] 'Ubuntu: I am because you are.' [2] PMID:23194449

Redefining ecosystem multifunctionality.

PubMed

Manning, Peter; van der Plas, Fons; Soliveres, Santiago; Allan, Eric; Maestre, Fernando T; Mace, Georgina; Whittingham, Mark J; Fischer, Markus

2018-03-01

Recent years have seen a surge of interest in ecosystem multifunctionality, a concept that has developed in the largely separate fields of biodiversity-ecosystem function and land management research. Here we discuss the merit of the multifunctionality concept, the advances it has delivered, the challenges it faces and solutions to these challenges. This involves the redefinition of multifunctionality as a property that exists at two levels: ecosystem function multifunctionality and ecosystem service multifunctionality. The framework presented provides a road map for the development of multifunctionality measures that are robust, quantifiable and relevant to both fundamental ecological science and ecosystem management.

Resilience, Integrity and Ecosystem Dynamics: Bridging Ecosystem Theory and Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Felix; Burkhard, Benjamin; Kroll, Franziska

In this paper different approaches to elucidate ecosystem dynamics are described, illustrated and interrelated. Ecosystem development is distinguished into two separate sequences, a complexifying phase which is characterized by orientor optimization and a destruction based phase which follows disturbances. The two developmental pathways are integrated in a modified illustration of the "adaptive cycle". Based on these fundamentals, the recent definitions of resilience, adaptability and vulnerability are discussed and a modified comprehension is proposed. Thereafter, two case studies about wetland dynamics are presented to demonstrate both, the consequences of disturbance and the potential of ecosystem recovery. In both examples ecosystem integrity is used as a key indicator variable. Based on the presented results the relativity and the normative loading of resilience quantification is worked out. The paper ends with the suggestion that the features of adaptability could be used as an integrative guideline for the analysis of ecosystem dynamics and as a well-suited concept for ecosystem management.

Resilience, Integrity and Ecosystem Dynamics: Bridging Ecosystem Theory and Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Felix; Burkhard, Benjamin; Kroll, Franziska

In this paper different approaches to elucidate ecosystem dynamics are described, illustrated and interrelated. Ecosystem development is distinguished into two separate sequences, a complexifying phase which is characterized by orientor optimization and a destruction based phase which follows disturbances. The two developmental pathways are integrated in a modified illustration of the “adaptive cycle”. Based on these fundamentals, the recent definitions of resilience, adaptability and vulnerability are discussed and a modified comprehension is proposed. Thereafter, two case studies about wetland dynamics are presented to demonstrate both, the consequences of disturbance and the potential of ecosystem recovery. In both examples ecosystem integrity is used as a key indicator variable. Based on the presented results the relativity and the normative loading of resilience quantification is worked out. The paper ends with the suggestion that the features of adaptability could be used as an integrative guideline for the analysis of ecosystem dynamics and as a well-suited concept for ecosystem management.

Risks and risk governance in unconventional shale gas development.

PubMed

Small, Mitchell J; Stern, Paul C; Bomberg, Elizabeth; Christopherson, Susan M; Goldstein, Bernard D; Israel, Andrei L; Jackson, Robert B; Krupnick, Alan; Mauter, Meagan S; Nash, Jennifer; North, D Warner; Olmstead, Sheila M; Prakash, Aseem; Rabe, Barry; Richardson, Nathan; Tierney, Susan; Webler, Thomas; Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Zielinska, Barbara

2014-01-01

A broad assessment is provided of the current state of knowledge regarding the risks associated with shale gas development and their governance. For the principal domains of risk, we identify observed and potential hazards and promising mitigation options to address them, characterizing current knowledge and research needs. Important unresolved research questions are identified for each area of risk; however, certain domains exhibit especially acute deficits of knowledge and attention, including integrated studies of public health, ecosystems, air quality, socioeconomic impacts on communities, and climate change. For these, current research and analysis are insufficient to either confirm or preclude important impacts. The rapidly evolving landscape of shale gas governance in the U.S. is also assessed, noting challenges and opportunities associated with the current decentralized (state-focused) system of regulation. We briefly review emerging approaches to shale gas governance in other nations, and consider new governance initiatives and options in the U.S. involving voluntary industry certification, comprehensive development plans, financial instruments, and possible future federal roles. In order to encompass the multiple relevant disciplines, address the complexities of the evolving shale gas system and reduce the many key uncertainties needed for improved management, a coordinated multiagency federal research effort will need to be implemented.

Fishing for ecosystem services.

PubMed

Pope, Kevin L; Pegg, Mark A; Cole, Nicholas W; Siddons, Stephen F; Fedele, Alexis D; Harmon, Brian S; Ruskamp, Ryan L; Turner, Dylan R; Uerling, Caleb C

2016-12-01

Ecosystems are commonly exploited and manipulated to maximize certain human benefits. Such changes can degrade systems, leading to cascading negative effects that may be initially undetected, yet ultimately result in a reduction, or complete loss, of certain valuable ecosystem services. Ecosystem-based management is intended to maintain ecosystem quality and minimize the risk of irreversible change to natural assemblages of species and to ecosystem processes while obtaining and maintaining long-term socioeconomic benefits. We discuss policy decisions in fishery management related to commonly manipulated environments with a focus on influences to ecosystem services. By focusing on broader scales, managing for ecosystem services, and taking a more proactive approach, we expect sustainable, quality fisheries that are resilient to future disturbances. To that end, we contend that: (1) management always involves tradeoffs; (2) explicit management of fisheries for ecosystem services could facilitate a transition from reactive to proactive management; and (3) adaptive co-management is a process that could enhance management for ecosystem services. We propose adaptive co-management with an ecosystem service framework where actions are implemented within ecosystem boundaries, rather than political boundaries, through strong interjurisdictional relationships. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Fishing for ecosystem services

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pope, Kevin L.; Pegg, Mark A.; Cole, Nicholas W.; Siddons, Stephen F.; Fedele, Alexis D.; Harmon, Brian S.; Ruskamp, Ryan L.; Turner, Dylan R.; Uerling, Caleb C.

2016-01-01

Ecosystems are commonly exploited and manipulated to maximize certain human benefits. Such changes can degrade systems, leading to cascading negative effects that may be initially undetected, yet ultimately result in a reduction, or complete loss, of certain valuable ecosystem services. Ecosystem-based management is intended to maintain ecosystem quality and minimize the risk of irreversible change to natural assemblages of species and to ecosystem processes while obtaining and maintaining long-term socioeconomic benefits. We discuss policy decisions in fishery management related to commonly manipulated environments with a focus on influences to ecosystem services. By focusing on broader scales, managing for ecosystem services, and taking a more proactive approach, we expect sustainable, quality fisheries that are resilient to future disturbances. To that end, we contend that: (1) management always involves tradeoffs; (2) explicit management of fisheries for ecosystem services could facilitate a transition from reactive to proactive management; and (3) adaptive co-management is a process that could enhance management for ecosystem services. We propose adaptive co-management with an ecosystem service framework where actions are implemented within ecosystem boundaries, rather than political boundaries, through strong interjurisdictional relationships.

Can we manage ecosystems in a sustainable way?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Jake

Fisheries have often become unsustainable, despite efforts of policy, management, and science. FAO has reviewed this undesirable pattern and identified six major factors contributing to unsustainability: inappropriate incentives, high demand for limited resources, poverty and lack of alternatives, complexity and lack of knowledge, lack of effective governance, and interactions of fisheries sector with other sectors and the environment. It also identified eight classes of actions that provide pathways to addressing the factors causing unsustainability of fisheries: allocation of rights; transparent, participatory management; support for science, enforcement and planning; equitable distribution of benefits; integrated policy development; application of precaution; building capacity and public understanding; and market incentives and economic instruments. The review highlighted that "sustainability" is a multi-dimensional concept (economic, social, ecological, and institutional), and measures implemented to address problems on one dimension of sustainability will move the fishery in a negative direction in at least one other dimension. In this paper I apply the FAO framework to the whole ecosystem. For each factor of unsustainability, I consider whether redefining the sustainability problem to the greater ecosystem makes the factor more or less serious as a threat to sustainability. For each pathway to improvement I consider whether the redefinition of the problem makes the pathway more or less effective as a management response to the threat. Few of the factors of unsustainability becomes easier to address at the ecosystem scale, and several of them become much more difficult. Of the combinations of pathways of responses and factors of unsustainability, more than two thirds of them become more difficult to apply, and/or have even greater negative impacts on other dimensions of sustainability. Importantly, the most promising pathways for addressing unsustainability of

The invasibility of marine algal assemblages: role of functional diversity and identity.

PubMed

Arenas, Francisco; Sánchez, Iñigo; Hawkins, Stephen J; Jenkins, Stuart R

2006-11-01

The emergence of the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning debate in the last decade has renewed interest in understanding why some communities are more easily invaded than others and how the impact of invasion on recipient communities and ecosystems varies. To date most of the research on invasibility has focused on taxonomic diversity, i.e., species richness. However, functional diversity of the communities should be more relevant for the resistance of the community to invasions, as the extent of functional differences among the species in an assemblage is a major determinant of ecosystem processes. Although coastal marine habitats are among the most heavily invaded ecosystems, studies on community invasibility and vulnerability in these habitats are scarce. We carried out a manipulative field experiment in tide pools of the rocky intertidal to test the hypothesis that increasing functional richness reduces the susceptibility of macroalgal communities to invasion. We selected a priori four functional groups on the basis of previous knowledge of local species characteristics: encrusting, turf, subcanopy, and canopy species. Synthetic assemblages containing one, two, three, or four different functional groups of seaweeds were created, and invasion by native species was monitored over an eight-month period. Cover and resource availability in the assemblages with only one functional group showed different patterns in the use of space and light, confirming true functional differences among our groups. Experimental results showed that the identity of functional groups was more important than functional richness in determining the ability of macroalgal communities to resist invasion and that resistance to invasion was resource-mediated.

Riparian spiders as sentinels of polychlorinated biphenyl contamination across heterogeneous aquatic ecosystems.

PubMed

Kraus, Johanna M; Gibson, Polly P; Walters, David M; Mills, Marc A

2017-05-01

Riparian spiders are being used increasingly to track spatial patterns of contaminants in and fluxing from aquatic ecosystems. However, our understanding of the circumstances under which spiders are effective sentinels of aquatic pollution is limited. The present study tests the hypothesis that riparian spiders may be effectively used to track spatial patterns of sediment pollution by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in aquatic ecosystems with high habitat heterogeneity. The spatial pattern of ΣPCB concentrations in 2 common families of riparian spiders sampled in 2011 to 2013 generally tracked spatial variation in sediment ΣPCBs across all sites within the Manistique River Great Lakes Area of Concern (AOC), a rivermouth ecosystem located on the south shore of the Upper Peninsula, Manistique (MI, USA) that includes harbor, river, backwater, and lake habitats. Sediment ΣPCB concentrations normalized for total organic carbon explained 41% of the variation in lipid-normalized spider ΣPCB concentrations across 11 sites. Furthermore, 2 common riparian spider taxa (Araneidae and Tetragnathidae) were highly correlated (r 2  > 0.78) and had similar mean ΣPCB concentrations when averaged across all years. The results indicate that riparian spiders may be useful sentinels of relative PCB availability to aquatic and riparian food webs in heterogeneous aquatic ecosystems like rivermouths where habitat and contaminant variability may make the use of aquatic taxa less effective. Furthermore, the present approach appears robust to heterogeneity in shoreline development and riparian vegetation that support different families of large web-building spiders. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1278-1286. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in

Ecosystem Health Assessment in the Pearl River Estuary of China by Considering Ecosystem Coordination

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiaoyan; Gao, Huiwang; Yao, Xiaohong; Chen, Zhenhua; Fang, Hongda; Ye, Shufeng

2013-01-01

Marine ecosystem is a complex nonlinear system. However, ecosystem health assessment conventionally builds on a linear superposition of changes in ecosystem components and probably fails to evaluate nonlinear interactions among various components. To better reflect the intrinsic interactions and their impacts on ecosystem health, an ecosystem coordination index, defined as the matching level of ecosystem structure/services, is proposed and incorporated into the ecosystem health index for a systematic diagnosis in the Pearl River Estuary, China. The analysis results show that the ecosystem health index over the last three decades decreased from 0.91 to 0.50, indicating deteriorating from healthy to unhealthy status. The health index is 3–16% lower than that calculated using the common method without considering ecosystem coordination. Ecosystem health degradation in the Pearl River Estuary manifested as significant decreases in structure/services and somewhat mismatching among them. Overall, the introduction of coordination in ecosystem health assessment could improve the understanding of the mechanism of marine ecosystem change and facilitate effective restoration of ecosystem health. PMID:23894670

Global Connectivity and Government Capacity: Social Networks, Order, Change, and Conflict

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

via social media networks (Internet and the World Wide Web [WWW]) and the institutional capacities of central governance. Blending theory with data...Huntington’s main thesis argument postulates that: Social and economic change—urbanization, increases in literacy and education, industrialization...that forge a common identity. His theory builds on the expectation that “we should expect that mass media technologies will strengthen economies of

Ethnic Identity in Everyday Life: The Influence of Identity Development Status

PubMed Central

Yip, Tiffany

2013-01-01

The current study explores the intersection of ethnic identity development and significance in a sample of 354 diverse adolescents (mean age 14). Adolescents completed surveys 5 times a day for 1 week. Cluster analyses revealed 4 identity clusters: diffused, foreclosed, moratorium, achieved. Achieved adolescents reported the highest levels of identity salience across situations, followed by moratorium adolescents. Achieved and moratorium adolescents also reported a positive association between identity salience and private regard. For foreclosed and achieved adolescents reporting low levels of centrality, identity salience was associated with lower private regard. For foreclosed and achieved adolescents reporting high levels of centrality, identity salience was associated with higher private regard. PMID:23581701

Teacher Educators: Their Identities, Sub-Identities and Implications for Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swennen, Anja; Jones, Ken; Volman, Monique

2010-01-01

In this article we address the question: "What sub-identities of teacher educators emerge from the research literature about teacher educators and what are the implications of the sub-identities for the professional development of teacher educators?" Like other professional identities, the identity of teacher educators is a construction of various…

Bridging Identities and Disciplines: Advances and Challenges in Understanding Multiple Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phinney, Jean S.

2008-01-01

The chapters in this volume address the need for a better understanding of the development of intersecting identities over age and context. The chapters provide valuable insights into the development of identities, particularly group identities. They highlight common processes across identities, such as the role of contrast and comparison and the…

Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems

Treesearch

Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez; Dylan Craven; Peter B. Reich; John J. Ewel; Forest Isbell; Julia Koricheva; John A. Parrotta; Harald Auge; Heather E. Erickson; David I. Forrester; Andy Hector; Jasmin Joshi; Florencia Montagnini; Cecilia Palmborg; Daniel Piotto; Catherine Potvin; Christiane Roscher; Jasper van Ruijven; David Tilman; Brian Wilsey; Nico Eisenhauer

2017-01-01

The effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning generally increase over time, but the underlying processes remain unclear. Using 26 long-term grassland and forest experimental ecosystems, we demonstrate that biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships strengthen mainly by greater increases in functioning in high-diversity communities in grasslands and forests...

Common bacterial responses in six ecosystems exposed to 10 years of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.

PubMed

Dunbar, John; Eichorst, Stephanie A; Gallegos-Graves, La Verne; Silva, Shannon; Xie, Gary; Hengartner, N W; Evans, R David; Hungate, Bruce A; Jackson, Robert B; Megonigal, J Patrick; Schadt, Christopher W; Vilgalys, Rytas; Zak, Donald R; Kuske, Cheryl R

2012-05-01

Six terrestrial ecosystems in the USA were exposed to elevated atmospheric CO(2) in single or multifactorial experiments for more than a decade to assess potential impacts. We retrospectively assessed soil bacterial community responses in all six-field experiments and found ecosystem-specific and common patterns of soil bacterial community response to elevated CO(2) . Soil bacterial composition differed greatly across the six ecosystems. No common effect of elevated atmospheric CO(2) on bacterial biomass, richness and community composition across all of the ecosystems was identified, although significant responses were detected in individual ecosystems. The most striking common trend across the sites was a decrease of up to 3.5-fold in the relative abundance of Acidobacteria Group 1 bacteria in soils exposed to elevated CO(2) or other climate factors. The Acidobacteria Group 1 response observed in exploratory 16S rRNA gene clone library surveys was validated in one ecosystem by 100-fold deeper sequencing and semi-quantitative PCR assays. Collectively, the 16S rRNA gene sequencing approach revealed influences of elevated CO(2) on multiple ecosystems. Although few common trends across the ecosystems were detected in the small surveys, the trends may be harbingers of more substantive changes in less abundant, more sensitive taxa that can only be detected by deeper surveys. Representative bacterial 16S rRNA gene clone sequences were deposited in GenBank with Accession No. JQ366086–JQ387568. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

A Dual Identity Approach for Conceptualizing and Measuring Children's Gender Identity.

PubMed

Martin, Carol Lynn; Andrews, Naomi C Z; England, Dawn E; Zosuls, Kristina; Ruble, Diane N

2017-01-01

The goal was to test a new dual identity perspective on gender identity by asking children (n = 467) in three grades (M age  = 5.7, 7.6, 9.5) to consider the relation of the self to both boys and girls. This change shifted the conceptualization of gender identity from one to two dimensions, provided insights into the meaning and measurement of gender identity, and allowed for revisiting ideas about the roles of gender identity in adjustment. Using a graphical measure to allow assessment of identity in young children and cluster analyses to determine types of identity, it was found that individual and developmental differences in how similar children feel to both genders, and these variations matter for many important personal and social outcomes. © 2016 The Authors. Child Development © 2016 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Bringing feedback and resilience of high-latitude ecosystems into the corporate boardroom.

PubMed

Whiteman, Gail; Forbes, Bruce C; Niemelä, Jari; Chapin, F Stuart

2004-08-01

This paper discusses the role of companies in high-latitude regions, which are conceptualized as socially and economically mediated ecosystems, and identifies a number of important social actors within the business environment. We present three examples of corporate activity at high latitudes and discuss a variety of common threads. Notably, we argue that business theory and practice needs to move beyond a narrow social or economic concept of organizational resilience and embrace the ecological resilience of high-latitude regions as a business management goal. We also suggest that regional ecosystem resilience needs to become a meaningful measure of sustainable corporate governance, one that corporate boards of directors can review and commit to. The paper concludes with a call for a detailed research agenda on the role of transnational and national companies within high-latitude regions.

Health data research in New Zealand: updating the ethical governance framework.

PubMed

Ballantyne, Angela; Style, Rochelle

2017-10-27

Demand for health data for secondary research is increasing, both in New Zealand and worldwide. The New Zealand government has established a large research database, the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which facilitates research, and an independent ministerial advisory group, the Data Futures Partnership (DFP), to engage with citizens, the private sector and non-government organisations (NGOs) to facilitate trusted data use and strengthen the data ecosystem in New Zealand. We commend these steps but argue that key strategies for effective health-data governance remain absent in New Zealand. In particular, we argue in favour of the establishment of: (1) a specialist Health and Disability Ethics Committee (HDEC) to review applications for secondary-use data research; (2) a public registry of approved secondary-use research projects (similar to a clinical trials registry); and (3) detailed guidelines for the review and approval of secondary-use data research. We present an ethical framework based on the values of public interest, trust and transparency to justify these innovations.

Governance of water resources in the phase of change: a case study of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in Sweden.

PubMed

Hammer, Monica; Balfors, Berit; Mörtberg, Ulla; Petersson, Mona; Quin, Andrew

2011-03-01

In this article, focusing on the ongoing implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, we analyze some of the opportunities and challenges for a sustainable governance of water resources from an ecosystem management perspective. In the face of uncertainty and change, the ecosystem approach as a holistic and integrated management framework is increasingly recognized. The ongoing implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) could be viewed as a reorganization phase in the process of change in institutional arrangements and ecosystems. In this case study from the Northern Baltic Sea River Basin District, Sweden, we focus in particular on data and information management from a multi-level governance perspective from the local stakeholder to the River Basin level. We apply a document analysis, hydrological mapping, and GIS models to analyze some of the institutional framework created for the implementation of the WFD. The study underlines the importance of institutional arrangements that can handle variability of local situations and trade-offs between solutions and priorities on different hierarchical levels.

The Identity Mapping Project: Demographic differences in patterns of distributed identity.

PubMed

Gilbert, Richard L; Dionisio, John David N; Forney, Andrew; Dorin, Philip

2015-01-01

The advent of cloud computing and a multi-platform digital environment is giving rise to a new phase of human identity called "The Distributed Self." In this conception, aspects of the self are distributed into a variety of 2D and 3D digital personas with the capacity to reflect any number of combinations of now malleable personality traits. In this way, the source of human identity remains internal and embodied, but the expression or enactment of the self becomes increasingly external, disembodied, and distributed on demand. The Identity Mapping Project (IMP) is an interdisciplinary collaboration between psychology and computer Science designed to empirically investigate the development of distributed forms of identity. Methodologically, it collects a large database of "identity maps" - computerized graphical representations of how active someone is online and how their identity is expressed and distributed across 7 core digital domains: email, blogs/personal websites, social networks, online forums, online dating sites, character based digital games, and virtual worlds. The current paper reports on gender and age differences in online identity based on an initial database of distributed identity profiles.

Reproductive autonomy, the non-identity problem, and the non-person problem.

PubMed

DiSilvestro, Russell

2009-01-01

The Non-Identity Problem is the problem of explaining the apparent wrongness of a decision that does not harm people, especially since some of the people affected by the decision would not exist at all were it not for the decision. One approach to this problem, in the context of reproductive decisions, is to focus on wronging, rather than harming, one's offspring. But a Non-Person Problem emerges for any view that claims (1) that only persons can be wronged and (2) that the person-making properties allow for there to be human non-persons. Consider an individual human organism that is prevented from ever possessing the person-making properties. On person-only accounts of the victims of wronging, this organism cannot be wronged by anyone. Hence even individuals whose decisions prevent it from ever possessing the person-making properties cannot wrong it. But this is counter-intuitive. We can think of examples where a human organism is wronged by precisely those decisions that prevent it from possessing the person-making properties. The best solution to this problem, in the case where the person-making property is rational self-governance in pursuit of a meaningful life, is to adjust the concept of a person so that it refers, not merely to those with the immediate capacity for rational self-governance in pursuit of a meaningful life, but also to those with a higher-order capacity for such self-governance. Any solution to the Non-Identity Problem that focuses on wronging rather than harming should incorporate this sort of solution to the Non-Person Problem.

The Regional Advisory Councils: what is their potential to incorporate stakeholder knowledge into fisheries governance?

PubMed

Linke, Sebastian; Dreyer, Marion; Sellke, Piet

2011-03-01

The protection of the Baltic Sea ecosystem is exacerbated by the social, environmental and economic complexities of governing European fisheries. Increased stakeholder participation and knowledge integration are suggested to improve the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), suffering from legitimacy, credibility and compliance problems. As a result, the CFP was revised in 2002 to involve fisheries representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders through so called Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) in the policy process. We address the RAC's task to incorporate stakeholder knowledge into the EU's fisheries governance system in empirical and theoretical perspectives. Drawing on a four-stage governance concept we subsequently suggest that a basic problem is a mismatch between participation purpose (knowledge inclusion) and the governance stage at which RACs are formally positioned (evaluation of management proposals). We conclude that, if the aim is to broaden the knowledge base of fisheries management, stakeholders need to be included earlier in the governance process.

Neurodegeneration and Identity.

PubMed

Strohminger, Nina; Nichols, Shaun

2015-09-01

There is a widespread notion, both within the sciences and among the general public, that mental deterioration can rob individuals of their identity. Yet there have been no systematic investigations of what types of cognitive damage lead people to appear to no longer be themselves. We measured perceived identity change in patients with three kinds of neurodegenerative disease: frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Structural equation models revealed that injury to the moral faculty plays the primary role in identity discontinuity. Other cognitive deficits, including amnesia, have no measurable impact on identity persistence. Accordingly, frontotemporal dementia has the greatest effect on perceived identity, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has the least. We further demonstrated that perceived identity change fully mediates the impact of neurodegenerative disease on relationship deterioration between patient and caregiver. Our results mark a departure from theories that ground personal identity in memory, distinctiveness, dispositional emotion, or global mental function. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Identity and Identity Identification of Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Qu, Zhengwei

2008-01-01

When we tend to analyze the living conditions of teachers, system arrangement and identity identification can be considered a significant method for analysis. In reality, there appears a phenomenon of overlapping identification in the identity identification of teachers in China, which leads to plural selections in the identification manners of…

Culture heritage and identity - some cases in Taiwan on the protection of cultural heritage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, R. W.-C.

2015-09-01

The protection of cultural heritage relates to an issue of identity. How a nation or a state tries to face to its history is often revealed on the protection of cultural heritage. Taiwan is as a country with complex history, especially the period after World War II. This article will work on some significant cases, regarded as ideological representation of identity. This article works on the cultural identity by observing and analyzing different cases of classified Historic Monuments. In different political periods, we see how the government tries to fabricate on the identity issue by working on Historic Monuments preservation. During the presidency of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo, the classification of Historic Monuments tried to focus on those make by former Chinese migrants. They tried hard to establish and reaffirm the ever existing "fact" of people in Taiwan. Whereas after the late 1980s and 1990s, after Chiang's reign, local conscience has been awaken. Political ambience turned to a new era. This freedom of speech of post-Chiang's reign encourages people to seek on their identity. The complex political situation of Taiwan makes this seeking cultural identity related to the seeking of independence of Taiwan. The respect to the aboriginal people also reoriented to include the preservation of their tribes and villages.

SuperIdentity: Fusion of Identity across Real and Cyber Domains

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Black, Sue; Creese, Sadie; Guest, Richard

Under both benign and malign circumstances, people now manage a spectrum of identities across both real-world and cyber domains. Our belief, however, is that all these instances ultimately track back for an individual to reflect a single 'SuperIdentity'. This paper outlines the assumptions underpinning the SuperIdentity Project, describing the innovative use of data fusion to incorporate novel real-world and cyber cues into a rich framework appropriate for modern identity. The proposed combinatorial model will support a robust identification or authentication decision, with confidence indexed both by the level of trust in data provenance, and the diagnosticity of the identity factorsmore » being used. Additionally, the exploration of correlations between factors may underpin the more intelligent use of identity information so that known information may be used to predict previously hidden information. With modern living supporting the 'distribution of identity' across real and cyber domains, and with criminal elements operating in increasingly sophisticated ways in the hinterland between the two, this approach is suggested as a way forwards, and is discussed in terms of its impact on privacy, security, and the detection of threat.« less

China's Primary Programs of Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration: Initiation, Implementation, and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Runsheng; Yin, Guiping

2010-03-01

China has undertaken several major programs of terrestrial ecosystem restoration (ERPs) in recent years, including the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) and the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). There have been reports on the implementation of these programs, their preliminary impacts, and the problems encountered in carrying them out; a great deal has been learned from these studies. Nonetheless, China’s ERPs are not limited to the NFPP and the SLCP. Because a complete documentation and a timely update of these major efforts are still missing from the literature, it is difficult to gauge the scope of these programs and the scale of their impacts. In addition, a more thorough and critical analysis of both the general ERP policy and the specific technical measures used in implementing the ERPs remains urgently needed. The purpose of this article is to tackle these tasks. Overall, with the huge government investments in the ERPs, tremendous progress has been made in implementing them. To complete them successfully and to fundamentally improve the targeted ecosystems, however, it is essential for China to have a more balanced and comprehensive approach to ecological restoration. This approach must include: adopting better planning and management practices; strengthening the governance of program implementation; emphasizing the active engagement of local people; establishing an independent, competent monitoring network; and conducting adequate assessments of program effectiveness and impact.

Does Everyone Have a Musical Identity?: Reflections on "Musical Identities"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gracyk, Theodore

2004-01-01

The book, "Musical Identities" (Raymond MacDonald, David Hargreaves, Dorothy Miell, eds.; Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) consists of 11 essays on the psychology of music. The editors divided the essays into two groups: those on developing musical identities ("identities in music" involving recognizable…

Korean Adoptee Identity: Adoptive and Ethnic Identity Profiles of Adopted Korean Americans.

PubMed

Beaupre, Adam J; Reichwald, Reed; Zhou, Xiang; Raleigh, Elizabeth; Lee, Richard M

2015-12-01

Adopted Korean adolescents face the task of grappling with their identity as Koreans and coming to terms with their adoptive status. In order to explore these dual identities, the authors conducted a person-centered study of the identity profiles of 189 adopted Korean American adolescents. Using cluster analytic procedures, the study examined patterns of commitment to ethnic and adoptive identities, revealing six conceptually unique identity clusters. Analyzing the association between these identity profiles and psychological adjustment, the study found that the identity profiles were undifferentiated with respect to behavioral development and risk behaviors. However, group differences were found on life satisfaction, school adjustment, and family functioning. Results confirm the importance of considering the collective impact of multiple social identities on a variety of outcomes. The social implications of the results are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Perspectives on Sexual Identity Formation, Identity Practices, and Identity Transitions Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in India.

PubMed

Tomori, Cecilia; Srikrishnan, Aylur K; Ridgeway, Kathleen; Solomon, Sunil S; Mehta, Shruti H; Solomon, Suniti; Celentano, David D

2018-01-01

Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain at high risk for HIV infection. Culturally specific sexual identities, encompassing sexual roles, behavior, and appearance, may shape MSM's experiences of stigmatization and discrimination, and affect their vulnerability to HIV. This multi-site qualitative study (n = 363) encompassing 31 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 121 in-depth interviews (IDIs) across 15 sites in India investigated sexual identity formation, identity practices, and transitions and their implications for HIV prevention. IDIs and FGDs were transcribed, translated, and underwent thematic analysis. Our findings document heterogeneous sexual identity formation, with MSM who have more gender nonconforming behaviors or appearance reporting greater family- and community-level disapproval, harassment, violence, and exclusion. Concealing feminine aspects of sexual identities was important in daily life, especially for married MSM. Some participants negotiated their identity practices in accordance with socioeconomic and cultural pressures, including taking on identity characteristics to suit consumer demand in sex work and on extended periods of joining communities of hijras (sometimes called TG or transgender women). Participants also reported that some MSM transition toward more feminine and hijra or transgender women identities, motivated by intersecting desires for feminine gender expression and by social exclusion and economic marginalization. Future studies should collect information on gender nonconformity stigma, and any changes in sexual identity practices or plans for transitions to other identities over time, in relation to HIV risk behaviors and outcomes.

Stable isotope probing to study functional components of complex microbial ecosystems.

PubMed

Mazard, Sophie; Schäfer, Hendrik

2014-01-01

This protocol presents a method of dissecting the DNA or RNA of key organisms involved in a specific biochemical process within a complex ecosystem. Stable isotope probing (SIP) allows the labelling and separation of nucleic acids from community members that are involved in important biochemical transformations, yet are often not the most numerically abundant members of a community. This pure culture-independent technique circumvents limitations of traditional microbial isolation techniques or data mining from large-scale whole-community metagenomic studies to tease out the identities and genomic repertoires of microorganisms participating in biological nutrient cycles. SIP experiments can be applied to virtually any ecosystem and biochemical pathway under investigation provided a suitable stable isotope substrate is available. This versatile methodology allows a wide range of analyses to be performed, from fatty-acid analyses, community structure and ecology studies, and targeted metagenomics involving nucleic acid sequencing. SIP experiments provide an effective alternative to large-scale whole-community metagenomic studies by specifically targeting the organisms or biochemical transformations of interest, thereby reducing the sequencing effort and time-consuming bioinformatics analyses of large datasets.

A longitudinal integration of identity styles and educational identity processes in adolescence.

PubMed

Negru-Subtirica, Oana; Pop, Eleonora Ioana; Crocetti, Elisabetta

2017-11-01

Identity formation is a main adolescent psychosocial developmental task. The complex interconnection between different processes that are at the basis of one's identity is a research and applied intervention priority. In this context, the identity style model focuses on social-cognitive strategies (i.e., informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant) that individuals can use to deal with identity formation. The 3-factor identity dimensional model examines the interplay between identity processes of commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment in different life domains. Theoretical integrations between these models have been proposed, but there is a dearth of studies unraveling their longitudinal links in specific identity domains. We addressed this gap by testing in a 3-wave longitudinal study the bidirectional associations between identity styles and educational identity processes measured during 1 academic year. Participants were 1,151 adolescents (58.7% female). Results highlighted that the informational style was related over time to higher levels of educational commitment and in-depth exploration, whereas the diffuse-avoidant style was related to lower levels of commitment and higher levels of reconsideration of commitment. Educational commitment was positively related to the informational and normative styles; in-depth exploration was positively related to the informational style; and reconsideration of commitment was positively related to the diffuse-avoidant style. These relations were not moderated by adolescents' gender and age. Hence, identity styles and educational identity processes reinforce each other during 1 academic year. Theoretical integrations between these models, suggestions for integration with other identity approaches (e.g., narrative identity models), and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Identity styles, positive youth development, and civic engagement in adolescence.

PubMed

Crocetti, Elisabetta; Erentaitė, Rasa; Zukauskienė, Rita

2014-11-01

Identity formation is a core developmental task of adolescence. Adolescents can rely on different social-cognitive styles to seek, process, and encode self-relevant information: information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant identity styles. The reliance on different styles might impact adolescents' adjustment and their active involvement in the society. The purpose of this study was to examine whether adolescents with different identity styles report differences in positive youth development (analyzed with the Five Cs-Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection, and Caring-model) and in various forms of civic engagement (i.e., involvement in school self-government activities, volunteering activities, youth political organizations, and youth non-political organizations). The participants were 1,633 (54.1 % female) 14-19 year old adolescents (M age = 16.56, SD age = 1.22). The findings indicated that adolescents with different identity styles differed significantly on all the Five Cs and on two (i.e., involvement in volunteering activities and in youth non-political organizations) forms of civic engagement. Briefly, adolescents with an information-oriented style reported high levels of both the Five Cs and civic engagement; participants with a normative style reported moderate to high scores on the Five Cs but low rates of civic engagement; diffuse-avoidant respondents scored low both on the Five Cs and on civic engagement. These findings suggest that the information-oriented style, contrary to the diffuse-avoidant one, has beneficial effects for both the individual and the community, while the normative style has quite beneficial effects for the individual but not for his/her community. Concluding, adolescents with different identity styles display meaningful differences in positive youth development and in rates of civic engagement.

The Role of Secularism of State on the Relationship Between Catholic Identity, Political Orientation, and Gay Rights Issues.

PubMed

Hichy, Zira; Gerges, Mina Halim Helmy; Platania, Silvia; Santisi, Giuseppe

2015-01-01

In discussions of regulations governing same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians, the issue of state secularism is often called into question. This study aims to test the mediating effects of state secularism on the relationship between Catholic identity, political orientation, and gay civil rights. Participants were Catholic Italians who completed a questionnaire measuring the constructs under investigation. Results showed that state secularism mediates the effects of Catholic identity and political orientation on attitudes toward same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Western Region: Coastal ecosystem responses to influences from land and sea, Coastal and Ocean Science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bodkin, James L.

2010-01-01

Sea otters and the nearshore ecosystems they inhabit-from highly urbanized California to relatively pristine Alaska-are the focus of a new multidisciplinary study by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and a suite of international, academic and government collaborators. The Coastal Ecosystem Responses to Influences from Land and Sea project will investigate the many interacting variables that influence the health of coastal ecosystems along the Northeast Pacific shore. These ecosystems face unprecedented challenges, with threats arising from the adjacent oceans and lands. From the ocean, challenges include acidification, sea level rise, and warming. From the land, challenges include elevated biological, geological and chemical pollutants associated with burgeoning human populations along coastlines. The implications of these challenges for biological systems are only beginning to be explored. Comparing sea otter population status indicators from around the northeastern Pacific Rim, will begin the process of defining factors of coastal ecosystem health in this broad region.

When the feasibility of an ecosystem is sufficient for global stability?

PubMed

Porati, A; Granero, M I

2000-01-01

We show via a Liapunov function that in every model ecosystem governed by generalized Lotka-Volterra equations, a feasible steady state is globally asymptotically stable if the number of interaction branches equals n-1, where n is the number of species. This means that the representative graph for which the theorem holds is a 'tree' and not only an alimentary chain. Our result is valid also in the case of non-homogeneous systems, which model situations in which input fluxes are present.

Identity Styles and Religiosity: Examining the Role of Identity Commitment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grajales, Tevni E.; Sommers, Brittany

2016-01-01

This study observed the role of identity styles, identity commitment, and identity statuses in predicting religiosity in a sample of undergraduate students attending a Seventh-day Adventist university (N = 138). Two structural models were evaluated via path analysis. Results revealed two strong models for the prediction of religiosity. Identity…

Lessons from the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) Workshop "Defining Your Research Identity"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kontak, R.; Kogan, M.; Adams, A. S.; DeBoer, A.; Hastings, M. G.; Holloway, T.; Laursen, S. L.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.

2011-12-01

The Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) is an international network of and for early-career women geoscientists, including graduate students, postdocs, faculty, program managers, and government, non-government and industry researchers. The mission of ESWN since 2002 is to promote career development, build community, provide informal mentoring and support, and facilitate professional collaborations, all towards making women successful in their scientific careers. With support from a National Science Foundation ADVANCE PAID grant, ESWN is meeting those goals through activities such as the workshop "Defining Your Research Identity." The overall goals of the 2011 ESWN Workshop were to help women at all career stages-but particularly early in their chosen track-to think through their personal, career and research goals, and to articulate these interests and goals in a way that reflects their professional strengths, both verbally and in writing. The focus of "Defining Your Research Identity" provided an opportunity for participants to walk away with a better sense of who they are, what they want, and how to achieve their goals by helping them identify the steps, resources and support needed. "Defining Your Research Identity," was selected as a workshop topic because the theme is relevant to all career stages. In particular, we set workshop goals of identifying personal strengths, defining a mission statement, networking with other ESWN members, and putting the newly-developed personal mission into action. Participants reported significant increases in personal motivation and support and encouragement from the network to pursue their goals, including research, writing, and applications for funding and programs.

The Cognitive, Social and Emotional Processes of Teacher Identity Construction in a Pre-Service Teacher Education Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Lee, Icy

2015-01-01

This research investigates how three Government-funded Normal Students constructed and reconstructed their identities in a pre-service teacher education programme in China. Drawing upon data from interviews, field observation and the pre-service teachers' written reflections, the study explores the cognitive, social and emotional processes of…

Unique governance for a national ministry. Catholic Health Initiatives' board structure empowers laity, supports mission.

PubMed

Poe, J E

1998-01-01

The three original founding healthcare systems and 10 sponsoring religious institutes of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) have developed an unprecedented governance model to support their vision of a national Catholic health ministry in the twenty-first century. The new organization spans 22 states; annual revenues exceed $4.7 billion. Religious institutes choose either active or honorary status before consolidating with CHI, depending on their desired involvement in the organization. Currently, nine are active and two are honorary. CHI's civil corporation comprises one representative from each active congregation. These representatives approve major changes in mission or philosophical direction. They control board membership by appointing three to five congregation representatives as sponsorship trustees, who are responsible for approving the remaining members of the Board of Stewardship Trustees. This half-religious, half-lay governing board is responsible for leading CHI. CHI has only two levels of governance, a national board and boards of market-based organizations, for instance a network of facilities with one management structure, or a community board of an individual facility. This avoids multiple administrative layers and approval processes. The organization has a civil identity as CHI and a canonical identity as a public juridic person of pontifical right, called Catholic Health Care Federation (CHCF). The governing board members of CHI, as members of CHCF, serve as the religious sponsors for all CHI health facilities. Some facilities have already been "alienated" (turned over) to CHI by their religious institutes; others will be alienated in the future. CHI's recent consolidation with Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Health System added an 11th sponsor, a sixth geographic region, and two members--one religious and one lay--to the governing board. The governance model assists such growth through the appeal of an equal religious-lay partnership and a

Political, religious and occupational identities in context: placing identity status paradigm in context.

PubMed

Solomontos-Kountouri, Olga; Hurry, Jane

2008-04-01

This study critically contrasts global identity with domain-specific identities (political, religious and occupational) and considers context and gender as integral parts of identity. In a cross-sectional survey, 1038 Greek Cypriot adolescents (449 boys and 589 girls, mean age 16.8) from the three different types of secondary schools (state, state technical and private) and from different SES completed part of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2 (EOMEIS-2). The macro-context of Greek Cypriot society is used to understand the role of context in adolescents' identities. Results showed that Greek Cypriot young people were not in the same statuses across their global, political, religious and occupational identities. This heterogeneity in the status of global identity and of each identity domain is partially explained by differences in gender, type of school and SES (socio-economic status). The fact that identity status is found to be reactive to context suggests that developmental stage models of identity status should place greater emphasis on context.

Science for managing ecosystem services: Beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

PubMed Central

Carpenter, Stephen R.; Mooney, Harold A.; Agard, John; Capistrano, Doris; DeFries, Ruth S.; Díaz, Sandra; Dietz, Thomas; Duraiappah, Anantha K.; Oteng-Yeboah, Alfred; Pereira, Henrique Miguel; Perrings, Charles; Reid, Walter V.; Sarukhan, José; Scholes, Robert J.; Whyte, Anne

2009-01-01

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) introduced a new framework for analyzing social–ecological systems that has had wide influence in the policy and scientific communities. Studies after the MA are taking up new challenges in the basic science needed to assess, project, and manage flows of ecosystem services and effects on human well-being. Yet, our ability to draw general conclusions remains limited by focus on discipline-bound sectors of the full social–ecological system. At the same time, some polices and practices intended to improve ecosystem services and human well-being are based on untested assumptions and sparse information. The people who are affected and those who provide resources are increasingly asking for evidence that interventions improve ecosystem services and human well-being. New research is needed that considers the full ensemble of processes and feedbacks, for a range of biophysical and social systems, to better understand and manage the dynamics of the relationship between humans and the ecosystems on which they rely. Such research will expand the capacity to address fundamental questions about complex social–ecological systems while evaluating assumptions of policies and practices intended to advance human well-being through improved ecosystem services. PMID:19179280

Recent drought effects on ecosystem carbon uptake in California ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, M.; Guan, K.; Brodrick, P. G.; Berry, J. A.; Asner, G. P.

2016-12-01

California is one of the Earth's most biodiverse places and most of California has experienced an extreme (millennium scale) drought in the period of 2012-2015. Although the effect of the drought on the water resources have been well studied, the responses of ecosystems has not been explored in this detail. This study used advanced remotely sensed data (e.g., remotely sensed vegetation indices and solar-induced fluorescence), an ecosystem model, and model-data fusion techniques to study the impacts of the severe drought on ecosystem carbon uptakes in California. We have found that: (1) the drought has significantly suppressed carbon uptake and light use efficiency in California ecosystems - except in the semi-deserts, and the moist forests in the northern coast; (2) effects on the photosynthetic capacity of the ecosystems extends after the drought is relieved; and (3) the drought has shifted both the timing and magnitude of the seasonality of the carbon uptake in non-forested regions. These findings provide a better understanding of the impacts of droughts, and provide an improved basis for prediction of ecosystem responses under a more extreme climate in the future.

Integrating Human and Ecosystem Health Through Ecosystem Services Frameworks.

PubMed

Ford, Adriana E S; Graham, Hilary; White, Piran C L

2015-12-01

The pace and scale of environmental change is undermining the conditions for human health. Yet the environment and human health remain poorly integrated within research, policy and practice. The ecosystem services (ES) approach provides a way of promoting integration via the frameworks used to represent relationships between environment and society in simple visual forms. To assess this potential, we undertook a scoping review of ES frameworks and assessed how each represented seven key dimensions, including ecosystem and human health. Of the 84 ES frameworks identified, the majority did not include human health (62%) or include feedback mechanisms between ecosystems and human health (75%). While ecosystem drivers of human health are included in some ES frameworks, more comprehensive frameworks are required to drive forward research and policy on environmental change and human health.

[Urban ecosystem services: A review].

PubMed

Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo

2015-04-01

Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.

Identity and Intimacy during Adolescence: Connections among Identity Styles, Romantic Attachment and Identity Commitment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerpelman, Jennifer L.; Pittman, Joe F.; Cadely, Hans Saint-Eloi; Tuggle, Felicia J.; Harrell-Levy, Marinda K.; Adler-Baeder, Francesca M.

2012-01-01

Integration of adult attachment and psychosocial development theories suggests that adolescence is a time when capacities for romantic intimacy and identity formation are co-evolving. The current study addressed direct, indirect and moderated associations among identity and romantic attachment constructs with a diverse sample of 2178 middle…

Ecosystem services of human-dominated watersheds and land use influences: a case study from the Dianchi Lake watershed in China.

PubMed

Hou, Ying; Li, Bo; Müller, Felix; Chen, Weiping

2016-11-01

Watersheds provide multiple ecosystem services. Ecosystem service assessment is a promising approach to investigate human-environment interaction at the watershed scale. The spatial characteristics of ecosystem services are closely related to land use statuses in human-dominated watersheds. This study aims to investigate the effects of land use on the spatial variations of ecosystem services at the Dianchi Lake watershed in Southwest China. We investigated the spatial variations of six ecosystem services-food supply, net primary productivity (NPP), habitat quality, evapotranspiration, water yield, and nitrogen retention. These services were selected based on their significance at the Dianchi Lake watershed and the availability of their data. The quantification of these services was based on modeling, value transference, and spatial analysis in combination with biophysical and socioeconomic data. Furthermore, we calculated the values of ecosystem services provided by different land use types and quantified the correlations between ecosystem service values and land use area proportions. The results show considerable spatial variations in the six ecosystem services associated with land use influences in the Dianchi Lake watershed. The cropland and forest land use types had predominantly positive influences on food productivity and NPP, respectively. The rural residential area and forest land use types reduced and enhanced habitat quality, respectively; these influences were identical to those of evapotranspiration. Urban area and rural residential area exerted significantly positive influences on water yield. In contrast, water yield was negatively correlated with forest area proportion. Finally, cropland and forest had significantly positive and negative influences, respectively, on nitrogen retention. Our study emphasizes the importance of consideration of the influences from land use composition and distribution on ecosystem services for managing the ecosystems of

A longitudinal, mixed methods study of sexual position identity, behavior, and fantasies among young sexual minority men.

PubMed

Pachankis, John E; Buttenwieser, Indiana G; Bernstein, Laura B; Bayles, Damon O

2013-10-01

Recent evidence suggests that young sexual minority men's sexual position identities (e.g., "top," "bottom," "versatile") may be governed by dynamic influences. Yet, no study has prospectively examined whether, how, and why this aspect of sexual minority men's sexuality changes over time. Consequently, the present study investigated the extent to which young sexual minority men use sexual position identities consistently over time, typical patterns of position identity change, explanations given for this change, and the correspondence of changing sexual position identities with changing sexual behavior and fantasies. A total of 93 young sexual minority men indicated their sexual position identity, behavior, and fantasies at two assessment points separated by 2 years. Following the second assessment, a subset (n = 28) of participants who represented the various sexual position identity change patterns provided explanations for their change. More than half (n = 48) of participants changed their sexual position identity. Participants showed a significant move away from not using sexual position identities toward using them and a significant move toward using "mostly top." Changes in position identity were reflected, although imperfectly, in changes in sexual behavior and largely not reflected in fantasy changes. Participants offered 11 classes of explanations for their identity changes referencing personal development, practical reasons, changing relationships, and sociocultural influences. Previous investigations of sexual minority men's sexual position identities have not adequately attended to the possibility of the changing use of the sexual position categories "top," "bottom," and "versatile" across young adulthood. Results of the present study suggest the possibility of a more fluid, context-dependent use of these terms than previously documented.

The potential for retreating alpine glaciers to alter alpine ecosystems in the Colorado Front Range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, E.; Baron, J.

2013-12-01

Glaciers are retreating at an unprecedented rate. In mid-latitude alpine ecosystems the presence of glaciers and rock glaciers govern rates and ecology of alpine and sub-alpine ecosystems. Changes in the thermal environment due to the loss of isothermal habitat and inputs from glacier melt chemistry are altering alpine ecosystems in unpredictable ways. In particular, glacier may be a source of nitrogen that is altering alpine ecosystem dynamics. Loch Vale Watershed (LVWS) located within Rocky Mountain National Park. LVWS contains a surface glacier (Andrew's glacier) and a rock glacier (Taylor's glacier) at the headwater of each of the two drainages within the watershed. We collected precipitation from a National Atmospheric Deposition Site and surface water from multiple alpine lakes and streams during a particularly high and low snow year in the Colorado Front Range. We also sampled stream and lake sediments at each site to analyze the associated microbial community. Concentrations of nitrate and ammonium, relative abundance of amoA (the gene responsible for a key step in the microbial nitrification pathway), and the dual isotope signal to nitrate all point to snow melt as a key deliverer of nitrogen to ecosystems along the Colorado Front Range. However, late summer surface water chemistry is isotopically similar to the chemistry of glacial ice. This suggests that retreating glacier may be an additional source of N to alpine ecosystems and have the potential to alter microbial community composition, biogeochemical rate processes, and ecosystem function. These dynamics are most likely not unique to the Colorado Front Range and should be globally distributed as glaciers continue to retreat in high altitude ecosystems around the world.

Shades of American Identity: Implicit Relations between Ethnic and National Identities

PubMed Central

Devos, Thierry; Mohamed, Hafsa

2015-01-01

The issue of ethnic diversity and national identity in an immigrant nation such as the USA is a recurrent topic of debate. We review and integrate research examining the extent to which the American identity is implicitly granted or denied to members of different ethnic groups. Consistently, European Americans are implicitly conceived of as being more American than African, Asian, Latino, and even Native Americans. This implicit American = White effect emerges when explicit knowledge or perceptions point in the opposite direction. The propensity to deny the American identity to members of ethnic minorities is particularly pronounced when targets (individuals or groups) are construed through the lenses of ethnic identities. Implicit ethnic–national associations fluctuate as a function of perceivers’ ethnic identity and political orientation, but also contextual or situational factors. The tendency to equate being American with being White accounts for the strength of national identification (among European Americans) and behavioral responses including hiring recommendations and voting intentions. The robust propensity to deny the American identity to ethnic minority groups reflects an exclusionary national identity. PMID:27011765

Local impacts, global sources: The governance of boundary-crossing chemicals.

PubMed

Gorman, Hugh S; Gagnon, Valoree S; Norman, Emma S

2016-12-01

Over the last half century, a multijurisdictional, multiscale system of governance has emerged to address concerns associated with toxic chemicals that have the capacity to bioaccumulate in organisms and biomagnify in food chains, leading to fish consumption advisories. Components of this system of governance include international conventions (such as the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the Minamata Convention on Mercury), laws enacted by nation states and their subjurisdictions, and efforts to adaptively manage regional ecosystems (such as the U.S.-Canadian Great Lakes). Given that many of these compounds - including mercury, industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls, and pesticides such as toxaphene - circulate throughout the globe through cycles of deposition and reemission, regional efforts to eliminate the need for fish consumption advisories cannot be successful without efforts to reduce emissions everywhere in the world. This paper argues that the scientific community, by monitoring the concentrations of these compounds in the atmosphere and by modeling their fate and transport, play an important role in connecting the various jurisdictional scales of governance. In addition, the monitoring networks that this community of scientists has established can be visualized as a technology of governance essential in an era in which societies have the capacity to produce and release such chemicals on an industrial scale.

Educating veterinarians for careers in free-ranging wildlife medicine and ecosystem health

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mazet, J.A.K.; Hamilton, G.E.; Dierauf, L.A.

2006-01-01

In the last 10 years, the field of zoological medicine has seen an expansive broadening into the arenas of free-ranging wildlife, conservation medicine, and ecosystem health. During the spring/summer of 2005, we prepared and disseminated a survey designed to identify training and educational needs for individuals entering the wildlife medicine and ecosystem health fields. Our data revealed that few wildlife veterinarians believe that the training they received in veterinary school adequately prepared them to acquire and succeed in their field. Wildlife veterinarians and their employers ranked mentorship with an experienced wildlife veterinarian, training in leadership and communication, courses and externships in wildlife health, and additional formal training beyond the veterinary degree as important in preparation for success. Employers, wildlife veterinarians, and job seekers alike reported that understanding and maintaining ecosystem health is a key component of the wildlife veterinarian's job description, as it is critical to protecting animal health, including human health. Today's wildlife veterinarians are a new type of transdisciplinary professional; they practice medicine in their communities and hold titles in every level of government and academia. It is time that we integrate ecosystem health into our curricula to nurture and enhance an expansive way of looking at veterinary medicine and to ensure that veterinary graduates are prepared to excel in this new and complex world, in which the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people are interdependent.

Identity configurations: a new perspective on identity formation in contemporary society.

PubMed

Schachter, Elli P

2004-02-01

This paper deals with the theoretical construct of "identity configuration." It portrays the different possible ways in which individuals configure the relationship among potentially conflicting identifications in the process of identity formation. In order to explicate these configurations, I analyzed narratives of identity development retold by individuals describing personal identity conflicts that arise within a larger context of sociocultural conflict. Thirty Jewish modern orthodox young adults were interviewed regarding a potentially conflictual identity issue (i.e. their religious and sexual development). Their deliberations, as described in the interviews, were examined, and four different configurations were identified: a configuration based on choice and suppression; an assimilative and synthesizing configuration; a confederacy of identifications; and a configuration based on the thrill of dissonance. The different configurations are illustrated through exemplars, and the possible implications of the concept of "configuration" for identity theory are discussed.

Sea otters, social justice, and ecosystem-service perceptions in Clayoquot Sound, Canada.

PubMed

Levine, Jordan; Muthukrishna, Michael; Chan, Kai M A; Satterfield, Terre

2017-04-01

We sought to take a first step toward better integration of social concerns into empirical ecosystem service (ES) work. We did this by adapting cognitive anthropological techniques to study the Clayoquot Sound social-ecological system on the Pacific coast of Canada's Vancouver Island. We used freelisting and ranking exercises to elicit how locals perceive ESs and to determine locals' preferred food species. We analyzed these data with the freelist-analysis software package ANTHROPAC. We considered the results in light of an ongoing trophic cascade caused by the government reintroduction of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) and their spread along the island's Pacific coast. We interviewed 67 local residents (n = 29 females, n = 38 males; n = 26 self-identified First Nation individuals, and n = 41 non-First Nation individuals) and 4 government managers responsible for conservation policy in the region. We found that the mental categories participants-including trained ecologists-used to think about ESs, did not match the standard academic ES typology. With reference to the latest ecological model projections for the region, we found that First Nations individuals and women were most likely to perceive the most immediate ES losses from the trophic cascade, with the most certainty. The inverse was found for men and non-First Nations individuals, generally. This suggests that 2 historically disadvantaged groups (i.e., First Nations and women) are poised to experience the immediate impacts of the government-initiated trophic cascade as yet another social injustice in a long line of perceived inequities. Left unaddressed, this could complicate efforts at multistakeholder ecosystem management in the region. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

The distribution of persistent organic pollutants in a trophically complex Antarctic ecosystem model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, Michael L.; Bengtson Nash, Susan M.; Hawker, Darryl W.; Shaw, Emily C.; Cropp, Roger A.

2017-06-01

Despite Antarctica's isolation from human population centres, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are transported there via long range atmospheric transport and subsequently cold-trapped. The challenging nature of working in the Antarctic environment greatly limits our ability to monitor POP concentrations and understand the processes that govern the distribution of POPs in Antarctic ecosystems. Here we couple a dynamic, trophically complex biological model with a fugacity model to investigate the distribution of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in a near-shore Antarctic ecosystem. Using this model we examine the steady-state, and annual cycle of HCB concentration in the atmosphere, ocean, sediment, detritus, and 21 classes of biota that span from primary producers to apex predators. The scope and trophic resolution of our model allows us to examine POP pathways through the ecosystem. In our model the main pathway of HCB to upper trophic species is via pelagic communities, with relatively little via benthic communities. Using a dynamic ecosystem model also allows us to examine the seasonal and potential climate change induced changes in POP distribution. We show that there is a large annual cycle in concentration in the planktonic communities, which may have implications for biomagnification factors calculated from observations. We also examine the direct effects of increasing temperature on the redistribution of HCB in a changing climate and find that it is likely minor compared to other indirect effects, such as changes in atmospheric circulation, sea ice dynamics, and changes to the ecosystem itself.

Nature as capital: Advancing and incorporating ecosystem services in United States federal policies and programs.

PubMed

Schaefer, Mark; Goldman, Erica; Bartuska, Ann M; Sutton-Grier, Ariana; Lubchenco, Jane

2015-06-16

The concept of nature as capital is gaining visibility in policies and practices in both the public and private sectors. This change is due to an improved ability to assess and value ecosystem services, as well as to a growing recognition of the potential of an ecosystem services approach to make tradeoffs in decision making more transparent, inform efficient use of resources, enhance resilience and sustainability, and avoid unintended negative consequences of policy actions. Globally, governments, financial institutions, and corporations have begun to incorporate natural capital accounting in their policies and practices. In the United States, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and federal agencies are actively collaborating to develop and apply ecosystem services concepts to further national environmental and economic objectives. Numerous federal agencies have begun incorporating these concepts into land use planning, water resources management, and preparations for, and responses to, climate change. Going forward, well-defined policy direction will be necessary to institutionalize ecosystem services approaches in federal agencies, as well as to guide intersector and interdisciplinary collaborative research and development efforts. In addition, a new generation of decision support tools are needed to further the practical application of ecosystem services principles in policymaking and commercial activities. Improved performance metrics are needed, as are mechanisms to monitor the status of ecosystem services and assess the environmental and economic impacts of policies and programs. A greater national and international financial commitment to advancing ecosystem services and natural capital accounting would likely have broad, long-term economic and environmental benefits.

Nature as capital: Advancing and incorporating ecosystem services in United States federal policies and programs

PubMed Central

Schaefer, Mark; Goldman, Erica; Bartuska, Ann M.; Sutton-Grier, Ariana; Lubchenco, Jane

2015-01-01

The concept of nature as capital is gaining visibility in policies and practices in both the public and private sectors. This change is due to an improved ability to assess and value ecosystem services, as well as to a growing recognition of the potential of an ecosystem services approach to make tradeoffs in decision making more transparent, inform efficient use of resources, enhance resilience and sustainability, and avoid unintended negative consequences of policy actions. Globally, governments, financial institutions, and corporations have begun to incorporate natural capital accounting in their policies and practices. In the United States, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and federal agencies are actively collaborating to develop and apply ecosystem services concepts to further national environmental and economic objectives. Numerous federal agencies have begun incorporating these concepts into land use planning, water resources management, and preparations for, and responses to, climate change. Going forward, well-defined policy direction will be necessary to institutionalize ecosystem services approaches in federal agencies, as well as to guide intersector and interdisciplinary collaborative research and development efforts. In addition, a new generation of decision support tools are needed to further the practical application of ecosystem services principles in policymaking and commercial activities. Improved performance metrics are needed, as are mechanisms to monitor the status of ecosystem services and assess the environmental and economic impacts of policies and programs. A greater national and international financial commitment to advancing ecosystem services and natural capital accounting would likely have broad, long-term economic and environmental benefits. PMID:26082544

Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems.

PubMed

Guerrero-Ramírez, Nathaly R; Craven, Dylan; Reich, Peter B; Ewel, John J; Isbell, Forest; Koricheva, Julia; Parrotta, John A; Auge, Harald; Erickson, Heather E; Forrester, David I; Hector, Andy; Joshi, Jasmin; Montagnini, Florencia; Palmborg, Cecilia; Piotto, Daniel; Potvin, Catherine; Roscher, Christiane; van Ruijven, Jasper; Tilman, David; Wilsey, Brian; Eisenhauer, Nico

2017-11-01

The effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning generally increase over time, but the underlying processes remain unclear. Using 26 long-term grassland and forest experimental ecosystems, we demonstrate that biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships strengthen mainly by greater increases in functioning in high-diversity communities in grasslands and forests. In grasslands, biodiversity effects also strengthen due to decreases in functioning in low-diversity communities. Contrasting trends across grasslands are associated with differences in soil characteristics.

Personal Identity in Italy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crocetti, Elisabetta; Rabaglietti, Emanuela; Sica, Luigia Simona

2012-01-01

This chapter discusses specifics of identity formation in Italian adolescents and emerging adults. We review consistent evidence illustrating that, in Italy, a progressive deferral of transition to adulthood strongly impacts youth identity development by stimulating identity exploration and postponement of identity commitments. We also consider…

Prey diversity effects on ecosystem functioning depend on consumer identity and prey composition.

PubMed

Wohlgemuth, Daniel; Filip, Joanna; Hillebrand, Helmut; Moorthi, Stefanie D

2017-07-01

Consumer diversity effects on ecosystem functioning are highly context dependent and are determined by consumer specialization and other consumer and prey specific traits such as growth and grazing rates. Despite complex reciprocal interactions between consumers and their prey, few experimental studies have focused on prey diversity effects on consumer dynamics and trophic transfer. In microbial microcosms, we investigated effects of algal prey diversity (one, two and four species) on the production, evenness and grazing rates of 4 ciliate consumers, differing in grazing preferences and rates. Prey diversity increased prey biovolume in the absence of consumers and had opposing effects on different consumers, depending on their specialization and their preferred prey. Consumers profited from prey mixtures compared to monocultures of non-preferred prey, but responded negatively if preferred prey species were offered together with other species. Prey diversity increased consumer evenness by preventing dominance of specific consumers, demonstrating that the loss of prey species may have cascading effects resulting in reduced consumer diversity. Our study emphasizes that not only the degree of specialization but also the selectivity for certain prey species within the dietary niche may alter the consequences of changing prey diversity in a food web context.

Quantum and Ecosystem Entropies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirwan, A. D.

2008-06-01

Ecosystems and quantum gases share a number of superficial similarities including enormous numbers of interacting elements and the fundamental role of energy in such interactions. A theory for the synthesis of data and prediction of new phenomena is well established in quantum statistical mechanics. The premise of this paper is that the reason a comparable unifying theory has not emerged in ecology is that a proper role for entropy has yet to be assigned. To this end, a phase space entropy model of ecosystems is developed. Specification of an ecosystem phase space cell size based on microbial mass, length, and time scales gives an ecosystem uncertainty parameter only about three orders of magnitude larger than Planck’s constant. Ecosystem equilibria is specified by conservation of biomass and total metabolic energy, along with the principle of maximum entropy at equilibria. Both Bose - Einstein and Fermi - Dirac equilibrium conditions arise in ecosystems applications. The paper concludes with a discussion of some broader aspects of an ecosystem phase space.

Ethics and constitutional government.

PubMed

Albright, James A

2007-01-01

The term ethics refers to a set of principles that govern acceptable, proper conduct. Attacks on the Constitution of the United States pose the most serious breach of ethics today. Our country was founded as a republic, not as a democracy. Our Founding Fathers' main concern was to protect citizens from the power of the federal government, so constitutionally, the central government has little or no authority over individual citizens except on federal property. One of the major problems today is the fact that we now have professional politicians. This is due in large part to the lure of financial gain from countless special interest groups. This would change under constitutional law because the federal budget would decrease drastically. Article 1 states that all legislative power is vested in Congress. Congress has only 18 enumerated powers, and almost half of these pertain to defense of the country. Many of our current problems are due to regulatory agencies that have become independent fiefdoms with unconstitutional legislative, as well as executive and judicial, powers. The regulatory agency most relevant to medicine, both clinical care and research, is the FDA. It is now obvious that its basic structure needs to be changed or abolished because its actions are identical to those inherent in authoritarian systems. Constructive change could come from Congress, but it would be most desirable if the Supreme Court would take the lead and reestablish the authority of the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land. The FDA's function could be limited to the determination of safety, but preferably its mission would be altered to that of product certification. Defenders of the current system claim that such a drastic change would be too dangerous and their prime example is thalidomide. But it is now known that the market has already solved that problem prior to the government-imposed sanctions. Realistically, market forces and their ramifications, including our legal

AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS,

EPA Science Inventory

Aquatic ecosystems are a vital part of the urban water cycle (and of urban areas more broadly), and, if healthy, provide a range of goods and services valued by humans (Meyer 1997). For example, aquatic ecosystems (e.g., rivers, lakes, wetlands) provide potable water, food resou...

Talkin' Musical Identities Blues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamb, Roberta

2004-01-01

After reading the book "Musical Identities" (Raymond MacDonald, David Hargreaves, Dorothy Miell, eds.; Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), this author states she finds it difficult to separate "identities in music" from "music in identities." In fact, she cannot conceive of music apart from identity.…

Consumption and its discontents: addiction, identity and the problems of freedom.

PubMed

Reith, Gerda

2004-06-01

The focus of this paper is on the notion of 'addictive consumption', conceived as a set of discourses that are embedded within wider socio-historical processes of governance and control. It examines the discursive convergences and conflicts between practices of consumption and notions of addiction, which it notes are consistently represented in terms of the oppositional categories of self-control vs. compulsion and freedom vs. determinism. These interrelations are explored with reference to the development of notions of addiction, and their relation to shifting configurations of identity, subjectivity and governance. Finally, it suggests that the notion of 'addiction' has particular valence in advanced liberal societies, where an unprecedented emphasis on the values of freedom, autonomy and choice not only encourage the conditions for its proliferation into ever wider areas of social life, but also reveal deep tensions within the ideology of consumerism itself.

CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration across dryland ecosystems of southwestern North America.

PubMed

Biederman, Joel A; Scott, Russell L; Bell, Tom W; Bowling, David R; Dore, Sabina; Garatuza-Payan, Jaime; Kolb, Thomas E; Krishnan, Praveena; Krofcheck, Dan J; Litvak, Marcy E; Maurer, Gregory E; Meyers, Tilden P; Oechel, Walter C; Papuga, Shirley A; Ponce-Campos, Guillermo E; Rodriguez, Julio C; Smith, William K; Vargas, Rodrigo; Watts, Christopher J; Yepez, Enrico A; Goulden, Michael L

2017-10-01

Global-scale studies suggest that dryland ecosystems dominate an increasing trend in the magnitude and interannual variability of the land CO 2 sink. However, such analyses are poorly constrained by measured CO 2 exchange in drylands. Here we address this observation gap with eddy covariance data from 25 sites in the water-limited Southwest region of North America with observed ranges in annual precipitation of 100-1000 mm, annual temperatures of 2-25°C, and records of 3-10 years (150 site-years in total). Annual fluxes were integrated using site-specific ecohydrologic years to group precipitation with resulting ecosystem exchanges. We found a wide range of carbon sink/source function, with mean annual net ecosystem production (NEP) varying from -350 to +330 gCm -2 across sites with diverse vegetation types, contrasting with the more constant sink typically measured in mesic ecosystems. In this region, only forest-dominated sites were consistent carbon sinks. Interannual variability of NEP, gross ecosystem production (GEP), and ecosystem respiration (R eco ) was larger than for mesic regions, and half the sites switched between functioning as C sinks/C sources in wet/dry years. The sites demonstrated coherent responses of GEP and NEP to anomalies in annual evapotranspiration (ET), used here as a proxy for annually available water after hydrologic losses. Notably, GEP and R eco were negatively related to temperature, both interannually within site and spatially across sites, in contrast to positive temperature effects commonly reported for mesic ecosystems. Models based on MODIS satellite observations matched the cross-site spatial pattern in mean annual GEP but consistently underestimated mean annual ET by ~50%. Importantly, the MODIS-based models captured only 20-30% of interannual variation magnitude. These results suggest the contribution of this dryland region to variability of regional to global CO 2 exchange may be up to 3-5 times larger than current

Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China.

PubMed

Liu, Delin; Hao, Shilong

2016-12-22

Assessing ecosystem health is helpful to determine reasonable eco-environmental restoration and resource management strategies. Based on a pressure-state-response (PSR) framework, a set of comprehensive indicators including natural, social and economic aspects was proposed and applied for assessing the ecosystem health of Yuanzhou County, Loess Plateau, Ningxia Province, China. The basic data used to calculate the values of the assessment indicators include Landsat TM image and socio-economic data, and remote sensing (RS) and the geographic information system (GIS) were used to process image data. The results showed that the ecosystem health conditions of most townships in Yuanzhou County were at the moderately healthy level, three townships were at the healthy level, and only two townships were at the unhelathy level; the areas (percentage) at the unhealthy, moderately healthy and healthy levels were 443.91 km² (12.66%), 2438.75 km² (69.54%) and 624.50 km² (17.81%), respectively. The results could provide useful information for local residents and the government to take measures to improve the health conditions of their township ecosystem.

Ecosystem Health Assessment at County-Scale Using the Pressure-State-Response Framework on the Loess Plateau, China

PubMed Central

Liu, Delin; Hao, Shilong

2016-01-01

Assessing ecosystem health is helpful to determine reasonable eco-environmental restoration and resource management strategies. Based on a pressure-state-response (PSR) framework, a set of comprehensive indicators including natural, social and economic aspects was proposed and applied for assessing the ecosystem health of Yuanzhou County, Loess Plateau, Ningxia Province, China. The basic data used to calculate the values of the assessment indicators include Landsat TM image and socio-economic data, and remote sensing (RS) and the geographic information system (GIS) were used to process image data. The results showed that the ecosystem health conditions of most townships in Yuanzhou County were at the moderately healthy level, three townships were at the healthy level, and only two townships were at the unhelathy level; the areas (percentage) at the unhealthy, moderately healthy and healthy levels were 443.91 km2 (12.66%), 2438.75 km2 (69.54%) and 624.50 km2 (17.81%), respectively. The results could provide useful information for local residents and the government to take measures to improve the health conditions of their township ecosystem. PMID:28025518

Human identity versus gender identity: The perception of sexual addiction among Iranian women.

PubMed

Moshtagh, Mozhgan; Mirlashari, Jila; Rafiey, Hassan; Azin, Ali; Farnam, Robert

2017-07-01

This qualitative study was conducted to explore the images of personal identity from the perspective of women with sexual addiction. The data required for the study were collected through 31 in-depth interviews. Sensing a threat to personal identity, dissatisfaction with gender identity, dissociation with the continuum of identity, and identity reconstruction in response to threat were four of the experiences that were common among women with sexual addiction. Painful emotional experiences appear to have created a sense of gender and sexual conflict or weakness in these women and thus threatened their personal identity and led to their sexual addiction.

Using landscape limnology to classify freshwater ecosystems for multi-ecosystem management and conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Soranno, Patricia A.; Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence; Webster, Katherine E.; Bremigan, Mary T.; Wagner, Tyler; Stow, Craig A.

2010-01-01

Governmental entities are responsible for managing and conserving large numbers of lake, river, and wetland ecosystems that can be addressed only rarely on a case-by-case basis. We present a system for predictive classification modeling, grounded in the theoretical foundation of landscape limnology, that creates a tractable number of ecosystem classes to which management actions may be tailored. We demonstrate our system by applying two types of predictive classification modeling approaches to develop nutrient criteria for eutrophication management in 1998 north temperate lakes. Our predictive classification system promotes the effective management of multiple ecosystems across broad geographic scales by explicitly connecting management and conservation goals to the classification modeling approach, considering multiple spatial scales as drivers of ecosystem dynamics, and acknowledging the hierarchical structure of freshwater ecosystems. Such a system is critical for adaptive management of complex mosaics of freshwater ecosystems and for balancing competing needs for ecosystem services in a changing world.

Termites create spatial structure and govern ecosystem function by affecting N2 fixation in an East African savanna.

PubMed

Fox-Dobbs, Kena; Doak, Daniel F; Brody, Alison K; Palmer, Todd M

2010-05-01

The mechanisms by which even the clearest of keystone or dominant species exert community-wide effects are only partially understood in most ecosystems. This is especially true when a species or guild influences community-wide interactions via changes in the abiotic landscape. Using stable isotope analyses, we show that subterranean termites in an East African savanna strongly influence a key ecosystem process: atmospheric nitrogen fixation by a monodominant tree species and its bacterial symbionts. Specifically, we applied the 15N natural abundance method in combination with other biogeochemical analyses to assess levels of nitrogen fixation by Acacia drepanolobium and its effects on co-occurring grasses and forbs in areas near and far from mounds and where ungulates were or were not excluded. We find that termites exert far stronger effects than do herbivores on nitrogen fixation. The percentage of nitrogen derived from fixation in Acacia drepanolobium trees is higher (55-80%) away from mounds vs. near mounds (40-50%). Mound soils have higher levels of plant available nitrogen, and Acacia drepanolobium may preferentially utilize soil-based nitrogen sources in lieu of fixed nitrogen when these sources are readily available near termite mounds. At the scale of the landscape, our models predict that termite/soil derived nitrogen sources influence >50% of the Acacia drepanolobium trees in our system. Further, the spatial extent of these effects combine with the spacing of termite mounds to create highly regular patterning in nitrogen fixation rates, resulting in marked habitat heterogeneity in an otherwise uniform landscape. In summary, we show that termite-associated effects on nitrogen processes are not only stronger than those of more apparent large herbivores in the same system, but also occur in a highly regular spatial pattern, potentially adding to their importance as drivers of community and ecosystem structure.

Ecosystem engineering effects on species diversity across ecosystems: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Romero, Gustavo Q; Gonçalves-Souza, Thiago; Vieira, Camila; Koricheva, Julia

2015-08-01

Ecosystem engineering is increasingly recognized as a relevant ecological driver of diversity and community composition. Although engineering impacts on the biota can vary from negative to positive, and from trivial to enormous, patterns and causes of variation in the magnitude of engineering effects across ecosystems and engineer types remain largely unknown. To elucidate the above patterns, we conducted a meta-analysis of 122 studies which explored effects of animal ecosystem engineers on species richness of other organisms in the community. The analysis revealed that the overall effect of ecosystem engineers on diversity is positive and corresponds to a 25% increase in species richness, indicating that ecosystem engineering is a facilitative process globally. Engineering effects were stronger in the tropics than at higher latitudes, likely because new or modified habitats provided by engineers in the tropics may help minimize competition and predation pressures on resident species. Within aquatic environments, engineering impacts were stronger in marine ecosystems (rocky shores) than in streams. In terrestrial ecosystems, engineers displayed stronger positive effects in arid environments (e.g. deserts). Ecosystem engineers that create new habitats or microhabitats had stronger effects than those that modify habitats or cause bioturbation. Invertebrate engineers and those with lower engineering persistence (<1 year) affected species richness more than vertebrate engineers which persisted for >1 year. Invertebrate species richness was particularly responsive to engineering impacts. This study is the first attempt to build an integrative framework of engineering effects on species diversity; it highlights the importance of considering latitude, habitat, engineering functional group, taxon and persistence of their effects in future theoretical and empirical studies. © 2014 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Identities in Harmony: Gender-Work Identity Integration Moderates Frame Switching in Cognitive Processing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sacharin, Vera; Lee, Fiona; Gonzalez, Richard

2009-01-01

Professional women's identity integration--the perceived compatibility between work and gender identities--plays a role in how task or relationship information is processed. Seventy female business school students were primed with either their professional or their gender identity. Business women with higher identity integration showed an…

Quantity and quality: unifying food web and ecosystem perspectives on the role of resource subsidies in freshwaters.

PubMed

Marcarelli, Amy M; Baxter, Colden V; Mineau, Madeleine M; Hall, Robert O

2011-06-01

Although the study of resource subsidies has emerged as a key topic in both ecosystem and food web ecology, the dialogue over their role has been limited by separate approaches that emphasize either subsidy quantity or quality. Considering quantity and quality together may provide a simple, but previously unexplored, framework for identifying the mechanisms that govern the importance of subsidies for recipient food webs and ecosystems. Using a literature review of > 90 studies of open-water metabolism in lakes and streams, we show that high-flux, low-quality subsidies can drive freshwater ecosystem dynamics. Because most of these ecosystems are net heterotrophic, allochthonous inputs must subsidize respiration. Second, using a literature review of subsidy quality and use, we demonstrate that animals select for high-quality food resources in proportions greater than would be predicted based on food quantity, and regardless of allochthonous or autochthonous origin. This finding suggests that low-flux, high-quality subsidies may be selected for by animals, and in turn may disproportionately affect food web and ecosystem processes (e.g., animal production, trophic energy or organic matter flow, trophic cascades). We then synthesize and review approaches that evaluate the role of subsidies and explicitly merge ecosystem and food web perspectives by placing food web measurements in the context of ecosystem budgets, by comparing trophic and ecosystem production and fluxes, and by constructing flow food webs. These tools can and should be used to address future questions about subsidies, such as the relative importance of subsidies to different trophic levels and how subsidies may maintain or disrupt ecosystem stability and food web interactions.

Challenges for tree officers to enhance the provision of regulating ecosystem services from urban forests.

PubMed

Davies, Helen J; Doick, Kieron J; Hudson, Malcolm D; Schreckenberg, Kate

2017-07-01

Urbanisation and a changing climate are leading to more frequent and severe flood, heat and air pollution episodes in Britain's cities. Interest in nature-based solutions to these urban problems is growing, with urban forests potentially able to provide a range of regulating ecosystem services such as stormwater attenuation, heat amelioration and air purification. The extent to which these benefits are realized is largely dependent on urban forest management objectives, the availability of funding, and the understanding of ecosystem service concepts within local governments, the primary delivery agents of urban forests. This study aims to establish the extent to which British local authorities actively manage their urban forests for regulating ecosystem services, and identify which resources local authorities most need in order to enhance provision of ecosystem services by Britain's urban forests. Interviews were carried out with staff responsible for tree management decisions in fifteen major local authorities from across Britain, selected on the basis of their urban nature and high population density. Local authorities have a reactive approach to urban forest management, driven by human health and safety concerns and complaints about tree disservices. There is relatively little focus on ensuring provision of regulating ecosystem services, despite awareness by tree officers of the key role that urban forests can play in alleviating chronic air pollution, flood risk and urban heat anomalies. However, this is expected to become a greater focus in future provided that existing constraints - lack of understanding of ecosystem services amongst key stakeholders, limited political support, funding constraints - can be overcome. Our findings suggest that the adoption of a proactive urban forest strategy, underpinned by quantified and valued urban forest-based ecosystem services provision data, and innovative private sector funding mechanisms, can facilitate a change to a

Reclaiming respectability? The class-cultural dynamics of crime, community and governance in inner-city Dublin.

PubMed

Ilan, Jonathan

2011-01-01

This paper critically examines developments in Irish urban governance through an ethnographic account of one community's historical memory and contemporary structure. During an era of rapid economic growth, the Irish state has courted previously excluded communities, offering them greater "inclusion" as "partners" in responding to urban decay and crime. The micro-governance structures this creates, however, become sites of contest between competing community factions and class-cultural imperatives. Tensions emerge between aspirational community leaders championing the aesthetics (if not the values) of "respectability" and residual residents who are presented as "rough". The paper demonstrates that nuances of class-cultural identity dictate the character of partnership governance at the community level with particular implications for local regeneration and crime control agendas.

American Indian identity in mental health services utilization data from a rural midwestern sample.

PubMed

Hack, Samantha M; Larrison, Christopher R; Gone, Joseph P

2014-01-01

The governing bodies for psychiatry, psychology, and social work all publicly support culturally competent mental health care and have called for increased awareness of the importance of racial, ethnic, and cultural identity in mental health treatment and outcomes. However, since 1960 the population of people identifying as American Indian in the United States has grown faster than can be explained by birth rates, raising questions about the personal meaning of identity for newly self-designated American Indians. For this research, interviews were conducted with 14 self-identified American Indian clients receiving rural mental health care services in the Midwest. The goal was to assess clients' cultural connection to their racial identity and to understand what impact their American Indian identity had on their mental health care experiences. A modified Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) method was used to develop the interview protocol and code responses. Interview data revealed that clients primarily based their racial identity on family stories of an American Indian ancestor and the majority did not feel their identification as American Indian was relevant to their mental health care. Regardless of lack of cultural connection, participants often reported feeling personal pride associated with identifying as American Indian. Implications for both researchers collecting self-reported race data and for mental health practitioners who might serve self-identified American Indian clients are discussed.

Evapotranspiration Power Law in Self-Organized and Human-Managed Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, R.; Cai, X.

2017-12-01

Natural systems display a profound degree of self-organization, often apparent even to the untrained eye. However, in this age of increased coupling among human and natural systems, it is unclear to what degree natural organization principles continue to govern human-managed landscapes. Here we present an emerging characteristic of terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET), one of the key components of the water cycle and energy budget, adhered to by both naturally organized and intensively managed landscapes. We find that ET variance and ET mean for ecosystems throughout the world with diverse climate conditions, vegetation structures, and land covers and land uses organize themselves according to a specific power law curve. From multi-source observations, the ET power law curve stands true through varying spatial scales, from field to region. Moreover, a phenomenon of similar ecosystems gravitating toward particular segments of the power law curve, suggests that the feature of self-optimization of ecosystems establishes the ET power law together with climatic conditions. Perhaps surprisingly, we find that landscapes persistently follow the power law curve even upon human-induced transition from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture in the American High Plains and from wetland to agricultural land in American Midwest. As such, the ET power law can be an informative tool for predicting consequences of anthropogenic disturbances to the hydrologic cycle and understanding constraints to sustainable land use.

The impact of systematic landscape conservation planning on ecosystem: Chen Youlan river watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chi-ju

2017-04-01

Heraclitus said that "no man ever steps in the same river twice." Everything continues to change. Land use change will keep redefine itself and subject the Earth and humankind to collateral changes. Humankind benefits from ecosystem in many ways. The ecosystem provides people with nutrients, enriches soil with sediment, and sustains all living organisms with water; these benefits are known as ecosystem services. In Taiwan, land use change has impacted ecosystem and biodiversity on various levels. Thus, we took six land use scenarios from 1999 to 2005 in Chen Youlan river watershed as our case study, intending to observe the course of ecosystem and biodiversity changes and the cause of it. Systematic Landscape conservation planning (SLCP) framework can be adopted when designing land use policy to safeguard human interests and ecosystem. This study use SLCP to develop ecosystem services and biodiversity protection strategies. Several strategies were designed by using 1999 to 2005 data as provision to protect the intactness of future ecosystem services and biodiversity. This research explores the potential and possible impacts of different land use protection strategies in the future. It is possible to identify the conservation priority of a certain region by using the Zonation meta-algorithm. This study selects the zonation critical protection area (Joint set of Yushan National Park) as strategy A, B and C. Strategy D takes Yushan National Park as a protected area; unstable hot spots in 1999/03 (Joint set of Yushan National Park) are selected as strategy E. Next, we used Kappa statistical method to find the minimal ecosystem services change and biodiversity hotspots change of the five aforementioned strategies and compared with those from 1999/03. By the Kappa statistical method, we further prioritized the important conservation areas by strategy A, B, C, E in the future. The results can not only serve as management reference for government agencies, but also develop

Indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services: A synthesis across ecosystems and spatial scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Feld, C.K.; Da Silva, P.M.; Sousa, J.P.; De Bello, F.; Bugter, R.; Grandin, U.; Hering, D.; Lavorel, S.; Mountford, O.; Pardo, I.; Partel, M.; Rombke, J.; Sandin, Leonard; Jones, K. Bruce; Harrison, P.

2009-01-01

According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, common indicators are needed to monitor the loss of biodiversity and the implications for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. However, a variety of indicators are already being used resulting in many, mostly incompatible, monitoring systems. In order to synthesise the different indicator approaches and to detect gaps in the development of common indicator systems, we examined 531 indicators that have been reported in 617 peer-reviewed journal articles between 1997 and 2007. Special emphasis was placed on comparing indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services across ecosystems (forests, grass- and shrublands, wetlands, rivers, lakes, soils and agro-ecosystems) and spatial scales (from patch to global scale). The application of biological indicators was found most often focused on regional and finer spatial scales with few indicators applied across ecosystem types. Abiotic indicators, such as physico-chemical parameters and measures of area and fragmentation, are most frequently used at broader (regional to continental) scales. Despite its multiple dimensions, biodiversity is usually equated with species richness only. The functional, structural and genetic components of biodiversity are poorly addressed despite their potential value across habitats and scales. Ecosystem service indicators are mostly used to estimate regulating and supporting services but generally differ between ecosystem types as they reflect ecosystem-specific services. Despite great effort to develop indicator systems over the past decade, there is still a considerable gap in the widespread use of indicators for many of the multiple components of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and a need to develop common monitoring schemes within and across habitats. Filling these gaps is a prerequisite for linking biodiversity dynamics with ecosystem service delivery and to achieving the goals of global and sub-global initiatives to halt

Educational Policy or Practice? Traversing the Conceptual Divide between Subject Knowledge, Pedagogy and Teacher Identity in England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolhouse, Clare; Cochrane, Matt

2015-01-01

This research paper is framed by concerns about recent UK Government policy regarding the training of mathematics and science teachers in England and discusses how two cohorts of pre-service teachers negotiated the development of a professional identity while undertaking subject-specific training. The data reported upon were garnered in two ways;…

Thinking identity differently: dynamics of identity in self and institutional boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albrecht, Nancy J.; Fortney, Brian S.

2011-03-01

In research oriented universities, research and teaching are often viewed as separate. Aydeniz and Hodge present one professor's struggles to synthesize an identity from three different spaces, each with competing values and core beliefs. As Mr. G's story unfolds, and he reflects upon his negotiation between teaching and research responsibilities, we seek to expand the discussion by presenting a caution to identity researchers. The caution pertains to construction of understanding on how identities are created, and the role that individual stories take in how identities are created and enacted. In this forum contribution, we present several questions in the hopes of furthering the discussion on identity research, and our understanding of the conceptualization of institutional boundaries and objectivity, as well as questions on participant involvement in the process of research.

Social Identity in People with Multiple Sclerosis: An Examination of Family Identity and Mood.

PubMed

Barker, Alex B; Lincoln, Nadina B; Hunt, Nigel; dasNair, Roshan

2018-01-01

Mood disorders are highly prevalent in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). MS causes changes to a person's sense of self. The Social Identity Model of Identity Change posits that group membership can have a positive effect on mood during identity change. The family is a social group implicated in adjustment to MS. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether family identity can predict mood in people with MS and to test whether this prediction was mediated by social support and connectedness to others. This cross-sectional survey of 195 participants comprised measures of family identity, family social support, connectedness to others, and mood. Family identity predicted mood both directly and indirectly through parallel mediators of family social support and connectedness to others. Family identity predicted mood as posited by the Social Identity Model of Identity Change. Involving the family in adjustment to MS could reduce low mood.

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns

PubMed Central

Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural “green-loop” communities to urban “red-loop” societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales. PMID:27695120

An Exploration of Human Well-Being Bundles as Identifiers of Ecosystem Service Use Patterns.

PubMed

Hamann, Maike; Biggs, Reinette; Reyers, Belinda

2016-01-01

We take a social-ecological systems perspective to investigate the linkages between ecosystem services and human well-being in South Africa. A recent paper identified different types of social-ecological systems in the country, based on distinct bundles of ecosystem service use. These system types were found to represent increasingly weak direct feedbacks between nature and people, from rural "green-loop" communities to urban "red-loop" societies. Here we construct human well-being bundles and explore whether the well-being bundles can be used to identify the same social-ecological system types that were identified using bundles of ecosystem service use. Based on national census data, we found three distinct well-being bundle types that are mainly characterized by differences in income, unemployment and property ownership. The distribution of these well-being bundles approximates the distribution of ecosystem service use bundles to a substantial degree: High levels of income and education generally coincided with areas characterised by low levels of direct ecosystem service use (or red-loop systems), while the majority of low well-being areas coincided with medium and high levels of direct ecosystem service use (or transition and green-loop systems). However, our results indicate that transformations from green-loop to red-loop systems do not always entail an immediate improvement in well-being, which we suggest may be due to a time lag between changes in the different system components. Using human well-being bundles as an indicator of social-ecological dynamics may be useful in other contexts since it is based on socio-economic data commonly collected by governments, and provides important insights into the connections between ecosystem services and human well-being at policy-relevant sub-national scales.

Narrating and Performing Identity: Literacy Specialists' Writing Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinney, Marilyn; Giorgis, Cyndi

2009-01-01

In this study, we explored ways that four literacy specialists who worked in three schools that were part of one state's Reading Excellence Act (REA) grant constructed their identities as writers and as teachers of writing. We also explored how they negotiated the performance of those identities in different contexts over a two-year period.…

Identity-specific motivation: How distinct identities direct self-regulation across distinct situations.

PubMed

Browman, Alexander S; Destin, Mesmin; Molden, Daniel C

2017-12-01

Research on self-regulation has traditionally emphasized that people's thoughts and actions are guided by either (a) domain-general motivations that emerge from a cumulative history of life experiences, or (b) situation-specific motivations that emerge in immediate response to the incentives present in a particular context. However, more recent studies have illustrated the importance of understanding the interplay between such domain-general and situation-specific motivations across the types of contexts people regularly encounter. The present research, therefore, expands existing perspectives on self-regulation by investigating how people's identities -the internalized roles, relationships, and social group memberships that define who they are-systemically guide when and how different domain-general motivations are activated within specific types of situations. Using the motivational framework described by regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997), Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that people indeed have distinct, identity-specific motivations that uniquely influence their current self-regulation when such identities are active. Studies 3-5 then begin to explore how identity-specific motivations are situated within people's larger self-concept. Studies 3a and 3b demonstrate that the less compatible people's specific identities, the more distinct are the motivations connected to those identities. Studies 4-5 then provide some initial, suggestive evidence that identity-specific motivations are not a separate, superordinate feature of people's identities that then alter how they pursue any subordinate, identity-relevant traits, but instead that such motivations emerge from the cumulative motivational significance of the subordinate traits to which the identities themselves become attached. Implications for understanding the role of the self-concept in self-regulation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

[Research advances in vulnerability assessment of natural ecosystem response to climate change].

PubMed

Zhao, Hui-xia; Wu, Shao-hong; Jiang, Lu-guang

2007-02-01

Climate change with global warming as the sign has been caught great attention by the governments, international organizations, and scientists in the world. Human society and natural ecosystem are both exposed to climate change, and more and more people are waked up by its increasing harm. Vulnerability analysis and assessment are the key and basis for adapting and mitigating climate change, being the highlight in the research fields of climate change and ecology in recent years. The vulnerability assessment of climate change is being carried out in various research fields and on different scales, and much progress has been made. This paper introduced the concept of vulnerability, and summarized the research progress in vulnerability assessment of climate change, with the focus on the frame and methodology of vulnerability assessment of natural ecosystem response to climate change. The existed problems and future prospects in this research area were also discussed.

Partitioning Stakeholders for the Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services: Examples of a Mangrove System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Micheletti, Tatiane, E-mail: micheletti@forst.tu-dresden.de; Jost, François; Berger, Uta

Although the importance of ecosystem services provided by natural forests, especially mangroves, is well known, the destruction of these environments is still ubiquitous and therefore protection measures are urgently needed. The present study compares the current approach of economic valuation of ecosystem services to a proposed one, using a study case of a mangrove system as an example. We suggest that a cost-benefit analysis for economically valuing environmental services should be performed with three additional modifications consisting of (i) a categorization of local stakeholders as demanders of particular ecosystem services, (ii) acknowledgement of the government as one of these demandermore » groups, and (iii) the inclusion of opportunity costs in the valuation. The application of this approach to the mangrove area in the east portion of Great Abaco Island, the Bahamas, reveals that not only the ecosystem services received differ between demander groups, but the monetary benefits and costs are also specific to each of these groups. We show that the economic valuation of the ecosystem should be differentiated for each category, instead of being calculated as a net ‘societal value’ as it is currently. Applying this categorization of demanders enables a better understanding of the cost and benefit structure of the protection of a natural area. The present paper aims to facilitate discussions regarding benefit and cost sharing related to the protection of natural areas.« less

Social Identity and Preferences*

PubMed Central

Benjamin, Daniel J.; Choi, James J.; Strickland, A. Joshua

2009-01-01

Social identities prescribe behaviors for people. We identify the marginal behavioral effect of these norms on discount rates and risk aversion by measuring how laboratory subjects’ choices change when an aspect of social identity is made salient. When we make ethnic identity salient to Asian-American subjects, they make more patient choices. When we make racial identity salient to black subjects, non-immigrant blacks (but not immigrant blacks) make more patient choices. Making gender identity salient has no effect on intertemporal or risk choices. PMID:20871741

Ecosystem services science, practice, and policy: Perspectives from ACES, A Community on Ecosystem Services

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shapiro, Carl D.; Arthaud, Greg; Casey, Frank; Hogan, Dianna M.

2015-01-01

Ecosystem services are at a crossroad. The natural capital needed to produce them is diminishing (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). At the same time, the science relating to their identification, production, and valuation is advancing. Examples of ecosystem services applications are abundant in the literature. In addition, the concept of ecosystem services and its applications are attracting attention and are becoming more visible. The concept of ecosystem services, however, is still not routinely applied to many natural resource management decisions.

Net ecosystem production: A comprehensive measure of net carbon accumulation by ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Randerson, J.T.; Chapin, F. S.; Harden, J.W.; Neff, J.C.; Harmon, M.E.

2002-01-01

The conceptual framework used by ecologists and biogeochemists must allow for accurate and clearly defined comparisons of carbon fluxes made with disparate techniques across a spectrum of temporal and spatial scales. Consistent with usage over the past four decades, we define "net ecosystem production" (NEP) as the net carbon accumulation by ecosystems. Past use of this term has been ambiguous, because it has been used conceptually as a measure of carbon accumulation by ecosystems, but it has often been calculated considering only the balance between gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration. This calculation ignores other carbon fluxes from ecosystems (e.g., leaching of dissolved carbon and losses associated with disturbance). To avoid conceptual ambiguities, we argue that NEP be defined, as in the past, as the net carbon accumulation by ecosystems and that it explicitly incorporate all the carbon fluxes from an ecosystem, including autotrophic respiration, heterotrophic respiration, losses associated with disturbance, dissolved and particulate carbon losses, volatile organic compound emissions, and lateral transfers among ecosystems. Net biome productivity (NBP), which has been proposed to account for carbon loss during episodic disturbance, is equivalent to NEP at regional or global scales. The multi-scale conceptual framework we describe provides continuity between flux measurements made at the scale of soil profiles and chambers, forest inventories, eddy covariance towers, aircraft, and inversions of remote atmospheric flask samples, allowing a direct comparison of NEP estimates made at all temporal and spatial scales.

Memory transfer for emotionally valenced words between identities in dissociative identity disorder.

PubMed

Huntjens, Rafaële J C; Peters, Madelon L; Woertman, Liesbeth; van der Hart, Onno; Postma, Albert

2007-04-01

The present study aimed to determine interidentity retrieval of emotionally valenced words in dissociative identity disorder (DID). Twenty-two DID patients participated together with 25 normal controls and 25 controls instructed to simulate DID. Two wordlists A and B were constructed including neutral, positive and negative material. List A was shown to one identity, while list B was shown to another identity claiming total amnesia for the words learned by the first identity. The identity claiming amnesia was tested for intrusions from list A words into the recall of words from list B and recognition of the words learned by both identities. Test results indicated no evidence of total interidentity amnesia for emotionally valenced material in DID. It is argued that dissociative amnesia in DID may more adequately be described as a disturbance in meta-memory functioning instead of an actual retrieval inability.

Estuarine Total Ecosystem Metabolism

EPA Science Inventory

Total ecosystem metabolism (TEM), both as discrete measurements and as a theoretical concept, has an important history in ecosystem ecology, particularly in estuaries. Some of the earliest ecological studies were developed to determine how energy flowed through an ecosystem and w...

Accounting for natural resources and environmental sustainability: linking ecosystem services to human well-being.

PubMed

Jordan, Stephen J; Hayes, Sharon E; Yoskowitz, David; Smith, Lisa M; Summers, J Kevin; Russell, Marc; Benson, William H

2010-03-01

One of society's greatest challenges is to sustain natural resources while promoting economic growth and quality of life. In the face of this challenge, society must measure the effectiveness of programs established to safeguard the environment. The impetus for demonstrating positive results from government-sponsored research and regulation in the United States comes from Congress (General Accountability Office; GAO) and the Executive Branch (Office of Management and Budget; OMB). The message is: regulatory and research programs must demonstrate outcomes that justify their costs. Although the concept is simple, it is a complex problem to demonstrate that environmental research, policies, and regulations cause measurable changes in environmental quality. Even where changes in environmental quality can be tracked reliably, the connections between government actions and environmental outcomes seldom are direct or straightforward. In this article, we describe emerging efforts (with emphasis on the role of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; EPA) to frame and measure environmental outcomes in terms of ecosystem services and values-societally and ecologically meaningful metrics for gauging how well we manage environmental resources. As examples of accounting for outcomes and values, we present a novel, low-cost method for determining relative values of multiple ecosystem services, and describe emerging research on indicators of human well-being.

How the Second Law of Thermodynamics Has Informed Ecosystem Ecology through Its History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, E. J.; Childers, D. L.; Vallino, J. J.

2014-12-01

Throughout the history of ecosystem ecology many attempts have been made to develop a general principle governing how systems develop and organize. We reviewed the historical developments that led to conceptualization of several goal-oriented principles in ecosystem ecology and the relationships among them. We focused our review on two prominent principles—the Maximum Power Principle and the Maximum Entropy Production Principle—and the literature that applies to both. While these principles have considerable conceptual overlap and both use concepts in physics (power and entropy), we found considerable differences in their historical development, the disciplines that apply these principles, and their adoption in the literature. We reviewed the literature using Web of Science keyword searches for the MPP, the MEPP, as well as for papers that cited pioneers in the MPP and the MEPP development. From the 6000 papers that our keyword searches returned, we limited our further meta-analysis to 32 papers by focusing on studies with a foundation in ecosystems research. Despite these seemingly disparate pasts, we concluded that the conceptual approaches of these two principles were more similar than dissimilar and that maximization of power in ecosystems occurs with maximum entropy production. We also found that these two principles have great potential to explain how systems develop, organize, and function, but there are no widely agreed upon theoretical derivations for the MEPP or the MPP, possibly hindering their broader use in ecological research. We end with recommendations for how ecosystems-level studies may better use these principles.

Ecosystem approach in education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nabiullin, Iskander

2017-04-01

Environmental education is a base for sustainable development. Therefore, in our school we pay great attention to environmental education. Environmental education in our school is based on ecosystem approach. What is an ecosystem approach? Ecosystem is a fundamental concept of ecology. Living organisms and their non-living environments interact with each other as a system, and the biosphere planet functions as a global ecosystem. Therefore, it is necessary for children to understand relationships in ecosystems, and we have to develop systems thinking in our students. Ecosystem approach and systems thinking should help us to solve global environmental problems. How do we implement the ecosystem approach? Students must understand that our biosphere functions as a single ecosystem and even small changes can lead to environmental disasters. Even the disappearance of one plant or animal species can lead to irreversible consequences. So in the classroom we learn the importance of each living organism for the nature. We pay special attention to endangered species, which are listed in the Red Data List. Kids are doing projects about these organisms, make videos, print brochures and newspapers. Fieldwork also plays an important role for ecosystem approach. Every summer, we go out for expeditions to study species of plants and animals listed in the Red Data List of Tatarstan. In class, students often write essays on behalf of any endangered species of plants or animals, this also helps them to understand the importance of each living organism in nature. Each spring we organise a festival of environmental projects among students. Groups of 4-5 students work on a solution of environmental problems, such as water, air or soil pollution, waste recycling, the loss of biodiversity, etc. Participants shoot a clip about their project, print brochures. Furthermore, some of the students participate in national and international scientific Olympiads with their projects. In addition to

Brand Identity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawlor, John

1998-01-01

Instead of differentiating themselves by building "brand identities," colleges and universities often focus on competing with price. As a result, fewer and fewer institutions base their identities on value, the combination of quality and price. Methods of building two concepts to influence customers' brand image and brand loyalty are…

Adolescence: Search for an Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasinath, H. M.

2013-01-01

James Marcia (1991, 1994, 1999, 2002) expanded on Erikson's theory of identity formation. Specifically, he focused on two essential processes in achieving a mature identity: exploration and commitment. Erikson's observations about identity were extended by Marcia, who described four identity statuses: identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium…

Identity and Professional Networking.

PubMed

Raj, Medha; Fast, Nathanael J; Fisher, Oliver

2017-06-01

Despite evidence that large professional networks afford a host of financial and professional benefits, people vary in how motivated they are to build such networks. To help explain this variance, the present article moves beyond a rational self-interest account to examine the possibility that identity shapes individuals' intentions to network. Study 1 established a positive association between viewing professional networking as identity-congruent and the tendency to prioritize strengthening and expanding one's professional network. Study 2 revealed that manipulating the salience of the self affects networking intentions, but only among those high in networking identity-congruence. Study 3 further established causality by experimentally manipulating identity-congruence to increase networking intentions. Study 4 examined whether identity or self-interest is a better predictor of networking intentions, providing support for the former. These findings indicate that identity influences the networks people develop. Implications for research on the self, identity-based motivation, and professional networking are discussed.

Recreational impacts on the fauna of Australian coastal marine ecosystems.

PubMed

Hardiman, Nigel; Burgin, Shelley

2010-11-01

This paper reviews recent research into the ecological impacts of recreation and tourism on coastal marine fauna in Australia. Despite the high and growing importance of water-based recreation to the Australian economy, and the known fragility of many Australian ecosystems, there has been relatively limited research into the effects of marine tourism and recreation, infrastructure and activities, on aquatic resources. In this paper we have reviewed the ecological impacts on fauna that are caused by outdoor recreation (including tourism) in Australian coastal marine ecosystems. We predict that the single most potentially severe impact of recreation may be the introduction and/or dispersal of non-indigenous species of marine organisms by recreational vessels. Such introductions, together with other impacts due to human activities have the potential to increasingly degrade recreation destinations. In response, governments have introduced a wide range of legislative tools (e.g., impact assessment, protected area reservation) to manage the recreational industry. It would appear, however, that these instruments are not always appropriately applied. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consumer-driven nutrient dynamics in freshwater ecosystems: from individuals to ecosystems.

PubMed

Atkinson, Carla L; Capps, Krista A; Rugenski, Amanda T; Vanni, Michael J

2017-11-01

The role of animals in modulating nutrient cycling [hereafter, consumer-driven nutrient dynamics (CND)] has been accepted as an important influence on both community structure and ecosystem function in aquatic systems. Yet there is great variability in the influence of CND across species and ecosystems, and the causes of this variation are not well understood. Here, we review and synthesize the mechanisms behind CND in fresh waters. We reviewed 131 articles on CND published between 1973 and 1 June 2015. The rate of new publications in CND has increased from 1.4 papers per year during 1973-2002 to 7.3 per year during 2003-2015. The majority of investigations are in North America with many concentrating on fish. More recent studies have focused on animal-mediated nutrient excretion rates relative to nutrient demand and indirect impacts (e.g. decomposition). We identified several mechanisms that influence CND across levels of biological organization. Factors affecting the stoichiometric plasticity of consumers, including body size, feeding history and ontogeny, play an important role in determining the impact of individual consumers on nutrient dynamics and underlie the stoichiometry of CND across time and space. The abiotic characteristics of an ecosystem affect the net impact of consumers on ecosystem processes by influencing consumer metabolic processes (e.g. consumption and excretion/egestion rates), non-CND supply of nutrients and ecosystem nutrient demand. Furthermore, the transformation and transport of elements by populations and communities of consumers also influences the flow of energy and nutrients across ecosystem boundaries. This review highlights that shifts in community composition or biomass of consumers and eco-evolutionary underpinnings can have strong effects on the functional role of consumers in ecosystem processes, yet these are relatively unexplored aspects of CND. Future research should evaluate the value of using species traits and abiotic

New perspectives in fire management in South American savannas: The importance of intercultural governance.

PubMed

Mistry, Jayalaxshmi; Schmidt, Isabel Belloni; Eloy, Ludivine; Bilbao, Bibiana

2018-05-11

Wildfires continue to cause damage to property, livelihoods and environments around the world. Acknowledging that dealing with wildfires has to go beyond fire-fighting, governments in countries with fire-prone ecosystems have begun to recognize the multiple perspectives of landscape burning and the need to engage with local communities and their practices. In this perspective, we outline the experiences of Brazil and Venezuela, two countries where fire management has been highly contested, but where there have been recent advances in fire management approaches. Success of these new initiatives have been measured by the reduction in wildfire extent through prescribed burning, and the opening of a dialogue on fire management between government agencies and local communities. Yet, it is clear that further developments in community participation need to take place in order to avoid the appropriation of local knowledge systems by institutions, and to better reflect more equitable fire governance.

Men as victims: "victim" identities, gay identities, and masculinities.

PubMed

Dunn, Peter

2012-11-01

The impact and meanings of homophobic violence on gay men's identities are explored with a particular focus on their identities as men and as gay men. Homosexuality can pose a challenge to conventional masculinities, and for some gay men, being victimized on account of sexual orientation reawakens conflicts about their masculinity that they thought they had resolved. Being victimized can reinvoke shame that is rooted in failure or unwillingness to uphold masculine norms. For some gay men, victimization therefore has connotations of nonmasculinity that make being a victim an undesirable status, yet that status must be claimed to obtain a response from criminal justice or victim services. Men who experience homophobic abuse are helped by accepting a victim identity, but only if they can quickly move on from it by reconstructing a masculine gay (nonvictim) identity. This process can be facilitated by agencies such as the police and victim services, provided they help men exercise agency in "fighting back," that is, resisting further victimization and recovering.

Southwest Ecosystem Services Project (SwESP): Identifying Ecosystems Services Based on Tribal Values

EPA Science Inventory

USEPA Office of Research Development (ORD) new strategic focus is the measurement of benefits and services of ecosystem. The primary objective of the Ecosystem Services Research Program (ESRP) is to identify, measure, monitor, model and map ecosystem services and to enable their ...

Ecosystem Health: Energy Indicators.

EPA Science Inventory

Just as for human beings health is a concept that applies to the condition of the whole organism, the health of an ecosystem refers to the condition of the ecosystem as a whole. For this reason, the study and characterization of ecosystems is fundamental to establishing accurate ...

Government conservation policies on Mexican coastal areas: is "top-down" management working?

PubMed

Nava, Héctor; Ramírez-Herrera, M Teresa

2011-12-01

Marine and terrestrial ecosystems are declining globally due to environmental degradation and poorly planned resource use. Traditionally, local government agencies have been responsible of the management of natural reserves to preserve biodiversity. Nonetheless, much of these approaches have failed, suggesting the development of more integrative strategies. In order to discuss the importance of a holistic approach in conservation initiatives, coastal and underwater landscape value and biological/environmental indicators of coral reef degradation were assessed using the study case of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero coastal area. This area shelters representative coral reef structures of the Eastern Pacific coast and its terrestrial biodiversity and archaeology enhance the high value of its coastal area. This study explored the landscape value of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems using the geomorphosite approach in two sites on the Zihuatanejo coastal area: Caleta de Chon and Manzanillo Beach. Sedimentation rate, water transparency, chlorophyll and total suspended solids were recorded underwater in each site for environmental characterization. 50 photo-quadrants on five transects were surveyed between 3-4m depth to record coverage (%) of living corals, dead corals, algae, sand and rocks. The conservation status of coral reefs was assessed by the coral mortality index (MI). Landscape values showed that both terrestrial and marine ecosystems had important scientific and aesthetic values, being Manzanillo Beach the site with the highest potential for conservation initiatives (TtV = 14.2). However, coral reefs face elevated sedimentation rates (up to 1.16 kg/m2d) and low water transparency (less of 5m) generated by coastal land use changes that have increased soil erosion in the adjacent coastal area. High coverage of dead corals (23.6%) and algae (up to 29%) confirm the low values in conservation status of coral reefs (MI = 0.5), reflecting a poorly-planned management

Exploring medical identity theft.

PubMed

Mancilla, Desla; Moczygemba, Jackie

2009-09-16

The crime of medical identity theft is a growing concern in healthcare institutions. A mixed-method study design including a two-stage electronic survey, telephone survey follow-up, and on-site observations was used to evaluate current practices in admitting and registration departments to reduce the occurrence of medical identity theft. Survey participants were chief compliance officers in acute healthcare organizations and members of the Health Care Compliance Association. Study results indicate variance in whether or how patient identity is confirmed in healthcare settings. The findings of this study suggest that information systems need to be designed for more efficient identity management. Admitting and registration staff must be trained, and compliance with medical identity theft policies and procedures must be monitored. Finally, biometric identity management solutions should be considered for stronger patient identification verification.

A Longitudinal Integration of Identity Styles and Educational Identity Processes in Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Negru-Subtirica, Oana; Pop, Eleonora Ioana; Crocetti, Elisabetta

2017-01-01

Identity formation is a main adolescent psychosocial developmental task. The complex interconnection between different processes that are at the basis of one's identity is a research and applied intervention priority. In this context, the identity style model focuses on social-cognitive strategies (i.e., informational, normative, and…

Identity as a 'patchwork': aspects of identity among low-income Brazilian travestis.

PubMed

Garcia, Marcos Roberto Vieira

2009-08-01

This paper is based on findings from a qualitative study that took place within the context of a four-year healthcare programme directed towards low-income travestis in the central area of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Throughout the study the formation of social identity among travestis was investigated through a focus on four axes: gender, body, work and violence. This paper subjects the identity of the travestis to a critical analysis and proposes a view of their sense of self as a 'patchwork' assembled through the assimilation of various fragments of identity common in Brazilian society. The primary identities assimilated by the travestis under study were, in the area of femininity, the submissive woman, the puta ['whore'] and the super-seductive woman and, in the area of masculinity, the viado ['queer'], the malandro ['rascal'] and the bandido ['bandit']. The resulting travesti identity exhibited not only gender ambiguity, but also contradictions among the feminine identities described, as well as among the masculine ones.

[Research progress of ecosystem service flow.

PubMed

Liu, Hui Min; Fan, Yu Long; Ding, Sheng Yan

2016-07-01

With the development of social economy, human disturbance has resulted in a variety of ecosystem service degradation or disappearance. Ecosystem services flow plays an important role in delivery, transformation and maintenance of ecosystem services, and becomes one of the new research directions. In this paper, based on the classification of ecosystem services flow, we analyzed ecosystem service delivery carrier, and investigated the mechanism of ecosystem service flow, including the information, property, scale features, quantification and cartography. Moreover, a tentative analysis on cost-effective of ecosystem services flow (such as transportation costs, conversion costs, usage costs and cost of relativity) was made to analyze the consumption cost in ecosystem services flow process. It aimed to analyze dissipation cost in ecosystem services flow process. To a certain extent, the study of ecosystem service flow solved the problem of "double counting" in ecosystem services valuation, which could make a contribution for the sake of recognizing hot supply and consumption spots of ecosystem services. In addition, it would be conducive to maximizing the ecosystem service benefits in the transmission process and putting forward scientific and reasonable ecological compensation.

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force---Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Science Assessment and Needs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walker, Shelby; Dausman, Alyssa M.; Lavoie, Dawn L.

2012-01-01

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (GCERTF) was established by Executive Order 13554 as a result of recommendations from “America’s Gulf Coast: A Long-term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Mabus Report). The GCERTF consists of members from 11 Federal agencies and representatives from each State bordering the Gulf of Mexico. The GCERTF was charged to develop a holistic, long-term, science-based Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy for the Gulf of Mexico. Federal and State agencies staffed the GCERTF with experts in fields such as policy, budgeting, and science to help develop the Strategy. The Strategy was built on existing authorities and resources and represents enhanced collaboration and a recognition of the shared responsibility among Federal and State governments to restore the Gulf Coast ecosystem. In this time of severe fiscal constraints, Task Force member agencies and States are committed to establishing shared priorities and working together to achieve them.As part of this effort, three staffers, one National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist and two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, created and led a Science Coordination Team (SCT) to guide scientific input into the development of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy. The SCT leads from the GCERTF coordinated more than 70 scientists from the Federal and State Task Force member agencies to participate in development of a restoration-oriented science document focused on the entire Gulf of Mexico, from inland watersheds to the deep blue waters. The SCT leads and scientists were organized into six different working groups based on expanded goals from the Mabus Report: Coastal habitats are healthy and resilient.Living coastal and marine resources are healthy, diverse, and sustainable.Coastal communities are adaptive and resilient.Storm buffers are sustainable.Inland habitats and

Cancer: a missing link in ecosystem functioning?

PubMed

Vittecoq, Marion; Roche, Benjamin; Daoust, Simon P; Ducasse, Hugo; Missé, Dorothée; Abadie, Jérome; Labrut, Sophie; Renaud, François; Gauthier-Clerc, Michel; Thomas, Frédéric

2013-11-01

Cancer is a disease that affects the majority of metazoan species and, before directly causing host death, is likely to influence the competitive abilities of individuals, their susceptibility to pathogens, their vulnerability to predators, and their ability to disperse. Despite the potential importance of these ecological impacts, cancer is rarely incorporated into model ecosystems. We describe here the diversity of ways in which oncogenic phenomena, from precancerous lesions to generalized metastatic cancers, may affect ecological processes that govern biotic interactions. We argue that oncogenic phenomena, despite their complexity, can have significant and sometimes predictable ecological consequences. Our aim is to provide a new perspective on the ecological and evolutionary significance of cancer in wildlife, and to stimulate research on this topic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporating historical ecosystem diversity into conservation planning efforts in grass and shrub ecosystems

Treesearch

Amy C. Ganguli; Johathan B. Haufler; Carolyn A. Mehl; Jimmie D. Chew

2011-01-01

Understanding historical ecosystem diversity and wildlife habitat quality can provide a useful reference for managing and restoring rangeland ecosystems. We characterized historical ecosystem diversity using available empirical data, expert opinion, and the spatially explicit vegetation dynamics model SIMPPLLE (SIMulating Vegetative Patterns and Processes at Landscape...

Broken identity: the impact of the Holocaust on identity in Romanian and Polish Jews.

PubMed

Prot, Katarzyna

2008-01-01

The paper is based on interviews conducted with Holocaust survivors in Poland (30 interviews) and Romania (55 interviews). It describes how the Holocaust affected survivor identity. Two aspects of identity are analyzed the sense of personal identity and social identity. Each affects the other but they are largely independent and the trauma of the Holocaust impacted each of them differently. Personal identity seems to be unrelated to either the type of trauma or the survivor's social situation. There are no significant differences in that aspect between Polish and Romanian survivors. Social identity is more related to the survivors' social situation prior to and after the trauma. The sense of identity, both personal and social, is dynamic and changes over time.

On Man and Ecosystems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brookfield, Harold

1982-01-01

Distinctions between natural ecosystems and human ecosystems are misleading. Natural and social sciences can be integrated through the concept of a "human-use ecosystem," in which social scientists analyze the community, household, and individual, and natural scientists analyze the land. Includes a case study of St. Kitts. (KC)

Coming to an Asexual Identity: Negotiating Identity, Negotiating Desire.

PubMed

Scherrer, Kristin S

2008-10-01

Sexuality is generally considered an important aspect of self-hood. Therefore, individuals who do not experience sexual attraction, and embrace an asexual identity are in a unique position to inform the social construction of sexuality. This study explores the experiences of asexual individuals utilizing open ended Internet survey data from 102 self-identified asexual people. In this paper I describe several distinct aspects of asexual identities: the meanings of sexual, and therefore, asexual behaviors, essentialist characterizations of asexuality, and lastly, interest in romance as a distinct dimension of sexuality. These findings have implications not only for asexual identities, but also for the connections of asexuality with other marginalized sexualities.

Teacher Educator Identity Emerging from Identity as a Person

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, M. Shaun; Pinnegar, Stefinee

2011-01-01

Experience is fundamental in identity development. In research, concepts and issues around identity are shaped and confronted in moments of reflection. The act of reflection requires a backward attention to engender a present understanding and create future possibilities. Kim and Greene, and Young and Erickson capture this temporal aspect of…

Contorting Identities: Figuring Literacy and Identity in Adolescent Worlds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinlan, A.; Curtin, A.

2017-01-01

This paper explores connections and disconnects between identity and literacy for a group of adolescents in a second level classroom setting. We build on Mead and Vygotsky's conceptualisations of identity formation as an intricate emergent happening constantly formed/reformed by people, in their interactions with others [Mead, G. H. 1999.…

Opening Doors to Success in Multilingual Classrooms: Bilingualism, Codeswitching and the Professional Identities of Ethnic Minority Primary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conteh, Jean

2007-01-01

In England, government initiatives to recruit more ethnic minority teachers into mainstream schools have met with only limited success. One important reason for this may be that the factors that contribute to their distinctive professional skills and identities, and their potential to help raise the achievements of ethnic minority pupils, are not…

Shortleaf Pine ecosystem restoration: impacts on soils and woody debris in the Ouachita mountains of the southern United States

Treesearch

Hal O. Liechty; Kenneth R. Luckow; Jessica Seifert Daniel; Daniel A. Marion; Martin Spetich; James M. Guldin

2004-01-01

A number of organizations and government agencies have been involved with restoration of overstocked shortleaf pine-hardwood stands to shortleaf pine-bluestem ecosystems in the Ouachita Mountains of the southern United States. These restoration efforts entail the reduction of stand density by harvesting and midstory competition control as well as the reintroduction of...

Exploring Medical Identity Theft

PubMed Central

Mancilla, Desla; Moczygemba, Jackie

2009-01-01

The crime of medical identity theft is a growing concern in healthcare institutions. A mixed-method study design including a two-stage electronic survey, telephone survey follow-up, and on-site observations was used to evaluate current practices in admitting and registration departments to reduce the occurrence of medical identity theft. Survey participants were chief compliance officers in acute healthcare organizations and members of the Health Care Compliance Association. Study results indicate variance in whether or how patient identity is confirmed in healthcare settings. The findings of this study suggest that information systems need to be designed for more efficient identity management. Admitting and registration staff must be trained, and compliance with medical identity theft policies and procedures must be monitored. Finally, biometric identity management solutions should be considered for stronger patient identification verification. PMID:20169017

Interdisciplinary science for future governance and management of forests.

PubMed

Nordin, Annika; Sandström, Camilla

2016-02-01

The sustainable use of forests constitutes one of the great challenges for the future due to forests' large spatial coverage, long-term planning horizons and inclusion of many ecosystem services. The mission of the Future Forests programme is to provide a scientifically robust knowledge base for sustainable governance and management of forests preparing for a future characterized by globalization and climate change. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we describe the interdisciplinary science approach developed in close collaboration with actors in the Future Forests programme, and discuss the potential impacts of this science on society. In addition, we introduce the 13 scientific articles and present results produced by the programme.

Process contributions of Australian ecosystems to interannual variations in the carbon cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haverd, Vanessa; Smith, Benjamin; Trudinger, Cathy

2016-05-01

New evidence is emerging that semi-arid ecosystems dominate interannual variability (IAV) of the global carbon cycle, largely via fluctuating water availability associated with El Niño/Southern Oscillation. Recent evidence from global terrestrial biosphere modelling and satellite-based inversion of atmospheric CO2 point to a large role of Australian ecosystems in global carbon cycle variability, including a large contribution from Australia to the record land sink of 2011. However the specific mechanisms governing this variability, and their bioclimatic distribution within Australia, have not been identified. Here we provide a regional assessment, based on best available observational data, of IAV in the Australian terrestrial carbon cycle and the role of Australia in the record land sink anomaly of 2011. We find that IAV in Australian net carbon uptake is dominated by semi-arid ecosystems in the east of the continent, whereas the 2011 anomaly was more uniformly spread across most of the continent. Further, and in contrast to global modelling results suggesting that IAV in Australian net carbon uptake is amplified by lags between production and decomposition, we find that, at continental scale, annual variations in production are dampened by annual variations in decomposition, with both fluxes responding positively to precipitation anomalies.

Men as Victims: "Victim" Identities, Gay Identities, and Masculinities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Peter

2012-01-01

The impact and meanings of homophobic violence on gay men's identities are explored with a particular focus on their identities as men and as gay men. Homosexuality can pose a challenge to conventional masculinities, and for some gay men, being victimized on account of sexual orientation reawakens conflicts about their masculinity that they…

Racial Identity Attitudes and Ego Identity Statuses in Dominican and Puerto Rican College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Delida

2013-01-01

This study explored the relation between racial identity attitudes and ego identity statuses in 94 Dominican and Puerto Rican Latino college students in an urban public college setting. Simultaneous regression analyses were conducted to test the relation between racial identity attitudes and ego identity statuses, and findings indicated that…

Perception, acquisition and use of ecosystem services: human behavior, and ecosystem management and policy implications

Treesearch

Stanley T. Asah; Anne D. Guerry; Dale J. Blahna; Joshua J. Lawler

2014-01-01

Ecosystem services, fundamental to livelihoods and well-being, are reshaping environmental management and policy. However, the behavioral dimensions of ecosystem services and the responses of ordinary people to the management of those services, is less well understood. The ecosystem services framework lends itself to understanding the relationship between ecosystems...

Bridging Identities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deaux, Kay; Burke, Peter

2010-01-01

Sociology and psychology are no strangers in the theoretical world of self and identity. Early works by William James (1890), a psychologist, and George Herbert Mead (1934), a sociologist, are often taken as a starting point by investigators in both fields. In more recent years, with the development of a number of identity theories in both fields,…

Components of Sexual Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shively, Michael G.; DeCecco, John P.

1977-01-01

This paper examines the four components of sexual identity: biological sex, gender identity, social sex-role, and sexual orientation. Theories about the development of each component and how they combine and conflict to form the individual's sexual identity are discussed. (Author)

Going Beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: An Index System of Human Dependence on Ecosystem Services

PubMed Central

Yang, Wu; Dietz, Thomas; Liu, Wei; Luo, Junyan; Liu, Jianguo

2013-01-01

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) estimated that two thirds of ecosystem services on the earth have degraded or are in decline due to the unprecedented scale of human activities during recent decades. These changes will have tremendous consequences for human well-being, and offer both risks and opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders. Yet these risks and opportunities have not been well managed due in part to the lack of quantitative understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. Here, we propose an index of dependence on ecosystem services (IDES) system to quantify human dependence on ecosystem services. We demonstrate the construction of the IDES system using household survey data. We show that the overall index and sub-indices can reflect the general pattern of households' dependences on ecosystem services, and their variations across time, space, and different forms of capital (i.e., natural, human, financial, manufactured, and social capitals). We support the proposition that the poor are more dependent on ecosystem services and further generalize this proposition by arguing that those disadvantaged groups who possess low levels of any form of capital except for natural capital are more dependent on ecosystem services than those with greater control of capital. The higher value of the overall IDES or sub-index represents the higher dependence on the corresponding ecosystem services, and thus the higher vulnerability to the degradation or decline of corresponding ecosystem services. The IDES system improves our understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. It also provides insights into strategies for alleviating poverty, for targeting priority groups of conservation programs, and for managing risks and opportunities due to changes of ecosystem services at multiple scales. PMID:23717634

Going beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: an index system of human dependence on ecosystem services.

PubMed

Yang, Wu; Dietz, Thomas; Liu, Wei; Luo, Junyan; Liu, Jianguo

2013-01-01

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) estimated that two thirds of ecosystem services on the earth have degraded or are in decline due to the unprecedented scale of human activities during recent decades. These changes will have tremendous consequences for human well-being, and offer both risks and opportunities for a wide range of stakeholders. Yet these risks and opportunities have not been well managed due in part to the lack of quantitative understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. Here, we propose an index of dependence on ecosystem services (IDES) system to quantify human dependence on ecosystem services. We demonstrate the construction of the IDES system using household survey data. We show that the overall index and sub-indices can reflect the general pattern of households' dependences on ecosystem services, and their variations across time, space, and different forms of capital (i.e., natural, human, financial, manufactured, and social capitals). We support the proposition that the poor are more dependent on ecosystem services and further generalize this proposition by arguing that those disadvantaged groups who possess low levels of any form of capital except for natural capital are more dependent on ecosystem services than those with greater control of capital. The higher value of the overall IDES or sub-index represents the higher dependence on the corresponding ecosystem services, and thus the higher vulnerability to the degradation or decline of corresponding ecosystem services. The IDES system improves our understanding of human dependence on ecosystem services. It also provides insights into strategies for alleviating poverty, for targeting priority groups of conservation programs, and for managing risks and opportunities due to changes of ecosystem services at multiple scales.

Unmasking identity dissonance: exploring medical students' professional identity formation through mask making.

PubMed

Joseph, Kimera; Bader, Karlen; Wilson, Sara; Walker, Melissa; Stephens, Mark; Varpio, Lara

2017-04-01

Professional identity formation is an on-going, integrative process underlying trainees' experiences of medical education. Since each medical student's professional identity formation process is an individual, internal, and often times emotionally charged unconscious experience, it can be difficult for educators to understand each student's unique experience. We investigate if mask making can provide learners and educators the opportunity to explore medical students' professional identity formation experiences. In 2014 and 2015, 30 third year medical students created masks, with a brief accompanying written narrative, to creatively express their medical education experiences. Using a paradigmatic case selection approach, four masks were analyzed using techniques from visual rhetoric and the Listening Guide. The research team clearly detected identity dissonance in each case. Each case provided insights into the unique personal experiences of the dissonance process for each trainee at a particular point in their medical school training. We propose that mask making accompanied by a brief narrative reflection can help educators identify students experiencing identity dissonance, and explore each student's unique experience of that dissonance. The process of making these artistic expressions may also provide a form of intervention that can enable educators to help students navigate professional identity formation and identity dissonance experiences.

Korean Adoptee Identity: Adoptive and Ethnic Identity Profiles of Adopted Korean Americans

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaupre, Adam J.; Reichwald, Reed; Zhou, Xiang; Raleigh, Elizabeth; Lee, Richard M.

2015-01-01

Adopted Korean adolescents face the task of grappling with their identity as Koreans and coming to terms with their adoptive status. In order to explore these dual identities, the authors conducted a person-centered study of the identity profiles of 189 adopted Korean American adolescents. Using cluster analytic procedures, the study examined…

Is Ecosystem-Atmosphere Observation in Long-Term Networks actually Science?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmid, H. P. E.

2015-12-01

Science uses observations to build knowledge by testable explanations and predictions. The "scientific method" requires controlled systematic observation to examine questions, hypotheses and predictions. Thus, enquiry along the scientific method responds to questions of the type "what if …?" In contrast, long-term observation programs follow a different strategy: we commonly take great care to minimize our influence on the environment of our measurements, with the aim to maximize their external validity. We observe what we think are key variables for ecosystem-atmosphere exchange and ask questions such as "what happens next?" or "how did this happen?" This apparent deviation from the scientific method begs the question whether any explanations we come up with for the phenomena we observe are actually contributing to testable knowledge, or whether their value remains purely anecdotal. Here, we present examples to argue that, under certain conditions, data from long-term observations and observation networks can have equivalent or even higher scientific validity than controlled experiments. Internal validity is particularly enhanced if observations are combined with modeling. Long-term observations of ecosystem-atmosphere fluxes identify trends and temporal scales of variability. Observation networks reveal spatial patterns and variations, and long-term observation networks combine both aspects. A necessary condition for such observations to gain validity beyond the anecdotal is the requirement that the data are comparable: a comparison of two measured values, separated in time or space, must inform us objectively whether (e.g.) one value is larger than the other. In turn, a necessary condition for the comparability of data is the compatibility of the sensors and procedures used to generate them. Compatibility ensures that we compare "apples to apples": that measurements conducted in identical conditions give the same values (within suitable uncertainty intervals

POLLUTION AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH - ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL CONDITION OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS

EPA Science Inventory

Summers, Kevin. 2004. Pollution and Ecosystem Health - Assessing Ecological Condition of Coastal Ecosystems. Presented at the White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Miami Conference, 21-26 March 2004, Miami, FL. 1 p. (ERL,GB R973).

Throughout the coastal regions and Large Mari...

Rising climate variability and synchrony in North Pacific ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Bryan

2017-04-01

Rising climate variability and synchrony in North Pacific ecosystems Evidence is growing that climate variability of the northeast Pacific Ocean has increased over the last century, culminating in such events as the record-breaking El Niño years 1983, 1998, and 2016 and the unusually persistent 2014/15 North Pacific Ocean heat wave known as "The Blob." Of particular concern is that rising variability could increase synchrony within and among North Pacific ecosystems, which could reduce the diversity of biological responses to climate (i.e. the "portfolio effect"), diminish resilience, and leave populations more prone to extirpation. To test this phenomenon, we use a network of multidecadal fish otolith growth-increment chronologies that were strongly correlated to records of winter (Jan-Mar) sea level. These biological and physical datasets spanned the California Current through the Gulf of Alaska. Synchrony was quantified as directional changes in running (31-year window) mean pairwise correlation within sea level and then within otolith time series. Synchrony in winter sea level at the nine stations with the longest records has increased by more than 40% over the 1950-2015 interval. Likewise, synchrony among the eight longest otolith chronologies has increased more than 100% over a comparable time period. These directional changes in synchrony are highly unlikely due to chance alone, as confirmed by comparing trends in observed data to those in simulated data (n = 10,000 iterations) with time series of identical number, length, and autocorrelation. Ultimately, this trend in rising synchrony may be linked to increased impacts of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on mid-latitude ecosystems of North America, and may therefore reflect a much broader, global-scale signature.

Teachers' Interpersonal Role Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Want, Anna C.; den Brok, Perry; Beijaard, Douwe; Brekelmans, Mieke; Claessens, Luce C. A.; Pennings, Helena J. M.

2015-01-01

This article investigates the link between teachers' appraisal of specific interpersonal situations in classrooms and their more general interpersonal identity standard, which together form their interpersonal role identity. Using semi-structured and video-stimulated interviews, data on teachers' appraisals and interpersonal identity standards…

Certification and brand identity for energy efficiency in competitive energy services markets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prindle, W.R.; Wiser, R.

Resource commitments for energy efficiency from electricity companies are disappearing rapidly as the regulated Integrated Resource Planning and Demand-Side Management paradigms that fostered them give way to competitive power markets in a restructuring electricity industry. While free-market advocates claim that energy efficiency needs will be taken care of by competitive energy service providers, there is no assurance that efficiency will compete effectively with the panoply of other energy-related (and non-energy-related) services that are beginning to appear in early market offerings. This paper reports the results of a feasibility study for a certification and brand identity program for energy efficiency gearedmore » to competitive power markets. Funded by the Energy Foundation, this study involved a survey and personal interviews with stakeholders, plus a workshop to further the discussion. Stakeholders include independent power marketers and energy service companies, utility affiliate power marketers and energy service companies, government agencies, trade associations, non-profit organizations, equipment manufacturers, and consultants. The paper summarizes the study's findings on such key issues as: Whether a brand identity concept has a critical mass of interest and support; how qualification and certification could work in such a program; how a brand identity could be positioned in the market; how an efficiency brand identity could co-brand with renewable power branding programs and other green marketing efforts; and the resources and components needed to make such a program work on a national scale.« less

Male identity in mental health nursing.

PubMed

Holyoake, Dean-David

To explore the cultural meaning associated with male mental health nurses. An ethnographic approach was used to discover the meaning informants attach to the cultural norms, values and rules that govern their behaviour. Data were collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with informants. Data were analysed using emerging domains and taxonomies regarding male nurse issues. This involved grouping terms, words and everyday reflections collected from the male mental health nurses. These lists of data (taxonomies) enabled the researcher to identify in-depth cultural themes about the attitudes, behaviours and symbolism typically associated with male nurses. A number of cultural themes emerged, including the notion of 'soft masculinity', which provided some insight into male nurses' experiences of working in a female-dominated workplace. A recurring theme was the need for male nurses to demonstrate gentleness and caring while maintaining a balanced sense of masculine identity.

Critical look at physics identity: An operationalized framework for examining race and physics identity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hyater-Adams, Simone; Fracchiolla, Claudia; Finkelstein, Noah; Hinko, Kathleen

2018-06-01

Studies on physics identity are appearing more frequently and often responding to increased awareness of the underrepresentation of students of color in physics. In our broader research, we focus our efforts on understanding how racial identity and physics identity are negotiated throughout the experiences of Black physicists. In this paper, we present a Critical Physics Identity framework that can be used to examine racialized physics identity and demonstrate the utility of this framework by analyzing interviews with four physicists. Our framework draws from prior constructs of physics identity and racialized identity and provides operational definitions of six interacting dimensions. In this paper, we present the operationalized constructs, demonstrate how we use these constructs to code narrative data, as well as outline three methods of analysis that may be applied to study systems and structures and their influences on the experiences of Black students.

Collaboration in natural resource governance: reconciling stakeholder expectations in deer management in Scotland.

PubMed

Davies, Althea L; White, Rehema M

2012-12-15

The challenges of integrated, adaptive and ecosystem management are leading government agencies to adopt participatory modes of engagement. Collaborative governance is a form of participation in which stakeholders co-produce goals and strategies and share responsibilities and resources. We assess the potential and challenges of collaborative governance as a mechanism to provide an integrated, ecosystem approach to natural resource management, using red deer in Scotland as a case study. Collaborative Deer Management Groups offer a well-established example of a 'bridging organisation', intended to reduce costs and facilitate decision making and learning across institutions and scales. We examine who initiates collaborative processes and why, what roles different actors adopt and how these factors influence the outcomes, particularly at a time of changing values, management and legislative priorities. Our findings demonstrate the need for careful consideration of where and how shared responsibility might be best implemented and sustained as state agencies often remain key to the process, despite the partnership intention. Differing interpretations between agencies and landowners of the degree of autonomy and division of responsibilities involved in 'collaboration' can create tension, while the diversity of landowner priorities brings additional challenges for defining shared goals in red deer management and in other cases. Effective maintenance depends on appropriate role allocation and adoption of responsibilities, definition of convergent values and goals, and establishing communication and trust in institutional networks. Options that may help private stakeholders offset the costs of accepting responsibility for delivering public benefits need to be explicitly addressed to build capacity and support adaptation. This study indicates that collaborative governance has the potential to help reconcile statutory obligations with stakeholder empowerment. The potential of

Bryozoans are returning home: recolonization of freshwater ecosystems inferred from phylogenetic relationships.

PubMed

Koletić, Nikola; Novosel, Maja; Rajević, Nives; Franjević, Damjan

2015-01-01

Bryozoans are aquatic invertebrates that inhabit all types of aquatic ecosystems. They are small animals that form large colonies by asexual budding. Colonies can reach the size of several tens of centimeters, while individual units within a colony are the size of a few millimeters. Each individual within a colony works as a separate zooid and is genetically identical to each other individual within the same colony. Most freshwater species of bryozoans belong to the Phylactolaemata class, while several species that tolerate brackish water belong to the Gymnolaemata class. Tissue samples for this study were collected in the rivers of Adriatic and Danube basin and in the wetland areas in the continental part of Croatia (Europe). Freshwater and brackish taxons of bryozoans were genetically analyzed for the purpose of creating phylogenetic relationships between freshwater and brackish taxons of the Phylactolaemata and Gymnolaemata classes and determining the role of brackish species in colonizing freshwater and marine ecosystems. Phylogenetic relationships inferred on the genes for 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, COI, and ITS2 region confirmed Phylactolaemata bryozoans as radix bryozoan group. Phylogenetic analysis proved Phylactolaemata bryozoan's close relations with taxons from Phoronida phylum as well as the separation of the Lophopodidae family from other families within the Plumatellida genus. Comparative analysis of existing knowledge about the phylogeny of bryozoans and the expansion of known evolutionary hypotheses is proposed with the model of settlement of marine and freshwater ecosystems by the bryozoans group during their evolutionary past. In this case study, brackish bryozoan taxons represent a link for this ecological phylogenetic hypothesis. Comparison of brackish bryozoan species Lophopus crystallinus and Conopeum seurati confirmed a dual colonization of freshwater ecosystems throughout evolution of this group of animals.

Ecosystem classification, Chapter 2

Treesearch

M.J. Robin-Abbott; L.H. Pardo

2011-01-01

The ecosystem classification in this report is based on the ecoregions developed through the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) for North America (CEC 1997). Only ecosystems that occur in the United States are included. CEC ecoregions are described, with slight modifications, below (CEC 1997) and shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.2. We chose this ecosystem...

Getting Open Source Right for Big Data Analytics: Software Sharing, Governance, Collaboration and Most of All, Fun!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mattmann, C. A.

2013-12-01

A wave of open source big data analytic infrastructure is currently shaping government, private sector, and academia. Projects are consuming, adapting, and contributing back to various ecosystems of software e.g., the Apache Hadoop project and its ecosystem of related efforts including Hive, HBase, Pig, Oozie, Ambari, Knox, Tez and Yarn, to name a few; the Berkeley AMPLab stack which includes Spark, Shark, Mesos, Tachyon, BlinkDB, MLBase, and other emerging efforts; MapR and its related stack of technologies, offerings from commercial companies building products around these tools e.g., Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP), Cloudera's CDH project, etc. Though the technologies all offer different capabilities including low latency support/in-memory, versus record oriented file I/O, high availability, support for the Map Reduce programming paradigm or other dataflow/workflow constructs, there is a common thread that binds these products - they are all released under an open source license e.g., Apache2, MIT, BSD, GPL/LGPL, etc.; all thrive in various ecosystems, such as Apache, or Berkeley AMPLab; all are developed collaboratively, and all technologies provide plug in architecture models and methodologies for allowing others to contribute, and participate via various community models. This talk will cover the open source aspects and governance aspects of the aforementioned Big Data ecosystems and point out the differences, subtleties, and implications of those differences. The discussion will be by example, using several national deployments and Big Data initiatives stemming from the Administration including DARPA's XDATA program; NASA's CMAC program; NSF's EarthCube and geosciences BigData projects. Lessons learned from these efforts in terms of the open source aspects of these technologies will help guide the AGU community in their use, deployment and understanding.

Social Identity Change: Shifts in Social Identity during Adolescence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanti, Chris; Stukas, Arthur A.; Halloran, Michael J.; Foddy, Margaret

2011-01-01

This study investigated the proposition that adolescence involves significant shifts in social identity as a function of changes in social context and cognitive style. Using an experimental design, we primed either peer or gender identity with a sample of 380 early- (12-13 years), mid- (15-16 years), and late-adolescents (18-20 years) and then…

From theoretical to actual ecosystem services: mapping beneficiaries and spatial flows in ecosystem service assessments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Villa, Ferdinando; Batker, David; Harrison-Cox, Jennifer; Voigt, Brian; Johnson, Gary W.

2014-01-01

Ecosystem services mapping and modeling has focused more on supply than demand, until recently. Whereas the potential provision of economic benefits from ecosystems to people is often quantified through ecological production functions, the use of and demand for ecosystem services has received less attention, as have the spatial flows of services from ecosystems to people. However, new modeling approaches that map and quantify service-specific sources (ecosystem capacity to provide a service), sinks (biophysical or anthropogenic features that deplete or alter service flows), users (user locations and level of demand), and spatial flows can provide a more complete understanding of ecosystem services. Through a case study in Puget Sound, Washington State, USA, we quantify and differentiate between the theoretical or in situ provision of services, i.e., ecosystems’ capacity to supply services, and their actual provision when accounting for the location of beneficiaries and the spatial connections that mediate service flows between people and ecosystems. Our analysis includes five ecosystem services: carbon sequestration and storage, riverine flood regulation, sediment regulation for reservoirs, open space proximity, and scenic viewsheds. Each ecosystem service is characterized by different beneficiary groups and means of service flow. Using the ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) methodology we map service supply, demand, and flow, extending on simpler approaches used by past studies to map service provision and use. With the exception of the carbon sequestration service, regions that actually provided services to people, i.e., connected to beneficiaries via flow paths, amounted to 16-66% of those theoretically capable of supplying services, i.e., all ecosystems across the landscape. These results offer a more complete understanding of the spatial dynamics of ecosystem services and their effects, and may provide a sounder basis for economic

Inter-identity autobiographical amnesia in patients with dissociative identity disorder.

PubMed

Huntjens, Rafaële J C; Verschuere, Bruno; McNally, Richard J

2012-01-01

A major symptom of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) is dissociative amnesia, the inability to recall important personal information. Only two case studies have directly addressed autobiographical memory in DID. Both provided evidence suggestive of dissociative amnesia. The aim of the current study was to objectively assess transfer of autobiographical information between identities in a larger sample of DID patients. Using a concealed information task, we assessed recognition of autobiographical details in an amnesic identity. Eleven DID patients, 27 normal controls, and 23 controls simulating DID participated. Controls and simulators were matched to patients on age, education level, and type of autobiographical memory tested. Although patients subjectively reported amnesia for the autobiographical details included in the task, the results indicated transfer of information between identities. The results call for a revision of the DID definition. The amnesia criterion should be modified to emphasize its subjective nature.

The biodiversity-dependent ecosystem service debt.

PubMed

Isbell, Forest; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen; Loreau, Michel

2015-02-01

Habitat destruction is driving biodiversity loss in remaining ecosystems, and ecosystem functioning and services often directly depend on biodiversity. Thus, biodiversity loss is likely creating an ecosystem service debt: a gradual loss of biodiversity-dependent benefits that people obtain from remaining fragments of natural ecosystems. Here, we develop an approach for quantifying ecosystem service debts, and illustrate its use to estimate how one anthropogenic driver, habitat destruction, could indirectly diminish one ecosystem service, carbon storage, by creating an extinction debt. We estimate that c. 2-21 Pg C could be gradually emitted globally in remaining ecosystem fragments because of plant species loss caused by nearby habitat destruction. The wide range for this estimate reflects substantial uncertainties in how many plant species will be lost, how much species loss will impact ecosystem functioning and whether plant species loss will decrease soil carbon. Our exploratory analysis suggests that biodiversity-dependent ecosystem service debts can be globally substantial, even when locally small, if they occur diffusely across vast areas of remaining ecosystems. There is substantial value in conserving not only the quantity (area), but also the quality (biodiversity) of natural ecosystems for the sustainable provision of ecosystem services. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

What governs governance, and how does it evolve? The sociology of governance-in-action.

PubMed

Fox, Nick J; Ward, Katie J

2008-09-01

Governance addresses a wide range of issues including social, economic and political continuity, security and integrity, individual and collective safety and the liberty and rights to self-actualization of citizens. Questions to be answered include how governance can be achieved and sustained within a social context imbued with cultural values and in which power is distributed unevenly and dynamically, and how governance impacts on individuals and institutions. Drawing on Gramscian notions of hegemony and consent, and recent political science literatures on regulation and meta-regulation, this paper develops a sociological model of governance that emphasizes a dynamic and responsive governance in action. Empirical data from a study of pharmaceutical governance is used to show how multiple institutions and actors are involved in sustaining effective governance. The model addresses issues of how governance is sustained in the face of change, why governance of practices varies from setting to setting, and how governance is achieved without legislation.

Impacts of Human Induced Nitrogen Deposition on Ecosystem Carbon Sequestration and Water Balance in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheng, M.; Yang, D.; Tang, J.; Lei, H.

2017-12-01

Enhanced plant biomass accumulation in response to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration could dampen the future rate of increase in CO2 levels and associated climate warming. However, many experiments around the world reported that nitrogen availability could limit the sustainability of the ecosystems' response to elevated CO2. In the recent 20 years, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, primarily from fossil fuel combustion, has increased sharply about 25% in China and meanwhile, China has the highest carbon emission in the world, implying a large opportunity to increase vegetation greenness and ecosystem carbon sequestration. Moreover, the water balance of the ecosystem will also change. However, in the future, the trajectory of increasing nitrogen deposition from fossil fuel use is to be controlled by the government policy that shapes the energy and industrial structure. Therefore, the historical and future trajectories of nitrogen deposition are likely very different, and it is imperative to understand how changes in nitrogen deposition will impact the ecosystem carbon sequestration and water balance in China. We here use the Community Land Model (CLM 4.5) to analyze how the change of nitrogen deposition has influenced and will influence the ecosystem carbon and water cycle in China at a high spatial resolution (0.1 degree). We address the following questions: 1) what is the contribution of the nitrogen deposition on historical vegetation greenness? 2) How does the change of nitrogen deposition affect the carbon sequestration? 3) What is its influence to water balance? And 4) how different will be the influence of the nitrogen deposition on ecosystem carbon and water cycling in the future?

Diversity of key players in the microbial ecosystems of the human body

PubMed Central

Jordán, Ferenc; Lauria, Mario; Scotti, Marco; Nguyen, Thanh-Phuong; Praveen, Paurush; Morine, Melissa; Priami, Corrado

2015-01-01

Coexisting bacteria form various microbial communities in human body parts. In these ecosystems they interact in various ways and the properties of the interaction network can be related to the stability and functional diversity of the local bacterial community. In this study, we analyze the interaction network among bacterial OTUs in 11 locations of the human body. These belong to two major groups. One is the digestive system and the other is the female genital tract. In each local ecosystem we determine the key species, both the ones being in key positions in the interaction network and the ones that dominate by frequency. Beyond identifying the key players and discussing their biological relevance, we also quantify and compare the properties of the 11 networks. The interaction networks of the female genital system and the digestive system show totally different architecture. Both the topological properties and the identity of the key groups differ. Key groups represent four phyla of prokaryotes. Some groups appear in key positions in several locations, while others are assigned only to a single body part. The key groups of the digestive and the genital tracts are totally different. PMID:26514870

Diversity of key players in the microbial ecosystems of the human body.

PubMed

Jordán, Ferenc; Lauria, Mario; Scotti, Marco; Nguyen, Thanh-Phuong; Praveen, Paurush; Morine, Melissa; Priami, Corrado

2015-10-30

Coexisting bacteria form various microbial communities in human body parts. In these ecosystems they interact in various ways and the properties of the interaction network can be related to the stability and functional diversity of the local bacterial community. In this study, we analyze the interaction network among bacterial OTUs in 11 locations of the human body. These belong to two major groups. One is the digestive system and the other is the female genital tract. In each local ecosystem we determine the key species, both the ones being in key positions in the interaction network and the ones that dominate by frequency. Beyond identifying the key players and discussing their biological relevance, we also quantify and compare the properties of the 11 networks. The interaction networks of the female genital system and the digestive system show totally different architecture. Both the topological properties and the identity of the key groups differ. Key groups represent four phyla of prokaryotes. Some groups appear in key positions in several locations, while others are assigned only to a single body part. The key groups of the digestive and the genital tracts are totally different.

Chiropractic Identity: A Neurological, Professional, and Political Assessment.

PubMed

Rosner, Anthony L

2016-12-01

The purpose of this article is to propose a focused assessment of the identity of chiropractic and its profession, triangulating multiple viewpoints converging upon various aspects and definitions of neurology, manual medicine, and alternative or mainstream medicine. Over 120 years since its inception, chiropractic has struggled to achieve an identity for which its foundations could provide optimal health care. Despite recognition of the benefits of spinal manipulation in various government guidelines, advances in US military and Veterans Administration, and persistently high levels of patient satisfaction, the chiropractic profession remains underrepresented in most discussions of health care delivery. Distinguishing characteristics of doctors of chiropractic include the following: (1) they embrace a model of holistic, preventive medicine (wellness); (2) they embrace a concept of neurological imbalance in which form follows function, disease follows disturbed biochemistry, and phenomenology follows physiology; (3) they diagnose, and their institutions of training are accredited by a body recognized by the US Department of Education; (4) they manage patients on a first-contact basis, often as primary care providers in geographical areas that are underserved; (5) the spine is their primary-but not exclusive-area of interaction; (6) they deliver high-velocity, low-amplitude adjustments with a superior safety record compared with other professions; and (7) they use a network of institutions worldwide that have shown increasing commitments to research. This article provides an overview of chiropractic identity from 6 points of view: (1) concepts of manual medicine; (2) areas of interest beyond the spine; (3) concepts of the chiropractic subluxation; (4) concepts of neurology; (5) concepts of mainstream or alternative health care; and (6) concepts of primary care, first-contact provider, or specialist.

What is Ecosystem Structure?

Treesearch

RANDALL W. MYSTER

2001-01-01

Ecosystems were originally defined as units of the earth’s surface, that is the whole system including the organisms and the physical factors that form the environment (Tansley, 1935). As the study of ecosystem ecology evolved, ecosystems came to be categorized by their function and structure (Odum, 1953) with an emphasis on integration and indirect interaction (Muller...

Responses to professional identity threat: Identity management strategies in incident narratives of health care professionals.

PubMed

van Os, Annemiek; de Gilder, Dick; van Dyck, Cathy; Groenewegen, Peter

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore sensemaking of incidents by health care professionals through an analysis of the role of professional identity in narratives of incidents. Using insights from social identity theory, the authors argue that incidents may create a threat of professional identity, and that professionals make use of identity management strategies in response to this identity threat. The paper draws on a qualitative analysis of incident narratives in 14 semi-structured interviews with physicians, nurses, and residents at a Dutch specialist hospital. The authors used an existing framework of identity management strategies to categorize the narratives. The analysis yielded two main results. First, nurses and residents employed multiple types of identity management strategies simultaneously, which points to the possible benefit of combining different strategies. Second, physicians used the strategy of patronization of other professional groups, a specific form of downward comparison. The authors discuss the implications of the findings in terms of the impact of identity management strategies on the perpetuation of hierarchical differences in health care. The authors argue that efforts to manage incident handling may profit from considering social identity processes in sensemaking of incidents. This is the first study that systematically explores how health care professionals use identity management strategies to maintain a positive professional identity in the face of incidents. This study contributes to research on interdisciplinary cooperation in health care.

Tomboy as protective identity.

PubMed

Craig, Traci; Lacroix, Jessica

2011-01-01

The tomboy in contemporary U.S. culture is a complex identity, providing meaning to many girls and women. In this article, we argue tomboy as a gendered social identity also provides temporary "protections" to girls and women in three main ways. First, tomboy identity can excuse masculine-typed behavior in girls and women and, in doing so, protect women from presumptions about sexual reputation and sexual orientation. Second, tomboy identities can provide some protection for lesbian girls and women who prefer to not divulge their sexual orientation. And, third, tomboy identity can gain women limited privilege to spaces for which masculinity is an unspoken requirement. The temporary nature of the protections provided to tomboys undermines the ability of tomboys to truly transcend the binary gender system.

Enhancing the Educational Environment for Diverse Nursing Students Through Mentoring and Shared Governance.

PubMed

Latham, Christine L; Singh, Harsimran; Ringl, Karen K

2016-11-01

A structured peer-mentoring program for diverse nursing students culminated in shared governance meetings between mentors and program coordinators to address mentees' concerns and issues. After informed consent, mentees reviewed mentor profiles online and selected mentors. Baseline data were collected on ethnic identity, lifestyle, social support, and academic habits. Outcome data included mentors' self-reflective journal themes and student satisfaction surveys and focus group evaluation of the program. Students reported weak scores in the areas of wellness, exercise, and stress management. Journaling revealed valuable information about challenges faced by mentees that could impair their success. Mentors' proactive suggestions to handle major mentee journal themes were shared with nursing school administrators using a shared governance approach. The mentoring program supported students and culminated in a shared governance process to discuss ways to address mentee challenges that might improve the educational environment for future students. [J Nurs Educ. 2016;55(11):605-614.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Identity Uncertainty and Commitment Making across Adolescence: Five-Year Within-Person Associations Using Daily Identity Reports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Becht, Andrik I.; Nelemans, Stefanie A.; Branje, Susan J. T.; Vollebergh, Wilma A. M.; Koot, Hans M.; Meeus, Wim H. J.

2017-01-01

A central assumption of identity theory is that adolescents reconsider current identity commitments and explore identity alternatives before they make new commitments in various identity domains (Erikson, 1968; Marcia, 1966). Yet, little empirical evidence is available on how commitment and exploration dynamics of identity formation affect each…

Socio-ecosystems and urban habitats

Treesearch

Margarita V. Alario

2007-01-01

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)—a United Nations effort to assess the health of major global ecosystems—reported that over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time in history. Around two thirds of the ecosystems services (anything from fresh water to air) are being degraded or used unsustainably...

Adaptive management of large aquatic ecosystem recovery programs in the United States.

PubMed

Thom, Ronald; St Clair, Tom; Burns, Rebecca; Anderson, Michael

2016-12-01

Adaptive management (AM) is being employed in a number of programs in the United States to guide actions to restore aquatic ecosystems because these programs are both expensive and are faced with significant uncertainties. Many of these uncertainties are associated with prioritizing when, where, and what kind of actions are needed to meet the objectives of enhancing ecosystem services and recovering threatened and endangered species. We interviewed nine large-scale aquatic ecosystem restoration programs across the United States to document the lessons learned from implementing AM. In addition, we recorded information on ecological drivers (e.g., endangered fish species) for the program, and inferred how these drivers reflected more generic ecosystem services. Ecosystem services (e.g., genetic diversity, cultural heritage), albeit not explicit drivers, were either important to the recovery or enhancement of the drivers, or were additional benefits associated with actions to recover or enhance the program drivers. Implementing programs using AM lessons learned has apparently helped achieve better results regarding enhancing ecosystem services and restoring target species populations. The interviews yielded several recommendations. The science and AM program must be integrated into how the overall restoration program operates in order to gain understanding and support, and effectively inform management decision-making. Governance and decision-making varied based on its particular circumstances. Open communication within and among agency and stakeholder groups and extensive vetting lead up to decisions. It was important to have an internal agency staff member to implement the AM plan, and a clear designation of roles and responsibilities, and long-term commitment of other involved parties. The most important management questions and information needs must be identified up front. It was imperative to clearly identify, link and continually reinforce the essential

Threading "Stitches" to Approach Gender Identity, Sexual Identity, and Difference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North, Connie E.

2010-01-01

As LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex) issues become increasingly integrated into multicultural education discourses, we as educators need to examine the implications of our pedagogies for teaching about gender and sexual identities. This article explores my teaching of non-conforming gender identities in…

Innovative urban forestry governance in Melbourne?: Investigating "green placemaking" as a nature-based solution.

PubMed

Gulsrud, Natalie Marie; Hertzog, Kelly; Shears, Ian

2018-02-01

A nature-based approach to climate resilience aims to challenge and re-frame conventional environmental management methods by refocusing solutions from technological strategies to socio-ecological principles such as human well-being and community-based governance models, thereby improving and legitimizing the delivery of ecosystem services (ES). There are, however, many challenges to applying a socio-ecological agenda to urban climate resilience and thereby re-framing ES delivery as community and people focused, a knowledge gap extensively outlined in the environmental governance literature. In this paper, we aim to contribute to this re-assesment of urban environmental governance by examining the City of Melbourne's approach to urban re-naturing governance from a place-based perspective. Here we focus on the city's internationally-acclaimed urban forest strategy (UFS), investigating how and to which extent the governance arrangements embedded within the UFS draw strength from diverse perspectives and allow for institutional arrangements that support "situated" reflexive decision making and co-creation. We find that Melbourne's UFS governance process fosters green placemaking by re-focusing climate adaptation solutions from technological strategies to situated socio-ecological principles such as human well-being and community-based decision making. In this sense, this case provides valuable insight for the broader UGI governance field regarding the opportunities and challenges associated with a socio-cultural approach to urban re-naturing and ES delivery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inter-Identity Autobiographical Amnesia in Patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder

PubMed Central

Huntjens, Rafaële J. C.; Verschuere, Bruno; McNally, Richard J.

2012-01-01

Background A major symptom of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) is dissociative amnesia, the inability to recall important personal information. Only two case studies have directly addressed autobiographical memory in DID. Both provided evidence suggestive of dissociative amnesia. The aim of the current study was to objectively assess transfer of autobiographical information between identities in a larger sample of DID patients. Methods Using a concealed information task, we assessed recognition of autobiographical details in an amnesic identity. Eleven DID patients, 27 normal controls, and 23 controls simulating DID participated. Controls and simulators were matched to patients on age, education level, and type of autobiographical memory tested. Findings Although patients subjectively reported amnesia for the autobiographical details included in the task, the results indicated transfer of information between identities. Conclusion The results call for a revision of the DID definition. The amnesia criterion should be modified to emphasize its subjective nature. PMID:22815769

Emergent Global Patterns of Ecosystem Structure and Function from a Mechanistic General Ecosystem Model

PubMed Central

Emmott, Stephen; Hutton, Jon; Lyutsarev, Vassily; Smith, Matthew J.; Scharlemann, Jörn P. W.; Purves, Drew W.

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic activities are causing widespread degradation of ecosystems worldwide, threatening the ecosystem services upon which all human life depends. Improved understanding of this degradation is urgently needed to improve avoidance and mitigation measures. One tool to assist these efforts is predictive models of ecosystem structure and function that are mechanistic: based on fundamental ecological principles. Here we present the first mechanistic General Ecosystem Model (GEM) of ecosystem structure and function that is both global and applies in all terrestrial and marine environments. Functional forms and parameter values were derived from the theoretical and empirical literature where possible. Simulations of the fate of all organisms with body masses between 10 µg and 150,000 kg (a range of 14 orders of magnitude) across the globe led to emergent properties at individual (e.g., growth rate), community (e.g., biomass turnover rates), ecosystem (e.g., trophic pyramids), and macroecological scales (e.g., global patterns of trophic structure) that are in general agreement with current data and theory. These properties emerged from our encoding of the biology of, and interactions among, individual organisms without any direct constraints on the properties themselves. Our results indicate that ecologists have gathered sufficient information to begin to build realistic, global, and mechanistic models of ecosystems, capable of predicting a diverse range of ecosystem properties and their response to human pressures. PMID:24756001

Emergent global patterns of ecosystem structure and function from a mechanistic general ecosystem model.

PubMed

Harfoot, Michael B J; Newbold, Tim; Tittensor, Derek P; Emmott, Stephen; Hutton, Jon; Lyutsarev, Vassily; Smith, Matthew J; Scharlemann, Jörn P W; Purves, Drew W

2014-04-01

Anthropogenic activities are causing widespread degradation of ecosystems worldwide, threatening the ecosystem services upon which all human life depends. Improved understanding of this degradation is urgently needed to improve avoidance and mitigation measures. One tool to assist these efforts is predictive models of ecosystem structure and function that are mechanistic: based on fundamental ecological principles. Here we present the first mechanistic General Ecosystem Model (GEM) of ecosystem structure and function that is both global and applies in all terrestrial and marine environments. Functional forms and parameter values were derived from the theoretical and empirical literature where possible. Simulations of the fate of all organisms with body masses between 10 µg and 150,000 kg (a range of 14 orders of magnitude) across the globe led to emergent properties at individual (e.g., growth rate), community (e.g., biomass turnover rates), ecosystem (e.g., trophic pyramids), and macroecological scales (e.g., global patterns of trophic structure) that are in general agreement with current data and theory. These properties emerged from our encoding of the biology of, and interactions among, individual organisms without any direct constraints on the properties themselves. Our results indicate that ecologists have gathered sufficient information to begin to build realistic, global, and mechanistic models of ecosystems, capable of predicting a diverse range of ecosystem properties and their response to human pressures.

Exploring Identity Motives in Twitter Usage in Saudi Arabia and the UK.

PubMed

Selim, Heyla A; Long, Karen M; Vignoles, Vivian L

2014-01-01

This study explores identity motives for using a microblogging site (Twitter) among Internet users in Saudi Arabia and the UK. The former boasts the world's highest per capita use of Twitter, which provides a forum in which users have more opportunity for self-expression than they do in the offline world, and is not subject to the heavy censorship which the Saudi government imposes on other Internet content [1]. Approximately 5000 tweets from the period April-May 2013 were coded and analyzed, using Motivated Identity Construction Theory as a conceptual framework [2]. This theory proposes six universal identity motives of meaning, belonging, continuity, distinctiveness, efficacy, and self-esteem. We consider these motives in turn, and examine their relative prominence in an online context. Support was found for all six universal motives, but the relative prominence of motives and the ways in which they were pursued appeared to depend on the affordances of both the OSN in question, Twitter and the cultural context in which the user was posting: Saudi users appeared to seek distinctiveness, whereas for British users, belonging was a more salient motive. Themes related to meaning, efficacy, and self-esteem were detected frequently, whereas themes related to continuity were less apparent.

Defining Ecosystem Assets for Natural Capital Accounting.

PubMed

Hein, Lars; Bagstad, Ken; Edens, Bram; Obst, Carl; de Jong, Rixt; Lesschen, Jan Peter

2016-01-01

In natural capital accounting, ecosystems are assets that provide ecosystem services to people. Assets can be measured using both physical and monetary units. In the international System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, ecosystem assets are generally valued on the basis of the net present value of the expected flow of ecosystem services. In this paper we argue that several additional conceptualisations of ecosystem assets are needed to understand ecosystems as assets, in support of ecosystem assessments, ecosystem accounting and ecosystem management. In particular, we define ecosystems' capacity and capability to supply ecosystem services, as well as the potential supply of ecosystem services. Capacity relates to sustainable use levels of multiple ecosystem services, capability involves prioritising the use of one ecosystem service over a basket of services, and potential supply considers the ability of ecosystems to generate services regardless of demand for these services. We ground our definitions in the ecosystem services and accounting literature, and illustrate and compare the concepts of flow, capacity, capability, and potential supply with a range of conceptual and real-world examples drawn from case studies in Europe and North America. Our paper contributes to the development of measurement frameworks for natural capital to support environmental accounting and other assessment frameworks.

48 CFR 225.7303-3 - Government-to-government agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Government-to-government... Military Sales 225.7303-3 Government-to-government agreements. If a government-to-government agreement between the United States and a foreign government for the sale, coproduction, or cooperative logistic...

48 CFR 225.7303-3 - Government-to-government agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Government-to-government... Military Sales 225.7303-3 Government-to-government agreements. If a government-to-government agreement between the United States and a foreign government for the sale, coproduction, or cooperative logistic...

48 CFR 225.7303-3 - Government-to-government agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Government-to-government... Military Sales 225.7303-3 Government-to-government agreements. If a government-to-government agreement between the United States and a foreign government for the sale, coproduction, or cooperative logistic...

48 CFR 225.7303-3 - Government-to-government agreements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 3 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Government-to-government... Military Sales 225.7303-3 Government-to-government agreements. If a government-to-government agreement between the United States and a foreign government for the sale, coproduction, or cooperative logistic...

Population-reaction model and microbial experimental ecosystems for understanding hierarchical dynamics of ecosystems.

PubMed

Hosoda, Kazufumi; Tsuda, Soichiro; Kadowaki, Kohmei; Nakamura, Yutaka; Nakano, Tadashi; Ishii, Kojiro

2016-02-01

Understanding ecosystem dynamics is crucial as contemporary human societies face ecosystem degradation. One of the challenges that needs to be recognized is the complex hierarchical dynamics. Conventional dynamic models in ecology often represent only the population level and have yet to include the dynamics of the sub-organism level, which makes an ecosystem a complex adaptive system that shows characteristic behaviors such as resilience and regime shifts. The neglect of the sub-organism level in the conventional dynamic models would be because integrating multiple hierarchical levels makes the models unnecessarily complex unless supporting experimental data are present. Now that large amounts of molecular and ecological data are increasingly accessible in microbial experimental ecosystems, it is worthwhile to tackle the questions of their complex hierarchical dynamics. Here, we propose an approach that combines microbial experimental ecosystems and a hierarchical dynamic model named population-reaction model. We present a simple microbial experimental ecosystem as an example and show how the system can be analyzed by a population-reaction model. We also show that population-reaction models can be applied to various ecological concepts, such as predator-prey interactions, climate change, evolution, and stability of diversity. Our approach will reveal a path to the general understanding of various ecosystems and organisms. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.. All rights reserved.

COUNTERACTING ECOSYSTEM LOSSES DUE TO DEVELOPMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Interventions into ecosystems to develop the built/socio-physical environment involve normative decisions regarding human well-being that inevitably compromise ecosystem capacities, but ecosystem sustainability is conditioned by properties established by ecosystems and unrelated ...

Influence of forest management systems on natural resource use and provision of ecosystem services in Tanzania.

PubMed

Strauch, Ayron M; Rurai, Masegeri T; Almedom, Astier M

2016-09-15

Social, religious and economic facets of rural livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa are heavily dependent on natural resources, but improper resource management, drought, and social instability frequently lead to their unsustainable exploitation. In rural Tanzania, natural resources are often governed locally by informal systems of traditional resource management (TRM), defined as cultural practices developed within the context of social and religious institutions over hundreds of years. However, following independence from colonial rule, centralized governments began to exercise jurisdictional control over natural resources. Following decades of mismanagement that resulted in lost ecosystem services, communities demanded change. To improve resource protection and participation in management among stakeholders, the Tanzanian government began to decentralize management programs in the early 2000s. We investigated these two differing management approaches (traditional and decentralized government) in Sonjo communities, to examine local perceptions of resource governance, management influences on forest use, and their consequences for forest and water resources. While 97% of households understood the regulations governing traditionally-managed forests, this was true for only 39% of households for government-managed forests, leading to differences in forest use. Traditional management practices resulted in improved forest condition and surface water quality. This research provides an essential case study demonstrating the importance of TRM in shaping decision frameworks for natural resource planning and management. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ensemble ecosystem modeling for predicting ecosystem response to predator reintroduction.

PubMed

Baker, Christopher M; Gordon, Ascelin; Bode, Michael

2017-04-01

Introducing a new or extirpated species to an ecosystem is risky, and managers need quantitative methods that can predict the consequences for the recipient ecosystem. Proponents of keystone predator reintroductions commonly argue that the presence of the predator will restore ecosystem function, but this has not always been the case, and mathematical modeling has an important role to play in predicting how reintroductions will likely play out. We devised an ensemble modeling method that integrates species interaction networks and dynamic community simulations and used it to describe the range of plausible consequences of 2 keystone-predator reintroductions: wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park and dingoes (Canis dingo) to a national park in Australia. Although previous methods for predicting ecosystem responses to such interventions focused on predicting changes around a given equilibrium, we used Lotka-Volterra equations to predict changing abundances through time. We applied our method to interaction networks for wolves in Yellowstone National Park and for dingoes in Australia. Our model replicated the observed dynamics in Yellowstone National Park and produced a larger range of potential outcomes for the dingo network. However, we also found that changes in small vertebrates or invertebrates gave a good indication about the potential future state of the system. Our method allowed us to predict when the systems were far from equilibrium. Our results showed that the method can also be used to predict which species may increase or decrease following a reintroduction and can identify species that are important to monitor (i.e., species whose changes in abundance give extra insight into broad changes in the system). Ensemble ecosystem modeling can also be applied to assess the ecosystem-wide implications of other types of interventions including assisted migration, biocontrol, and invasive species eradication. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Ecosystem services and the protection, restoration, and management of ecosystems exposed to chemical stressors.

PubMed

Maltby, Lorraine

2013-04-01

Ecosystem services-the benefits people obtain from ecosystem structures and processes-are essential for human survival and well-being. Chemicals are also an essential component of modern life; however, they may cause adverse ecological effects and reduce ecosystem service provision. Environmental policy makers are increasingly adopting the ecosystem services concept, but applying this approach to the protection, restoration, and management of ecosystems requires the development of new understanding, tools, and frameworks. There is an urgent need to understand and predict the effect of single and multiple stressors on ecosystem service delivery across different spatial scales (local to global), to develop indicators that can be used to quantify and map services and identify synergies and trade-offs between them, to establish protection goals and restoration targets defined in terms of the types and levels of service delivery required, and to develop approaches for the assessment and management of chemical risk to ecosystem services that consider the whole life cycle of products and processes. These are major research challenges for the environmental science community in general and for ecotoxicologists and risk assessors in particular. Copyright © 2013 SETAC.

Towards Sustainable Integrated Watershed Ecosystem Management: A Case Study in Dingxi on the Loess Plateau, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Liding; Yang, Lei; Wei, Wei; Wang, Ziting; Mo, Baoru; Cai, Guojun

2013-01-01

The Chinese government initiated a massive conservation program called "Grain-for-Green" in 1999 to reduce soil erosion and improve ecosystem function. Implementing practical sustainable development in the loess plateau still remains problematic, particularly in its eco-fragile areas. Here we discussed an approach for sustainable development at the watershed scale by integrating land use suitability, ecosystem services and public participation in the loess hilly area. We linked land use scenario analysis and economic modeling to compare the outcomes of three scenarios, CLU (Current Land Use), GOLU (Grain-production Oriented Land Use) and PSLU (Potential Sustainable Land Use). The results indicated that compared to PSLU, GOLU may provide a higher economic productivity in the short-term, but not in the long-term. CLU ranked lowest in terms of economic benefits and did not meet the daily needs of the local farmers. To reconcile the land use adjustments with farmers' basic needs, a labor-saving land use strategy is necessary. Since the PSLU scenario assumes that slope cropland should be converted to pastures or orchards, more time may be available for off-farm work and for more public participation in integrated ecosystem management. Financial support to the local farmers for environmental conservation should be modulated in function of their positive contribution to ecosystem management.