Hasil untuk "Human ecology. Anthropogeography"

A. Hawley

D. Bowman, G. Williamson, J. Abatzoglou et al.

V. Arroyo‐Rodríguez, L. Fahrig, M. Tabarelli et al.

Agriculture and development transform forest ecosystems to human-modified landscapes. Decades of research in ecology have generated myriad concepts for the appropriate management of these landscapes. Yet, these concepts are often contradictory and apply at different spatial scales, making the design of biodiversity-friendly landscapes challenging. Here, we combine concepts with empirical support to design optimal landscape scenarios for forest-dwelling species. The supported concepts indicate that appropriately sized landscapes should contain ≥ 40% forest cover, although higher percentages are likely needed in the tropics. Forest cover should be configured with c. 10% in a very large forest patch, and the remaining 30% in many evenly dispersed smaller patches and semi-natural treed elements (e.g. vegetation corridors). Importantly, the patches should be embedded in a high-quality matrix. The proposed landscape scenarios represent an optimal compromise between delivery of goods and services to humans and preserving most forest wildlife, and can therefore guide forest preservation and restoration strategies.

Davide M. Dominoni, W. Halfwerk, E. Baird et al.

Archana Pant, T. Maiti, Dinesh Mahajan et al.

The efficacy of drugs widely varies in individuals, and the gut microbiota plays an important role in this variability. The commensal microbiota living in the human gut encodes several enzymes that chemically modify systemic and orally administered drugs, and such modifications can lead to activation, inactivation, toxification, altered stability, poor bioavailability, and rapid excretion. Our knowledge of the role of the human gut microbiome in therapeutic outcomes continues to evolve. Recent studies suggest the existence of complex interactions between microbial functions and therapeutic drugs across the human body. Therapeutic drugs or xenobiotics can influence the composition of the gut microbiome and the microbial encoded functions. Both these deviations can alter the chemical transformations of the drugs and hence treatment outcomes. In this review, we provide an overview of (i) the genetic ecology of microbially encoded functions linked with xenobiotic degradation; (ii) the effect of drugs on the composition and function of the gut microbiome; and (iii) the importance of the gut microbiota in drug metabolism.

Yuning Chen, Larissa Pschetz

Recent work in HCI has called for deeper ethical considerations when engaging with more-than-human organisms in design. In this paper, we introduce Microbial Revolt, a provocative method to support reflection on the perspectives of organisms involved in HCI and design practice. By asking participants to consider the reality of a chosen organism in feral and lab environments and to redesign lab tools in order to account for their “non-participation”, we identified the manifestation of key epistemic differences between approaches to care and ecologies in typical design and biology research - as well as the potential for design and HCI to creatively redefine power dynamics in the lab. Further interviews revealed specific challenges and opportunities that designers and HCI researchers face in adapting practices to lab standards, and lab equipment to their practices, calling for a redefinition of tools, spaces and guidance to accommodate phenomenological perspectives and multiple modes of interaction with living organisms.

Chao Guo, B. Tuo, S. Seibold et al.

Variation in leaf traits is critical for carbon gains and losses during leaf life and drives litter carbon and nutrient losses via decomposition. Accurately quantifying litter decomposition parameters is essential for assessing ecosystem carbon and nutrient dynamics. Leaf litterbags have commonly been employed to measure effects of environmental drivers, decomposers, and plant traits on decomposition rates. There has been much debate regarding the suitability of substituting senesced dead leaves with fresh (green) leaves in litterbags, which has been common practice for mimicking green leaf fall or for practical reasons. Therefore, we tested the null hypothesis that replacement of dead leaves with fresh leaves in litterbag experiments is justified, based on similarities in structural and chemical traits between fresh and dead leaves across plant species and growth forms. We conducted a paired litterbag decomposition experiment with both fresh and dead leaves of 26 common species in subtropical China, in each of five contrasting ecosystems. While fresh leaves generally decomposed faster than dead leaves, this deviation varied among species and growth forms, based on their traits. Overall, there was significant but rather weak correlation between dead leaf decomposition rate k and fresh leaf k, across species and ecosystem types; the deviation between fresh and dead leaf k was larger for fast‐decomposing, mostly herbaceous species. The different decomposition patterns for fresh versus dead leaves were underpinned by key underlying traits integrated in leaf resource economics spectra (LES) for fresh and dead leaves. The dead leaf LES exhibited a greater predictive capability for dead leaf k while the fresh leaf LES had higher explanatory value for the fresh leaf k values. Our findings partly reject the null hypothesis and ask for caution in inferring leaf litter decomposition rates based on green leaf litterbags or traits data. We suggest follow‐up research on substituting senesced roots and stems with fresh ones in decomposition experiments. Synthesis. Human activities and extreme weather events are leading to increasing pulse inputs of fresh plant parts and our study contributes to knowledge on how they contribute to overall decomposition rates besides senesced litter inputs.

Marien González‐Hidalgo, C. Zografos

Building on the framework of emotional political ecology, we seek to expand ways of studying the relationships between emotion, power, and environmental conflict. Our review of work in feminist studies, human geography, social psychology, social movement theory, and social and cultural anthropology suggests the need for a theoretical framework that captures the psychological, more-than-human, collective, geographical, and personal-political dimensions that intersect subjectivities in environmental conflicts. We stress the need to explicitly consider ‘the political’ at stake when researching emotions in environmental conflicts, and develop a conceptual framework for facilitating nuanced conceptualisations and analyses of subjects and power in environmental conflicts.

Yannis Tzaninis, Tait Mandler, Maria Kaika et al.

Urban political ecology (UPE) focuses on unsettling traditional understandings of ‘cities’ as ontological entities separate from ‘nature’ and on how the production of settlements is metabolically linked with flows of capital and more-than-human ecological processes. The contribution of this paper is to recalibrate UPE to new urban forms and processes of extended urbanization. This exploration goes against the reduction of what goes on outside of cities to processes that emanate unidirectionally from cities. Acknowledging UPE’s rich intellectual history and aiming to enrich rather than split the field, this paper identifies four emerging discourses that go beyond UPE’s original formulation.

M. Mancini, Julia Rodrigues Barreto, R. L. Carvalho et al.

Prince Samuel, G. Edo, Gift Onyinyechi Oloni et al.

ABSTRACT Chemical contaminants in the environment have become a growing concern due to their detrimental effects on the ecology and evolution of organisms. Understanding the impacts of these contaminants is crucial for mitigating their consequences and promoting sustainable practices. This study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of chemical contaminants on organisms, explore their role in driving evolutionary processes, and provide a conceptual framework for understanding the ecological and evolutionary impacts of contaminants. A comprehensive review of existing literature and case studies was conducted to assess the effects of chemical contaminants on organisms at various levels of biological organisation. Chemical contaminants have direct effects on organisms, including physiological disruptions, behavioural changes, and reduced reproductive success. These contaminants also drive evolutionary processes by imposing selective pressures and altering genetic diversity within populations. The effects of chemical contaminants on the ecology and evolution of organisms are far-reaching and multifaceted. It is crucial to develop a conceptual framework that considers the interconnectedness of ecological systems to understand and mitigate the impacts of contaminants. Implementing a chemical strategy for sustainability is vital to safeguarding ecosystems, human health, and promoting a harmonious coexistence with the natural world.

Jake M. Robinson, P. Harrison, S. Mavoa et al.

In the absence of effective and scalable human intervention, up to 95% of the world's ecosystems will be affected by anthropogenic degradation by 2050. Therefore, immediate and large‐scale ecological restoration is imperative to stem biodiversity loss and ecosystem decline. Ecologists must draw upon the most effective and efficient tools available to achieve successful restoration goals. Drones (i.e., unmanned aerial vehicles) are a valuable set of tools in the environmental, forestry, and agriculture sectors; however, there has been limited uptake in restoration ecology. Here, we aim to highlight the existing and emerging uses of drones in restoration science and practice. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these applications and provide a roadmap for increasing the utilisation of drones to refine and enhance restoration objectives. Our article is presented with the restoration continuum in mind, including sections for restoration planning, implementation and monitoring. We also take a novel approach by describing how drones relate to a globally recognised restoration tool published by the Society for Ecological Restoration. Drones are used in several restoration scenarios from mapping habitats and managing wildfires, to monitoring the effectiveness of restoration interventions. Many applications in other disciplines can also be transferred to restoration scenarios. However, the use of drones will be context‐dependent, and several technical and practical constraints need to be addressed. Drones have considerable potential to improve the science and practice of restoration at all stages of a restoration project, which is vital to realising the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Allison R. Mason, Lois S Taylor, J. DeBruyn

Vertebrate decomposition results in an ephemeral disturbance of the surrounding environment. Microbial decomposers are recognized as key players in the breakdown of complex organic compounds, controlling carbon and nutrient fate in the ecosystem and potentially serving as indicators of time since death for forensic applications. As a result, there has been increasing attention on documenting the microbial communities associated with vertebrate decomposition, or the 'necrobiome'. These necrobiome studies differ in the vertebrate species, microhabitats (e.g. skin vs. soil), and geographic locations studied, but many are narrowly focused on the forensic application of microbial data, missing the larger opportunity to understand the ecology of these communities. To further our understanding of microbial dynamics during vertebrate decomposition and identify knowledge gaps, there is a need to assess the current works from an ecological systems perspective. In this review, we examine recent work pertaining to microbial community dynamics and succession during vertebrate (human and other mammals) decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems, through the lens of a microbial succession ecological framework. From this perspective, we describe three major microbial microhabitats (internal, external, and soil) in terms of their unique successional trajectories and identify three major knowledge gaps that remain to be addressed.

G. Foody

P. Negret, Mathew Scott Luskin, B. Gómez-Valencia et al.

display similar or opposite patterns. Here we used information from camera trapping (367 camera stations and 16,939 camera/days) along a gradient of human pressure in the Colombian Llanos to assess diel activity changes in understory birds and mammals. We found that diel activity significantly changed with higher human pressure for 45% of the birds (five species) and 36% of the mammals (five species) assessed, with four of five birds becoming more diurnal and all five mammals becoming more nocturnal. The average increase in nocturnality for the mammals was 11.3% while the average increase in diurnality for the birds was 7%. There was high variation in body size and dietary guild within impacted species, and only some were directly persecuted or hunted, suggesting that there are different pathways through which human pressure can affect vertebrates’ activity patterns. The contrasting behavioural responses to humans among vertebrate functional groups has significant repercussions for the fields of community ecology, including intraguild predation and competition, and should be a significant ecosystem-level conservation consideration.

B. Verrelli, M. Alberti, S. Des Roches et al.

Research on the evolutionary ecology of urban areas reveals how human-induced evolutionary changes affect biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. In a rapidly urbanizing world imposing many selective pressures, a time-sensitive goal is to identify the emergent issues and research priorities that affect the ecology and evolution of species within cities. Here, we report the results of a horizon scan of research questions in urban evolutionary ecology submitted by 100 interdisciplinary scholars. We identified 30 top questions organized into six themes that highlight priorities for future research. These research questions will require methodological advances and interdisciplinary collaborations, with continued revision as the field of urban evolutionary ecology expands with the rapid growth of cities.

P. Kache, M. Santos-Vega, Anna M. Stewart-Ibarra et al.

Fabio Amato

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Nataliya Antonyuk, Oleksandra Fedun, Nataliya Papish

The article discusses the political and legal aspects and the dynamics of Ukraine’s interaction with the EU and its Member States in the field of integrated border management in order to improve interagency and international cooperation, introduce joint control at checkpoints, organise joint patrols, improve the level of security and openness of state borders and enhance their integration function. The issues of construction and modernisation of checkpoints, implementation of European border standards, customs and other types of control at the state border of Ukraine and the EU countries have been researched. The perspectives of Ukraine’s entry into the integrated border management system at the present stage have been outlined. The mechanisms of in-depth cooperation in the field of integrated border management under conditions of implementing the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU have been elucidated.

Ilnara Khanipova

Fragments from the diary notes written by the pedagogical staff of the Kuznechikhinsky Orphanage located in the Spassky Canton of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, dedicated to the daily life of the children's institution pupils, have been published for the first time. The preserved part of the document covers the period from December 31, 1923 to April 17, 1924. The unique narrative source, a collective diary, reveals the activities of teachers and educators in organizing the educational process, shows boys and girls’ work duties, vividly illustrates the life and material support of orphans, reflects the impact of the emerging traditions of the orphanage on the socio-cultural space of the village. The description of orphans’ psycho-emotional experiences related to the death of Vladimir Lenin is of particular interest.