Invasional Interference Due to Similar Inter- and Intraspecific Competition Between Invaders May Affect Management

As the number of biological invasions increases, the potential for invader– invader interactions also rises. The effect of multiple invaders can be superadditive (invasional meltdown), additive, or subadditive (invasional interference); which of these situations occurs has critical implications for prioritization of management efforts. Carduus nutans and C. acanthoides, two congeneric invasive weeds, have a striking, segregated distribution in central Pennsylvania, USA. Possible hypotheses for this pattern include invasion history and chance, direct competition, or negative interactions mediated by other species, such as shared pollinators. To explore the role of resource competition in generating this pattern, we conducted three related experiments using a response-surface design throughout the life cycles of two cohorts. Although these species have similar niche requirements, we found no differential response to competition between conspecifics vs. congeners. The response to combined density was relatively weak for both species. While direct competitive interactions do not explain the segregated distributional patterns of these two species, we predict that invasions of either species singly, or both species together, would have similar impacts. When prioritizing which areas to target to prevent the spread of one of the species, it is better to focus on areas as yet unaffected by its congener; where the congener is already present, invasional interference makes it unlikely that the net effect will change

Correlations between global and regional measures of invasiveness vary with region size

We aimedto assess the utility of the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW) as an indicator of plant invasiveness, by relating it to invasiveness at smaller scales. We correlated two global measures of invasiveness for alien plant species taken from the GCW (the total number of references for each species and the number of continental areas they are reported from), against distribution data from 18 regions (countries and continents). To investigate relationships between correlation strength and region size and spatial resolution (size of distribution units), we conducted meta-analyses. Finally, invasiveness measures were correlated against the number of habitats occupied by alien plant species and their median abundance in those habitats, in fine-scale vegetation plots in the Czech Republic and the state of Montana (USA). The majority of Spearman’s rho coefficients between GCW-derived invasiveness and regional distributions were less than 0.4. Correlation strength was positively related to region size and resolution. Correlations were weaker when the number of habitats occupied by a species, and species abundances within occupied habitats, were considered. We suggest that the use of the GCW as an invasiveness measure is most appropriate for hypotheses posed at coarse, large scales. An exhaustive synthesis of existing regional distributions should provide a more accurate index of the global invasiveness of species

AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE GROWING TABLOIDIZATION OF NEWS COVERAGE ON DEMOCRATIC POLITICS

This study is a literature review to explore the effect of the growing tabloidization of news coverage on democratic politics. The study focuses on some important considerations, among which are three basic values of modern democratic societies, namely, freedom, justice and order, which it is vital to retain. While these basic values in mass media communication are not compromised, it is difficult to deny that the media, tabloid or not, cause a crisis in public life. This crisis means that ‘core values’ such as independence, diversity and objectivity risk being lost because of changes in the media. Such changes are due to pressures from the market and society, but these pressures have not been shown to hinder democratic life

Less can be more: loss of MHC functional diversity can reflect adaptation to novel conditions during fish invasions

The ability of invasive species to adapt to novel conditions depends on population size and environmental mismatch, but also on genetic variation. Away from their native range, invasive species confronted with novel selective pressures may display different levels of neutral versus functional genetic variation. However, the majority of invasion studies have only examined genetic variation at neutral markers, which may reveal little about how invaders adapt to novel environments. Salmonids are good model systems to examine adaptation to novel pressures because they have been translocated all over the world and represent major threats to freshwater biodiversity in the Southern Hemisphere, where they have become invasive. We examined patterns of genetic differentiation at seven putatively neutral (microsatellites) loci and one immune-related major histocompatibility complex (MHC class II-β) locus among introduced rainbow trout living in captivity (farmed) or under natural conditions (naturalized) in Chilean Patagonia. A significant positive association was found between differentiation at neutral and functional markers, highlighting the role of neutral evolutionary forces in shaping genetic variation at immune-related genes in salmonids. However, functional (MHC) genetic diversity (but not microsatellite diversity) decreased with time spent in the wild since introduction, suggesting that there was selection against alleles associated with captive rearing of donor populations that do not provide an advantage in the wild. Thus, although high genetic diversity may initially enhance fitness in translocated populations, it does not necessarily reflect invasion success, as adaptation to novel conditions may result in rapid loss of functional MHC diversity

Social Media for Sustainable Development: Challenging Participatory Development Practices to Re-learn and Realign Stakeholder Practices in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana

This study aims at finding out how social media has been explored for the enhancement of sustainable development in the Tamale Metropolis. It was based on Uses and Gratification Theory (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch,1974). It adopted a mixed approach and relied on questionnaires and interview guides for collecting data. Local community leaders (N. 25) were interviewed. A hundred questionnaires were also administered with Google Forms. The interview data were analysed qualitatively and the results were presented based on content and themes. The data obtained through the questionnaires were processed and presented descriptively in percentages. Findings showed that social media was highly used among the participants (92%). Those within higher education were 44% while those without higher education numbered 57%. It was found that there was males dominance in local community development support groups. Sixty-one percent of the participants used social media to support sustainable community development. They employed the media to foster citizens’ participation and contribution to sustainable development. The study, therefore, proposed to community groups to have their social media groups registered with the authorities to promote their visibility. The study also called for proper evaluation of citizens' media activities in order to support their contribution to sustainable development, which it argued will strengthen efforts to achieve SDGs 11 and 17

Forest patch isolation drives local extinctions of Amazonian orchid bees in a 26 years old archipelago

Major hydroelectric dams are among key emergent agents of habitat loss and fragmentation in lowland tropical forests. Orchid bees (Apidae, Euglossini) are one of the most important groups of specialized pollinators of flowering plants in Neotropical forests. Here, we investigate how an entire assemblage of orchid bees responded to the effects of forest habitat loss, isolation and forest canopy degradation induced by a hydroelectric reservoir of Central Brazilian Amazonia. Built in 1986, the Balbina Dam resulted in a vast archipelagic landscape containing 3546 primary forest islands of varying sizes and isolation, surrounded by 3129 km2 of freshwater. Using scent traps, we sampled 34 islands, 14 open-water matrix sites, and three mainland continuous forests, yielding 2870 male orchid bees representing 25 species. Local orchid bee species richness was affected by forest patch area but particularly by site isolation. Distance to forest edges, either within forest areas or into the open-water matrix, was the most important predictor of species richness and composition. Variation in matrix dispersal of individual species to increasingly isolated sites was a key determinant of community structure. Given the patterns of patch persistence and matrix movements of orchid bees in increasingly fragmented forest landscapes, we outline how forest bees respond to the landscape alteration induced by major hydroelectric dams. These results should be considered in environmental impact studies prior to the approval of new dams

Wacana Kontroversi Agama di Malaysia: Satu Kajian Terhadap Pelaporan Akhbar Utusan Malaysia dan The Star Mengenai Tuntutan COMANGO

Negara Malaysia sebelum ini telah mengalami pelbagai insiden dan isu yang melibatkan kaum dan agama sehingga telah mendatangkan masalah dari segi perhubungan antara kaum dan agama. Isu-isu yang melibatkan agama dan kaum ini sering kali melibatkan agama Islam, yang juga adalah agama rasmi negara Malaysia. Agama Islam sering kali menjadi subjek yang sensitif kerana ia sering kali dijadikan sebagai alat untuk mengekalkan hegemoni dan status quo oleh pihak kerajaan dalam konteks di Malaysia. Pada tahun 2013, sebuah pertubuhan NGO yang dikenali sebagai COMANGO telah menghantar beberapa tuntutan yang melibatkan hak asasi manusia di Malaysia kepada Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (PBB) di Penilaian Berkala Sejagat (UPR). COMANGO telah dikatakan telah membuat beberapa tuntutan yang mencabar kedudukan Islam dan Melayu di Malaysia dan mempromosi seks bebas. Isu ini telah mendapat liputan yang meluas di media akhbar di Malaysia khususnya akhbar arus perdana di Malaysia dan ia dilihat sebagai sebuah isu yang boleh mendatangkan manfaat kepada pihak kerajaan untuk mengukuhkan kuasa mereka dengan memainkan isu ini kepada khalayak umum. Oleh itu, artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji mesej-mesej yang disampaikan oleh akhbar arus perdana mengenai isu ini, iaitu akhbar Utusan Malaysia dan The Star. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan kedua-dua akhbar yang dikaji memberikan liputan yang hampir sama dengan sedikit kelainan. Akhbar Utusan Malaysia dilihat sangat menentang tuntutan COMANGO tersebut dan mengangkat parti UMNO sebagai parti yang memperjuangkan Islam manakala akhbar The Star walaupun dilihat lebih banyak memberikan peluang kepada pihak COMANGO untuk menyatakan pendirian mereka, namun dilihat masih berhati-hati dalam pelaporan mereka mengenai isu tersebut

Censorship and Secrecy: the Political Economy of Communication and the Military

The political economy of communication encompasses a broad body of literature that explores linkages between mass communication media and power brokers or ‘elites’ at a societal level (Boyd-Barrett and Newbold, 1995; Chomsky, 1996; Downing et al., 1995; Golding and Murdock, 1996; Herman et al., 1998; Keeble, 2000; Kellner, 2001; Mc Chesney and Wood, 998; Mosco, 1996; Schiller, 1992). The literature focuses on a number of key power brokers within society such as the legislature, judiciary and a wide variety of powerful state agencies, including the armed forces, that would seek in their interactions with media organisations to regulate, control and direct public communication