Mapping wisdom as a complex adaptive system

This is the second of two papers concerning wisdom as an ecosystem appearing in sequential editions of Management & Marketing journal. The notion of wisdom as an ecosystem, or "the wisdom ecology", builds on work by Hays (2007) who first identified wisdom as an organisational construct and proposed a dynamic model of it. The centrepiece of this and its former companion paper is a relationship map of the Wisdom Ecosystem (the Causal Loop Diagram at Figure 1). The first paper, "The Ecology of Wisdom", introduced readers to the topics of wisdom and complex adaptive systems, and presented a dynamic model of the Wisdom Ecosystem. This second paper discusses systems dynamics modelling (mapping systems) and covers the Wisdom Ecosystem model in detail. It describes the four domains, or subsystems, of the Wisdom Ecosystem, Dialogue, Communal Mind, Collective Intelligence, and Wisdom, and walks readers through the model, exploring each of its 25 elements in turn. It examines the relationships amongst system elements and illuminates important aspects of systems function, providing a rare tutorial on developing and using Causal Loop Diagrams.Causal Loop Diagramming, Complexity, Dialogue, Organisational Learning, Systems Dynamics, Wisdom.

Resource recovery and remediation of highly alkaline residues : a political-industrial ecology approach to building a circular economy

Highly alkaline industrial residues (e.g., steel slag, bauxite processing residue (red mud) and ash from coal combustion) have been identified as stocks of potentially valuable metals. Technological change has created demand for metals, such as vanadium and certain rare earth elements, in electronics associated with renewable energy generation and storage. Current raw material and circular economy policy initiatives in the EU and industrial ecology research all promote resource recovery from residues, with research so far primarily from an environmental science perspective. This paper begins to address the deficit of research into the governance of resource recovery from a novel situation where re-use involves extraction of a component from a bulk residue that itself represents a risk to the environment. Taking a political industrial ecology approach, we briefly present emerging techniques for recovery and consider their regulatory implications in the light of potential environmental impacts. The paper draws on EU and UK regulatory framework for these residues along with semi-structured interviews with industry and regulatory bodies. A complex picture emerges of entwined ownerships and responsibilities for residues, with past practice and policy having a lasting impact on current possibilities for resource recovery

Biodiversity, Distribution and Conservation of Plants and Fungi

This Special Issue brings together some interconnected topics related to fungi and plants such as biodiversity, taxonomy, conservation, molecular phylogeny, ecology, and plant–fungal interactions. Additionally, some applied aspects are covered, such as phytoremediation, the improvement of spinach growth by biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, bio-friendly solutions for waste reduction, the accumulation of rare-earth elements by wild edible mushrooms, etc

Patterns of co-occurrence of rare and threatened species in winter arable plant communities of Italy

Detecting patterns of species co-occurrence is among the main tasks of plant community ecology. Arable plant communities are important elements of agroecosystems, because they support plant and animal biodiversity and provide ecosystem services. These plant communities are shaped by both agricultural and environmental drivers. The pressure of intensive agriculture worldwide has caused the decline of many characteristic arable species and communities. Italy is the European country where arable plant biodiversity is the best preserved. In this study, we assessed the patterns of co-occurrence of rare and threatened arable plants in 106 plots of winter arable vegetation located from Piedmont to Calabria, in the mainland part of the country. For this purpose, we based our investigation on the analysis of a recently acquired dataset and on the European list of rare and threatened arable plants. We highlight how dierent species of conservation interest tend to occur in the same community. On the other hand, generalist and more competitive taxa show similar patterns of co-occurrence. We suggest that single species of conservation value could be suitable indicators of a well-preserved community. On the other hand, to be eective, conservation strategies should target the whole community, rather than single species

Contributo alla conoscenza del raro Entoloma opacum Noordel

Contribució al coneixement del rar Entoloma opacum Noordel.- Es descriuen les característiques macro i microscòpiques de Entoloma opacum Noordel, especialment rar i mal representat en la literatura micològica, basat en quatre recol·leccions del nord d'Itàlia. La discussió es centre en la comparació amb espècies similars i inclou algunes consideracions sobre la taxonomia, ecologia, fenologia i distribució del tàxon al continent europeu. S'acompanya l'article amb fotografies a color del basidioma i alguns elements microscòpics.Contribution to the knowledge of the rare Entoloma opacum Noordel. The macro and microscopic features of Entoloma opacum Noordel, a very rare taxon poorly represented in the mycological literature, are reported based on four collections from northern Italy. The discussion focuses on the comparison with closer species and contains considerations on the ecology, phenology and distribution over the european continent. The paper is accompanied by colour photographs of basidiomata and some microscopic elements

Contributo alla conoscenza del raro Entoloma opacum Noordel

Contribució al coneixement del rar Entoloma opacum Noordel.- Es descriuen les característiques macro i microscòpiques de Entoloma opacum Noordel, especialment rar i mal representat en la literatura micològica, basat en quatre recol·leccions del nord d'Itàlia. La discussió es centre en la comparació amb espècies similars i inclou algunes consideracions sobre la taxonomia, ecologia, fenologia i distribució del tàxon al continent europeu. S'acompanya l'article amb fotografies a color del basidioma i alguns elements microscòpics.Contribution to the knowledge of the rare Entoloma opacum Noordel. The macro and microscopic features of Entoloma opacum Noordel, a very rare taxon poorly represented in the mycological literature, are reported based on four collections from northern Italy. The discussion focuses on the comparison with closer species and contains considerations on the ecology, phenology and distribution over the european continent. The paper is accompanied by colour photographs of basidiomata and some microscopic elements

Ecologically Inspired Metrics for Rare Earth Element Critical Material Systems

Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets have increased demand for clean energy technologies, and the growth required for these technologies has led to concern over material availability and criticality. Critical materials are defined as having risks associated with them such as supply gaps or price volatility. Existing metrics for criticality determination are narrowly focused on physical scarcity of single materials, whereas many critical materials are byproducts of large, complex, interconnected material systems. Industrial ecology borrows methods from ecology to study complex material and energy flows, which can be used for a systems-perspective analysis. In this work, critical rare earth material systems are likened to food webs and analyzed using ecological network metrics and metrics borrowed from network analysis. This study considers food web metrics—partner diversity, connectance, specialization asymmetry, vulnerability, extinction slope, niche overlap, weighted betweenness, normalized degree, interaction push-pull, cluster coefficient, Shannon’s diversity, interaction evenness, and d’—best suited for describing systemic criticality in metal or mineral use systems. These metrics were applied to 10 rare earth elements and their end uses for China, Japan, and the United States from 1995-2007 as a case study to determine if ecologically inspired metrics could provide improved criticality assessment. Metrics address three system levels: 1) network, 2) group, and 3) individual elements/products. It was determined that some metrics highlight instances where rare earth systems are becoming more specialized making them vulnerable to supply risks. Application of ecological network metrics to material systems has advantages for criticality assessments, and future work should consider additional systems and the interactions between the various metrics to better understand these systems and lessons available from a systems-perspective

Reappearance of old growth elements in lowland woodlands in northern Belgium : do the associated species follow?

The forest cover of the western European lowland plain has been very low for centuries. Remaining forests were intensively managed, and old-growth elements like veteran trees and coarse woody debris became virtually absent. Only over the last decades have these old-growth elements progressively redeveloped in parks, lanes and forests, and have now reached their highest level over the last 500-1000 years. Biodiversity associated with these old-growth elements makes up an important part of overall forest biodiversity. The ability of species to recolonise the newly available habitat is strongly determined by limitations in their dispersal and establishment. We analyse the current status and development of old-growth elements in Flanders (northern Belgium) and the process of recolonisation by means of specific cases, focussing on saproxylic fungi and saproxylic beetles. Our results show that 'hotspots' of secondary old growth, even isolated small patches, may have more potential for specialised biodiversity than expected, and may provide important new strongholds for recovery and recolonisation of an important share of old-growth related species

ASSESSMENT OF RARE EPIPHYTIC LIVERWORT TRANSPLANTATION METHOD IN POPULUS TREMULA FOREST

Epiphytic bryophytes are important biodiversity elements in forest ecosystems globally. In addition, bryophytes take part in ecosystem functioning and are excellent environmental indicators. Almost half of the red-listed bryophyte distribution in Latvia is related to forest habitats. However, despite the increasing knowledge about epiphyte ecology, we are lacking information about individual rare species environmental demands. The present study aimed to evaluate the transplant disc method in rare liverwort transplantation success in aspen forest. As a result, we found that the transplant disc method can be used in epiphytic liverwort studies, but improvements are recommended in sealant selection for transplantation. Liverwort transplants were sensitive to changed substrate quality. Although transplant physiological stress during the transplantation experiment could be important. Epiphyte transplantation studies could help to test epiphyte sensitivity to global climate change in the future