137 research outputs found
Social-ecological systems approach for adaptation to climate change
Adaptation to climate change has become part of national development programs (e.g., National Adaptation Planning). Though communities are adapting to climate change across the world, this perspective argues that understanding social and ecological systems requires greater attention to enhance resilience for achieving and moving beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in response to climate change across the world. In addition, based on a systematic literature review, this perspective identifies key research gaps and addresses relevant key challenges and future research direction for social and ecological systems (SES) adaptation to climate change. Ultimately, this may also help move from the existing limits to adaptation (intolerable risks through adaptive actions) concept to social-ecological limits to adaptation and offers an opportunity to integrate adaptation to climate change in development planning by considering both SES
Animal-vehicle collisions during the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020 in the Krakow metropolitan region, Poland
Publication history: Accepted - 11 April 2022; Published online - 9 May 2022The interrelations between human activity and animal populations are of increasing interest due to the emergence of the novel COVID-19 and the consequent pandemic across the world. Anthropogenic impacts of the pandemic on animals in urban-suburban environments are largely unknown. In this study, the temporal and spatial patterns of urban animal response to the COVID-19 lockdown were assessed using animal-vehicle collisions (AVC) data. We collected AVC data over two 6-month periods in 2019 and 2020 (January to June) from the largest metropolis in southern Poland, which included lockdown months. Furthermore, we used traffic data to understand the impact of lockdown on AVC in the urban area. Our analysis of 1063 AVC incidents revealed that COVID-19 related lockdown decreased AVC rates in suburban areas. However, in the urban area, even though traffic volume had significantly reduced, AVC did not decrease significantly, suggesting that lockdown did not influence the collision rates in the urban area. Our results suggest that there is a need to focus on understanding the effects of changes in traffic volume on both human behaviour and wildlife space use on the resulting impacts on AVC in the urban area.S.M.B is supported by the project ATUT PhD Programme in Biology. The project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Social Fund – Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development Axis III Higher Education for Economy and Development, Action 3.2 PhD Programme
Public perceptions and attitudes toward urban wildlife encounters – A decade of change
Publication history: Accepted - 26 April 2022; Published online - 4 May 2022.Europe is currently undergoing dynamic land use changes causing the expansion of urban habitat, which is driving
wildlife species to colonise conurbations, resulting in an increased likelihood of human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Understanding
people's attitudes toward wildlife is essential to manage these conflicts. This study assessed people's attitudes
toward urban wildlife, the types of conflicts that existed, preferences for managing conflict situations, and
determined any changes in perceptions of urban wildlife over a decade. A questionnaire survey of residents of Krakow,
the second-largest city in Poland, was conducted in 2010 (n = 721) and repeated in 2020 (n =887). We found that
encounters with certain urban wildlife such as wild boars, red squirrels, roe deer, brown hares, and red foxes had increased
significantly in 2020 compared to 2010. Respondents reported that wild boar and beavers did not show fear
when encountering humans. Stone martens were considered the most nuisance wildlife species in 2010, while in
2020 wild boar were the most conflictual wildlife species. There were additional reports of conflicts with roe deer
and red foxes. The most frequent HWC responses were personal anxiety, intrusion into property and destruction of
crops, which increased significantly over the decade, independent of respondents' gender. Respondents preferred nonlethal
methods to mitigate conflicts. The study provides valuable information and knowledge on changes in people's attitudes toward urban wildlife that can help with wildlife management in urban areas. Incorporating perception and
attitude data fromthe public, along with a multi-stakeholder approach that includes wildlife professionals, in the planning
and design of future urban environments is critical to minimise HWC.The paper was supported by the project ATUT PhD Programme in
Biology. The project is co-financed by the European Union under the
European Social Fund – _Operational Programme Knowledge Education
Development Axis III Higher Education for Economy and Development,
Action 3.2 PhD Programme.
The open-access publication of this article was funded
by the programme “Excellence Initiative – Research University” at the
Faculty of Biology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Public perceptions and attitudes toward urban wildlife encounters – a decade of change
Europe is currently undergoing dynamic land use changes causing the expansion of urban habitat, which is driving wildlife species to colonise conurbations, resulting in an increased likelihood of human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Understanding people's attitudes toward wildlife is essential to manage these conflicts. This study assessed people's attitudes toward urban wildlife, the types of conflicts that existed, preferences for managing conflict situations, and determined any changes in perceptions of urban wildlife over a decade. A questionnaire survey of residents of Krakow, the second-largest city in Poland, was conducted in 2010 (n = 721) and repeated in 2020 (n = 887). We found that encounters with certain urban wildlife such as wild boars, red squirrels, roe deer, brown hares, and red foxes had increased significantly in 2020 compared to 2010. Respondents reported that wild boar and beavers did not show fear when encountering humans. Stone martens were considered the most nuisance wildlife species in 2010, while in 2020 wild boar were the most conflictual wildlife species. There were additional reports of conflicts with roe deer and red foxes. The most frequent HWC responses were personal anxiety, intrusion into property and destruction of crops, which increased significantly over the decade, independent of respondents' gender. Respondents preferred nonlethal methods to mitigate conflicts. The study provides valuable information and knowledge on changes in people's attitudes toward urban wildlife that can help with wildlife management in urban areas. Incorporating perception and attitude data from the public, along with a multi-stakeholder approach that includes wildlife professionals, in the planning and design of future urban environments is critical to minimise HWC
Social-ecological systems approach for adaptation to climate change
Adaptation to climate change has become part of national development programs (e.g., National Adaptation Planning). Though communities are adapting to climate change across the world, this perspective argues that understanding social and ecological systems requires greater attention to enhance resilience for achieving and moving beyond the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in response to climate change across the world. In addition, based on a systematic literature review, this perspective identifies key research gaps and addresses relevant key challenges and future research direction for social and ecological systems (SES) adaptation to climate change. Ultimately, this may also help move from the existing limits to adaptation (intolerable risks through adaptive actions) concept to social-ecological limits to adaptation and offers an opportunity to integrate adaptation to climate change in development planning by considering both SES
Mammal responses to global changes in human activity vary by trophic group and landscape
Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human–wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.Peer reviewe
Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO--Virgo data
We present a directed search for continuous gravitational wave (CW) signals
emitted by spinning neutron stars located in the inner parsecs of the Galactic
Center (GC). Compelling evidence for the presence of a numerous population of
neutron stars has been reported in the literature, turning this region into a
very interesting place to look for CWs. In this search, data from the full O3
LIGO--Virgo run in the detector frequency band have been
used. No significant detection was found and 95 confidence level upper
limits on the signal strain amplitude were computed, over the full search band,
with the deepest limit of about at .
These results are significantly more constraining than those reported in
previous searches. We use these limits to put constraints on the fiducial
neutron star ellipticity and r-mode amplitude. These limits can be also
translated into constraints in the black hole mass -- boson mass plane for a
hypothetical population of boson clouds around spinning black holes located in
the GC.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
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