Three in Ten Rural and Urban Medicaid Recipients May Be Affected by Potential Work Requirements

In this fact sheet, authors Andrew Schaefer and Jessica Carson explore whether rural and urban Medicaid recipients would be differentially affected by a work requirement. They focus on Medicaid recipients through a rural/urban lens because rural adults differ from their urban counterparts on a host of demographic characteristics. They report that about three in ten Medicaid recipients could be affected by a work requirement, a share that is similar in rural and urban places. Among Medicaid recipients potentially affected by a work requirement, the majority worked at least part of the previous year or were motivated to work but could not find a job, a share that is slightly higher in rural places than in urban. The especially high share of those already working or looking for work in rural places may warrant additional consideration from legislators representing rural areas. In both rural and urban places, legislators should consider whether the consequences to families losing health insurance coverage outweigh the relative benefits of enforcing work requirements

Treefall Gaps and the Maintenance of Species Diversity in a Tropical Forest

The maintenance of species diversity by treefall gaps is a long‐standing paradigm in forest ecology. Gaps are presumed to provide an environment in which tree species of differing competitive abilities partition heterogeneous resources. The empirical evidence to support this paradigm, however, remains scarce, and some recent studies even suggest that gaps do not maintain the diversity of shade‐tolerant species. Although there is evidence that gaps maintain the diversity of pioneer trees, most of this evidence comes from studies that did not make comparisons between gaps and intact forest sites (controls). Further, nearly all studies on the maintenance of diversity by gaps have ignored lianas, an important component of both old‐world and neotropical forests. We tested the hypothesis that treefall gaps maintain shade‐tolerant tree, pioneer tree, and liana species diversity in an old‐growth forest on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama. We compared the density and species richness of these guilds between paired gap and non‐gap sites on both a per‐area and a per‐individual (per capita) basis. We found no difference in shade‐tolerant tree density and species richness between the gap and non‐gap sites. Both pioneer tree and liana density and species richness, however, were significantly higher in the gap than in the non‐gap sites on both a per‐area and a per‐individual basis. These results suggest that gaps maintain liana species diversity and that this effect is not merely a consequence of increased density. Furthermore, our data confirm the long‐held belief that gaps maintain pioneer tree species diversity. Because lianas and pioneer trees combined account for ∼43% of the woody plant species on BCI, and in other forests, our results are likely to be broadly applicable and suggest that gaps play a strong role in the maintenance of woody species diversity

Have we forgotten the forest because of the trees?

Recently, Brokaw and Busing argued that there is limited evidence for niche partitioning of tree species within forest gaps1. Consequently, gaps appear to play a relatively minor role in the maintenance of tree species diversity in forests via traditional resource partitioning. This conclusion is strongly supported by the existing empirical evidence, particularly for shade-tolerant tree species. Most studies of gaps, however, have failed to take into account plant groups other than trees2-4. Gaps may be a necessary habitat for the persistence of a large proportion of the vascular plant species other than shade-tolerant trees; specifically, pioneer trees, lianas, herbs, shrubs, and herbaceous vines2-8. For example, in a study on Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, gaps had higher liana and pioneer tree diversity on both a per area and per stem basis (thereby removing the effect of density) compared to the surrounding forest2,3. These two plant groups alone account for approximately 43% of the woody species in this tropical forest2. There is also evidence that many forest herbs are gap dependent5,6. The role of gaps in the maintenance of shrubs is less clear, although there is some evidence that gaps promote shrub growth and reproduction7,8. Overall, when the major vascular plant groups are considered, as much as 65% of the flora of BCI may be gap dependent (Table 1). The specific mechanism that leads to the higher diversity of these groups in gaps remains unknown. Nonetheless, because these vascular plant groups represent a majority of the plant species in tropical forests worldwide4,9, gaps may often play a strong role in the maintenance of species diversity. Brokaw and Busing also argued that gaps might maintain diversity via the density effect10; Specifically, that gaps will have a higher diversity of trees solely because they have a higher density of trees compared to the surrounding forest. Tree density in gaps, however, declines (thins) with age, and thus the density effect could maintain diversity in the mature forest primarily in two ways. First, if individuals in gaps reach reproductive age prior to thinning then they could potentially colonize new gaps. Data are lacking, however, on whether trees reach reproductive age sooner (i.e., smaller size or age class) in gaps than in non-gap sites. Second, there must be niche partitioning. Without niche partitioning, thinning of individuals occurs randomly, and the initial increase in diversity would be merely a transitory result of the short-term increase in plant density2,11. Consequently, given the scanty evidence for niche partitioning and accelerated reproduction in gaps, the evidence for the density effect as a viable mechanism to explain the maintenance of diversity in forests is equivocal at best. We argue that papers sounding the death knell for the role of gaps in the maintenance of diversity in forests (e.g., Ref. 11) may be premature. The focus of most previous research on the ability of tree species to partition resources in gaps may have caused us to overlook the importance of gaps for many other groups of vascular plants (Table 1). Future research is necessary to quantify further the proportion of species in these and other groups (e.g., epiphytes) that require gaps for persistence in the community

The NASA firefighter's breathing system program

The research is reported in the development of a firefighter's breathing system (FBS) to satisfy the operational requirements of fire departments while remaining within their cost constraints. System definition for the FBS is discussed, and the program status is reported. It is concluded that the most difficult problem in the FBS Program is the achievement of widespread fire department acceptance of the system

Overall Declines in Child Poverty Mask Relatively Stable Rates Across States

In this brief, authors Andrew Schaefer, Jessica Carson, and Marybeth Mattingly use Census data released on September 15, 2016, from the American Community Survey--the only regular source for estimating yearly child poverty rates at, and below, the state level--to examine child poverty rates across the United States by place type, region, and state. They report that between 2014 and 2015, child poverty declined nationwide across rural areas, suburbs, and cities. As before, cities had the highest child poverty, followed closely by rural areas. Suburbs had the lowest rates. In thirteen states, child poverty declined since 2014; only Mississippi saw an increase since 2014, and the remaining thirty-six states and the District of Columbia had stable rates. Mississippi, New Mexico, and Louisiana had exceptionally high child poverty rates, each over 28 percent. New Hampshire child poverty was among the lowest nationwide, at 10.7 percent. It is important to keep in mind that most states experienced no change between 2014 and 2015. Lower child poverty rates appear to be driven by higher median incomes over the past year

Cause for Optimism? Child Poverty Declines for the First Time Since Before the Great Recession

New data released on September 18, 2014, by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that child poverty fell by 0.4 percentage point between 2012 and 2013, to 22.2 percent. Though still significantly higher than in 2007 when the Great Recession hit (18.0 percent), and higher than at its conclusion (20.0 percent) in 2009, the decline from 2012 may be cause for optimism. Estimates suggest the number of poor children declined by roughly 300,000 between 2012 and 2013

Child Care Costs Exceed 10 Percent of Family Income for One in Four Families

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer, and Jessica Carson analyze families’ child care expenses and identify, among families with young children who pay for child care, the share that are “cost burdened,” defined in this context as spending more than 10 percent of their gross income on child care. Using data from the 2012–2016 Current Population Survey, they present their findings by number of children; age of youngest child; parental characteristics; family income measures; and U.S. region, metropolitan status, and state. They report that about one in four families with young children who have child care costs are “burdened” by the cost, spending more than 10 percent of family income on child care. Across families with young children, an average of 8.8 percent of family income is spent on child care. More than half of poor families with young children are cost burdened by child care, compared to 39.3 percent of low income families (those with incomes between one and two times the poverty threshold) and just 13.4 percent of families at or above five times the poverty threshold. One in five married couples, and two in five single parents with young children and child care expenses, pay more than 10 percent of their income on these costs. Access to quality, affordable child care is critical for American working families

2016 Child Poverty Rate Sees Largest Decline Since Before Great Recession

Child poverty declined by 1.2 percentage points between 2015 and 2016, according to analyses of the official poverty measure (OPM) in the latest American Community Survey