Motivationsfaktorer - Konsult eller anställd, har det någon betydelse?

Background: Motivation and job satisfaction have been popular research topics in previous literature, which has resulted in multiple motivation theories such as Maslow and Herzbergs's theory. However we base this study on Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci's Self- Determination Theory (SDT), which treats the internal and external motivators linked to competence, autonomy and relatedness. To develop this, we also take part of the research on the theories Person-Organization fit and Person-Job fit. Objectives: The purpose of our study is to investigate how hired consultants and employees experience their motivation to their work and if the employment form may have a bearing on job satisfaction. This becomes interesting at a time when new forms of employment are taking shape because of the companies need for a more flexible work organization. Previous research points to the difficulty in motivating consultants and therefore we want to find out whether it is the actual form of employment that is behind this or whether there are other affecting factors. Method: Our study was based on interviews with 10 respondents from a large international IT company. In the selection of respondents we used a targeted selection since we needed to get in contact with both external consultants and employees of the company to get answers to our research questions. We chose to conduct a case study and used semi-structured interviews with questions divided into three different categories based on the Self-Determination Theory. We transcribed the information from the interviews and followed up by coding as well as a thematic analysis for which we adopted a deductive approach. Results: According to our results the hired consultants and employees seem to experience their motivation and job satisfaction in a similar way. However it seems that factors such as experience of organizational culture, personality and length of employment affect the employees' sense of job satisfaction to a greater degree than the consultants. Conclusions: We concluded that there is a complexity in understanding and working with motivation and job satisfaction as the factors behind them are multidimensional. The actual form of employment contributes significantly to an attitude in the work situation rather than the influence of motivation and job satisfaction

Ferdsel i fjell- og utmarksområder i lys av hytteutbygging: En casestudie av Flå kommune

Utbredelsen av den norske hyttekulturen er stor og har lange tradisjoner. Den kraftige landsdekkende veksten i hytteindustrien de siste tiårene har ført til store lokale og regionale naturinngrep. Det har ført til negative effekter på lokale naturressurser. Arealutviklingen i fjellkommuner har skapt bekymring for koblingen mellom hyttebygging og økt fritidsbruk og ferdsel i nærliggende fjell- og utmarksområder, noe som blant annet kan komme i konflikt med villrein og annet vilt. Til tross for bekymringen for økt fritidsbruk i nærområdene til fritidsbebyggelse er det for lite kunnskap om hvor stor effekten er (Kaltenborn, 2022). Dette har resultert i at konflikter mellom natur og planer om hytteutbygging har oppstått i flere kommuner de siste årene. Formålet med masteroppgaven er å belyse i hvilken grad planlegging og tilhørende konsekvensutredninger av nye hyttefelt vurderer ferdsel i utmark i Flå kommune. Videre søker masteroppgaven å belyse i hvilken grad arbeidet med sti- og løypeplaner koordineres med planleggingen av nye hyttefelt. For å undersøke denne tematikken baserer masteroppgaven seg på en casestudie. Dette innebærer dokumentanalyse av case-spesifikke dokumenter, samt semistrukturerte intervjuer og observasjoner. Dagens aktørmangfold som knyttes til planlegging er stort, og har blitt mer sammensatt og bredere enn tidligere grunnet stor bredde av oppgaver og berørte interessegrupper (Falleth, 2012). Derfor er teori om styrings- og koordineringsmekanismer, med særlig vekt på samstyring, et viktig teoretisk grunnlag for masteroppgaven. Samstyringsteorien brukes for å få en forståelse for forholdet mellom myndighetsnivåene og de ulike aktørene i det norske forvaltningssystemet. Dokumentstudiet viser at ferdsel i stor grad ansees som noe positivt i planlegging og tilhørende konsekvensutredninger av nye hytter i Flå, mens de negative effektene på natur- og utmarksområder utenfor plangrensene i liten grad vurderes. Det positive synet på ferdsel kommer som følge av fokus på attraktivitet og tilgjengeliggjøring av områder. Særlig undersøkelsene av områdereguleringsplanene for Gulsvikfjellet og Turufjell med tilhørende dokumenter viste dette. Det pågående arbeidet med å vurdere samlet belastning av utbyggingen på Gulsvikfjellet, Regional plan for Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell 2020-2035 og arbeidet med felles sti- og løypeplan for Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell, viser derimot at fokuset på indirekte konsekvenser knyttet til økende ferdsel har endret seg de siste årene. Det viser at det nå er et ønske om å vektlegge dette i større grad enn det er gjort tidligere. Gjennom intervjuer kom det frem at planleggingen av stier og løyper ofte er tilfeldig fordi det kommer som følge av et behov for kanalisering i etterkant av hytteutbygging. De empiriske funnene viser dermed at hytteplanlegging og sti- og løypeplanlegging i liten grad har vært koordinert tidligere. I drøftingen av de empiriske funnene kommer det frem implikasjoner om at det er behov for å endre hvordan sti- og løypeplanlegging koordineres med hytteplanlegging. For å oppnå en bærekraftig hytteutvikling i framtiden kan det tydeligere implementeres på nasjonalt nivå og videreføres til regional plan, kommuneplan og ned til detaljreguleringsplaner. Skjerpede krav i Forskrift om konsekvensutredning vil være sentralt i dette. På kommunalt nivå vil strengere og tydeligere krav til vurdering av indirekte konsekvenser utenfor plangrenser, kunne føre til at dette i større grad vurderes i juridisk bindende arealplaner. Et styrket regionalt nivå er også fremhevet som viktig. Et sterkere regionalt nivå vil kunne bidra til å løse utfordringene med å videreføre koordineringen gjennom plansystemet, samt oppfølging av koordineringen på lavere forvaltningsnivåer.The prevalence of the Norwegian cabin culture is wide, and has long traditions. In recent decades, the second home industry has experienced a strong nationwide growth, which has led to major local and regional interferences with nature and negative effects on local natural resources. Land-use development in mountain municipalities has caused concern regarding the link between the construction of second homes and increased leisure activity. The concern revolves around the use of nearby mountain and outback areas, which could come into conflict with wild reindeer and other game. Despite the concern regarding increased leisure activity in areas close to second home settlements, there is not enough knowledge on the extent of the effects on nearby areas (Kaltenborn, 2022). In recent years this has resulted in conflicts between nature and plans for second home development in several municipalities. The purpose of the master thesis is to clarify the extent to which the planning and associated impact assessments of new second home areas consider leisure activity in outback areas in Flå municipality. Further, it aims to clarify to which extent the work on path and trail plans is coordinated with the planning of new second home areas. To investigate this topic, the master thesis is based on a case study. This entails a document analysis of case-specific documents, semi-structured interviews, and observations. The diversity of actors linked to planning today is extensive and has become broader and more complex as a result of the broad span of stakeholders and tasks involved (Falleth, 2012). Therefore, the theory on management and coordination mechanisms is an important theoretical basis for the master thesis, especially the theory on governance. Governance theory is applied, to gain an understanding of the relationship between administrative levels and the various actors involved in the Norwegian administrative system. The document analysis shows that leisure activity is largely regarded as something positive in the planning of new second homes in Flå, whilst the assessment of negative effects on nature and outback areas outside the planning area is limited. The positive view on leisure activity is a result of the focus on attractiveness and making areas accessible. In particular, the investigations of the area regulation plans for Gulsvikfjellet and Turufjell showed this. On the other hand, the ongoing work to assess the total burden of the development at Gulsvikfjellet, the Regional plan for Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell 2020-2035, and the work on the path and trail plan for Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell shows that the focus on indirect consequences regarding increased leisure activity has changed in recent years. This illustrates a desire to emphasize indirect consequences to a greater extent than in the past. Interviews showed that the planning of paths and trails is often random, as it is conducted as a result of a need for channeling leisure activity following the development of second homes. With this, the empirical findings show that there has been a low degree of coordination between second home planning and the planning of paths and trails in the past. In the discussion of the empirical findings, implications emerge that there is a need to change how the planning of paths and trails is coordinated with second home planning. To achieve a sustainable second home development in the future, it can be implemented more clearly at the national level and passed on to the regional plan, municipal plan, and down to detailed zoning plans. Stricter requirements in the Regulation of impact assessment will play a central part in this. On the municipal level, stricter and clearer requirements for the assessment of indirect consequences outside the planning area can contribute to it being assessed in legally blinding spatial plans. A stronger regional level is also highlighted as important. This may be able to contribute to solving the challenges of continuing the coordination efforts throughout the planning system, and to ensure that the coordination efforts are implemented on lower administrative levels

Stimulation of Plant Growth through Interactions of Bacteria and Protozoa: Testing the Auxiliary Microbial Loop Hypothesis

By feeding on bacterial biomass protozoa play an acknowledged role in the liberation of nutrients in the plant rhizosphere. In addition there are suggestions that plants have mechanisms working through changes in root architecture and initiation of active release from soil organic matter, which are used to improve uptake and recirculation of nutrients in the ecosystem. All processes are carried out on a local scale in soil with roots, bacteria and protozoa interacting. The many actors and the small scale of interactions make experimentation difficult. We discuss mistakes, pit falls and misinterpretations and provide suggestions for improvement. Recent methodological progress has opened new exciting avenues for protozoan research. New techniques have already helped to reveal protozoan regulation of cooperation as well as conflict in bacterial communities. These mechanisms in turn affect bacterial functioning and target molecular control points in rhizosphere food webs in relation to plants. Integrating nutritional and regulatory aspects into new concepts of protozoan functioning in soil is a challenging frontier in protozoology

Sources of increased N uptake in forest trees growing under elevated CO 2 : results of a large‐scale 15 N study

Nitrogen availability in terrestrial ecosystems strongly influences plant productivity and nutrient cycling in response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide ( CO 2 ). Elevated CO 2 has consistently stimulated forest productivity at the Duke Forest free‐air CO 2 enrichment experiment throughout the decade‐long experiment. It remains unclear how the N cycle has changed with elevated CO 2 to support this increased productivity. Using natural‐abundance measures of N isotopes together with an ecosystem‐scale 15 N tracer experiment, we quantified the cycling of 15 N in plant and soil pools under ambient and elevated CO 2 over three growing seasons to determine how elevated CO 2 changed N cycling between plants, soil, and microorganisms. After measuring natural‐abundance 15 N differences in ambient and CO 2 ‐fumigated plots, we applied inorganic 15 N tracers and quantified the redistribution of 15 N for three subsequent growing seasons. The natural abundance of leaf litter was enriched under elevated compared to ambient CO 2 , consistent with deeper rooting and enhanced N mineralization. After tracer application, 15 N was initially retained in the organic and mineral soil horizons. Recovery of 15 N in plant biomass was 3.5 ± 0.5% in the canopy, 1.7 ± 0.2% in roots and 1.7 ± 0.2% in branches. After two growing seasons, 15 N recoveries in biomass and soil pools were not significantly different between CO 2 treatments, despite greater total N uptake under elevated CO 2 . After the third growing season, 15 N recovery in trees was significantly higher in elevated compared to ambient CO 2 . Natural‐abundance 15 N and tracer results, taken together, suggest that trees growing under elevated CO 2 acquired additional soil N resources to support increased plant growth. Our study provides an integrated understanding of elevated CO 2 effects on N cycling in the Duke Forest and provides a basis for inferring how C and N cycling in this forest may respond to elevated CO 2 beyond the decadal time scale.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87073/1/gcb2465.pd

A Tale of Four Stories: Soil Ecology, Theory, Evolution and the Publication System

International audienceBACKGROUND: Soil ecology has produced a huge corpus of results on relations between soil organisms, ecosystem processes controlled by these organisms and links between belowground and aboveground processes. However, some soil scientists think that soil ecology is short of modelling and evolutionary approaches and has developed too independently from general ecology. We have tested quantitatively these hypotheses through a bibliographic study (about 23000 articles) comparing soil ecology journals, generalist ecology journals, evolutionary ecology journals and theoretical ecology journals. FINDINGS: We have shown that soil ecology is not well represented in generalist ecology journals and that soil ecologists poorly use modelling and evolutionary approaches. Moreover, the articles published by a typical soil ecology journal (Soil Biology and Biochemistry) are cited by and cite low percentages of articles published in generalist ecology journals, evolutionary ecology journals and theoretical ecology journals. CONCLUSION: This confirms our hypotheses and suggests that soil ecology would benefit from an effort towards modelling and evolutionary approaches. This effort should promote the building of a general conceptual framework for soil ecology and bridges between soil ecology and general ecology. We give some historical reasons for the parsimonious use of modelling and evolutionary approaches by soil ecologists. We finally suggest that a publication system that classifies journals according to their Impact Factors and their level of generality is probably inadequate to integrate "particularity" (empirical observations) and "generality" (general theories), which is the goal of all natural sciences. Such a system might also be particularly detrimental to the development of a science such as ecology that is intrinsically multidisciplinary

Insight into cross-talk between intra-amoebal pathogens

Abstract: Background: Amoebae are phagocytic protists where genetic exchanges might take place between amoeba-resistant bacteria. These amoebal pathogens are able to escape the phagocytic behaviour of their host. They belong to different bacterial phyla and often show a larger genome size than human-infecting pathogens. This characteristic is proposed to be the result of frequent gene exchanges with other bacteria that share a sympatric lifestyle and contrasts with the genome reduction observed among strict human pathogens.Results: We sequenced the genome of a new amoebal pathogen, Legionella drancourtii, and compared its gene content to that of a Chlamydia-related bacterium, Parachlamydia acanthamoebae. Phylogenetic reconstructions identified seven potential horizontal gene transfers (HGTs) between the two amoeba-resistant bacteria, including a complete operon of four genes that encodes an ABC-type transporter. These comparisons pinpointed potential cases of gene exchange between P. acanthamoebae and Legionella pneumophila, as well as gene exchanges between other members of the Legionellales and Chlamydiales orders. Moreover, nine cases represent possible HGTs between representatives from the Legionellales or Chlamydiales and members of the Rickettsiales order.Conclusions: This study identifies numerous gene exchanges between intracellular Legionellales and Chlamydiales bacteria, which could preferentially occur within common inclusions in their amoebal hosts. Therefore it contributes to improve our knowledge on the intra-amoebal gene properties associated to their specific lifestyle

Turning the Table: Plants Consume Microbes as a Source of Nutrients

Interactions between plants and microbes in soil, the final frontier of ecology, determine the availability of nutrients to plants and thereby primary production of terrestrial ecosystems. Nutrient cycling in soils is considered a battle between autotrophs and heterotrophs in which the latter usually outcompete the former, although recent studies have questioned the unconditional reign of microbes on nutrient cycles and the plants' dependence on microbes for breakdown of organic matter. Here we present evidence indicative of a more active role of plants in nutrient cycling than currently considered. Using fluorescent-labeled non-pathogenic and non-symbiotic strains of a bacterium and a fungus (Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively), we demonstrate that microbes enter root cells and are subsequently digested to release nitrogen that is used in shoots. Extensive modifications of root cell walls, as substantiated by cell wall outgrowth and induction of genes encoding cell wall synthesizing, loosening and degrading enzymes, may facilitate the uptake of microbes into root cells. Our study provides further evidence that the autotrophy of plants has a heterotrophic constituent which could explain the presence of root-inhabiting microbes of unknown ecological function. Our discovery has implications for soil ecology and applications including future sustainable agriculture with efficient nutrient cycles

Tamm Review: On the nature of the nitrogen limitation to plant growth in Fennoscandian boreal forests

The supply of nitrogen commonly limits plant production in boreal forests and also affects species composition and ecosystem functions other than plant growth. These interrelations vary across the landscapes, with the highest N availability, plant growth and plant species richness in ground-water discharge areas (GDAs), typically in toe-slope positions, which receive solutes leaching from the much larger groundwater recharge areas (GRAs) uphill. Plant N sources include not only inorganic N, but, as heightened more recently, also organic N species. In general, also the ratio inorganic N over organic N sources increase down hillslopes. Here, we review recent evidence about the nature of the N limitation and its variations in Fennoscandian boreal forests and discuss its implications for forest ecology and management. The rate of litter decomposition has traditionally been seen as the determinant of the rate of N supply. However, while N-rich litter decomposes faster than N-poor litter initially, N-rich litter then decomposes more slowly, which means that the relation between N % of litter and its decomposability is complex. Moreover, in the lower part of the mor-layer, where the most superficial mycorrhizal roots first appear, and N availability matters for plants, the ratio of microbial N over total soil N is remarkably constant over the wide range in litter and soil C/N ratios of between 15 and 40 for N-rich and N-poor sites, respectively. Nitrogen-rich and -poor sites thus differ in the sizes of the total N pool and the microbial N pool, but not in the ratio between them. A more important difference is that the soil microbial N pool turns over faster in N-rich systems because the microbes are more limited by C, while microbes in N-poor systems are a stronger sink for available N. Furthermore, litter decomposition in the most superficial soil horizon (as studied by the so-called litter-bag method) is associated with a dominance of saprotrophic fungi, and absence of mycorrhizal fungi. The focal zone in the context of plant N supply in N-limited forests is further down the soil profile, where ectomycorrhizal (ECM) roots become abundant. Molecular evidence and stable isotope data indicate that in the typical N-poor boreal forests, nitrogen is retained in saprotrophic fungi, likely until they run out of energy (available C-compounds). Then, as heightened by recent research, ECM fungi, which are supplied by photosynthate from the trees, become the superior competitors for N. In N-poor boreal soils strong N retention by microorganisms keeps levels of available N very low. This is exacerbated by an increase in tree C allocation to mycorrhizal fungi (TCAM) relative to net primary production (NPP) with decreasing soil N supply, which causes ECM fungi to retain much of the available soil N for their own growth and transfer little to their tree hosts. The transfer of N through the ECM fungi, and not the rate of litter decomposition, is likely limiting the rate of tree N supply under such conditions. All but a few stress-tolerant less N-demanding plant species, like the ECM trees themselves and ericaceous dwarf shrubs, are excluded. With increasing N supply, a weakening of ECM symbiosis caused by the relative decline in TCAM contributes to shifts in soil microbial community composition from fungal dominance to bacterial dominance. Thus, bacteria, which are less C-demanding, but more likely to release N than fungi, take over. This, and the relatively high pH in GDA, allow autotrophic nitrifying bacteria to compete successfully for the NH4+ released by C-limited organisms and causes the N cycle to open up with leaching of nitrate (NO3−) and gaseous N losses through denitrification. These N-rich conditions allow species-rich communities of N-demanding plant species. Meanwhile, ECM fungi have a smaller biomass, are supplied with N in excess of their demand and will export more N to their host trees. Hence, the gradient from low to high N supply is characterized by profound variations in plant and soil microbial physiologies, especially their relations to the C-to-N supply ratio. We propose how interactions among functional groups can be understood and modelled (the plant-microbe carbon-nitrogen model). With regard to forest management these perspectives explain why the creation of larger tree-free gaps favors the regeneration of tree seedlings under N-limited conditions through reduced belowground competition for N, and why such gaps are less important under high N supply (but when light might be limiting). We also discuss perspectives on the relations between N supply, biodiversity, and eutrophication of boreal forests from N deposition or forest fertilization