Reducing risks by transforming landscapes: Cross-scale effects of land-use changes on ecosystem services

Globally, anthropogenic environmental change is exacerbating the already vulnerable conditions of many people and ecosystems. In order to obtain food, water, raw materials and shelter, rural people modify forests and other ecosystems, affecting the supply of ecosystem services that contribute to livelihoods and well-being. Despite widespread awareness of the nature and extent of multiple impacts of land-use changes, there remains limited understanding of how these impacts affect trade-offs among ecosystem services and their beneficiaries across spatial scales. We assessed how rural communities in two forested landscapes in Indonesia have changed land uses over the last 20 years to adapt their livelihoods that were at risk from multiple hazards. We estimated the impact of these adaptation strategies on the supply of ecosystem services by comparing different benefits provided to people from these land uses (products, water, carbon, and biodiversity), using forest inventories, remote sensing, and interviews. Local people converted forests to rubber plantations, reforested less productive croplands, protected forests on hillsides, and planted trees in gardens. Our results show that land-use decisions were propagated at the landscape scale due to reinforcing loops, whereby local actors perceived that such decisions contributed positively to livelihoods by reducing risks and generating co-benefits. When land-use changes become sufficiently widespread, they affect the supply of multiple ecosystem services, with impacts beyond the local scale. Thus, adaptation implemented at the local-scale may not address development and climate adaptation challenges at regional or national scale (e.g. as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals or actions taken under the UNFCCC Paris Agreement). A better understanding of the context and impacts of local ecosystem-based adaptation is fundamental to the scaling up of land management policies and practices designed to reduce risks and improve well-being for people at different scales

Filler siphoning theory does not predict the effect of lineup fairness on the ability to discriminate innocent from guilty suspects : reply to Smith, Wells, Smalarz, and Lampinen

Smith, Wells, Smalarz, and Lampinen (2017) claim that we (Colloff, Wade, & Strange, 2016) were wrong to conclude that fair lineups enhanced people’s ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects compared to unfair lineups. They argue our results reflect differential-filler-siphoning, not diagnostic-feature-detection. But a manipulation that decreases identifications of innocent suspects more than guilty suspects (i.e., that increases filler-siphoning or conservative responding) does not necessarily increase people’s ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects. Unlike diagnostic-feature-detection, fillersiphoning does not make a prediction about people’s ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects. Moreover, we replicated Colloff et al.’s results in the absence of fillersiphoning (N=2,078). Finally, a model is needed to measure ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects. Smith et al.’s model-based analysis contained several errors. Correcting those errors shows that our model was not faulty, and Smith et al.’s model supports our original conclusions

Effect of improved home ventilation on asthma control and house dust mite allergen levels

The warm, humid environment in modern homes favours the dust mite population, but the effect of improved home ventilation on asthma control has not been established. We tested the hypothesis that a domestic mechanical heat recovery ventilation system (MHRV), in addition to allergen avoidance measures, can improve asthma control by attenuating re-colonization rates. We conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled parallel group trial of the installation of MHRV activated in half the homes of 120 adults with asthma, allergic to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. All homes had carpets steam cleaned and new bedding and mattress covers at baseline. The primary outcome was morning peak expiratory flow (PEF) at 12 months. At 12 months, the primary end-point; change in mean morning PEF as compared with baseline, did not differ between the MHRV group and the control group (mean difference 13.5 l/min, 95% CI: −2.6 to 29.8, P = 0.10). However, a secondary end-point; evening mean PEF, was significantly improved in the MHRV group (mean difference 24.5 l/min, 95% CI: 8.9-40.1, P = 0.002). Indoor relative humidity was reduced in MHRV homes, but there was no difference between the groups in Der p 1 levels, compared with baseline. The addition of MHRV to house dust mite eradication strategies did not achieve a reduction in mite allergen levels, but did improve evening PEF

Adapting land restoration to a changing climate: Embracing the knowns and unknowns

CIFOR Infobrief 249, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, doi:10.17528/cifor/007261Land restoration will happen under climate change and different knowledge systems are needed to navigate uncertainties and plan adaptation. • The emergence of novel ecosystems presents a challenge for land restoration; they harbor unknown unknowns. • This brief presents key research linking land restoration and societal adaptation and an example of a practical framework for transformative adaptation. • It also proposes questions that can guide stakeholders in exploring different change narratives for adaptation and restoration planning

Effects of the roots of <i>Cynodon dactylon </i>and <i>Schefflera heptaphylla </i>on water infiltration rate and soil hydraulic conductivity

Water infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity in vegetated soil are two vital hydrological parameters for agriculturists to determine availability of soil moisture for assessing crop growths and yields, and also for engineers to carry out stability calculations of vegetated slopes. However, any effects of roots on these two parameters are not well-understood. This study aims to quantify the effects of a grass species, Cynodon dactylon, and a tree species, Schefflera heptaphylla, on infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity in relation to their root characteristics and suction responses. The two selected species are commonly used for ecological restoration and rehabilitation in many parts of the world and South China. A series of in-situ double-ring infiltration tests was conducted during a wet summer, while the responses of soil suction were mointored by tensiometers. When compared to bare soil, the vegetated soil has lower infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity, due to the clogging of soil pore by plant roots. This results in at least 50% higher suction retained in the vegetated soil. It is revealed that the effects of root-water uptake by the selected species on suction were insignificant due to the small evapotranspiration (&lt; 0.2 mm) when the tests were conducted under the wet climate. There appears to have no significant difference (less than 10%) of infiltration rates, hydraulic conductivity and suction retained between the grass-covered and the tree-covered soil. However, the grass and tree species having deeper root depth and greater Root Area Index (RAI) retained higher suction

Child Witness Reliability:A Qualitative Exploration of Professional Perceptions

Child witnesses are regularly involved in legal proceedings, though many cases struggle to progress. This may be related to professionals' perceptions, which can influence the child’s credibility and consequently affect outcomes. This research explored perceptions of child witness reliability held by criminal justice professionals, utilising focus groups to identify patterns in opinions. The main themes were an acknowledgement that case-specific factors impact on memory evidence, that the CJS is not appropriate for children, and perception of “child memory” is simultaneously reliable and unreliable. The results suggest practical changes could improve evidence quality and highlights a need for future research in the area.<br/

Dark Triad Traits, Sex, and Social Desirability as Predictors of Non-Consensual Intimate Media Sharing Proclivity, Enjoyment, and Approval in UK University Students

Non-consensual intimate media sharing (NCIMS)—defined as the non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit images or videos—has notably increased in recent years, despite legislative actions to tackle this. This study aimed to investigate whether the Dark Triad traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—as well as sex and social desirability—predicted NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval in UK university students. A total of 653 participants were recruited through Prolific, the University of Birmingham survey circle, and social media. All participants completed various measures to assess self-reported levels of Dark Triad traits, social desirability, and NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval. The results showed that the models for each multiple linear regression (NCIMS proclivity, enjoyment, and approval) were statistically significant, though only certain variables were independent predictors for each regression. For proclivity, only psychopathy independently added to the prediction. For enjoyment, significant predictors were sex, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. For approval, only Machiavellianism added statistically to the prediction. This research adds to the growing literature base around NCIMS, specifically within university students in the UK, and provides strong evidence for the development and implementation of interventions designed to address the likelihood of individuals perpetrating NCIMS

The effects of alcohol intoxication on accuracy and the confidence-accuracy relationship in photographic simultaneous lineups

(Summary) Acute alcohol intoxication during encoding can impair subsequent identification accuracy, but results across studies have been inconsistent, with studies often finding no effect. Little is also known about how alcohol intoxication affects the identification confidence-accuracy relationship. We randomly assigned women (N = 153) to consume alcohol (dosed to achieve a 0.08% blood alcohol content) or tonic water, controlling for alcohol expectancy. Women then participated in an interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario and, 24 hours or 7 days later, attempted to identify the assailant from a perpetrator present or a perpetrator absent simultaneous line-up and reported their decision confidence. Overall, levels of identification accuracy were similar across the alcohol and tonic water groups. However, women who had consumed tonic water as opposed to alcohol identified the assailant with higher confidence on average. Further, calibration analyses suggested that confidence is predictive of accuracy regardless of alcohol consumption. The theoretical and applied implications of our results are discussed