Sociologists Teaching in Business Schools: Prospects and Opportunities

This article discusses the issues and experiences facing sociologists who take jobs in business schools, including the differences in political environment, the interaction and differences between sociologists and psychologists and sociologists and economists, teaching style and technique, and consulting opportunities. It also discusses the intellectual opportunities which come from exposure to research literature on a broad range of social phenomena at different levels of analysis and the access to research within and on corporations. Throughout the article the emphasis is on translating from sociology to management language, assumptions, and conventions of behavior

Global Climate Niche Estimates for Bioenergy Crops and Invasive Species of Agronomic Origin: Potential Problems and Opportunities

The global push towards a more biomass-based energy sector is ramping up efforts to adopt regionally appropriate high-yielding crops. As potential bioenergy crops are being moved around the world an assessment of the climatic suitability would be a prudent first step in identifying suitable areas of productivity and risk. Additionally, this assessment also provides a necessary step in evaluating the invasive potential of bioenergy crops, which present a possible negative externality to the bioeconomy. Therefore, we provide the first global climate niche assessment for the major graminaceous (9), herbaceous (3), and woody (4) bioenergy crops. Additionally, we contrast these with climate niche assessments for North American invasive species that were originally introduced for agronomic purposes as examples of well-intentioned introductions gone awry. With few exceptions (e.g., Saccharum officinarum, Pennisetum purpureum), the bioenergy crops exhibit broad climatic tolerance, which allows tremendous flexibility in choosing crops, especially in areas with high summer rainfall and long growing seasons (e.g., southeastern US, Amazon Basin, eastern Australia). Unsurprisingly, the invasive species of agronomic origin have very similar global climate niche profiles as the proposed bioenergy crops, also demonstrating broad climatic tolerance. The ecoregional evaluation of bioenergy crops and known invasive species demonstrates tremendous overlap at both high (EI≥30) and moderate (EI≥20) climate suitability. The southern and western US ecoregions support the greatest number of invasive species of agronomic origin, especially the Southeastern USA Plains, Mixed Woods Plains, and Mediterranean California. Many regions of the world have a suitable climate for several bioenergy crops allowing selection of agro-ecoregionally appropriate crops. This model knowingly ignores the complex biotic interactions and edaphic conditions, but provides a robust assessment of the climate niche, which is valuable for agronomists, crop developers, and regulators seeking to choose agro-ecoregionally appropriate crops while minimizing the risk of invasive species

The Role of Light and Soil Moisture in Plant Community Resistance to Invasion by Yellow Starthistle (\u3ci\u3eCentaurea solstitialis\u3c/i\u3e)

To resist establishment by an invasive plant, a community may require one or more species functionally similar to the invader in their resource acquisition pattern. In this study, communities consisting of native winter annual forbs, non-native annual grasses, native perennials, or a combination of the two native communities were established with and without Centaurea solstitialis to determine the effect of soil moisture and light availability on plant community invasion resistance. The annual plant communities were unable to resist invasion by C. solstitialis. In the native winter annual forb community, senescence in late spring increased light penetration (\u3e75%) to the soil surface, allowing seeded C. solstitialis to quickly establish and dominate the plots. In addition, native annual forbs utilized only shallow soil moisture, whereas C. solstitialis used shallow and deep soil moisture. In communities containing native perennials, only Elymus glaucus established well and eventually dominated the plots. During the first 2 years of establishment, water use pattern of perennial communities was similar to native annual forbs and resistance to invasion was associated with reduced light availability during the critical stages of C. solstitialis establishment. In later years, however, water use pattern of perennial grass communities was similar or greater than C. solstitialis-dominated plots. These results show that Central Valley grasslands that include E. glaucus resist C. solstitialis invasion by a combination of light suppression and soil water competition. Spatiotemporal resource utilization patterns, and not just functional similarity, should be considered when developing restoration strategies to resist invasion by many non-native species