Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors among Secondary Students in Hong Kong

Although researchers have identified correlations between specific attitudes and particular behaviors in the pro-environmental domain, the general relationship between young people’s development of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors is not well understood. Past research indicates that geographic context can play a role, while social factors such as age and gender can have a more significant impact on predicting attitudes and behaviors than formal education. Few studies have systematically examined the relationships between education and environmental attitudes and behaviors among youth in Hong Kong. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a study comparing secondary school students’ environmental attitudes and behaviors with age and related factors in two international schools and two government schools in Hong Kong. Students’ attitudes and behaviors were compared based on school type (curriculum), while the authors additionally compared the significance of social factors and attitudes on students’ behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – Attitudes were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and the NEP for Children (NEPC), the most commonly used, internationally standardized tools for investigating environmental attitudes and values of adults and young people for comparative purposes. The authors compared NEP/NEPC scores and student self-reported environmental behaviors using a short questionnaire. Findings – No significant differences were found in attitudes or behaviors based on school type. However the authors did observe a significant effect of gender and age on students’ attitudes, and a significant correlation of student attitudes in the NEP with students’ self-reports regarding air conditioning consumption. Originality/value – This study builds a foundation for cross-national studies and for evaluating the impact of curricula over time.postprin

2D versus 3D human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cultures for neurodegenerative disease modelling

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), affect millions of people every year and so far, there are no therapeutic cures available. Even though animal and histological models have been of great aid in understanding disease mechanisms and identifying possible therapeutic strategies, in order to find disease-modifying solutions there is still a critical need for systems that can provide more predictive and physiologically relevant results. One possible avenue is the development of patient-derived models, e.g. by reprogramming patient somatic cells into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), which can then be differentiated into any cell type for modelling. These systems contain key genetic information from the donors, and therefore have enormous potential as tools in the investigation of pathological mechanisms underlying disease phenotype, and progression, as well as in drug testing platforms. hiPSCs have been widely cultured in 2D systems, but in order to mimic human brain complexity, 3D models have been proposed as a more advanced alternative. This review will focus on the use of patient-derived hiPSCs to model AD, PD, HD and ALS. In brief, we will cover the available stem cells, types of 2D and 3D culture systems, existing models for neurodegenerative diseases, obstacles to model these diseases in vitro, and current perspectives in the field

Behavioural responses of birds to urbanization

Conference Theme: Sustainable landscapes for people, business and biodiversityUrbanization is a growing cause of habitat loss, a major driver of global biodiversity decline. Urban habitats differ from the habitats they replace, altering the ecological and selective environment for urban dwelling species. To survive and thrive in these new habitats, species need to adapt or alter their behaviour. One salient feature of urban habitats is the elevated levels of background noise relative to undisturbed ecosystems. Low frequency traffic noise in cities potentially masks animal communication signals, interrupting important functions such as mate choice and territory defence, possibly leading to decreased fitness. To avoid signal masking, species might adjust their vocal signals to higher frequencies. Alternatively birds might change the tempo of their songs, sing only selected songs of a repertoire, or even alter the timing of their singing activity (for example singing later into the night). Here I present a review of what we know about the effects of urban noise on birds, followed by results from our studies on behavioural responses to noise in urban bird species in Hong Kong. Finally, I will highlight interesting future research avenues to further our understanding on the impact of noise on urban wildlife

Stable isotope analysis of migratory songbirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

A9. Methodologies for understanding species distributions - no. A9.3The East Asian-Australasian Flyway supports the highest number and diversity of migratory species than any other flyway, yet we know very little about habitat use and population connectivity along this important migration route. Studies of this flyway are particularly urgent as habitat in key stopover and wintering sites are under great threat from development and other human activities. Stable isotopes, particularly hydrogen isotopes which vary predictably across some continents, have successfully been used to study migratory patterns in Europe and North America. Almost no studies have applied these techniques to birds migrating along the East Asian flyway, in part due to the complexity of the hydrogen isoscape in China. We conducted a study to determine whether C/N isotopes could be used to provide information about migratory connectivity. Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve in Hong Kong is a major stopover and wintering site for thousands of migratory water birds and songbirds. For some species, both resident and migratory populations are reported to come into contact in the reserve during winter. If diets differ between migratory and resident populations, then C/N rations should differ between them. We measured C/N ratios of two species in which resident and migratory populations intermix at Mai Po in winter (Chinese Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis and Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonica). In both species, cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups, one with significantly higher δN than the other. These two groups could potentially represent migratory and resident populations. We hypothesize that the group with high δN values is likely to be resident due to elevated anthropogenic N inputs to the site. Alternatively, these two groups could represent resident birds with distinct trophic niches. Further analyses including additional isotopes and genetic markers will help us to differentiate between these two competing hypotheses

Urban blues: Both oscine and non-oscine birds adjust their songs in noisy cities.

Contributed Talks: COS 72 Urban Ecosystems III: no. COS 72-1Background/Question/Methods Urbanization is a growing cause of habitat loss, a major driver of global biodiversity decline. Urban habitats differ from the habitats they replace, altering the ecological and selective environment for urban dwelling species. Low frequency traffic noise in cities potentially masks animal signals, interrupting important fitness-related functions including mate choice and territory defense. Birds are predicted to sing at higher frequencies to avoid such masking, with birds singing at frequencies overlapping the dominant frequencies of background noise predicted to be most likely to change their songs. We tested these predictions by examining the relationship between background noise and bird song frequencies in Hong Kong. We recorded songs of five bird species along an urbanization and noise gradient. We chose species with low, medium and high minimum frequencies and predicted that species with medium frequencies most likely to be masked by traffic noise would sing with higher minimum frequencies in noisy areas. We included a non-learning species with low frequency songs in order to test whether non-learning species are also able to adapt their signals in response to noise. Results/Conclusions We found a strong correlation between background noise and minimum frequency in four of the five species, supporting the hypothesis that birds adjust their songs in noisy areas to avoid signal masking. The species which did not shift its frequency in noisy areas was the species with the highest frequency songs. The minimum frequency of this species was higher than the frequency of background noise, and thus presumably was not under selection pressure to adjust its song. Spotted doves, which do not learn their vocalizations, also used higher frequencies in noisier areas, suggesting that signal adjustments in response to changing environmental conditions do not necessarily require learning. In a related study, we found that songs are also affected by high frequency background noise (i.e. cicada choruses), but the results do not provide clear predictions of how birds might alter their songs in the presence of both high and low ambient noise. Future studies will explore this interaction further as well as investigating the fitness consequences of such urban dialects. Understanding which species are able to adjust to noisy city environments is important for maintaining biodiversity in an urbanizing world