Meta-research: the growth of acronyms in the scientific literature

Some acronyms are useful and are widely understood, but many of the acronyms used in scientific papers hinder understanding and contribute to the increasing fragmentation of science. Here we report the results of an analysis of more than 24 million article titles and 18 million article abstracts published between 1950 and 2019. There was at least one acronym in 19% of the titles and 73% of the abstracts. Acronym use has also increased over time, but the re-use of acronyms has declined. We found that from more than one million unique acronyms in our data, just over 2,000 (0.2%) were used regularly, and most acronyms (79%) appeared fewer than 10 times. Acronyms are not the biggest current problem in science communication, but reducing their use is a simple change that would help readers and potentially increase the value of science.Adrian Barnett and Zoe Doubleda

Eight habitats, 38 threats and 55 experts: Assessing ecological risk in a multi-use marine region

Published: May 10, 2017Identifying the relative risk human activities pose to a habitat, and the ecosystem services they provide, can guide management prioritisation and resource allocation. Using a combination of expert elicitation to assess the probable effect of a threat and existing data to assess the level of threat exposure, we conducted a risk assessment for 38 human-mediated threats to eight marine habitats (totalling 304 threat-habitat combinations) in Spencer Gulf, Australia. We developed a score-based survey to collate expert opinion and assess the relative effect of each threat to each habitat, as well as a novel and independent measure of knowledge-based uncertainty. Fifty-five experts representing multiple sectors and institutions participated in the study, with 6 to 15 survey responses per habitat (n = 81 surveys). We identified key threats specific to each habitat; overall, climate change threats received the highest risk rankings, with nutrient discharge identified as a key local-scale stressor. Invasive species and most fishing-related threats, which are commonly identified as major threats to the marine environment, were ranked as low-tier threats to Spencer Gulf, emphasising the importance of regionally-relevant assessments. Further, we identified critical knowledge gaps and quantified uncertainty scores for each risk. Our approach will facilitate prioritisation of resource allocation in a region of increasing social, economic and environmental importance, and can be applied to marine regions where empirical data are lacking.Zoë A. Doubleday, Alice R. Jones, Marty R. Deveney, Tim M. Ward, Bronwyn M. Gillander

The duality of ocean acidification as a resource and a stressor

Ecologically dominant species often define ecosystem states, but as human disturbances intensify, their subordinate counterparts increasingly displace them. We consider the duality of disturbance by examining how environmental drivers can simultaneously act as a stressor to dominant species and as a resource to subordinates. Using a model ecosystem, we demonstrate that CO2-driven interactions between species can account for such reversals in dominance; i.e., the displacement of dominants (kelp forests) by subordinates (turf algae). We established that CO2 enrichment had a direct positive effect on productivity of turfs, but a negligible effect on kelp. CO2 enrichment further suppressed the abundance and feeding rate of the primary grazer of turfs (sea urchins), but had an opposite effect on the minor grazer (gastropods). Thus, boosted production of subordinate producers, exacerbated by a net reduction in its consumption by primary grazers, accounts for community change (i.e., turf displacing kelp). Ecosystem collapse, therefore, is more likely when resource enrichment alters competitive dominance of producers, and consumers fail to compensate. By recognizing such duality in the responses of interacting species to disturbance, which may stabilize or exacerbate change, we can begin to understand how intensifying human disturbances determine whether or not ecosystems undergo phase shifts

The Usability of E-learning Platforms in Higher Education: A Systematic Mapping Study

The use of e-learning in higher education has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to several studies being conducted to investigate the usability of the platforms that support it. A variety of different usability evaluation methods and attributes have been used, and it has therefore become important to start reviewing this work in a systematic way to determine how the field has developed in the last 15 years. This paper describes a systematic mapping study that performed searches on five electronic libraries to identify usability issues and methods that have been used to evaluate e-learning platforms. Sixty-one papers were selected and analysed, with the majority of studies using a simple research design reliant on questionnaires. The usability attributes measured were mostly related to effectiveness, satisfaction, efficiency, and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, several research gaps have been identified and recommendations have been made for further work in the area of the usability of online learning

Determining climate-growth relationships in a temperate fish: a sclerochronological approach

Available online 25 October 2016Otoliths of fish can provide long-term chronologies of growth. Differences in the width of the annual growth increments can reflect the effects of environmental variability on somatic growth rate. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to evaluate the influence of region, sea surface temperature (SST), El Niño–Southern Oscillation events, and recruitment on the otolith growth of King George whiting (Sillaginodes punctatus), a commercially and recreationally important fish species in southern Australia. Growth increment data spanned 25 years (1985–2010). The optimal model demonstrated that mean winter SST was negatively correlated to growth, and as the winter SST increased the average width of the growth increments declined. However, the temperature effect was very weak (r2: 0.0006). There were no regional growth differences and recruitment was not correlated with growth. Understanding long-term temperature-growth relationships is crucial for disentangling the effects of climate change and other parameters on fish growth, and thus predicting how populations will change in the future.N. Mazloumi, P. Burch, A.J. Fowler, Z.A. Doubleday, B.M. Gillander

Contribution of water chemistry and fish condition to otolith chemistry: comparisons across salinity environments

This study quantified the per cent contribution of water chemistry to otolith chemistry using enriched stable isotopes of strontium ((86) Sr) and barium ((137) Ba). Euryhaline barramundi Lates calcarifer, were reared in marine (salinity 40), estuarine (salinity 20) and freshwater (salinity 0) under different temperature treatments. To calculate the contribution of water to Sr and Ba in otoliths, enriched isotopes in the tank water and otoliths were quantified and fitted to isotope mixing models. Fulton's K and RNA:DNA were also measured to explore the influence of fish condition on sources of element uptake. Water was the predominant source of otolith Sr (between 65 and 99%) and Ba (between 64 and 89%) in all treatments, but contributions varied with temperature (for Ba), or interactively with temperature and salinity (for Sr). Fish condition indices were affected independently by the experimental rearing conditions, as RNA:DNA differed significantly among salinity treatments and Fulton's K was significantly different between temperature treatments. Regression analyses did not detect relations between fish condition and per cent contribution values. General linear models indicated that contributions from water chemistry to otolith chemistry were primarily influenced by temperature and secondly by fish condition, with a relatively minor influence of salinity. These results further the understanding of factors that affect otolith element uptake, highlighting the necessity to consider the influence of environment and fish condition when interpreting otolith element data to reconstruct the environmental histories of fish.C. Izzo, Z. A. Doubleday, A. G. Schultz, S. H. Woodcock and B. M. Gillander

Seawater carbonate chemistry and otolith development and chemistry in a diadromous fish

Ocean acidification threatens marine ecosystems by altering ocean chemistry and calcification processes in marine organisms. This study investigated the effects of predicted future CO2 levels, under varying temperature levels, on otolith development (size and shape) and chemistry, with the latter aimed at developing a chemical tracer of environmental pCO2. Juvenile barramundi (Lates calcarifer), a diadromous fish species, were reared in ambient (pCO2: 640 µatm; pH: 7.9) and elevated (pCO2: 1490 µatm; pH: 7.5) pCO2 treatments representing current and projected coastal systems crossed with three temperature levels (26 °C, 30 °C and 34 °C) for 42 days. Otolith shape and size parameters (length, width, perimeter and area) were measured and element concentrations (Na, Mg, Sr, Ba, Li, Mn and B) were quantified using Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA ICP-MS). There was an interactive effect of elevated pCO2 and temperature on otolith shape and perimeter, whereas otolith chemistry did not vary among treatments. This study demonstrates that combined elevated pCO2 and temperature can affect the development of important internal structures in diadromous fish, but also suggests that otolith elemental chemistry was not a suitable tracer for pCO2 histories in fish. Future climate change conditions affect an important auditory and balance organ; consequently, rising CO2 levels may interfere with sensory function

Testing for thresholds of ecosystem collapse in seagrass meadows

Although the public desire for healthy environments is clear-cut, the science and management of ecosystem health has not been as simple. Ecological systems can be dynamic and can shift abruptly from one ecosystem state to another. Such unpredictable shifts result when ecological thresholds are crossed; that is, small cumulative increases in an environmental stressor drive a much greater change than could be predicted from linear effects, suggesting an unforeseen tipping point is crossed. In coastal waters, broad-scale seagrass loss often occurs as a sudden event associated with human-driven nutrient enrichment (eutrophication). We tested whether the response of seagrass ecosystems to coastal nutrient enrichment is subject to a threshold effect. We exposed seagrass plots to different levels of nutrient enrichment (dissolved inorganic nitrogen) for 10 months and measured net production. Seagrass response exhibited a threshold pattern when nutrient enrichment exceeded moderate levels: there was an abrupt and large shift from positive to negative net leaf production (from approximately 0.04 leaf production to 0.02 leaf loss per day). Epiphyte load also increased as nutrient enrichment increased, which may have driven the shift in leaf production. Inadvertently crossing such thresholds, as can occur through ineffective management of land-derived inputs such as wastewater and stormwater runoff along urbanized coasts, may account for the widely observed sudden loss of seagrass meadows. Identification of tipping points may improve not only adaptive-management monitoring that seeks to avoid threshold effects, but also restoration approaches in systems that have crossed them.Sean D. Connell, Milena Fernandes, Owen W. Burnell, Zoe A. Doubleday, Kingsley J. Griffin, Andrew D. Irving, Jonathan Y.S. Leung, Samuel Owen, Bayden D. Russell, and Laura J. Falkenber

Social cognition in frontotemporal dementia and Huntington's disease

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) are degenerative disorders, with predominant involvement, respectively of frontal neocortex and striatum. Both conditions give rise to altered social conduct and breakdown in interpersonal relationships, although the factors underlying these changes remain poorly defined. The study used tests of theory of mind (interpretation of cartoons and stories and judgement of preference based on eye gaze) to explore the ability of patients with FTD and HD to interpret social situations and ascribe mental states to others. Performance in the FTD group was severely impaired on all tasks, regardless of whether the test condition required attribution of a mental state. The HD group showed a milder impairment in cartoon and story interpretation, and normal preference judgements. Qualitative differences in performance were demonstrated between groups. FTD patients made more concrete, literal interpretations, whereas HD patients were more likely to misconstrue situations. The findings are interpreted as demonstrating impaired theory of mind in FTD, as one component of widespread executive deficits. In HD the evidence does not suggest a fundamental loss of theory of mind, but rather a tendency to draw faulty inferences from social situations. It is concluded that social breakdown in FTD and HD may have a different underlying basis and that the frontal neocortex and striatum have distinct contributions to social behaviour

Fish as proxies of ecological and environmental change

Anthropogenic impacts have shifted aquatic ecosystems far from prehistoric baseline states; yet, understanding these impacts is impeded by a lack of available long-term data that realistically reflects the organisms and their habitats prior to human disturbance. Fish are excellent, and largely underused, proxies for elucidating the degree, direction and scale of shifts in aquatic ecosystems. This paper highlights potential sources of qualitative and quantitative data derived from contemporary, archived and ancient fish samples, and then, using key examples, discusses the types of long-term temporal information that can be obtained. This paper identifies future research needs with a focus on the Southern Hemisphere, as baseline shifts are poorly described relative to the Northern Hemisphere. Temporal data sourced from fish can improve our understanding of how aquatic ecosystems have changed, particularly when multiple sources of data are used, enhancing our ability to interpret the current state of aquatic ecosystems and establish effective measures to safeguard against further adverse shifts. The range of biological, ecological and environmental data obtained from fish can be integrated to better define ecosystem baseline states on which to establish policy goals for future conservation and exploitation practices.Christopher Izzo, Zoë A. Doubleday, Gretchen L. Grammer, Kayla L. Gilmore, Heidi K. Alleway, Thomas C. Barnes, Morgan C. F. Disspain, Ana Judith Giraldo, Nastaran Mazloumi, Bronwyn M. Gillander