Les Régions en France : des institutions renforcées dans un contexte instable

International audienceEven if the political capacity of local authorities cannot be reduced to their legal functions, one cannot escape the fact that in France, local governments are deprived of the legal capacity to determine their functions and fields of intervention. That right is still in the hands of the Parliament. Besides, one should never forget that in a three tiers (communes, départements, regions) system of local government, made even more complex by the existence of multiple non elected bodies (communautés urbaines, communautés d'agglomération, communautés de communes, pays), the relations between the various territorial levels are characterised both by institutional rivalry and cooperation. (...)Cet article, consacré aux Régions françaises, rappelle d'abord que les compétences des collectivités territoriales sont définies par l'État et qu'elles s'exercent sur fond de rivalités et concurrences institutionnelles mais aussi de coopérations, notamment entre communes (et agglomérations), départements, Régions, diverses structures intercommunales, mais aussi l'État, l'Union européenne. Il retrace ensuite la construction politique et institutionnelle de la Région, depuis les années cinquante. Puis, il cherche à préciser la montée en puissance de la Région au travers de la professionnalisation des conseillers régionaux, de la mise en place d'une administration longtemps légère mais efficace et affichant ses pratiques d'expertise. (...) Online access : [ http://www.cjrs-rcsr.org/Volume33-3.htm

Des sentiers de dépendance pour la fonction publique territoriale : la situation des agents des communes, de la 3ème République aux années mille neuf cent quatre-vingt

Communication colloque sans acte colloque du LESSOR, Université de Rennes 2 Université de Haute Bretagne: " La fonction publique territoriale, vingt ans après"La communication retrace, plus d'un siècle de l'action publique, conduite à l'intention d'agents (publics) territoriaux, de la 3ème République aux années 1980 : d'abord à l'intention des agents communaux puis, plus récemment, à l'intention aussi des agents des départements, jusque là délaissés, et ceux des régions, peu nombreux. En réalité, ce sont surtout les agents communaux qui sont concernés par cette étude diachronique ; nous considérons que, lorsque dans les années quatre-vingt se construit progressivement un statut des fonctionnaires territoriaux et que sont posées des règles concernant leur recrutement, leur formation, leur carrière, les jeux étaient largement faits par des décennies de discussions, d'observations mutuelles, de négociations entre Etat, maires, associations et syndicats professionnels, et que, si le début des années quatre-vingt a pu donner l'impression d'un profond changement au travers des lois de 1983 et 1984 qui créent une authentique fonction publique territoriale, c'est aussi la loi du 13 juillet 1987, dite loi Galland, qui a fait le statut de la fonction publique territoriale tel qu'il s'applique encore 20 ans après l'édiction du statut. Celui-ci consacre un pari wébérien : une décentralisation réussie passe par un personnel compétent, recruté, formé, géré dans le cadre d'un statut objectif. Mais, la réforme ... de la réforme, intervenue en 1987 sous le gouvernement Chirac, l'inscrit dans une large dépendance au chemin déjà emprunté, particulièrement dans les années soixante/ soixante dix, et ce dans un sens favorable aux " élus patrons "

Professions et métiers dans les villes et agglomérations de France. Elus et directeurs : un état de la littérature de science politique depuis quinze années

Cette communication interroge les relations entre les maires et présidents des grandes villes et agglomérations françaises avec leurs plus proches collaborateurs, c'est-à-dire, à titre principal, les directeurs généraux des services, les directeurs généraux adjoints et les directeurs des plus grands services. S'appuyant sur la littérature scientifique publiée depuis les deux dernières décennies, on montre que la cohésion a été renforcée au sommet des villes et des agglomérations, sur la base d'une certaine politisation assumée des cadres dirigeants qui pratiquent comme un " devoir d'engagement ", tandis que les élus les rejoignent dans l'adhésion au paradigme du management, fut-il parfois revisité par les logiques plus larges de l '" élu patron ". Ce qui compte, bien plus que de sacrifier à une singularité idéologique c'est, à titre essentiel, la production de l'action publique, dans une optique de performance, à charge pour les directeurs de maîtriser en interne les finances, les personnels, les impératifs techniques tant d'un point de vue juridique que procédural. Quant aux élus, ils négocient la relation, dans le cadre d'une montée du paradigme de la gouvernance, avec les grands groupes du secteur privé, acteurs de politiques publiques dans divers secteurs urbains ? Reste néanmoins tout un ensemble de rapports avec les populations, notamment dans les quartiers, et non sans effet en retour sur les politiques

Alien Registration- Fontaine, Joseph A. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/23851/thumbnail.jp

Shorebird Migration in the Face of Climate Change

Changes in temperature and seasonality resulting from climate change are heterogeneous, potentially altering important sources of natural selection acting on species phenology. Some species have apparently adapted to climate change but the ability of most species to adapt remains unknown. The life history strategies of migratory animals are dictated by seasonal factors, which makes these species particularly vulnerable to heterogeneous changes in climate and phenology. Here, we examine the phenology of migratory shorebirds, their habitats, and primary food resources, and we hypothesize how climate change may affect migrants through predicted changes in phenology. Daily abundance of shorebirds at stopover sites was correlated with local phenology and peaked immediately prior to peaks in invertebrate food resources. A close relationship between migrant and invertebrate phenology indicates that shorebirds may be vulnerable to changes in seasonality driven by climate change. It is possible that shifts in migrant and invertebrate phenology will be congruent in magnitude and direction, but because migration phenology is dependent on a suite of ecological factors, any response is likely to occur at a larger temporal scale and may lag behind the response of invertebrate food resources. The resulting lack of sufficient access to food at stopover habitats may cause migrants to extend migration and have cascading effects throughout their life cycle. If the heterogeneous nature of climate change results in uneven changes in phenology between migrants and their prey, it may threaten the long-term viability of migratory populations

An Analysis of the Interactions Between Weather and Land Use on Midwestern Gamebird Populations Using Historical Data: A Preliminary Report

Concern surrounding species’ abilities to cope with a changing climate and variable land use presents opportunities to look forward toward solutions while investigating historical trends to assess the interaction of land use and weather. Uncertainty surrounding population responses to increased severity and frequency of severe weather associated with climate change presents challenges for making informed management decisions for a suite of already declining bird populations, including huntable populations of socially and economically important game birds, such as northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Historical data are a rich resource for developing a priori hypotheses and models predicting species’ responses to climate change and continued variation in land use. We are utilizing 30 years of historical data to model the responses of northern, ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) to land use change and weather within a gradient of land use and climate in Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. Mixed models incorporating agricultural acreages, relative abundances of gallinaceous birds from the annual Breeding Bird Survey, and historical precipitation and temperature data built at the county-level will illuminate broad scale trends and enable us to draw conclusions about future population responses. We are finding expected differences in population trends between states within a climatic gradient, and varied responses to temperature and precipitation among gallinaceous species, where different annual periods are more or less crucial for different species despite similar life history characteristics. We expect that further modeling will continue to elucidate critical thresholds for birds in the Great Plains in terms of weather and habitat, allowing us to make strong recommendations to managers preparing to deal with the implications of climate change

Landscape Context Influences Nest Survival in a Midwest Grassland

Although the management and restoration of habitat is the key method to conserve species of interest, local habitat management often fails to elicit desired responses in populations. Landscape features beyond the local habitat scale affect the population dynamics of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), but the mechanism behind this response is unknown. One possibility is that nest survival, which is primarily reduced by nest predation, is regulating pheasant responses to the landscape. We investigated the extent to which land use affected nest survival by studying 202 artificial nests on 12 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields in Nebraska, USA with varying surrounding land-use practices. After running a hierarchical analysis of competing models, we found that predicted nest survival increased as the amount of CRP, winter wheat, and pastureland surrounding a CRP field increased, whereas increasing fallow fields was correlated with decreased nest success. Our findings support theoretical and empirical evidence that nest predation rates are shaped by predator search efficacy. Changing the relative availability of nesting habitat that potentially holds alternative prey sources in our study affected nest survival rates, possibly by altering the search area of opportunistic nest predators. The similarities between the landscape relationships that predict nest survival and landscape predictors of pheasant abundance indicate that nest survival may potentially act as the mechanism shaping population dynamics within an ever changing farmland ecosystem. We recommend that managers consider the land use surrounding areas under consideration for habitat improvement to enhance conservation investments

Ecological neighborhoods as a framework for umbrella species selection

Umbrella species are typically chosen because they are expected to confer protection for other species assumed to have similar ecological requirements. Despite its popularity and substantial history, the value of the umbrella species concept has come into question because umbrella species chosen using heuristic methods, such as body or home range size, are not acting as adequate proxies for the metrics of interest: species richness or population abundance in a multi-species community for which protection is sought. How species associate with habitat across ecological scales has important implications for understanding population size and species richness, and therefore may be a better proxy for choosing an umbrella species. We determined the spatial scales of ecological neighborhoods important for predicting abundance of 8 potential umbrella species breeding in Nebraska using Bayesian latent indicator scale selection in N-mixture models accounting for imperfect detection. We compare the conservation value measured as collective avian abundance under different umbrella species selected following commonly used criteria and selected based on identifying spatial land cover characteristics within ecological neighborhoods that maximize collective abundance. Using traditional criteria to select an umbrella species resulted in sub-maximal expected collective abundance in 86% of cases compared to selecting an umbrella species based on land cover characteristics that maximized collective abundance directly. We conclude that directly assessing the expected quantitative outcomes, rather than ecological proxies, is likely the most efficient method to maximize the potential for conservation success under the umbrella species concept

Landscape Context Influences Nest Survival in a Midwest Grassland

Although the management and restoration of habitat is the key method to conserve species of interest, local habitat management often fails to elicit desired responses in populations. Landscape features beyond the local habitat scale affect the population dynamics of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), but the mechanism behind this response is unknown. One possibility is that nest survival, which is primarily reduced by nest predation, is regulating pheasant responses to the landscape. We investigated the extent to which land use affected nest survival by studying 202 artificial nests on 12 Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields in Nebraska, USA with varying surrounding land-use practices. After running a hierarchical analysis of competing models, we found that predicted nest survival increased as the amount of CRP, winter wheat, and pastureland surrounding a CRP field increased, whereas increasing fallow fields was correlated with decreased nest success. Our findings support theoretical and empirical evidence that nest predation rates are shaped by predator search efficacy. Changing the relative availability of nesting habitat that potentially holds alternative prey sources in our study affected nest survival rates, possibly by altering the search area of opportunistic nest predators. The similarities between the landscape relationships that predict nest survival and landscape predictors of pheasant abundance indicate that nest survival may potentially act as the mechanism shaping population dynamics within an ever changing farmland ecosystem. We recommend that managers consider the land use surrounding areas under consideration for habitat improvement to enhance conservation investments