A qualitative investigation of psychological need-satisfying experiences of a mobile-learning application: A Self-Determination Theory approach

Much research on mobile learning is cross-sectional or lacks a theoretical basis for investigating the mechanisms of mobile learning and achievement. This may be a concern as well-formulated theoretical frameworks allow results to be interpreted and contextualized in a coherent and integrated fashion that could then be valuable when interpreting findings in educational contexts. The main aim of this study was to investigate biology students’ experiences of using a mobile application for learning about species identification. We use Self-Determination Theory as a guiding framework to investigate students’ experiences of need-satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within a mobile application, and whether this influences students’ learning processes. We conducted four focus groups with 26 biology students in higher education. Based on our thematic analysis, we find that students experienced the satisfaction of all three psychological needs while using the mobile application. Specifically, students’ needs were satisfied by experiencing choice, feedback, mastery, cooperation, and discussion. These elements in turn were related to the process of identifying species. Contradictory to what we expected, students reported more learning from a traditional textbook, compared to the mobile application. Our results provide useful information for learning designers, which suggests that it is important to take need-satisfaction into consideration when designing technology. Our study offers new insight into the underlying need-satisfying experiences of mobile learning, and it provides an understanding of how the different elements of need-satisfaction contribute to different species identification processes.publishedVersio

The effects of a goal-framing and need-supportive app on undergraduates´ intentions, effort, and achievement in mobile science learning

In this study we investigate the effect of manipulating intrinsic goals, relative to extrinsic goals, in a mobile learning tool and traditional textbook for biology students. Using Self- Determination Theory, we hypothesized that framing intrinsic goals in a need-supportive mobile learning app would enhance motivation, intentions, effort, and achievement, relative to extrinsic goals in a traditional tool (textbook). We randomized 128 undergraduate students learning to identify species in this 2 × 2 experiment. Using Bayesian analyses, results show a credible interaction effect between the mobile app and intrinsic goal-framing for intentions and identified regulation. For effort and achievement, the main effect of mobile learning is credible with substantial effect sizes. We argue that these findings are due to the need-supportive features within the mobile app and need-satisfying experience of pursuing intrinsic goals. For intrinsic motivation and amotivation, however, extrinsic goal-framing and intrinsic goal-framing, respectively, are credible and positive main effects, which is unexpected. More research is needed to investigate if this contradictory finding is replicated by others, or if students are pursuing extrinsic goals for autonomous motivation. Bayesian multigroup path analysis found across both groups that identified regulation predicted intentions, and intrinsic motivation predicted effort and achievement. For the extrinsic goal-framing group, amotivation predicted achievement, identified regulation predicted effort and achievement, and intrinsic motivation negatively predicted intentions. The results of our study provide theoretical implications for how goal-framing energizes different types of motivation within the mLearning context, and how manipulation within technology may have a differential effect on motivation than a physical agent.publishedVersio

Testing the METUX Model in Higher Education: Interface and Task Need–Satisfaction Predict Engagement, Learning, and Well-Being

The main aim of this study is to test the validity of the Motivation, Engagement, and Thriving in User Experience (METUX) model (Peters et al., 2018) in higher education. We propose a process model in which we investigate how the need-satisfaction of digital learning tools within the interface sphere and task sphere accounts for engagement, learning, and well-being. A total of 426 higher education students drawn from two subsamples participated in this cross-sectional study. A structural equation model shows that interface autonomy and competence satisfaction positively predict task autonomy and competence. Task competence, in turn, negatively predicts focused attention and positively predicts perceived usability and well-being. Task autonomy positively predicts perceived usability and reward. Based on our results, we provide some initial support for the METUX model in higher education. However, more validation work is needed to improve the scale that measures need-satisfaction in the interface and task spheres. Moreover, we find no support for the effect of task sphere on learning. Further investigations are needed into how METUX can be used in domain- and situation-specific contexts to account for increases in engagement, learning, and well-being. Finally, future studies need to include all aspects of the METUX model in order to fully test its validity.publishedVersio

Unfenced Borders Cause Differences in Vegetation and Fauna Between Protected and Unprotected Areas in a Tropical Savanna

Protected areas generally occur within a matrix of intensively human-modified landscapes. As a way to maintain the biodiversity in these areas, enclosure by fencing is often preferred. This strategy, however, is costly and little is known about the effectiveness of the alternative of unfenced borders on the vegetation and fauna. The objectives of this study are to assess whether there is a distinct difference in biodiversity and composition of plants and mammals between the protected Lake Mburo National Park and the adjacent ranchlands across an unfenced border and to determine the associations between vegetation and faunal species over the same border. We recorded herbaceous vegetation, woody vegetation, and mammal species composition in plots 300 to 500 m away from the border both inside the protected area and in the adjacent ranchlands. The species composition of herbs and mammals in the protected area differ from the adjacent ranchlands, but there is no difference for trees and shrubs. After accounting for land-use type, distance from the border did not significantly account for any additional variation. We also find a correlation between the species composition of vegetation and fauna. Our results suggest that unfenced borders around protected areas create a clear effect.publishedVersio

Weighted average regression and environmental calibration as a tool for quantifying climate-driven changes in vegetation

Aims: Studies of the climatic responses of plant assemblages via vegetation-based environmental reconstructions by weighted averaging (WA) regression and calibration are a recent development in modern vegetation ecology. However, the performance of this technique for plot-based vegetation datasets has not been rigorously tested. We assess the estimation accuracy of the WA approach by comparing results, mainly the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of WA regressions for six different vegetation datasets (total species, high-frequency species and low-frequency species as both abundance and incidence) each from two sites. Methods: Vegetation-inferred environment (plot elevation) calibrated over time is used to quantify the elevational shift in species assemblages. Accuracy of the calibrations is assessed by comparing the linear regression models developed for estimating elevational shifts. The datasets were also used for the backward predictions to check the robustness of the forward predictions. Important Findings: WA regression has a fairly high estimation accuracy, especially with species incidence datasets. However, estimation bias at the extremes of the environmental gradient is evident with all datasets. Out of eight sets (each set with a model for total species, low-frequency species and high-frequency species) of WA regression models, the lowest RMSEPs are produced in the four models based on the total species datasets and in three models based on the high-frequency species only. The inferred environment mirrored the estimation precision of the WA regressions, i.e. precise WA regression models produced more accurate calibrated environmental estimates, which, in turn, resulted in regression models with a higher adjusted r2 for estimating the elevational shift in the species assemblages. Reliable environmental estimates for plot-based datasets can be achieved by WA regression and calibration, although the edge effect may be evident if species turnover is high along an extensive environmental gradient. Species incidence (0/1) data may improve the estimation accuracy by minimizing any potential census and field estimation errors that are more likely to occur in species abundance datasets. Species data processing cannot guarantee the most reliable WA regression models. Instead, generally optimal estimations can be achieved by using all the species with a consistent taxonomy in the training and reconstruction datasets.acceptedVersio

Changing contributions of stochastic and deterministic processes in community assembly over a successional gradient

Successional dynamics in plant community assembly may result from both deterministic and stochastic ecological processes. The relative importance of different ecological processes is expected to vary over the successional sequence, between different plant functional groups, and with the disturbance levels and land-use management regimes of the successional systems. We evaluate the relative importance of stochastic and deterministic processes in bryophyte and vascular plant community assembly after fire in grazed and ungrazed anthropogenic coastal heathlands in Northern Europe. A replicated series of post-fire successions (n = 12) were initiated under grazed and ungrazed conditions, and vegetation data were recorded in permanent plots over 13 years. We used redundancy analysis (RDA) to test for deterministic successional patterns in species composition repeated across the replicate successional series and analyses of co-occurrence to evaluate to what extent species respond synchronously along the successional gradient. Change in species co-occurrences over succession indicates stochastic successional dynamics at the species level (i.e., species equivalence), whereas constancy in co-occurrence indicates deterministic dynamics (successional niche differentiation). The RDA shows high and deterministic vascular plant community compositional change, especially early in succession. Co-occurrence analyses indicate stochastic species-level dynamics the first two years, which then give way to more deterministic replacements. Grazed and ungrazed successions are similar, but the early stage stochasticity is higher in ungrazed areas. Bryophyte communities in ungrazed successions resemble vascular plant communities. In contrast, bryophytes in grazed successions showed consistently high stochasticity and low determinism in both community composition and species co-occurrence. In conclusion, stochastic and individualistic species responses early in succession give way to more niche-driven dynamics in later successional stages. Grazing reduces predictability in both successional trends and species-level dynamics, especially in plant functional groups that are not well adapted to disturbance. bryophytes; burning; Calluna vulgaris; coexistence; conservation management; determinism; disturbance; grazing; heathland; randomization test; stochasticity; vascular plants.Changing contributions of stochastic and deterministic processes in community assembly over a successional gradientpublishedVersio

Does pollen-assemblage richness reflect floristic richness? A review of recent developments and future challenges

Current interest and debate on pollen-assemblage richness as a proxy for past plant richness have prompted us to review recent developments in assessing whether modern pollen-assemblage richness reflects contemporary floristic richness. We present basic definitions and outline key terminology. We summarise four basic needs in assessing pollen–plant richness relationships — modern pollen data, modern vegetation data, pollen–plant translation tables, and quantification of the co-variation between modern pollen and vegetation compositional data. We discuss three key estimates and one numerical tool — richness estimation, evenness estimation, diversity estimation, and statistical modelling. We consider the inherent problems and biases in assessing pollen–plant richness relationships — taxonomic precision, pollen-sample:pollen-population ratios, pollen-representation bias, and underlying concepts of evenness and diversity. We summarise alternative approaches to studying pollen–plant richness relationships. We show that almost all studies which have compared modern pollen richness with contemporary site-specific plant richness reveal good relationships between palynological richness and plant richness. We outline future challenges and research opportunities — interpreting past pollen-richness patterns, estimating richness from macrofossils, studying pollen richness at different scales, partitioning diversity and estimating beta diversity, estimating false, hidden, and dark richness, and considering past functional and phylogenetic diversity from pollen data. We conclude with an assessment of the current state-of-knowledge about whether pollen richness reflects floristic richness and explore what is known and unknown in our understanding of pollen–plant richness relationships.acceptedVersio

The potential to use documentation in national Red Lists to characterize red-listed forest species in Fennoscandia and to guide conservation

Loss of biodiversity is a pressing global issue, hence it is vital to facilitate informed and effective conservation. As conservation mainly operates at the level of habitats, aiming for species of conservation interest, conservation and management require adequate ecological knowledge of prioritized species for the geographic and environmental setting considered. Our aim was to investigate if ecological documentation in national Red Lists could be combined and used to identify important forest habitats and ecological variables for red-listed forest species in Fennoscandia, and whether this knowledge could be arranged at different geographical scales and for various selections of species of conservation interest. We compiled the national Red Lists of Finland, Norway and Sweden and extracted ecological information for all red-listed forest species (n = 4830). We used a principal component analysis to investigate variation in distribution of species and their habitat associations and taxonomical groups, and to group species of similar associations. We further used the listed species in Sweden as an example, and compared the proportions of species associated to the ecological variables dead wood, living trees or merely the "forest floor and understory" a) at larger and smaller scale (Fennoscandia - county in Sweden), b) in regions with contrasting biomes (nemoral and boreal), and c) in two more limited selections of species of conservation interest; Fennoscandian and globally red-listed species also red-listed in Sweden. Ecological information could be extracted for 96% of the species, albeit with a low resolution; i.e. overall forest habitats, associated tree species, lifeforms and six other ecological variables selected based on their frequent appearance in the Red List documentation. Using this information, we identified five large-scale patterns for Fennoscandian red-listed species; the majority of red-listed species is associated with coniferous forest. The number of red-listed species associated with specific tree species was poorly correlated with the amount of each tree species in Fennoscandia. Dead wood was one of the most important habitat features in terms of number of associated red-listed species, and the proportion of species associated to dead wood was similar in coniferous, boreal and nemoral broad-leaved forests types. We demonstrate that ecological documentation in national Red Lists can be used to identify general ecological variables at varying geographical scales and for different selections of species, albeit not with sufficient resolution to provide detailed local conservation guidelines. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe

Functional traits of alpine plant communities show long-term resistance to changing herbivore densities

Herbivores shape vegetation by suppressing certain plant species while benefitting others. By thus modifying plant species functional composition, herbivores affect carbon cycling, albedo, vegetation structure and species' interactions. These effects have been suggested to be able to counteract the effects of increasing temperatures on vegetation in alpine environments. Managing the dominant large ungulates in these ecosystems could thus provide a tool to mitigate climate change effects. However, it is possible that legacy effects of past grazing will dampen ungulate impacts on vegetation. We shed a light on this topic by investigating the short- and long-term effects of varying sheep densities on the plant trait composition in the Norwegian alpine tundra with centuries-long of intensive grazing history. In the first part of our study, we quantified the effects of sheep on the plant community functional trait composition at different elevations and under moderate and low productivity in. We combined data from two long-term (14 and 19 yr) sheep fence experiments and showed that differences in sheep densities did not affect plant trait composition, irrespective of productivity. However, in the second part of our study, we showed that the plant trait composition in mainland (that has been grazed for centuries) differed from vegetation on islands which have been herbivore-free. Taken together, these results suggest that sheep have an effect on the alpine plant communities on historical time scales covering centuries, but that the resulting sheep grazing resistant/tolerant communities may not respond to shorter-term (14 and 19 yr) changes in sheep densities, that is, at temporal scales relevant for ecosystem management. Furthermore, we showed that the plant trait composition at the site with low productivity had gone through a temporal trait change independent of sheep treatment, potentially due to increased temperatures and precipitation, suggesting that sheep may not be able to counteract climatic impacts in the areas with centuries-long grazing history.publishedVersio

Trait-based responses to land use and canopy dynamics modify long-term diversity changes in forest understories

Aim Land use is the foremost cause of global biodiversity decline, but species do not respond equally to land-use practices. Instead, it is suggested that responses vary with species traits, but long-term data on the trait-mediated effects of land use on communities are scarce. Here we study how forest understorey communities have been affected by two land-use practices during 4-5 decades, and whether changes in plant diversity are related to changes in functional composition. Location Finland. Time period 1968-2019. Major taxa studied Vascular plants. Methods We resurveyed 245 vegetation plots in boreal herb-rich forest understories, and used hierarchical Bayesian linear models to relate changes in diversity, species composition, average plant size, and leaf economic traits to reindeer abundance, forest management intensity, and changes in climate, canopy cover and composition. We also studied the relationship between species evenness and plant size across both space and time. Results Intensively managed forests decreased in species richness and had increased turnover, but management did not affect functional composition. Increased reindeer densities corresponded with increased leaf dry matter content, evenness and diversity, and decreased height and specific leaf area. Successional development in the canopy was associated with increased specific leaf area and decreased leaf dry matter content and height in the understorey over the study period. Effects of reindeer abundance and canopy density on diversity were partially mediated by vegetation height, which had a negative relationship with evenness across both space and time. Observed changes in climate had no discernible effect on any variable. Main conclusions Functional traits are useful in connecting vegetation changes to the mechanisms that drive them, and provide unique information compared to turnover and diversity metrics. These trait-dependent selection effects could inform which species benefit and which suffer from land-use changes and explain observed biodiversity changes under global change.Peer reviewe