Effects of processes at the population and community level on carbon dynamics of an ecosystem model

Ecological processes at the population and community level are often ignored in biogeochemical models, however, the effects of excluding these processes at the ecosystem level is uncertain. In this study we analyzed the set of behaviors that emerge after introducing population and community processes into an ecosystem carbon model. We used STANDCARB, a hybrid model that incorporates population, community, and ecosystem processes to predict carbon dynamics over time. Our simulations showed that at the population level, colonization and mortality rates can limit the maximum biomass achieved during a successional sequence. Specifically, colonization rates control temporal lags in the initiation of carbon accumulation, and mortality rates can have important effects on annual variation in live biomass. At the community level, differences in species traits and changes in species composition over time introduced significant changes in carbon dynamics. Species with different set of parameters, such as growth and mortality rates, introduce patterns of carbon accumulation that could not be reproduced using a single species with the average of parameters of multiple species or by simulating the most abundant species (strategies commonly employed in terrestrial biogeochemical models). We conclude that omitting population and community processes from biogeochemical models introduces an important source of uncertainty that can impose important limitations for predictions of future carbon balances

Coverage of Australia by CNN World Report and US Television Network News

This content analysis contrasts CNN World Report and US television network news stories regarding Australia, using the CNN World Report Index and the Vanderbilt Television News (US networks) Archive and Index, both from 1987 to 1996. Significant differences emerged in the Australia topics chosen for presentation in these different news environments. US network stories typically were breaking news voice-overs of sports, disasters, animals, national politics, and crime. The two had similar percentages of soft news, but CNN World Report had significantly more background reporter packages on health, culture, economics, education, science, the military, and the environment

Found, Featured, then Forgotten: U.S. Network TV News and the Vietnam Veterans Against the War

https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_newfound-ebooks/1000/thumbnail.jp

Religious Groups & “Affluenza”: Further Exploration of the TV-Materialism Link

The researcher explores whether previously noted links between television viewing and materialism also appear among those in religious communities. Secondary analyses were conducted using data from six previous studies: Mennonites, American Buddhists, North American Hispanic Youth in Seventh-Day Adventist Congregations, two studies of youth in various Protestant denominations, and a national youth study with an over-sample of parochial students. Across the six studies heavier TV viewing generally correlated with materialist values, especially the value of making a lot of money for the young. The results validate Georg Simmel’s observation that even those devoutly dedicated to salvation and the soul are influenced by the culture, and mediated culture is saturated with a disempowering and ultimately unsatisfying consumerism

When Mediated Poverty Stereotypes align with Public Opinion: A Clear Predictor of Ideology and Party in the U.S.

Attribution Theory observes that people have a compelling need to explain things, and those explanations break down into things internal to the self or to an outside force. This article notes how neatly that theory parallels work by Lakoff that conservatives and Republicans take a stern father approach to issues, finding individual fault for almost any problem, while Democrats and liberals look to external forces. Mediated portrayals of poverty tend to enforce the former view rather than the latter. Through secondary analyses of many polls, the researcher confirms that political ideology and party align at highly significant levels with how respondents answer the question Why are people poor

Early v. Election-Day Voters: A Media Profile

Abstract The researcher conducted a secondary analysis of three major surveys of voters: the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey, and the 2007 and 2008 Cooperative Congressional Election Surveys. All three of these surveys had media components, making it possible to create a profile of significant media differences between Election Day voters and those who vote early. Early voters, contrasted to those on Election Day, are super citizens—the kind of extremely likely voters campaigns seek out and contact. Early voters (at p \u3c .0001 level of significance) were more likely to be contacted by campaigns by both mail and e-mail, and at a p \u3c .05 level of significance were more likely to be contacted by campaigns face-to-face and by phone. Early voters, compared to election-day voters, are more likely to mention News and Documentary among their top-four favorite types of TV programs, and less likely to mention Science Fiction, Comedies, Reality Shows, and Music Videos. The only tested programs significantly favored by Election Day voters over their Early Voting counterparts were: The Simpsons, Scrubs, and Family Guy. A long list of news, documentary, news talk, and news satire programs, however, tend to be favored more by early voters than by those who vote on Election Day. Early voters were more likely than Election Day voters to listen to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered news program, and to listen to news gabbers such as Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Neal Boortz, Mike Gallagher, Clark Howard, Bill Bennett, and Dr. Laura Schlesinger