Biogeographic multi‐species occupancy models for large‐scale survey data

Ecologists often seek to infer patterns of species occurrence or community structure from survey data. Hierarchical models, including multi-species occupancy models (MSOMs), can improve inference by pooling information across multiple species via random effects. Originally developed for local-scale survey data, MSOMs are increasingly applied to larger spatial scales that transcend major abiotic gradients and dispersal barriers. At biogeographic scales, the benefits of partial pooling in MSOMs trade off against the difficulty of incorporating sufficiently complex spatial effects to account for biogeographic variation in occupancy across multiple species simultaneously. We show how this challenge can be overcome by incorporating preexisting range information into MSOMs, yielding a “biogeographic multi-species occupancy model” (bMSOM). We illustrate the bMSOM using two published datasets: Parulid warblers in the United States Breeding Bird Survey and entire avian communities in forests and pastures of Colombia's West Andes. Compared with traditional MSOMs, the bMSOM provides dramatically better predictive performance at lower computational cost. The bMSOM avoids severe spatial biases in predictions of the traditional MSOM and provides principled species-specific inference even for never-observed species. Incorporating preexisting range data enables principled partial pooling of information across species in large-scale MSOMs. Our biogeographic framework for multi-species modeling should be broadly applicable in hierarchical models that predict species occurrences, whether or not false absences are modeled in an occupancy framework

Avian phylogenetic and functional diversity are better conserved by land‐sparing than land‐sharing farming in lowland tropical forests

The transformation of natural habitats for farming is a major driver of tropical biodiversity loss. To mitigate impacts, two alternatives are promoted: intensifying agriculture to offset protected areas (land sparing) or integrating wildlife-friendly habitats within farmland (land sharing). In the montane and dry tropics, phylogenetic and functional diversity, which underpin evolutionary values and the provision of ecosystem functioning and services, are best protected by land sparing. A key question is how these components of biodiversity are best conserved in the more stable environments of lowland moist tropical forests. Focusing on cattle farming within the Colombian Amazon, we investigated how the occupancy of 280 bird species varies between forest and pasture spanning gradients of wildlife-friendly features. We then simulated scenarios of land-sparing and land-sharing farming to predict impacts on phylogenetic and functional diversity metrics. Predicted metrics differed marginally between forest and pasture. However, community assembly varied significantly. Wildlife-friendly pastures were inadequate for most forest-dependent species, while phylogenetic and functional diversity indices showed minimal variation across gradients of wildlife-friendly features. Land sparing consistently retained higher levels of Faith's phylogenetic diversity (~30%), functional richness (~20%) and evolutionarily distinct lineages (~40%) than land sharing, and did so across a range of landscape sizes. Securing forest protection through land-sparing practices remains superior for conserving overall community phylogenetic and functional diversity than land sharing. Synthesis and applications: To minimise the loss of avian phylogenetic diversity and functional traits from farming in the Amazon, it is imperative to protect large blocks of undisturbed and regenerating forests. The intensification required within existing farmlands to make space for spared lands while meeting agricultural demand needs to be sustainable, avoiding long-term negative impacts on soil quality and other ecosystem services. Policies need to secure the delivery of both actions simultaneously

'So, you're from Brixton?': the struggle for recognition and esteem in a multicultural community

This article examines how the struggle for recognition and esteem permeates everyday experiences in the context of young people growing up in Brixton, south London, UK. It begins with a brief history of Brixton and an explanation of the qualitative methods (focus groups and interviews) and thematic analysis used in the research. The findings are then discussed in three sections. The first section illustrates how identity is constructed through and against the representations held by others within particular social contexts. Focusing on the varying strategies that different young people adopt in constructing a positive identity reveals the salience of racist representations in the social construction of Brixton. The second section examines the effects this can have on the self-image and self-esteem of many in the study, looking in particular at strategies used to contest negative versions of blackness. This points to the racializing and gendering within the (re)production of local youth identities. The concluding section illustrates how some young people collaboratively develop the social and psychological resources to protect themselves against the prejudices of others. Together, this material reveals how social relationships and institutional cultures empower/disempower Brixton's youth in their collaborative struggle for recognition and esteem. This allows us to consider how new multicultures address, incorporate and resist new racisms and prejudices towards a locality

Postcolonial Perspective, Social Integration and Cultural Diversity vis-à-vis Neoliberal Policies and Practices in Galizan Schooling

[Abstract] The authors base this article on findings from two qualitative studies conducted in Galiza (northwest Spain), in the province of A Coruña: an action research project in an early childhood education classroom; and a composite of ethnographic enquiries focusing on secondary education and vocational training programmes. Both studies sought to contribute to a fundamental transformation of schooling toward a more just, integrative and democratic intercultural institution. This effort includes denouncing the processes of social exclusion operating in those contexts, which are closely related to (neo)colonial and neoliberal practices

The Nation Has Two Voices: Diforia and Performativity in Athens 2004

This article explores the contemporary conditions of national self-presentation, inviting students of national identity to reconsider the nature of national self-narration through new conceptual tools. It is argued that contemporary nations have two `voices': one is addressed to their members, another speaks to the nation's external interlocutors. Both voices contribute to the performance of identity: for nations which are the product of colonial and `crypto-colonial' encounters, narration is characterized by a negotiation of the boundaries between private and public voices and slippage in utterance. The article introduces a new concept in the study of culture, `diforia', which accounts for both this split meaning of utterance and national performativity in public. The concept is mobilized to examine and deconstruct a recent case of Greek diforia enacted in the context of the opening and closing ceremonies of Athens 2004