The Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-AK)

The Alaska Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-AK, GIVD-ID: NA-US-014) is a free, publically available database archive of vegetation-plot data from the Arctic tundra region of northern Alaska. The archive currently contains 24 datasets with 3,026 non-overlapping plots. Of these, 74% have geolocation data with 25-m or better precision. Species cover data and header data are stored in a Turboveg database. A standardized Pan Arctic Species List provides a consistent nomenclature for vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens in the archive. A web-based online Alaska Arctic Geoecological Atlas (AGA-AK) allows viewing and downloading the species data in a variety of formats, and provides access to a wide variety of ancillary data. We conducted a preliminary cluster analysis of the first 16 datasets (1,613 plots) to examine how the spectrum of derived clusters is related to the suite of datasets, habitat types, and environmental gradients. Here, we present the contents of the archive, assess its strengths and weaknesses, and provide three supplementary files that include the data dictionary, a list of habitat types, an overview of the datasets, and details of the cluster analysis

Behavioural indicators of welfare in farmed fish

Behaviour represents a reaction to the environment as fish perceive it and is therefore a key element of fish welfare. This review summarises the main findings on how behavioural changes have been used to assess welfare in farmed fish, using both functional and feeling-based approaches. Changes in foraging behaviour, ventilatory activity, aggression, individual and group swimming behaviour, stereotypic and abnormal behaviour have been linked with acute and chronic stressors in aquaculture and can therefore be regarded as likely indicators of poor welfare. On the contrary, measurements of exploratory behaviour, feed anticipatory activity and reward-related operant behaviour are beginning to be considered as indicators of positive emotions and welfare in fish. Despite the lack of scientific agreement about the existence of sentience in fish, the possibility that they are capable of both positive and negative emotions may contribute to the development of new strategies (e. g. environmental enrichment) to promote good welfare. Numerous studies that use behavioural indicators of welfare show that behavioural changes can be interpreted as either good or poor welfare depending on the fish species. It is therefore essential to understand the species-specific biology before drawing any conclusions in relation to welfare. In addition, different individuals within the same species may exhibit divergent coping strategies towards stressors, and what is tolerated by some individuals may be detrimental to others. Therefore, the assessment of welfare in a few individuals may not represent the average welfare of a group and vice versa. This underlines the need to develop on-farm, operational behavioural welfare indicators that can be easily used to assess not only the individual welfare but also the welfare of the whole group (e. g. spatial distribution). With the ongoing development of video technology and image processing, the on-farm surveillance of behaviour may in the near future represent a low-cost, noninvasive tool to assess the welfare of farmed fish.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal [SFRH/BPD/42015/2007]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Investigating the environmental scientific concepts in children\u27s play : how do children and teachers interpret play-based learning

Longstanding play research has focused on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and how play acts as a pedagogical tool for supporting young children\u27s learning. The theoretical development of play has received very little attention, particularly, in relation to cognition. This article challenges traditional perspectives on play research and the role of play in early learning and reports the findings from a small-scale pilot study that investigated early childhood teachers\u27 and children\u27s perceptions of the environmental scientific concepts embedded in play-based experiences. The project involved children and teachers from two kindergartens located in separate municipalities within metropolitan Melbourne. The intention of the study was to determine whether or not a discrepancy existed between the pedagogy of play, and the children\u27s acquisition of environmental conceptual knowledge. The findings were framed using the theoretical work of Vygotsky, and suggested that children and teachers need to engage in extended, shared interactions that focus on the conceptual content embedded in play-based experiences if children are to acquire conceptual knowledge through participation in play-based pedagogies

Investigating the environmental scientific concepts in children's play: How do children and teachers interpret play-based learning?

Longstanding play research has focussed on defining what play is, the social benefits of play, and how play acts as a pedagogical tool for supporting young children's learning. The theoretical development of play has received very little attention, particularly, in relation to cognition (Fleer, 2009a; Vygotsky, 1966). This paper challenges traditional perspectives on play research and the role of play in early learning and reports the findings from a small-scale pilot study that investigated early childhood teachers' and children's perceptions of the environmental scientific concepts embedded in play-based experiences. The intention of the study was to determine whether or not a discrepancy existed between the pedagogy of play, and the children's acquisition of environmental conceptual knowledge. The findings were framed using the theoretical work of Vygotsky, and suggested that children and teachers need to engage in extended, shared interactions that focus on the conceptual content embedded in play-based experiences if children are to acquire conceptual knowledge through participation in play-based pedagogies

Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice

From boot camps to truancy, the Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice provides more than 200 up-to-date, concise, and readable entries in a single, authoritative volume. The editors, noted authors of several criminal justice books and editors of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Prisons, cover historical and contemporary theories, concepts, and real-world practices of juvenile justice in the United States. The entries address a broad range of issues and topics, such as alcohol and drug abuse, arson, the death penalty for juveniles, computer and Internet crime, gun violence, gangs, missing children, school violence, teen pregnancy, and delinquency theories. In addition, topics cover society\u27s response to the problems of juvenile justice, punishments meted out to America\u27s juvenile offenders, juvenile rehabilitation programs, and well-known researchers and professionals in the field.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/criminaljusticefacbooks/1018/thumbnail.jp