Conflict in voluntary organizations : a field study

This field study examined the relationships among the perception of conflict, the style of conflict management, and organizational commitment in the executive teams of voluntary organizations. The study was conducted in executive teams of 17 intact voluntary organizations with at least a three-year history. The organizations were nonprofit groups of four types; religious organizations (churches), community service organizations, recreational organizations and college sororities. The executive teams, (N = 113), consisting of the boards of directors and the paid administrative staff were surveyed. Conflict awareness and style were measured using the ROCI-I and ROCI-II instruments (Rahim, 1983). Organizational commitment scores were derived from self-report inventories using a seven-point Likert scale. Comparisons of the scores of these voluntary (non-profit) executive teams were made with the published national norms for the ROCI-I and ROCI-II instruments. The results showed that voluntary executive teams reported significantly less intrapersonal, intragroup, and intergroup conflict than the managerial population. The voluntary executive teams were also more likely to use an integrative, obliging, or avoiding conflict management style than the national managerial population from which the norms were derived. The ROCI measures in the study did not significantly correlate with a measure of organizational commitment. Numerous suggestions for further research were made

Tolerance for Role Ambiguity among Executive Teams of Voluntary Organizations: A Nomological Network and Some Prescriptive Interventions

Research on the ability to tolerate role ambiguity has not kept pace with the studies of role ambiguity in general. There have been very few studies that focused on the ability of people to adapt to jobs that are naturally ambiguous. This field study examined a population of executive teams from voluntary organizations where role ambiguity is endemic. The study included 202 executive directors, program directors, and members of boards of directors from intact voluntary and nonprofit organizations. Perceived role ambiguity at work was measured with a new scale designed for this project. The study also tested a second new scale designed to measure tolerance for role ambiguity at work. The scores from these two scales were regressed on a series of situational and personality variables. The five-factor personality model, work formalization, social support, and several demographic variables were tested as predictors of perceived ambiguity at work and the ability of workers to tolerate ambiguity at work. The researchers expected to find that situational variables such s work formalization and social support explained most of the variance in perception and tolerance scores. The analyses showed that perceived ambiguity at work is inversely related to social support, conscientiousness, extraversion and having a written job description. Tolerance for role ambiguity is predicted by low neuroticism, openness, and social support. The results were used to create a diagram (nomological model) of the network of constructs around tolerance for ambiguity. The study also included some interventions that could be made by organizations to manage the phenomenon

Amphibians, Pesticides, and the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus in Restored Wetlands in Agricultural Landscapes

Information on interactions between pesticide exposure and disease prevalence in amphibian populations is limited, especially from field data. Exposure to certain herbicides and insecticides has the potential to decrease the immune response in frogs, which can potentially lead to increased abundance of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) zoospores on individuals and in the wetlands. In contrast, exposure to certain fungicides can decrease Bd abundance on frog skin. We examined the relationships between the abundance of Bd on the skin of individual Boreal Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris maculata) and the concentrations of pesticides in the water and in frog tissue at six agriculturally dominated wetlands in Iowa, USA. We collected frogs from each wetland, swabbed them for Bd, and analyzed their tissues for a suite of fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. We collected surface water from the wetlands and we analyzed it for the same suite of pesticides. We observed no relationship between Bd zoospores on the skin of individual frogs and the concentrations of total pesticides, total herbicides/insecticides and total fungicides in frog tissue. Similarly, we observed no relationship between Bd zoospore abundance in water and the concentration of total pesticides or total herbicides in water. However, we observed a negative relationship between Bd zoospore abundance in water and neonicotinoid concentrations in surface water. Negative results are seldom reported but can be important contributors to a more complete understanding of the complex and potentially synergistic relationships between disease and pesticides. Data from field studies on these relationships are particularly scarce. As our laboratory understanding of these relationships expands, the need for field based, or applied, studies grow

Horseshoe Crab Eggs: A Rare Resource for Predators in Long Island Sound

In Delaware Bay, the spawning of several million horseshoe crabs (Limulus polyphemus) coincides with the arrival of migratory shorebirds that feed on their eggs. High horseshoe crab spawning densities and resulting high egg densities drive egg availability and predation rates. At high spawning densities, female horseshoe crabs perturb previously deposited clutches causing eggs to rise to the sediment surface (surface egg densities average 100,000 eggs m− 2). At the surface (0–5 cm), the eggs are quickly depleted by shorebirds and other predators. This interaction between egg density and egg predation has not been explicitly explored on beaches with low spawning densities such as on the Connecticut (CT) shore of Long Island Sound (LIS). Spawning indices in LIS (range: 0.002 to 0.02 females m− 2) are two to three orders of magnitude less than in Delaware Bay (0.7–1.0 females m− 2). Given the low spawning density and correspondingly low subsurface egg density (x = 1.5 eggs cm− 2), we predicted that the frequency of egg predation would be rare. A series of exclosures was constructed on two known horseshoe crab spawning beaches to test the frequency and rate of predation on horseshoe crab eggs. There was no significant difference between egg masses initially placed in artificial nests and recovered at the conclusion of each experiment. While shorebirds were observed probing sediments within and outside of experimental plots, eggs were never observed at the surface during this study. Foraging by shorebirds for buried eggs may be energetically prohibitive given the lack of eggs on the surface and the low subsurface egg densities on CT beaches in LIS (range = 0.6–2.4 egg cm− 2). Limited egg predation by fish was observed but tidal scouring of eggs buried below mean tide primarily drove egg availability for these predators. We conclude that horseshoe crab egg predation is a rare occurrence in Connecticut due to low egg density as a direct result of low spawning densities

Properties of soil samples from below prehistoric Lake Agassiz

Abstract only availablePrehistoric Lake Agassiz, located in present day North Dakota, was a large lake (larger than all of the existing great lakes combined) fed by glacial runoff during the last ice age. The lake created a soft clay soil deposit, which was investigated. Thirty-eight (38) three-inch diameter Shelby tube samples were obtained from Grand Forks, North Dakota, to determine the soil properties of the soil profile below the Prehistoric Lake Agassiz. A series of thirty-eight (38) laboratory miniature vane (MV) shear tests, twenty (20) unconsolidated-undrained (UU) triaxial compression tests, twelve (12) consolidated-drained ( ) triaxial compression tests with pore pressure measurements, and twelve (12) constant rate-of-strain (CRS) consolidation tests were conducted to determine the strength properties of the soil deposit. The index properties were determined by obtaining soil moisture content, Atterberg limits, specific gravity of soil solids, and grain size distribution using hydrometer analysis. These tests proved to be sufficient in determining the strength and index properties of the soil samples from below prehistoric Lake Agassiz.College of Engineering Undergraduate Research Optio