Spatial Dynamics Of Vertical And Horizontal Intergovernmental Collaboration

Although researchers have made progress in understanding motivations behind local government collaboration, there is little research that explores the spatial dynamics of such interactions. Does the idea of collaboration travel horizontally, passed from neighbor to neighbor, or is vertical leadership from state, county, or regional actors more important in influencing local governments’ decisions to share resources and functions? What factors influence local governments’ choices to collaborate with their neighbors versus a regional entity, county, or state government? In this article, we investigate the importance of vertical and horizontal influences when local governments decide to collaborate around land use planning. Using data from a survey of Michigan local government officials, we take a spatial statistical approach to answering this question. We find widespread evidence of collaboration at multiple scales, and observe patterns of both horizontal and vertical influence. We also find that contextual factors help to explain these patterns of collaboration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112248/1/juaf12139.pd

Action sport media consumption trends across generations: Exploring the Olympic audience and the impact of action sports inclusion

The ageing demographics of Olympic viewers is a key concern for the International Olympic Committee. The inclusion of action sports into the Olympic programmes has been a key strategy to try and connect with youth consumers, most recently through the inclusion of skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing into the Tokyo 2020 summer games. Drawing on a questionnaire distributed online in nine languages, and contextualized with analysis of the action sport media, our research explores international and multigenerational action sport consumers’ sport viewing preferences and attitudes to the Olympic inclusion of action sports. Our findings suggest that action sport participants across different countries, ages, and genders are avid consumers of action sport media but also keen consumers of the Olympics. The majority of survey participants were enthusiastic about the inclusion of action sports (and particularly skateboarding) into the Olympic Games, although there were important trends across nationalities and ages. Nonetheless, reflecting debates in the subcultural media, participants also have concerns about the processes and politics of action sports inclusion. Action sports may well provide the International Olympic Committee with new lucrative markets, but to maximise the engagement of complex intergenerational audiences, their viewing preferences will need continued attention and understanding

Ecological Lessons Learned From the Fort Valley Experimental Forest

The Fort Valley Experimental Forest has contributed many long-term studies and ecological lessons to forest and range research since its inception in 1908. In 1909, T. S. Woolsey (Regional Forester) and G. A. Pearson (Director, Fort Valley) established a network of permanent sample plots in the ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, and spruce forest types throughout Arizona and New Mexico. We revisited many of the ponderosa pine-dominated plots and used ledger data, contemporary data, and dendrochronological techniques to quantify changes in species composition, tree density, and tree size over the past century. We used historical stem-maps to examine variations in tree spatial patterns over time as well. The Coulter Ranch site (24 plots) was part of the nation-wide Methods of Harvest study established in 1913. We examined the short- and long-term consequences of historical harvest method on contemporary pine forest structure and recruitment patterns at this northern Arizona site. In addition to the permanent forest plots, Fort Valley scientists established a series of range plots, known as Hill and Wild Bill, to examine the impacts of livestock grazing and increasing tree densities on herbaceous vegetation. The vegetation on the quadrats was mapped periodically between 1912 and 1941, and we continue to remeasure them today. Since plot establishment, understory abundance and diversity have declined and plant species have responded differentially to grazing and pine ingrowth. Currently, we are reconstructing stand structural dynamics from 1912 to present, and are quantifying litter decomposition rates and nitrification potential to determine how long-term vegetation changes have influenced ecosystem functioning. We are using these long-term forest and range plot data to increase our understanding of vegetation reference conditions, and to quantify the influence of climate and land-use changes on the ponderosa pine ecosystems of the Southwest