Precursors to Natural Grammar Learning: Preliminary Evidence from 4-Month-Old Infants

When learning a new language, grammar—although difficult—is very important, as grammatical rules determine the relations between the words in a sentence. There is evidence that very young infants can detect rules determining the relation between neighbouring syllables in short syllable sequences. A critical feature of all natural languages, however, is that many grammatical rules concern the dependency relation between non-neighbouring words or elements in a sentence i.e. between an auxiliary and verb inflection as in is singing. Thus, the issue of when and how children begin to recognize such non-adjacent dependencies is fundamental to our understanding of language acquisition. Here, we use brain potential measures to demonstrate that the ability to recognize dependencies between non-adjacent elements in a novel natural language is observable by the age of 4 months. Brain responses indicate that 4-month-old German infants discriminate between grammatical and ungrammatical dependencies in auditorily presented Italian sentences after only brief exposure to correct sentences of the same type. As the grammatical dependencies are realized by phonologically distinct syllables the present data most likely reflect phonologically based implicit learning mechanisms which can serve as a precursor to later grammar learning

Exploring subtle land use and land cover changes: a framework for future landscape studies

UMR AMAP, équipe 3International audienceLand cover and land use changes can have a wide variety of ecological effects, including significant impacts on soils and water quality. In rural areas, even subtle changes in farming practices can affect landscape features and functions, and consequently the environment. Fine-scale analyses have to be performed to better understand the land cover change processes. At the same time, models of land cover change have to be developed in order to anticipate where changes are more likely to occur next. Such predictive information is essential to propose and implement sustainable and efficient environmental policies. Future landscape studies can provide a framework to forecast how land use and land cover changes is likely to react differently to subtle changes. This paper proposes a four step framework to forecast landscape futures at fine scales by coupling scenarios and landscape modelling approaches. This methodology has been tested on two contrasting agricultural landscapes located in the United States and France, to identify possible landscape changes based on forecasting and backcasting agriculture intensification scenarios. Both examples demonstrate that relatively subtle land cover and land use changes can have a large impact on future landscapes. Results highlight how such subtle changes have to be considered in term of quantity, location, and frequency of land use and land cover to appropriately assess environmental impacts on water pollution (France) and soil erosion (US). The results highlight opportunities for improvements in landscape modelling

Plant Health and Greenness of Different Income-level Neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon Using Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS Surface Reflectance

Parks have the potential to play a role in conserving biodiversity as urbanization increases. Motivations for conserving biodiversity in urban areas may include protecting important populations and rare species, creating corridors, facilitating responses to environmental changes, connecting people with nature, providing ecosystem services, and fulfilling ethical responsibilities. The goal of this study is to quantify plant biodiversity patterns and functioning in different types of parks in Portland. A stratified random sampling design was used to select 15 urban parks within the city boundary for analysis based on size, location, and park type (i.e., passive natural, active recreational, and multi-use as described by Weems, 2016). Within each park, data was collected in five randomly selected 20 m2 plots for number of tree, sapling, shrub, and woody vine species and cover, as well as 1 m2 plots of herbaceous species and cover. Additional information was collected on the number of trees, general vicinity, landform, slope, and bare ground. The preliminary results of this study indicate a total of 178 species in 65 plant families, of which 76 (43%) are native, 56 (31%) are non-native, 37 (21%) are invasive, and 9 (5%) are of unknown native status. The study also compares species, cover (i.e. tree, sapling/shrub, vine, herbaceous), and functional groups among the three surveyed park types. This on-going research is supported by the Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN), a nationwide consortium of universities and partners that seeks to address various challenges to water systems (UWIN National Science Foundation Grant Award #1444758)

Visitor access, use, and desired improvements in urban parks

Urban parks can provide many physical and mental health benefits, but these may not be shared equitably among visitors. The purpose of this study was to explore park visitor demographics and activities, as well as in-depth narratives regarding experiences, perceptions of accessibility, and desired improvements in a range of urban park types of Portland, Oregon. We used a mixed-methods approach to interview and observe visitors in urban parks. The most common activities were physical recreation, adult interactions, and adult-child interactions, which all support well-being. Ninety-four percent of observed children were engaged in physical recreation and three-fourths were interacting with children. Our non-metric multidimensional scaling ordinations with joint plots indicated some trends in visitor demographics and activities across park types, but we found no significant differences in total number of observed visitors, females and males, racial-ethnic groups, or adults and children across park types. Our complementary in-depth, semi-structured interviews revealed motivations for visitation, access concerns, and desired improvements. Visitation was primarily motivated by physical recreation opportunities, accessibility, and children, whereas the main access concerns were park proximity, trails/paths, and maintenance. Feelings of safety were particularly important for female visitors, while a sense of community helped to create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors with underrepresented racial-ethnic backgrounds. Participants across demographics groups discussed desired improvements, which focused on enhancing amenities and social atmosphere. Only 19% indicated that no changes were necessary. We provide strategies for planners, governmental agencies, and community groups to continue enhancing urban park experiences and accessibility for diverse visitors

Urban Park Visitor Preferences for Vegetation – an On-site Qualitative Research Study in Portland, Oregon

Urban parks provide numerous cultural and ecological benefits, but may not always meet visitor preferences. The purpose of this study was to better understand vegetation preferences and accessibility by performing on-site semi-structured interviews at 15 different parks of three general park types, using a case study in Portland, Oregon. We asked: how does vegetation in urban parks currently meet visitor preferences? The data include detailed descriptions of the participants’ viewpoints provided during the interviews, which were coded for themes and patterns of meaning. Vegetation was often related to visitation, and across park types, visitors discussed trees, plant size, colors, and diversity as some of their favorite aspects of the vegetation. Trees were important for many visitors, particularly for their large size and shade in recreational-active use and multi-use parks. While the plants met many of the preferences of the park visitors, more than half of them recommended changes. Many visitors to recreational-active and multi-use parks described their desire for more flowers, color, middle growth/shrubs, and improved placement, while those in natural-passive use parks oftentimes preferred additional invasive/harmful plant removal. Some primary accessibility concerns were proximity, maintenance (e.g., of vegetation and trails), trail and path access, and relaxation opportunities. Management actions can integrate these vegetation preferences into park planning and maintenance to improve park experiences and accessibility for urban communities