In search of the origins and enduring impact of agile software development

The Agile Manifesto is a philosophical touchpoint for all agile software development (ASD) methods. We examine the manifesto and some of its associated agile methods in an effort to identify the major impacts of ASD. We have encountered some difficulty in delineating agile and non-agile software processes, which is partially the result of terminological confusion. It is clear from the volume of published research that ASD has made a significant contribution, and we have identified two lasting and important impacts. Firstly, the reduction in iteration durations and secondly, the push for reduced levels of documentation (especially in relation to software requirements). Other aspects of the Agile Manifesto may not have exerted a significant impact; for example, the use of tooling to automate processes has become central to continuous software engineering (CSE) and may not be wholly congruent with the manifesto. Furthermore, many organisations may still rely on business contracts despite calls in the manifesto for greater levels of informal customer collaboration

Refactoring software development process terminology through the use of ontology

peer-reviewedIn work that is ongoing, the authors are examining the extent of software development process terminology drift. Initial findings suggest there is a degree of term confusion, with the mapping of concepts to terms lacking precision in some instances. Ontologies are concerned with identifying the concepts of relevance to a field of endeavour and mapping those concepts to terms such that term confusion is reduced. In this paper, we discuss how ontologies are developed. We also identify various sources of software process terminology. Our work to date indicates that the systematic development of a software development process ontology would be of benefit to the entire software development community. The development of such an ontology would in effect represent a systematic refactoring of the terminology and concepts produced over four decades of software process innovation

Biodiversity and structure of spider communities along a metal pollution gradient

The objective of the study was to determine whether long-term metal pollution affects communities of epigeal spiders (Aranea), studied at three taxonomic levels: species, genera, and families. Biodiversity was defined by three indices: the Hierarchical Richness Index (HRI), Margalef index (DM) and Pielou evenness index (J). In different ways the indices describe taxa richness and the distribution of individuals among taxa. The dominance pattern of the communities was described with four measures: number of dominant species at a site, percentage of dominant species at a site, average dominant species abundance at a site, and the share of the most numerous species (Alopecosa cuneata) at a site. Spiders were collected along a metal pollution gradient in southern Poland, extending ca. 33 km from zinc and lead smelter to an uncontaminated area. The zinc concentration in soil was used as the pollution index.The study revealed a significant effect of metal pollution on spider biodiversity as described by HRI for species (p = 0.039), genera (p = 0.0041) and families (p = 0.0147), and by DM for genera (p = 0.0259) and families (p = 0.0028). HRI correlated negatively with pollution level, while DM correlated positively. This means that although broadly described HRI diversity decreased with increasing pollution level, species richness increased with increasing contamination. Mesophilic meadows were generally richer. Pielou (J) did not show any significant correlations. There were a few evidences for the intermediate disturbance hypothesis: certain indices reached their highest values at moderate pollution levels rather than at the cleanest or most polluted sites

The value of plantation forests for plant, invertebrate and bird diversity and the potential for cross-taxon surrogacy

As the area of plantation forest expands worldwide and natural, unmanaged forests decline there is much interest in the potential for planted forests to provide habitat for biodiversity. In regions where little semi-natural woodland remains, the biodiversity supported by forest plantations, typically non-native conifers, may be particularly important. Few studies provide detailed comparisons between the species diversity of native woodlands which are being depleted and non-native plantation forests, which are now expanding, based on data collected from multiple taxa in the same study sites. Here we compare the species diversity and community composition of plants, invertebrates and birds in Sitka spruce- (Picea sitchensis-) dominated and Norway spruce- (Picea abies-) dominated plantations, which have expanded significantly in recent decades in the study area in Ireland, with that of oak- and ash-dominated semi-natural woodlands in the same area. The results show that species richness in spruce plantations can be as high as semi-natural woodlands, but that the two forest types support different assemblages of species. In areas where non-native conifer plantations are the principle forest type, their role in the provision of habitat for biodiversity conservation should not be overlooked. Appropriate management should target the introduction of semi-natural woodland characteristics, and on the extension of existing semi-natural woodlands to maintain and enhance forest species diversity. Our data show that although some relatively easily surveyed groups, such as vascular plants and birds, were congruent with many of the other taxa when looking across all study sites, the similarities in response were not strong enough to warrant use of these taxa as surrogates of the others. In order to capture a wide range of biotic variation, assessments of forest biodiversity should either encompass several taxonomic groups, or rely on the use of indicators of diversity that are not species based

Diversity and PERMA-nent Positive Leadership to Benefit from Industry 4.0 and Kondratieff 6.0

International audienc

On the vegetation of small patches of dry grassland in Eastern Austria

Im Rahmen des Forschungsschwerpunkts „Kulturlandschaft“ wurden 50 kleine Trockenraseninseln im Osten Österreichs pflanzensoziologisch untersucht und mit Vegetationsaufnahmen dokumentiert. Weiters wurde auf allen Flächen die Korngrößen-Zusammensetzung des Bodens bestimmt. Sämtliche Untersuchungsflächen befinden sich auf tertiären oder quartären Sedimenten. Felstrockenrasen wurden nicht berücksichtigt. Die Bestände können folgenden Gesellschaften zugeordnet werden: Polygalo majoris-Brachypodietum, Astragalo austriaci-Festucetum rupicolae, Ranunculo illyrici-Festucetum valesiacae, Poo angustifoliae-Festucetum valesiacae, Potentillo arenariae-Festucetum pseudovinae und Fumano-Stipetum eriocaulis. Artenzusammensetzung, geographische Verteilung und Böden der Einheiten werden beschrieben. Im Anschluss werden einige Probleme der syntaxonomischen Gliederung der westpannonischen Trockenrasen diskutiert.The vegetation cover of 50 small patches of dry grassland in Eastern Austria was investigated and documented by relevés. In addition to phytosociological data, the particle size composition of the soil was determined for each relevé. All substrates are located over Tertiary and Quaternary sediments. Grasslands on rocky outcrops were not included in the present study. The following plant communities were distinguished: Polygalo majoris-Brachypodietum, Astragalo austriaci-Festucetum rupicolae, Ranunculo illyrici-Festucetum valesiacae, Poo angustifoliae-Festucetum valesiacae, Potentillo arenariae-Festucetum pseudovinae, and Fumano-Stipetum eriocaulis. Species combination, geographical distribution and soil parameters of all units are described. Finally, some problems concerning the syntaxonomy of western Pannonian dry grasslands are discussed