Psycho-social factors influencing forest conservation intentions on the agricultural frontier

Remnant forest fragments are critical to conserve biological diversity yet these are lost rapidly in areas under agricultural expansion. Conservation planning and policy require a deeper understanding of the psycho-social factors influencing landholders’ intentions towards conserving forest fragments. We surveyed 89 landholders in an agricultural frontier of the South American Gran Chaco and employed survey data to test three social psychological models: the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and two modified versions of it, one integrated to the Norm Activation Theory (TPB-NAT) and one including the effect of identity (TPB-NAT-Identity). The TPB was the most parsimonious model and explained a large variance of conservation intentions (41%). Social norms and attitudes had the largest direct influence on intentions across the three models, and identity had a significant role in shaping social norms and attitudes. Interventions aimed at building social capital within landholder networks provide the best hope for influencing pro-conservation norms.Fil: Mastrangelo, Matias Enrique. Victoria University of Wellington; Nueva Zelanda. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gavin, Michael C.. Colorado State University; Estados Unidos. Victoria University of Wellington; Nueva ZelandaFil: Laterra, Pedro. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Linklater, Wayne L.. Victoria University of Wellington; Nueva ZelandaFil: Milfont, Taciano L.. Victoria University of Wellington; Nueva Zeland

Exploring Engagement Characteristics and Behaviours of Environmental Volunteers

Environmental volunteering and environmental citizen science projects both have a pivotal role in civic participation. However, one of the common challenges is recruiting and retaining an adequate level of participant engagement to ensure the sustainability of these projects. Thus, understanding patterns of participation is fundamental to both types of projects. This study uses and builds on existing quantitative approaches used to characterise the nature of volunteer engagement in online citizen science projects, to see whether similar participatory patterns exist in offline environmental volunteering projects. The study uses activity records of environmental volunteers from a UK environmental charity “The Conservation Volunteers,” and focuses on three characteristics linked to engagement: longevity, frequency, and distance travelled. Findings show differences in engagement patterns and contributor activity between the three UK regions of Greater London, Greater Manchester, and Yorkshire. Cluster analysis revealed three main types of volunteer engagement profiles which are similar in scale across all regions, namely participants can be grouped into “One-Session,” “Short-Term,” and “Long-Term” volunteer. Of these, the “One-Session” volunteer accounted for the largest group of volunteers

Theorization as institutional work: The dynamics of roles and practices

This study unpacks the construct of theorization – the process by which organizational ideas become delocalized and abstracted into theoretical models to support their diffusion across time and space. We adopt an institutional work lens to analyze the key components of theorization in contexts where institutional work is in transition from creating institutions to maintaining them. We build on a longitudinal inductive study of theorization by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), a private regulatory initiative which created and then enforced a code of conduct for working conditions in apparel factories. Our study reveals that when institutional work shifts from creating to maintaining an institutional arrangement of corporate social responsibility, there is a key change in how the FLA theorizes roles and practices related to this arrangement. We observe that theorization on key practices largely remain intact, whereas the roles of different actors are theorized in a dramatically different manner. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the work involved in the aftermath of radical change by demonstrating the relative plasticity of roles over the rigidity of practices

Embryonic motor activity and implications for regulating motoneuron axonal pathfinding in zebrafish

Zebrafish embryos exhibit spontaneous contractions of the musculature as early as 18–19 h post fertilization (hpf) when removed from their protective chorion. These movements are likely initiated by early embryonic central nervous system activity. We have made the observation that narrowminded mutant embryos (hereafter, nrd−/−) lack normal embryonic motor output upon dechorionation. However, these mutants can swim and respond to tactile stimulation by larval stages of development. nrd−/− embryos exhibit defects in neural crest development, slow muscle development and also lack spinal mechanosensory neurons known as Rohon–Beard (RB) neurons. At early developmental stages (i.e. 21–22 hpf) and while still in their chorions, nrd siblings (nrd+/?) exhibited contractions of the musculature at a rate similar to wild-type embryos. Anatomical analysis indicated that RB neurons were present in the motile embryos, but absent in the non-motile embryos, indicating that the non-motile embryos were nrd−/− embryos. Further anatomical analysis of nrd−/− embryos revealed errors in motoneuron axonal pathfinding that persisted into the larval stage of development. These errors were reversed when nrd−/− embryos were raised in high [K+] beginning at 21 hpf, indicating that the abnormal axonal phenotypes may be related to a lack of depolarizing activity early in development. When activity was blocked with tricaine in wild-type embryos, motoneuron phenotypes were similar to the motoneuron phenotypes in nrd−/− embryos. These results implicate early embryonic activity in conjunction with other factors as necessary for normal motoneuron development