1,950 research outputs found
Thresholds Are in the Eye of the Beholder: Plants and Wildlife Respond Differently to Short‐Term Cattle Corrals
Rangelands are governed by threshold dynamics, and factors such as drought, wildfire, and herbivory can drive change across thresholds and between ecological states. Most work on this topic has focused on shifts in a single response variable, vegetation, and little research has considered how to reconcile responses of more than one variable to determine whether a system has undergone a genuine state change. In sub‐Saharan Africa, mobile overnight livestock corrals (bomas) can be used by managers to precipitate ecological transitions from areas dominated by bare ground to productive ecosystem hotspots (glades) that are attractive to wild herbivores. We asked how long bomas must be occupied by cattle before undergoing a state change, considering both plant and animal response variables, to glade ecosystem hotspots. We tested five durations of boma occupation: 0, 4, 7, 14, and 28 days. Each treatment was replicated five times, and we assessed vegetation as well as herbivore dung (as a proxy of use) at multiple time points over 3 yr following boma abandonment. Vegetation in 7‐, 14‐, and 28‐d boma duration treatments appeared to undergo a complete transition to glade‐like plant communities, whereas the shortest 4‐d treatment had not converted to a glade plant community by year 3. Wildlife responses appeared to lag behind vegetation responses, with transitions to glade‐like herbivore use occurring only in the longest duration (14‐ and 28‐d) treatments. Our results show that different response variables, when considered individually, may provide incomplete or misleading information about state changes. Although shorter‐occupied bomas might be effective for reducing bare ground, they may not attract enough wild herbivores to constitute crossing into an alternative state. Understanding threshold dynamics associated not only with vegetation responses but with a broader suite of response variables is challenging, but will provide a more complete representation of ecosystem function and greater opportunity for more successful ecosystem management
Aplicação de métodos quimiométricos em análises não-destrutivas de Eucalyptus grandis.
Este trabalho teve como objetivo a construção de uma curva de calibração utilizando a espectroscopia no infravermelho próximo (NIR) para predição de propriedades físicas como densidade básica, retratibilidade radial, longitudinal e tangencial e anisotropia de contração de amostras de Eucalyptus grandis. A partir de análise matemática multivariada dos resultados observou-se que existe correlação estatística, de acordo com o modelo proposto, com as propriedades retratibilidade radial e longitudinal
Intention of preserving forest remnants among landowners in the Atlantic Forest: The role of the ecological context via ecosystem services
Unravelling the psychological processes determining landowners' support towards forest conservation is crucial, particularly in rural areas of the tropics, where most forest remnants are within private lands. As human–nature connections are known to shape pro‐environmental behaviours, the intention of preserving forest remnants should ultimately be determined by the ecological context people live in. Here, we investigate the pathways through which the ecological context (forest cover), via direct contact with forests and ecosystem services and disservices, influence the psychological antecedents of conservation behaviour (beliefs, attitude and intention of preserving forest remnants). We conceptualized a model based on the Reasoned Action Approach, using the ecological context and these three forest experiences as background factors, and tested the model using Piecewise Structural Equation Modelling. Data were collected through an interview‐based protocol applied to 106 landowners across 13 landscapes varying in forest cover in a consolidated rural region in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our results indicate that: (a) ecosystem services are more important than disservices for shaping intention of preserving forests, particularly non‐provisioning services; (b) contact with forest has an indirect effect on intention, by positively influencing the frequency of receiving ecosystem services; (c) people living in more forested ecological contexts have more contact with forests, receive ecosystem services more frequently and, ultimately, have stronger intention of preserving forests. Hence, our study suggests a dangerous positive feedback loop between deforestation, the extinction of forest experiences and impairment of human–nature connections. Local demands across the full range of ecosystem services, the balance between services and disservices and the ecological context people live in should be considered when developing conservation initiatives in tropical rural areas
Catastrophic Phase Transitions and Early Warnings in a Spatial Ecological Model
Gradual changes in exploitation, nutrient loading, etc. produce shifts
between alternative stable states (ASS) in ecosystems which, quite often, are
not smooth but abrupt or catastrophic. Early warnings of such catastrophic
regime shifts are fundamental for designing management protocols for
ecosystems. Here we study the spatial version of a popular ecological model,
involving a logistically growing single species subject to exploitation, which
is known to exhibit ASS. Spatial heterogeneity is introduced by a carrying
capacity parameter varying from cell to cell in a regular lattice. Transport of
biomass among cells is included in the form of diffusion. We investigate
whether different quantities from statistical mechanics -like the variance, the
two-point correlation function and the patchiness- may serve as early warnings
of catastrophic phase transitions between the ASS. In particular, we find that
the patch-size distribution follows a power law when the system is close to the
catastrophic transition. We also provide links between spatial and temporal
indicators and analyze how the interplay between diffusion and spatial
heterogeneity may affect the earliness of each of the observables. We find that
possible remedial procedures, which can be followed after these early signals,
are more effective as the diffusion becomes lower. Finally, we comment on
similarities and differences between these catastrophic shifts and paradigmatic
thermodynamic phase transitions like the liquid-vapour change of state for a
fluid like water
A Cognitive Model of an Epistemic Community: Mapping the Dynamics of Shallow Lake Ecosystems
We used fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) to develop a generic shallow lake
ecosystem model by augmenting the individual cognitive maps drawn by 8
scientists working in the area of shallow lake ecology. We calculated graph
theoretical indices of the individual cognitive maps and the collective
cognitive map produced by augmentation. The graph theoretical indices revealed
internal cycles showing non-linear dynamics in the shallow lake ecosystem. The
ecological processes were organized democratically without a top-down
hierarchical structure. The steady state condition of the generic model was a
characteristic turbid shallow lake ecosystem since there were no dynamic
environmental changes that could cause shifts between a turbid and a clearwater
state, and the generic model indicated that only a dynamic disturbance regime
could maintain the clearwater state. The model developed herein captured the
empirical behavior of shallow lakes, and contained the basic model of the
Alternative Stable States Theory. In addition, our model expanded the basic
model by quantifying the relative effects of connections and by extending it.
In our expanded model we ran 4 simulations: harvesting submerged plants,
nutrient reduction, fish removal without nutrient reduction, and
biomanipulation. Only biomanipulation, which included fish removal and nutrient
reduction, had the potential to shift the turbid state into clearwater state.
The structure and relationships in the generic model as well as the outcomes of
the management simulations were supported by actual field studies in shallow
lake ecosystems. Thus, fuzzy cognitive mapping methodology enabled us to
understand the complex structure of shallow lake ecosystems as a whole and
obtain a valid generic model based on tacit knowledge of experts in the field.Comment: 24 pages, 5 Figure
Singular and regular solutions of a non-linear parabolic system
We study a dissipative nonlinear equation modelling certain features of the
Navier-Stokes equations. We prove that the evolution of radially symmetric
compactly supported initial data does not lead to singularities in dimensions
. For dimensions we present strong numerical evidence supporting
existence of blow-up solutions. Moreover, using the same techniques we
numerically confirm a conjecture of Lepin regarding existence of self-similar
singular solutions to a semi-linear heat equation.Comment: 16 page
DISCOVERY OF THE FIRST NEARCTIC MOSS-EATING FLEA BEETLE, DISTIGMOPTERA BOREALIS BLAKE, 1943 (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE: GALERUCINAE: ALTICINI)
A flea beetle, Distigmoptera borealis Blake, 1943, is documented for the first time to feed on liverworts, Reboulia hemisphaerica (L.) Raddi (Aytoniaceae), and moss, Weissia controversa Hedw. (Pottiaceae). This is the first and only known bryobiont leaf beetle in the USA and Nearctic biogeographic region. The adult of D. borealis is redescribed and illustrated, and the larva and pupa of D. borealis are described and illustrated for the first time
Mathematical results for some models of turbulence with critical and subcritical regularizations
In this paper, we establish the existence of a unique "regular" weak solution
to turbulent flows governed by a general family of models with
critical regularizations. In particular this family contains the simplified
Bardina model and the modified Leray- model. When the regularizations
are subcritical, we prove the existence of weak solutions and we establish an
upper bound on the Hausdorff dimension of the time singular set of those weak
solutions. The result is an interpolation between the bound proved by Scheffer
for the Navier-Stokes equations and the regularity result in the critical case
Predicting the effect of climate change on temperate shallow lakes with the ecosystem model PCLake
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