A Trait‐Based Framework for Assessing the Vulnerability of Marine Species to Human Impacts

Marine species and ecosystems are widely affected by anthropogenic stressors, ranging from pollution and fishing to climate change. Comprehensive assessments of how species and ecosystems are impacted by anthropogenic stressors are critical for guiding conservation and management investments. Previous global risk or vulnerability assessments have focused on marine habitats, or on limited taxa or specific regions. However, information about the susceptibility of marine species across a range of taxa to different stressors everywhere is required to predict how marine biodiversity will respond to human pressures. We present a novel framework that uses life-history traits to assess species’ vulnerability to a stressor, which we compare across more than 44,000 species from 12 taxonomic groups (classes). Using expert elicitation and literature review, we assessed every combination of each of 42 traits and 22 anthropogenic stressors to calculate each species’ or representative species group’s sensitivity and adaptive capacity to stressors, and then used these assessments to derive their overall relative vulnerability. The stressors with the greatest potential impact were related to biomass removal (e.g., fisheries), pollution, and climate change. The taxa with the highest vulnerabilities across the range of stressors were mollusks, corals, and echinoderms, while elasmobranchs had the highest vulnerability to fishing-related stressors. Traits likely to confer vulnerability to climate change stressors were related to the presence of calcium carbonate structures, and whether a species exists across the interface of marine, terrestrial, and atmospheric realms. Traits likely to confer vulnerability to pollution stressors were related to planktonic state, organism size, and respiration. Such a replicable, broadly applicable method is useful for informing ocean conservation and management decisions at a range of scales, and the framework is amenable to further testing and improvement. Our framework for assessing the vulnerability of marine species is the first critical step toward generating cumulative human impact maps based on comprehensive assessments of species, rather than habitats

Fastfacts on gambling

To provide a source of information for those researching the topic of gambling, the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba (AFM) has produced this book, called FastFacts on Gambling. The book does not take sides in the gambling debate; instead, it offers a collection of facts and statistics on gambling, ranging from a historical perspective to the impact of problem gambling on individuals and families

Ethnic community in economic crisis : New York Jews and the Great Depression.

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Ethnic community in economic crisis: New York Jews and the Great Depression

This study examines New York's Jewish families, neighborhoods, and communal institutions during the Great Depression and uses the economic crisis to uncover patterns of Jewish acculturation and identity in America.Jewish families, which generally consisted of immigrant parents and native-born children, weathered difficult financial periods by pooling the resources of family members. Jewish women contributed to the household economy through both wage labor and careful supervision of the family budget. American-born Jewish youth remained in their parents' homes, pursuing education when jobs were scarce and postponing marriage and child-bearing. Economic hardship often brought Jewish families together, but could also fuel strife and discontent.New York's Jewish neighborhoods eased the economic burdens of the Depression, nurturing a sense of Jewish community while paving the road to Jewish integration. Neighborhood support networks were particularly important in working-class enclaves where the Depression dealt its harshest blow. Jewish neigborhoods provided a sheltering and protective environment, but could also be expansive and highly politicized. Neighborhood Jewish activism regained momentum as economic conditions deteriorated. The New Deal and the welfare state transformed ethnic politics, but Jewish political culture remained intact and actually facilitated Jewish entrance into the new Democratic coalition.The Depression devastated Jewish communal institutions. In addition to its financial burdens, New York's Federation of Jewish Philanthropies struggled to redefine its role within the new welfare state. Public relief threatened the ongoing viability of sectarian charities. Jewish leaders wholeheartedly supported public welfare, but also preserved private Jewish philanthropy by redesigning it as a vehicle for strengthening ethnic culture and commitment.The Depression threatened both the economic health and substantive role of New York synagogues. While contending with acute financial problems and membership loss, synagogue leaders attempted to transform the synagogue into a vital institution. During the Depression, synagogues expanded secular and cultural activities and consciously linked synagogue policy and programs with American social and political developments, constructing a religious agenda compatible with Jewish ethnic sensibilities.As a moment of crisis in both Jewish and American life, the Depression provides a useful lens through which to view American Jewish adaptation and acculturation.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Yale University, 1992.School code: 0265

Gender and relationship status in later life

The world’s population is ageing rapidly (United Nations 2015) and with increased longevity, the diversity of those moving into later life has the potential to challenge preconceptions and homogenization about ageing. The impact of relationship status for women in later life is one such theme that is emerging from the literature. This nexus of ageing, gender, and relationship status offers a new conceptual lens for reviewing and extending the research on ageing. Different conceptual lenses can be useful for those developing ageing policy, in particular, social policy by challenging some of the assumptions on which care services are planned and delivered. For example, Increasing evidence on gender inequalities throughout the life course has yet to have a visible impact on the provision of care in developed societies. Less is known about the subjective experiences of older women within these parameters. This entry provides an opportunity for more active and closer examination of the literature, which highlights the specific trajectories impact of being a solo woman in later life and the nature of their unique experiences to inform their future care needs. Recognition of the institutional and systemic gender inequalities that intersects gender with ageing and relationship status has much to contribute to developing more tailored and sensitive policies from which to plan, commission, and improve health and social care for this marginalized group