OUTPUT SUPPLY AND INPUT DEMAND SYSTEM OF COMMERCIAL AND BACKYARD POULTRY PRODUCERS IN INDONESIA

Estimated Indonesian backyard and commercial broiler output supply and input demands from normalized quadratic function satisfy all theoretical properties (homogeneity, reciprocity, adding-up, symmetry, curvature). Elasticities have correct signs and are significant. Very inelastic supply explains strong border protection and casts doubt on long-term sustainability of import substitution policy.Demand and Price Analysis, Livestock Production/Industries,

Household Welfare Cost of the Indonesian Macroeconomic Crisis

A theoretically consistent incomplete demand system is estimated to quantify the cost of the 1997 microeconomic crisis. Welfare cost per person was $128, which translates to$26.12 billion total cost. This amount is equivalent to agriculture's GDP contribution, and sufficient to pay for Indonesia's total annual government budget.Consumer/Household Economics,

DO MACROECONOMIC SHOCKS IMPACT THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF SMALL FARMERS? THE CASE OF WETLAND RICE FARMERS IN INDONESIA

The economic efficiency of Indonesian rice farmers was lower and more variable during than before the macroeconomic crisis. Specifically, larger declines in technical efficiency were not offset by smaller improvements in allocative efficiency. Farm ownership, larger farm size, and higher education were associated with higher levels of efficiency.Farm Management,

Multi-decadal stability of fish productivity despite increasing coral reef degradation

1. Under current trajectories, it is unlikely that the coral reefs of the future will resemble those of the past. As multiple stressors, such as climate change and coastal development, continue to impact coral reefs, understanding the changes in ecosystem functioning is imperative to protect key ecosystem services. 2. We used a 26-year dataset of benthic reef fishes (including cryptobenthic fishes) to identify multi-decadal trends in fish biomass production on a degraded coral reef. We converted fish abundances into estimates of community productivity to track the long-term trend of fish biomass production through time. 3. Following the first mass coral bleaching event in 1998, the abundance, standing biomass and productivity of fish communities remained remarkably constant through time, despite the occurrence of multiple stressors, including extreme sedimentation, cyclones and mass coral bleaching events. Species richness declined following the 1998 bleaching event, but rebounded to prebleaching levels and also remained relatively stable. 4. Although the species composition of the communities changed over time, these new community configurations still maintain a steady level of fish biomass production. While these highly dynamic and increasingly degraded systems can still provide some critical ecosystem functions, it is unclear whether these patterns will remain stable over future decades

Do Macroeconomic Shocks Impact the Economic Efficiency of Small Farmers? The Case of Wetland Rice Farmers in Indonesia

This study examines the impact of macroeconomic shocks on the efficiency of small farmers. We estimate single- and multiple-factor efficiency measures for Indonesian rice farmers in years before, during, and after the country\u27s macroeconomic crisis. We find that productive efficiency declined by 7 to 22 percent during the crisis, largely because of a decline in technical efficiency and a relatively large volatility in efficiency (the coefficient of variation was larger by a factor of 1.87). Allocative efficiency, on the other hand, increased slightly and offset part of the decrease in technical efficiency. The magnitude of the impact on efficiency depended on farmers\u27 input adjustments. Factors associated with higher levels of technical and allocative efficiency include larger-size farms and higher education levels for the farm owners. The predicted efficiency measures disaggregated by type (technical and allocative), by specific factor (fertilizer and labor), and by specific location (province and farm level) can be used in designing and targeting inter-ventions to improve the economic efficiency of farms

Studying functions on coral reefs : past perspectives, current conundrums, and future potential

This work was funded by the Australian Research Council (DRB; grant number FL190100062).Function-based studies have opened a new chapter in our understanding of coral reefs. Unfortunately, we are opening this chapter as the world’s reefs rapidly transform. In this context, one of the most important roles of function-based studies is to inform coral reef conservation. At this critical juncture, we have a chance to reflect on where we have come from, and where we are going, in coral reef functional ecology, with specific consideration of what this means for our approaches to conserving reefs. As focal examples, we examine the role of corals on reefs, and the practice of culling crown-of-thorns starfish, from a functional perspective. We also consider how the papers in this special issue build on our current understanding. Ultimately, we highlight how robust scientific investigation, based on an understanding of ecosystem functions, will be key in helping us navigate reefs through the current coral reef crisis.Peer reviewe

Research Biases Create Overrepresented “Poster Children” of Marine Invasion Ecology

Nonnative marine species are increasingly recognized as a threat to the world\u27s oceans, yet are poorly understood relative to their terrestrial and freshwater counterparts. Here, we conducted a systematic review of 2,203 research articles on nonnative marine animals to determine whether the current literature reflects the known diversity of marine invaders, how much we know about these species, and how frequently their impacts are measured. We found that only 39% of nonnative animals listed in the World Register of Introduced Marine Species appeared in the peer-reviewed English literature. Of those, fewer than half were the subject of more than one study. There is currently little focus on the consequences of marine introductions: only 9.9% of studies quantified the impact of nonnative species. Finally, our knowledge of nonnative marine species is heavily limited by strong taxonomic biases consistent across all phyla, resulting in one or two disproportionately well-studied representatives for each phylum, which we refer to as the “poster children” of invasion. These gaps in the literature make it difficult to effectively triage the most detrimental invasive species for management and illustrate the challenges in achieving the global biodiversity goals of preventing and managing the introduction and establishment of invasive specie

Conservation successes and challenges for wide-ranging sharks and rays

Overfishing is the most significant threat facing sharks and rays. Given the growth in consumption of seafood, combined with the compounding effects of habitat loss, climate change, and pollution, there is a need to identify recovery paths, particularly in poorly managed and poorly monitored fisheries. Here, we document conservation through fisheries management success for 11 coastal sharks in US waters by comparing population trends through a Bayesian state-space model before and after the implementation of the 1993 Fisheries Management Plan for Sharks. We took advantage of the spatial and temporal gradients in fishing exposure and fisheries management in the Western Atlantic to analyze the effect on the Red List status of all 26 wide-ranging coastal sharks and rays. We show that extinction risk was greater where fishing pressure was higher, but this was offset by the strength of management engagement (indicated by strength of National and Regional Plan of Action for sharks and rays). The regional Red List Index (which tracks changes in extinction risk through time) declined in all regions until the 1980s but then improved in the North and Central Atlantic such that the average extinction risk is currently half that in the Southwest. Many sharks and rays are wide ranging, and successful fisheries management in one country can be undone by poorly regulated or unregulated fishing elsewhere. Our study underscores that well-enforced, science-based management of carefully monitored fisheries can achieve conservation success, even for slow-growing species

Prescribing patterns of low doses of antipsychotic medications in older Asian patients with schizophrenia, 2001-2009

Background: This study examined the use of low doses of antipsychotic medications (300mg/day CPZeq or less) in older Asian patients with schizophrenia and its demographic and clinical correlates. Methods: Information on hospitalized patients with schizophrenia, aged 55 years or older, was extracted from the database of the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns (REAP) study (2001-2009). Data on 1,452 patients in eight Asian countries and territories including China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia were analyzed. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and antipsychotic prescriptions were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. Results: The prescription frequency for low doses of antipsychotic medications was 40.9% in the pooled sample. Multiple logistic regression analysis of the whole sample showed that patients on low doses of antipsychotic medications were more likely to be female, have an older age, a shorter length of illness, and less positive symptoms. Of patients in the six countries and territories that participated in all the surveys between 2001 and 2009, those in Japan were less likely to receive low doses of antipsychotics. Conclusion: Low doses of antipsychotic medications were only applied in less than half of older Asian patients with schizophreni

Overfishing and Habitat Loss Drives Range Contraction of Iconic Marine Fishes to Near Extinction

Extinctions on land are often inferred from sparse sightings over time, but this technique is ill-suited for wide-ranging species. We develop a space-for-time approach to track the spatial contraction and drivers of decline of sawfishes. These iconic and endangered shark-like rays were once found in warm, coastal waters of 90 nations and are now presumed extinct in more than half (n = 46). Using dynamic geography theory, we predict that sawfishes are gone from at least nine additional nations. Overfishing and habitat loss have reduced spatial occupancy, leading to local extinctions in 55 of the 90 nations, which equates to 58.7% of their historical distribution. Retention bans and habitat protections are urgently necessary to secure a future for sawfishes and similar species