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Granivory of Invasive, Naturalized, and Native Plants in Communities Differentially Susceptible to Invasion
Get PDFSeed predation is an important biotic filter that can influence abundance and spatial distributions of native species through differential effects on recruitment. This filter may also influence the relative abundance of nonnative plants within habitats and the communities\u27 susceptibility to invasion via differences in granivore identity, abundance, and food preference. We evaluated the effect of postdispersal seed predators on the establishment of invasive, naturalized, and native species within and between adjacent forest and steppe communities of eastern Washington, USA that differ in severity of plant invasion. Seed removal from trays placed within guild-specific exclosures revealed that small mammals were the dominant seed predators in both forest and steppe. Seeds of invasive species (Bromus tectorum, Cirsium arvense) were removed significantly less than the seeds of native (Pseudoroegneria spicata, Balsamorhiza sagittata) and naturalized (Secale cereale, Centaurea cyanus) species. Seed predation limited seedling emergence and establishment in both communities in the absence of competition in a pattern reflecting natural plant abundance: S. cereale was most suppressed, B. tectorum was least suppressed, and P. spicata was suppressed at an intermediate level. Furthermore, seed predation reduced the residual seed bank for all species. Seed mass correlated with seed removal rates in the forest and their subsequent effects on plant recruitment; larger seeds were removed at higher rates than smaller seeds. Our vegetation surveys indicate higher densities and canopy cover of nonnative species occur in the steppe compared with the forest understory, suggesting the steppe may be more susceptible to invasion. Seed predation alone, however, did not result in significant differences in establishment for any species between these communities, presumably due to similar total small-mammal abundance between communities. Consequently, preferential seed predation by small mammals predicts plant establishment for our test species within these communities but not between them. Accumulating evidence suggests that seed predation can be an important biotic filter affecting plant establishment via differences in consumer preferences and abundance with important ramifications for plant invasions and in situ community assembly
Ethics and the Columbia River Treaty: Righting Historic Wrongs
Get PDFIn May 2014, a diverse group of scholars and climate advocates gathered at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington to talk about ways to bring the U.S.- Canada Columbia River Treaty into the 21st Century. The day-long conference included discussions of history and policy, story-telling and remembrance, disruption and dislocation. The conference and speakers helped to set a context for the needs and challenges of modernizing the Treaty. This video contains excerpts from the talks and discussions on that day and offers a sense of the conference\u27s tone and tenor
NOW 2014-03 March
No full textCorpus of News on the Web data for March 2014.
The TAR folder contains linguistic data in three formats: Database: This is the format allows for the most robust searches and allows for powerful JOINs across corpus, lexicon, and source tables but requires knowledge of SQL. See Full-text corpus data for more information on how to use the database format. Linear Text: This format provides a textID for each text, and then the entire text on the same line. In this format, words are not annotated for part of speech or lemma. In addition, contracted words like can\u27t are separated into two parts (ca n\u27t) and punctuation is separated from words (eye level . As her). Word, Lemma, Part of Speech: Texts are separated by a line with ## and the textID
Empathy and Servant-Leadership: The Complementary Nature of Simulation Theory and Theory of Mind in Education
Get PDFEvery teacher should attempt to guide the personal and social development of his or her students (Wilson 2011, 246). The effectiveness and efficiency with which such elucidation takes place, however, may depend to a great extent on the empathetic understanding between pupil and instructor (208). The discernment that teachers and students exhibit regarding their own lives and the realities experienced by other persons will affect what can be taught and learned. Constructive development theory suggests that to be most effective, teachers who are leaders must understand how students think and feel about themselves (McCauley et al. 2006). Several studies have shown that such empathetic understanding is a critical antecedent of student learning (Black and Phillips 1982; Cooper 2004; Immordino-Yang 2011; Uddin et al. 2007)
Small Group Crisis Response Strategies In Relation To Large Groups
Get PDFCrisis communication, as a whole, has been widely studied by many communication researchers. Much of the research focuses on large corporations and devastating crises that become a household name. Crises such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 or the criminal scandal of the Enron Corporation in 2001 are deliberately studied for the success and failures of its crisis management teams. What remains understudied are the crises of small groups. Socha (1997) describes a small group as being more than two and less than 15 people. With the millions of professional small groups in the world today, crises are bound to affect the daily operations and dynamics of these groups. This study focused on the strategic methods of small groups members when resolving a crisis. Coombs’ (2007) situational crisis communication theory (SCCT) reveals categories of strategies that groups utilize when approaching a crisis. This theory, along with Fisher’s (1994) decision-emergence theory (DET), were the basis of comparing and contrasting the types of strategies large groups and small groups use in time of crisis. To achieve results, this study profited from the use of three different focus groups, which are based out of a Washington D.C. area property management company. The study focused on the strategies used by the groups during crisis and compared/contrasted to the strategies used by General Motors during their bankruptcy and by BP during their Deepwater Horizon oil spill crisis. The study discovered some similarities, but many differences among the strategies used between the studied small and large groups. These differences included the types of Coomb’s (2007) strategies used in time of crisis, whether it be a justification strategy over a scapegoat strategy. The two types of groups did share a similar process in making decisions by using Fisher’s (1994) DET. Although the mechanics of the crisis management process is important, this study could be expanded by also studying the relational aspects of the crisis management process. Groups with healthy relationships among members will more productively handle a conflict; while furthermore groups that productively handle a conflict show more cohesion among team members (Pruitt & Syna, 1983; Watson, 1987; Shaw, 1981). A future study could center on the relational dynamics among group members during a time of crisis
Establishing Credibility Online Through Impression Management Strategies
Get PDFThis project sought to understand how individuals establish credibility online through impression management strategies. Applying Goffman’s (1959) impression management theory, the literature review highlighted four leading self-presentation tactics that bolster credibility effectively on the Internet: structure and aesthetics of personal websites, publication of content that is consistent, insightful and authentic, the use of self-disclosure, and verification of expertise through testimonials and references. These four self-presentation strategies were applied to analyze eight entrepreneurs who have successfully built a credible presence online. These case studies were further developed through the design of online course that teaches entrepreneurs how to use impression management effectively online
Gender Matters: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Coverage and Images of Female Politicians
No full textThe representation of women in media, specifically the way in which political women are represented in news coverage, can have a significant impact on how consumers view political women. This study analyzed the online newspaper articles and images of two women who are active in politics, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. While there are many women in the political arena, these two are perhaps the most well-known. This study is grounded in the theory of framing, and also applies Tuchman’s (1978) theory of symbolic annihilation. This study used coding, image analysis, and critical discourse analysis to attempt to uncover gendered language and images used by media when covering women in politics. Results indicate gendering of the two subjects, most predominantly using the Mother stereotype. For example, Clinton’s status as a new grandmother was portrayed as a strategy for her to help candidates garner votes. Incidences of the Iron Maiden and the Pet stereotype also were noted in the sample. However, further study on gendered language and images in news articles is warranted
Media Communication & Professional Sports Stadium Subsidies
Get PDFIn the previous two decades, professional sports franchise owners secured nearly $20 billion in taxpayer paid subsidies for new stadiums, domes, and arenas. In the geographic area of study, Atlanta Georgia, two public-financed stadium debates occurred between 2012 and 2014. The following study examined sports franchise owners, politicians, and civic and business groups’ use of the mass media to communicate their public messages during the stadium approval process, as well as how the local mass media frames stadium subsidy debates through Agenda Setting and Framing theories. The textual analysis study used a sample of 10 Atlanta Journal-Constitution online newspaper articles per franchise stadium debate. Three categories of coding were chosen as a way to classify the content. The first category of the study was to determine if the content was pro-stadium subsidy; second, if the artifact was non-biased stadium subsidy; and last, if the artifact was negative, or against the stadium subsidy. The study results found that the majority of the text samples trended toward negative or neutral themes. The Atlanta Braves sample contained 20% text coded as positive themes and the Atlanta Falcons sample contained 30%. The research found that despite the low numbers of positive themes within the samples, evidence from the study points to franchise owners, politicians, and civic and business groups having influence in the mass media. As evidenced by the study’s findings that individuals with a vested interest in new stadium construction had the ability to frequently have their viewpoints, visual samples, and secondary sources quoted within the Atlanta Journal-Constitution samples
What Can Hunter-Gatherers Teach Us about Servant-Leadership?
Get PDFFor most humans living today, it is hard to imagine life without mobile phones and tablets. Every day we all face endless choice points. As our technologies accelerate the speed and frequency of choices coming at us, the faster we feel compelled to respond to each choice. We can be overwhelmed by the emails, tweets, phone calls, text messages, voice mails, all piled on top of the basic life we Iive each day