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Exploring spatial and temporal resilience in socio-ecological systems: evidence from sacred forests in Epirus, Greece.
Get PDFSocio‐ecological resilience is the capacity of a system to adapt to changing ecological and social disturbances. Its assessment is extremely important to integrate long‐term management of ecological and social features of natural ecosystems. This is especially true for Sacred Natural Sites, such as sacred forests and groves, where it can reveal the influence of social processes in ecosystem recovery or degradation. Using tree ages determined through dendrochronology and tree population size‐class distributions collected in five sacred forests in Epirus (NW Greece), we explore spatial and temporal dynamics of resilience in a socio‐ecological system, identifying which cultural and social elements characterize resilience in space and time. Our main results show that over past centuries sacred forests in Epirus underwent periods of varying tree establishment rate, depending on the intensity of human activities and historical disturbance events. We also identified strong evidence of the role of the social component (i.e. the church and associated cultural praxis) in determining the spatial extent of the forests' current recovery phase, and thus the overall resilience of the system. Policy implications. Appreciation of the ways sacred forests' ecological resilience is linked to changing socio‐cultural praxis over both temporal and spatial scales is crucial for guiding conservation and restoration strategies. We argue that greater attention should be paid to the role of the social component of socio‐ecological systems and specifically for sacred natural sites that provide both a nucleus of established forest habitat and the conditions necessary for forest recovery and restoration. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog
Reorganisation following disturbance: multi trait-based methods in R
Get PDFTrait-based approaches in ecology are now commonplace. Originating in terrestrial plant ecology, multi trait-based methods are increasingly applied across ecological disciplines to quantify community structure beyond taxonomic descriptions, to understand mechanistic rules for community assembly, and predict changes following disturbance (Zakharova et al. 2019 Ecol Model). Using morphological and ecological traits as a proxy for the ecological roles of species, these methods can translate multivariate species data into synthetic, complementary, and responsive indicators of ecosystem state (Mouillot et al. 2013 TREE; Richardson et al. 2018 Glob Chang Biol). The analytical tools to do so are increasingly refined and mathematically demanding and so are typically applied via accessible packages in R (e.g. Magneville et al. 2021 Ecography). Nonetheless, the use of these packages requires a degree of computational literacy. Computational literacy (informatics competencies including data and coding literacy) is deemed a critical skill STEM students must acquire for effective science education or careers to meet the demands of the 21st century, but its integrated teaching alongside natural science subjects is lacking (Braun and Huwe 2022 Front Educ). Our Data Set teaching module addresses this gap by providing teaching materials aimed at third-year undergraduate students (junior level bachelor’s degree in the United States) in the form of a 16-hour practical (total class time) divided into six separate sessions: 1 x introductory lecture; 1 x 6-hr computer practical; 3 x 2-hr computer practicals; 1 x 3-hr in-person poster presentation conference. The Data Set is designed to teach students to use the statistical programming tool R to examine how coral reef fish communities were impacted by a severe marine heatwave which resulted in mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Richardson et al. 2018 Glob Chang Biol). Through student-active approaches including guided enquiry, problem-based learning, critical thinking, and ‘authentic’ assessment (poster presentation), students are offered knowledge of trait-based ecology, and taught skills in data manipulation, analysis, and visualization in R; hypothesis testing; and communicating science
A conceptual framework on the role of magnetic cues in songbird migration ecology
Get PDFABSTRACTMigrating animals perform astonishing seasonal movements by orienting and navigating over thousands of kilometres with great precision. Many migratory species use cues from the sun, stars, landmarks, olfaction and the Earth's magnetic field for this task. Among vertebrates, songbirds are the most studied taxon in magnetic‐cue‐related research. Despite multiple studies, we still lack a clear understanding of when, where and how magnetic cues affect the decision‐making process of birds and hence, their realised migratory behaviour in the wild. This understanding is especially important to interpret the results of laboratory experiments in an ecologically appropriate way. In this review, we summarise the current findings about the role of magnetic cues for migratory decisions in songbirds. First, we review the methodological principles for orientation and navigation research, specifically by comparing experiments on caged birds with experiments on free‐flying birds. While cage experiments can show the sensory abilities of birds, studies with free‐flying birds can characterise the ecological roles of magnetic cues. Second, we review the migratory stages, from stopover to endurance flight, in which songbirds use magnetic cues for their migratory decisions and incorporate this into a novel conceptual framework. While we lack studies examining whether and when magnetic cues affect orientation or navigation decisions during flight, the role of magnetic cues during stopover is relatively well studied, but mostly in the laboratory. Notably, many such studies have produced contradictory results so that understanding the biological importance of magnetic cues for decisions in free‐flying songbirds is not straightforward. One potential explanation is that reproducibility of magnetic‐cue experiments is low, probably because variability in the behavioural responses of birds among experiments is high. We are convinced that parts of this variability can be explained by species‐specific and context‐dependent reactions of birds to the study conditions and by the bird's high flexibility in whether they include magnetic cues in a decision or not. Ultimately, this review should help researchers in the challenging field of magnetoreception to design experiments meticulously and interpret results of such studies carefully by considering the migration ecology of their focal species
Depth variation in benthic community response to repeated marine heatwaves on remote Central Indian Ocean reefs
Get PDFCoral reefs are increasingly impacted by climate-induced warming events. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the variation in the response of shallow coral reef communities to thermal stress across depths. Here, we assess depth-dependent changes in coral reef benthic communities following successive marine heatwaves from 2015 to 2017 across a 5–25 m depth gradient in the remote Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean. Our analyses show an overall decline in hard and soft coral cover and an increase in crustose coralline algae, sponge and reef pavement following successive marine heatwaves on the remote reef system. Our findings indicate that the changes in benthic communities in response to elevated seawater temperatures varied across depths. We found greater changes in benthic group cover at shallow depths (5–15 m) compared with deeper zones (15–25 m). The loss of hard coral cover was better predicted by initial thermal stress, while the loss of soft coral was associated with repeated thermal stress following successive warming events. Our study shows that benthic communities extending to 25 m depth were impacted by successive marine heatwaves, supporting concerns about the resilience of shallow coral reef communities to increasingly severe climate-driven warming events
Adverse childhood experiences and engagement with healthcare services:Findings from a survey of adults in Wales and England
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‘ThinkCancer!’ – Randomised feasibility trial of a novel practice-based early cancer diagnosis intervention
Get PDFUK cancer deaths remain high; primary care is key for earlier cancer diagnosis as half of avoidable delays occur here. Improvement is possible through lower referral thresholds, better guideline adherence, and better safety netting systems. Few interventions target whole practice teams. We developed a novel whole practice team intervention to address this. To test the feasibility and acceptability of a novel, complex behavioural intervention 'ThinkCancer!' for assessment in a subsequent Phase III trial. Pragmatic, superiority pilot RCT with an embedded process evaluation and feasibility economic analysis in Welsh general practices. Clinical outcome data were collected from practices (the unit of randomisation). Practice characteristics and cancer safety netting systems were assessed. Individual practice staff completed evaluation and feedback forms, and qualitative interviews. The intervention was adapted and refined. Trial recruitment and workshop deliveries took place between March 2020 to May 2021. Trial progression criteria for recruitment, intervention fidelity and routine data collection were met. Staff-level fidelity, retention and individual level data collection processes were reviewed and amended. Interviews highlighted positive participant views on all aspects of the intervention. All practices set out to liberalise referral thresholds appropriately, implement guidelines, and address safety netting plans in detail. 'ThinkCancer!' appears feasible and acceptable; the new iteration of the workshops was completed, and the Phase III trial has been funded to assess the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of this novel professional behaviour change intervention. Delivery at scale to multiple practices will likely improve fidelity and reach. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2024, The Authors.
Patient-led urate self-monitoring to improve clinical outcomes in people with gout: a feasibility study
Get PDFOBJECTIVE: Self-monitored point-of-care urate-measuring devices are an underexplored strategy to improve adherence to urate-lowering therapy and clinical outcomes in gout. This study observed patient-led urate self-monitoring practice and assessed its influence on allopurinol adherence, urate control, and health-related quality of life.METHODS: People with gout (n = 31) and prescribed allopurinol self-monitored their urate concentrations (HumaSens2.0 plus) at baseline and thereafter monthly for 12 months (3 months per quarter). Adherence to allopurinol was measured using medication event monitoring technology (Medication Event Monitoring System cap). Time spent below the target urate concentration (<0.36 mmol/L) was determined. Health-related quality of life was measured using a survey (EuroQoL EQ-5D-5L). Gout flares were recorded. Two-tailed Spearman correlation and the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test (P < 0.05) were used for statistical comparisons. RESULTS: Most participants were male (94%) and had urate concentrations below the target (74%) at baseline. Overall, seven participants demonstrated repeated periods of "missed doses" (two or fewer allopurinol doses missed consecutively) and "drug holidays" (three or more missed doses). Most participants (94%) persisted with allopurinol. Time spent within the target urate concentration increased 1.3-fold (from 79% to 100%; P = 0.346), and the incidence of gout flares decreased 1.6-fold (from 8 to 5; P = 0.25) in the final quarter compared to that in the first quarter of the study. Health-related quality of life was reduced for participants reporting at least one gout flare (median utility values 0.9309 vs 0.9563, P = 0.04).CONCLUSION: Patient-led urate self-monitoring may support the maintenance of allopurinol adherence and improve urate control, thus reducing the incidence of gout flares. Further research on patient-led urate self-monitoring in a randomized controlled study is warranted.</p