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The dual nature of metacommunity variability
Get PDFThere is increasing interest in measuring ecological stability to understand how communities and ecosystems respond to broad-scale global changes. One of the most common approaches is to quantify the variation through time in community or ecosystem aggregate attributes (e.g. total biomass), referred to as aggregate variability. It is now widely recognized that aggregate variability represents only one aspect of communities and ecosystems, and compositional variability, the changes in the relative frequency of species in an assemblage, is equally important. Recent contributions have also begun to explore ecological stability at regional spatial scales, where interconnected local communities form metacommunities, a key concept in managing complex landscapes. However, the conceptual frameworks and measures of ecological stability in space have only focused on aggregate variability, leaving a conceptual gap. Here, we address this gap with a novel framework for quantifying the aggregate and compositional variability of communities and ecosystems through space and time. We demonstrate that the compositional variability of a metacommunity depends on the degree of spatial synchrony in compositional trajectories among local communities. We then provide a conceptual framework in which compositional variability of 1) the metacommunity through time and 2) among local communities combine into four archetype scenarios: spatial stasis (low/low), spatial synchrony (high/low), spatial asynchrony (high/high) and spatial compensation (low/high). We illustrate this framework based on numerical examples and a case study of a macroalgal metacommunity in which low spatial synchrony reduced variability in aggregate biomass at the metacommunity scale, while masking high spatial synchrony in compositional trajectories among local communities. Finally, we discuss the role of dispersal, environmental heterogeneity, species interactions and suggest future avenues. We believe this framework will be helpful for considering both aspects of variability simultaneously, which is important to better understand ecological stability in natural and complex landscapes in response to environmental changes
Dämonendiagnose : Behinderung, Sexismus und Antisemitismus in der mittelalterlichen Monster-Mythologie Nordeuropas
No full text\u27I was involved as an equal member of the community\u27: how pedagogical partnership can foster a sense of belonging in Black, female students
Get PDFResearch suggests that a sense of belonging is fundamental to students’ engagement, persistence and success in postsecondary education, and that racism systematically works against Black students experiencing these. Participating in student–staff pedagogical partnership can foster a sense of belonging, contribute to culturally sustaining pedagogy, and redress harms experienced by minoritised postsecondary students. Using a conceptual framework informed by research on belonging, critical race theory and intersectionality and a methodology informed by a Black-Feminist and Womanist Research Paradigm, Black Girl Cartography and counterstorying, the authors analyse responses to an ethics-board-approved survey completed by 12 Black, female students at three US colleges. They situate that analysis by presenting their conceptual framework, defining pedagogical partnership, and describing the pedagogical partnership programmes. They focus on how the students who responded to their survey describe perceiving, feeling and engaging differently as a result of participating in pedagogical partnership. They conclude with recommendations for practice
Embracing the Risk and Responsibility of Starting a Pedagogical Partnership Program Focused on Fostering Inclusivity and Respect in Science
Get PDFYYY Dynamic Tuning of Viscoelastic Hydrogels with Carbonyl Iron Microparticles Reveals the Rapid Response of Cells to Three-Dimensional Substrate Mechanics
Get PDFCurrent methods to dynamically tune three-dimensional hydrogel mechanics require specific chemistries and substrates that make modest, slow, and often irreversible changes in their mechanical properties, exclude the use of protein-based scaffolds, or alter the hydrogel microstructure and pore size. Here, we rapidly and reversibly alter the mechanical properties of hydrogels consisting of extracellular matrix proteins and proteoglycans by adding carbonyl iron microparticles (MPs) and applying external magnetic fields. This approach drastically alters hydrogel mechanics: rheology reveals that application of a 4000 Oe magnetic field to a 5 mg/mL collagen hydrogel containing 10 wt % MPs increases the storage modulus from approximately 1.5 to 30 kPa. Cell morphology experiments show that cells embedded within these hydrogels rapidly sense the magnetically induced changes in ECM stiffness. Ca2+ transients are altered within seconds of stiffening or subsequent softening, and slower but still dynamic changes occur in YAP nuclear translocation in response to time-dependent application of a magnetic field. The near instantaneous change in hydrogel mechanics provides new insight into the effect of changing extracellular stiffness on both acute and chronic changes in diverse cell types embedded in protein-based scaffolds. Due to its flexibility, this method is broadly applicable to future studies interrogating cell mechanotransduction in three-dimensional substrates
Human (in)security and psychological well-being in Palestinian children living amidst military violence: A qualitative participatory research using interactive maps
Get PDFBackground
Research has widely evidenced the effects of war and political violence on the functioning of children, with a great accord in diagnosing children\u27s psychological burdens related to their exposure to violence. Yet, within this literature, the influence of the chronic sense of insecurity on their psychological functioning during and after hostilities remains unexplored. Methods
The present study aimed at exploring interrelated relationships between the perceived insecurity and the children\u27s psychological well-being and their adjustment to trauma. Based on drawings and walk-along interviews with 75 Palestinian children, residents of both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, we offer an analysis of human security-related risks and protective factors that contribute to either promoting or undermining the child\u27s psychological functioning in a context characterized by chronic instability and political violence. Results
A complex network of sources of security and insecurity emerged from the narratives depicting an ecological portrait encompassing the determinants of children\u27s mental health and psychological functioning. The TCA led to the identification of eight main themes: school and associativism; social relations and house as a source of security/insecurity; military occupation as a source of insecurity; national and political identity as a source of safety; mosque and spirituality as a source of safety/unsafety; environment as a source of security/insecurity; and mental health. Discussion
An approach encompassing human security as an explicative model can help in exhaustively portraying the complexity of the Palestinian children\u27s suffering and their competence in adjusting to their traumatic reality. The study draws attention to social, political, environmental and economic determinants of children psychological well-being
