1,720,962 research outputs found
Crossing gradients of consumer pressure and physical stress on shallow rocky reefs: a test of the stress-gradient hypothesis
No full text1. The stress-gradient hypothesis predicts an increase in the importance and intensity of positive species interactions towards extreme ends of gradients generated by either physical stress or consumer pressure. However, little attention has been devoted to assessing how the co-occurrence of different gradients of stress and variations in the abundance of the benefactor can influence switches in species interactions.
2. On shallow rocky reefs, we assessed shifts in the effects of different covers of Vermetid tube-building gastropods (benefactor) on macroalgae (beneficiary), under experimental conditions generated by crossing a gradient of consumer pressure (sea urchin density) and a gradient of physical stress (sediment deposition).
3. Negative effects of Vermetids on macroalgae in the absence of herbivores switched to positive at intermediate grazing pressure, but sedimentation and benefactor cover determined their intensity. Thus, association with Vermetids provides macroalgae with a refuge from herbivores. When consumer pressure was the greatest, facilitation persisted both at natural and moderately enhanced sedimentation if the benefactor cover was reduced. When the benefactor monopolized space, facilitation was only observed at natural levels of sedimentation. Thus, the relationship between the outcome of the benefactor–beneficiary interaction (expressed as the Relative Interaction Index) and consumer pressure varied from linear to asymptotic or quadratic, according to sedimentation levels and benefactor abundance.
4.Synthesis. These results show that shifts in the direction and intensity of species interactions are regulated by the interplay of biological and physical factors. In addition, they suggest that density-dependent processes are more likely to shape species interactions at extreme ends of gradients of stress
Variation in the structure of subtidal landscapes in the NW Mediterranean Sea
No full textCompounded effects of climate change and local human activities are threatening marine biodiversity worldwide. At a regional scale (10s to 100s km), comparisons among areas characterized by the prevalence of different human activities provide an insight into the effects of anthropogenic disturbances at multiple levels of ecological organization (i.e. from landscapes to assemblages). At the landscape scale (1000s m), we hypothesized that patchiness in habitat distribution and proportion of degraded assemblages would increase with increasing levels of disturbance, as a result of the decline of habitat-forming species. In addition, we hypothesized that prevailing human influences would affect the structure and variability of rocky benthic assemblages at smaller spatial scales (10s cm to 10s m). An extensive survey encompassing areas subjected to different human influences (i.e. from urbanized to protected areas) was carried out along the coasts of Tuscany (NW Mediterranean Sea). Seagrass beds and macroalgal canopy stands were the dominant habitats in relatively pristine areas, while macroalgal turfs and dead rhizomes of Posidonia oceanica were the most extended habitats in urbanized areas. In general, habitat fragmentation did not vary among areas subjected to different human influences. At a smaller scale (10s cm to 10s m), urbanization favored dominance by opportunistic species and promoted biotic homogenization. Our study shows that regional variations in the composition of landscapes and assemblages can be predicted on the basis of prevailing human activities. Our results also suggest that variations in landscape composition could be an effective descriptor of the effects of multiple human stressors in marine environments.L. Tamburello, L. Benedetti-Cecchi, G. Ghedini, T. Alestra, F. Buller
Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean
No full textPredicting community susceptibility to invasion has become a priority for preserving biodiversity. We tested the hypothesis that the occurrence and abundance of the seaweed Caulerpa racemosa in the north-western (NW) Mediterranean would increase with increasing levels of human disturbance. Data from a survey encompassing areas subjected to different human influences (i.e. from urbanized to protected areas) were fitted by means of generalized linear mixed models, including descriptors of habitats and communities. The incidence of occurrence of C. racemosa was greater on urban than extra-urban or protected reefs, along the coast of Tuscany and NW Sardinia, respectively. Within the Marine Protected Area of Capraia Island (Tuscan Archipelago), the probability of detecting C. racemosa did not vary according to the degree of protection (partial versus total). Human influence was, however, a poor predictor of the seaweed cover. At the seascape level, C. racemosa was more widely spread within degraded (i.e. Posidonia oceanica dead matte or algal turfs) than in better preserved habitats (i.e. canopy-forming macroalgae or P. oceanica seagrass meadows). At a smaller spatial scale, the presence of the seaweed was positively correlated to the diversity of macroalgae and negatively to that of sessile invertebrates. These results suggest that C. racemosa can take advantage of habitat degradation. Thus, predicting invasion scenarios requires a thorough knowledge of ecosystem structure, at a hierarchy of levels of biological organization (from the landscape to the assemblage) and detailed information on the nature and intensity of sources of disturbance and spatial scales at which they operate
Determinants of Caulerpa racemosa distribution in the north-western Mediterranean
No full text"Predicting community susceptibility to invasion has become a priority for preserving biodiversity. We tested the hypothesis that the occurrence and abundance of the seaweed Caulerpa racemosa in the north-western (NW) Mediterranean would increase with increasing levels of human disturbance. Data from a survey encompassing areas subjected to different human influences (i.e. from urbanized to protected areas) were fitted by means of generalized linear mixed models, including descriptors of habitats and communities. The incidence of occurrence of C. racemosa was greater on urban than extra-urban or protected reefs, along the coast of Tuscany and NW Sardinia, respectively. Within the Marine Protected Area of Capraia Island (Tuscan Archipelago), the probability of detecting C. racemosa did not vary according to the degree of protection (partial versus total). Human influence was, however, a poor predictor of the seaweed cover. At the seascape level, C. racemosa was more widely spread within degraded (i.e. Posidonia oceanica dead matte or algal turfs) than in better preserved habitats (i.e. canopy-forming macroalgae or P. oceanica seagrass meadows). At a smaller spatial scale, the presence of the seaweed was positively correlated to the diversity of macroalgae and negatively to that of sessile invertebrates. These results suggest that C. racemosa can take advantage of habitat degradation. Thus, predicting invasion scenarios requires a thorough knowledge of ecosystem structure, at a hierarchy of levels of biological organization (from the landscape to the assemblage) and detailed information on the nature and intensity of sources of disturbance and spatial scales at which they operate.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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