1,721,136 research outputs found
Dung beetle community data at Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project in 2022
No full text<p>The Kuamut Rainforest Conservation Project (KRCP) is a critical initiative aimed at safeguarding the delicate tropical forest ecosystems in the Tongod and Kinabatangan districts of Sabah, located on the island of Malaysian Borneo. These ecosystems encompass a total area of 83,381 hectares and primarily consist of lowland and hill mix dipterocarp forests, which are known for their rich biodiversity and ecological importance. </p><p>To achieve this, the project focuses on dung beetles as a focal taxon for study due to their strong dependence on mammal dung. The presence and diversity of dung beetles serve as valuable indicators of ecosystem health, making them a suitable proxy for monitoring changes in forest ecosystems. In addition, Dung beetles play a vital role in nutrient cycling and decomposition processes within ecosystems. Their presence and activity are closely linked to the overall health and functioning of the forest. Monitoring dung beetle populations can provide insights into the ecological values of the KRCP area. By understanding the dynamics of dung beetle populations in response to human activities and habitat changes, the KRCP project can inform conservation efforts in the region. We used human dung for all ground pitfall traps and canopy traps, and the traps were set in the field for 24 hours. The fieldwork were conducted on September 2022. </p>
Effects of soil management practices on soil fauna feeding activity in an Indonesian oil palm plantation
Full text linkOptimizing the use of available soil management practices in oil palm plantations is crucial to enhance long-term soil fertility and productivity. However, this needs a thorough understanding of the functional responses of soil biota to these management practices. To address this knowledge gap, we used the bait lamina method to investigate the effects of different soil management practices on soil fauna feeding activity, and whether feeding activity was associated with management-mediated changes in soil chemical properties, in a 15-year-old oil palm plantation. We examined the four management zones: (1) empty fruit bunch (EFB) application along the sides of harvesting paths; (2) chemical fertilization within palm circles; (3) understory vegetation with pruned fronds in inter-row areas; (4) no input in the cleared part of the harvesting paths. Our results showed significantly higher soil fauna feeding activity under the EFB application compared to other management practices, and this was associated with improved soil chemical properties and soil moisture conditions. Principal component analysis on soil properties indicated that 71.2% of variance was explained by the first two principal components (PCs). Soil pH, base saturation and soil moisture contributed positively to PC1, while exchangeable aluminum and hydrogen contributed negatively to PC1. The results demonstrate that different soil management practices at the tree-scale have the ability to create spatial complexity in soil fauna feeding activity and soil chemical properties. This suggests that the practice of EFB application plays an important role in enhancing soil ecosystem functioning in oil palm plantations, which may ultimately contribute to sustainable palm oil production
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
Dung beetle - mammal interactions in tropical forests
Full text linkDung beetles are functionally-important insects which feed on the faeces of mammals. They are widely studied as biodiversity indicators, and as a model taxon for investigating relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In this thesis I explore dung beetle - mammal associations in tropical forests, aiming to place dung beetle resource use in the context of the mammal species on which they rely. In a systematic review of the literature (Chapter 1) I find a growing literature on dung beetle ecology in the context of ecosystem functioning and habitat and land use change; this growth has not been matched by a corresponding increase in research into the associations of dung beetles with mammals. I summarise the methods and findings from previous dung beetle - mammal association studies, finding that the few field studies of dung beetles that include mammal data document a large impact of mammal species presence and species composition on dung beetle species richness and abundance. This highlights a research gap in our understanding of how dung beetles and mammals are associated.
In a mesocosm choice experiment (Chapter 2), I find that five dung beetle species from the Atlantic Forest of Brazil vary in their preference towards dung types, but there was no evidence of intraspecific variation in dung choice. In Chapter 3 I assess the magnitude of interactions between dung beetles and dung used either for dung removal (brood ball formation or feeding) or general attraction (liquid feeding or breeding). I show that the trapping method and the type of dung used affect the suite of beetles captured, with the potential to influence the outcome of experiments linking functions to interactions. In Chapter 4 I construct the first quantitative mammal- dung beetle networks and use them to model mammal species extinction scenarios, exploring the consequences for dung beetle populations. I find dung beetle feeding and breeding networks do not differ significantly in structure and show high nestedness and low levels of trophic specialization. Simulations suggest that mammal extinction scenarios based on mammal body mass and mammal dung volume will impact dung beetle populations to a greater extent than random scenarios of mammal loss.
Finally (Chapter 5), I use a joint species distribution modelling approach to investigate the role of mammal species composition, abiotic factors and forest structure in determining dung beetle species distributions, using data from Malaysian Borneo. I find that the mammal feeding group biomass explained over half of the variation in dung beetle species occurrence. I show that all 43 dung beetle species are significantly less likely to be observed where carnivore biomass and air temperature are high. Dung beetle species show idiosyncratic responses to the other explanatory variables, and these responses were poorly explained by species traits. Pairwise dung beetle - mammal co-occurrence patterns reveal a higher proportion of positive associations in oil palm compared to old growth and logged forest.
Overall, results from this thesis suggest that although dung beetles exhibit generalist intraspecific and interspecific feeding and breeding behaviour, mammal species composition and abundance is a key factor influencing their distribution. Further work is needed to identify the strength and extent of interactions among different dung beetle species and mammal trophic groups to gain an improved understanding of how environmental change will directly and indirectly affect dung beetle species and the ecosystem functions they provide.</p
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
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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