Search results for " Ecosystem"
showing 10 items of 633 documents
Understanding the Microfoundations of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Toward a Value-Based Method and Theory
2023
Despite the progress made by scholars, empirically investigating entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) remains problematic because of the inherent complexities and nonlinearities of interactions among EE actors. The research to date has shown a tendency to focus on macrolevel ecosystem dynamics while neglecting the microfoundations of EEs. We contend that this negligence is due to a lack of appropriate methodologies that can capture EE microfoundations through a systemic value-based perspective. To fill this gap, in this article, we propose a novel methodological approach, the value system method, which enables framing EEs through critical causal interdependences between key actors’ business mod…
Tracing the anthropocene back and forward: Rights for ecosystem services, local communities, and REDD
2020
The author of the book When Rights Embrace Responsibilities. Biocultural Rights and Conservation of the Environment replies to the comments raised by Francesco Viola and Gianfrancesco Zanetti in the present journal issue. She also dwells on some topics of her book which deserve further clarification and speculates on possible future developments of biocultural rights.
Disentangling conditional effects of multiple regime shifts on Atlantic cod productivity
2020
AbstractRegime shifts are increasingly prevalent in the ecological literature. However, definitions vary, and many detection methods are subjective. Here, we employ an operationally objective means of identifying regime shifts, using a Bayesian online change-point detection algorithm able to simultaneously identify shifts in the mean and(or) variance of time series data. We detected multiple regime shifts in long-term (59-154 years) patterns of coastal Norwegian Atlantic cod (>70% decline) and putative drivers of cod productivity: North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO); sea-surface temperature; zooplankton abundance; fishing mortality (F). The consequences of an environmental or climate-relate…
Evolutionary processes in the emergence and recent spread of the syphilis agent, Treponema pallidum
2022
Abstract The incidence of syphilis has risen worldwide in the last decade in spite of being an easily treated infection. The causative agent of this sexually transmitted disease is the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (TPA), very closely related to subsp. pertenue (TPE) and endemicum (TEN), responsible for the human treponematoses yaws and bejel, respectively. Although much focus has been placed on the question of the spatial and temporary origins of TPA, the processes driving the evolution and epidemiological spread of TPA since its divergence from TPE and TEN are not well understood. Here, we investigate the effects of recombination and selection as forces of genetic diver…
BIOCHARS IN SOILS: TOWARDS THE REQUIRED LEVEL OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING
2017
The special issue on Biochar as an Option for Sustainable Resource Management Key priorities in biochar research for future guidance of sustainable policy development have been identified by expert assessment within the COST Action TD1107. The current level of scientific understanding (LOSU) regarding the consequences of biochar application to soil were explored. Five broad thematic areas of biochar research were addressed: soil biodiversity and ecotoxicology, soil organic matter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, soil physical properties, nutrient cycles and crop production, and soil remediation. The highest future research priorities regarding biochar’s effects in soils were: functional …
Biochar and Forage Peanut improve pastures: Evidence from a field experiment in Brazil
2023
Pasturelands, often degraded, represent most of the converted lands globally. It is important to understand how different pasture management approaches can improve soil quality, increase feed production and farmer income. Here, the impact of different soil enhancers on soil quality and productivity of three cultivars of Brachiaria (Syn. Urochloa) forage grass is presented. Soil enhancers included: biochar - a carbon-rich product from biomass pyrolysis, moinha (local charcoal residue), traditional fertiliser containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, lime, and forage peanut (Arachis pintoi cv. Amarillo). Considering the total biomass produced over the experiment (sum of four harvests), t…
Comparing biological classifications of freshwater phytoplankton: a case study from South China
2012
The use of ecological classification systems is becoming more and more widely used when studying phytoplankton. Grouping phytoplankton species into ecologically coherent groups allow to reduce redundancy and in this way, to handle a minor number of biological variables when investigating the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. Three ecological classifications are mostly used when freshwater phytoplankton is studied: functional groups or coda, morpho-functional groups (MFGs) and morphology-based functional groups (MBFGs). In this study, these three ecological classifications were comparatively used along with two taxonomic classifications based on species and genera to analyse phytoplan…
Evenness, biodiversity, and ecosystem function of intertidal communities along the Italian coasts: Experimental short-term response to ambient and ex…
2023
Biodiversity can promote ecosystem functioning in both terrestrial and marine environments, emphasizing the neces- sity ofbiodiversity conservation in order to preserve critical ecosystem functions and associated services. However, the role of biodiversity in buffering ecosystem functioning under extreme events caused by climate change remains a major scientific issue, especially for intertidal systems experiencing stressors from both terrestrial and marine drivers. We performed a regional-scale field experiment along the Italian coast to investigate the response of unmanipulated intertidal communities (by using a natural biodiversity gradient) to low tide aerial exposure to both ambient an…
Spatio-temporal behaviour of the deep chlorophyll maximum in Mediterranean Sea: Development of a stochastic model for picophytoplankton dynamics
2013
In this paper, by using a stochastic reaction-diffusion-taxis model, we analyze the picophytoplankton dynamics in the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by poorly mixed waters. The model includes intraspecific competition of picophytoplankton for light and nutrients. The multiplicative noise sources present in the model account for random fluctuations of environmental variables. Phytoplankton distributions obtained from the model show a good agreement with experimental data sampled in two different sites of the Sicily Channel. The results could be extended to analyze data collected in different sites of the Mediterranean Sea and to devise predictive models for phytoplankton dynam…
Public Service Media’s Funding Crisis in the Face of the Digital Challenge
2020
The funding crisis of Public Service Media (PSM) is also a crisis affecting its legitimacy, business model, audience, innovation and transformation required to adapt to the current digital ecosystem, which is dominated by the changes in the access and consumption ways available to citizens, as well as by the new telecommunications global players. Eleven European countries have cut back the budgets of their public service media organizations during the past five years, and those which haven’t done it yet are facing adjustment plans until 2020. Besides financial pressures, European PSM is also facing increasing opposition from private operators, populist parties and the constant appetite for …