Search results for "HABIT"

Current agri-environmental policies dismiss varied perceptions and discourses on management of traditional rural biotopes

2017

Traditional rural biotopes (TRBs) are threatened habitats that host significant biodiversity and several ecosystem services, and depend on active management such as low-intensity grazing. The current study explores private landowners’ decision-making on TRB management and abandonment within a social-ecological system framework. We provide insight into supporting resilience of TRB systems in the face of agricultural modernization. Using a mixed methods approach with content analysis and Q analysis, we demonstrate that TRB management fosters cultural, biological, aesthetic, and utilitarian values. These are reflected in different ways through conservationist's, profit-oriented farmer's, lands…

Lake size and fish diversity determine resource use and trophic position of a top predator in high-latitude lakes

2015

Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web compartments are typically coupled and controlled by generalist fish top predators. However, the extent and determinants of such coupling remains a topical area of ecological research and is largely unknown in oligotrophic high-latitude lakes. We analyzed food-web structure and resource use by a generalist top predator, the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.), in 17 oligotrophic subarctic lakes…

Tree species influences diversity of ground-dwelling insects in afforested fields

2015

Abstract Impaired natural ecosystems, such as agricultural lands, are restored toward original or other target stage. Because the long agricultural history has changed the physical, chemical and biological features of the soil, afforested fields can harbor novel species assemblages and interactions. Our overall aim was to quantify the diversity of ground beetles and ants in early successional afforested fields. In a large scale field experiment, we compared plots that had been afforested 25 years ago by planting monocultures of birch, pine or spruce trees. A total of 4080 carabid individuals representing 41 species, and 131,933 ant individuals representing 15 species were recorded. Both the…

Rapid change in forms of inorganic nitrogen in soil and moderate weed invasion following translocation of wet meadows to reclaimed post‐industrial la…

2019

Anthropogenic expansion and loss of natural environments calls for the more sustainable use of resources, including land. To combine the conservation of highly valuable meadow habitat with reclamation of post‐industrial land, 1.3 ha of turf were translocated from an urban area to basins constructed near an abandoned quarry. In contrast to the usual method of choosing similar habitats as salvage sites, the selected quarry possessed different environmental properties to the meadows, challenging their acclimatisation. To evaluate the project, we monitored three meadows (Molinion caeruleae alliance) for three seasons: immediately before the transfer and for 2 years afterwards. We recorded veget…

Selection of spawning substratum by European river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis) in experimental tanks

2014

The selection of spawning substratum by the river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) was studied in two experimental tanks with different flow conditions. In both tanks, four gravel sizes mixed with 15% sand were available to the test animals. In the tank with the lower current speed, lampreys selected in favour of the finest (2–8 mm) gravel size available against gravel sizes 4–20 mm and 8–40 mm. Selection was also significantly different in the tank with higher current speed where selection against the medium-sized substratum (4–20 mm) was evident, but there were no differences between selection for gravel sizes 2–8 mm, 2–40 mm and 8–40 mm relative to availability. Substratum selection and ob…

Lotic life stages of the European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) : anthropogenic detriment and rehabilitation

2015

The participant interview: a method to understand the individual's experience in the car

2019

L’individu dans son automobile, durant ses déplacements quotidiens, habite d’une façon ou d’une autre l’espace circonscrit dans lequel il se trouve alors. De ce point de vue, il apparaît nécessaire de développer une ethno-sociologie des manières d’habiter son automobile. Pour atteindre cette ambition heuristique, nous préciserons ici les termes de cette méthode que nous nommons « entretien participant ». Hybridant les méthodes de l’entretien et de l’observation participante, l’entretien du rapport de l’individu contemporain à son automobile alternant sans cesse entre réflexivité et routines, entre repli sur soi et disponibilité au monde et à soi.

Dead wood profile of a semi-natural boreal forest – implications for sampling

2019

Dead wood profile of a forest is a useful tool for describing forest characteristics and assessing forest disturbance history. Nevertheless, there are few studies on dead wood profiles, including both coarse and fine dead wood, and on the effect of sampling intensity on the dead wood estimates. In a semi-natural boreal forest, we measured every dead wood item over 2 cm in diameter from 80 study plots. From eight plots, we further recorded dead wood items below 2 cm in diameter. Based on these data we constructed the full dead wood profile, i.e. the overall number of dead wood items and their distribution among different tree species, volumes of different size and decay stage categories. We …

Dispersal ecology of deadwood organisms and connectivity conservation

2018

Limited knowledge of dispersal for most organisms hampers effective connectivity conservation in fragmented landscapes. In forest ecosystems, deadwood‐dependent organisms (i.e., saproxylics) are negatively affected by forest management and degradation globally. We reviewed empirically established dispersal ecology of saproxylic insects and fungi. We focused on direct studies (e.g., mark‐recapture, radiotelemetry), field experiments, and population genetic analyses. We found 2 somewhat opposite results. Based on direct methods and experiments, dispersal is limited to within a few kilometers, whereas genetic studies showed little genetic structure over tens of kilometers, which indicates long…

Reflective and Impulsive Processes Underlying Saving Behavior and the Additional Roles of Self-Control and Habit

2018

Using a dual-process framework, the aim of this research was to investigate the associations between reflective and impulsive processes and saving behavior. Self-control and saving habit were tested as additional factors that potentially moderate the relationship between constructs representing reflective and impulsive processes and behavior, or exert indirect effects on behavior through these systems. A community sample of 594 participants completed measures of saving intention, buying impulsiveness, trait self-control, saving automaticity, and propensity to save money. A well-fitting variance-based structural equation model, goodness-of-fit index = 0.338, average path coefficient = .119, …