Building Partnerships and Bridging Science and Policy to Address the Biological Invasions Crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob N. Barney ◽  
Todd Schenk ◽  
David C. Haak ◽  
Scott Salom ◽  
Bryan Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Nongovernmental Organizations ◽  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Local State ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Species Introductions ◽  
Solution Design

AbstractBiological invasions are one of the grand challenges facing society, as exotic species introductions continue to rise and can result in dramatic changes to native ecosystems and economies. The scale of the “biological invasions crisis” spans from hyperlocal to international, involving a myriad of actors focused on mitigating and preventing biological invasions. However, the level of engagement among stakeholders and opportunities to collaboratively solve invasives issues in transdisciplinary ways is poorly understood. The Biological Invasions: Confronting a Crisis workshop engaged a broad group of actors working on various aspects of biological invasions in Virginia, USA—researchers, Extension personnel, educators, local, state, and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and land managers—to discuss their respective roles and how they interact with other groups. Through a series of activities, it became clear that despite shared goals, most groups are not engaging with one another, and that enhanced communication and collaboration among groups is key to designing effective solutions. There is strong support for a multistakeholder coalition to affect change in policy, public education/engagement, and solution design. Confronting the biological invasions crisis will increasingly require engagement among stakeholders.

Examining How Stakeholders at the Local, State, and National Levels Made Sense of the Changed Kindergarten

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 822-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher P. Brown ◽  
Joanna Englehardt ◽  
David P. Barry ◽  
Da Hei Ku
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
First Grade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Local State ◽  
National Education ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Academic Content ◽  
Education Stakeholders

Kindergarten in the United States has fundamentally changed. It is the new first grade where children are taught increased academic content and experience more standardized testing. There is much debate among education stakeholders about these changes, but such discussions are often siloed— making it difficult to know whether these changes reflect these stakeholders’ understandings of kindergarten specifically or public education in general. This explorative video-cued multivocal ethnographic study addressed this issue by examining how local, state, and national education stakeholders made sense of the changed kindergarten. Such findings provide insight into what it is they viewed driving these academic and instructional changes, what opportunities for further reform exist, and whether these stakeholders will work to support and/or alter such changes.

scholarly journals Acquisition of fungi from the environment modifies ambrosia beetle mycobiome during invasion

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Rassati ◽  
Lorenzo Marini ◽  
Antonino Malacrinò
Keyword(s):  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Exotic Species ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Ambrosia Beetle ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Bottleneck Effect ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Microbial Symbionts ◽  
Insect Fungi ◽  
Native Fungi

Microbial symbionts can play critical roles when their host attempts to colonize a new habitat. The lack of symbiont adaptation can in fact hinder the invasion process of their host. This scenario could change if the exotic species are able to acquire microorganisms from the invaded environment. Understanding the ecological factors that influence the take-up of new microorganisms is thus essential to clarify the mechanisms behind biological invasions. In this study, we tested whether different forest habitats influence the structure of the fungal communities associated with ambrosia beetles. We collected individuals of the most widespread exotic (Xylosandrus germanus) and native (Xyleborinus saxesenii) ambrosia beetle species in Europe in several old-growth and restored forests. We characterized the fungal communities associated with both species via metabarcoding. We showed that forest habitat shaped the community of fungi associated with both species, but the effect was stronger for the exotic X. germanus. Our results support the hypothesis that the direct contact with the mycobiome of the invaded environment might lead an exotic species to acquire native fungi. This process is likely favored by the occurrence of a bottleneck effect at the mycobiome level and/or the disruption of the mechanisms sustaining co-evolved insect-fungi symbiosis. Our study contributes to the understanding of the factors affecting insect-microbes interactions, helping to clarify the mechanisms behind biological invasions.

Ceará

2019 ◽  
pp. 246-280
Author(s):  
Rebecca Tarlau
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Education ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Local State ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
National Context ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
National Trends ◽  
Contemporary Context

Chapter 6 analyzes the MST’s engagement with public schools in Ceará in the late 2000s, in a very different context, when the movement’s educational initiatives are already recognized nationally. During this period, MST activists in Ceará win access to four high schools in their settlements, specifically designated as escolas do campo (school of the countryside). Chapter 6 shows how the national context, while not determining of regional trajectories, directly influences local relations between movement activists and local state officials. More specifically, a conservative government in Ceará agrees to work with the MST due to increasing external pressure. In contrast, São Paulo was able to deflect this national advocacy, illustrating that high-capacity states can still override the influence of national trends. This chapter also shows the evolution of the MST’s pedagogical practices and what the MST’s contentious co-governance of public education looks like in the contemporary context.

Optimizing the ROI of Enterprise Architecture Using Real Options

2011 ◽  
pp. 48-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Rico
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Real Options ◽  
Return On Investment ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Business Value ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Local State ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
Goals And Objectives ◽  
Contemporary Approach

This chapter illustrates how to optimize the return on investment (ROI) of enterprise architecture. Enterprise architecture is a blueprint for defining the structure and operation of organizations such as local, state, and federal agencies. Done well, enterprise architecture results in leaner and more effective information systems that satisfy organizational goals and objectives. This chapter introduces a suite of simple metrics and models for measuring the ROI of enterprise architecture. This chapter also introduces real options, which is a contemporary approach to measuring ROI. Whereas typical measures tend to underestimate ROI, real options have the ability to unearth business value hidden deep within the economics of investments in enterprise architecture.

scholarly journals Outbreaks attributed to fresh leafy vegetables, United States, 1973–2012

2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (14) ◽  
pp. 3011-3021 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. HERMAN ◽  
A. J. HALL ◽  
L. H. GOULD
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Shiga Toxin ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Local State ◽  
Leafy Vegetable ◽  
Leafy Vegetables ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Control And Prevention

SUMMARYLeafy vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet; however, they have been associated with high-profile outbreaks causing severe illnesses. We reviewed leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1973 and 2012. During the study period, 606 leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks, with 20 003 associated illnesses, 1030 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths were reported. On average, leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks were larger than those attributed to other food types. The pathogens that most often caused leafy vegetable-associated outbreaks were norovirus (55% of outbreaks with confirmed aetiology), Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) (18%), and Salmonella (11%). Most outbreaks were attributed to food prepared in a restaurant or catering facility (85%). An ill food worker was implicated as the source of contamination in 31% of outbreaks. Efforts by local, state, and federal agencies to control leafy vegetable contamination and outbreaks should span from the point of harvest to the point of preparation.

scholarly journals The global spread and invasion capacities of alien ants

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark K. L. Wong ◽  
Evan P Economo ◽  
Benoit Guenard
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Biological Invasions ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Multistage Process ◽  
Species Introductions ◽  
Global Diversity ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Blind Spots

The ecological and economic impacts of biological invasions are usually highly conspicuous, but these are the outcome of a global, multistage process that is obscured from view. For most taxa, we lack a large-scale picture of the movements of alien species, the biases and filters that promote or inhibit their spread at each stage, and blind spots in our ability to detect species during their spread. For instance, countries rely heavily on customs interceptions to prevent new species introductions, but their efficacy for detecting invaders remains unclear. To address these gaps, we synthesize and provide data at unprecedented geographic resolution on the global diversity and distribution of alien ants, a pervasive group strongly impacting humans and ecosystems. From >145,000 records spanning 602 regions, we identify 522 ant species exhibiting human-mediated spread, doubling recent estimates of their diversity. We show that movements of alien ant species across regions globally are non-random and, moreover, that these flows differ by the extents to which species invade—ranging from arrival to indoor establishment, naturalization, and harmful status. Importantly, we find that almost two-thirds of the 309 species that naturalize globally—most of which are ground- and litter-dwelling—are absent from customs interceptions, which record disproportionately high numbers of arboreal species. Our results illustrate the vast, yet uneven extent of ant invasions globally, and suggest that most alien species bypass biosecurity controls while spreading successfully worldwide. This raises doubts on the efficacy of current customs interceptions procedures and highlights a need for radically new approaches.

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