scholarly journals Direct and indirect effects of roads on space use by jaguars in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafaela Cobucci Cerqueira ◽  
Oscar Rodríguez de Rivera ◽  
Jochen A. G. Jaeger ◽  
Clara Grilo
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Landscape Modification ◽  
Species Response

AbstractRoads pose an imminent threat to wildlife directly through mortality and changes in individual behavior, and also indirectly through modification of the amount and configuration of wildlife habitat. However, few studies have addressed how these mechanisms interact to determine species response to roads. We used structural equation modeling to assess direct and indirect effects (via landscape modification) of roads on space use by jaguars in Brazil, using radio-tracking data available from the literature. We fit path models that directly link jaguars’ space use to roads and to land cover, and indirectly link jaguars’ space use to roads through the same land cover categories. Our findings show that space use by jaguars was not directly affected by roads, but indirect effects occurred through reductions in natural areas on which jaguars depend, and through urban sprawl. Males´ space use, however, was not negatively influenced by urban areas. Since jaguars seem to ignore roads, mitigation should be directed to road fencing and promoting safe crossings. We argue that planners and managers need to much more seriously take into account the deforestation and the unbridled urban expansion from roads to ensure jaguar conservation in Brazil.

scholarly journals Spatial-Temporal Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Urban Areas Using Remote Sensing Images and GIS Analysis: The Case Study of Opole, Poland

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 312
Author(s):  
Barbara Wiatkowska ◽  
Janusz Słodczyk ◽  
Aleksandra Stokowska
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Management Procedures

Urban expansion is a dynamic and complex phenomenon, often involving adverse changes in land use and land cover (LULC). This paper uses satellite imagery from Landsat-5 TM, Landsat-8 OLI, Sentinel-2 MSI, and GIS technology to analyse LULC changes in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The research was carried out in Opole, the capital of the Opole Agglomeration (south-western Poland). Maps produced from supervised spectral classification of remote sensing data revealed that in 20 years, built-up areas have increased about 40%, mainly at the expense of agricultural land. Detection of changes in the spatial pattern of LULC showed that the highest average rate of increase in built-up areas occurred in the zone 3–6 km (11.7%) and above 6 km (10.4%) from the centre of Opole. The analysis of the increase of built-up land in relation to the decreasing population (SDG 11.3.1) has confirmed the ongoing process of demographic suburbanisation. The paper shows that satellite imagery and GIS can be a valuable tool for local authorities and planners to monitor the scale of urbanisation processes for the purpose of adapting space management procedures to the changing environment.

Historical and Future Land-Cover Change in a Municipality of Ghana

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel M. Attua ◽  
Joshua B. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Land Cover Changes ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Land Administration

Abstract Urban land-cover change is increasing dramatically in most developing nations. In Africa and in the New Juaben municipality of Ghana in particular, political stability and active socioeconomic progress has pushed the urban frontier into the countryside at the expense of the natural ecosystems at ever-increasing rates. Using Landsat satellite imagery from 1985 to 2003, the study found that the urban core expanded by 10% and the peri-urban areas expanded by 25% over the period. Projecting forward to 2015, it is expected that urban infrastructure will constitute 70% of the total land area in the municipality. Giving way to urban expansion were losses in open woodlands (19%), tree fallow (9%), croplands (4%), and grass fallow (3%), with further declines expected for 2015. Major drivers of land-cover changes are attributed to demographic changes and past microeconomic policies, particularly the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP); the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP); and, more recently, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS). Pluralistic land administration, complications in the land tenure systems, institutional inefficiencies, and lack of capacity in land administration were also key drivers of land-cover changes in the New Juaben municipality. Policy recommendations are presented to address the associated challenges.

Spatiotemporal Pattern Analysis of Rapid Urban Expansion Using GIS and Remote Sensing

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Joong Kim
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Spatiotemporal Pattern ◽  
Land Use Land Cover ◽  
Modeling Studies

Rapidly growing urban areas tend to reveal distinctive spatial and temporal variations of land use/land cover in a locally urbanized environment. In this article, the author analyzes urban growth phenomena at a local scale by employing Geographic Information Systems, remotely sensed image data from 1984, 1994, and 2004, and landscape shape index. Since spatial patterns of land use/land cover changes in small urban areas are not fully examined by the current GIS-based modeling studies or simulation applications, the major objective of this research is to identify and examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of land use changes of urban growth at a local scale. Analytical results demonstrate that sizes, locations, and shapes of new developments are spatio-temporally associated with their landscape variations and major transportation arteries. The key findings from this study contribute to GIS-based urban growth modeling studies and urban planning practices for local communities.

Measuring the effectiveness of managerial action in SMEs

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 892-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A. Metts
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Automotive Manufacturing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Managerial Action ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Competitive Forces ◽  
Strategy Making

PurposeThe paper's purpose is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of industry competitive forces on strategy‐making and performance in small‐to‐medium‐sized manufacturing companies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's approach is a survey design with structural equation modeling used for hypotheses testing.FindingsThe findings provide strong support for the mitigating role of managerial action through the strategy‐making process and indications that this is true regardless of small‐to‐medium‐sized enterprise (SME) size. Also, automotive‐manufacturing SMEs seem to exhibit higher levels of competitive factors compared with non‐automotive manufacturing SMEs.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this research is that the survey was taken in the Mid‐western USA and involved only SME manufacturing organizations. The research should be extended to other geographic regions, industry types, and larger organizations.Practical implicationsMany small company managers feel that they have little impact on industry‐wide macro‐economic and industry‐specific forces. This research indicates that managers in SMEs can mitigate some of the negative effects of industry competitive factors through strategy‐making activities.Originality/valueThis research is unique in several ways. It is the only research that has clearly identified and successfully measured the impact of managerial action in SMEs. It demonstrates that managerial action can be measured by comparing the direct and indirect effects of industry competitive forces on performance. It further identifies the need for a self‐assessment tool to measure the effectiveness of managerial action of top managers in SMEs.

scholarly journals Personality traits and combat exposure as predictors of psychopathology over time

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Koffel ◽  
M. D. Kramer ◽  
P. A. Arbisi ◽  
C. R. Erbes ◽  
M. Kaler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Externalizing Symptoms ◽  
Combat Exposure ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing ◽  
Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms

Background.Research suggests that personality traits have both direct and indirect effects on the development of psychological symptoms, with indirect effects mediated by stressful or traumatic events. This study models the direct influence of personality traits on residualized changes in internalizing and externalizing symptoms following a stressful and potentially traumatic deployment, as well as the indirect influence of personality on symptom levels mediated by combat exposure.Method.We utilized structural equation modeling with a longitudinal prospective study of 522 US National Guard soldiers deployed to Iraq. Analyses were based on self-report measures of personality, combat exposure, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms.Results.Both pre-deployment Disconstraint and externalizing symptoms predicted combat exposure, which in turn predicted internalizing and externalizing symptoms. There was a significant indirect effect for pre-deployment externalizing symptoms on post-deployment externalizing via combat exposure (p< 0.01). Negative Emotionality and pre-deployment internalizing symptoms directly predicted post-deployment internalizing symptoms, but both were unrelated to combat exposure. No direct effects of personality on residualized changes in externalizing symptoms were found.Conclusions.Baseline symptom dimensions had significant direct and indirect effects on post-deployment symptoms. Controlling for both pre-exposure personality and symptoms, combat experiences remained positively related to both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Implications for diagnostic classification are discussed.

Land Cover Change Simulations in Yangon Under Several Scenarios of Flood and Earthquake Vulnerabilities with Master Plan

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanakorn Sritarapipat ◽  
◽  
Wataru Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Land Cover Change ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Land Cover Changes ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Economic Area ◽  
Urban Planning And Management ◽  
Multiple Scenarios

Yangon is the largest city and major economic area in Myanmar. However, it is considered to have a high risk of floods and earthquakes. In order to mitigate future flood and earthquake damage in Yangon, land cover change simulations considering flood and earthquake vulnerabilities are needed to support urban planning and management. This paper proposes land cover change simulations in Yangon from 2020 to 2040 under various scenarios of flood and earthquake vulnerabilities with a master plan. In our methodology, we used a dynamic statistical model to predict urban expansion in Yangon from 2020 to 2040. We employed a master plan as the future dataset to enhance the prediction of urban expansion. We applied flood and earthquake vulnerabilities based on multi-criteria analysis as the areas vulnerable to disaster. We simulated land cover changes from 2020 to 2040 considering the vulnerable areas with a master plan for multiple scenarios. The experiments indicated that by using a master plan, some of the predicted urban areas are still located in areas highly vulnerable to floods and earthquakes. By integrating the prediction of urban expansion with flood and earthquake vulnerabilities, the predicted urban areas can effectively avoid areas highly vulnerable to floods and earthquakes.

scholarly journals Space use by resident and transient coyotes in an urban–rural landscape mosaic

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Numi Mitchell ◽  
Michael W. Strohbach ◽  
Ralph Pratt ◽  
Wendy C. Finn ◽  
Eric G. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Rhode Island ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Scale Space ◽  
Rural Landscape ◽  
Urban Land Use ◽  
Mixed Effect

Context Coyotes (Canis latrans) have adapted successfully to human landscape alteration in the past 150 years and in recent decades have successfully moved into urban areas. While this causes concern about human–wildlife conflicts, research also suggests that coyotes tend to avoid humans and human activity in urban areas. For improving management, a better understanding of space use by coyotes is needed. Aims To study how coyote social behaviour influences fine-scale space use in urban areas we present results from an extensive, multi-year GPS telemetry study (2005–13). The study area in coastal Rhode Island is a mosaic of rural, suburban and urban land use and coyotes have only recently arrived. Methods We differentiated between two social classes: residents (individuals that have established a territory; n = 24) and transients (individuals that have no territory; n = 7). Space use was analysed using mixed effect models and detailed land-cover data. Key results Coyotes tended to select for agricultural and densely vegetated land cover and against land used for housing and commerce. Pasture and cropland were preferred by residents and avoided by transients, especially at night, indicating the role of agricultural land as prime foraging habitat. Both groups selected densely vegetated land cover for daytime shelter sites. Transients selected for densely vegetated land cover both day and night, indicating use for both shelter and foraging. Resident coyotes avoided high- and medium-density housing more than transients. Conclusions We interpret land-cover selection by resident coyotes as indicative of coyote habitat preference, while transients more often occupied marginal habitats that probably do not reflect their preferences. Differences in land cover selection between residents and transients suggest that transients have a corollary strategy to avoid residents. Implications With cover and food appearing to be important drivers of space use, coexistence strategies can build on controlling food resources as well as on the tendency of coyotes to avoid humans. Nevertheless, transients, having the need to avoid territorial resident coyotes as well, show a reduced aversion to land cover with high human activity, creating a higher potential for human–wildlife conflicts.

scholarly journals Contribution of vitamin D status as a determinant of cardiometabolic risk factors: a structural equation model, National Food and Nutrition Surveillance

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahareh Nikooyeh ◽  
Tirang R. Neyestani
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Vitamin D ◽  
Lipid Profile ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Sun Exposure ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Food And Nutrition

Abstract Background Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a method used to evaluate linear causal relationships among variables. This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effects of serum 25(OH) D on certain cardiovascular risk factors using SEM. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in six provinces of Iran. Subjects (n = 922), aged 19–65 years, were selected from National Food and Nutrition Surveillance. The assessments were sun-exposure behavior, anthropometric and biochemical measurements. A series of SEM models were tested and the model with the best fit indices was considered for use in the structural part of the model. Based on the literature review of previous theoretical models and supporting bivariate analyses, an overall SEM examined direct or indirect associations among observed and latent variables. We put the demographic, duration of sun exposure, anthropometric and metabolic variables in our model. Results The paths between serum 25(OH) D and BMI were inverse and statistically significant, whereas age showed a positive association with BMI (B = 0.06, p < 0.001), both direct (st. effect = 0.11, p = 0.01) and indirect via vitamin D (st. effect = − 0.02, p = 0.01). The results confirmed that serum 25(OH) D concentration is a predictor for latent variable of lipid profile (B = − 0.13, p = 0.01) both through direct (p = 0.02) and indirect effects via BMI (p = 0.01). Conclusion Serum 25(OH) D concentration is a predictor of BMI and also a latent variable of lipid profile via direct and indirect effects. It can also attenuate the harmful effect of age on BMI and lipid profile particularly in women.

scholarly journals Thermal flexibility and a generalist life history promote urban tolerance in butterflies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey Thomas Callaghan ◽  
Diana Bowler ◽  
Henrique Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Species Response ◽  
Species Specific

Urban expansion poses a serious threat to biodiversity. Given that the expected area of urban land cover is predicted to increase by 2-3 million km2 by 2050, urban environments are one of the most widespread human-dominated land-uses affecting biodiversity. Responses to urbanization differ greatly among species. Some species are unable to tolerate urban environments (i.e., urban avoiders), others are able to adapt and use areas with moderate levels of urbanization (i.e., urban adapters), and yet others are able to colonize and even thrive in urban environments (i.e., urban exploiters). Quantifying species-specific responses to urbanization remains an important goal, but our current understanding of urban tolerance is heavily biased towards traditionally well-studied taxa (e.g., mammals and birds). We integrated a continuous measure of urbanization — VIIRS night-time lights — with over 900,000 species’ observations from GBIF to derive a comprehensive analysis of species-specific (N=158 species) responses of butterflies to urbanization across Europe. The majority of butterfly species included in our analysis avoided urban areas, regardless of whether species’ urban tolerances were quantified as a mean score of urban tolerance across all occurrences (79%) or as a species’ response curve to the whole urbanization gradient (55%). We then used the species-specific responses to urbanization to assess which life history strategies promote urban tolerance in butterflies. These trait-based analyses found strong evidence that the average number of flight months, likely associated with thermal niche breath, and number of adult food types were positively associated with urban tolerance, while hostplant specialism was negatively associated with urban tolerance. Overall, our results demonstrate that specialist butterflies, both in terms of thermal and diet preferences, are most at risk from increasing urbanization, and should thus be considered in urban planning and prioritized for conservation.

scholarly journals The effectiveness of government policies for export promotion on the export performance of SMEs Cocoa exporters in Cameroon

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Zisuh Njinyah
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Export Performance ◽  
Export Promotion ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Direct And Indirect Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Marketing Information

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of the direct and indirect effects (through country and firm’s specific advantages) of government policies for export promotion (GPEP) on the export performance of small and medium-size enterprise (SME) Cocoa exporters in Cameroon. Design/methodology/approach To test the proposed model, data were obtained through self-administered questionnaires using snowball sampling technique to 101 SME Cocoa exporters. This was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques to examine both the direct and indirect effects of GPEP on the export performance of SME Cocoa exporters in the South and Centre Regions of Cameroon. Findings The findings suggest that GPEP had both direct and indirect effects on the export performance of SME Cocoa exporters. Direct effect was on the usage of GPEP which reduces operating cost and increase performance. The indirect effects were through the provision of country and firms specific advantages. However, the only significant path was through the provision of export marketing information. Research limitations/implications The research is limited to one country, one sector, and two regions and does not take into consideration other factors that may influence the effect of GPEP, country, and firms specific advantages on export performance. Moreover, the non-significant paths should be interpreted with caution and further testing required in a different context. Practical implications Empirical findings are relevant for the government and SME Cocoa exporters. It informs the government about the effectiveness of GPEP and the need to disseminate marketing information using every possible medium best understood by the SMEs. It suggests an opportunity for engagement of both SMEs and government authorities in accessing the outcome of GPEP which will increase transparency, awareness, usage, and export performance. Originality/value The research has successfully developed and tested a model for analyzing the direct and indirect effects of GPEP on export performance based on the resource-based view and SEM in a context where there is a call for more empirical and theoretical work on export performance due to limited studies. The framework reveals positive effects of GPEP, country, and firms’ specific advantages as determinants of export performance.

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