scholarly journals Wolves make roadways safer, generating large economic returns to predator conservation

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (22) ◽  
pp. e2023251118
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Raynor ◽  
Corbett A. Grainger ◽  
Dominic P. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Economic Benefit ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Landscape Of Fear ◽  
Vehicle Collisions ◽  
Wolf Predation ◽  
Deer Population

Recent studies uncover cascading ecological effects resulting from removing and reintroducing predators into a landscape, but little is known about effects on human lives and property. We quantify the effects of restoring wolf populations by evaluating their influence on deer–vehicle collisions (DVCs) in Wisconsin. We show that, for the average county, wolf entry reduced DVCs by 24%, yielding an economic benefit that is 63 times greater than the costs of verified wolf predation on livestock. Most of the reduction is due to a behavioral response of deer to wolves rather than through a deer population decline from wolf predation. This finding supports ecological research emphasizing the role of predators in creating a “landscape of fear.” It suggests wolves control economic damages from overabundant deer in ways that human deer hunters cannot.

scholarly journals Top carnivore decline has cascading effects on scavengers and carrion persistence

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1892) ◽  
pp. 20181582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calum X. Cunningham ◽  
Christopher N. Johnson ◽  
Leon A. Barmuta ◽  
Tracey Hollings ◽  
Eric J. Woehler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Disease ◽  
Tasmanian Devil ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Mesopredator Release ◽  
Landscape Of Fear ◽  
Feral Cat ◽  
Cascading Effects ◽  
Remote Cameras

Top carnivores have suffered widespread global declines, with well-documented effects on mesopredators and herbivores. We know less about how carnivores affect ecosystems through scavenging. Tasmania's top carnivore, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) , has suffered severe disease-induced population declines, providing a natural experiment on the role of scavenging in structuring communities. Using remote cameras and experimentally placed carcasses, we show that mesopredators consume more carrion in areas where devils have declined. Carcass consumption by the two native mesopredators was best predicted by competition for carrion, whereas consumption by the invasive mesopredator, the feral cat ( Felis catus ), was better predicted by the landscape-level abundance of devils, suggesting a relaxed landscape of fear where devils are suppressed. Reduced discovery of carcasses by devils was balanced by the increased discovery by mesopredators. Nonetheless, carcasses persisted approximately 2.6-fold longer where devils have declined, highlighting their importance for rapid carrion removal. The major beneficiary of increased carrion availability was the forest raven ( Corvus tasmanicus ). Population trends of ravens increased 2.2-fold from 1998 to 2017, the period of devil decline, but this increase occurred Tasmania-wide, making the cause unclear. This case study provides a little-studied potential mechanism for mesopredator release, with broad relevance to the vast areas of the world that have suffered carnivore declines.

Neurotensin Enhances Locomotor Activity and Arousal and Inhibits Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Signaling

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 35-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talia Levitas-Djerbi ◽  
Dana Sagi ◽  
Ilana Lebenthal-Loinger ◽  
Tali Lerer-Goldshtein ◽  
Lior Appelbaum
Keyword(s):  
Locomotor Activity ◽  
Hormone Receptor ◽  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Hormone Signaling ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Expression Levels ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Melanin Concentrating Hormone ◽  
Behavioral Assays

Background: Hypothalamic neurotensin (Nts)-secreting neurons regulate fundamental physiological processes including metabolism and feeding. However, the role of Nts in modulation of locomotor activity, sleep, and arousal is unclear. We previously identified and characterized Nts neurons in the zebrafish hypothalamus. Materials and Methods: In order to study the role of Nts, nts mutant (nts–/–), and overexpressing zebrafish were generated. Results: The expression of both nts mRNA and Nts protein was reduced during the night in wild-type zebrafish. Behavioral assays revealed that locomotor activity was decreased during both day and night, while sleep was increased exclusively during the nighttime in nts–/– larvae. Likewise, inducible overexpression of Nts increased arousal in hsp70:Gal4/uas:Nts larvae. Furthermore, the behavioral response to light-to-dark transitions was reduced in nts–/– larvae. In order to elucidate potential contenders that may mediate Nts action on these behaviors, we profiled the transcriptome of 6 dpf nts–/– larvae. Among other genes, the expression levels of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1b were increased in nts–/– larvae. Furthermore, a portion of promelanin-concentrating hormone 1 (pmch1) and pmch2 neurons expressed the nts receptor. In addition, expression of the the two zebrafish melanin-concentrating hormone (Mch) orthologs, Mch1 and Mch2, was increased in nts–/– larvae. Conclusion: These results show that the Nts and Mch systems interact and modulate locomotor activity and arousal.

The economic and financial viability of sheltered employment centres

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2261-2283
Author(s):  
Vera Gelashvili ◽  
Eva María Aguilar Pastor ◽  
María-Jesús Segovia-Vargas ◽  
Maria-del-Mar Camacho-Miñano
Keyword(s):  
Training Programs ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Very High

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether sheltered employment centers (CEEs) which have a higher rate of professionalization of their managers have better economic returns than those that have a lower one. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire has been drawn up for their managers. After collecting the answers, an index of professionalization classifies the CEEs with managers of high, medium and low levels of professionalism. This index is then correlated with the main financial ratios of companies. Findings The results show that companies with the highest level of managers’ professionalization, on average, have higher economic returns than companies with medium and low rates, although the difference is not very high. This study is an important contribution to academic literature, as it is the first to examine the professionalization of CEE managers. Research limitations/implications Finally, this paper is not short of limitations. The number of responses is small but there are similar studies with similar response rates. Additionally, the scarcity of responses may suggest that there is a lack of interest about the utility of professionalization by some CEEs managers because, perhaps, they do not have the necessary competences to understand its importance in management. Practical implications This study has some main implications for stakeholders: first, CEEs must pay more attention to the professionalization of their management team, because professionalization can lead to meeting its goals and guaranteeing the firm’s growth. Second, training programs in skills and attitudes should be designed to strengthen these competencies. Moreover, managers of social firms should know that the establishment of strategic plans will be useful to identify new opportunities in the market. Social implications Given the important role of these social firms for the employment of people with disabilities, training programs should be promoted by government in order to ensure the professionalization of these companies. Originality/value This research is an important contribution to the literature on this subject because there are no studies about the level of professionalization of CEEs, companies that represent an important value for the economy of a country.

You're in My World Now. Ownership and Access in the Proprietary Community of an MMOG

2011 ◽  
pp. 2058-2073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sal Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Economic Benefit ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Property Management ◽  
Production Network ◽  
Multiplayer Online Games ◽  
Social Nature ◽  
Intellectual Property Management ◽  
Distributed Production

This chapter considers how the interactive and social nature of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) presents challenges to systems of organisation, control, and regulation used for more conventional media products. It examines how the interactive structures of games cast players as producers of content, not merely consumers. This productive role creates a distributed production network that challenges the ideas of authorship which underpin copyright and intellectual property. The role of the publishers is shown to encompass community as well as intellectual property management. The communities generated within these games are a key source of economic benefit to the publishers. The contract that determines the conditions of access and the forms of governance inside proprietary worlds is considered in light of this newly intensified relationship between commerce and community. Questions are raised about the accountability of publishers, the role of the market, and the state in determining conditions of access.

The Role of Landscape in the Distribution of Deer-Vehicle Collisions in South Mississippi

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob J. McKee ◽  
David M. Cochran
Keyword(s):  
Vehicle Collisions

The Role of Wolf Predation in Limiting a Moose Population

1983 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 977 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Bergerud ◽  
W. Wyett ◽  
B. Snider
Keyword(s):  
Wolf Predation ◽  
Moose Population

scholarly journals Social Cues-Customer Behavior Relationship: The Mediating Role of Emotions and Cognition

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nawras M. Nusairat ◽  
Abdel Hakim O. Akhorshaideh ◽  
Tahir Rashid ◽  
Sunil Sahadev ◽  
Grazyna Rembielak
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Conceptual Models ◽  
Customer Behavior ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Shopping Mall ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
Positive Effect

This paper investigates the effect of social cues in a mall’s shopping environment on customer behavior. Two competing mediation scenarios are assessed: emotion-cognition and cognition-emotion in a stimulus-organism-response (SOR)-based framework. Although the role of social cues in driving customer behavior in shopping contexts is largely addressed in the extant literature, the mechanism of the effect is still under-researched area and this study is an attempt to fill this gap.The conceptual model is validated through a questionnaire survey of 1028 shopping mall customers from three cities in Jordan. Two different conceptual models are tested. The analysis reveals that the cognition-emotion mediated model is more robust in predicting the effect of social cues than emotion-cognition mediated model. The findings indicate that a) social cues have a significant positive effect on customers’ emotion of pleasure; cognition; and behavioral response; and b) only pleasure and cognition mediate the effect of social cues on customers’ behavioral response.Theoretically, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism by which customers’ emotions and cognition mediate the effect of social cues on customer behavior; and practically, it asserts the significance of social cues as a marketing tool. 

Prestige and Prejudice: The Role of Long Distance Big Game Hunting as an Optimal Foraging Decision

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanna N. Grimstead
Keyword(s):  
Central Place ◽  
Central Place Foraging ◽  
Economic Returns ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Return Rates ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Game Hunting ◽  
Big Game Hunting ◽  
Foraging Decision

AbstractSignaling theory has much to offer anthropology and archaeology, which is in part why there is an increasing number of applications and healthy debates surrounding how best to apply it. One of those debates surrounds whether big game hunting is a costly signal or simply an aspect of efficient foraging. Grimstead (2010) contributed to this debate by showing that long-distance big-game hunting (greater than 100 km roundtrip) produces higher caloric return rates than does local small-game hunting, despite increased costs of travel and transport for the former. Whittaker and Carpenter (this issue) present a model that also suggests long-distance big-game hunting produces higher economic returns than local foraging but only up to about 50 km. This paper provides further details on the tenets of the Grimstead (2010) paper in response to criticisms by Whittaker and Carpenter (this issue), and then uses a previously published central place foraging model (Cannon 2003) to show that another model also shows long-distance big-game hunting over a distance greater than 100 kilometers roundtrip produces higher returns than local foraging.

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