scholarly journals Effects of productive management of an agroforestry system on the associated diversity of parasitoids (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Marisol Pech Cutis ◽  
Luis Enrique Castillo Sánchez ◽  
Jorge Rodolfo Canul Solís ◽  
Ermilo López Coba ◽  
Nery Maria Ruz Febles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
Agroforestry System ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Parasitoid Species ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
Specialist Species

The overuse of pesticides, landscape fragmentation and poor environmental management practices have contributed to the drastic decline of Neotropical unique biodiversity. Parasitoid wasps are widely used as biological control agents, however little is known about the effects of land use and degradation on parasitoid species richness and abundance. This work explores how parasitoid species richness is affected by agroecosystems in which plant diversity is limited (crops; crops adjacent to secondary vegetation). It was found that there is no direct effect of plant diversity in the group of parasitoids studied; however, the number of specialist species (koinobionts) was high, which indicates that diversified  agroecosystems probably function as remnants of natural habitat. Future research could help further understand the extent to which landscape fragmentation and plant diversity may alter host-plants interactions and parasitism strategies.

scholarly journals Resource enrichment combined with biomass removal maintains plant diversity and community stability in a long-term grazed grassland

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-620
Author(s):  
Feng-Wei Xu ◽  
Jian-Jun Li ◽  
Li-Ji Wu ◽  
Xiao-Ming Lu ◽  
Wen Xing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Community Stability ◽  
Water Addition ◽  
Biomass Removal

Abstract Aims Long-term heavy grazing reduces plant diversity and ecosystem function by intensifying nitrogen (N) and water limitation. In contrast, the absence of biomass removal can cause species loss by elevating light competition and weakening community stability, which is exacerbated by N and water enrichment. Hence, how to maintain species diversity and community stability is still a huge challenge for sustainable management of worldwide grasslands. Methods We conducted a 4-year manipulated experiment in six long-term grazing blocks to explore combination of resource additions and biomass removal (increased water, N and light availability) on species richness and community stability in semiarid grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China. Important Findings In all blocks treated with the combination of resource additions and biomass removal, primary productivity increased and species richness and community stability were maintained over 4 years of experiment. At both species and plant functional group (PFG) levels, the aboveground biomass of treated plants remained temporally stable in treatments with the combination of N and/or water addition and biomass removal. The maintenance of species richness was primarily caused by the biomass removal, which could increase the amount of light exposure for grasses under resource enrichment. Both species asynchrony and stability of PFGs contributed to the high temporal stability observed in these communities. Our results indicate that management practices of combined resource enrichment with biomass removal, such as grazing or mowing, could not only enhance primary productivity but also maintain plant species diversity, species asynchrony and community stability. Furthermore, as overgrazing-induced degradation and resource enrichment-induced biodiversity loss continue to be major problems worldwide, our findings have important implications for adaptive management in semiarid grasslands and beyond.

scholarly journals Stakeholder Influences and Environmental Management Practices in Fleet Operations – A Research Agenda

2015 ◽  
Vol 773-774 ◽  
pp. 1360-1364
Author(s):  
Ai Chin Thoo ◽  
Lay Jie Tan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Environmental Management Practices ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Fleet Operations

Relationship between stakeholder influences and environmental management practices has not yet received sufficient attention in academic research in Malaysian fleet operations. Due to the increased awareness and concern among stakeholders for environmentally friendly business processes, the two main stakeholder influences including regulatory pressures and customer pressures are considered in combination to ensure firms to behave ethically and socially responsible. Environmental management practices including effectiveness of policy, effectiveness of implementation and effectiveness of planning in environmental management are one of the effective ways of dealing with environmental risks and costs. However, there is a little empirical research on how practitioners define and incorporate stakeholder influences into overall environmental management practices, particularly in the context of fleet operations. As such, this paper proposes a model to include two stakeholder influences and three environmental management practices. It is expected that this paper will offer useful guidance for future research scholars to empirically examine the relationship between stakeholder influences and environmental management practices for sustained business performance.

scholarly journals Plant diversity changes in a nature reserve: a probabilistic sampling method for quantitative assessments

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Chelli ◽  
Enrico Simonetti ◽  
Giandiego Campetella ◽  
Alessandro Chiarucci ◽  
Marco Cervellini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sampling Design ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Vegetation Types ◽  
Probabilistic Sampling ◽  
Compositional Changes ◽  
Over Time

Species pool conservation is critical for the stability of ecosystem processes. However, climate and land use changes will likely affect biodiversity, and managers of protected areas are under increasing pressure to monitor native species diversity changes by approaches that are scientifically sound and comparable over time. Here we describe a plant diversity monitoring system in use since 2002 in the “Montagna di Torricchio” Nature Reserve (LTER_EU_IT_033), a Central Apennines representative area of 317 ha, most of which is under strict protection. The aim of this paper was to assess changes in plant species richness over time and to deduce the patterns of species assemblage. The monitoring system was based on a probabilistic sampling design representative of the different physiognomic vegetation types occurring in the Reserve. A total of 34 plots (10×10m) were sampled in 2002, 2003 and 2015, and their species presence/absence and relative coverage were estimated. Repeated measure ANOVA was used to test for plot-level and ecosystem-based changes in species richness along the study period. Temporal nestedness and temporal turnover metrics were used to assess patterns of species’ compositional changes. The results showed significantly different levels of species richness depending on the year, with the lowest value in 2003, probably linked to extreme drought events. Forest systems were comparatively stable, demonstrating the capacity to buffer interannual climate variability. Regarding compositional changes along the entire period (2002–2015), we found random patterns of both temporal nestedness and turnover, indicating stability in species composition. However, we also showed the contemporary occurrence of species loss and species replacement processes, considering the dry year 2003, a finding which should be further explored through fine-scale studies to unravel mechanisms of community assembly under drought. The use of a probabilistic sampling design representative of the different physiognomic vegetation types proved to be advantageous in monitoring the Nature Reserve vegetation and collecting reliable quantitative information. This data, in turn, provides the basis for improvements in management practices and proposed adaptation measures.

scholarly journals Decades of Recovery From Sheep Grazing Reveal No Effects on Plant Diversity Patterns Within Icelandic Tundra Landscapes

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin A. Mörsdorf ◽  
Virve T. Ravolainen ◽  
Nigel G. Yoccoz ◽  
Thóra Ellen Thórhallsdóttir ◽  
Ingibjörg Svala Jónsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Plant Productivity ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Growth Forms ◽  
Diversity Patterns

Tundra plant communities are often shaped by topography. Contrasting wind exposure, slopes of different inclination and landforms of different curvature affect habitat conditions and shape plant diversity patterns. The majority of tundra is also grazed by ungulates, which may alter topographically induced plant diversity patterns, but such effects may depend on the spatial scales of assessments. Here we ask whether topographically induced patterns of within (alpha) and between (beta) plant community diversity are different in contrasting grazing regimes. We studied plant communities within tundra landscapes that were located in the North and Northwest of Iceland. Half of the studied landscapes were grazed by sheep, whereas the other half was currently un-grazed and recovering for several decades (up to 60 years). Alpha and beta diversity were assessed on explicitly defined, nested spatial scales, which were determined by topographical units. Although we contrasted currently grazed vegetation to vegetation that witnessed several decades of grazing recovery, we found no statistically significant differences in plant diversity patterns. We relate these findings to the low resilience of our study system toward grazing disturbances, which has important implications for management practices in the tundra. Effects of topography on species richness were only found for specific spatial scales of analyses. Species rich topographical units were associated with relatively large biomass of plant growth forms that promote nutrient availability and potential plant productivity in the tundra, such as forbs. This suggests that biomass of such plant growth forms within habitats can be a useful proxy of potential plant productivity and may predict spatial patterns of plant species richness in tundra.

Plant diversity and species richness of Ljubljana marsh grasslands under the influence of different cutting and fertilizing regimes

2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sinkovč
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Grassland Management ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Significant Negative Effect ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Cutting Regimes ◽  
N Rates ◽  
Exploitation Intensity ◽  
Plot Design

The botanical composition of grasslands determines the agronomic and natural values of swards. Good grassland management usually improves herbage value, but on the other hand it frequently decreases the plant diversity and species richness in the swards. In 1999 a field trial in a split-plot design with four replicates was therefore established on the Arrhenatherion type of vegetation in Ljubljana marsh meadows in order to investigate this relationship. Cutting regimes (2 cuts — with normal and delayed first cut, 3 cuts and 4 cuts per year) were allocated to the main plots and fertiliser treatments (zero fertiliser — control, PK and NPK with 2 or 3 N rates) were allocated to the sub-plots. The results at the 1 st cutting in the 5 th trial year were as follows: Fertilising either with PK or NPK had no significant negative effect on plant diversity in any of the cutting regimes. In most treatments the plant number even increased slightly compared to the control. On average, 20 species were listed on both unfertilised and fertilised swards. At this low to moderate level of exploitation intensity, the increased number of cuts had no significant negative effect on plant diversity either (19 species at 2 cuts vs. 20 species at 3 or 4 cuts). PK fertilisation increased the proportion of legumes in the herbage in the case of 2 or 3 cuts. The proportion of grasses in the herbage increased in all the fertilisation treatments with an increased numbers of cuts. Fertiliser treatment considerably reduced the proportion of marsh horsetail ( Equisetum palustre ) in the herbage of the meadows. This effect was even more pronounced at higher cut numbers. The proportion of Equisetum palustre in the herbage was the highest in the unfertilised sward with 2 cuts (26.4 %) and the lowest in the NPK-fertilised sward with 4 cuts (1.4%).

scholarly journals Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Industry Leader ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.

scholarly journals Organizational Commitment and Lean Sustainability: Literature Review and Directions for Future Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal Benkarim ◽  
Daniel Imbeau
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Lean Manufacturing ◽  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Employee Commitment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Narrative Literature Review ◽  
Key Aspects

The vast majority of works published on Lean focus on the evaluation of tools and/or the strategies needed for its implementation. Although many authors highlight the degree of employee commitment as one of the key aspects of Lean, what has gone largely unnoticed in the literature, is that few studies have examined in-depth the concept of organizational commitment in connection with Lean. With this narrative literature review article, our main objective is (1) to identify and analyze an extensive body of literature that addresses the Lean Manufacturing approach and how it relates to employee commitment, emphasizing affective commitment as the main type of organizational commitment positively associated with Lean, and (2) to highlight the management practices required to encourage this kind of commitment and promote the success and sustainability of Lean. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview that can help researchers and practitioners interested in Lean better understand the importance of employee commitment in this type of approach, and as well, to identify related research questions.

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