Contrasting environmental preferences of photosynthetic and non‐photosynthetic soil cyanobacteria across the globe

AbstractCyanobacteria are key organisms in the evolution of life on Earth, but their distribution and environmental preferences in terrestrial ecosystems remain poorly understood. This lack of knowledge is particularly evident for two recently discovered non-photosynthetic cyanobacterial classes, Melainabacteria and Sericytochromatia, limiting our capacity to predict how these organisms and the important ecosystem functions they perform will respond to ongoing global change. Here, we conducted a global field survey covering a wide range of vegetation types and climatic conditions to identify the environmental factors associated with the distribution of soil cyanobacterial communities. Network analyses revealed three major clusters of cyanobacterial phylotypes, each one dominated by members of one of the extant classes of Cyanobacteria (Oxyphotobacteria, Melainabacteria and Sericytochromatia), suggesting that species within these taxonomic groups share similar environmental preferences. Melainabacteria appear mostly in acidic and humid ecosystems, especially forests, Oxyphotobacteria are prevalent in arid and semiarid areas, and Sericytochromatia are common in hyperarid oligotrophic environments. We used this information to construct a global atlas of soil cyanobacteria. Our results provide novel insights into the ecology and biogeography of soil cyanobacteria and highlight how their global distribution could change in response to increased aridity, a landmark feature of climate change in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide.Significance statementCyanobacteria have shaped the history of life on Earth and can be important photosynthesizers and nitrogen fixers in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. The recent discovery of two non-photosynthetic classes has advanced our understanding of their evolution, but their distribution and environmental preferences remain poorly described. Using a global survey conducted across 237 locations on six continents, we identified three main groups of soil cyanobacteria with contrasting environmental preferences: acidic and humid ecosystems, arid and semiarid areas, and hyperarid oligotrophic ecosystems. We then constructed the first global atlas of soil cyanobacteria, an important advance in our understanding of the ecology and biogeography of these functionally important organisms.

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A multi-proxy reconstruction of climate during the late-Pleistocene to early Holocene transition in the northeastern, USA

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2020.127 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Laurie D. Grigg ◽

Kevin J. Engle ◽

Alison J. Smith ◽

Bryan N. Shuman ◽

Maximilian B. Mandl

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Warming Trend ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Individual Species ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

The North ◽

Show Evidence ◽

Dry Conditions ◽

Components Analysis

Abstract A multiproxy record from Twin Ponds, VT, is used to reconstruct climatic variability during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene transition. Pollen, ostracodes, δ18O, and lithologic records from 13.5 to 9.0 cal ka BP are presented. Pollen- and ostracode-inferred climatic reconstructions are based on individual species’ environmental preferences and the modern analog technique. Principal components analysis of all proxies highlights the overall warming trend and centennial-scale climatic variability. During the Younger Dryas cooling event (YD), multiple proxies show evidence for cold winter conditions and increasing seasonality after 12.5 cal ka BP. The early Holocene shows an initial phase of rapid warming with a brief cold interval at 11.5 cal ka BP, followed by a more gradual warming; a cool, wet period from 11.2 to 10.8 cal ka BP; and cool, dry conditions from 10.8 to 10.2 cal ka BP. The record ends with steady warming and increasing moisture. Post-YD climatic variability has been observed at other sites in the northeastern United States and points to continued instability in the North Atlantic during the final phases of deglaciation.

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Demand Subsidy versus Production Regulation: Development of New Energy Vehicles in a Competitive Environment

Mathematics ◽

10.3390/math9111280 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 1280

Author(s):

Zixuan Wang ◽

Xiuzhang Li

Keyword(s):

Social Welfare ◽

Stackelberg Game ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Social Planner ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

The Social ◽

New Energy ◽

Vehicle Market ◽

New Energy Vehicles

In the competitive market environment, the growth of new energy vehicles (NEVs) faces many obstacles. Demand subsidy or production regulation-related policies are widely used to promote the development of NEVs. A comparative analysis of the effects of the two types of policies on the competitive vehicle market requires further study. To fill this gap, we investigate which type of policy is more preferable from the perspective of the social planner. In this paper, we construct a Stackelberg game with a welfare-maximizing social planner and two profit-maximizing manufacturers producing NEVs and fuel vehicles (FVs), respectively. Interestingly, although both types of policies can increase the quantity of NEVs, demand subsidy also promotes the growth of total vehicles at the same time; in contrast, production regulation reduces the total vehicles. Moreover, compared with the benchmark that no policy intervention, demand subsidy generally improves social welfare, while production regulation improves social welfare only with high consumer preference for NEVs. Nevertheless, production regulation always has a positive impact on the environment, whereas demand subsidy may have a positive impact only when the NEV is very environment friendly. The numerical results show that consumer environmental preferences and the regulation of environmental impact determine which type of policy dominates the other.

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Pensions and Investments: Social and Environmental Preferences of Beneficiaries, and Financial Illiteracy

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2363106 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

Arian C.T. Borgers ◽

Rachel A.J. Pownall

Keyword(s):

Environmental Preferences

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Ecologic significance of post-Palaeozoic green calcareous algae

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s001675680004173x ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 115 (6) ◽

pp. 437-442 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Graham F. Elliott

Keyword(s):

Calcareous Algae ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

Independent Evidence ◽

Taxonomic Relationship

SummaryThe palaeoecologic significance of post-Palaeozoic green calcareous algae is evaluated with what is known of the environments of comparable living algae. Here requirements and tolerances of temperature, bottomsediment, salinity and water-energy may be observed; depth is apparently significant only as it influences these. In the extinct algae, only a minority show clear taxonomic relationship to living algae, in palaeo-environmentsdeduced from independent evidence. Codiaceae and Dasycladales seem to have had environmental preferences like their living descendants, with preferredmicroenvironments in some genera.

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Residential Environmental Preferences and Choice: Empirically Validating Preference Measures

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a040445 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 445-458 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

M Menchik

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Residential Choice ◽

Lot Size ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

Residential Preferences ◽

Suburban Sprawl ◽

Market Choice ◽

Residential Characteristics ◽

Spread Pattern

In order to evaluate demands for new forms of residential environments (such as cluster development rather than the spread pattern of suburban sprawl), it may be useful to deal with persons' residential preferences directly, rather than their market choice. The paper develops residential environmental preference variables from questionnaire survey data. The preferences may be considered as relative tradeoffs among the residence's accessibility, characteristics of the house and lot (for example, lot size), the quality of the natural environment, and characteristics of the non-natural environment (for example, population density). At the same time, comparable measures are devised of the characteristics of the persons' present residences—their residential choice. Principal results are that the preference and choice variables do seem useful; that preferences, thus defined, do express themselves to some extent through market choice; and that different persons do in fact prefer different residential characteristics. Preferences for different residential characteristics tend to be negatively associated, so that there are persons with strong preferences for the natural environment who are willing to sacrifice a large lot to live in a beautiful area.

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Finding the appropriate variables to model the distribution of vector-borne parasites with different environmental preferences: climate is not enough

Global Change Biology ◽

10.1111/gcb.12226 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. n/a-n/a ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Antón Pérez-Rodríguez ◽

Sofía Fernández-González ◽

Iván de la Hera ◽

Javier Pérez-Tris

Keyword(s):

Environmental Preferences ◽

Vector Borne

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Culture and the Environment in the Pacific Northwest

American Political Science Review ◽

10.2307/2952171 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 91 (4) ◽

pp. 885-897 ◽

Cited By ~ 127

Author(s):

Richard J. Ellis ◽

Fred Thompson

Keyword(s):

Pacific Northwest ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Cultural Theory ◽

Cultural Bias ◽

Environmental Groups ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

New Politics ◽

The Pacific ◽

Values And Beliefs ◽

Satisfactory Account

Douglas and Wildavsky argue that environmental activism is rooted in an egalitarian cultural bias. Others, like Paehlke, counter that environmental commitments and concerns are autonomous from redistributive concerns. Students of the “New Politics” agree that environmentalism is autonomous from conventional left-right distributive concerns but also argue that environmental attitudes and beliefs are embedded in “postmaterial” values, such as citizen participation. Still other scholars emphasize a cultural consensus around environmental values and beliefs. What distinguishes environmental activists, in this view, is less what they believe than their willingness to make sacrifices for those values and beliefs. Drawing upon several surveys of environmental groups and the mass public in the Pacific Northwest, we test these four hypotheses and find that the Douglas-Wildavsky “cultural theory,” although not without its limitations, appears to provide the more satisfactory account of environmental preferences.

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How Do Attitudes and Perceptions Affect Environmental Preferences?

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.747 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andy Sungnok Choi

Keyword(s):

Environmental Economics ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Environmental Attitudes ◽

Sequential Estimation ◽

Hybrid Models ◽

Preference Heterogeneity ◽

Accurate Estimation ◽

Behavioral Models ◽

Environmental Preferences ◽

Attitudinal Characteristics

Environmental preferences or willingness to pay (WTP) values tend to be heterogeneous and evolving over time. Attitudes and related theories worked as an alternative observation scope to the more conventional sociodemographic characteristics, explaining preference heterogeneity in environmental economics. Perception as a concept, on the other hand, is too illusive to be exclusively examined so is better treated as an attitude. Although not popular in mainstream environmental economics, the research interest in the attitude–WTP relationship has continued since the late 1990s and has increased and been relatively steady between 2006 and 2020. According to the lessons from the established behavioral models, attitudes are normally categorized as either general or specific. General attitudes are situation-invariant and slow to change, whereas specific attitudes are situational and quick to change. The early pioneering studies of the attitude–WTP relationship used mostly ad hoc measures for environmental attitudes roughly from 1990, followed by the studies of more systematic representation roughly from 2000, and by those of hybrid models roughly from 2010. There were segmentation-based and parameterization-based approaches to incorporating attitudinal characteristics into valuation models. In particular, parameterization has appeared in three generations: indirect inclusion of indicators, sequential estimation using factor analysis, and integrated hybrid models. As future prospects, first, general environmental attitudes might play an important role in the coming decade because of their relative stability (i.e., situation invariant), comparability, and wide influence, determining environmental preferences and behaviors. Second, a potential difference between the segmentation-based and parameterization-based approaches requires further investigation. Third, the role of hybrid models and the payment parameter that is arbitrarily constrained demand more studies for accurate estimation of mean WTP values. The evolving nature of human preferences could be understood only when the observation scope for latent attitudes is enlightened enough to guide studies of environmental economics, to lead environmental policies, and to accomplish sustainable development.

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