Measuring the Effects of Invasive Plants on Ecosystem Services: Challenges and Prospects

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie T. Eviner ◽  
Kelly Garbach ◽  
Jill H. Baty ◽  
Sarah A. Hoskinson
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Minimum Size ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Plant Invaders ◽  
Quality Of Water

AbstractPlant invasions can have large effects on ecosystem services. Some plant invaders were introduced specifically to restore key services to ecosystems, and other invaders are having unintended, detrimental effects on services, such as the quantity and quality of water delivered, flood control, erosion control, and food production. Many ecosystem services are difficult to measure directly, and although there are extensive studies on plant invaders and ecosystem processes, a number of challenges prevent us from confidently extrapolating those processes as proxies for services. To extrapolate local, short-term measures of processes to ecosystem services, we must: (1) determine which processes are the key contributors to a service, (2) assess how multiple processes interact to provide a given service, (3) determine how vegetation types and species affect those processes, and (4) explicitly assess how ecosystem services and their controls vary over space and time, including reliance of ecosystem services on “hot spots” and “hot moments” and a minimum size of a vegetation type in the landscape. A given invader can have positive effects on some services and negative effects on others. It is important to consider that, in some systems, shifting environmental conditions may no longer support native species and that invasive species may be critical contributors to the resilience of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Species Home-Making in Ecosystems: Toward Place-Based Ecological Metrics of Belonging

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Cordell ◽  
Celia Bardwell-Jones ◽  
Rebecca Ostertag ◽  
Amanda Uowolo ◽  
Nicole DiManno
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Novel Species ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
A Site

Globalization has undeniably impacted the Earth’s ecosystems, but it has also influenced how we think about natural systems. Three fourths of the world’s forests are now altered by human activity, which challenges our concepts of native ecosystems. The dichotomies of pristine vs. disturbed as well as our view of native and non-native species, have blurred; allowing us to acknowledge new paradigms about how humans and nature interact. We now understand that the use of militaristic language to define the perceived role of a plant species is holding us back from the fact that novel systems (new combinations of all species) can often provide valuable ecosystem services (i.e., water, carbon, nutrients, cultural, and recreation) for creatures (including humans). In reality, ecosystems exist in a gradient from native to intensely managed – and “non-nativeness” is not always a sign of a species having negative effects. In fact, there are many contemporary examples of non-native species providing critical habitat for endangered species or preventing erosion in human-disturbed watersheds. For example, of the 8,000–10,000 non-native species introduced to Hawai‘i, less than 10% of these are self-sustaining and 90 of those pose a danger to native biota and are considered invasive. In this paper, we explore the native/non-native binary, the impacts of globalization and the political language of invasion through the lens of conservation biology and sociology with a tropical island perspective. This lens gives us the opportunity to offer a place-based approach toward the use of empirical observation of novel species interactions that may help in evaluating management strategies that support biodiversity and ecosystem services. Finally, we offer a first attempt at conceptualizing a site-specific approach to develop “metrics of belonging” within an ecosystem.

scholarly journals Consequences of plant invasions on compartmentalization and species’ roles in plant–pollinator networks

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1788) ◽  
pp. 20140773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Albrecht ◽  
Benigno Padrón ◽  
Ignasi Bartomeus ◽  
Anna Traveset
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Interaction Structure ◽  
Plant Invaders ◽  
Functional Implications ◽  
Species Roles ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Compartmentalization—the organization of ecological interaction networks into subsets of species that do not interact with other subsets (true compartments) or interact more frequently among themselves than with other species (modules)—has been identified as a key property for the functioning, stability and evolution of ecological communities. Invasions by entomophilous invasive plants may profoundly alter the way interaction networks are compartmentalized. We analysed a comprehensive dataset of 40 paired plant–pollinator networks (invaded versus uninvaded) to test this hypothesis. We show that invasive plants have higher generalization levels with respect to their pollinators than natives. The consequences for network topology are that—rather than displacing native species from the network—plant invaders attracting pollinators into invaded modules tend to play new important topological roles (i.e. network hubs, module hubs and connectors) and cause role shifts in native species, creating larger modules that are more connected among each other. While the number of true compartments was lower in invaded compared with uninvaded networks, the effect of invasion on modularity was contingent on the study system. Interestingly, the generalization level of the invasive plants partially explains this pattern, with more generalized invaders contributing to a lower modularity. Our findings indicate that the altered interaction structure of invaded networks makes them more robust against simulated random secondary species extinctions, but more vulnerable when the typically highly connected invasive plants go extinct first. The consequences and pathways by which biological invasions alter the interaction structure of plant–pollinator communities highlighted in this study may have important dynamical and functional implications, for example, by influencing multi-species reciprocal selection regimes and coevolutionary processes.

scholarly journals Promoting Environment-friendly Agriculture and Fisheries in Korea

1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (0) ◽  
pp. 233-249
Author(s):  
Chan-Joon Sohn
Keyword(s):  
Open Economy ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Animal Manure ◽  
World Market ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Environment Friendly ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Current Production ◽  
Production Technologies

Agriculture has made a great contribution to solving food shortage in Korea. In recent years, however, the agriculture and fisheries is threatened by the increasing pollution. The examples are pollution by overused chemicals and pesticides, pollution from livestock manure, pollution in the intensive fishing farm. In this regard, food quality including food safety is a great concern to domestic consumers. Also, raising quality rather than lowering prices of the products is better strategy for Korean agriculture and fisheries facing globally open economy. Environment-friendly agriculture and fisheries(EFAF) is an alternative way to heighten the quality of the products, and hence to have competitiveness in the world market. In addition, agriculture has non-market benefits, i.e., environment conservation. Soil conservation, water resource development, flood control and air refreshment are good examples. The underlying issue is how to maximize the positive effects, minimizing the negative effects. As alternative ways to current production technologies, some suggestions are made. Organic farming/natural farming, reuse of animal manure, and hydroponic farming are some types of EFAF emerging in Korea. Policy change should be made and government support is needed to promote EFAF. Related institution and investment programs for EFAF should be carefully designed and carried out.

Undesirable Effects of Goal Setting on Perceived Fairness, Commitment, and Unethical Behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Keith
Keyword(s):  
Goal Setting ◽  
Unethical Behavior ◽  
The United States ◽  
Goal Commitment ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Perceived Fairness ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
And Performance

Abstract. The positive effects of goal setting on motivation and performance are among the most established findings of industrial–organizational psychology. Accordingly, goal setting is a common management technique. Lately, however, potential negative effects of goal-setting, for example, on unethical behavior, are increasingly being discussed. This research replicates and extends a laboratory experiment conducted in the United States. In one of three goal conditions (do-your-best goals, consistently high goals, increasingly high goals), 101 participants worked on a search task in five rounds. Half of them (transparency yes/no) were informed at the outset about goal development. We did not find the expected effects on unethical behavior but medium-to-large effects on subjective variables: Perceived fairness of goals and goal commitment were least favorable in the increasing-goal condition, particularly in later goal rounds. Results indicate that when designing goal-setting interventions, organizations may consider potential undesirable long-term effects.

Mobilizing for Some

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffael Heiss ◽  
Jörg Matthes
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Media ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Collective Efficacy ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
School Students ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Specific Factors

Abstract. This study investigated the effects of politicians’ nonparticipatory and participatory Facebook posts on young people’s political efficacy – a key determinant of political participation. We employed an experimental design, using a sample of N = 125 high school students (15–20 years). Participants either saw a Facebook profile with no posts (control condition), nonparticipatory posts, or participatory posts. While nonparticipatory posts did not affect participants’ political efficacy, participatory posts exerted distinct effects. For those high in trait evaluations of the politician presented in the stimulus material or low in political cynicism, we found significant positive effects on external and collective efficacy. By contrast, for those low in trait evaluations or high in cynicism, we found significant negative effects on external and collective efficacy. We did not find any effects on internal efficacy. The importance of content-specific factors and individual predispositions in assessing the influence of social media use on participation is discussed.

On the diversity of the effects of the state support for agriculture

2019 ◽  
pp. 59-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolai M. Svetlov ◽  
Renata G. Yanbykh ◽  
Dariya A. Loginova
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Regions ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
State Support ◽  
Soft Budget Constraints ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Production Factors ◽  
Corporate Farms

In this paper, we assess the effects of agricultural state support of corporate farms on their revenues from agricultural production sales in 14 Russian regions that differ in technology, environment and institutional conditions. In addition to the direct effect of the state support, the indirect effects via labor and capital are revealed. For this purpose, we identify production functions and statistical models of production factors for each of these regions separately. We find out diverse effects of the state support on revenues among the regions. Positive effects prevail. Negative effects are mainly caused by labor reductions that follow subsidy inflows. Another cause of negative effects is the soft budget constraints phenomenon.

High predatory efficiency and abundance drive expected ecological impacts of a marine invasive fish

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 195-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
EM DeRoy ◽  
R Scott ◽  
NE Hussey ◽  
HJ MacIsaac
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Marine Predator ◽  
Eastern Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Red Grouper ◽  
Per Capita

The ecological impacts of invasive species are highly variable and mediated by many factors, including both habitat and population abundance. Lionfish Pterois volitans are an invasive marine species which have high reported detrimental effects on prey populations, but whose effects relative to native predators are currently unknown for the recently colonized eastern Gulf of Mexico. We used functional response (FR) methodology to assess the ecological impact of lionfish relative to 2 functionally similar native species (red grouper Epinephelus morio and graysby grouper Cephalopholis cruentata) foraging in a heterogeneous environment. We then combined the per capita impact of each species with their field abundance to obtain a Relative Impact Potential (RIP). RIP assesses the broader ecological impact of invasive relative to native predators, the magnitude of which predicts community-level negative effects of invasive species. Lionfish FR and overall consumption rate was intermediate to that of red grouper (higher) and graysby grouper (lower). However, lionfish had the highest capture efficiency of all species, which was invariant of habitat. Much higher field abundance of lionfish resulted in high RIPs relative to both grouper species, demonstrating that the ecological impact of lionfish in this region will be driven mainly by high abundance and high predator efficiency rather than per capita effect. Our comparative study is the first empirical assessment of lionfish per capita impact and RIP in this region and is one of few such studies to quantify the FR of a marine predator.

MORPHOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL RESPOSES OF COW PEA (CV. PUSA BARSATI) GROWN ON FLY ASH AMENDED SOIL IN PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF MELOIDOGYNE JAVANICA AND RHIZOBIUM LEGUMINOSARUM

1970 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal Singh ◽  
A. A. Khan ◽  
Iram Khan ◽  
Rose Rizvi ◽  
M. Saquib
Keyword(s):  
Fly Ash ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Rhizobium Leguminosarum ◽  
Growth Yield ◽  
Maximum Growth ◽  
Meloidogyne Javanica ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Insignificant Difference

Plant growth, yield, pigment and protein content of cow-pea were increased significantly at lower levels (20 and 40%) of fly ash but reverse was true at higher levels (80 and 100%). Soil amended by 60% fly ash could cause suppression in growth and yield in respect to 40% fly ash treated cow-pea plants but former was found at par with control (fly ash untreated plants). Maximum growth occurred in plants grown in soil amended with 40% fly ash. Nitrogen content of cow-pea was suppressed progressively in increasing levels of fly ash. Moreover,  Rhizobium leguminosarum  influenced the growth and yield positively but Meloidogyne javanica caused opposite effects particularly at 20 and 40% fly ash levels. The positive effects of R. leguminosarum were marked by M. javanica at initial levels. However, at 80 and 100% fly ash levels, the positive and negative effects of R. leguminosarum and/or M. javanica did not appear as insignificant difference persist among such treatments.Key words:  Meloidogyne javanica; Rhizobium leguminosarum; Fly ash; Growth; YieldDOI: 10.3126/eco.v17i0.4098Ecoprint An International Journal of Ecology Vol. 17, 2010 Page: 17-22 Uploaded date: 28 December, 2010  

Remedies in BRICS Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana Avdasheva ◽  
Tatiana Radchenko
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Market Performance ◽  
International Division ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Brics Countries ◽  
Target Company ◽  
Specific Position

Within the group of BRICS, China, Russia, and South Africa use conduct remedies more often than developed jurisdictions. Remedies are applied under merger approval or as an outcome of investigation of anticompetitive conducts. Effects of conduct remedies on companies’ decisions and market performance still need explanation. This chapter explains the use of conduct remedies, with special emphasis on Russia, by the specific position of BRICS in international division of labor, which allows the large companies, and first of all domestic ones, to discriminate customers in BRICS home markets, vis-à-vis international customers. Together with positive effects on domestic customers, competition economics predicts the possibility of negative effects of remedies on the managerial decisions within the target company. Under some circumstances, remedies may even weaken competition in the global product markets.

scholarly journals The Experiences of Grief and Personal Growth in University Students: A Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1899
Author(s):  
Jovita Tan ◽  
Karl Andriessen
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Continuing Bonds ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Supportive Services ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Formal Services

Background: Experiencing the death of a close person, especially in emerging adults and students, can have profound effects on the bereaved individual’s life. As most research in this field has focused on negative effects of a loss, little is known about potential positive effects experienced by bereaved university students. This study investigated the experience of grief and personal growth in a sample of students from The University of Melbourne, Australia. Methods: Semi-structured interviews via Zoom/telephone with bereaved students (n = 14), who were invited to reflect on their loss and any personal growth potentially experienced. Thematic analysis of the data was based on a deductive and inductive approach. Results: The analysis identified four themes: (i) sharing of grief as a coping mechanism, (ii) balance between grief reactions and moving forward in life, (iii) lessons learned and personal growth, and (iv) adopting values from the deceased person and continuing bonds. Conclusions: Participants emphasized personal growth regarding self-perception and philosophical views on life. Following the loss, they preferred peer support, and used formal services only when they had a specific need. The findings indicate the importance of social support for bereaved students, and the complimentary role of peer and professional support. Hence, academic institutions should offer supportive services tailored to both students and professionals to help bereaved students.

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