scholarly journals Integrating animal behaviour into research on multiple environmental stressors: a conceptual framework

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Lopez ◽  
Michael Gil ◽  
Philip Crowley ◽  
Pete Trimmer ◽  
Amelia Munson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Animal Behaviour ◽  
Environmental Stressors ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

While a large body of research has focused on the physiological effects of multiple environmental stressors, behavioral effects remain far less studied. However, behavioural plasticity can not only directly drive responses to stressors but can also mediate physiological responses. Here, we provide a conceptual framework incorporating four fundamental tradeoffs explicitly linking animal behaviour to life history-based pathways for energy allocation, shaping the impact of multiple stressors on fitness. We first address how small-scale behavioural changes can drive conflicts between the effects of multiple stressors and alternative physiological responses. We then discuss how animal behaviour gives rise to three additional understudied and interrelated trade-offs: balancing the benefits and risks of obtaining the energy needed to cope with stressors, allocation of energy between life-history traits and stressor responses, and larger-scale escape from stressors in space or time via dispersal or dormancy. Finally, we outline how these trade-offs interactively affect fitness and qualitative ecological outcomes resulting from multiple stressors. Our framework suggests that animal behavior could underlie the extensive context dependence in results from stressor research, highlighting promising avenues for future empirical and theoretical research.

Causes of psychopathology

2015 ◽  
pp. 94-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Brüne
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Immunological Diseases ◽  
Proximate Causes ◽  
Suboptimal Design ◽  
Epigenetic Modulation ◽  
The Impact

The causes of psychiatric and psychosomatic conditions can be categorized into two groups: proximate and ultimate (evolutionary) causes. Proximate causes comprise genetic factors, epigenetic modulation, childhood trauma and other life events, and senescence. Ultimate or evolutionary causes concern mismatch between adaptation and current environment, suboptimal design, and design compromises. Examples of evolutionary causes of dysfunction include cognitive and emotional adaptations to small-scale societies (mismatch), anxiety (suboptimal design), premature birth (design compromise), and other features associated with human life history. Furthermore, many ‘diseases of civilization’ fall under the category of mismatch, as well as immunological diseases that may arise from a lack of exposure to pathogens early in life. Prevention of psychopathology, though desirable, may not always be possible due to the fact that evolution does not select for emotional well-being. However, reducing the impact of early adversity and helping people develop alternative life-history strategies may be an attainable goal.

scholarly journals Protocol Paper: Conducting Life History Interviews to Explore the Journeys of People with Disability from Syrian and Iraqi Refugee Backgrounds Settling in Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7978
Author(s):  
Angela Dew
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Seminal Paper ◽  
Australian Society ◽  
People With Disability ◽  
Iraqi Refugee ◽  
The Impact

This paper outlines a research protocol to be undertaken with people with disability from Syrian and Iraqi refugee backgrounds settling in Australia. Since 2012, the numbers of people with disability arriving from these countries has increased with limited understanding about the impact of their refugee journeys on their settlement. The aim of this small-scale exploratory study is to learn about the journeys made by people with disability from Syrian and Iraqi refugee backgrounds from their countries of origin, through transit countries, to Australia in order to understand the impact of these journeys on inclusion and participation in Australian society. This participatory action research study employs a bilingual co-researcher with disability from a Syrian background to conduct life history interviews with up to five participants. Participants will recount their journeys with a focus on the impact of their disability on this experience. The study design is informed by BenEzer and Zetter’s 2014 seminal paper on the importance of the refugee journey to settlement. This study has the potential to foreground the voices and experiences of people with disability from refugee backgrounds who are often absent, silenced or excluded in research and, in so doing, hopefully impact Australian refugee policy.

scholarly journals The Impact of Regulation on Corporate Hedging Activities and the Response of Corporates – A Preliminary Conceptual Framework

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Henok Kifle
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Influencing Factor ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Basel Iii ◽  
Over The Counter ◽  
Corporate Hedging ◽  
Otc Derivatives ◽  
Regulatory Impact ◽  
The Impact ◽  
European Markets

Following the financial crisis of 2007/2008 regulators intensified the regulation of financial derivatives through (i) the implementation of the European Markets Infrastructure Directive (EMIR) to increase transparency of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and (ii) the implementation of Basel III to increase capital underpinning. Non-financial corporates, who mainly hedge with OTC derivatives, are seeing tendencies of increasing costs and decreasing availability of required OTC derivatives but fail to have a full concept of the impact and possible responses to manage the impact. Also, theoretical research did not consider reguation as an influencing factor and thus does not offer theories to analyse the impact of regulation on corporate hedging activities (defined as the willingness and ability of NFCs to conduct hedging in an optimal way). Given this gap, this paper reviews existing theories and based on that pre-conceptualises a model that helps to analyse the impact of regulation on corporate hedging activities and provides a preliminary conceptual framework that includes corporate responses to manage the regulatory impact.

scholarly journals Do fish get wasted? Assessing the influence of effluents on parasitic infection of wild fish

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christyn Bailey ◽  
Aurélie Rubin ◽  
Nicole Strepparava ◽  
Helmut Segner ◽  
Jean-François Rubin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Brown Trout ◽  
Salmo Trutta ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
Treatment Plant ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Infection Prevalence ◽  
Invertebrate Host ◽  
The Impact

Many ecosystems are influenced simultaneously by multiple stressors. One important environmental stressor is aquatic pollution via wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents. WWTP effluents may contribute to eutrophication or contain anthropogenic contaminants that directly and/or indirectly influence aquatic wildlife. Both eutrophication and exposure to anthropogenic contaminants may affect the dynamics of fish-parasite systems. With this in mind, we studied the impact of WWTP effluents on infection of brown trout by the parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae, the causative agent of proliferative kidney disease (PKD). PKD is associated with the long-term decline of wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) populations in Switzerland. We investigated PKD infection of brown trout at two adjacent sites (≈400 m apart) of a Swiss river. The sites are similar in terms of ecology except that one site receives WWTP effluents. We evaluated the hypothesis that fish inhabiting the effluent site will show greater susceptibility to PKD in terms of prevalence and disease outcome. We assessed susceptibility by (i) infection prevalence, (ii) parasite intensity, (iii) host health in terms of pathology, and (iv) estimated apparent survival rate. At different time points during the study, significant differences between sites concerning all measured parameters were found, thus providing evidence of the influence of effluents on parasitic infection of fish in our study system. However, from these findings we cannot determine if the effluent has a direct influence on the fish host via altering its ability to manage the parasite, or indirectly on the parasite or the invertebrate host via increasing bryozoa (the invertebrate host) reproduction. On a final note, the WWTP adhered to all national guidelines and the effluent only resulted in a minor water quality reduction assessed via standardized methods in this study. Thus, we provide evidence that even a subtle decrease in water quality, resulting in small-scale pollution can have consequences for wildlife.

scholarly journals Macroevolution of dimensionless life history metrics in tetrapods

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecina Babich Morrow ◽  
S. K. Morgan Ernest ◽  
Andrew J. Kerkhoff
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
The Impact

AbstractLife history traits represent organism’s strategies to navigate the fitness trade-offs between survival and reproduction. Eric Charnov developed three dimensionless metrics to quantify fundamental life history trade-offs. Lifetime reproductive effort (LRE), relative reproductive lifespan (RRL), and relative offspring size (ROS), together with body mass, can be used classify life history strategies across the four major classes of tetrapods: amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds. First, we investigate how the metrics have evolved in concert with body mass. In most cases, we find evidence for correlated evolution between body mass and the three metrics. Finally, we compare life history strategies across the four classes of tetrapods and find that LRE, RRL, and ROS delineate a space in which the major tetrapod clades occupy mostly unique subspaces. These distinct combinations of life history strategies provide us with a framework to understand the impact of major evolutionary transitions in energetics, physiology, and ecology.

A new conceptual framework for evaluating the early ontogeny phase of recruitment processes among marine fish species

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (12) ◽  
pp. 2112-2129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam J. Doyle ◽  
Kathryn L. Mier
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Early Life History ◽  
Environmental Forcing ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Trade Offs

For Gulf of Alaska (GOA) fish populations, ordination by principal component analysis of a matrix of species by early life history and ecological traits resulted in distribution of species along three primary gradients. These are synonymous with phenology of egg and larval production, quantity of production, and ubiquity of larvae, the latter representing temporal and spatial extent of distribution in the pelagic environment. GOA species were assigned to categories that shared similar positions in ordination space relative to the three primary gradients. From this comparative analysis, a conceptual framework is proposed for species’ early life histories representing trade-offs in adaptation to prevailing environmental conditions and associated vulnerability and resilience factors that may modulate species’ recruitment responses to environmental variability. The utility of this framework for evaluating response to environmental forcing was supported by the analysis of a 27-year time series of GOA late spring larval fish abundance. The hypothesis for this ongoing research is that we can utilize similarities in reproductive and early life history characteristics among species to identify (i) ecologically determined species groups that are predisposed to respond to environmental forcing in similar ways and (ii) plausible environmental predictors of recruitment variation attributable to aspects of early life history.

scholarly journals A case study from the southern Cape linefishery 1: The difficulty of fishing in a changing world

2017 ◽  
Vol 113 (5/6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise C. Gammage ◽  
Astrid Jarre ◽  
Charles Mather ◽  
◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Ecological System ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Economic Considerations

Variability on multiple temporal and spatial scales exposes fishers and fishing communities to multiple stressors. The impact and interplay of these stressors need to be considered to improve our understanding of social-ecological linkages if sustainable livelihoods are to be promoted. To this end, participant-led research was conducted in the small-scale traditional commercial linefishery of the southern Cape (South Africa) between Witsand and Mossel Bay. Knowledge and perceptions regarding stressors responsible for changes in the social-ecological system, which ultimately affect the fishers’ ability to fish successfully, were recorded using semi-formal interviews and focus groups with 50 participants. The results presented not only offer valuable insights into the day-to-day experiences of these fishers, but also expose knowledge gaps that exist in micro-scale interactions influencing the fishery system. An analysis of various stressors is presented, which includes the impacts of and responses to climate variability; challenges presented by fisheries policies and regulatory frameworks; social and economic considerations; inadequate infrastructure; and general political considerations. The development of a more comprehensive understanding of stressors that affect the social-ecological system at various scales provides valuable insights into a fishery system that is currently not well described, and provides the basis for analyses into vulnerability and resilience.

Modelling the impact of dams on flood-recession agriculture in the Omo valley: a satellite-data based analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Semeria ◽  
Fritz Kleinschroth ◽  
Marta Zaniolo ◽  
Scott Sinclair ◽  
Paolo Burlando ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Irrigation District ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Distributed Hydrological Model ◽  
Crop Failure ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Artificial Flood ◽  
The Impact

<p>Conflicting stakeholder interests in water systems such as power generation, agriculture and local livelihoods have required the development of an integrated approach to water resources management. An important livelihood for many African rural communities is flood-recession agriculture. Especially in monsoonal climates, river adjacent sites that are inundated by seasonal flood pulses provide humid and fertile soils of high value for small-scale agriculture. Alterations to natural flood regimes due to the construction of water infrastructures (e.g. dams) threaten this practice by reducing flooding of riparian areas. Artificial flood releases from reservoirs have the potential to counter such alteration, but in order to maximize their effectiveness many aspects are yet to be studied. In particular, in a context where resources are shared among multiple stakeholders, little research has been done on how to ensure sufficient flood magnitude to protect communities from the risk of crop failure.</p><p>As part of the national hydropower development strategy, Gibe III dam is in operation on the Omo river in southern Ethiopia since 2015, and local populations practicing flood-recession agriculture in the downstream Omo valley have been exposed to reduced or absent seasonal floods. The development of a large, state-owned irrigation district along the river course further reduced water availability in the region of its delta, where flood-recession agriculture was practiced the most. For artificial floods from Gibe III dam to be effective, we developed an indicator to assess water needs for flood-recession agriculture and to include them in reservoir policy optimizations. Lack of ground data and remoteness of the area were the main challenges of this work, preventing direct data acquisition and extensive stakeholder participation. We used high-resolution satellite imagery taken annually to quantify the yearly extent of flood-recession agriculture in the region and linked it to estimated past streamflow magnitudes simulated by means of a distributed hydrological model.</p><p>We observed a strong correlation between historical extents of flood-recession agriculture fields in the study area and river streamflow, allowing to build an indicator for livelihood flood requirements that was included in the evaluation of alternative development pathways. We used the designed indicator to assess the impact of alternative management strategies with varying sectoral trade-offs, combined with multiple system configurations representing present and planned infrastructural development of the region. Preliminary results show that appropriately designed development pathways can substantially limit damages to flood-recession agriculture practices. This indicator will contribute to planning effective artificial flood releases and to capturing rural communities’ agriculture needs.</p>

scholarly journals Macroevolution of dimensionless life-history metrics in tetrapods

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1949) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecina Babich Morrow ◽  
S. K. Morgan Ernest ◽  
Andrew J. Kerkhoff
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Evolutionary Transitions ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
The Impact

Life-history traits represent organisms' strategies to navigate the fitness trade-offs between survival and reproduction. Eric Charnov developed three dimensionless metrics to quantify fundamental life-history trade-offs. Lifetime reproductive effort (LRE), relative reproductive lifespan (RRL) and relative offspring size (ROS), together with body mass can be used to classify life-history strategies across the four major classes of tetrapods: amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. First, we investigate how the metrics have evolved in concert with body mass within tetrapod lineages. In most cases, we find evidence for correlated evolution among body mass and the three dimensionless metrics. Second, we compare life-history strategies across the four classes of tetrapods and find that LRE, RRL and ROS delineate a space in which the major tetrapod classes occupy mostly unique subspaces. These distinct combinations of life-history strategies provide us with a framework to understand the impact of major evolutionary transitions in energetics, physiology and ecology.

Context-dependency for multiple stressors assessment in freshwater ecosystems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Núria Perujo ◽  
Vicenç Acuña
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Biological Characteristics ◽  
Impact Response ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pressure State

<p>In spite of their great ecological, economic and cultural importance, freshwater ecosystems are one of the most degraded ecosystems in the world affected by a wide array of stressors. Around 60% of surface water bodies are failing good ecological status. Several regulations have been developed (e.g. Water Framework Directive (WFD) (2000/60/EC) in Europe) to protect and enhance the status of water resources. Environmental legislation follows a reactive rather than proactive behaviour resulting in end-of-pipe measures. Further, it sets limits for individual stressors while, at least 40% of European waters are subject to multiple stressors. Further, it does not consider physical, chemical and biological characteristics of receiving ecosystems. Similarly, most results from scientific works addressing multi stressors effects cannot be extrapolated to other fluvial ecosystems if not embedded in a conceptual framework which accounts for each site’s characteristics.</p><p>DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) model is an analytical framework amended by the European Environment Agency (EEA) under the WFD. Although DPSIR framework has been used in a large number of studies there are still some gaps which hurdle its usefulness. DPSIR do not separate the term “stressor” as an explicit term but it instead incorporates stressor variables in the “state” term which often promotes confusion among managers and scientists. Through an extensive literature review and synthesis, here we propose a multi stressor approach based on a DPSSIR framework (Driver-Pressure-State-Stressor-Impact-Response). One considering the State and the Stressor categories in the model.</p><p>Main points of our work are that State characterization must include both hydrological and chemical characteristics (usually included in previous studies) but also morphological (mostly forgotten although they play a key role in receiving system’s response linked to spatial heterogeneity and ecological habitats –include hyporheic and floodplains-riparian areas-) and biological characteristics. State should account also for seasonal dynamics which modulate the windows of ecological opportunity. To assess the impact, it is necessary to address stressors interaction and cascading effects throughout the food web, since impact varies among receptor organisms. In this assessment it must be taken into account the natural thresholds (range) to which the receiving system is used to (State); the set point of the receiving system before –temporal/spatial- the action of the stressor (State) and the magnitude of the stressor (degree of change – stressor -).</p><p>With the use of this new conceptual framework, DPSSIR aims to serve as a basis for both stakeholders to establish a new regulatory framework as well as for scientists when designing an experiment to study pressures and impacts in aquatic ecosystems considering the characteristics of the receiving environment, the interaction between stressors (also context-dependent) and the transfer along the food web. Not based merely on setting limits from laboratory studies with a specific organism. It aims to prevent the degradation of aquatic ecosystems and improve the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document