scholarly journals The Ethnic Is Still Political: Collective Action in the Age of Zainichi Korean Population Decline in Contemporary Japan

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-82
Author(s):  
Youngmi Lim ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Japanese Society ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Institutional Racism ◽  
Korean Population ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Zainichi Koreans

This article describes where Zainichi Korean minority communities stand in contemporary Japanese society. Diverse Zainichi Korean communities struggle to reproduce and establish their legitimacy, as the narrowly defined Zainichi Korean population declines, and the levels of institutional racism based on legal status diminish. Increasing are more subtle forms of exclusion and microaggressions as well as on- and off-line hate speech. Based on the examinations of two cases of social movements involving Zainichi Koreans, I will examine how Zainichi Koreans are polarized into visible, outspoken subgroups and the invisible. A more resilient and proactive subethnicity can be seen among those who perceive continuing collective suffering and oppression. The Zainichi Korean minority’s experience attests to how ethnicity is reproduced and activated through committed collective actions, which build on coalitions with concerned Japanese and beyond.

Conservation biology of marine fishes: perceptions and caveats regarding assignment of extinction risk

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A Hutchings
Keyword(s):  
Population Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Marine Fishes ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
High Fecundity ◽  
Reproductive Rates ◽  
Biological Extinction

Quantitative criteria used to assign species to categories of extinction risk may seriously overestimate these risks for marine fishes. Contemporary perception is that marine fishes may be less vulnerable to extinction than other taxa, because of great natural variability in abundance, high fecundity, rapid population growth, and an intrinsically high capability of recovering from low population size. Contrary to perception, however, there appears to be generally little theoretical or empirical support for the hypotheses that marine fish are more likely to experience large reductions in population size, to produce unusually high levels of recruitment, to have higher reproductive rates, or to recover more rapidly from prolonged population declines than nonmarine fishes. Although existing population-decline criteria may not accurately reflect probabilities of biological extinction, they do appear to reflect the converse-population recovery. Insufficient support for contemporary perceptions of their susceptibility to extinction, coupled with caveats associated with the assignment of extinction risk, suggest that significant increases in the population-decline thresholds used to assign marine fishes to at-risk categories would be inconsistent with a precautionary approach to fisheries management and the conservation of marine biodiversity.

scholarly journals Australian corticolous myxomycetes: models of distribution and development

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (8) ◽  
pp. 617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Wellman
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Growth Cycle ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Arid Areas ◽  
Species Assemblage ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Moist Chamber ◽  
Linear Plot ◽  
Chamber Technique

This paper presents an integrated model of the variation over a continental landmass of myxomycetes, a single-celled organism in the phylum Amoebozoa. Bark samples were collected on long traverses across Australia, and cultivated in Petri dishes by the moist chamber technique to obtain large assemblages of common species. The results of this survey and previous surveys are consistent with there being four major myxomycete assemblages: Tropical, Northern Arid, Southern Arid and Temperate. Where mapped, these species assemblage regions are consistent with the Australian phytogeographical regions. The myxomycetes differ between arid and non-arid areas; the arid areas have slightly higher productivity per wetting event, with members of the Physarales and Liceales relatively important and the Stemonitidales, Trichiales and Cribrariales less important. When the bark samples are placed in a moist culture there is a myxomycete growth cycle and then the population declines to resting phases. The population increase during a growth phase can be modelled by a linear plot of log(abundance) against species rank, where abundance is total harvested spore volume of a species. The population decline appears to be linear from two weeks after watering, declining to negligible activity 4 weeks after watering.

Fates and movements of meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) following a population decline

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Mihok ◽  
Todd Lawton ◽  
Bill Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Severe Winter ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Small Mustelids ◽  
Winter Population

The movements of 24 meadow voles were monitored with radiotelemetry during summer 1985 near Pinawa, Manitoba, to ascertain fates following a severe winter population decline. Low breeding season survival of 22% per month resulted in the persistence of low numbers through spring 1986. Despite densities of only a few individuals per hectare, voles were captured in both meadows and forests. Some voles first caught in forests (mostly males) moved over large areas (up to 4 ha), including both meadow and forest habitat. In contrast, voles captured in meadows were sedentary, often confining their movements to small areas of 0.1–0.2 ha. Radiotransmitters were recovered from 18 of 19 voles that died during the study. Five voles (28%) appeared to have died in situ; six voles (33%) may have been taken by an unusually clean predator or scavenger. Fates of the remaining voles were uncertain. No direct evidence of predation by small mustelids was found to support the hypothesis that these predators account for the persistence of low density following population declines.

Populist Nationalism and the Challenges of Divided Nationhood: The Politics of Migration, Mobility, and Demography in Post-2010 Hungary

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 962-983
Author(s):  
Myra A. Waterbury
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Europe Today

This article uses the case of post-2010 Hungary to investigate the ways in which the concomitant trends of mobility, migration, and demographic decline may intersect to both challenge and bolster the discourses and policies of nationalist, populist governments in Central and Eastern Europe today. Using an expanded conception of “divided nationhood,” it explores the tensions and continuities in the Hungarian government’s populist discourse of protecting the nation as it is projected onto different national populations: Hungarians within Hungary, Hungarian emigrants, and Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries. While fears of migration and population decline provide useful fuel for the particular brand of populist nationalism we see in places like Hungary, the ability of leaders to offer a coherent and effective narrative of protection for the nation becomes significantly more complex when there are multiple internal and external populations to protect. The article highlights the strategies that the FIDESZ government has employed in order to (1) mobilize antimigrant rhetoric while marginalizing Hungarian emigrants; (2) respond to demographic deficiencies while supporting a conservative, populist narrative; and (3) maintain its access to symbolic, political, and demographic resources within the Hungarian minority communities. These strategies include a discursive reconceptualization of migration as something that comes only from outside Europe, the use of social and economic policies to selectively privilege key segments of the nation and exclude others, and the creation of a regional Hungarian nation with Budapest at the center.

scholarly journals A globally threatened shark, Carcharias taurus, shows no population decline in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana D. Klein ◽  
Aletta E. Bester-van der Merwe ◽  
Matthew L. Dicken ◽  
Arsalan Emami-Khoyi ◽  
Kolobe L. Mmonwa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Multilocus Genotype ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Carcharias Taurus

Abstract Knowledge about the demographic histories of natural populations helps to evaluate their conservation status, and potential impacts of natural and anthropogenic pressures. In particular, estimates of effective population size obtained through molecular data can provide useful information to guide management decisions for vulnerable populations. The spotted ragged-tooth shark, Carcharias taurus (also known as the sandtiger or grey nurse shark), is widely distributed in warm-temperate and subtropical waters, but has suffered severe population declines across much of its range as a result of overexploitation. Here, we used multilocus genotype data to investigate the demographic history of the South African C. taurus population. Using approximate Bayesian computation and likelihood-based importance sampling, we found that the population underwent a historical range expansion that may have been linked to climatic changes during the late Pleistocene. There was no evidence for a recent anthropogenic decline. Together with census data suggesting a stable population, these results support the idea that fishing pressure and other threats have so far not been detrimental to the local C. taurus population. The results reported here indicate that South Africa could possibly harbour the last remaining, relatively pristine population of this widespread but vulnerable top predator.

scholarly journals Predicting how populations decline to extinction

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1577) ◽  
pp. 2577-2586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Collen ◽  
Louise McRae ◽  
Stefanie Deinet ◽  
Adriana De Palma ◽  
Tharsila Carranza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Biological Traits ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Trend Data

Global species extinction typically represents the endpoint in a long sequence of population declines and local extinctions. In comparative studies of extinction risk of contemporary mammalian species, there appear to be some universal traits that may predispose taxa to an elevated risk of extinction. In local population-level studies, there are limited insights into the process of population decline and extinction. Moreover, there is still little appreciation of how local processes scale up to global patterns. Advancing the understanding of factors which predispose populations to rapid declines will benefit proactive conservation and may allow us to target at-risk populations as well as at-risk species. Here, we take mammalian population trend data from the largest repository of population abundance trends, and combine it with the PanTHERIA database on mammal traits to answer the question: what factors can be used to predict decline in mammalian abundance? We find in general that environmental variables are better determinants of cross-species population-level decline than intrinsic biological traits. For effective conservation, we must not only describe which species are at risk and why, but also prescribe ways to counteract this.

Predation on toxic cane toads (Bufo marinus) may imperil bluetongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia, Scincidae) in tropical Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha J. Price-Rees ◽  
Gregory P. Brown ◽  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Population Decline ◽  
Bufo Marinus ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Direct Result ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Cane Toad ◽  
Lizard Species ◽  
Stochastic Variation ◽  
Tropical Australia

Context. Detecting ecological impacts of invasive species can be extremely difficult. Even major population declines may be undetectable without extensive long-term data if the affected taxon is rare and/or difficult to census, and exhibits stochastic variation in abundance as a result of other factors. Our data suggest such a situation in an iconic Australian reptile species, the bluetongue lizard. Originally restricted to Central and South America, cane toads (Bufo marinus) are rapidly spreading through tropical Australia. Most native predators have no evolutionary history of exposure to the toads’ distinctive chemical defences (bufadienolides), and many varanid lizards, elapid snakes, crocodiles and marsupials have been killed when they have attempted to consume toads. Aims. Scincid lizards have not been considered vulnerable to toad invasion; however, one lineage (the bluetongues, genus Tiliqua) consists of large omnivores that may be affected. Our field and laboratory research aimed to elucidate this concern. Methods. Nightly surveys for bluetongue lizards (Tiliqua scincoides intermedia) and cane toads were conducted along two adjacent roadways on the Adelaide River floodplain of the Northern Territory. Scent discrimination trials in the laboratory assessed lizard responses to chemical cues from three food types (native frogs, cane toads and ‘preferred foods’) by counting tongue-flicks and biting elicited by cotton swabs. A subset of lizards was presented with live toads. Key results. Numbers of bluetongues encountered during standardised field surveys in the Darwin region declined soon after toads arrived, and we have not recorded a single lizard for the last 20 months. In the laboratory, foraging responses of bluetongues were as intense to cane-toad scent as to the scent of native frogs, and many of the lizards we tested attempted to consume toads, and were poisoned as a result. Conclusions and implications. The population decline of bluetongues in this region appears to have been the direct result of fatal ingestion of toxic cane toads. Our studies thus add a scincid lizard species to the list of native Australian predators imperilled by cane-toad invasion, and point to the difficulty of detecting invader impact even for an iconic species in a system subject to detailed survey work.

scholarly journals Population decline and range contraction of the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus in the Balkan Peninsula

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 440-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
METODIJA VELEVSKI ◽  
STOYAN C. NIKOLOV ◽  
BEN HALLMANN ◽  
VLADIMIR DOBREV ◽  
LAVRENTIS SIDIROPOULOS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Egyptian Vulture ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Causes Of Mortality ◽  
Yugoslav Republic

SummaryThe Egyptian Vulture has been classified as ‘Endangered’ due to a rapid population decline in India and long term declines in Europe and Africa. Although the species has been reported to be declining in Eastern Europe, no quantitative assessment of the magnitude or the causes for population declines are available. We used monitoring data from the Balkan Peninsula to estimate changes in population size and extent of occurrence of Egyptian Vultures between 1980 and 2013. We quantified population trends in three countries (Bulgaria, Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic [FYR] of Macedonia) to assess whether population declines are similar within the Balkan range states. We found a rapid and consistent decline of the Egyptian Vulture population that was largely similar among the three countries (λ = 0.940 in FYR of Macedonia, 0.951 in Bulgaria, 0.920 in Greece). As a consequence of population declines, the breeding range of Egyptian Vultures has contracted and the population in the Balkan Peninsula has fragmented into six subpopulations separated by more than 80 km. Population declines may be driven by factors such as poisoning, electrocution, direct persecution and changes in food availability which operate at large spatial scales and affect birds both on breeding grounds as well as during migration and wintering. Because the relative importance of threats to the survival of Egyptian Vultures are poorly understood, there is a critical need for research into causes of mortality and potential conservation actions that may halt and reverse population declines.

scholarly journals Coalescent models at small effective population sizes and population declines are positively misleading

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Elise Lauterbur
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Effective Population Size ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Analytical Approximations ◽  
Population Sizes

AbstractPopulation genetics employs two major models for conceptualizing genetic relationships among individuals – outcome-driven (coalescent) and process-driven (forward). These models are complementary, but the basic Kingman coalescent and its extensions make fundamental assumptions to allow analytical approximations: a constant effective population size much larger than the sample size. These make the probability of multiple coalescent events per generation negligible. Although these assumptions are often violated in species of conservation concern, conservation genetics often uses coalescent models of effective population sizes and trajectories in endangered species. Despite this, the effect of very small effective population sizes, and their interaction with bottlenecks and sample sizes, on such analyses of genetic diversity remains unexplored. Here, I use simulations to analyze the influence of small effective population size, population decline, and their relationship with sample size, on coalescent-based estimates of genetic diversity. Compared to forward process-based estimates, coalescent models significantly overestimate genetic diversity in oversampled populations with very small effective sizes. When sampled soon after a decline, coalescent models overestimate genetic diversity in small populations regardless of sample size. Such overestimates artificially inflate estimates of both bottleneck and population split times. For conservation applications with small effective population sizes, forward simulations that do not make population size assumptions are computationally tractable and should be considered instead of coalescent-based models. These findings underscore the importance of the theoretical basis of analytical techniques as applied to conservation questions.

scholarly journals Population Ecology of Caribou in British Columbia

Rangifer ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.R. Seip ◽  
D.B. Cichowski
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Rangifer Tarandus ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Predation Rate ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Wolf Predation ◽  
Close Proximity

The abundance and geographic range of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) decreased in many areas of British Columbia during the 1900's. Recent studies have found that predation during the summer is the major cause of mortality and current population declines. Increased moose {Alecs alces) populations may be related to past and current caribou declines by sustaining greater numbers of wolves (Canis lupus). Mortality rates were greater in areas where caribou calved in forested habitats, in close proximity to predators and moose. Caribou populations which had calving sites in alpine areas, islands, and rugged mountains experienced lower mortality and were generally stable or increasing. A predator-induced population decline in one area appeared to stabilize at low caribou densities, suggesting that the wolf predation rate may be density dependent.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document