Biodiversity and Conservation

2021 ◽  
pp. 338-353
Author(s):  
Andrew V. Z. Brower ◽  
Randall T. Schuh
Keyword(s):  
Marine Environments ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
Biological Systematics

This chapter assesses the role of biological systematics in conservation. Increasing awareness of the global destruction, diminishment, degradation, and fragmentation of natural habitats in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine environments has brought the study of “biodiversity” to a new level of intensity. Biodiversity, as the term is currently used, has many meanings, and its study ranges broadly across biology. There are, however, aspects of biodiversity that are strictly systematic, including (1) recognition and enumeration of the world's biota, and (2) inference of historical relations — both genealogical and geographical — among members of the biota. These types of knowledge can be used directly to inform our efforts for staving off continuing extinction at the hand of the human species.

scholarly journals Anthonomus rubi on Strawberry Fruit: Its Biology, Ecology, Damage, and Control from an IPM Perspective

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 701
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Tonina ◽  
Giulia Zanettin ◽  
Paolo Miorelli ◽  
Simone Puppato ◽  
Andrew G. S. Cuthbertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Activity ◽  
Host Feeding ◽  
Mass Trapping ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Potential Control ◽  
North East ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Anthonomus Rubi ◽  
And Control

The strawberry blossom weevil (SBW), Anthonomus rubi, is a well-documented pest of strawberry. Recently, in strawberry fields of Trento Province (north-east Italy), new noteworthy damage on fruit linked to SBW adults was observed, combined with a prolonged adult activity until the autumn. In this new scenario, we re-investigated SBW biology, ecology, monitoring tools, and potential control methods to develop Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Several trials were conducted on strawberry in the laboratory, field and semi-natural habitats. The feeding activity of adult SBW results in small deep holes on berries at different stages, causing yield losses of up to 60%. We observed a prolonged survival of newly emerged adults (>240 days) along with their ability to sever flower buds without laying eggs inside them in the same year (one generation per year). SBW adults were present in the strawberry field year-round, with movement between crop and no crop habitats, underlying a potential role of other host/feeding plants to support its populations. Yellow sticky traps combined with synthetic attractants proved promising for both adult monitoring and mass trapping. Regarding control, adhesive tapes and mass trapping using green bucket pheromone traps gave unsatisfactory results, while the high temperatures provided by the black fabric, the periodic removal of severed buds or adults and Chlorpyrifos-methyl application constrained population build-up. The findings are important for the development of an IPM strategy.

scholarly journals On the Cognitive Foundation of Lexical Classification of the Subject World

2020 ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Alexey D. Koshelev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Cognition ◽  
Language Of Thought ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Specific Level ◽  
Human Ability ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lexical Classification

The paper presents a language of thought (a set of cognitive units and relations) used to provide non-verbal definitions for the following five concepts: ARMCHAIR, MUG, RAVINE, LAKE, TREE. These definitions make it possible to describe concepts on two levels of specificity. On the first level, a concept is presented as a holistic cognitive unit. On the second, more specific, level, the same concept is viewed as a partitive system, i.e. a hierarchical system of its parts, the latter being smaller concepts into which the original holistic unit is decomposed. A hypothesis is advanced that such structure is inherent to all visible objects. The partitive system is argued to play a major role in human cognition. It, first, provides for an in-depth understanding of the perceived objects through understanding the role of their parts, and, second, underlies the formation of the hierarchy of concepts with respect to their generality. Besides, it can be considered as one of the defining properties of the human species as it accounts for the human ability to purposefully change the world.

Evolution of intentional teaching

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gärdenfors ◽  
Anders Högberg
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Symbolic Language ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolution Of Language ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Teaching By Demonstration

Only among humans is teaching intentional, socially structured, and symbolically mediated. In this chapter, evidence regarding the evolution of the mindreading and communicative capacities underlying intentional teaching is reviewed. Play, rehearsal, and apprenticeship are discussed as central to the analyses of teaching. We present a series of levels of teaching. First of all, we separate non-intentional from intentional teaching. For non-intentional teaching, we discuss facilitation and approval/disapproval and analyze examples from non-human species. We then distinguish between six levels of intentional teaching: (1) intentional approval/disapproval, (2) drawing attention, (3) demonstrating, (4) communicating concepts, (5) explaining concept relations, and (6) narrating. We hypothesize that level after level has been added during the evolution of teaching. We analyze communicative requirements for the levels, concluding that displaced communication is required for level 4 and symbolic language only for levels 5 to 6. We focus on the role of demonstration and pantomime and argue that pantomime has been instrumental in the evolution of language. We present archaeological evidence for when the different levels of teaching emerge. We argue that learning Oldowan technology requires teaching by demonstration, and that learning Acheulean hand-axe technology requires communicating concepts. It follows that several levels of intentional teaching predate homo sapiens.

The Role of Theory

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Swedberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Way

This chapter looks at the role of theory in theorizing. Knowing theory, in order to be good at theorizing in social science, is not the same as having a knowledge of the history of social theory. It is true that it is helpful to have some of the skills of an intellectual historian when one tries to figure out what a concept means, why a theory looks the way it does today, and similar issues. However, this is not the kind of knowledge that one basically needs to have in order to be good at theorizing. The two types of knowledge that are needed in order to theorize well are knowledge of the basics of social theory and knowledge of a number of concepts, mechanisms, and theories.

scholarly journals The influence of intangible forms of capital on farms 

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (No. 6) ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
M. Lošťák
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Types Of Knowledge

Intangible issues, which are often very difficult to be quantified become more and more the field of interest of social sciences. There are many research works demonstrating that various types of knowledge, institutions, social networks, and social relations have a great influence on human activities as for efficient achievement of the actors’ goals. This paper relates expert knowledge (shaping professional qualification) to human capital and tacit knowledge (understood as a broader, general, and contextual knowledge) to cultural capital. Both forms of capital exist in their primary form only in concrete individual persons. Concerning collective persons (firm, community), cultural and human capitals are transformed into intellectual capital. Work with specific knowledge, tacit knowledge and capitals corresponding to them shows the role of social networks and social capital in their organization. Using the analysis of two farms based on natural experiment, the paper demonstrates the role of tacit knowledge and cultural capital (opposing to the overestimated role of expert knowledge and human capital). The conclusions outline social determination of both types of knowledge through social networks and social capital needed for an efficient work of a farm. 

scholarly journals The dawn of social bonds: what is the role of shared experiences in non-human animals?

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 20200201
Author(s):  
Laura Busia ◽  
Matteo Griggio
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationship ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Shed Light

Group-living animals can develop social bonds. Social bonds can be considered a type of social relationship characterized by frequent and consistent affiliative (non-reproductive) interactions. Social bonds with conspecifics bring many advantages, also in terms of direct fitness. A characteristic of social bonds is that they need time to develop. Several studies on humans have emphasized the fact that sharing experiences can affect the strength of social bonds. A similar trend can be spotted in non-human species. For example, a recent experiment showed that if chimpanzees watched a video together with a conspecific, they spent more time in proximity compared to conspecifics with whom they did not actively watch a video. Another experiment on fish showed that individuals who experienced a situation of high predation risk together, showed preference for each other compared to those who did not. As the link between shared experiences and social bonds is not explicitly recognized in non-human animals, the main goal of this work is to propose the exploration of this novel research path. This exploration would contribute to shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of social bond (or friendship) development and maintenance between individuals in different vertebrate species, from fish to non-human primates.

On the role of frame-based knowledge in lexical representation

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 667-668
Author(s):  
József Andor
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Conceptual Semantics ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
Conceptual Structures

In this commentary I discuss the role of types of knowledge and conceptual structures in lexical representation, revealing the explanatory potential of frame-based knowledge. Although frame-based lexical semantics is not alien to the theoretical model outlined in Jackendoff's conceptual semantics, testing its relevance to the analysis of the lexical evidence presented in his book has been left out of consideration.

scholarly journals How Is Climate Change Knowledge Distributed among the Population in Singapore? A Demographic Analysis of Actual Knowledge and Illusory Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3782
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Yang ◽  
Lai Wei ◽  
Qi Su
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Demographic Analysis ◽  
Actual Knowledge ◽  
Deficit Model ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Types Of Knowledge ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Cognitive Miser

Due to the crucial role of knowledge in promoting public engagement with climate change, this study made an in-depths examination of the distribution of climate change knowledge among different demographic groups. Guided by information deficit model and cognitive miser model, two types of knowledge were investigated, including actual knowledge and illusory knowledge. Using a nationally representative survey in Singapore, this study found demographic effects in climate change knowledge distribution. Specifically, a series of independent sample t-test revealed that the males had more actual knowledge of climate change than the females. The middle aged and elderly adults had less actual knowledge but more illusory knowledge of climate change than the young adults. Compare to the more educated people, the less educated people had more illusory knowledge but less actual knowledge of climate change. People from low-income households reported lower levels of actual knowledge but higher levels of illusory knowledge than those from high-income households. Regarding these significant differences in climate change knowledge among different demographic groups, possible reasons for these variations and implications for designing public education programs are discussed.

Role of Moral Values in Evaluation of the Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Maria Botero ◽  
Donna Desforges
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Research ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Moral Argument ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Human Welfare ◽  
Nonhuman Animals ◽  
Moral Arguments ◽  
Animal Care

Abstract One requirement for the formation of an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is that they include a community member who embodies the values of the general population. This study’s aim is to investigate whether community members use moral arguments when deliberating a case of nonhuman animals used in experimentation. To this end, we tested the responses of community members in a situation similar to those confronting members of IACUC. The participants’ evaluation of the protocol was consistent with the mandates of IACUC. We also found that overall no moral argument played a significant role in their evaluation of a protocol. Only arguments based on loyalty to the human species played a moderate role in the evaluation of using animals in experimental research, in a way similar to using some moral arguments regarding the importance of human welfare to justify the use of animals in experimental research.

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