Differential responses of marsh predators to rainfall-induced habitat loss and subsequent variations in prey availability

2008 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 407-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Canepuccia ◽  
A. A. Farias ◽  
A. H. Escalante ◽  
O. Iribarne ◽  
A. Novaro ◽  
...  

Rainfall has increased in many regions during recent decades, but most information is from dryland ecosystems, which precludes generalizations about its ecological consequences. We explored the effects of increased flooding on the Geoffroy’s cat, Leopardus geoffroyi (d’Orbigny and Gervais, 1844), and pampas fox, Pseudalopex gymnocercus (G. Fischer, 1814), exposed to an abnormally rainy period in marshes at Mar Chiquita, Argentina. In particular, we assessed the effects of flooding on (i) habitat use by L. geoffroyi and P. gymnocercus, (ii) abundance of their main prey, and (iii) functional responses of predators to variations in prey abundance. Overall, simple regression analysis identified negative effects of flooding on abundance of prey (rodents, waterbirds, and arthropods), but structural-equation modeling and logistic generalized linear models identified differential effects of rainfall on habitat use by and functional responses of predators, respectively. Habitat use by L. geoffroyi was more negatively affected by interannual variability in flooding-induced habitat loss, particularly through its effect on waterbirds. At the same time, habitat use by P. gymnocercus was less affected, likely because this species was less dependent on prey from flooded areas and used higher elevation habitats. Given that most native grasslands in elevated areas have been converted to agriculture, the more specialized L. geoffroyi faces a greater threat if current trends of climate change persist in this region.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6842
Author(s):  
Érika Martins Silva Ramos ◽  
Cecilia Jakobsson Bergstad

The present study investigates the determinants of intention to use carsharing services by an integrated model of psychological predictors of travel behavior. The model proposed is tested by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) in structural equation modeling (SEM) with further discussion about analysis of invariance and its relevance for comparisons between groups. The sample was classified into four groups: Italian users, Italian non-users, Swedish users, and Swedish non-users of carsharing. The users were respondents who have used or are currently using carsharing, while non-users reported never using the carsharing services. The analysis of data from 6072 respondents revealed that control was the main predictor of intention to use carsharing; driving habits had stronger negative effects for users of carsharing than for non-users; subjective norms positively predicted the intention to use carsharing among all groups; trust was a predictor of intention only for the Italian groups; and climate morality had a small negative effect on the Swedish groups only. The outcomes of this investigation will increase the knowledge about the use of carsharing and help to identify the behavioral and psychological factors that primarily influence people’s intention to use it.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Husam Alfahl

The use of mobile devices and smartphones is increasingly becoming a critical part of many people’s lifestyle. Such usage can vary from playing games to accomplishing work-related tasks. Being able to use organizations’ persuasive technologies via mobile business services or to achieve work-related tasks ubiquitously at any time means that such devices provide a valuable service, especially for employees who are working online. This paper explores the impact of mBusiness on the social life of employees. In the research, structural equation modeling was applied to validate the research model. Employees in Saudi organizations were surveyed to test the research hypotheses. The research results confirmed that there are some negative effects of using mBusiness technologies on the social life of employees. Based on the analysis, the findings revealed that addiction to mBusiness technologies significantly increases the perceived work overload, which also significantly increases work-family conflict. The paper concludes with some implications of this research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Shan (Sandy) Huang ◽  
Yao-Chin Wang ◽  
Pei-Jou Kuo

Face plays a key role in guiding consumers’ consumptions in social settings. The purpose of this research is to understand how the desire to gain face and the fear to lose face affect consumers’ self-brand congruence and brand advocate behaviors toward their favorite restaurant brands. Using structural equation modeling to analyze the survey data, the results indicated (1) that ideal-self attainability encouraged the desire to gain face while discouraging the fear to lose face, (2) that the desire to gain face exerted positive effects on positive word-of-mouth and negative avoidance through actual self-brand congruence, and (3) that the fear to lose face exerted negative effects on positive word-of-mouth through actual self-brand congruence.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 663-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Gest ◽  
Jennifer Neemann ◽  
Jon J. Hubbard ◽  
Ann S. Masten ◽  
Auke Tellegen

AbstractStructural equation modeling was used (a) to determine the extent to which parent-related and non-parent-related adversity were associated with increases in conduct problems between childhood and adolescence and (b) to evaluate the possible preventive, compensatory, and moderating effects of parenting quality in this regard. Subjects were 180 boys and girls from the Project Competence longitudinal study of adversity, competence, and resilience (Garmezy & Tellegen, 1984). Conduct problems, parenting quality, and socioeconomic status were assessed when subjects were in the third through sixth grades, and adversity and conduct problems were assessed again 7 years later. Results were consistent with the view that parentrelated adversity experienced between the two assessment times was associated with a small increase in conduct problems. Adversity involving siblings, extended family, and friends was not associated with changes in conduct. Effective parenting was associated with less parent-related adversity during adolescence. Effective parenting, however, did not directly compensate for the negative effects of adversity; nor did it moderate the effects of adversity. Structural equation modeling was helpful in testing for several of these effects simultaneously. Short-term longitudinal studies with baseline measures, more frequent assessments, and adequate sample size are necessary to clarify the processes suggested by these results.


Author(s):  
David Opeoluwa Oyewola ◽  
Emmanuel Gbenga Dada ◽  
Juliana Ngozi Ndunagu ◽  
Terrang Abubakar Umar ◽  
Akinwunmi S.A

Since the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, it has been transmitted to more than 200 nations of the world. The harmful impact of the pandemic on the economy of nations is far greater than anything suffered in almost a century. The main objective of this paper is to apply Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Machine Learning (ML) to determine the relationships among COVID-19 risk factors, epidemiology factors and economic factors. Structural equation modeling is a statistical technique for calculating and evaluating the relationships of manifest and latent variables. It explores the causal relationship between variables and at the same time taking measurement error into account. Bagging (BAG), Boosting (BST), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Decision Tree (DT) and Random Forest (RF) Machine Learning techniques was applied to predict the impact of COVID-19 risk factors. Data from patients who came into contact with coronavirus disease were collected from Kaggle database between 23 January 2020 and 24 June 2020. Results indicate that COVID-19 risk factors have negative effects on epidemiology factors. It also has negative effects on economic factors.


Author(s):  
Emel Yıldız ◽  
Hasan Ayyıldız

This chapter examines the effects of word-of-mouth motivations and culture on electronic word-of-mouth behavior. This chapter also focuses on the effects of cultural values on electronic word-of-mouth behavior. Within the context of the study, online forums in which consumers write comments have been used. The data was obtained from an electronic survey provided to 561 consumers. The reliability of scales has been tested via the Cronbach's Alfa Method and the validity of scales has been tested by Factor Analysis. After determining the reliability and validity of the scales, research hypotheses were tested by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Multiple Regression Analysis. The findings show that motivation and culture have positive effects on electronic word-of-mouth behavior. This chapter also attempts to explain the effects of cultural values on electronic word-of-mouth behavior, and it is found that while uncertainty avodiance and masculinity have positive effects, individualism and power distance have negative effects on electronic word-of-mouth behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Shafique ◽  
Ahmad Qammar ◽  
Masood Nawaz Kalyar ◽  
Bashir Ahmad ◽  
Anila Mushtaq

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the influence of workplace ostracism on deviant behaviour and testified the mediating roles of organisational identification, burnout and organisation-based self-esteem (OBSE) by using a parallel mediation model. Then, the moderating role of ingratiation in the interrelation between ostracism, the mediators and deviant behaviour is examined. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from nurses working in public sector hospitals in Pakistan. Nursing context is appropriate for the study because this occupation involves a greater extent of social interaction among peer nurses, doctors and administration in the provision of health services. A total of 417 nurses provided complete responses, and the study hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings The study findings show that ostracism is positively related to deviant behaviour of nurses, indicating that workplace ostracism is an important predictor of deviant behaviour. Ostracised nurses experienced higher job burnouts and low OBSE as well as organisational identification. Results also show that ostracism promotes deviant behaviour by reducing OBSE and organisational identification. Moreover, results provide evidence that high ingratiation overcomes the detrimental effects of ostracism on both deviant behaviour and mediators. Originality/value The present study integrates the literature on ostracism and its attitudinal and behavioural outcomes and submits that ostracism negatively affects the attitudes of victims which in turn results in negative behavioural outcomes (i.e. deviant behaviour). This study also suggests ingratiation as a tactic to control the negative effects of ostracism.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Mansur ◽  
Bruno Felix

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate how positive affectivity (PA) moderates the indirect effects of positive and negative career shocks – unplanned and often unexpected external events whose effects cannot be anticipated or countered – on thriving via career adaptability.Design/methodology/approachThe authors empirically tested the moderated mediation model with a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The study was performed with a valid sample of professionals who had experienced work-related career shocks.FindingsThe results indicated that career adaptability mediated the effects of positive and negative career shocks on thriving. In addition, the slope of the relationship between negative shocks and adaptability became positive for high levels of PA. The authors also found an indirect effect of negative career shocks on thriving at all levels of PA and importantly, when PA was high, the effects of negative shocks on thriving became positive.Practical implicationsIndividuals may use emotional reappraisal strategies to counter negative feelings that accompany negative events to mitigate the negative effects of such events. By strengthening their positivity, individuals facilitate their own perception of shocks, thereby minimizing the possibility of a decrease in adaptability resources.Originality/valueThis paper advances understanding of those mechanisms through which negative shocks lead to positive effects that can help individuals improve their career adaptability and thrive.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-439
Author(s):  
Ossi Pesämaa ◽  
Peter Dahlin ◽  
Christina Öberg

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how tension management as a means of achieving compromise and overcoming minor conflicts reduces the effects of the opportunism and bargaining costs of relationships on the evaluation of business partners. The paper proposes and tests a theoretical model with a full-information approach using structural equation modeling. Design/methodology/approach The data set was based on 312 observations from a unique survey based on a business-to-business relationship sample in Sweden. The measurements reflect the effects of partner opportunism, bargaining costs, and tension management on partner evaluations. Findings The findings corroborate that partner opportunism and bargaining costs have a negative impact on partner evaluation. In addition, the model shows that tension management weakens the negative effects of opportunism and bargaining costs on the evaluation. Originality/value This study offers evidence on how negative effects are reduced through intervening constructs. With most studies focusing on the positive side of relationships, this paper makes an important contribution to the literature through not only describing negative effects, but also how these can be decreased.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S895-S895
Author(s):  
Ayako Baba

Abstract OBJECTIVE: Long-term caregiver (child)/care-recipient (parent) relationships have both positive and negative effects on care. However, the mechanism of that impact is unclear. This study aimed to explore how parent–child relationships affect care and which aspects cause those effects. METHOD: Five hundred thirty-four adult children who were caring for or had cared for their parents at home completed the scales of parent–child psychological independence, the acceptance of care, care attitude, and care burden. Data were analyzed using a pass analysis with multiple group structural equation modeling to identify the relationship between parent–child psychological independence, acceptance of care, care attitude, and care burden, and the care dyad difference of the models. RESULT: 1) “Reliable relationship with parent” in parent–child psychological independence affected “resignation” and “understanding actively” in acceptance of care. 2) “Psychological individuation from the parent” in parent–child independence affected all subscales of care attitudes. 3) “Resistance” and “understanding actively” in acceptance of care and “auto-pilot” in care attitude affected care burden. 4) In mother–daughter caregiving, “resistance” and “resignation” had stronger effects on “auto-pilot” whereas “utilization of resource” and “flexible response” in care attitude and “resistance” had weaker effects on care burden. CONCLUSION: The relationship between long-term parent–child relationship and care were revealed. In some points, daughters who were caring for or had cared for their mothers had a different model from other care dyads. These results suggest that child caregivers should be supported mentally in accordance to their difficult points and dyads.


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