scholarly journals Motivations and fears driving participation in collaborative research infrastructure for animal tracking

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. e0241964
Author(s):  
Tara L. Crewe ◽  
Dave Kendal ◽  
Hamish A. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Principal Components ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
National Network ◽  
Research Investment ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Strong Motivation ◽  
Bird Management ◽  
Motivation To Participate

Anthropogenic derived environmental change is challenging earth’s biodiversity. To implement effective management, it is imperative to understand how organisms are responding over broad spatiotemporal scales. Collection of these data is generally beyond the budget of individual researchers and the integration and sharing of ecological data and associated infrastructure is becoming more common. However, user groups differ in their expectations, standards of performance, and desired outputs from research investment, and accommodating the motivations and fears of potential users from the outset may lead to higher levels of participation. Here we report upon a study of the Australian ornithology community, which was instigated to better understand perceptions around participation in nationally coordinated research infrastructure for detecting and tracking the movement of birds. The community was surveyed through a questionnaire and individuals were asked to score their motivations and fears around participation. Principal Components Analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the data and identify groups of questions where respondents behaved similarly. Linear regressions and model selection were then applied to the principal components to determine how career stage, employment role, and years of biotelemetry experience affected the respondent’s motivations and fears for participation. The analysis showed that across all sectors (academic, government, NGO) there was strong motivation to participate and belief that national shared biotelemetry infrastructure would facilitate bird management and conservation. However, results did show that a cross-sector cohort of the Australian ornithology community were keen and ready to progress collaborative infrastructure for tracking birds, and measures including data-sharing agreements could increase participation. It also informed that securing initial funding would be a significant challenge, and a better option to proceed may be for independent groups to coordinate through existing database infrastructure to form the foundation from which a national network could grow.

Designing the eLTER Research Infrastructure: representativity, priority regions and recommendations for development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Ohnemus ◽  
Hannes Mollenhauer ◽  
Michael Mirtl ◽  
Steffen Zacharias
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Design Strategy ◽  
Critical Zone ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Statistical Criterion ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Site Network ◽  
Combining Information

<p>The integrated European Long-Term Ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological Research Infrastructure (eLTER RI) was accepted onto the ESFRI roadmap in 2018. While several existing thematic environmental RIs in Europe focus on impacts of climate change and/or other elements of environmental change, eLTER RI will be the only research infrastructure embracing holistically the integrated impacts of such stressors on a wide variety of European benchmark ecosystems (major geo-eco-sociological systems across the continent’s ecoclimatological zones and Earth’s critical zone). In the beginning of 2020 eLTER RI entered the preparatory phase aiming at the development of the legal, financial and technical maturity required for an ESFRI Research Infrastructure.</p><p>The core of the eLTER RI will be ca. 200 selected sites covering all biogeographical zones in Europe, where biological, biogeochemical, hydrological and socio-ecological data will be collected - according to common standards - and analyzed. The European landscape of LTER sites and national networks has mainly been developed in a bottom-up manner. The sites have mostly been established for different monitoring and research purposes and are heterogeneous in terms of investigated ecosystem types, scales of investigation, complexity and instrumentation. Consequently, the transformation of the selected elements of the eLTER RI into a harmonized, high-performance, complementary and interoperable infrastructure is one of the key challenges of eLTER. Achieving the best possible representativity is on the major building blocks in eLTER’s design strategy.</p><p>To evaluate the representativity of eLTER a novel statistical approach combining information on biogeographical, ecological and socio-economic gradients with the management-relevant distribution of established sites was developed aiming at  i) identification of areas in Europe that are geographically underrepresented by the existing eLTER RI site network, ii) definition of priority regions for the geographical extension of the eLTER site network and, iii) development of suggestions for conceptual and infrastructural upgrades for existing less developed eLTER sites.</p><p>Reference datasets depicting biogeographical, ecological and socio-economical gradients were used to describe underrepresentation with a summation parameter called Aggregated Representedness. This statistical criterion was then used to classify five types of “priority regions” from very low to very high priority for geographical and/or conceptual extension. In a second step this information on priority regions was refined using additional information describing the geographical distribution based on Euclidean distances between established eLTER sites.  The combination of these two analyses allowed to identify less developed eLTER sites most suitable for conceptual and infrastructural upgrades. Thus, the presented analysis provides important information for the development of the design strategy for eLTER RI on the continental scale.</p><p>Concluding, a novel approach combining information on biogeographical, ecological and socio-economic gradients with the management-relevant information on the geographical distribution of established sites was developed. This tool allows to evaluate the strategies for further extension of established site networks. </p>

scholarly journals Challenges facing a network of representative marine protected areas in the Mediterranean: prioritizing the protection of underrepresented habitats

2008 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ameer Abdulla ◽  
Marina Gomei ◽  
David Hyrenbach ◽  
Giuseppe Notarbartolo-di-Sciara ◽  
Tundi Agardy
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Marine Protected Areas ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Deep Waters ◽  
Ecosystem Level ◽  
Strong Motivation ◽  
Northern Shore ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Marine Areas

Abstract Abdulla, A., Gomei, M., Hyrenbach, D., Notarbartolo-di-Sciara, G., and Agardy, T. 2009. Challenges facing a network of representative marine protected areas in the Mediterranean: prioritizing the protection of underrepresented habitats. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 22–28. The high endemism of the Mediterranean Sea provides strong motivation to develop a comprehensive plan for the conservation of its biodiversity and the management of its marine resources. Increasingly, this ecosystem-level approach calls for a comprehensive network of marine protected areas (MPAs) representative of the richness and diversity of this shared basin. Today, Mediterranean MPAs do not represent the diverse geography and habitats in the region. Despite a recent declaration on trawling restrictions in deep waters (>1000 m), there are no true deep-sea Mediterranean MPAs. All but one (98.9%) of the 94 marine areas currently under some type of protection or management are coastal. Moreover, 69 (73.4%) are located along the basin's northern shore, highlighting the lack of MPAs in the south and east coasts. Yet, these underrepresented regions and habitats are ecologically distinctive by virtue of their particular oceanographic and biogeographic conditions. We identify several obstacles to Mediterranean MPA implementation and discuss how they can be overcome through strategic MPA network planning, contending that regional disparities in governance, institutional structures, wealth distribution, social capital, and availability of ecological data are responsible for discrepancies in the establishment and effectiveness of MPAs in this region.

scholarly journals Resolving the anomaly of Lomatium anomalum: discovery of a new species in southwestern Idaho (U.S.A.) Lomatium andrusianum (Apiaceae)

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Mckayla Stevens ◽  
Donald H. Mansfield ◽  
James F. Smith ◽  
Mary Ann E. Feist
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Principal Components Analysis ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Species Boundaries ◽  
Monophyletic Clade ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Vegetative Characters ◽  
A New Species

Apparent polyphyly within the unresolved clade of Lomatium (Apiaceae) containing L. triternatum, L. anomalum, L. thompsonii, and L. packardiae suggests conflict among current taxonomic classification schemes. To recover this clade and more clearly define species boundaries, we examined populations of L. anomalum from three geographic regions in Idaho and adjacent Oregon. Using phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological data, we conclude that the L. anomalum complex currently circumscribes multiple species. Phylogenetic analysis of the nuclear ribosomal ITS and ETS, and cpDNA rpl32-trnLUAG, rps-16 intron, trnD-trnT, ndhA intron, and psbA-trnH recovered populations from the Boise foothills as a distinct, monophyletic clade. Principal Components Analysis of 30 reproductive and vegetative characters show two distinct groups: one of Boise foothills and one of the combined Mann Creek and Camas Prairie vicinities. Principal Components Analysis of 16 soil characteristics show that soils occupied by Boise foothills populations are distinct from those occupied by Mann Creek and Camas Prairie populations. Based on phylogenetic, morphometric, and ecologic criteria, populations of what had been considered L. anomalum from the Boise foothills and vicinity are here described as a new species—Lomatium andrusianum. 

scholarly journals COOPERATIVE STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS IN INCLUSIVE ROBOTICS ACTIVITIES

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
Evaggelia Tsiomi ◽  
Andromachi Nanou
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Cooperative Strategies ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Strong Motivation ◽  
Motivation To Participate

A qualitative, action research study has been conducted to investigate cooperative learning strategies for children with ASD and typical development during educational robotic activities. The participants were 4 children, 2 with ASD and 2 with typical development, around the ages of 12-14. The sessions were held at “School for all: Tokei Maru” in Thessaloniki, once a week, for 3 months. Observation protocols, researcher's diary, and interviews were used for data collection. Children with ASD, although they had a strong motivation to participate in robotic activities, exhibited disruptive behaviors. The cooperative learning strategy was not effective. Self-regulation strategies have proven helpful in limiting the disrupting behaviors of children with ASD and in supporting cooperative learning. 

scholarly journals The Effect of Motivation to Participate in Sport on Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors in Individuals with Physical Disabili-ties

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Top ◽  
Mustafa Akil
Keyword(s):  
Antisocial Behavior ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Antisocial Behaviors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Visual Disabilities ◽  
Strong Motivation ◽  
Level Of Motivation ◽  
Motivation To Participate

Background: This cross sectional study was conducted to analyse the level of motivation and proso-cial as well as antisocial behaviors of the individuals with physical disabilities who do sports, to eval-uate whether their motivational states were related with prosocial and antisocial behaviors, and to determine if the type of disability affect their motivation or prosocial and antisocial behaviors. Method: The research was conducted on 688 individuals who do sports and have physical disabili-ties in various regions of Turkey in 2020. Motivation Scale for Sports Participation of People with Disabilities (MSSPPD), Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale (PABSS) were used as data collection tools in this research. Results: Motivation to participate in sports level of the individuals with physical disabilities was quite high. Their prosocial behavior towards their teammates and opponents was high, while their antisocial behavior towards teammates and opponent team players was low. When subjects' motiva-tions were examined according to the type of disability, motivation levels of individuals with ortho-pedic and visual disabilities were higher than those of individuals with hearing disabilities. Conclusion: As a result, individuals with disabilities need strong motivation to participate in sport programs and this improves them behaviourally. As their motivation for participation in sport in-creased, their prosocial behaviors were positively affected, and their antisocial behaviors decrease.

scholarly journals Making the Most of Ecological Data from the LTER Site: Manager’s Point of View

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Genua-Olmedo ◽  
Ana Isabel Lillebø
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Natura 2000 ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Research Infrastructure ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Ecosystem Research ◽  
Ria De Aveiro

Climate change is affecting the ecosystems and the services they provide for human well-being. For a better understanding of the causes and effects of this change in the functioning of ecosystems, detailed information of environmental parameters needs to be considered. Researchers generate multiple databases in their academic disciplines but often this data collection is not openly available nor does it fulfill the FAIR principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability (Wilkinson et al. 2016). In this regard, Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) plays an important role as an open research infrastructure that helps to integrate in-situ data, remote sensing products and modelling efforts, related to biodiversity and geodiversity. Within LTER networks, the Dynamic Ecological Information Management System – Site and Dataset Registry (DEIMS-SDR), is used as the central site catalogue to provide information about facilities, ecosystems and environmental parameters in an openly available and standardized way (Wohner et al. 2019), organized by each location’s site. These LTER sites from all around the globe, receive a special protection status due to their ecological value, which through research and observation, enhances the protection and conservation of these areas. The LTER Ria de Aveiro site in Portugal (DEIMS.ID; LTER website), classified under the Natura 2000 network, is of paramount importance for the regional and national economy, agriculture, commercial fisheries, aquaculture, manufacturing, tourism, sports and recreational activities (e.g. Lillebø et al. 2019). Since the establishment of the LTER Ria de Aveiro site in 2011, its research has focused on the contribution to the effective implementation of the Water Framework Directive and European Union Biodiversity Strategy targets. Studies have been developed to target key policies within Natura 2000 areas, Action 5 including habitat mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services, data collection of important fauna groups, and engagement of stakeholders and common frameworks for the conservation of biodiversity. Currently, the site is part of the Portuguese e-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity (PORBIOTA), being aligned with the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (LifeWatch-ERIC). The LTER site team infrastructure includes laboratory facilities for field observation and environmental monitoring of water quality and environmental parameters that are used to feed models. A recently obtained Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), commonly known as drone, will contribute to ecological observations, generating data to provide biodiversity monitoring in space and time. As LTER site managers and data providers, we have to deal with how to make the transition from our metadata to FAIR ecological data. Our aim is to deal with the implementation of standardized data profiles in our own data. For instance, to upload data files to the central repositories (e.g. DEIMS-SDR), to store and publish our raw data (e.g. B2Share), to create online distribution links and digital object identifiers (DOIs), and to use a convenient vocabulary (e.g. Environmental Thesaurus) to be understandable by everyone (Pérez-Luque et al. 2019). This substantially will increase the potential of databases in the scientific community, and will contribute to a successful building of LTER.

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