Antipredator strategies of house finches: are urban habitats safe spots from predators even when humans are around?

Urbanization decreases species diversity, but it increases the abundance of certain species with high tolerance to human activities. The safe-habitat hypothesis explains this pattern through a decrease in the abundance of native predators, which reduces predation risk in urban habitats. However, this hypothesis does not consider the potential negative effects of human-associated disturbance (e.g., pedestrians, dogs, cats). Our goal was to assess the degree of perceived predation risk in house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) through field studies and semi-natural experiments in areas with different levels of urbanization using multiple indicators of risk (flock size, flight initiation distance, vigilance, and foraging behavior). Field studies showed that house finches in more urbanized habitats had a greater tendency to flock with an increase in population density and flushed at larger distances than in less urbanized habitats. In the semi-natural experiment, we found that individuals spent a greater proportion of time in the refuge patch and increased the instantaneous pecking rate in the more urbanized habitat with pedestrians probably to compensate for the lower amount of foraging time. Vigilance parameters were influenced in different ways depending on habitat type and distance to flock mates. Our results suggest that house finches may perceive highly urbanized habitats as more dangerous, despite the lower number of native predators. This could be due to the presence of human activities, which could increase risk or modify the ability to detect predators. House finches seem to adapt to the urban environment through different behavioral strategies that minimize risk.     

Language Fouls in Teaching Ecology: Why Traditional Metaphors Undermine Conservation Literacy

Abstract: We believe that the language commonly used in teaching actually hinders the creation of conservation literacy. We examined four frequently used ecology and environmental studies textbooks and considered the ways in which commonly used language can obscure or enhance an understanding of ecology and conservation. Specifically, we used the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (a.k.a. linguistic relativity) and framing theory to examine the approaches reflected in three elements of the texts: introductions and treatment of two key ecological concepts (matter cycling and energy). Language used in the texts contained implicit metaphors that portrayed nature as a resource; resisted ecological realities, such as the finite nature of matter and the loss of energy with each transformation; and fundamentally served to separate humans from nature. Although the basis of conservation literacy is understanding of the complexity of ecological systems, culturally based communication as exemplified in these texts does not encourage students or educators to recognize the feedback loops that clarify human membership in the ecosystem. Consequently, the language used to teach ecology perpetuates the idea that humans exist outside of its laws. With this paper, we hope to initiate a dialogue about how to retool the language used in teaching and communicating about ecology such that it resonates with, rather than undermines, conservation.     

Maternal investment, sex-differential prospects, and the sex ratio in wild house mice

In a population of first-generation offspring from wild-caught house mice (Mus musculus domesticus), previous evidence suggested that male fitness is more strongly affected by an increase in body weight than female fitness. This paper shows that in these mice the young are weaned at heavier weights the smaller the litter and the better the maternal body condition. These effects persisted into adulthood and were less pronounced in female young. However, contrary to expectation from conventional sex ratio theory, maternal condition and litter size had no detectable effect on sex ratios. Also, litter size did not affect sex ratios in two populations of laboratory-kept, wild-caught western (M. m. domesticus) and eastern house mice (M. m. musculus). Wild house mice, therefore, appear not to adaptively manipulate the sex ratio of offspring. It is argued that this absence of sex ratio trends might not be maladaptive, but rather that models currently used to predict sex ratio trends in rodents may not be valid. Received: 13 March 1997 / Accepted after revision: 9 August 1997     

An energetic perspective on the relationship between disturbance and ecosystem productivity

Previous ecological models for disturbance from energetic perspectives have focused on destructive pulses by which storages in a system are quickly drained during disturbance events and recovered thereafter. However, considering the wide range of disturbance intensities, frequencies, and durations in nature, disturbance effects on ecosystem energetics would be better understood by diversifying the disturbance effects on specific system configurations or energy pathways. Based on two hypotheses, we built simulation models of the variable disturbance-productivity relationships observed in a freshwater aquatic microcosm study. First, we hypothesized that disturbances will differentially alter the intrinsic rates of energy pathways in a system. Second, we hypothesized that there is a disturbance threshold where response of the intrinsic rates changes abruptly. Simulation results showed variable patterns of gross primary productivity (GPP) during the disturbance and post-disturbance periods under the diverse scenarios of disturbance effects on the intrinsic rates. Simulation results confirmed that the second hypothesis (i.e., disturbance threshold) was essential to achieve a U-shaped or peaked disturbance-productivity relationship. We evaluated the models by comparing them with the results of the microcosm tests, and suggested possible mechanisms of the variable disturbance-productivity relationships by varying parameters related to the disturbance effects on the intrinsic rates and the disturbance thresholds.     

环境规制对长三角城市绿色发展的影响——基于技术创新的作用路径分析

环境规制与绿色发展的关系及其作用机制是复杂且有争议的议题。基于长三角41个地级及以上城市2003—2018年的面板数据,首先科学构建绿色发展水平测度的指标体系,计算各城市的绿色发展水平及空间动态演变;其次,借鉴可拓展随机性的环境影响评估模型（STIRPAT）,构建面板计量模型,深入探究环境规制对城市绿色发展的影响。研究发现：（1）长三角地区环境规制和绿色发展水平均呈上升趋势,但区域差异显著,绿色发展水平从东南向西北,呈现圈层式递减态势,而环境规制强度重心经历了由东南向西北转移的演变。（2）总体上,环境规制显著影响城市绿色发展,两者间存在倒“U”型关系,即过强的环境规制会抑制城市绿色发展水平的提升。（3）环境规制与技术创新之间存在紧密的联动关系,即环境规制主要通过技术创新这一中介路径促进城市绿色发展转型,其中介效应占总效应的比例约为50.1%。因此,在推动长三角一体化高质量发展过程中,应该根据城市绿色发展效率来制定本地的环境规制,并重视提升本地的技术创新水平,进而实现城市绿色发展转型的目标。     

Long-term trends in the Real real prices of primary commodities: Inflation bias and the Prebisch–Singer hypothesis

In his recent article on measuring the long-term trends in the real prices of primary commodities, Cuddington (2010) extends in several important respects our earlier efforts (Svedberg and Tilton, 2006) to correct real commodity price trends for biases in the Consumer Price Index and other deflators. First, he argues for a log-linear relationship between prices and time. Second, he proposes a simple and quick method for obtaining corrected price trends from the published but uncorrected estimates. Finally, he illustrates, for the case of copper and presumably for many other commodities as well, the difficulties of obtaining real price trends significantly different from zero when the log values of the price data contain a unit root, requiring the use of difference stationary models.We welcome these insights, which should improve and make easier efforts to estimate correctly real commodity price trends over the long run. We would stress, however, that it is still important to correct for the biases in inflation indices, notwithstanding the failure of difference stationary models to obtain long-run real price trends (both corrected and uncorrected) significantly different from zero.     

Another outlook into energy-growth nexus in Mexico for sustainable development: Accounting for the combined impact of urbanization and trade openness

This study corroborates the importance of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG-7), intended to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy for all, and SDG-8, designed to promote decent work and sustainable economic growth. This article is motivated by the highlighted SDGs and empirically explores the long-run and causality relationship between energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, and economic growth for annual frequency data from 1965 to 2021 for the case of Mexico. To this end, we leverage the use of fully modified ordinary least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares, and canonical regression estimation methods, while for the direction of causality, the gradual shift and wavelet coherence methods are used. According to the Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), the bounds test traces a long-run relationship between the outlined variables over the sampled period. Empirical evidence validates the energy-induced growth hypothesis. This result resonates with the causality analysis, where energy consumption drives economic growth one way in Mexico. This suggests that Mexico cannot embark on energy-conservative policies, as such actions will hurt economic progress. In addition, unidirectional causality is seen between urbanization, trade openness, and economic growth. These findings have far-reaching implications for economic growth and macroeconomic indicators in Mexico. More insights are highlighted in the concluding section.     

Greening the Brazil,Russia, India,China and South Africa (BRICS) economies: Assessing the impact of electricity consumption,natural resources,and renewable energy on environmental footprint

Electricity consumption is a crucial factor in the environmental pollution process, and therefore, its impact needs to be carefully considered by policymakers. This study investigates the relationship between energy consumption, electricity generation, natural resource utilization, and environmental pollution in BRICS nations, which have a substantial share in global resource consumption. To this end, we employed a novel methodology, namely the Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), for the time period between 1990 and 2018, within the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory. The study's outcome shows that natural resources and renewable energy are efficacious and significant in curbing environmental degradation among the sample countries. The investigation reveals a positive correlation between electricity consumption and environmental degradation, thereby highlighting this vital resource's role in exacerbating the BRICS nations’ ecological footprint. The findings from this research can provide crucial insights for policymakers to achieve sustainable development and carbon neutrality in these countries.     

碳排放权交易试点是否促进了对外直接投资?

环境规制与跨国投资之间的关系一直是学术界关注的焦点。作为重要的环境规制手段,碳排放权交易试点的推进标志着我国环境规制强度的增强。对外直接投资(OFDI)作为最典型的跨国经济活动之一,是中国"走出去"战略的重要组成部分。近年来,中国对外直接投资存量与净额都呈现稳定的上升趋势,与此同时,环境规制强度也在不断提升。中国对外直接投资是否受到国内环境规制加强的影响值得探讨,而2013年正式启动碳排放权交易试点为解决此问题提供了一个准自然实验场景。基于此,文章使用中国30个省级行政单位2010—2019年的面板数据,以北京、上海、广东、天津、湖北、重庆和福建开展的碳排放权交易试点作为准自然实验,运用双重差分法(DID)研究碳排放权交易试点的开展是否提升了对外直接投资水平。研究结论表明,碳排放权交易试点能够显著提升我国对外直接投资水平。且该结论在平行趋势检验、合成控制法(SCM)、安慰剂检验等检验后依旧稳健。此外,潜在机制的研究发现碳排放权交易试点满足"污染避难所假说"和"波特假说",进而促进了对外直接投资水平的提升。通过净效应的初步讨论,文章发现"污染避难所假说"仍旧在目前占据主导地位。研究结论意味着:(1)未来要继续推进全国统一的碳排放权交易市场建设;(2)持续探索激发碳排放权交易试点对创新产生的激励效应;(3)完善投资便利化的制度与措施,搭建国际技术交易或信息平台等。一方面促进我国生态环境的改善,另一方面促进对外投资水平的增质提量。