Robust Regression with Data-Dependent Regularization Parameters and Autoregressive Temporal Correlations

We introduce robust procedures for analyzing water quality data collected over time. One challenging task in analyzing such data is how to achieve robustness in presence of outliers while maintaining high estimation efficiency so that we can draw valid conclusions and provide useful advices in water management. The robust approach requires specification of a loss function such as the Huber, Tukey’s bisquare and the exponential loss function, and an associated tuning parameter determining the extent of robustness needed. High robustness is at the cost of efficiency loss in parameter loss. To this end, we propose a data-driven method which leads to more efficient parameter estimation. This data-dependent approach allows us to choose a regularization (tuning) parameter that depends on the proportion of “outliers” in the data so that estimation efficiency is maximized. We illustrate the proposed methods using a study on ammonium nitrogen concentrations from two sites in the Huaihe River in China, where the interest is in quantifying the trend in the most recent years while accounting for possible temporal correlations and “irregular” observations in earlier years.     

Influence of Clear Fellings on the Bryophyte Component of the Broad-leaved Forests of the Bashkir Cis-Ural Region

The change in the composition of the bryophyte component of succession communities that occur in the process of natural regeneration at the site of clear felling of the indigenous elm—maple–linden forests of the Bashkir Cis-Ural Region has been studied. The vulnerability of species to the consequences of felling is affected by their substrate confinement, ecological amplitude in relation to the factors of temperature, humidity, variability of soil moisture, and type of life strategy. In the secondary aspen forests, the absence or low constancy of nemoral epiphytic and ground mosses was noted.     

Effects of Topographical Heterogeneity and Dispersal Limitation on Species Turnover in a Temperate Mountane Ecosystem: a Case Study in the Henan Province,China

Species turnover patterns can be inconsistent due to differences in the dispersal ability of different growth forms. Here, species of trees, shrubs, herbs, and bryophytes in the Xiaoqinling National Nature Reserve in China were analyzed to determine patterns of species turnover along an elevation and spatial gradient. Variance partitioning was used to assess the relative contribution of topographic heterogeneity and dispersal limitation to species turnover. Our results suggest that the effect of dispersal limitation is more important than topographic heterogeneity on species turnover in temperate mountane ecosystems in the study area. Dispersal limitation has a greater effect on trees species turnover than on shrubs, herbs or bryophytes species turnover.     

The Impact of Succession Stage on Share and Traits of Clonal Plants in Abandoned <Emphasis Type="Italic">Molinion caeruleae</Emphasis> Meadows

The impact of succession stage on the share of clonal plants in the plant cover, seed rain and seedling pool has been studied in the years 2014 and 2015. The investigations were carried out in abandoned Molinion caeruleae meadows dominated by small-statured species (Patch I), tall growing large-tussock grasses (Patch II) and shrub-willows (Patch III). Although the clonal taxa dominated in the plant cover, seed rain and seedling pool, their share in subsequent study sites was quite different. The spectra of life-history traits relevant to clonality in the plant cover and seed rain were similar and did not vary significantly among subsequent locations, while they mostly differed as observed in the seedling pool. The various spectra observed in seedling pool in subsequent study sites might be due to fact that the seed germination and recruitment of offspring are strongly influenced by habitat conditions which varied remarkably in the successive Patches.     

Comparative Analysis of Variation in Ecological Forms of Altai Osman, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oreoleuciscus potanini</Emphasis> (Cyprinidae), in Lakes Ayrag,Khyargas, and Nogon (Western Mongolia)

Analysis of variation in morphological characters of Potanin Altai osman, Oreoleuciscus potanini, from two freshwater and one brackish water lakes of Western Mongolia has shown that specimens of different ecological forms—herbivorous and piscivorous—form two integral and, at the level under consideration, internally indivisible units in the system of phenetic diversity of the species O. potanini.     

Factors Affecting Predator-Prey Distribution in a Protected Area,Tehran, Iran (a Case with Wolves and Wild Sheep)

We tried to model habitat suitability of two prey and predator species including wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) and wolf (Canis lupus) in Varjin protected area located in northern east of Tehran using a presence only method, maximum entropy (MaxEnt). Totally 11 environmental variables were measured in the species presence points which can be classified in three groups including topographical, vegetation and distal variables. Resulted maps indicated that habitat variables such as slope (ranging from 35 to 40 percent) and elevation (lower than 1700 meters above sea level) are both institute those factors which mostly affect studied prey and predator habitat use. Our results regarding prey and predator geographical range of used habitat indicated that wolves cover most area than wild sheep which show more dispersed habitat resources for the prey species. ENMTools test revealed that wolf’s niche breadth is more than twice as much as wild sheep’s. Wild sheep in Varjin protected area has a relatively narrow geographical extent and shows a tendency to marginal habitats while wolves cover obviously more areas which denotes its high mobility and low dependency to specific habitats.     

Investigating the oil curse in OECD and Non-OECD oil-exporting economies using green measures of income

Empirical studies investigating the natural resource curse theory mostly employ cross-country and panel regression techniques subject to endogeneity bias. Also, most of these studies employ GDP in its aggregate or per-capita terms as the outcome variable in their analyses. However, the use of GDP measures of income for resource curse investigations may not portray the true incomes of resource-intensive economies. Standard national accounts treat natural resource rents as a positive contribution to income without adjusting for the value of depleted natural resource stock. This treatment often leads to a positive bias in the national income computations of resource-rich economies. Unlike previous studies, we test the robustness of the curse in the predominantly used measures of national income, GDP, by investigating the theme in genuine income measures of economic output as well. Also, the paper deviates from most empirical studies in the literature by using the Arellano–Bond difference GMM method in investigating the oil curse in OECD and Non-OECD oil-exporting economies. Additionally, we employ two alternative measures of resource intensity in our explorations; the share of oil rents in GDP and per-capita oil reserves. Our results provide evidence of the curse in Non-OECD countries employing aggregate and per-capita measures of genuine income.     

Sustainability indicators in the swine industry of the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina

In recent decades, there has been a growing concern about measuring and evaluating the results of intensive production practices, such as the mode of integration practiced on a large scale by agro-industries. The present study discusses the application and the results of a Sustainability Indicators System in the context of the swine industry in the Brazilian State of Santa Catarina. These indicators, focused on the level of sustainability maturity, can be used as a way to diagnose and compare the efficiency of the industry from a broader perspective. The research findings indicate that most of the pig farms that have been studied can be classified as “in search of sustainability or sustainable.” Nevertheless, there are differences among the dimensions and between the most ranked farms and the others which must be considered for a better design and application of public policies and company strategies toward an effective and balanced social, economic and environmental sustainability.     

Discerning the factors explaining the change in energy efficiency

Due to the high rates of energy consumption and its impact on environment over the last decades, policy decision-makers are increasingly recognising the need to take actions that allow to address problems associated with the deployment of non-renewable resources and climate changes. One field of action has been the promotion of measures that contribute to improve energy efficiency of countries. The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors explaining changes in energy efficiency applying the multiplicative Log Mean Divisia Index decomposition method for a set of countries (Portugal, UK, Brazil and China) with different socio-economic background and energy mix. The results show that overall energy efficiency trends display different patterns between countries and the same happens within each country from a sectoral perspective. Major drivers of improvements of overall energy efficiency were the intensity effect and the affluence effect, whereas the driver that hampered those improvements was the energy consumption per capita. Some policy implications derived from the results achieved are: policy decision-makers should support measures that promote the adoption of energy-saving technologies resulting from new technological developments; policy measures should be directed to raise awareness of end-users regarding energy efficiency and energy conservation efforts; policy measures promoting economic growth through the development (or expansion) of sectors of activity that consume less energy can also be implemented; finally, policy instruments may also be used to reduce the costs of implementing energy efficiency and energy-saving measures to households and firms.