Forests in common: Learning from diversity of community forest arrangements in Europe

Europe has a wealth of community forest arrangements. This paper aims to transcend the diversity of locally specific terms and forms, to highlight the value of considering them inclusively. Building on methods to make sense of diversity, we use reflexive grounded inquiry in fifteen cases in Italy, Scotland, Slovenia and Sweden. Within four dimensions (forest, community, relationships between them, and relationships with wider society), we identify 43 subdimensions to describe them collectively. Our approach shows how European arrangements contribute to wider discourses of collective natural resource management. Both tradition and innovation in Europe inform options for environmental governance. Arrangements challenge the distinction between ‘communities of place’ and ‘communities of interest’, with implications for social and environmental justice. They exemplify multilevel environmental governance through both vertical and horizontal connections. Emerging from long histories of political and environmental pressures, they have a role in enhancing society’s connection with nature and adaptive capacity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01377-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorised users.     

Understanding the normalisation of recycling behaviour and its implications for other pro-environmental behaviours: A review of social norms and recycling

This paper examines our understanding of recycling behaviour in the context of its increasing normalisation in the UK. It reflects on the recent history of dry recycling (i.e. recycling of ‘dry’ materials such as paper, glass, plastics and cans) and asks the question as to what influence policy drivers and the increased provision of facilities for recycling have had on people's behaviour. In reviewing the evidence for recycling being considered a norm, this paper explores what influence norms, habit and identities have on recycling behaviour.It then considers what lessons the evidence offers for using the normalisation of recycling behaviour in influencing more people to recycle and to adopt other sustainable behaviours. The somewhat contentious issue of whether engaging in recycling behaviours has a positive or negative effect on people engaging with other pro-environmental behaviours is discussed. The evidence shows that both positive and negative spillover occurs and understanding where the balance lies, as well as what effect recycling being a norm plays in this, is important in determining appropriate interventions to influence pro-environmental behaviours. The paper concludes with some observations on implications of the evidence on intervention approaches to influence pro-environmental behaviours.     

Tidal river management in the south west Ganges-Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh: Moving towards a transdisciplinary approach?

Due to both natural and anthropogenic forces, the south west part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra coastal area is facing diverse problems such as waterlogging, salinity, and loss of biodiversity. In order to address these challenges, local people have identified ‘tidal river management (TRM)’ as a comprehensive approach for sustainably managing this part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. However, due to institutional limitations, mismanagement and social conflicts, application of the TRM approach is not straightforward. In order to identify existing implementation barriers and to effectively apply the TRM approach, a transdisciplinary approach is examined for its potential to inform the re-shaping of TRM governing values and actions. It is argued that a thorough application of a transdisciplinary framework is essential, supported by the active involvement of key agencies and local stakeholders. The proposed transdisciplinary framework can potentially be applied to TRM projects for solving waterlogging and associated problems in order to achieve greater sustainability of the area.     

Activity of root voles (Microtus oeconomus) under snow: social encounters synchronize individual activity rhythms

Microtine rodents usually display short-term activity rhythms synchronized by light. Social interactions have also been suggested to act as a zeitgeber, entraining individual activity, but evidence supporting this is scarce. In areas with a permanent snow cover during winter, small rodents spend most of the time in the subnivean space, between the snow cover and the ground, where they most likely are unaffected by otherwise dominating photoperiodic cues. The subnivean space, however, is fragmented, and this limits movement and may isolate individuals living just a few meters apart. These conditions provide excellent opportunities to test for the existence of social synchronization. During two winters, I experimentally decreased the subnivean fragmentation by placing out a network of corrugated aluminium sheets on the ground before snowfall, thus increasing the potential for movement and social interaction within the subnivean space. Other areas were left as controls. Intensive PIT-tag monitoring in the subnivean system provided individual activity data of root voles (Microtus oeconomus) without disturbing normal activity. The data revealed that microtines under snow displayed a free-running activity rhythm and that the activity was evenly distributed throughout the 24-h day, indicating a lack of photo-entrainment. Despite this lack of light, interacting individuals were synchronous, and pairwise synchrony decreased with decreasing potential for social interactions. These results suggest that social interactions indeed entrain microtine activity. Several possible adaptive advantages of the synchrony of microtine rodent activity have been proposed, and these theories are discussed in light of the result presented.     

论地震谣传与社会信息沟通

地震谣言和地震误传的产生过程是社会信息沟通的过程,也是一种社会心理现象。分析研究我国十多年来所发生的地震谣传;无一不是社会信息沟通的结果。为了利用社会信息沟通对地震谣言、误传进行有效的控制,作者提出了地震谣言、误传在社会信息沟通中的控制原则和一般的对策模式,为社会组织提供在地震谣传事件中的决策依据。     

Sociogenetic organization of the red ant Myrmica rubra

Knowledge of the sociogenetic organization determining the kin structure of social insect colonies is the basis for understanding the evolution of insect sociality. Kin structure is determined by the number and relatedness of queens and males reproducing in the colonies, and partitioning of reproduction among them. This study shows extreme flexibility in these traits in the facultatively polygynous red ant Myrmica rubra. Relatedness among worker nestmates varied from 0 to 0.82. The most important reason for this variation was the extensive variation in the queen number among populations. Most populations were moderately or highly polygynous resulting in low relatedness among worker nestmates, but effectively monogynous populations were also found. Polygynous populations also often tend to be polydomous, which is another reason for low relatedness. Coexisting queens were positively related in two populations out of five and relatedness was usually similar among workers in the same colonies. Due to the polydomous colony organization and short life span of queens, it was not possible to conclusively determine the importance of unequal reproduction among coexisting queens, but it did not seem to be important in determining the relatedness among worker nestmates. The estimates of the mating frequency by queens remained ambiguous, which may be due to variation among populations. In some populations relatedness among worker nestmates was high, suggesting monogyny and single mating by queens, but in single-queen laboratory nests relatedness among the worker offspring was lower, suggesting that multiple mating was common. The data on males were sparse, but indicated sperm precedence and no relatedness among males breeding in the same colony. A comparison of social organizations and habitat requirements of M. rubra and closely related M. ruginodis suggested that habitat longevity and patchiness may be important ecological factors promoting polygyny in Myrmica. Received: 15 May 1995/Accepted after revision: 17 October 1995     

Colony choice in birds: models based on temporally invariant site quality

We propose two stochastic models to explain how birds choose colonies. In the resource choice model, birds settle at each site at a rate proportional to the total resources the site contains. In the reduced resource choice model, a smaller cohort of birds enters sites at a rate determined by the total resources at each, and the remaining individuals enter sites at a rate that is linearly proportional to the total number of birds already nesting at each site. Thus, a fraction of birds chooses sites based on the resources present, and the remainder are attracted to a site by the presence of other birds. Colony site quality is assumed not to vary between years. Both models result, on average, in an ideal free distribution of colony sizes if the birds' settlement rate is linearly related to the resources in a site, if resources are distributed equally among individuals within sites, and if individuals with equal resources have equal fitness. We applied these models to long-term data on colony sizes and site usage of cliff swallows in south-western Nebraska. A test of the resource choice model suggested that the swallow population as a whole did not choose sites based strictly on site quality or the total resources contained at each site. However, a test of the reduced resource choice model suggested that a smaller fraction of the individuals in each colony may have based their choice of site on local resource availability, with the remaining birds aggregating at those sites based on the number of birds already settled there. Tests of these models may provide insight into how individuals choose colony sites and why colonies vary in size.     

社会需要的两极保障与社会的稳定发展——关于灾害的若干社会学思考

本文从社会需要的两极保障是社会稳定与发展的前提出发,论述了社会需要、自然环境与灾害的关系;并从发展生产与引导人的需要两方面阐述了维护生态平衡是减灾工作的重点途径之一。     

Identifying motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste

The amount of food discarded by UK households is substantial and, to a large extent, avoidable. Furthermore, such food waste has serious environmental consequences. If household food waste reduction initiatives are to be successful they will need to be informed by people's motivations and barriers to minimising household food waste. This paper reports a qualitative study of the thoughts, feelings and experiences of 15 UK household food purchasers, based on semi-structured interviews. Two core categories of motives to minimise household food waste were identified: (1) waste concerns and (2) doing the ‘right’ thing. A third core category illustrated the importance of food management skills in empowering people to keep household food waste to a minimum. Four core categories of barriers to minimising food waste were also identified: (1) a ‘good’ provider identity; (2) minimising inconvenience; (3) lack of priority; and (4) exemption from responsibility. The wish to avoid experiencing negative emotions (such as guilt, frustration, annoyance, embarrassment or regret) underpinned both the motivations and the barriers to minimising food waste. Findings thus reveal potentially conflicting personal goals which may hinder existing food waste reduction attempts.     

Impact of perceptual countermeasures on driving behavior at curves using driving simulator

Objective: The probability of crash occurrence on horizontal curves is 1.5 to 4 times higher than that on tangent sections. A majority of these crashes are associated with human errors. Therefore, human behavior in curves needs to be corrected.

Methodology: In this study, 2 different road marking treatments, optical circles and herringbone patterns, were used to influence driver behavior while entering a curve on a 2-lane rural road section. A driving simulator was used to perform the experiment. The simulated road sections are replicas of 2 real road sections in Flanders.

Results: Both treatments were found to reduce speed before entering the curve. However, speed reduction was more gradual when optical circles were used. A herringbone pattern had more influence on lateral position than optical circles by forcing drivers to maintain a safe distance from opposing traffic in the adjacent lane.

Conclusion: The study concluded that among other low-cost speed reduction methods, optical circles are effective tools to reduce speed and increase drivers’ attention. Moreover, a herringbone pattern can be used to reduce crashes on curves, mainly for head-on crashes where the main problem is inappropriate lateral position.