Interdemic variation in mixed-species association patterns: common diurnal primates of Kibale National Park, Uganda

We used interdemic variation in the tendency to form mixed-species groups to examine the costs and benefits of association among the primates of Kibale National Park, Uganda. A year-long survey of six sites revealed that the amount of time that the five common diurnal primates [red colobus (Procolobus tephrosceles), black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza), redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), and grey-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena)] spent in mixed-species groups varied dramatically among sites. In many cases, the proportion of time that species associated was positively related to their densities. By using detailed behavioral observations of redtail monkeys and red colobus made over 4 years (2660 h) at four sites, we were able to reject the null hypothesis that associations occur by chance for only one of four sites. However, a correlative approach exploring the costs and benefits of association suggests that ecological variables do influence association patterns. We found that redtail monkeys and red colobus overlapped in diet (19.2% of their foraging effort) and traveled further when in mixed-species groups than when alone. Having demonstrated this, we examined the applicability of the ecological constraints model for predicting the proportion of the time spent in mixed-species groups based on food availability. For this analysis we concentrated on red colobus from the site with 35 months of observation and demonstrated that their tendency to be in mixed- species groups was related to food availability. We used two methods to examine if mixed-species associations function to decrease predation risk. First, chimpanzees are known to prey heavily on red colobus, but rarely kill other primates. The time red colobus spent in mixed-species groups was correlated to chimpanzee density, but it was not for the other monkey species, suggesting that mixed-species groups serve to decrease predation risk. Second, when red colobus groups contain more infants and are presumably at the greatest risk of predation, they form mixed-species groups most often. These results demonstrate that the costs and benefits of mixed-species associations vary dramatically over small spatial and temporal scales. If such variation is generally the case, then studies conducted at different locations or different times could easily highlight the importance of difference selective agents in favoring mixed-species associations. Received: 10 February 1999 / Received in revised form: 16 September 1999 / Accepted: 2 October 1999     

Earth stewardship: Shaping a sustainable future through interacting policy and norm shifts

Transformation toward a sustainable future requires an earth stewardship approach to shift society from its current goal of increasing material wealth to a vision of sustaining built, natural, human, and social capital—equitably distributed across society, within and among nations. Widespread concern about earth’s current trajectory and support for actions that would foster more sustainable pathways suggests potential social tipping points in public demand for an earth stewardship vision. Here, we draw on empirical studies and theory to show that movement toward a stewardship vision can be facilitated by changes in either policy incentives or social norms. Our novel contribution is to point out that both norms and incentives must change and can do so interactively. This can be facilitated through leverage points and complementarities across policy areas, based on values, system design, and agency. Potential catalysts include novel democratic institutions and engagement of non-governmental actors, such as businesses, civic leaders, and social movements as agents for redistribution of power. Because no single intervention will transform the world, a key challenge is to align actions to be synergistic, persistent, and scalable.     

Sustainability of the dimension stone industry in Zimbabwe—challenges and opportunities

The rapid expansion of the dimension stone and black granite industry in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, a result of increasing domestic and international demand for black granite, has ushered in new challenges and opportunities for producers and beneficiaries alike. This article investigates the social, environmental and economic challenges emanating from the export boom, the economic opportunities presented by the expanding market and the potential role the robust industry could play in regional economic development and poverty alleviation. The article evaluates the long-term sustainability of the dimension stone industry and recommends the reinvestment of revenues into diversification of the regional economic base, upgrading of local infrastructure, further processing of rough stone before export and encouragement of micro-businesses to enhance sustainability. The author argues for modification of economic incentives to incorporate environmental and social objectives in order to enhance sustainability. The need for a holistic approach to policies affecting the exploitation, processing and marketing of granite resources and their products is recognized. More research on the operations of the industry is called for.     

BANKFULL DISCHARGE RECURRENCE INTERVALS AND REGIONAL HYDRAULIC GEOMETRY RELATIONSHIPS: PATTERNS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST,USA1

ABSTRACT: The model bankfull discharge recurrence interval (annual series) (T_a) in streams has been approximated at a 1.5‐year flow event. This study tests the linkage between regional factors (climate, physiography, and ecoregion) and the frequency of bank‐full discharge events in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Patterns of Ta were found to be significant when stratified by EPA Ecoregion. The mean value for T_a in the PNW is 1.4 years; however, when the data is stratified by ecoregion, the humid areas of western Oregon and Washington have a mean value of 1.2 years, while the dryer areas of Idaho and eastern Oregon and Washington have a mean value of 1.4 to 1.5 years. Among the four factors evaluated, vegetation association and average annual precipitation are the primary factors related to channel form and T_a. Based on the results of the T_a analyses, regional hydraulic geometry relationships of streams were developed for the PNW, which relate variables, such as bank‐full cross‐sectional area, width, depth, and velocity, to bankfull discharge and drainage area. The verification of T_a values, combined with the development of regional hydraulic geometry relationships, provides geographically relevant information that will result in more accurate estimates of hydraulic geometry variables in the PNW.     

Making work safer: Testing a model of social exchange and safety management

Introduction

This study tests a conceptual model that focuses on social exchange in the context of safety management. The model hypothesizes that supportive safety policies and programs should impact both safety climate and organizational commitment. Further, perceived organizational support is predicted to partially mediate both of these relationships.

Methods

Study outcomes included traditional outcomes for both organizational commitment (e.g., withdrawal behaviors) as well as safety climate (e.g., self-reported work accidents). Questionnaire responses were obtained from 1,723 employees of a large national retailer.

Results

Using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques, all of the model's hypothesized relationships were statistically significant and in the expected directions. The results are discussed in terms of social exchange in organizations and research on safety climate.

Impact on Industry

Maximizing safety is a social-technical enterprise. Expectations related to social exchange and reciprocity figure prominently in creating a positive climate for safety within the organization.     

Social desirability effects in driver behavior inventories

Problem

The use of lie scales to control for common method variance in driver behavior inventories has been very limited. Given that such questionnaires often use self-reported safety variables as criteria, and have social implications, the risk of artefactual associations is high.

Method

A questionnaire containing scales from several well known driver inventories that have been claimed to predict traffic accident involvement was distributed three times to a group of young drivers in a driver education program, as well as a random group twice. The Driver Impression Management scale (DIM) was used to control for socially desirable responding.

Results

For all behavior scales, the correlation with the DIM scale was substantial. If a scale correlated with self-reported crashes, the amount of predictive power was more than halved when social desirability was controlled for. Results were similar for both samples and all waves. The predictive power of the behavior scales was not increased when values were averaged over questionnaire waves, as should have been the case if the measurement and predictive power were valid. Results were similar for self-reported penalty points. The present results indicate that even the most well-known and accepted psychometric scales used in driver research are susceptible to social desirability bias.

Discussion

As social desirability is only one of a number of common method variance mechanisms that can create artefactual associations, and the great popularity of the self-report methodology, the problem for traffic research is grave.

Impact on industry

Organizations that fund traffic safety research need to re-evaluate their policies regarding what methods are acceptable. The use of self-reported independent and dependent variables can lead to directly misleading results, with negative effects on traffic safety.     

Between uncertainty and hope: Young leaders as agents of change in sustainable small-scale fisheries

The path to sustainable small-scale fisheries (SSF) is based on multiple learning processes that must transcend generational changes. To understand young leaders from communities with sustainable SSF management practices in Mexico, we used in-depth interviews to identify their shared motivations and perceptions for accepting their fishing heritage. These possible future decision-makers act as agents of change due to their organizational and technological abilities. However, young people are currently at a crossroads. Many inherited a passion for the sea and want to improve and diversify the fishing sector, yet young leaders do not want to accept a legacy of complicated socioenvironmental conditions that can limit their futures. These future leaders are especially concerned by the uncertainty caused by climate change. If fishing and generational change are not valued in planning processes, the continuity of fisheries, the success of conservation actions, and the lifestyles of young fishers will remain uncertain.Graphical abstract Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01639-2.     

Redistribution and pollution taxes with non-linear Engel curves

This paper analyses optimal corrective taxation and optimal income redistribution. The Pigouvian pollution tax is higher if pollution damages disproportionally hurt the poor due to equity weighting of pollution damages. Moreover, under general utility functions, optimal pollution taxes should be set below the Pigouvian tax if the poor spend a disproportionate fraction of their income on polluting goods. However, if Engel curves are linear, optimal pollution taxes should follow the first-best rule for the Pigouvian corrective tax even if the government wants to redistribute income and the poor spend a disproportional part of their income on polluting goods. The often-used quasi-linear, CES and Stone-Geary utility functions all have linear Engel curves. If Engel curves are linear, and if pollution taxes are not optimised, Pareto-improving green tax reforms exist that move the pollution tax closer to the Pigouvian tax. Simulations demonstrate that optimal corrective taxes should be Pigouvian if the demand for polluting goods is derived from a LES demand system, but deviate from the Pigouvian taxes if demand for polluting goods demand is derived from a PIGLOG demand system.     

A behavioral rebound effect

Pro-environmental behaviors are an important avenue for mitigating environmental impacts. Technological improvements are also a vital tool for reducing environmental damage from consumption. However, their benefits are partially offset by the direct rebound effect, whereby a consumer rationally responds to an increase in resource use efficiency by consuming more. This paper investigates whether technological improvement might also reduce behaviorally motivated mitigation of environmental damage. A behavioral rebound effect operates through two channels. First, pro-environmental effort is reduced after a decrease in marginal environmental damage. Second, moral licensing reduces pro-environmental effort further when technological change is endogenous. I develop a novel real effort laboratory experiment to identify these behaviors. I find a positive behavioral rebound effect. I also find evidence consistent with moral licensing, which is strongest among subjects with a higher degree of pro-environmental attitudes and beliefs. Subjects’ baseline level of pro-environmental effort is driven by beliefs about social norms.     

Time in a bottle: challenges to disaster studies in Latin America and the Caribbean

LA RED (Network of Social Studies on the Prevention of Disasters in Latin America) has become the most influential group analysing disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean. Its contributions have paved the way for a new way of understanding disasters, disaster risk, and their management, concerning: (i) that disasters are not natural, but socially constructed; (ii) the inherent nexus between disaster risk, development, and the environment; (iii) the significance of small‐ and medium‐sized disasters and extensive and intensive risks; (iv) disaster risk management at the local level; and (v) integrated disaster risk research and the need for forensic investigations of disasters. As a result of this unification of challenges, intellectual communities of connected individuals were formed. Nonetheless, a focus on territorial management, exposure, and vulnerability remains a challenge for academia. In addition, the labyrinths of disaster risk governance must be disentangled by other stakeholders, such as national authorities, policymakers, and practitioners.