Catalyzing success in community-based conservation

Efforts to devolve rights and engage Indigenous Peoples and local communities in conservation have increased the demand for evidence of the efficacy of community-based conservation (CBC) and insights into what enables its success. We examined the human well-being and environmental outcomes of a diverse set of 128 CBC projects. Over 80% of CBC projects had some positive human well-being or environmental outcomes, although just 32% achieved positive outcomes for both (i.e., combined success). We coded 57 total national-, community-, and project-level variables and controls from this set, performed random forest classification to identify the variables most important to combined success, and calculated accumulated local effects to describe their individual influence on the probability of achieving it. The best predictors of combined success were 17 variables suggestive of various recommendations and opportunities for conservation practitioners related to national contexts, community characteristics, and the implementation of various strategies and interventions informed by existing CBC frameworks. Specifically, CBC projects had higher probabilities of combined success when they occurred in national contexts supportive of local governance, confronted challenges to collective action, promoted economic diversification, and invested in various capacity-building efforts. Our results provide important insights into how to encourage greater success in CBC.     

水体低氧的早期暴露对青鳉(Oryzias latipes)后期的生长、性别比和繁殖能力的影响

水体低氧已是全球性生态问题,常以季节性、偶发性和昼夜间等不同形式存在于不同的水体中。长期低氧可影响鱼类正常的生长和繁殖,但鱼类早期生活阶段暴露于不同形式的低氧后,后期的生长和繁殖是否会受到不利影响,目前研究甚少。本研究在实验室模拟了连续低氧(2.8 mg·L~(-1)DO)(H1)、昼夜低氧(H2)和发生在胚胎器官形成时期的偶发性低氧(H3)等3种情景对青鳉胚胎的发育影响,评估了这一早期暴露对青鳉后期的生长、存活和繁殖的影响。我们发现,3种低氧方式都可以显著延长青鳉胚胎的孵化周期,引起胚胎卵黄囊吸收和鱼鳔发育异常;暴露结束120 d后,H1组青鳉成鱼的畸形率显著升高、存活率和生长速度都显著下降;H1、H2和H3组中成鱼的雌雄比都发生了改变,鱼群中以雄鱼为主,且产卵量和受精率都显著下降。结果表明,鱼类早期胚胎发育阶段所受到的低氧暴露可对后期生长和繁殖产生不利影响,对子代补充和种群稳定产生重要影响;鱼类关键发育期所经历的低氧事件,以及昼夜低氧事件所产生的生态后果不容忽视。     

Learning outcomes measured in zoo and aquarium conservation education

Communicating the topic of conservation to the public and encouraging proenvironmental behaviors can mitigate loss of biodiversity. Thus, the evaluation of educational efforts is important to ascertain the educational effects and provide high-quality conservation education. The learning outcomes of conservation education are diverse (e.g., attitudes, knowledge, and behavior). Considering the specific characteristics of these different outcomes and the factors that influence them is crucial to delivering successful conservation education. We reviewed 29 peer-reviewed articles published in English from January 2011 to April 2020 on empirical studies of learning outcomes of on-site conservation education in zoos and aquaria, institutions that seek to educate the public about conservation. We examined the range of learning outcomes, their definitions, and factors that influenced them. Cognitive outcomes were most frequently investigated (37%) in comparison with other outcomes (e.g., affective outcomes, 31%). The articles did not use explicit definitions for learning outcomes, and implicit or explorative definitions provided were inconsistent. Outcomes were influenced by various factors (e.g., prior experiences, staff interaction, animal behavior). Our results suggest the agenda of conservation education research should be broadened by examining all learning outcomes relevant to behavior change. Educational and behavior change theories should be used as a background for conservation education research to ensure clear and consistent definitions, derive appropriate instruments to measure learning outcomes, and relate learning outcomes to influencing factors. We recommend conservation education researchers and practitioners to treat conservation education holistically and acknowledge its learning outcomes’ full complexity.     

Multilevel outcomes of creativity in organizations: An integrative review and agenda for future research

Employee creativity is critical for an organization's innovativeness and survival in today's competitive business environment. As such, scholars have devoted significant attention to the predictors of employee creativity, seeking to understand how to best increase employees' creative output. However, employee creativity may not always translate into organizational innovation and performance. In fact, employee creativity may result in various outcomes for creative individuals, their coworkers, teams, and organizations. While there have been several integrative reviews on the antecedents of creativity, an in-depth review of the outcomes of creativity is still needed to gain a holistic understanding of the benefits and costs of employee creativity and identify fruitful areas for future research. Thus, we aim to provide a comprehensive multilevel examination of the theories, methods, and creativity-related constructs used to examine the outcomes of creativity. We also provide several theoretical and empirical opportunities for future research. This review may provide managers with knowledge of the pros and cons of employee creativity, enabling them to make informed decisions on how to better manage employee creativity.     

Safety climate at agricultural cooperatives

Introduction: This study identifies determinants of safety climate at agricultural cooperatives. Methods: An extensive survey was designed to build upon past research done in collaboration with DuPont (Risch et al., 2014). In 2014 and 2015, the survey was administered to 1930 employees at 14 different agricultural cooperatives with 154 locations. Injury incidence data were also collected from each location to better understand the overall health and safety environment in this sector. An ordered probit model is used to identify variables that are associated with better safety climates. Results: Safety system components such as discipline programs, inspection programs, modified duty programs, off-the-job safety training programs, and recognition programs are positively related to individual safety climate for both managerial employees and nonmanagerial employees. Variables representing an employee’s agricultural background, distance between their workplace and childhood home, and formal education are not associated with managerial safety climate. However, agricultural background and childhood home distance are associated with nonmanagerial safety climate. Conclusions: Improving occupational health and safety is a priority for many agricultural cooperatives. Lower safety climate emerges as nonmanagerial employees have more experience with production agriculture and work nearer to their home community. Practical applications: Employees of agricultural cooperatives face a host of health and safety challenges that are likely to persist into the future. The safety system components associated with safety climate indicate that continuous feedback is important for improving occupational health and safety. Occupational health and safety programming should also acknowledge that many employees have experiences that influence their attitudes and behaviors.     

Redistribution of benefits but not detection in a fisheries bycatch‐reduction management initiative

Reducing the capture of small fish, discarded fish, and bycatch is a primary concern of fisheries managers who propose to maintain high yields, species diversity, and ecosystem functions. Modified fishing gear is one of the primary ways to reduce by‐catch and capture of small fish. The outcomes of gear modification may depend on c ompetition among fishers using other similar resources and other gears in the same fishing grounds and the subsequent adoption or abandonment of modified gears by fishers. We evaluated adoption of modified gear, catch size, catch per unit effort (CPUE), yield, and fisher incomes in a coral reef fishery in which a 3‐cm escape gap was introduced into traditional traps. There were 26.1 (SD 4.9) fishers who used the experimental landing sites and 228(SD 15.7) fishers who used the control landing sites annually over 7 years. The size of fish increased by 10.6% in the modified traps, but the catch of smaller fish increased by 11.2% among the other gears. There was no change in the overall CPUE, yields, or per area incomes; rather, yield benefits were redistributed in favor of the unmodified gears. For example, estimated incomes of fishers who adopted the modified traps remained unchanged but increased for net and spear fishers. Fishers using escape‐gap traps had a high proportion of income from larger fish, which may have led to a perception of benefits, high status, and no abandonment of the modified traps. The commensal rather than competitive outcome may explain the continued use of escape‐gap traps 3 years after their introduction. Trap fishers showed an interest in negotiating other management improvements, such as increased mesh sizes for nets, which could ultimately catalyze community‐level decisions and restrictions that could increase their profits.     

The post‐disaster negative health legacy: pregnancy outcomes in Louisiana after Hurricane Andrew

Disasters and displacement increasingly affect and challenge urban settings. How do pregnant women fare in the aftermath of a major disaster? This paper investigates the effect of pregnancies in disaster situations. The study tests a hypothesis that pregnant women residing in hurricane‐prone areas suffer higher health risks. The setting is Louisiana in the Gulf Coast, United States, a state that continually experiences hurricane impacts. The time period for the analysis is three years following the landfall of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. We analysed low birth weight and preterm deliveries before and after landfall, as a whole and by race. Findings support an association between hazards and health of a community and indicate that pregnant women in the affected area, irrespective of race, are more likely to experience preterm deliveries compared to pre‐event births. Results suggest there is a negative health legacy impact in Louisiana as a result of hurricane landfall.     

Green supply chain initiatives among certified companies in Malaysia and environmental sustainability: Investigating the outcomes

The relationship between green supply chain initiatives and performance outcomes has been subject to numerous studies but the results are not conclusive. This study tries to assess the actual environmental, economic and intangible outcomes resulting from the adoption of green supply chain initiatives. This study used a structured questionnaire derived from the literature and employing a mail survey to collect responses form a group of 569 ISO 14001 certified firms in Malaysia. The results of testing the hypotheses that predicted that green supply chain initiatives have positive effect on the outcomes showed that eco-design have significant positive effect on the four types of outcomes (environmental outcomes, economic outcomes, cost reductions, and intangible outcomes). Reverse logistics was found to have significant positive effect on cost reductions only. However, green purchasing was not found to have significant effect on any of the four types of outcome. Through designing environmentally friendly products and taking back products and packaging, business organizations can generate benefits to the environment, in the form of reduced waste and better resource utilization, in addition to economic benefits and cost reductions to the organizations.