The sensitivity of current and future forest managers to climate-induced changes in ecological processes.

Climate vulnerability of managed forest ecosystems is not only determined by ecological processes but also influenced by the adaptive capacity of forest managers. To better understand adaptive behaviour, we conducted a questionnaire study among current and future forest managers (i.e. active managers and forestry students) in Austria. We found widespread belief in climate change (94.7 % of respondents), and no significant difference between current and future managers. Based on intended responses to climate-induced ecosystem changes, we distinguished four groups: highly sensitive managers (27.7 %), those mainly sensitive to changes in growth and regeneration processes (46.7 %), managers primarily sensitive to regeneration changes (11.2 %), and insensitive managers (14.4 %). Experiences and beliefs with regard to disturbance-related tree mortality were found to particularly influence a manager's sensitivity to climate change. Our findings underline the importance of the social dimension of climate change adaptation, and suggest potentially strong adaptive feedbacks between ecosystems and their managers.

Framing the ecosystem concept through a longitudinal study of developments in science and policy.

This paper examines how scientific literature and policy documents frame the ecosystem concept and how these frames have shaped scientific dialogue and policy making over time. This was achieved by developing a frame typology, as a basis for organizing relevant value expressions, to assess how different frames have altered perspectives of the ecosystem concept. The frame typology and analysis is based on a semi-grounded and longitudinal document analysis of scientific literature and policy documents using the ecosystem concept. Despite changing discourses and public priorities (e.g., cultural constructs of biodiversity) both science and policy documents are characterized by stable value systems that have not changed substantially since the 1930s. These value systems were defined based on ethical principles that delineate 6 core frames: humans first, dual systems, eco-science, eco-holism, animals first, and multicentrism. Specific crises (e.g., climate change) and cross-disciplinary uptake and re-uptake of, for example, the ecosystem services concept, have brought new perspectives to the forefront of public discourse. These developments triggered changes in the core frames that, rather than being value based, are based on how the ecosystem is conceptualized under fixed value systems and over time. Fourteen subframes were developed to reflect these longitudinal changes. There are as such clear framing effects in both scientific literature and in policy. Ecosystem research is for instance often characterized by unstated value judgments even though the scientific community does not make these explicit. In contrast, policy documents are characterized by clear value expressions but are principally management driven and human centered.

Encuadre del Concepto de Ecosistema por medio de un Estudio Longitudinal sobre el Desarrollo en la Ciencia y la Política Resumen Examiné cómo la literatura científica y los documentos de política enmarcan al concepto de ecosistema y cómo estos marcos han formado al diálogo científico y a la creación de políticas a lo largo del tiempo. Esto se logró desarrollando una tipología de marco, como base para organizar las expresiones relevantes de valoración, para evaluar cómo los diferentes marcos han alterado las perspectivas del concepto de ecosistema. La tipología y el análisis de marco están basados en un análisis longitudinal y semi-fundamentado de literatura científica y documentos de política que tratan con ecosistemas. A pesar de los discursos y las políticas públicas cambiantes (p. ej.: la construcción cultural de la biodiversidad), tanto los documentos científicos como los políticos se caracterizan por sistemas estables de valoración que no han cambiado sustancialmente desde la década de 1930. Estos sistemas de valoración se definieron con base en principios éticos que delinean seis marcos nucleares: humanos primero, sistemas duales, eco-ciencia, eco-holística, animales primero y multicentrismo. Las crisis específicas (p. ej.: el cambio climático) y el entendimiento y re-entendimiento trans-disciplinario, por ejemplo, del concepto de servicios ambientales, han traído nuevas perspectivas a la vanguardia del discurso público. Este desarrollo impulsó cambios en los marcos nucleares que, en lugar de estar basados en la valoración, están basados en cómo se conceptualiza el ecosistema bajo sistemas fijos de valoración y a lo largo del tiempo. Se desarrollaron catorce sub-marcos para reflejar estos cambios longitudinales. Tanto en la literatura científica como en la política existen efectos claros del enmarcado. Por ejemplo, la investigación de ecosistemas comúnmente se caracteriza por juicios de valoración sobreentendidos, aunque la comunidad científica no sea explícita con éstos. En contraste, los documentos de política se caracterizan por expresiones claras de valoración pero generalmente están centrados en los humanos y conducidos por el manejo.

Behavioural lateralization of tactile performance in the rat.

Ten rats were assessed for behavioural lateralization using two different tests: paw preference and tail-suspension test. It was found that animals, at an individual level, tended to have a behavioural preference which was polarized either to the left side or the right side. Animals were then randomly assigned to two groups. One group had whiskers trimmed ipsilateral, and the other group had whisker trimmed contralateral, to their lateralized behavioural preference. Over 10 days the rats were trained on a roughness discrimination task. It was found that animals with whiskers trimmed on the contralateral side performed better (p<.05) than those with whiskers trimmed on the ipsilateral side. This finding was associated with a large effect size (partial eta(2)) of .474. The side of whisker trimming (right versus left) per se had no effect on performance (p=.26). These results indicate that motor lateralization at the individual level is associated with lateralization in the efficacy of whisker use.