Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00015
S. Pedro, M. Lemire, Carie Hoover, B. Saint-Béat, M. Y. Janjua, J. Herbig, M. Geoffroy, G. Yunda-Guarin, Marie-Ange Moisan, Justin Boissinot, J. Tremblay, M. Little, L. Chan, M. Babin, T. Kenny, F. Maps
Arctic marine species, from benthos to fish and mammals, are essential for food security and sovereignty of Inuit people. Inuit food security is dependent on the availability, accessibility, quality, and sustainability of country food resources. However, climate change effects are threatening Inuit food systems through changes in abundance and nutritional quality of locally harvested species, while foundational knowledge of Arctic food webs remains elusive. Here, we summarized scientific knowledge available for the western Baffin Bay coastal and shelf ecosystem by building a food web model using the Ecopath with Ecosim modeling framework. Based on this model, we calculated ecological network analysis indices to describe structure and function of the system. We used Linear Inverse Modeling and Monte Carlo analysis to assess parameter uncertainty, generating plausible parameterizations of this ecosystem from which a probability density distribution for each index was generated. Our findings suggest that the system is controlled by intermediate trophic levels, highlighting the key role of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) as prey fish, as well as the importance of other less studied groups like cephalopods in controlling energy flows. Most of the ecosystem biomass is retained in the system, with very little lost to subsistence harvest and commercial fisheries, indicating that these activities were within a sustainable range during the modeling period. Our model also highlights the scientific knowledge gaps that still exist (e.g., species abundances), including valued harvest species like Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), and seals, and importantly our poor understanding of the system in winter. Moving forward, we will collaborate with Inuit partners in Qikiqtarjuaq, NU, Canada, to improve this modeling tool by including Inuit knowledge. This tool thus serves as a starting point for collaborative discussions with Inuit partners and how its use can better inform local and regional decision-making regarding food security.
{"title":"Structure and function of the western Baffin Bay coastal and shelf ecosystem","authors":"S. Pedro, M. Lemire, Carie Hoover, B. Saint-Béat, M. Y. Janjua, J. Herbig, M. Geoffroy, G. Yunda-Guarin, Marie-Ange Moisan, Justin Boissinot, J. Tremblay, M. Little, L. Chan, M. Babin, T. Kenny, F. Maps","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00015","url":null,"abstract":"Arctic marine species, from benthos to fish and mammals, are essential for food security and sovereignty of Inuit people. Inuit food security is dependent on the availability, accessibility, quality, and sustainability of country food resources. However, climate change effects are threatening Inuit food systems through changes in abundance and nutritional quality of locally harvested species, while foundational knowledge of Arctic food webs remains elusive. Here, we summarized scientific knowledge available for the western Baffin Bay coastal and shelf ecosystem by building a food web model using the Ecopath with Ecosim modeling framework. Based on this model, we calculated ecological network analysis indices to describe structure and function of the system. We used Linear Inverse Modeling and Monte Carlo analysis to assess parameter uncertainty, generating plausible parameterizations of this ecosystem from which a probability density distribution for each index was generated. Our findings suggest that the system is controlled by intermediate trophic levels, highlighting the key role of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) as prey fish, as well as the importance of other less studied groups like cephalopods in controlling energy flows. Most of the ecosystem biomass is retained in the system, with very little lost to subsistence harvest and commercial fisheries, indicating that these activities were within a sustainable range during the modeling period. Our model also highlights the scientific knowledge gaps that still exist (e.g., species abundances), including valued harvest species like Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), and seals, and importantly our poor understanding of the system in winter. Moving forward, we will collaborate with Inuit partners in Qikiqtarjuaq, NU, Canada, to improve this modeling tool by including Inuit knowledge. This tool thus serves as a starting point for collaborative discussions with Inuit partners and how its use can better inform local and regional decision-making regarding food security.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66943347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00115
Jayme Smith, Emily Eggleston, Meredith D. A. Howard, Sarah Ryan, John Gichuki, Karola Kennedy, Alix Tyler, Marcus Beck, Stephen Huie, David A. Caron
Clear Lake is a large, natural lake in northern California, USA, with many beneficial uses but also substantive environmental issues. The lake has a long history of water quality problems including mercury contamination, pesticide usage, invasive species, and high rates of primary production. In recent years, an increase in cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) has been documented in the lake, adding to the environmental issues faced by aquatic species present in the lake and the local community. Extensive observations of various physical, chemical, and biological parameters in Clear Lake began in the mid-1900s. The most pertinent of these data sets and findings have been reviewed and analyzed with the intent of improving our understanding of the causes and drivers of cyanoHABs, toxin production, and identifying data gaps. Several parameters including average annual water temperature have remained relatively constant over the past 70 years, although the seasonally averaged water temperatures have shifted in a manner that may now favor cyanobacterial dominance. Clear Lake has also witnessed recent changes in several environmental variables such as total phosphorus concentrations that might contribute to blooms. An analysis of lake conditions prior to and following the enactment of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for phosphorus in 2007 indicates little measurable influence on total phosphorus concentrations in Clear Lake. The present trajectory of lake chemistry suggests that additional research and management efforts will be needed to address the recurrence of cyanoHABs in the future. Future lake management strategies should include consideration of the role of internal nutrient loads to lessen cyanoHABs. Furthermore, a better understanding of cyanobacterial community interactions and top-down effects on bloom formation within the lake can help guide future cyanoHAB management strategies.
{"title":"Historic and recent trends of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms and environmental conditions in Clear Lake, California: A 70-year perspective","authors":"Jayme Smith, Emily Eggleston, Meredith D. A. Howard, Sarah Ryan, John Gichuki, Karola Kennedy, Alix Tyler, Marcus Beck, Stephen Huie, David A. Caron","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00115","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00115","url":null,"abstract":"Clear Lake is a large, natural lake in northern California, USA, with many beneficial uses but also substantive environmental issues. The lake has a long history of water quality problems including mercury contamination, pesticide usage, invasive species, and high rates of primary production. In recent years, an increase in cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) has been documented in the lake, adding to the environmental issues faced by aquatic species present in the lake and the local community. Extensive observations of various physical, chemical, and biological parameters in Clear Lake began in the mid-1900s. The most pertinent of these data sets and findings have been reviewed and analyzed with the intent of improving our understanding of the causes and drivers of cyanoHABs, toxin production, and identifying data gaps. Several parameters including average annual water temperature have remained relatively constant over the past 70 years, although the seasonally averaged water temperatures have shifted in a manner that may now favor cyanobacterial dominance. Clear Lake has also witnessed recent changes in several environmental variables such as total phosphorus concentrations that might contribute to blooms. An analysis of lake conditions prior to and following the enactment of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) for phosphorus in 2007 indicates little measurable influence on total phosphorus concentrations in Clear Lake. The present trajectory of lake chemistry suggests that additional research and management efforts will be needed to address the recurrence of cyanoHABs in the future. Future lake management strategies should include consideration of the role of internal nutrient loads to lessen cyanoHABs. Furthermore, a better understanding of cyanobacterial community interactions and top-down effects on bloom formation within the lake can help guide future cyanoHAB management strategies.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134982795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00067
Li Zhang, Jun Wang, Yin Zhi, Xinzhu Liu
The relationship between the utilization of natural resources and high-quality economic growth has always been a concern of the academic community. China’s coal cities to varying degrees suffer from population outflow, economic stagnation or even negative growth, precipitous drop in housing prices, serious environmental damage, and other problems. There is a negative correlation from the perspective of location between the enrichment of coal resources and economic development in China, confirming the existence of coal “resource curse” in China’s interprovincial scope. Through establishing quantitative models. This article analyzes the transmission mechanism of the nonlinear impact of coal industry development on regional total factor productivity (TFP) from the 2 paths of industrial structure evolution and factor allocation efficiency. The sample panel data of 44 coal cities in China from 2003 to 2017 are examined to empirically test the impact of coal industry development in China’s coal cities on TFP and its transmission mechanism. In the coal industry development, the service industry is being squeezed out to some degree, while the manufacturing industry is suffered from “double deindustrialization” and severe shrinkage. Such an industrial structure transformation is one of the transmission paths of “resource curse.” The development of human capital (HC) and finance has a threshold effect on the impact of the coal industry development on the TFP of coal cities. The excessive growth of coal industry has a restraining effect on the development level of HC and finance that influences the efficiency of resource allocation, resulting in failure of such industries to promote the TFP. With the improvement of HC and finance sectors in coal cities, the development of coal industry has promoted the TFP. Therefore, this article holds that the government should aim at improving the efficiency of factor allocation, formulate scientific and reasonable industrial adjustment policies, upgrade industrial structure, and actively develop manufacturing and producer services. Meanwhile, in the process of coal city development, it should pay attention to improving HC input, actively develop green finance industry to promote the development of capital market, and promote the green transformation of coal industry. Actively develop new sources of energy. The sustainable development of coal cities should be guided according to different life cycle stages in order to achieve healthy and sustainable development and break the “resource curse.”
{"title":"How can China’s coal cities achieve high-quality development?—An empirical study based on the “resource curse” hypothesis","authors":"Li Zhang, Jun Wang, Yin Zhi, Xinzhu Liu","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00067","url":null,"abstract":"The relationship between the utilization of natural resources and high-quality economic growth has always been a concern of the academic community. China’s coal cities to varying degrees suffer from population outflow, economic stagnation or even negative growth, precipitous drop in housing prices, serious environmental damage, and other problems. There is a negative correlation from the perspective of location between the enrichment of coal resources and economic development in China, confirming the existence of coal “resource curse” in China’s interprovincial scope. Through establishing quantitative models. This article analyzes the transmission mechanism of the nonlinear impact of coal industry development on regional total factor productivity (TFP) from the 2 paths of industrial structure evolution and factor allocation efficiency. The sample panel data of 44 coal cities in China from 2003 to 2017 are examined to empirically test the impact of coal industry development in China’s coal cities on TFP and its transmission mechanism. In the coal industry development, the service industry is being squeezed out to some degree, while the manufacturing industry is suffered from “double deindustrialization” and severe shrinkage. Such an industrial structure transformation is one of the transmission paths of “resource curse.” The development of human capital (HC) and finance has a threshold effect on the impact of the coal industry development on the TFP of coal cities. The excessive growth of coal industry has a restraining effect on the development level of HC and finance that influences the efficiency of resource allocation, resulting in failure of such industries to promote the TFP. With the improvement of HC and finance sectors in coal cities, the development of coal industry has promoted the TFP. Therefore, this article holds that the government should aim at improving the efficiency of factor allocation, formulate scientific and reasonable industrial adjustment policies, upgrade industrial structure, and actively develop manufacturing and producer services. Meanwhile, in the process of coal city development, it should pay attention to improving HC input, actively develop green finance industry to promote the development of capital market, and promote the green transformation of coal industry. Actively develop new sources of energy. The sustainable development of coal cities should be guided according to different life cycle stages in order to achieve healthy and sustainable development and break the “resource curse.”","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135058562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00048
P. Itkin, S. Hendricks, M. Webster, Luisa von Albedyll, Stefanie Arndt, D. Divine, Matthias Jaggi, M. Oggier, Ian A. Raphael, R. Ricker, J. Rohde, M. Schneebeli, G. Liston
Repeated transects have become the backbone of spatially distributed ice and snow thickness measurements crucial for understanding of ice mass balance. Here we detail the transects at the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) 2019–2020, which represent the first such measurements collected across an entire season. Compared with similar historical transects, the snow at MOSAiC was thin (mean depths of approximately 0.1–0.3 m), while the sea ice was relatively thick first-year ice (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI). SYI was of two distinct types: relatively thin level ice formed from surfaces with extensive melt pond cover, and relatively thick deformed ice. On level SYI, spatial signatures of refrozen melt ponds remained detectable in January. At the beginning of winter the thinnest ice also had the thinnest snow, with winter growth rates of thin ice (0.33 m month−1 for FYI, 0.24 m month−1 for previously ponded SYI) exceeding that of thick ice (0.2 m month−1). By January, FYI already had a greater modal ice thickness (1.1 m) than previously ponded SYI (0.9 m). By February, modal thickness of all SYI and FYI became indistinguishable at about 1.4 m. The largest modal thicknesses were measured in May at 1.7 m. Transects included deformed ice, where largest volumes of snow accumulated by April. The remaining snow on level ice exhibited typical spatial heterogeneity in the form of snow dunes. Spatial correlation length scales for snow and sea ice ranged from 20 to 40 m or 60 to 90 m, depending on the sampling direction, which suggests that the known anisotropy of snow dunes also manifests in spatial patterns in sea ice thickness. The diverse snow and ice thickness data obtained from the MOSAiC transects represent an invaluable resource for model and remote sensing product development.
{"title":"Sea ice and snow characteristics from year-long transects at the MOSAiC Central Observatory","authors":"P. Itkin, S. Hendricks, M. Webster, Luisa von Albedyll, Stefanie Arndt, D. Divine, Matthias Jaggi, M. Oggier, Ian A. Raphael, R. Ricker, J. Rohde, M. Schneebeli, G. Liston","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00048","url":null,"abstract":"Repeated transects have become the backbone of spatially distributed ice and snow thickness measurements crucial for understanding of ice mass balance. Here we detail the transects at the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) 2019–2020, which represent the first such measurements collected across an entire season. Compared with similar historical transects, the snow at MOSAiC was thin (mean depths of approximately 0.1–0.3 m), while the sea ice was relatively thick first-year ice (FYI) and second-year ice (SYI). SYI was of two distinct types: relatively thin level ice formed from surfaces with extensive melt pond cover, and relatively thick deformed ice. On level SYI, spatial signatures of refrozen melt ponds remained detectable in January. At the beginning of winter the thinnest ice also had the thinnest snow, with winter growth rates of thin ice (0.33 m month−1 for FYI, 0.24 m month−1 for previously ponded SYI) exceeding that of thick ice (0.2 m month−1). By January, FYI already had a greater modal ice thickness (1.1 m) than previously ponded SYI (0.9 m). By February, modal thickness of all SYI and FYI became indistinguishable at about 1.4 m. The largest modal thicknesses were measured in May at 1.7 m. Transects included deformed ice, where largest volumes of snow accumulated by April. The remaining snow on level ice exhibited typical spatial heterogeneity in the form of snow dunes. Spatial correlation length scales for snow and sea ice ranged from 20 to 40 m or 60 to 90 m, depending on the sampling direction, which suggests that the known anisotropy of snow dunes also manifests in spatial patterns in sea ice thickness. The diverse snow and ice thickness data obtained from the MOSAiC transects represent an invaluable resource for model and remote sensing product development.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66944023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00099
Keitlyn Alcántara
Through a case study born from archaeological fieldwork in Tlaxcala, Mexico, this article provides an example of place-based foodways that have been used to transmit belief systems and ways of life that resist dominant frameworks of power across time. Foodways, as a site of daily engagements with the full food cycle, can be used to concretize dominant systems of power (e.g., industrial agriculture) but can also be used to build countersystems. Using the example of milpa agriculture and “Maíz Culture,” this case study demonstrates how key ecological philosophies have served as effective and resilient adaptive strategies from which to respond to shifting threats across time—from Aztec and Spanish colonialism to contemporary resistance to neoliberalism. Although agroecology is rooted in indigenous origins, the global adoption of agroecology often focuses heavily on what is planted but fails to center the how—the relationships and values that indigenous ecologies embody. To adopt the planting principles of agroecology without centering indigenous philosophies results in food systems that replicate colonial extraction. While these philosophies are rooted in locally defined practices, they also serve to support a broader unlearning of colonial worldviews within the systems that overshadow the day-to-day experiences of researchers. Using foodways to bridge the time between the archaeological past and agroecological present unmasks normalized worldviews, such as capitalism, neoliberalism, and industrialism to show that, while they are dominant, they are not inevitable nor singular. Please refer to Supplementary Materials, Full text Spanish version of this article, for a full text Spanish version of this article.
{"title":"Milpa ecologies: Transgenerational foodways in Tlaxcala, Mexico","authors":"Keitlyn Alcántara","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00099","url":null,"abstract":"Through a case study born from archaeological fieldwork in Tlaxcala, Mexico, this article provides an example of place-based foodways that have been used to transmit belief systems and ways of life that resist dominant frameworks of power across time. Foodways, as a site of daily engagements with the full food cycle, can be used to concretize dominant systems of power (e.g., industrial agriculture) but can also be used to build countersystems. Using the example of milpa agriculture and “Maíz Culture,” this case study demonstrates how key ecological philosophies have served as effective and resilient adaptive strategies from which to respond to shifting threats across time—from Aztec and Spanish colonialism to contemporary resistance to neoliberalism. Although agroecology is rooted in indigenous origins, the global adoption of agroecology often focuses heavily on what is planted but fails to center the how—the relationships and values that indigenous ecologies embody. To adopt the planting principles of agroecology without centering indigenous philosophies results in food systems that replicate colonial extraction. While these philosophies are rooted in locally defined practices, they also serve to support a broader unlearning of colonial worldviews within the systems that overshadow the day-to-day experiences of researchers. Using foodways to bridge the time between the archaeological past and agroecological present unmasks normalized worldviews, such as capitalism, neoliberalism, and industrialism to show that, while they are dominant, they are not inevitable nor singular. Please refer to Supplementary Materials, Full text Spanish version of this article, for a full text Spanish version of this article.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135318537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00134
Sara Delaney, Eric J. B. von Wettberg
Flowering plants once drove a global shift in insect–plant–animal relationships and supported an increase in biodiversity, energy flux, and productivity throughout terrestrial ecosystems. We argue here that angiosperms could once again contribute to biodiversity within landscapes, if agroecosystems, and the plants within them, can be managed for multifunctional benefits. The potential for farmland to support biological diversity is understood and well-argued in the literature. We take this long-standing conversation and frame it within a longer evolutionary context, bringing attention to how modification in 2 key areas of our current food production system could support this goal. First, a move toward crop and grazing landscapes that more closely align with regional food webs can lead to observable improvements in community wildlife abundance. Second, we can re-expand the genetic base of our food, fodder, and cover crops, in particular by using crop wild relatives, through the use of wide crosses, genome-assisted selection, and participatory breeding. Agriculture as it is now widely practiced utilizes a narrow sliver of total angiosperm species diversity and within-species genetic diversity on a large amount of land. Change to this status quo requires coordination across tightly interlinked policy areas. It will also require social change. Farmers should be supported to transition through nudges throughout their social network. This necessitates a significant shift in our collective culture to value growing and consuming the flowering crops that can trigger an angiosperm revolution of the Anthropocene.
{"title":"Toward the next angiosperm revolution: Agroecological food production as a driver for biological diversity","authors":"Sara Delaney, Eric J. B. von Wettberg","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00134","url":null,"abstract":"Flowering plants once drove a global shift in insect–plant–animal relationships and supported an increase in biodiversity, energy flux, and productivity throughout terrestrial ecosystems. We argue here that angiosperms could once again contribute to biodiversity within landscapes, if agroecosystems, and the plants within them, can be managed for multifunctional benefits. The potential for farmland to support biological diversity is understood and well-argued in the literature. We take this long-standing conversation and frame it within a longer evolutionary context, bringing attention to how modification in 2 key areas of our current food production system could support this goal. First, a move toward crop and grazing landscapes that more closely align with regional food webs can lead to observable improvements in community wildlife abundance. Second, we can re-expand the genetic base of our food, fodder, and cover crops, in particular by using crop wild relatives, through the use of wide crosses, genome-assisted selection, and participatory breeding. Agriculture as it is now widely practiced utilizes a narrow sliver of total angiosperm species diversity and within-species genetic diversity on a large amount of land. Change to this status quo requires coordination across tightly interlinked policy areas. It will also require social change. Farmers should be supported to transition through nudges throughout their social network. This necessitates a significant shift in our collective culture to value growing and consuming the flowering crops that can trigger an angiosperm revolution of the Anthropocene.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135794918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00026
Eija Soini Coe, R. Coe
Agroecology has evolved and is promoted as an integrated pathway for the development of food and agriculture systems in ways that address the interacting social, economic, and environmental challenges of current dominant systems. Agroecology is usually described and defined by a set of principles that can be adapted and implemented in ways that are relevant to diverse contexts. Transition to wider use of agroecology depends on farmers and others who are not yet convinced deciding that agroecology provides the right pathway for them. We used 2 human behavioral models to highlight the influence of personal motivational factors such as attitudes and values in transitioning to agroecology. Current sets of agroecology principles generally do not refer to the values, beliefs, motivations, or attitudes that go along with, or are precursors to, change in practices. Insights from research on environmental education and pro-environmental behavior show that such values and attitudes, or mindsets, are built and nurtured through connection with nature, sense of place, group and individual identity, and self- and social efficacy. While recognizing the need for more comprehensive mindset principles for agroecology, we propose, based on our focus on achieving pro-environmental action, that a principle of deliberate building of ecological mindsets be added to the sets of agroecological principles. Transformational learning provides some practical ways of implementing that are well aligned with approaches to learning for agroecology that are already being used.
{"title":"Agroecological transitions in the mind","authors":"Eija Soini Coe, R. Coe","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00026","url":null,"abstract":"Agroecology has evolved and is promoted as an integrated pathway for the development of food and agriculture systems in ways that address the interacting social, economic, and environmental challenges of current dominant systems. Agroecology is usually described and defined by a set of principles that can be adapted and implemented in ways that are relevant to diverse contexts. Transition to wider use of agroecology depends on farmers and others who are not yet convinced deciding that agroecology provides the right pathway for them. We used 2 human behavioral models to highlight the influence of personal motivational factors such as attitudes and values in transitioning to agroecology. Current sets of agroecology principles generally do not refer to the values, beliefs, motivations, or attitudes that go along with, or are precursors to, change in practices. Insights from research on environmental education and pro-environmental behavior show that such values and attitudes, or mindsets, are built and nurtured through connection with nature, sense of place, group and individual identity, and self- and social efficacy. While recognizing the need for more comprehensive mindset principles for agroecology, we propose, based on our focus on achieving pro-environmental action, that a principle of deliberate building of ecological mindsets be added to the sets of agroecological principles. Transformational learning provides some practical ways of implementing that are well aligned with approaches to learning for agroecology that are already being used.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66943422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2022.00066
Zhao-yang Wang, Kai Feng
Recent years have seen China emerging as a new donor outside of the West’s club of traditional donors, seeking to fill the financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Chinese government has adopted a hybrid approach to international aid, in which it supplies trade credit and other types of loans to underdeveloped countries through its policy banks and state-owned enterprises in addition to traditional aid. As such a hybrid approach is considered more market-oriented than traditional donors, much of the literature on it has focused on its impact on economic growth rather than on social welfare and poverty reduction. It is critical to note, however, that in reality, the Chinese government has long-valued poverty reduction as a priority of the SDGs, regardless of the context of domestic governance or international aid. Therefore, this article used the panel data of African countries between 2000 and 2016 to test the relationship between China’s development finance and its corresponding poverty-reduction effect in Africa. Empirical results shown that China’s hybrid approach reduced poverty in Africa, particularly in poorer sub-Saharan countries and “heavily indebted poor countries.” Further, in a similar vein to China’s domestic inclusive-growth model, its poverty reduction in Africa tended to be achieved indirectly through production sectors rather than directly through the provision of social relief.
{"title":"The inclusiveness of China’s development finance: China’s hybrid approach to aid and poverty reduction in Africa","authors":"Zhao-yang Wang, Kai Feng","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2022.00066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00066","url":null,"abstract":"Recent years have seen China emerging as a new donor outside of the West’s club of traditional donors, seeking to fill the financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Chinese government has adopted a hybrid approach to international aid, in which it supplies trade credit and other types of loans to underdeveloped countries through its policy banks and state-owned enterprises in addition to traditional aid. As such a hybrid approach is considered more market-oriented than traditional donors, much of the literature on it has focused on its impact on economic growth rather than on social welfare and poverty reduction. It is critical to note, however, that in reality, the Chinese government has long-valued poverty reduction as a priority of the SDGs, regardless of the context of domestic governance or international aid. Therefore, this article used the panel data of African countries between 2000 and 2016 to test the relationship between China’s development finance and its corresponding poverty-reduction effect in Africa. Empirical results shown that China’s hybrid approach reduced poverty in Africa, particularly in poorer sub-Saharan countries and “heavily indebted poor countries.” Further, in a similar vein to China’s domestic inclusive-growth model, its poverty reduction in Africa tended to be achieved indirectly through production sectors rather than directly through the provision of social relief.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66944599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2023.00042
Nina Isabella Moeller, Matthias Geck, Colin Anderson, Carlos Barahona, Caroline Broudic, Remi Cluset, Gisele Henriques, Fabio Leippert, Dave Mills, Ameen Minhaj, Anja Mueting-van Loon, Stephanie Piers de Raveschoot, Emile Frison
Over the last few years, a small but increasing number of researchers and organizations has been involved in tracking funding flows to agroecology, analyzing development assistance, climate finance, and research funds for their contribution to an agroecological transformation of food systems, including as part of the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This has led to the emergence of a community of practice (CoP) meeting and exchanging in a number of different forums—Financing Agroecology Civil Society CoP, the Agroecology Donor Group, and the Working Group on Financing and Investments of the Coalition for Food Systems Transformation Through Agroecology (Agroecology Coalition). In this article, we report on a process of collaboratively developing a methodological framework, using the High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security 13 principles of agroecology as foundation. This framework overcomes some limitations of previous methodologies for evaluating degrees of agroecological integration (including those using Gliessman’s 5 levels of food system change) and facilitates a robust qualitative assessment of projects, programs, and project portfolios with respect to their “agroecologicalness.” The framework conceives of agroecology as paradigm-shifting rather than as incremental improvements to existing food systems. It enables global comparability as well as local contextualization of each principle. While the need for this framework arose from the desire to monitor—and increase—financial support for an urgently needed transformation toward agroecology, the framework can equally contribute to the design of projects and programs, which aim to radically transform food and farming systems. It also has value as an educational tool, in specifying through statements of value and concrete examples, what agroecological work aims at. This article introduces our framework and argues for an expanded CoP approach to use it widely and share the results through the digital platform that will be developed for that purpose.
{"title":"Measuring agroecology: Introducing a methodological framework and a community of practice approach","authors":"Nina Isabella Moeller, Matthias Geck, Colin Anderson, Carlos Barahona, Caroline Broudic, Remi Cluset, Gisele Henriques, Fabio Leippert, Dave Mills, Ameen Minhaj, Anja Mueting-van Loon, Stephanie Piers de Raveschoot, Emile Frison","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2023.00042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00042","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last few years, a small but increasing number of researchers and organizations has been involved in tracking funding flows to agroecology, analyzing development assistance, climate finance, and research funds for their contribution to an agroecological transformation of food systems, including as part of the efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This has led to the emergence of a community of practice (CoP) meeting and exchanging in a number of different forums—Financing Agroecology Civil Society CoP, the Agroecology Donor Group, and the Working Group on Financing and Investments of the Coalition for Food Systems Transformation Through Agroecology (Agroecology Coalition). In this article, we report on a process of collaboratively developing a methodological framework, using the High Level Panel of Experts of the Committee on World Food Security 13 principles of agroecology as foundation. This framework overcomes some limitations of previous methodologies for evaluating degrees of agroecological integration (including those using Gliessman’s 5 levels of food system change) and facilitates a robust qualitative assessment of projects, programs, and project portfolios with respect to their “agroecologicalness.” The framework conceives of agroecology as paradigm-shifting rather than as incremental improvements to existing food systems. It enables global comparability as well as local contextualization of each principle. While the need for this framework arose from the desire to monitor—and increase—financial support for an urgently needed transformation toward agroecology, the framework can equally contribute to the design of projects and programs, which aim to radically transform food and farming systems. It also has value as an educational tool, in specifying through statements of value and concrete examples, what agroecological work aims at. This article introduces our framework and argues for an expanded CoP approach to use it widely and share the results through the digital platform that will be developed for that purpose.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134982790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-01DOI: 10.1525/elementa.2023.00026
Sydney Cleavenger, Yongjian Chen, Albert Barberán
Plant-associated microbiomes play prominent roles in maintaining plant health and productivity. Here, we characterized the soil and phyllosphere microbiomes associated with mesquite trees in grazing and urban areas compared to natural areas in the arid Southwestern United States. Our results showed that grazing areas were associated with higher phyllosphere fungal richness, while urban areas had higher phyllosphere richness for both fungi and bacteria/archaea, and additionally, urban soils had lower fungal richness. Specifically, grazing areas were characterized by larger proportions of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil and fungal plant pathogens in the phyllosphere, while urban areas presented higher proportions of fungal plant pathogens in both the soil and phyllosphere as well as nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in the phyllosphere, but a lower proportion of cellulolytic bacteria in the soil. Furthermore, in urban areas, more phyllosphere microorganisms were sourced from the soil. Collectively, these results suggest that plant-associated microbiomes change significantly across land-use types, and these patterns are different between aboveground and belowground parts of plants, as well as between bacteria/archaea and fungi. These changes in plant-associated microbiomes across land-use types might have important implications for nutrient cycling, plant health, and ecosystem restoration.
{"title":"Mesquite-associated soil and phyllosphere microbial communities differ across land-use types in drylands","authors":"Sydney Cleavenger, Yongjian Chen, Albert Barberán","doi":"10.1525/elementa.2023.00026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00026","url":null,"abstract":"Plant-associated microbiomes play prominent roles in maintaining plant health and productivity. Here, we characterized the soil and phyllosphere microbiomes associated with mesquite trees in grazing and urban areas compared to natural areas in the arid Southwestern United States. Our results showed that grazing areas were associated with higher phyllosphere fungal richness, while urban areas had higher phyllosphere richness for both fungi and bacteria/archaea, and additionally, urban soils had lower fungal richness. Specifically, grazing areas were characterized by larger proportions of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the soil and fungal plant pathogens in the phyllosphere, while urban areas presented higher proportions of fungal plant pathogens in both the soil and phyllosphere as well as nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in the phyllosphere, but a lower proportion of cellulolytic bacteria in the soil. Furthermore, in urban areas, more phyllosphere microorganisms were sourced from the soil. Collectively, these results suggest that plant-associated microbiomes change significantly across land-use types, and these patterns are different between aboveground and belowground parts of plants, as well as between bacteria/archaea and fungi. These changes in plant-associated microbiomes across land-use types might have important implications for nutrient cycling, plant health, and ecosystem restoration.","PeriodicalId":54279,"journal":{"name":"Elementa-Science of the Anthropocene","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135057955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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