Abiotic parameters and abundances, dominance and diversity of benthic macro- and meiofauna in Kongsfjord, Spitsbergen

The intertidal and subtidal soft bottom macro- and meiofauna of a glacier fjord on Spitsbergen was studied after complete ice melt in June 2003. The abundances of the benthic fauna were within the range reported from estuaries and similar intertidal areas of boreal regions. The high proportion of juveniles in the eulittoral zone indicated larval recruitment from subtidal areas. The macrobenthic fauna can be divided into an intertidal and a subtidal community, both being numerically dominated by annelids. Deposit feeders were numerically predominant in intertidal sites, whereas suspension feeders were most abundant in the subtidal area. Among the meiofauna, only the benthic copepods were identified to species, revealing ecological adaptations typical for intertidal species elsewhere.

Language dominance and lexical diversity: how bilinguals and L2 learners differ in their knowledge and use of French lexical and functional items

This chapter compares lexical diversity of French words used by Dutch-French bilinguals, English-French bilinguals and Flemish L2 learners of French.

Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species’ biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands.

Cultural safety and diversity: Refocusing our energies in mental health nursing practice, education and research

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND: This presentation draws on a body of work assessing cultural safety's potential to generate change in mental health nursing research (Cox and Simpson 2015), in education and in clinical practice (Cox and Taua 2013, 2016; Happell, Cowin, Roper, Lakeman & Cox 2013). It presents evidence to suggest that cultural safety could resolve the conceptual confusion surrounding culture and diversity in nursing curricular, in clinical and in research practice. The history and nature of mental health work recommend cultural safety to focus attention on diversity, power imbalance, racism, cultural dominance, and structural inequality, identified as barriers and tensions in clinical practice and in service user participation. Cultural safety gives mental health nursing a well theorized and articulated model, which is evolving to improve practice into the future. DESCRIPTION: This work involved an immersion in the literature on cultural safety and the Service User Research movement. It draws on 5 months' work with a service users' research group in the UK and reflections on 9 years of cultural safety teaching. POLICY/PRACTICE CHANGE: This work provokes a crucial change of emphasis from locating the source of issues in the diversity of people to locating it in how society responds to diversity: a change from individualistic to systemic concerns. IMPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL HEALTH NURSING: Cultural safety in clinical practice, education, and research is specifically concerned with awareness of the impact of systemic workplace cultures and with staff cultural self-awareness to bring about cultural change and person-centred care of individuals' unique needs and aspirations within their life context.

Plant communities of field margins : the effects of management and environmental factors on species composition and diversity

Agri-environmental schemes have so far resulted in only minor positive implications for the biodiversity of agricultural environments, in contrast to what has been expected. Land-use intensification has decreased landscape heterogeneity and the amount of semi-natural habitats. Field margins are uncultivated areas of permanent vegetation located adjacent to fields. Since the number of these habitats is high, investing in their quality may result in more diverse agricultural landscapes. Field margins can be considered as multifunctional habitats providing agronomic, environmental and wildlife services. This thesis aimed at examining the plant communities of different types of field margin habitats and the factors affecting their species diversity and composition. The importance of edaphic, spatial and management factors was studied on regional, landscape and habitat scales. Vegetation surveys were conducted on regional and landscape scales and a field experiment on cutting management was conducted on a habitat scale. In field margin plant communities, species appeared to be indicators of high or intermediate soil fertility and moist soil conditions. The plant species diversity found was rather low, compared with most species-rich agricultural habitats in Finland, such as dry meadows. Among regions, land-use history, main production line, natural species and human induced distribution, climate and edaphic factors were elements inducing differences in species composition. The lowest regional species diversity of field margins was related to intensive and long-term cereal production. Management by cutting and removal or grazing had a positive effect on plant species diversity. The positive effect of cutting and removal on species richness was also dependent on the adjacent source of colonizing species. Therefore, in species-poor habitats and landscapes, establishment of margins with diverse seed mixtures can be recommended for enhancing the development of species richness. However, seed mixtures should include only native species preferably local origin. Management by cutting once a year for 5 years did not result in a decline in dominance of a harmful weed species, Elymus repens, showing that E. repens probably needs cutting more frequently than once per year. Agri-environmental schemes should include long-term contracts with farmers for the establishment, and management by cutting and removal or grazing, of field margins that are several metres wide. In such schemes, the timing and frequency of management should be planned so as not to harm other taxa, such as the insects and birds that are dependent on these habitats. All accidental herbicide drifts to field margins should be avoided when spraying the cultivated area to minimize the negative effects of sprayings on vegetation. The harmful effects of herbicides can be avoided by organic farming methods.

Functional identity and diversity of animals predict ecosystem functioning better than species-based indices

Drastic biodiversity declines have raised concerns about the deterioration of ecosystem functions and have motivated much recent research on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning. A functional trait framework has been proposed to improve the mechanistic understanding of this relationship, but this has rarely been tested for organisms other than plants. We analysed eight datasets, including five animal groups, to examine how well a trait-based approach, compared with a more traditional taxonomic approach, predicts seven ecosystem functions below- and above-ground. Trait-based indices consistently provided greater explanatory power than species richness or abundance. The frequency distributions of single or multiple traits in the community were the best predictors of ecosystem functioning. This implies that the ecosystem functions we investigated were underpinned by the combination of trait identities (i.e. single-trait indices) and trait complementarity (i.e. multi-trait indices) in the communities. Our study provides new insights into the general mechanisms that link biodiversity to ecosystem functioning in natural animal communities and suggests that the observed responses were due to the identity and dominance patterns of the trait composition rather than the number or abundance of species per se.

Functional identity and diversity of animals predict ecosystem functioning better than species-based indices

Drastic biodiversity declines have raised concerns about the deterioration of ecosystem functions and have motivated much recent research on the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem functioning. A functional trait framework has been proposed to improve the mechanistic understanding of this relationship, but this has rarely been tested for organisms other than plants. We analysed eight datasets, including five animal groups, to examine how well a trait-based approach, compared with a more traditional taxonomic approach, predicts seven ecosystem functions below- and above-ground. Trait-based indices consistently provided greater explanatory power than species richness or abundance. The frequency distributions of single or multiple traits in the community were the best predictors of ecosystem functioning. This implies that the ecosystem functions we investigated were underpinned by the combination of trait identities (i.e. single-trait indices) and trait complementarity (i.e. multi-trait indices) in the communities. Our study provides new insights into the general mechanisms that link biodiversity to ecosystem functioning in natural animal communities and suggests that the observed responses were due to the identity and dominance patterns of the trait composition rather than the number or abundance of species per se.

Phytoplankton composition, dominance and abundance as indicators of environmental compartmentalization in Jurumirim Reservoir (Paranapanema River), São Paulo, Brazil

Patterns in the spatial and temporal composition, dominance and abundance of the phytoplankton community of the Jurumirim Reservoir (Brazil) were studied during one year at ten different sampling stations. The main phytoplankton associations were characterized by diatoms and blue-green algae, in distinctive patterns of dominance. The main species were Microcystis aeruginosa Kuetz, Anabaena circinalis Rabenhorst, A. spiroides Kleb., A. solitaria Kleb., Aulacoseira cf. italica Grunow and A. granulata (Ehr.) Simon. A high growth of Aulacoseira was observed in the upstream zones of the reservoir in spring, at the beginning of the seasonal rainy period. This growth was a response to increased flow rates and input of fresh nutrients by the main feeder rivers. A high concentration of blue-green algae, especially Anabaena circinalis and A. spiroides, was observed in winter (dry season) in the lacustrine part of the reservoir, towards the dam. These algae benefitted from the longer water retention times and greater internal circulation of nutrients in the absence of a thermocline at this time of the year. Among the Cyanophyceae, there was an alternation between M. aeruginosa, more abundant in summer, and Anabaena, dominant in autumn and winter. A conspicuous growth of Anabaena occurred in a diverticle of the reservoir, sheltered from the main advective processes that predominate in the central channel. Higher phytoplankton diversity was associated with the contact zone between riverine and lacustrine systems.

Equal employment opportunity and diversity management : can either live up to the promise of achieving gender equity?

This paper examines the extent to which women movement into management positions. Like many other countries, this progress in Australia is slow. The paper includes discussion of the theoretical explanations for this and the extent to which these are borne out in Australia. We are aware this group represents only a minority of Australian women workers, and there are many other groups of women workers for whom constraints to women’s access to senior management may not be the most pressing issue. We have, however, chosen to focus on women in management in this paper, as while there was considerable research and public policy attention directed towards this group in the 1980s and early 1990s, over the past decade there seems to have been a reluctance to continue to address this group, despite the numerical evidence that women continue to be disproportionately represented in senior management positions. We believe it’s timely to refocus on women in management.

Taking a 'reality' check : expanding pre-service teachers' views on pedagogy and diversity

The outcomes of a two-pronged 'real-world' learning project, which aimed to expand the views of pre-service teachers about learning, pedagogy and diversity, will be discussed in this paper. Seventy-two fourth-year and 22 first-year students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Education degree in Queensland, Australia, were engaged in community sites outside of university lectures, and separate from their practicum. Using Butin's conceptual framework for service learning, we show evidence that this approach can enable pre-service teachers to see new realities about the dilemmas and ambiguities of performing as learners and as teachers. We contend that when such 'real-world' experiences have different foci at different times in their four-year degree, pre-service teachers have more opportunities to develop sophisticated understandings of pedagogy in diverse contexts for diverse learners.

Schools and Diversity, 2nd ed.

Schools and diversity aims to address the need for schools and teachers to provide quality education for all students in rapidly changing social contexts. Community and student voices are telling schools that traditional education is too authoritarian and restrictive. Students do not feel valued and respected in their school community. Schools are obliged to respond to this critique with more democratic and relevant policies and processes that connect all students with their learning futures. This text is about developing a more inclusive approach to education which aims to identify and dismantle actual and potential sources of exclusion that limit opportunities and outcomes for all students.