Browsing by Subject "KNOWLEDGE"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Assessing Africa-Wide Pangolin Exploitation by Scaling Local Data
    (Conservation Letters, 2018-03) Ingram, DJ; Coad, L; Abernethy, KA; Maisels, F; Stokes, EJ; Bobo, KS; Breuer, T; Gandiwa, E; Ghiurghi, A; Greengrass, E; Holmern, T; Kamgaing, TOW; Ndong Obiang, AM; Poulsen, JR; Schleicher, J; Nielsen, MR; Solly, H; Vath, CL; Waltert, M; Whitham, CEL; Wilkie, DS; Scharlemann, JPW
    Copyright and Photocopying: © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Letters published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Overexploitation is one of the main pressures driving wildlife closer to extinction, yet broad-scale data to evaluate species’ declines are limited. Using African pangolins (Family: Pholidota) as a case study, we demonstrate that collating local-scale data can provide crucial information on regional trends in exploitation of threatened species to inform conservation actions and policy. We estimate that 0.4-2.7 million pangolins are hunted annually in Central African forests. The number of pangolins hunted has increased by ∼150% and the proportion of pangolins of all vertebrates hunted increased from 0.04% to 1.83% over the past four decades. However, there were no trends in pangolins observed at markets, suggesting use of alternative supply chains. The price of giant (Smutsia gigantea) and arboreal (Phataginus sp.) pangolins in urban markets has increased 5.8 and 2.3 times respectively, mirroring trends in Asian pangolins. Efforts and resources are needed to increase law enforcement and population monitoring, and investigate linkages between subsistence hunting and illegal wildlife trade.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Marine resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene
    (Environmental Conservation, 2018-06-01) ASWANI, SHANKAR; BASURTO, XAVIER; FERSE, SEBASTIAN; GLASER, MARION; CAMPBELL, LISA; CINNER, JOSHUAE; DALTON, TRACEY; JENKINS, LEKELIAD; MILLER, MARCL; POLLNAC, RICHARD; VACCARO, ISMAEL; CHRISTIE, PATRICK
    © 2017 Foundation for Environmental Conservation. Because the Anthropocene by definition is an epoch during which environmental change is largely anthropogenic and driven by social, economic, psychological and political forces, environmental social scientists can effectively analyse human behaviour and knowledge systems in this context. In this subject review, we summarize key ways in which the environmental social sciences can better inform fisheries management policy and practice and marine conservation in the Anthropocene. We argue that environmental social scientists are particularly well positioned to synergize research to fill the gaps between: (1) local behaviours/needs/worldviews and marine resource management and biological conservation concerns; and (2) large-scale drivers of planetary environmental change (globalization, affluence, technological change, etc.) and local cognitive, socioeconomic, cultural and historical processes that shape human behaviour in the marine environment. To illustrate this, we synthesize the roles of various environmental social science disciplines in better understanding the interaction between humans and tropical marine ecosystems in developing nations where issues arising from human-coastal interactions are particularly pronounced. We focus on: (1) the application of the environmental social sciences in marine resource management and conservation; (2) the development of 'new' socially equitable marine conservation; (3) repopulating the seascape; (4) incorporating multi-scale dynamics of marine social-ecological systems; and (5) envisioning the future of marine resource management and conservation for producing policies and projects for comprehensive and successful resource management and conservation in the Anthropocene.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Public perception of bioenergy in North Carolina and Tennessee
    (Energy, Sustainability and Society, 2016-12) Radics, RI; Dasmohapatra, S; Kelley, SS
    © 2016, The Author(s). Background: The goal of the study is to examine the general public’s understanding and perceptions of bioenergy and biofuels in North Carolina (NC) and Tennessee (TN). The study focuses on the public concerns, support and risk evaluations of alternative bioenergy feedstocks and biofuels, and includes an assessment of the economic, environmental, social, and policy impacts of bioenergy production and use. Methods: A sample of consumers in NC and TN were surveyed in the fall of 2013 and spring of 2014 for their perceptions about bioenergy and specifically, biofuels for transportation. Five hundred eighty-six consumers completed the questionnaire electronically (376 in NC and 210 in TN). Results: Respondents reported that the price and vehicle compatibility with biomass-based transportation fuels were the most important factors in their choice of biofuels over gasoline at a pump. Results show that the acceptance of bioenergy depends on the extent of knowledge and available information to consumers about the energy source. A principal component analysis (PCA) indicated seven distinct dimensions of consumer’s perception about bioenergy. The key dimensions are the following: how bioenergy benefits the society, risks of bioenergy use, government support for bioenergy, increase in food cost, conditional use of trees, support for low-cost biofuel alternative to current energy, and market attributes of bioenergy purchase. Conclusions: The findings from this study reflect the need for communicating the benefits and risks from the use of bioenergy to the general public through trustworthy channels of communication and targeted policy, market, and institutional support.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Emergence of Organizational Forms: A Community Ecology Approach
    (American Journal of Sociology, 2000) Ruef, M
    This article introduces a new ecological approach to the study of form emergence based on the notion of an organizational community - a bounded set of forms with related identities. Applying the approach to 48 organizational forms in the health care sector, this study suggests that the development of novel forms is affected by the positioning of their identities with respect to existing form identities in the community, by the aggregate density and size of organizations matching those existing identities, and by the amount of attention directed at identity attributes by sector participants. Findings show that the process of form emergence is subject to population-dependent effects akin to those noted previously for organizational entries within established populations. The aggregate density and size of organizations with similar identities increase the probability of form emergence to a point (cross-form legitimation), but highly saturated regions of the identity space tend to be uninviting to new forms (cross-form competition).
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    The Socially and Spatially Bounded Relationships of Entrepreneurial Activity: Olav Sorenson -- Recipient of the 2018 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research
    (Small Business Economics, 2018) Rickne, Annika; Ruef, M; Wennberg, Karl
    This article reviews the academic contributions of Olav Sorenson, recipient of the 2018 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. His work has advanced scholarly understanding of how entrepreneurship and innovation are strongly embedded in socially and spatially bounded relationships. Based on meticulous empirical studies using a broad range of methods, he has challenged conventional models of new firms’ location choices, explained patterns of and determinants of knowledge diffusion, and considered how social networks can lead to economic advantages. This article discusses Sorenson’s work specifically focusing on three themes—(i) the geography of entrepreneurial activity, (ii) social capital, and (iii) the evolution of learning and innovation—highlighting scholarly contributions and insights for management practice and public policy.