Social-Ecological Predictors of Global Invasions and Extinctions. Authors: Aaron

Question

Social-Ecological   Predictors   of   Global   Invasions   and   Extinctions.

Authors:   Aaron   Lotz   and   Craig   R.   Allen

Source:   Ecology   and   Science,   18(3):   15   (September   2013)

1. What   is   the   primary   goal   of   the   research   described   in   the   paper?

2. What   is   the   Global   Footprint   Network?

3. In   general,   what   are the   Environmental   Sustainability   Index,   Environmental  

Performance   Index,   and   the   Environmental   Vulnerability   Index?

4. What   do   these   three   indices   demonstrate?

5. What   are   the   three   board   categories   of   variables   that   the   researchers   used   to  

predict   the   percentage   of   endangered   and   invasive   birds   and   mammals   for   100  

countries?

6. In   addition   to   the   15   social-ecological   factors   investigated   by   the   researchers,  

what   other   three   factors   did   they   assess?

7. What   sources   of   data   did   the   researchers   use   for   the   target   variables   (list   4)?

8. Which   model (or   models)   best   predicted   the   percentage   of   endangered   birds   in   a  

country   (indicate   name   of   the   model   and/or   the   key   variable   that   defines   the  

model)?

9. Which   model (or   models) best   predicted   the   percentage   of   endangered  

mammals   in   a   country   (indicate   name   of   the   model   and/or   the   key   variable   that  

defines   the   model)?

10. What   variable characterized   the   model   that   best   predicted   both   the   percentage  

of   invasive   birds   and mammals   in   a   country? Describe   the   relationship   between  

this   variable   and   the   percentage   of   invasive   birds   or   mammals.

11. Which   model (or   models)   best   predicted both the   percentage   of   invasive   birds  

AND   mammals   in   a   country   (indicate   name   of   the   model   and/or   the   key   variable  

that   defines   the   model)?

12. What   continent   had   the   lowest   percentage   of   invasive   and   endangered   birds   and  

mammals?   Why?

13. Why   is   New   Zealand   considered   an   extreme   outlier   in   this   research?

14. Describe the   relationship   between   life   expectancy   and   the   percentage   of  

endangered   and   invasive   species   in   a   country?

15. List   three   (3)   reasons   the   authors   give   for   why   human’s   global   influence   is  

orders   of   magnitude   greater   than   that   of   any   other   species.

16. What   is   ecological   resilience?   And   what   is   the   relationship   between   ecological  

resilience   and   invasive   and   endangered   species   according   to   the   researchers?

Explanation / Answer

1). The primary goal of the reasearch is to describe the relationship between environmental degradation and humanity. The study provide insight into the dynamics of a complex, global and socio-ecological system.

2). Global foot print network is the leading expert in natural resource accounting,provides forward looking risk data to fixed income, banking, insurance and other finance, professionals with exposure to country level risk. global footprint network aim to further their common objectives of supporting the wider discloser of carbon exposure of investor portfolios & mobilising investors & policy maker to act to minimise climate change.

3). Environmental sustainability index, was acomposite index published from 1999 to 2005 that tracked 21 elements of environmental sustainabilitycovering natural resource endowments, past and present pollution levels, environmental management efforts, contributions to protection of the global commons and a society's capacity to improve its environmental performance over time.

Environmental Performance Index, is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies.

Environmental Vulnerability index, is a measurement devised by the SouthPcific Applied Geoscience Commision, the United Nations Environment Program and others to characterize the relative sevierity of various types environmental issues suffered by 243 enumurated indidual nations.

4). These indicies demonstrate economic, demographic, environmental and societal variables.

5). These three broad groups are Economical, Ecological,and Social/ governance variables.

6). The three other factors are Total population, Latitude and Total land area.

7). a. The operational characterstics of fisheries

b.the total no. of variables

c. the total no. of idicators

d. how often data needs to be collected

e. the expected data quality and quantity that can be obtained

f. issues of standadisation.

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