The Experts below are selected from a list of 144219 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Jurg Stocklin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the role of landuse and natural determinants for grassland vegetation composition in the swiss alps
Basic and Applied Ecology, 2008Co-Authors: Katrin Rudmannmaurer, Anne Weyand, Markus Fischer, Jurg StocklinAbstract:Abstract The Alps provide a high habitat diversity for plant species, structured by broad- and fine-scale abiotic site conditions. In man-made grasslands, vegetation composition is additionally affected by the type of landuse. We recorded vegetation composition in 216 parcels of grassland in 12 municipalities representing an area of 170×70 km in the south-eastern part of the Swiss Alps. Each parcel was characterized by a combination of altitudinal level (valley, intermediate, alp), Traditional landuse (mown, grazed), current management (mown, grazed, abandoned), and fertilization (unfertilized, fertilized). For each parcel we also assessed the abiotic factors aspect, slope, pH value, and geographic coordinates, and for each municipality annual precipitation and its Cultural Tradition. We analysed vegetation composition using (i) variation partitioning in RDA, (ii) cover of graminoids, non-legume forbs, and legumes, and (iii) dominance and frequency of species. Species composition was determined by, in decreasing order of variation explained, landuse, broad-scale abiotic factors, fine-scale abiotic factors, and Cultural Tradition. Current socio-economically motivated landuse changes, such as grazing of unfertilized former meadows or their abandonment, strongly affect vegetation composition. In our study, the frequency of characteristic meadow species was significantly smaller in grazed and even smaller in abandoned parcels than in still mown ones, suggesting less severe consequences of grazing for vegetation composition than of abandonment. Therefore, low-intensity grazing and mowing every few years should be considered valuable conservation alternatives to abandonment. Furthermore, because each landuse type was characterized by different species, a high variety of landuse types should be promoted to preserve plant species diversity in Alpine grasslands.
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agriCultural land use and biodiversity in the alps how Cultural Tradition and socioeconomically motivated changes are shaping grassland biodiversity in the swiss alps
Mountain Research and Development, 2008Co-Authors: Markus Fischer, Katrin Rudmannmaurer, Anne Weyand, Jurg StocklinAbstract:Alpine grasslands are ecosystems with a great diversity of plant species. However, little is known about other levels of biodiversity, such as landscape diversity, diversity of biological interactions of plants with herbivores or fungal pathogens, and genetic diversity. We therefore explored natural and anthropogenic determinants of grassland biodiversity at several levels of biological integration, from the genetic to the landscape level in the Swiss Alps. Differences between Cultural Traditions (Romanic, Germanic, and Walser) turned out to still affect land use diversity and thus landscape diversity. Increasing land use diversity, in turn, increased plant species diversity per village. However, recent land use changes have reduced this diversity. Within grassland parcels, plant species diversity was higher on unfertilized mown grasslands than on fertilized or grazed ones. Most individual plants were affected by herbivores and fungal leaf pathogens, reflecting that parcels harbored a great diversity of herbivores and pathogens. However, as plant damage by herbivores and pathogens was not severe, conserving these biological interactions among plants is hardly compromising agriCultural goals. A common-garden experiment revealed genetic differentiation of the important fodder grass Poa alpina between mown and grazed sites, suggesting adaptation. Per-village genetic diversity of Poa alpina was greater in villages with higher land use diversity, analogous to the higher plant species diversity there. Overall, landscape diversity and biodiversity within grassland parcels are currently declining. As this contradicts the intention of Swiss law and international agreements, financial incentives need to be re-allocated and should focus on promoting high biodiversity at the local and the landscape level. At the same time, this will benefit landscape attractiveness for tourists and help preserve a precious Cultural heritage in the Swiss Alps.
Frenk Van Harreveld - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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personal experience or Cultural Tradition the difference between christian identity in the netherlands and denmark
Religion brain and behavior, 2020Co-Authors: Ingrid Storm, Bastiaan T Rutjens, Frenk Van HarreveldAbstract:Denmark and the Netherlands are both countries with a Christian heritage, where only a minority of the population are actively religious. Behind the similarities, there are also striking difference...
Beth Van Schaack - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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beth van schaack stateways v folkways international human rights gender stereotypes reviewing rebecca j cook simone cusack gender stereotyping transnational legal perspectives university of pennsylvania press 2010
Social Science Research Network, 2010Co-Authors: Beth Van SchaackAbstract:It cannot be gainsaid that women have been, and remain, subordinated to men in nearly every nation-state, organized religion, legal system, and Cultural Tradition around the globe. With startling transnational consistency, women are the subject of persistent and pervasive stereotypes that devalue us, impede our full equality with men, and hamper our ability to make autonomous life choices. Such stereotypes, while deeply engrained, are often invisible and unconscious in the way in which they socially construct what it means to be male and female in society and co-opt women in our own subordination. This article reviews Rebecca J. Cook & Simone Cusack, Gender Stereotyping: Transnational Legal Perspectives (University of Pennsylvania Press 2010). Cook and Cusack discuss the potential for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women to expose and deconstruct stereotypes that justify and perpetuate women's subordination.
Ingrid Storm - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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personal experience or Cultural Tradition the difference between christian identity in the netherlands and denmark
Religion brain and behavior, 2020Co-Authors: Ingrid Storm, Bastiaan T Rutjens, Frenk Van HarreveldAbstract:Denmark and the Netherlands are both countries with a Christian heritage, where only a minority of the population are actively religious. Behind the similarities, there are also striking difference...
Katrin Rudmannmaurer - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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the role of landuse and natural determinants for grassland vegetation composition in the swiss alps
Basic and Applied Ecology, 2008Co-Authors: Katrin Rudmannmaurer, Anne Weyand, Markus Fischer, Jurg StocklinAbstract:Abstract The Alps provide a high habitat diversity for plant species, structured by broad- and fine-scale abiotic site conditions. In man-made grasslands, vegetation composition is additionally affected by the type of landuse. We recorded vegetation composition in 216 parcels of grassland in 12 municipalities representing an area of 170×70 km in the south-eastern part of the Swiss Alps. Each parcel was characterized by a combination of altitudinal level (valley, intermediate, alp), Traditional landuse (mown, grazed), current management (mown, grazed, abandoned), and fertilization (unfertilized, fertilized). For each parcel we also assessed the abiotic factors aspect, slope, pH value, and geographic coordinates, and for each municipality annual precipitation and its Cultural Tradition. We analysed vegetation composition using (i) variation partitioning in RDA, (ii) cover of graminoids, non-legume forbs, and legumes, and (iii) dominance and frequency of species. Species composition was determined by, in decreasing order of variation explained, landuse, broad-scale abiotic factors, fine-scale abiotic factors, and Cultural Tradition. Current socio-economically motivated landuse changes, such as grazing of unfertilized former meadows or their abandonment, strongly affect vegetation composition. In our study, the frequency of characteristic meadow species was significantly smaller in grazed and even smaller in abandoned parcels than in still mown ones, suggesting less severe consequences of grazing for vegetation composition than of abandonment. Therefore, low-intensity grazing and mowing every few years should be considered valuable conservation alternatives to abandonment. Furthermore, because each landuse type was characterized by different species, a high variety of landuse types should be promoted to preserve plant species diversity in Alpine grasslands.
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agriCultural land use and biodiversity in the alps how Cultural Tradition and socioeconomically motivated changes are shaping grassland biodiversity in the swiss alps
Mountain Research and Development, 2008Co-Authors: Markus Fischer, Katrin Rudmannmaurer, Anne Weyand, Jurg StocklinAbstract:Alpine grasslands are ecosystems with a great diversity of plant species. However, little is known about other levels of biodiversity, such as landscape diversity, diversity of biological interactions of plants with herbivores or fungal pathogens, and genetic diversity. We therefore explored natural and anthropogenic determinants of grassland biodiversity at several levels of biological integration, from the genetic to the landscape level in the Swiss Alps. Differences between Cultural Traditions (Romanic, Germanic, and Walser) turned out to still affect land use diversity and thus landscape diversity. Increasing land use diversity, in turn, increased plant species diversity per village. However, recent land use changes have reduced this diversity. Within grassland parcels, plant species diversity was higher on unfertilized mown grasslands than on fertilized or grazed ones. Most individual plants were affected by herbivores and fungal leaf pathogens, reflecting that parcels harbored a great diversity of herbivores and pathogens. However, as plant damage by herbivores and pathogens was not severe, conserving these biological interactions among plants is hardly compromising agriCultural goals. A common-garden experiment revealed genetic differentiation of the important fodder grass Poa alpina between mown and grazed sites, suggesting adaptation. Per-village genetic diversity of Poa alpina was greater in villages with higher land use diversity, analogous to the higher plant species diversity there. Overall, landscape diversity and biodiversity within grassland parcels are currently declining. As this contradicts the intention of Swiss law and international agreements, financial incentives need to be re-allocated and should focus on promoting high biodiversity at the local and the landscape level. At the same time, this will benefit landscape attractiveness for tourists and help preserve a precious Cultural heritage in the Swiss Alps.
