Consistent Negative Effect Research Articles

Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on bird functional diversity: A global meta-analysis

• We provide the first global meta-analysis of bird functional diversity and human disturbances. • Bird functional diversity responded negatively to disturbances. • Isolation, logging and urbanization had negative effects on functional diversity. • Disturbances could jeopardize birds’ functions, possibly threatening ecosystem resilience. Anthropogenic disturbances represent the main threat to biodiversity around the globe, yet effects are not restricted to species loss. Assessing the functional diversity, which measures the range and value of ecological traits of organisms, can provide a more direct link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Therefore, as species’ responses to disturbances depend on their ecological traits, ecosystem functions are likely to be also imperiled by human perturbations. Although the literature on the effects of disturbances on functional diversity has been increasing, results are highly varied. Here, we provided the first comprehensive global meta -analysis on the effects of human disturbances on functional diversity of birds. We also performed subgroup analyses by region, habitat specialization, functional trait, functional diversity index and disturbance type. Our results indicate a consistent negative effect of disturbances on bird functional diversity, regardless of the variability caused by the different predictor variables considered. Specifically, we revealed that studies that were conducted in the tropics, focused on feeding traits and calculated functional diversity and richness indices presented negative responses to disturbances. Additionally, the functional diversity of birds, regardless of habitat specialization, was also negatively affected by anthropogenic disturbances. Lastly, habitat isolation, logging and urbanization exhibited a consistent negative effect on the functional diversity of birds, whereas agriculture, habitat loss and multiple disturbances had no detectable influence. These results indicate that anthropogenic disturbances can be detrimental to birds, possibly jeopardizing their ecological functions and threatening ecosystem resilience. We therefore suggest that conservation efforts should particularly focus on reducing or mitigating the effects of these three disturbances to at least diminish their effects on avian functional diversity. Additionally, we highlight the need for novel studies to simultaneously investigate the direct relationship between disturbance, functional diversity and especially ecosystem function, through the employment of multiple complementary indices, in order to effectively assist conservation decisions.

Disentangling wealth effects on fertility in 64 low- and middle-income countries.

Studies have shown mixed associations between wealth and fertility, a finding that has posed ongoing puzzles for evolutionary theories of human reproduction. However, measures of wealth do not simply capture economic capacity, which is expected to increase fertility. They can also serve as a proxy for market opportunities available to a household, which may reduce fertility. The multifaceted meaning of many wealth measures obscures our ability to draw inferences about the relationship between wealth and fertility. Here, we disentangle economic capacity and market opportunities using wealth measures that do not carry the same market-oriented biases as commonly used asset-based measures. Using measures of agricultural and market-based wealth for 562,324 women across 111,724 sampling clusters from 151 DHS surveys in 64 countries, we employ a latent variable structural equation model to estimate (a) latent variables capturing economic capacity and market opportunity and (b) their effects on completed fertility. Market opportunities had a consistent negative effect on fertility, while economic capacity had a weaker but generally positive effect on fertility. The results show that the confusion between operational measures of wealth and the concepts of economic capacity can impede our understanding of how material resources and market contexts shape reproduction.

Using Latin America as a research laboratory

PurposeThis paper aims to use Latin America as a laboratory to better understand the relationship between inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) and outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) (both in total as well as in regional flows) and also examine the moderating effect of trade openness on that relationship. Latin America is an ideal study context for this purpose because of the relative homogeneity of its countries, which reduces confounding effects and increases comparability.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses longitudinal panel regression models with moderation effects. Secondary data were gathered on IFDI (per country and per country-sector), OFDI (total per country and region-targeted per country) and on trade openness from 11 Latin American countries.FindingsIFDI in natural resources is positively associated with OFDI in both overall total flows and regional flows. The effect of IFDI in manufacturing has a consistent negative effect on total OFDI. IFDI in services has positive effects on total OFDI. Additionally, trade openness moderates positively the relationship between total IFDI and both total OFDI and regional OFDI. As a consequence, the authors found evidence suggesting that the relation between IFDI and OFDI in Latin America is positively moderated by trade openness.Originality/valueThe authors explored the nature of the impact of IFDI on the capacity of the recipient country to compete abroad as expressed by its OFDI flows. Specifically, they elucidated whether trade openness can be considered a suitable mechanism for home country firms to leverage potential spillovers provided by foreign entrants.

The impact of family-CEOs and their demographic characteristics on dividend payouts: Evidence from Latin America

We investigate the effect of family-CEOs and CEO demographic characteristics on firms’ dividend policy in Latin America. We show that family-CEO firms pay less amount of dividends and invest more in capital expenditures than nonfamily-CEO firms do. Direct family ownership (ownership concentration) negatively (positively) affects dividend payouts. Among the CEO demographic characteristics, CEO tenure has a consistent and significant negative effect on the dividend payout. Firms in a strong corporate governance environment pay more dividends and are less likely to appoint family members as CEOs, suggesting that strong corporate governance forces firms to pay more dividends and restrains firms from appointing CEOs based on family ties.

The effect of psychopathy on cooperative strategies in an iterated Prisoner\u2019s Dilemma experiment with emotional feedback

As decision-making research becomes more popular, the inclusion of personality traits has emerged as a focal point for an exhaustive analysis of human behaviour. In this study, we investigate the impact of psychopathic traits on cooperation in an iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma game with emotional facial feedback. Firstly, we observed how receiving a facial feedback after each decision affected players with different psychopathic trait scores, and how being informed about the opponent’s identity influenced cooperative behaviour. Secondly, we analysed the strategies adopted by each player, and how these choices were correlated with their psychopathic traits. Although our results showed no effect of different emotional content in the feedback on cooperation, we observed more cooperative behaviours in those players who were told their opponent was another fellow human, compared to those who were told it was a computer. Moreover, fearless dominance had a very small but consistent negative effect on overall cooperation and on the tendency to maintain cooperative behaviours. We also found that players’ personality scores affected the strategies they chose to play throughout the game. Hence, our experiment adds complexity to the body of work investigating psychopathic traits and social interactions, considering not only the environment of facial feedback but also the role of deception in experimental games.

Sediment deposition from eroding peatlands alters headwater invertebrate biodiversity

Land use and climate change are driving widespread modifications to the biodiverse and functionally unique headwaters of rivers. In temperate and boreal regions, many headwaters drain peatlands where land management and climate change can cause significant soil erosion and peat deposition in rivers. However, effects of peat deposition in river ecosystems remain poorly understood. We provide two lines of evidence—derived from sediment deposition gradients in experimental mesocosms (0–7.5 g/m2) and headwaters (0.82–9.67 g/m2)—for the adverse impact of peat deposition on invertebrate community biodiversity. We found a consistent negative effect of sediment deposition across both the experiment and survey; at the community level, decreases in density (1956 to 56 individuals per m2 in headwaters; mean 823 ± 129 (SE) to 288 ± 115 individuals per m2 in mesocosms) and richness (mean 12 ± 1 to 6 ± 2 taxa in mesocosms) were observed. Sedimentation increased beta diversity amongst experimental replicates and headwaters, reflecting increasing stochasticity amongst tolerant groups in sedimented habitats. With increasing sedimentation, the density of the most common species, Leuctra inermis, declined from 290 ± 60 to 70 ± 30 individuals/m2 on average in mesocosms and >800 individuals/m2 to 0 in the field survey. Traits analysis of mesocosm assemblages suggested biodiversity loss was driven by decreasing abundance of invertebrates with trait combinations sensitive to sedimentation (longer life cycles, active aquatic dispersal of larvae, fixed aquatic eggs, shredding feeding habit). Functional diversity metrics reinforced the idea of more stochastic community assembly under higher sedimentation rates. While mesocosm assemblages showed some compositional differences to surveyed headwaters, ecological responses were consistent across these spatial scales. Our results suggest short‐term, small‐scale stressor experiments can inform understanding of “real‐world” peatland river ecosystems. As climate change and land‐use change are expected to enhance peatland erosion, significant alterations to invertebrate biodiversity can be expected where these eroded soils are deposited in rivers.

Effects of Indirect Exposure to Homicide Events on Children’s Mental Health: Evidence from Urban Settings in Colombia

Exposure to neighborhood violence is an important risk factor for the social and emotional development of children and youth. Previous work recognizes that violence may affect children indirectly via secondhand exposure; yet, few studies have aimed to identify and quantify these effects, especially in settings like Colombia where youth is chronically exposed to violence. To address this gap in the literature, this article implements an empirical strategy where geographically specific and time-stamped data are leveraged to identify the effect of indirect exposure to homicides on fifth grade children's social and emotional outcomes. Sample participants (N = 5801) represent the fifth-grade population of boys and girls (50.7%) in two major urban areas in the country (Mage = 11.01, SD = 0.75). We hypothesize that the effects of exposure to neighborhood violence on children's social and emotional skills will be consistent and negative. The findings indicate a consistent negative effect of indirect exposure to homicides on children's emotional functioning (i.e., emotional regulation and empathy), as well as on the prevalence of avoidance behaviors. However, contrary to theoretical expectations, the results do not support effects on children's levels of aggressive behavior, nor on the beliefs and attitudes that justify the use of aggression in interpersonal relationships. The findings are discussed in light of predictions from social cognitive models and their implications for developmentally and trauma-informed interventions for youth.

Don't Make Me Angry! A Psychophysiological Examination of the Anger–Performance Relationship in Intermediate and Elite Fencers

We aimed to identify the effect of state-anger on precision, speed, and power components of performance during fencing attacks. We conducted a laboratory-based, single-case research experiment to test the fine motor task performance of two experienced and two elite-level fencers under two emotional states: anger and emotion-neutral. We assessed anger via psychophysiological and self-report measures, and we induced anger via a brief imagery intervention. Through the use of an innovative design, which included multiple measures of change, we showed that anger had a consistent negative effect on precision but an inconsistent relationship with response time and muscle activity. The current research design and protocol offer a novel and in-depth method for examining the specific relationships between affective states, emotions, and the complexities that underpin performance. The specific effects of anger on performance were multifarious, complex, and inconsistent. Nonetheless, the results tend to indicate that anger facilitates reaction time and debilitates performance, and these effects were clearer for the most elite performers. The effects of anger on performance are clearly complex, so it would be rather premature to make any suggestions for future practice at this point. Nonetheless, the clearer findings with the elite fencers indicate that researchers will likely yield the most fruitful insights by examining the effects of emotion of performance in elite performers.

Is partners’ mental health and well-being affected by holding the baby after stillbirth? Mothers’ accounts from a national survey

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects on partners’ health and well-being of holding a stillborn baby.Background: Findings from quantitative and qualitative studies have produced inconsistent results concerning the effects of holding a stillborn baby on parents.Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted on postal questionnaire data relating to 455 partners of women who had a stillbirth. Women answered questions about their partners’ behaviour, perceptions of care, mental health and well-being at three and nine months after the stillbirth. Demographic, clinical and care characteristics were compared between partners who, according to the mothers, did and did not hold their baby. Sub-group analyses assessed hypothesised moderating effects.Results: Mothers reported that most partners saw (92%) and held (82%) their stillborn baby. However, partners born outside the UK were less likely to have held their baby. Higher gestational age, shorter time interval between antepartum death and delivery, and mother’s holding the baby all predicted a higher rate of partner’s holding. There was a consistent negative effect of holding the baby across mental health and well-being outcomes, although after adjustment only higher odds of depression (OR 2.72, 95% CI 1.35–5.50) and post-traumatic stress type symptoms (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.01–3.78) at 3 months were significantly associated with having held the baby following stillbirth.Conclusions: This study is the first to assess the impact of holding the baby on partners’ mental health and well-being. The prevalence of depression and anxiety were high, and the negative effects of holding the baby were significant 3 months later.

Tag effects on prespawn mortality of Chinook Salmon: A field experiment using PIT tags, radio transmitters, and untagged controls

AbstractWe conducted a field experiment to test the hypothesis that intragastric radio-tagging contributed to increased prespawn mortality (PSM) of adult Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) after collection and transport to spawning sites above high-head hydroelectric dams. We assessed PSM rates of 970 wild and hatchery Chinook Salmon collected during trap-and-haul operations that were released untagged, tagged with PIT tags only, or double-tagged with PIT tags and radio transmitters, and then recovered as carcasses in two Willamette River (Oregon) tributaries from 2009–2015. Results revealed no evidence PSM rates were higher in PIT-tagged samples compared to untagged (but not unhandled) control samples. PSM rates in double-tagged samples were variable among years and between locations and indicated that radio-tagging effects were absent or small in effect size, on average, within each population. While we did not detect a consistent negative double-tagging effect across locations and years, results...

Does heating stimulate germination in Leptospermum scoparium (mānuka; Myrtaceae)?

ABSTRACTFire regimes are powerful selective filters. In New Zealand, fire activity was rare before human settlement, and New Zealand’s indigenous woody flora shows little adaptation to frequent fire. One of the few woody indigenous species to show adaptation to frequent fire is Leptospermum scoparium (Myrtaceae), a Plio-Pleistocene immigrant from Australia. Leptospermum scoparium is a widespread early-successional shrub to small tree that frequently dominates post-fire successions, and shows geographically-variable pyriscent serotiny, a fire-adaptation in which seeds are retained in the canopy and open post-fire. Another widespread reproductive adaptation to fire is heat-stimulated germination. Some Australian Leptospermum respond positively to heat treatment, and observations in New Zealand suggest that the seeds of L. scoparium within thick-walled capsules open immediately after fire and successfully germinate, indicating at least no deleterious effect of heating. In some fire-prone systems such as Mediterranean shrublands, traits such as serotiny and heat-stimulated germination have been positively associated with traits associated with flammability (e.g. retention of dead fuel). Here we evaluate the effect of heat stimulation (short exposure to high temperatures) of capsules on germination in L. scoparium from New Zealand, and evaluate links between germination, serotiny and shoot-level flammability. Germination trials using seed collected from 12 populations indicated no consistent positive or negative effect of heat treatment on germination success (germinability). These trials suggest that the capsules of L. scoparium at least provide adequate insulation to heating. Germinability was not consistently related to either serotiny or flammability; nor was it related to latitude or elevation. While taxa from other fire-prone ecosystems may show coordinated trait responses to fire, the lack of association between physical measures of flammability and germination rates indicate that this is not the case in L. scoparium, New Zealand’s most fire-adapted indigenous woody species.

Does drought stress modify the effects of plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria on an aboveground chewing herbivore?

Soil microbes have important effects on the interactions of plants with their environment, by promoting plant growth, inducing resistance to pests or by conferring tolerance to abiotic stress. However, their effects are variable and the factors responsible for this variation are mainly unknown. Our aim was to assess how drought stress modifies the effect of the nonpathogenic rhizobacterium Pseudomonas simiae WCS417r on plant growth and resistance against the generalist leaf-chewing caterpillar Mamestra brassicae. We studied Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 plants, as well as mutants altered in the biosynthesis of the phytohormones jasmonic acid (JA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Caterpillars did not prefer rhizobacteria-treated plants, independently of drought stress. Rhizobacteria colonization had a variable effect on caterpillar performance, which ranged from positive in one experiment to neutral in a second one. Drought had a consistent negative effect on herbivore performance; however, it did not modify the effect of rhizobacteria on herbivore performance. The effect of drought on herbivore performance was JA-mediated (confirmed with the use of the dde2-2 mutant), but it was still present in the ABA-deficient mutant aba2-1. Plant biomass was reduced by both drought and herbivory but it was enhanced by rhizobacterial colonization. Pseudomonas simiae WCS417r is able to promote plant growth even when plants are suffering herbivory. Nevertheless, the microbial effect on the herbivore is variable, independently of drought stress. To get the best possible outcome from the rhizobacteria-plant mutualism it is important to understand which other factors may be responsible for its context-dependency.

Gender Based Violence Among Pregnant Women: A Hospital Based Study

Introduction: Gender Based Violence (GBV) is prevalent and exists to some extent in virtually all societies throughout the world. Evidence shows consistent negative effect of violence on health of women particularly. This hidden disease is perceived as a social issue and not a health issue and is often overlooked by health care providers.
 Methodology: This study was a Cross Sectional descriptive study conducted at national Academy of Medical Science affiliated Paropaker Women's and Maternity Hospital, Kathmandu enrolling 950 pregnant women from the emergency admission room who were interviewed using structured questionnaire from mid march to the end August in the year 2007.
 Result and discussion: Among 950 women suffered from gender based violence (33.36%). One hundred and fifty women faced psychological violence (47.31%), seventy two clients faced physical violence (22.71%), and forty two women faced sexual violence (13.24%) and rest of them faced all types of violence. Violence was reported during the current pregnancy (41.32%). Husbands were perpetrator of violence for almost on third of women (34.06%), followed by mother in low (18.29%). Joint violence by family members was quit common (28.1%). Perpetrator outside family was responsible for approximately 20% of cases. Domestic violence was extremely common accounting for more than four fifty of cases (81.38%). Among sexual violence, (45.45%) women were victim of marital rape. Alcoholism as one of the common reason for wife battering, observed in this study in Maternity Hospital which is still prevalent in Nepal. Often, verbal abuse is an excuse for imposing discipline in the family. Women's economic and emotional dependence on husband could be responsible for the vulnerable status in family. Health seeking behavior following violence was found to be extremely low in this study suggestion gender based violence as a privet matter.

Arthroscopic Mechanical Chondroplasty of the Knee Is Beneficial for Treatment of Focal Cartilage Lesions in the Absence of Concurrent Pathology.

Background:Articular cartilage lacks the ability for intrinsic repair after acute injury, and focal articular cartilage lesions cause significant morbidity worldwide. Arthroscopic debridement (chondroplasty) represents the majority of cartilage procedures of the knee; however, limited data exist regarding outcomes after chondroplasty performed in isolation of concurrent procedures or not as a primary treatment for osteoarthritis (OA).Hypothesis:Arthroscopic mechanical chondroplasty is beneficial for patients with a focal cartilage lesion of the knee in the absence of meniscal pathology or OA.Study Design:Case series; Level of evidence, 4.Methods:Potential participants were identified by querying billing data from a 3-year period in a single-surgeon practice, and eligible patients were verified to meet inclusion criteria through electronic medical record review. OA was quantified through Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) scoring. Subjective patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores, including International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), Tegner, Lysholm, and Veterans RAND 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12), were collected preoperatively and at follow-up intervals. International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade and lesion size were determined at arthroscopy. Linear regression was used to determine the effect of baseline score on final follow-up score. Correlated regression equations were used to assess the relationship of covariates and change in PRO scores.Results:Fifty-three of 86 (62%) eligible participants completed postoperative questionnaires at an average of 31.5 months (range, 11.5-57 months). The mean patient age was 37.3 ± 9.7 years and mean body mass index (BMI) was 27.7 ± 5.6 kg/m2; 33 (62%) participants were women. The mean treated lesion size was 3.3 ± 1.9 cm2, of these, 36 (68%) were ICRS grade 2 or 3, and 42 (79%) patients had a KL score of 0 to −2. On average, the cohort demonstrated significant improvement from baseline for almost all PRO scores. Regression analysis of change in score versus baseline indicated participants with lower preoperative scores gained more benefit from chondroplasty. Correlated regression equations showed KL score >0 and male sex had a consistent positive effect on change in PRO scores, high ICRS grade had a consistent negative effect, and lesion size, age, and obesity had no effect. Eight patients (15%) required further surgical intervention within the follow-up period.Conclusion:The clinical efficacy of chondroplasty for repair of focal cartilage defects of the knee has not been studied in isolation from concurrent orthopaedic procedures. Our data show that arthroscopic mechanical chondroplasty is beneficial to patients, and response to surgical intervention is correlated with baseline PRO scores, sex, ICRS grade, and KL score.

Women's gender roles affect their visual interest in different infant facial expressions

The present study tested whether women's gender roles were associated with interest in infants and examined the influence of infants' facial expressions on women's interest in them. Eye movements were measured in childless female undergraduates through presentations of adult and infant faces with three kinds of expressions. Nulliparous women had general visual preferences toward infant faces. Moreover, neutral infant facial expressions gained most attentional bias than smiling and crying infant faces compared to adult facial expressions. We assumed that gender roles might affect individual differences in women's interest in infants; results showed that masculinity affected women's visual attentional bias toward infants. Further, masculinity had a consistent negative effect on viewing preference toward infants regardless of their expressions. Atypical gender roles thus play an important role in women's differing interests in and caregiving behavior toward infants. We believe a better grasp of gender role effects and infant facial expression influences can improve our understanding of women's interests toward infants.

Natural Disasters and Political Participation: Evidence from the 2002 and 2013 Floods in Germany

How do natural disasters affect electoral participation? The existing social science literature offers contradictory predictions. A considerable body of research in sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events can inspire pro-social behaviour, which might increase turnout. Yet, political science has long held that even minor changes to participation costs of low benefit activities can lead to considerable drops in civic engagement. Consequently, natural disasters should reduce electoral participation. We show how these distinct views can be jointly analysed within the Riker–Ordeshook model of voting. This paper then reports results on the impact of the 2002 and 2013 floods in Germany on turnout in federal and state elections in Saxony and Bavaria, conducted few weeks after the floods. Analysing community level turnout data, and drawing on a difference-in-differences framework, we find that flood exposure has a consistent negative effect on turnout. This indicates that the increase in the costs of voting outweighed any increase in political engagement in our case and stands in contrast to findings from developing contexts, where flood management was convincingly linked to electoral participation.

Comparative Language Development in Bilingual and Monolingual Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

The prevalence of both bilingual children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is growing rapidly, and early childhood educators may be increasingly likely to encounter bilingual children with ASD in their classrooms. Because ASD significantly affects communication, many parents and professionals may have questions or concerns about the impact of bilingualism on language development in children with ASD. The present article presents a systematic review of the literature comparing monolingual to bilingual development in children with ASD. Seven articles were included, covering a wide variety of languages and involving predominantly young, simultaneously bilingual children with ASD. Results generally showed small, varied differences in both receptive and expressive language outcomes for bilingual and monolingual children with ASD, thus providing tentative support for the idea that bilingualism does not have a consistent or large negative effect on language development in children with ASD. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Jasmonic Acid and Ethylene Signaling Pathways Regulate Glucosinolate Levels in Plants During Rhizobacteria-Induced Systemic Resistance Against a Leaf-Chewing Herbivore.

Beneficial soil microbes can promote plant growth and induce systemic resistance (ISR) in aboveground tissues against pathogens and herbivorous insects. Despite the increasing interest in microbial-ISR against herbivores, the underlying molecular and chemical mechanisms of this phenomenon remain elusive. Using Arabidopsis thaliana and the rhizobacterium Pseudomonas simiae WCS417r (formerly known as P. fluorescens WCS417r), we here evaluate the role of the JA-regulated MYC2-branch and the JA/ET-regulated ORA59-branch in modulating rhizobacteria-ISR to Mamestra brassicae by combining gene transcriptional, phytochemical, and herbivore performance assays. Our data show a consistent negative effect of rhizobacteria-mediated ISR on the performance of M. brassicae. Functional JA- and ET-signaling pathways are required for this effect, as shown by investigating the knock-out mutants dde2-2 and ein2-1. Additionally, whereas herbivory mainly induces the MYC2-branch, rhizobacterial colonization alone or in combination with herbivore infestation induces the ORA59-branch of the JA signaling pathway. Rhizobacterial colonization enhances the synthesis of camalexin and aliphatic glucosinolates (GLS) compared to the control, while it suppresses the herbivore-induced levels of indole GLS. These changes are associated with modulation of the JA-/ET-signaling pathways. Our data show that the colonization of plant roots by rhizobacteria modulates plant-insect interactions by prioritizing the JA/ET-regulated ORA59-branch over the JA-regulated MYC2-branch. This study elucidates how microbial plant symbionts can modulate the plant immune system to mount an effective defense response against herbivorous plant attackers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10886-016-0787-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Reconciling recreational use and conservation values in a coastal protected area

Summary Protected areas often need to provide recreational opportunities whilst conserving biodiversity. Recreation brings important benefits to human well‐being, and allowing people to experience nature in protected areas can also provide revenue and support for conservation objectives. However, not all recreational activities are compatible with environmental management goals. Here, we show how a coastal protected area can be zoned to satisfy both recreational and conservation objectives. We collected empirical data on the effect of recreational disturbance to foraging shorebirds in Moreton Bay Marine Park, Queensland, Australia, and calculated the benefit of alternative protected area zone types on shorebird representation using a zero‐inflated negative binomial model. The predictions from this model were used to optimize a zoning plan in a linear programming framework that balances recreational use with shorebird conservation. Costs reflect foregone recreational opportunity, thereby facilitating solutions that minimize restrictions on recreational use of the coastline. We discover a consistent negative effect of recreational use of the foreshore on shorebird occupancy and abundance and show that, despite this, zoning can be used to achieve shorebird representation targets with only a small cost to recreational opportunity. When dog recreation is permitted at all sites, a 91% shorebird representation target can be met, indicating that de facto patterns of recreation were rather well segregated from areas used by shorebirds. By restricting dog recreation to five sites and allowing people to access all other foreshore sites, shorebird representation increased to 97%. Synthesis and applications. Our approach of calculating the contribution of each zone type towards conservation objectives results in zoning plans with robust estimates of conservation benefit that can be readily implemented by managers. Specifically, we estimated the effects of removing people and domestic dog recreation within each intertidal site on shorebird abundance to inform coastal zoning plans. Incorporating cost as foregone recreational opportunity results in zoning plans that minimize the number of people required to make a behavioural change. Compliance to zone types is often ultimately voluntary so integrating the current intensity of recreational use is more likely to generate workable zoning plans.

Agricultural landscape simplification reduces natural pest control: A quantitative synthesis

Numerous studies show that landscape simplification reduces abundance and diversity of natural enemies in agroecosystems, but its effect on natural pest control remains poorly quantified. Further, natural enemy impacts on pest populations have usually been estimated for a limited number of taxa and have not considered interactions among predator species. In a quantitative synthesis with data collected from several cropping systems in Europe and North America, we analyzed how the level and within-field spatial stability of natural pest control services was related to the simplification of the surrounding landscape. All studies used aphids as a model species and exclusion cages to measure aphid pest control. Landscape simplification was quantified by the proportion of cultivated land within a 1km radius around each plot. We found a consistent negative effect of landscape simplification on the level of natural pest control, despite interactions among enemies. Average level of pest control was 46% lower in homogeneous landscapes dominated by cultivated land, as compared with more complex landscapes. Landscape simplification did not affect the amount of positive or negative interactions among ground-dwelling and vegetation-dwelling predators, or the within-field stability of pest control. Our synthesis demonstrates that agricultural intensification through landscape simplification has negative effects on the level of natural pest control with important implications for management to maintain and enhance ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes. Specifically, preserving and restoring semi-natural habitats emerges as a fundamental first step to maintain and enhance pest control services provided by predatory arthropods to agriculture.