Ecological Beliefs Research Articles

Mediating role of specific environmental beliefs in the relationship between general beliefs and water consumption

AbstractThis study investigates the impact of general environmental beliefs (GEB) on water consumption behaviour (WCB) and the mediating role of specific environmental beliefs (SEB) in Kuala Lumpur. By administering 1584 surveys via a 5‐point Likert scale questionnaire, the study analyses the influence of utilitarian beliefs (UB) and ecological beliefs (EB) at both the Kuala Lumpur and district levels. The results demonstrate that EB significantly mediates the relationship between GEB and WCB, while UB also plays a significant mediating role. The study highlights practical measures for environmental preservation, such as prioritizing utilitarianism for environmentally beneficial choices, afforestation, waste reduction, reusability and recycling of production materials and ensuring ecological system compatibility for waste disposal.

Greening the economy: how culture values shape environmental policies in America and Europe.

This research explores the theory that cultural factors shape how people feel about the environment. Both theoretical and empirical approaches are used in our investigation of this problem. In the theoretical part of the study, we provide a model for transferring cultural practices from one generation to the next. To provide empirical evidence for the existence of this cultural factor in environmental views, we analyze survey data from the European Values Research. Using a comparative method, we use differences caused by migration patterns in Europe and America. According to our research, cultural influences on migrants' ecological beliefs are long-lasting and statistically significant. Variations in migrants' environmental views may be traced back to societal norms that endure in their home countries. We also demonstrate that ecological views are robust in the face of incentives originating from the external environment, demonstrating that migrants' choices in the host nation are not much influenced by the environmental circumstances they were exposed to in their home countries. We uncover fascinating variations in the cultural transfer procedure, and our results hold up under various hypotheses. These findings suggest that, in light of the prevalence of ecological problems requiring community action, it is crucial to formulate policies that consider the factors that led to the development of ecological cultures.

The influence of environmental factors on ecological beliefs and ecological behaviour of energy-efficient appliance purchase

Previous ecological behaviour studies have focused on personal factors only, and thus ignored the impact of environmental factors on ecological behaviour. In addition, there are criticism on the complexity of belief component in the value-belief-norm theory. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effect of environmental factors and to assess the mediating role of ecological beliefs on energy-efficient appliance purchasing. This study utilised a questionnaire survey among 592 Malaysian consumers. The partial least squares technique was utilised to analyse the data and to test the study hypotheses. The findings show that environmental factors have a positive influence on both ecological beliefs and ecological behaviour; ecological beliefs are positively related to ecological behaviour. Additionally, ecological beliefs mediate the relationship between environmental factors and ecological behaviour. This holistic research framework helps to elaborate on the existing knowledge of environmental factors and an individual’s belief, in the context of energy-efficient appliance purchase.

Alternative accounts, rivers and dams: the case of the Green Earth Volunteers’ river project

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the alternative accounts produced by Green Earth Volunteers (GEV), a Chinese environmental non-governmental organisation, over a 10-year period in the context of their campaign to create visibilities about hydroelectric dam projects along the Chang Jiang.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on conceptions of the human–nature relationship, including those evident in ancient Chinese philosophy and mythology, and the Chinese way of viewing and resolving conflict, this paper offers an interpretive analysis of the alternative accounts of GEV in terms of their form and content.FindingsIn terms of their content, the alternative accounts reflect elements of interrelated thinking, being underpinned by a recognition of the relationship between humans and nature, which is evident in Confucianism, Taoism and ancient Chinese mythology. The strategies adopted by GEV are a non-confrontational but feasible way to promote their ecological beliefs in the Chinese context.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that social and environmental accounting (SEA) in developing countries is steeped in local cultural and philosophical traditions that need to be considered and incorporated into the design of alternative accounts.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the very limited literature that offers qualitative analyses of SEA in developing countries.

온라인 쇼핑 이용자의 생태주의신념이 친환경소비행동에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between online shopping users' ecological belief and eco-friendly consumption behavior, and to verify the process of purchase behavior, use behavior, and disposal behavior. To this end, this study developed research hypotheses and surveys through literature review, conducted a survey of adults in their 20s and older to collect a total of 396 copies of data, and statistically analyzed the collected data to verify the hypothesis. As a result of the study, first, it was found that ecological beliefs had a positive (+) effect on eco-friendly purchase behavior, use behavior, and disposal behavior. Second, eco-friendly purchase behavior was found to have a positive (+) effect on use behavior and disposal behavior. Finally, it was found that eco-friendly use behavior had a positive (+) effect on disposition behavior. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between ecological belief and eco-friendly disposition behavior and attempts to find out what factors affect eco-friendly disposition behavior. It aims to analyze that ecological belief are an important variable in eco-friendly consumption behavior as the number of online shopping users increases, to reveal the process leading to purchase behavior, use behavior, and disposal behavior, and to provide basic data necessary for eco-friendly consumption behavior.

A downstream social norms approach for curtailing e-cigarette waste: Promising social marketing interventions from consumer interactions.

Irresponsibly disposed electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) waste poses significant public health and environmental harm. This study explores downstream social marketing interventions that can be used to curtail the growth of e-cigarette waste in South Africa through the lenses of the social norms approach. This study harnesses the power of social marketing to identify downstream interventions that can be used by marketers to curb the problem of e-cigarette waste. An exploratory research design and a qualitative method were employed. Six virtual focus groups were conducted to collect cross-sectional data from South African electronic cigarette users. Reciprocal altruism, social orientation value, moral licensing and ecological beliefs were found to be the main normative influences that characterise e-cigarette waste. The results support the proposition that social marketers should employ a downstream approach to develop interventions to curtail the growth of e-cigarette waste. Such measures are envisaged to complement upstream initiatives. This study offers new insights on how to manage e-cigarette waste in the context of an emerging market.

초등학생과 초등예비교사의 생태 인식 비교 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the ecological worldview of elementary school students, who are the future society’s main pillars, along with pre-service elementary teachers who will educate them. For this study, a questionnaire that has been verified by many people and is widely used was used.
 Methods The subjects of this study were 352 elementary school students and 92 pre-service elementary teachers. To elementary school students, the questionnaire ‘NEP Scale for Elementary School Students in Korea’ was printed and distributed. In addition, ‘The New Ecological Paradigm Scale’ was distributed online to pre-service elementary teachers. A total 336 questionnaires for elementary school students and 92 questionnaires for pre-service elementary teachers were collected. The data was analyzed using the SPSS statistical program.
 Results The results of this study are as follows. First, there was no statistically significant difference in the average values of the ecological worldview of elementary school students and pre-service elementary teachers. However, the average value of elementary school students in two sub-factors was higher than the average value of pre-service teachers. Second, as a result of analyzing the ecological worldview by background variables of elementary school students, there was no significant difference in average values according to grade level. However, the average values of some of the sub-factors showed significant differences according to gender. Third, as a result of analyzing the ecological worldview by background variables of pre-service elementary teachers, there was no significant difference in average values according to grade level. But there was a significant difference in the overall average value of ecological worldview and some of its sub-factors according to gender.
 Conclusions The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, an individual's ecological beliefs may be independent of age. Therefore, instructors should consider these characteristics when designing education related to ecological worldview. Second, children and adults may have different processes for constructing an ecological worldview. Thus, pre-service teachers and teachers must understand children’s ecological worldview. Third, the ecological worldview of elementary school students and pre-service teachers differ according to gender. Therefore, efforts are needed to clarify the cause from various aspects.

Committing to the Antarctic: values, ecological beliefs, and social identity in national perception

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to analyse the role of a perceived value that may result from identification with the Antarctic region the identity that results from association with the Chilean claim to that territory, and adherence to various ecological beliefs that may bear on a perception of responsibility in the care and protection of Antarctica, by inhabitants of southern Chilean Patagonia. Three general population studies (n1 = 218), (n2 = 401), (n3 = 260) measured what were termed Antarctic values, Antarctic Social Identity (ASI), ecological beliefs, and perceived responsibility for Antarctic care and protection. The first study showed the importance of social identification as a mediating variable between the attributed Antarctic value and the perception of responsibility, showing that the identity variable played a fundamental role in the phenomenon of perceived responsibility. The second study compares three cities that formally share the ‘Antarctic social identity’ label (a sense of belonging to the group of cities linked to the Antarctic). This study reveals that, despite sharing this social category, the orientation related to custodial behaviour towards Antarctica is also linked to other socio-identity variables. Here we refer to all the psychological and social variables involved in the process that leads to feeling part of one social identity; that is, identifying with a group of people with whom one shares, for example, the place where one lives. The third study compares two generations of adults (‘young’ and ‘mature’) and confirms that the older group shows a pattern of social responsibility that considers identity variables more profoundly. These results are discussed within the context of the importance of understanding the role of these variables in attitudes towards the Antarctic region at a time when, from both political and environmental perspectives, opportunities arise for inhabitants living close to this territory to reconsider their roles.

Pro-environmental diversification of pasture-based dairy and beef production in Ireland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand: a scoping review of impacts and challenges

Abstract Milk and beef derived from pasture-based systems have been characterized by higher nutritional values and a lower environmental footprint than their equivalents obtained via indoor systems. However, intensification of pasture-based production can have adverse impacts on biodiversity and the environment. To date, studies on pro-environmental diversification options leading to improvement of environmental performance of pasture-based dairy and beef production have rarely been synthesized. The present study sought to review current on-farm pro-environmental measures with the potential for enhancing biodiversity status and/or reducing the environmental impacts of pasture-based agriculture. Literature on farmer attitudes toward these measures was also reviewed to identify potential obstacles and opportunities for transitioning to pro-environmental agriculture. A systematic search of published research from high-income island countries characterized by oceanic temperate climate with a high dependence on pasture-based agriculture—the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, was conducted. Thirty studies that assessed the impact of pro-environmental measures, eight ‘attitudinal’ studies of dairy and beef farmers and one study covering both aspects were identified. Inductive thematical analysis was subsequently undertaken. Environmentally sensitive management practices such as hedgerows and field margins management, mixed grazing (where two or more herbivorous animals graze the same land), rare livestock breeds, multispecies swards, organic farming and agroforestry were identified as primary themes studied under the auspices of pro-environmental diversification, while forestry, bioenergy crops and organic farming were the main themes identified within attitudinal research studies. Findings suggest that environmentally sensitive practices have varied effects on biodiversity. Mixed grazing was found to improve livestock production, while studies of organic farming reported multiple positive impacts on biodiversity and animal welfare. Effect of multispecies swards on methane emissions and urinary nitrogen extraction were found to be inconsistent. Attitudinal research suggests that the main barrier to implementing afforestation is its lack of attractiveness compared to ‘traditional’ farming and that organic farmer decisions regarding agricultural management practices might be less profit-oriented and influenced by ecological beliefs to a greater extent than decisions of conventional farmers. The results of this study confirm that pro-environmental diversification inherently encompasses multiple scientific disciplines; however, previous study designs and outcomes were found to be fragmented and narrowly focused. Considering the urgency and importance of climate and biodiversity crises, pro-environmental diversification of pasture-based dairy and beef production has rarely been holistically approached and remains understudied. The development of practical, sustainable solutions for farming based on circular economy and respect to nature and additional strategies to increase farmer and consumer environmental awareness should be prioritized by policymakers, advisory and scientific bodies.

Effects of education for sustainable development on personal norms regarding the scarcity of drinking water

Purpose: This study aims to investigate effects of education for sustainable development (ESD) on university students' personal norms regarding the scarcity of drinking water in light of the value-belief-norm theory (VBN). Design/methodology/approach: The empirical research was developed at the Federal University of Bahia. The final sample was composed of 1,096 university students. The questionnaire was validated qualitatively and quantitatively. For hypothesis testing, Structural Equation Modeling was employed. Findings: Results indicated that the level of education for sustainable development positively impacted only biospheric values. The findings demonstrate that the impact of education for sustainable development depends on its quality, quantity, distribution, and diffusion in curricula. Research implications: This research is based on VBN theory and contributes to the body of literature of EDS. It suggests that individuals' values are in fact guiding principles of their beliefs. Practical implications: Biospheric values were found to have a positive effect on ecological beliefs. Nevertheless, it was found that in order to feel a moral obligation to act, students need to believe that, in fact, drinking water scarcity is a serious problem for society. Social implications: This research adds insights to the matter of educating the younger generation of students in view of the recent (2021-2022) water crisis in Brazil. Originality/value: The analysis of effects of "level of education for sustainable development” on individuals' values, impacting the VBN chain to explain student coping with drinking water scarcity is an original contribution of this study.

Soil bacterial community mediates temporal stability of plant community productivity in degraded grasslands

Temporal stability of plant community productivity (‘plant community stability’ hereafter) in the face of environmental disturbance is essential for maintenance of ecosystem functioning. However, most existing studies that examined the biotic drivers of plant community stability concentrated on plant attributes, neglecting the potential stabilizing effects of soil microbes. Here, we conducted a 5-year field experiment to quantify plant community stability (i.e., the ratio of the temporal mean of community biomass to its standard deviation over this period) at four grassland sites with no, moderate, severe, and extreme degradation statuses in northern China. Soil bacterial communities were determined with 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Our results demonstrated that high bacterial network complexity and relative abundance of oligotrophs were beneficial to improve plant community stability of moderately and severely degraded grasslands. The strong impacts of bacterial community composition on plant community stability indicated that particular taxa, especially oligotrophs and copiotrophs, determined stability. The positive relationship between bacterial network complexity and plant community stability supported the central ecological belief that complexity begets stability. Together, these findings provide a new insight into the importance of soil bacterial community composition and network complexity for buffering negative effects of grassland degradation on plant community stability.

Uniting ecological belief and social conformity in green events

Although practitioners are increasingly interested in promoting greening as a means to fulfill tourists’ ecological needs and to conform to the pro-environmental norm, it remains unclear how ecological beliefs and social conformity to greening unfold to promote event tourism. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ecological belief can be translated into action by considering the role of social conformity in the context of green events. A field survey was conducted to examine our proposed belief–norm–conformity framework by integrating the value–belief–norm model, theory of reasoned action, and social conformity lens to predict future patronage of green events. Results show there is a serial mediation effect between ecological belief with revisit intention concerning green attitude, social norm and event conformity. The findings provide an insightful understanding of social influence in sustainable tourism. The results can assist event operators to leverage social conformity for environmentally conscious event-goers to promote green event repatronage.

Green Information System (GIS) Model in the Conference Sector: Exploring Attendees' Adoption Behaviors for Conference Apps.

IntroductionAcademic conferences are carbon-intensive. Conference travel by air contributes to huge amount of global greenhouse gas emissions, which can be reduced by adopting green information systems (green IS or GIS). This study aims to investigate attendees’ behaviors for adopting green IS (such as conference apps) from an ecological perspective.MethodsFor this research, a survey method was used. Survey instrument had 29 items adapted from existing scales. Data was collected using Mturk’s panel of respondents on online Qualtrics. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted on 403 responses for data analysis and validation of the results using SPSS AMOS ver. 24.FindingsThis study provides empirical evidence to add ecological beliefs as a key predictor of green IS adoption models. Findings demonstrate that attitudes and ecological beliefs play an essential role in conference app adoption, in comparison with performance expectations, social impacts, and facilitation conditions, as presented in the traditional technology acceptance literature. Findings assist conference owners develop essential communication strategies for green attendees.

Into the Haunted Forest: Reading Anti-Extractivism in Aammton Alias’s The Last Bastion of Ingei

This article posits gothic depictions of the haunted forest as important counter-narratives to extractivist representations of nature in public narratives in Brunei, including government policy and advertising for environmental tourism.The critical discussion will focus on a contemporary Bruneian text, Aammton Alias’sThe Last Bastion of Ingei(2016). Using a localized EcoGothiccritical framework, I argue that the novelreflectsIndigenous ecological beliefs and practices, wherein nature and the supernatural destabilize and undermine anthropocentric ways of knowing and relating to the nonhuman. EcoGothicnarratives can thus be seen as crucial representational models of anti-extractivism that reimagine human-nonhuman relations beyond anthropocentric epistemologies. To this end, I examine the ways in which nature and the supernatural are portrayed and how nonhuman agencies disrupt anthropocentric narration and reading. This article also makes a case for the diversification of local literary and cultural production to effectively reorient public narratives of the environment.

ЕКОЛОГІЧНА ОСВІТА МАЙБУТНІХ СУДНОВОДІЇВ ЯК ПСИХОЛОГО-ПЕДАГОГІЧНА ПРОБЛЕМА

The article reveals the role of environmental education in the professional training of specialists - future navigators. It was established that the problem of environmental protection is one of the most acute problems of our time. Formation of ecological culture, ecological beliefs, ecological style of thinking of modern students, mastering the basics of rational nature management is one of the priority tasks of modern maritime higher education. It was underlined that environmental education is a very important component of the educational process. It is a system in which ecological thinking, ecological culture, ecological responsibility, ecological consciousness, humanistic ideas, principles, universal human values, scientific knowledge, and skills interact. These qualities are necessary for future navigators, as they are needed to solve professional tasks related to ecological safety during the operation of sea and river transport. In addition, the solution of professional tasks requires the implementation of a certain algorithm of actions in the event of accidents and incidents on water with dangerous environmental consequences. The theoretical approaches of scholars to the concepts of "ecological education", "ecological responsibility", "ecological competence", "ecological culture" are generalized. The conclusion was made concerning the importance of the formation of the integrated content of professional disciplines, taking into account the ecological component in the training of maritime specialists. The need to upgrade the system of higher maritime education in order to form an ecological component in professional training. At the same time, emphasis should be placed on qualitative changes in the environmental education of future maritime specialists, in updating the structure and content of environmental knowledge as the main factor in the formation of the environmental consciousness of future navigators. Key words: future navigators, maritime education, ecological competence, ecological education, ecological culture.

Nexus between indigenous ecological knowledge and ecosystem services: a socio-ecological analysis for sustainable ecosystem management.

The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in management prescription with the view that IEK-based extraction of ESs ensures removal of resources from the ecosystem within the limit thereby ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem. The present study is an evaluation to understand the nexus between ESs and IEK for sustainable environmental management. The focus of the study was a tribal dominated socio-ecological patch of Barind Region of Malda district, Eastern India. The assessment of ESs and IEK was based on the data collected from the randomly selected tribal households following the pre-tested questionnaire containing questions on ESs as per millennium ecosystem assessment. The data were analyzed following social preference approach, and statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). General linear model (GLM) has also been used to examine the impact of socio-demographic attributes on the perceived valuation of ESs. The results revealed that the provisioning ESs (such as water, fuel wood, medical plants) were most preferred followed by cultural and regulating ESs by tribal. Differential importance of ESs was observed among tribal and accounted by gender, education as well as age of the tribe. A gap between the actual accessibility and evaluation of ESs by the tribal communities was also apparent. The socio-demographic attributes have an immense impact on the valuation of ESs and also governed based on the IEK. Various types of indigenous ecological belief systems were closely linked with conservation of ecosystem and sustainable supply of ESs. The present study can contribute to understand socio-ecological nexus with the lens of IEK in tribal dominated ecological landscapes for improved ecosystem and environmental management besides ensuring sustainability of flow of ESs.

School Managers Perceptions towards Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources

Global economic growth is accompanied by increased energy demand, thus conventional fuels such as coal, oil and gas, which are the primary energy sources, are gradually being depleted. At the same time, the combustion of conventional fuel for energy production causes serious adverse effects on the environment and contributes to climate change due to the emitted greenhouse gases. For the above reasons, most of the developed and developing countries especially during the last decades, have introduced various incentives for the greater penetration of renewable energy sources (RES) in all sectors of the economy. Concerning the building sector, several measures have been adopted, including the promotion of energy efficiency and energy saving. A significant proportion of the building stock are the school buildings where students and teachers spend a significant proportion of their daily time. Teachers' attitudes and views, especially the school unit managers concerning the use of RES in schools, are important in the effort to rationalize and control energy use. This study was conducted through a structured questionnaire applied to a sample of 510 school managers in Greece's primary and secondary education. The school unit managerial role for the case of Greek schools is performed by the school principal who has both administrative and educational duties. Statistical analysis included the application of Friedman's test and hypothesis test on questions concerning school manager environmental perceptions and energy-saving habits. According to the results, Greek school managers have a high degree of environmental sensitivity, since 97.6 % agreed or strongly agreed that the main concern should focus on energy saving. Furthermore, 71% of the respondent reported to have good knowledge on solar energy, followed by 64% on wind energy while only 34% are knowledgeable on biomass. Almost all the respondents (99%) agreed that it is important to provide more RES-orientated education through the taught curricula. Concerning energy saving behaviour, around 90% reported that they switch off the lights when leaving the classroom and they close the windows when the air-condition is operating. Hypothesis tests revealed a relationship between the school managers' ecological beliefs, the energy saving habits in the school environment, and the recognition of the importance of environmental education. Conclusions highlighted the need to intensify environmental education programs in the school environment concerning RES in schools. This will lead to a higher level of environmental awareness of both teachers and students and therefore to a more dynamic behaviour towards the effort to “greenify” the school environment.

Ekolojik Adil Dünya İnancı: Türkiye’deki Bir Örneklemde Bir Çapraz-Geçerleme Çalışması

Examples of environmental injustice are widespread, and perceived injustice is an important predictor of environmental behaviour. However, the extent to which inequalities are perceived as just or unjust, as well as reactions towards the perception of injustice, vary among individuals. According to Lerner, individuals are motivated to believe in a just world in which people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. Ecological belief in a just world (EBJW) was developed as a construct that is in line with this general belief in a just world (BJW). This belief indicates that the world is basically an ecologically just place in which people get what they deserve as far as ecological resources and demands are concerned. The aim of the present study is to cross-validate EBJW in a Turkish sample. Another aim is to test the predictive power of EBJW on environmentally relevant commitments along with established other constructs. The sample consists of 245 participants (Nfemale= 160, Nmale= 83, Nmissing= 2) aged from 15 to 69 years (M = 34.23; SD = 10.28). Overall, the variable pattern and the complex motivation structure involved in pro-environmental as well as environmentally risky commitment can be confirmed in the Turkish sample. The results reveal that EBJW qualifies as a predictor of pro-environmental as well as environmentally risky behavioural commitment. This successful cross-validation underpins the need to further investigate EBJW as a powerful and important construct within the field of environmental psychology. In line with the cross-validation of BJW, further validation studies of EBJW should be conducted in other countries. Moreover, as EBJW is a rather new construct, the mediating and moderating variables in its relations with environmental behaviour are waiting to be explored. Finally, its relations with other prominent constructs in environmental psychology such as social dominance orientation, value orientations, personality traits, and authoritarianism should be examined.

The Importance of Values in Predicting and Encouraging Environmental Behavior: Reflections From a Costa Rican Small-Scale Fishery

Encouraging people’s pro-environmental behaviors is an objective of Education for Sustainable Development. In the context of small-scale fisheries, unsustainable fishing practices are compromising the integrity of coastal communities and ecosystems. Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) is an ecosystem modeling software that presents interactions/changes in the food web as a result of fishing. Despite the multiple applications of EwE in fisheries management, it is unknown from a quantitative perspective whether the application of EwE trophic modeling in environmental education processes and management produces effects on norms and ecological beliefs, and if it alters behavioral intentions of the participants receiving ecosystem modeling information. We conducted a behavior change intervention with gillnet fishers in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica, to compare antecedents of pro-environmental behavior between participants who received an ecosystem-based intervention (lectures containing EwE models; treatment) and those who received lectures that didn’t involve EwE (control). Based on theories of environmental psychology, we used a pre–post survey design, to evaluate changes between control/treatment, and to assess the influence of psychometric constructs and fishing characteristics on the behavioral intentions to support sustainable fishing measures and owning a fishing license (revealed behavior). Personal norms and values were significant at explaining management measures’ support, along with some fishing characteristics (e.g., fishing site). Deliberating about possible future scenarios (via EwE-modeling) helped reduce uncertainties, increasing legitimacy and a perceived behavioral control (PBC) to support measures. Currently, licenses in the Gulf aren’t granted under defined ecological criteria, and although altruistic-biospheric values scored highly before the intervention began, due to mistrust and high illegal-unlicensed fishing, fishers may be underestimating how much others care about the environment. Value-oriented and ecosystem-based interventions may assist to effectively redesign the licensing system and encourage fishers to support sustainable measures. Our research indicates the importance of education interventions that teach about the impacts of fishing in the ecosystem while helping participants to perceive themselves as capable of implementing actions (PBC) and expressing biospheric-altruistic values to restore trust. Redirecting human behaviors to reconnect with ecosystem resilience can be a leverage point for sustainability and for the compliance of small-scale fisheries management measures.

Climate warming enhances microbial network complexity and stability

Unravelling the relationships between network complexity and stability under changing climate is a challenging topic in theoretical ecology that remains understudied in the field of microbial ecology. Here, we examined the effects of long-term experimental warming on the complexity and stability of molecular ecological networks in grassland soil microbial communities. Warming significantly increased network complexity, including network size, connectivity, connectance, average clustering coefficient, relative modularity and number of keystone species, as compared with the ambient control. Molecular ecological networks under warming became significantly more robust, with network stability strongly correlated with network complexity, supporting the central ecological belief that complexity begets stability. Furthermore, warming significantly strengthened the relationships of network structure to community functional potentials and key ecosystem functioning. These results indicate that preserving microbial ‘interactions’ is critical for ecosystem management and for projecting ecological consequences of future climate warming. The authors examine the effect of long-term experimental warming on the complexity and stability of molecular ecological networks in grassland soil microbial communities. They find warming increases network complexity, which is strongly correlated with network stability.