Influence Resource Use Research Articles

Effects of Socioeconomic Conditions on Multiple Uses of Swamp Forests in Central Brazil

Local communities in central Brazil harvest buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) fruit from swamp forests as well as using them for agriculture and cattle and pig farming. This study describes the intensity of forest use by buriti fruit harvesters and identifies how their socioeconomic conditions influence resource use. We visited 75 swamp forests where buriti fruits are harvested and interviewed the head of the nearest household. Agriculture was practiced in 72 % of forests and cattle farming in 52 %. For almost half (48 %) of households agriculture and buriti fruit harvest were the main sources income. Forests resources were equally important to all socioeconomic classes, even richer farmers. The intensity of fruit harvest did not differ between collective and private use regimes of forests. Market access was a limitation to fruit harvest intensity. The high intensity of swamp forest use suggests that their conservation will require change to current management practices.

Gender and Resource Use Efficiency among Small-Holder Cassava Farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to examine the gender-related factors influencing resource use efficiency of smallholder cassava farmers in Ebony state, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was employed in selecting 80 respondents from two agricultural zones in the State for the study. Interview schedule was used to obtain information from respondents. Data were analysed using frequency, percentage and stochastic frontier production function. The results revealed that more of the younger female farmers than the males were in cassava production while land ownership was still in the hands of the male farmers in the State. However, both gender groups had similar production constraints. The results further indicated that household size, membership of cooperative society, number of extension contacts, age, farming experience, farm size and land ownership significantly affected the technical efficiency of the farmer categories but educational status only affected that of the females in cassava production in the State. The males and females had mean technical efficiency of 0.77 and 0.74 respectively. Although the farmer groups were not technically efficient enough, the males were observed to be more efficient than the females in cassava production in the State. Therefore, policies to enhance efficiency and productivity of the farmers in the State should critically consider those variables that are significant on gender basis.Key words: Gender, resource use efficiency, cassava farmers

Rapid environmental degradation in a subarctic ecosystem influences resource use of a keystone avian herbivore

1. Environmental degradation can change resource use strategies of animals and thereby affect survival and fitness. Arctic herbivores may be especially susceptible to the effects of such environmental change because their rapid growth rates demand high-quality forage, which may be limited as environmental conditions deteriorate. We studied the consequences of a trophic cascade, driven by Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) overgrazing on the south-west coast of Hudson Bay, Canada, which has caused tidal marsh (TM) degradation and the reduction in high-quality forage plants, on gosling growth and resource use. 2. We compared resource use and body size of goslings that inhabited tidal and freshwater marsh (FM) to determine how current foraging strategies influence growth and to test the hypothesis that during early growth goslings require and so consume high-quality TM plants, but that during later growth they may switch to foraging in lower-quality FM. 3. To investigate gosling resource use throughout growth, we measured once a week for 28 days the body size of goslings as well as stable isotope ratios (δ(34) S, δ(15) N and δ(13) C) in multiple tissues of goslings that were collected from both TM and nearby FM. We also measured the stable isotope ratios in forage plants sampled along transects and from gosling foreguts. We used an isotope-mixing model to determine the contribution of FM plants to gosling tissues. 4. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, goslings inhabiting FM or TM primarily consumed FM plants during early growth. Furthermore, goslings that foraged extensively in FM had similar growth rates and grew to a similar size and body mass, as goslings that foraged in the degraded TM. However, goslings that currently inhabit freshwater or TM were significantly smaller than goslings that inhabited TM in the 1980s prior to habitat degradation. 5. Consequences of smaller overall body size include decreased survival and fecundity for arctic-nesting geese. The ability of phenotypically plastic responses to sustain persistence is limited by reaction norms and the extent of environmental change. Current research is assessing whether those limits have been reached in this system.

Market Access, Poverty, and Resources in South Africa: Understanding the Multi-Dimensionality of Market Access and its Influence on Resource Use Decisions

Rural households are the primary agents of environmental change in the very area where parks and protected areas are attempting to conserve ecosystem diversity. It is crucial to understand the linkage between market access and household resource use decisions if integrated conservation and development projects are to be successful in the long-term. Improving market access has been found to increase household welfare, which likely means an increase in consumption and natural resource use. The first goal of this project is to move beyond the notion of market access as a spatial concept toward one that recognizes household capacity to utilize and access the resources that markets provide (i.e., jobs, financial instruments, and insurance). The second goal is to see how each factor of market access influences resource use decisions.Data was collected from six communities bordering Kruger National Park in South Africa. The multi-dimensionality of market access was investigated using factor analysis, with findings demonstrating that market access is a function of place, social connections, capacity and financial knowledge. For household decisions on the allocation of consumption towards local natural resources, econometric models suggested that improving household status regarding each of the four dimensions of market access results in the household substituting away from local natural resource goods. In modelling cattle ownership decisions, improvement in capacity results in a reduction in cattle ownership, suggesting the market goods that are substitutes for cattle are only accessible via an increase in education and/or exposure to the cash economy.

The Influence of Water Availability on Pastoralist’s Resource Use in Mwingi and Kitui Districts in Kenya

Understanding where pastoral livestock grazing takes place and how water availability and distribution influences resource use, is critical in planning and management of arid and semi -arid lands. This study was carried out in Mwingi and Kitui districts in Eastern Kenya. Semi-structured questionnaires were used for data collection for five months. Watering points were established through cluster sampling by considering each administrative sub- location with the help of topographical maps. Three ethnic communities, namely ,the Akamba, Oroma and Somali, utilize resources in the area. The distribution of dry season water in the area influence the distances livestock herds traveled from their homelands. There was a significant difference between number of wells and the number of households, with an overall mean number of five to eight households per well. The population of goats and camels was highest for the area, and that they walked longer and their watering frequency was low. However, diseases, predators and frequent droughts occasioned animal' s losses, with goats having the highest death (6.0%) and birth (44.8%) rates. The dry season water availability may explain why livestock routes changed over the seasons and highlight the importance and ubiquity of common utilization of the range by these communities. Therefore, common rights of access prevail, although the control and or ganization of shallow wells is the responsibility of the Akamba 'well owner'. Water constraints and property right issues in the study area limit exploitation of the resources for livestock production. This paper highlights the need to integrate water development and improved livestock management in the arid and semi- arid areas to reduce poverty .

Farmers Socio-economic Factors Influencing Resource use Conflicts in a Typical Fadama Area in Nigeria: A Focus on Bauchi State

Farmers Socio-economic Factors Influencing Resource use Conflicts in a Typical Fadama Area in Nigeria: A Focus on Bauchi State

Interlocking panarchies in multi-use boreal forests in Sweden

This paper uses northern Sweden as a case study of a multi-use social-ecological system, in which forestry and reindeer husbandry interact as different land use forms in the same area. We aim to describe the timeline of main events that have influenced resource use in northern Sweden, that is, to attempt a historical profiling of the system, and to discuss these trends in the system in terms of adaptive cycles and resilience. The study shows that key political decisions have created strong path dependencies and a situation in which forestry today is characterized by low flexibility and low resilience due to the highly optimized harvesting of tree resources. Since forestry is the overwhelmingly strongest actor, trends in forestry from the mid-19th century forward are, to a large part, driving dynamics in reindeer husbandry and environmental protection, resulting in a system of interlocking panarchies with large implications for the competing land uses.

Curriculum Resource Use and Relationships With Educational Outcomes in an Online Curriculum

Web-based continuing education (CE) offerings have increased dramatically, yet educators know little about factors influencing resource use within online curricula or relationships between resource use and educational outcomes. The authors conducted a study of online curriculum delivery to health care professionals in 2004 and 2005. The authors assessed knowledge and confidence regarding content (herbs and dietary supplements) at baseline and completion. They assessed hours spent and use of three resources (modules read, links accessed, and listserv participation) and how these effected change of knowledge and confidence. Median time spent on the curriculum was 7 to 10 hours. Three quarters of participants read 36 to 40 modules; half accessed <30 of 335 Internet links. Listserv participation varied; 149 participants (19%) read <or=5 postings, and 168 (22%) read >or=41 postings. Those receiving modules incrementally across several weeks reported more hours spent, more modules read, and more links accessed, but less listserv participation than those receiving all modules at once (all P <or= .008). Those paying for CE credit invested more by all four measures (all P < .001). In multivariable analysis, modules read and hours spent had modest impacts on changes in knowledge and confidence, respectively, but less than paying for CE credit. Greater resource use (i.e., time spent, modules read) modestly improved knowledge and confidence outcomes in this online curriculum. Paying for CE credit was associated with improved outcomes that were not mediated by spending more time on the curriculum. Incremental curriculum delivery increased resource use and merits further study.

Patterns of resource use in an assemblage of birds in the canopy of a temperate alluvial forest

In our study, we assessed patterns of resource use in an assemblage of birds by observing their foraging behaviour from a crane in the canopy of a temperate alluvial forest. We selected 12 bird species and addressed seasonal changes in feeding activity during a 2-month period in spring focussing on average staying time and utilisation of crown strata in two tree species, the common oak (Quercus robur) and the sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus). We further examined ecological characteristics of the trees (i. e., crown density) that are likely to influence resource use in birds. The selected birds differed in their preference for the tree species. Most birds preferred common oaks. This preference was probably associated with higher food abundance related to substrate characteristics (i.e., roughness of bark) which offer more microhabitats for arthropods and thus permit higher densities of potential prey. Some bird species switched feeding preferences within the study period from sycamore maples to common oaks in association with tree phenology. We found two main foraging techniques. All birds searched for prey at short distance (≤50 cm) and gleaned food from substrate except the Pied Flycatcher that foraged by hovering and searched over longer distances (>50 cm). Overall, we demonstrate in our study that canopy access with mobile crane systems provides excellent opportunities to observe canopy birds and enables detailed analysis of their foraging behaviour. The main result of our study reveals fine-grained resource partitioning of birds within the canopy as an important factor structuring assemblages, with species-specific and in part also seasonal differences in stratification and substrate use.

An Analysis of Medicare Payment Policy for Total Joint Arthroplasty

Medicare facility payment policy for lower extremity total joint arthroplasty (TJA) has undergone extensive changes since 2005. The purpose of this study was to compare patient and procedure characteristics and resource use among TJA procedures and to identify predictors of resource use in TJA. Clinical, demographic, and economic data were analyzed from 6483 primary or revision TJA patients from 4 high-volume centers between October 2005 and June 2006. Descriptive analyses were conducted to evaluate differences between procedure types, and multivariable linear regression analyses were undertaken to identify predictors of resource use. Both patient severity of illness and surgical complexity influenced resource use associated with TJA procedures. As the primary goal of Medicare payment policy is to set payment rates proportional to relative resource use, both severity of illness and surgical complexity should be incorporated for payment equity and to minimize incentives for selection bias among hospitals that perform TJA procedures.

Digital Resource Use and Non-Use in the Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Settings is Multifaceted

A review of:&#x0D; &#x0D; Harley, Diane. “Why Study Users? An Environmental Scan of Use and Users of Digital Resources in Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Education.” First Monday 12.1 (Jan. 2007). 7 May 2007 http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_1/harley/index.html.&#x0D; &#x0D; Abstract&#x0D; &#x0D; Objective – (1) To map the digital resources available to undergraduate educators in the humanities and the social sciences, (2) to survey faculty about their use of digital resources, and (3) to examine how understanding use and users can benefit the integration of resources into teaching.&#x0D; &#x0D; Design – A mixed-methods approach, which included a survey, conducting discussion groups, and in-depth interviews.&#x0D; &#x0D; Setting – Academic institutions in the United States.&#x0D; &#x0D; Subjects – (1) “Various stakeholders”; (2) 31 instructors from three institutions, and 4500 full-time and part-time faculty and graduate students (at California public research universities, liberal arts colleges and community colleges); and (3) 13 digital resource providers and two other stakeholders, and 16 site owners or user researchers.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methods – (1) A literature review, combined with discussions with various stakeholders. (2) Four sessions of discussion groups with 31 instructors from three institutions formed the basis for developing a faculty survey instrument. The survey was distributed both on paper and online. (3) Collection of data on cost and collaborative development strategies, in-depth interviews with 13 digital resource providers and two other stakeholders, combined with a two day workshop with 16 experts, both on the subject of online educational resources.&#x0D; &#x0D; Main results – (1) Concerning the humanities and social sciences digital resource landscape, the main results of the literature study were the conclusions that the field of online education studies is complicated by a lack of common vocabulary, definitions, and analyses; and that different stakeholder interests and agendas also influence the understanding of how digital resources are used. With the help of discussion groups, an attempt at creating a typology for digital resources available to undergraduates was made, looking at type of resource, origin, and type of role of the provider or site owner. From the article, it is unclear whether or not this attempt at classification was successful. &#x0D; &#x0D; (2) Concerning faculty use or non-use of digital resources, the most important result was the insight that personal teaching style and philosophy influence resource use more than anything else, and this also seemed to be the most important reason for not using digital resources. Faculty use digital resources for a number of reasons, to improve student learning, provide context, and also because it is expected of them. More than 70% of faculty maintain their own collection of digital resources. However, the lack of efficient tools for collecting, managing, and using these resources in teaching is seen as a problem. There is also a variation between scholarly fields, where faculty in different disciplines require different types of resources and use them in different ways, and for different educational reasons. &#x0D; &#x0D; (3) Concerning how understanding use and users can benefit the integration of resources in teaching, the results of the interviews show a lack of common terms, metrics, methods, or values for defining use and users; but a shared desire to measure how and for what purpose digital resources were being used. Few of the providers had any plans to evaluate use and users in a systematic way. &#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion – The digital landscape is complicated. Faculty use is determined by personal teaching style and philosophy. Digital resource providers would like to know more about how and for what purpose digital resources are being used. Experts see a number of areas for further research, the results of which might help clarify the situation.&#x0D; &#x0D; The only way to understand the value of digital resources is to measure their impact and outcomes, but further work is needed to provide common vocabulary, metrics, and methods for evaluation.

Sustainability Victoria: influencing resource use, towards zero waste and sustainable production and consumption

Sustainability Victoria is a State Government agency working with Victorians to use resources more sustainably and to reduce the everyday environmental impacts of communities and business. Sustainability Victoria was formed by the Victorian Government from EcoRecycle Victoria and the Sustainable Energy Authority, in October 2005. This paper discusses Victoria's past successes with recycling and cleaner production, the lessons learnt from these programs and how Sustainability Victoria is stimulating behaviour change across the production and consumption cycle through the establishment of innovative partnerships, towards the goal of high factor improvements in resource efficiency.

Land Stewardship: Unearthing the Perspectives of Land Managers

Australian government and non-government agencies have begun to recognise that the action required to address environmental degradation cannot be considered to be the responsibility of landholders alone, and that some form of encouragement to undertake work in the public interest is required. This article outlines social research, undertaken as part of the Victorian Land Stewardship Project, that explored the key issues that institutional and private land managers regard as influencing resource use decisions by farmers and other landholders, and the types of strategies that may facilitate the adoption of activities which provide ecosystem services. The focus of this article is on the methodological aspects of the social research, notably the combination of landholder participation, sequential small group sessions, and the use of a futures methodology.

Trade, Tenure, and Tradition: Influence of Sociocultural Factors on Resource Use in Melanesia

Abstract: Social and cultural institutions influence how societies organize themselves to extract resources, affecting the ways in which resources are used and ultimately managed. In Papua New Guinea, marine tenure rights largely determine how individuals and communities use inshore marine resources. Whether institutions of customary marine tenure can play a role in resource conservation or are simply mechanisms to avoid conflict and maximize exploitation is a matter of debate. In the Manus Province, an unusual marine tenure and trade arrangement has resulted in the community of Andra producing the majority of lime powder used for consumption with betel nut. A socioeconomic and ecological assessment revealed that more than 90% of Andra's community was engaged in lime production, an industry contributing an estimated US$102,000 ± 28,000 to the village annually. The main source of material used in lime production at Andra is live branching coral (primarily Acropora spp.). The annual removal of approximately 2,113 ± 660 m3 of coral appears to have produced significant changes in coral cover in Andra's reefs, resulting in a lower percent cover of hard corals (24 ± 2% SE) compared with neighboring reefs with little harvesting (33 ± 3% SE). Existing common‐property regimes may provide incentives for individuals to sustainably use their own reef area. A lapse in supply, however, could threaten the community's virtual monopoly and provide other villages with an opportunity to gain a market share of lime production. Thus, the marine tenure and trade arrangements that facilitated Andra's position as the dominant supplier of lime to the province may result in incentives for the overexploitation of coral in ways that are paradoxical to an open‐access scenario. Management interventions that aim to reduce the ecological impacts of coral harvesting should reflect the community's economic dependence on the practice and the sociocultural institutions that influence resource use.

Socio-economic transitions influence vegetation change in the communal rangelands of the South African lowveld

The importance of the human dimensions of vegetation change in rangelands is increasingly being acknowledged. However, surprisingly little research is directed at advancing our understanding of the relationships between socio-economic factors and state of the vegetation in these systems. There is therefore a significant gap in our understanding of the socio-economic drivers of change in rangeland vegetation. This paper uses the results of long-term research in the communal rangelands of the South African lowveld to demonstrate how socio-economic changes can influence resource use patterns, which in turn directly impact on the vegetation. Factors such as changes in institutional control, levels of unemployment and local perceptions of rights and responsibilities since democratic elections have resulted in a dramatic increase in harvesting of tree resources in these communal rangelands. Most noticeable has been the increased commercial harvesting of fuelwood. Increased harvesting has a significant impact on the vegetation, which in turn reduces local resource supply. This results in increasing reliance on resources purchased from commercial harvesters or on substitute resources. These changes in resource use patterns and the resultant impacts on the vegetation thus form a feedback loop between society and the natural environment. This paper emphasises the importance of understanding these relationships in order to adequately understand vegetation change in human-impacted rangeland systems. Research partnerships involving both the natural and social sciences will thus become increasingly important in rangeland ecology.

Land Stewardship: Unearthing the Perspectives of Land Managers

Australian government and non-government agencies have begun to recognise that the action required to address environmental degradation cannot be considered to be the responsibility of landholders alone, and that some form of encouragement to undertake work in the public interest is required. This article outlines social research, undertaken as part of the Victorian Land Stewardship Project, that explored the key issues that institutional and private land managers regard as influencing resource use decisions by farmers and other landholders, and the types of strategies that may facilitate the adoption of activities which provide ecosystem services. The focus of this article is on the methodological aspects of the social research, notably the combination of landholder participation, sequential small group sessions, and the use of a futures methodology.

Predictors of resource use in inpatient psychotherapy: development of a German case group concept for patients with mental disorders

Recent research on predictors of resource use in inpatient psychotherapy indicates that various patient characteristics as well as therapeutic factors may influence resource use. The aim of our study was to examine the relationship between patient attributes and psychotherapeutic costs in German inpatient psychotherapy. The amount of variance explained in resource use was calculated. The existing sample used in this study consists of sociodemographic and clinical variables of 2375 patients treated in various inpatient psychosomatic clinics. Resource use was measured on the basis of clinical staff activities (Klassifikation Therapeutischer Leistungen, KTL, BfA 2000). Regression Tree Analysis was performed to classify patient attributes based on resource use. The model assigns patients to 20 classes, accounting for 17.5 % of variance. Those patients with single status and personality or eating disorder consume more resources than those patients with non-single status, low motivation for psychotherapy, comorbidity of physical illness and lower levels on symptom severity. Implications of the results for the development of a patient classification system in inpatient psychotherapy will be discussed.

Non-adherence to antipsychotic medication regimens: associations with resource use and costs.

Several factors are thought to influence resource use and costs in treating schizophrenia. To assess the relative impact of non-adherence and other factors associated with resource use and costs incurred by people with schizophrenia. Secondary analyses were made of data from a 1994 national survey of psychiatric morbidity among adults living in institutions in the UK. Factors potentially relating to resource use and costs were examined using two-part models. Patients who failed to adhere to their medication regimen were over one-and-a-half times as likely as patients who did adhere to it to report use of in-patient services. Non-adherence is one of the most significant factors in increasing external service costs, by a factor of almost 3. Non-adherence predicted an excess annual cost per patient of approximately 2500 British pounds for in-patient services and over 5000 British pounds for total service use. Resource use and costs are influenced by various factors. Medication non-adherence consistently exhibits an association with higher costs. Further important factors are patient needs and the ability of the system to address them.

Physicians' Pay Doesn't Influence Resource Use

Does the way physicians get paid influence how they practice medicine? This study analyzed the relation between physicians' compensation and their use

Physician Compensation Method Does Not Influence Resource Use.

Does the way physicians get paid influence how they practice medicine? This study analyzed the relation between physicians' compensation and their use of resources in the treatment of 200,931 adult …