Proximity Hypothesis Research Articles

Habitat amount and edge effects, not perch proximity, nest exposure, or vegetation diversity affect cowbird parasitism in agricultural landscapes

Context Prior research documented relationships between brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) brood parasitism and edge effects, proximity of perches, and nest exposure. Those relationships have not been evaluated in agroecosystems containing extremes of fragmentation and vegetation diversity. ObjectivesWe compared three existing hypotheses on how cowbirds locate host nests with two new hypotheses regarding habitat amount and vegetation diversity to determine how the configuration and location of agricultural conservation practices affect grassland bird nest parasitism rates and predicted rates for eight common conservation practices.Methods We assessed cowbird parasitism of grassland bird nests on corn and soybean farms in Iowa, USA, and measured perch proximity, nest exposure, edge effects, habitat amount, and vegetation diversity for each nest. We fit a global generalized linear mixed-effects model and compared importance of model parameters using odds ratios. We predicted parasitism likelihood for every subset model and averaged predictions to explore individual effects.ResultsThe variables that most influenced parasitism rates included main effects for nest initiation day-of-season (OR = 0.71, CI95 = 0.60–0.84) and the landscape variables of distance to nearest crop edge (0.63, 0.51–0.76) and proportion of grass land cover within 660 m (0.75, 0.57–1.00). We found little support that perch proximity, nest exposure, or native vegetation diversity affected parasitism. We also assessed parasitism likelihood by conservation practice and found no significant differences.ConclusionsOur results provide evidence to support the edge effect and habitat amount hypotheses, but not the nest exposure, vegetation diversity, or perch proximity hypotheses.

Breeding origins of a uniquely regular migrant songbird in the Galápagos Islands.

Little is known about the causes and consequences of alternative pathways flown by long-distance migratory birds. Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) breed in grasslands across northern North America and migrate from their breeding grounds toward the eastern Atlantic Coast and then proceed through the Caribbean to South America. However, a small but regular number of Bobolinks have been recorded on the Galapagos Islands. We collected genetic samples from nine Galapagos Bobolinks and performed double-digest restriction site-associated sequencing. We compared them with samples from seven locations across their breeding distribution to determine their population of origin. Galapagos Bobolinks shared the genetic structure of a cluster in the eastern portion of the breeding range that includes New Brunswick and Ontario, Canada, and Vermont, United States. Genetic assignment tests largely corroborated this finding, although slightly different results were obtained for the two methods. All individuals were assigned to the Ontario breeding population using AssignPop, while Rubias assigned six of the migrants to Ontario and three to a Midwest breeding population. Low average relatedness among Galapagos individuals indicates that they are not more related to one another than to individuals within a breeding population and are therefore likely not from a single, small isolated population. Our results do not support the probability hypothesis-that Galapagos Bobolinks originated from the region that includes the greatest proportion of their breeding range (Great Plains)-or the vagrant hypothesis-that migrants are displaced onto Galapagos due to weather events. Instead, our findings support the proximity hypothesis, where migrants originate from the geographically closest-breeding populations.

The Controversy of Lateralisms: A Comparison between FTAs of China and the United States

Objective/Context: In this study, we aim to evaluate the expansion of bilateralism. Indeed, the multilateralism-regionalism dichotomy fails to accurately account for the scopes of trade integration occurring in the past two decades. Methodology: In order to assess the rise of bilateralism, we methodologically choose to examine the protagonist role played by China and the US in the international integration scenario. Conclusions: Empirically, our results show that China and the US hold roughly the same number of FTAs in effect. Our results unveil three major discrepancies that stand out as distinguishing national strategies towards trade agreements. First, concerning profile policy – we show, confirming previous theoretical studies, that the US follows a standard trade strategy while China favors an idiosyncratic posture in the scope of its trade deals. Second, we find out that China shows a clear preference for making trade deals with neighboring countries, which ratifies China´s strategy to consolidate its regional hegemony in Asia. Third, our hypothesis of political proximity proves to be more influential to Chinese trade authorities’ initiatives. Originality: Our main contribution lies in comparing bilateral and regional/multilateral trade agreements regarding the scope of goods and services, the geopolitical context, and the degree of policy flexibility. Theoretically, we show that regionalism and bilateralism benefit its parties by negotiating profits and losses in trade deals; the latter allows for an even more tailored agreement via discretionary measures pertinent to the countries’ needs.

The influence of first language spelling and response inhibition skills on English-as-an-additional-language spelling

English spelling is widely investigated, but little is known about spelling in English as an additional language (EAL), especially in the context of text production. This study examined the contribution of language-specific Italian and EAL spelling knowledge, and inhibition skills to EAL spelling in Italian adolescents’ essays. Fifty students, attending two language-focused high schools in Italy, completed standardized spelling tests in Italian and English, a Flanker task to assess inhibition skills, and two, persuasive texts in English. Texts were scored for spelling errors, fluency (words/minute), lexical diversity (type token ratio, TTR), and productivity (total words). Spelling errors in EAL writing were 3%. An exploratory factor analysis identified two factors accounting for EAL spelling in writing: a general EAL spelling/writing (including spelling ability, writing fluency, TTR and total words) factor, and a cognitive factor, corresponding to response inhibition skills. Italian spelling skills did not predict EAL-in-text spelling. The only significant predictors of spelling in EAL writing were EAL spelling/writing and inhibition skills. Inhibition skills contributed to explain morphological and code-switch errors, but not phonological and orthographic errors in English texts. These findings align with the contrastive typological framework and phonological and orthographic proximity hypothesis of language transfer.

The impact of institutional proximity, cognitive proximity and agglomeration economies on firm-level productivity

PurposeThis paper analyses the impact of institutional proximity, cognitive proximity and geographical proximity (in the form of agglomeration economies) on the firm-level productivity of foreign-owned firms in Ireland. The analysis of agglomeration economies, consisting of internal economies of scale, localization economies, related variety and urbanization economies, has a strong pedigree in regional economics literature. Increasingly, however, alternative explanations of firm-level productivity performance have been explored with institutional and cognitive proximity often identified as other important determinants of performance. This paper presents an analysis of the importance of agglomeration economies (based on geographical proximity) versus institutional and cognitive proximity (which may be a-spatial).Design/methodology/approachA series of measures capturing regional level agglomeration economies are generated as well as measures of institutional and cognitive proximity. The impact of these effects on foreign-owned firm-level productivity is analysed using data from the Irish Census of Industrial Local Units 2009. The estimation method employed is general method of moments (GMM) which allows for the potential endogeneity of variables within the system of analysis.FindingsThe results reveal that institutional proximity has a positive impact on productivity. A possible reason for this result is that local units of the same nationality are sharing knowledge in relation to successfully conducting business in Ireland. However, cognitive proximity is found to be statistically insignificant. Agglomeration economies are also important with urbanization economies and the availability of skilled labour having a positive effect on productivity.Originality/valueThe key contributions of this paper are as follows; firstly, the paper provides the first test of the institutional and cognitive proximity hypotheses on productivity while also controlling for a series of internal and external agglomeration economies. Secondly, the analysis considers, firm level, regional level and national level indicators as determinants of firm's productivity. In combining micro and macro level indicators, the paper attempts to answer the call of Van Oort et al. (2012) for such analyses. Thirdly, the paper provides the first detailed examination of the role of ‘proximity’ on foreign-owned manufacturing firms in the Irish context.

Reassessment improves prediction of criminal recidivism: A prospective study of 3,421 individuals in New Zealand.

A dynamic risk factor is a variable that can change across time, and as it changes, there is a corresponding change in the likelihood of the outcome. In corrections, there is evidence for dynamic risk factors when relatively more proximal reassessments enhance predictive validity for recidivism. In this article, we tested the proximity hypothesis with longitudinal, multiple-reassessment data gathered from 3,421 individuals supervised on parole in New Zealand (N = 68,667 assessments of theoretically dynamic risk factors conducted by corrections case managers). In this sample, reassessments consistently improved prediction as demonstrated by (1) incremental prediction over initial baseline scores and (2) improved model fit of the most recent assessment compared with the average of earlier scores. These results contribute to a growing body of evidence that support community corrections agencies conducting repeated assessments of the risk for imminent recidivism using a dynamic risk instrument. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Large African Barbs: Vectors of Diversification of Individuals of the Generalized Form as the Source of Phenetic Diversity of the Barbus intermedius Complex in Lake Tana, Ethiopia

The paper analyzes the morphological diversification of individuals of the generalized form of the Barbus intermedius complex in comparison with the diversification of specialized morphotypes and allopatric species of large African barbs. In the sets of generalized individuals, four main vectors of diversification are revealed, while two each are revealed in morphotypes and species. Comparison of peer-to-peer diversification vectors of monomorphic populations of generalized individuals from Langano and Awasa lakes reveals their similarity and essential differences from the corresponding diversification vectors of generalized individuals from Lake Tana. The vectors of diversification of the Lake Tana morphotypes are very similar to both peer-to-peer vectors of allopatric species and to the vectors of the Lake Tana generalized form. This high degree of similarity suggests that the diversification of individuals of the generalized form in Lake Tana, diversification of the Tana morphotypes, and diversification of allopatric species are successive stages of one process, and diversification of morphotypes and species proceeds in the directions specified by diversification of individuals of a generalized form. The results of the study may be considered as strong evidence in favor of the hypothesis of proximity (or identity) of a generalized form and the ancestral form, which gave rise to the diversity of the B. intermedius complex. The study is based on the assessment of correlations between the characters of individuals of the studied sets.

Mediating the victim–offender overlap with delinquent peer associations: a preliminary test of the person proximity hypothesis

ABSTRACT The principal goal of this study was to identify the mechanisms responsible for the victim-offender overlap. Participants were 1,354 (1,170 males, 184 females) youthful offenders (mean age = 16.04 years) from the Pathways to Desistance study. The path running from violent offending to violent victimization was tested for mediation using peer delinquency and unsupervised routine activities as mediators, whereas the path running from violent victimization to violent offending was tested for mediation using peer delinquency and depression as mediators. Congruent with the first research hypothesis, peer delinquency mediated the violent offending–violent victimization pathway and did so significantly better than unsupervised routine activities. Contrary to the second hypothesis, peer delinquency did not mediate the violent victimization–violent offending pathway. The role of person proximity and peer selection in linking violent offending to future violent victimization is discussed.

Dexamethasone treatment supports age‐related maturation of the stress response in altricial nestling birds

In birds, the magnitude of the adrenocortical stress response can be down‐regulated during specific life‐history stages. Such modulation likely occurs when the effects of mounting robust corticosterone (Cort) elevations interfere with the normal progression of critical lifecycle activities (e.g. development, molt, migration, reproduction). The developmental hypothesis posits that altricial birds should display a ‘stress hyporesponsive period’ during the early post‐natal life stages, characterized by reduced adrenocortical stress responses compared to adult birds and a gradual age‐related increase. Such modulation would allow avoiding the potential deleterious effects that long‐term elevations of circulating Cort might exert on growth and development, when the physiological and behavioral abilities to cope with disturbance are limited. Two proximate hypotheses have been proposed to explain this age‐dependent pattern of Cort secretion. The ‘maturation hypothesis’ proposes a progressive age‐related growth, maturation and enhanced sensitivity to sensory input of the Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Adrenal (HPA) axis tissues, whereas the ‘negative feedback attenuation hypothesis’ proposes a gradual attenuation in the intensity of the negative feedback in the HPA axis. Here we tested these hypotheses by experimentally inducing negative feedback on the HPA axis via dexamethasone (DEX) treatment in nestling white storks Ciconia ciconia. Nestling age positively affected stress‐induced plasma Cort (STRESS‐Cort) levels during experimental handling and restraint, thus supporting the developmental hypothesis. DEX treatment significantly reduced STRESS‐Cort levels compared to saline (SAL) treatment, thus eliciting the expected negative feedback on the HPA axis. However, inter‐ and intra‐individual comparisons indicated no age effects on the intensity of the negative feedback exerted by DEX. Our results do not support the negative feedback attenuation hypothesis and suggest that progressive maturation of the HPA axis tissues is the proximate mechanism responsible for age‐related changes in the stress response during avian post‐natal development. We encourage further tests of the proposed proximate mechanisms during migration, breeding and molt.

Invalid test of the proximity hypothesis in the Scandinavian panel study of penal attitudes

Based on data for three participating countries in the Scandinavian study of public sense of justice, Balvig et al. (2015) conclude that data support the proximity hypothesis. They admit, however, that additional information about sanctions given to respondents might have influenced the results, and suggest a new study without such information. The Norwegian part of the Scandinavian study complies with their wish. Analysis of these data and the films we used in the study do not support the proximity hypothesis because mock-trial films crucial for testing of the hypothesis are biased in favour of it. Balvig et al. (2015) were not aware of this methodological problem built into the Scandinavian study.

Effects of spatial proximity to proposed electric power lines on residents' expectations, attitudes, and protest behavior: A replication study

Governments and energy operators are frequently confronted with opposition to the construction of new high-voltage transmission lines. In this context, a recent experiment by Mueller et al. (2017) tested the so-called proximity hypothesis and found that spatial proximity to proposed transmission line corridor route alternatives significantly affected residents' likelihood of having negative risk expectations, showing low levels of support, and engaging in protest against the planned facility. Moreover, their findings suggest that the relationship between spatial proximity and the dependent variables is appropriately modeled by a distance decay function, showing that effects attenuate with increasing distance from the infrastructure site. Unfortunately, because of the fact that the study is the only one that has tested the proximity hypothesis in the context of planning new transmission lines so far, the existing evidence cannot be considered as a solid knowledge base. Therefore, to strengthen the reliability of the existing evidence, the natural experiment of Mueller et al. (2017) has to be replicated, which is the purpose of the present study. The findings of the replication clearly support the results provided by Mueller and colleagues and provide further empirical evidence that strengthens the proximity hypothesis in the context of power grid expansion.

A study of literacy acquisition in English as a foreign language amongst native Hebrew and Arabic speaking pupils

ABSTRACT Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic, and one semi-official language, English. Within this multilingual environment, the national English curriculum relates to all learners as one homogenous population. There are no specific directives regarding the linguistic needs of diverse language backgrounds. Studies of literacy acquisition in English as a foreign language (EFL) to date have focused primarily on Hebrew or Arabic speakers without considering unique characteristics of each language population that might influence the EFL acquisition process. These unique characteristics include typological characteristics of each language and the fact that Hebrew speakers learn English as their second written language, whereas Arabic speakers learn Hebrew as their second written language and English as their third written language in school. The present study examined beginning EFL literacy amongst fourth grade Hebrew and Arabic speakers within a cross-sectional framework. Two issues were examined: the role of universal versus language specific factors in EFL acquisition and the contribution of multilingualism. These issues were examined within the framework of the central processing hypothesis [Geva, E., and L. Siegel. 2000. “Orthographic and Cognitive Factors in the Concurrent Development of Basic Reading Skills in Two Languages.” Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal 12: 1–30] and the linguistic and orthographic proximity hypothesis [Kahn-Horwitz, J., M. Schwartz, and D. Share. 2011. “Acquiring the Complex English Orthography: A Triliteracy Advantage?” The Journal of Research in Reading 34 (1): 136–156]. Findings have theoretical and practical implications regarding the role of multi-lingual backgrounds in EFL acquisition.

Electrophysiological evidence for the time course of syllabic and sub-syllabic encoding in Cantonese spoken word production

ABSTRACTThis study was conducted to investigate the time course of syllabic and sub-syllabic encoding in Cantonese Chinese spoken word production using the picture-word interference task with concurrent recording of event-related brain potential (ERP) signals. Cantonese-speaking participants were asked to name aloud individually presented pictures and ignore an accompanying auditory word distractor. Participants’ naming responses were faster, relative to an unrelated control, when the target (e.g. /gu2/, meaning “drum”) was presented together with a distractor sharing the same atonal syllable (e.g. /gu3/), or syllable body (e.g. /gung1/). More importantly, the ERP effects associated with syllable-related priming appeared earlier than those associated with body-related priming. The earlier effects of syllable-related priming relative to body-related priming indicate that syllable retrieval precedes sub-syllabic specification in Cantonese phonological encoding, consistent with the proximate unit hypothesis that the nature of the proximate phonological unit (i.e. the first selectable phonological unit following lexical access) is language dependent.

Understanding Regional Variations in Equity and Growth Finance: An Analysis of the Demand and Supply of Equity Finance in the UK Regions

Understanding Regional Variations in Equity and Growth Finance: An Analysis of the Demand and Supply of Equity Finance in the UK Regions

Policy Responsiveness and Electoral Incentives: A (Re)assessment

Competitive democratic theory predicts that electoral factors enhance policy makers' responsiveness to public opinion. Yet findings on the effects of electoral incentives on policy responsiveness point in different directions and comparative research remains limited, lacking of a systematic evaluation. We draw on previous work, expand the range of electoral incentives, and re-assess their role in influencing policy responsiveness by using spending preferences. We provide extensive tests of an Electoral Vulnerability Hypothesis and an Electoral Proximity Hypothesis. Contra competitive democratic theory, time-series analysis from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States in twenty policy domains and nine different indicators for electoral incentives finds limited support for these hypotheses. Our findings have implications for democracy and question the importance of electoral pressures in explaining policy responsiveness.

Framing social conflicts in news coverage and social media: A multicountry comparative study

This study attempts to understand how geopolitical proximity influences framing of social conflicts in news coverage and social media discussions. Within the context of 2013 Little India riot in Singapore, a manual content and automated linguistic analyses are conducted on 227 news articles and 4,495 tweets. A multinational comparison suggests that news media follow the traditional hypothesis of geopolitical proximity and international news coverage. However, Twitter seems less constrained by geopolitical boundaries of news making allowing citizens to bypass press censorship in an alternate information system. The reasons for framing differences across mediums and between countries are explored. Implications of these findings and limitations of the study are discussed.

Phylogeny of Salmonoid Fishes (Salmonoidei) Based on mtDNA COI Gene Sequences (Barcoding)

We have analyzed the partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene along with the amino acid sequences of cytochrome oxidase subunit I, encoded by this gene region, in representatives of 11 genera of salmonoid fish. For amino acid sequences, two alternative networks are constructed with outgroups represented by either Esocoidei or Osmeroidei as the supposed ancestral groups. This way, Osmeroidei appear to be closer to the salmonoid fish than Esocoidei, and their presence in the network as an outgroup explains the available data on the morphology and karyology of salmonoids much better. A number of the results of this study are fundamentally new. In particular, the slowing down of the molecular evolution of the grayling (Thymallidae) is shown. We conclude that the charr (Salvelinus) is one of the modern genera of salmonoids closest to their ancestor. The hypothesis of the phylogenetic proximity of the genera Brachymystax, Hucho, and Salmo has been confirmed. We also discuss the possibility that it is namely the changes in the amino acid sequence of cytochrome oxidase subunit I that lead to postzygotic reproductive isolation between taxa.

Sleeping site preferences in Sapajus cay Illiger 1815 (Primates: Cebidae) in a disturbed fragment of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest, Rancho Laguna Blanca, Eastern Paraguay.

Wild primates can spend up to half of their lives sleeping, during which time they are subjected to many of the same selective pressures that they face when awake. Choosing an appropriate sleeping site can thus have important fitness consequences. We examined the sleeping site preferences of wild hooded capuchins (Sapajus cay) in a small degraded fragment of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest at Rancho Laguna Blanca (RLB) in eastern Paraguay. Sleeping trees and sites were identified during 5 months of field observations and their physical characteristics were compared to those of non-sleeping trees and sites. Capuchins preferred larger emergent trees with more main and forked branches, no lianas and denser undergrowth directly below. These were found in sites of more mature forest with fewer small trees, less liana coverage and denser undergrowth but more fruiting trees. The species composition of the sleeping sites differed from that of the non-sleeping sites and was dominated by Albizia niopoides (Mimosaceae) as well as Peltophorum dubium (Fabaceae) and Anadenanthera colubrina (Fabaceae). The capuchins were found to sleep most often in these three tree species: 69.23% in Albizia niopoides (Mimosaceae), 11.54% in Peltophorum dubium (Fabaceae) and 11.54% in Anadenanthera colubrina (Fabaceae). We found evidence for the predator avoidance, thermoregulatory, social contact and feeding site proximity hypotheses. We found no support for parasite avoidance, given the reuse of sites, although the small size of the forest fragment may have restricted this. Their preference for older-growth forest suggests that selective logging impacts hooded capuchins. However, their persistence in a disturbed fragment shows they are highly adaptable, providing support for the value of conservation and reforestation of even small fragments of the Paraguayan Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest.

Ernst Mayr, causal understanding, and systematics: an example using sabelliform polychaetes

AbstractErnst Mayr suggested that understanding the features of organisms involves the study of what he called “proximate” and “ultimate” causes. Proximate causes of characters occur during the life of the organism; ultimate causes occur prior to the life of the organism, as part of the evolutionary history leading to organisms in the present. Mayr also pointed out that descriptive biology is important because it provides the basis for pursuing understanding by way of proximate and ultimate causes. Systematics encompasses each of these components. We routinely describe organisms (not taxa), and often infer proximate hypotheses (e.g., ontogenetic, functional, and physiological causes) to explain particular characters. Characters are also explained by ultimate causes in the form of intraspecific, specific, and phylogenetic hypotheses. Success at attaining ultimate understanding is distinctly limited, however, since these hypotheses are rarely tested. The consequence is that we often use specific and phylogenetic hypotheses to move toward the study of descriptive aspects and proximate understanding, where increases in causal understanding are more successful. An example of interactions between descriptive, proximate, and ultimate understanding are presented from research on the sabelliform groups Fabriciidae and Sabellidae. Members of both families have what is interpreted as two peristomial rings, anterior and posterior. A distinct mid‐ventral patch of cilia occurs on the anterior peristomial ring among Fabriciidae, and the posterior peristomial ring among Sabellidae. Phylogenetic hypotheses suggest these different cilia patches are synapomorphies for the respective families. Since these phylogenetic hypotheses cannot be tested, it will be more productive to investigate whether or not these patches of cilia are homologous, which might be established through ontogenetic and histological studies of proximate causes: are these cilia derived from the larval prototroch or metatroch? Are anterior and posterior peristomial rings really peristomial? Studies directed at these proximate causes offer valuable increased understanding not possible for ultimate causes in systematics.

Breeding in a den of thieves: pros and cons of nesting close to egg predators

AbstractBreeding success of many Arctic‐breeding bird populations varies with lemming cycles due to prey switching behavior of generalist predators. Several bird species breed on islands to escape from generalist predators like Arctic fox Vulpes lagopus, but little is known about how these species interact. We studied brent geese Branta bernicla bernicla that share islands with gulls (Larus spec.) in Taimyr, Siberia (Russia). On one hand, gulls are egg predators, which occasionally steal an egg when incubating geese leave the nest for foraging bouts. On the other hand, gulls import marine resources to the islands, enriching the soil with their guano. We considered three hypotheses regarding clutch size of brent geese after partial nest predation. According to the “predator proximity hypothesis”, clutch size is expected to be smallest close to gulls, because of enhanced predator exposure. Conversely, clutch size is expected to be largest close to gulls, because of the supposedly better feeding conditions close to gulls, which might reduce nest recess times of geese and hence egg predation risk (“guano hypothesis”). Furthermore, gulls may defend their nesting territory, and thus nearby goose nests might benefit from this protection against other gulls (“nest association hypothesis”). We mapped goose and gull nests toward the end of the goose incubation period. In accordance with the latter two hypotheses, goose clutch size decreased with distance to the nearest gull nest in all but the lemming peak year. In the lemming peak year, clutch size was consistently high, indicating that partial nest predation was nearly absent. By mapping food quantity and quality, we found that nitrogen availability was indeed higher closer to gull nests, reflecting guanofication. Unlike predicted by the nest association hypothesis, a predation pressure experiment revealed that egg predation rate decreased with distance to the focal gull nests. We therefore propose that higher food availability close to gulls enables female geese to reduce nest recess time, limiting egg predation by gulls.