Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Target Community (target + community)
Selected AbstractsPrevention of Type 2 diabetes mellitus.DIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 5 2004A review of the evidence, its application in a UK setting Abstract Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex metabolic, multifactorial disease, which affects the quality, quantity and style of life. People with T2DM have a life expectancy that can be shortened by as much as 15 years, with up to 75% dying of macrovascular complications. To reduce the impact of T2DM in the 21st century, we need an approach that not only optimally treats the person with established diabetes but also prevents diabetes from occurring in the first place. The best evidence for prevention of diabetes is for interventions that target individuals at highest risk. Targeting patients who have impaired glucose tolerance with lifestyle changes including physical activity and dietary factors has been shown to be effective in the Chinese, North American and Finnish populations. In order for such lifestyle interventions to be successful in other populations, they need to be culturally sensitive, individualized and sustained. Some pharmacological agents including metformin and acarbose have also been shown to be effective, although the profile of those who respond is different. There continues to be a need to develop and evaluate interventions that target communities and populations at risk in a UK setting. Diabet. Med. (2004) [source] Effects of stream restoration and management on plant communities in lowland streamsFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 1 2006TINA CHARLOTTE MOUSTGAARD PEDERSEN Summary 1. We evaluated restoration success on macrophyte species diversity and composition in lowland streams using communities in 30 naturally meandering stream reaches in the western part of Jutland, Denmark, as reference target communities. Fuzzy set clustering was used to examine the floristic and environmental similarity among reaches, whereas fuzzy set ordination was used to relate floristic patterns to environmental variables. 2. Two major groups of streams were identified based on their floristic composition. One group consisted of reference and restored reaches and the other of the majority of channelised reaches. We found that management exerted a strong influence on the macrophyte communities and that the identified groups were related to differences in management intensity. 3. Our results also indicate that bank morphology and bed level affected macrophyte communities in the streams, particularly the richness and abundance of terrestrial species. The analyses performed suggest that shallow and wide banks allow for a larger migration of species from the stream banks into the streams, thereby enhancing species diversity within the stream channel. 4. The results of this study suggest that macrophyte communities in channelised lowland streams can recover following restorative interventions given that stream management (i.e. weed cutting and dredging) is minimised and that stream banks are reprofiled to improve the lateral connectivity between the stream and its valley. [source] Spatial relationships between intensive land cover and residual plant species diversity in temperate farmed landscapesJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2006SIMON M. SMART Summary 1In temperate farmed landscapes conservation policies increasingly emphasize large-scale reductions in land-use intensity. Yet despite a managed reversion to more favourable abiotic conditions, depleted regional species pools may prevent the re-assembly of target communities. 2Using national-scale survey data recorded across Great Britain in 1998, we investigated the extent to which grassland indicator plant species persisted on potential refuge habitats across a spatial gradient of intensive land cover in lowland 1-km squares. These habitats comprised road verges, field boundaries, watercourse banks and small biotope fragments. Intensive land cover comprised built land, arable and improved grassland. 3The rate of reduction in indicator species richness across the intensive land cover gradient was significantly lower in all potential refuge features than in surrounding fields and larger areas of habitat. 4The best refuge locations were watercourse banks and small biotopes. In both cases, indicator species richness was higher than adjacent fields at the lowest intensive land cover and stayed higher as intensive land cover increased. 5However, as intensive land cover increased, plant traits associated with higher nutrient availability were more prominently represented among indicator species. 6Although richer assemblages of indicator species persisted on refuge features, population sizes are likely to be small, because of species,area effects, and also vulnerable to nutrient surpluses and reduced or inappropriate disturbance. 7Synthesis and applications. Across the British lowlands, linear landscape features and small habitat fragments can provide limited safe havens for unimproved grassland plant species. However, the identity of refuge features and their species richness and composition are likely to vary with local conditions. Three activities are therefore paramount in assessing their role in larger scale extensification schemes: (i) development of rapid ways of assessing the plant diversity and distribution of refuge features in local areas; (ii) quantification of the risks posed to the viability of residual source populations through implementation of different options for incorporating them into extensification schemes; (iii) maximization of scheme performance by targeting landscapes with sufficient residual diversity to enable increases in population size of the target species in the medium term. [source] Restoration of species-rich grassland on arable land: assessing the limiting processes using a multi-site experimentJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2002Richard F. Pywell Summary 1Agricultural intensification has resulted in the reduction and fragmentation of species-rich grasslands across much of western Europe. 2We examined the key ecological processes that limit the creation of diverse grassland communities on ex-arable land in a multi-site experiment over a wide variety of soil types and locations throughout lowland Britain. 3The results showed it was possible to create and maintain these communities successfully under a hay-cutting and grazing management regime. Furthermore, there was a high degree of repeatability of the treatment effects across the sites. 4Lack of seed of desirable species was the key factor limiting the assembly of diverse grassland communities. Sowing a species-rich seed mixture of ecologically adapted grassland plants was an effective means of overcoming this limitation. Community assembly by natural colonization from the seed bank and seed rain was a slow and unreliable process. However, there was no evidence to suggest that sowing a species-poor grass-dominated seed mixture made the vegetation any less susceptible to colonization by desirable species than allowing natural regeneration to take place. 5Deep cultivation caused significant reductions in soil P and K concentrations across the sites. This had a significant beneficial effect on the establishment and persistence of sown forbs in all years. It also resulted in a significant reduction in the number of unsown weedy grasses. However, for both variables these differences were very small after 4 years. 6Sowing a nurse crop significantly reduced the number of unsown grass species, but had no beneficial effect on the establishment of desirable species. 7Treatments sown with the species-rich seed mixture following deep cultivation corresponded most closely to the specified target communities defined by the UK National Vegetation Classification. Natural regeneration and treatments sown with the species-poor seed mixture were much less similar to the target. The sites on circum-neutral soils achieved the greatest degree of similarity to the target. Those on calcareous and acid soils failed to achieve their targets and most closely resembled the target for neutral soils. This reflected the poor performance of the sown preferential species for these communities. [source] Invasiveness in plant communities with feedbacksECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 4 2007Margaret J. Eppstein Abstract The detrimental effects of invasive plant species on ecosystems are well documented. While much research has focused on discovering ecological influences associated with invasiveness, it remains unclear how these influences interact, causing some introduced exotic species to become invasive threats. Here we develop a framework that incorporates the influences of propagule pressure, frequency independent growth rates, feedback relationships, resource competition and spatial scale of interactions. Our results show that these ecological influences interact in complex ways, resulting in expected outcomes ranging from inability to establish, to naturalization, to conditional invasion dependent on quantity and spatial distribution of propagules, to unconditional takeover. We propose a way to predict the likelihood of these four possible outcomes, for a species recently introduced into a given target community. Such information could enable conservation biologists to craft strategies and target remediation efforts more efficiently and effectively in order to help maintain biodiversity in ecological communities. [source] An evaluation of community and corporate bias in assessment toolsINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 189 2006Irmgard Bauer This is a comprehensive review and evaluation of the main international and national tools utilised to assess the impact of developments on communities to determine their validity of their capacity to detect and measure impacts across a wide spectrum of community resources. Manuals from environmental, health and social impact assessment were reviewed. The criteria for evaluation were the type of indicators used in the tool; the stage at which communities were involved in the assessment process and whether assessments were completed from an insider (local) or outsider (expert) perspective. The findings were that few guidelines include detail in measuring, monitoring, and including community-validated indicators. It is still rare to find impact assessments that include criteria that are meaningful to the community rather than to the developer or outside expert. While the need to include the target community in the assessment process has been acknowledged over the last 10 to 20 years the rigorous work required for the development of criteria to validate community-driven assessment still needs to be completed. [source] Enhancing diversity of species-poor grasslands: an experimental assessment of multiple constraintsJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2007RICHARD F. PYWELL Summary 1Many grasslands in north-west Europe are productive but species-poor communities resulting from intensive agriculture. Reducing the intensity of management under agri-environment schemes has often failed to increase botanical diversity. We investigated biotic and abiotic constraints on diversification by manipulating seed and microsite availability, soil fertility, resource competition, herbivory and deficiencies in the soil microbial community. 2The effectiveness of 13 restoration treatments was investigated over 4 years in a randomized block experiment established in two productive grasslands in central-east and south-west England. 3Severe disturbance involving turf removal followed by seed addition was the most effective and reliable means of increasing grassland diversity. Disturbance by multiple harrowing was moderately effective but was enhanced by molluscicide application to reduce seedling herbivory and by sowing the hemiparasite Rhinanthus to reduce competition from grasses. 4Low-level disturbance by grazing or slot-seeding was ineffective in increasing diversity. Inoculation with soil microbial communities from species-rich grasslands had no effect on botanical diversity. Nitrogen and potassium fertilizer addition accelerated off-take of phosphorus in cut herbage but did not cause a reduction in soil phosphorus or increase botanical diversity. 5Different grazing management regimes had little impact on diversity. This may reflect the constraining effect of the July hay cut on species dispersal and colonization. 6Synthesis and applications. Three alternative approaches to grassland diversification, with different outcomes, are recommended. (i) High intervention deturfing, which would create patches with low competitive conditions for rapid and reliable establishment of the target community. For reasons of cost and practicality this can only be done over small areas but will form source populations for subsequent spread. (ii) Moderate intervention (harrowing or slot-seeding) over large areas, which would establish a limited number of desirable, generalist species that perform well in restoration. This method is low cost and rapid but the increases in biodiversity are less predictable. (iii) Phased restoration, which would complement the above approaches. Productivity and competition are reduced over 3,5 years using Rhinanthus or fertilizers to accelerate phosphorus off-take. After this time harrowing and seeding should allow a wide range of more specialist species to establish. However, further research is required to determine the long-term effectiveness of these approaches. [source] Plant invasions in undisturbed ecosystems: The triggering attribute approachJOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 6 2005Diego E. Gurvich The invasion of a target community by a non-indigenous plant species includes the stages of arrival, establishment and spread, which tend to depend on different characteristics of the invasive species and its context. While the mechanisms behind the invasion of highly disturbed ecosystems are well known, our understanding of the invasion process in undisturbed or weakly disturbed ecosystems is much more limited. Here we propose that, once a non-indigenous species has arrived to a new ecosystem and become established, the likelihood that it spreads, and thus becomes invasive, may depend on just one or very few characteristics, called,triggering attributes'(TA). We propose that a TA is a vegetative or regenerative attribute discontinuously distributed in comparison to the resident community. This attribute allows the species to benefit from a resource that is permanently or temporarily unused by the resident community. We present an original study case and examples from the literature to illustrate our approach, and we also propose some ways to test it in different ecosystems. [source] Altering Light and Soil N to Limit Phalaris arundinacea Reinvasion in Sedge Meadow RestorationsRESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Basil V. Iannone III Abstract Efforts to eradicate invasive plants in restorations can unintentionally create conditions that favor reinvasion over the establishment of desired species, especially when remnant invasive propagules persist. Reducing resources needed by the invader for seedling establishment, however, may be an effective strategy to prevent reinvasion. Propagules of Phalaris arundinacea persist after removal from sedge meadow wetlands and reestablish quickly in posteradication conditions, hindering community restoration. A study was conducted in two experimental wetlands with controlled hydrologic regimes to determine if reducing light by sowing short-lived, nonpersistent native cover crops or immobilizing soil N by incorporating soil,sawdust amendments can prevent Phalaris reinvasion, allowing native communities to recover. A 10-species perennial target community and Phalaris were sown with high-diversity, low-diversity, or no cover crops in soils with or without sawdust, and seedling emergence, establishment, and growth were measured. High-diversity cover crops reduced light, decreasing Phalaris and target community seedling establishment by 89 and 57%, respectively. Short-term nitrogen reduction in sawdust-amended soils delayed Phalaris seedling emergence and decreased Phalaris seedling establishment by 59% but did not affect total target community seedling establishment. The target community reduced Phalaris seedling establishment as effectively as cover crops did. In plots where the target community was grown, amending soils with sawdust further reduced Phalaris seedling growth but not establishment. Results show that use of cover crops can reduce seedling establishment of desired species and is counterproductive to restoration goals. Further, establishing target species is more important and practical for limiting Phalaris reinvasion than is immobilizing nitrogen. [source] Dynamics of species-rich upland hay meadows over 15 years and their relation with agricultural management practicesAPPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 3 2007C.N.R. Critchley Stace (1997) Abstract Questions: Has the species-rich vegetation of upland hay meadows been maintained under low intensity management imposed by an agri-environment scheme? Is the target plant community re-establishing where it has been modified previously by intensive agricultural practices? What combinations of management practices and soil properties are associated with changes towards or away from the target community? Location: The Pennines, northern England, UK. Methods: A survey of 116 hay meadows in 1987 was repeated in 2002 by recording plant species in permanent quadrats. Changes in community variables (species richness, Ellenberg values, upland hay meadow community coefficients) were analysed in species-rich, modified species-rich and degraded grassland types. Redundancy Analysis and Generalised Linear Models were used to show the relationship between management practices and soil properties and change in species composition and community variables. Results: Few sites contained the species-rich grassland type, and here forb richness declined. In the modified species-rich type, total and grass species richness increased but Ellenberg N-values also increased. Total and grass species richness increased in the degraded type and the community coefficient increased. Management was weakly related to change in species composition but showed clear relationships with the community variables. Re-establishment of the target species-rich community was more likely with late cutting, in the absence of cattle or prolonged spring grazing, and at lower soil nutrient status. Conclusion: The species-rich community was not maintained but some reversion occurred in degraded grassland. Inorganic fertiliser application and intensive spring grazing should be avoided and cutting delayed until late July. [source] A multidisciplinary primary healthcare clinic for newly arrived humanitarian entrants in regional NSW: model of service delivery and summary of preliminary findingsAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2010Gillian Gould Abstract Objective: To describe a multidisciplinary primary healthcare clinic for newly arrived humanitarian entrants in regional New South Wales and report health problems and issues encountered during the initial period of operation. Methods: A quality assurance study of the Coffs Harbour Refugee Health Clinic (a collaboration between the Area Health Service and general practitioners) was undertaken from February to December 2006. Results: Seventy-six patients received a comprehensive health assessment: 69 of these within 12 months of arrival. The median time from arrival in Australia to the first clinic visit was five days. Problems detected were categorised according to their management options. GP clinic providers expressed concern about referring patients to GPs in the community for ongoing care. Conclusions: The Coffs Harbour Refugee Health Clinic represents a successful collaboration between relevant stakeholders. It was well utilised by the target community. Implications: The service delivery model used in the clinic could be replicated in other areas in regional Australia, provided financial and human resources are available. [source] | ||||||||||||||||