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Priority Research Areas (priority + research_area)
Selected AbstractsPriority research areas for ecosystem services in a changing worldJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Emily Nicholson Summary 1.,Ecosystem services are the benefits humans obtain from ecosystems. The importance of research into ecosystem services has been widely recognized, and rapid progress is being made. However, the prevailing approach to quantifying ecosystem services is still based on static analyses and single services, ignoring system dynamics, uncertainty and feedbacks. This is not only partly due to a lack of mechanistic understanding of processes and a dearth of empirical data, but also due to a failure to engage fully with the interdisciplinarity of the problem. 2.,We argue that there is a tendency to ignore the feedbacks between and within both social and ecological systems, and a lack of explicit consideration of uncertainty. Metrics need to be developed that can predict thresholds, which requires strong linkages to underlying processes, while the development of policy for management of ecosystem services needs to be based on a broader understanding of value and drivers of human well-being. 3.,We highlight the complexities, gaps in current knowledge and research, and the potentially promising avenues for future investigation in four priority research areas: agendas, processes, metrics and uncertainty. 4.,Synthesis and applications. The research interest in the field of ecosystem services is rapidly expanding, and can contribute significantly to the sustainable management of natural resources. However, a narrow disciplinary approach, or an approach which does not consider feedbacks within and between ecological and social systems, has the potential to produce dangerously misleading policy recommendations. In contrast, if we explicitly acknowledge and address uncertainties and complexities in the provision of ecosystem services, progress may appear slower but our models will be substantially more robust and informative about the effects of environmental change. [source] The present knowledge on soil pests and pathogens in UgandaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2007M. B. Sekamatte Abstract To develop an inventory of the present knowledge about soil-borne pests (insects, fungi, nematodes and bacteria) in Uganda, we review in this paper, aspects of their diversity, abundance, distribution in agro-ecosystems control approaches as well as their role in sustainable land management. Knowledge gaps about the soil pests and short falls in human resource capacity are identified as possible factors affecting the development of appropriate management packages for the soil pests. Priority research areas and capacity building needs are suggested. [source] Ecological research in the office of research and development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: An overview of new directions,,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2000Rick A. Linthurst Abstract In virtually every major environmental act, Congress has required that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) ensure not only that the air be safe to breathe, the water safe to drink, and the food supply free of contamination, but also that the environment be protected. In response, the U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has established research to improve ecosystem risk assessment and management, identifying it as one of the highest priority research areas for investment over the next 10 years. The research is intended to provide environmental managers with new tools and flexible guidance that reflect a holistic environmental management perspective of science and that can be applied both to common and unique problems. In keeping with its responsibility to provide the U.S. EPA with science that supports a dynamic changing regulatory agenda, the ORD has set the goal of its Ecological Research Program to "provide the scientific understanding required to measure, model, maintain and/or restore, at multiple scales, the integrity and sustainability of ecosystems now, and in the future." In the context of this program, ecological integrity is defined in relative terms as the maintenance of ecosystem structure and function characteristic of a reference condition deemed appropriate for its use by society, and sustainability is defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain relative ecological integrity into the future. Therefore, the research program will emphasize relative risk and consider the impact of multiple stressors, at multiple scales and at multiple levels of biological organization. The program will also shift from chemical to biological and physical stressors to a far greater extent than in the past. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the U.S. EPA's changing ecological research program. [source] Priority research areas for ecosystem services in a changing worldJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2009Emily Nicholson Summary 1.,Ecosystem services are the benefits humans obtain from ecosystems. The importance of research into ecosystem services has been widely recognized, and rapid progress is being made. However, the prevailing approach to quantifying ecosystem services is still based on static analyses and single services, ignoring system dynamics, uncertainty and feedbacks. This is not only partly due to a lack of mechanistic understanding of processes and a dearth of empirical data, but also due to a failure to engage fully with the interdisciplinarity of the problem. 2.,We argue that there is a tendency to ignore the feedbacks between and within both social and ecological systems, and a lack of explicit consideration of uncertainty. Metrics need to be developed that can predict thresholds, which requires strong linkages to underlying processes, while the development of policy for management of ecosystem services needs to be based on a broader understanding of value and drivers of human well-being. 3.,We highlight the complexities, gaps in current knowledge and research, and the potentially promising avenues for future investigation in four priority research areas: agendas, processes, metrics and uncertainty. 4.,Synthesis and applications. The research interest in the field of ecosystem services is rapidly expanding, and can contribute significantly to the sustainable management of natural resources. However, a narrow disciplinary approach, or an approach which does not consider feedbacks within and between ecological and social systems, has the potential to produce dangerously misleading policy recommendations. In contrast, if we explicitly acknowledge and address uncertainties and complexities in the provision of ecosystem services, progress may appear slower but our models will be substantially more robust and informative about the effects of environmental change. [source] Identifying research priorities and research needs among health and research professionals in psycho-oncologyASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Monika DZIDOWSKA Abstract Aim: To identify and prioritize the key research questions in psycho-oncology in order to guide the development of large multicenter clinically relevant studies. Methods: All members of the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group (n = 295) were invited to participate in an online survey and 180 responded (response rate = 61%). Participants rated eight priority research areas identified from a previous focus group study on a five-point scale, and ranked their top four priority areas. Within the four ranked research areas, participants selected the three most important specific research questions. Results: The highest rated research priority areas were distress identification (23.3%), survivorship (22.7%), and distress management (15.3%), followed by issues relating to health services (9.7%) and carers (8.0%). Interventions were commonly nominated among the most important research questions within each priority area. The single most important research question identified by 44% of the sample was to "Determine the most acceptable, reliable and valid screening tool to be administered routinely at diagnosis and at other key transition points to identify distress and psychosocial needs". Conclusion: This is the first Australian study to explore research priorities in psycho-oncology, and the first international study to explore these issues in depth. To ensure that the research effort is strategic, clinically relevant and cost-effective, clear priorities need to be established. The results of this survey will enable limited resources to focus on key research questions of direct clinical benefit. [source] | ||||||||||