Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Relationship Between Functional Diversity And C Stocks On...

Relationships between functional diversity and C stocks in different forest ecosystems Recent studies focused on biodiversity have begun to include the concept of functional diversity, which measures the range, value, and distribution of functional traits of organisms in a community ecosystem (Tilman et al. 1997; Mouchet et al. 2010). It is becoming increasingly accepted that biodiversity components of plant community, i.e. the species identity, abundance and divergence of functional traits, strongly affect ecosystem productivity, functioning, litter decomposition and soil nutrients dynamics (Wardle et al. 2004, 2012; Naeem Wright 2003; Dà ­az et al. 2004; Hooper et al. 2005; Mouillot et al. 2005; Cortez et al. 2007; De Deyn et al. 2008).†¦show more content†¦Jonsson Wardle (2009) and Wardle et al. (2012) also giving more support to mass ration hypothesis that communities dominated by acquisitive trait values showed lower below-ground C storage than communities dominated by more conservative trait values in boreal forests. In natural moist seasonal tropical forests, Ruiz-Jaen Potvin (2011) reported that C stocks associated positively with plant height and leaf mass per area (the inverse of SLA) and negatively with the variety of values of these traits, giving more support to mass-ratio hypothesis while in neighboring plantations, in contrast, they found a negative association of C stocks with plant height and leaf mass per area and a non-significant association with variety of values of these traits, giving more weight to niche-complementarity hypothesis. Thus, it is important to consider both the mass ratio hypothesis and the complementarity hypothesis when functional diversity-C stocks associations are examined. The only study that I am aware is Cavanaugh et al. (2014), in which they partly supported the both hypotheses on the basis of functional dominance and taxonomic diversity (genus richness and Shannon diversity). However, they did not find a significant relationship between functional diversity and ACS. In their study, the fu nctional diversity components were calculated by using the maximum diameter of stem

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Should College Athletes Be Paid - 1206 Words

College athletics have gained immense popularity among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the(NCAA) and the participating colleges which has fuelled the debate of whether college athletes should be compensated beyond their athletic scholarships. College athletes should be paid because they spend more time doing that than anything else. It s kinda like having a full time job.Athletes form the basic unit of intercollegiate sports. Despite the success of NCAA tournaments, athletes do not receive any monetary compensation. The main reasons fronted by the NCAA for lack of payment are that it wants to maintain its amateur status and that payment would compromise the integrity of intercollegiate athletics. It has increased its profits through the sale of merchandise, television rights and licenses for video games. Athletes play an active role in the promotion of these activities but do not benefit from the profits that are generated. This can be viewed as unethical.Other students on scholarships are paid when their offer their services to their schools and the same should apply for athletes. This is because athletes offer more to their colleges than other students to the extent where sports have become the foundation of some universities. In this regard, universities like Alabama and Indiana are appreciated more due to their prowess in football and basketball respectively instead of their academic excellence.The growth inShow MoreRelatedShould College Athletes Be Paid?1289 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the years college sports have been about the love of the game, filled with adrenaline moments. However, the following question still remains: Should college athletes get paid to play sports in college? Seemingly, this debate has been endless, yet the questions have gone unanswered. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) plays a vital role in this debate. The NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but yet sees that the athlete should get paid for their hard work and dedicationRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1334 Words   |  6 Pagesrising to the surface is â€Å"Should college athletes be paid?†. This has become a burning question. The NCAA is a multibillion-dollar industry, that makes millions, if not billions, in revenue. Yet it’s still maintains the non-profit status meaning that the industry is not set on making a profit and none of the revenue that is made is distributed to its members, managers, or officers. While most players who play in college sports are under a scholarship, that pays for the college tuition, books, and housingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1578 Words   |  7 PagesAshay Mehta Nou Per 8 Should College Athletes Be Paid? One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awfulRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1398 Words   |  6 Pagesbelieve that college athletes at the highest performing schools are better treated than others. Although they do not get paid, they do receive some benefits for being athletes that other students would not get. One advantage for playing a sport is access to scholarships that some schools reserve for their athletes. Depending on the school and the athlete’s performance, money towards tuition is often given. Only some schools are willing to grant â€Å"full-ride† scholar ships for certain athletes. AccordingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1364 Words   |  6 PagesHave you paid attention to all of the news that has been surfacing about collegiate sports lately? It is a big topic now days in the world of sports on weather college athletes should be getting paid to play sports. College athletics have gained great popularity of the past few decades, and have brought schools lots of revenue. A lot of college athletes think they should be getting paid for their services they do for their school. College sports like basketball and football generate over six billionRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1130 Words   |  5 PagesWhat college athlete would not want to be paid to play the sport that he or she loves? The real question is, though, should college athletes be paid for their roles in a college’s athletics? They are many points to each side of this recent controversial topic, which is why this has been made into such a hot deba te in the past couple of years. As of right now, these athletes are not getting paid, but many of them truly believe that they should. Others believe that they already are being paid throughRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?986 Words   |  4 PagesPaying the College Athlete The college athlete has steadily grown in popularity in the United States over the span of the past decades. Monetarily speaking, this increased publicity has been extremely beneficial for National Athletic Association (NCAA) and all the colleges involved in athletics which has sparked the dispute of whether or not the athlete should be paid for their hard work and dedication on the field and to their school or if the athletic scholarship is more than enough. College athletesRead MoreCollege Athletes Should Not Be Paid1558 Words   |  7 Pagesstudent-athletes participate in a variety of different sports, and currently they do not receive paychecks for their performances. College athletics have attained an extensive popularity increase among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] and the participating colleges, which has fuelled the debate of whether or not college athletes should colle ct an income. College athletes should not be paid to playRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid? Essay1739 Words   |  7 PagesShould College Athletes Be Paid to Play? The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) governs all laws regarding college sports under the Division I, Division II, and Division III conferences. Its sole purpose is to protect student-athletes on and off the field, and regulate all games and scholarships affiliated with the students. Right now there are 1,121 colleges and universities under the NCAA (NCAA, n.d.), leaving a chunk of schools out—those who do not participate in Division I, II,Read MoreCollege Athletes Should Be Paid1254 Words   |  6 PagesSome college athletic departments are as wealthy as professional sports teams. The NCAA has an average annual revenue of $10.6 billion dollars. College athletes should be paid because of the amount of revenue that they bring to their college. Each individual college should pay its athletes based on how much revenue they bring to the college in which they attend. The colleges that win their Division title, their Conference title, or the National championship, give bonuses to the Head coach of that

Monday, December 9, 2019

Consumer Benefits Associated with Renegotiations of NAFTA by Mexico

Question: Discuss about the Consumer Benefits Associated with Renegotiations of NAFTA by Mexico and Canada. Answer: The North American free trade agreement (NAFTA) is accord which was negotiated by three nations government that is Mexico, Canada, and the United States. This provided the elimination of most tariffs on the products which were trades among the Canada, Mexico and United States (Olson, 2008, p. 420). The primary goal was to integrate Mexico with high development and high wage economy of the United States as well as Canada. This article explains some of the consumer benefits associated with the renegotiation of NAFTA by both Mexico and Canada. NAFTA has boosted Mexican farm products which are exported to the United States. This has increased job opportunities in manufacturing industries in Mexico and united states, and many studies are found about how to improve the farm products hence bring up the positive impact on productivity and oth in Mexican (Wise, 2010, p. 100). Also, NAFTA has enabled Mexico to reduce its trade barriers. This is by joining General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and also pre-NAFTA average tariff level. NAFTA has enhanced completion of a trade agreement which is free between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This has enabled many people to join in trading industry hence improving their standards of living and also improving the countrys wealth through the payment of taxes. Also, NAFTA has increased the regional trade sharply in Canada (Yunez-Naude and Barceinas, 2002, p. 24)increment of salaries in Canada to many employees and also a creation of many job opportunities have been created by NAFTA making many jobless people get jobs. NAFTA has enabled Mexico to disconnect some promises from other countries which support Mexico. This has the Mexico to raise wages and salaries to the employees, to deliver the rapid growth and to reduce the emigration within the Mexico country (Hill, 2008, p. 24). Also, NAFTA has helped Mexico to reduce its public debt, to stabilize its inflation also has introduced a rule on the balanced budget and has enabled the country to build up the foreign reserves. In conclusion, NAFTA has enabled these two countries to bounce back quickly to their profit margins. Therefore, having introduced numerous benefits to Mexico and Canada, NAFTA should highly get supported by the responsible governments to enhance continued growth and economic sustainability. References Hill, C., 2008. International Business: Competing in the global marketplace. Strategic Direction,24(9). Olson, R.D., 2008. NAFTA's food and agriculture lessons.Peace Review,20(4), pp.418-425. Wise, C. ed., 2010.Post-NAFTA Political Economy: Mexico and the Western Hemisphere. Penn State Press. Yunez-Naude, A. and Barceinas, F., 2002. Lessons from NAFTA: The case of Mexicos agricultural sector.Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Yanomamo and the Fierce Anthropologist free essay sample

The controversy revolving the tribe of the Yanomamo and the professionals linked to anthropology has caught the world’s attention. Rapid and unforeseeable events have set the tone for the controversy. The study of these Amazonian Indians, who live in regions of the Venezuela and Brazil border, has turned in western exploitation. Accusations about of unethical anthropologist are abundant, but little facts about such accusations are evident. The grand attention that these events have attained has turned into a focus on larger issues in anthropological practices. By comparing the approach and relationships of other research projects, we can identify just ethical standards. Most of the controversy stems from the publications about the Yanomamo tribe by anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon. His 1968 volume Yanomamo: The Fierce People made the tribe famous due to good writing and extensive interaction with one of the most isolated people on the planet. But ultimately, the way that he portrayed them–violent and fierce–is what attracted wide audiences. We will write a custom essay sample on The Yanomamo and the Fierce Anthropologist or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Much of his books and his video productions are centralized around the theme that the Yanomamo have an immutable trait of violence. According to Chagnon, he collected data, interacted with opposing Yanomamo villages, and received testimony to arrive to his findings. His researched was very lucrative; his book sold more than 4 million copies, which is well beyond the average of other ethnographies. He not only gained financial benefits, he began to be praised and attacked by people around the globe. People accused Chagnon of exaggerating the fact that violence is a part of their culture. For instance, French anthropologist Jacques Lizot, who lived with the Yanomamo for more than twenty years, said that violence is periodic; it does not govern their social life for long periods of time. It is worth noting that Lizot was accused of homosexual acts with young Yanomamo and distributing guns. Others, like Kenneth Good, accused Chagnon of sensationalizing violence, which he elaborated in his book, New Yorkers: The Mugging and Murdering People. He explains that just because violence occurs within the Yanomamo, does not mean they should all be generalized as violent. Good also received backlash for his research because he married a young Yanomamo girl, whom he now has three children with. Another compelling argument came from the studies of Brian Ferguson. He identified Chagnon’s representation of violence as a historical situation. He states that there is a spike in violence during contact with Westerners. As it relates to Chagnon, because he brought western manufactured goods, such as steel and iron tools, he disrupted trading relationships, which lead to inter-village violence for the unequal access of those scarce and desired tools. Among all the accusers, journalist Patrick Tierney gave the controversy the most attention. Tierney’s book, Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientist and Journalist Devastated the Amazon, explored the affects of Yanomamo’s exposure to the outside world. Published in 2000, the book accuses Chagnon of misrepresenting the Yanomamo as fierce people, being responsible for warfare by interrupting trading relationships, staging film scenes, fabricating data, giving unsupported claims of being the first to contact with the Yanomamo, violating Venezuelan law, and overall unethical practices. The next set of accusations involves geneticist James Neel, who joined Chagnon in the fieldwork of the Yanomamo in 1968. He accuses Neel of helping the measles epidemic worsen because he provided outdated vaccines and misadvised the Yanomamo, which resulted in the deaths of thousands. Many of these accusations were prevalent since Chagnon’s work in the 1960’s, but Tierney’s publication brought them together for mainstream audiences. Subsequently, the American Anthropological Association (AAA) was compelled to launch an investigation on the controversy. After investigating the abundant accusations, the AAA exonerated Neel from worsening or causing the measles epidemic, found insufficient evidence to charge Chagnon with all of Tierney’s accusation, but did find that he did not have the Yanomamo’s best interest in mind. It is undisputed that this controversy is repelling. Even if all of the accusations were false, the mere accusations show that ethical standards were broken. Surprisingly, the controversy does reap some positive consequences; it encourages personnel–within and outside the field–to consider the appropriate standards that anthropologist should be held to. Ethical questions arise, such as: how an anthropologist explains and gains consent from the targeted group, what is just compensation, or the dynamics and limits of ‘doing no harm’ to the subjects. The unbalance of power between the anthropologist from developed societies and their isolated subjects is a relationship that needs to be treated with delicacy to avoid exploitation. We can compare the relationship that researcher and filmmaker John Marshall had with the Juhoansi people of the Kalahari Desert for ethical analysis. John Marshall first went to the Kalahari in 1950 and researched the Juhoansi for fifty years thereafter. His relationship with the Juhoansi was one of friendships. He, alike other anthropologist, compensated the Juhoansi for their cooperation with western goods, but he did not stop there. During one of Marshall’s visits, he found the Juhoansi living in government settlements, which provided food relief and low wage jobs, but also inflicted alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and the lack of independence. In the late 1970’s, Marshall began to advocate for more water access and agricultural opportunity from the government. Because there was such a significant interruption to the traditional way of Juhoansi life, desired changes beset different challenges. Marshall justly compensated the Juhoansi and kept their best interest in mind to avoid causing harm to them. The latter characteristic is one that is of greatest importance because harm can come in direct and indirect ways that are temporary or permanent. The American Anthropological Association standard, labeled the ‘do no harm’ rule, is one that anthropologist often have little ability to prevent. At bare minimum, anthropologists almost always interrupt a group’s way of life when doing research and compensating with goods that are scarce to their environments. Interruptions in general, require adjustment and adaption, and when dealing with groups that have customs and traditions that have not changed for possibly hundreds of years, those adjustments are problematic and often prove to be vitally harmful. For instance, Chagnon’s and other Yanomamo researchers brought western goods and weapons into their community, which created an interruption in trading and likely contributed to their state of warfare. Further, John Marshall also unintentionally created a significant interruption when his tire tracks that he created during his visits facilitated the contact with government entities, which ultimately changed most of the Juhoansi traditional ways of life. The difference between the two examples is that Marshall actually returned and improved their situation by advocating to their interests. Chagnon not only used more coercive techniques in gaining cooperation, there is also no trace of tangible efforts made to improve the harm he contributed to in the Yanomamo community. If the AAA standards were altered to ‘do not harm only while researching’ or compensate for cooperation, little ethical analysis would be needed, but that is not the case. Doing no harm to the group is indefinite and needs to be examined even after research is complete. Additionally, a â€Å"just† amount of compensation means that it needs to be fair, not just in the context of the region researched, but also that of the western entities benefiting from it; i. e. ten machetes given to the Yanomamo for an ethnography research is not equivalent $500k and advancement in the anthropologist respective career. Alike the Yanomamo, the Juhoansi continue to face challenges due to outside interference. However, their interference mostly comes form governmental entities, and the Juhoansi have been assisted by Marshall and treated ethically by other anthropologists, like Richard Lee. On the other hand, the Yanomamo face problems from miners camping in their territories, destruction of the environment by mining and other outside forces, along with other governmental issues, but it is also clear that the Yanomamo have been significantly exploited by the western world. This could be because of the lack of oversight and/or due to little ethical standards. In any case, these unfortunate chain of events should serve a greater purpose to the ethical standards of practicing anthropologist and aspiring students.