Matching Items (113)
Description
Effective collaboration and cooperation across difference are at the heart of present and future sustainability challenges and solutions. Collaboration among social groups (intragenerational), across time (intergenerational), and across species (interspecies) is each central to achieving sustainability transitions in the 21st century. In practice, there are three types of differences that limit collaboration and cooperation toward sustainability outcomes: differences among social groups, differences across time, and differences across species. Each of these differences have corresponding cognitive biases that challenge collaboration. Social cognitive biases challenge collaboration among social groups; temporal cognitive biases challenge collaboration across time; and anthropocentric cognitive biases challenge collaboration across species. In this work, I present three correctives to collaboration challenges spanning the social, temporal, and species cognitive biases through intervention-specific methods that build beyond traditional framings of empathy, toward social, futures, and ecological empathy. By re-theorizing empathy across these domains, I seek to construct a multidimensional theory of empathy for sustainability, and suggest methods to build it, to bridge differences among people, time horizons, and species for sustainability practice.
ContributorsLambert, Lauren Marie-Jasmine (Author) / Selin, Cynthia (Thesis advisor) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis advisor) / Tomblin, David (Committee member) / Berbés-Blázquez, Marta (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Wildlife rehabilitation as a practice in the United States exists in a complicated ethical landscape. The Wildlife Rehabilitator's Code of Ethics exists to guide the profession and states that rehabilitators must respect the wildness and maintain the dignity of an animal in their care. This thesis explores the question: How do the attitudes and actions of wildlife rehabilitators exemplify the ways in which they understand and enact respect for an animal’s dignity and wildness while in their care? Additionally, in what circumstances do rehabilitators align and diverge from each other in their interpretation and demonstration of this respect? These questions were answered through a literature review, interviews with rehabilitators, and site visits to wildlife rehabilitation centers in the Phoenix metropolitan area. My results suggest that rehabilitators are aligned in their understanding of respect for wildness and dignity as it applies to the animals in their care that are actively undergoing rehabilitation. Rehabilitators achieved consensus on the idea that they should interact with the animals as little as possible while providing their medically necessary care. Rehabilitators began to diverge when considering the animals in their sanctuary spaces. Specifically, they varied in their perception of wildness in sanctuary animals, which informed how some saw their responsibilities to the animals. Lesser perceived wildness correlated to increased acceptance of forming affectionate relationships with the sanctuary animals, and even feelings of obligation to form these relationships. Based on my research, I argue that the Wildlife Rehabilitator's Code of Ethics should be revised to reflect the specific boundary that wildlife rehabilitators identified in the rehabilitation space and provide substantive guidance as to what respecting wildness and dignity means in this field.
ContributorsBernat, Isabella Elyse (Author) / Minteer, Ben (Thesis advisor) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The study of organismal adaptations oftentimes focuses on specific, constant conditions, but environmental parameters are characterized by more or less marked levels of variability, rather than constancy. This is important in environments like soils where microbial activity follows pulses of water availability driven by precipitation. Nowhere are these pulses more variable and unpredictable than in arid soils. Pulses constitute stressful conditions for bacteria because they cause direct cellular damage that must be repaired and they force cells to toggle between dormancy and active physiological states, which is energetically taxing. I hypothesize that arid soil microorganisms are adapted to the variability in wet/dry cycles itself, as determined by the frequency and duration of hydration pulses. To test this, I subjected soil microbiomes from the Chihuahuan Desert to controlled incubations for a total common growth period of 60 hours, but separated into treatments in which the total active time was reached with hydration pulses of different length with intervening periods of desiccation, so as to isolate pulse length and frequency as the varying factors in the experiment. Using 16S rRNA amplicon data, I characterized changes in microbiome growth, diversity, and species composition, and tracked the individual responses to treatment intensity in the 447 most common bacterial species (phylotypes) in the soil. Considering knowledge of extremophile microbiology, I hypothesized that growth yield and diversity would decline with shorter pulses. I found that microbial diversity was indeed a direct function of pulse length, but surprisingly, total yield was an inverse function of it. Pulse regime treatments resulted in progressively more significant differences in community composition with increasing pulse length, as differently adapted phylotypes became more prominent. In fact, more than 30% of the most common bacterial phylotypes demonstrated statistically significant population growth responses to pulse length. Most responsive phylotypes were apparently best adapted to short pulse regimes (known in the literature as Nimble Responders or NIRs), while fewer did better under long pulse regimes (known as TORs or Torpid Responders). Examples of extreme NIRs and TORs could be found among bacteria from different phyla, indicating that these adaptations have occurred multiple times during evolution.
ContributorsKut, Patrick John (Author) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Thesis advisor) / Sala, Osvaldo (Committee member) / Zhu, Qiyun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Though controversial in its utility to the scientific study of nonhuman animals, anthropomorphism, or the attribution of human characteristics to a nonhuman being, is omnipresent in our interactions with other animals. Anthropomorphism is undeniably a fixture of modern zoos, but how anthropomorphism relates to zoos’ contributions to conservation is unclear. In this dissertation, I investigate these potentially dueling, potentially overlapping, messages within great ape exhibits in accredited zoos. Given the complexity of both anthropomorphism and conservation, this dissertation reveals some nuances of how both play out in zoological spaces. Human psychology literature on anthropomorphism indicates that there are a variety of uses for this lens that benefit humans; from feeling we can understand a confusing animal action, to feeling social connection. Whereas the comparative psychology literature highlights a contested utility of anthropomorphism in studies of nonhuman animals. The main findings from this study are four-fold. Firstly, surveys conducted with zoo visitors show that many bring anthropomorphic beliefs with them on their trek through the zoo. Visitors are prone to viewing great apes as strikingly like humans in terms of emotions, emotional expression, and understanding of the world. Secondly, surveyed zoo visitors who agreed more with anthropomorphic statements also agreed more with statements about feeling interconnected with nature. Thirdly, there is no uniform understanding within the zoo community about how zoo exhibits do or should contribute to conservation efforts given that exhibits have multiple goals, one being the safety and wellness of their animal residents. Fourthly, interviews of zoo staff show that they mediate a variety of messages for zoo visitors and walk a sometimes-divisive line between when it’s acceptable to use anthropomorphic framing to discuss zoo animals and when it’s inaccurate. By leveraging a better understanding of these attitudes and relationships, zoos can further empower their staff to navigate these complex issues and improve their mission-based goal of promoting conservation outcomes by acknowledging the human practices embedded in our perceptions of and interactions with zoo animals. This work speaks to the importance of carefully considering the ways we understand animals in zoos, in the wild, and all the places in-between.
ContributorsLyon, Cassandra (Author) / Minteer, Ben A. (Thesis advisor) / Wynne, Clive D.L. (Committee member) / Maynard, Lily (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
With global environmental systems under increasing Anthropogenic influence, conservationists and environmental managers are under immense pressure to protect and recover the world’s imperiled species and ecosystems. This effort is often motivated by a sense of moral responsibility, either to nature itself, or to the end of promoting human wellbeing over the long run. In other words, it is the purview of environmental ethics, a branch of applied philosophy that emerged in the 1970s and that for decades has been devoted to understanding and defending an attitude of respect for nature, usually for its own sake. Yet from the very start, environmental ethics has promoted itself as contributing to the resolution of real-world management and policy problems. By most accounts, however, the field has historically failed to deliver on this original promise, and environmental ethicists continue to miss opportunities to make intellectual inroads with key environmental decisionmakers. Inspired by classical and contemporary American philosophers such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and Richard Rorty, I defend in this dissertation the virtues of a more explicitly pragmatic approach to environmental ethics. Specifically, I argue that environmental pragmatism is not only commensurate with pro-environmental attitudes but that it is more likely to lead to viable and sustainable outcomes, particularly in the context of eco-social resilience-building activities (e.g., local experimentation, adaptation, cooperation). In doing so, I call for a recasting of environmental ethics, a project that entails: 1) a conceptual reorientation involving the application of pragmatism applied to environmental problems; 2) a methodological approach linking a pragmatist environmentalism to the tradition and process of adaptive co-management; and 3) an empirical study of stakeholder values and perspectives in conservation collaboratives in Arizona. I conclude that a more pragmatic environmental ethics has the potential to bring a powerful set of ethical and methodological tools to bear in real-world management contexts and, where appropriate, can ground and justify coordinated conservation efforts. Finally, this research responds to critics who suggest that, because it strays too far from the ideological purity of traditional environmental ethics, the pragmatic decision-making process will, in the long run, weaken rather than bolster our commitment to conservation and environmental protection.
ContributorsRojas, Christopher A (Author) / Minteer, Ben A (Thesis advisor) / Carr Kelman, Candice (Committee member) / Kinzig, Ann (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are topsoil communities of organisms that contribute to soil fertility and erosion resistance in drylands. Anthropogenic disturbances can quickly damage these communities and their natural recovery can take decades. With the development of accelerated restoration strategies in mind, I studied physiological mechanisms controlling the establishment of cyanobacteria in biocrusts, since these photoautotrophs are not just the biocrust pioneer organisms, but also largely responsible for improving key soil attributes such as physical stability, nutrient content, water retention and albedo. I started by determining the cyanobacterial community composition of a variety of biocrust types from deserts in the Southwestern US. I then isolated a large number of cyanobacterial strains from these locations, pedigreed them based on their 16SrRNA gene sequences, and selective representatives that matched the most abundant cyanobacterial field populations. I then developed methodologies for large-scale growth of the selected isolates to produce location-specific and genetically autochthonous inoculum for restoration. I also developed and tested viable methodologies to physiologically harden this inoculum and improve its survival under harsh field conditions. My tests proved that in most cases good viability of the inoculum could be attained under field-like conditions. In parallel, I used molecular ecology approaches to show that the biocrust pioneer, Microcoleus vaginatus, shapes its surrounding heterotrophic microbiome, enriching for a compositionally-differentiated “cyanosphere” that concentrates the nitrogen-fixing function. I proposed that a mutualism based on carbon for nitrogen exchange between M. vaginatus and its cyanosphere creates a consortium that constitutes the true pioneer community enabling the colonization of nitrogen-poor, bare soils. Using the right mixture of photosynthetic and diazotrophic cultures will thus likely help in soil restoration. Additionally, using physiological assays and molecular meta-analyses, I demonstrated that the largest contributors to N2-fixation in late successional biocrusts (three genera of heterocystous cyanobacteria) partition their niche along temperature gradients, and that this can explain their geographic patterns of dominance within biocrusts worldwide. This finding can improve restoration strategies by incorporating climate-matched physiological types in inoculum formulations. In all, this dissertation resulted in the establishment of a comprehensive "cyanobacterial biocrust nursery", that includes a culture collection containing 101 strains, isolation and cultivation methods, inoculum design strategies as well as field conditioning protocols. It constitutes a new interdisciplinary application of microbiology in restoration ecology.
ContributorsGiraldo Silva, Ana Maria (Author) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Thesis advisor) / Barger, Nichole N (Committee member) / Bowker, Mathew A (Committee member) / Sala, Osvaldo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Euendolithic cyanobacteria have the remarkable ability to actively excavate and grow within certain minerals. Their activity leads to increased erosion of marine and terrestrial carbonates, negatively affecting coral reef and bivalve ecology. Despite their environmental relevance, the boring mechanism has remained elusive and paradoxical, in that cyanobacteria alkalinize their surroundings, typically leading to carbonate precipitation, not dissolution. Thus, euendoliths must rely on unique adaptations to bore. Recent work using the filamentous model euendolith Mastigocoleus testarum strain BC008 indicated that excavation relied on transcellular calcium transport mediated by P-type ATPases, but the phenomenon remained unclear. Here I present evidence that excavation in M. testarum involves an unprecedented set of adaptations. Long-range calcium transport is achieved through the coordinated pumping of multiple cells, orchestrated by the localization of calcium ATPases in a repeating annular pattern, positioned at a single cell pole, adjacent to each cell septum along the filament. Additionally, specialized chlorotic cells that I named calcicytes, differentiate and accumulate calcium at concentrations more than 500 fold those of canonical cells, likely allowing for fast calcium flow at non-toxic concentrations through undifferentiated cells. I also show, using 13C stable isotope tracers and NanoSIMS imaging, that endolithic M. testarum derives most of its carbon from the mineral carbonates it dissolves, the first autotroph ever shown to fix mineral carbon, confirming the existence of a direct link between oxidized solid carbon pools and reduced organic pools in the biosphere. Finally, using genomic and transcriptomic approaches, I analyze gene expression searching for additional adaptations related to the endolithic lifestyle. A large and diverse set of genes (24% of 6917 genes) were significantly differentially regulated while boring, including several master regulators and genes expectedly needed under this condition (such as transport, nutrient scavenging, oxidative stress, and calcium-binding protein genes). However, I also discovered the up-regulation of several puzzling gene sets involved in alternative carbon fixation pathways, anaerobic metabolism, and some related to photosynthesis and respiration. This transcriptomic data provides us with several new, readily testable hypotheses regarding adaptations to the endolithic lifestyle. In all, my data clearly show that boring organisms show extraordinarily interesting adaptations.
ContributorsGuida, Brandon Scott (Author) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Thesis advisor) / Chandler, Douglas (Committee member) / Bingham, Scott (Committee member) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) dominate the soil surface of drylands in the western United States and possess properties thought to influence local hydrology. Little agreement exists, however, on the effects of BSCs on runoff, infiltration, and evaporative rates. This study aims to improve the predictive capability of an ecohydrology model in order to understand how BSCs affect the storage, retention, and infiltration of water into soils characteristic of the Colorado Plateau. A set of soil moisture measurements obtained at a climate manipulation experiment near Moab, Utah, are used for model development and testing. Over five years, different rainfall treatments over experimental plots resulted in the development of BSC cover with different properties that influence soil moisture differently. This study used numerical simulations to isolate the relative roles of different BSC properties on the hydrologic response at the plot-scale. On-site meteorological, soil texture and vegetation property datasets are utilized as inputs into a ecohydrology model, modified to include local processes: (1) temperature-dependent precipitation partitioning, snow accumulation and melt, (2) seasonally-variable potential evapotranspiration, (3) plant species-specific transpiration factors, and (4) a new module to account for the water balance of the BSC. Soil, BSC and vegetation parameters were determined from field measurements or through model calibration to the soil moisture observations using the Shuffled Complex Evolution algorithm. Model performance is assessed against five years of soil moisture measurements at each experimental site, representing a wide range of crust cover properties. Simulation experiments were then carried out using the calibrated ecohydrology model in which BSC parameters were varied according to the level of development of the BSC, as represented by the BSC roughness. These results indicate that BSCs act to both buffer against evaporative soil moisture losses by enhancing BSC moisture evaporation and significantly alter the rates of soil water infiltration by reducing moisture storage and increasing conductivity in the BSC. The simulation results for soil water infiltration, storage and retention across a wide range of meteorological events help explain the conflicting hydrologic outcomes present in the literature on BSCs. In addition, identifying how BSCs mediate infiltration and evaporation processes has implications for dryland ecosystem function in the western United States.
ContributorsWhitney, Kristen M (Author) / Vivoni, Enrique R (Thesis advisor) / Farmer, Jack D (Committee member) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The ocean sequesters more than 25% of the carbon released by anthropogenic action every year, and oligotrophic oceans, such as the Sargasso Sea, are responsible for about 50% of the global carbon export. Pico- and nano-phytoplankton (cells < 5 µm), mostly unicellular eukaryotes (protists) and cyanobacteria, dominate the primary production in the Sargasso Sea; however, little is known about their contribution to the export of carbon into the deep ocean via sinking particles. The overall goal of this study is to examine the link between growth and grazing rates of pico- and nano-phytoplankton and the carbon export in the Sargasso Sea. I investigate three aspects: 1) how microzooplankton grazing and physical forcing affect taxon-specific primary productivity in this region, 2) how these microbial trophic dynamics impact their contribution to the export of particulate matter, and 3) how much pico-phytoplankton, specifically the pico-cyanobacteria Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, contribute to the carbon export. I collected seawater samples within the sunlit (euphotic) zone, and sinking particles at 150 m depth using particle traps in the Sargasso Sea during the winter and summer seasons of 2011 and 2012. I conducted dilution experiments to determine the growth and grazing rates of the pico- and nano-phytoplankton community, and used 454 pyrosequencing and quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction to measure the relative and absolute contribution of these primary producers to the plankton community within the euphotic zone and in the sinking particles. I found that micrograzing controls taxon-specific primary production, and that microbial trophic dynamics impact directly the taxonomical composition of the sinking particles. For the first time, I was able to quantify clade-specific carbon export of pico-cyanobacteria and found that, despite their small size, these tiny primary producers are capable of sinking from the surface to the deeper oceans. However, their contribution to the carbon flux is often less than one tenth of their biomass contribution in the euphotic zone. Our study provides a comprehensive approach to better understand the role of pico- and nano-phytoplankton in the carbon cycle of oligotrophic oceans, and a baseline to study changes in the carbon export in future warmer oceans.
ContributorsDe Martini, Francesca (Author) / Neuer, Susanne (Thesis advisor) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Committee member) / Hartnett, Hilairy (Committee member) / Lomas, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The aboveground surfaces of plants (i.e. the phyllosphere) comprise the largest biological interface on Earth (over 108 km2). The phyllosphere is a diverse microbial environment where bacterial inhabitants have been shown to sequester and degrade airborne pollutants (i.e. phylloremediation). However, phyllosphere dynamics are not well understood in urban environments, and this environment has never been studied in the City of Phoenix, which maintains roughly 92,000 city trees. The phyllosphere will grow if the City of Phoenix is able to achieve its goal of 25% canopy coverage by 2030, but this begs the question: How and where should the urban canopy expand? I addressed this question from a phyllosphere perspective by sampling city trees of two species, Ulmus parvifolia (Chinese Elm) and Dalbergia sissoo (Indian Rosewood) in parks and on roadsides. I identified characteristics of the bacterial community structure and interpreted the ecosystem service potential of trees in these two settings. I used culture-independent methods to compare the abundance of each unique bacterial lineage (i.e. ontological taxonomic units or OTUs) on the leaves of park trees versus on roadside tree leaves. I found numerous bacteria (81 OTUs) that were significantly more abundant on park trees than on roadside trees. Many of these OTUs are ubiquitous to bacterial phyllosphere communities, are known to promote the health of the host tree, or have been shown to degrade airborne pollutants. Roadside trees had fewer bacteria (10 OTUs) that were significantly more abundant when compared to park trees, but several have been linked to the remediation of petroleum combustion by-products. These findings, that were not available prior to this study, may inform the City of Phoenix as it is designing its future urban forests.
ContributorsMacNeille, Benjamin C (Author) / Childers, Daniel L. (Thesis advisor) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Committee member) / Cease, Arianne J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016