Edge Habitats

Edge Habitats Across the globe, human development has fragmented once-continuous landscapes and ecosystems into isolated patches of natural habitat. Roads, towns, fences, canals, reservoirs, and farms are all examples of human artifacts that alter the pattern of the landscape. At the edges of developed areas, where natural habitats meet encroaching human habitats, animals are forced to adapt quickly to their new circumstancesand a closer look at the fate of these so-called edge species can give us sobering insights into the quality of the wild lands that remain. The health of any natural ecosystem depends significantly on two factors: the overall size of the habitat, and what is happening along its edges. For example, when human development cuts into an old-growth forest, the newly exposed edges are subjected to a series of microclimatic changes, including increases in sunlight, temperature, relative humidity, and exposure to wind. Plantlife and Microclimate Create New Habitats Plants are the first living organisms to respond to these changes, usually with increased leaf-fall, elevated tree mortality, and an influx of secondary-successional species. In turn, the combined changes in plant life and microclimate create new habitats for animals. More-reclusive bird species move to the interior of the remaining woodland, while birds better adapted to edge environments develop strongholds on the periphery. Populations of larger mammals like deer or big cats, which require large areas of undisturbed forest to support their numbers, often decrease in size. If their established territories have been destroyed, these mammals must adjust their social structure to accommodate the closer quarters of the remaining forest. Fragmented Forests Resemble Islands Researchers have found that fragmented forests resemble nothing so much as islands. The human development that surrounds a forest island acts as a barrier to animal migration, dispersal, and interbreeding (its very difficult for any animals, even relatively smart ones, to cross a busy highway!) In these island-like communities, species diversity is governed largely by the size of the remaining intact forest. In a way, this is not all bad news; the imposition of artificial constraints can be a major driver of evolution and the flourishing of better-adapted species. The problem is that evolution is a long-term process, unfolding over thousands or millions of years, while a given animal population may disappear in as little as a decade (or even a single year or month) if its ecosystem has been wrecked beyond repair. The changes in animal distribution and population that result from fragmentation and the creation of edge habitats illustrate how dynamic a cut-off ecosystem can be. It would be ideal if- when the bulldozers have disappeared- the environmental damages subsided; unfortunately, this is rarely the case. The animals and wildlife left behind must begin a complex process of adaptation and a long search for a new natural balance. Edited on February 8, 2017, by Bob Strauss

Mayflower Compact of 1620

Mayflower Compact of 1620 The Mayflower Compact is often cited as one of the foundations of the U.S. Constitution. This document was the initial governing document for the Plymouth Colony. It was signed on November 11, 1620, while the settlers were still aboard the Mayflower before they disembarked at Provincetown Harbor. However, the story of the creation of the Mayflower Compact begins with the Pilgrims in England. Who the Pilgrims Were Pilgrims were separatists from the Anglican Church in England. They were Protestants who did not recognize the authority of the Anglican Church and formed their own Puritan church. To escape persecution and potential  imprisonment, they fled England for Holland in 1607 and settled in the town of Leiden. Here they lived for 11 or 12 years before deciding to create their own colony in the New World. To raise money for the enterprise, they received a land patent from the Virginia Company and created their own joint-stock company. The Pilgrims returned to Southampton in England before sailing for the New World. Aboard the Mayflower The Pilgrims left aboard their ship, the  Mayflower, in 1620. There were 102 men, women, and children aboard as well as some non-puritan settlers, including  John Alden and Miles Standish. The ship was headed for Virginia but got blown off course, so the Pilgrims decided to found their colony in Cape Cod in what would later become the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They called the colony Plymouth after the harbor in England from which they departed for the New World. Since the new location for their colony was outside the areas claimed by the two chartered joint-stock companies, the Pilgrims considered themselves independent and created their own government under the Mayflower Compact. Creating the Mayflower Compact In basic terms, the Mayflower Compact was a social contract whereby the 41men who signed it agreed to abide by the rules and regulations of the new government in order to ensure civil order and their own survival. Having been forced by storms to anchor off the coast of what is now Cape Cod, Massachusetts, rather than the intended destination of the Colony of Virginia, many of the Pilgrims felt it unwise to continue with their stores of food quickly running out. Coming to grips with the reality that they would not be able to settle in the contractually-agreed-to Virginia territory, they â€Å"would use their own liberty; for none had the power to command them.† To accomplish this, the Pilgrims voted to establish their own government in the form of the Mayflower Compact. Having lived in the Dutch Republic city of Leiden before beginning their journey, the Pilgrims considered the Compact to be similar to the civil covenant that had served as the basis for their congregation in Leiden. In creating the Compact, the Pilgrim leaders drew from the â€Å"majoritarian model† of government, which assumes that women and children cannot vote, and their allegiance to the King of England. Unfortunately, the original Mayflower Compact document has been lost. However, William Bradford included a transcription of the document in his book, Of Plymouth Plantation. In part, his transcription states: Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these present solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. Significance The Mayflower Compact was the foundational document for the Plymouth Colony. It was a covenant whereby the settlers subordinated their rights to follow laws passed by the government to ensure protection and survival.   In 1802, John Quincy Adams called the Mayflower Compact â€Å"the only instance in human history of that positive, original, social compact.† Today, it is generally accepted as having influenced the nation’s Founding Fathers as they created the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Pollution - Essay Example This condition of remaining free of ice is highly dependent on the water currents and states of the weather. The Polar Bears usually favor such areas which enable them to hunt for seals in these spots of leads and makes use of the sea ice to be their podium (Sea World, â€Å"Distribution and Habitat†). In the similarly context, polynyas are water areas which are bounded by ice all around the year because of tidal currents, winds and upwelling. These areas are considered to be significant as they serve as major food supplying and breeding regions for wintering marine mammals such as the Polar Bears. Few of the Polar Bears were learnt to chase the lower border of the floating sea ice throughout the year and makes widespread relocations according to the retreats and proceeds made by the ice (Sea World, â€Å"Distribution and Habitat†). The population of the Polar Bears has been found to be declining at an alarming pace because of their disappearing habitat owing to global warming. The various reasons accounting for the alterations in the climate has resulted in speedy loss of ice in the Arctic sea. The ice in the Arctic sea was found to turn down by 7.7 percent every decade along with a turn down in the sea ice in the perennial sea region by 9.8 percent every decade. To add more to this problem, in few of the areas, a contraction of the ice in the Arctic sea was found to be 32 percent from the periods of 1960 and 1970 to 1990. This huge decline in the ice areas have resulted in jeopardizing their habitat of the Polar Bears which is posing to be a severe threat to their population (World Wildlife Fund, â€Å"Polar Bear: This icon of the North Is Losing Ground As Global Warming Melts its Sea Ice Habitat†). Moreover, the ice is examined to melt quite before time in a year and is taking more time to develop owing to the alterations in the climate. This

Changing for Better Outcome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Changing for Better Outcome - Essay Example As application of CASS procedure would significantly reduce VAP cases, and any nurse working in units with vent-dependent clients should support the application of this procedure. Nursing accountability to clients would mean that they are accountable for implementing this practice safely. The application of the CASS procedure requires proper staff training, and nurses who care for vent-dependent clients should attend these training courses and in-services. Moreover, when nurses are competent to perform this procedure, they should strictly follow its guidelines. The additional mechanical suctioning apparatus only takes effect when monitored on hourly basis by nurses. The tubes may be disconnected due to built up pressure or by being accidentally hit by other staff members, thus frequent monitoring is a must. The aspiration function also stops automatically when the collection bottle for secretions is full. The negative pressure of the suctioning apparatus is set at proper level accord ing to secretion status of a particular client. Following evidence-based practice would guarantee for uninterrupted application of CASS procedure. To exemplify, the following sections present a potential client for such practice, as well as an understanding of my accountability as his nurse. VAP was not new to a vent-dependent client in my unit because this 59 year old male client had VAP almost monthly, if not biweekly. This client was in a comatose state. He had a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The YMCA Essay -- essays research papers

The YMCA The YMCA has a very clear and concise mission statement. Their mission is "to put Christian principles into practice through programs thta build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all". The YMCA is the nation's largest not-for-profit community service organization in America. With more than 2,500 YMCAs, they are able to meet the health and social service needs of 18.9 million men, women and children in over 10,000 communities in the United States. No one is turned away from the Y. It is a place for people fo all faiths, races, abilities, ages and incomes. Inability to pay is never a reason for the YMCA to turn someone away. Their strength lies in fulfilling their goal of bringing people together. Not every community is the same. Therefore, each YMCA is different to accomadate these differing needs. The YMCA in your community may offer child care or teen leadership clubs. In the next town over, swimming lessons or drawing lessons may be of bigger concern. Every Y makes theri won decisions based on the needs of the community around them. They decide which programs to offer and how to operate. The YMCA was founded in London, England, in 1844 by George Williams and some friends who lived and worked as clerks in a drapery, a forerunner of drygoods and department stores. Their goal was to help young men like themselves find God. The first members were evangelical Protestants who prayed and studied the Bible as an alternative to vice. The first U.S. YMCA...

E-bay Case Study

At least 30 million people will buy and sell well over $20bn in merchandise (in 2003) – more than the gross domestic product of all but 70 of the world's countries. More than 150,000 entrepreneurs will earn a full-time living selling everything from diet pills and Kate Spade handbags to  £30,000 BMWs and hulking industrial lathes. More automobiles, of all things, sell on eBay than even no. 1 US dealer AutoNation. So what does this add up to? ‘This is a whole new way of doing business,' says Whitman. ‘We're creating something that didn't exist before.It wasn't planned, but as users plunged into consumer electronics, cars, and industrial gear, eBay followed. Today, eBay has 27,000 categories, including eight with gross sales of more than  £1 billion each.eBay’s business modelValue in eBay is created by proViding a virtual world ¬wide market for buyers and sellers and collecting a tax on transactions as they happen. The business model of eBay relies on it s customers being the organisation's product-development team, sales and marketing force, merchandising department, and the security department.The organisation, headed by Meg Whitman, was founded in 1995, when Pierre Omidyar launched a basic site called Auction Web. His girlfriend wanted to trade her collection of Pez dispensers, but Omidyar had a broader vision in mind, namely empowering everyday consumers to trade without the need for large corporations. He even wanted traders to be responsible for building the community and deciding how to build the website. It worked; soon he found himself answering e-mails from buyers and sellers during the day and rewriting the site's software at night to incorporate their suggestions, which ranged from fiXing software bugs to creating new product categories.Some 100,000 messages from customers are posted per week in which tips are shared, system glitches are pointed out and changes are lobbied for. The COO, Brian Swette, is quoted as saying, ‘The trick is to keep up with what  buyers and sellers want. We've had to constantly change how we run. We start from the principle that if there's noise, you better listen.' Currently the technology allows every move of every potential customer to be traced, yielding rich information.Structurally, the business model is realised through 5,000 employees, roughly half of whom are in customer support and a fifth in technology. A key role in eBay is ‘category manager', a concept Whitman brought to eBay from her days in marketing giant P&G. Category managers direct the 23 major categories as well as the 35,000 subcategories, from collectibles to sports gear, to jewellery and watches, and even jet-planes.Conventional companies might spend big money on getting to know their customers and persuading them to provide feedback, but for eBay such feed ¬back is often free and offered without the need for enticement. Even so some of the company's most effective ways of getting us er input do not rely on the Net and do not come free. eBay organises Voice of the Customer groups, which involve flying in a new group of about 10 sellers and buyers from around the country to its San Jose (Californian) every few months to discuss the in depth. Teleconferences are held for features and policies, however small a change involve. Even workshops and classes are held teach people how to make the most of the site. Participants tend to double their selling activity on after taking a class.The company is governed from both outside and The eBay system has a source of automatic control in the form of buyers and sellers rating each other on each transaction, creating rules and norms. There's an educational system that offers classes around the country on how to sell on eBay. Both buyers and sellers build up reputations which are valuable, in turn encouraging further good behaviour in themselves and others.When that wasn't quite enough, eBay formed its own police force to patro l the listings for fraud and kick out offenders, the Trust and Safety Dept, now staffed by several hundred eBay employees worldwide. They do every ¬thing from trolling the site for suspicious listings to working with law enforcement agencies to catch crooks. eBay also has developed software that recognises patterns of  behaviour common to previous fraud cases, such as sellers from Romania who recently started selling large numbers of big-ticket items.eBay’s managementMeg Whitman's style and past has heavily influ ¬enced the management of eBay. When she joined the company in 1998, it was more of a collection of geeks, handpicked by the pony-tailed Omidyar, than a blue-chip – something which underpinned Omidyar's recruitment of Meg. Meg, an ex-consultant, filled many of the senior management roles includ ¬ing the head of the US business, head of interna ¬tional operations and vice-president of consumer marketing with consultants.The result: eBay has become data and metric driven. ‘If you can't measure it, you can't control it', Meg says. Whereas in the early days you could touch and feel the way the organisation worked, its current size means it needs to be measured. Category managers are expected to spend their days measuring and acting upon data within their fiefdom.Some measures are standard for e-business and include how many people are visiting the site, how many of those then register to become users, how long each user remains per visit, how long pages take to load and so on. A measure Meg likes is the ‘take rate', the ratio of revenues to the value of goods traded on the site (the higher the better). She meas ¬ures which days are the busiest, directing when to offer free listings in order to stimulate the supply of auction items. Noise on the discussion boards is used to understand whether the community is in ‘supportive' or ‘ready to kill you mood' on a scale of 1 to 10. Normal for eBay is around3.  Ca tegory managers in eBay, unlike their counter ¬parts in Procter and Gamble, can only indirectly control their products. They have no stock to reorder once levels of toothpaste or washing-up liquid run low on the supermarket shelves. They provide tools to buy and sell more effectively. ‘What they can do is endlessly try to eke out small wins in their cate ¬gories – say, a slight jump in scrap-metal listings or new bidders for comic books. To get there, they use marketing and merchandising schemes such as enhancing the presentation of their users' products and giving them tools to buy and sell  better.'Over and above this unusual existence, the work envir-onment can be tough and ultracompetitive, say ex-eBayers. Changes often come only after PowerPoint slides are exchanged and refined at a low level, even ¬tually presented at a senior level and after the change has been approved in a sign-off procedure which includes every department. An advance in the ways shoes could be searched for took ten months to happen. Aware that analysis can mean paralysis, Meg commissioned consultants (who else) to benchmark the rate at which change is indeed implemented in eBay.eBay was rated as average amongst the com ¬panies surveyed. Over time eBay has upgraded its ability to ensure the technology does not rule. Until the late 1990s, the site was plagued with outages, including one in 1999 which shut the site down for 22 hours courtesy of software problems and no backup systems. Former Gateway Inc. Chief Information Officer Maynard Webb, who joined as president of eBay's technology unit, quickly took action to upgrade systems. Now the site is down for less than 42 minutes a month, despite much higher traffic.Meg is a leader who buys into the company in more ways than one. Having auctioned some $35,000 worth of furnishings in her ski condo in Colorado to understand the selling experience, she became a top seller among the company's employees and ensured that her learning from the experience was listened to by fellow top execs. Meg is also known for listening carefully to her employees and expects her managers to do the same. As the business is as much, if not more, its customers, any false move can cause revolts within the community that is eBay.Most of all eBay tries to stay aware and flexible.Nearly all of its fastest-growing new categories emerged from registering seller activity in the area and quietly giving it a nudge at the right moment. For example, after noticing a few car sales, eBay cre ¬ated a separate site called eBay Motors in 1999, with special features such as vehicle inspections and shipping. Some four years later, eBay expects to gross some $1 billion worth of autos and parts, many of which are sold by professional dealers.The democratic underpinning of eBay, whilst easily embraced by customers, can, however, take some getting used to. New managers can take six months to understand the ethos. ‘Some of the terms you learn in business school – drive, force, commit  ¬don't apply', says former PepsiCo Inc. exec William C. Cobb, now senior vice-president in charge of eBay's international operations. ‘We're over here listening, adapting, enabling.'

Why Learn Geometry Definition and Uses

Simply put, geometry is a branch of mathematics that studies the size, shape, and position of 2-dimensional shapes and 3-dimensional figures. Although ancient Greek mathematician Euclid is typically considered the Father of Geometry, the study of geometry arose independently in a number of early cultures. Geometry is a word derived from Greek. In Greek, geo means earth and metria means measure. Geometry is in every part of a students  curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade  and continues through college and postgraduate study. Since most schools use a spiraling curriculum, introductory concepts are re-visited throughout the grades and advances in the level  of difficulty as time goes on. How Is Geometry Used? Even without ever cracking open a geometry book, geometry is used daily by almost everyone. Your brain makes geometric spatial calculations as you step your foot out of bed in the morning or parallel park a car. In geometry, you are  exploring spatial sense and geometric reasoning.   You can find geometry in art, architecture, engineering, robotics, astronomy, sculptures, space, nature, sports, machines, cars, and much more. Some of the tools often used in geometry include a compass, protractor, square, graphing calculators, Geometers Sketchpad, and rulers. Euclid A major contributor to the field of geometry was Euclid (365-300 B.C.) who is famous for his works called The Elements. We continue to use his rules for geometry today. As you progress through primary and secondary education, Euclidean geometry and the study of plane geometry, are studied throughout. However, non-Euclidean geometry will become a focus in the later grades and college math. Geometry in Early Schooling When you  take geometry  in school, you  are developing spatial reasoning and problem-solving  skills. Geometry is linked to many other topics in math, specifically measurement. In early schooling, the geometric focus tends to be on shapes and solids. From there, you move to learning the properties and relationships of shapes and solids. You  will begin to use problem-solving  skills, deductive reasoning, understand transformations, symmetry, and spatial reasoning.   Geometry in Later Schooling As abstract thinking progresses, geometry becomes much more about analysis and reasoning. Throughout high school there is a focus on analyzing properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes, reasoning about geometric relationships, and using the coordinate system. Studying geometry provides many  foundational skills  and helps to build the thinking skills of logic, deductive reasoning, analytical reasoning, and  problem-solving. Major Concepts in Geometry The main concepts in geometry are lines and segments, shapes and solids (including polygons), triangles and angles, and the circumference of a circle. In Euclidean geometry, angles are used to study polygons and triangles. As a simple description, the fundamental structure in geometry—a line—was introduced by ancient mathematicians to represent straight objects with negligible width and depth. Plane geometry studies flat shapes like lines, circles, and triangles, pretty much any shape that can be drawn on a piece of paper. Meanwhile, solid geometry  studies three-dimensional objects like cubes, prisms, cylinders, and spheres. More advanced concepts in geometry include  platonic solids,  coordinate grids,  radians,  conic sections, and  trigonometry. The study of the angles of a triangle or of angles in a  unit circle  forms the basis of  trigonometry.