More Like this

1. Sperm and alternative reproductive tactics: a review of existing theory and empirical data

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0075  

   Kustra, Matthew C.; Alonzo, Suzanne H. (December 2020, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Males that exhibit alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) often differ in the risk of sperm competition and the energetic trade-offs they experience. The resulting patterns of selection could lead to between-tactic differences in ejaculate traits. Despite extensive research on male ARTs, there is no comprehensive review of whether and what differences in sperm traits exist between male ARTs. We review existing theory on ejaculate evolution relevant to ARTs and then conduct a comprehensive vote-counting review of the empirical data comparing sperm traits between males adopting ARTs. Despite the general expectation that sneaker males should produce sperm that are more competitive (e.g. higher quality or performance), we find that existing theory does not predict explicitly how males adopting ARTs should differ in sperm traits. The majority of studies find no significant difference in sperm performance traits between dominant and sneaker males. However, when there is a difference, sneaker males tend to have higher sperm performance trait values than dominant males. We propose ways that future theoretical and empirical research can improve our understanding of the evolution of ejaculate traits in ARTs. We then highlight how studying ejaculate traits in species with ARTs will improve our broader knowledge of ejaculate evolution. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Fifty years of sperm competition’. 

   more » « less
2. How Do Users Experience Moderation?: A Systematic Literature Review

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3610069  

   Ma, Renkai; You, Yue; Gui, Xinning; Kou, Yubo (September 2023, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction)

   Researchers across various fields have investigated how users experience moderation through different perspectives and methodologies. At present, there is a pressing need of synthesizing and extracting key insights from prior literature to formulate a systematic understanding of what constitutes a moderation experience and to explore how such understanding could further inform moderation-related research and practices. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) by analyzing 42 empirical studies related to moderation experiences and published between January 2016 and March 2022. We describe these studies' characteristics and how they characterize users' moderation experiences. We further identify five primary perspectives that prior researchers use to conceptualize moderation experiences. These findings suggest an expansive scope of research interests in understanding moderation experiences and considering moderated users as an important stakeholder group to reflect on current moderation design but also pertain to the dominance of the punitive, solutionist logic in moderation and ample implications for future moderation research, design, and practice. 

   more » « less
3. Beyond the Diagonal Reference Model: Critiques and New Directions in the Analysis of Mobility Effects

   https://doi.org/10.1177/00491241251358895  

   Fosse, Ethan; Pfeffer, Fabian T (November 2025, Sociological Methods & Research)

   Over the past decade there has been a striking increase in the number of quantitative studies examining the effects of social mobility, with almost all based on the diagonal reference model (DRM). We make four main contributions to this rapidly expanding literature. First, we show that under plausible values of mobility effects, the DRM will, in many cases, implicitly force the underlying mobility linear effect toward zero. In addition, we show both mathematically and through simulations that the mobility effects estimated by the DRM are sensitive to the size and sign of the origin and destination linear effects, often in ways that are unlikely to be intuitive to applied researchers. This finding clarifies why, contrary to expectations, applied researchers have generally found mixed evidence of mobility effects. Second, we generalize the identification problem of conventional mobility effect models by showing that the DRM and related methods can be viewed as special cases of a bounding analysis, where identification is achieved by invoking extremely strong assumptions. Finally, and importantly, we present a new framework for the analysis of mobility tables based on the identification and estimation of joint parameter sets, introducing what we call the structural and dynamic inequality model. We show that this model is fully identified, relies on much weaker assumptions than conventional models of mobility effects, and can be treated both as a descriptive model and, if additional assumptions are invoked, as a causal model. We conclude with an agenda for further research on the consequences of socioeconomic mobility. 

   more » « less
4. Rural–urban migration of Alaska Indigenous peoples: changing patterns and drivers

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-024-01298-7  

   Berman, Matthew; Wang-Cendejas, Ruoqing (July 2024, The Annals of Regional Science)

   Abstract Migration from rural areas to urban population centers has long been associated with modernization; a pattern one might expect to accelerate as advancing climate change degrades rural land-based livelihoods. Does rural–urban migration of arctic Indigenous peoples follow a similar pattern? Has depopulation of rural arctic areas accelerated as climate-driven environmental change has intensified in the rapidly warming arctic? What are the main drivers of mobility, both historically and more recently? We address these questions through a review and synthesis of empirical studies of rural–urban migration of arctic Indigenous peoples using individual records over the past four decades, along with analysis of new data informed by those previous studies. The use of microdata allows us to incorporate variation in individual situations and choices as well as community characteristics that vary across space and time, permitting us to make inferences about factors associated with decisions to move. The evidence shows that rural–urban migration patterns appear largely to have persisted over the decades, but some drivers have changed. Living costs appear to have replaced livelihood opportunities as the dominant driver since 2000. Other changes in decisions to move are complex, and require additional research to understand. 

   more » « less
5. Advancing the scholarship and practice of stakeholder engagement in working landscapes: a co-produced research agenda

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-022-00132-8  

   Eaton, Weston M.; Burnham, Morey; Robertson, Tahnee; Arbuckle, J. G.; Brasier, Kathryn J.; Burbach, Mark E.; Church, Sarah P.; Hart-Fredeluces, Georgia; Jackson-Smith, Douglas; Wildermuth, Grace; et al (December 2022, Socio-Ecological Practice Research)

   Abstract Participatory approaches to science and decision making, including stakeholder engagement, are increasingly common for managing complex socio-ecological challenges in working landscapes. However, critical questions about stakeholder engagement in this space remain. These include normative, political, and ethical questions concerning who participates, who benefits and loses, what good can be accomplished, and for what, whom, and by who. First, opportunities for addressing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion interests through engagement, while implied in key conceptual frameworks, remain underexplored in scholarly work and collaborative practice alike. A second line of inquiry relates to research–practice gaps. While both the practice of doing engagement work and scholarly research on the efficacy of engagement is on the rise, there is little concerted interplay among ‘on-the-ground’ practitioners and scholarly researchers. This means scientific research often misses or ignores insight grounded in practical and experiential knowledge, while practitioners are disconnected from potentially useful scientific research on stakeholder engagement. A third set of questions concerns gaps in empirical understanding of the efficacy of engagement processes and includes inquiry into how different engagement contexts and process features affect a range of behavioral, cognitive, and decision-making outcomes. Because of these gaps, a cohesive and actionable research agenda for stakeholder engagement research and practice in working landscapes remains elusive. In this review article, we present a co-produced research agenda for stakeholder engagement in working landscapes. The co-production process involved professionally facilitated and iterative dialogue among a diverse and international group of over 160 scholars and practitioners through a yearlong virtual workshop series. The resulting research agenda is organized under six cross-cutting themes: (1) Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; (2) Ethics; (3) Research and Practice; (4) Context; (5) Process; and (6) Outcomes and Measurement. This research agenda identifies critical research needs and opportunities relevant for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike. We argue that addressing these research opportunities is necessary to advance knowledge and practice of stakeholder engagement and to support more just and effective engagement processes in working landscapes. 

   more » « less