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1. The view of post-mining sites is rapidly changing among ecologists and conservationists, as sensitive restoration using spontaneous succession may turn such sites into biodiversity refuges in human-exploited regions. However, technical reclamation, consisting of covering the sites by topsoil, sowing fast-growing herb mixtures and planting trees, is still commonly adopted. Until now, no multi-taxa study has compared technically reclaimed sites and sites left with spontaneous succession. 2. We sampled communities of vascular plants and 10 arthropod groups in technically reclaimed and spontaneously restored plots in limestone quarries in the Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic. For comparison, we used paired t-tests and multivariate methods, emphasizing red-list status and habitat specialization of individual species. 3. We recorded 692 species of target taxa, with a high proportion of red-listed (10%) and xeric specialist (14%) species, corroborating the great conservation potential of the quarries. 4. Spontaneously restored post-mining sites did not differ in species richness from the technical reclaimed sites but they supported more rare species. The microhabitat cover of leaf litter, herbs and moss, were all directly influenced by the addition of topsoil during reclamation. 5.Synthesis and applications. Our results show that the high conservation potential of limestone quarries could be realized by allowing succession to progress spontaneously with minimal intervention. Given the threat to semi-natural sparsely vegetated habitats in many regions, active restoration measures at post-mining sites should be limited to maintenance of early successional stages, instead of acceleration of succession.

Because chief executive officer (CEO) behavior is an important factor in enterprise strategic decision-making, the effect of CEO behavior on green technology innovation has become a vital research concern related to the sustainability of China’s economic development. Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2019, and employing the Logit regression method and the causal mediating instrumental variable model, this paper examines the effect of CEO succession on green technology innovation and analyzes the mediating role of earnings management. The results show that CEO succession significantly negatively affects the performance of green technology innovation. This is mainly attributable to increase in enterprise earnings management motivation both before and after the CEO succession, thus affecting the CEO to implement green technology innovation motivation. Earnings management is thus identified as a factor in inhibiting green technology innovation during succession periods. Further subdividing the sample, the impact of CEO succession on green technology innovation shows strong heterogeneity; where state-owned enterprises and analysts pay more attention, the successor CEO’s motivation for earnings manipulation is weak, which weakens the negative effect of CEO succession on green technology innovation. The above conclusions are still robust after using the instrumental variable method, propensity score matching method, and the control of new environmental protection laws to alleviate endogeneity. The findings of this study contribute to the expansion of research on internal factors influencing green technology innovation, providing new empirical evidence for promoting the practice of green technology innovation within enterprises.

Speculation about the future of the North Korean regime has been intense for nearly two decades. In the 1990s, economic crises and famine led to predictions of the Kim regime's imminent downfall. Today analysts highlight impending famine as well as threats to the regime's position brought by eroding information control. Several theories of authoritarian control help to explain how Kim Jong-il and his family have remained in power and how this might change over time. The Kim regime has employed a variety of authoritarian \"tools\" to protect itself both from popular revolt and from internal coups. Its social policies, reliance on certain ideas and nationalism, and use of force prevent the onset of revolution. Through numerous other tools (elite co-optation, manipulation of foreign governments for financial aid, and the \"coupproofing\" of domestic institutions), the regime protects itself from coups d'état and elite unrest. This framework not only helps to explain the past resilience of the regime, but it suggests that the regime is not in danger of being unseated by coups or revolution. Yet it also suggests that the regime has not adequately prepared for succession after Kim's death. This analysis has implications for policy planning about the future of the Korean Peninsula, as well as for negotiations with and coercive strategies toward Pyongyang.

Cranberry agriculture once represented over a third of wetlands in the New Jersey pinelands, but many bogs have been abandoned as the industry has declined. The purpose of this study was to examine succession dynamics of cranberry bogs post abandonment in the New Jersey pinelands and also provide data on the association of local species in various ages of abandoned cranberry bogs in order to inform management practices. We assessed bog succession after abandonment from an active cranberry bog to 60 years since abandonment. We hypothesized the fate of community succession would be influenced by the original agricultural practice and whether or not the bog was kept flooded. Community diversity and structure was determined from plant and invertebrate inventories and a chronosequence for bog succession was developed. In abandoned bogs that were left to dry, there was a significant difference in groundcover and functional diversity over time. The most abundant functional group transitioned from herbs and graminoids to shrubs and trees. The ecological role of invertebrates shifted from pollinators to predators as a canopy developed. This work suggests despite the history of agricultural practice, cranberry bogs could return to a community similar to what is already found in the pinelands and differing management practices would determine their successional climax community.

Female mating frequency and male ejaculate allocation are likely to interact. Females may adjust their propensity for remating based on the amount of provided sperm to ensure a sufficient sperm supply, and males may determine sperm allocation based on female availability and female mating frequency. In this study, I investigated male and female mating behaviors in the parasitoid wasp Anisopteromalus calandrae. The wasp exhibits the haplo-diploid sex determination, in which sperm-depleted females are constrained to produce only sons by laying unfertilized eggs. The first experiment showed that a rapid succession of male mating decreased the production of daughters (fertilized eggs) by the inseminated females, suggesting that sperm-limited males provided an insufficient amount of sperm to the females. Although the males appeared to replenish their sperm store after 6 h, they mated upon encountering females despite their sperm shortage. The second experiment showed that copulation reduced the subsequent mating receptivity of the inseminated females irrespective of whether the females received a sufficient amount of sperm. Moreover, although approximately 26% of females accepted a second mating and recovered a certain degree of daughter production, remating was independent of the mating status of their first mating partner or the social environment. These results suggest that sperm-limited males may benefit from continuing to mate because their copulation prevents competing males from reproducing with their mates. Females incur a cost from not remating depending on the amount of sperm provided, which may result from weak environmental selection pressure or manipulation by the initial mate.

Ecologists employ a diverse body of theory to help explain patterns and processes in ecological systems, with the consistency of ecological theories tested against an increasingly altered world. The global redistribution of species is a prominent impact of climate change and human‐mediated biological invasions and often results in negative impacts to ecosystems. Recently, a species of colonial tunicate not previously present, Clavelina oblonga, has become prominent within the marine fouling community of Beaufort, North Carolina, USA. Fifty years ago, researchers tested theories of ecological succession developed in terrestrial systems and found that this marine community was characterized by a heterogeneous mixture of species that varied inter‐annually (i.e., multiple community states) and increased in diversity over time. A recent follow‐up study found that the fouling community is dominated by C. oblonga with patterns of community development and structure that led to the loss of alternative community states, domination by C. oblonga, and reduced species diversity. The present study addressed the question: Will patterns of community development identified over 50 yr ago still operate under reduced cover of invasive C. oblonga? This study also quantified the impacts of two large‐scale environmental disturbances (extremely cold winter and hurricane) on the abundance of C. oblonga and the resulting fouling community. Clavelina oblonga remains a dominant component of the fouling community due to its rapid growth and strong seasonal recruitment. Under conditions of reduced percent cover of C. oblonga, the local fouling community displayed unique community states that became even more distinct over time, consistent with the pattern of multiple community states identified by researchers over 50 yr ago, and that were dependent upon date of disturbance. Natural disturbances in this study caused by a harsh winter and a hurricane greatly reduced the presence of C. oblonga. This experiment advanced our understanding of marine community ecology by testing whether the concept of multiple community states identified over 50 yr ago is still operable in the absence of invasive C. oblonga, and highlights how natural environment disturbances can potentially moderate the spread of this invasive tunicate.

Under Xi Jinping, the cadre recruitment policy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been adapted. What are the political implications of these adaptations? This paper argues that Xi has sought to consolidate his power among the political elite and strengthen grassroots governance by introducing a new cadre recruitment policy. We propose the concept of ＂dual elite recruitment logic＂ as an aid to interpreting the cadre recruitment strategy in the Xi era: the CCP's system for appointing and promoting cadres at the full provincial/ministerial level (正部級, zhengbuji) and the grassroots follows' criteria that are different from those formulated under the previous ＂rejuvenation of cadres＂ principle. While China under Xi may be able to maintain political stability and promote socio-economic development in the short term, the lack of a new succession mechanism is the biggest obstacle to China's future political development.

The resolution of temporal attention is limited in a manner that makes it difficult to identify two targets in short succession. This limitation produces the phenomenon known as the attentional blink (AB), in which processing of a first target (T1) impairs identification of a second target (T2). In the AB literature, there is broad agreement that increasing the time it takes to process T1 leads to a larger AB. One might, therefore, predict that increasing the number of possible T1 identities, or target set, from 1 to 16 would lead to a larger AB. We were surprised to find that this manipulation of T1 difficulty had no influence on AB magnitude. In subsequent experiments, we found that AB magnitude interacts with T1 processing time only under certain circumstances. Specifically, when the T1 task was either well masked or had to be completed online, we found a reliable interaction between AB magnitude and the target set size. When neither of these conditions was fulfilled, there was no interaction between target set size and the AB. Previous research found that when the target set changes from trial to trial, trials with more possible targets elicited a larger AB. In the present study, the target set is held constant, reducing the demands on working memory. Nevertheless, AB magnitude still interacts with target set size, as long as the T1 task cannot be processed offline. Thus, the act of searching memory delays subsequent processing, even when the role of working memory has been minimized.

RESUMEN Introducción: La revocatoria de mandato es un mecanismo de control o accountability vertical, incorporado en varias constituciones latinoamericanas en mayor medida desde los años 90. Si el resultado del referéndum es el de revocar al representante, este cesa en el cargo y debe arbitrarse su reemplazo según la normativa. Materiales y Métodos: El supuesto que recorre el artículo es que el modo de reemplazo, electoral o no electoral, del mandatario es un factor relevante para definir el uso dado al mecanismo: como una herramienta de accountability social o como un instrumento de disputa político-electoral. A partir de la revisión de los casos de aplicación, se pretende dilucidar si es posible plantear una relación entre: el modo de sucesión de un mandatario revocado, la cantidad de solicitudes de revocatoria presentadas, la calidad de sus promotores y el tipo de uso dado al mecanismo. Para ello, se desarrolla un estudio exploratorio de los países latinoamericanos que incorporan la revocatoria en sus constituciones nacionales. Primero, se hace un análisis normativo de sus leyes fundamentales y de sus reglamentaciones, a fin de conocer el modo de sucesión previsto por cada Estado. Segundo, se efectúa un estudio de casos en profundidad para observar el desempeño del revocatorio en los hechos. Resultados: Tras el desarrollo de la investigación, se plantea la siguiente sugerencia: si el reemplazo se lleva a cabo por vía no electoral, las solicitudes de revocatoria suelen ser escasas y mayormente convocadas por los ciudadanos para librarse de malos gobernantes. En cambio, si la sucesión se define por elecciones, la revocatoria se usa con más frecuencia, y es mayormente convocada por actores políticos que pretenden acceder anticipadamente al cargo. Discusión: Dichos resultados ponen en cuestión la verdadera utilidad de un mecanismo que ha sido creado para favorecer el control ciudadano hacia los gobernantes, debido a que su diseño institucional puede habilitar un uso indeseado del mismo, atentando contra la gobernabilidad y la estabilidad institucional. ABSTRACT Introduction: The recall is a vertical accountability mechanism incorporated in several Latin American constitutions to a greater extent since the 90s. If the result of the referendum is to revoke the representative, he ceases in office and must be arbitrated to replace it according to the regulations. Materials and methods: The assumption that runs through the article is that the mode, electoral or non-electoral, of replacement of the representatives a relevant factor to define the use given to the mechanism: as a tool of societal accountability or as an instrument of electoral political dispute. From the review of the application cases, the aim is to clarify whether it is possible to establish a relationship between: the mode of succession of a revoked agent, the number of requests for recall submitted, the quality of their promoters and the type of use given to the mechanism. For this, an exploratory study of the Latin American countries that incorporate the recall in their national Constitutions is developed. First, a normative analysis of its fundamental laws and regulations is made, in order to know the mode way of succession provided by each State. Second, an in-depth case study is carried out to observe the performance of the recall in the facts. Results: After the development of the investigation, the following suggestion is made: if the replacement is carried out by non-electoral means, the cases of recall are usually scarce and mostly called by citizens to get rid of bad rulers. On the other hand, if the succession is defined by elections, the recall is used more frequently, and mostly by political actors who intend to gain early access to office. Discussion: These results call into question the true usefulness of a mechanism that has been created to favor citizen control the rulers, because its institutional design can enable its unwanted use, undermining governability and institutional stability.

Background and aims We studied the response of lignin oxidation in soils of a beech/oak forest to changes in litter fall. Additionally we considered possible factors in lignin oxidation, including altered (i) input of fresh organic matter and (ii) fiingi-to-bacteria ratios. Methods The field-based experiment included (i) doubling and (ii) exclusion of litter fall and (iii) controls with ambient litter fall. Soil (0-20 cm depth) was sampled after 8 years. We analyzed (i) lignin using the CuO oxidation method, (ii) stocks of free and mineral-bound organic carbon (OC), (iii) the response of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition to addition of labile organic compounds in laboratory incubations, and (iv) ratios of fungal-vs. bacterialderived amino sugars (F/B ratios). Results Litter exclusion increased stocks of free-light fraction OC, F/B ratios, the ability of the microbial community to use labile compounds for SOM decomposition, as well as acid-to-aldehyde ratios of vanillyltype lignin phenols in A horizons. Litter addition had no such effects. We assume that litter exclusion caused enhanced transport of organic debris from lower forest floor horizons with rainwater into the A horizon. Enhanced input of organic debris might have increased (i) the availability of labile compounds and (ii) F/B ratios. Consequently, lignin oxidation increased. Conclusions Enhanced input of organic debris from forest floors can increase lignin oxidation in mineral topsoils of the studied forest. The expected gradual changes in litter fall due to climate change likely will cause no such effects.