| 1. |
- Broekman, Maarten J. E., et al.
(författare)
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Evaluating expert-based habitat suitability information of terrestrial mammals with GPS-tracking data
- 2022
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Ingår i: Global Ecology and Biogeography. - : Wiley. - 1466-822X .- 1466-8238. ; 31:8, s. 1526-1541
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim: Macroecological studies that require habitat suitability data for many species often derive this information from expert opinion. However, expert-based information is inherently subjective and thus prone to errors. The increasing availability of GPS tracking data offers opportunities to evaluate and supplement expert-based information with detailed empirical evidence. Here, we compared expert-based habitat suitability information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with habitat suitability information derived from GPS-tracking data of 1,498 individuals from 49 mammal species.Location: Worldwide.Time period: 1998-2021.Major taxa studied: Forty-nine terrestrial mammal species.Methods: Using GPS data, we estimated two measures of habitat suitability for each individual animal: proportional habitat use (proportion of GPS locations within a habitat type), and selection ratio (habitat use relative to its availability). For each individual we then evaluated whether the GPS-based habitat suitability measures were in agreement with the IUCN data. To that end, we calculated the probability that the ranking of empirical habitat suitability measures was in agreement with IUCN's classification into suitable, marginal and unsuitable habitat types.Results: IUCN habitat suitability data were in accordance with the GPS data (> 95% probability of agreement) for 33 out of 49 species based on proportional habitat use estimates and for 25 out of 49 species based on selection ratios. In addition, 37 and 34 species had a > 50% probability of agreement based on proportional habitat use and selection ratios, respectively.Main conclusions: We show how GPS-tracking data can be used to evaluate IUCN habitat suitability data. Our findings indicate that for the majority of species included in this study, it is appropriate to use IUCN habitat suitability data in macroecological studies. Furthermore, we show that GPS-tracking data can be used to identify and prioritize species and habitat types for re-evaluation of IUCN habitat suitability data.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Baier, Tina, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Influences on Educational Achievement in Cross-National Perspective
- 2022
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Ingår i: European Sociological Review. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0266-7215 .- 1468-2672. ; 38:6, s. 959-974
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a growing interest in how social conditions moderate genetic influences on education [gene–environment interactions (GxE)]. Previous research has focused on the family, specifically parents’ social background, and has neglected the institutional environment. To assess the impact of macro-level influences, we compare genetic influences on educational achievement and their social stratification across Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. We combine well-established GxE-conceptualizations with the comparative stratification literature and propose that educational systems and welfare-state regimes affect the realization of genetic potential. We analyse population-representative survey data on twins (Germany and the United States) and twin registers (Norway and Sweden), and estimate genetically sensitive variance decomposition models. Our comparative design yields three main findings. First, Germany stands out with comparatively weak genetic influences on educational achievement suggesting that early tracking limits the realization thereof. Second, in the United States genetic influences are comparatively strong and similar in size compared to the Nordic countries. Third, in Sweden genetic influences are stronger among disadvantaged families supporting the expectation that challenging and uncertain circumstances promote genetic expression. This ideosyncratic finding must be related to features of Swedish social institutions or welfare-state arrangements that are not found in otherwise similar countries.
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| 4. |
- Bratsberg, Bernt, et al.
(författare)
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Birth Order and Voter Turnout
- 2022
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Ingår i: British Journal of Political Science. - : Cambridge University Press. - 0007-1234 .- 1469-2112. ; 52:1, s. 475-482
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous studies have stressed the role of a child's family environment for future political participation. This field of research has, however, overlooked that children within the same family have different experiences depending on their birth order. First-borns spend their first years of life without having to compete over their parents' attention and resources, while their younger siblings are born into potential rivalry. We examine differences in turnout depending on birth order, using unique population-wide individual level register data from Sweden and Norway that enables precise within-family estimates. We consistently find that higher birth order entails lower turnout, and that the turnout differential with respect to birth order is stronger when turnout is lower. The link between birth order and turnout holds when we use data from four other, non-Nordic countries. This birth order effect appears to be partly mediated by socio-economic position and attitudinal predispositions.
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| 5. |
- Dawes, Christopher T., et al.
(författare)
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A polygenic score for educational attainment partially predicts voter turnout
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 118:50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Twin and adoption studies have shown that individual differences in political participation can be explained, in part, by genetic variation. However, these research designs cannot identify which genes are related to voting or the pathways through which they exert influence, and their conclusions rely on possibly restrictive assumptions. In this study, we use three different US samples and a Swedish sample to test whether genes that have been identified as associated with educational attainment, one of the strongest correlates of political participation, predict self-reported and validated voter turnout. We find that a polygenic score capturing individuals' genetic propensity to acquire education is significantly related to turnout. The strongest associations we observe are in second-ordermidterm elections in the United States and European Parliament elections in Sweden, which tend to be viewed as less important by voters, parties, and the media and thus present a more information-poor electoral environment for citizens to navigate. A within-family analysis suggests that individuals' education-linked genes directly affect their voting behavior, but, for second-order elections, it also reveals evidence of genetic nurture. Finally, a mediation analysis suggests that educational attainment and cognitive ability combine to account for between 41% and 63% of the relationship between the genetic propensity to acquire education and voter turnout.
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| 6. |
- Dawes, Christopher T., et al.
(författare)
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Experimental Game Theory and Behavior Genetics
- 2009
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Ingår i: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. - : Wiley. - 0077-8923. ; , s. 66-75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We summarize the findings from a research program studying the heritability of behavior in a number of widely used economic games, including trust, dictator, and ultimatum games. Results from the standard behavior genetic variance decomposition suggest that strategies and fundamental economic preference parameters are moderately heritable, with estimates ranging from 18 to 42%. In addition, we also report new evidence on so-called "hyperfair" preferences in the ultimatum game. We discuss the implications of our findings with special reference to current efforts that seek to understand the molecular genetic architecture of complex social behaviors.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Dawes, Christopher T., et al.
(författare)
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Linking Genes and Political Orientations: Testing the Cognitive Ability as Mediator Hypothesis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Political Psychology. - : Wiley: 24 months. - 1467-9221 .- 0162-895X. ; 36:6, s. 649-665
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent research has demonstrated that genetic differences explain a sizeable fraction of the variance in political orientations, but little is known about the pathways through which genes might affect political preferences. In this article, we use a uniquely assembled dataset of almost 1,000 Swedish male twin pairs containing detailed information on cognitive ability and political attitudes in order to further examine the genetic and environmental causes of political orientations. Our study makes three distinct contributions to our understanding of the etiology of political orientations: (1) we report heritability estimates across different dimensions of political ideology; (2) we show that cognitive ability and political orientations are related; and (3) we provide evidence consistent with the hypothesis that cognitive ability mediates part of the genetic influence on political orientations. These findings provide important clues about the nature of the complex pathways from molecular genetic variation to political orientations.
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| 9. |
- Dawes, Christopher T, et al.
(författare)
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The Relationship Between Genes, Psychological Traits, and Political Participation
- 2014
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Ingår i: American Journal of Political Science. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0092-5853 .- 1540-5907. ; 58:4, s. 888-903
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent research demonstrates that a wide range of political attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors canbe explained in part by genetic variation. However, these studies have not yet identied themechanisms that generate such a relationship. Some scholars have speculated that psychologicaltraits mediate the relationship between genes and political participation, but so far there havebeen no empirical tests. Here we focus on the role of three psychological traits that are believed toinuence political participation: cognitive ability, personal control, and extraversion. Utilizinga unique sample of more than 2,000 Swedish twin pairs, we show that a common genetic factorcan explain most of the relationship between these psychological traits and acts of politicalparticipation as well as predispositions related to participation. While our analysis is not adenitive test, our results suggest an upper bound for a proposed mediation relationship betweengenes, psychological traits, and political participation.
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| 10. |
- Dinesen, Peter Thisted, et al.
(författare)
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Estimating the Impact of Education on Political Participation : Evidence from Monozygotic Twins in the United States, Denmark and Sweden
- 2016
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Ingår i: Political Behavior. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0190-9320 .- 1573-6687. ; 38:3, s. 579-601
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study we provide new evidence on the much-discussed effect of education on political participation by utilizing the quasi-experiment of twinning. By looking at the relationship between education and participation within monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs we are able to circumvent traditional sources of confounding of the relationship rooted in genes and early life family environment because MZ twins share both. The results of within-twin pair analyses based on surveys from the United States, Denmark and Sweden show that while the relationship between education and political participation is highly confounded by genes and/or familial environment in all three countries, a positive impact remains of years of education in the US and of high school completion in Denmark. No effect is found in Sweden. Robustness checks suggest that the observed effect is not confounded by within-twin pair differences in prenatal environment nor differential treatment during childhood, and, if anything, that it most likely constitutes a lower bound estimate.
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