District University of Bogotá

About: District University of Bogotá is a education organization based out in Bogotá, Colombia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Fuzzy logic & Context (language use). The organization has 3980 authors who have published 4347 publications receiving 16719 citations.

TRY plant trait database : Enhanced coverage and open access

Abstract: Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Plant diversity patterns in neotropical dry forests and their conservation implications

Abstract: Seasonally dry tropical forests are distributed across Latin America and the Caribbean and are highly threatened, with less than 10% of their original extent remaining in many countries. Using 835 inventories covering 4660 species of woody plants, we show marked floristic turnover among inventories and regions, which may be higher than in other neotropical biomes, such as savanna. Such high floristic turnover indicates that numerous conservation areas across many countries will be needed to protect the full diversity of tropical dry forests. Our results provide a scientific framework within which national decision-makers can contextualize the floristic significance of their dry forest at a regional and continental scale.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD

Abstract: Writers and curriculum experts Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe present in this second edition of their best-seller Understanding by Design not only a framework to work on curriculum design in a more comprehensive, overarching, and thorough way but also a pedagogical as well as educational perspective that encourages teachers, students, administrative staff, and even policy makers, to reconsider the purpose, objectives, and impact that a thoughtful curriculum design can have for the community in which it is implemented. In this book, the authors provide a clear depiction of both the theoretical foundations and the practical elements putting everything together for the construction of the design of learning. The different chapters follow their three-staged backward design idea which I consider useful for a full understanding of this innovative way of planning and designing a curriculum.

La investigación educativa. Autor: María José Albert Gómez

Abstract: En esta obra se desarrollan ocho capitulos que van llevando el lector a comprender el significado de hacer investigacion en ambitos educativos. La autora explica lo que se puede entender por proceso de investigacion en este campo, las formas en que se puede planear la investigacion, las metodologias y tecnicas de constitucion de datos y sus respectivos analisis. De acuerdo con la autora, el proposito de la investigacion educativa es interpretar y comprender los fenomenos educativos mas que aportar explicaciones de tipo causal, en ella se pueden mezclar tanto tecnicas cualitativas como cuantitativas.