Thesis (doctoral)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Universität, Bayreuth.

When investigating the construction industry's lack of digitization, it is often explained that it is because of a conservative culture. The purpose of this study has been to problematize the labelling as conservative and to study a company in the industry to gain a deeper understanding of what other problems that may exist. Based on this, three research questions were identified which the study had as a goal to answer. These are: how the construction industry can be said to be conservative, how the conservatism is expressed, and what other barriers that exists that cannot be said to be derived from conservatism. The study has been conducted through a case study at Skanska Sverige AB with Region Hus Norr as a delimitation. Furthermore, it has been divided into two phases where semi-structural interviews and a document review have been used as the basis for a description of the current situation. The result shows that it is not a representative state of the construction industry to say that it is conservative, and during the case study no underlying expressions of conservatism was observed. On the other hand, there are several other areas that are considered as the reason for a slow development. The conclusions drawn is that the way the Swedish Public Procurement Act is conducted today is one of the reasons for this. An accelerated change process where some steps in the change management models are skipped is also seen as a reason. Furthermore, there are signs of that the current processes not always support efficient digitization, which indicates that the work in some cases only move from an analog to a digital state. Lastly, an indication of a stove pipe structure in the development area has been observed during the study, which can affect the efficiency and target improvement in a negative way. / När byggbranschens uteblivna digitalisering undersöks förklaras det ofta med att det är på grund av en konservativ kultur. Syftet med denna studie har varit att problematisera stämplingen som konservativ och genom att studera ett företag verksamt inom branschen få en djupare förståelse för vilka andra problem som kan finnas. Utifrån detta fastställdes tre frågeställningar vilka studien haft som mål att besvara. Dessa behandlar på vilket sätt byggbranschen kan sägas vara konservativ, hur konservatismen tar sig uttryck samt vilka andra hinder som finns som inte kan sägas härstamma från konservatism. Studien har genomförts via en fallstudie på Skanska Sverige AB med Region Hus Norr som avgränsat område. Vidare har den varit uppdelad i två olika faser där semi-strukturella intervjuer och en dokumentgranskning använts som grund för en nulägesbeskrivning. Resultatet visar att det inte är en representativ bild av byggbranschen att den idag kallas för konservativ och under fallstudien iakttogs inga uttryck för konservatism. Däremot framkommer det flera andra områden som anses ligga till grund för en långsam utveckling. Slutsatsen som dras är att lagen om offentlig upphandling är en av anledningarna till att viss utveckling inom branschen förhindrats. Även en påskyndad förändringsprocess, där vissa steg i för- och avslutningsfasen inom förändringsledning hoppas över, ses som en anledning till detta. Det påvisas även att de processer som finns inte alltid stödjer en effektiv digitalisering, vilket tyder på att det i vissa fall enbart sker en förflyttning av arbetet från analogt till digitalt. Avslutningsvis har en antydan till en stuprörsstruktur observerats under studien vad gäller utvecklingsfrågor, vilket i stor uträckning kan påverka effektiviteten och den eftersträvade förbättringen negativt.

When investigating the construction industry's lack of digitization, it is often explained that it is because of a conservative culture. The purpose of this study has been to problematize the labelling as conservative and to study a company in the industry to gain a deeper understanding of what other problems that may exist. Based on this, three research questions were identified which the study had as a goal to answer. These are: how the construction industry can be said to be conservative, how the conservatism is expressed, and what other barriers that exists that cannot be said to be derived from conservatism. The study has been conducted through a case study at Skanska Sverige AB with Region Hus Norr as a delimitation. Furthermore, it has been divided into two phases where semi-structural interviews and a document review have been used as the basis for a description of the current situation. The result shows that it is not a representative state of the construction industry to say that it is conservative, and during the case study no underlying expressions of conservatism was observed. On the other hand, there are several other areas that are considered as the reason for a slow development. The conclusions drawn is that the way the Swedish Public Procurement Act is conducted today is one of the reasons for this. An accelerated change process where some steps in the change management models are skipped is also seen as a reason. Furthermore, there are signs of that the current processes not always support efficient digitization, which indicates that the work in some cases only move from an analog to a digital state. Lastly, an indication of a stove pipe structure in the development area has been observed during the study, which can affect the efficiency and target improvement in a negative way. / När byggbranschens uteblivna digitalisering undersöks förklaras det ofta med att det är på grund av en konservativ kultur. Syftet med denna studie har varit att problematisera stämplingen som konservativ och genom att studera ett företag verksamt inom branschen få en djupare förståelse för vilka andra problem som kan finnas. Utifrån detta fastställdes tre frågeställningar vilka studien haft som mål att besvara. Dessa behandlar på vilket sätt byggbranschen kan sägas vara konservativ, hur konservatismen tar sig uttryck samt vilka andra hinder som finns som inte kan sägas härstamma från konservatism. Studien har genomförts via en fallstudie på Skanska Sverige AB med Region Hus Norr som avgränsat område. Vidare har den varit uppdelad i två olika faser där semi-strukturella intervjuer och en dokumentgranskning använts som grund för en nulägesbeskrivning. Resultatet visar att det inte är en representativ bild av byggbranschen att den idag kallas för konservativ och under fallstudien iakttogs inga uttryck för konservatism. Däremot framkommer det flera andra områden som anses ligga till grund för en långsam utveckling. Slutsatsen som dras är att lagen om offentlig upphandling är en av anledningarna till att viss utveckling inom branschen förhindrats. Även en påskyndad förändringsprocess, där vissa steg i för- och avslutningsfasen inom förändringsledning hoppas över, ses som en anledning till detta. Det påvisas även att de processer som finns inte alltid stödjer en effektiv digitalisering, vilket tyder på att det i vissa fall enbart sker en förflyttning av arbetet från analogt till digitalt. Avslutningsvis har en antydan till en stuprörsstruktur observerats under studien vad gäller utvecklingsfrågor, vilket i stor uträckning kan påverka effektiviteten och den eftersträvade förbättringen negativt.

The influence of right-wing political conservatism on support for democracy and the criminalization of social protest is analyzed in a sample of university students from the city of Lima (N = 201). As indicators of the right-wing political conservatism, measures of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing political orientation were used. Two path diagrams were proposed: the second diagram showed a proper degree of fit and proposes a positive covariance between RWA, SDO and right-wing political orientation. The diagram also suggests that RWA, SDO and right-wing political orientation exert a direct influence on the criminalization of social protest, while SDO and RWA exert an indirect influence on support for democracy. Finally, support for democracy present an inverse correlation with the criminalization of social protest. / Se analiza la influencia del conservadurismo político de derecha sobre el apoyo a la democracia y la criminalización de la protesta social en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios de Lima (N = 201). El conservadurismo político de derecha fue evaluado utilizando medidas de autoritarismo (RWA), orientación hacia la dominancia social (SDO) y orientación política de derecha. Dos diagramas de sendero (Path Analysis) fueron propuestos: el segundo diagrama presentó un ajuste adecuado y propone, en primer lugar, una covarianza positiva entre el RWA, la SDO y la orientación política de derecha. Asimismo, tanto el RWA, como la SDO y la orientación política de derecha ejercen una influencia directa sobre la criminalización de la protesta social, mientras solo la SDO y el RWA ejercen una influencia inversa sobre el apoyo a la democracia. Finalmente, se observa una correlación inversa entre el apoyo a la democracia y la criminalización de la protesta social.

Os gradientes de riqueza e diversidade foram extensivamente explorados por ecólogos, estudando as interações dos organismos com o meio em escalas locais, e biogeógrafos, que buscam entender como os organismos se distribuem atualmente e no passado na superfície da terra em relação a dinâmicas de extinção, especiação e dispersão. Mas tão fundamental quanto saber o que determina o número de espécies em um determinado local, é saber o que determina quem são as espécies que ocorrem ali, ou seja, a composição de espécies. Nas últimas décadas, os ecólogos têm reconhecido que a organização das comunidades não é determinada apenas pelo ambiente atual e por interações biológicas, mas também pela história evolutiva dos clados que compõem as comunidades e pelo histórico biogeográfico da região. Os caminhos evolutivos de cada linhagem que compõe o pool de espécies se tornam as peças chave na explicação dos padrões de riqueza e diversidade atuais. Eu avaliei fatores ambientais e espaciais que influenciaram a organização dos clados de tiranídeos em sítios distribuídos ao longo da área de ocorrência da floresta com Araucaria, e como os gradientes de estrutura filogenética, juntamente com variáveis espaciais, ambientais e de disponibilidade de recurso, afetam a distribuição dos tiranídeos frugívoros naquele bioma. Os resultados mostraram que fatores históricos são os principais determinantes da organização dos clados e da variação espacial da frugivoria por Tyrannidae ao longo do gradiente de distribuição da floresta com Araucaria. Os resultados indicam que os processos ecológicos de organização das diferentes comunidades localizadas nesse tipo florestal são, de maneira geral, determinados pela dinâmica histórica de retração e expansão da floresta com Araucaria como um todo. A utilização de gradientes filogenéticos ajudou a elucidar alguns mecanismos históricos, como dinâmicas passadas de dispersão e especiação dos grupos, por trás de padrões de variação na frugivoria, que indicam uma possível conservação filogenética de nicho. / Gradients of richness and diversity were extensively addressed by ecologists studying the interactions between organisms and the environment in local scales, and by biogeographers seeking to understand the current and past distribution of organisms in relation to extinction, speciation and dispersal dynamics. Besides untangling the drivers of species richness in a certain site, it is also important to understand what species occur in that site, i.e. species composition. Recently, ecologists have recognized that community assembly is not only influenced by current environment and biological interactions, but also by the evolutionary history of clades in the community and by the biogeographical history of the region. The evolutionary path of each lineage within the species pool is now considered important to explain the current richness and diversity patterns. I evaluated how environmental and spatial factors drive Tyrannidae phylogenetic assembly in sites distributed along Araucaria forest range and how phylogenetic gradients, together with resource availability, spatial and environmental variables, affect the frugivorous Tyrannidae in that biome. The results showed that historical factors are the main determinants of phylogenetic assembly and of spatial variation in frugivory by Tyrannidae in the distribution range of the Araucaria forests. The results indicated that ecological processes that structure community assemblies in the Araucaria forests are, in a general way, determined by the historical dynamic of expansion and contraction of Araucaria forest as a hole. The use of phylogenetic information helped us to elucidate some historical mechanisms behind the variation pattern of frugivory, which indicated possible phylogenetic niche conservatism.

A tese aqui exposta dedica-se ao estudo e à maior compreensão da política norte-americana. Mais especificamente, dedica-se ao estudo da suposta polarização partidária e ascensão conservadora Republicana no período recente. Tratados como fato pela literatura especializada, o estudo aqui feito trata esses dois fenômenos como hipóteses a serem testadas. Desse modo, por meio de uma maior apreensão do que se entende por ideologias políticas como Conservadorismo e Liberalismo no contexto dos Estados Unidos, bem como de uma metodologia que privilegia o uso de plataformas nacionais como indicativo de retrato ideológico partidário; esse estudo busca evidenciar empiricamente aproximações e/ou distanciamentos entre os partidos políticos e, consequentemente, a ascensão ou o declínio de ideologias tal como o Conservadorismo no que tange ao Partido Rebublicano. Através de indicadores de gradação, rede e frequência de palavras a partir das plataformas nacionais de ambos os partidos políticos (Democrata e Republicano) no período entre 1936 a 2012; se busca evidenciar de modo mais empírico esses dois fenômenos. Os resultados nos indicam que, de fato, há uma polarização partidária no período recente; no entanto, essa não é única na história desse país. Da mesma forma, percebe-se que há uma ascensão conservadora por parte do Partido Republicano, sobretudo no que diz respeito a certas categorias de análise tal como as questões sociais. / The work exposed here is dedicated to the study and to a greater understanding of the North-American politics. More specifically, intends to study the suposedly recent party polarization and Republican conservative ascendancy. Treated as a fact by the specialized literature, the study here done treats these two phenomena as hypothesis to be tested. As such, through a greater understanding of ideologies such as Conservatism and Liberalism in the context of the United States, as well as a methodology that favors the use of national platforms as an indicative of party ideological portrait; this work seeks to empirically evidence points of similiarities and differences between the political parties and, as a consequence, the ascent or decline of ideologies such as Conservatism in reference to the Republican Party. Through indicators of gradation, wordtree and word frequency from the national platforms of the two political parties (Democratic and Republican) between 1936 and 2012; this work seeks to evidence in a more empirical way these two phenomena. The results show us that, indeed, there is a party polarization in the recent period; nevertheless, this is not the only one in the history of this country. In the same way, it can be perceived that there is a conservative ascendancy by the Republican Party, especially when dealing with some categories of analysis such as social policies.

This thesis consists of a set of interrelated essays that illustrate the persistence of the Conservative party in Colombia in the early twentieth century. No particular landmarks or turning-points can be identified in recent Colombian history. The dates 1930 and 1953 are, therefore, in part, dates of convenience: but they carry some, if limited, significance. In 1930 the Conservative party was ousted from office after over forty years of office, and was replaced by a coalition government with a Liberal president. In 1953 a Conservative government was again removed from power: on this occasion by a military government with an initially Conservative complexion. The period chosen makes possible the study of the Conservative party in contrasting postures: in opposition, in power and in coalition with Liberals. Because the period of study is no more clearly defined than this references outside it have been made freely The work has been organized in the following manner: Chapter One performs a double function. It contains both a general narrative of political events at a national level and an examination of mutations in the relationships between and within the elites of the two parties: Conservative and Liberal. An extensive treatment serves to underline the flexibility and durability of the Conservative party: the strivings of its members after a distinct party identity, their attitudes to coalition, the practice of co-option and economic policy are discussed. Regional and local considerations have been mentioned in this section only where they bear immediately on party relationships at a national level. The Colombian political elite, in the period under review, put a heavy stress upon abstract political speculation. Chapter Two gives an account of how ideological postures were used to substantiate partisan and personal positions and of how ideological restatements gave sporadic sensations of renewal to the Conservative party. Chapters Three and Four consider the relationships between the Conservative party and principal institutions - the Church, the army and the police. The role of the Church was crucial because it was expected by Conservatives - at least, until 1949 - to act as the primary bulwark of the social and political order. Despite its claim to a single identity, the Church rarely behaved coherently, largely as a consequence of contrasting regional patterns of social, religious and political behaviour. The ways these were projected nationally are considered at length. The failure of the Church to maintain the public order led Conservatives to fall back on the army and police. Liberals, for much of the period studied, considered the army to be a Conservative institution and built up the police as a countervailing force. Certain Conservatives strove to preserve the army as a partisan institution, and, from 1946, tried to convert the police force into a Conservative instrument. The destabilizing impact of the relationships of the parties with the coercive arms of the state is considered; and the relationship of civilian Conservative and miltary leaders before the coup of 1953 is stressed. Chapter Five contains a brief study of Conservatives and elections. It falls into two parts: some qualitative statements about electoral behaviour are substantiated by some quantitative data. Chapter Six considers the national leadership of the Conservative party by focusing upon two of its outstanding figures: Laureano Gómez, unequalled leader in the period undertaken and president in 1950, who represented the tradition of confrontation at its most persistent and articulate; and Mariano Ospina Pérez, president in 1946 and arguably the most important Conservative figure after 1953, who represented a tradition of conciliation and concession. Some conclusions about patterns of leadership with reference to other Conservative leaders then follow. Conservative activity in the regions is considered in Chapter Seven. The department of Antioquia receives particular attention, and the Santanders some. This section stresses variations in political style and underlines the proclivity of the party structure to fission and breakdown. Some general perspectives on the Conservative party then follow. Appendix One contains a brief account of the role of the press in Colombia. Appendices Two and Three serve to illustaate the election materials in Chapter Five. An extensive bibliography should go some way towards correcting the paucity of bibliographical aids on twentieth-century Colombia.

Cette thèse étudie le parcours d’une figure politique de second rang de la République fédérale d’Allemagne, August Haußleiter (1905-1989). Ayant grandi dans un milieu rural et protestant, il entra en contact avec le mouvement national-socialiste, sans toutefois adhérer au NSDAP. Après avoir été journaliste local du Fränkischer Kurier, Haußleiter fut propagandiste de la Wehrmacht. Dans l’après-guerre, au mitan de sa vie, il se consacra à la politique. Il fut d’abord député de l’Union chrétienne-sociale de Bavière (1946-1949), puis fonda un parti politique antidémocratique et national-neutraliste, la Deutsche Gemeinschaft, qui se définissait comme mouvement de libération allemand, en opposition au modèle démocratique ouest-allemand. En rejetant la politique germano-allemande et extérieure de la République fédérale et en plaidant pour une Allemagne neutre et unie, Haußleiter était une des voix d’un milieu neutraliste particulièrement hétérogène, s’opposant à différents degrés au « modèle » occidental. Dans le cadre de la libéralisation de la société ouest-allemande des années 1960, Haußleiter tenta de s’ériger en bras parlementaire de l’Opposition extra-parlementaire, dans le cadre de l’Aktionsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Deutscher. Enfin, face à la prise de conscience accrue des liens entre une croissance démesurée et les problèmes environnementaux au début des années 1970, Haußleiter fut l’une des forces issues de la droite politique qui participèrent à l’initiation du parti vert ouest-allemand Die Grünen. L’intérêt de cette biographie politique découle de la non-linéarité d’une trajectoire individuelle qui amène à décloisonner les catégories politiques classiques de droite et de gauche et à soulever la question de l’existence d’idées, d’acteurs, de structures, de moments et de lieux qui pouvaient faire figure de lien entre ces différents engagements politiques. Se déployant pendant les quarante années de la séparation de l’Allemagne, la carrière politique d’August Haußleiter reflète les évolutions de la « question allemande » des ruines de l’après-guerre à la Wende des années 1989/90 et permet ainsi de questionner les principales mutations de la culture politique ouest-allemande jusqu’à l’unification de l’Allemagne / This PHD thesis examines the career of German politician August Haußleiter (1905-1989). Haußleiter, born the son of a pastor and raised in a rural environment in Bavaria, came into contact with the National Socialist movement, though he did not join the Nazi party. After working as a journalist for the Fränkischer Kurier, he became a military propagandist of the Wehrmacht. In the post-war period, Haußleiter devoted himself to politics. He first served as a deputy of the Christian Social Union (1946-1949), then developed a new antidemocratic and national-neutralist political party, the German Community. This party defined itself in opposition to the democratic model of the German Federal Republic. Haußleiter rejected the West German policies towards the German Democratic Republic and pleaded in favour of a united and neutral Germany. In doing so, Haußleiter was one of the voices of a very heterogenous neutralist environment, with varying degrees of opposition to the occidental model. In the context of the liberalisation of Western German society in the 1960s, Haußleiter attempted to become the parliamentary representation of the German Extra-Parliamentary Opposition inside the Action Community for an Independent Germany, which he had joined in 1965. Against a backdrop of increased awareness around the link between economic growth and environmental problems in the 1970s, Haußleiter participated in the electoral green movement and party. This political biography highlights the non-linear progression of an individual career that breaks down the barriers between the traditional political categories of right and left and raises the question of ideas, actors, structures, moments and places working as ties between different political engagements. Spanning the 40 years of German separation, the political career of Haußleiter reflects the evolutions of the 'German question' from the post-war ruins to the turn of 1989/1990 and questions the main changes in West German political culture until the country’s reunification / Diese Dissertation setzt sich mit der Biografie des zweitrangigen Politikers August Haußleiter (1905-1989) auseinander, der in Nürnberg als Pfarrersohn geboren wurde. Haußleiter war kein Mitglied der NSDAP, kam aber mit der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung in Berührung. Er arbeitete als Journalist im Fränkischen Kurier, bevor er in die Wehrmacht eingezogen wurde, wo er Mitglied verschiedener Propagandakompanien wurde. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg widmete er sich der Politik. Erst als CSU-Abgeordneter im Bayerischen Landtag (1946-1949), bevor er eine antidemokratische und national-neutralistische Kleinpartei gründete, die Deutsche Gemeinschaft, die sich als deutsche Freiheits- und Erneuerungsbewegung verstand und sich gegen die westdeutsche demokratisch-liberale Grundordnung positionierte. Indem er die Deutschland- und Außenpolitik der Bundesrepublik verwarf und für ein neutrales und geeintes Deutschland warb, war Haußleiter ein Vertreter eines sehr heterogenen neutralistischen Lagers, in dem die Opposition zum Westen stark variierte. Im Rahmen der Liberalisierung der westdeutschen Gesellschaft in den 1960er Jahren versuchte Haußleiter erfolglos die Aktionsgemeinschaft Unabhängiger Deutscher, in die die DG 1965 aufging, zum parlamentarischen Arm der Außerparlamentarischen Opposition zu machen. Im Rahmen der immer stärkeren Bewusstwerdung des Zusammenhangs zwischen Wachstum und globalen Umweltproblemen ab Anfang der 1970er Jahre wirkte Haußleiter aktiv an der Gründung der westdeutschen Grünen mit, die seine letzte politische Heimat wurden. Der politische Werdegang Haußleiters erscheint paradox und nur schwer erfassbar, da er sich unentwegt zwischen rechten und linken Denk- und Handlungsstrukturen bewegte und so die herkömmlichen politischen Kategorien in Frage stellt. Diese Dissertation geht der Frage nach, inwiefern Ideen, Akteure, Strukturen, Momente oder Orte es vermochten, zwischen seinen sukzessiven Lebensphasen bzw. parteipolitischen Zugehörigkeiten Brücken zu schlagen. Insofern als sich Haußleiters politische Karriere auf die gesamte Zeit der deutschen Teilung erstreckt, ermöglicht sie es die Frage nach den Wandlungen der politischen Kultur der Bundesrepublik zu beleuchten.

Em ambientes florestais, a luz é o recurso que com mais frequência limita o crescimento, a sobrevivência e a reprodução em plantas. Assim, a variação na disponibilidade de luz no sub-bosque influencia a composição local de espécies lenhosas, que se segregam em diferentes nichos de luz de acordo com suas preferências e tolerâncias, conferidas através de suas adaptações e plasticidade fenotípica. Os atributos das espécies atuais, além de serem adaptados ao ambiente onde vivem, são um legado de seus ancestrais, motivo pelo qual espécies mais próximas filogeneticamente, com frequência compartilham atributos semelhantes e, por consequência, ocupam nichos similares, padrão conhecido como conservação filogenética. Estudos recentes mostram que atributos funcionais relacionados à captação de luz teriam se diversificado através de diferentes grupos filogenéticos, conferindo a estes capacidades distintas para a conquista de novos ambientes de luz. Nosso trabalho teve como objetivo detectar a presença de padrões filogenéticos na distribuição e nas respostas ecofisiológicas de oito espécies lenhosas co-ocorrentes e de seus respectivos clados em um sub-bosque florestal, a partir da comparação do nicho de luz e do desempenho de plantas juvenis em resposta ao gradiente luminoso existente. Assim nossas hipóteses são de que 1) as espécies filogeneticamente próximas tem maior semelhança em estratégias adaptativas do que espécies filogeneticamente distantes; 2) a amplitude de nicho e 3) a plasticidade de atributos em resposta à luz aumentam em clados mais derivados. Os resultados apresentados aqui mostraram uma maior similaridade entre as espécies mais relacionadas do que entre aquelas que são filogeneticamente distantes, sugerindo conservação filogenética do nicho. Quanto à amplitude de nicho, também há uma influência filogenética, porém, contrário ao esperado, os clados mais antigos apresentaram um nicho mais amplo. Para a plasticidade dos atributos os resultados aqui apresentados mostram que não há padrões filogenéticos na plasticidade das respostas de espécies e clados estudados, sugerindo o efeito de outros fatores sobre a plasticidade das plantas, como efeitos ontogenéticos ou estresse ambiental. / In forest environments, light is the resource that most often limits the growth, survival and reproduction in plants. Thus, the variation in light availability, regarded as one of the most important resources for woody plants in the understory, results in differences in species composition, which segregate in different light niches according to their preferences and tolerances, conferred by their adaptations and phenotypic plasticity. Extant plant traits are not only adapted to the present environment, they are also a legacy from their ancestors and, for that reason, phylogenetically related species often share similar attributes and consequently occupy similar niches, pattern known as phylogenetic conservatism. Recent studies show that functional traits related to the capture of this resource have diversified across different phylogenetic groups, giving them distinct abilities to occupy new light environments. The present study aimed to detect the presence of phylogenetic patterns in species distribution along a light gradient and in ecophysiological responses of eight co-occurring woody species and their respective clades in a forest understory. This was accomplished by comparing the light niche of juvenile plants in response to the existing light gradient, as well as their physiological plasticity in response to understory light variations. We hypothesized that (1) phylogenetic related species have greater similarity of adaptive strategies, and consequently of their niche, than more distantly related ones; and that (2) the niche breadth is wider and (3) traits plasticity is greater in more recent than in more basal clades. The results presented here showed that there is a greater niche similarity between closely related species than between those that are phylogenetically distant, suggesting niche conservatism. Regarding to niche amplitude, there is also a phylogenetic influence but, contrary to our expectations, the older clades showed a greater niche breadth. For plasticity of selected plant traits, results showed no phylogenetic pattern for the studied species and clades, suggesting that other factors act on the phenotypic plasticity of plants, such as ontogenetic effects and/or environmental stress.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O presente trabalho pretende tratar do problema da crítica à ideia de estado de natureza e de direitos naturais realizada por Edmund Burke. Procuraremos demonstrar como a crítica aos conceitos fundamentais que orientam a reflexão sobre a ordem social e política dos iluministas e dos autores sob sua influência percorre toda a obra de Burke, desde seu primeiro escrito político, Vindication on Natural Society até os últimos escritos contra a Revolução Francesa. Burke reconhece na classe pensante emergente, no racionalismo abstrato e universalista daquilo que ele chama de política "metafísica", o prenúncio da crise que se imporia sobre os conceitos que fundamentavam a ordem social e política existente. A partir de uma defesa das instituições e das tradições britânicas, concretizadas na Constituição e, especialmente, no Bill of Rights, Burke produz uma interpretação da política que utilizará a história para combater a filosofia política do direito natural. / This essay intend to deal with Edmund Burkes criticism to the state of nature and natural rights philosophy. We aim to show how the critics to the main enlightenment political and social concepts are present in Burke works, since the first political essay, Vindication on Natural Society, until the last counter-revolutionary works. Burke recognizes in the emerging intelligentsia and in the abstract and universalistic rationalism that he calls political metaphysic the announcement of the crisis in the existent social and political order. Starting from the defense of the british institutions and traditions, specially the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Burke will defend a historical thought against the natural rights political philosophy.