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The application of foliar sprays of suspensions of relatively insoluble essential element salts is gradually becoming common, chiefly with the introduction of nano-technology approaches in agriculture. However, there is controversy about the effectiveness of such sparingly soluble nutrient sources as foliar fertilizers. In this work, we focussed on analysing the effect of adding Ca-carbonate (calcite, CaCO3) micro- and nano-particles as model sparingly soluble mineral compounds to foliar fertilizer formulations in terms of increasing the rate of foliar absorption. For these purposes, we carried out short-term foliar application experiments by treating leaves of species with variable surface features and wettability rates. The leaf absorption efficacy of foliar formulations containing a surfactant and model soluble nutrient sources, namely Ca-chloride (CaCl2), magnesium sulphate (MgSO4), potassium nitrate (KNO3), or zinc sulphate (ZnSO4), was evaluated alone or after addition of calcite particles. In general, the combination of the Ca-carbonate particles with an essential element salt had a synergistic effect and improved the absorption of Ca and the nutrient element provided. In light of the positive effects of using calcite particles as foliar formulation adjuvants, dolomite nano- and micro-particles were also tested as foliar formulation additives, and the results were also positive in terms of increasing foliar uptake. The observed nutrient element foliar absorption efficacy can be partially explained by geochemical modelling, which enabled us to predict how these formulations will perform at least in chemical terms. Our results show the major potential of adding mineral particles as foliar formulation additives, but the associated mechanisms of action and possible additional benefits to plants should be characterised in future investigations., European Union, Omya International AG, Depto. de Mineralogía y Petrología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

This thematic issue examines the insurance function as a mechanism to underlie wealth effects on various outcomes. The articles in this issue shed an innovative light on the insurance function of wealth concerning a range of topics relevant to social stratification and social policy researchers. This editorial provides an overview of the contributions of this thematic issue and highlights some gaps and remaining open questions. Altogether, the contributions suggest that wealth can provide insurance against adverse life events in various contexts. However, this insurance effect depends on welfare state characteristics, wealth portfolios, and the way families handle their wealth.

Private engagement has always been central to biodiversity conservation. Recently, the role of private enterprises in (eco)tourism have increased, and private lands play a pivotal role in expanding protected areas within societies throughout the world. This paper contributes to discussions of private engagement in conservation and its relation to tourism (recreation generally), with novel insight on how the conservation-tourism nexus on private land is approached in different geographical contexts. We present a systematic literature review that results in five thematic clusters characterized by different conservation approaches to tourism in Global North and South. Research concerning Global South tends to emphasize (eco)tourism as a main inducement for conservation, while research concerning Global North emphasizes expansion of private protected areas where access for tourist-recreational use has to be compensated. We propose a future research agenda to exploring environmentally and socially just approaches to conservation and recreation in both Global North and South.

The creation of private protected areas (PPA) is commonly considered an instrument of neoliberal conservation, characterized by private management and commodification of nature for (eco)tourism and other market-based instruments (MBIs). PPAs are accused of reproducing social inequalities when entailing enclosure, exclusivity, land grabbing or dispossession. Yet PPAs exist in many different forms that enact these various processes in different ways. Our research explores this variegation in PPAs by offering a more nuanced understanding of the often complex and contradictory interconnections between processes of commodification and privatization different PPAs enact, as well as how PPAs are often operationalized differently in global south and north contexts. To develop this analysis, we draw on the conceptual framework of commodification proposed by Castree (2003) to investigate a number of PPAs located in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range on the island of Mallorca in Spain. Our results show that commodification and privatization combine in different ways and to different degrees in the various PPAs in this area. Overall, we conclude, privatization appears more pervasive than commodification in this global north context, as compared to research concerning PPAs in the global south suggesting the presence of far more commodification in such lower-income contexts., Mercantilización y privatización turísticas de la natura: áreas protegidas privadas en la Serra de Tramuntana (Mallorca) La creación de áreas protegidas privadas (APP) es un instrumento de la conservación neoliberal, la cual se caracteriza por su gestión privada y la mercantilización de la naturaleza para el (eco)turismo u otros negocios basados en la conservación. Las APP se cuestionan por reproducir desigualdades sociales cuando implican cerramiento, exclusividad, acaparamiento verde o desposesión. Nuestro objetivo es analizar su heterogeneidad, profundizando en su relación con la mercantilización y la privatización, diferenciando su uso en el Sur y en el Norte globales, y comprobando su apoyo en políticas públicas de conservación. Nuestra metodología se basa en el análisis crítico de la conservación neoliberal en el ámbito geográfico del Norte global. Relacionamos las APP con el marco conceptual de la mercantilización propuesto por Castree (2003) y vinculamos este marco teórico con los resultados de entrevistas en profundidad a representantes de la administración pública y gestores de APP de la Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca. Nuestros resultados muestran que la mercantilización y la privatización sirven y se combinan de forma y en grados diferentes en los casos estudiados. Sugerimos que la privatización prevalece sobre la mercantilización turística de la naturaleza en los contextos del Norte global, reproduciendo desigualdades que favorecen a la clase propietaria en APP del Norte global igual que lo hacen a la clase turista en las APP del Sur global.

We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the explanatory power of gender, the individual, and the cultural level of the masculinity/femininity dimension on levels of grief. We hypothesized that lower levels of grief are – from stronger to weaker -, predicted by male gender, an individual masculine orientation, and more masculine cultural values of the country one lives in. Our sample consisted of 148 individuals, from Germany, Ireland, South Africa and Turkey (age ≥ 18) that experienced a loss within the last five years. Participants were recruited via social media platforms and social support groups. 101 were women and 47 men. As hypothesized, gender explained most of the variance in grief levels, with men reporting less grief levels than women. The cultural masculinity/femininity dimension was the second strongest predictor of grief levels. Participants from more masculine cultures reported less levels of grief than feminine ones. Contradicting our hypothesis, the individual masculinity/femininity orientation did not predict levels of grief. We also found an interaction between gender and culture, where reported levels of grief between both genders differed depending on their cultural belonging. Further research on the individual femininity/masculinity dimension on grief should be conducted.

Underlying the idea of the middle classes there is a contradictory positionality, the relations of which ultimately enhance capital accumulation. By opening Marxist critique to Weberian approaches to class, we explain how the self-ascription of short-term rental (STR) suppliers to the middle-class idea boosts exploitation and accumulation. Housing income, and recently that originating in STRs, has been used to maintain the symbolic and material status of the so-called middle classes in Spain, and specifically in Palma. Based on statistical data analysis and interviews with STR suppliers, managers and workers, we analyse the contradictory class positionality of STR suppliers in Palma (Majorca, Spain). First, we argue, that STR suppliers are part of the middle classes since they bear attributes of rent, labour and also capital, as they employ workers to produce a tourism commodity. Second, we contend that STR overnight stays should not only be considered as land rent payments, but also as the sale of a tourism commodity. Third, we claim that the contradictory positionality of the middle classes fuels self-exploitation, for STR suppliers misalign their interests with those of capital.