Purpose This study investigated the role of stakeholder pressure (SPRE) as a key driver of circular business model (CBM) adoption in Ecuador's manufacturing sectors. It further explored how Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0T) and organizational agility (OA) act as mediators in this process, enabling organizations to navigate the transition toward a CBM more effectively. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical framework was developed, incorporating CBM, SPRE, OA and I4.0T. Empirical data were collected through a survey of 150 organizations in Ecuador. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) based on established measurement models to analyze the relationships among these variables. Findings The results showed a significant influence of SPRE on CBM adoption. Furthermore, I4.0T acted as a mediator in the relationship between SPRE and CBM adoption, while OA played a similar role in the link between SPRE and CBM. Furthermore, the findings highlight the impact of I4.0T in optimizing product design and traceability, which accelerates the transition to a circular economy (CE). In addition, OA strengthens the adaptive capacity of organizations, enabling them to proactively align with CBM. Originality/value This research addressed a critical gap in understanding the interplay of stakeholder dynamics, technological innovation and agility in CBM adoption. It provides empirical evidence on the mediating role of I4.0T and OA, offering valuable insights for organizations seeking to transition toward CBM.
The Tropical Andes provide ideal opportunities to study diversity patterns along altitudinal gradients. However, they remain poorly characterized, particularly in terms of detailed, ground-level data. The α- and β-diversity trends of vascular plants were studied along an altitudinal gradient from 1000 to 4200 m in the Jubones and the Cajas National Park areas, located in southern Ecuador, using stratified sampling transects to generate floristic inventories with 146 sampling points surveyed in total. This gradient included dry tropical forests restricted to inter-Andean valleys, montane forests, páramo, and Polylepis Ruiz Pav. forests. A total of 891 species belonging to 391 genera and 118 families were recorded. Our findings for all plant species revealed a clear hump-shaped richness pattern, with peaks between 2800 and 3500 m with high endemism (13.6
Land degradation in the Andes threatens ecosystems and biodiversity. The recovery of these areas often depends on pioneer species such as Alnus acuminata, which relies on symbiotic microorganisms for nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance. Understanding how degradation affects its microbiome is crucial for effective restoration. This study investigated how a land-use trajectory involving deforestation and abandonment impacts the diversity and structure of bacterial communities associated with Alnus acuminata. Next-generation sequencing of 16 S rRNA gene amplicons was used to compare bacterial communities in bulk soil, roots, and root nodules between a native forest and degraded forest in the Ecuadorian Andes. Land degradation significantly altered bulk soil bacterial diversity and community structure, with pH and carbon content identified as key environmental drivers. Degraded soils were dominated by Actinomycetota, whereas native forest soils harbored more diverse communities, including Acidobacteriota and Pseudomonadota. While bacterial diversity in root and nodule endophytes remained stable across both sites, their community structures differed significantly between native and degraded forests. This shift reveals that the endophytic compartments harbour distinct bacterial consortia in the degraded environment, suggesting a potential role for host-related factors in shaping the microbiome under environmental stress. In the degraded forest, the endophytic microbiome was characterized by an enrichment of stress-resilient, pathogen-defending, and plant growth-promoting genera such as Micromonospora, Rahnella, Rhodanobacter, Mycobacterium, and Deinococcus. These findings suggest that the stability and composition of the Alnus acuminata microbiome may be linked to its ability to establish in nutrient-poor, degraded environments, highlighting the importance of plant-microbe associations in ecosystem recovery and providing a basis for further mechanistic and ecological studies on restoration outcomes.
Digital transformation has rapidly reshaped banking systems worldwide, yet empirical evidence on its profitability implications remains limited and context-dependent, particularly in emerging and dollarized economies. This study examines the relationship between digital transformation, financial inclusion, and bank profitability in Ecuador, a small financial system characterized by structural constraints and accelerated digital adoption following the COVID-19 shock. Using panel data from 24 private commercial banks over the period 2019–2022, the analysis employs quantile regression to capture heterogeneous effects across the lower tail of the profitability distribution. The results indicate that financial inclusion is positively associated with asset profitability, while digital transformation, proxied by banks’ engagement in digital transaction channels, exhibits a positive and statistically significant relationship with return on equity among lower-performing banks. In contrast, credit risk consistently undermines profitability, highlighting the importance of portfolio quality. These findings suggest that digitalization and inclusion-oriented strategies may play a stabilizing role for more vulnerable banks, rather than uniformly benefiting the entire banking sector. By focusing on distributional effects rather than average outcomes, this study contributes context-specific evidence to the literature on digital banking in emerging economies. The results offer policy-relevant insights for regulators in resource-constrained, dollarized systems, emphasizing the need for targeted digital and inclusion policies that strengthen the resilience of lower-performing institutions.
Climate seasonality and human land-use are major pressures shaping biodiversity in tropical dry regions and both are expected to intensify in the near future. Therefore, understanding the interplay of these factors is crucial for mitigating biodiversity loss in these rapidly changing ecosystems. We examined the effects of seasonality (i.e., wet and dry seasons) and human land-use types (i.e., natural forests and silvopastures) on taxonomic and functional diversity, and community composition of birds in a seasonally dry tropical forest in southern Ecuador. We repeatedly recorded birds in 12 1-ha plots across natural forests and silvopastures at two elevations (600 and 1200 m a.s.l.) using point counts, and classified the bird community into primary (i.e., nectarivores, frugivores, granivores and omnivores) and secondary (i.e., invertivores) consumers. Functional bird diversity based on four morphological traits was not affected by human land-use type or seasonality, while taxonomic diversity of the overall community and of secondary consumers increased with elevation. The taxonomic diversity of primary consumers was higher in silvopastures compared to natural forests. The composition of the overall bird community and that of primary and secondary consumers differed between elevations. Seasonality had no effect on diversity nor on composition. Our study shows that elevation is a major driver of bird diversity and community composition in seasonally dry tropical forests, indicating that even short elevational gradients shape bird communities in these ecosystems. Protecting continuous elevational transects of dry tropical forests is therefore essential to maintain their high bird diversity under current and future conditions.
