Effects of mesopredators and prescribed fire on hispid cotton rat survival and cause-specific mortality

Control of mid-sized mammalian predators (hereafter, mesopredators) is sometimes advocated in an attempt to reduce their impact on wildlife populations, particularly economically important (i.e., game) or endangered species. However, mesopredators may play a role in regulating small mammal populations; thus, lethal control of mesopredators may have unintended consequences. The hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus; hereafter, cotton rat) is one of the most common small mammals in the southeastern United States and is an important prey species for several of the region's predators. Within fire-maintained communities, such as the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests of the Coastal Plain, cotton rat populations dramatically, yet temporarily, decline following prescribed fire. To evaluate the effects of mesopredator removal on cotton rat survival and cause-specific mortality, we conducted a large-scale mesopredator exclusion experiment that incorporated a prescribed fire during the winter of study. Between 18 May 2006 and 20 June 2007, we used radio-telemetry to monitor 252 cotton rats (131 in exclosures and 121 in controls) and documented 184 mortalities. During the 37-week period of monitoring prior to the prescribed fire event, weekly survival of cotton rats was greater in mesopredator exclusion plots. During the 19 weeks following the prescribed fire, there were no differences in weekly survival relative to mesopredator treatment, but fire caused a short-term reduction in weekly survival within both exclosures and controls. Of 36 cotton rats monitored on the date of prescribed fire, 18 were depredated within 1 month, 4 emigrated, and 5 were killed by the fire event. Overall, raptors preyed on cotton rats more in exclosures than in controls, but evidence for compensatory predation (raptor-caused morality greater in exclosures than in controls although survival rates were similar between treatments) only occurred following the prescribed fire event. Our results suggest that managing mesopredators may result in a temporary increase in cotton rat survival, but dormant season prescribed fire removes this effect until well into the following growing season. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Emulating nurse plants to restore oak forests

Several forested areas of Mexico are dominated by oaks (Quercus spp.), but these forests have suffered strong changes in land use throughout the last century and need to be restored. Most of these areas, however, are within seasonally dry ecosystems and heavy losses of oak seedlings occur in the dry season. Nurse plants that ameliorate extreme environmental conditions have been proved to enhance the success of reforestation practices in these ecosystems. Nevertheless, at several sites in Mexico the density of putative nurse plants is too low to consider this practice as a viable restoration strategy. This study explores the possibility of emulating the effects of nurse plants by means of artificial-shade structures. The study areas were located at the ecological park Flor del Bosque (State of Puebla, México). At the beginning of the rainy season, seedlings of Quercus castanea and Quercus laurina were transplanted beneath and outside artificial-shade structures at two deforested areas of the park. We monitored seedling mortality during 22 weeks, until the middle of dry season; each week we recorded if individual seedlings were killed by abiotic stress or predation. We also measured chlorophyll fluorescence on seedlings to assess whether the shade structures improve their physiological performance. Comparisons of mortality rates indicated that, at both experimental sites, oak seedlings were less affected by drought and predation beneath the shade structures than outside them. Indeed, seedlings beneath these structures showed higher physiological performances. This suggests that artificial-shade structures can emulate the effects of nurse plants at deforested sites, and that this strategy could help to improve the recovery of oak forests.     

番石榴实蝇寄主选择性试验

番石榴实蝇Bactrocera correcta(Bezzi)是一种为害多种水果的害虫,近年来在云南的元江暴发成灾。本试验选择番石榴实蝇的常见寄主:梨、芒果、苹果、桃、橙及芒果的不同品种进行室内试验,比较番石榴实蝇雌虫产卵对寄主的选择性及不同寄主对番石榴实蝇生长发育的影响。结果显示,番石榴实蝇雌虫对5种供试水果的寄生选择性大小依次为桃>梨>芒果>橙>苹果;番石榴实蝇对芒果不同品种的寄生选择性为三年芒>台农行1号>虎豹牙>胭脂芒>鹰嘴芒;番石榴实蝇在不同寄主上的蛀果期(卵及幼虫的历期)具有极显著的差异,以寄生桃和芒果的最短;从梨和苹果上饲养出的蛹最轻,且极显著低于其它寄主上饲养出来的蛹重;苹果上寄生的番石榴实蝇蛹重与蛀果期呈显著的正相关,而寄生梨的番石榴实蝇蛹重与蛀果期呈极显著的负相关。结果表明,番石榴实蝇雌虫产卵对不同寄主或同一寄主不同品种有明显的选择性,且该选择行为与其后代的生长发育有关。     

POSSUM、P-POSSUM和APACHE-Ⅱ评分对肝门部胆管癌手术后住院死亡风险评估的对比研究

目的：通过利用POSSUM、P-POSSUM和APACHE-Ⅱ评分对我院行手术治疗的肝门部胆管癌病例的术后住院死亡率的预测进行预测,评价各评分的预测能力,为肝门部胆管癌术后死亡风险寻求有效的评估方法。方法：收集了2002年1月～2007年12月期间在东方肝胆外科医院接受手术治疗的348例肝门部胆管癌的病例资料,统计其手术后的住院死亡率;统计学方法：所有的数据通过SPSS15.0 for windows、Medcalc9.2.10 for windows进行分析处理,计量资料经t检验、计数资料以x2检验和Z检验,P〈0.05为有统计学意义;O：E值和ROC曲线用来评价评分方法的判别能力。结果：348例患者的术后有6例发生住院期间死亡,死亡率为1.7%,POSSUM评分预测的住院死亡率为9.3%（33例）,两者之间的差异有统计学意义（x2=19.80,df=1,P〈0.01）;P-POSSUM评分预测的住院死亡率2.8%（10例）,两者之间的差异无统计学意义（x2=1.02,df=1,P〉0.05）;APACHE-Ⅱ评分预测的住院死亡率9.2%（32例）,两者之间的差异有统计学意义（x2=18.82,df=1,P〈0.01）。POSSUM、P-POSSUM和APACHE-Ⅱ评分对应的ROC曲线下面积分别为0.759、0741和0.608。结论：P-POSSUM评分能很好的预测肝门部胆管癌手术的术后住院死亡率,POSSUM和APACHE-Ⅱ评分不能准确的预测,明显高估了术后死亡风险。     

Suburbs: dangers or drought refugia for freshwater turtle populations?

Urbanization is one of the most rapidly expanding forms of habitat alteration worldwide. Wildlife differs in their responses to urbanization depending upon species and site-specific factors. We used capture-mark-recapture to examine the abundance, population demographics, growth, and movements of the eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) in Australia over 1 year in a suburban environment and an adjacent nature reserve during drought. Contrary to expectations, sex ratios, injury incidence, and frequency of juvenile size classes did not differ between turtles in the suburbs and the nature reserve. Moreover, turtles in the suburbs were nearly 3 times more abundant, grew 5 times faster, and had populations comprised of more adults in the larger size classes than nature reserve populations. These findings, together with net movements from the nature reserves into the suburbs, suggest that suburban water bodies were the higher quality habitat, effectively buffering turtles from temporal fluctuations in environmental conditions during drought. However, reserve managers and urban planners need to recognize that suburban water bodies have the potential to attract turtles from nearby reserves during drought, and that even low levels of persistent mortality during these travels across reserve boundaries may have consequences for populations of long-lived vertebrates. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.     

Will a 385 million year‐struggle for light become a struggle for water and for carbon? – How trees may cope with more frequent climate change‐type drought events

Trees are exceptional organisms that have evolved over some 385 million years and have overtaken other plants in order to harvest light first. However, this advantage comes with a cost: trees must transport water all the way up to their crowns and inherent physical limitations make them vulnerable to water deficits. Because climate change scenarios predict more frequent extreme drought events, trees will increasingly need to cope with water stress. Recent occurrences of climate change‐type droughts have had severe impacts on several forest ecosystems. Initial experimental studies have been undertaken and show that stomatal control of water loss hinders carbon assimilation and could lead to starvation during droughts. Other mechanisms of drought‐induced mortality are catastrophic xylem dysfunction, impeded long‐distance transport of carbohydrates (translocation) and also symplastic failure (cellular breakdown). However, direct empirical support is absent for either hypothesis. More experimental studies are necessary to increase our understanding of these processes and to resolve the mystery of drought‐related tree mortality. Instead of testing the validity of particular hypothesis as mechanisms of drought‐induced tree mortality, future research should aim at revealing the temporal dynamics of these mechanisms in different species and over a gradient of environmental conditions. Only such studies will reveal whether the struggle for light will become a struggle for water and/or for carbon in drought‐affected areas.     

Ringed seal (Pusa hispida) seasonal movements,diving, and haul‐out behavior in the Beaufort,Chukchi, and Bering Seas (2011–2017)

Continued Arctic warming and sea‐ice loss will have important implications for the conservation of ringed seals, a highly ice‐dependent species. A better understanding of their spatial ecology will help characterize emerging ecological trends and inform management decisions. We deployed satellite transmitters on ringed seals in the summers of 2011, 2014, and 2016 near Utqia?vik (formerly Barrow), Alaska, to monitor their movements, diving, and haul‐out behavior. We present analyses of tracking and dive data provided by 17 seals that were tracked until at least January of the following year. Seals mostly ranged north of Utqia?vik in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas during summer before moving into the southern Chukchi and Bering Seas during winter. In all seasons, ringed seals occupied a diversity of habitats and spatial distributions, from near shore and localized, to far offshore and wide‐ranging in drifting sea ice. Continental shelf waters were occupied for >96% of tracking days, during which repetitive diving (suggestive of foraging) primarily to the seafloor was the most frequent activity. From mid‐summer to early fall, 12 seals made ~1‐week forays off‐shelf to the deep Arctic Basin, most reaching the retreating pack‐ice, where they spent most of their time hauled out. Diel activity patterns suggested greater allocation of foraging efforts to midday hours. Haul‐out patterns were complementary, occurring mostly at night until April‐May when midday hours were preferred. Ringed seals captured in 2011—concurrent with an unusual mortality event that affected all ice‐seal species—differed morphologically and behaviorally from seals captured in other years. Speculations about the physiology of molting and its role in energetics, habitat use, and behavior are discussed; along with possible evidence of purported ringed seal ecotypes.     

Forest responses to simulated elevated CO2 under alternate hypotheses of size‐ and age‐dependent mortality

Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (eCO₂) is predicted to increase growth rates of forest trees. The extent to which increased growth translates to changes in biomass is dependent on the turnover time of the carbon, and thus tree mortality rates. Size‐ or age‐dependent mortality combined with increased growth rates could result in either decreased carbon turnover from a speeding up of tree life cycles, or increased biomass from trees reaching larger sizes, respectively. However, most vegetation models currently lack any representation of size‐ or age‐dependent mortality and the effect of eCO₂ on changes in biomass and carbon turnover times is thus a major source of uncertainty in predictions of future vegetation dynamics. Using a reduced‐complexity form of the vegetation demographic model the Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator to simulate an idealised tropical forest, we find increases in biomass despite reductions in carbon turnover time in both size‐ and age‐dependent mortality scenarios in response to a hypothetical eCO₂‐driven 25% increase in woody net primary productivity (wNPP). Carbon turnover times decreased by 9.6% in size‐dependent mortality scenarios due to a speeding up of tree life cycles, but also by 2.0% when mortality was age‐dependent, as larger crowns led to increased light competition. Increases in aboveground biomass (AGB) were much larger when mortality was age‐dependent (24.3%) compared with size‐dependent (13.4%) as trees reached larger sizes before death. In simulations with a constant background mortality rate, carbon turnover time decreased by 2.1% and AGB increased by 24.0%, however, absolute values of AGB and carbon turnover were higher than in either size‐ or age‐dependent mortality scenario. The extent to which AGB increases and carbon turnover decreases will thus depend on the mechanisms of large tree mortality: if increased size itself results in elevated mortality rates, then this could reduce by about half the increase in AGB relative to the increase in wNPP.