Space Use and Habitat Selection by Bobcats in the Fragmented Landscape of South-Central Iowa

Abstract: Historically, bobcats (Lynx rufus) were found throughout the Corn Belt region, but they nearly disappeared from this area due to habitat loss and unregulated harvest that occurred during the century after European settlement. Reports of bobcat occurrences have been increasing in Iowa, USA, and biologists would like to understand the mechanisms enabling bobcats to recolonize this fragmented agricultural landscape. We determined space use and habitat selection of bobcats by radiocollaring 68 bobcats in south-central Iowa during 2003–2006. We triangulated 12,966 locations and recovered an additional 1,399 3-dimensional locations from Global Positioning System collars. We used a fixed kernel estimator to calculate 95% utilization distributions (UDs) for home ranges and 50% UDs for cores. Annual home range area of males (x̄ = 58.6 km², 95% CI = 49.2–69.9) was nearly 3 times that of females (x̄=19.9 km², 95% CI = 17.0–23.3). Females used smaller home ranges during April-September when they were suspected to have kittens with them (x̄ = 16.8 km², 95% CI = 13.7–20.7), as compared to October-March (x̄ = 24.1 km², 95% CI = 19.0–30.7), whereas home ranges of males did not differ between seasons. Similarly, core area of males (x̄ = 7.7 km², 95% CI = 6.2–9.6) was larger than that of females (x̄ = 2.3 km², 95% CI = 1.9–2.7). Females used significantly smaller cores in April-September (x̄ = 1.8 km², 95% CI = 1.4–2.3) as compared to October-March (x̄ = 2.8 km², 95% CI = 2.2–3.7), whereas males did not. For both sexes, compositional analysis indicated that forest habitat was ranked higher than all other habitat classes at both the landscape and local scale. Standardized habitat selection ratios illustrate that female and male bobcats selected forest habitat about twice as frequently as any other habitat class, including grassland and Conservation Reserve Program land. Predictive models indicated that home range and core area was smaller in landscapes where perennial forest and grassland habitats were less fragmented. Predictive models indicated home ranges were more irregular in shape in landscapes where row crop patches were less aggregated within home ranges. Our results have practical implications for wildlife managers regarding expected bobcat habitat use and distribution as the species becomes more abundant in the agricultural landscape of the Midwest.     

Nest Turnover Rates and List-Frame Decay in Bald Eagles: Implications for the National Monitoring Plan

ABSTRACT In accordance with federal regulations, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service developed a postdelisting monitoring plan for the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) designed to detect a change in the number of occupied nests on a national scale. The plan employs a dual-frame approach to the survey design where a list frame (list of known nests) and an area frame (set of survey plots) are used in concert to estimate the number of occupied nests in 5-year intervals over a 20-year period. The plan offers no provisions for changes in list-frame integrity, nor does it contemplate the impact of such changes on survey performance. We used a long-term data set to quantify occupancy patterns for nests in Virginia, USA, and evaluated their influence on integrity of the list frame and performance of the proposed dual-frame monitoring approach. The average annual turnover rate for nests was 0.261, resulting in a rapid decay of the list frame. Decay of the list frame leads to a functional collapse of the dual-frame approach, down to the area-frame survey alone, early within the monitoring time horizon. This early decay of the list frame implies that the area-frame coverage needed to maintain the same statistical power as stated in the monitoring plan would have to be increased by a factor of 3 to 5 beyond that recommended in the current plan. Remedies for this deficiency undermine the cost benefit associated with inclusion of the list frame. We examined response of the dual-frame survey to variation in nest turnover rates and population growth rates and defined a state space where time to collapse is beyond the proposed 20-year time horizon. Because, under realistic estimates of turnover rates, the dual-frame approach collapses to the area frame within the proposed monitoring window, we recommend that the costs of list-frame maintenance be included in the procedure to optimize allocation of survey effort.     

中国猫科动物红外相机监测平台介绍: 民间环保机构的数据整合

中国猫科动物红外相机监测平台始建于2007年, 致力于评估中国12种本土野生猫科动物的保护现状, 并推动猫科动物保护。该平台由中国猫科动物保护联盟(猫盟)牵头组织, 与科研院所、高校、保护组织、政府部门、保护地管理机构等合作开展监测。监测点涵盖我国10个省/自治区28个监测点, 包括自然保护区、风景名胜区、社会公益保护地、林场、非保护地等多种类型。根据调查目标和内容, 红外相机采用网格化布设和沿样线布设两种调查方案。监测数据由猫盟集中管理, 并与保护地共享使用。截至2019年12月, 平台共设置有效调查/监测位点939个, 有效相机工作日合计约283,239天, 获得有效独立探测164,262次, 积累红外相机照片/视频约25万份(删除连续空拍后), 另有约5万份待处理。记录到分属7目24科的91种野生兽类与分属9目23科的102种野生鸟类物种, 其中国家I、Ⅱ级重点保护野生动物分别有25种与55种。在23个监测点记录到10种猫科动物, 独立探测共6,507次, 其中金钱豹(Panthera pardus) 3,196次(50.7%), 豹猫(Prionailurus bengalensis) 2,817次(44.7%)。加强监测数据分析能力、评估濒危猫科动物种群现状、建立志愿者工作团队是猫科动物监测平台今后的重点工作方向。     

Stone handling by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata): Implications for tool use of stone

Stone-play, a newly innovated cultural behavior, has been observed among the free-ranging Arashiyama B troop Japanese macaques near Kyoto, Japan since 1979. Conditions in which the non-purposeful handling of stones might possibly give rise to tool behavior are discussed. The progression of this behavior is traced through three phases: transmission, tradition, and transformation. During the first two phases, through social learning, the behavior was established within the group as a regular item of their behavioral repertoire and was most frequently observed after eating provisioned grain. In the third phase, observations suggest a “faddish” shift in the practice of certain behavioral sub-types between 1984 and 1985. During this period young individuals increasingly began to carry stones away from the feeding station, mixing stone manipulation with forage-feeding activities in the forest. Observations suggest under such conditions, stone handling is likely to lead to the occasional use of stone as a tool. This conclusion probably can be applied to species other thanMacaca fuscata. Consideration of the eco-setting and social learning correlates of stone handling suggests how the instrumental use of stone might emerge from a tradition of non-instrumental manipulation.     

华北二点委夜蛾种群动态监测及北京北部地区虫源性质分析

二点委夜蛾Proxenus lepigone是玉米生产中的一种新发害虫, 2011年曾在黄淮海夏玉米主产区全面暴发, 对夏玉米生产构成严重威胁。为了明确二点委夜蛾的种群动态, 探讨北京北部二点委夜蛾种群是否为迁入虫源, 2012年, 在华北地区的河北省栾城县、 北京市区和北京延庆县等地, 利用高空探照灯诱虫器、 垂直监测昆虫雷达等对二点委夜蛾成虫进行了监测, 并结合气象资料, 对北京延庆的虫源性质进行了综合分析。结果表明： 二点委夜蛾老熟幼虫作茧后可在北京延庆越冬。2012年, 北京延庆诱集二点委夜蛾累计33 951头, 可划分为3个世代。第1代成虫的诱集数量不符合正态分布, 且在姊妹灯下的数量差异符合迁飞种类的特点。在当地条件不适宜的情况下, 北京延庆监测点第1代成虫日均诱虫数量高于条件相对适宜的河北栾城。在北京延庆, 第1代成虫的逐日诱集数量与空中风向密切相关。雷达监测还表明二点委夜蛾可能是雷达回波的目标。综合以上证据表明, 北京延庆第1代成虫包含从周边迁飞而来的个体, 二点委夜蛾可能是一种兼性迁飞昆虫。本研究可为二点委夜蛾成虫能否远距离迁飞提供例证, 对今后提高其预测预报和防治水平具有重要意义。     

Seasonal,demographic and density‐related patterns of contact between Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii): Implications for transmission of devil facial tumour disease

Abstract Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD), is an emerging infectious cancer thought to be spread by biting. It is causing ongoing, severe population decline of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii), the largest surviving marsupial carnivore and there are concerns that DFTD may lead to extinction of the devil. Whether extinction is likely depends on contact rates and their relationship to host density. We investigated contact rates using two different datasets. The first consisted of field observations of contact and biting behaviour around prey carcasses and, the second was a 3‐year longitudinal series of injuries in a marked devil population. During feeding interactions at carcasses, contact rates were significantly positively associated with population density and subadults delivered more bites than adult males and females. Injuries from the marked devil population did not differ between adult males and females. In two of the three years, penetrating biting (resulting in injury) increased markedly during the mating season and was more frequent in adults than in subadults. Among injured devils with wounds penetrating the dermal layer, adults were more frequently bitten in the head (the location of primary tumours) in the mating season than in other seasons, and had more head bites than subadults. Our results suggest that the mating season may be the key period for disease transmission. If most penetrating bites occur during mating interactions, DFTD transmission is likely to be frequency dependent, which means that there would be no threshold host density for disease persistence, and disease‐induced extinction is possible.     

Differential Use of Trails by Forest Mammals and the Implications for Camera-Trap Studies: A Case Study from Belize

Relative abundance indices are often used to compare species abundance between sites. The indices assume that species have similar detection probabilities, or that differences between detection probabilities are known and can be corrected for. Indices often consist of encounter frequencies of footprints, burrows, markings or photo captures along trails or transect lines, but the assumption of equal detection probabilities is rarely validated. This study analyzes detection probabilities of a range of Neotropical mammals on trails in dense secondary forests, using camera-trap and track data. Photo captures of the two large cats, jaguars ( Panthera onca ) and pumas ( Puma concolor ), were correlated solely with trail variables, while photo captures of their potential prey species had no correlation or negative correlation with trail variables. The Neotropical mammals varied greatly in their tendency to follow or cross trails based on footprints surveys. This indicates that camera locations on trails will have varying detection probability for these Neotropical mammals. Even the two similar-sized jaguars and pumas, occupying relatively similar niches, differed subtly in their use of trails. Pumas followed trails more completely while jaguars were more likely to deviate from trails. The ecological significance of these findings is that jaguars seem to be more willing to use the forest matrix away from trails than do pumas. We conclude that trail-based indices, such as photographic captures or tracks along trails, are not appropriate for comparison between Neotropical species, and not even between relatively similar species like jaguars and pumas.     

Monitoring and evaluating the performance of the UK NHS Cervical Screening Programme: monitoring performance by using cytology outcomes adjusted for population characteristics

Current quality assurance measures used in the NHS cervical screening programme (NHSCSP) include a review of laboratories with percentages of moderate/severe and borderline/mild smear results outside the 10th-90th percentiles. The method is limited by the fact that many of these outlier smear percentages may reflect laboratories covering populations with low or high risk and/or short or long average screening intervals. This paper outlines a new approach to aid the detection of outlier laboratories, by using data collected at the primary care trust (PCT) or health authority (HA) level and making allowances for population characteristics and screening interval. The setting is the NHSCSP in England using annual data provided by HAs. Data from the screening year 2000-01 is used to illustrate the methodology, although the methods can also be applied to data at the PCT level (now being collected for 2002-03 onwards). Percentages of smear results have been analysed against a series of explanatory variables using logistic regression models. These explanatory variables include Townsend deprivation index, uptake-corrected ethnic minority composition, a measure of screening interval, area type and region. An expected percentage of borderline/mild and moderate/severe smears is estimated from the models and an observed : predicted ratio (OPRmod/sev and OPRbord/mild) calculated. Low values are suggestive of relative undercalling and high values overcalling, after allowance for population characteristics. Analysis of data for 2000-01 showed that the OPRmod/sev for the 99 HAs varied from 0.68 to 1.44. Laboratories with low percentages of moderate/severe smears, but associated with PCTs or HAs with OPRmod/sev values closer to unity may not need to be investigated as their observed rates are consistent with predicted rates based on population characteristics. The method could also be directly applied to laboratories if further information on the population covered by each laboratory were routinely collected.