Distribution and Abundance of the World's Smallest Primate,Microcebus berthae,in Central Western Madagascar

The distribution of most recently discovered or described lemur species remains poorly known, but many appear to have small geographical ranges, making them vulnerable to extinction. Research can contribute to future conservation actions on behalf of these species by providing accurate information on local distribution and abundance. The distribution of the world’s smallest primate, the endangered Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae), is limited to the Menabe Central region of western Madagascar. This species was discovered in the 1990s, but many fundamental aspects of its ecology remain unknown. The aims of our study were therefore to determine the actual distribution of Microcebus berthae across the forests of this region, to estimate population density, and to examine the species’ response to anthropogenic activities. We established 35 1-km line transects across Menabe Central, on which we surveyed mouse lemurs by distance sampling and live trapping. Microcebus berthae does not occur in all remaining forests of this small region and its population density is highly heterogeneous, both across its geographic range and locally. Within its area of occupancy, the population of Microcebus berthae not only was distributed according to spatial heterogeneities of the habitat, but also responded to anthropogenic disturbances and varied seasonally. Our results indicate that Microcebus berthae is susceptible to habitat degradation and avoids human environments spatially. As none of the forest remnants in which the species still occurs were officially protected until recently, immediate conservation actions should focus on effectively protecting Kirindy and Ambadira forests.     

Low Primate Diversity and Abundance in Northern Amazonia and its Implications for Conservation

Large areas of the Rio Negro basin in Amazonia are covered by continuous tracts of tropical forest, but have few primate species. This is anomalous considering the general relationship between area and number of species. One possibility is that much of the forest is unsuitable habitat for most primates and the area of suitable habitat is much less than the forested area. This has important consequences for the design of reserves and predictions of the consequences of climate change, which tend to be based on broad categories based on satellite images, and not on information of species distributions within those broad categories. The study was conducted through diurnal and nocturnal line‐transect surveys in the Biodiversity Research Program 25‐km² permanent grid in Viruá National Park, which has vegetation associations typical of much of northern Amazonia. The highest primate diversity and abundances occurred in tall terra firme forests (58%), whereas inundated forests and scrublands, which cover 42 percent of the survey grid and 90.8 percent of the Viruá National Park, have virtually no primates. This suggests that parks and reserves in northwestern Amazonia will have to be very large to maintain viable populations of most primates and their ecological interactions, and that very broad habitat categories are not sufficient to make predictions about actual and future suitability of areas for primate conservation.     

An Accessible Method for Implementing Hierarchical Models with Spatio-Temporal Abundance Data

A common goal in ecology and wildlife management is to determine the causes of variation in population dynamics over long periods of time and across large spatial scales. Many assumptions must nevertheless be overcome to make appropriate inference about spatio-temporal variation in population dynamics, such as autocorrelation among data points, excess zeros, and observation error in count data. To address these issues, many scientists and statisticians have recommended the use of Bayesian hierarchical models. Unfortunately, hierarchical statistical models remain somewhat difficult to use because of the necessary quantitative background needed to implement them, or because of the computational demands of using Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms to estimate parameters. Fortunately, new tools have recently been developed that make it more feasible for wildlife biologists to fit sophisticated hierarchical Bayesian models (i.e., Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation, ‘INLA’). We present a case study using two important game species in North America, the lesser and greater scaup, to demonstrate how INLA can be used to estimate the parameters in a hierarchical model that decouples observation error from process variation, and accounts for unknown sources of excess zeros as well as spatial and temporal dependence in the data. Ultimately, our goal was to make unbiased inference about spatial variation in population trends over time.     

Quantifying Subpixel Accuracy: An Experimental Method for Measuring Accuracy in Image-Correlation-Based, Single-Particle Tracking

Single-particle tracking (SPT) is a range of powerful analysis techniques that measure particle motion from video microscopy image sequences. SPT is used to study the behavior of motor proteins and associated organelle transport within a cell. Many SPT algorithms deliver subpixel accurate measurements with noisy data corresponding to sub-10-nm resolution. Image-correlation techniques have been shown to be the most accurate method of tracking extended objects. However, to date, it has not been possible to determine the level of error when measuring the motion of an arbitrary particle with this method. In this article we derive a method for experimentally determining the accuracy of image-correlation-based SPT. We then apply this technique to a series of confocal fluorescence microscope image sequences of mitochondria, demonstrating the possibility of making measurements accurate to 5 nm when working with extended objects within live cells. In doing so we show that for particles with a low signal/noise ratio, the accuracy can vary by a factor of 2, corresponding to different particle shapes for a given signal/noise ratio. Use of the presented technique will allow researchers to quantify the accuracy of their measurements on a per-particle basis. This in turn will allow the selection of the most accurately tracked particles, helping to push the accuracy of spatial measurements well below the diffraction limit. This is particularly important for the study of molecular motors whose step size is a similar scale to these limits.     

siMS Score: Simple Method for Quantifying Metabolic Syndrome

Objective

To evaluate siMS score and siMS risk score, novel continuous metabolic syndrome scores as methods for quantification of metabolic status and risk.

Materials and Methods

Developed siMS score was calculated using formula: siMS score = 2*Waist/Height + Gly/5.6 + Tg/1.7 + TA_systolic/130—HDL/1.02 or 1.28 (for male or female subjects, respectively). siMS risk score was calculated using formula: siMS risk score = siMS score * age/45 or 50 (for male or female subjects, respectively) * family history of cardio/cerebro-vascular events (event = 1.2, no event = 1). A sample of 528 obese and non-obese participants was used to validate siMS score and siMS risk score. Scores calculated as sum of z-scores (each component of metabolic syndrome regressed with age and gender) and sum of scores derived from principal component analysis (PCA) were used for evaluation of siMS score. Variants were made by replacing glucose with HOMA in calculations. Framingham score was used for evaluation of siMS risk score.

Results

Correlation between siMS score with sum of z-scores and weighted sum of factors of PCA was high (r = 0.866 and r = 0.822, respectively). Correlation between siMS risk score and log transformed Framingham score was medium to high for age groups 18+,30+ and 35+ (0.835, 0.707 and 0.667, respectively).

Conclusions

siMS score and siMS risk score showed high correlation with more complex scores. Demonstrated accuracy together with superior simplicity and the ability to evaluate and follow-up individual patients makes siMS and siMS risk scores very convenient for use in clinical practice and research as well.     

Genetic Markers in Primate Studies: Elucidating Behavior and Its Evolution

The application of genetic techniques has provided valuable new insights into primate evolution and behavior. Important techniques include the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), where in exponential amounts of a target DNA sequence are produced via enzymatic amplification. This allows DNA to be analyzed from fecal droppings, which is particularly beneficial in field studies. Fragments containing hypervariable microsatellites can be amplified and subsequently typed. Also parts of the mitochondrial DNA can be amplified and subsequently sequenced. These methods have been applied with great success to determine familial relationships and, on a smaller scale, relationships among lineages and social groups, and the redefinition of the interface between social behavior, social structure and population genetics. Moreover, it has become possible, to a degree, to study genetic variation as it relates directly to adaptive evolution, as the maintenance of genetic variation has become accessible to analysis.     

Food Abundance and Territoriality: To Defend or Not to Defend?

Field studies have shown that animals often abandon territorialdefense when food is abundant, but the causes of this behaviorare controversial. Sometimes the cessation of defense is attributedto the food supply being so abundant that monopolization ofthe resource gains the defender nothing, even though defensewould be energetically feasible. Other studies show that whenthe food supply is rich, such large numbers of competitors areattracted that defense is overwhelmed. Knowledge of the amountof food available relative to the numbers of consumers in theregion can resolve the controversy. When food is limited throughouta region, a localized rich foraging area will attract competitors.Defenseof such an area therefore may yield a large increase in netbenefit to the defender, depending on whether or not so manycompetitors recruit that defense is too costly. However, whena localized foraging area is rich but food is also superabundantthroughout the region, intruders may not recruit even if thearea is undefended. Therefore the benefits of defense, if itwere to occur, would be low. Field studies of nectar-feeding birds show that defense continuedon rich foraging areaswhen floral nectar was limited to thepopulation regionally, and resulted in enhanced food availabilityrelative to that in undefended areas. However, under conditionsof artificially rich food supplies (sugar-water feeders) andextremely limited food regionally, defense was sometimes overwhelmedby competitors. Cessation of defense on locally rich foragingareas also occurred when nectar was regionally superabundant.Therefore, both proposed causes of cessation of defense occurredin these systems and were easily distinguished by examiningthe degree to which food was limited in the surrounding regionrelative to localized foraging areas. I show that animals potentially can assess whether or not foodsupply is limited in the surrounding region by sampling andcomparing standing crops in defended and undefended situations.     

Path Similarity Analysis: A Method for Quantifying Macromolecular Pathways

Diverse classes of proteins function through large-scale conformational changes and various sophisticated computational algorithms have been proposed to enhance sampling of these macromolecular transition paths. Because such paths are curves in a high-dimensional space, it has been difficult to quantitatively compare multiple paths, a necessary prerequisite to, for instance, assess the quality of different algorithms. We introduce a method named Path Similarity Analysis (PSA) that enables us to quantify the similarity between two arbitrary paths and extract the atomic-scale determinants responsible for their differences. PSA utilizes the full information available in 3N-dimensional configuration space trajectories by employing the Hausdorff or Fréchet metrics (adopted from computational geometry) to quantify the degree of similarity between piecewise-linear curves. It thus completely avoids relying on projections into low dimensional spaces, as used in traditional approaches. To elucidate the principles of PSA, we quantified the effect of path roughness induced by thermal fluctuations using a toy model system. Using, as an example, the closed-to-open transitions of the enzyme adenylate kinase (AdK) in its substrate-free form, we compared a range of protein transition path-generating algorithms. Molecular dynamics-based dynamic importance sampling (DIMS) MD and targeted MD (TMD) and the purely geometric FRODA (Framework Rigidity Optimized Dynamics Algorithm) were tested along with seven other methods publicly available on servers, including several based on the popular elastic network model (ENM). PSA with clustering revealed that paths produced by a given method are more similar to each other than to those from another method and, for instance, that the ENM-based methods produced relatively similar paths. PSA applied to ensembles of DIMS MD and FRODA trajectories of the conformational transition of diphtheria toxin, a particularly challenging example, showed that the geometry-based FRODA occasionally sampled the pathway space of force field-based DIMS MD. For the AdK transition, the new concept of a Hausdorff-pair map enabled us to extract the molecular structural determinants responsible for differences in pathways, namely a set of conserved salt bridges whose charge-charge interactions are fully modelled in DIMS MD but not in FRODA. PSA has the potential to enhance our understanding of transition path sampling methods, validate them, and to provide a new approach to analyzing conformational transitions.     

厦门岛海滩海洋线虫数量及其种类分布的初步研究

选取了 5个月份对厦门岛海滩的海洋线虫数量和种类分布进行了研究。该海滩为沙、泥质滩 ,其低潮区的表面覆盖一层较厚的泥质。结果显示 ,5个月份中线虫密度最大可以达到 ( 2 6 7± 0 39)× 1 0 6个 m2 ,最小 ( 1 6 1± 0 1 7)× 1 0 6个 m2 ,且 5个月份的线虫平均密度之间没有很显著的差异 (P >0 0 1 )。线虫的数量呈现明显的垂直分层 ,即种群数量的大部分集中于上层 ,并且这种分布没有明显的季节变化特点。 5个月份中线虫的优势种类相对较为固定 ,而垂直分层的较深层中线虫种类有较明显的变化。在比较其它海区类似沙滩资料的基础上 ,对本文的结果进行了讨论。     

Primate Seed Dispersal and Forest Restoration: An African Perspective for a Brighter Future

Primate seed dispersal is a vital, but complex, ecological process that involves many interacting agents and plays important roles in the maintenance of old-growth forest, as well as in the development of regenerating forest. Focusing primarily on African examples, in this article we briefly review the ecological process of primate seed dispersal, highlighting understudied and contentious topics, and then we discuss how our knowledge on primate seed dispersal can promote both forest restoration and primate conservation. Though it is frequently claimed that primates are critically important for the maintenance of diverse tropical forest ecosystems, we believe that more empirical evidence is needed to support this claim. Confounding factors can often be difficult to rule out and long-term studies extending beyond the seedling or sapling stage are very rare. In addition, though primates are critical for initial seed dispersal of many tree species, spatial and temporal variation in post-deposition processes, such as secondary seed dispersal and predation by rodents, can dramatically alter the initial patterns generated by primates. However, given the need for immediate conservation action to prevent further primate extinctions, we advocate that the knowledge about primate seed dispersal be used in formulating informed conservation plans. One prominent area where this knowledge will prove extremely valuable is in forest restoration efforts. To aid in the development of such efforts, we pose five questions, the answers to which will help facilitate forest restoration becoming a useful tool in strategies designed to conserve primates.     

The Gray Mouse Lemur:A Model for Studies of Primate Metabolic Rate Depression

<正>The use of daily torpor and/or of multi-day torpor bouts during a hibernation season are energy-saving survival strategies that have been well-studied for many years,particularly for small mammals living in seasonally-cold environments.Both phenomena are characterized by a regulated suppression of metabolic rate,a slowing of many physiological processes     

Substrate Size and Primate Forelimb Mechanics: Implications for Understanding the Evolution of Primate Locomotion

International Journal of Primatology - Did the anatomical and locomotor specializations of primates evolve in response to requirements of locomotion and foraging on thin branches? Laboratory...     

An Improved Bacteriological Method for the Detection of Sulfonamide Residues in Food

The addition of trimethoprim to Mueller-Hinton medium was found to improve the sensitivity of test bacteria towards sulfonamides by 20—50 times. Depending on the test bacteria used, the optimal concentrations of trimethoprim added to the medium are 1 μg per ml (Micrococcus luteus), 0.25 μg per ml (Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis) and 0.1 μg per ml (Bacillus megaterium). Using Micrococcus luteus or Bacillus megaterium a concentration of 0.25 μg sulfanilamide per ml may be detected, and 0.1 μg per ml may be detected when Bacillus stearothermophilus var. calidolactis is used.     

Wordbirds: Developing a Web-based Data Collection System for the Global Monitoring of Bird Distribution and Abundance

There is an urgent need to develop simple and effective methods for monitoring bird populations that are cheap to deploy in resource-poor countries. This paper describes a newly developed system, provisionally referred to as, Wordbirds, that will provide a platform for the collection, storage and retrieval of new and existing data from bird observations recorded worldwide. This Internet-based global network of databases will capture field lists and ad hoc sightings routinely gathered by individuals observing birds recreationally and professionally. Huge numbers of lists are collected annually and could provide information on population trends spanning many years. By collecting these records, a valuable resource will be secured with the potential to map and monitor bird distributions and estimate trends in species abundance. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Data Quality and the Comparative Method: The Case of Primate Group Size

The comparative method is frequently employed to study primate behavior and evolution. The method is used to infer adaptations, and considerable improvements have been made with respect to its implementation. Despite these advances, scant attention has been given to the nature of the data that are used in comparative analyses. This creates a potential problem as data are often compiled from studies conducted by multiple researchers, whose methods may differ, resulting in variation in data quality. In this article, we investigate the quality of data employed in studies of primate group size. Several issues concerning data quality arise when assembling data on group size. For example, data quality may be compromised if group sizes are estimated from censuses, unhabituated groups, or groups with unrecognized individuals. To mitigate these and other data quality issues, we gathered data from the literature on 23 monkeys and apes using well-defined and biologically relevant criteria for inclusion. We compare our results with those of eight published compilations of group size. Most studies did not provide details regarding the criteria for including data. We found that our group size values were uncorrelated or weakly correlated with those from three other studies and differed in a consistent fashion from those of one other study. Because conclusions derived from comparative analyses are only as accurate as the data that they use, future studies should provide details regarding data collection to ensure their reliability.     

Quantifying Shark Distribution Patterns and Species-Habitat Associations: Implications of Marine Park Zoning

Quantifying shark distribution patterns and species-specific habitat associations in response to geographic and environmental drivers is critical to assessing risk of exposure to fishing, habitat degradation, and the effects of climate change. The present study examined shark distribution patterns, species-habitat associations, and marine reserve use with baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) along the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) over a ten year period. Overall, 21 species of sharks from five families and two orders were recorded. Grey reef Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, silvertip C. albimarginatus, tiger Galeocerdo cuvier, and sliteye Loxodon macrorhinus sharks were the most abundant species (>64% of shark abundances). Multivariate regression trees showed that hard coral cover produced the primary split separating shark assemblages. Four indicator species had consistently higher abundances and contributed to explaining most of the differences in shark assemblages: C. amblyrhynchos, C. albimarginatus, G. cuvier, and whitetip reef Triaenodon obesus sharks. Relative distance along the GBRMP had the greatest influence on shark occurrence and species richness, which increased at both ends of the sampling range (southern and northern sites) relative to intermediate latitudes. Hard coral cover and distance across the shelf were also important predictors of shark distribution. The relative abundance of sharks was significantly higher in non-fished sites, highlighting the conservation value and benefits of the GBRMP zoning. However, our results also showed that hard coral cover had a large effect on the abundance of reef-associated shark species, indicating that coral reef health may be important for the success of marine protected areas. Therefore, understanding shark distribution patterns, species-habitat associations, and the drivers responsible for those patterns is essential for developing sound management and conservation approaches.