Effects of Road Crossings on Stream and Streamside Salamanders

Abstract: Salamanders are important members of faunal communities in Appalachian Mountain (USA) streams, and the use of salamanders as bioindicators is increasing. Roads are a part of the modern landscape, but effects of roads on stream and streamside salamander diversity and abundance is not clear. We sampled streams in central West Virginia, USA, using quadrats placed along transects in the flowing channel, dry channel, and stream bank to assess salamander diversity, richness, and abundance during 2004. We used Akaike's Information Criterion for model selection at reach (i.e., above and below culverts) and stream scales. Salamander diversity and richness was affected by elevation, stream gradient, canopy cover, and the presence of roads. Overall, stream and riparian habitat quality was the most important factor affecting salamander richness. The presence of roads, stream gradient, and elevation received the most empirical support for predicting species' abundances. Roads benefited disturbance-tolerant species but negatively affected other species. Impacts of roads and culverts on habitat should be considered by federal and state transportation agencies and natural resources agencies during the planning process and addressed through mitigation efforts. Managers should install culverts that are as wide as the stream channel, at grade with the streambed, and dominated by rubble substrate to provide maximum benefit for salamanders. (JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 72(3):760–771; 2008)     

Habitat use by breeding Tree Sparrows Passer montanus

Tree Sparrows Passer montanus showed a strong preference for nest-sites adjacent to wetland habitats, and avoidance of sites on intensively managed mixed farmland distant from Rutland Water. A variety of wetland edge habitats were frequently used by foraging adult birds when provisioning nestlings, and invertebrate prey of aquatic origin was frequently recorded in chick diet. We suggest that the wetland edge habitats at the study sites played a key role in providing adequate diversity and availability of suitable invertebrate prey to allow successful chick rearing throughout the long breeding season of this multi-brooded passerine. It is possible that large areas of formerly occupied farmland in the UK no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensification in the late 20th century. There was no evidence that the availability of supplementary seed food within 1 km of the nest-site influenced nest-site choice, or affected productivity. It is probable that the importance of seed food resources to the persistence of Tree Sparrow populations operates on a larger spatial scale than that tested in this study, due to the greater mobility of Tree Sparrows in the non-breeding season, when seed resources are most likely to be a key limiting factor. When considering conservation management aimed at recovering breeding populations of Tree Sparrows, the key resources of seed food, invertebrate food and nest-sites must be made available at appropriate spatial scales.     

Chinese NGOs in action against HIV/AIDS

INTRODUCTION The AIDS epidemic continues its seemingly inexorable spread throughout the world. It is now very clear that the virus represents not only a medical problem, but also a challenging and multifaceted social problem. Because of this fact, it is imperative that nongovernmental organiza- tions outside of, or tangential to, the medical arena be- come involved in prevention and control efforts. The Chinese government is supportive of the development of such organizations on the mai…     

哺乳动物阴茎骨长度与延长性插入模式之间存在正相关的关系

阴茎骨长度增加的进化 ,部分原因与交配模式有关 ,后者涉及到延长性插入持续时间。但是 ,对于北美的食肉动物来说 ,这个假说一直有争议。为了检验这个假说 ,我们收集了来自食肉动物、蝙蝠和灵长类的 1 4 4个属 31 5种哺乳动物阴茎骨长度和体重的数据 ,除了阴茎骨长度和体重以外 ,对已知的 39个属的插入持续时间进行了线形多次回归分析。结果表明 :阴茎骨长度与插入持续时间之间存在极显著的正相关关系 (r2 =0 6 5 ,F=4 0 4 8,P <0 0 0 0 1 )。然后 ,使用了独立对比的比较分析以控制数据系统发育的偏差 ,在物种水平上对数据进行了分析 ,结果证实 :阴茎骨长度与插入持续时间之间有显著的相关关系 (r2 =0 6 9,F =34 2 3,P <0 0 0 1 )。本研究支持阴茎骨长度进化的延长性插入假说     

Mycosin-1, a subtilisin-like serine protease of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is cell wall-associated and expressed during infection of macrophages

Background  

Exported proteases are commonly associated with virulence in bacterial pathogens, yet there is a paucity of information regarding their role in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. There are five genes (mycP1-5) present within the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv that encode a family of secreted, subtilisin-like serine proteases (the mycosins). The gene mycP1 (encoding mycosin-1) was found to be situated 3700 bp (four ORF's) from the RD1 deletion region in the genome of the attenuated vaccine strain M. bovis BCG (bacille de Calmette et Guérin) and was selected for further analyses due to the absence of expression in this organism.     

Using Human-Imprinted Chicks to Evaluate the Importance of Forbs to Sage-Grouse

Abstract Although several studies have indicated the importance of forbs in brood habitats, no studies have quantified direct effects of the amount of forb cover on sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) chicks. In 2002 and 2003, we conducted field experiments in Middle Park and Moffat County, Colorado, USA, respectively. Our objective was to quantify effects of 3 levels of forb cover in brood habitat on mass gain and feather growth of human-imprinted sage-grouse chicks. The results indicate that increasing forb cover in brood areas with <20% forb cover may lead to increased chick survival and grouse productivity.