Guilt by Association: The Culture of Accusation and the American Anthropological Association's Investigation of Darkness in El Dorado

The American Anthropological Association's investigation of the charges in Darkness in El Dorado (Tierney 2000) found that the late James Neel and Napoleon Chagnon harmed the Yanomami in the course of their research in Venezuela and Brazil, and that Chagnon had violated the ethics code of the association. The association's inquiry contravened its own policy prohibiting ethics adjudications and was structured not by the standards of an objective investigation but by aspects of contemporary anthropology. Moralized approaches to information and postmodern rejection of objectivity mark the language and methods of the inquiry. The investigating task force did not observe reasonable standards of evidence, the targets of the investigation were not represented, and task force members were compromised by conflicts of interest. The investigation and its collateral activities reflect a culture of accusation and an anthropology uncertain of its ethical or scientific stature.     

Breeding status, contaminant burden and helminth parasites of Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis from the Canadian high Arctic

We studied the relationship between contaminant concentrations in livers, endohelminth prevalence and physiological indices of chronic stress (spleen size, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios) in Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis collected during the breeding season in Nunavut, Canada. No blood parasites were found, similar to reports for other petrel species elsewhere. However, 54% of Fulmars had gastrointestinal helminths, principally cestodes (52% prevalence, mean intensity of 11 worms), nematodes (34% prevalence, 3.6 worms) and acanthocephalans (3%, eight worms). Both prevalence and intensity of helminth infections were lower for Arctic Fulmars than for Fulmars and other petrels found in southern parts of the species' range. Spleen size was not significantly related to either contaminant concentration or presence of parasites, suggesting that Fulmar health was generally unaffected by contaminant and parasite levels at the colony. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Fulmars with higher parasitaemias or contaminant loads were in poorer condition and did not attend the breeding colony.     

The taxonomy, biogeography and host plant relationships of jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) associated with creosote bushes (Larrea spp., Zygophyllaceae)

Abstract.  The Neotropical genus Panisopelma (Psyllidae: Aphalaroidinae) is revised and its internal phylogeny analysed. The constituent species, including five new ones, are described and illustrated. Keys are provided for the adults and the last instar larvae. Eight species are associated with creosote bushes ( Larrea , Zygophyllaceae): five with L. nitida and three with L. divaricata . There is evidence that another three species, the larvae of which are unknown, also develop on L. divaricata . Seven species are restricted to Argentina, one to Bolivia and three to Chile. The cladistic analysis based on male, female and larval morphological characters yielded a single most-parsimonious tree. The species associated with L. nitida form a monophyletic clade, those on L. divaricata , by contrast, are paraphyletic. One clade with three species is restricted to Argentina, but three clades each contain a species from Argentina and Chile. Although a close association exists between Panisopelma and Larrea , there is no evidence for cospeciation, but rather an initial shift from an unknown host to L. divaricata and a second shift from L. divaricata to L. nitida . In three species pairs of Panisopelma , the distribution patterns suggest geographical vicariance between Argentina and Chile.     

Distinguishing between population bottleneck and population subdivision by a Bayesian model choice procedure

Although most natural populations are genetically subdivided, they are often analysed as if they were panmictic units. In particular, signals of past demographic size changes are often inferred from genetic data by assuming that the analysed sample is drawn from a population without any internal subdivision. However, it has been shown that a bottleneck signal can result from the presence of some recent immigrants in a population. It thus appears important to contrast these two alternative scenarios in a model choice procedure to prevent wrong conclusions to be made. We use here an Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) approach to infer whether observed patterns of genetic diversity in a given sample are more compatible with it being drawn from a panmictic population having gone through some size change, or from one or several demes belonging to a recent finite island model. Simulations show that we can correctly identify samples drawn from a subdivided population in up to 95% of the cases for a wide range of parameters. We apply our model choice procedure to the case of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and find conclusive evidence that Western and Eastern chimpanzee samples are drawn from a spatially subdivided population.     

Extensive intraspecific genetic diversity of a freshwater crayfish in a biodiversity hotspot

1. The freshwater crayfish Cherax dispar (Decapoda: Parastacidae) inhabits coastal regions and islands of South East Queensland, Australia. We hypothesised that populations of C. dispar on different islands would be more genetically divergent from each other than populations from different drainages within the same island or on the mainland. 2. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were conducted on two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome oxidase subunit I & 16S ribosomal DNA) and one nuclear gene (Internal Transcribed Spacer region 2). Phylogeographic patterns were compared with those for other freshwater organisms in the area. 3. Deep genetic divergences were found within C. dispar, including four highly divergent (up to 20%) clades. The geographic distribution of each of the clades revealed strong latitudinal structuring along the coast rather than structuring among the islands. The high genetic divergence observed among the C. dispar clades was estimated to have pre‐dated island formation and may represent ancient river drainage patterns. 4. A restricted distribution was observed for the most divergent clade, which was discovered only on two of the sand islands (North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island). Furthermore, strong phylogeographic structuring was observed within this clade on North Stradbroke Island, where no haplotypes were shared between samples from opposite sides of the island. This low connectivity within the island supports the idea that C. dispar rarely disperse terrestrially (i.e. across watersheds).     

Soil nitrous oxide and methane fluxes are low from a bioenergy crop (canola) grown in a semi-arid climate

Understanding nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) fluxes from agricultural soils in semi‐arid climates is necessary to fully assess greenhouse gas emissions from bioenergy cropping systems, and to improve our knowledge of global terrestrial gaseous exchange. Canola is grown globally as a feedstock for biodiesel production, however, resulting soil greenhouse gas fluxes are rarely reported for semi‐arid climates. We measured soil N₂O and CH₄ fluxes from a rain‐fed canola crop in a semi‐arid region of south‐western Australia for 1 year on a subdaily basis. The site included N fertilized (75 kg N ha^?1 yr^?1) and nonfertilized plots. Daily N₂O fluxes were low (?1.5 to 4.7 g N₂O‐N ha^?1 day^?1) and culminated in an annual loss of 128 g N₂O‐N ha^?1 (standard error, 12 g N₂O‐N ha^?1) from N fertilized soil and 80 g N₂O‐N ha^?1 (standard error, 11 g N₂O‐N ha^?1) from nonfertilized soil. Daily CH₄ fluxes were also low (?10.3 to 11.9 g CH₄‐C ha^?1 day^?1), and did not differ with treatments, with an average annual net emission of 6.7 g CH₄–C ha^?1 (standard error, 20 g CH₄–C ha^?1). Greatest daily N₂O fluxes occurred when the soil was fallow, and following a series of summer rainfall events. Summer rainfall increased soil water contents and available N, and occurred when soil temperatures were >25 °C, and when there was no active plant growth to compete with soil microorganisms for mineralized N; conditions known to promote N₂O production. The proportion of N fertilizer emitted as N₂O, after correction for emissions from the no N fertilizer treatment, was 0.06%; 17 times lower than IPCC default value for the application of synthetic N fertilizers to land (1.0%). Soil greenhouse gas fluxes from bioenergy crop production in semi‐arid regions are likely to have less influence on the net global warming potential of biofuel production than in temperate climates.     

Survival of Colonizing Wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, 1982–2004

Abstract: After roughly a 60-year absence, wolves (Canis lupus) immigrated (1979) and were reintroduced (1995-1996) into the northern Rocky Mountains (NRM), USA, where wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The wolf recovery goal is to restore an equitably distributed metapopulation of ≥30 breeding pairs and 300 wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, while minimizing damage to livestock; ultimately, the objective is to establish state-managed conservation programs for wolf populations in NRM. Previously, wolves were eradicated from the NRM because of excessive human killing. We used Andersen–Gill hazard models to assess biological, habitat, and anthropogenic factors contributing to current wolf mortality risk and whether federal protection was adequate to provide acceptably low hazards. We radiocollared 711 wolves in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming (e.g., NRM region of the United States) from 1982 to 2004 and recorded 363 mortalities. Overall, annual survival rate of wolves in the recovery areas was 0.750 (95% CI = 0.728-0.772), which is generally considered adequate for wolf population sustainability and thereby allowed the NRM wolf population to increase. Contrary to our prediction, wolf mortality risk was higher in the northwest Montana (NWMT) recovery area, likely due to less abundant public land being secure wolf habitat compared to other recovery areas. In contrast, lower hazards in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) and central Idaho (CID) likely were due to larger core areas that offered stronger wolf protection. We also found that wolves collared for damage management purposes (targeted sample) had substantially lower survival than those collared for monitoring purposes (representative sample) because most mortality was due to human factors (e.g., illegal take, control). This difference in survival underscores the importance of human-caused mortality in this recovering NRM population. Other factors contributing to increased mortality risk were pup and yearling age class, or dispersing status, which was related to younger age cohorts. When we included habitat variables in our analysis, we found that wolves having abundant agricultural and private land as well as livestock in their territory had higher mortality risk. Wolf survival was higher in areas with increased wolf density, implying that secure core habitat, particularly in GYA and CID, is important for wolf protection. We failed to detect changes in wolf hazards according to either gender or season. Maintaining wolves in NWMT will require greater attention to human harvest, conflict resolution, and illegal mortality than in either CID or GYA; however, if human access increases in the future in either of the latter 2 areas hazards to wolves also may increase. Indeed, because overall suitable habitat is more fragmented and the NRM has higher human access than many places where wolves roam freely and are subject to harvest (e.g., Canada and AK), monitoring of wolf vital rates, along with concomitant conservation and management strategies directed at wolves, their habitat, and humans, will be important for ensuring long-term viability of wolves in the region.