Habitat and landscape factors associated with neotropical waterbird occurrence and richness in wetland fragments

Habitat destruction alters the structure and spatial arrangement of remnants and creates a novel matrix, affecting the structure of biological communities. This study evaluated the contribution of patch, class and landscape level attributes of 42 wetland fragments and surrounding landscapes on the richness, abundance and presence of waterbird species. Twelve monthly censuses identified 55 species––ranging from 3 to 40 among fragments, and a total of 84,286 birds––ranging from 15 to 19,322. Wetland areas varied from 0.2 ha to 145.2 ha. The presence of 37 out of 42 species could be predicted from the structure of the fragments and the landscapes. The most important predictors were the wetland area (22 models), the rice field matrix permeability (13 models), the microhabitat richness (7 models), the wetland connectivity (5 models), and the wetland isolation (5 models). Discriminant analysis showed that fragments richer in species than expected from their areas, are found in landscapes with greater connectivity and matrix permeability than the species-poor fragments. The total area of rice fields was not related to the richness, abundance or presence of waterbirds in the wetlands fragments. The results suggest that the maintenance of the connectivity among fragments and the matrix permeability through rice-fields could be managed to foster the waterbird conservation at the landscape scale.     

The penetration of sodium into the brain following a cisternal injection of sodium chloride with particular emphasis on the area postrema

Summary Following an intracisternal injection of sodium chloride, sodium has been localized in paraventricular and subpial tissues of the posterior fossa by means of the pyroantimonate histochemical technique, with the use of a buffered pyroantimonate medium. The electron dense deposit is present in these tissues within 4 minutes after injection and is found only extracellularly except in the area postrema. This finding supports the contention that sodium is chiefly an extracellular ion and that the cerebrospinal fluid and the extracellular fluid are in equilibrium at these sites. In the area postrema, an intracellular precipitate is noted in the vesicular structures of the atypical astrocytes of this structure and in pinocytic vesicles of the large blood vessels. The intraglial localization of sodium in the area postrema is discussed in relation to a possible function of this structure as a regulator of cerebrospinal fluid ionic content.This work was supported by grant number NB-08549-02 from the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland.     

Distribution of monoamine oxidase in the hippocampal region of the guinea pig

Summary 1. The distribution of monoamine oxidase (MAO) within the dentate area, a part of the hippocampal region, has been described for the adult guinea pig.2. The histochemical demonstration of the enzyme was done essentially according to the tryptamine-tetrazolium method of Glenner et al., and the staining reactivity was controlled by complete inhibition with iproniazide.3. Most of the MAO in the dentate area was present in a stratified pattern. Within the molecular layer, a supragranular third reacted heavily, while a more weakly staining superficial layer could be distinguished from an intermediate, still paler lamina. The granular cell bodies were unstained. In the hilus, five layers showing alternating stronger and weaker activity were observed. The distribution of the MAO staining was compared with conventional anatomical subdivision of the dentate region.4. The guinea pig dentate area appears to have a greater amount and more stratified distribution of MAO than the comparable region previously described in the rat.I am indebted to Mrs. E. Kjær Hansen, Mrs. L. Knudsen, Mr. A. Meier, Mr. Th. Nielsen, Mrs. K. Sørensen, and Miss M. Sørensen for skillful technical assistance. This study was supported in part by U.S.P.H.S. Grant NS 07998.     

The “Grey Area” in the Northern Bay of Bengal: A Note on a Functional Cooperative Solution

The judgments in maritime delimitation cases involving Bangladesh and Myanmar (2012) and between Bangladesh and India (2014) have resulted in a “Grey Area” in the northern Bay of Bengal involving intersecting and overlapping rights and responsibilities in terms of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf regimes. This article seeks to identify a functional solution for this Grey Area.     

Implementation of a small-scale “no-use zone” policy in a reef ecosystem: Eilat’s reef-lagoon six years later

 A small-scale, “no-use zone policy” has been implemented since 1992 at Eilat’s Coral Nature Reserve (Northern Red Sea). Six years later, the status of this closed-to-the-public reef area was compared to two nearby open-to-the-public sites, by evaluating populations of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata in the strolling zone (0.5–1.5 m depth). Results from the open sites show that: (1) Live coral cover was three times lower than at the closed site; (2) numbers of small colonies (recruits) were significantly higher than in the closed site, while numbers of medium and large size colonies (geometric mean radius, rˉ>4.1 cm) per m² were significantly lower; (3) maximum rˉ was almost half than that in the closed site (9.6 cm versus 16.7 cm); (4) average number of broken colonies was three times higher than in the closed site; (5) significantly fewer colonies were partially dead. The latter result may reflect senescence processes in the large colonies of the closed site. Although colony breakage is reduced, it appears that the “no-use zone” policy is not sufficient for protecting small reef areas. The intense exploitation of Eilat’s coral reef by the tourist industry requires’ in addition to the conventional protective measures, the initiation of novel management solutions such as reef restoration by sexual and asexual recruits. Accepted: 11 August 1999     

氮添加对三峡库区马尾松-栓皮栎混交林土壤微生物生物量和酶活性的影响

选择三峡库区的马尾松-栓皮栎混交林,分析不同浓度氮添加(0、30、60、90 kg N·hm-2·a-1)对土壤微生物生物量、酶活性和养分含量的影响,为在大气氮沉降持续增加的背景下预测该地区森林土壤碳动态提供科学依据.结果 表明:各氮添加处理下土壤有机碳、全氮和微生物生物量碳、氮、磷均显著提高,土壤pH值下降,全磷含量...     

GIS在描述某城区大气二氧化硫分布中的应用初探

应用地理信息系统（GIS）技术对1996年重庆市主城区大气二氧化硫分布进行了描述和分析。采用GIS的空间分析方法泰森多边形分析和区域插值对大气环境监测数据进行分析处理,避免了以点代面的缺陷,使大气污染物分布描述更为合理。     

Area under the free-response ROC curve (FROC) and a related summary index

Summary .  Free-response assessment of diagnostic systems continues to gain acceptance in areas related to the detection, localization, and classification of one or more "abnormalities" within a subject. A free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curve is a tool for characterizing the performance of a free-response system at all decision thresholds simultaneously. Although the importance of a single index summarizing the entire curve over all decision thresholds is well recognized in ROC analysis (e.g., area under the ROC curve), currently there is no widely accepted summary of a system being evaluated under the FROC paradigm. In this article, we propose a new index of the free-response performance at all decision thresholds simultaneously, and develop a nonparametric method for its analysis. Algebraically, the proposed summary index is the area under the empirical FROC curve penalized for the number of erroneous marks, rewarded for the fraction of detected abnormalities, and adjusted for the effect of the target size (or "acceptance radius"). Geometrically, the proposed index can be interpreted as a measure of average performance superiority over an artificial "guessing" free-response process and it represents an analogy to the area between the ROC curve and the "guessing" or diagonal line. We derive the ideal bootstrap estimator of the variance, which can be used for a resampling-free construction of asymptotic bootstrap confidence intervals and for sample size estimation using standard expressions. The proposed procedure is free from any parametric assumptions and does not require an assumption of independence of observations within a subject. We provide an example with a dataset sampled from a diagnostic imaging study and conduct simulations that demonstrate the appropriateness of the developed procedure for the considered sample sizes and ranges of parameters.     

Uncertainties in the response of a forest landscape to global climatic change

Many studies have been conducted to quantify the possible ecosystem/landscape response to the anticipated global warming. However, there is a large amount of uncertainty in the future climate predictions used for these studies. Specifically, the climate predictions can be very different based on a variety of global climate models and alternative greenhouse emission scenarios. In this study, we coupled a forest landscape model, LANDIS-II, and a forest process model, PnET-II, to examine the uncertainty (that results from the uncertainty in the future climate predictions) in the forest-type composition prediction for a transitional forest landscape [the Boundary Water Canoe Area]. Using an improved global-sensitivity analysis technique [Fourier amplitude sensitivity test], we also quantified the amount of uncertainty in the forest-type composition prediction contributed by different climate variables including temperature, CO₂, precipitation and photosynthetic active radiation (PAR). The forest landscape response was simulated for the period 2000–2400 ad based on the differential responses of 13 tree species under an ensemble of 27 possible climate prediction profiles (monthly time series of climate variables). Our simulations indicate that the uncertainty in the forest-type composition becomes very high after 2200 ad , which is close to the time when the current forests are largely removed by windthrow disturbances and natural mortality. The most important source of uncertainty in the forest-type composition prediction is from the uncertainty in temperature predictions. The second most important source is PAR, the third is CO₂ and the least important is precipitation. Our results also show that if the optimum photosynthetic temperature rises due to CO₂ enrichment, the forest landscape response to climatic change measured by forest-type composition may be substantially reduced.     

内蒙古巴特敖包地区早泥盆世牙形刺

内蒙古达茂旗(达尔罕茂明安联合旗)巴特敖包地区以碳酸岩相古生代地层发育而引人注意。经多年研究,特别是李文国等(1985)的研究,使本区珊瑚、腕足类、层孔虫、鹦鹉螺等大化石的研究工作已有一定基础,并依据牙形刺首先确定了在阿鲁共剖面有泥盆纪地层的存在。但本区泥盆纪地层仍存在很多问题,必须通过对牙形刺的研究加以解决。在王成源研究员的精心安排和亲自指导下,作者等在巴特敖包地区的七个剖面进行了系统取样研究。经对158个样品(重667kg)的分析,在本区发现了大量的原定为志留纪的早泥盆世地层,包括西别河组命名剖面。分析结果同时证明,本区不存在志留系温洛克统的沉积。巴特敖包剖面断层发育,志留—泥盆纪地层交替出现,巴特敖包组应取消,原定的阿鲁共剖面层序颠倒。本区地层应厘订为志留系的西别河组(罗德洛统—普里道利统)和下泥盆统的阿鲁共组(Lochkovian阶),前者以包尔汉图剖面为标准剖面,后者应寻找更好的标准剖面。本文重点总结巴特敖包地区早泥盆世的牙形刺。本区共建立了4个牙形刺带,文中共描述了8牙形刺属,21种,其中包括4亚种、1新种(Belodellataeniocuspidatasp.nov.)和1未定种。