Encounter Rates From Road-Based Surveys of Rio Grande Wild Turkeys in Texas

ABSTRACT Traditional index-based techniques have indicated declines in Rio Grande wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia; hereafter, wild turkey) populations across much of Texas, USA. However, population indices can be unreliable. Research has indicated that road-based surveys may be an efficacious technique for monitoring wild turkey populations on an ecoregion level. Therefore, our goal was to evaluate applicability of road-based distance sampling in the Cross Timbers, Edwards Plateau, Rolling Plains, and South Texas ecoregions of Texas. We conducted road-based surveys in each ecoregion during December 2007—March 2008 to estimate wild turkey flock encounter rates and to determine survey effort (i.e., km of roads) required to obtain adequate sample sizes for distance sampling in each ecoregion. With simulations using inflatable turkey decoys, we also evaluated effects of distance to a flock, flock size, and vegetative cover on turkey flock detectability. Encounter rates of wild turkey flocks from road-based surveys varied from 0.1 (95% CI = 0.0–0.6) to 2.2 (95% CI = 0.8–6.0) flocks/100 km surveyed. Encounter rates from surveys restricted to riparian communities (i.e., areas ≤1 km from a river or stream) varied from 0.2 (95% CI = 0.1–0.6) to 2.9 (95% CI = 1.5–6.7) flocks/100 km surveyed. Flock detection probabilities from field simulations ranged from 22.5% (95% CI = 16.3–29.8%) to 25.0% (95% CI = 13.6–39.6%). Flock detection probabilities were lower than expected in all 4 ecoregions, which resulted in low encounter rates. Estimated survey effort required to obtain adequate sample sizes for distance sampling ranged from 2,765 km (95% CI = 2,597–2,956 km) in the Edwards Plateau to 37,153 km (95% CI = 12,861–107,329 km) in South Texas. When we restricted road-based surveys to riparian communities, estimated survey effort ranged from 2,222 km (95% CI = 2,092–2,370 km) in the Edwards Plateau to 22,222 km (95% CI = 19,782–25,349 km) in South Texas.     

Sufficiency of the number of segregating sites in the limit under finite-sites mutation

We show that the number of segregating sites is a sufficient statistic for the scaled mutation parameter (θ) in the limit as the number of sites tends to infinity and there is free recombination between sites. We assume that the mutation parameter at each site tends to zero such than the total mutation parameter (θ) is constant in the limit. Our results show that Watterson’s estimator is the maximum likelihood estimator in this case, but that it estimates a composite parameter which is different for different mutation models. Some of our results hold when recombination is limited, because Watterson’s estimator is an unbiased, method-of-moments estimator regardless of the recombination rate. The quantity it estimates depends on the details of how mutations occur at each site.     

口服补液减轻40%血容量失血大鼠肠组织缺血性损伤

目的：研究口服葡萄糖-电解质液（GES）对大鼠40%血容量失血时肠组织缺血性损伤的影响。方法：雄性SD大鼠,用氯胺酮-速眠新Ⅱ肌注复合麻醉后,行右颈动脉插管。随机分为3组（n=24）：GES对照组（GES）,失血性休克组（HS）和失血性休克＋口服GES液组（HS＋GES）。GES组：不放血,手术后口服GES;HS和HS＋GES组按全身血容量的40%分两次间隔15min放血制作失血性休克模型。HS＋GES组于失血后0.5h、1h和6h分3次给予3倍失血量的GES灌胃。用激光多谱勒血流仪测定失血后2h、4h和24h肠组织血流量（IBF）后,处死动物后取肠组织检测二胺氧化酶（DAO）和Na^＋-K^＋-ATP酶活性,测定肠组织含水率（WG）,并做病理学检查。结果：HS＋GES组IBF和Na-K-ATP酶活性均显著高于HS组（P〈0.05）,但显著低于GES组（P〈0.05）;失血各组肠WG显著高于GES组（P〈0.05）,24h时HS＋GES组WG显著低于HS组（P〈0.05）;HS＋GES组24hDAO活性均显著高于HS组（P〈0.05）,但显著低于GES组（P〈0.05）;失血后24h病理检查HS＋GES组肠组织水肿和充血改变比HS组明显减轻。结论：口服GES液能显著增加大鼠失血性休克早期IBF,提高Na^＋-K^＋-ATP酶和DAO活性,减轻肠组织水肿和缺血性损伤。     

Bill harnesses on nestling Tufted Puffins influence adult provisioning behavior

ABSTRACT.   For burrow-nesting seabirds, investigators have examined nestling diet by attaching harnesses to the bills of nestlings to intercept food delivered by the parent. To determine whether this method provides an unbiased estimate of nestling diet, we evaluated its effect on the provisioning behavior of Tufted Puffins ( Fratercula cirrhata ) nesting on Triangle Island, British Columbia. Adults delivering food to nestlings with bill harnesses always hesitated before entering a burrow with food, increasing their susceptibility to kleptoparasitism by gulls, and did not always leave the food intended for the nestling. These responses by adult puffins could lead to underestimates of energy intake rates of nestlings and unreliable comparisons with other species if prey left by adults in nest burrows were the only source of data. We also compared estimates of the species, number, and size of prey delivered by adult puffins as determined by direct observation from blinds to samples of prey collected directly from nest burrows and found that the two sampling techniques produced similar results. However, identifying rare prey species and gathering precise information about prey length, mass, and condition require collection of prey, and we recommend using a combination of techniques to obtain the most reliable estimates of nestling diet.     

The botanist effect: counties with maximal species richness tend to be home to universities and botanists

Aim  To investigate the distribution of local flowering plant species richness in areas surrounding American universities.
Methods  Species richness in university counties was compared with neighbouring counties. Data were derived from Synthesis of the North American Flora ( http://www.phylosystems.com/prepublication ). Probabilities of the resultant distribution were calculated, and the results were also simulated.
Results  In almost every case there were more species reported in the university county than in its neighbours. Several possible explanations were considered. We conclude that the key element is the presence of botanists in these counties who have, apparently, paid more attention to plants near at hand, and found more species of them there.
Main conclusions  Ecologists must be aware that numerical data that appear very solid, collected over many decades, may represent not only the qualities of 'nature' but also something of the collectors of the data.     

An evaluation of the influence of environment and biogeography on community structure: the case of Holarctic mammals

Aim To evaluate the influence of environment and biogeographical region, as a proxy for historical influence, on the ecological structure of Holarctic communities from similar environments. It is assumed that similarities among communities from similar environments in different realms are the result of convergence, whereas their differences are interpreted as being due to different historical processes. Location Holarctic realm, North America and Eurasia above 25° N. Methods Checklists of mammalian species occurring in 96 Holarctic localities were collected from published sources. Species were assigned to one of 20 functional groups defined by diet, body size and three‐dimensional use of space. The matrix composed of the frequencies of functional groups in the 96 localities is used as input data in a correspondence analysis (CA). The localities are classified into nine groups according to Bailey's ecoregions (used as a surrogate of regional climate), and the positions of the communities in the dimensions of the CA are compared in relation to ecoregion and realm. Partial regression was used to test for the relative influence of ecoregion and realm over each dimension and to evaluate the effect of biogeographical realm on the variation in the factor scores of the communities of the same ecoregion. Results In some cases, mammalian communities from areas with similar regional climates exhibit convergence in community structure, irrespective of the biogeographical realm where they are located. However, all of them are clearly subdivided into Nearctic and Palearctic subsets. Differences in the composition of the regional pools only partially explain differences in local communities between realms. Main conclusions Holarctic mammalian communities from regions with widely different climates differ in ecological structure irrespective of their biogeographical location. On the other hand, the structures of Nearctic and Palearctic communities from regions of similar climate radically differ in some features. Thus, although present climatic conditions influence community structure, contingent historic processes associated with each region also play a major role in determining community structure.     

Comparison of environmental sampling methods for detecting Salmonella in commercial laying flocks in the UK

Aims: To investigate the performance of the Salmonella National Control Programme (NCP) sampling/testing methods in laying flocks of domestic fowl. Methods and Results: Eighty‐five visits were made to 69 flocks representative of the main production systems (cage, barn and free‐range) infected with Salmonella. In each visit, three methodologies were compared: (i) the European Union (EU) baseline survey method (five faeces and two dust samples); (ii) an in‐house (Veterinary Laboratories Agency, VLA) ‘wet’ method that involved collecting 10 dust and 10 faeces samples into jars with buffered peptone water; and (iii) a method involving two samples of pooled faeces and one of dust (cultured as one sample of each type), which has been adopted for the NCP for laying flocks across the EU. Conclusions: The ‘wet’ method was the most sensitive, and the NCP the least, although individual NCP samples were the most sensitive ones. Significance and Impact of the Study: The apparent lower sensitivity of the NCP method may be compensated by repeated sampling of flocks (twice during rear and several times during lay). Sampling using VLA methodology should be advocated for farms aiming to disclose low‐level Salmonella before restrictions on the sale of eggs from Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium‐infected flocks are in place.     

Numbers of pink sugarcane mealy bug, Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), differ within seasons and among regions and stages of the sugarcane crop cycle

Abstract  The pink sugarcane mealy bug (PSMB; Saccharicoccus sacchari ) is widespread on sugarcane globally. PSMB infest above-ground storage tissue as it develops, feeding on phloem and producing exudate. It is not known, however, whether the level of infestations is the same in different sugar growing regions, or how population size varies year to year within a region. Field surveys of the number of nodes infested were conducted over five seasons in three mill-regions in northern Australia (Macknade, Kalamia and Marian) on plant and ratoon crops. The pattern of infestation was very similar across seasons (only in 1 year of very low rainfall was the increase in population delayed). In all three regions the proportion of nodes infested was similar but reached the maximum 1 month later in the Marian region compared with the Kalamia and Macknade regions. The Kalamia region was distinguished by the rapid decline in the number of nodes infested down to a very low level by March. In the Macknade region mealy bugs persisted at higher levels than the other two regions. The PSMB infestation started earlier and was much greater in ratoon crops than plant crops throughout the sampling period. The differences were more pronounced in the Macknade and Marian districts. These observations provide a firm basis from which future strategies to control PSMB can be developed.     

Microbial metabolomics: past,present and future methodologies

Microbial metabolomics has received much attention in recent years mainly because it supports and complements a wide range of microbial research areas from new drug discovery efforts to metabolic engineering. Broadly, the term metabolomics refers to the comprehensive (qualitative and quantitative) analysis of the complete set of all low molecular weight metabolites present in and around growing cells at a given time during their growth or production cycle. This review focuses on the past, current and future development of various experimental protocols in the rapid developing area of metabolomics in the ongoing quest to reliably quantify microbial metabolites formed under defined physiological conditions. These developments range from rapid sample collection, instant quenching of microbial metabolic activity, extraction of the relevant intracellular metabolites as well as quantification of these metabolites using enzyme based and or modern high tech hyphenated analytical protocols, mainly chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MSⁿ, GC-MSⁿ, CE-MSⁿ), where n indicates the number of tandem mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR).     

Phylogenetic analysis of Nymphaeales using fast-evolving and noncoding chloroplast markers

The Nymphaeales (water-lilies and relatives) represent one of the earliest branching lineages of angiosperms and comprise about 70 aquatic species. Here, we present a comprehensive study of phylogenetic relationships within the Nymphaeales from a dataset containing 24 representatives of the order, including all currently recognized genera and all subgenera of the genus Nymphaea , plus 5 outgroup taxa. Nine different regions of the chloroplast genome − comprising spacers, group II introns, a group I intron, and a protein coding gene − were analysed. This resulted in a character matrix of 6597 positions and an additional 369 characters obtained from coded length mutations. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of the complete dataset yielded congruent, fully resolved and well-supported trees. Our data confirm the monophyly of the Cabombaceae but do not provide convincing support for the monophyly of Nymphaeaceae with respect to Nuphar . Moreover, the genus Nymphaea is inferred to be paraphyletic with respect to Ondinea , Victoria and Euryale . In fact, the Australian endemic Ondinea forms a highly supported clade with members of the Australian Nymphaea subgenus Anecphya . In addition, Victoria and Euryale are inferred to be closely related to a clade comprising all night-blooming water-lilies ( Nymphaea subgenera Hydrocallis and Lotos ). An experimental approach showed taxon sampling to be of influence on the nodes reconstructed in core Nymphaeaceae. The results underscore that more diverse genera, if not clearly known to be monophyletic, should be represented by all major lineages.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2007, 154 , 141–163.