Exclosure fences around nests of imperiled Florida Grasshopper Sparrows reduce rates of predation by mammals

Increasing nest survival by excluding predators is a goal of many bird conservation programs. However, new exclosure projects should be carefully evaluated to assess the potential risks of disturbance. We tested the effectiveness of predator exclosure fences (hereafter, fences) for nests of critically endangered Florida Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum floridanus) at a dry prairie site (Three Lakes; 2015–2018) and a pasture site (the Ranch; 2015–2016) in Osceola County, Florida, USA. We installed fences at nests an average of 8 days after the start of incubation, and nest abandonment after fence installation was rare (2 of 149 installations). Predation was the leading cause of failure for unfenced nests at both sites (48–73%). At Three Lakes, nest cameras revealed that mammals and snakes were responsible for 61.5% and 38.5% of predation events, respectively, at unfenced nests. Fences reduced the daily probability of predation (0.016 for fenced nests vs. 0.074 for unfenced nests). The probability that a fenced nest would survive from discovery to fledging was more than double that of unfenced nests (60.4% vs. 27.7%). However, we found no difference in daily nest survival at the Ranch between the year before nests were fenced (2015; 0.874) and the year when all but one nest were fenced (2016; 0.867) because red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) were responsible for 86% of predation events at fenced nests at the Ranch. The use of cameras at fenced nests revealed that site‐specific differences in nest predators explained variation in fence efficiency between sites. Our fence design may be useful for other species of grassland birds, but site‐specific predator communities and species‐specific response of target bird species to fences should be assessed before installing fences at other sites.     

Cutaneous zygomycosis caused byAbsidia corymbifera in a leukemic patient

A case of cutaneous zygomycosis caused byAbsidia coryabifera in a leukemic patient submitted to chemotherapy is reported. The lesion was located on the little finger of the right hand and probably resulted from a latent osteomyelitis. It progressed to form extensive necrotic area. No systemic infection was detected and the lesion did not appear to be associated with any trauma.     

一类具有垂直传播的SEIRS捕食传染病模型的全局分析

通过假设捕食系统中疾病只在食饵种群中传播,被传染的易惑者经过一段潜伏期后才具有传染性,潜伏者与染病者均具有垂直传播能力,染病者恢复后对该病不具有终身免疫力,建立了一类具有垂直传播的SEIRS捕食传染病模型,运用极限系统理论,分两种情形讨论了系统平衡点的存在性及局部稳定性,利用Lyapunov函数和二次复合矩阵等方法,得到了平衡点全局渐近稳定的条件.     

长白山阔叶红松林生长季热量平衡变化特征

根据长白山阔叶红松林2001年5月下旬至10月上旬微气象梯度观测资料和辐射、土壤热通量资料,用波文比-能量平衡方法(BREB方法)计算了森林的显热通量和感热通量,并计算了森林大气和植被体的储热量,分析了阔叶红松林热量平衡各项的日变化和季节变化,结果发现,热量平衡(净辐射)与太阳总辐射呈线性关系;热量平衡各项都与净辐射有相同的日变化特征,为昼正夜负的曲线．各项的绝对值一般表现为净辐射>潜热通量>感热通量>储热变化．受日照时间的影响,6～10月各分量正值的日持续时间逐渐缩短．月平均结果,白天净辐射6月份最大,10月上旬最小,变化于0～527W·m^-2,夜间的净辐射在0～-121W·m^-2．潜热通量白天和夜间分别在0～441、0～-81W·m^-2,感热通量昼夜分别在0～80、0～-26W·m^-2．储热变化则为0～44、0～-26W·m^-2．白天潜热通量占净辐射的比例8～10月逐渐下降,而感热通量和储热变化的比例9～10月明显上升,特别在严霜后2～3d,出现潜热通量比例突减、感热通量比例突增的现象．文中还对通量观测仪器、方法进行了简要分析．     

Volatile exposure within the honeybee hive and its effect on olfactory discrimination

Honeybees of different ages and reproductive castes cohabit in the hive where they are exposed to many odors that might affect associative learning. Our aim was to analyze the role of odors pre-exposed as volatiles on appetitive learning in honeybees of different ages and search for their long-term effect both under natural and laboratory conditions. By evaluating memory acquisition and retention through a differential proboscis extension response conditioning, we found that hive-exposed odors offered as a reinforced conditioned stimulus during training promoted a learning-reduced effect [latent inhibition (LI)]. On the other hand, no effect was found when the non-reinforced conditioned stimulus was pre-exposed. The LI effect varied with the odor identity. However, only slight differences were found with the age of the bees. Exposure-conditioning intervals longer than 24 h did not show an LI effect unless the odor concentration was increased or exposure was prolonged. Our results show that pre-exposed volatiles could either reduce learning performance, if this odor is later associated with food, or be irrelevant in the case that alternative scented resources circulate within the colony. The differential effects found according to the olfactory exposure characteristics could strongly influence the propagation of chemosensory information within the hive.     

Fisher information matrix of the Dirichlet-multinomial distribution

In this paper we derive explicit expressions for the elements of the exact Fisher information matrix of the Dirichlet-multinomial distribution. We show that exact calculation is based on the beta-binomial probability function rather than that of the Dirichlet-multinomial and this makes the exact calculation quite easy. The exact results are expected to be useful for the calculation of standard errors of the maximum likelihood estimates of the beta-binomial parameters and those of the Dirichlet-multinomial parameters for data that arise in practice in toxicology and other similar fields. Standard errors of the maximum likelihood estimates of the beta-binomial parameters and those of the Dirichlet-multinomial parameters, based on the exact and the asymptotic Fisher information matrix based on the Dirichlet distribution, are obtained for a set of data from Haseman and Soares (1976), a dataset from Mosimann (1962) and a more recent dataset from Chen, Kodell, Howe and Gaylor (1991). There is substantial difference between the standard errors of the estimates based on the exact Fisher information matrix and those based on the asymptotic Fisher information matrix.