Infusing considerations of trophic dependencies into species distribution modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Trainor, Anne M; Schmitz, Oswald J

2014-12-01

Community ecology involves studying the interdependence of species with each other and their environment to predict their geographical distribution and abundance. Modern species distribution analyses characterise species-environment dependency well, but offer only crude approximations of species interdependency. Typically, the dependency between focal species and other species is characterised using other species' point occurrences as spatial covariates to constrain the focal species' predicted range. This implicitly assumes that the strength of interdependency is homogeneous across space, which is not generally supported by analyses of species interactions. This discrepancy has an important bearing on the accuracy of inferences about habitat suitability for species. We introduce a framework that integrates principles from consumer-resource analyses, resource selection theory and species distribution modelling to enhance quantitative prediction of species geographical distributions. We show how to apply the framework using a case study of lynx and snowshoe hare interactions with each other and their environment. The analysis shows how the framework offers a spatially refined understanding of species distribution that is sensitive to nuances in biophysical attributes of the environment that determine the location and strength of species interactions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Incorporating Context Dependency of Species Interactions in Species Distribution Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Lany, Nina K; Zarnetske, Phoebe L; Gouhier, Tarik C; Menge, Bruce A

2017-07-01

Species distribution models typically use correlative approaches that characterize the species-environment relationship using occurrence or abundance data for a single species. However, species distributions are determined by both abiotic conditions and biotic interactions with other species in the community. Therefore, climate change is expected to impact species through direct effects on their physiology and indirect effects propagated through their resources, predators, competitors, or mutualists. Furthermore, the sign and strength of species interactions can change according to abiotic conditions, resulting in context-dependent species interactions that may change across space or with climate change. Here, we incorporated the context dependency of species interactions into a dynamic species distribution model. We developed a multi-species model that uses a time-series of observational survey data to evaluate how abiotic conditions and species interactions affect the dynamics of three rocky intertidal species. The model further distinguishes between the direct effects of abiotic conditions on abundance and the indirect effects propagated through interactions with other species. We apply the model to keystone predation by the sea star Pisaster ochraceus on the mussel Mytilus californianus and the barnacle Balanus glandula in the rocky intertidal zone of the Pacific coast, USA. Our method indicated that biotic interactions between P. ochraceus and B. glandula affected B. glandula dynamics across >1000 km of coastline. Consistent with patterns from keystone predation, the growth rate of B. glandula varied according to the abundance of P. ochraceus in the previous year. The data and the model did not indicate that the strength of keystone predation by P. ochraceus varied with a mean annual upwelling index. Balanus glandula cover increased following years with high phytoplankton abundance measured as mean annual chlorophyll-a. M. californianus exhibited the same

Weather, not climate, defines distributions of vagile bird species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

April E Reside

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Accurate predictions of species distributions are essential for climate change impact assessments. However the standard practice of using long-term climate averages to train species distribution models might mute important temporal patterns of species distribution. The benefit of using temporally explicit weather and distribution data has not been assessed. We hypothesized that short-term weather associated with the time a species was recorded should be superior to long-term climate measures for predicting distributions of mobile species. METHODOLOGY: We tested our hypothesis by generating distribution models for 157 bird species found in Australian tropical savannas (ATS using modelling algorithm Maxent. The variable weather of the ATS supports a bird assemblage with variable movement patterns and a high incidence of nomadism. We developed "weather" models by relating climatic variables (mean temperature, rainfall, rainfall seasonality and temperature seasonality from the three month, six month and one year period preceding each bird record over a 58 year period (1950-2008. These weather models were compared against models built using long-term (30 year averages of the same climatic variables. CONCLUSIONS: Weather models consistently achieved higher model scores than climate models, particularly for wide-ranging, nomadic and desert species. Climate models predicted larger range areas for species, whereas weather models quantified fluctuations in habitat suitability across months, seasons and years. Models based on long-term climate averages over-estimate availability of suitable habitat and species' climatic tolerances, masking species potential vulnerability to climate change. Our results demonstrate that dynamic approaches to distribution modelling, such as incorporating organism-appropriate temporal scales, improves understanding of species distributions.

Disseminated phaeohyphomycosis in weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) caused by species of Exophiala, including a novel species.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyaoke, Akinyi; Weber, E Scott; Innis, Charles; Stremme, Donald; Dowd, Cynthia; Hinckley, Lynn; Gorton, Timothy; Wickes, Brian; Sutton, Deanna; de Hoog, Sybren; Frasca, Salvatore

2009-01-01

During the period from January 2002 to March 2007, infections by melanized fungi were identified with greater frequency in aquarium-maintained leafy seadragons (Phycodurus eques) and weedy seadragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus), pivotal species to the educational and environmental concerns of the aquarium industry and conservation groups. The objective of this study was to characterize the pathology and identify fungi associated with phaeohyphomycotic lesions in these species. Samples from 14 weedy and 6 leafy seadragons were received from 2 institutions and included fresh, frozen, and formalin-fixed tissues from necropsy and biopsy specimens. Fresh and frozen tissues were cultured for fungi on Sabouraud dextrose agar only or both Sabouraud dextrose agar and inhibitory mold agar with gentamicin and chloramphenicol at 30 degrees C. Isolates were processed for morphologic identification and molecular sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region and D1/D2 domains of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene. Lesions were extensive and consisted of parenchymal and vascular necrosis with fungal invasion of gill (11/20), kidney (14/20), and other coelomic viscera with or without cutaneous ulceration (13/20). Exophiala sp. isolates were obtained from 4 weedy and 3 leafy seadragons and were identified to species level in 6 of 7 instances, namely Exophiala angulospora (1) and a novel species of Exophiala (5), based on nucleotide sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analyses. Disseminated phaeohyphomycosis represents an important pathologic condition of both weedy and leafy seadragons for which 2 species of Exophiala, 1 a novel species, have been isolated.

Game-Theoretical Design of an Adaptive Distributed Dissemination Protocol for VANETs.

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Iza-Paredes, Cristhian; Mezher, Ahmad Mohamad; Aguilar Igartua, Mónica; Forné, Jordi

2018-01-19

Road safety applications envisaged for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) depend largely on the dissemination of warning messages to deliver information to concerned vehicles. The intended applications, as well as some inherent VANET characteristics, make data dissemination an essential service and a challenging task in this kind of networks. This work lays out a decentralized stochastic solution for the data dissemination problem through two game-theoretical mechanisms. Given the non-stationarity induced by a highly dynamic topology, diverse network densities, and intermittent connectivity, a solution for the formulated game requires an adaptive procedure able to exploit the environment changes. Extensive simulations reveal that our proposal excels in terms of number of transmissions, lower end-to-end delay and reduced overhead while maintaining high delivery ratio, compared to other proposals.

Forms and genesis of species abundance distributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evans O. Ochiaga

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Species abundance distribution (SAD is one of the most important metrics in community ecology. SAD curves take a hollow or hyperbolic shape in a histogram plot with many rare species and only a few common species. In general, the shape of SAD is largely log-normally distributed, although the mechanism behind this particular SAD shape still remains elusive. Here, we aim to review four major parametric forms of SAD and three contending mechanisms that could potentially explain this highly skewed form of SAD. The parametric forms reviewed here include log series, negative binomial, lognormal and geometric distributions. The mechanisms reviewed here include the maximum entropy theory of ecology, neutral theory and the theory of proportionate effect.

The importance of serological tests implementation in disseminated candidiasis diagnose.

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Gegić, Merima; Numanović, Fatima; Delibegović, Zineta; Tihić, Nijaz; Nurkić, Mahmut; Hukić, Mirsada

2013-03-01

Candidiasis is defined as an infection or disease caused by a fungus of the genus Candida. Rate of disseminated candidiasis increases with the growth of the number of immunocompromised patients. In the the last few decades the incidence of disseminated candidiasis is in growth as well as the mortality rate. The aim of this survey is to show the importance of serological tests implementation in disseminated candidiasis diagnose. This is a prospective study involving 60 patients with malign diseases with and without clinical signs of disseminated candidiasis and 30 healthy people who represent the control group. Apart from hemoculture, detection of circulating mannan antigen and adequate antibodies of Candida species applying comercial ELISA test was determined in each patient. This survey deals with relevant factors causing disseminated candidiasis. This survey showed that the group of patients with clinical signs of disseminated candidiasis had more patients with positive hemoculture to Candida species, then the group of patients without clinical signs of disseminated candidiasis. The number of patients being examined and positive to antigens and antibodies was higher (p candidiasis (7/30; 23.3%), then in the group of patients without clinical signs of disseminated candidiasis (0/30; 0%): Average value of titra antigen was statistically higher (p candidiasis 6/30 (20%) of patients had Candida spp.positive hemocultures while in the group of patients without clinical signs of disseminated candidiasis 1/30 (3.3%) of patients had Candida spp. positive hemocultures, which was considerably higher (p candidiasis were statistically significant, while correlation of results of hemoculture and antibodies was insignificant. Because of low sensitivity of hemoculture and time needed for isolation of Candida spp., introducing serological tests in regular procedures would speed disseminated candidiasis diagnose.

Equilibrium of global amphibian species distributions with climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munguí­a, Mariana; Rahbek, Carsten; Rangel, Thiago F.

2012-01-01

A common assumption in bioclimatic envelope modeling is that species distributions are in equilibrium with contemporary climate. A number of studies have measured departures from equilibrium in species distributions in particular regions, but such investigations were never carried out for a compl...

SPECIES DISTRIBUTIONS, SURROGACY, AND IMPORTANT CONSERVATION REGIONS IN CANADA

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Conservation actions could be more efficient if there is congruence among taxa in the distribution of species. Patterns in the geographic distribution of species of six taxa were used to identify nationally important sites for conservation in Canada. Species richness and a meas...

Species-free species distribution models describe macroecological properties of protected area networks.

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Robinson, Jason L; Fordyce, James A

2017-01-01

Among the greatest challenges facing the conservation of plants and animal species in protected areas are threats from a rapidly changing climate. An altered climate creates both challenges and opportunities for improving the management of protected areas in networks. Increasingly, quantitative tools like species distribution modeling are used to assess the performance of protected areas and predict potential responses to changing climates for groups of species, within a predictive framework. At larger geographic domains and scales, protected area network units have spatial geoclimatic properties that can be described in the gap analysis typically used to measure or aggregate the geographic distributions of species (stacked species distribution models, or S-SDM). We extend the use of species distribution modeling techniques in order to model the climate envelope (or "footprint") of individual protected areas within a network of protected areas distributed across the 48 conterminous United States and managed by the US National Park System. In our approach we treat each protected area as the geographic range of a hypothetical endemic species, then use MaxEnt and 5 uncorrelated BioClim variables to model the geographic distribution of the climatic envelope associated with each protected area unit (modeling the geographic area of park units as the range of a species). We describe the individual and aggregated climate envelopes predicted by a large network of 163 protected areas and briefly illustrate how macroecological measures of geodiversity can be derived from our analysis of the landscape ecological context of protected areas. To estimate trajectories of change in the temporal distribution of climatic features within a protected area network, we projected the climate envelopes of protected areas in current conditions onto a dataset of predicted future climatic conditions. Our results suggest that the climate envelopes of some parks may be locally unique or have

Applications of species distribution modeling to paleobiology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenning, Jens-Christian; Fløjgaard, Camilla; Marske, Katharine Ann

2011-01-01

-Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, past community assembly, human paleobiogeography, Holocene paleoecology, and even deep-time biogeography (notably, providing insights into biogeographic dynamics >400 million years ago). We discuss important assumptions and uncertainties that affect the SDM approach to paleobiology......Species distribution modeling (SDM: statistical and/or mechanistic approaches to the assessment of range determinants and prediction of species occurrence) offers new possibilities for estimating and studying past organism distributions. SDM complements fossil and genetic evidence by providing (i......) quantitative and potentially high-resolution predictions of the past organism distributions, (ii) statistically formulated, testable ecological hypotheses regarding past distributions and communities, and (iii) statistical assessment of range determinants. In this article, we provide an overview...

Species Distribution modeling as a tool to unravel determinants of palm distribution in Thailand

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tovaranonte, Jantrararuk; Barfod, Anders S.; Balslev, Henrik

2011-01-01

As a consequence of the decimation of the forest cover in Thailand from 50% to ca. 20 % since the 1950ies, it is difficult to gain insight in the drivers behind past, present and future distribution ranges of plant species. Species distribution modeling allows visualization of potential species...... distribution under specific sets of assumptions. In this study we used maximum entropy to map potential distributions of 103 species of palms for which more than 5 herbarium records exist. Palms constitute key-stone plant group from both an ecological, economical and conservation perspective. The models were......) and the Area Under the Curve (AUC). All models performed well with AUC scores above 0.95. The predicted distribution ranges showed high suitability for palms in the southern region of Thailand. It also shows that spatial predictor variables are important in cases where historical processes may explain extant...

Effects of species biological traits and environmental heterogeneity on simulated tree species distribution shifts under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wen J; He, Hong S; Thompson, Frank R; Spetich, Martin A; Fraser, Jacob S

2018-09-01

Demographic processes (fecundity, dispersal, colonization, growth, and mortality) and their interactions with environmental changes are not well represented in current climate-distribution models (e.g., niche and biophysical process models) and constitute a large uncertainty in projections of future tree species distribution shifts. We investigate how species biological traits and environmental heterogeneity affect species distribution shifts. We used a species-specific, spatially explicit forest dynamic model LANDIS PRO, which incorporates site-scale tree species demography and competition, landscape-scale dispersal and disturbances, and regional-scale abiotic controls, to simulate the distribution shifts of four representative tree species with distinct biological traits in the central hardwood forest region of United States. Our results suggested that biological traits (e.g., dispersal capacity, maturation age) were important for determining tree species distribution shifts. Environmental heterogeneity, on average, reduced shift rates by 8% compared to perfect environmental conditions. The average distribution shift rates ranged from 24 to 200myear -1 under climate change scenarios, implying that many tree species may not able to keep up with climate change because of limited dispersal capacity, long generation time, and environmental heterogeneity. We suggest that climate-distribution models should include species demographic processes (e.g., fecundity, dispersal, colonization), biological traits (e.g., dispersal capacity, maturation age), and environmental heterogeneity (e.g., habitat fragmentation) to improve future predictions of species distribution shifts in response to changing climates. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gridded Species Distribution, Version 1: Global Amphibians Presence Grids

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Amphibians Presence Grids of the Gridded Species Distribution, Version 1 is a reclassified version of the original grids of amphibian species distribution...

Near term climate projections for invasive species distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Jarnevich, C.S.; Stohlgren, T.J.

2009-01-01

Climate change and invasive species pose important conservation issues separately, and should be examined together. We used existing long term climate datasets for the US to project potential climate change into the future at a finer spatial and temporal resolution than the climate change scenarios generally available. These fine scale projections, along with new species distribution modeling techniques to forecast the potential extent of invasive species, can provide useful information to aide conservation and invasive species management efforts. We created habitat suitability maps for Pueraria montana (kudzu) under current climatic conditions and potential average conditions up to 30 years in the future. We examined how the potential distribution of this species will be affected by changing climate, and the management implications associated with these changes. Our models indicated that P. montana may increase its distribution particularly in the Northeast with climate change and may decrease in other areas. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

PECULIARITIES OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE NOCTUIDAE (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE OF THE ISLAND OF CHECHEN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. M. Abdurakhmanov

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the species composition of the noctuidae (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae of the island of Chechen of the North-West Caspian sea, their spatial distribution,  dissemination  and analysis of the most common and indigenous species.

Species distribution models of tropical deep-sea snappers.

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Céline Gomez

Full Text Available Deep-sea fisheries provide an important source of protein to Pacific Island countries and territories that are highly dependent on fish for food security. However, spatial management of these deep-sea habitats is hindered by insufficient data. We developed species distribution models using spatially limited presence data for the main harvested species in the Western Central Pacific Ocean. We used bathymetric and water temperature data to develop presence-only species distribution models for the commercially exploited deep-sea snappers Etelis Cuvier 1828, Pristipomoides Valenciennes 1830, and Aphareus Cuvier 1830. We evaluated the performance of four different algorithms (CTA, GLM, MARS, and MAXENT within the BIOMOD framework to obtain an ensemble of predicted distributions. We projected these predictions across the Western Central Pacific Ocean to produce maps of potential deep-sea snapper distributions in 32 countries and territories. Depth was consistently the best predictor of presence for all species groups across all models. Bathymetric slope was consistently the poorest predictor. Temperature at depth was a good predictor of presence for GLM only. Model precision was highest for MAXENT and CTA. There were strong regional patterns in predicted distribution of suitable habitat, with the largest areas of suitable habitat (> 35% of the Exclusive Economic Zone predicted in seven South Pacific countries and territories (Fiji, Matthew & Hunter, Nauru, New Caledonia, Tonga, Vanuatu and Wallis & Futuna. Predicted habitat also varied among species, with the proportion of predicted habitat highest for Aphareus and lowest for Etelis. Despite data paucity, the relationship between deep-sea snapper presence and their environments was sufficiently strong to predict their distribution across a large area of the Pacific Ocean. Our results therefore provide a strong baseline for designing monitoring programs that balance resource exploitation and

Regional climate model downscaling may improve the prediction of alien plant species distributions

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Liu, Shuyan; Liang, Xin-Zhong; Gao, Wei; Stohlgren, Thomas J.

2014-12-01

Distributions of invasive species are commonly predicted with species distribution models that build upon the statistical relationships between observed species presence data and climate data. We used field observations, climate station data, and Maximum Entropy species distribution models for 13 invasive plant species in the United States, and then compared the models with inputs from a General Circulation Model (hereafter GCM-based models) and a downscaled Regional Climate Model (hereafter, RCM-based models).We also compared species distributions based on either GCM-based or RCM-based models for the present (1990-1999) to the future (2046-2055). RCM-based species distribution models replicated observed distributions remarkably better than GCM-based models for all invasive species under the current climate. This was shown for the presence locations of the species, and by using four common statistical metrics to compare modeled distributions. For two widespread invasive taxa ( Bromus tectorum or cheatgrass, and Tamarix spp. or tamarisk), GCM-based models failed miserably to reproduce observed species distributions. In contrast, RCM-based species distribution models closely matched observations. Future species distributions may be significantly affected by using GCM-based inputs. Because invasive plants species often show high resilience and low rates of local extinction, RCM-based species distribution models may perform better than GCM-based species distribution models for planning containment programs for invasive species.

Distribution and diversity of twelve Curcuma species in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Lanyue; Wei, Jingwen; Yang, Zhiwen; Chen, Feng; Xian, Qiqiu; Su, Ping; Pan, Wanyi; Zhang, Kun; Zheng, Xi; Du, Zhiyun

2018-02-01

Genus Curcuma a wild species presents an important source of valuable characters for improving the cultivated Curcuma varieties. Based on the collected germplasms, herbariums, field surveys and other literatures, the ecogeographical diversity of Genus Curcuma and its potential distributions under the present and future climate are analysed by DIVA-GIS. The results indicate Genus Curcuma is distributed over 17 provinces in China, and particularly abundant in Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. The simulated current distributions are close to the actual distribution regions. In the future climate, the suitable areas for four Curcuma species will be extended, while for other three species the regions will be significantly decreased, and thus these valuable resources need protecting.

Distribution of crayfish species in Hungarian waters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mercédesz, Ludányi; Peeters, E.T.H.M.; Kiss, B.; Roessink, I.

2016-01-01

Three native crayfish species, i.e.~Astacus astacus, Astacus leptodactylus and Austropotamobius torrentium, occur in Hungary. Lately, however, non-indigenous crustaceans have also invaded the country Their most recent distribution and impact on the occurrences of the native species is not clear.

Finessing atlas data for species distribution models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niamir, A.; Skidmore, A.K.; Toxopeus, A.G.; Munoz, A.R.; Real, R.

2011-01-01

Aim The spatial resolution of species atlases and therefore resulting model predictions are often too coarse for local applications. Collecting distribution data at a finer resolution for large numbers of species requires a comprehensive sampling effort, making it impractical and expensive. This

A simple model for skewed species-lifetime distributions

KAUST Repository

Murase, Yohsuke

2010-06-11

A simple model of a biological community assembly is studied. Communities are assembled by successive migrations and extinctions of species. In the model, species are interacting with each other. The intensity of the interaction between each pair of species is denoted by an interaction coefficient. At each time step, a new species is introduced to the system with randomly assigned interaction coefficients. If the sum of the coefficients, which we call the fitness of a species, is negative, the species goes extinct. The species-lifetime distribution is found to be well characterized by a stretched exponential function with an exponent close to 1/2. This profile agrees not only with more realistic population dynamics models but also with fossil records. We also find that an age-independent and inversely diversity-dependent mortality, which is confirmed in the simulation, is a key mechanism accounting for the distribution. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.

Book review: A new view on the species abundance distribution

Science.gov (United States)

DeAngelis, Donald L.

2018-01-01

The sampled relative abundances of species of a taxonomic group, whether birds, trees, or moths, in a natural community at a particular place vary in a way that suggests a consistent underlying pattern, referred to as the species abundance distribution (SAD). Preston [1] conjectured that the numbers of species, plotted as a histogram of logarithmic abundance classes called octaves, seemed to fit a lognormal distribution; that is, the histograms look like normal distributions, although truncated on the left-hand, or low-species-abundance, end. Although other specific curves for the SAD have been proposed in the literature, Preston’s lognormal distribution is widely cited in textbooks and has stimulated attempts at explanation. An important aspect of Preston’s lognormal distribution is the ‘veil line’, a vertical line drawn exactly at the point of the left-hand truncation in the distribution, to the left of which would be species missing from the sample. Dewdney rejects the lognormal conjecture. Instead, starting with the long-recognized fact that the number of species sampled from a community, when plotted as histograms against population abundance, resembles an inverted J, he presents a mathematical description of an alternative that he calls the ‘J distribution’, a hyperbolic density function truncated at both ends. When multiplied by species richness, R, it becomes the SAD of the sample.

Study on Dissemination Patterns in Location-Aware Gossiping Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kami, Nobuharu; Baba, Teruyuki; Yoshikawa, Takashi; Morikawa, Hiroyuki

We study the properties of information dissemination over location-aware gossiping networks leveraging location-based real-time communication applications. Gossiping is a promising method for quickly disseminating messages in a large-scale system, but in its application to information dissemination for location-aware applications, it is important to consider the network topology and patterns of spatial dissemination over the network in order to achieve effective delivery of messages to potentially interested users. To this end, we propose a continuous-space network model extended from Kleinberg's small-world model applicable to actual location-based applications. Analytical and simulation-based study shows that the proposed network achieves high dissemination efficiency resulting from geographically neutral dissemination patterns as well as selective dissemination to proximate users. We have designed a highly scalable location management method capable of promptly updating the network topology in response to node movement and have implemented a distributed simulator to perform dynamic target pursuit experiments as one example of applications that are the most sensitive to message forwarding delay. The experimental results show that the proposed network surpasses other types of networks in pursuit efficiency and achieves the desirable dissemination patterns.

Mistaking geography for biology: inferring processes from species distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Warren, Dan L; Cardillo, Marcel; Rosauer, Dan F; Bolnick, Daniel I

2014-10-01

Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid proliferation of statistical methods that infer evolutionary and ecological processes from data on species distributions. These methods have led to considerable new insights, but they often fail to account for the effects of historical biogeography on present-day species distributions. Because the geography of speciation can lead to patterns of spatial and temporal autocorrelation in the distributions of species within a clade, this can result in misleading inferences about the importance of deterministic processes in generating spatial patterns of biodiversity. In this opinion article, we discuss ways in which patterns of species distributions driven by historical biogeography are often interpreted as evidence of particular evolutionary or ecological processes. We focus on three areas that are especially prone to such misinterpretations: community phylogenetics, environmental niche modelling, and analyses of beta diversity (compositional turnover of biodiversity). Crown Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The birds-consumers of the fruits and disseminators of Phellodendron Rupr. seeds in the south of Russian Far East

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. A. Nechaev

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Based on the results of the long-term investigation, carried out in the Russian Far East (Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, Amur and Sakhalin regions, and published data about bird ecology, the actual material about the birds feeding seeds and berries of the Amur cork-tree, Phellodendron amurense Rupr. and Sakhalin cork-tree, Ph. sachalinensis (Fr. Schmidt Sarg., is given in the article. It has been found 43 carpophagous bird species from 15 families and 5 orders. The cork-tree berries, small roundish juicy fruits with little stones, are eaten by the birds of 40 species from 13 families; basically by Grey-headed Woodpecker – Picus canus, Azure-winged Magpies – Cyanopica cyanus, Bohemian and Japanaese Waxwings – Bombycilla garrulus and B. japonica, Thrushes: Pale Thrush – Turdus pallidus, Eyebrowed Thrush – Turdus obscurus, Grey-backed Thrush – T. hortulorum, Naumann’s Thrush – T. naumanni, and Dusky Thrush – T. eunomus, Eurasian Nuthatch – Sitta europaea, Pallas’s Rose Finch – Carpodacus roseus. The secondary birds – 16 species. On the Sakhalin isl. the Sakhalin cork-tree, Ph. sachalinensis berries are eaten by the birds of 33 species from 12 families, on the South Kuriles (Kunashir isl. – by the birds of 28 species from 11 families. On Sakhalin the berries are eaten basically by the Waxwings (2 species, Dusky and Brown-headed – Turdus chrysolaus – Thrushes, Eurasian Nuthatch, Pallas’s Rose Finch; and secondary birds – 12 species. There are 5 species of the primary birds and 8 species of the secondary birds on the Kunashir isl. A participation of the birds in the dissemination of the cork-tree, Phellodendron Rupr., during seasonal migrations in winter and autumn has been considered. The active birds in the seed distribution are Grey-headed Woodpecker, Azure-winged Magpies, Waxwings, Thrushes and others; while they are eating the berries, the seeds are not damaged in the gastrointestinal tract and pushed

Biotic Interactions Shape the Ecological Distributions of Staphylococcus Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kastman, Erik K; Kamelamela, Noelani; Norville, Josh W; Cosetta, Casey M; Dutton, Rachel J; Wolfe, Benjamin E

2016-10-18

Many metagenomic sequencing studies have observed the presence of closely related bacterial species or genotypes in the same microbiome. Previous attempts to explain these patterns of microdiversity have focused on the abiotic environment, but few have considered how biotic interactions could drive patterns of microbiome diversity. We dissected the patterns, processes, and mechanisms shaping the ecological distributions of three closely related Staphylococcus species in cheese rind biofilms. Paradoxically, the most abundant species (S. equorum) is the slowest colonizer and weakest competitor based on growth and competition assays in the laboratory. Through in vitro community reconstructions, we determined that biotic interactions with neighboring fungi help resolve this paradox. Species-specific stimulation of the poor competitor by fungi of the genus Scopulariopsis allows S. equorum to dominate communities in vitro as it does in situ Results of comparative genomic and transcriptomic experiments indicate that iron utilization pathways, including a homolog of the S. aureus staphyloferrin B siderophore operon pathway, are potential molecular mechanisms underlying Staphylococcus-Scopulariopsis interactions. Our integrated approach demonstrates that fungi can structure the ecological distributions of closely related bacterial species, and the data highlight the importance of bacterium-fungus interactions in attempts to design and manipulate microbiomes. Decades of culture-based studies and more recent metagenomic studies have demonstrated that bacterial species in agriculture, medicine, industry, and nature are unevenly distributed across time and space. The ecological processes and molecular mechanisms that shape these distributions are not well understood because it is challenging to connect in situ patterns of diversity with mechanistic in vitro studies in the laboratory. Using tractable cheese rind biofilms and a focus on coagulase-negative staphylococcus (CNS

Integrating DNA-based data into bioassessments improves our understanding of species distributions and species habitat relationships

Science.gov (United States)

The integration of DNA-based identification methods into bioassessments could result in more accurate representations of species distributions and species-habitat relationships. DNA-based approaches may be particularly informative for tracking the distributions of rare and/or inv...

The origin and distribution of neotropical species of Campylopus

OpenAIRE

Frahm, Jan-Peter

1990-01-01

Of the 65 species of Campylopus known from tropical America, 33 are andine in distribution, 16 are found only in SE Brazil, 8 have wide ranges through Central and South America, 3 species are disjunct in SE-North America and Brazil, 3 are confined to the Caribbean and one species belongs to the circum-pacific and one to the tethyan element. For different parts of the Neotropics, the composition of phytogeographical elements is calculated. For the first time, bryophyte distributions are compar...

How much does climate change threaten European forest tree species distributions?

Science.gov (United States)

Dyderski, Marcin K; Paź, Sonia; Frelich, Lee E; Jagodziński, Andrzej M

2018-03-01

Although numerous species distribution models have been developed, most were based on insufficient distribution data or used older climate change scenarios. We aimed to quantify changes in projected ranges and threat level by the years 2061-2080, for 12 European forest tree species under three climate change scenarios. We combined tree distribution data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, EUFORGEN, and forest inventories, and we developed species distribution models using MaxEnt and 19 bioclimatic variables. Models were developed for three climate change scenarios-optimistic (RCP2.6), moderate (RCP4.5), and pessimistic (RPC8.5)-using three General Circulation Models, for the period 2061-2080. Our study revealed different responses of tree species to projected climate change. The species may be divided into three groups: "winners"-mostly late-successional species: Abies alba, Fagus sylvatica, Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus robur, and Quercus petraea; "losers"-mostly pioneer species: Betula pendula, Larix decidua, Picea abies, and Pinus sylvestris; and alien species-Pseudotsuga menziesii, Quercus rubra, and Robinia pseudoacacia, which may be also considered as "winners." Assuming limited migration, most of the species studied would face a significant decrease in suitable habitat area. The threat level was highest for species that currently have the northernmost distribution centers. Ecological consequences of the projected range contractions would be serious for both forest management and nature conservation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Uncertainty of future projections of species distributions in mountainous regions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ying Tang

Full Text Available Multiple factors introduce uncertainty into projections of species distributions under climate change. The uncertainty introduced by the choice of baseline climate information used to calibrate a species distribution model and to downscale global climate model (GCM simulations to a finer spatial resolution is a particular concern for mountainous regions, as the spatial resolution of climate observing networks is often insufficient to detect the steep climatic gradients in these areas. Using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt modeling framework together with occurrence data on 21 understory bamboo species distributed across the mountainous geographic range of the Giant Panda, we examined the differences in projected species distributions obtained from two contrasting sources of baseline climate information, one derived from spatial interpolation of coarse-scale station observations and the other derived from fine-spatial resolution satellite measurements. For each bamboo species, the MaxEnt model was calibrated separately for the two datasets and applied to 17 GCM simulations downscaled using the delta method. Greater differences in the projected spatial distributions of the bamboo species were observed for the models calibrated using the different baseline datasets than between the different downscaled GCM simulations for the same calibration. In terms of the projected future climatically-suitable area by species, quantification using a multi-factor analysis of variance suggested that the sum of the variance explained by the baseline climate dataset used for model calibration and the interaction between the baseline climate data and the GCM simulation via downscaling accounted for, on average, 40% of the total variation among the future projections. Our analyses illustrate that the combined use of gridded datasets developed from station observations and satellite measurements can help estimate the uncertainty introduced by the choice of baseline

Disseminated Yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection in a paca (Cuniculus paca).

Science.gov (United States)

Fogelson, Susan B; Yau, Wilson; Rissi, Daniel R

2015-03-01

A 2-yr-old paca (Cuniculus paca) was presented for necropsy with a history of sudden death. GrosS examination revealed multifocal, transmural, well-demarcated, white, soft nodules scattered along the length of the small intestine. The liver also had similar nodules associated with the capsular and cut surface. Histologic evaluation of several organs, including the intestine, liver, lung, kidney, adrenal gland, and lymph nodes, was consistent with disseminated yersiniosis. In addition, aerobic bacterial culture of liver and lung tissue yielded heavy growth of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a Gram-negative, enteric pathogen that can cause disease in a variety of terrestrial species including humans. Although systemic infection has been observed in rodent species, to our knowledge this is the first report of disseminated Y pseudotuberculosis in a paca.

Disseminated sporotrichosis

Science.gov (United States)

Romero-Cabello, Raúl; Bonifaz, Alexandro; Romero-Feregrino, Raúl; Sánchez, Carlos Javier; Linares, Yancy; Zavala, Jorge Tay; Romero, Leticia Calderón; Romero-Feregrino, Rodrigo; Vega, José T Sánchez

2011-01-01

Sporotrichosis is a subacute or chronic infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii. It is a primary cutaneous infection and it has different clinical forms: disseminated by lymphatic vessels (75%), localised cutaneous form (20%), disseminated cutaneous and extracuteus rarely. The systemic disseminated sporotrichosis is considered a severe opportunistic infection. The best diagnostic test is the culture. The authors report a case of a 36-year-old man, originally from Puebla, Mexico, with a diagnosis of disseminated sporotrichosis. Differential diagnosis with other pathologies includes leishmaniasis, chromoblastomycosis, tuberculosis verrucose and lymphangitis. The development of unusual presentations in immunocompromised patients has been reported. PMID:22700076

How can model comparison help improving species distribution models?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emmanuel Stephan Gritti

Full Text Available Today, more than ever, robust projections of potential species range shifts are needed to anticipate and mitigate the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Such projections are so far provided almost exclusively by correlative species distribution models (correlative SDMs. However, concerns regarding the reliability of their predictive power are growing and several authors call for the development of process-based SDMs. Still, each of these methods presents strengths and weakness which have to be estimated if they are to be reliably used by decision makers. In this study we compare projections of three different SDMs (STASH, LPJ and PHENOFIT that lie in the continuum between correlative models and process-based models for the current distribution of three major European tree species, Fagussylvatica L., Quercusrobur L. and Pinussylvestris L. We compare the consistency of the model simulations using an innovative comparison map profile method, integrating local and multi-scale comparisons. The three models simulate relatively accurately the current distribution of the three species. The process-based model performs almost as well as the correlative model, although parameters of the former are not fitted to the observed species distributions. According to our simulations, species range limits are triggered, at the European scale, by establishment and survival through processes primarily related to phenology and resistance to abiotic stress rather than to growth efficiency. The accuracy of projections of the hybrid and process-based model could however be improved by integrating a more realistic representation of the species resistance to water stress for instance, advocating for pursuing efforts to understand and formulate explicitly the impact of climatic conditions and variations on these processes.

Natural gas distribution operation and maintenance dissemination project Kaunas City, Lithuania. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

The main objective of this project has been to disseminate the results and experiences achieved during the former projects in Kaunas to other Lithuanian gas companies and the gas sector in general. Also new subjects selected in co-operation with Kaunas Gas Company, the Lithuanian Energy Institute and the Lithuanian Gas Training Centre, where improvements were required, have been implemented. The components of the project were the following: (1) A training course in cathodic protection. One course concerning measuring and registration and one course concerning design and implementation. (2) A pilot project to develop methods for measuring cathodic protection on coherent steel pipe network. (3) Analysis of gas losses related to types of gas meters and calibration of meters. (4) A training course and technology transfer concerning relations between gas companies and consumers. (5) Dissemination of the experience of 1998 from the preparation of an operation and maintenance manual for Kaunas Gas Company. Dissemination of the ideas to other Lithuanian gas companies. (EHS)

High-resolution pattern of mangrove species distribution is controlled by surface elevation

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Rick C.; Friess, Daniel A.; Crase, Beth; Lee, Wei Kit; Webb, Edward L.

2018-03-01

Mangrove vegetation species respond to multiple environmental gradients, and an enhanced understanding of how mangrove species are distributed across these gradients will facilitate conservation and management. Many environmental gradients correlate with tidal inundation; however small-scale inundation patterns resulting from microtopographical changes are difficult to capture empirically. In contrast, surface elevation is often a suitable, measurable and cost-effective proxy for inundation. This study investigated the relationships between species distribution and surface elevation in a mangrove forest in northwest Singapore. Through high-resolution land surveying, we developed a digital elevation model (DEM) and conducted a comprehensive survey of 4380 trees with a stem diameter ≥ 5 cm. A total of 15 species were encountered, and elevation envelopes were generated for 12. Species envelopes were distributed along an elevation continuum, with most species overlapping within the continuum. Spatial autocorrelation (SAC) was present for nine of the 15 species, and when taken into account, species ordering was modified across the elevation continuum. The presence of SAC strongly reinforces the need for research to control for SAC: classical spatial description of mangrove species distribution should be revised to account for ecological factors. This study suggests that (1) surface elevation applies strong controls on species distribution and (2) most mangroves at our study site have similar physiological tolerances.

Geographic distribution of wild potato species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hijmans, R.J.; Spooner, D.M.

2001-01-01

The geographic distribution of wild potatoes (Solanaceae sect. Petota) was analyzed using a database of 6073 georeferenced observations. Wild potatoes occur in 16 countries, but 88% of the observations are from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, and Peru. Most species are rare and narrowly endemic: for 77

Thematic and spatial resolutions affect model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yu; He, Hong S; Fraser, Jacob S; Wu, ZhiWei

2013-01-01

Subjective decisions of thematic and spatial resolutions in characterizing environmental heterogeneity may affect the characterizations of spatial pattern and the simulation of occurrence and rate of ecological processes, and in turn, model-based tree species distribution. Thus, this study quantified the importance of thematic and spatial resolutions, and their interaction in predictions of tree species distribution (quantified by species abundance). We investigated how model-predicted species abundances changed and whether tree species with different ecological traits (e.g., seed dispersal distance, competitive capacity) had different responses to varying thematic and spatial resolutions. We used the LANDIS forest landscape model to predict tree species distribution at the landscape scale and designed a series of scenarios with different thematic (different numbers of land types) and spatial resolutions combinations, and then statistically examined the differences of species abundance among these scenarios. Results showed that both thematic and spatial resolutions affected model-based predictions of species distribution, but thematic resolution had a greater effect. Species ecological traits affected the predictions. For species with moderate dispersal distance and relatively abundant seed sources, predicted abundance increased as thematic resolution increased. However, for species with long seeding distance or high shade tolerance, thematic resolution had an inverse effect on predicted abundance. When seed sources and dispersal distance were not limiting, the predicted species abundance increased with spatial resolution and vice versa. Results from this study may provide insights into the choice of thematic and spatial resolutions for model-based predictions of tree species distribution.

Species Composition, Relative Abundance and Distribution of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Species Composition, Relative Abundance and Distribution of the Avian Fauna of Entoto Natural Park and Escarpment, Addis Ababa. ... Eucalyptus plantation, soil erosion, deforestation, habitat fragmentation, settlement and land degradation were the main threats for the distribution of birds in the present study area.

Distribution Patterns of Ohio Stoneflies, with an Emphasis on Rare and Uncommon Species

Science.gov (United States)

Grubbs, Scott A.; Pessimo, Massimo; DeWalt, R. Edward

2013-01-01

Presently, 102 stonefly species (Plecoptera) have been reported from Ohio. All 9 Nearctic families are represented. Over 90% of the fauna exhibit a combination of broad Nearctic-widespread, eastern Nearctic-widespread, Appalachian, and eastern Nearctic-unglaciated distributions. In contrast, only 2 species display a central Nearctic-Prairie distribution. Seven species of Perlidae are likely no longer present (Acroneuria evoluta Klapálek, A. perplexa Frison, Attaneuria ruralis (Hagen), and Neoperla mainensis Banks) or have experienced marked range reductions (Acroneuria abnormis (Newman), A. frisoni Stark and Brown, and A. filicis Frison). Another nearly 31% of the fauna (32 species) are rare, uncommon, or have highly-limited distributions within the state. Twelve of these species have Appalachian distributions, and an additional 8 have eastern Nearctic-unglaciated distributions. The distributional status for each of the 32 rare/uncommon species is discussed. PMID:24219390

Cutaneous Disseminated and Extracutaneous Sporotrichosis: Current Status of a Complex Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Bonifaz, Alexandro; Tirado-Sánchez, Andrés

2017-01-01

Sporotrichosis is an implantation or inoculation mycosis caused by species of Sporothrix schenckii complex; its main manifestations are limited to skin; however, cutaneous-disseminated, disseminated (visceral) and extracutaneous variants of sporotrichosis can be associated with immunosuppression, including HIV-AIDS, chronic alcoholism or more virulent strains. The most common extracutaneous form of sporotrichosis includes pulmonary, osteoarticular and meningeal. The laboratory diagnosis requires observing yeast forms and isolating the fungus; the two main causative agents are Sporothrix schenckii (ss) and Sporothrix brasiliensis. Antibody levels and species recognition by Polimerase Chain Reaction using biological samples or cultures are also useful. The treatment of choice for most cases is amphotericin B and subsequent itraconazole for maintenance therapy. PMID:29371525

Cutaneous Disseminated and Extracutaneous Sporotrichosis: Current Status of a Complex Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandro Bonifaz

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Sporotrichosis is an implantation or inoculation mycosis caused by species of Sporothrix schenckii complex; its main manifestations are limited to skin; however, cutaneous-disseminated, disseminated (visceral and extracutaneous variants of sporotrichosis can be associated with immunosuppression, including HIV-AIDS, chronic alcoholism or more virulent strains. The most common extracutaneous form of sporotrichosis includes pulmonary, osteoarticular and meningeal. The laboratory diagnosis requires observing yeast forms and isolating the fungus; the two main causative agents are Sporothrix schenckii (ss and Sporothrix brasiliensis. Antibody levels and species recognition by Polimerase Chain Reaction using biological samples or cultures are also useful. The treatment of choice for most cases is amphotericin B and subsequent itraconazole for maintenance therapy.

Cutaneous Disseminated and Extracutaneous Sporotrichosis: Current Status of a Complex Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonifaz, Alexandro; Tirado-Sánchez, Andrés

2017-02-10

Sporotrichosis is an implantation or inoculation mycosis caused by species of Sporothrix schenckii complex; its main manifestations are limited to skin; however, cutaneous-disseminated, disseminated (visceral) and extracutaneous variants of sporotrichosis can be associated with immunosuppression, including HIV-AIDS, chronic alcoholism or more virulent strains. The most common extracutaneous form of sporotrichosis includes pulmonary, osteoarticular and meningeal. The laboratory diagnosis requires observing yeast forms and isolating the fungus; the two main causative agents are Sporothrix schenckii ( ss ) and Sporothrix brasiliensis . Antibody levels and species recognition by Polimerase Chain Reaction using biological samples or cultures are also useful. The treatment of choice for most cases is amphotericin B and subsequent itraconazole for maintenance therapy.

Incorporating uncertainty in predictive species distribution modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Beale, Colin M; Lennon, Jack J

2012-01-19

Motivated by the need to solve ecological problems (climate change, habitat fragmentation and biological invasions), there has been increasing interest in species distribution models (SDMs). Predictions from these models inform conservation policy, invasive species management and disease-control measures. However, predictions are subject to uncertainty, the degree and source of which is often unrecognized. Here, we review the SDM literature in the context of uncertainty, focusing on three main classes of SDM: niche-based models, demographic models and process-based models. We identify sources of uncertainty for each class and discuss how uncertainty can be minimized or included in the modelling process to give realistic measures of confidence around predictions. Because this has typically not been performed, we conclude that uncertainty in SDMs has often been underestimated and a false precision assigned to predictions of geographical distribution. We identify areas where development of new statistical tools will improve predictions from distribution models, notably the development of hierarchical models that link different types of distribution model and their attendant uncertainties across spatial scales. Finally, we discuss the need to develop more defensible methods for assessing predictive performance, quantifying model goodness-of-fit and for assessing the significance of model covariates.

Updating known distribution models for forecasting climate change impact on endangered species.

Science.gov (United States)

Muñoz, Antonio-Román; Márquez, Ana Luz; Real, Raimundo

2013-01-01

To plan endangered species conservation and to design adequate management programmes, it is necessary to predict their distributional response to climate change, especially under the current situation of rapid change. However, these predictions are customarily done by relating de novo the distribution of the species with climatic conditions with no regard of previously available knowledge about the factors affecting the species distribution. We propose to take advantage of known species distribution models, but proceeding to update them with the variables yielded by climatic models before projecting them to the future. To exemplify our proposal, the availability of suitable habitat across Spain for the endangered Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) was modelled by updating a pre-existing model based on current climate and topography to a combination of different general circulation models and Special Report on Emissions Scenarios. Our results suggested that the main threat for this endangered species would not be climate change, since all forecasting models show that its distribution will be maintained and increased in mainland Spain for all the XXI century. We remark on the importance of linking conservation biology with distribution modelling by updating existing models, frequently available for endangered species, considering all the known factors conditioning the species' distribution, instead of building new models that are based on climate change variables only.

Spatially-explicit estimation of geographical representation in large-scale species distribution datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalwij, Jesse M; Robertson, Mark P; Ronk, Argo; Zobel, Martin; Pärtel, Meelis

2014-01-01

Much ecological research relies on existing multispecies distribution datasets. Such datasets, however, can vary considerably in quality, extent, resolution or taxonomic coverage. We provide a framework for a spatially-explicit evaluation of geographical representation within large-scale species distribution datasets, using the comparison of an occurrence atlas with a range atlas dataset as a working example. Specifically, we compared occurrence maps for 3773 taxa from the widely-used Atlas Florae Europaeae (AFE) with digitised range maps for 2049 taxa of the lesser-known Atlas of North European Vascular Plants. We calculated the level of agreement at a 50-km spatial resolution using average latitudinal and longitudinal species range, and area of occupancy. Agreement in species distribution was calculated and mapped using Jaccard similarity index and a reduced major axis (RMA) regression analysis of species richness between the entire atlases (5221 taxa in total) and between co-occurring species (601 taxa). We found no difference in distribution ranges or in the area of occupancy frequency distribution, indicating that atlases were sufficiently overlapping for a valid comparison. The similarity index map showed high levels of agreement for central, western, and northern Europe. The RMA regression confirmed that geographical representation of AFE was low in areas with a sparse data recording history (e.g., Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine). For co-occurring species in south-eastern Europe, however, the Atlas of North European Vascular Plants showed remarkably higher richness estimations. Geographical representation of atlas data can be much more heterogeneous than often assumed. Level of agreement between datasets can be used to evaluate geographical representation within datasets. Merging atlases into a single dataset is worthwhile in spite of methodological differences, and helps to fill gaps in our knowledge of species distribution ranges. Species distribution

Effects of species biological traits and environmental heterogeneity on simulated tree species distribution shifts under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Wen J. Wang; Hong S. He; Frank R. Thompson; Martin A. Spetich; Jacob S. Fraser

2018-01-01

Demographic processes (fecundity, dispersal, colonization, growth, and mortality) and their interactions with environmental changes are notwell represented in current climate-distribution models (e.g., niche and biophysical process models) and constitute a large uncertainty in projections of future tree species distribution shifts.We investigate how species biological...

Factors influencing non-native tree species distribution in urban landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Wayne C. Zipperer

2010-01-01

Non-native species are presumed to be pervasive across the urban landscape. Yet, we actually know very little about their actual distribution. For this study, vegetation plot data from Syracuse, NY and Baltimore, MD were used to examine non-native tree species distribution in urban landscapes. Data were collected from remnant and emergent forest patches on upland sites...

A globally-distributed alien invasive species poses risks to United States imperiled species.

Science.gov (United States)

McClure, Meredith L; Burdett, Christopher L; Farnsworth, Matthew L; Sweeney, Steven J; Miller, Ryan S

2018-03-28

In the midst of Earth's sixth mass extinction event, non-native species are a driving factor in many imperiled species' declines. One of the most widespread and destructive alien invasive species in the world, wild pigs (Sus scrofa) threaten native species through predation, habitat destruction, competition, and disease transmission. We show that wild pigs co-occur with up to 87.2% of imperiled species in the contiguous U.S. identified as susceptible to their direct impacts, and we project increases in both the number of species at risk and the geographic extent of risks by 2025. Wild pigs may therefore present a severe threat to U.S. imperiled species, with serious implications for management of at-risk species throughout wild pigs' global distribution. We offer guidance for efficient allocation of research effort and conservation resources across species and regions using a simple approach that can be applied to wild pigs and other alien invasive species globally.

Continental-wide distribution of crayfish species in Europe: update and maps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kouba A.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Recently published astacological studies substantially improved available data on distribution of crayfish in various European regions. At the same time, spread of invasive species has been recorded, additional non-indigenous species became established in various countries, and losses of populations of native species due to crayfish plague and other negative factors were observed. We overview recent advances in this knowledge, and provide updated colour maps of the distribution of all crayfish species present in Europe. These maps are originally based on the data from the Atlas of Crayfish in Europe published in 2006 as a result of the CRAYNET project, and were further updated from more recently published reports, grey literature, and especially thanks to contributions and feedback of over 70 specialists from 32 countries. Separate maps are available for all indigenous crayfish species in Europe as well as for three most widespread non-indigenous crayfish species. Additionally, two maps give locations of known findings of crayfish species introduced to Europe after 1980. These newly established alien species have so far restricted distributions; however, the frequency of recent reports suggests that findings of such species resulting from releases of aquarium pets will further increase.

Dissemination Strategy Report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Kjems, Jørgen; Farinetti, Laura

This report describes the dissemination and exploitation strategy for project Virtual Campus Hub (EU FP7 contract RI-283746). The project duration is October 2011-13 and the dissemination and exploitation plan will be revised continuously during the project’s lifecycle.......This report describes the dissemination and exploitation strategy for project Virtual Campus Hub (EU FP7 contract RI-283746). The project duration is October 2011-13 and the dissemination and exploitation plan will be revised continuously during the project’s lifecycle....

Plant species distribution along environmental gradient: do belowground interactions with fungi matter?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loïc ePellissier

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The distribution of plants along environmental gradients is constrained by abiotic and biotic factors. Cumulative evidence attests of the impact of abiotic factors on plant distributions, but only few studies discuss the role of belowground communities. Soil fungi, in particular, are thought to play an important role in how plant species assemble locally into communities. We first review existing evidence, and then test the effect of the number of soil fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs on plant species distributions using a recently collected dataset of plant and metagenomic information on soil fungi in the Western Swiss Alps. Using species distribution models, we investigated whether the distribution of individual plant species is correlated to the number of OTUs of two important soil fungal classes known to interact with plants: the Glomeromycetes, that are obligatory symbionts of plants, and the Agaricomycetes, that may be facultative plant symbionts, pathogens, or wood decayers. We show that including the fungal richness information in the models of plant species distributions improves predictive accuracy. Number of fungal OTUs is especially correlated to the distribution of high elevation plant species. We suggest that high elevation soil show greater variation in fungal assemblages that may in turn impact plant turnover among communities. We finally discuss how to move beyond correlative analyses, through the design of field experiments manipulating plant and fungal communities along environmental gradients.

Modeling the Distribution of Rare or Cryptic Bird Species of Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsai-Yu Wu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available For the study of the macroecology and conservation of Taiwan’s birds, there was an urgent need to develop distribution models of bird species whose distribution had never before been modeled. Therefore, we here model the distributions of 27 mostly rare and cryptic breeding bird species using a statistical approach which has been shown to be especially reliable for modeling species with a low sample size of presence localities, namely the maximum entropy (Maxent modeling technique. For this purpose, we began with a dedicated attempt to collate as much high-quality distributional data as possible, assembling databases from several scientific reports, contacting individual data recorders and searching publicly accessible database, the internet and the available literature. This effort resulted in 2022 grid cells of 1 × 1 km size being associated with a presence record for one of the 27 species. These records and 10 pre-selected environmental variables were then used to model each species’ probability distribution which we show here with all grid cells below the lowest presence threshold being converted to zeros. We then in detail discuss the interpretation and applicability of these distributions, whereby we pay close attention to habitat requirements, the intactness and fragmentation of their habitat, the general detectability of the species and data reliability. This study is another one in an ongoing series of studies which highlight the usefulness of using large electronic databases and modern analytical methods to help with the monitoring and assessment of Taiwan’s bird species.

BAYESIAN MODELS FOR SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELLING WITH ONLY-PRESENCE RECORDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bartolo de Jesús Villar-Hernández

2015-08-01

Full Text Available One of the central issues in ecology is the study of geographical distribution of species of flora and fauna through Species Distribution Models (SDM. Recently, scientific interest has focused on presence-only records. Two recent approaches have been proposed for this problem: a model based on maximum likelihood method (Maxlike and an inhomogeneous poisson process model (IPP. In this paper we discussed two bayesian approaches called MaxBayes and IPPBayes based on Maxlike and IPP model, respectively. To illustrate these proposals, we implemented two study examples: (1 both models were implemented on a simulated dataset, and (2 we modeled the potencial distribution of genus Dalea in the Tehuacan-Cuicatlán biosphere reserve with both models, the results was compared with that of Maxent. The results show that both models, MaxBayes and IPPBayes, are viable alternatives when species distribution are modeled with only-presence records. For simulated dataset, MaxBayes achieved prevalence estimation, even when the number of records was small. In the real dataset example, both models predict similar potential distributions like Maxent does. Â

Abundance, distribution and species composition of fish larvae in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

improving our knowledge of the abundance, distribution and species diversity ... banks as well as in the mid-channel, thus eliminating any bias that might have .... cond method (Table 2) may bias the importance of a single species due to one, ...

Determining the factors affecting the distribution of Muscari latifolium, an endemic plant of Turkey, and a mapping species distribution model.

Science.gov (United States)

Yilmaz, Hatice; Yilmaz, Osman Yalçın; Akyüz, Yaşar Feyza

2017-02-01

Species distribution modeling was used to determine factors among the large predictor candidate data set that affect the distribution of Muscari latifolium , an endemic bulbous plant species of Turkey, to quantify the relative importance of each factor and make a potential spatial distribution map of M. latifolium . Models were built using the Boosted Regression Trees method based on 35 presence and 70 absence records obtained through field sampling in the Gönen Dam watershed area of the Kazdağı Mountains in West Anatolia. Large candidate variables of monthly and seasonal climate, fine-scale land surface, and geologic and biotic variables were simplified using a BRT simplifying procedure. Analyses performed on these resources, direct and indirect variables showed that there were 14 main factors that influence the species' distribution. Five of the 14 most important variables influencing the distribution of the species are bedrock type, Quercus cerris density, precipitation during the wettest month, Pinus nigra density, and northness. These variables account for approximately 60% of the relative importance for determining the distribution of the species. Prediction performance was assessed by 10 random subsample data sets and gave a maximum the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of 0.93 and an average AUC value of 0.8. This study provides a significant contribution to the knowledge of the habitat requirements and ecological characteristics of this species. The distribution of this species is explained by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors. Hence, using biotic interaction and fine-scale land surface variables in species distribution models improved the accuracy and precision of the model. The knowledge of the relationships between distribution patterns and environmental factors and biotic interaction of M. latifolium can help develop a management and conservation strategy for this species.

The Combined Use of Correlative and Mechanistic Species Distribution Models Benefits Low Conservation Status Species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thibaud Rougier

Full Text Available Species can respond to climate change by tracking appropriate environmental conditions in space, resulting in a range shift. Species Distribution Models (SDMs can help forecast such range shift responses. For few species, both correlative and mechanistic SDMs were built, but allis shad (Alosa alosa, an endangered anadromous fish species, is one of them. The main purpose of this study was to provide a framework for joint analyses of correlative and mechanistic SDMs projections in order to strengthen conservation measures for species of conservation concern. Guidelines for joint representation and subsequent interpretation of models outputs were defined and applied. The present joint analysis was based on the novel mechanistic model GR3D (Global Repositioning Dynamics of Diadromous fish Distribution which was parameterized on allis shad and then used to predict its future distribution along the European Atlantic coast under different climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. We then used a correlative SDM for this species to forecast its distribution across the same geographic area and under the same climate change scenarios. First, projections from correlative and mechanistic models provided congruent trends in probability of habitat suitability and population dynamics. This agreement was preferentially interpreted as referring to the species vulnerability to climate change. Climate change could not be accordingly listed as a major threat for allis shad. The congruence in predicted range limits between SDMs projections was the next point of interest. The difference, when noticed, required to deepen our understanding of the niche modelled by each approach. In this respect, the relative position of the northern range limit between the two methods strongly suggested here that a key biological process related to intraspecific variability was potentially lacking in the mechanistic SDM. Based on our knowledge, we hypothesized that local

Fish species composition, density-distribution patterns, and impingement during upwelling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spigarelli, S.A.; Sharma, R.K.

1975-01-01

The effects of cooling system intakes and discharges on Lake Michigan fishes are highly dependent on inshore species composition and spatial distribution which, in turn, are affected by natural hydrological conditions. Significant (5 to 10 C) short-term decreases in water temperature (due to upwelling) could cause cold shock in fish equilibrated to either ambient or plume temperatures; substantial changes in distribution due to avoidance or attraction responses; and resultant changes in susceptibility to impingement. The objectives of this study are to characterize the changes in fish species composition, density, and thermal distribution as a result of natural upwellings, and to relate these factors to intake and discharge effects. Day and night sampling was conducted in ambient (reference) and thermal plume waters near the Zion Nuclear Plant on four occasions between 17 July and 11 September 1975. Density-distribution patterns and species composition of fish were determined by means of gill nets, bottom trawls, seines, and a sonic fish locater

[Effects of sampling plot number on tree species distribution prediction under climate change].

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yu; He, Hong-Shi; Wu, Zhi-Wei; Li, Xiao-Na; Luo, Xu

2013-05-01

Based on the neutral landscapes under different degrees of landscape fragmentation, this paper studied the effects of sampling plot number on the prediction of tree species distribution at landscape scale under climate change. The tree species distribution was predicted by the coupled modeling approach which linked an ecosystem process model with a forest landscape model, and three contingent scenarios and one reference scenario of sampling plot numbers were assumed. The differences between the three scenarios and the reference scenario under different degrees of landscape fragmentation were tested. The results indicated that the effects of sampling plot number on the prediction of tree species distribution depended on the tree species life history attributes. For the generalist species, the prediction of their distribution at landscape scale needed more plots. Except for the extreme specialist, landscape fragmentation degree also affected the effects of sampling plot number on the prediction. With the increase of simulation period, the effects of sampling plot number on the prediction of tree species distribution at landscape scale could be changed. For generalist species, more plots are needed for the long-term simulation.

Projecting future expansion of invasive species: comparing and improving methodologies for species distribution modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Mainali, Kumar P; Warren, Dan L; Dhileepan, Kunjithapatham; McConnachie, Andrew; Strathie, Lorraine; Hassan, Gul; Karki, Debendra; Shrestha, Bharat B; Parmesan, Camille

2015-12-01

Modeling the distributions of species, especially of invasive species in non-native ranges, involves multiple challenges. Here, we developed some novel approaches to species distribution modeling aimed at reducing the influences of such challenges and improving the realism of projections. We estimated species-environment relationships for Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae) with four modeling methods run with multiple scenarios of (i) sources of occurrences and geographically isolated background ranges for absences, (ii) approaches to drawing background (absence) points, and (iii) alternate sets of predictor variables. We further tested various quantitative metrics of model evaluation against biological insight. Model projections were very sensitive to the choice of training dataset. Model accuracy was much improved using a global dataset for model training, rather than restricting data input to the species' native range. AUC score was a poor metric for model evaluation and, if used alone, was not a useful criterion for assessing model performance. Projections away from the sampled space (i.e., into areas of potential future invasion) were very different depending on the modeling methods used, raising questions about the reliability of ensemble projections. Generalized linear models gave very unrealistic projections far away from the training region. Models that efficiently fit the dominant pattern, but exclude highly local patterns in the dataset and capture interactions as they appear in data (e.g., boosted regression trees), improved generalization of the models. Biological knowledge of the species and its distribution was important in refining choices about the best set of projections. A post hoc test conducted on a new Parthenium dataset from Nepal validated excellent predictive performance of our 'best' model. We showed that vast stretches of currently uninvaded geographic areas on multiple continents harbor highly suitable habitats for parthenium

Twiddlenet: Metadata Tagging and Data Dissemination in Mobile Device Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Clotfelter, Christopher T; Towle, Jonathon E

2007-01-01

.... TwiddleNet is a distributed architecture of personal servers that harnesses the power of these mobile devices, enabling real time information dissemination and file sharing of multiple data types...

Hematogenously Disseminated Skin Disease Caused by Mucor velutinosus in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia▿

Science.gov (United States)

Sugui, Janyce A.; Christensen, Jesica A.; Bennett, John E.; Zelazny, Adrian M.; Kwon-Chung, Kyung J.

2011-01-01

We report here a case of disseminated skin infection caused by Mucor velutinosus, a recently described new species. We believe this to be the first published report of a clinical case of mucormycosis due to M. velutinosus, as well as a rare case of dissemination from a deep site to skin. PMID:21543575

Invasive Species Science Branch: research and management tools for controlling invasive species

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Robert N.; Walters, Katie D.

2015-01-01

Invasive, nonnative species of plants, animals, and disease organisms adversely affect the ecosystems they enter. Like “biological wildfires,” they can quickly spread and affect nearly all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Invasive species have become one of the greatest environmental challenges of the 21st century in economic, environmental, and human health costs, with an estimated effect in the United States of more than $120 billion per year. Managers of the Department of the Interior and other public and private lands often rank invasive species as their top resource management problem. The Invasive Species Science Branch of the Fort Collins Science Center provides research and technical assistance relating to management concerns for invasive species, including understanding how these species are introduced, identifying areas vulnerable to invasion, forecasting invasions, and developing control methods. To disseminate this information, branch scientists are developing platforms to share invasive species information with DOI cooperators, other agency partners, and the public. From these and other data, branch scientists are constructing models to understand and predict invasive species distributions for more effective management. The branch also has extensive herpetological and population biology expertise that is applied to harmful reptile invaders such as the Brown Treesnake on Guam and Burmese Python in Florida.

Distribution of metal and adsorbed guest species in zeolites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chmelka, B.F.

1989-12-01

Because of their high internal surface areas and molecular-size cavity dimensions, zeolites are used widely as catalysts, shape- selective supports, or adsorbents in a variety of important chemical processes. For metal-catalyzed reactions, active metal species must be dispersed to sites within the zeolite pores that are accessible to diffusing reactant molecules. The distribution of the metal, together with transport and adsorption of reactant molecules in zeolite powders, are crucial to ultimate catalyst performance. The nature of the metal or adsorbed guest distribution is known, however, to be dramatically dependent upon preparatory conditions. Our objective is to understand, at the molecular level, how preparatory treatments influence the distribution of guest species in zeolites, in order that macroscopic adsorption and reaction properties of these materials may be better understood. The sensitivity of xenon to its adsorption environment makes {sup 129}Xe NMR spectroscopy an important diagnostic probe of metal clustering and adsorbate distribution processes in zeolites. The utility of {sup 129}Xe NMR depends on the mobility of the xenon atoms within the zeolite-guest system, together with the length scale of the sample heterogeneity being studied. In large pore zeolites containing dispersed guest species, such as Pt--NaY, {sup 129}Xe NMR is insensitive to fine structural details at room temperature.

Distribution of metal and adsorbed guest species in zeolites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chmelka, B.F.

1989-12-01

Because of their high internal surface areas and molecular-size cavity dimensions, zeolites are used widely as catalysts, shape- selective supports, or adsorbents in a variety of important chemical processes. For metal-catalyzed reactions, active metal species must be dispersed to sites within the zeolite pores that are accessible to diffusing reactant molecules. The distribution of the metal, together with transport and adsorption of reactant molecules in zeolite powders, are crucial to ultimate catalyst performance. The nature of the metal or adsorbed guest distribution is known, however, to be dramatically dependent upon preparatory conditions. Our objective is to understand, at the molecular level, how preparatory treatments influence the distribution of guest species in zeolites, in order that macroscopic adsorption and reaction properties of these materials may be better understood. The sensitivity of xenon to its adsorption environment makes 129 Xe NMR spectroscopy an important diagnostic probe of metal clustering and adsorbate distribution processes in zeolites. The utility of 129 Xe NMR depends on the mobility of the xenon atoms within the zeolite-guest system, together with the length scale of the sample heterogeneity being studied. In large pore zeolites containing dispersed guest species, such as Pt--NaY, 129 Xe NMR is insensitive to fine structural details at room temperature

Introduction to the special section on dissemination: dissemination research and research dissemination: how can we close the gap?

Science.gov (United States)

Kerner, Jon; Rimer, Barbara; Emmons, Karen

2005-09-01

One of the greatest challenges facing health promotion and disease prevention is translating research findings into evidence-based public health and clinical practices that are actively disseminated and widely adopted. Despite the tremendous strides made in developing effective disease prevention and control programs, there has been little study of effective dissemination of evidence-based programs to and adoption by community, public health, and clinical practice settings. This special section provides a venue in which to highlight exemplary dissemination research efforts while also identifying limitations in research to date and framing important future research questions. This issue establishes a resource for investigators interested in dissemination research, with relevance to health psychology. In this sense, it can serve as a benchmark by which to examine subsequent progress. The 6 articles reflect the state of the science in dissemination research for the promotion and adoption of health behavior change interventions. (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved

Performance of Public and Non-Public Organisations in the Dissemination of Cooking Bananas in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tshiunza, M.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The study assessed the performance of public (POs and non-public (NPOs organisations in the dissemination of cooking bananas in Southeast Nigeria. Cooking bananas were introduced in the area as an interim measure to reduce the incidence of black sigatoka disease on plantains. Eight POs and 4 NPOs carried out the dissemination exercise. In all, about 55, 000 cooking banana suckers were distributed in about 700 villages to about 30, 000 farmers. NPOs out-performed POs in the dissemination exercise ; they accounted for about 90 % of suckers distributed, as well as about 80 % of villages and 99 % of farmers reached with the crop. Without the involvement and the efforts of the NPOs, the majority of the farmers and villages would not have obtained the crop. Unfortunately, the distribution of suckers by NPOs was limited to villages within the areas where they carry out their main activities, i. e. oil exploration/exploitation. As a resuit, more than 80 % of suckers distributed in the region were concentrated in the states of Bayelsa and Rivers. For a more even distribution of the newly developed hybrid plantains a key recommendation of the study is the involvement in the dissemination exercise of as many church and village groups as possible, especially in areas where NPOs do not operate.

The prevalence and distribution of Fusarium species in Norwegian cereals: a survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kosiak, B.; Torp, M.; Skjerve, E.

2003-01-01

the regions. A total of 695 grain samples were analysed. The amount of Fusarium infection varied with cereal species and region of origin. The most frequently isolated Fusarium spp. from all samples were F. avenaceum, F. poae, F. tricinctum and F. culmorum. Other important toxigenic Fusarium spp. were F......In the period 1994-1996 a post-harvest survey was conducted in wheat, barley and oats to assess the occurrence and geographic distribution of Fusarium species in Norwegian cereals. The number of samples investigated was adjusted proportionally to the production of each cereal species within...... and F. culmorum demonstrated in this study , corresponded to previously reported DON-distribution, although DON seems to be produced by different species in different regions. Distribution of the isolated Fusarium species and comparison between cereals and locations are discussed....

Characterization of Quercus species distributed in Jordan using ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Characterization of Quercus species distributed in Jordan using morphological and molecular markers. Mohammad S Jawarneh, Mohammad H Brake, Riyadh Muhaidat, Hussein M Migdadi, Jamil N Lahham, Ahmad Ali El-Oqlah ...

Distribution of Vulpia species (Poaceae in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludwik Frey

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The distribution of four species of the genus Vulpia [V. myuros (L. C.C. Gmel., V. bromoides (L. S.F. Gray, V. ciliata Dumort. and V. geniculata (L. Link] reported in Poland has been studied. Currently, V. myuros and especially V. bromoides are very rare species, and their greatest concentration can be found only in the Lower Silesia region. The number of their localities decreased after 1950 and it seems resonable to include both species in the "red list" of threatened plants in Poland: V. myuros in the EN category, V. bromoides in the CR category. V. ciliata and V. geniculata are very rare ephemerophytes and their localities not confirmed during ca 60 years are of historical interest only.

Past, present and future distributions of an Iberian Endemic, Lepus granatensis: ecological and evolutionary clues from species distribution models.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pelayo Acevedo

Full Text Available The application of species distribution models (SDMs in ecology and conservation biology is increasing and assuming an important role, mainly because they can be used to hindcast past and predict current and future species distributions. However, the accuracy of SDMs depends on the quality of the data and on appropriate theoretical frameworks. In this study, comprehensive data on the current distribution of the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis were used to i determine the species' ecogeographical constraints, ii hindcast a climatic model for the last glacial maximum (LGM, relating it to inferences derived from molecular studies, and iii calibrate a model to assess the species future distribution trends (up to 2080. Our results showed that the climatic factor (in its pure effect and when it is combined with the land-cover factor is the most important descriptor of the current distribution of the Iberian hare. In addition, the model's output was a reliable index of the local probability of species occurrence, which is a valuable tool to guide species management decisions and conservation planning. Climatic potential obtained for the LGM was combined with molecular data and the results suggest that several glacial refugia may have existed for the species within the major Iberian refugium. Finally, a high probability of occurrence of the Iberian hare in the current species range and a northward expansion were predicted for future. Given its current environmental envelope and evolutionary history, we discuss the macroecology of the Iberian hare and its sensitivity to climate change.

Past, present and future distributions of an Iberian Endemic, Lepus granatensis: ecological and evolutionary clues from species distribution models.

Science.gov (United States)

Acevedo, Pelayo; Melo-Ferreira, José; Real, Raimundo; Alves, Paulo Célio

2012-01-01

The application of species distribution models (SDMs) in ecology and conservation biology is increasing and assuming an important role, mainly because they can be used to hindcast past and predict current and future species distributions. However, the accuracy of SDMs depends on the quality of the data and on appropriate theoretical frameworks. In this study, comprehensive data on the current distribution of the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis) were used to i) determine the species' ecogeographical constraints, ii) hindcast a climatic model for the last glacial maximum (LGM), relating it to inferences derived from molecular studies, and iii) calibrate a model to assess the species future distribution trends (up to 2080). Our results showed that the climatic factor (in its pure effect and when it is combined with the land-cover factor) is the most important descriptor of the current distribution of the Iberian hare. In addition, the model's output was a reliable index of the local probability of species occurrence, which is a valuable tool to guide species management decisions and conservation planning. Climatic potential obtained for the LGM was combined with molecular data and the results suggest that several glacial refugia may have existed for the species within the major Iberian refugium. Finally, a high probability of occurrence of the Iberian hare in the current species range and a northward expansion were predicted for future. Given its current environmental envelope and evolutionary history, we discuss the macroecology of the Iberian hare and its sensitivity to climate change.

Implications of movement for species distribution models - Rethinking environmental data tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruneel, Stijn; Gobeyn, Sacha; Verhelst, Pieterjan; Reubens, Jan; Moens, Tom; Goethals, Peter

2018-07-01

Movement is considered an essential process in shaping the distributions of species. Nevertheless, most species distribution models (SDMs) still focus solely on environment-species relationships to predict the occurrence of species. Furthermore, the currently used indirect estimates of movement allow to assess habitat accessibility, but do not provide an accurate description of movement. Better proxies of movement are needed to assess the dispersal potential of individual species and to gain a more practical insight in the interconnectivity of communities. Telemetry techniques are rapidly evolving and highly capable to provide explicit descriptions of movement, but their usefulness for SDMs will mainly depend on the ability of these models to deal with hitherto unconsidered ecological processes. More specifically, the integration of movement is likely to affect the environmental data requirements as the connection between environmental and biological data is crucial to provide reliable results. Mobility implies the occupancy of a continuum of space, hence an adequate representation of both geographical and environmental space is paramount to study mobile species distributions. In this context, environmental models, remote sensing techniques and animal-borne environmental sensors are discussed as potential techniques to obtain suitable environmental data. In order to provide an in-depth review of the aforementioned methods, we have chosen to use the modelling of fish distributions as a case study. The high mobility of fish and the often highly variable nature of the aquatic environment generally complicate model development, making it an adequate subject for research. Furthermore, insight into the distribution of fish is of great interest for fish stock assessments and water management worldwide, underlining its practical relevance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

THE ROLE OF CONTARST ENHANCEMENT IN VISUALIZATION OF ACUTE DISSEMINATED ENCEPHALOMYELITIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.A. Alikhanov

2008-01-01

Full Text Available It has been described the results of MRI and ct neurovisualization with contrast enhancement in 38 children with clinical diagnosis acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADE. The distribution of contrast agents in regions of ADE has been studied and the role of contrast enhancement in diagnosis of its has been estimated. Contrast media application allows to detect brain lesions, to identificate the real volume of cerebral tissue included in pathological process and to estimate the efficacy of treatment of ADE. Investigated variants of MRCM (gadopentetate dimeglumine, gadobutrol and RCM (iopromide distribution in zones of brain lesions in patients with ade are the basis for specificity increase of ADE diagnosis.Key words: acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, contrast enhancement, children.

Map of Life - A Dashboard for Monitoring Planetary Species Distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Jetz, W.

2016-12-01

Geographic information about biodiversity is vital for understanding the many services nature provides and their potential changes, yet remains unreliable and often insufficient. By integrating a wide range of knowledge about species distributions and their dynamics over time, Map of Life supports global biodiversity education, monitoring, research and decision-making. Built on a scalable web platform geared for large biodiversity and environmental data, Map of Life endeavors provides species range information globally and species lists for any area. With data and technology provided by NASA and Google Earth Engine, tools under development use remote sensing-based environmental layers to enable on-the-fly predictions of species distributions, range changes, and early warning signals for threatened species. The ultimate vision is a globally connected, collaborative knowledge- and tool-base for regional and local biodiversity decision-making, education, monitoring, and projection. For currently available tools, more information and to follow progress, go to MOL.org.

A Distributed Approach towards Improved Dissemination Protocol for Smooth Handover in MediaSense IoT Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shabir Ahmad

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, the Internet has been utilized by many applications to convey time-sensitive messages. The persistently expanding Internet coverage and its easy accessibility have offered to ascend to a problem which was once regarded as not essential to contemplate. Nowadays, the Internet has been utilized by many applications to convey time-sensitive messages. Wireless access points have widely been used but these access points have limitations regarding area coverage. So for covering a wider space, various access points need to be introduced. Therefore, when the user moves to some other place, the devices expected to switch between access points. Packet loss amid the handovers is a trivial issue. MediaSense is an Internet of Things distributed architecture enabling the development of the IoT application faster. It deals with this trivial handover issue by utilizing a protocol called Distributed Context eXchange Protocol. However, this protocol is centralized in nature and also suffers in a scenario when both sender and receiver address change simultaneously. This paper presents a mechanism to deal with this scenario and presents a distributed solution to deal with this issue within the MediaSense platform. The proposed protocol improves dissemination using retransmission mechanism to diminish packet loss. The proposed protocol has been delineated with a proof of concept chat application and the outcomes have indicated a significant improvement in terms of packet loss.

VEGETATIVE MORPHOLOGY FOR SPECIES IDENTIFICATION OF TROPICAL TREES: FAMILY DISTRIBUTION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Hargreaves

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Tree specimens from the ESAL herbarium of the Universidade Federal de Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil, were describedby vegetative characteristics using CARipé, a Microsoft Access database application specially developed for this study. Only onespecimen per species was usually described. Thus, 2 observers described 567 herbarium species as a base to test methods ofidentification as part of a larger study. The present work formed part of that study and provides information on the distribution of22 vegetative characters among 16 families having 10 or more species described. The characters are discussed. The study foundmarked differences, even discontinuities, of distributions of characters between those families. Therefore it should be possible toincorporate phylogenetic relationships into the identification process.

Species Distribution Modelling of Aedes aegypti in two dengue-endemic regions of Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Fatima, Syeda Hira; Atif, Salman; Rasheed, Syed Basit; Zaidi, Farrah; Hussain, Ejaz

2016-03-01

Statistical tools are effectively used to determine the distribution of mosquitoes and to make ecological inferences about the vector-borne disease dynamics. In this study, we utilised species distribution models to understand spatial patterns of Aedes aegypti in two dengue-prevalent regions of Pakistan, Lahore and Swat. Species distribution models can potentially indicate the probability of suitability of Ae. aegypti once introduced to new regions like Swat, where invasion of this species is a recent phenomenon. The distribution of Ae. aegypti was determined by applying the MaxEnt algorithm on a set of potential environmental factors and species sample records. The ecological dependency of species on each environmental variable was analysed using response curves. We quantified the statistical performance of the models based on accuracy assessment and spatial predictions. Our results suggest that Ae. aegypti is widely distributed in Lahore. Human population density and urban infrastructure are primarily responsible for greater probability of mosquito occurrence in this region. In Swat, Ae. aegypti has clumped distribution, where urban patches provide refuge to the species in an otherwise hostile heterogeneous environment and road networks are assumed to have facilitated in passive-mediated dispersal of species. In Pakistan, Ae. aegypti is expanding its range northwards; this could be associated with rapid urbanisation, trade and travel. The main implication of this expansion is that more people are at risk of dengue fever in the northern highlands of Pakistan. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Hydrogen Technical Analysis -- Dissemination of Information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

George Kervitsky, Jr.

2006-03-20

SENTECH is a small energy and environmental consulting firm providing technical, analytical, and communications solutions to technology management issues. The activities proposed by SENTECH focused on gathering and developing communications materials and information, and various dissemination activities to present the benefits of hydrogen energy to a broad audience while at the same time establishing permanent communications channels to enable continued two-way dialog with these audiences in future years. Effective communications and information dissemination is critical to the acceptance of new technology. Hydrogen technologies face the additional challenge of safety preconceptions formed primarily as a result of the crash of the Hindenburg. Effective communications play a key role in all aspects of human interaction, and will help to overcome the perceptual barriers, whether of safety, economics, or benefits. As originally proposed SENTECH identified three distinct information dissemination activities to address three distinct but important audiences; these formed the basis for the task structure used in phases 1 and 2. The tasks were: (1) Print information--Brochures that target the certain segment of the population and will be distributed via relevant technical conferences and traditional distribution channels. (2) Face-to-face meetings--With industries identified to have a stake in hydrogen energy. The three industry audiences are architect/engineering firms, renewable energy firms, and energy companies that have not made a commitment to hydrogen (3) Educational Forums--The final audience is students--the future engineers, technicians, and energy consumers. SENTECH will expand on its previous educational work in this area. The communications activities proposed by SENTECH and completed as a result of this cooperative agreement was designed to compliment the research and development work funded by the DOE by presenting the technical achievements and validations

Drought tolerance of tropical tree species : functional traits, trade-offs and species distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Markesteijn, L.

2010-01-01

KEY-WORDS:
Bolivia, drought tolerance, shade tolerance, functional traits, trade-offs, ecophysiology, species distribution
Tropical forests occur under rainfall regimes that vary greatly in the rainfall pattern and frequency and intensity of drought. Consequently water availability is

The role of demography, intra-species variation, and species distribution models in species’ projections under climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Swab, Rebecca Marie; Regan, Helen M.; Matthies, Diethart

2015-01-01

Organisms are projected to shift their distribution ranges under climate change. The typical way to assess range shifts is by species distribution models (SDMs), which predict species’ responses to climate based solely on projected climatic suitability. However, life history traits can impact...... species’ responses to shifting habitat suitability. Additionally, it remains unclear if differences in vital rates across populations within a species can offset or exacerbate the effects of predicted changes in climatic suitability on population viability. In order to obtain a fuller understanding...... of the response of one species to projected climatic changes, we coupled demographic processes with predicted changes in suitable habitat for the monocarpic thistle Carlina vulgaris across northern Europe. We first developed a life history model with species-specific average fecundity and survival rates...

Species Distribution Modelling: Contrasting presence-only models with plot abundance data.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomes, Vitor H F; IJff, Stéphanie D; Raes, Niels; Amaral, Iêda Leão; Salomão, Rafael P; de Souza Coelho, Luiz; de Almeida Matos, Francisca Dionízia; Castilho, Carolina V; de Andrade Lima Filho, Diogenes; López, Dairon Cárdenas; Guevara, Juan Ernesto; Magnusson, William E; Phillips, Oliver L; Wittmann, Florian; de Jesus Veiga Carim, Marcelo; Martins, Maria Pires; Irume, Mariana Victória; Sabatier, Daniel; Molino, Jean-François; Bánki, Olaf S; da Silva Guimarães, José Renan; Pitman, Nigel C A; Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo; Luize, Bruno Garcia; Venticinque, Eduardo Martins; de Leão Novo, Evlyn Márcia Moraes; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire; Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto; Terborgh, John; Reis, Neidiane Farias Costa; Montero, Juan Carlos; Casula, Katia Regina; Marimon, Beatriz S; Marimon, Ben-Hur; Coronado, Euridice N Honorio; Feldpausch, Ted R; Duque, Alvaro; Zartman, Charles Eugene; Arboleda, Nicolás Castaño; Killeen, Timothy J; Mostacedo, Bonifacio; Vasquez, Rodolfo; Schöngart, Jochen; Assis, Rafael L; Medeiros, Marcelo Brilhante; Simon, Marcelo Fragomeni; Andrade, Ana; Laurance, William F; Camargo, José Luís; Demarchi, Layon O; Laurance, Susan G W; de Sousa Farias, Emanuelle; Nascimento, Henrique Eduardo Mendonça; Revilla, Juan David Cardenas; Quaresma, Adriano; Costa, Flavia R C; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Cintra, Bruno Barçante Ladvocat; Castellanos, Hernán; Brienen, Roel; Stevenson, Pablo R; Feitosa, Yuri; Duivenvoorden, Joost F; Aymard C, Gerardo A; Mogollón, Hugo F; Targhetta, Natalia; Comiskey, James A; Vicentini, Alberto; Lopes, Aline; Damasco, Gabriel; Dávila, Nállarett; García-Villacorta, Roosevelt; Levis, Carolina; Schietti, Juliana; Souza, Priscila; Emilio, Thaise; Alonso, Alfonso; Neill, David; Dallmeier, Francisco; Ferreira, Leandro Valle; Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro; Praia, Daniel; do Amaral, Dário Dantas; Carvalho, Fernanda Antunes; de Souza, Fernanda Coelho; Feeley, Kenneth; Arroyo, Luzmila; Pansonato, Marcelo Petratti; Gribel, Rogerio; Villa, Boris; Licona, Juan Carlos; Fine, Paul V A; Cerón, Carlos; Baraloto, Chris; Jimenez, Eliana M; Stropp, Juliana; Engel, Julien; Silveira, Marcos; Mora, Maria Cristina Peñuela; Petronelli, Pascal; Maas, Paul; Thomas-Caesar, Raquel; Henkel, Terry W; Daly, Doug; Paredes, Marcos Ríos; Baker, Tim R; Fuentes, Alfredo; Peres, Carlos A; Chave, Jerome; Pena, Jose Luis Marcelo; Dexter, Kyle G; Silman, Miles R; Jørgensen, Peter Møller; Pennington, Toby; Di Fiore, Anthony; Valverde, Fernando Cornejo; Phillips, Juan Fernando; Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo; von Hildebrand, Patricio; van Andel, Tinde R; Ruschel, Ademir R; Prieto, Adriana; Rudas, Agustín; Hoffman, Bruce; Vela, César I A; Barbosa, Edelcilio Marques; Zent, Egleé L; Gonzales, George Pepe Gallardo; Doza, Hilda Paulette Dávila; de Andrade Miranda, Ires Paula; Guillaumet, Jean-Louis; Pinto, Linder Felipe Mozombite; de Matos Bonates, Luiz Carlos; Silva, Natalino; Gómez, Ricardo Zárate; Zent, Stanford; Gonzales, Therany; Vos, Vincent A; Malhi, Yadvinder; Oliveira, Alexandre A; Cano, Angela; Albuquerque, Bianca Weiss; Vriesendorp, Corine; Correa, Diego Felipe; Torre, Emilio Vilanova; van der Heijden, Geertje; Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma; Ramos, José Ferreira; Young, Kenneth R; Rocha, Maira; Nascimento, Marcelo Trindade; Medina, Maria Natalia Umaña; Tirado, Milton; Wang, Ophelia; Sierra, Rodrigo; Torres-Lezama, Armando; Mendoza, Casimiro; Ferreira, Cid; Baider, Cláudia; Villarroel, Daniel; Balslev, Henrik; Mesones, Italo; Giraldo, Ligia Estela Urrego; Casas, Luisa Fernanda; Reategui, Manuel Augusto Ahuite; Linares-Palomino, Reynaldo; Zagt, Roderick; Cárdenas, Sasha; Farfan-Rios, William; Sampaio, Adeilza Felipe; Pauletto, Daniela; Sandoval, Elvis H Valderrama; Arevalo, Freddy Ramirez; Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau; Garcia-Cabrera, Karina; Hernandez, Lionel; Gamarra, Luis Valenzuela; Alexiades, Miguel N; Pansini, Susamar; Cuenca, Walter Palacios; Milliken, William; Ricardo, Joana; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Pos, Edwin; Ter Steege, Hans

2018-01-17

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used in ecology and conservation. Presence-only SDMs such as MaxEnt frequently use natural history collections (NHCs) as occurrence data, given their huge numbers and accessibility. NHCs are often spatially biased which may generate inaccuracies in SDMs. Here, we test how the distribution of NHCs and MaxEnt predictions relates to a spatial abundance model, based on a large plot dataset for Amazonian tree species, using inverse distance weighting (IDW). We also propose a new pipeline to deal with inconsistencies in NHCs and to limit the area of occupancy of the species. We found a significant but weak positive relationship between the distribution of NHCs and IDW for 66% of the species. The relationship between SDMs and IDW was also significant but weakly positive for 95% of the species, and sensitivity for both analyses was high. Furthermore, the pipeline removed half of the NHCs records. Presence-only SDM applications should consider this limitation, especially for large biodiversity assessments projects, when they are automatically generated without subsequent checking. Our pipeline provides a conservative estimate of a species' area of occupancy, within an area slightly larger than its extent of occurrence, compatible to e.g. IUCN red list assessments.

A Framework for the Generation and Dissemination of Drop Size Distribution (DSD) Characteristics Using Multiple Platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, David B.; Tokay, Ali; Petersen, Walt; Williams, Christopher; Gatlin, Patrick; Wingo, Mathew

2010-01-01

Proper characterization of the precipitation drop size distribution (DSD) is integral to providing realistic and accurate space- and ground-based precipitation retrievals. Current technology allows for the development of DSD products from a variety of platforms, including disdrometers, vertical profilers and dual-polarization radars. Up to now, however, the dissemination or availability of such products has been limited to individual sites and/or field campaigns, in a variety of formats, often using inconsistent algorithms for computing the integral DSD parameters, such as the median- and mass-weighted drop diameter, total number concentration, liquid water content, rain rate, etc. We propose to develop a framework for the generation and dissemination of DSD characteristic products using a unified structure, capable of handling the myriad collection of disdrometers, profilers, and dual-polarization radar data currently available and to be collected during several upcoming GPM Ground Validation field campaigns. This DSD super-structure paradigm is an adaptation of the radar super-structure developed for NASA s Radar Software Library (RSL) and RSL_in_IDL. The goal is to provide the DSD products in a well-documented format, most likely NetCDF, along with tools to ingest and analyze the products. In so doing, we can develop a robust archive of DSD products from multiple sites and platforms, which should greatly benefit the development and validation of precipitation retrieval algorithms for GPM and other precipitation missions. An outline of this proposed framework will be provided as well as a discussion of the algorithms used to calculate the DSD parameters.

Multi-scale approach for predicting fish species distributions across coral reef seascapes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon J Pittman

Full Text Available Two of the major limitations to effective management of coral reef ecosystems are a lack of information on the spatial distribution of marine species and a paucity of data on the interacting environmental variables that drive distributional patterns. Advances in marine remote sensing, together with the novel integration of landscape ecology and advanced niche modelling techniques provide an unprecedented opportunity to reliably model and map marine species distributions across many kilometres of coral reef ecosystems. We developed a multi-scale approach using three-dimensional seafloor morphology and across-shelf location to predict spatial distributions for five common Caribbean fish species. Seascape topography was quantified from high resolution bathymetry at five spatial scales (5-300 m radii surrounding fish survey sites. Model performance and map accuracy was assessed for two high performing machine-learning algorithms: Boosted Regression Trees (BRT and Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modelling (MaxEnt. The three most important predictors were geographical location across the shelf, followed by a measure of topographic complexity. Predictor contribution differed among species, yet rarely changed across spatial scales. BRT provided 'outstanding' model predictions (AUC = >0.9 for three of five fish species. MaxEnt provided 'outstanding' model predictions for two of five species, with the remaining three models considered 'excellent' (AUC = 0.8-0.9. In contrast, MaxEnt spatial predictions were markedly more accurate (92% map accuracy than BRT (68% map accuracy. We demonstrate that reliable spatial predictions for a range of key fish species can be achieved by modelling the interaction between the geographical location across the shelf and the topographic heterogeneity of seafloor structure. This multi-scale, analytic approach is an important new cost-effective tool to accurately delineate essential fish habitat and support

Species distribution model transferability and model grain size - finer may not always be better.

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoor, Syed Amir; Griffiths, Geoffrey; Lukac, Martin

2018-05-08

Species distribution models have been used to predict the distribution of invasive species for conservation planning. Understanding spatial transferability of niche predictions is critical to promote species-habitat conservation and forecasting areas vulnerable to invasion. Grain size of predictor variables is an important factor affecting the accuracy and transferability of species distribution models. Choice of grain size is often dependent on the type of predictor variables used and the selection of predictors sometimes rely on data availability. This study employed the MAXENT species distribution model to investigate the effect of the grain size on model transferability for an invasive plant species. We modelled the distribution of Rhododendron ponticum in Wales, U.K. and tested model performance and transferability by varying grain size (50 m, 300 m, and 1 km). MAXENT-based models are sensitive to grain size and selection of variables. We found that over-reliance on the commonly used bioclimatic variables may lead to less accurate models as it often compromises the finer grain size of biophysical variables which may be more important determinants of species distribution at small spatial scales. Model accuracy is likely to increase with decreasing grain size. However, successful model transferability may require optimization of model grain size.

Disseminating online tools for building capacity among community practitioners.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Christina M; Fawcett, Stephen B; Schultz, Jerry A; Jones, Jami A; Berkowitz, Bill; Wolff, Thomas J; Francisco, Vincent T; Rabinowitz, Philip W

2013-01-01

To prepare the workforce for building healthier communities, we need to assure capabilities of a diverse and geographically distributed community of practitioners. Although the Internet is used extensively to disseminate practice information, less is known about the relative impact of various strategies for promoting its use. This empirical case study examines implementation of dissemination strategies and their association with increased user sessions in the online Community Tool Box (CTB), a widely used resource for community building. Dissemination activities included social media efforts, eNewsletters, search engine optimization efforts, partnering with other Web sites, and implementing a global Out of the Box Prize. Results suggest that increased user sessions were associated with search optimization and "mashups" delivering CTB content through partners' Web sites. The report concludes with a discussion of challenges and opportunities in promoting widespread use of capacity-building tools among those working to improve their communities.

The implicit assumption of symmetry and the species abundance distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alonso, D.; Ostling, A.; Etienne, R.S.

2008-01-01

Species abundance distributions (SADs) have played a historical role in the development of community ecology. They summarize information about the number and the relative abundance of the species encountered in a sample from a given community. For years ecologists have developed theory to

The implicit assumption of symmetry and the species abundance distribution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alonso, David; Ostling, Annette; Etienne, Rampal S.

Species abundance distributions (SADs) have played a historical role in the development of community ecology. They summarize information about the number and the relative abundance of the species encountered in a sample from a given community. For years ecologists have developed theory to

New record of the sympatric distribution of two Asian species of the horseshoe crab

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Chatterji, A.

distribution of two Asian species of the horses... http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep25/articles14.htm 1 of 3 2/11/05 9:47 AM New record of the sympatric distribution of two Asian species of the horseshoe crab The geographical distribution of four extant species...... http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep25/articles14.htm 2 of 3 2/11/05 9:47 AM This species was found breeding actively on relatively clean and sandy beaches. The other species (C. rotundicauda) was not reported in these areas.However, during the survey...

Node-based analysis of species distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borregaard, Michael Krabbe; Rahbek, Carsten; Fjeldså, Jon

2014-01-01

overrepresentation score (SOS) and the geographic node divergence (GND) score, which together combine ecological and evolutionary patterns into a single framework and avoids many of the problems that characterize community phylogenetic methods in current use.This approach goes through each node in the phylogeny...... with case studies on two groups with well-described biogeographical histories: a local-scale community data set of hummingbirds in the North Andes, and a large-scale data set of the distribution of all species of New World flycatchers. The node-based analysis of these two groups generates a set...... of intuitively interpretable patterns that are consistent with current biogeographical knowledge.Importantly, the results are statistically tractable, opening many possibilities for their use in analyses of evolutionary, historical and spatial patterns of species diversity. The method is implemented...

Species Distribution Modeling: Comparison of Fixed and Mixed Effects Models Using INLA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lara Dutra Silva

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Invasive alien species are among the most important, least controlled, and least reversible of human impacts on the world’s ecosystems, with negative consequences affecting biodiversity and socioeconomic systems. Species distribution models have become a fundamental tool in assessing the potential spread of invasive species in face of their native counterparts. In this study we compared two different modeling techniques: (i fixed effects models accounting for the effect of ecogeographical variables (EGVs; and (ii mixed effects models including also a Gaussian random field (GRF to model spatial correlation (Matérn covariance function. To estimate the potential distribution of Pittosporum undulatum and Morella faya (respectively, invasive and native trees, we used geo-referenced data of their distribution in Pico and São Miguel islands (Azores and topographic, climatic and land use EGVs. Fixed effects models run with maximum likelihood or the INLA (Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation approach provided very similar results, even when reducing the size of the presences data set. The addition of the GRF increased model adjustment (lower Deviance Information Criterion, particularly for the less abundant tree, M. faya. However, the random field parameters were clearly affected by sample size and species distribution pattern. A high degree of spatial autocorrelation was found and should be taken into account when modeling species distribution.

Distribution characteristics of mineral elements in tree Species from ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tree species populations were 44 in Akyaakrom (AS), 29 in Dopiri (DS), and families were 18 in AS and 16 in DS. Tree densities were 121 and 99 in AS and DS, respectively, in 0.57 ha. In terms of tree species population, diversity and density, AS was superior to DS. The distribution of major mineral elements in the leaves ...

Dispersal ability determines the scaling properties of species abundance distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borda-De-Água, Luís; Whittaker, Robert James; Cardoso, Pedro

2017-01-01

with computer simulations, low dispersal ability species generate a hump for intermediate abundance classes earlier than the distributions of high dispersal ability species. Importantly, when plotted as function of sample size, the raw moments of the SADs of arthropods have a power law pattern similar...

Constructing a model of effective information dissemination in a crisis. Information dissemination, Crisis, Crises, Tuberculosis, Dissemination of information, Meta-ethnographic analysis, Social marketing

OpenAIRE

Fiona Duggan; Linda Banwell

2004-01-01

A model of effective information dissemination in a crisis was developed from a Ph.D. study of information dissemination during a suspected TB outbreak. The research aimed to characterise and evaluate the dissemination of information to the community during the incident. A qualitative systematic review of the research literature identified twenty relevant studies. Meta-ethnographic analysis of these studies highlighted the key factors in effective dissemination. Consideration of these factors...

Species distribution modeling based on the automated identification of citizen observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Botella, Christophe; Joly, Alexis; Bonnet, Pierre; Monestiez, Pascal; Munoz, François

2018-02-01

A species distribution model computed with automatically identified plant observations was developed and evaluated to contribute to future ecological studies. We used deep learning techniques to automatically identify opportunistic plant observations made by citizens through a popular mobile application. We compared species distribution modeling of invasive alien plants based on these data to inventories made by experts. The trained models have a reasonable predictive effectiveness for some species, but they are biased by the massive presence of cultivated specimens. The method proposed here allows for fine-grained and regular monitoring of some species of interest based on opportunistic observations. More in-depth investigation of the typology of the observations and the sampling bias should help improve the approach in the future.

Separating the effects of environment and space on tree species distribution: from population to community.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Guojun; Stralberg, Diana; Gong, Guiquan; Huang, Zhongliang; Ye, Wanhui; Wu, Linfang

2013-01-01

Quantifying the relative contributions of environmental conditions and spatial factors to species distribution can help improve our understanding of the processes that drive diversity patterns. In this study, based on tree inventory, topography and soil data from a 20-ha stem-mapped permanent forest plot in Guangdong Province, China, we evaluated the influence of different ecological processes at different spatial scales using canonical redundancy analysis (RDA) at the community level and multiple linear regression at the species level. At the community level, the proportion of explained variation in species distribution increased with grid-cell sizes, primarily due to a monotonic increase in the explanatory power of environmental variables. At the species level, neither environmental nor spatial factors were important determinants of overstory species' distributions at small cell sizes. However, purely spatial variables explained most of the variation in the distributions of understory species at fine and intermediate cell sizes. Midstory species showed patterns that were intermediate between those of overstory and understory species. At the 20-m cell size, the influence of spatial factors was stronger for more dispersal-limited species, suggesting that much of the spatial structuring in this community can be explained by dispersal limitation. Comparing environmental factors, soil variables had higher explanatory power than did topography for species distribution. However, both topographic and edaphic variables were highly spatial structured. Our results suggested that dispersal limitation has an important influence on fine-intermediate scale (from several to tens of meters) species distribution, while environmental variability facilitates species distribution at intermediate (from ten to tens of meters) and broad (from tens to hundreds of meters) scales.

Using Environmental DNA to Improve Species Distribution Models for Freshwater Invaders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teja P. Muha

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Species Distribution Models (SDMs have been reported as a useful tool for the risk assessment and modeling of the pathways of dispersal of freshwater invasive alien species (IAS. Environmental DNA (eDNA is a novel tool that can help detect IAS at their early stage of introduction and additionally improve the data available for a more efficient management. SDMs rely on presence and absence of the species in the study area to infer the predictors affecting species distributions. Presence is verified once a species is detected, but confirmation of absence can be problematic because this depends both on the detectability of the species and the sampling strategy. eDNA is a technique that presents higher detectability and accuracy in comparison to conventional sampling techniques, and can effectively differentiate between presence or absence of specific species or entire communities by using a barcoding or metabarcoding approach. However, a number of potential bias can be introduced during (i sampling, (ii amplification, (iii sequencing, or (iv through the usage of bioinformatics pipelines. Therefore, it is important to report and conduct the field and laboratory procedures in a consistent way, by (i introducing eDNA independent observations, (ii amplifying and sequencing control samples, (iii achieving quality sequence reads by appropriate clean-up steps, (iv controlling primer amplification preferences, (v introducing PCR-free sequence capturing, (vi estimating primer detection capabilities through controlled experiments and/or (vii post-hoc introduction of “site occupancy-detection models.” With eDNA methodology becoming increasingly routine, its use is strongly recommended to retrieve species distributional data for SDMs.

Identity and distribution of southern African sciaenid fish species of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Two Umbrina species, U. canariensis Valenciennes 1843 and U. robinsoni Gilchrist and Thompson 1908, are recognised from southern Africa. The latter species was hitherto believed to be a synonym of Umbrina ronchus Valenciennes 1843 (type locality Canary Islands). U. canariensis is distributed along the South Africa ...

Appendicitis complicated by appendiceal metastasis via peritoneal dissemination from lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiota, Naoki; Furonaka, Makoto; Kikutani, Kazuya; Haji, Keiko; Fujisaki, Seiji; Nishida, Toshihiro

2016-07-01

Peritoneal disseminations from lung cancer are difficult to detect during the patient's clinical course. Therefore, complications of this condition are unclear. We report a case in which peritoneal dissemination from lung cancer complicated appendicitis. A 74-year-old man with lung cancer who was receiving maintenance therapy presented at our hospital because of abdominal pain. It was the seventh day after the 14th cycle of maintenance therapy with bevacizumab. He was diagnosed with acute appendicitis. The resected appendix showed acute appendicitis complicated by appendiceal metastasis from lung cancer. Adenocarcinoma was observed predominantly in the serous membrane from the neck to the tail of the appendix. The distribution of the adenocarcinoma was diffuse. Peritoneal dissemination was considered the route of metastasis. He was admitted to the palliative care unit 10 months after appendectomy. Appendiceal metastasis via peritoneal dissemination from lung cancer complicated appendicitis in our patient who had been receiving bevacizumab.

Predicting weed problems in maize cropping by species distribution modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bürger, Jana

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Increasing maize cultivation and changed cropping practices promote the selection of typical maize weeds that may also profit strongly from climate change. Predicting potential weed problems is of high interest for plant production. Within the project KLIFF, experiments were combined with species distribution modelling for this task in the region of Lower Saxony, Germany. For our study, we modelled ecological and damage niches of nine weed species that are significant and wide spread in maize cropping in a number of European countries. Species distribution models describe the ecological niche of a species, these are the environmental conditions under which a species can maintain a vital population. It is also possible to estimate a damage niche, i.e. the conditions under which a species causes damage in agricultural crops. For this, we combined occurrence data of European national data bases with high resolution climate, soil and land use data. Models were also projected to simulated climate conditions for the time horizon 2070 - 2100 in order to estimate climate change effects. Modelling results indicate favourable conditions for typical maize weed occurrence virtually all over the study region, but only a few species are important in maize cropping. This is in good accordance with the findings of an earlier maize weed monitoring. Reaction to changing climate conditions is species-specific, for some species neutral (E. crus-galli, other species may gain (Polygonum persicaria or loose (Viola arvensis large areas of suitable habitats. All species with damage potential under present conditions will remain important in maize cropping, some more species will gain regional importance (Calystegia sepium, Setara viridis.

SESAM – a new framework integrating macroecological and species distribution models for predicting spatio-temporal patterns of species assemblages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guisan, Antoine; Rahbek, Carsten

2011-01-01

Two different approaches currently prevail for predicting spatial patterns of species assemblages. The first approach (macroecological modelling, MEM) focuses directly on realized properties of species assemblages, whereas the second approach (stacked species distribution modelling, S-SDM) starts...

Using species abundance distribution models and diversity indices for biogeographical analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Fattorini, Simone; Rigal, François; Cardoso, Pedro; Borges, Paulo A. V.

2016-01-01

We examine whether Species Abundance Distribution models (SADs) and diversity indices can describe how species colonization status influences species community assembly on oceanic islands. Our hypothesis is that, because of the lack of source-sink dynamics at the archipelago scale, Single Island Endemics (SIEs), i.e. endemic species restricted to only one island, should be represented by few rare species and consequently have abundance patterns that differ from those of more widespread species. To test our hypothesis, we used arthropod data from the Azorean archipelago (North Atlantic). We divided the species into three colonization categories: SIEs, archipelagic endemics (AZEs, present in at least two islands) and native non-endemics (NATs). For each category, we modelled rank-abundance plots using both the geometric series and the Gambin model, a measure of distributional amplitude. We also calculated Shannon entropy and Buzas and Gibson's evenness. We show that the slopes of the regression lines modelling SADs were significantly higher for SIEs, which indicates a relative predominance of a few highly abundant species and a lack of rare species, which also depresses diversity indices. This may be a consequence of two factors: (i) some forest specialist SIEs may be at advantage over other, less adapted species; (ii) the entire populations of SIEs are by definition concentrated on a single island, without possibility for inter-island source-sink dynamics; hence all populations must have a minimum number of individuals to survive natural, often unpredictable, fluctuations. These findings are supported by higher values of the α parameter of the Gambin mode for SIEs. In contrast, AZEs and NATs had lower regression slopes, lower α but higher diversity indices, resulting from their widespread distribution over several islands. We conclude that these differences in the SAD models and diversity indices demonstrate that the study of these metrics is useful for

Are range-size distributions consistent with species-level heritability?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borregaard, Michael Krabbe; Gotelli, Nicholas; Rahbek, Carsten

2012-01-01

The concept of species-level heritability is widely contested. Because it is most likely to apply to emergent, species-level traits, one of the central discussions has focused on the potential heritability of geographic range size. However, a central argument against range-size heritability has...... been that it is not compatible with the observed shape of present-day species range-size distributions (SRDs), a claim that has never been tested. To assess this claim, we used forward simulation of range-size evolution in clades with varying degrees of range-size heritability, and compared the output...

Five (or so) challenges for species distribution modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bastos Araujo, Miguel; Guisan, Antoine

2006-01-01

Species distribution modelling is central to both fundamental and applied research in biogeography. Despite widespread use of models, there are still important conceptual ambiguities as well as biotic and algorithmic uncertainties that need to be investigated in order to increase confidence in mo...

Spatial structures of the environment and of dispersal impact species distribution in competitive metacommunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Ai, Dexiecuo; Gravel, Dominique; Chu, Chengjin; Wang, Gang

2013-01-01

The correspondence between species distribution and the environment depends on species' ability to track favorable environmental conditions (via dispersal) and to maintain competitive hierarchy against the constant influx of migrants (mass effect) and demographic stochasticity (ecological drift). Here we report a simulation study of the influence of landscape structure on species distribution. We consider lottery competition for space in a spatially heterogeneous environment, where the landscape is represented as a network of localities connected by dispersal. We quantified the contribution of neutrality and species sorting to their spatial distribution. We found that neutrality increases and the strength of species-sorting decreases with the centrality of a community in the landscape when the average dispersal among communities is low, whereas the opposite was found at elevated dispersal. We also found that the strength of species-sorting increases with environmental heterogeneity. Our results illustrate that spatial structure of the environment and of dispersal must be taken into account for understanding species distribution. We stress the importance of spatial geographic structure on the relative importance of niche vs. neutral processes in controlling community dynamics.

Testing species distribution models across space and time: high latitude butterflies and recent warming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eskildsen, Anne; LeRoux, Peter C.; Heikkinen, Risto K.

2013-01-01

changes at expanding range margins can be predicted accurately. Location. Finland. Methods. Using 10-km resolution butterfly atlas data from two periods, 1992–1999 (t1) and 2002–2009 (t2), with a significant between-period temperature increase, we modelled the effects of climatic warming on butterfly...... butterfly distributions under climate change. Model performance was lower with independent compared to non-independent validation and improved when land cover and soil type variables were included, compared to climate-only models. SDMs performed less well for highly mobile species and for species with long......Aim. To quantify whether species distribution models (SDMs) can reliably forecast species distributions under observed climate change. In particular, to test whether the predictive ability of SDMs depends on species traits or the inclusion of land cover and soil type, and whether distributional...

Proceedings: panel on information dissemination for wind energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weis, P. [ed.

1980-04-01

This meeting was called as part of a multi-year planning effort. Groups involved in the production and/or dissemination of information on wind energy were invited to describe their current activities and their perceptions of the needs of the 80's in this area. Participants exchanged copies of materials they distribute regularly and discussed frequently asked questions.

Linking macroecology and community ecology: refining predictions of species distributions using biotic interaction networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Staniczenko, Phillip P A; Sivasubramaniam, Prabu; Suttle, K Blake; Pearson, Richard G

2017-06-01

Macroecological models for predicting species distributions usually only include abiotic environmental conditions as explanatory variables, despite knowledge from community ecology that all species are linked to other species through biotic interactions. This disconnect is largely due to the different spatial scales considered by the two sub-disciplines: macroecologists study patterns at large extents and coarse resolutions, while community ecologists focus on small extents and fine resolutions. A general framework for including biotic interactions in macroecological models would help bridge this divide, as it would allow for rigorous testing of the role that biotic interactions play in determining species ranges. Here, we present an approach that combines species distribution models with Bayesian networks, which enables the direct and indirect effects of biotic interactions to be modelled as propagating conditional dependencies among species' presences. We show that including biotic interactions in distribution models for species from a California grassland community results in better range predictions across the western USA. This new approach will be important for improving estimates of species distributions and their dynamics under environmental change. © 2017 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Species composition and distribution of medical mollusca in Shanghai City].

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Yun-hai; Lv, Shan; Gu, Wen-biao; Liu, He-xiang; Wu, Ying; Zhang, Yi

2015-02-01

To investigate the species diversity and distribution of medical mollusca in Shanghai City. From August 2012 to October 2013, all kinds of habitats in 8 districts and counties in Shanghai City, namely Jiading, Qingpu, Baoshan, Minhang, Songjiang, Jinshan, Chongming, Pudong, were selected for the field survey according to the distribution characteristics of the river system, and all the specimens of medical mollusca in the investigation sites were collected and classified by morphological identification. Meanwhile, the species composition, habitats as well as the fauna of the medical mollusca collected were analyzed. A total of 5,211 specimens were collected, which belonged to 2 classes, 14 families, 18 genera and 25 species, including Oncomelania hupensis hupensis, Pomacea canaliculata, Parafossarulus striatulus, Alocinma longicornis, Physa acuta, Galba pervia, Hippeutis cantori, etc. The species numbers of medical mollusca in Chongming, Jinshan, Pudong new area and Qingpu districts (counties) were 22, 22, 21 and 20, respectively, which were more than those of other areas. The habitat analysis suggested that the species numbers in the river and wetland were the most, both of which were 14 species. The main faunas of the medical mollusca in Shanghai were the cosmopolitan and oriental species. The freshwater gastropod species are paucity in Shanghai City, but almost of them can be served as the intermediate hosts of certain parasites to transmit snail-related parasitic diseases, so the surveillance of medical mollusca should be strengthened.

Indonesia knowledge dissemination: a snapshot

Science.gov (United States)

Nasution, M. K. M.

2018-03-01

The educational progress of a country or educational institution is measured through the implementation of knowledge dissemination. Evidence of knowledge dissemination has carried out be in form of the type of published document, which is based on the databases of the index of scientific publications: Scopus. This paper expresses a simple form of knowledge dissemination based on document type. Although the growth of knowledge dissemination does not have the same pattern based on the appearance of document types, the general implementation is almost the same. However, maximum effort needs to be done by PTN-bh to support Indonesia knowledge dissemination.

EDDA: An Efficient Distributed Data Replication Algorithm in VANETs.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Junyu; Huang, Chuanhe; Fan, Xiying; Guo, Sipei; Fu, Bin

2018-02-10

Efficient data dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is a challenging issue due to the dynamic nature of the network. To improve the performance of data dissemination, we study distributed data replication algorithms in VANETs for exchanging information and computing in an arbitrarily-connected network of vehicle nodes. To achieve low dissemination delay and improve the network performance, we control the number of message copies that can be disseminated in the network and then propose an efficient distributed data replication algorithm (EDDA). The key idea is to let the data carrier distribute the data dissemination tasks to multiple nodes to speed up the dissemination process. We calculate the number of communication stages for the network to enter into a balanced status and show that the proposed distributed algorithm can converge to a consensus in a small number of communication stages. Most of the theoretical results described in this paper are to study the complexity of network convergence. The lower bound and upper bound are also provided in the analysis of the algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed EDDA can efficiently disseminate messages to vehicles in a specific area with low dissemination delay and system overhead.

EDDA: An Efficient Distributed Data Replication Algorithm in VANETs

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Junyu; Huang, Chuanhe; Fan, Xiying; Guo, Sipei; Fu, Bin

2018-01-01

Efficient data dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is a challenging issue due to the dynamic nature of the network. To improve the performance of data dissemination, we study distributed data replication algorithms in VANETs for exchanging information and computing in an arbitrarily-connected network of vehicle nodes. To achieve low dissemination delay and improve the network performance, we control the number of message copies that can be disseminated in the network and then propose an efficient distributed data replication algorithm (EDDA). The key idea is to let the data carrier distribute the data dissemination tasks to multiple nodes to speed up the dissemination process. We calculate the number of communication stages for the network to enter into a balanced status and show that the proposed distributed algorithm can converge to a consensus in a small number of communication stages. Most of the theoretical results described in this paper are to study the complexity of network convergence. The lower bound and upper bound are also provided in the analysis of the algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed EDDA can efficiently disseminate messages to vehicles in a specific area with low dissemination delay and system overhead. PMID:29439443

Species distribution and introgressive hybridization of two Avicennia species from the Western Hemisphere unveiled by phylogeographic patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Gustavo M; Zucchi, Maria I; Sampaio, Iracilda; Souza, Anete P

2015-04-10

Mangrove plants grow in the intertidal zone in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. The global latitudinal distribution of the mangrove is mainly influenced by climatic and oceanographic features. Because of current climate changes, poleward range expansions have been reported for the major biogeographic regions of mangrove forests in the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. There is evidence that mangrove forests also responded similarly after the last glaciation by expanding their ranges. In this context, the use of genetic tools is an informative approach for understanding how historical processes and factors impact the distribution of mangrove species. We investigated the phylogeographic patterns of two Avicennia species, A. germinans and A. schaueriana, from the Western Hemisphere using nuclear and chloroplast DNA markers. Our results indicate that, although Avicennia bicolor, A. germinans and A. schaueriana are independent lineages, hybridization between A. schaueriana and A. germinans is a relevant evolutionary process. Our findings also reinforce the role of long-distance dispersal in widespread mangrove species such as A. germinans, for which we observed signs of transatlantic dispersal, a process that has, most likely, contributed to the breadth of the distribution of A. germinans. However, along the southern coast of South America, A. schaueriana is the only representative of the genus. The distribution patterns of A. germinans and A. schaueriana are explained by their different responses to past climate changes and by the unequal historical effectiveness of relative gene flow by propagules and pollen. We observed that A. bicolor, A. germinans and A. schaueriana are three evolutionary lineages that present historical and ongoing hybridization on the American continent. We also inferred a new evidence of transatlantic dispersal for A. germinans, which may have contributed to its widespread distribution. Despite the generally wider distribution of A

Vegetation in Bangalore's Slums: Composition, Species Distribution, Density, Diversity, and History

Science.gov (United States)

Gopal, Divya; Nagendra, Harini; Manthey, Michael

2015-06-01

There is widespread acknowledgement of the need for biodiversity and greening to be part of urban sustainability efforts. Yet we know little about greenery in the context of urban poverty, particularly in slums, which constitute a significant challenge for inclusive development in many rapidly growing cities. We assessed the composition, density, diversity, and species distribution of vegetation in 44 slums of Bangalore, India, comparing these to published studies on vegetation diversity in other land-use categories. Most trees were native to the region, as compared to other land-use categories such as parks and streets which are dominated by introduced species. Of the most frequently encountered tree species, Moringa oleifera and Cocos nucifera are important for food, while Ficus religiosa plays a critical cultural and religious role. Tree density and diversity were much lower in slums compared to richer residential neighborhoods. There are also differences in species preferences, with most plant (herb, shrub and vines) species in slums having economic, food, medicinal, or cultural use, while the species planted in richer residential areas are largely ornamental. Historic development has had an impact on species distribution, with older slums having larger sized tree species, while recent slums were dominated by smaller sized tree species with greater economic and food use. Extensive focus on planting trees and plant species with utility value is required in these congested neighborhoods, to provide livelihood support.

The effect of IT and Co-location on knowledge dissemination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Song, Michael; Berends, Hans; van der Bij, Hans; Weggeman, Mathieu

Due to the increasing globalization of businesses, new ideas for innovation need to be disseminated rapidly both within and across different departments and divisions. Frequently, ideas and information are dispersed over globally distributed organizations or team members. As a result, the exchange

The effect of IT and co-location on knowledge dissemination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Song, X.M.; Berends, J.J.; Bij, van der J.D.; Weggeman, M.C.D.P.

2007-01-01

Due to the increasing globalization of businesses, new ideas for innovation need to be disseminated rapidly both within and across different departments and divisions. Frequently, ideas and information are dispersed over globally distributed organizations or team members. As a result, the exchange

Biotic and abiotic variables show little redundancy in explaining tree species distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meier, Elaine S.; Kienast, Felix; Pearman, Peter B.

2010-01-01

Abiotic factors such as climate and soil determine the species fundamental niche, which is further constrained by biotic interactions such as interspecific competition. To parameterize this realized niche, species distribution models (SDMs) most often relate species occurrence data to abiotic var...

Ecophysiological Traits of Leaves of Three Marsilea Species Distributed in Different Geographical Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tai-Chung Wu

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Marsilea, an amphibian fern genus (containing ca. 80 species characterized by their unusual leaves and reproductive structures, is distributed over the five continents. To investigate the adaptation traits of three Marsilea species (M. crenata, M. quadrifolia, and M. schelpiana, distributed in different geographic regions, to terrestrial conditions, we compared morphological features, optical properties and photosynthetic performance of leaflets of the three species grown in terrestrial environment. The results showed that leaflets of the three species had significant differences in some of the ecophysiogical traits. Among the three species, M. quadrifolia (distributed in temperate region where receiving low precipitation had the highest trichome density on its leaflet surface and the highest water use efficiency, M. schelpiana (mainly in southern Africa where accepting high level of solar irradiance had the tallest petiole and the highest leaf dissection index, total stomatal pore area index, PSII electron transport rate and photosaturated photosynthetic rate, M. crenata (mainly in southeastern Asia region where receiving high precipitation and with high humidity had the lowest leaf dissection index and water use efficiency. Accordingly, leaf characteristics of the three Marsilea species reflect the climate pattern of their habitats. The results also suggest that water availability and light intensity are two of the important factors contributing to the geographic distribution of the three species.

Environmental niche divergence among three dune shrub sister species with parapatric distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chozas, Sergio; Chefaoui, Rosa M; Correia, Otília; Bonal, Raúl; Hortal, Joaquín

2017-05-01

The geographical distributions of species are constrained by their ecological requirements. The aim of this work was to analyse the effects of environmental conditions, historical events and biogeographical constraints on the diversification of the three species of the western Mediterranean shrub genus Stauracanthus , which have a parapatric distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Ecological niche factor analysis and generalized linear models were used to measure the response of all Stauracanthus species to the environmental gradients and map their potential distributions in the Iberian Peninsula. The bioclimatic niche overlap between the three species was determined by using Schoener's index. The genetic differentiation of the Iberian and northern African populations of Stauracanthus species was characterized with GenalEx. The effects on genetic distances of the most important environmental drivers were assessed through Mantel tests and non-metric multidimensional scaling. The three Stauracanthus species show remarkably similar responses to climatic conditions. This supports the idea that all members of this recently diversified clade retain common adaptations to climate and consequently high levels of climatic niche overlap. This contrasts with the diverse edaphic requirements of Stauracanthus species. The populations of the S. genistoides-spectabilis clade grow on Miocene and Pliocene fine-textured sedimentary soils, whereas S. boivinii , the more genetically distant species, occurs on older and more coarse-textured sedimentary substrates. These patterns of diversification are largely consistent with a stochastic process of geographical range expansion and fragmentation coupled with niche evolution in the context of spatially complex environmental fluctuations. : The combined analysis of the distribution, realized environmental niche and phylogeographical relationships of parapatric species proposed in this work allows integration of the biogeographical

Mechanisms controlling the distribution of two invasive Bromus species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Bykova

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In order to predict future range shifts for invasive species it is important to explore their ability to acclimate to the new environment and understand physiological and reproductive constraints controlling their distribution. My dissertation studied mechanisms by which temperature may affect the distribution of two aggressive plant invaders in North America, Bromus tectorum and Bromus rubens. I first evaluated winter freezing tolerance of Bromus species and demonstrated that the mechanism explaining their distinct northern range limits is different acquisition time of freezing tolerance. While B. rubens has a slower rate of freezing acclimation that leads to intolerance of sudden, late-autumn drops in temperature below -12°C, B. tectorum rapidly hardens and so is not impacted by the sudden onset of severe late-autumn cold. In addition, the analysis of male reproductive development and seed production showed that neither species produces seed at or above 36°C, due to complete pollen sterility, which might trigger climate-mediated range contractions at B. tectorum and B. rubens southern margins. Finally, a detailed gas-exchange analysis combined with biochemical modelling demonstrated that both species acclimate to a broad range of temperatures and photosynthetic response to temperature does not explain their current range separation.

Vertical distribution and migration of euphausiid species in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Wiebe, Peter H.

2016-06-01

We addressed how the extreme environmental conditions of the Red Sea impact or alter patterns of vertical distribution and vertical migration of five euphausiid species that are known from other oceans. Euphausia diomedeae was abundant and performed diel vertical migration (DVM) from >200 m in daytime to <100 m at night, similar to its pattern in other ocean regions. Euphausia sibogae and Euphausia sanzoi also showed consistent patterns of DVM across their ranges in the Red Sea and elsewhere. Two species, Stylocheiron affine and Stylocheiron abbreviatum, did not exhibit DVM. DNA barcode sequences for mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) were used to confirm species identifications for four species (no previous barcode data exist for E. sanzoi). COI sequence differences averaged 2.8% (SD 3.1%) within species and 16.6% (SD 0.7%) between species, similar to previous studies of euphausiids. Red Sea specimens of S. affine matched morphological descriptions of a western equatorial form and differed 14% from Atlantic and Pacific specimens, suggesting possible cryptic species-level variation within this taxon. Widely distributed species of zooplankton may exhibit broad tolerance ranges for key environmental variables, and have considerable potential to adapt to variable and changing conditions across their geographic range.

Spatial structures of the environment and of dispersal impact species distribution in competitive metacommunities.

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Dexiecuo Ai

Full Text Available The correspondence between species distribution and the environment depends on species' ability to track favorable environmental conditions (via dispersal and to maintain competitive hierarchy against the constant influx of migrants (mass effect and demographic stochasticity (ecological drift. Here we report a simulation study of the influence of landscape structure on species distribution. We consider lottery competition for space in a spatially heterogeneous environment, where the landscape is represented as a network of localities connected by dispersal. We quantified the contribution of neutrality and species sorting to their spatial distribution. We found that neutrality increases and the strength of species-sorting decreases with the centrality of a community in the landscape when the average dispersal among communities is low, whereas the opposite was found at elevated dispersal. We also found that the strength of species-sorting increases with environmental heterogeneity. Our results illustrate that spatial structure of the environment and of dispersal must be taken into account for understanding species distribution. We stress the importance of spatial geographic structure on the relative importance of niche vs. neutral processes in controlling community dynamics.

Asymmetric biotic interactions and abiotic niche differences revealed by a dynamic joint species distribution model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lany, Nina K; Zarnetske, Phoebe L; Schliep, Erin M; Schaeffer, Robert N; Orians, Colin M; Orwig, David A; Preisser, Evan L

2018-05-01

A species' distribution and abundance are determined by abiotic conditions and biotic interactions with other species in the community. Most species distribution models correlate the occurrence of a single species with environmental variables only, and leave out biotic interactions. To test the importance of biotic interactions on occurrence and abundance, we compared a multivariate spatiotemporal model of the joint abundance of two invasive insects that share a host plant, hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (EHS; Fiorina externa), to independent models that do not account for dependence among co-occurring species. The joint model revealed that HWA responded more strongly to abiotic conditions than EHS. Additionally, HWA appeared to predispose stands to subsequent increase of EHS, but HWA abundance was not strongly dependent on EHS abundance. This study demonstrates how incorporating spatial and temporal dependence into a species distribution model can reveal the dependence of a species' abundance on other species in the community. Accounting for dependence among co-occurring species with a joint distribution model can also improve estimation of the abiotic niche for species affected by interspecific interactions. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

The data-driven null models for information dissemination tree in social networks

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhiwei; Wang, Zhenyu

2017-10-01

For the purpose of detecting relatedness and co-occurrence between users, as well as the distribution features of nodes in spreading path of a social network, this paper explores topological characteristics of information dissemination trees (IDT) that can be employed indirectly to probe the information dissemination laws within social networks. Hence, three different null models of IDT are presented in this article, including the statistical-constrained 0-order IDT null model, the random-rewire-broken-edge 0-order IDT null model and the random-rewire-broken-edge 2-order IDT null model. These null models firstly generate the corresponding randomized copy of an actual IDT; then the extended significance profile, which is developed by adding the cascade ratio of information dissemination path, is exploited not only to evaluate degree correlation of two nodes associated with an edge, but also to assess the cascade ratio of different length of information dissemination paths. The experimental correspondences of the empirical analysis for several SinaWeibo IDTs and Twitter IDTs indicate that the IDT null models presented in this paper perform well in terms of degree correlation of nodes and dissemination path cascade ratio, which can be better to reveal the features of information dissemination and to fit the situation of real social networks.

Predicting the geographical distribution of two invasive termite species from occurrence data.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonini, Francesco; Divino, Fabio; Lasinio, Giovanna Jona; Hochmair, Hartwig H; Scheffrahn, Rudolf H

2014-10-01

Predicting the potential habitat of species under both current and future climate change scenarios is crucial for monitoring invasive species and understanding a species' response to different environmental conditions. Frequently, the only data available on a species is the location of its occurrence (presence-only data). Using occurrence records only, two models were used to predict the geographical distribution of two destructive invasive termite species, Coptotermes gestroi (Wasmann) and Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. The first model uses a Bayesian linear logistic regression approach adjusted for presence-only data while the second one is the widely used maximum entropy approach (Maxent). Results show that the predicted distributions of both C. gestroi and C. formosanus are strongly linked to urban development. The impact of future scenarios such as climate warming and population growth on the biotic distribution of both termite species was also assessed. Future climate warming seems to affect their projected probability of presence to a lesser extent than population growth. The Bayesian logistic approach outperformed Maxent consistently in all models according to evaluation criteria such as model sensitivity and ecological realism. The importance of further studies for an explicit treatment of residual spatial autocorrelation and a more comprehensive comparison between both statistical approaches is suggested.

Diversity and Distribution of Freshwater Amphipod Species in Switzerland (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Science.gov (United States)

Altermatt, Florian; Alther, Roman; Fišer, Cene; Jokela, Jukka; Konec, Marjeta; Küry, Daniel; Mächler, Elvira; Stucki, Pascal; Westram, Anja Marie

2014-01-01

Amphipods are key organisms in many freshwater systems and contribute substantially to the diversity and functioning of macroinvertebrate communities. Furthermore, they are commonly used as bioindicators and for ecotoxicological tests. For many areas, however, diversity and distribution of amphipods is inadequately known, which limits their use in ecological and ecotoxicological studies and handicaps conservation initiatives. We studied the diversity and distribution of amphipods in Switzerland (Central Europe), covering four major drainage basins, an altitudinal gradient of>2,500 m, and various habitats (rivers, streams, lakes and groundwater). We provide the first provisional checklist and detailed information on the distribution and diversity of all amphipod species from Switzerland. In total, we found 29 amphipod species. This includes 16 native and 13 non-native species, one of the latter (Orchestia cavimana) reported here for the first time for Switzerland. The diversity is compared to neighboring countries. We specifically discuss species of the genus Niphargus, which are often receiving less attention. We also found evidence of an even higher level of hidden diversity, and the potential occurrence of further cryptic species. This diversity reflects the biogeographic past of Switzerland, and suggests that amphipods are ideally suited to address questions on endemism and adaptive radiations, post-glaciation re-colonization and invasion dynamics as well as biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships in aquatic systems. PMID:25354099

Tree species distribution in temperate forests is more influenced by soil than by climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Walthert, Lorenz; Meier, Eliane Seraina

2017-11-01

Knowledge of the ecological requirements determining tree species distributions is a precondition for sustainable forest management. At present, the abiotic requirements and the relative importance of the different abiotic factors are still unclear for many temperate tree species. We therefore investigated the relative importance of climatic and edaphic factors for the abundance of 12 temperate tree species along environmental gradients. Our investigations are based on data from 1,075 forest stands across Switzerland including the cold-induced tree line of all studied species and the drought-induced range boundaries of several species. Four climatic and four edaphic predictors represented the important growth factors temperature, water supply, nutrient availability, and soil aeration. The climatic predictors were derived from the meteorological network of MeteoSwiss, and the edaphic predictors were available from soil profiles. Species cover abundances were recorded in field surveys. The explanatory power of the predictors was assessed by variation partitioning analyses with generalized linear models. For six of the 12 species, edaphic predictors were more important than climatic predictors in shaping species distribution. Over all species, abundances depended mainly on nutrient availability, followed by temperature, water supply, and soil aeration. The often co-occurring species responded similar to these growth factors. Drought turned out to be a determinant of the lower range boundary for some species. We conclude that over all 12 studied tree species, soil properties were more important than climate variables in shaping tree species distribution. The inclusion of appropriate soil variables in species distribution models allowed to better explain species' ecological niches. Moreover, our study revealed that the ecological requirements of tree species assessed in local field studies and in experiments are valid at larger scales across Switzerland.

Modelling the potential spatial distribution of mosquito species using three different techniques

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cianci, D.; Hartemink, N.; Ibáñez-Justicia, A.

2015-01-01

Background: Models for the spatial distribution of vector species are important tools in the assessment of the risk of establishment and subsequent spread of vector-borne diseases. The aims of this study are to define the environmental conditions suitable for several mosquito species through species

Agricultural information dissemination using ICTs: A review and analysis of information dissemination models in China

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Yun Zhang

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Over the last three decades, China’s agriculture sector has been transformed from the traditional to modern practice through the effective deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs. Information processing and dissemination have played a critical role in this transformation process. Many studies in relation to agriculture information services have been conducted in China, but few of them have attempted to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of different information dissemination models and their applications. This paper aims to review and identify the ICT based information dissemination models in China and to share the knowledge and experience in applying emerging ICTs in disseminating agriculture information to farmers and farm communities to improve productivity and economic, social and environmental sustainability. The paper reviews and analyzes the development stages of China’s agricultural information dissemination systems and different mechanisms for agricultural information service development and operations. Seven ICT-based information dissemination models are identified and discussed. Success cases are presented. The findings provide a useful direction for researchers and practitioners in developing future ICT based information dissemination systems. It is hoped that this paper will also help other developing countries to learn from China’s experience and best practice in their endeavor of applying emerging ICTs in agriculture information dissemination and knowledge transfer.

Are species photosynthetic characteristics good predictors of seedling post-hurricane demographic patterns and species spatiotemporal distribution in a hurricane impacted wet montane forest?

Science.gov (United States)

Luke, Denneko; McLaren, Kurt

2018-05-01

In situ measurements of leaf level photosynthetic response to light were collected from seedlings of ten tree species from a tropical montane wet forest, the John Crow Mountains, Jamaica. A model-based recursive partitioning ('mob') algorithm was then used to identify species associations based on their fitted photosynthetic response curves. Leaf area dark respiration (RD) and light saturated maximum photosynthetic (Amax) rates were also used as 'mob' partitioning variables, to identify species associations based on seedling demographic patterns (from June 2007 to May 2010) following a hurricane (Aug. 2007) and the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of stems in 2006 and 2012. RD and Amax rates ranged from 1.14 to 2.02 μmol (CO2) m-2s-1 and 2.97-5.87 μmol (CO2) m-2s-1, respectively, placing the ten species in the range of intermediate shade tolerance. Several parsimonious species 'mob' groups were formed based on 1) interspecific differences among species response curves, 2) variations in post-hurricane seedling demographic trends and 3) RD rates and species spatiotemporal distribution patterns at aspects that are more or less exposed to hurricanes. The composition of parsimonious groupings based on photosynthetic curves was not concordant with the groups based on demographic trends but was partially concordant with the RD - species spatiotemporal distribution groups. Our results indicated that the influence of photosynthetic characteristics on demographic traits and species distributions was not straightforward. Rather, there was a complex pattern of interaction between ecophysiological and demographic traits, which determined species successional status, post-hurricane response and ultimately, species distribution at our study site.

EDDA: An Efficient Distributed Data Replication Algorithm in VANETs

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Junyu Zhu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Efficient data dissemination in vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs is a challenging issue due to the dynamic nature of the network. To improve the performance of data dissemination, we study distributed data replication algorithms in VANETs for exchanging information and computing in an arbitrarily-connected network of vehicle nodes. To achieve low dissemination delay and improve the network performance, we control the number of message copies that can be disseminated in the network and then propose an efficient distributed data replication algorithm (EDDA. The key idea is to let the data carrier distribute the data dissemination tasks to multiple nodes to speed up the dissemination process. We calculate the number of communication stages for the network to enter into a balanced status and show that the proposed distributed algorithm can converge to a consensus in a small number of communication stages. Most of the theoretical results described in this paper are to study the complexity of network convergence. The lower bound and upper bound are also provided in the analysis of the algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed EDDA can efficiently disseminate messages to vehicles in a specific area with low dissemination delay and system overhead.

Molluscan indicator species and their potential use in ecological status assessment using species distribution modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Moraitis, Manos L; Tsikopoulou, Irini; Geropoulos, Antonios; Dimitriou, Panagiotis D; Papageorgiou, Nafsika; Giannoulaki, Marianna; Valavanis, Vasilis D; Karakassis, Ioannis

2018-05-24

Marine habitat assessment using indicator species through Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) was investigated. The bivalves: Corbula gibba and Flexopecten hyalinus were the indicator species characterizing disturbed and undisturbed areas respectively in terms of chlorophyll a concentration in Greece. The habitat suitability maps of these species reflected the overall ecological status of the area. The C. gibba model successfully predicted the occurrence of this species in areas with increased physical disturbance driven by chlorophyll a concentration, whereas the habitat map for F. hyalinus showed an increased probability of occurrence in chlorophyll-poor areas, affected mainly by salinity. We advocate the use of C. gibba as a proxy for eutrophication and the incorporation of this species in monitoring studies through SDM methods. For the Mediterranean Sea we suggest the use of F. hyalinus in SDM as an indicator of environmental stability and a possible forecasting tool for salinity fluctuations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Historical change in fish species distribution: shifting reference conditions and global warming effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Pont, Didier; Logez, M; Carrel, G; Rogers, C; Haidvogl, G

Species distributions models (SDM) that rely on estimated relationships between present environmental conditions and species presence-absence are widely used to forecast changes of species distributions caused by global warming but far less to reconstruct historical assemblages. By compiling historical fish data from the turn to the middle of the twentieth century in a similar way for several European catchments (Rhône, Danube), and using already published SDMs based on current observations, we: (1) tested the predictive accuracy of such models for past climatic conditions, (2) compared observed and expected cumulated historical species occurrences at sub-catchment level, and (3) compared the annual variability in the predictions within one sub-catchment (Salzach) under a future climate scenario to the long-term variability of occurrences reconstructed during an extended historical period (1800-2000). We finally discuss the potential of these SDMs to define a "reference condition", the possibility of a shift in baseline condition in relation with anthropogenic pressures, and past and future climate variability. The results of this study clearly highlight the potential of SDM to reconstruct the past composition of European fish assemblages and to analyze the historical ecological status of European rivers. Assessing the uncertainty associated with species distribution projections is of primary importance before evaluating and comparing the past and future distribution of species within a given catchment.

Sapling performance along resource gradients drives tree species distributions within and across tropical forests

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sterck, F.J.; Markesteijn, L.; Toledo, M.; Schieving, F.; Poorter, L.

2014-01-01

Niche differentiation is a major hypothesized determinant of species distributions, but its practical importance is heavily debated and its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Trait-based approaches have been used to infer niche differentiation and predict species distributions. For

Sample sizes and model comparison metrics for species distribution models

Science.gov (United States)

B.B. Hanberry; H.S. He; D.C. Dey

2012-01-01

Species distribution models use small samples to produce continuous distribution maps. The question of how small a sample can be to produce an accurate model generally has been answered based on comparisons to maximum sample sizes of 200 observations or fewer. In addition, model comparisons often are made with the kappa statistic, which has become controversial....

Mid-winter European dabbling duck distributions are not linked to species body mass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dalby, Lars; Delany, Simon; Fox, Anthony David

are likely to play a major role in determining the wintering distribution of short- to medium-distance migratory bird species and its inter-annual variability. As avian thermoregulatory costs scale allometrically with body size, we predicted that the mean mid-winter temperature experienced by six species...... of dabbling ducks wintering in Western Europe would be negatively correlated with body mass. We found no evidence for such a relationship in a large-scale analysis testing for a link between temperature and dabbling duck distributions, suggesting that other factors such as those related to feeding ecology......In order to understand the current changes and to predict future changes in wintering dabbling duck (Anas sp.) distributions in response to climate change, it is important to understand how species distribute themselves on a continental scale in response to temperature. Thermoregulatory costs...

Secure Certificateless Authentication and Road Message Dissemination Protocol in VANETs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haowen Tan

2018-01-01

Full Text Available As a crucial component of Internet-of-Thing (IoT, vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs have attracted increasing attentions from both academia and industry fields in recent years. With the extensive VANETs deployment in transportation systems of more and more countries, drivers’ driving experience can be drastically improved. In this case, the real-time road information needs to be disseminated to the correlated vehicles. However, due to inherent wireless communicating characteristics of VANETs, authentication and group key management strategies are indispensable for security assurance. Furthermore, effective road message dissemination mechanism is of significance. In this paper, we address the above problems by developing a certificateless authentication and road message dissemination protocol. In our design, certificateless signature and the relevant feedback mechanism are adopted for authentication and group key distribution. Subsequently, message evaluating and ranking strategy is introduced. Security analysis shows that our protocol achieves desirable security properties. Additionally, performance analysis demonstrates that the proposed protocol is efficient compared with the state of the art.

Temperature effects on gametophyte life-history traits and geographic distribution of two cryptic kelp species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L Valeria Oppliger

Full Text Available A major determinant of the geographic distribution of a species is expected to be its physiological response to changing abiotic variables over its range. The range of a species often corresponds to the geographic extent of temperature regimes the organism can physiologically tolerate. Many species have very distinct life history stages that may exhibit different responses to environmental factors. In this study we emphasized the critical role of the haploid microscopic stage (gametophyte of the life cycle to explain the difference of edge distribution of two related kelp species. Lessonia nigrescens was recently identified as two cryptic species occurring in parapatry along the Chilean coast: one located north and the other south of a biogeographic boundary at latitude 29-30°S. Six life history traits from microscopic stages were identified and estimated under five treatments of temperature in eight locations distributed along the Chilean coast in order to (1 estimate the role of temperature in the present distribution of the two cryptic L. nigrescens species, (2 compare marginal populations to central populations of the two cryptic species. In addition, we created a periodic matrix model to estimate the population growth rate (λ at the five temperature treatments. Differential tolerance to temperature was demonstrated between the two species, with the gametophytes of the Northern species being more tolerant to higher temperatures than gametophytes from the south. Second, the two species exhibited different life history strategies with a shorter haploid phase in the Northern species contrasted with considerable vegetative growth in the Southern species haploid stage. These results provide strong ecological evidence for the differentiation process of the two cryptic species and show local adaptation of the life cycle at the range limits of the distribution. Ecological and evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed.

[Relation between species distribution of plant community and soil factors under grazing in alpine meadow].

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Yu Jie; Yang, Si Wei; Wang, Gui Zhen; Liu, Li; Du, Guo Zhen; Hua, Li Min

2017-12-01

The research selected the alpine meadow located in the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to study the changes of vegetation community and soil properties under different grazing intensities, as well as the quantitative relation between the distribution patterns of plant species and the physical and chemical properties of soil. The results showed that the grazing caused the differentiation of the initial vegetation community with the dominant plants, Elymus nutans and Stipa grandis. In the plots with high and low grazing intensities, the dominant plants had changed to Kobresia humilis and Melissitus ruthenica, and E. nutans and Poa crymophila, respectively. With the increase of grazing intensity, the plant richness, importance value and biomass were significantly decreased. The sequence of plant species importance value in each plot against grazing intensity could be fitted by a logarithmic model. The number of required plant species was reduced while the importance value of the remaining plant species accounted for 50% of the importance value in the whole vegetation community. The available P, available K, soil compaction, soil water content, stable infiltration rate and large aggregate index were significantly changed with grazing intensity, however, the changes were different. The CCA ordination showed that the soil compaction was the key factor affecting the distribution pattern of the plant species under grazing. The variance decomposition indicated that the soil factors together explained 30.5% of the distribution of the plant species, in particular the soil physical properties alone explained 22.8% of the distribution of the plant species, which had the highest rate of contribution to the plant species distribution. The soil physical properties affected the distribution pattern of plant species on grazed alpine meadow.

Quantifying shark distribution patterns and species-habitat associations: implications of marine park zoning.

Science.gov (United States)

Espinoza, Mario; Cappo, Mike; Heupel, Michelle R; Tobin, Andrew J; Simpfendorfer, Colin A

2014-01-01

Quantifying shark distribution patterns and species-specific habitat associations in response to geographic and environmental drivers is critical to assessing risk of exposure to fishing, habitat degradation, and the effects of climate change. The present study examined shark distribution patterns, species-habitat associations, and marine reserve use with baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) along the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) over a ten year period. Overall, 21 species of sharks from five families and two orders were recorded. Grey reef Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos, silvertip C. albimarginatus, tiger Galeocerdo cuvier, and sliteye Loxodon macrorhinus sharks were the most abundant species (>64% of shark abundances). Multivariate regression trees showed that hard coral cover produced the primary split separating shark assemblages. Four indicator species had consistently higher abundances and contributed to explaining most of the differences in shark assemblages: C. amblyrhynchos, C. albimarginatus, G. cuvier, and whitetip reef Triaenodon obesus sharks. Relative distance along the GBRMP had the greatest influence on shark occurrence and species richness, which increased at both ends of the sampling range (southern and northern sites) relative to intermediate latitudes. Hard coral cover and distance across the shelf were also important predictors of shark distribution. The relative abundance of sharks was significantly higher in non-fished sites, highlighting the conservation value and benefits of the GBRMP zoning. However, our results also showed that hard coral cover had a large effect on the abundance of reef-associated shark species, indicating that coral reef health may be important for the success of marine protected areas. Therefore, understanding shark distribution patterns, species-habitat associations, and the drivers responsible for those patterns is essential for developing sound management and conservation approaches.

Topology for efficient information dissemination in ad-hoc networking

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, E.; Okino, C. M.

2002-01-01

In this paper, we explore the information dissemination problem in ad-hoc wirless networks. First, we analyze the probability of successful broadcast, assuming: the nodes are uniformly distributed, the available area has a lower bould relative to the total number of nodes, and there is zero knowledge of the overall topology of the network. By showing that the probability of such events is small, we are motivated to extract good graph topologies to minimize the overall transmissions. Three algorithms are used to generate topologies of the network with guaranteed connectivity. These are the minimum radius graph, the relative neighborhood graph and the minimum spanning tree. Our simulation shows that the relative neighborhood graph has certain good graph properties, which makes it suitable for efficient information dissemination.

Attenuation of species abundance distributions by sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Shimadzu, Hideyasu; Darnell, Ross

2015-01-01

Quantifying biodiversity aspects such as species presence/ absence, richness and abundance is an important challenge to answer scientific and resource management questions. In practice, biodiversity can only be assessed from biological material taken by surveys, a difficult task given limited time and resources. A type of random sampling, or often called sub-sampling, is a commonly used technique to reduce the amount of time and effort for investigating large quantities of biological samples. However, it is not immediately clear how (sub-)sampling affects the estimate of biodiversity aspects from a quantitative perspective. This paper specifies the effect of (sub-)sampling as attenuation of the species abundance distribution (SAD), and articulates how the sampling bias is induced to the SAD by random sampling. The framework presented also reveals some confusion in previous theoretical studies. PMID:26064626

Mechanistic species distribution modelling as a link between physiology and conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Tyler G; Diamond, Sarah E; Kelly, Morgan W

2015-01-01

Climate change conservation planning relies heavily on correlative species distribution models that estimate future areas of occupancy based on environmental conditions encountered in present-day ranges. The approach benefits from rapid assessment of vulnerability over a large number of organisms, but can have poor predictive power when transposed to novel environments and reveals little in the way of causal mechanisms that define changes in species distribution or abundance. Having conservation planning rely largely on this single approach also increases the risk of policy failure. Mechanistic models that are parameterized with physiological information are expected to be more robust when extrapolating distributions to future environmental conditions and can identify physiological processes that set range boundaries. Implementation of mechanistic species distribution models requires knowledge of how environmental change influences physiological performance, and because this information is currently restricted to a comparatively small number of well-studied organisms, use of mechanistic modelling in the context of climate change conservation is limited. In this review, we propose that the need to develop mechanistic models that incorporate physiological data presents an opportunity for physiologists to contribute more directly to climate change conservation and advance the field of conservation physiology. We begin by describing the prevalence of species distribution modelling in climate change conservation, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of both mechanistic and correlative approaches. Next, we emphasize the need to expand mechanistic models and discuss potential metrics of physiological performance suitable for integration into mechanistic models. We conclude by summarizing other factors, such as the need to consider demography, limiting broader application of mechanistic models in climate change conservation. Ideally, modellers, physiologists and

Mechanistic species distribution modeling reveals a niche shift during invasion.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Daniel S; Scalone, Romain; Štefanić, Edita; Bullock, James M

2017-06-01

Niche shifts of nonnative plants can occur when they colonize novel climatic conditions. However, the mechanistic basis for niche shifts during invasion is poorly understood and has rarely been captured within species distribution models. We quantified the consequence of between-population variation in phenology for invasion of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) across Europe. Ragweed is of serious concern because of its harmful effects as a crop weed and because of its impact on public health as a major aeroallergen. We developed a forward mechanistic species distribution model based on responses of ragweed development rates to temperature and photoperiod. The model was parameterized and validated from the literature and by reanalyzing data from a reciprocal common garden experiment in which native and invasive populations were grown within and beyond the current invaded range. It could therefore accommodate between-population variation in the physiological requirements for flowering, and predict the potentially invaded ranges of individual populations. Northern-origin populations that were established outside the generally accepted climate envelope of the species had lower thermal requirements for bud development, suggesting local adaptation of phenology had occurred during the invasion. The model predicts that this will extend the potentially invaded range northward and increase the average suitability across Europe by 90% in the current climate and 20% in the future climate. Therefore, trait variation observed at the population scale can trigger a climatic niche shift at the biogeographic scale. For ragweed, earlier flowering phenology in established northern populations could allow the species to spread beyond its current invasive range, substantially increasing its risk to agriculture and public health. Mechanistic species distribution models offer the possibility to represent niche shifts by varying the traits and niche responses of individual

Citizen science contributes to our knowledge of invasive plant species distributions

Science.gov (United States)

Crall, Alycia W.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Young, Nicholas E.; Panke, Brendon; Renz, Mark; Stohlgren, Thomas

2015-01-01

Citizen science is commonly cited as an effective approach to expand the scale of invasive species data collection and monitoring. However, researchers often hesitate to use these data due to concerns over data quality. In light of recent research on the quality of data collected by volunteers, we aimed to demonstrate the extent to which citizen science data can increase sampling coverage, fill gaps in species distributions, and improve habitat suitability models compared to professionally generated data sets used in isolation. We combined data sets from professionals and volunteers for five invasive plant species (Alliaria petiolata, Berberis thunbergii, Cirsium palustre, Pastinaca sativa, Polygonum cuspidatum) in portions of Wisconsin. Volunteers sampled counties not sampled by professionals for three of the five species. Volunteers also added presence locations within counties not included in professional data sets, especially in southern portions of the state where professional monitoring activities had been minimal. Volunteers made a significant contribution to the known distribution, environmental gradients sampled, and the habitat suitability of P. cuspidatum. Models generated with professional data sets for the other four species performed reasonably well according to AUC values (>0.76). The addition of volunteer data did not greatly change model performance (AUC > 0.79) but did change the suitability surface generated by the models, making them more realistic. Our findings underscore the need to merge data from multiple sources to improve knowledge of current species distributions, and to predict their movement under present and future environmental conditions. The efficiency and success of these approaches require that monitoring efforts involve multiple stakeholders in continuous collaboration via established monitoring networks.

Fit-for-purpose: species distribution model performance depends on evaluation criteria - Dutch Hoverflies as a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Jesús; Carvalheiro, Luísa G; Polce, Chiara; van Loon, E Emiel; Raes, Niels; Reemer, Menno; Biesmeijer, Jacobus C

2013-01-01

Understanding species distributions and the factors limiting them is an important topic in ecology and conservation, including in nature reserve selection and predicting climate change impacts. While Species Distribution Models (SDM) are the main tool used for these purposes, choosing the best SDM algorithm is not straightforward as these are plentiful and can be applied in many different ways. SDM are used mainly to gain insight in 1) overall species distributions, 2) their past-present-future probability of occurrence and/or 3) to understand their ecological niche limits (also referred to as ecological niche modelling). The fact that these three aims may require different models and outputs is, however, rarely considered and has not been evaluated consistently. Here we use data from a systematically sampled set of species occurrences to specifically test the performance of Species Distribution Models across several commonly used algorithms. Species range in distribution patterns from rare to common and from local to widespread. We compare overall model fit (representing species distribution), the accuracy of the predictions at multiple spatial scales, and the consistency in selection of environmental correlations all across multiple modelling runs. As expected, the choice of modelling algorithm determines model outcome. However, model quality depends not only on the algorithm, but also on the measure of model fit used and the scale at which it is used. Although model fit was higher for the consensus approach and Maxent, Maxent and GAM models were more consistent in estimating local occurrence, while RF and GBM showed higher consistency in environmental variables selection. Model outcomes diverged more for narrowly distributed species than for widespread species. We suggest that matching study aims with modelling approach is essential in Species Distribution Models, and provide suggestions how to do this for different modelling aims and species' data

Alien plant species list and distribution for Camdeboo National Park, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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Mmoto L. Masubelele

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Protected areas globally are threatened by the potential negative impacts that invasive alien plants pose, and Camdeboo National Park (CNP, South Africa, is no exception. Alien plants have been recorded in the CNP since 1981, before it was proclaimed a national park by South African National Parks in 2005. This is the first publication of a list of alien plants in and around the CNP. Distribution maps of some of the first recorded alien plant species are also presented and discussed. To date, 39 species of alien plants have been recorded, of which 13 are invasive and one is a transformer weed. The majority of alien plant species in the park are herbaceous (39% and succulent (24% species. The most widespread alien plant species in the CNP are Atriplex inflata (= A. lindleyi subsp. inflata, Salsola tragus (= S. australis and cacti species, especially Opuntia ficus-indica. Eradication and control measures that have been used for specific problematic alien plant species are described. Conservation implications: This article represents the first step in managing invasive alien plants and includes the collation of a species list and basic information on their distribution in and around the protected area. This is important for enabling effective monitoring of both new introductions and the distribution of species already present. We present the first species list and distribution information for Camdeboo National Park.

Current state of the art for statistical modeling of species distributions [Chapter 16

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Troy M. Hegel; Samuel A. Cushman; Jeffrey Evans; Falk Huettmann

2010-01-01

Over the past decade the number of statistical modelling tools available to ecologists to model species' distributions has increased at a rapid pace (e.g. Elith et al. 2006; Austin 2007), as have the number of species distribution models (SDM) published in the literature (e.g. Scott et al. 2002). Ten years ago, basic logistic regression (Hosmer and Lemeshow 2000)...

Bias correction in species distribution models: pooling survey and collection data for multiple species.

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Fithian, William; Elith, Jane; Hastie, Trevor; Keith, David A

2015-04-01

Presence-only records may provide data on the distributions of rare species, but commonly suffer from large, unknown biases due to their typically haphazard collection schemes. Presence-absence or count data collected in systematic, planned surveys are more reliable but typically less abundant.We proposed a probabilistic model to allow for joint analysis of presence-only and survey data to exploit their complementary strengths. Our method pools presence-only and presence-absence data for many species and maximizes a joint likelihood, simultaneously estimating and adjusting for the sampling bias affecting the presence-only data. By assuming that the sampling bias is the same for all species, we can borrow strength across species to efficiently estimate the bias and improve our inference from presence-only data.We evaluate our model's performance on data for 36 eucalypt species in south-eastern Australia. We find that presence-only records exhibit a strong sampling bias towards the coast and towards Sydney, the largest city. Our data-pooling technique substantially improves the out-of-sample predictive performance of our model when the amount of available presence-absence data for a given species is scarceIf we have only presence-only data and no presence-absence data for a given species, but both types of data for several other species that suffer from the same spatial sampling bias, then our method can obtain an unbiased estimate of the first species' geographic range.

An analysis of plant species distributions on the floodplain of the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Furthermore, several ruderal species were restricted to elevated sites in close proximity to the channel, occurring on recently formed point bars which are the product of fluvial processes. Disturbance in the form of sediment deposition on point bars is thus an important determinant of species distribution on floodplains of the ...

Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Badger, Merete; Monaco, Lucio; Fransson, Torsten

of Technology in Sweden, Politecnico di Torino in Italy, and Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. The project is partially funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (project no. RI-283746). This report describes the final dissemination and exploitation strategy...... for project Virtual Campus Hub. A preliminary dissemination and exploitation plan was setup early in the project as described in the deliverable D6.1 Dissemination strategy paper - preliminary version. The plan has been revised on a monthly basis during the project’s lifecycle in connection with the virtual...

Mapping National Plant Biodiversity Patterns in South Korea with the MARS Species Distribution Model.

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Hyeyeong Choe

Full Text Available Accurate information on the distribution of existing species is crucial to assess regional biodiversity. However, data inventories are insufficient in many areas. We examine the ability of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS multi-response species distribution model to overcome species' data limitations and portray plant species distribution patterns for 199 South Korean plant species. The study models species with two or more observations, examines their contribution to national patterns of species richness, provides a sensitivity analysis of different range threshold cutoff approaches for modeling species' ranges, and presents considerations for species modeling at fine spatial resolution. We ran MARS models for each species and tested four threshold methods to transform occurrence probabilities into presence or absence range maps. Modeled occurrence probabilities were extracted at each species' presence points, and the mean, median, and one standard deviation (SD calculated to define data-driven thresholds. A maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity threshold was also calculated, and the range maps from the four cutoffs were tested using independent plant survey data. The single SD values were the best threshold tested for minimizing omission errors and limiting species ranges to areas where the associated occurrence data were correctly classed. Eight individual species range maps for rare plant species were identified that are potentially affected by resampling predictor variables to fine spatial scales. We portray spatial patterns of high species richness by assessing the combined range maps from three classes of species: all species, endangered and endemic species, and range-size rarity of all species, which could be used in conservation planning for South Korea. The MARS model is promising for addressing the common problem of few species occurrence records. However, projected species ranges are highly dependent on the

Species composition and geographical distribution of Saharan scorpion fauna, Morocco

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Oulaid Touloun

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: To describe the species composition of scorpions and to study its geographical distribution in Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra and Dakhla-Oued Ed Dahab regions in July 2014. Methods: To locate scorpions, the ground was examined through searching the places under the stones, rocks and in burrows. The nocturnal missions were also conducted using portable ultraviolet lamps. The scorpions were subsequently identified in the laboratory. Results: The results of the investigations in these regions showed the presence of five scorpion species, two of which Androctonus gonneti and Buthus bonito were endemic in Morocco. Conclusions: This work is allowed to complete the inventory of the studied scorpion fauna and provides some considerations on the distribution patterns in the study area.

Topographic and spatial controls of palm species distributions in a montane rain forest, southern Ecuador

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenning, J.-C.; Harlev, D.; Sørensen, M.M.

2009-01-01

The northern Andes harbour a flora that is as species-rich or even richer than the 18-times larger lowland Amazon basin. Gaining an understanding of how the high species richness of the Andean region is generated and maintained is therefore of particular interest. Environmental sorting due......). Mantel tests and indicator species analysis showed that both topography and spatial location imposed strong controls on palm species distributions at the study site. Our results suggest that species distributions in the studied montane forest landscape were partly determined by the species' habitat...... distributions at the study site. Other factors must also be involved, notably wind-exposure and hydrology, as discussed for lowland palm communities. Our results show that to understand plant community assembly in the tropical montane forests of the Andes it is too simple to focus just on environmental sorting...

Source Authentication for Code Dissemination Supporting Dynamic Packet Size in Wireless Sensor Networks.

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Kim, Daehee; Kim, Dongwan; An, Sunshin

2016-07-09

Code dissemination in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a procedure for distributing a new code image over the air in order to update programs. Due to the fact that WSNs are mostly deployed in unattended and hostile environments, secure code dissemination ensuring authenticity and integrity is essential. Recent works on dynamic packet size control in WSNs allow enhancing the energy efficiency of code dissemination by dynamically changing the packet size on the basis of link quality. However, the authentication tokens attached by the base station become useless in the next hop where the packet size can vary according to the link quality of the next hop. In this paper, we propose three source authentication schemes for code dissemination supporting dynamic packet size. Compared to traditional source authentication schemes such as μTESLA and digital signatures, our schemes provide secure source authentication under the environment, where the packet size changes in each hop, with smaller energy consumption.

Species distributions, quantum theory, and the enhancement of biodiversity measures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Real, Raimundo; Barbosa, A. Márcia; Bull, Joseph William

2017-01-01

Species distributions are typically represented by records of their observed occurrence at a given spatial and temporal scale. Such records are inevitably incomplete and contingent on the spatial–temporal circumstances under which the observations were made. Moreover, organisms may respond...... biodiversity”. We show how conceptualizing species’ distributions in this way could help overcome important weaknesses in current biodiversity metrics, both in theory and by using a worked case study of mammal distributions in Spain over the last decade. We propose that considerable theoretical advances could...

Effect of species rarity on the accuracy of species distribution models for reptiles and amphibians in southern California

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Franklin, J.; Wejnert, K.E.; Hathaway, S.A.; Rochester, C.J.; Fisher, R.N.

2009-01-01

Aim: Several studies have found that more accurate predictive models of species' occurrences can be developed for rarer species; however, one recent study found the relationship between range size and model performance to be an artefact of sample prevalence, that is, the proportion of presence versus absence observations in the data used to train the model. We examined the effect of model type, species rarity class, species' survey frequency, detectability and manipulated sample prevalence on the accuracy of distribution models developed for 30 reptile and amphibian species. Location: Coastal southern California, USA. Methods: Classification trees, generalized additive models and generalized linear models were developed using species presence and absence data from 420 locations. Model performance was measured using sensitivity, specificity and the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) plot based on twofold cross-validation, or on bootstrapping. Predictors included climate, terrain, soil and vegetation variables. Species were assigned to rarity classes by experts. The data were sampled to generate subsets with varying ratios of presences and absences to test for the effect of sample prevalence. Join count statistics were used to characterize spatial dependence in the prediction errors. Results: Species in classes with higher rarity were more accurately predicted than common species, and this effect was independent of sample prevalence. Although positive spatial autocorrelation remained in the prediction errors, it was weaker than was observed in the species occurrence data. The differences in accuracy among model types were slight. Main conclusions: Using a variety of modelling methods, more accurate species distribution models were developed for rarer than for more common species. This was presumably because it is difficult to discriminate suitable from unsuitable habitat for habitat generalists, and not as an artefact of the

What are the most crucial soil factors for predicting the distribution of alpine plant species?

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Buri, A.; Pinto-Figueroa, E.; Yashiro, E.; Guisan, A.

2017-12-01

Nowadays the use of species distribution models (SDM) is common to predict in space and time the distribution of organisms living in the critical zone. The realized environmental niche concept behind the development of SDM imply that many environmental factors must be accounted for simultaneously to predict species distributions. Climatic and topographic factors are often primary included, whereas soil factors are frequently neglected, mainly due to the paucity of soil information available spatially and temporally. Furthermore, among existing studies, most included soil pH only, or few other soil parameters. In this study we aimed at identifying what are the most crucial soil factors for explaining alpine plant distributions and, among those identified, which ones further improve the predictive power of plant SDMs. To test the relative importance of the soil factors, we performed plant SDMs using as predictors 52 measured soil properties of various types such as organic/inorganic compounds, chemical/physical properties, water related variables, mineral composition or grain size distribution. We added them separately to a standard set of topo-climatic predictors (temperature, slope, solar radiation and topographic position). We used ensemble forecasting techniques combining together several predictive algorithms to model the distribution of 116 plant species over 250 sites in the Swiss Alps. We recorded the variable importance for each model and compared the quality of the models including different soil proprieties (one at a time) as predictors to models having only topo-climatic variables as predictors. Results show that 46% of the soil proprieties tested become the second most important variable, after air temperature, to explain spatial distribution of alpine plants species. Moreover, we also assessed that addition of certain soil factors, such as bulk soil water density, could improve over 80% the quality of some plant species models. We confirm that soil p

Predicting Environmental Suitability for a Rare and Threatened Species (Lao Newt, Laotriton laoensis) Using Validated Species Distribution Models

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Chunco, Amanda J.; Phimmachak, Somphouthone; Sivongxay, Niane; Stuart, Bryan L.

2013-01-01

The Lao newt (Laotriton laoensis) is a recently described species currently known only from northern Laos. Little is known about the species, but it is threatened as a result of overharvesting. We integrated field survey results with climate and altitude data to predict the geographic distribution of this species using the niche modeling program Maxent, and we validated these predictions by using interviews with local residents to confirm model predictions of presence and absence. The results of the validated Maxent models were then used to characterize the environmental conditions of areas predicted suitable for L. laoensis. Finally, we overlaid the resulting model with a map of current national protected areas in Laos to determine whether or not any land predicted to be suitable for this species is coincident with a national protected area. We found that both area under the curve (AUC) values and interview data provided strong support for the predictive power of these models, and we suggest that interview data could be used more widely in species distribution niche modeling. Our results further indicated that this species is mostly likely geographically restricted to high altitude regions (i.e., over 1,000 m elevation) in northern Laos and that only a minute fraction of suitable habitat is currently protected. This work thus emphasizes that increased protection efforts, including listing this species as endangered and the establishment of protected areas in the region predicted to be suitable for L. laoensis, are urgently needed. PMID:23555808

Relating biomarkers to whole-organism effects using species sensitivity distributions : A pilot study for marine species exposed to oil

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, M.G.D.; Bechmann, R.K.; Hendriks, A.J.; Skadsheim, A.; Larsen, B.K.; Baussant, T.; Bamber, S.; Sannei, S.

2009-01-01

Biomarkers are widely used to measure environmental impacts on marine species. For many biomarkers, it is not clear how the signal levels relate to effects on the whole organism. This paper shows how species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) can be applied to evaluate multiple biomarker responses in

Geographic distribution of phlebotomine sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Central-West Brazil

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de Almeida, Paulo Silva; de Andrade, Andrey José; Sciamarelli, Alan; Raizer, Josué; Menegatti, Jaqueline Aparecida; Hermes, Sandra Cristina Negreli Moreira; de Carvalho, Maria do Socorro Laurentino; Gurgel-Gonçalves, Rodrigo

2015-01-01

This study updates the geographic distributions of phlebotomine species in Central-West Brazil and analyses the climatic factors associated with their occurrence. The data were obtained from the entomology services of the state departments of health in Central-West Brazil, scientific collections and a literature review of articles from 1962-2014. Ecological niche models were produced for sandfly species with more than 20 occurrences using the Maxent algorithm and eight climate variables. In all, 2,803 phlebotomine records for 127 species were analysed. Nyssomyia whitmani, Evandromyia lenti and Lutzomyia longipalpis were the species with the greatest number of records and were present in all the biomes in Central-West Brazil. The models, which were produced for 34 species, indicated that the Cerrado areas in the central and western regions of Central-West Brazil were climatically more suitable to sandflies. The variables with the greatest influence on the models were the temperature in the coldest months and the temperature seasonality. The results show that phlebotomine species in Central-West Brazil have different geographical distribution patterns and that climate conditions in essentially the entire region favour the occurrence of at least one Leishmania vector species, highlighting the need to maintain or intensify vector control and surveillance strategies. PMID:26018450

Species distribution of kobs (Kobus kob) in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve: an exploratory analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Antwi, Raymond Agyepong; Owusu, Erasmus Henaku; Attuquayefio, Daniel Korley

2018-02-01

The well-being of a species fundamentally rests on understanding its biology, home range, and distribution. The highly seasonal distribution of kobs poses conservation and management difficulties, particularly because of the capricious nature of the ever-changing ecological and vegetation dynamics of the ecosystem. Assessing the distribution of kobs and their associated vegetation provides insight into the vulnerability and conservation status of the species. Species distribution and habitat suitability maps were developed and created respectively for the management of kobs in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve. Kob presence data collected was analyzed using the spatial analyst and Hawth's tool in the ArcGIS software where the gradients of kob distribution within the protected area landscape were plotted and mapped. Seven environmental variables including location, land cover/use, slope/elevation, nearness to dams and rivers, temperature, and rainfall were considered to have effect on kob distribution pattern and as such used in the development of species distribution and habitat suitability maps. The results indicated that kobs in the Shai Hills Resource Reserve (SHRR) assume a clumped or contagious distribution pattern where individual kobs are aggregated in patches. Rainfall, temperature, nearness to dams and rivers, slope/elevation, and land cover/use had influence in kob distribution. Of all the cataloged habitats, 86, 13, and 1% were moderately suitable, suitable, and unsuitable, respectively. Long-term survival of species depends on adequately large areas of suitable habitats and opportunities for home range activities between such areas. As such, it is recommended that suitable habitats for kobs be dedicated and designated as conservation areas, especially areas along the western boundary.

Presence-only Species Distribution Modeling for King Mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) and its 31 Prey Species in the Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, X.; Simons, J.; Carollo, C.; Sterba-Boatwright, B.; Sadovski, A.

2016-02-01

Ecosystem based fisheries management has been broadly recognized throughout the world as a way to achieve better conservation. Therefore, there is a strong need for mapping of multi-species interactions or spatial distributions. Species distribution models are widely applied since information regarding the presence of species is usually only available for limited locations due to the high cost of fisheries surveys. Instead of regular presence and absence records, a large proportion of the fisheries survey data have only presence records. This makes the modeling problem one of one-class classification (presence only), which is much more complex than the regular two-class classification (presence/absence). In this study, four different presence-only species distribution algorithms (Bioclim, Domain, Mahal and Maxent) were applied using 13 environmental parameters (e.g., depth, DO, bottom types) as predictors to model the distribution of king mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla) and its 31 prey species in the Gulf of Mexico (a total of 13625 georeferenced presence records from OBIS and GBIF were used). Five-fold cross validations were applied for each of the 128 (4 algorithms × 32 species) models. Area under curve (AUC) and correlation coefficient (R) were used to evaluate the model performances. The AUC of the models based on these four algorithms were 0.83±0.14, 0.77±0.16, 0.94±0.06 and 0.94±0.06, respectively; while R for the models were 0.47±0.27, 0.43±0.24, 0.27±0.16 and 0.76±0.16, respectively. Post hoc with Tukey's test showed that AUC for the Maxent-based models were significantly (pMexico to help managers better manage related fisheries resources.

Ice age distriutions of European small mammals: insights from species distribution modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fløjgaard, Camilla; Normand, Signe; Skov, Flemming

2009-01-01

limits corresponding to the limits of temperate or boreal forest or arctic tundra were used in the analysis. We developed predictive distribution models based on the species present-day European distributions and validated these against their present-day Siberian ranges. The models with the best...... lemmus and Microtus oeconomus), suitable climate was predicted from the Atlantic coast eastward across central Europe and into Russia. Main conclusions. Our results support the idea of more northerly refuge areas in Europe, indicating that boreal species would have found suitable living conditions over...

Species delimitation of the Hyphydrus ovatus complex in western Palaearctic with an update of species distributions (Coleoptera, Dytiscidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Bergsten

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The species status of Hyphydrus anatolicus Guignot, 1957 and H. sanctus Sharp, 1882, previously often confused with the widespread H. ovatus (Linnaeus, 1760, are tested with molecular and morphological characters. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1 was sequenced for 32 specimens of all three species. Gene-trees were inferred with parsimony, time-free bayesian and strict clock bayesian analyses. The GMYC model was used to estimate species limits. All three species were reciprocally monophyletic with CO1 and highly supported. The GMYC species delimitation analysis unequivocally delimited the three species with no other than the three species solution included in the confidence interval. A likelihood ratio test rejected the one-species null model. Important morphological characters distinguishing the species are provided and illustrated. New distributional data are given for the following species: Hyphydrus anatolicus from Slovakia and Ukraine, and H. aubei Ganglbauer, 1891, and H. sanctus from Turkey.

AIDS defining disease: Disseminated cryptococcosis

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Roshan Anupama

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Disseminated cryptococcosis is one of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome defining criteria and the most common cause of life threatening meningitis. Disseminated lesions in the skin manifest as papules or nodules that mimic molluscum contagiosum (MC. We report here a human immunodeficiency virus positive patient who presented with MC like lesions. Disseminated cryptococcosis was confirmed by India ink preparation and histopathology. The condition of the patient improved with amphotercin B.

Identifying the rooted species tree from the distribution of unrooted gene trees under the coalescent.

Science.gov (United States)

Allman, Elizabeth S; Degnan, James H; Rhodes, John A

2011-06-01

Gene trees are evolutionary trees representing the ancestry of genes sampled from multiple populations. Species trees represent populations of individuals-each with many genes-splitting into new populations or species. The coalescent process, which models ancestry of gene copies within populations, is often used to model the probability distribution of gene trees given a fixed species tree. This multispecies coalescent model provides a framework for phylogeneticists to infer species trees from gene trees using maximum likelihood or Bayesian approaches. Because the coalescent models a branching process over time, all trees are typically assumed to be rooted in this setting. Often, however, gene trees inferred by traditional phylogenetic methods are unrooted. We investigate probabilities of unrooted gene trees under the multispecies coalescent model. We show that when there are four species with one gene sampled per species, the distribution of unrooted gene tree topologies identifies the unrooted species tree topology and some, but not all, information in the species tree edges (branch lengths). The location of the root on the species tree is not identifiable in this situation. However, for 5 or more species with one gene sampled per species, we show that the distribution of unrooted gene tree topologies identifies the rooted species tree topology and all its internal branch lengths. The length of any pendant branch leading to a leaf of the species tree is also identifiable for any species from which more than one gene is sampled.

[Species composition and geographical distribution of threatened fishes in Yunnan Province of Southwest China].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qian; Zhong, Jin-Xin

2013-05-01

Based on the related published papers, and by using Geographic Information System (ArcGIS 9.3), this paper analyzed the species composition and geographical distribution of threatened fishes in Yunnan Province of Southwest China. There were 83 threatened species living in the Province, belonging to 5 orders, 13 families, and 47 genera. Cypriniformes was absolutely dominant, with 64 species, followed by Siluriformes, with 16 species. Cyprinidae fishes had 51 species, accounting for 79.7% of Cypriniformes. The most species of Cyprinid fishes were of Barbinae (14 species), Cyprininae (10 species), and Cultrinae (10 species). The threatened fishes could be divided into two zoogeographical regions, i. e., Tibetan Plateau region and Oriental region, and their species composition and geographical distribution were resulted from the historical evolution adapted to the related environments. Whatever in rivers and in lakes, the Cyprinid fishes were both absolutely dominant, occupying 36.1% and 31.3% of the total, respectively. The Cyprinid fishes in rivers were mostly of endangered species, while those in lakes were mostly of vulnerable species. The factors affecting the threatened fishes in the Province were discussed from the two aspects of geodynamic evolution and present situation.

The interplay of various sources of noise on reliability of species distribution models hinges on ecological specialisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Soultan, Alaaeldin; Safi, Kamran

2017-01-01

Digitized species occurrence data provide an unprecedented source of information for ecologists and conservationists. Species distribution model (SDM) has become a popular method to utilise these data for understanding the spatial and temporal distribution of species, and for modelling biodiversity patterns. Our objective is to study the impact of noise in species occurrence data (namely sample size and positional accuracy) on the performance and reliability of SDM, considering the multiplicative impact of SDM algorithms, species specialisation, and grid resolution. We created a set of four 'virtual' species characterized by different specialisation levels. For each of these species, we built the suitable habitat models using five algorithms at two grid resolutions, with varying sample sizes and different levels of positional accuracy. We assessed the performance and reliability of the SDM according to classic model evaluation metrics (Area Under the Curve and True Skill Statistic) and model agreement metrics (Overall Concordance Correlation Coefficient and geographic niche overlap) respectively. Our study revealed that species specialisation had by far the most dominant impact on the SDM. In contrast to previous studies, we found that for widespread species, low sample size and low positional accuracy were acceptable, and useful distribution ranges could be predicted with as few as 10 species occurrences. Range predictions for narrow-ranged species, however, were sensitive to sample size and positional accuracy, such that useful distribution ranges required at least 20 species occurrences. Against expectations, the MAXENT algorithm poorly predicted the distribution of specialist species at low sample size.

Assessing distributions of two invasive species of contrasting habits in future climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, Rajendra Mohan; Behera, Mukunda Dev; Roy, Partha Sarathi

2018-05-01

Understanding the impact of climate change on species invasion is crucial for sustainable biodiversity conservation. Through this study, we try to answer how species differing in phenological cycles, specifically Cassia tora and Lantana camara, differ in the manner in which they invade new regions in India in the future climate. Since both species occupy identical niches, exploring their invasive potential in different climate change scenarios will offer critical insights into invasion and inform ecosystem management. We use three modelling protocols (i.e., maximum entropy, generalised linear model and generalised additive model) to predict the current distribution. Projections are made for both moderate (A1B) and extreme (A2) IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scenarios for the year 2050 and 2100. The study reveals that the distributions of C. tora (annual) and L. camara (perennial) would depend on the precipitation of the warmest quarter and moisture availability. C. tora may demonstrate physiological tolerance to the mean diurnal temperature range and L. camara to the solar radiation. C. tora may invade central India, while L. camara may invade the Western Himalaya, parts of the Eastern Himalaya and the Western Ghats. The distribution ranges of both species could shift in the northern and north-eastern directions in India, owing to changes in moisture availability. The possible alterations in precipitation regimes could lead to water stress, which might have cascading effects on species invasion. L. camara might adapt to climate change better compared with C. tora. This comparative analysis of the future distributions of two invasive plants with contrasting habits demonstrates that temporal complementarity would prevail over the competition. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tracking the evolutionary history of Cortinarius species in section Calochroi, with transoceanic disjunct distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Garnica, Sigisfredo; Spahn, Philipp; Oertel, Bernhard; Ammirati, Joseph; Oberwinkler, Franz

2011-07-19

Cortinarius species in section Calochroi display local, clinal and circumboreal patterns of distribution across the Northern Hemisphere where these ectomycorrhizal fungi occur with host trees throughout their geographical range within a continent, or have disjunct intercontinental distributions, the origins of which are not understood. We inferred evolutionary histories of four species, 1) C. arcuatorum, 2) C. aureofulvus, 3) C. elegantior and 4) C. napus, from populations distributed throughout the Old World, and portions of the New World (Central- and North America) based on genetic variation of 154 haplotype internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences from 83 population samples. By describing the population structure of these species across their geographical distribution, we attempt to identify their historical migration and patterns of diversification. Models of population structure from nested clade, demographic and coalescent-based analyses revealed genetically differentiated and geographically structured haplotypes in C. arcuatorum and C. elegantior, while C. aureofulvus showed considerably less population structure and C. napus lacked sufficient genetic differentiation to resolve any population structure. Disjunct populations within C. arcuatorum, C. aureofulvus and C. elegantior show little or no morphological differentiation, whereas in C. napus there is a high level of homoplasy and phenotypic plasticity for veil and lamellae colour. The ITS sequences of the type specimens of C. albobrunnoides and C. albobrunnoides var. violaceovelatus were identical to one another and are treated as one species with a wider range of geographic distribution under C. napus. Our results indicate that each of the Calochroi species has undergone a relatively independent evolutionary history, hypothesised as follows: 1) a widely distributed ancestral population of C. arcuatorum diverged into distinctive sympatric populations in the New World; 2) two divergent lineages in C

High resolution CT of the lungs in acute disseminated tuberculosis and a pediatric radiology perspectice of the term 'miliary'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamieson, D.H.; Cremin, B.J.

1993-01-01

High resolution CT (HRCT) of the lungs in six children with acute disseminated tuberculosis was evaluated. There was a wide variation in the HRCT appearances. This covered differences in size, distribution and concentration of nodular opacities. Coalescence of nodules and the presence of intestitial thickening was variable. The recognition of acute disseminated tuberculosis is important for diagnosis and has prognostic implications. The use of the term 'acute disseminated tuberculosis' rather than 'miliary tuberculosis' is advocated. (orig.)

Novel survey disseminated through Twitter supports its utility for networking, disseminating research, advocacy, clinical practice and other professional goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Borgmann, Hendrik; DeWitt, Sasha; Tsaur, Igor; Haferkamp, Axel; Loeb, Stacy

2015-01-01

Twitter use has grown exponentially within the urological community. We aimed to determine the perceptions of the impact of Twitter on users' clinical practice, research, and other professional activities. We performed an 11-item online survey of Twitter contributors during two major urological meetings: the European Association of Urology (EAU) and the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meetings. During the EAU 2014 meeting, we distributed the survey via the meeting official Twitter feed. During the AUA 2014 meeting, we applied a new method by directly sending the survey to Twitter contributors. We performed a subset analysis for assessing the perceived impact of Twitter on the clinical practice of physicians. Among 312 total respondents, the greatest perceived benefits of Twitter among users were for networking (97%) and disseminating information (96%), followed by research (75%), advocacy (74%) and career development (62%). In total, 65% of Twitter users have dealt with guidelines on online medical professionalism and 71% of physician users found that Twitter had an impact on their clinical practice, and 33% had made a clinical decision based on an online case discussion. Our results suggest that Twitter users in the urological community perceive important benefits. These benefits extend to multiple professional domains, particularly networking, disseminating information, remote conference participation, research, and advocacy. This is the first study that has been disseminated to targeted individuals from the urological community directly through tweets, providing a proof of principle for this research method.

Source Authentication for Code Dissemination Supporting Dynamic Packet Size in Wireless Sensor Networks †

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Daehee; Kim, Dongwan; An, Sunshin

2016-01-01

Code dissemination in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is a procedure for distributing a new code image over the air in order to update programs. Due to the fact that WSNs are mostly deployed in unattended and hostile environments, secure code dissemination ensuring authenticity and integrity is essential. Recent works on dynamic packet size control in WSNs allow enhancing the energy efficiency of code dissemination by dynamically changing the packet size on the basis of link quality. However, the authentication tokens attached by the base station become useless in the next hop where the packet size can vary according to the link quality of the next hop. In this paper, we propose three source authentication schemes for code dissemination supporting dynamic packet size. Compared to traditional source authentication schemes such as μTESLA and digital signatures, our schemes provide secure source authentication under the environment, where the packet size changes in each hop, with smaller energy consumption. PMID:27409616

Smart-tag Based Data Dissemination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonnet, Philippe; Beaufour, Allan; Leopold, Martin

2002-01-01

Monitoring wide, hostile areas requires disseminating data between fixed, disconnected clusters of sensor nodes. It is not always possible to install long-range radios in order to cover the whole area. We propose to leverage the movement of mobile individuals, equipped with smart-tags, to dissemi......-tag based data dissemination. We use simulation to study the characteristics of the model we propose. Finally, we present an implementation based on Bluetooth smart-tags.......Monitoring wide, hostile areas requires disseminating data between fixed, disconnected clusters of sensor nodes. It is not always possible to install long-range radios in order to cover the whole area. We propose to leverage the movement of mobile individuals, equipped with smart......-tags, to disseminate data across disconnected static nodes spread across a wide area. Static nodes and mobile smart-tags exchange data when they are in the vicinity of each other; smart-tags disseminate data as they move around. In this paper, we propose an algorithm for update propagation and a model for smart...

Disseminated sporotrichosis in an immunocompetent patient.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Kareem; Turker, Tolga; Zangeneh, Tirdad

2016-01-01

Sporothrix schenckii, the causative agent of sporotrichosis, is a relatively rare infection. Local infection usually occurs through direct inoculation of the organism through the skin; disseminated disease is rarely seen. This article describes a case of disseminated sporotrichosis in a middle-aged man without the commonly seen risk factors for dissemination.

Predicting plant invasions under climate change: are species distribution models validated by field trials?

Science.gov (United States)

Sheppard, Christine S; Burns, Bruce R; Stanley, Margaret C

2014-09-01

Climate change may facilitate alien species invasion into new areas, particularly for species from warm native ranges introduced into areas currently marginal for temperature. Although conclusions from modelling approaches and experimental studies are generally similar, combining the two approaches has rarely occurred. The aim of this study was to validate species distribution models by conducting field trials in sites of differing suitability as predicted by the models, thus increasing confidence in their ability to assess invasion risk. Three recently naturalized alien plants in New Zealand were used as study species (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, Psidium guajava and Schefflera actinophylla): they originate from warm native ranges, are woody bird-dispersed species and of concern as potential weeds. Seedlings were grown in six sites across the country, differing both in climate and suitability (as predicted by the species distribution models). Seedling growth and survival were recorded over two summers and one or two winter seasons, and temperature and precipitation were monitored hourly at each site. Additionally, alien seedling performances were compared to those of closely related native species (Rhopalostylis sapida, Lophomyrtus bullata and Schefflera digitata). Furthermore, half of the seedlings were sprayed with pesticide, to investigate whether enemy release may influence performance. The results showed large differences in growth and survival of the alien species among the six sites. In the more suitable sites, performance was frequently higher compared to the native species. Leaf damage from invertebrate herbivory was low for both alien and native seedlings, with little evidence that the alien species should have an advantage over the native species because of enemy release. Correlations between performance in the field and predicted suitability of species distribution models were generally high. The projected increase in minimum temperature and reduced

Detecting and Attributing the Effects of Climate Change on the Distributions of Snake Species Over the Past 50 Years.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jianguo

2016-01-01

It is unclear whether the distributions of snakes have changed in association with climate change over the past years. We detected the distribution changes of snakes over the past 50 years and determined whether the changes could be attributed to recent climate change in China. Long-term records of the distribution of nine snake species in China, grey relationship analysis, fuzzy sets classification techniques, the consistency index, and attributed methods were used. Over the past 50 years, the distributions of snake species have changed in multiple directions, primarily shifting northwards, and most of the changes were related to the thermal index. Driven by climatic factors over the past 50 years, the distribution boundary and distribution centers of some species changed with the fluctuations. The observed and predicted changes in distribution were highly consistent for some snake species. The changes in the northern limits of distributions of nearly half of the species, as well as the southern and eastern limits, and the distribution centers of some snake species can be attributed to climate change.

Disseminated sporotrichosis in an immunocompetent patient

OpenAIRE

Hassan, Kareem; Turker, Tolga; Zangeneh, Tirdad

2016-01-01

Abstract Sporothrix schenckii, the causative agent of sporotrichosis, is a relatively rare infection. Local infection usually occurs through direct inoculation of the organism through the skin; disseminated disease is rarely seen. This article describes a case of disseminated sporotrichosis in a middle-aged man without the commonly seen risk factors for dissemination.

Distribution of Plasmids in Distinct Leptospira Pathogenic Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yanzhuo; Zhuang, Xuran; Zhong, Yi; Zhang, Cuicai; Zhang, Yan; Zeng, Lingbing; Zhu, Yongzhang; He, Ping; Dong, Ke; Pal, Utpal; Guo, Xiaokui; Qin, Jinhong

2015-11-01

Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira, is a worldwide zoonotic infection. The genus Leptospira includes at least 21 species clustered into three groups--pathogens, non-pathogens, and intermediates--based on 16S rRNA phylogeny. Research on Leptospira is difficult due to slow growth and poor transformability of the pathogens. Recent identification of extrachromosomal elements besides the two chromosomes in L. interrogans has provided new insight into genome complexity of the genus Leptospira. The large size, low copy number, and high similarity of the sequence of these extrachromosomal elements with the chromosomes present challenges in isolating and detecting them without careful genome assembly. In this study, two extrachromosomal elements were identified in L. borgpetersenii serovar Ballum strain 56604 through whole genome assembly combined with S1 nuclease digestion following pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (S1-PFGE) analysis. Further, extrachromosomal elements in additional 15 Chinese epidemic strains of Leptospira, comprising L. borgpetersenii, L. weilii, and L. interrogans, were successfully separated and identified, independent of genome sequence data. Southern blot hybridization with extrachromosomal element-specific probes, designated as lcp1, lcp2 and lcp3-rep, further confirmed their occurrences as extrachromosomal elements. In total, 24 plasmids were detected in 13 out of 15 tested strains, among which 11 can hybridize with the lcp1-rep probe and 11 with the lcp2-rep probe, whereas two can hybridize with the lcp3-rep probe. None of them are likely to be species-specific. Blastp search of the lcp1, lcp2, and lcp3-rep genes with a nonredundant protein database of Leptospira species genomes showed that their homologous sequences are widely distributed among clades of pathogens but not non-pathogens or intermediates. These results suggest that the plasmids are widely distributed in Leptospira species, and further elucidation of their biological

The geography of demography: long-term demographic studies and species distribution models reveal a species border limited by adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Eckhart, V M; Geber, M A; Morris, W F; Fabio, E S; Tiffin, P; Moeller, D A

2011-10-01

Potential causes of species' geographic distribution limits fall into two broad classes: (1) limited adaptation across spatially variable environments and (2) limited opportunities to colonize unoccupied areas. Combining demographic studies, analyses of demographic responses to environmental variation, and species distribution models, we investigated the causes of range limits in a model system, the eastern border of the California annual plant Clarkia xantiana ssp. xantiana. Vital rates of 20 populations varied with growing season temperature and precipitation: fruit number and overwinter survival of 1-year-old seeds declined steeply, while current-year seed germination increased modestly along west-to-east gradients in decreasing temperature, decreasing mean precipitation, and increasing variation in precipitation. Long-term stochastic finite rate of increase, λ(s), exhibited a fourfold range and varied among geologic surface materials as well as with temperature and precipitation. Growth rate declined significantly toward the eastern border, falling below 1 in three of the five easternmost populations. Distribution models employing demographically important environmental variables predicted low habitat favorability beyond the eastern border. Models that filtered or weighted population presences by λ(s) predicted steeper eastward declines in favorability and assigned greater roles in setting the distribution to among-year variation in precipitation and to geologic surface material. These analyses reveal a species border likely set by limited adaptation to declining environmental quality.

A climate change context for the decline of a foundation tree species in south-western Australia: insights from phylogeography and species distribution modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Dalmaris, Eleftheria; Ramalho, Cristina E; Poot, Pieter; Veneklaas, Erik J; Byrne, Margaret

2015-11-01

A worldwide increase in tree decline and mortality has been linked to climate change and, where these represent foundation species, this can have important implications for ecosystem functions. This study tests a combined approach of phylogeographic analysis and species distribution modelling to provide a climate change context for an observed decline in crown health and an increase in mortality in Eucalyptus wandoo, an endemic tree of south-western Australia. Phylogeographic analyses were undertaken using restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of chloroplast DNA in 26 populations across the species distribution. Parsimony analysis of haplotype relationships was conducted, a haplotype network was prepared, and haplotype and nucleotide diversity were calculated. Species distribution modelling was undertaken using Maxent models based on extant species occurrences and projected to climate models of the last glacial maximum (LGM). A structured pattern of diversity was identified, with the presence of two groups that followed a climatic gradient from mesic to semi-arid regions. Most populations were represented by a single haplotype, but many haplotypes were shared among populations, with some having widespread distributions. A putative refugial area with high haplotype diversity was identified at the centre of the species distribution. Species distribution modelling showed high climatic suitability at the LGM and high climatic stability in the central region where higher genetic diversity was found, and low suitability elsewhere, consistent with a pattern of range contraction. Combination of phylogeography and paleo-distribution modelling can provide an evolutionary context for climate-driven tree decline, as both can be used to cross-validate evidence for refugia and contraction under harsh climatic conditions. This approach identified a central refugial area in the test species E. wandoo, with more recent expansion into peripheral areas from where it had

The definition of species richness used by species sensitivity distributions approximates observed effects of salinity on stream macroinvertebrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kefford, Ben J., E-mail: ben.kefford@uts.edu.a [School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Victoria (Australia); Centre for Environmental Sustainability, Department of Environmental Science, University of Technology Sydney, New South Wales (Australia); Marchant, Richard [Department of Entomology, Museum of Victoria, Victoria (Australia); Schaefer, Ralf B. [School of Applied Sciences, RMIT University, Victoria (Australia); Metzeling, Leon [EPA Victoria, Macleod, Victoria (Australia); Dunlop, Jason E. [Department of Environment and Resource Management, Indooroopilly, Queensland (Australia); National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, University of Queensland, Coopers Plains, Queensland (Australia); Choy, Satish C. [Department of Environment and Resource Management, Indooroopilly, Queensland (Australia); Goonan, Peter [South Australia Environment Protection Authority, Adelaide, South Australia (Australia)

2011-01-15

The risk of chemicals for ecological communities is often forecast with species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) which are used to predict the concentration which will protect p% of species (PC{sub p} value). However, at the PC{sub p} value, species richness in nature would not necessary be p% less than at uncontaminated sites. The definition of species richness inherent to SSDs (contaminant category richness) contrasts with species richness typically measured in most field studies (point richness). We determine, for salinity in eastern Australia, whether these definitions of stream macroinvertebrate species richness are commensurable. There were strong relationships (r{sup 2} {>=} 0.87) between mean point species, family and Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Plecoptera species richness and their respective contamination category richness. Despite differences in the definition of richness used by SSDs and field biomonitoring, their results in terms of relative species loss from salinity in south-east Australia are similar. We conclude that in our system both definitions are commensurable. - Definitions of species richness inherit in SSDs and biomonitoring are for salinity in south-east Australia commensurable.

The definition of species richness used by species sensitivity distributions approximates observed effects of salinity on stream macroinvertebrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kefford, Ben J.; Marchant, Richard; Schaefer, Ralf B.; Metzeling, Leon; Dunlop, Jason E.; Choy, Satish C.; Goonan, Peter

2011-01-01

The risk of chemicals for ecological communities is often forecast with species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) which are used to predict the concentration which will protect p% of species (PC p value). However, at the PC p value, species richness in nature would not necessary be p% less than at uncontaminated sites. The definition of species richness inherent to SSDs (contaminant category richness) contrasts with species richness typically measured in most field studies (point richness). We determine, for salinity in eastern Australia, whether these definitions of stream macroinvertebrate species richness are commensurable. There were strong relationships (r 2 ≥ 0.87) between mean point species, family and Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera and Plecoptera species richness and their respective contamination category richness. Despite differences in the definition of richness used by SSDs and field biomonitoring, their results in terms of relative species loss from salinity in south-east Australia are similar. We conclude that in our system both definitions are commensurable. - Definitions of species richness inherit in SSDs and biomonitoring are for salinity in south-east Australia commensurable.

Comparison of a species distribution model and a process model from a hierarchical perspective to quantify effects of projected climate change on tree species

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffrey E. Schneiderman; Hong S. He; Frank R. Thompson; William D. Dijak; Jacob S. Fraser

2015-01-01

Tree species distribution and abundance are affected by forces operating across a hierarchy of ecological scales. Process and species distribution models have been developed emphasizing forces at different scales. Understanding model agreement across hierarchical scales provides perspective on prediction uncertainty and ultimately enables policy makers and managers to...

Spatial distribution, Leishmania species and clinical traits of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis cases in the Colombian army.

Science.gov (United States)

Patino, Luz H; Mendez, Claudia; Rodriguez, Omaira; Romero, Yanira; Velandia, Daniel; Alvarado, Maria; Pérez, Julie; Duque, Maria Clara; Ramírez, Juan David

2017-08-01

In Colombia, the cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common manifestation across the army personnel. Hence, it is mandatory to determine the species associated with the disease as well as the association with the clinical traits. A total of 273 samples of male patients with CL were included in the study and clinical data of the patients was studied. PCR and sequencing analyses (Cytb and HSP70 genes) were performed to identify the species and the intra-specific genetic variability. A georeferenced database was constructed to identify the spatial distribution of Leishmania species isolated. The identification of five species of Leishmania that circulate in the areas where army personnel are deployed is described. Predominant infecting Leishmania species corresponds to L. braziliensis (61.1%), followed by Leishmania panamensis (33.5%), with a high distribution of both species at geographical and municipal level. The species L. guyanensis, L. mexicana and L. lainsoni were also detected at lower frequency. We also showed the identification of different genotypes within L. braziliensis and L. panamensis. In conclusion, we identified the Leishmania species circulating in the areas where Colombian army personnel are deployed, as well as the high intra-specific genetic variability of L. braziliensis and L. panamensis and how these genotypes are distributed at the geographic level.

Species abundance distributions : moving beyond single prediction theories to integration within an ecological framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McGill, Brian J.; Etienne, Rampal S.; Gray, John S.; Alonso, David; Anderson, Marti J.; Benecha, Habtamu Kassa; Dornelas, Maria; Enquist, Brian J.; Green, Jessica L.; He, Fangliang; Hurlbert, Allen H.; Magurran, Anne E.; Marquet, Pablo A.; Maurer, Brian A.; Ostling, Annette; Soykan, Candan U.; Ugland, Karl I.; White, Ethan P.

2007-01-01

Species abundance distributions (SADs) follow one of ecology's oldest and most universal laws - every community shows a hollow curve or hyperbolic shape on a histogram with many rare species and just a few common species. Here, we review theoretical, empirical and statistical developments in the

Tracking the evolutionary history of Cortinarius species in section Calochroi, with transoceanic disjunct distributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ammirati Joseph

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cortinarius species in section Calochroi display local, clinal and circumboreal patterns of distribution across the Northern Hemisphere where these ectomycorrhizal fungi occur with host trees throughout their geographical range within a continent, or have disjunct intercontinental distributions, the origins of which are not understood. We inferred evolutionary histories of four species, 1 C. arcuatorum, 2 C. aureofulvus, 3 C. elegantior and 4 C. napus, from populations distributed throughout the Old World, and portions of the New World (Central- and North America based on genetic variation of 154 haplotype internal transcribed spacer (ITS sequences from 83 population samples. By describing the population structure of these species across their geographical distribution, we attempt to identify their historical migration and patterns of diversification. Results Models of population structure from nested clade, demographic and coalescent-based analyses revealed genetically differentiated and geographically structured haplotypes in C. arcuatorum and C. elegantior, while C. aureofulvus showed considerably less population structure and C. napus lacked sufficient genetic differentiation to resolve any population structure. Disjunct populations within C. arcuatorum, C. aureofulvus and C. elegantior show little or no morphological differentiation, whereas in C. napus there is a high level of homoplasy and phenotypic plasticity for veil and lamellae colour. The ITS sequences of the type specimens of C. albobrunnoides and C. albobrunnoides var. violaceovelatus were identical to one another and are treated as one species with a wider range of geographic distribution under C. napus. Conclusions Our results indicate that each of the Calochroi species has undergone a relatively independent evolutionary history, hypothesised as follows: 1 a widely distributed ancestral population of C. arcuatorum diverged into distinctive sympatric

Do abundance distributions and species aggregation correctly predict macroecological biodiversity patterns in tropical forests?

Science.gov (United States)

Wiegand, Thorsten; Lehmann, Sebastian; Huth, Andreas; Fortin, Marie‐Josée

2016-01-01

Abstract Aim It has been recently suggested that different ‘unified theories of biodiversity and biogeography’ can be characterized by three common ‘minimal sufficient rules’: (1) species abundance distributions follow a hollow curve, (2) species show intraspecific aggregation, and (3) species are independently placed with respect to other species. Here, we translate these qualitative rules into a quantitative framework and assess if these minimal rules are indeed sufficient to predict multiple macroecological biodiversity patterns simultaneously. Location Tropical forest plots in Barro Colorado Island (BCI), Panama, and in Sinharaja, Sri Lanka. Methods We assess the predictive power of the three rules using dynamic and spatial simulation models in combination with census data from the two forest plots. We use two different versions of the model: (1) a neutral model and (2) an extended model that allowed for species differences in dispersal distances. In a first step we derive model parameterizations that correctly represent the three minimal rules (i.e. the model quantitatively matches the observed species abundance distribution and the distribution of intraspecific aggregation). In a second step we applied the parameterized models to predict four additional spatial biodiversity patterns. Results Species‐specific dispersal was needed to quantitatively fulfil the three minimal rules. The model with species‐specific dispersal correctly predicted the species–area relationship, but failed to predict the distance decay, the relationship between species abundances and aggregations, and the distribution of a spatial co‐occurrence index of all abundant species pairs. These results were consistent over the two forest plots. Main conclusions The three ‘minimal sufficient’ rules only provide an incomplete approximation of the stochastic spatial geometry of biodiversity in tropical forests. The assumption of independent interspecific placements is most

Spatial distribution of the species of the genus Buenoa (Hemiptera: Notonectidae) in Tumaco (Narino, Colombia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padilla Gil, Dora Nancy

2014-01-01

The work was carried in the marine agricola farm of the Municipality Tumaco, with the objective of studying the distribution of the species of the genus Buenoa in homogeneous environmental conditions regarding temperature, humidity, altitude and aquatic habitats of the freshwater and the others with different grade of conductivity and dedicated to the marine shrimp farming Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931). The studied lakes were four of freshwater and four with different conductivity, in the months of June to November 2010. The results showed heterogeneous distribution of the species of the genus Buenoa with major diversity in freshwater (5 species) and lower abundance; while in saltwater had lower diversity (4 species) and major abundance. Only Buenoa dactylis Padilla-Gil 2010 was found in both aquatic environments. It is discussed possible ecological implications than can influence this distribution pattern are discussed.

Two new species of Ateuchus with remarks on ecology, distributions, and evolutionary relationships (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae).

Science.gov (United States)

Moctezuma, Victor; Sánchez-Huerta, José Luis; Halffter, Gonzalo

2018-01-01

Two new species of the genus Ateuchus Weber are described from the region of Los Chimalapas, Oaxaca, Mexico: A. benitojuarezi sp. n. and A. colossus sp. n. A diagnosis for distinguishing these new species from the other species of this genus in North America is included. This paper is illustrated with pictures of the dorsal habitus and the male genitalia of the new species. The evolutionary relationships of the species are discussed, as well as their distribution and ecology. It is considered that the species of the genus Ateuchus present in North and Central America correspond to the Typical Neotropical and Mountain Mesoamerican distribution patterns.

Distribution and diversity of Arctic-Alpine species in the Balkans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stevanovic, Vladimir; Vukojicic, Snezana; Sinzar-Sekulic, Jasmina

2009-01-01

The distributions of 77 Arctic-Alpine species in the Balkans are mapped and the centers of their richness and diversity presented. Within the Dinaric Alps these are Mts Vranica, Durmitor, and Prokletije; in the Scardo-Pindhic mountains, Šarplanina-Rudoka-Korab form a continuous chain...

Species abundance distributions: moving beyond single prediction theories to integration within an ecological framework

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McGill, B.J.; Etienne, R.S.; Gray, J.S.; Alonso, D.; Anderson, M.J.; Benecha, H.K.

2007-01-01

Species abundance distributions (SADs) follow one of ecology's oldest and most universal laws ¿ every community shows a hollow curve or hyperbolic shape on a histogram with many rare species and just a few common species. Here, we review theoretical, empirical and statistical developments in the

Battlefield Awareness and Data Dissemination Intelligent Information Dissemination Server

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Schlossberg, Jon

1999-01-01

This report describe the research performed to design and develop software tools to facilitate the dissemination of battlefield data based on the Warfighter's needs and the ever changing world environment...

Species distributions models in wildlife planning: agricultural policy and wildlife management in the great plains

Science.gov (United States)

Fontaine, Joseph J.; Jorgensen, Christopher; Stuber, Erica F.; Gruber, Lutz F.; Bishop, Andrew A.; Lusk, Jeffrey J.; Zach, Eric S.; Decker, Karie L.

2017-01-01

We know economic and social policy has implications for ecosystems at large, but the consequences for a given geographic area or specific wildlife population are more difficult to conceptualize and communicate. Species distribution models, which extrapolate species-habitat relationships across ecological scales, are capable of predicting population changes in distribution and abundance in response to management and policy, and thus, are an ideal means for facilitating proactive management within a larger policy framework. To illustrate the capabilities of species distribution modeling in scenario planning for wildlife populations, we projected an existing distribution model for ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) onto a series of alternative future landscape scenarios for Nebraska, USA. Based on our scenarios, we qualitatively and quantitatively estimated the effects of agricultural policy decisions on pheasant populations across Nebraska, in specific management regions, and at wildlife management areas. 

An Objective Approach to Select Climate Scenarios when Projecting Species Distribution under Climate Change.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Casajus

Full Text Available An impressive number of new climate change scenarios have recently become available to assess the ecological impacts of climate change. Among these impacts, shifts in species range analyzed with species distribution models are the most widely studied. Whereas it is widely recognized that the uncertainty in future climatic conditions must be taken into account in impact studies, many assessments of species range shifts still rely on just a few climate change scenarios, often selected arbitrarily. We describe a method to select objectively a subset of climate change scenarios among a large ensemble of available ones. Our k-means clustering approach reduces the number of climate change scenarios needed to project species distributions, while retaining the coverage of uncertainty in future climate conditions. We first show, for three biologically-relevant climatic variables, that a reduced number of six climate change scenarios generates average climatic conditions very close to those obtained from a set of 27 scenarios available before reduction. A case study on potential gains and losses of habitat by three northeastern American tree species shows that potential future species distributions projected from the selected six climate change scenarios are very similar to those obtained from the full set of 27, although with some spatial discrepancies at the edges of species distributions. In contrast, projections based on just a few climate models vary strongly according to the initial choice of climate models. We give clear guidance on how to reduce the number of climate change scenarios while retaining the central tendencies and coverage of uncertainty in future climatic conditions. This should be particularly useful during future climate change impact studies as more than twice as many climate models were reported in the fifth assessment report of IPCC compared to the previous one.

An Objective Approach to Select Climate Scenarios when Projecting Species Distribution under Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Casajus, Nicolas; Périé, Catherine; Logan, Travis; Lambert, Marie-Claude; de Blois, Sylvie; Berteaux, Dominique

2016-01-01

An impressive number of new climate change scenarios have recently become available to assess the ecological impacts of climate change. Among these impacts, shifts in species range analyzed with species distribution models are the most widely studied. Whereas it is widely recognized that the uncertainty in future climatic conditions must be taken into account in impact studies, many assessments of species range shifts still rely on just a few climate change scenarios, often selected arbitrarily. We describe a method to select objectively a subset of climate change scenarios among a large ensemble of available ones. Our k-means clustering approach reduces the number of climate change scenarios needed to project species distributions, while retaining the coverage of uncertainty in future climate conditions. We first show, for three biologically-relevant climatic variables, that a reduced number of six climate change scenarios generates average climatic conditions very close to those obtained from a set of 27 scenarios available before reduction. A case study on potential gains and losses of habitat by three northeastern American tree species shows that potential future species distributions projected from the selected six climate change scenarios are very similar to those obtained from the full set of 27, although with some spatial discrepancies at the edges of species distributions. In contrast, projections based on just a few climate models vary strongly according to the initial choice of climate models. We give clear guidance on how to reduce the number of climate change scenarios while retaining the central tendencies and coverage of uncertainty in future climatic conditions. This should be particularly useful during future climate change impact studies as more than twice as many climate models were reported in the fifth assessment report of IPCC compared to the previous one.

Species sensitivity distributions in a context of practical applications for risk-based decisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Posthuma, L.; Traas, T.P.; Roelofs, W.; Winterse, A.; Zwart, D. de; Meent, D. van de [RIVM, Bilthoven (Netherlands)

2003-07-01

Different biological species clearly show different sensitivities to toxic compounds present in their habitat. The absence of differences in sensitivity would entail an 'all nothing' response, with all species responding similarly to pollution. Given the sensitivity variation, however, some species show adverse effects, and others flourish. In this sense, variation is 'music for ecotoxicologists'. But it also is a nuisance: ecotoxicologists need to handle the vast diversity of sensitivities in Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA). This contribution addresses a pragmatic, versatile, statistics-based concept to address species sensitivity differences, and shows options for application. In the 1980s, ecotoxicologists have coined the term 'Species Sensitivity Distributions' (SSDs) for the statistical descriptions that can be applied to address sensitivity variation. An SSD is a Probability Density Function (usually bell-shaped) or Cumulative Distribution Function (sigmoid), that relates the environmental concentration (x) to 'risk' (y). Since their original description and use, the concept was further developed, criticised, and tailored to various policy or assessment problems. (orig.)

Predictive models of threatened plant species distribution in the Iberian arid south-east

OpenAIRE

Benito, Blas M.

2013-01-01

Poster on the distribution of three rare, endemic and endangered annual plants of arid zones in the south-eastern Iberian peninsula. Presented in the workshop "Predictive Modelling of Species Distribution: New Tools for the XXI Century (Baeza, Spain, november 2005).

The effects of model and data complexity on predictions from species distributions models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

García-Callejas, David; Bastos, Miguel

2016-01-01

How complex does a model need to be to provide useful predictions is a matter of continuous debate across environmental sciences. In the species distributions modelling literature, studies have demonstrated that more complex models tend to provide better fits. However, studies have also shown...... that predictive performance does not always increase with complexity. Testing of species distributions models is challenging because independent data for testing are often lacking, but a more general problem is that model complexity has never been formally described in such studies. Here, we systematically...

45 CFR 1388.7 - Program criteria-dissemination.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

.... (a) Introduction to dissemination: The UAP disseminates information and research findings, including... Affiliated Programs, and State service systems to disseminate information to target audiences. (e) The...) The UAP must be a resource for information for individuals with developmental disabilities and their...

Species composition, abundance and distribution of hydromedusae from Dharamtar estuarine system, adjoining Bombay Harbour

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Santhakumari, V.; Tiwari, L.R.; Nair, V.R.

Species composition, abundance and distribution of hydromedusae from Dharamtar estuarine system, adjoining Bombay Harbour, Maharashtra, India were investigated during 1984-1985. Twenty six species belonging to 19 genera were obtained from this area...

How does biomass distribution change with size and differ among species? An analysis for 1200 plant species from five continents.

Science.gov (United States)

Poorter, Hendrik; Jagodzinski, Andrzej M; Ruiz-Peinado, Ricardo; Kuyah, Shem; Luo, Yunjian; Oleksyn, Jacek; Usoltsev, Vladimir A; Buckley, Thomas N; Reich, Peter B; Sack, Lawren

2015-11-01

We compiled a global database for leaf, stem and root biomass representing c. 11 000 records for c. 1200 herbaceous and woody species grown under either controlled or field conditions. We used this data set to analyse allometric relationships and fractional biomass distribution to leaves, stems and roots. We tested whether allometric scaling exponents are generally constant across plant sizes as predicted by metabolic scaling theory, or whether instead they change dynamically with plant size. We also quantified interspecific variation in biomass distribution among plant families and functional groups. Across all species combined, leaf vs stem and leaf vs root scaling exponents decreased from c. 1.00 for small plants to c. 0.60 for the largest trees considered. Evergreens had substantially higher leaf mass fractions (LMFs) than deciduous species, whereas graminoids maintained higher root mass fractions (RMFs) than eudicotyledonous herbs. These patterns do not support the hypothesis of fixed allometric exponents. Rather, continuous shifts in allometric exponents with plant size during ontogeny and evolution are the norm. Across seed plants, variation in biomass distribution among species is related more to function than phylogeny. We propose that the higher LMF of evergreens at least partly compensates for their relatively low leaf area : leaf mass ratio. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Contextual factors influencing readiness for dissemination of obesity prevention programs and policies.

Science.gov (United States)

Dreisinger, Mariah L; Boland, Elizabeth M; Filler, Carl D; Baker, Elizabeth A; Hessel, Amy S; Brownson, Ross C

2012-04-01

Within the realm of obesity prevention research, there have been many promising interventions to improve physical activity and nutrition among diverse target populations. However, very little information is known about the dissemination and replication of these interventions. In 2007 and 2008 as part of a larger obesity prevention initiative, Missouri Foundation for Health funded 19 community-based programs throughout the state that showed promise of being model practices and committed to promoting their dissemination. Semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with 64 individuals across the grant sites to help stage their readiness for dissemination. Through these interviews, the project team was able to identify the variables that impact a program's readiness for widespread distribution. Some factors contributing to readiness include: strong intervention planning and an existing sustainability plan; physical space available for the intervention; staff and monetary resources; administrative buy-in; community buy-in and engagement; a strong partner base and an agency with a healthy and active mission. These findings add to the literature by systematically identifying a set of key contextual variables. The qualitative data collected support a proposed framework and helps to establish a process for maintaining successful interventions based on several important factors that impact dissemination.

Inferential monitoring of global change impact on biodiversity through remote sensing and species distribution modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Sangermano, Florencia

2009-12-01

The world is suffering from rapid changes in both climate and land cover which are the main factors affecting global biodiversity. These changes may affect ecosystems by altering species distributions, population sizes, and community compositions, which emphasizes the need for a rapid assessment of biodiversity status for conservation and management purposes. Current approaches on monitoring biodiversity rely mainly on long term observations of predetermined sites, which require large amounts of time, money and personnel to be executed. In order to overcome problems associated with current field monitoring methods, the main objective of this dissertation is the development of framework for inferential monitoring of the impact of global change on biodiversity based on remotely sensed data coupled with species distribution modeling techniques. Several research pieces were performed independently in order to fulfill this goal. First, species distribution modeling was used to identify the ranges of 6362 birds, mammals and amphibians in South America. Chapter 1 compares the power of different presence-only species distribution methods for modeling distributions of species with different response curves to environmental gradients and sample sizes. It was found that there is large variability in the power of the methods for modeling habitat suitability and species ranges, showing the importance of performing, when possible, a preliminary gradient analysis of the species distribution before selecting the method to be used. Chapter 2 presents a new methodology for the redefinition of species range polygons. Using a method capable of establishing the uncertainty in the definition of existing range polygons, the automated procedure identifies the relative importance of bioclimatic variables for the species, predicts their ranges and generates a quality assessment report to explore prediction errors. Analysis using independent validation data shows the power of this

Limitations to the Use of Species-Distribution Models for Environmental-Impact Assessments in the Amazon.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorena Ribeiro de A Carneiro

Full Text Available Species-distribution models (SDM are tools with potential to inform environmental-impact studies (EIA. However, they are not always appropriate and may result in improper and expensive mitigation and compensation if their limitations are not understood by decision makers. Here, we examine the use of SDM for frogs that were used in impact assessment using data obtained from the EIA of a hydroelectric project located in the Amazon Basin in Brazil. The results show that lack of knowledge of species distributions limits the appropriate use of SDM in the Amazon region for most target species. Because most of these targets are newly described and their distributions poorly known, data about their distributions are insufficient to be effectively used in SDM. Surveys that are mandatory for the EIA are often conducted only near the area under assessment, and so models must extrapolate well beyond the sampled area to inform decisions made at much larger spatial scales, such as defining areas to be used to offset the negative effects of the projects. Using distributions of better-known species in simulations, we show that geographical-extrapolations based on limited information of species ranges often lead to spurious results. We conclude that the use of SDM as evidence to support project-licensing decisions in the Amazon requires much greater area sampling for impact studies, or, alternatively, integrated and comparative survey strategies, to improve biodiversity sampling. When more detailed distribution information is unavailable, SDM will produce results that generate uncertain and untestable decisions regarding impact assessment. In many cases, SDM is unlikely to be better than the use of expert opinion.

Modeling of the spatial distribution of ten endangered bird species in jurisdiction of Corantioquia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez M, Ana Maria; Alvarez, Esteban

2006-01-01

Recently, thanks to advances made in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), techniques have been developed for the construction of models that predict the spatial distribution of species and other attributes of biodiversity. These methods have allowed for the development of objective criteria that are fundamental for making decisions regarding the creation of protected areas systems throughout the world. In this research, the spatial distribution of ten endangered species of birds found within the jurisdiction of CORANTIOQUIA (JDC from here on) was modelled, using GIS techniques. The JDC was divided into 177 squares of 15 x 10 Km and the following variables were quantified within each one: presence or absence of endangered species of birds, rainfall, temperature, sun brightness, relative humidity, day duration, altitude, vegetal cover, slope and primary net productivity. With the help of logistic regression were made predictive models. Based on logistic regressions techniques predictive models were made. These models allow to explain a percentage between 24% and 80% of spatial distribution variability of these species. Those results can help in the identification of valuable zones for the biodiversity conservation. In places where there are neither the time or the economic resources to carry out exhaustive analyses of biodiversity, the models can predict the probable presence of this endangered species

Dissemination of Technology to Evaluate Healthy Food Incentive Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Freedman, Darcy A; Hunt, Alan R; Merritt, Katie; Shon, En-Jung; Pike, Stephanie N

2017-03-01

Federal policy supports increased implementation of monetary incentive interventions for chronic disease prevention among low-income populations. This study describes how a Prevention Research Center, working with a dissemination partner, developed and distributed technology to support nationwide implementation and evaluation of healthy food incentive programming focused on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients. FM Tracks, an iOS-based application and website, was developed to standardize evaluation methods for healthy food incentive program implementation at direct-to-consumer markets. This evaluation examined diffusion and adoption of the technology over 9 months (July 2015-March 2016). Data were analyzed in 2016. FM Tracks was disseminated to 273 markets affiliated with 37 regional networks in 18 states and Washington, DC. All markets adopted the sales transaction data collection feature, with nearly all recording at least one Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (99.3%) and healthy food incentive (97.1%) transaction. A total of 43,493 sales transactions were recorded. By the ninth month of technology dissemination, markets were entering individual sales transactions using the application (34.5%) and website (29.9%) and aggregated transactions via website (35.6%) at similar rates. Use of optional evaluation features like recording a customer ID with individual transactions increased successively with a low of 22.2% during the first month to a high of 69.2% in the ninth month. Systematic and widely used evaluation technology creates possibilities for pragmatic research embedded within ongoing, real-world implementation of food access interventions. Technology dissemination requires supportive technical assistance and continuous refinement that can be advanced through academic-practitioner partnerships. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing message dissemination through social media

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Zeyu; Yang, Huancheng; Fu, Yang; Fu, Dianzheng; Podobnik, Boris; Stanley, H. Eugene

2018-06-01

Online social networks strongly impact our daily lives. An internet user (a "Netizen") wants messages to be efficiently disseminated. The susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) dissemination model is the traditional tool for exploring the spreading mechanism of information diffusion. We here test our SIR-based dissemination model on open and real-world data collected from Twitter. We locate and identify phase transitions in the message dissemination process. We find that message content is a stronger factor than the popularity of the sender. We also find that the probability that a message will be forwarded has a threshold that affects its ability to spread, and when the probability is above the threshold the message quickly achieves mass dissemination.

New distribution records for four mammal species, with notes on their taxonomy and ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.N. Bronner

1990-09-01

Full Text Available New distribution records for four small mammal species (Georychus capensis, Galerella pulverulenta, Rhinolophus swinnyi and Amblysomus julianae are presented, along with relevant notes on the taxonomy, karyology and ecology of these species.

Image exploitation and dissemination prototype of distributed image processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batool, N.; Huqqani, A.A.; Mahmood, A.

2003-05-01

Image processing applications requirements can be best met by using the distributed environment. This report presents to draw inferences by utilizing the existed LAN resources under the distributed computing environment using Java and web technology for extensive processing to make it truly system independent. Although the environment has been tested using image processing applications, its design and architecture is truly general and modular so that it can be used for other applications as well, which require distributed processing. Images originating from server are fed to the workers along with the desired operations to be performed on them. The Server distributes the task among the Workers who carry out the required operations and send back the results. This application has been implemented using the Remote Method Invocation (RMl) feature of Java. Java RMI allows an object running in one Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to invoke methods on another JVM thus providing remote communication between programs written in the Java programming language. RMI can therefore be used to develop distributed applications [1]. We undertook this project to gain a better understanding of distributed systems concepts and its uses for resource hungry jobs. The image processing application is developed under this environment

REPAiR: REsource Management in Peri-urban AReas: Going Beyond Urban Metabolism : D 8.6 Detailed Dissemination Plan and Dissemination Kit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cerić, Dennis; Amenta, L.; Attademo, Anna

2017-01-01

The Detailed Dissemination Plan and Dissemination Kit is a strategic document for the beneficiaries helping them to establish the bases for their dissemination activities. It is a more detailed version of the Basic Dissemination Plan and Corporate Identity, deliverables of the REPAiR project D 8.3

Vertical distribution and migration of euphausiid species in the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Wiebe, Peter H.; Bucklin, Ann; Kaartvedt, Stein; Rø stad, Anders; Blanco-Bercial, Leocadio

2016-01-01

We addressed how the extreme environmental conditions of the Red Sea impact or alter patterns of vertical distribution and vertical migration of five euphausiid species that are known from other oceans. Euphausia diomedeae was abundant and performed

Climatic associations of British species distributions show good transferability in time but low predictive accuracy for range change.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanni Rapacciuolo

Full Text Available Conservation planners often wish to predict how species distributions will change in response to environmental changes. Species distribution models (SDMs are the primary tool for making such predictions. Many methods are widely used; however, they all make simplifying assumptions, and predictions can therefore be subject to high uncertainty. With global change well underway, field records of observed range shifts are increasingly being used for testing SDM transferability. We used an unprecedented distribution dataset documenting recent range changes of British vascular plants, birds, and butterflies to test whether correlative SDMs based on climate change provide useful approximations of potential distribution shifts. We modelled past species distributions from climate using nine single techniques and a consensus approach, and projected the geographical extent of these models to a more recent time period based on climate change; we then compared model predictions with recent observed distributions in order to estimate the temporal transferability and prediction accuracy of our models. We also evaluated the relative effect of methodological and taxonomic variation on the performance of SDMs. Models showed good transferability in time when assessed using widespread metrics of accuracy. However, models had low accuracy to predict where occupancy status changed between time periods, especially for declining species. Model performance varied greatly among species within major taxa, but there was also considerable variation among modelling frameworks. Past climatic associations of British species distributions retain a high explanatory power when transferred to recent time--due to their accuracy to predict large areas retained by species--but fail to capture relevant predictors of change. We strongly emphasize the need for caution when using SDMs to predict shifts in species distributions: high explanatory power on temporally-independent records

Explaining local-scale species distributions: relative contributions of spatial autocorrelation and landscape heterogeneity for an avian assemblage.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brady J Mattsson

Full Text Available Understanding interactions between mobile species distributions and landcover characteristics remains an outstanding challenge in ecology. Multiple factors could explain species distributions including endogenous evolutionary traits leading to conspecific clustering and endogenous habitat features that support life history requirements. Birds are a useful taxon for examining hypotheses about the relative importance of these factors among species in a community. We developed a hierarchical Bayes approach to model the relationships between bird species occupancy and local landcover variables accounting for spatial autocorrelation, species similarities, and partial observability. We fit alternative occupancy models to detections of 90 bird species observed during repeat visits to 316 point-counts forming a 400-m grid throughout the Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge in Maryland, USA. Models with landcover variables performed significantly better than our autologistic and null models, supporting the hypothesis that local landcover heterogeneity is important as an exogenous driver for species distributions. Conspecific clustering alone was a comparatively poor descriptor of local community composition, but there was evidence for spatial autocorrelation in all species. Considerable uncertainty remains whether landcover combined with spatial autocorrelation is most parsimonious for describing bird species distributions at a local scale. Spatial structuring may be weaker at intermediate scales within which dispersal is less frequent, information flows are localized, and landcover types become spatially diversified and therefore exhibit little aggregation. Examining such hypotheses across species assemblages contributes to our understanding of community-level associations with conspecifics and landscape composition.

D5.1 Dissemination Plan

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buus, Lillian; Ryberg, Thomas; Eleftheriou, Paraskevi

2009-01-01

at defining the dissemination goals as well as the project’s target audience and channels through which the EATrain2 solution is going to be promoted. It also includes partners competences in the dissemination area and detailed schedule of events thematically related to the project’s scope. The deliverable...

Diameter distribution in a Brazilian tropical dry forest domain: predictions for the stand and species.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Robson B DE; Bufalino, Lina; Alves, Francisco T; Silva, José A A DA; Ferreira, Rinaldo L C

2017-01-01

Currently, there is a lack of studies on the correct utilization of continuous distributions for dry tropical forests. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the diameter structure of a brazilian tropical dry forest and to select suitable continuous distributions by means of statistic tools for the stand and the main species. Two subsets were randomly selected from 40 plots. Diameter at base height was obtained. The following functions were tested: log-normal; gamma; Weibull 2P and Burr. The best fits were selected by Akaike's information validation criterion. Overall, the diameter distribution of the dry tropical forest was better described by negative exponential curves and positive skewness. The forest studied showed diameter distributions with decreasing probability for larger trees. This behavior was observed for both the main species and the stand. The generalization of the function fitted for the main species show that the development of individual models is needed. The Burr function showed good flexibility to describe the diameter structure of the stand and the behavior of Mimosa ophthalmocentra and Bauhinia cheilantha species. For Poincianella bracteosa, Aspidosperma pyrifolium and Myracrodum urundeuva better fitting was obtained with the log-normal function.

Disseminated Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Colombia: Report of 27 Cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iván D. Vélez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Disseminated leishmaniasis (DL is a poorly described disease that is frequently misdiagnosed as other clinical manifestations of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL such as diffuse CL or post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. Twenty-seven cases of DL diagnosed between 1997 and 2015 are described. A higher prevalence was observed in men (mean age 32 years. The number of lesions per patient ranged from 12 to 294, distributed mainly in the upper extremities, face and trunk. The lesions were mostly plaques or nodules. Seven patients had nasal mucous damage, 74% of the patients were of mixed race, 92% lived in northwestern Colombia, and Leishmania (Viannia panamensis was identified as the causative agent in 58% of cases. Eighteen patients recovered with pentavalent antimonial. The importance of distinguishing DL from those other clinical presentations is based on the fact that disseminated, diffuse and post-kala-azar CL are very different in etiology, clinical manifestations and response to treatment and prognosis.

Coagulase-negative Staphylococci in Danish blood cultures: species distribution and antibiotic susceptibility.

Science.gov (United States)

Jarløv, J O; Højbjerg, T; Busch-Sørensen, C; Scheibel, J; Møller, J K; Kolmos, H J; Wandall, D A

1996-03-01

The distribution and antibiotic susceptibility of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) isolated from blood cultures was examined in samples from hospitals covering most of Denmark. A total of 499 CoNS isolates were detected in 477 blood cultures from 340 patients and speciated as Staphylococcus epidermidis, 285; Staphylococcus hominis, 61; Staphylococcus haemolyticus, 43; Staphylococcus warneri, 12; Staphylococcus cohnii, 7; Staphylococcus saprophyticus, 4; Staphylococcus capitis, 2 and Staphylococcus lugdunensis, 1. Seventy-eight isolates could not be identified to species level and six were Micrococcus spp. In 108 (22.6%) blood culture sets, more than one CoNS strain were found, as detected by species identification, antibiogram and biotyping. Significantly more blood cultures from patients in university hospitals were drawn from central venous catheters. Comparing university and non-university hospitals, the overall antibiotic susceptibility among CoNS was only slightly different, except for methicillin and amikacin. The prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains was 35.1% in the university hospital strains vs. 25.3% in the non-university hospital strains. The overall prevalence of methicillin resistance was 32%. Great geographic variation in both species distribution and antibiotic resistance was observed. The high prevalence of S. epidermidis makes subtyping of this species important.

Species distribution models for a migratory bird based on citizen science and satellite tracking data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher L. Coxen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models can provide critical baseline distribution information for the conservation of poorly understood species. Here, we compared the performance of band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata species distribution models created using Maxent and derived from two separate presence-only occurrence data sources in New Mexico: 1 satellite tracked birds and 2 observations reported in eBird basic data set. Both models had good accuracy (test AUC > 0.8 and True Skill Statistic > 0.4, and high overlap between suitability scores (I statistic 0.786 and suitable habitat patches (relative rank 0.639. Our results suggest that, at the state-wide level, eBird occurrence data can effectively model similar species distributions as satellite tracking data. Climate change models for the band-tailed pigeon predict a 35% loss in area of suitable climate by 2070 if CO2 emissions drop to 1990 levels by 2100, and a 45% loss by 2070 if we continue current CO2 emission levels through the end of the century. These numbers may be conservative given the predicted increase in drought, wildfire, and forest pest impacts to the coniferous forests the species inhabits in New Mexico. The northern portion of the species’ range in New Mexico is predicted to be the most viable through time.

Species distribution models for a migratory bird based on citizen science and satellite tracking data

Science.gov (United States)

Coxen, Christopher L.; Frey, Jennifer K.; Carleton, Scott A.; Collins, Daniel P.

2017-01-01

Species distribution models can provide critical baseline distribution information for the conservation of poorly understood species. Here, we compared the performance of band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata) species distribution models created using Maxent and derived from two separate presence-only occurrence data sources in New Mexico: 1) satellite tracked birds and 2) observations reported in eBird basic data set. Both models had good accuracy (test AUC > 0.8 and True Skill Statistic > 0.4), and high overlap between suitability scores (I statistic 0.786) and suitable habitat patches (relative rank 0.639). Our results suggest that, at the state-wide level, eBird occurrence data can effectively model similar species distributions as satellite tracking data. Climate change models for the band-tailed pigeon predict a 35% loss in area of suitable climate by 2070 if CO2 emissions drop to 1990 levels by 2100, and a 45% loss by 2070 if we continue current CO2 emission levels through the end of the century. These numbers may be conservative given the predicted increase in drought, wildfire, and forest pest impacts to the coniferous forests the species inhabits in New Mexico. The northern portion of the species’ range in New Mexico is predicted to be the most viable through time.

10 CFR 470.20 - Dissemination of information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Dissemination of information. 470.20 Section 470.20 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY CONSERVATION APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM § 470.20 Dissemination of information. DOE shall disseminate to the public, in an appropriate manner, information of the...

Species Abundance in a Forest Community in South China: A Case of Poisson Lognormal Distribution

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zuo-Yun YIN; Hai REN; Qian-Mei ZHANG; Shao-Lin PENG; Qin-Feng GUO; Guo-Yi ZHOU

2005-01-01

Case studies on Poisson lognormal distribution of species abundance have been rare, especially in forest communities. We propose a numerical method to fit the Poisson lognormal to the species abundance data at an evergreen mixed forest in the Dinghushan Biosphere Reserve, South China. Plants in the tree, shrub and herb layers in 25 quadrats of 20 m×20 m, 5 m×5 m, and 1 m×1 m were surveyed. Results indicated that: (i) for each layer, the observed species abundance with a similarly small median, mode, and a variance larger than the mean was reverse J-shaped and followed well the zero-truncated Poisson lognormal;(ii) the coefficient of variation, skewness and kurtosis of abundance, and two Poisson lognormal parameters (σ andμ) for shrub layer were closer to those for the herb layer than those for the tree layer; and (iii) from the tree to the shrub to the herb layer, the σ and the coefficient of variation decreased, whereas diversity increased. We suggest that: (i) the species abundance distributions in the three layers reflects the overall community characteristics; (ii) the Poisson lognormal can describe the species abundance distribution in diverse communities with a few abundant species but many rare species; and (iii) 1/σ should be an alternative measure of diversity.

Implications of human induced changes on the distribution of important plant species in the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marwa Waseem Halmy

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The application of species distribution modeling in deserts is a useful tool for mapping species and assessing the impact of human induced changes on individual species. Such applications are still rare, and this may be attributed to the fact that much of the arid lands and deserts around the world are located in inaccessible areas. Few studies have conducted spatially explicit modeling of plant species distribution in Egypt. The random forest modeling approach was applied to climatic and land-surface parameters to predict the distribution of ten important plant species in an arid landscape in the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt. The impact of changes in land use and climate on the distribution of the plant species was assessed. The results indicate that the changes in land use in the area have resulted in habitat loss for all the modeled species. Projected future changes in land use reveals that all the modeled species will continue to suffer habitat loss. The projected impact of modeled climate scenarios (A1B, A2A and B2A on the distribution of the modeled species by 2040 varied. Some of the species were projected to be adversely affected by the changes in climate, while other species are expected to benefit from these changes. The combined impact of the changes in land use and climate pose serious threats to most of the modeled species. The study found that all the species are expected to suffer loss in habitat, except Gymnocarpos decanderus. The study highlights the importance of assessing the impact of land use/climate change scenarios on other species of restricted distribution in the area and can help shape policy and mitigation measures directed toward biodiversity conservation in Egypt.

Hylid frogs from Mount Ayanganna, Guyana: new species, redescriptions, and distributional records

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ross D. MacCulloch

2005-10-01

Full Text Available A new species of Osteocephalus, one species of Hyla, three species of Hypsiboas and one of Myersiohyla were collected on Mount Ayanganna, a sandstone Guiana Shield tepui. Hyla warreni, Hypsiboas roraima, H. sibleszi, Myersiohyla kanaima and the new Osteocephalus were collected in high-tepui forest at 1500 m elevation, while Hypsiboas lemai, H. roraima and M. kanaima were also collected in lower montane forest at 870 m. Supplementary descriptions of adults of all species of Hyla, Hypsiboas and Myersiohyla based on the newly collected specimens are provided. Tadpoles of M. kanaima are described. The specimens from Ayanganna represent significant distributional records for several species. This is the first record of Osteocephalus as a member of the Guiana Shield high-tepui herpetofauna.

Incorporating spatial autocorrelation into species distribution models alters forecasts of climate-mediated range shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Crase, Beth; Liedloff, Adam; Vesk, Peter A; Fukuda, Yusuke; Wintle, Brendan A

2014-08-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to forecast changes in the spatial distributions of species and communities in response to climate change. However, spatial autocorrelation (SA) is rarely accounted for in these models, despite its ubiquity in broad-scale ecological data. While spatial autocorrelation in model residuals is known to result in biased parameter estimates and the inflation of type I errors, the influence of unmodeled SA on species' range forecasts is poorly understood. Here we quantify how accounting for SA in SDMs influences the magnitude of range shift forecasts produced by SDMs for multiple climate change scenarios. SDMs were fitted to simulated data with a known autocorrelation structure, and to field observations of three mangrove communities from northern Australia displaying strong spatial autocorrelation. Three modeling approaches were implemented: environment-only models (most frequently applied in species' range forecasts), and two approaches that incorporate SA; autologistic models and residuals autocovariate (RAC) models. Differences in forecasts among modeling approaches and climate scenarios were quantified. While all model predictions at the current time closely matched that of the actual current distribution of the mangrove communities, under the climate change scenarios environment-only models forecast substantially greater range shifts than models incorporating SA. Furthermore, the magnitude of these differences intensified with increasing increments of climate change across the scenarios. When models do not account for SA, forecasts of species' range shifts indicate more extreme impacts of climate change, compared to models that explicitly account for SA. Therefore, where biological or population processes induce substantial autocorrelation in the distribution of organisms, and this is not modeled, model predictions will be inaccurate. These results have global importance for conservation efforts as inaccurate

Using geomorphological variables to predict the spatial distribution of plant species in agricultural drainage networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudi, Gabrielle; Bailly, Jean-Stéphane; Vinatier, Fabrice

2018-01-01

To optimize ecosystem services provided by agricultural drainage networks (ditches) in headwater catchments, we need to manage the spatial distribution of plant species living in these networks. Geomorphological variables have been shown to be important predictors of plant distribution in other ecosystems because they control the water regime, the sediment deposition rates and the sun exposure in the ditches. Whether such variables may be used to predict plant distribution in agricultural drainage networks is unknown. We collected presence and absence data for 10 herbaceous plant species in a subset of a network of drainage ditches (35 km long) within a Mediterranean agricultural catchment. We simulated their spatial distribution with GLM and Maxent model using geomorphological variables and distance to natural lands and roads. Models were validated using k-fold cross-validation. We then compared the mean Area Under the Curve (AUC) values obtained for each model and other metrics issued from the confusion matrices between observed and predicted variables. Based on the results of all metrics, the models were efficient at predicting the distribution of seven species out of ten, confirming the relevance of geomorphological variables and distance to natural lands and roads to explain the occurrence of plant species in this Mediterranean catchment. In particular, the importance of the landscape geomorphological variables, ie the importance of the geomorphological features encompassing a broad environment around the ditch, has been highlighted. This suggests that agro-ecological measures for managing ecosystem services provided by ditch plants should focus on the control of the hydrological and sedimentological connectivity at the catchment scale. For example, the density of the ditch network could be modified or the spatial distribution of vegetative filter strips used for sediment trapping could be optimized. In addition, the vegetative filter strips could constitute

Effects of climate change on three species of Cupido (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) with different biogeographic distribution in Andalusia, southern Spain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obregon, R.; Fernandez Haeger, J.; Jordano, D.

2016-07-01

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of rare or endangered species is of key importance to assess conservation status at different geographic scales and to develop conservation and recovery programs. In this paper we review and update the distribution of three species of Lycaenid butterflies in Andalusia (southern Spain): Cupido carswelli, C. lorquinii, and C. osiris. Cupido carswelli is endemic in south east Spain and is considered a vulnerable species in the Red Book of Invertebrates of Andalusia. Cupido lorquinii is an Iberian–Maghrebian endemism, found in the southern half of the Iberian peninsula. Cupido osiris, widely distributed in Europe and Central Asia, has its southern limit of distribution in Andalusia. We modeled the potential current distribution of these species in Andalusia, using Maxent. Their potential distribution was mainly conditioned by the presence of their host plants and, to a lesser extent, by climatic variables: rainfall during the warmest and coldest quarters of the year and annual mean temperature. AUC test values, sensitivity, and specificity for the three models were high, confirming the accuracy of the models and their high predictive values. We also modeled the potential future distributions of the three species under the climate change scenario A2a. Our results predict a significant reduction in the potential distribution for C. lorquinii —which has a wider distribution in Andalusia than the other two species— and for the more localized species, C. osiris and C. carswelli. This expected decline in the south of the Iberian peninsula highlights the pressing need to design and implement specific conservation plans for these species. (Author)

Selection bias in species distribution models: An econometric approach on forest trees based on structural modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-StPaul, N. K.; Ay, J. S.; Guillemot, J.; Doyen, L.; Leadley, P.

2014-12-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to study and predict the outcome of global changes on species. In human dominated ecosystems the presence of a given species is the result of both its ecological suitability and human footprint on nature such as land use choices. Land use choices may thus be responsible for a selection bias in the presence/absence data used in SDM calibration. We present a structural modelling approach (i.e. based on structural equation modelling) that accounts for this selection bias. The new structural species distribution model (SSDM) estimates simultaneously land use choices and species responses to bioclimatic variables. A land use equation based on an econometric model of landowner choices was joined to an equation of species response to bioclimatic variables. SSDM allows the residuals of both equations to be dependent, taking into account the possibility of shared omitted variables and measurement errors. We provide a general description of the statistical theory and a set of applications on forest trees over France using databases of climate and forest inventory at different spatial resolution (from 2km to 8km). We also compared the outputs of the SSDM with outputs of a classical SDM (i.e. Biomod ensemble modelling) in terms of bioclimatic response curves and potential distributions under current climate and climate change scenarios. The shapes of the bioclimatic response curves and the modelled species distribution maps differed markedly between SSDM and classical SDMs, with contrasted patterns according to species and spatial resolutions. The magnitude and directions of these differences were dependent on the correlations between the errors from both equations and were highest for higher spatial resolutions. A first conclusion is that the use of classical SDMs can potentially lead to strong miss-estimation of the actual and future probability of presence modelled. Beyond this selection bias, the SSDM we propose represents

Do predictions from Species Sensitivity Distributions match with field data?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smetanová, S.; Bláha, L.; Liess, M.; Schäfer, R.B.; Beketov, M.A.

2014-01-01

Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) is a statistical model that can be used to predict effects of contaminants on biological communities, but only few comparisons of this model with field studies have been conducted so far. In the present study we used measured pesticides concentrations from streams in Germany, France, and Finland, and we used SSD to calculate msPAF (multiple substance potentially affected fraction) values based on maximum toxic stress at localities. We compared these SSD-based predictions with the actual effects on stream invertebrates quantified by the SPEAR pesticides bioindicator. The results show that the msPAFs correlated well with the bioindicator, however, the generally accepted SSD threshold msPAF of 0.05 (5% of species are predicted to be affected) severely underestimated the observed effects (msPAF values causing significant effects are 2–1000-times lower). These results demonstrate that validation with field data is required to define the appropriate thresholds for SSD predictions. - Highlights: • We validated the statistical model Species Sensitivity Distribution with field data. • Good correlation was found between the model predictions and observed effects. • But, the generally accepted threshold msPAF 0.05 severely underestimated the effects. - Comparison of the SSD-based prediction with the field data evaluated with the SPEAR pesticides index shows that SSD threshold msPAF of 0.05 severely underestimates the effects observed in the field

First report of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis in two inland bearded dragons Pogona vitticeps in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Shibasaki, Kojiro; Tokiwa, Toshihiro; Sukegawa, Akihiro; Kondo, Hirotaka; Tamukai, Kenichi; Haga, Yumiko; Ike, Kazunori

2017-04-01

Introduction. Encephalitozoon pogonae is a newly described pathogen belonging to the phylum Microsporidia. In Austria and the USA, this species has been isolated from fatal and disseminated cases of captive-bred inland bearded dragons. Here, we report the case of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in two bearded dragons in Japan. Case Presentation. The two lizards from different private households in Tokyo, Japan, had been brought to an animal hospital for examination. In both cases, the animal presented with a history of weight loss for several weeks. There were no improvements in clinical symptoms and the lizards deteriorated and finally died. Histopathological examination demonstrated necrotizing granulomatous inflammation attributed to disseminated microsporidian infection. Nucleotide sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region identified the microsporidian as E. pogonae with sequence identity of 100 %. Conclusion. We report the first case, to our knowledge, of disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in inland bearded dragons in Japan. Although it is difficult to diagnose prenatally since the signs are nonspecific, the disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic infections that do not respond to antibiotics.

Physico-chemical thresholds in the distribution of fish species among French lakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roubeix Vincent

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The management of lakes requires the definition of physico-chemical thresholds to be used for ecosystem preservation or restoration. According to the European Water Framework Directive, the limits between physico-chemical quality classes must be set consistently with biological quality elements. One way to do this consists in analyzing the response of aquatic communities to environmental gradients across monitoring sites and in identifying ecological community thresholds, i.e. zones in the gradients where the species turnover is the highest. In this study, fish data from 196 lakes in France were considered to derive ecological thresholds using the multivariate method of gradient forest. The analysis was performed on 25 species and 36 environmental parameters. The results revealed the highest importance of maximal water temperature in the distribution of fish species. Other important parameters included geographical factors, dissolved organic carbon concentration and water transparency, while nutrients appeared to have low influence. In spite of the diversity of species responses to the gradients, community thresholds were detected in the gradients of the most important physico-chemical parameters and of total phosphorus and nitrate concentrations as well. The thresholds identified in such macroecological study may highlight new patterns of species natural distribution and improve niche characterization. Moreover, when factors that may be influenced by human activities are involved, the thresholds could be used to set environmental standards for lake preservation.

Rapid upslope shifts in New Guinean birds illustrate strong distributional responses of tropical montane species to global warming

Science.gov (United States)

Freeman, Benjamin G.; Class Freeman, Alexandra M.

2014-01-01

Temperate-zone species have responded to warming temperatures by shifting their distributions poleward and upslope. Thermal tolerance data suggests that tropical species may respond to warming temperatures even more strongly than temperate-zone species, but this prediction has yet to be tested. We addressed this data gap by conducting resurveys to measure distributional responses to temperature increases in the elevational limits of the avifaunas of two geographically and faunally independent New Guinean mountains, Mt. Karimui and Karkar Island, 47 and 44 y after they were originally surveyed. Although species richness is roughly five times greater on mainland Mt. Karimui than oceanic Karkar Island, distributional shifts at both sites were similar: upslope shifts averaged 113 m (Mt. Karimui) and 152 m (Karkar Island) for upper limits and 95 m (Mt. Karimui) and 123 m (Karkar Island) for lower limits. We incorporated these results into a metaanalysis to compare distributional responses of tropical species with those of temperate-zone species, finding that average upslope shifts in tropical montane species match local temperature increases significantly more closely than in temperate-zone montane species. That tropical species appear to be strong responders has global conservation implications and provides empirical support to hitherto untested models that predict widespread extinctions in upper-elevation tropical endemics with small ranges. PMID:24550460

Distribution of silica species in cooling water system in nuclear power station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akiba, Kenichi; Onozuka, Teruo; Shindo, Manabu.

1995-01-01

Distribution of silica species was examined by spectrophotometric method based on the formation of molybdosilicic acid species. Ultra-microamounts of ionic (reactive) silica were determined by collection of silicomolybdenum blue compound on a nitrocellulose membrane filter. Total concentrations of silica including nonionic (polymer and colloidal) species were also determined after decomposition of unreactive silica in alkali solutions. Water in the nuclear reactor (Onagawa BWR No.1) contained high concentration of silica (∼600 ppb) and ionic silica was found to be predominant (∼90%). In condensate system, silica contents were of a lower level (2-6 ppb), but the ionic silica contents were comparable to others (20-60%). The silica species appear to be brought and accumulated in the reactor from the condensate system, and then the silica species change to ionic species under high pressure and high temperature. (author)

Distribution of silica species in cooling water system in nuclear power station

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akiba, Kenichi [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Inst. for Advanced Materials Processing; Onozuka, Teruo; Shindo, Manabu

1995-12-01

Distribution of silica species was examined by spectrophotometric method based on the formation of molybdosilicic acid species. Ultra-microamounts of ionic (reactive) silica were determined by collection of silicomolybdenum blue compound on a nitrocellulose membrane filter. Total concentrations of silica including nonionic (polymer and colloidal) species were also determined after decomposition of unreactive silica in alkali solutions. Water in the nuclear reactor (Onagawa BWR No.1) contained high concentration of silica ({approx}600 ppb) and ionic silica was found to be predominant ({approx}90%). In condensate system, silica contents were of a lower level (2-6 ppb), but the ionic silica contents were comparable to others (20-60%). The silica species appear to be brought and accumulated in the reactor from the condensate system, and then the silica species change to ionic species under high pressure and high temperature. (author).

Distribution patterns of Saccharomyces species in cultural landscapes of Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Brysch-Herzberg, Michael; Seidel, Martin

2017-08-01

The distribution patterns of the three Saccharomyces species, Saccharomyces paradoxus, S. uvarum and S. cerevisiae, were investigated by a culture-dependent approach in order to understand better how these species propagate in the cultural landscape of Germany. Saccharomyces paradoxus, the closest relative of S. cerevisiae, is shown to be a true woodland species. It was frequently found in the soil under conifers indicating that S. paradoxus is an autochthonous member of the microbial community in this habitat. Physiological characteristics of the species like the Crabtree effect and high tolerance against ethanol suggest that the species is adapted to regular supply with considerable amounts of sugars. Additionally, a high proportion of the S. paradoxus strains isolated in this study are shown to have the rare ability to ferment melezitose. For these reasons, it is hypothesized that S. paradoxus may be closely associated with the honeydew system in forests. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was rare in most habitats and only exceeded the frequency of S. paradoxus in habitats characterized by modern agricultural mass production of fruit. Both the landscape structure and the agricultural system heavily influence the frequencies of Saccharomyces species. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Case of early-disseminated Rhizopus microsporus var. microsporus mucormycosis in a renal transplant patient

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharma D

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Dikshya Sharma,1 Kumud Dahal,2 Bandana Pathak,3 Udip Dahal4 1Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY, 2University of Illinois College of Medicine, 3OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Peoria, IL, 4University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA Abstract: Mucormycosis is a rare infection caused by the ubiquitous filamentous fungi of the order Mucorales and class Zygomycetes. These species are vasotropic, causing rapid onset of tissue infarctions and necrosis and subsequent thrombosis by invading vascular bed. The disease spectrum ranges from involvement of skin, sinuses, lung, and brain to disseminated and mostly fatal infections, especially in immunocompromised hosts. Here, we present a case of a fatal disseminated mucormycosis in a 56-year-old female who had deceased donor renal allograft transplantation ~2 weeks prior to presentation. She presented with shortness of breath and dry cough. Despite being on broad-spectrum antibiotics/antifungals and proper management by transplant, infectious disease, and primary team, she died within 3 weeks of admission. Autopsy showed disseminated mucormycosis of lungs and thyroid. Disseminated infection within 2 weeks of solid organ transplantation in this patient was one of the rare features of mucormycosis. Keywords: Zygomycetes, immunocompromised, transplant

Beyond Music Sharing: An Evaluation of Peer-to-Peer Data Dissemination Techniques in Large Scientific Collaborations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ripeanu, Matei [University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Al-Kiswany, Samer [University of British Columbia, Vancouver; Iamnitchi, Adriana [University of South Florida, Tampa; Vazhkudai, Sudharshan S [ORNL

2009-03-01

The avalanche of data from scientific instruments and the ensuing interest from geographically distributed users to analyze and interpret it accentuates the need for efficient data dissemination. A suitable data distribution scheme will find the delicate balance between conflicting requirements of minimizing transfer times, minimizing the impact on the network, and uniformly distributing load among participants. We identify several data distribution techniques, some successfully employed by today's peer-to-peer networks: staging, data partitioning, orthogonal bandwidth exploitation, and combinations of the above. We use simulations to explore the performance of these techniques in contexts similar to those used by today's data-centric scientific collaborations and derive several recommendations for efficient data dissemination. Our experimental results show that the peer-to-peer solutions that offer load balancing and good fault tolerance properties and have embedded participation incentives lead to unjustified costs in today's scientific data collaborations deployed on over-provisioned network cores. However, as user communities grow and these deployments scale, peer-to-peer data delivery mechanisms will likely outperform other techniques.

Chemosymbiotic species from the Gulf of Cadiz (NE Atlantic: distribution, life styles and nutritional patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. F. Rodrigues

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Previous work in the mud volcanoes from the Gulf of Cadiz (South Iberian Margin revealed a high number of chemosymbiotic species, namely bivalves and siboglinid polychaetes. In this study we give an overview of the distribution and life styles of these species in the Gulf of Cadiz, determine the role of autotrophic symbionts in the nutrition of selected species using stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S and investigate the intra-specific variation of isotope signatures within and between study sites. During our studies, we identified twenty siboglinidae and nine bivalve chemosymbiotic species living in fifteen mud volcanoes. Solemyid bivalves and tubeworms of the genus Siboglinum are widespread in the study area, whereas other species were found in a single mud volcano (e.g. "Bathymodiolus" mauritanicus or restricted to deeper mud volcanoes (e.g. Polybrachia sp., Lamelisabella denticulata. Species distribution suggests that different species may adjust their position within the sediment according to their particular needs, and to the intensity and variability of the chemical substrata supply. Tissue stable isotope signatures for selected species are in accordance with values found in other studies, with thiotrophy as the dominant nutritional pathway, and with methanotrophy and mixotrophy emerging as secondary strategies. The heterogeneity in terms of nutrient sources (expressed in the high variance of nitrogen and sulphur values and the ability to exploit different resources by the different species may explain the high diversity of chemosymbiotic species found in the Gulf of Cadiz. This study increases the knowledge on distributional patterns and resource partitioning of chemosymbiotic species and highlights how trophic fuelling varies on spatial scales with direct implications to seep assemblages and potentially to the biodiversity of continental margin.

Fit-for-purpose: species distribution model performance depends on evaluation criteria -Dutch hoverflies as a case study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aguirre-Gutiérrez, J.; Carvalheiro, L.G.; Polce, C.; van Loon, E.E.; Raes, N.; Reemer, M.; Biesmeijer, J.C.

2013-01-01

Understanding species distributions and the factors limiting them is an important topic in ecology and conservation, including in nature reserve selection and predicting climate change impacts. While Species Distribution Models (SDM) are the main tool used for these purposes, choosing the best SDM

The effects of global change on the distribution, species richness and life history of European dragonflies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Kent

2016-01-01

traits such as taxonomy, habitat specificity, metabolic plasticity, and biogeographic traits such zoogeographical origin. In Paper I we describe how changes in species richness pattern across Europe correlate with range changes in different taxonomic and biogeographic groups of dragonflies. We found...... specialized species adapted to permanent running (perennial lotic) water habitats. We found that species reproducing in temporary water track climate changes better than species adapted to permanent water. In Paper III we explore the relationship between metabolic plasticity (expressed as the ability to shift...... with less metabolic plasticity. We conducted experimental ex-situ measurements of metabolic rates measured as respiration rates at 10°C and 20°C, respectively, of four Scandinavian dragonfly species. We used two species with a northern distribution, one with a southern distribution and one ubiquitous...

Biodiversity and the Lotka-Volterra theory of species interactions: open systems and the distribution of logarithmic densities.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, William G; Lundberg, Per

2004-09-22

Theoretical interest in the distributions of species abundances observed in ecological communities has focused recently on the results of models that assume all species are identical in their interactions with one another, and rely upon immigration and speciation to promote coexistence. Here we examine a one-trophic level system with generalized species interactions, including species-specific intraspecific and interspecific interaction strengths, and density-independent immigration from a regional species pool. Comparisons between results from numerical integrations and an approximate analytic calculation for random communities demonstrate good agreement, and both approaches yield abundance distributions of nearly arbitrary shape, including bimodality for intermediate immigration rates.

Species distribution models contribute to determine the effect of climate and interspecific interactions in moving hybrid zones.

Science.gov (United States)

Engler, J O; Rödder, D; Elle, O; Hochkirch, A; Secondi, J

2013-11-01

Climate is a major factor delimiting species' distributions. However, biotic interactions may also be prominent in shaping geographical ranges, especially for parapatric species forming hybrid zones. Determining the relative effect of each factor and their interaction of the contact zone location has been difficult due to the lack of broad scale environmental data. Recent developments in species distribution modelling (SDM) now allow disentangling the relative contributions of climate and species' interactions in hybrid zones and their responses to future climate change. We investigated the moving hybrid zone between the breeding ranges of two parapatric passerines in Europe. We conducted SDMs representing the climatic conditions during the breeding season. Our results show a large mismatch between the realized and potential distributions of the two species, suggesting that interspecific interactions, not climate, account for the present location of the contact zone. The SDM scenarios show that the southerly distributed species, Hippolais polyglotta, might lose large parts of its southern distribution under climate change, but a similar gain of novel habitat along the hybrid zone seems unlikely, because interactions with the other species (H. icterina) constrain its range expansion. Thus, whenever biotic interactions limit range expansion, species may become 'trapped' if range loss due to climate change is faster than the movement of the contact zone. An increasing number of moving hybrid zones are being reported, but the proximate causes of movement often remain unclear. In a global context of climate change, we call for more interest in their interactions with climate change. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Moving Towards Dynamic Ocean Management: How Well Do Modeled Ocean Products Predict Species Distributions?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth A. Becker

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models are now widely used in conservation and management to predict suitable habitat for protected marine species. The primary sources of dynamic habitat data have been in situ and remotely sensed oceanic variables (both are considered “measured data”, but now ocean models can provide historical estimates and forecast predictions of relevant habitat variables such as temperature, salinity, and mixed layer depth. To assess the performance of modeled ocean data in species distribution models, we present a case study for cetaceans that compares models based on output from a data assimilative implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS to those based on measured data. Specifically, we used seven years of cetacean line-transect survey data collected between 1991 and 2009 to develop predictive habitat-based models of cetacean density for 11 species in the California Current Ecosystem. Two different generalized additive models were compared: one built with a full suite of ROMS output and another built with a full suite of measured data. Model performance was assessed using the percentage of explained deviance, root mean squared error (RMSE, observed to predicted density ratios, and visual inspection of predicted and observed distributions. Predicted distribution patterns were similar for models using ROMS output and measured data, and showed good concordance between observed sightings and model predictions. Quantitative measures of predictive ability were also similar between model types, and RMSE values were almost identical. The overall demonstrated success of the ROMS-based models opens new opportunities for dynamic species management and biodiversity monitoring because ROMS output is available in near real time and can be forecast.

Mesoscale distribution of dominant diatom species relative to the hydrographical field along the Antarctic Polar Front

Science.gov (United States)

Smetacek, Victor; Klaas, Christine; Menden-Deuer, Susanne; Rynearson, Tatiana A.

The quantitative distribution of dominant phytoplankton species was mapped at high spatial resolution (15 km spacing) during a quasi-synoptic, mesoscale survey of hydrographical, chemical, pigment, and zooplankton fields carried out along the Antarctic Polar Front within a grid 140×130 km 2 during austral summer. A rapid assessment method for quantifying phytoplankton species by microscopy in concentrated samples on board enabled estimation of total biomass and that of dominant species at hourly sampling intervals. The biomass distribution pattern derived from this method was remarkably coherent and correlated very well with chlorophyll concentrations and the location of different water masses covered by the grid. A "background" chlorophyll concentration of 0.5 mg m -3 in the grid could be assigned to the uniformly distributed pico- and nanophytoplankton; all higher values (up to 2.0 mg m -3) were contributed by large diatoms. Three species complexes ( Chaetoceros atlanticus/dichaeta, Pseudo-nitzschia cf. Lineola, and Thalassiothrix antarctica) contributed about one-third each to the biomass. Although all species were found throughout the study area, distinct patterns in abundance emerged: The Thalassiothrix maximum was located north of the frontal jet, Chaetoceros biomass was highest along the jet, and Pseudo-nitzschia was the most uniformly distributed of the three taxa. Since the meridional pattern of biomass and species composition persisted for about 5 weeks, despite heavy grazing pressure of small copepods, we hypothesize that the dominant species reflect the highest degree of grazer protection in the assemblage. This is accomplished by large size, needle-shaped cells, and long spines armed with barbs. We suggest that these persistent species sequester the limiting nutrient—iron—from the assemblage of smaller, less-defended species that must hence have higher turn-over rates.

On the statistical mechanics of species abundance distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowler, Michael G; Kelly, Colleen K

2012-09-01

A central issue in ecology is that of the factors determining the relative abundance of species within a natural community. The proper application of the principles of statistical physics to species abundance distributions (SADs) shows that simple ecological properties could account for the near universal features observed. These properties are (i) a limit on the number of individuals in an ecological guild and (ii) per capita birth and death rates. They underpin the neutral theory of Hubbell (2001), the master equation approach of Volkov et al. (2003, 2005) and the idiosyncratic (extreme niche) theory of Pueyo et al. (2007); they result in an underlying log series SAD, regardless of neutral or niche dynamics. The success of statistical mechanics in this application implies that communities are in dynamic equilibrium and hence that niches must be flexible and that temporal fluctuations on all sorts of scales are likely to be important in community structure. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of climate change on three species of Cupido (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae with different biogeographic distribution in Andalusia, southern Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Obregón, R.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Knowledge of the spatial distribution of rare or endangered species is of key importance to assess conservation status at different geographic scales and to develop conservation and recovery programs. In this paper we review and update the distribution of three species of Lycaenid butterflies in Andalusia (southern Spain: Cupido carswelli, C. lorquinii, and C. osiris. Cupido carswelli is endemic in south east Spain and is considered a vulnerable species in the Red Book of Invertebrates of Andalusia. Cupido lorquinii is an Iberian–Maghrebian endemism, found in the southern half of the Iberian peninsula. Cupido osiris, widely distributed in Europe and Central Asia, has its southern limit of distribution in Andalusia. We modeled the potential current distribution of these species in Andalusia, using Maxent. Their potential distribution was mainly conditioned by the presence of their host plants and, to a lesser extent, by climatic variables: rainfall during the warmest and coldest quarters of the year and annual mean temperature. AUC test values, sensitivity, and specificity for the three models were high, confirming the accuracy of the models and their high predictive values. We also modeled the potential future distributions of the three species under the climate change scenario A2a. Our results predict a significant reduction in the potential distribution for C. lorquinii —which has a wider distribution in Andalusia than the other two species— and for the more localized species, C. osiris and C. carswelli. This expected decline in the south of the Iberian peninsula highlights the pressing need to design and implement specific conservation plans for these species.

Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus species in bulk milk: Prevalence, distribution, and associated subgroup- and species-specific risk factors.

Science.gov (United States)

De Visscher, A; Piepers, S; Haesebrouck, F; Supré, K; De Vliegher, S

2017-01-01

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS) have become the main pathogens causing bovine mastitis in recent years. A huge variation in species distribution among herds has been observed in several studies, emphasizing the need to identify subgroup- and species-specific herd-level factors to improve our understanding of the differences in ecological and epidemiological nature between species. The use of bulk milk samples enables the inclusion of a large(r) number of herds needed to identify herd-level risk factors and increases the likelihood of recovering enough isolates per species needed for conducting subgroup- and, eventually, species-specific analyses at the same time. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and distribution of CNS species in bulk milk samples and to identify associated subgroup- and species-specific herd-level factors. Ninety percent of all bulk milk samples yielded CNS. Staphylococcus equorum was the predominant species, followed by Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. A seasonal effect was observed for several CNS species. Bulk milk samples from herds with a loose-pack or a tiestall housing system were more likely to yield CNS species compared with herds with a freestall barn, except for S. epidermidis, Staphylococcus simulans, and Staphylococcus cohnii. In September, herds in which udders were clipped had lower odds of yielding Staphylococcus chromogenes, S. simulans, and Staphylococcus xylosus, the CNS species assumed to be most relevant for udder health, in their bulk milk than herds in which udder clipping was not practiced. Bulk milk of herds participating in a monthly veterinary udder health-monitoring program was more likely to yield these 3 CNS species. Herds always receiving their milk quality premium or predisinfecting teats before attachment of the milking cluster had lower odds of having S. equorum in their bulk milk. Herds not using a single dry cotton or paper towel for each cow during premilking udder

ELNAIS meets EASIN: distribution of marine alien species in Greece using EASIN mapping services and ELNAIS spatial data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. KATSANEVAKIS

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN was created with the aim to provide easy access to accurate information on alien species in Europe. EASIN allows the retrieval of spatial information from existing online data providers in order to produce integrated georeferenced distribution maps of alien species in Europe. In November 2012, a new data provider, the Ellenic Network on Aquatic Invasive Species (ELNAIS, joined EASIN; this has significantly increased the available georeferenced information on marine/estuarine alien species in Greek waters. Here, we use maps created by EASIN to show differences in patterns of distribution in Greece for the most abundant Phyla of marine alien species - Mollusca, Arthropoda, Chordata and Annelida. We also show that the two main pathways of introduction of marine alien species (Lessepsian migration and Shipping are related to different patterns of species spatial distribution in Greece. Overall, the tools provided by EASIN can greatly aid scientists and policy makers in obtaining high quality information on marine alien species in Greece, especially after the association with ELNAIS.

Species Distribution Modelling: Contrasting presence-only models with plot abundance data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gomes, Vitor H.F.; Ijff, Stéphanie D.; Raes, Niels; Amaral, Iêda Leão; Salomão, Rafael P.; Coelho, Luiz De Souza; Matos, Francisca Dionízia De Almeida; Castilho, Carolina V.; Filho, Diogenes De Andrade Lima; López, Dairon Cárdenas; Guevara, Juan Ernesto; Magnusson, William E.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Wittmann, Florian; Carim, Marcelo De Jesus Veiga; Martins, Maria Pires; Irume, Mariana Victória; Sabatier, Daniel; Molino, Jean François; Bánki, Olaf S.; Guimarães, José Renan Da Silva; Pitman, Nigel C.A.; Piedade, Maria Teresa Fernandez; Mendoza, Abel Monteagudo; Luize, Bruno Garcia; Venticinque, Eduardo Martins; Novo, Evlyn Márcia Moraes De Leão; Vargas, Percy Núñez; Silva, Thiago Sanna Freire; Manzatto, Angelo Gilberto; Terborgh, John; Reis, Neidiane Farias Costa; Montero, Juan Carlos; Casula, Katia Regina; Marimon, Beatriz S.; Marimon, Ben Hur; Coronado, Euridice N.Honorio; Feldpausch, Ted R.; Duque, Alvaro; Zartman, Charles Eugene; Arboleda, Nicolás Castaño; Killeen, Timothy J.; Mostacedo, Bonifacio; Vasquez, Rodolfo; Schöngart, Jochen; Assis, Rafael L.; Medeiros, Marcelo Brilhante; Simon, Marcelo Fragomeni; Andrade, Ana; Laurance, William F.; Camargo, José Luís; Demarchi, Layon O.; Laurance, Susan G.W.; Farias, Emanuelle De Sousa; Nascimento, Henrique Eduardo Mendonça; Revilla, Juan David Cardenas; Quaresma, Adriano; Costa, Flavia R.C.; Vieira, Ima Célia Guimarães; Cintra, Bruno Barçante Ladvocat; Castellanos, Hernán; Brienen, Roel; Stevenson, Pablo R.; Feitosa, Yuri; Duivenvoorden, Joost F.; Aymard, Gerardo A.C.; Mogollón, Hugo F.; Targhetta, Natalia; Comiskey, James A.; Vicentini, Alberto; Lopes, Aline; Damasco, Gabriel; Dávila, Nállarett; García-Villacorta, Roosevelt; Levis, Carolina; Schietti, Juliana; Souza, Priscila; Emilio, Thaise; Alonso, Alfonso; Neill, David; Dallmeier, Francisco; Ferreira, Leandro Valle; Araujo-Murakami, Alejandro; Praia, Daniel; Do Amaral, Dário Dantas; Carvalho, Fernanda Antunes; De Souza, Fernanda Coelho; Feeley, Kenneth; Arroyo, Luzmila; Pansonato, Marcelo Petratti; Gribel, Rogerio; Villa, Boris; Licona, Juan Carlos; Fine, Paul V.A.; Cerón, Carlos; Baraloto, Chris; Jimenez, Eliana M.; Stropp, Juliana; Engel, Julien; Silveira, Marcos; Mora, Maria Cristina Peñuela; Petronelli, Pascal; Maas, Paul; Thomas-Caesar, Raquel; Henkel, Terry W.; Daly, Doug; Paredes, Marcos Ríos; Baker, Tim R.; Fuentes, Alfredo; Peres, Carlos A.; Chave, Jerome; Pena, Jose Luis Marcelo; Dexter, Kyle G.; Silman, Miles R.; Jørgensen, Peter Møller; Pennington, Toby; Di Fiore, Anthony; Valverde, Fernando Cornejo; Phillips, Juan Fernando; Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo; Von Hildebrand, Patricio; Van Andel, Tinde R.; Ruschel, Ademir R.; Prieto, Adriana; Rudas, Agustín; Hoffman, Bruce; Vela, César I.A.; Barbosa, Edelcilio Marques; Zent, Egleé L.; Gonzales, George Pepe Gallardo; Doza, Hilda Paulette Dávila; Miranda, Ires Paula De Andrade; Guillaumet, Jean Louis; Pinto, Linder Felipe Mozombite; Bonates, Luiz Carlos De Matos; Silva, Natalino; Gómez, Ricardo Zárate; Zent, Stanford; Gonzales, Therany; Vos, Vincent A.; Malhi, Yadvinder; Oliveira, Alexandre A.; Cano, Angela; Albuquerque, Bianca Weiss; Vriesendorp, Corine; Correa, Diego Felipe; Torre, Emilio Vilanova; Van Der Heijden, Geertje; Ramirez-Angulo, Hirma; Ramos, José Ferreira; Young, Kenneth R.; Rocha, Maira; Nascimento, Marcelo Trindade; Medina, Maria Natalia Umaña; Tirado, Milton; Wang, Ophelia; Sierra, Rodrigo; Torres-Lezama, Armando; Mendoza, Casimiro; Ferreira, Cid; Baider, Cláudia; Villarroel, Daniel; Balslev, Henrik; Mesones, Italo; Giraldo, Ligia Estela Urrego; Casas, Luisa Fernanda; Reategui, Manuel Augusto Ahuite; Linares-Palomino, Reynaldo; Zagt, Roderick; Cárdenas, Sasha; Farfan-Rios, William; Sampaio, Adeilza Felipe; Pauletto, Daniela; Sandoval, Elvis H.Valderrama; Arevalo, Freddy Ramirez; Huamantupa-Chuquimaco, Isau; Garcia-Cabrera, Karina; Hernandez, Lionel; Gamarra, Luis Valenzuela; Alexiades, Miguel N.; Pansini, Susamar; Cuenca, Walter Palacios; Milliken, William; Ricardo, Joana; Lopez-Gonzalez, Gabriela; Pos, Edwin; Ter Steege, Hans

2018-01-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used in ecology and conservation. Presence-only SDMs such as MaxEnt frequently use natural history collections (NHCs) as occurrence data, given their huge numbers and accessibility. NHCs are often spatially biased which may generate inaccuracies in SDMs.

An updated understanding of Texas bumble bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae species presence and potential distributions in Texas, USA

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Jessica L. Beckham

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Texas is the second largest state in the United States of America, and the largest state in the contiguous USA at nearly 700,000 sq. km. Several Texas bumble bee species have shown evidence of declines in portions of their continental ranges, and conservation initiatives targeting these species will be most effective if species distributions are well established. To date, statewide bumble bee distributions for Texas have been inferred primarily from specimen records housed in natural history collections. To improve upon these maps, and help inform conservation decisions, this research aimed to (1 update existing Texas bumble bee presence databases to include recent (2007–2016 data from citizen science repositories and targeted field studies, (2 model statewide species distributions of the most common bumble bee species in Texas using MaxEnt, and (3 identify conservation target areas for the state that are most likely to contain habitat suitable for multiple declining species. The resulting Texas bumble bee database is comprised of 3,580 records, to include previously compiled museum records dating from 1897, recent field survey data, and vetted records from citizen science repositories. These data yielded an updated state species list that includes 11 species, as well as species distribution models (SDMs for the most common Texas bumble bee species, including two that have shown evidence of range-wide declines: B. fraternus (Smith, 1854 and B. pensylvanicus (DeGeer, 1773. Based on analyses of these models, we have identified conservation priority areas within the Texas Cross Timbers, Texas Blackland Prairies, and East Central Texas Plains ecoregions where suitable habitat for both B. fraternus and B. pensylvanicus are highly likely to co-occur.

Dissemination strategy for Lean thinking in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Dannapfel, Petra; Poksinska, Bozena; Thomas, Kristin

2014-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to knowledge about dissemination strategies for Lean thinking throughout multiple healthcare organisations. The Ostergötland county council, Sweden (CCO) was chosen as a case study for an healthcare Lean-thinking dissemination strategies. Document analysis and interviews were used and results were compared with similar strategies employed by staff at the National Health Service Institute for Innovation (NHSI) and improvement in Great Britain and the Odense University Hospital in Denmark. The Lean improvement programme was introduced to tackle challenges such as an ageing society, rising care expectations and budgetary and economic constraints. It was designed as a long-term programme to create added value for patients and employee involvement. The dissemination strategy was: forming clear visions and objectives; piloting; training potential adopters; and formal dissemination. The CCO strategy was focused primarily on managers and was not meant to involve all staff until the implementation stage. Staff at the NHSI attempted to address nurses needs during dissemination, which questioned whether the CCO managers' dissemination strategy is sustainable. This paper inspires healthcare managers and decision makers who aim to disseminate Lean production in their organisations. There are many case studies describing Lean implementation in single healthcare organisations, but little is known about effective dissemination and implementation strategies in large healthcare systems. The authors, therefore, suggest activities for developing and implementing dissemination strategies in multiple healthcare organisations.

48 CFR 2905.101 - Methods of disseminating information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... information. 2905.101 Section 2905.101 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ACQUISITION PLANNING PUBLICIZING CONTRACT ACTIONS Dissemination of Information 2905.101 Methods of disseminating... dissemination of information concerning procurement actions. The Division of Acquisition Management Services...

Differences in Crossover Frequency and Distribution among Three Sibling Species of Drosophila

OpenAIRE

True, J. R.; Mercer, J. M.; Laurie, C. C.

1996-01-01

Comparisons of the genetic and cytogenetic maps of three sibling species of Drosophila reveal marked differences in the frequency and cumulative distribution of crossovers during meiosis. The maps for two of these species, Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, have previously been described, while this report presents new map data for D. mauritiana, obtained using a set of P element markers. A genetic map covering nearly the entire genome was constructed by estimating the recombination fra...

A differential equation for the asymptotic fitness distribution in the Bak-Sneppen model with five species.

Science.gov (United States)

Schlemm, Eckhard

2015-09-01

The Bak-Sneppen model is an abstract representation of a biological system that evolves according to the Darwinian principles of random mutation and selection. The species in the system are characterized by a numerical fitness value between zero and one. We show that in the case of five species the steady-state fitness distribution can be obtained as a solution to a linear differential equation of order five with hypergeometric coefficients. Similar representations for the asymptotic fitness distribution in larger systems may help pave the way towards a resolution of the question of whether or not, in the limit of infinitely many species, the fitness is asymptotically uniformly distributed on the interval [fc, 1] with fc ≳ 2/3. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global checklist of species of Grania (Clitellata: Enchytraeidae with remarks on their geographic distribution

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Alessandro Prantoni

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A checklist of all currently accepted species of Grania Southern, 1913 (Annelida, Clitellata, Enchytraeidae is presented. The genus is widespread over the world and comprises 81 species described to date. Remarks on their geographical distribution, habitat, synonymies and museum catalogue numbers are provided.

Morphometry and Distribution of Senecio Nemorensis agg. Species (Asteraceae in Poland

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Rola Kaja

2014-07-01

Full Text Available A morphometric analysis based on 316 herbarium specimens of Senecio nemorensis agg. indicated the occurrence of the following four species in Poland: S. germanicus Wallr., S. hercynicus Herborg, S. ovatus (G. Gaertn. et al. Willd. and S. ucranicus Hodálová. Principal component analysis (PCA, analysis of variance (ANOVA/Kruskal-Wallis test and canonical discriminant analysis (CDA were applied. Quantitative characters such as supplementary bract length, leaf base width, ligule length and the supplementary/involucral bract length ratio clearly discriminated taxa within S. nemorensis agg. Included is a distribution map of the investigated species based on the examined material, with particular emphasis on the course of the northeastern boundary of S. hercynicus and the northwestern boundary of S. ucranicus. Also given is a determination key for species within S. nemorensis agg. in Poland, together with morphological descriptions of particular species

Dissemination of photovoltaics in the Gambia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Able-Thomas, U.; Pearsall, N.M. [University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom); Hill, R.; O`Keefe, P. [University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom)

1995-11-01

The Gambia has abundant solar energy but a significant shortfall in electrical generation and distribution capacity, along with a growing demand for electricity. This paper will outline areas in the application of photovoltaics (PV) in The Gambia which are both technically and economically viable. Photovoltaics is beginning to contribute to developmental efforts, but this contribution is rarely quantified. The paper will discuss the socio-economic benefits that The Gambia has derived from this appropriate technology. The application of PV on a scale much wider than at present will require strengthening of the infrastructure in PV systems, construction and maintenance and financing. The infrastructural needs of the country and its manufacturing capabilities will be assessed along with the organizational aspects for successful PV dissemination. (Author)

The predictive skill of species distribution models for plankton in a changing climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brun, Philipp Georg; Kiørboe, Thomas; Licandro, Priscilla

2016-01-01

Statistical species distribution models (SDMs) are increasingly used to project spatial relocations of marine taxa under future climate change scenarios. However, tests of their predictive skill in the real-world are rare. Here, we use data from the Continuous Plankton Recorder program, one...... null models, is essential to assess the robustness of projections of marine planktonic species under climate change...

Response of chironomid species (Diptera, Chironomidae to water temperature: effects on species distribution in specific habitats

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L. Marziali

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The response of 443 chironomid species to water temperature was analyzed, with the aim of defining their thermal optimum, tolerance limits and thermal habitat. The database included 4442 samples mainly from Italian river catchments collected from the 1950s up to date. Thermal preferences were calculated separately for larval and pupal specimens and for different habitats: high altitude and lowland lakes in the Alpine ecoregion; lowland lakes in the Mediterranean ecoregion; heavily modified water bodies; kryal, krenal, rhithral and potamal in running waters. Optimum response was calculated as mean water temperature, weighted by species abundances; tolerance as weighted standard deviation; skewness and kurtosis as 3rd and 4th moment statistics. The responses were fitted to normal uni- or plurimodal Gaussian models. Cold stenothermal species showed: i unimodal response, ii tolerance for a narrow temperature range, iii optima closed to their minimum temperature values, iv leptokurtic response. Thermophilous species showed: i optima at different temperature values, ii wider tolerance, iii optima near their maximum temperature values, iv platikurtic response, often fitting a plurimodal model. As expected, lower optima values and narrower tolerance were obtained for kryal and krenal, than for rhithral, potamal and lakes. Thermal response curves were produced for each species and were discussed according to species distribution (i.e. altitudinal range in running water and water depth in lakes, voltinism and phylogeny. Thermal optimum and tolerance limits and the definition of the thermal habitat of species can help predicting the impact of global warming on freshwater ecosystems.

32 CFR 2400.28 - Dissemination of classified information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Dissemination of classified information. 2400.28... SECURITY PROGRAM Safeguarding § 2400.28 Dissemination of classified information. Heads of OSTP offices... originating official may prescribe specific restrictions on dissemination of classified information when...

Aquatic dance flies (Diptera, Empididae, Clinocerinae and Hemerodromiinae of Greece: species richness, distribution and description of five new species

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Marija Ivković

2017-12-01

Full Text Available All records of aquatic dance flies (37 species in subfamily Clinocerinae and 10 species in subfamily Hemerodromiinae from the territory of Greece are summarized, including previously unpublished data and data on five newly described species (Chelifera horvati Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., Wiedemannia iphigeniae Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., W. ljerkae Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n., W. nebulosa Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n. and W. pseudoberthelemyi Ivković & Sinclair, sp. n.. The new species are described and illustrated, the male terminalia of Clinocera megalatlantica (Vaillant are illustrated and the distributions of all species within Greece are listed. The aquatic Empididae fauna of Greece consists of 47 species, with the following described species reported for the first time: Chelifera angusta Collin, Hemerodromia melangyna Collin, Clinocera megalatlantica, Kowarzia plectrum (Mik, Phaeobalia dimidiata (Loew, W. (Chamaedipsia beckeri (Mik, W. (Philolutra angelieri Vaillant and W. (P. chvali Joost. A key to species of aquatic Empididae of Greece is provided for the first time. Information related to the European Ecoregions in which species were found is given. Compared to the other studied countries in the Balkans, the Greek species assemblage is most similar to that of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Disseminated Mycobacterium celatum infection in a white-tailed trogon (Trogon viridis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bertelsen, M. F.; Grondahl, C.; Giese, Steen Bjørck

2006-01-01

An adult female white-tailed trogon (Trogon viridis) was presented with abdominal enlargement and hard subcutaneous masses. Necropsy findings included bony masses extending from skeletal structures, disseminated pale foci in the liver, and a pale mass in the kidney. Histological examination revea...... revealed multifocal to coalescing granulomatous inflammation in the bone, liver, kidney, lung and spleen. Mycobacterium celatum was isolated from the liver and identified by DNA sequencing. This is the first report of M. celatum infection in an avian species....

Distribution and diversity of fungal species in and adjacent to the Los Alamos National Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Balice, R.G.; Jarmie, N.; Rogers, F.J.

1997-12-01

Fungi have demonstrated their ability to diversify and specialize to take advantage of new environments (Murphy 1996). These species are essential to the normal functioning of ecosystems and the impacts of human activities may be harmful to fungi. There is a need to inventory fungi throughout the range of their environments. Previously archived information representing 43 sample locations was used to perform a preliminary evaluation of the distributions and diversity of fungal species at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and in adjacent environments. Presence-absence data for 71 species of fungi in five habitats, pinon-juniper, canyon-bottom ponderosa pine, ponderosa pine, canyon-bottom mixed conifer, and mixed conifer were analyzed. The results indicate that even though fungi occur in each of the habitats, fungal species are not distributed evenly among these habitats. The richness of fungal species is greater in the canyon-bottom mixed conifer and mixed conifer habitats than in the pinon-juniper, canyon-bottom ponderosa pine or ponderosa pine habitats. All but three of the fungal species were recorded in either the canyon-bottom mixed conifer or the mixed conifer habitats, and all but seven of the fungal species were found in the mixed conifer habitat.

Distribution and diversity of fungal species in and adjacent to the Los Alamos National Laboratory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Balice, R.G.; Jarmie, N.; Rogers, F.J.

1997-12-01

Fungi have demonstrated their ability to diversify and specialize to take advantage of new environments (Murphy 1996). These species are essential to the normal functioning of ecosystems and the impacts of human activities may be harmful to fungi. There is a need to inventory fungi throughout the range of their environments. Previously archived information representing 43 sample locations was used to perform a preliminary evaluation of the distributions and diversity of fungal species at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and in adjacent environments. Presence-absence data for 71 species of fungi in five habitats, pinon-juniper, canyon-bottom ponderosa pine, ponderosa pine, canyon-bottom mixed conifer, and mixed conifer were analyzed. The results indicate that even though fungi occur in each of the habitats, fungal species are not distributed evenly among these habitats. The richness of fungal species is greater in the canyon-bottom mixed conifer and mixed conifer habitats than in the pinon-juniper, canyon-bottom ponderosa pine or ponderosa pine habitats. All but three of the fungal species were recorded in either the canyon-bottom mixed conifer or the mixed conifer habitats, and all but seven of the fungal species were found in the mixed conifer habitat

Disseminating genetically modified (GM) maize technology to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Disseminating genetically modified (GM) maize technology to smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa: extension personnel's awareness of stewardship requirements and dissemination practices.

A spread willingness computing-based information dissemination model.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Haojing; Cui, Zhiming; Zhang, Shukui

2014-01-01

This paper constructs a kind of spread willingness computing based on information dissemination model for social network. The model takes into account the impact of node degree and dissemination mechanism, combined with the complex network theory and dynamics of infectious diseases, and further establishes the dynamical evolution equations. Equations characterize the evolutionary relationship between different types of nodes with time. The spread willingness computing contains three factors which have impact on user's spread behavior: strength of the relationship between the nodes, views identity, and frequency of contact. Simulation results show that different degrees of nodes show the same trend in the network, and even if the degree of node is very small, there is likelihood of a large area of information dissemination. The weaker the relationship between nodes, the higher probability of views selection and the higher the frequency of contact with information so that information spreads rapidly and leads to a wide range of dissemination. As the dissemination probability and immune probability change, the speed of information dissemination is also changing accordingly. The studies meet social networking features and can help to master the behavior of users and understand and analyze characteristics of information dissemination in social network.

Indicator 1.07. Number and geographic distribution of forest-associated species at risk of losing genetic variation and locally adapted genotypes

Science.gov (United States)

C. H. Flather; M. S Knowles; C. H. Sieg

2011-01-01

This indicator provides information on the number and distribution of forest-associated species at risk of losing genetic variation across their geographic range. Comparing a species' current geographic distribution with its historic distribution is the basis for identifying those species whose range has contracted significantly. Human activities are accelerating...

Drought responses of three closely related Caragana species: implication for their vicarious distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Fei; Na, Xiaofan; Xu, Tingting

2016-05-01

Drought is a major environmental constraint affecting growth and distribution of plants in the desert region of the Inner Mongolia plateau. Caragana microphylla, C. liouana, and C. korshinskii are phylogenetically close but distribute vicariously in Mongolia plateau. To gain a better understanding of the ecological differentiation between these three species, we examined the leaf gas exchange, growth, water use efficiency, biomass accumulation and allocation by subjecting their seedlings to low and high drought treatments in a glasshouse. Increasing drought stress had a significant effect on many aspects of seedling performance in all species, but the physiology and growth varied with species in response to drought. C. korshinskii exhibited lower sensitivity of photosynthetic rate and growth, lower specific leaf area, higher biomass allocation to roots, higher levels of water use efficiency to drought compared with the other two species. Only minor interspecific differences in growth performances were observed between C. liouana and C. microphylla. These results indicated that faster seedling growth rate and more efficient water use of C. korshinskii should confer increased drought tolerance and facilitate its establishment in more severe drought regions relative to C. liouana and C. microphylla.

Bioinformatics education dissemination with an evolutionary problem solving perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Jungck, John R; Donovan, Samuel S; Weisstein, Anton E; Khiripet, Noppadon; Everse, Stephen J

2010-11-01

Bioinformatics is central to biology education in the 21st century. With the generation of terabytes of data per day, the application of computer-based tools to stored and distributed data is fundamentally changing research and its application to problems in medicine, agriculture, conservation and forensics. In light of this 'information revolution,' undergraduate biology curricula must be redesigned to prepare the next generation of informed citizens as well as those who will pursue careers in the life sciences. The BEDROCK initiative (Bioinformatics Education Dissemination: Reaching Out, Connecting and Knitting together) has fostered an international community of bioinformatics educators. The initiative's goals are to: (i) Identify and support faculty who can take leadership roles in bioinformatics education; (ii) Highlight and distribute innovative approaches to incorporating evolutionary bioinformatics data and techniques throughout undergraduate education; (iii) Establish mechanisms for the broad dissemination of bioinformatics resource materials and teaching models; (iv) Emphasize phylogenetic thinking and problem solving; and (v) Develop and publish new software tools to help students develop and test evolutionary hypotheses. Since 2002, BEDROCK has offered more than 50 faculty workshops around the world, published many resources and supported an environment for developing and sharing bioinformatics education approaches. The BEDROCK initiative builds on the established pedagogical philosophy and academic community of the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium to assemble the diverse intellectual and human resources required to sustain an international reform effort in undergraduate bioinformatics education.

Diversification Rates and the Evolution of Species Range Size Frequency Distribution

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Silvia Castiglione

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The geographic range sizes frequency distribution (RFD within clades is typically right-skewed with untransformed data, and bell-shaped or slightly left-skewed under the log-transformation. This means that most species within clades occupy diminutive ranges, whereas just a few species are truly widespread. A number of ecological and evolutionary explanations have been proposed to account for this pattern. Among the latter, much attention has been given to the issue of how extinction and speciation probabilities influence RFD. Numerous accounts now convincingly demonstrate that extinction rate decreases with range size, both in living and extinct taxa. The relationship between range size and speciation rate, though, is much less obvious, with either small or large ranged species being proposed to originate more daughter taxa. Herein, we used a large fossil database including 21 animal clades and more than 80,000 fossil occurrences distributed over more than 400 million years of marine metazoans (exclusive of vertebrates evolution, to test the relationship between extinction rate, speciation rate, and range size. As expected, we found that extinction rate almost linearly decreases with range size. In contrast, speciation rate peaks at the large (but not the largest end of the range size spectrum. This is consistent with the peripheral isolation mode of allopatric speciation being the main mechanism of species origination. The huge variation in phylogeny, fossilization potential, time of fossilization, and the overarching effect of mass extinctions suggest caution must be posed at generalizing our results, as individual clades may deviate significantly from the general pattern.

Species distribution modeling in regions of high need and limited data: waterfowl of China

Science.gov (United States)

Prosser, Diann J.; Ding, Changqing; Erwin, R. Michael; Mundkur, Taej; Sullivan, Jeffery D.; Ellis, Erle C.

2018-01-01

BackgroundA number of conservation and societal issues require understanding how species are distributed on the landscape, yet ecologists are often faced with a lack of data to develop models at the resolution and extent desired, resulting in inefficient use of conservation resources. Such a situation presented itself in our attempt to develop waterfowl distribution models as part of a multi-disciplinary team targeting the control of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus in China.MethodsFaced with limited data, we built species distribution models using a habitat suitability approach for China’s breeding and non-breeding (hereafter, wintering) waterfowl. An extensive review of the literature was used to determine model parameters for habitat modeling. Habitat relationships were implemented in GIS using land cover covariates. Wintering models were validated using waterfowl census data, while breeding models, though developed for many species, were only validated for the one species with sufficient telemetry data available.ResultsWe developed suitability models for 42 waterfowl species (30 breeding and 39 wintering) at 1 km resolution for the extent of China, along with cumulative and genus level species richness maps. Breeding season models showed highest waterfowl suitability in wetlands of the high-elevation west-central plateau and northeastern China. Wintering waterfowl suitability was highest in the lowland regions of southeastern China. Validation measures indicated strong performance in predicting species presence. Comparing our model outputs to China’s protected areas indicated that breeding habitat was generally better covered than wintering habitat, and identified locations for which additional research and protection should be prioritized.ConclusionsThese suitability models are the first available for many of China’s waterfowl species, and have direct utility to conservation and habitat planning and prioritizing management of critically

Effects of urbanization on carnivore species distribution and richness

Science.gov (United States)

Ordenana, Miguel A.; Crooks, Kevin R.; Boydston, Erin E.; Fisher, Robert N.; Lyren, Lisa M.; Siudyla, Shalene; Haas, Christopher D.; Harris, Sierra; Hathaway, Stacie A.; Turschak, Greta M.; Miles, A. Keith; Van Vuren, Dirk H.

2010-01-01

Urban development can have multiple effects on mammalian carnivore communities. We conducted a meta-analysis of 7,929 photographs from 217 localities in 11 camera-trap studies across coastal southern California to describe habitat use and determine the effects of urban proximity (distance to urban edge) and intensity (percentage of area urbanized) on carnivore occurrence and species richness in natural habitats close to the urban boundary. Coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) were distributed widely across the region. Domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), mountain lions (Puma concolor), and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were detected less frequently, and long-tailed weasels (Mustela frenata), American badgers (Taxidea taxus), western spotted skunks (Spilogale gracilis), and domestic cats (Felis catus) were detected rarely. Habitat use generally reflected availability for most species. Coyote and raccoon occurrence increased with both proximity to and intensity of urbanization, whereas bobcat, gray fox, and mountain lion occurrence decreased with urban proximity and intensity. Domestic dogs and Virginia opossums exhibited positive and weak negative relationships, respectively, with urban intensity but were unaffected by urban proximity. Striped skunk occurrence increased with urban proximity but decreased with urban intensity. Native species richness was negatively associated with urban intensity but not urban proximity, probably because of the stronger negative response of individual species to urban intensity.

Modelling both dominance and species distribution provides a more complete picture of changes to mangrove ecosystems under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Crase, Beth; Vesk, Peter A; Liedloff, Adam; Wintle, Brendan A

2015-08-01

Dominant species influence the composition and abundance of other species present in ecosystems. However, forecasts of distributional change under future climates have predominantly focused on changes in species distribution and ignored possible changes in spatial and temporal patterns of dominance. We develop forecasts of spatial changes for the distribution of species dominance, defined in terms of basal area, and for species occurrence, in response to sea level rise for three tree taxa within an extensive mangrove ecosystem in northern Australia. Three new metrics are provided, indicating the area expected to be suitable under future conditions (Eoccupied ), the instability of suitable area (Einstability ) and the overlap between the current and future spatial distribution (Eoverlap ). The current dominance and occurrence were modelled in relation to a set of environmental variables using boosted regression tree (BRT) models, under two scenarios of seedling establishment: unrestricted and highly restricted. While forecasts of spatial change were qualitatively similar for species occurrence and dominance, the models of species dominance exhibited higher metrics of model fit and predictive performance, and the spatial pattern of future dominance was less similar to the current pattern than was the case for the distributions of species occurrence. This highlights the possibility of greater changes in the spatial patterning of mangrove tree species dominance under future sea level rise. Under the restricted seedling establishment scenario, the area occupied by or dominated by a species declined between 42.1% and 93.8%, while for unrestricted seedling establishment, the area suitable for dominance or occurrence of each species varied from a decline of 68.4% to an expansion of 99.5%. As changes in the spatial patterning of dominance are likely to cause a cascade of effects throughout the ecosystem, forecasting spatial changes in dominance provides new and

Plant species distribution in relation to water-table depth and soil redox potential in montane riparian meadows

Science.gov (United States)

Kathleen A. Dwire; J. Boone Kauffman; John E. Baham

2006-01-01

The distribution of riparian plant species is largely driven by hydrologic and soil variables, and riparian plant communities frequently occur in relatively distinct zones along streamside elevational and soil textural gradients. In two montane meadows in northeast Oregon, USA, we examined plant species distribution in three riparian plant communities¡ªdefined as wet,...

Checklist of American sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae, Phlebotominae: genera, species, and their distribution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paloma Helena Fernandes Shimabukuro

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Phlebotomine sand flies are dipteran insects of medical importance because many species are involved in the transmission of pathogens between human and non-human animals. A total of 530 American species of sand flies is presented in an updated checklist, along with their author(s and year of publication using the classification by Galati (1995, 2003. Distribution by country is also provided.

Species abundance distributions in neutral models with immigration or mutation and general lifetimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Amaury

2011-07-01

We consider a general, neutral, dynamical model of biodiversity. Individuals have i.i.d. lifetime durations, which are not necessarily exponentially distributed, and each individual gives birth independently at constant rate λ. Thus, the population size is a homogeneous, binary Crump-Mode-Jagers process (which is not necessarily a Markov process). We assume that types are clonally inherited. We consider two classes of speciation models in this setting. In the immigration model, new individuals of an entirely new species singly enter the population at constant rate μ (e.g., from the mainland into the island). In the mutation model, each individual independently experiences point mutations in its germ line, at constant rate θ. We are interested in the species abundance distribution, i.e., in the numbers, denoted I(n)(k) in the immigration model and A(n)(k) in the mutation model, of species represented by k individuals, k = 1, 2, . . . , n, when there are n individuals in the total population. In the immigration model, we prove that the numbers (I(t)(k); k ≥ 1) of species represented by k individuals at time t, are independent Poisson variables with parameters as in Fisher's log-series. When conditioning on the total size of the population to equal n, this results in species abundance distributions given by Ewens' sampling formula. In particular, I(n)(k) converges as n → ∞ to a Poisson r.v. with mean γ/k, where γ : = μ/λ. In the mutation model, as n → ∞, we obtain the almost sure convergence of n (-1) A(n)(k) to a nonrandom explicit constant. In the case of a critical, linear birth-death process, this constant is given by Fisher's log-series, namely n(-1) A(n)(k) converges to α(k)/k, where α : = λ/(λ + θ). In both models, the abundances of the most abundant species are briefly discussed.

Standard test method for distribution coefficients of inorganic species by the batch method

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

2010-01-01

1.1 This test method covers the determination of distribution coefficients of chemical species to quantify uptake onto solid materials by a batch sorption technique. It is a laboratory method primarily intended to assess sorption of dissolved ionic species subject to migration through pores and interstices of site specific geomedia. It may also be applied to other materials such as manufactured adsorption media and construction materials. Application of the results to long-term field behavior is not addressed in this method. Distribution coefficients for radionuclides in selected geomedia are commonly determined for the purpose of assessing potential migratory behavior of contaminants in the subsurface of contaminated sites and waste disposal facilities. This test method is also applicable to studies for parametric studies of the variables and mechanisms which contribute to the measured distribution coefficient. 1.2 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement a...

Vertical water mass structure in the North Atlantic influences the bathymetric distribution of species in the deep-sea coral genus Paramuricea

Science.gov (United States)

Radice, Veronica Z.; Quattrini, Andrea M.; Wareham, Vonda E.; Edinger, Evan N.; Cordes, Erik E.

2016-10-01

Deep-sea corals are the structural foundation of their ecosystems along continental margins worldwide, yet the factors driving their broad distribution are poorly understood. Environmental factors, especially depth-related variables including water mass properties, are thought to considerably affect the realized distribution of deep-sea corals. These factors are governed by local and regional oceanographic conditions that directly influence the dispersal of larvae, and therefore affect the ultimate distribution of adult corals. We used molecular barcoding of mitochondrial and nuclear sequences to identify species of octocorals in the genus Paramuricea collected from the Labrador Sea to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, Canada at depths of 150-1500 m. The results of this study revealed overlapping bathymetric distributions of the Paramuricea species present off the eastern Canadian coast, including the presence of a few cryptic species previously designated as Paramuricea placomus. The distribution of Paramuricea species in the western North Atlantic differs from the Gulf of Mexico, where five Paramuricea species exhibit strong segregation by depth. The different patterns of Paramuricea species in these contrasting biogeographic regions provide insight into how water mass structure may shape species distribution. Investigating Paramuricea prevalence and distribution in conjunction with oceanographic conditions can help demonstrate the factors that generate and maintain deep-sea biodiversity.

Evaluating the combined effects of climate and land-use change on tree species distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garcia-Valdes, Raul; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Zavala, Miguel A.

2015-01-01

Summary: A large proportion of the world's biodiversity is reportedly threatened by habitat loss and climate change. However, there are few studies that investigate the interaction between these two threats using empirical data. Here, we investigate interactions between climate change and land-use...... change in the future distribution of 23 dominant tree species in mainland Spain. We simulated changes up to year 2100 using a climate-dependent Stochastic Patch Occupancy Model, parameterized with colonization and extinction events recorded in 46 596 survey plots. We estimated that the distribution of 17......% of the habitat, was estimated to reduce species occupancies (relative to baseline projections) by an average of 23% if habitat loss was spatially clumped, and by 35% if it was scattered. If habitat loss occurred in areas already impacted by human activities, species occupancies would be reduced by 26%. Land-use...

Species diversity and distribution patterns of the ants of Amazonian Ecuador.

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Kari T Ryder Wilkie

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Ants are among the most diverse, abundant and ecologically significant organisms on earth. Although their species richness appears to be greatest in the New World tropics, global patterns of ant diversity and distribution are not well understood. We comprehensively surveyed ant diversity in a lowland primary rainforest in Western Amazonia, Ecuador using canopy fogging, pitfall traps, baits, hand collecting, mini-Winkler devices and subterranean probes to sample ants. A total of 489 ant species comprising 64 genera in nine subfamilies were identified from samples collected in only 0.16 square kilometers. The most species-rich genera were Camponotus, Pheidole, Pseudomyrmex, Pachycondyla, Brachymyrmex, and Crematogaster. Camponotus and Pseudomyrmex were most diverse in the canopy, while Pheidole was most diverse on the ground. The three most abundant ground-dwelling ant genera were Pheidole, Solenopsis and Pyramica. Crematogaster carinata was the most abundant ant species in the canopy; Wasmannia auropunctata was most abundant on the ground, and the army ant Labidus coecus was the most abundant subterranean species. Ant species composition among strata was significantly different: 80% of species were found in only one stratum, 17% in two strata, and 3% in all three strata. Elevation and the number of logs and twigs available as nest sites were significant predictors of ground-dwelling ant species richness. Canopy species richness was not correlated with any ecological variable measured. Subterranean species richness was negatively correlated with depth in the soil. When ant species were categorized using a functional group matrix based on diet, nest-site preference and foraging ecology, the greatest diversity was found in Omnivorous Canopy Nesters. Our study indicates ant species richness is exceptionally high at Tiputini. We project 647-736 ant species in this global hotspot of biodiversity. Considering the relatively small area surveyed, this

Dimorphandra wilsonii Rizzini (Fabaceae: distribution, habitat and conservation status

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Fernando Moreira Fernandes

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Dimorphandra wilsonii Rizzini is a rare species. Although cited as endemic to the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, it has been recorded only for the municipalities of Paraopeba and Caetanópolis and therefore has not been extensively studied. This long-term, intensive survey, conducted from 2004 to 2012 in the central region of the state, was aimed at assessing its distribution, describing its habitat, and verifying its endemism, as well as assessing threats and determining its conservation status. Given the considerable size of the area to be studied and the difficulty of locating individuals of the species, we adopted popular participation as a complementary tool and we employed spatial distribution modeling. Communities were mobilized through the dissemination of print materials, and interviews were conducted. We visited 74 municipalities and addressed 900 people in search of this species. We found that D. wilsonii is endemic to the cerrado (savanna and Atlantic Forest in the central region of Minas Gerais, occurring in 16 municipalities. Is not present in any fully protected conservation area, and its population (fewer than 250 individuals is declining due to habitat destruction, caused mainly by agricultural/livestock and urban expansion, and its conservation status is "critically endangered".

A Spread Willingness Computing-Based Information Dissemination Model

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Zhiming; Zhang, Shukui

2014-01-01

This paper constructs a kind of spread willingness computing based on information dissemination model for social network. The model takes into account the impact of node degree and dissemination mechanism, combined with the complex network theory and dynamics of infectious diseases, and further establishes the dynamical evolution equations. Equations characterize the evolutionary relationship between different types of nodes with time. The spread willingness computing contains three factors which have impact on user's spread behavior: strength of the relationship between the nodes, views identity, and frequency of contact. Simulation results show that different degrees of nodes show the same trend in the network, and even if the degree of node is very small, there is likelihood of a large area of information dissemination. The weaker the relationship between nodes, the higher probability of views selection and the higher the frequency of contact with information so that information spreads rapidly and leads to a wide range of dissemination. As the dissemination probability and immune probability change, the speed of information dissemination is also changing accordingly. The studies meet social networking features and can help to master the behavior of users and understand and analyze characteristics of information dissemination in social network. PMID:25110738

A Spread Willingness Computing-Based Information Dissemination Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haojing Huang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper constructs a kind of spread willingness computing based on information dissemination model for social network. The model takes into account the impact of node degree and dissemination mechanism, combined with the complex network theory and dynamics of infectious diseases, and further establishes the dynamical evolution equations. Equations characterize the evolutionary relationship between different types of nodes with time. The spread willingness computing contains three factors which have impact on user’s spread behavior: strength of the relationship between the nodes, views identity, and frequency of contact. Simulation results show that different degrees of nodes show the same trend in the network, and even if the degree of node is very small, there is likelihood of a large area of information dissemination. The weaker the relationship between nodes, the higher probability of views selection and the higher the frequency of contact with information so that information spreads rapidly and leads to a wide range of dissemination. As the dissemination probability and immune probability change, the speed of information dissemination is also changing accordingly. The studies meet social networking features and can help to master the behavior of users and understand and analyze characteristics of information dissemination in social network.

Spatial distribution of seeds and seedlings of two tropical tree species: Is there correspondence between patterns?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parrado Rosselli, Angela

2007-01-01

The spatial patterns of seed and seedling distribution relative to parent trees (seed and seedling shadow, respectively) were studied for Dacryodes chimantensis (Burseraceae) and Brosimum utile (Moraceae), two common tree species of terra firme forests of Colombian Amazonia. The general objective was to assess whether the patterns imposed by seed dispersal change or persist in subsequent life stages occurring during the transition from seeds/saplings to adult stages. Seed and seedling shadows on the ground were characterized for each tree species along four 50-m radial transects from the base of the parent tree. Causes of seed and seedling predation as a function of distance to the parent tree were determined, as well as the spatial consistency between life stages. Results showed that seed density of both Dacryodes and Brosimum declined leptokurtically with distance, and it was skewed towards the parent tree. However, seed density was more skewed and leptokurtic in Dacryodes than in Brosimum. The overall trend was maintained in the seedling stage of both species and was positively correlated with the distribution patterns of seeds. Seed and seedling predation were positively correlated with density and negatively correlated with the distance from the parent tree. Factors that could be generating the high consistency between the spatial patterns of seed and seedling distribution are discussed, as well as its implications in the population structure of both species and the debate on the factors that influence the spatial distribution of plant species in tropical rain forests.

From ratites to rats: the size of fleshy fruits shapes species' distributions and continental rainforest assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossetto, Maurizio; Kooyman, Robert; Yap, Jia-Yee S; Laffan, Shawn W

2015-12-07

Seed dispersal is a key process in plant spatial dynamics. However, consistently applicable generalizations about dispersal across scales are mostly absent because of the constraints on measuring propagule dispersal distances for many species. Here, we focus on fleshy-fruited taxa, specifically taxa with large fleshy fruits and their dispersers across an entire continental rainforest biome. We compare species-level results of whole-chloroplast DNA analyses in sister taxa with large and small fruits, to regional plot-based samples (310 plots), and whole-continent patterns for the distribution of woody species with either large (more than 30 mm) or smaller fleshy fruits (1093 taxa). The pairwise genomic comparison found higher genetic distances between populations and between regions in the large-fruited species (Endiandra globosa), but higher overall diversity within the small-fruited species (Endiandra discolor). Floristic comparisons among plots confirmed lower numbers of large-fruited species in areas where more extreme rainforest contraction occurred, and re-colonization by small-fruited species readily dispersed by the available fauna. Species' distribution patterns showed that larger-fruited species had smaller geographical ranges than smaller-fruited species and locations with stable refugia (and high endemism) aligned with concentrations of large fleshy-fruited taxa, making them a potentially valuable conservation-planning indicator. © 2015 The Author(s).

Ferromanganese nodule fauna in the Tropical North Pacific Ocean: Species richness, faunal cover and spatial distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Veillette, Julie; Sarrazin, Jozée; Gooday, Andrew J.; Galéron, Joëlle; Caprais, Jean-Claude; Vangriesheim, Annick; Étoubleau, Joël; Christian, James R.; Kim Juniper, S.

2007-11-01

The poorly known ferromanganese nodule fauna is a widespread hard substratum community in the deep sea that will be considerably impacted by large-scale nodule mining operations. The objective of this study was to analyze the spatial distribution of the fauna attached to nodules in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone at two scales; a regional scale that includes the east (14°N, 130°W) and the west (9°N, 150°W) zones and a local scale in which different geological facies (A, B, C and west) are recognizable. The fauna associated with 235 nodules was quantitatively described: 104 nodules from the east zone (15 of facies A, 50 of facies B and 39 of facies C) and 131 nodules from the west zone. Percent cover was used to quantify the extent of colonization at the time of sampling, for 42 species out of the 62 live species observed. Fauna covered up to 18% of exposed nodule surface with an average of about 3%. While species richness increased with exposed nodule surface, both at the regional and at the facies scales (except for facies A), total species density decreased (again except for facies A). When all nodules were included in the statistical analysis, there was no relation between faunal cover and exposed nodule surface. Nevertheless, faunal cover did decrease with exposed nodule surface for the east zone in general and for both facies B and C in particular. Species distributions among facies were significantly different but explained only a very small portion of the variance (˜5%). We identified two groups of associated species: a first group of two species and a second group of six species. The other species (34) were independently distributed, suggesting that species interactions play only a minor role in the spatial distribution of nodule fauna. The flux of particulate organic carbon to the bottom is the only major environmental factor considered to vary between the two zones within this study. We conclude that the higher species richness and higher

Climate and soil type together explain the distribution of microendemic species in a biodiversity hotspot.

Science.gov (United States)

Nattier, Romain; Grandcolas, Philippe; Pellens, Roseli; Jourdan, Hervé; Couloux, Arnaud; Poulain, Simon; Robillard, Tony

2013-01-01

The grasshopper genus Caledonula, endemic to New Caledonia, was studied to understand the evolution of species distributions in relation to climate and soil types. Based on a comprehensive sampling of 80 locations throughout the island, the genus was represented by five species, four of which are new to science, of which three are described here. All the species have limited distributions in New Caledonia. Bioclimatic niche modelling shows that all the species were found in association with a wet climate and reduced seasonality, explaining their restriction to the southern half of the island. The results suggest that the genus was ancestrally constrained by seasonality. A molecular phylogeny was reconstructed using two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers. The partially resolved tree showed monophyly of the species found on metalliferous soils, and molecular dating indicated a rather recent origin for the genus. Adaptation to metalliferous soils is suggested by both morphological changes and radiation on these soils. The genus Caledonula is therefore a good model to understand the origin of microendemism in the context of recent and mixed influences of climate and soil type.

Dispersal limitation does not control high elevational distribution of alien plant species in the southern Sierra Nevada, California

Science.gov (United States)

Rundel, Philip W.; Keeley, Jon E.

2016-01-01

Patterns of elevational distribution of alien plant species in the southern Sierra Nevada of California were used to test the hypothesis that alien plant species invading high elevations around the world are typically climate generalists capable of growing across a wide elevational range. The Sierra Nevada has been heavily impacted for more than a century and a half, first by heavy grazing up into high elevation meadows, followed by major logging, and finally, by impacts associated with recreational use. The comparative elevational patterns of distribution and growth form were compared for native and alien plant species in the four families (Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae) that contribute the majority of naturalized aliens in the study area. The distribution of realized climatic niche breadth, as measured by elevational range of occurrence, was virtually identical for alien and native species, with both groups showing a roughly Gaussian distribution peaking with species whose range covers a span of 1500–1999 m. In contrast to alien species, which only rarely occurred at higher elevations, native species showed a distribution of upper elevation limits peaking at 3000–3499 m, an elevation that corresponds to the zone of upper montane and subalpine forests. Consistent with a hypothesis of abiotic limitations, only a few alien species have been ecologically successful invaders at subalpine and alpine elevations above 2500 m. The low diversity of aliens able to become established in these habitats is unlikely due to dispersal limitations, given the long history of heavy grazing pressure at high elevations across this region. Instead, this low diversity is hypothesized to be a function of life history traits and multiple abiotic stresses that include extremes of cold air and soil temperature, heavy snowfall, short growing seasons, and low resource availability. These findings have significant implications for resource managers.

POPIN Working Group on Dissemination of Population Information: Report on the meeting held from 2 to 4 April 1984.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-12-01

The objectives of this meeting were: to analyze the general dissemination strategy and functions of POPIN member organizations and assess the methods currently employed to identify users; to select publications or other information output and evaluate how they are being distributed and how procedures for the selective dissemination of information are developed; to develop guidelines for determining the potential audience and reader's interests; to discuss the methodology for maintaining a register of readers' interest; to develop guidelines for establishing linds with key press and broadcasting agencies to ensure rapid dissemination of information; to dientify media and organizations currently involved in the dissemination of population information; to document experience and provide recommendations for the utilization of innovative approaches to serve audiences; and to explore ways and means to meet the special needs of policy makers. Problem areas in population information dissemination were identified at the meeting as well as priority areas in meeting speical information needs of policy makers. Collection of information for dissemination is difficult, costly and time-consuming; there is a shortage of staff trained in the repackaging and dissemination of population information; the direct use of the mass media for information dissemination is still very limited; and financial resources are limited. Priority areas include: compilation of a calendar of events or meetings; conducting media surveys and inventories of population infromation centers and their services and compilation of results; resource development through product marketing and preparation of resource catalogues; and preparation of executive summaries highlighting policy implications to facilitate policy making. Recommendations include: promotion of training and technical assistance in population information activities by the POPIN Coordinating Unit; encouraging member organizations with relevant

What Limits the Distribution of Liriomyza huidobrensis and Its Congener Liriomyza sativae in Their Native Niche: When Temperature and Competition Affect Species' Distribution Range in Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Castañeda, G; MacVean, C; Cardona, C; Hof, A R

2017-07-01

Factors limiting distribution range for most species are generally unknown regardless of whether they are native or invasive. We studied factors that could enable or restrict the distribution of two cosmopolitan invasive leafminer fly species, Liriomyza huidobrensis (Blanchard) and Liriomyza sativae (Blanchard) in their native niche. In order to test which ecological and environmental factors affect leafminer distribution we conducted thermal tolerance assays, sampled along elevation gradients and modeled species distribution. Findings from the field and rearing chambers showed a physiological restriction due to high temperatures for L. huidobrensis at 28-29 °C, above which adult emergence is compromised. We also found that maximum temperatures below 22 °C, typical of tropical highlands, favored L. huidobrensis. L. sativae was found across a wider temperature range (i.e., from 21 to 36 °C) in Guatemala. Our finding of a physiological threshold in temperature for L. huidobrensis may enable us to predict its invasive risk when combined with the environmental conditions at horticultural ports of entry and the global agricultural landscape. Further, it strengthens our predictions on shifts in distribution of the leafminer fly under future climate. We also found a temperature mediated competitive exclusion interaction between the two herbivore species, where L. sativae occurred at temperatures < 22 °C only in the absence of L. huidobrensis. We show that parasitoids had a negative effect on the leafminer flies, which varied with host plant. Finally, we show the importance of taking a multiaspect approach when investigating what limits distribution and invasiveness of a species. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

Current Knowledge of Leishmania Vectors in Mexico: How Geographic Distributions of Species Relate to Transmission Areas

Science.gov (United States)

González, Camila; Rebollar-Téllez, Eduardo A.; Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio; Becker-Fauser, Ingeborg; Martínez-Meyer, Enrique; Peterson, A. Townsend; Sánchez-Cordero, Víctor

2011-01-01

Leishmaniases are a group of vector-borne diseases with different clinical manifestations caused by parasites transmitted by sand fly vectors. In Mexico, the sand fly Lutzomyia olmeca olmeca is the only vector proven to transmit the parasite Leishmania mexicana to humans, which causes leishmaniasis. Other vector species with potential medical importance have been obtained, but their geographic distributions and relation to transmission areas have never been assessed. We modeled the ecological niches of nine sand fly species and projected niches to estimate potential distributions by using known occurrences, environmental coverages, and the algorithms GARP and Maxent. All vector species were distributed in areas with known recurrent transmission, except for Lu. diabolica, which appeared to be related only to areas of occasional transmission in northern Mexico. The distribution of Lu. o. olmeca does not overlap with all reported cutaneous leishmaniasis cases, suggesting that Lu. cruciata and Lu. shannoni are likely also involved as primary vectors in those areas. Our study provides useful information of potential risk areas of leishmaniasis transmission in Mexico. PMID:22049037

Estimating species occurrence, abundance, and detection probability using zero-inflated distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wenger, Seth J; Freeman, Mary C

2008-10-01

Researchers have developed methods to account for imperfect detection of species with either occupancy (presence absence) or count data using replicated sampling. We show how these approaches can be combined to simultaneously estimate occurrence, abundance, and detection probability by specifying a zero-inflated distribution for abundance. This approach may be particularly appropriate when patterns of occurrence and abundance arise from distinct processes operating at differing spatial or temporal scales. We apply the model to two data sets: (1) previously published data for a species of duck, Anas platyrhynchos, and (2) data for a stream fish species, Etheostoma scotti. We show that in these cases, an incomplete-detection zero-inflated modeling approach yields a superior fit to the data than other models. We propose that zero-inflated abundance models accounting for incomplete detection be considered when replicate count data are available.

Zinc species distribution in EDTA-extract residues of zinc-contaminated soil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, S.-H.; Wei, Y.-L.; Wang, H. Paul

2007-01-01

Soil sample from a site heavily contaminated with >10 wt.% zinc is sampled and extracted with aqueous solutions of ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) that is a reagent frequently used to extract heavy metals in soil remediation. Three liquid/soil ratios (5/1, 20/1, and 100/1) were used in the extracting experiment. The molecular environment of the residual Zn in the EDTA-extract residues of zinc-contaminated soil is investigated with XANES technique. The results indicate that EDTA does not show considerable preference of chelating for any particular Zn species during the extraction. Zn species distribution in the sampled soil is found to resemble that in all EDTA-extract residues; Zn(OH) 2 is determined as the major zinc species (60-70%), seconded by organic zinc (21-26%) and zinc oxide (9-14%)

Evolution of diffusion and dissemination theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Dearing, James W

2008-01-01

The article provides a review and considers how the diffusion of innovations Research paradigm has changed, and offers suggestions for the further development of this theory of social change. Main emphases of diffusion Research studies are compared over time, with special attention to applications of diffusion theory-based concepts as types of dissemination science. A considerable degree of paradigmatic evolution is observed. The classical diffusion model focused on adopter innovativeness, individuals as the locus of decision, communication channels, and adoption as the primary outcome measures in post hoc observational study designs. The diffusion systems in question were centralized, with fidelity of implementation often assumed. Current dissemination Research and practice is better characterized by tests of interventions that operationalize one or more diffusion theory-based concepts and concepts from other change approaches, involve complex organizations as the units of adoption, and focus on implementation issues. Foment characterizes dissemination and implementation Research, Reflecting both its interdisciplinary Roots and the imperative of spreading evidence-based innovations as a basis for a new paradigm of translational studies of dissemination science.

Intracranial tumors with risk of dissemination in neuroaxis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calvo, F.A.; Hornedo, J.; de la Torre, A.; Sachetti, A.; Arellano, A.; Aramburo, P.; Aragon, G.; Otero, J.

1983-01-01

The experience of the Radiotherapy Service, Clinica Puerta de Hierro, Madrid (Spain), in the treatment of intracranial tumors with risk of neural axis dissemination is analyzed. In 15 years (1964 to 1979) 415 primary central nervous system tumors were studied and treated; 67 corresponded to tumors with risk of meningeal dissemination. Clinical dissemination in cerebrospinal fluid was proven in 14 patients. The actuarial survival of 10 years for patients with neural axis dissemination, without prophylactic treatment to the neuroaxis, is 14% with an average survival of 10.5 months. In approximately 20% of meduloblastomas, ependymal and pineal region tumors, meningeal metastases at some distance from the primary tumor can take place. Patients at risk with these types of neoplasia must be identified, ad an adequate radical therapeutic focus devised, not only for the primary tumor, but also for the risk of dissemination

A species-specific nucleosomal signature defines a periodic distribution of amino acids in proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintales, Luis; Soriano, Ignacio; Vázquez, Enrique; Segurado, Mónica; Antequera, Francisco

2015-04-01

Nucleosomes are the basic structural units of chromatin. Most of the yeast genome is organized in a pattern of positioned nucleosomes that is stably maintained under a wide range of physiological conditions. In this work, we have searched for sequence determinants associated with positioned nucleosomes in four species of fission and budding yeasts. We show that mononucleosomal DNA follows a highly structured base composition pattern, which differs among species despite the high degree of histone conservation. These nucleosomal signatures are present in transcribed and non-transcribed regions across the genome. In the case of open reading frames, they correctly predict the relative distribution of codons on mononucleosomal DNA, and they also determine a periodicity in the average distribution of amino acids along the proteins. These results establish a direct and species-specific connection between the position of each codon around the histone octamer and protein composition.

Diversity distribution patterns of Chinese endemic seed plant species and their implications for conservation planning

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jihong; Huang, Jianhua; Lu, Xinghui; Ma, Keping

2016-01-01

Endemism is an important concept in biogeography and biodiversity conservation. China is one of the richest countries in biodiversity, with very high levels of plant endemism. In this study, we analysed the distribution patterns of diversity, the degree of differentiation, and the endemicity of Chinese endemic seed plants using the floristic unit as a basic spatial analysis unit and 11 indices. The analysis was based on distribution data of 24,951 native seed plant species (excluding subspecies and varieties) and 12,980 Chinese endemic seed plant species, which were sourced from both specimen records and published references. The distribution patterns of Chinese endemic flora were generally consistent but disproportionate across China for diversity, degree of differentiation and endemicity. The South Hengduan Mountains Subregion had the highest values for all indices. At the regional level, both the Hengduan Mountains and the Central China regions were highest in diversity and degrees of differentiation. However, both the rate of local endemic to native species and the rate of local to Chinese endemic species were highest in the Taiwan Region and the South Taiwan Region. The Hengduan Mountains Region and the Central China Region are two key conservation priority areas for Chinese endemic seed plants. PMID:27658845

What do we gain from simplicity versus complexity in species distribution models?

Science.gov (United States)

Merow, Cory; Smith, Matthew J.; Edwards, Thomas C.; Guisan, Antoine; McMahon, Sean M.; Normand, Signe; Thuiller, Wilfried; Wuest, Rafael O.; Zimmermann, Niklaus E.; Elith, Jane

2014-01-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to explain and predict species ranges and environmental niches. They are most commonly constructed by inferring species' occurrence–environment relationships using statistical and machine-learning methods. The variety of methods that can be used to construct SDMs (e.g. generalized linear/additive models, tree-based models, maximum entropy, etc.), and the variety of ways that such models can be implemented, permits substantial flexibility in SDM complexity. Building models with an appropriate amount of complexity for the study objectives is critical for robust inference. We characterize complexity as the shape of the inferred occurrence–environment relationships and the number of parameters used to describe them, and search for insights into whether additional complexity is informative or superfluous. By building ‘under fit’ models, having insufficient flexibility to describe observed occurrence–environment relationships, we risk misunderstanding the factors shaping species distributions. By building ‘over fit’ models, with excessive flexibility, we risk inadvertently ascribing pattern to noise or building opaque models. However, model selection can be challenging, especially when comparing models constructed under different modeling approaches. Here we argue for a more pragmatic approach: researchers should constrain the complexity of their models based on study objective, attributes of the data, and an understanding of how these interact with the underlying biological processes. We discuss guidelines for balancing under fitting with over fitting and consequently how complexity affects decisions made during model building. Although some generalities are possible, our discussion reflects differences in opinions that favor simpler versus more complex models. We conclude that combining insights from both simple and complex SDM building approaches best advances our knowledge of current and future species

The effects of drainage on groundwater quality and plant species distribution in stream valley meadows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grootjans, A.P.; Diggelen, R. van; Wassen, M.J.; Wiersinga, W.A.

1988-01-01

Conditions in fen meadows in Dutch stream valleys are influenced by both deep (Ca2+-rich) and shallow (Ca2+-poor) groundwater flows. The distribution patterns of phreatophytic (groundwater-influenced) plant species showed distinct relationships with the distribution of different groundwater types.

Spatial Distribution of Reef Fish Species along the Southeast US Atlantic Coast Inferred from Underwater Video Survey Data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan M Bacheler

Full Text Available Marine fish abundance and distribution often varies across spatial scales for a variety of reasons, and this variability has significant ecological and management consequences. We quantified the distribution of reef-associated fish species along the southeast United States Atlantic coast using underwater video survey samples (N = 4,855 in 2011-2014 to elucidate variability within species across space, depths, and habitats, as well as describe broad-scale patterns in species richness. Thirty-two species were seen at least 10 times on video, and the most commonly observed species were red porgy (Pagrus pagrus; 41.4% of videos, gray triggerfish (Balistes capriscus; 31.0%, black sea bass (Centropristis striata; 29.1%, vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens; 27.7%, and red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus; 22.6%. Using generalized additive models, we found that most species were non-randomly distributed across space, depths, and habitats. Most rare species were observed along the continental shelf break, except for goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara, which was found on the continental shelf in Florida and Georgia. We also observed higher numbers of species in shelf-break habitats from southern North Carolina to Georgia, and fewer in shallower water and at the northern and southern ends of the southeast United States Atlantic coast. Our study provides the first broad-scale description of the spatial distribution of reef fish in the region to be based on fishery-independent data, reinforces the utility of underwater video to survey reef fish, and can help improve the management of reef fish in the SEUS, for example, by improving indices of abundance.

Drivers of extinction risk in African mammals: the interplay of distribution state, human pressure, conservation response and species biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Marco, Moreno; Buchanan, Graeme M; Szantoi, Zoltan; Holmgren, Milena; Grottolo Marasini, Gabriele; Gross, Dorit; Tranquilli, Sandra; Boitani, Luigi; Rondinini, Carlo

2014-01-01

Although conservation intervention has reversed the decline of some species, our success is outweighed by a much larger number of species moving towards extinction. Extinction risk modelling can identify correlates of risk and species not yet recognized to be threatened. Here, we use machine learning models to identify correlates of extinction risk in African terrestrial mammals using a set of variables belonging to four classes: species distribution state, human pressures, conservation response and species biology. We derived information on distribution state and human pressure from satellite-borne imagery. Variables in all four classes were identified as important predictors of extinction risk, and interactions were observed among variables in different classes (e.g. level of protection, human threats, species distribution ranges). Species biology had a key role in mediating the effect of external variables. The model was 90% accurate in classifying extinction risk status of species, but in a few cases the observed and modelled extinction risk mismatched. Species in this condition might suffer from an incorrect classification of extinction risk (hence require reassessment). An increased availability of satellite imagery combined with improved resolution and classification accuracy of the resulting maps will play a progressively greater role in conservation monitoring.

Clinical characteristics associated with the intracranial dissemination of gliomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Xu; Qin, Jun-Jie; Hao, Shu-Yu; Li, Huan; Zeng, Chun; Sun, Sheng-Jun; Yu, Lan-Bing; Gao, Zhi-Xian; Xie, Jian

2018-03-01

Glioma is the most common malignant tumor of the brain and the intracranial dissemination of gliomas is the late stage of the development of the tumor. However, there is little research in literature on the occurrence of intracranial dissemination of gliomas. In order to provide a reference for clinical work, we carried out this study on intracranial dissemination of glioma. A total of 629 patients with gliomas received tumor resection by the same surgeon from August 2010 to September 2015 were included in this study. The authors performed a retrospective review of the patients and the information regarding clinical features, histopathological results, molecular pathologic results and clinical outcomes was collected and analyzed. In this retrospective study, we found that the intracranial dissemination phenomenon occurred in 53 patients (8.43%). We analyzed the clinical characteristics of patients and found that the age at diagnosis (P = 0.011), WHO grade of the tumor (P dissemination. The higher grade of the tumor, the more prone to disseminate. Deletion of 1p/19q had no significant correlation with the intracranial dissemination. MMP9, Ki-67, and EGFR were highly expressed in tumor cells that caused dissemination, and the level of Ki-67 expression had significance in statistics (P 40 years), high pathological grade, invasion of the corpus callosum and high levels of Ki-67 expression were risk factors associated with the intracranial dissemination of gliomas. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Species distribution modelling for conservation of an endangered endemic orchid.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hsiao-Hsuan; Wonkka, Carissa L; Treglia, Michael L; Grant, William E; Smeins, Fred E; Rogers, William E

2015-04-21

Concerns regarding the long-term viability of threatened and endangered plant species are increasingly warranted given the potential impacts of climate change and habitat fragmentation on unstable and isolated populations. Orchidaceae is the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants, but it is currently facing unprecedented risks of extinction. Despite substantial conservation emphasis on rare orchids, populations continue to decline. Spiranthes parksii (Navasota ladies' tresses) is a federally and state-listed endangered terrestrial orchid endemic to central Texas. Hence, we aimed to identify potential factors influencing the distribution of the species, quantify the relative importance of each factor and determine suitable habitat for future surveys and targeted conservation efforts. We analysed several geo-referenced variables describing climatic conditions and landscape features to identify potential factors influencing the likelihood of occurrence of S. parksii using boosted regression trees. Our model classified 97 % of the cells correctly with regard to species presence and absence, and indicated that probability of existence was correlated with climatic conditions and landscape features. The most influential variables were mean annual precipitation, mean elevation, mean annual minimum temperature and mean annual maximum temperature. The most likely suitable range for S. parksii was the eastern portions of Leon and Madison Counties, the southern portion of Brazos County, a portion of northern Grimes County and along the borders between Burleson and Washington Counties. Our model can assist in the development of an integrated conservation strategy through: (i) focussing future survey and research efforts on areas with a high likelihood of occurrence, (ii) aiding in selection of areas for conservation and restoration and (iii) framing future research questions including those necessary for predicting responses to climate change. Our model could also

Maxent modeling for predicting the potential geographical distribution of two peony species under climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Keliang; Yao, Linjun; Meng, Jiasong; Tao, Jun

2018-09-01

Paeonia (Paeoniaceae), an economically important plant genus, includes many popular ornamentals and medicinal plant species used in traditional Chinese medicine. Little is known about the properties of the habitat distribution and the important eco-environmental factors shaping the suitability. Based on high-resolution environmental data for current and future climate scenarios, we modeled the present and future suitable habitat for P. delavayi and P. rockii by Maxent, evaluated the importance of environmental factors in shaping their distribution, and identified distribution shifts under climate change scenarios. The results showed that the moderate and high suitable areas for P. delavayi and P. rockii encompassed ca. 4.46×10 5 km 2 and 1.89×10 5 km 2 , respectively. Temperature seasonality and isothermality were identified as the most critical factors shaping P. delavayi distribution, and UVB-4 and annual precipitation were identified as the most critical for shaping P. rockii distribution. Under the scenario with a low concentration of greenhouse gas emissions (RCP2.6), the range of both species increased as global warming intensified; however, under the scenario with higher concentrations of emissions (RCP8.5), the suitable habitat range of P. delavayi decreased while P. rockii increased. Overall, our prediction showed that a shift in distribution of suitable habitat to higher elevations would gradually become more significant. The information gained from this study should provide a useful reference for implementing long-term conservation and management strategies for these species. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Species richness and distribution patterns of echinoderms in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean (34-56°S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valeria Souto

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to compile and analyse available historical information on echinoderms in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean in order to make a synthesis of present taxonomical knowledge, to identify patterns of geographical distribution of echinoderm assemblages and to test the validity of the current zoogeographic scheme for this group. This study was conducted on the Argentinean continental shelf, southwestern Atlantic Ocean (34-56°S. An intensive research on geo-referenced data was carried out to make a knowledge synthesis on echinoderm species and thus create a historical database. Multivariate analysis was used to analyse the faunal composition through latitudinal and bathymetric gradients as well as echinoderm associations. The results confirmed the existence of two faunal associations that correspond to the traditional zoogeographic scheme established for the Argentine Sea: the Argentinean and Magellan Provinces. The Argentinean Province had 46 widely distributed species. Of the 86 species recorded in the Magellan Province, a high percentage (25% were also found in Antarctic waters, suggesting a strong connection between the echinoderm fauna of this province and the Antarctic Region. The species richness between 34 and 56°S in the Atlantic Ocean showed a significant increase in reference to latitude, with the highest values being recorded between 46 and 56°S. In view of the high percentage of shared species with Antarctica, considered a hot-spot region in terms of echinoderm diversity, the pattern of distribution of species richness observed in our study area could correspond to a dispersion of this species from Antarctic to sub-Antarctic regions.

Comprehensive analysis of information dissemination in disasters

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, N.; Huang, H.; Su, Boni

2016-11-01

China is a country that experiences a large number of disasters. The number of deaths caused by large-scale disasters and accidents in past 10 years is around 900,000. More than 92.8 percent of these deaths could be avoided if there were an effective pre-warning system deployed. Knowledge of the information dissemination characteristics of different information media taking into consideration governmental assistance (information published by a government) in disasters in urban areas, plays a critical role in increasing response time and reducing the number of deaths and economic losses. In this paper we have developed a comprehensive information dissemination model to optimize efficiency of pre-warning mechanics. This model also can be used for disseminating information for evacuees making real-time evacuation plans. We analyzed every single information dissemination models for pre-warning in disasters by considering 14 media: short message service (SMS), phone, television, radio, news portals, Wechat, microblogs, email, newspapers, loudspeaker vehicles, loudspeakers, oral communication, and passive information acquisition via visual and auditory senses. Since governmental assistance is very useful in a disaster, we calculated the sensitivity of governmental assistance ratio. The results provide useful references for information dissemination during disasters in urban areas.

Accounting for selection bias in species distribution models: An econometric approach on forested trees based on structural modeling

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Ay, Jean-Sauveur; Guillemot, Joannès; Martin-StPaul, Nicolas K.; Doyen, Luc; Leadley, Paul

2015-04-01

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to study and predict the outcome of global change on species. In human dominated ecosystems the presence of a given species is the result of both its ecological suitability and human footprint on nature such as land use choices. Land use choices may thus be responsible for a selection bias in the presence/absence data used in SDM calibration. We present a structural modelling approach (i.e. based on structural equation modelling) that accounts for this selection bias. The new structural species distribution model (SSDM) estimates simultaneously land use choices and species responses to bioclimatic variables. A land use equation based on an econometric model of landowner choices was joined to an equation of species response to bioclimatic variables. SSDM allows the residuals of both equations to be dependent, taking into account the possibility of shared omitted variables and measurement errors. We provide a general description of the statistical theory and a set of application on forested trees over France using databases of climate and forest inventory at different spatial resolution (from 2km to 8 km). We also compared the output of the SSDM with outputs of a classical SDM in term of bioclimatic response curves and potential distribution under current climate. According to the species and the spatial resolution of the calibration dataset, shapes of bioclimatic response curves the modelled species distribution maps differed markedly between the SSDM and classical SDMs. The magnitude and directions of these differences were dependent on the correlations between the errors from both equations and were highest for higher spatial resolutions. A first conclusion is that the use of classical SDMs can potentially lead to strong miss-estimation of the actual and future probability of presence modelled. Beyond this selection bias, the SSDM we propose represents a crucial step to account for economic constraints on tree

Species distribution modeling for the invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Austria and first range predictions for alpine environments

OpenAIRE

Duscher Tanja; Nopp-Mayr Ursula

2017-01-01

Species distribution models are important tools for wildlife management planning, particularly in the case of invasive species. We employed a recent framework for niche-based invasive species distribution modeling to predict the probability of presence for the invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Austria. The raccoon dog is an adaptive, mobile and highly reproductive Asiatic canid that has successfully invaded many parts of Europe. It is known...

Multi-Scale Dissemination of Time Series Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guo, Qingsong; Zhou, Yongluan; Su, Li

2013-01-01

In this paper, we consider the problem of continuous dissemination of time series data, such as sensor measurements, to a large number of subscribers. These subscribers fall into multiple subscription levels, where each subscription level is specified by the bandwidth constraint of a subscriber......, which is an abstract indicator for both the physical limits and the amount of data that the subscriber would like to handle. To handle this problem, we propose a system framework for multi-scale time series data dissemination that employs a typical tree-based dissemination network and existing time...

Transferability of species distribution models: a functional habitat approach for two regionally threatened butterflies.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanreusel, Wouter; Maes, Dirk; Van Dyck, Hans

2007-02-01

Numerous models for predicting species distribution have been developed for conservation purposes. Most of them make use of environmental data (e.g., climate, topography, land use) at a coarse grid resolution (often kilometres). Such approaches are useful for conservation policy issues including reserve-network selection. The efficiency of predictive models for species distribution is usually tested on the area for which they were developed. Although highly interesting from the point of view of conservation efficiency, transferability of such models to independent areas is still under debate. We tested the transferability of habitat-based predictive distribution models for two regionally threatened butterflies, the green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) and the grayling (Hipparchia semele), within and among three nature reserves in northeastern Belgium. We built predictive models based on spatially detailed maps of area-wide distribution and density of ecological resources. We used resources directly related to ecological functions (host plants, nectar sources, shelter, microclimate) rather than environmental surrogate variables. We obtained models that performed well with few resource variables. All models were transferable--although to different degrees--among the independent areas within the same broad geographical region. We argue that habitat models based on essential functional resources could transfer better in space than models that use indirect environmental variables. Because functional variables can easily be interpreted and even be directly affected by terrain managers, these models can be useful tools to guide species-adapted reserve management.

A new species of Desmopachria Babington (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae) from Cuba with a prediction of its geographic distribution and notes on other Cuban species of the genus.

Science.gov (United States)

Megna, Yoandri S; Sánchez-Fernández, David

2014-01-10

A new species, Desmopachria andreae sp. n. is described from Cuba. Diagnostic characters including illustrations of male genitalia are provided and illustrated for the five species of the genus occurring on the island. For these five species both a simple key to adults and maps of their known distribution in Cuba are also provided. Using a Maximun Entropy method (MaxEnt), a distribution model was developed for D. andreae sp.n. Based on the model's predictions, this species has a higher probability of occurring in high altitude forests (above 1000 m a.s.l.), characterised by relatively low temperatures especially during the hottest and wettest seasons, specifically, the mountainous areas of the Macizo de Guamuhaya (Central Cuba), Sierra Maestra (S Cuba) and Nipe-Sagua-Baracoa (NE Cuba). In some of these areas the species has not yet been recorded, and should be searched for in future field surveys.

Distribution, habitat affinities and phenology of the Micrargus herbigradus-species group (Araneae: Linyphiidae) in Poland.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiśniewski, Konrad; Rozwałka, Robert; Wesołowska, Wanda

2018-01-01

We review the known information on the distribution and habitat affinities of the Micrargus herbigradus -species group in Poland. The analysis is based on a thorough literature survey, our own materials, and verification of some older collections. We give new diagnostic drawings and review the characters that are useful in identification of species within the group. Three species are present in Poland: M. herbigradus (Blackwall, 1854), M. apertus (O.-P. Cambridge, 1870) and M. georgescuae Millidge, 1976. The latter is recorded for the first time in the country, and we add numerous new localities for the two former species. Micrargus herbigradus is common and widespread in Poland, living in various habitats, with only a slight preference to forests. In contrast, M. apertus is widely distributed but rarely found, while its affinity to forests is the highest within the group. The records of this species are most numerous in lowland forests (up to c. 300 m a.s.l), but it can also be found at higher altitudes. M. georgescuae is found only in montane habitats, both in the Sudetes and the Carpathian Mountains, from above 650 m a.s.l. The adults of all three species occur the whole year round, but seem to be most abundant in May and June.

A hazard-independent approach for the standardised multi-channel dissemination of warning messages

Science.gov (United States)

Esbri Palomares, M. A.; Hammitzsch, M.; Lendholt, M.

2012-04-01

The tsunami disaster affecting the Indian Ocean region on Christmas 2004 demonstrated very clearly the shortcomings in tsunami detection, public warning processes as well as intergovernmental warning message exchange in the Indian Ocean region. In that regard, early warning systems require that the dissemination of early warning messages has to be executed in way that ensures that the message delivery is timely; the message content is understandable, usable and accurate. To that end, diverse and multiple dissemination channels must be used to increase the chance of the messages reaching all affected persons in a hazard scenario. In addition to this, usage of internationally accepted standards for the warning dissemination such as the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element specified by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) increase the interoperability among different warning systems enabling thus the concept of system-of-systems proposed by GEOSS. The project Distant Early Warning System (DEWS), co-funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme, aims at strengthening the early warning capacities by building an innovative generation of interoperable tsunami early warning systems based on the above mentioned concepts following a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) approach. The project focuses on the downstream part of the hazard information processing where customized, user-tailored warning messages and alerts flow from the warning centre to the responsible authorities and/or the public with their different needs and responsibilities. The information logistics services within DEWS generate tailored EDXL-DE/CAP warning messages for each user that must receive the message according to their preferences, e.g., settings for language, interested areas, dissemination channels, etc.. However, the significant difference in the implementation and

Public health information and statistics dissemination efforts for Indonesia on the Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanani, Febiana; Kobayashi, Takashi; Jo, Eitetsu; Nakajima, Sawako; Oyama, Hiroshi

2011-01-01

To elucidate current issues related to health statistics dissemination efforts on the Internet in Indonesia and to propose a new dissemination website as a solution. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Sources of statistics were identified using link relationship and Google™ search. Menu used to locate statistics, mode of presentation and means of access to statistics, and available statistics were assessed for each site. Assessment results were used to derive design specification; a prototype system was developed and evaluated with usability test. 49 sources were identified on 18 governmental, 8 international and 5 non-government websites. Of 49 menus identified, 33% used non-intuitive titles and lead to inefficient search. 69% of them were on government websites. Of 31 websites, only 39% and 23% used graph/chart and map for presentation. Further, only 32%, 39% and 19% provided query, export and print feature. While >50% sources reported morbidity, risk factor and service provision statistics, disseminate statistics in Indonesia are supported by non-governmental and international organizations and existing their information may not be very useful because it is: a) not widely distributed, b) difficult to locate, and c) not effectively communicated. Actions are needed to ensure information usability, and one of such actions is the development of statistics portal website.

Location Prediction-Based Data Dissemination Using Swarm Intelligence in Opportunistic Cognitive Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Swarm intelligence is widely used in the application of communication networks. In this paper we adopt a biologically inspired strategy to investigate the data dissemination problem in the opportunistic cognitive networks (OCNs. We model the system as a centralized and distributed hybrid system including a location prediction server and a pervasive environment deploying the large-scale human-centric devices. To exploit such environment, data gathering and dissemination are fundamentally based on the contact opportunities. To tackle the lack of contemporaneous end-to-end connectivity in opportunistic networks, we apply ant colony optimization as a cognitive heuristic technology to formulate a self-adaptive dissemination-based routing scheme in opportunistic cognitive networks. This routing strategy has attempted to find the most appropriate nodes conveying messages to the destination node based on the location prediction information and intimacy between nodes, which uses the online unsupervised learning on geographical locations and the biologically inspired algorithm on the relationship of nodes to estimate the delivery probability. Extensive simulation is carried out on the real-world traces to evaluate the accuracy of the location prediction and the proposed scheme in terms of transmission cost, delivery ratio, average hops, and delivery latency, which achieves better routing performances compared to the typical routing schemes in OCNs.

44 CFR 19.140 - Dissemination of policy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ACTIVITIES RECEIVING FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Introduction § 19.140 Dissemination of policy. (a... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Dissemination of policy. 19.140 Section 19.140 Emergency Management and Assistance FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, DEPARTMENT...

Probabilistic accounting of uncertainty in forecasts of species distributions under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Seth J. Wenger; Nicholas A. Som; Daniel C. Dauwalter; Daniel J. Isaak; Helen M. Neville; Charles H. Luce; Jason B. Dunham; Michael K. Young; Kurt D. Fausch; Bruce E. Rieman

2013-01-01

Forecasts of species distributions under future climates are inherently uncertain, but there have been few attempts to describe this uncertainty comprehensively in a probabilistic manner. We developed a Monte Carlo approach that accounts for uncertainty within generalized linear regression models (parameter uncertainty and residual error), uncertainty among competing...

Environmental factors prevail over dispersal constraints in determining the distribution and assembly of Trichoptera species in mountain lakes.

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de Mendoza, Guillermo; Ventura, Marc; Catalan, Jordi

2015-07-01

Aiming to elucidate whether large-scale dispersal factors or environmental species sorting prevail in determining patterns of Trichoptera species composition in mountain lakes, we analyzed the distribution and assembly of the most common Trichoptera (Plectrocnemia laetabilis, Polycentropus flavomaculatus, Drusus rectus, Annitella pyrenaea, and Mystacides azurea) in the mountain lakes of the Pyrenees (Spain, France, Andorra) based on a survey of 82 lakes covering the geographical and environmental extremes of the lake district. Spatial autocorrelation in species composition was determined using Moran's eigenvector maps (MEM). Redundancy analysis (RDA) was applied to explore the influence of MEM variables and in-lake, and catchment environmental variables on Trichoptera assemblages. Variance partitioning analysis (partial RDA) revealed the fraction of species composition variation that could be attributed uniquely to either environmental variability or MEM variables. Finally, the distribution of individual species was analyzed in relation to specific environmental factors using binomial generalized linear models (GLM). Trichoptera assemblages showed spatial structure. However, the most relevant environmental variables in the RDA (i.e., temperature and woody vegetation in-lake catchments) were also related with spatial variables (i.e., altitude and longitude). Partial RDA revealed that the fraction of variation in species composition that was uniquely explained by environmental variability was larger than that uniquely explained by MEM variables. GLM results showed that the distribution of species with longitudinal bias is related to specific environmental factors with geographical trend. The environmental dependence found agrees with the particular traits of each species. We conclude that Trichoptera species distribution and composition in the lakes of the Pyrenees are governed predominantly by local environmental factors, rather than by dispersal constraints. For

Climate and soil type together explain the distribution of microendemic species in a biodiversity hotspot.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romain Nattier

Full Text Available The grasshopper genus Caledonula, endemic to New Caledonia, was studied to understand the evolution of species distributions in relation to climate and soil types. Based on a comprehensive sampling of 80 locations throughout the island, the genus was represented by five species, four of which are new to science, of which three are described here. All the species have limited distributions in New Caledonia. Bioclimatic niche modelling shows that all the species were found in association with a wet climate and reduced seasonality, explaining their restriction to the southern half of the island. The results suggest that the genus was ancestrally constrained by seasonality. A molecular phylogeny was reconstructed using two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers. The partially resolved tree showed monophyly of the species found on metalliferous soils, and molecular dating indicated a rather recent origin for the genus. Adaptation to metalliferous soils is suggested by both morphological changes and radiation on these soils. The genus Caledonula is therefore a good model to understand the origin of microendemism in the context of recent and mixed influences of climate and soil type.

48 CFR 3052.242-71 - Dissemination of contract information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... CONTRACT CLAUSES Text of Provisions and Clauses 3052.242-71 Dissemination of contract information. As prescribed in (HSAR) 48 CFR 3042.202-70, insert the following clause: Dissemination of Contract Information... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Dissemination of contract...

48 CFR 1252.242-72 - Dissemination of contract information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

....242-72 Dissemination of contract information. As prescribed in (TAR) 48 CFR 1242.7000(c), insert the following clause: Dissemination of Contract Information (OCT 1994) The Contractor shall not publish, permit... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Dissemination of contract...

The "auto-dissemination" approach: a novel concept to fight Aedes albopictus in urban areas.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beniamino Caputo

Full Text Available The main constraint to the fight against container-breeding mosquito vectors of human arboviruses is the difficulty in targeting the multiplicity of larval sources, mostly represented by small man-made water containers. The aim of this work is to assess the feasibility of the "auto-dissemination" approach, already tested for Aedes aegypti, as a possible alternative to traditional, inefficient control tools, against Ae. albopictus in urban areas. The approach is based on the possibility that wild adult females, exposed to artificial resting sites contaminated with pyriproxyfen, can disseminate this juvenile hormone analogue to larval habitats, thus interfering with adult emergence.We carried out four field experiments in two areas of Rome that are typically highly infested with Ae. albopictus, i.e. the main cemetery and a small green area within a highly urbanised neighbourhood. In each area we used 10 pyriproxyfen "dissemination" stations, 10 "sentinel" sites and 10 covered, control sites. The sentinel and control sites each contained 25 Ae. albopictus larvae. These were monitored for development and adult emergence.When a 5% pyriproxyfen powder was used to contaminate the dissemination sites, we observed significantly higher mortality at the pupal stage in the sentinel sites (50-70% than in the controls (<2%, showing that pyriproxyfen was transferred by mosquitoes into sentinel sites and that it had a lethal effect.The results support the potential feasibility of the auto-dissemination approach to control Ae. albopictus in urban areas. Further studies will be carried out to optimize the method and provide an effective tool to reduce the biting nuisance caused by this aggressive species and the transmission risk of diseases such as Dengue and Chikungunya. These arboviruses pose an increasing threat in Europe as Ae. albopictus expands its range.

Evolutionary dynamics of microsatellite distribution in plants: insight from the comparison of sequenced brassica, Arabidopsis and other angiosperm species.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiaqin Shi

Full Text Available Despite their ubiquity and functional importance, microsatellites have been largely ignored in comparative genomics, mostly due to the lack of genomic information. In the current study, microsatellite distribution was characterized and compared in the whole genomes and both the coding and non-coding DNA sequences of the sequenced Brassica, Arabidopsis and other angiosperm species to investigate their evolutionary dynamics in plants. The variation in the microsatellite frequencies of these angiosperm species was much smaller than those for their microsatellite numbers and genome sizes, suggesting that microsatellite frequency may be relatively stable in plants. The microsatellite frequencies of these angiosperm species were significantly negatively correlated with both their genome sizes and transposable elements contents. The pattern of microsatellite distribution may differ according to the different genomic regions (such as coding and non-coding sequences. The observed differences in many important microsatellite characteristics (especially the distribution with respect to motif length, type and repeat number of these angiosperm species were generally accordant with their phylogenetic distance, which suggested that the evolutionary dynamics of microsatellite distribution may be generally consistent with plant divergence/evolution. Importantly, by comparing these microsatellite characteristics (especially the distribution with respect to motif type the angiosperm species (aside from a few species all clustered into two obviously different groups that were largely represented by monocots and dicots, suggesting a complex and generally dichotomous evolutionary pattern of microsatellite distribution in angiosperms. Polyploidy may lead to a slight increase in microsatellite frequency in the coding sequences and a significant decrease in microsatellite frequency in the whole genome/non-coding sequences, but have little effect on the microsatellite

Evolutionary Dynamics of Microsatellite Distribution in Plants: Insight from the Comparison of Sequenced Brassica, Arabidopsis and Other Angiosperm Species

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jiaqin; Huang, Shunmou; Fu, Donghui; Yu, Jinyin; Wang, Xinfa; Hua, Wei; Liu, Shengyi; Liu, Guihua; Wang, Hanzhong

2013-01-01

Despite their ubiquity and functional importance, microsatellites have been largely ignored in comparative genomics, mostly due to the lack of genomic information. In the current study, microsatellite distribution was characterized and compared in the whole genomes and both the coding and non-coding DNA sequences of the sequenced Brassica, Arabidopsis and other angiosperm species to investigate their evolutionary dynamics in plants. The variation in the microsatellite frequencies of these angiosperm species was much smaller than those for their microsatellite numbers and genome sizes, suggesting that microsatellite frequency may be relatively stable in plants. The microsatellite frequencies of these angiosperm species were significantly negatively correlated with both their genome sizes and transposable elements contents. The pattern of microsatellite distribution may differ according to the different genomic regions (such as coding and non-coding sequences). The observed differences in many important microsatellite characteristics (especially the distribution with respect to motif length, type and repeat number) of these angiosperm species were generally accordant with their phylogenetic distance, which suggested that the evolutionary dynamics of microsatellite distribution may be generally consistent with plant divergence/evolution. Importantly, by comparing these microsatellite characteristics (especially the distribution with respect to motif type) the angiosperm species (aside from a few species) all clustered into two obviously different groups that were largely represented by monocots and dicots, suggesting a complex and generally dichotomous evolutionary pattern of microsatellite distribution in angiosperms. Polyploidy may lead to a slight increase in microsatellite frequency in the coding sequences and a significant decrease in microsatellite frequency in the whole genome/non-coding sequences, but have little effect on the microsatellite distribution with

Distribution and ecology of pest fruit fly species in Asia and the Pacific

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allwood, Allan; Vueti, Ema Tora

2003-01-01

Fruit flies belong to the very diverse family Tephritidae, which consists of over 4,500 species distributed in most temperate, sub-tropical and tropical countries. In Asia and the Pacific regions, most of the major pest species belong to two genera. Bactrocera and Dacus. Representatives of Ceratitis occur in southwest Western Australia and the Indian Ocean islands and Carpomya occur in the Indian sub-continent and in Mauritius and Reunion. In the Asian region, 180 species of Bactrocera and 30 species of Dacus have been recorded and in the Australasian and Oceanic region, there are 270 species of Bactrocera and 27 species of Dacus. The diversity of species progressively decreases as the plant/host diversity decreases from west in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to east in the Polynesian Island countries. The major pest species in the Asian region belong to the dorsalis complex (B. carambolae, B. dorsalis, B. occipitalis, B. philippinensis, B. papayae and B. pyrifoliae) and include other species such as B. cucurbitae, B. zonata, B. latifrons, and others. In the Pacific region, Australia has 100 species of fruit flies. Many Pacific Island countries each have endemic species, several of which are major pests. The factors that impact on populations of fruit flies include host ranges, life cycles, mating and oviposition behavior, dispersal capacity, nutritional, moisture, temperature and light requirements, and competition within and between species. (author)

Antitropical distributions and species delimitation in a group of ophiocomid brittle stars (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea: Ophiocomidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Naughton, K M; O'Hara, T D; Appleton, B; Cisternas, P A

2014-09-01

In this paper we examine the phylogeny and biogeography of the temperate genera of the Ophiocomidae (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) which have an interesting asymmetrical anti-tropical distribution, with two genera (Ophiocomina and Ophiopteris) previously considered to have a separate species in both the North and South hemispheres, and the third (Clarkcoma) diversifying in the southern Australian/New Zealand region. Our phylogeny, generated from one mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, revealed that Ophiopteris is sister to a mixed Ophiocomina/Clarkcoma clade. Ophiocomina was polyphyletic, with O. nigra and an undescribed species from the South Atlantic Ocean sister to a clade including Clarkcoma species and O. australis. The phylogeny also revealed a number of recently diverged lineages occurring within Clarkcoma, some of which are considered to be cryptic species due to the similarity in morphology combined with the apparent absence of interbreeding in a sympatric distribution, while the status of others is less certain. The phylogeny provides support for two transequatorial events in the group under study. A molecular clock analysis places both events in the middle to late Miocene. The analysis excludes a tectonic vicariance hypothesis for the antitropical distribution associated with the breakup of Pangaea and also excludes the hypothesis of more recent gene flow associated with Plio/Pleistocene glacial cycling. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Modeling Rare Species Distribution at the Edge: The Case for the Vulnerable Endemic Pyrenean Desman in France

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M. Williams-Tripp

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The endemic Pyrenean Desman (Galemys pyrenaicus is an elusive, rare, and vulnerable species declining over its entire and narrow range (Spain, Portugal, France, and Andorra. The principal set of conservation measures in France is a 5-years National Action Plan based on 25 conservation actions. Priority is given to update its present distribution and develop tools for predictive distribution models. We aim at building the first species distribution model and map for the northern edge of the range of the Desman and confronting the outputs of the model to target conservation efforts in the context of environmental change. Contrasting to former comparable studies, we derive a simpler model emphasizing the importance of factors linked to precipitation and not to the temperature. If temperature is one of the climate change key factors, depicted shrinkage in Desman distribution could be lower or null at the northern (French edge suggesting thus a major role for this northern population in terms of conservation of the species. Finally, we question the applied issue of temporal and spatial transferability for such environmental favourability models when it is made at the edge of the distribution range.

Used-habitat calibration plots: A new procedure for validating species distribution, resource selection, and step-selection models

Science.gov (United States)

Fieberg, John R.; Forester, James D.; Street, Garrett M.; Johnson, Douglas H.; ArchMiller, Althea A.; Matthiopoulos, Jason

2018-01-01

“Species distribution modeling” was recently ranked as one of the top five “research fronts” in ecology and the environmental sciences by ISI's Essential Science Indicators (Renner and Warton 2013), reflecting the importance of predicting how species distributions will respond to anthropogenic change. Unfortunately, species distribution models (SDMs) often perform poorly when applied to novel environments. Compounding on this problem is the shortage of methods for evaluating SDMs (hence, we may be getting our predictions wrong and not even know it). Traditional methods for validating SDMs quantify a model's ability to classify locations as used or unused. Instead, we propose to focus on how well SDMs can predict the characteristics of used locations. This subtle shift in viewpoint leads to a more natural and informative evaluation and validation of models across the entire spectrum of SDMs. Through a series of examples, we show how simple graphical methods can help with three fundamental challenges of habitat modeling: identifying missing covariates, non-linearity, and multicollinearity. Identifying habitat characteristics that are not well-predicted by the model can provide insights into variables affecting the distribution of species, suggest appropriate model modifications, and ultimately improve the reliability and generality of conservation and management recommendations.

Role of climate and invasive species in structuring trout distributions in the interior Columbia River Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Wenger, Seth J.; Isaak, Daniel J.; Dunham, Jason B.; Fausch, Kurt D.; Luce, Charles H.; Neville, Helen M.; Rieman, Bruce E.; Young, Michael K.; Nagel, David E.; Horan, Dona L.; Chandler, Gwynne L.

2011-01-01

Recent and projected climate warming trends have prompted interest in impacts on coldwater fishes. We examined the role of climate (temperature and flow regime) relative to geomorphology and land use in determining the observed distributions of three trout species in the interior Columbia River Basin, USA. We considered two native species, cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), as well as nonnative brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). We also examined the response of the native species to the presence of brook trout. Analyses were conducted using multilevel logistic regression applied to a geographically broad database of 4165 fish surveys. The results indicated that bull trout distributions were strongly related to climatic factors, and more weakly related to the presence of brook trout and geomorphic variables. Cutthroat trout distributions were weakly related to climate but strongly related to the presence of brook trout. Brook trout distributions were related to both climate and geomorphic variables, including proximity to unconfined valley bottoms. We conclude that brook trout and bull trout are likely to be adversely affected by climate warming, whereas cutthroat trout may be less sensitive. The results illustrate the importance of considering species interactions and flow regime alongside temperature in understanding climate effects on fish.

EFSUMB COMPASS for Rheumatologists dissemination and implementation--an international survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Janta, Iustina; Terslev, Lene; Ammitzbøll-Danielsen, Mads

2016-01-01

was to evaluate how the EFSUMB COMPASS has been disseminated and implemented and to assess the potential obstacles encountered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was developed and distributed by e-mail to all rheumatologists certified as EFSUMB level 3. RESULTS: Seventeen (85%) rheumatologists considered...... that the EFSUMB COMPASS is useful for training MSUS. The majority of them (17; 85%) had informed their colleagues or national rheumatology societies about the EFSUMB COMPASS. The most common obstacle encountered for the implementation of the COMPASS was the lack of time for supervision of the trainees (9; 45...

Development and application of a species sensitivity distribution for temperature-induced mortality in the aquatic environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de P.; Tamis, J.E.; Murk, A.J.; Smit, M.G.D.

2008-01-01

Current European legislation has static water quality objectives for temperature effects, based on the most sensitive species. In the present study a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) for elevated temperatures is developed on the basis of temperature sensitivity data (mortality) of 50 aquatic

Fine-scale distribution of zooplankton is linked to phytoplankton species composition and abundance in a North Norwegian fjord system

Science.gov (United States)

Norrbin, F.; Priou, P. D.; Varela, A. P.

2016-02-01

We studied the influence of dense layers of phytoplankton and aggregates on shaping the vertical distribution of zooplankton in a North Norwegian fjord using a Video Plankton Recorder (VPR). This instrument provided fine-scale vertical distribution (cm-m scale) of planktonic organisms as well as aggregates of marine snow in relation to environmental conditions. At the height - later stage of the spring phytoplankton bloom in May, the outer part of the fjord was dominated by Phaeocystis pouchetii, while diatoms (Chaetoceros spp.) were dominating in the innermost basin. Small copepods species like Pseudocalanus spp., Microsetella norvegica, and Oithona spp. prevailed over larger copepod species in the inner part of the fjord whereas the outer part was dominated by large copepods like Calanus finmarchicus. While the zooplankton where spread out over the water column during the early stage of the bloom, in May they were linked to the phytoplankton vertical distribution and in the winter situation they were found in deeper waters. Herbivorous zooplankton species were affected by phytoplankton species composition; C. finmarchicus and Pseudocalanus spp. avoided the dense layer of P. pouchetii while herbivorous zooplankton matched the distribution of the diatom-dominated bloom. Small, omnivorous copepod species like Microsetella sp., Oithona sp. and Pseudocalanus sp. were often associated with dense layers of snow aggregates. This distribution may provide a shelter from predators as well as a food source. Natural or anthropogenic-induced changes in phytoplankton composition and aggregate distribution may thus influence food-web interactions.

Soil moisture and biogeochemical factors influence the distribution of annual Bromus species

Science.gov (United States)

Jayne Belnap; John M. Stark; Benjamin M. Rau; Edith B. Allen; Susan Phillips

2016-01-01

Abiotic factors have a strong influence on where annual Bromus species are found. At the large regional scale, temperature and precipitation extremes determine the boundaries of Bromus occurrence. At the more local scale, soil characteristics and climate influence distribution, cover, and performance. In hot, dry, summer-rainfall-dominated deserts (Sonoran, Chihuahuan...

21 CFR 99.101 - Information that may be disseminated.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Information that may be disseminated. 99.101 Section 99.101 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES... Information To Be Disseminated § 99.101 Information that may be disseminated. (a) A manufacturer may...

Early dissemination seeds metastasis in breast cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Hedayatollah; Obradović, Milan M.S.; Hoffmann, Martin; Harper, Kathryn; Sosa, Maria Soledad; Werner-Klein, Melanie; Nanduri, Lahiri Kanth; Werno, Christian; Ehrl, Carolin; Maneck, Matthias; Patwary, Nina; Haunschild, Gundula; Gužvić, Miodrag; Reimelt, Christian; Grauvogl, Michael; Eichner, Norbert; Weber, Florian; Hartkopf, Andreas; Taran, Florin-Andrei; Brucker, Sara Y.; Fehm, Tanja; Rack, Brigitte; Buchholz, Stefan; Spang, Rainer; Meister, Gunter; Aguirre-Ghiso, Julio A.; Klein, Christoph A.

2016-01-01

Accumulating data suggest that metastatic dissemination often occurs early during tumour formation but the mechanisms of early metastatic spread have not yet been addressed. Here, we studied metastasis in a HER2-driven mouse breast cancer model and found that progesterone-induced signalling triggered migration of cancer cells from early lesions shortly after HER2 activation, but promoted proliferation in advanced primary tumour cells. The switch from migration to proliferation was regulated by elevated HER2 expression and increased tumour cell density involving miRNA-mediated progesterone receptor (PGR) down-regulation and was reversible. Cells from early, low-density lesions displayed more stemness features than cells from dense, advanced tumours, migrated more and founded more metastases. Strikingly, we found that at least 80% of metastases were derived from early disseminated cancer cells (DCC). Karyotypic and phenotypic analysis of human disseminated cancer cells and primary tumours corroborated the relevance of these findings for human metastatic dissemination. PMID:27974799

Modeling the Potential Distribution of Picea chihuahuana Martínez, an Endangered Species at the Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico

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Victor Aguilar-Soto

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models (SDMs help identify areas for the development of populations or communities to prevent extinctions, especially in the face of the global environmental change. This study modeled the potential distribution of the tree Picea chihuahuana Martínez, a species in danger of extinction, using the maximum entropy modeling method (MaxEnt at three scales: local, state and national. We used a total of 38 presence data from the Sierra Madre Occidental. At the local scale, we compared MaxEnt with the reclassification and overlay method integrated in a geographic information system. MaxEnt generated maps with a high predictive capability (AUC > 0.97. The distribution of P. chihuahuana is defined by vegetation type and minimum temperature at national and state scales. At the local scale, both models calculated similar areas for the potential distribution of the species; the variables that better defined the species distribution were vegetation type, aspect and distance to water flows. Populations of P. chihuahuana have always been small, but our results show potential habitat greater than the area of the actual distribution. These results provide an insight into the availability of areas suitable for the species’ regeneration, possibly through assisted colonization.

In search of the quickest way to disseminate health care innovations

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Guus Schrijvers

2003-10-01

Full Text Available Research Question: Innovations in health care are slowly disseminated in The Netherlands and elsewhere. That's why the researchers defined their research question: What is the quickest way of disseminating health care innovations? Research method: The design was a comparative, qualitative case study. The researchers invited a group of 52 authors to describe their 21 health care innovations. All case descriptions were published in a book of 261 pages [2]. Results: Six types of innovations were distinguished. Most innovations simultaneously improved quality from the patient's point of view (18 out of 21 cases, professional pride (18/21 and speed of introduction (16/21. Clinical outcomes were better or comparable in 13 of the 21 cases. Brainstorm sessions took place with the innovators and the 22 experts on the quickest way to disseminate the innovations more widely in The Netherlands. These sessions looked for the critical success factors for the dissemination of the 21 projects and identified nine. The following factors were identified: 1. A clear distribution of responsibilities between professionals within the innovation (20/21 2. Enough educational programs about the innovations for the professionals (18/21 3. Adequate ICT support for the running of the innovations (15/21 4. Suitable publicity for the innovations (12/21 5. An adequate payment system for innovative care providers (7/21 6. The right size of catchment's area for the innovations (6/21 7. Enough professional freedom to adopt the innovation (5/21 8. Fast managerial and public decision-making about the adoption of the innovation (3/21 9. The embedding of the innovations in quality management assurance policy (1/21. Discussion: The results of the study had some influence on the political health agenda in The Netherlands, leading to greater emphasis on innovations and quality of care.

Distribution of the Chuckwalla, Western Burrowing Owl, and Six Bat Species on the Nevada Test Site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cathy A. Willis

1997-05-01

Field Surveys were conducted in 1996 to determine the current distribution of several animal species of concern on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). They included the chuckwall (Sauromalus obesus), western burrowing owl (Speotyto cunicularia), and six species of bats. Nineteen chuckwallas and 118 scat locations were found during the chuckwalla field study. Eighteen western burrowing owls were found at 12 sighting locations during the 1996 field study. Of the eleven bat species of concern which might occur on the NTS, five, and possibly six, were captured during this survey. The U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office, takes certain management actions to protect and conserve the chuckwalla, western burrowing owl, and bats on the NTS. These actions are described and include: (1) conducting surveys at sites of proposed land-disturbing activities (2) altering projects whenever possible to avoid or minimize impacts to these species (3) maintaining a geospatial database of known habitat for species of concern (4) sharing sighting and trap location data gathered on the NTS with other local land and resource managers, and (5) conducting periodic field surveys to monitor these species distribution and relative abundance on the NTS.

Incorporating plant fossil data into species distribution models is not straightforward: Pitfalls and possible solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Moreno-Amat, Elena; Rubiales, Juan Manuel; Morales-Molino, César; García-Amorena, Ignacio

2017-08-01

The increasing development of species distribution models (SDMs) using palaeodata has created new prospects to address questions of evolution, ecology and biogeography from wider perspectives. Palaeobotanical data provide information on the past distribution of taxa at a given time and place and its incorporation on modelling has contributed to advancing the SDM field. This has allowed, for example, to calibrate models under past climate conditions or to validate projected models calibrated on current species distributions. However, these data also bear certain shortcomings when used in SDMs that may hinder the resulting ecological outcomes and eventually lead to misleading conclusions. Palaeodata may not be equivalent to present data, but instead frequently exhibit limitations and biases regarding species representation, taxonomy and chronological control, and their inclusion in SDMs should be carefully assessed. The limitations of palaeobotanical data applied to SDM studies are infrequently discussed and often neglected in the modelling literature; thus, we argue for the more careful selection and control of these data. We encourage authors to use palaeobotanical data in their SDMs studies and for doing so, we propose some recommendations to improve the robustness, reliability and significance of palaeo-SDM analyses.

Assessment of Local Mosquito Species Incriminates Aedes aegypti as the Potential Vector of Zika Virus in Australia.

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Sonja Hall-Mendelin

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Within the last 10 years Zika virus (ZIKV has caused unprecedented epidemics of human disease in the nations and territories of the western Pacific and South America, and continues to escalate in both endemic and non-endemic regions. We evaluated the vector competence of Australian mosquitoes for ZIKV to assess their potential role in virus transmission.Mosquitoes were exposed to infectious blood meals containing the prototype African ZIKV strain. After 14 days incubation at 28°C and high relative humidity, infection, dissemination and transmission rates were assessed. Infection in Culex annulirostris and Cx. sitiens could not be detected. 8% of Cx. quinquefasciatus were infected, but the virus did not disseminate in this species. Despite having infection rates > 50%, Aedes notoscriptus and Ae. vigilax did not transmit ZIKV. In contrast, Ae. aegypti had infection and transmission rates of 57% and 27%, respectively. In susceptibility trials, the virus dose required to infect 50% (ID50 of Ae. aegypti was106.4 tissue culture infectious dose50 (TCID50/mL. Additionally, a threshold viral load within the mosquito of at least 105.1 TCID50 equivalents/mL had to be reached before virus transmission occurred.We confirmed Ae. aegypti to be the most likely mosquito vector of ZIKV in Australia, although the restricted distribution of this species will limit the receptive zone to northern Queensland where this species occurs. Importantly, the role in ZIKV transmission of Culex and other Aedes spp. tested will be negligible. Despite being the implicated vector, the relatively high ID50 and need for a high titer disseminated infection in Ae. aegypti suggest that high mosquito population densities will be required to facilitate epidemic ZIKV transmission among the currently immunologically naïve human population in Australia.

Assessment of Local Mosquito Species Incriminates Aedes aegypti as the Potential Vector of Zika Virus in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall-Mendelin, Sonja; Pyke, Alyssa T; Moore, Peter R; Mackay, Ian M; McMahon, Jamie L; Ritchie, Scott A; Taylor, Carmel T; Moore, Frederick A J; van den Hurk, Andrew F

2016-09-01

Within the last 10 years Zika virus (ZIKV) has caused unprecedented epidemics of human disease in the nations and territories of the western Pacific and South America, and continues to escalate in both endemic and non-endemic regions. We evaluated the vector competence of Australian mosquitoes for ZIKV to assess their potential role in virus transmission. Mosquitoes were exposed to infectious blood meals containing the prototype African ZIKV strain. After 14 days incubation at 28°C and high relative humidity, infection, dissemination and transmission rates were assessed. Infection in Culex annulirostris and Cx. sitiens could not be detected. 8% of Cx. quinquefasciatus were infected, but the virus did not disseminate in this species. Despite having infection rates > 50%, Aedes notoscriptus and Ae. vigilax did not transmit ZIKV. In contrast, Ae. aegypti had infection and transmission rates of 57% and 27%, respectively. In susceptibility trials, the virus dose required to infect 50% (ID50) of Ae. aegypti was106.4 tissue culture infectious dose50 (TCID50)/mL. Additionally, a threshold viral load within the mosquito of at least 105.1 TCID50 equivalents/mL had to be reached before virus transmission occurred. We confirmed Ae. aegypti to be the most likely mosquito vector of ZIKV in Australia, although the restricted distribution of this species will limit the receptive zone to northern Queensland where this species occurs. Importantly, the role in ZIKV transmission of Culex and other Aedes spp. tested will be negligible. Despite being the implicated vector, the relatively high ID50 and need for a high titer disseminated infection in Ae. aegypti suggest that high mosquito population densities will be required to facilitate epidemic ZIKV transmission among the currently immunologically naïve human population in Australia.

Estimating the spatial and temporal distribution of species richness within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

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Steve Wathen

Full Text Available Evidence for significant losses of species richness or biodiversity, even within protected natural areas, is mounting. Managers are increasingly being asked to monitor biodiversity, yet estimating biodiversity is often prohibitively expensive. As a cost-effective option, we estimated the spatial and temporal distribution of species richness for four taxonomic groups (birds, mammals, herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians, and plants within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks using only existing biological studies undertaken within the Parks and the Parks' long-term wildlife observation database. We used a rarefaction approach to model species richness for the four taxonomic groups and analyzed those groups by habitat type, elevation zone, and time period. We then mapped the spatial distributions of species richness values for the four taxonomic groups, as well as total species richness, for the Parks. We also estimated changes in species richness for birds, mammals, and herpetofauna since 1980. The modeled patterns of species richness either peaked at mid elevations (mammals, plants, and total species richness or declined consistently with increasing elevation (herpetofauna and birds. Plants reached maximum species richness values at much higher elevations than did vertebrate taxa, and non-flying mammals reached maximum species richness values at higher elevations than did birds. Alpine plant communities, including sagebrush, had higher species richness values than did subalpine plant communities located below them in elevation. These results are supported by other papers published in the scientific literature. Perhaps reflecting climate change: birds and herpetofauna displayed declines in species richness since 1980 at low and middle elevations and mammals displayed declines in species richness since 1980 at all elevations.

Differences between tree species seedling and adult altitudinal distribution in mountain foests during the recent warm period (1986-2006)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenoir, Jonathan; Gégout, Jean-Claude; Pierrat, Jean-Claude

2009-01-01

Spatial fingerprints of climate change on tree species distribution are usually detected at latitudinal or altitudinal extremes (arctic or alpine tree line), where temperatures play a key role in tree species distribution. However, early detection of recent climate change effects on tree species...... distribution across the overall temperature gradient remains poorly explored. Within French mountain forests, we investigated altitudinal distribution differences between seedling (≤50 cm tall and >1 yr old) and adult (>8 m tall) life stages for 17 European tree taxa, encompassing the entire forest elevation...... range from lowlands to the subalpine vegetation belt (50-2250 m a.s.l.) and spanning the latitudinal gradient from northern temperate to southern Mediterranean forests. We simultaneously identified seedlings and adults within the same vegetation plots. These twin observations gave us the equivalent...

Patterns in species richness and distribution of vascular epiphytes in Chiapas, Mexico

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolf, J.H.D.; Flamenco-S., A.

2003-01-01

Aim We aim to assess regional patterns in the distribution and species richness of vascular epiphytes with an emphasis on forests that differ in altitude and the amount of rainfall. Location Tropical America, in particularly the 75000 km2 large state of Chiapas in southern Mexico at 14.5-18.0º N.

Species distribution modeling for the invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides in Austria and first range predictions for alpine environments

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Duscher Tanja

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models are important tools for wildlife management planning, particularly in the case of invasive species. We employed a recent framework for niche-based invasive species distribution modeling to predict the probability of presence for the invasive raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides in Austria. The raccoon dog is an adaptive, mobile and highly reproductive Asiatic canid that has successfully invaded many parts of Europe. It is known to occur in Austria since 1963 and is now widespread in the northern and eastern parts of the country, but its population density remains low. With the help of a species distribution model we identified focal areas for future monitoring and management actions, and we address some management implications for the raccoon dog in Austria. We also determined the environmental predictors of raccoon dog distribution in this alpine country. Its distribution seems to be mainly limited by climatic factors (snow depth, duration of snow cover, winter precipitation and mean annual temperature and is thus linked to elevation. Consequently, we assumed the Alps to be a barrier for the spread of the invasive raccoon dog in Europe; however, its ecological permeability is expected to increase with ongoing climate change.

Distribution, feeding and ecomorphology of four species of Auchenipteridae (Teleostei: Siluriformes in Eastern Amazonia, Brazil

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Tiago M. S. Freitas

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Fish exhibit morphological, physiological and behavioral specializations which enable them to display different ways to explore the environments and resources. Thus, the aim of this study was to verify how four Auchenipteridae species differ in the distribution, feeding habits and morphological traits: Auchenipterichthys longimanus (Günther, 1864, Auchenipterus nuchalis (Spix & Agassiz, 1829, Tatia intermedia (Steindachner, 1877 and Trachelyopterus galeatus (Linnaeus, 1766. This study was conducted in rivers and bays of the Anapú Basin, Pará State (Brazil, where these species are abundant. Specimens were collected using gillnets, and after caught the stomachs were removed for the contents analyzes. Eighteen morphometric measurements from ten adult specimens of each species were taken, combined into fifteen ecomorphological attributes. The species distribution showed that A. longimanus was restricted to rivers, while the others were exclusively caught in the bays. All four species had their diet composed of allochthonous insects, but A. longimanus also exhibited a great frugivorous habit. The most important ecomorphological attributes were relative to the consumption of larger food items (for A. longimanus and T. galeatus and to the longer swimming capacity (for A. longimanus and T. intermedia. These morphological differences and the trophic diversity presented in this study highlighted some important information about how ecomorphological similar species behave and share resources, which may play a significant role on the coexistence of these species in the Anapú Basin.

Optimal channel choice for collaborative ad-hoc dissemination

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Liang; Boudec, J-Y. L.; Vojnovic, M.

2010-01-01

Collaborative ad-hoc dissemination of information has been proposed as an efficient means to disseminate information among devices in a wireless ad-hoc network. Devices help in forwarding the information channels to the entire network, by disseminating the channels they subscribe to, plus others...... by a Metropolis-Hastings sampling algorithm. We also give a variant that accounts for battery level. This leads to a practical channel selection and re-selection algorithm that can be implemented without any central control....

Dissemination and Exploitation: Project Goals beyond Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hamann, Kristin; Reitz, Anja

2017-04-01

Dissemination and Exploitation are essential parts of public funded projects. In Horizon 2020 a plan for the exploitation and dissemination of results (PEDR) is a requirement. The plan should contain a clear vision on the objectives of the project in relation to actions for dissemination and potential exploitation of the project results. The actions follow the basic idea to spread the knowledge and results gathered within the project and face the challenge of how to bring the results into potentially relevant policy circle and how they impact the market. The plan follows the purpose to assess the impact of the project and to address various target groups who are interested in the project results. Simply put, dissemination concentrates on the transfer of knowledge and exploitation on the commercialization of the project. Beyond the question of the measurability of project`s impact, strategies within science marketing can serve purposes beyond internal and external communication. Accordingly, project managers are facing the challenge to implement a dissemination and exploitation strategy that ideally supports the identification of all partners with the project and matches the current discourse of the project`s content within the society, politics and economy. A consolidated plan might unite all projects partners under a central idea and supports the identification with the project beyond the individual research questions. Which applications, strategies and methods can be used to bring forward a PEDR that accompanies a project successfully and allows a comprehensive assessment of the project afterwards? Which hurdles might project managers experience in the dissemination process and which tasks should be fulfilled by the project manager?

A biogeographical perspective on species abundance distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Matthews, Thomas J.; Borges, Paulo A. V.; de Azevedo, Eduardo Brito

2017-01-01

It has become increasingly recognized that multiple processes can generate similar shapes of species abundance distributions (SADs), with the result that the fit of a given SAD model cannot unambiguously provide evidence in support of a given theory or model. An alternative approach to comparing...... the fit of different SAD models to data from a single site is to collect abundance data from a variety of sites, and then build models to analyse how different SAD properties (e.g. form, skewness) vary with different predictor variables. Such a biogeographical approach to SAD research is potentially very...... revealing, yet there has been a general lack of interest in SADs in the biogeographical literature. In this Perspective, we address this issue by highlighting findings of recent analyses of SADs that we consider to be of intrinsic biogeographical interest. We use arthropod data drawn from the Azorean...

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: species distribution and potential vectors of leishmaniases

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Bruno Moreira Carvalho

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera, Psychodidae from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: Species distribution and potential vectors of leishmaniases. Rio de Janeiro State, in Brazil, has endemic areas of both cutaneous and visceral leishmaniases. In these areas, entomologic surveillance actions are highly recommended by Brazil's Ministry of Health. The present work describes the results of sand fly captures performed by the Health Department of Rio de Janeiro State between 2009 and 2011 in several municipalities. An updated species list and distribution of phlebotomine sand flies in the state are provided based on an extensive literature review. Currently, the sand fly fauna of Rio de Janeiro State has 65 species, belonging to the genera Brumptomyia (8 spp. and Lutzomyia (57 spp.. Distribution maps of potential leishmaniases vector species Lutzomyia (Nyssomyia intermedia, L. migonei, L. (N. whitmani, L. (N. flaviscutellata and L. (Lutzomyia longipalpis are provided and their epidemiological importance is discussed.

EVALUATING THE NOVEL METHODS ON SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELING IN COMPLEX FOREST

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C. H. Tu

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The prediction of species distribution has become a focus in ecology. For predicting a result more effectively and accurately, some novel methods have been proposed recently, like support vector machine (SVM and maximum entropy (MAXENT. However, high complexity in the forest, like that in Taiwan, will make the modeling become even harder. In this study, we aim to explore which method is more applicable to species distribution modeling in the complex forest. Castanopsis carlesii (long-leaf chinkapin, LLC, growing widely in Taiwan, was chosen as the target species because its seeds are an important food source for animals. We overlaid the tree samples on the layers of altitude, slope, aspect, terrain position, and vegetation index derived from SOPT-5 images, and developed three models, MAXENT, SVM, and decision tree (DT, to predict the potential habitat of LLCs. We evaluated these models by two sets of independent samples in different site and the effect on the complexity of forest by changing the background sample size (BSZ. In the forest with low complex (small BSZ, the accuracies of SVM (kappa = 0.87 and DT (0.86 models were slightly higher than that of MAXENT (0.84. In the more complex situation (large BSZ, MAXENT kept high kappa value (0.85, whereas SVM (0.61 and DT (0.57 models dropped significantly due to limiting the habitat close to samples. Therefore, MAXENT model was more applicable to predict species’ potential habitat in the complex forest; whereas SVM and DT models would tend to underestimate the potential habitat of LLCs.

Diastereoisomer- and species-specific distribution of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) in fish and marine invertebrates.

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Son, Min-Hui; Kim, Jongchul; Shin, Eun-Su; Seo, Sung-Hee; Chang, Yoon-Seok

2015-12-30

The levels and distributional characteristics of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) diastereoisomers have been largely reported for various fish and select shellfish. In this study, we reclassified a number and variety of marine invertebrates, including shellfish, to further contribute to the comprehensive understanding of the effects and assessment of human exposure to HBCD. Overall, 30 marine invertebrate species (n=188) were investigated and the following order of ∑2HBCD (α- and γ-HBCD) was observed: fish>chordata>cephalopoda>echinodermata>bivalve>crustacea. The marine invertebrates that were reclassified into nektonic and benthic organisms showed similar concentration of ∑2HBCD. The feeding habits and modes of the marine organisms were considered to compare the degree of bioaccumulation and diastereoisomer-specific distribution of HBCD due to the effects of the environment in and around pollution sources, as well as the organisms' metabolic capacities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the species-specific distribution patterns of HBCD for both fish and marine invertebrates. We expect to significantly expand the understanding of the environmental fate of HBCD for marine organisms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distribution of Studied Insectivorous Bat Species of Myanmar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyo Nyo

2005-10-01

Fourty-five species of insectivourous bats; Craseonycteris thonglongyai, Emballonura monticola, Taphozous melenopongon, T. theobaldi, T. longimanus, Megaderma lyra, M. spasma, Rhinolophus affinis, R. rouxii, R. pusillus, R. lepidus, R. macrotis, R. trifoliatus, R. pearsoni, R. malayanus, R. stheno, R. thomasi, R. shameli, R. acuminatus, R. marshalli, Rhinolophus sp., Hipposideros pomona, H. larvatus, H. armiger, H. lylei, H. ater, H. fulvus, Aselliscus stoliczkanus, Tadarida plicata, Myotis siligorensis, M. muricola, M. horsfieldii, M. hasseltii, M. chinensis, Scotophilus heathii, S. kuhlii, Ia io, Pipistrellus javanicus, P. coromandra, P. pulveratus, P. paterculus, P. affinis, P. ceylonicus, Miniopterus pusillus and M. magnater were distributed in 7 Divisions; Yangon, Bago, Ayeyawady, Taninthayi, Magway, Mandalay and Sagaing Division, and 7 States; Mon, Kayin, Shan, Chin, Kayah, Kachin and Rakhine States of Myanmar.

Geographic Distribution of Leishmania Species in Ecuador Based on the Cytochrome B Gene Sequence Analysis.

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Kato, Hirotomo; Gomez, Eduardo A; Martini-Robles, Luiggi; Muzzio, Jenny; Velez, Lenin; Calvopiña, Manuel; Romero-Alvarez, Daniel; Mimori, Tatsuyuki; Uezato, Hiroshi; Hashiguchi, Yoshihisa

2016-07-01

A countrywide epidemiological study was performed to elucidate the current geographic distribution of causative species of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Ecuador by using FTA card-spotted samples and smear slides as DNA sources. Putative Leishmania in 165 samples collected from patients with CL in 16 provinces of Ecuador were examined at the species level based on the cytochrome b gene sequence analysis. Of these, 125 samples were successfully identified as Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis, L. (V.) braziliensis, L. (V.) naiffi, L. (V.) lainsoni, and L. (Leishmania) mexicana. Two dominant species, L. (V.) guyanensis and L. (V.) braziliensis, were widely distributed in Pacific coast subtropical and Amazonian tropical areas, respectively. Recently reported L. (V.) naiffi and L. (V.) lainsoni were identified in Amazonian areas, and L. (L.) mexicana was identified in an Andean highland area. Importantly, the present study demonstrated that cases of L. (V.) braziliensis infection are increasing in Pacific coast areas.

Biofilm extracellular DNA enhances mixed species biofilms of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans.

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Pammi, Mohan; Liang, Rong; Hicks, John; Mistretta, Toni-Ann; Versalovic, James

2013-11-14

Polymicrobial infections are responsible for significant mortality and morbidity in adults and children. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans are the most frequent combination of organisms isolated from polymicrobial infections. Vascular indwelling catheters are sites for mixed species biofilm formation and pose a significant risk for polymicrobial infections. We hypothesized that enhancement of biofilms in a mixed species environment increases patient mortality and morbidity. Mixed species biofilms of S. epidermidis and C. albicans were evaluated in vitro and in a subcutaneous catheter infection model in vivo. Mixed species biofilms were enhanced compared to single species biofilms of either S. epidermidis or C. albicans. A mixed species environment increased catheter infection and increased dissemination of S. epidermidis in mice. Microarrays were used to explore differential gene expression of S. epidermidis in the mixed species biofilms. In mixed species biofilms, compared to single species S. epidermidis biofilms, 2.7% of S. epidermidis genes were upregulated and 6% were down regulated. Staphylococcal autolysis repressors lrgA and lrgB were down regulated 36-fold and 27-fold respectively. The role of biofilm extracellular DNA was investigated by quantitation and by evaluating the effects of DNAse in a concentration and time dependent manner. S. epidermidis specific eDNA was increased in mixed species biofilms and further confirmed by degradation with DNAse. Mixed-species biofilms are enhanced and associated with increased S. epidermidis-specific eDNA in vitro and greater systemic dissemination of S. epidermidis in vivo. Down regulation of the lrg operon, a repressor of autolysis, associated with increased eDNA suggests a possible role for bacterial autolysis in mixed species biofilms. Enhancement and systemic dissemination of S. epidermidis may explain adverse outcomes after clinical polymicrobial infections of S. epidermidis and C. albicans.

Biofilm extracellular DNA enhances mixed species biofilms of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Polymicrobial infections are responsible for significant mortality and morbidity in adults and children. Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans are the most frequent combination of organisms isolated from polymicrobial infections. Vascular indwelling catheters are sites for mixed species biofilm formation and pose a significant risk for polymicrobial infections. We hypothesized that enhancement of biofilms in a mixed species environment increases patient mortality and morbidity. Results Mixed species biofilms of S. epidermidis and C. albicans were evaluated in vitro and in a subcutaneous catheter infection model in vivo. Mixed species biofilms were enhanced compared to single species biofilms of either S. epidermidis or C. albicans. A mixed species environment increased catheter infection and increased dissemination of S. epidermidis in mice. Microarrays were used to explore differential gene expression of S. epidermidis in the mixed species biofilms. In mixed species biofilms, compared to single species S. epidermidis biofilms, 2.7% of S. epidermidis genes were upregulated and 6% were down regulated. Staphylococcal autolysis repressors lrgA and lrgB were down regulated 36-fold and 27-fold respectively. The role of biofilm extracellular DNA was investigated by quantitation and by evaluating the effects of DNAse in a concentration and time dependent manner. S. epidermidis specific eDNA was increased in mixed species biofilms and further confirmed by degradation with DNAse. Conclusions Mixed-species biofilms are enhanced and associated with increased S. epidermidis-specific eDNA in vitro and greater systemic dissemination of S. epidermidis in vivo. Down regulation of the lrg operon, a repressor of autolysis, associated with increased eDNA suggests a possible role for bacterial autolysis in mixed species biofilms. Enhancement and systemic dissemination of S. epidermidis may explain adverse outcomes after clinical polymicrobial infections of S

Species distribution models and ecological suitability analysis for potential tick vectors of lyme disease in Mexico.

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Illoldi-Rangel, Patricia; Rivaldi, Chissa-Louise; Sissel, Blake; Trout Fryxell, Rebecca; Gordillo-Pérez, Guadalupe; Rodríguez-Moreno, Angel; Williamson, Phillip; Montiel-Parra, Griselda; Sánchez-Cordero, Víctor; Sarkar, Sahotra

2012-01-01

Species distribution models were constructed for ten Ixodes species and Amblyomma cajennense for a region including Mexico and Texas. The model was based on a maximum entropy algorithm that used environmental layers to predict the relative probability of presence for each taxon. For Mexico, species geographic ranges were predicted by restricting the models to cells which have a higher probability than the lowest probability of the cells in which a presence record was located. There was spatial nonconcordance between the distributions of Amblyomma cajennense and the Ixodes group with the former restricted to lowlands and mainly the eastern coast of Mexico and the latter to montane regions with lower temperature. The risk of Lyme disease is, therefore, mainly present in the highlands where some Ixodes species are known vectors; if Amblyomma cajennense turns out to be a competent vector, the area of risk also extends to the lowlands and the east coast.

Species Distribution Models and Ecological Suitability Analysis for Potential Tick Vectors of Lyme Disease in Mexico

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Patricia Illoldi-Rangel

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Species distribution models were constructed for ten Ixodes species and Amblyomma cajennense for a region including Mexico and Texas. The model was based on a maximum entropy algorithm that used environmental layers to predict the relative probability of presence for each taxon. For Mexico, species geographic ranges were predicted by restricting the models to cells which have a higher probability than the lowest probability of the cells in which a presence record was located. There was spatial nonconcordance between the distributions of Amblyomma cajennense and the Ixodes group with the former restricted to lowlands and mainly the eastern coast of Mexico and the latter to montane regions with lower temperature. The risk of Lyme disease is, therefore, mainly present in the highlands where some Ixodes species are known vectors; if Amblyomma cajennense turns out to be a competent vector, the area of risk also extends to the lowlands and the east coast.

Spatial distribution and interspecific associations of tree species in a tropical seasonal rain forest of China.

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Guoyu Lan

Full Text Available Studying the spatial pattern and interspecific associations of plant species may provide valuable insights into processes and mechanisms that maintain species coexistence. Point pattern analysis was used to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of twenty dominant tree species, their interspecific spatial associations and changes across life stages in a 20-ha permanent plot of seasonal tropical rainforest in Xishuangbanna, China, to test mechanisms maintaining species coexistence. Torus-translation tests were used to quantify positive or negative associations of the species to topographic habitats. The results showed: (1 fourteen of the twenty tree species were negatively (or positively associated with one or two of the topographic variables, which evidences that the niche contributes to the spatial pattern of these species. (2 Most saplings of the study species showed a significantly clumped distribution at small scales (0-10 m which was lost at larger scales (10-30 m. (3 The degree of spatial clumping deceases from saplings, to poles, to adults indicates that density-dependent mortality of the offspring is ubiquitous in species. (4 It is notable that a high number of positive small-scale interactions were found among the twenty species. For saplings, 42.6% of all combinations of species pairs showed positive associations at neighborhood scales up to five meters, but only 38.4% were negative. For poles and adults, positive associations at these distances still made up 45.5% and 29.5%, respectively. In conclusion, there is considerable evidence for the presence of positive interactions among the tree species, which suggests that species herd protection may occur in our plot. In addition, niche assembly and limited dispersal (likely contribute to the spatial patterns of tree species in the tropical seasonal rain forest in Xishuangbanna, China.

Historical dynamics and current environmental effects explain the spatial distribution of species richness patterns of New World monkeys

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Paulo Vallejos-Garrido

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Background Why biodiversity is not uniformly distributed on the Earth is a major research question of biogeography. One of the most striking patterns of disparity in species distribution are the biodiversity hotspots, which generally do not fit with the distribution of relevant components of the Neotropical biota. In this study, we assess the proximal causes of the species-richness pattern of one of the most conspicuous groups of Neotropical mammals, the New World monkeys the Platyrrhini. We test two complementary hypotheses: (1 there is a historical source-sink dynamic (addressed using macroevolutionary and macroecological approaches; (2 the large number of species in the Amazon basin is due to the constraints imposed by environmental variables occurring outside this area. Methods We first characterize spatial patterns of species richness and biodiversity hotspots using a new, objective protocol based on probabilities. Then we evaluate the source-sink hypothesis using BioGeoBEARS analysis and nestedness analysis of species richness patterns. Complementarily, to measure how often different species pairs appear in the same sites, we used null models to estimate the checkerboard score index (C-score. Finally, we evaluate the relationship between several climatic variables and species richness through ordinary least squares (OLS and spatial autoregressive (SAR models, and the potential environmental constraints on the pattern. Results We found one significant cluster of high values for species richness in the Amazon basin. Most dispersal events occurred from the Amazonian subregion to other Neotropical areas. Temperature (T, discrepancy (BR, and NODF indexes show a significant nesting in the matrix ordered by species richness and available energy. The C-score observed was significantly smaller than the null expectation for all sites in the Neotropics where there are records of platyrrhine species. Ten climatic variables comprised the best

Effective Dissemination - Building an 'Evidence to Impact' Strategy

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Dan O'Neill

2017-02-01

Full Text Available When a piece of ‘evidence’ is generated in the research environment and almost nobody hears about it, then can we really still call it a piece of ‘evidence’? Does evidence only become evidence once it is used; and until then, is it just a piece of insignificant information? As we inexorably travel through the EBVM era, we must increasingly prioritise effective dissemination of evidence. This paper will use the VetCompass Programme at the Royal Veterinary College as a case study to explore a strategic dissemination plan and examine routes for effective dissemination.Although EBVM traditionally assumes an audience of academics or practicing veterinarians, the authors contend that substantial welfare gains can be additionally achieved by targeting current and future pet owners, the non-owner general public, industry, welfare bodies, scientific groups, breeders and kennel clubs. Effective dissemination should be strategic and give a priori consideration to identifying target audiences, appropriate formatting of the messages and open access routes for dissemination. Scientists who generate EBVM may not always be best placed to also disseminate these messages and therefore research teams should consider widening their combined skill-base to also incorporate marketing and media savvy.The VetCompass Programme is a new and hugely exciting project that shares de-identified primary-practice clinical data for research to support effective evidence based veterinary medicine and welfare reforms. VetCompass data collection commenced in 2009 and the current 470 collaborating primary-care practices have shared data on 4 million small animals and 45 million unique episodes of care. VetCompass has 15 peer-reviewed publications to date.In order to maximise the welfare gains from an array of evidence silos generated within VetCompass, a dissemination strategy was designed based on a Systems Thinking approach. The outcomes from a range of dissemination trials

Predicted altitudinal shifts and reduced spatial distribution of Leishmania infantum vector species under climate change scenarios in Colombia.

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González, Camila; Paz, Andrea; Ferro, Cristina

2014-01-01

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by the trypanosomatid parasite Leishmania infantum (=Leishmania chagasi), and is epidemiologically relevant due to its wide geographic distribution, the number of annual cases reported and the increase in its co-infection with HIV. Two vector species have been incriminated in the Americas: Lutzomyia longipalpis and Lutzomyia evansi. In Colombia, L. longipalpis is distributed along the Magdalena River Valley while L. evansi is only found in the northern part of the Country. Regarding the epidemiology of the disease, in Colombia the incidence of VL has decreased over the last few years without any intervention being implemented. Additionally, changes in transmission cycles have been reported with urban transmission occurring in the Caribbean Coast. In Europe and North America climate change seems to be driving a latitudinal shift of leishmaniasis transmission. Here, we explored the spatial distribution of the two known vector species of L. infantum in Colombia and projected its future distribution into climate change scenarios to establish the expansion potential of the disease. An updated database including L. longipalpis and L. evansi collection records from Colombia was compiled. Ecological niche models were performed for each species using the Maxent software and 13 Worldclim bioclimatic coverages. Projections were made for the pessimistic CSIRO A2 scenario, which predicts the higher increase in temperature due to non-emission reduction, and the optimistic Hadley B2 Scenario predicting the minimum increase in temperature. The database contained 23 records for L. evansi and 39 records for L. longipalpis, distributed along the Magdalena River Valley and the Caribbean Coast, where the potential distribution areas of both species were also predicted by Maxent. Climate change projections showed a general overall reduction in the spatial distribution of the two vector species, promoting a shift in altitudinal distribution for L