Bibliography of freshwater wetlands ecology and management.

"Updated and expanded by Stanton J. Kleinert"--Pref.

Annual report of the Division of Life Sciences /

Mode of access: Internet.

Annual report of the Division of Risk Assessment, National Center for Devices and Radiological Health /

Mode of access: Internet.

Interactions between ecology, demography, capture stress, and profiles of corticosterone and glucose in a free-living population of Australian freshwater crocodiles

In this study we examined three aspects pertaining to adrenocortical responsiveness in free-ranging Australian freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni). First, we examined the ability of freshwater crocodiles to produce corticosterone in response to a typical capture-stress protocol. A second objective addressed the relationship between capture stress, plasma glucose and corticosterone. Next we examined if variation in basal and capture-stress-induced levels of plasma corticosterone was linked to ecological or demographic factors for individuals in this free-ranging population. Blood samples obtained on three field trips were taken from a cross-sectional sample of the population. Crocodiles were bled once during four time categories at 0, 0. 5, 6, and 10 h post-capture. Plasma corticosterone increased significantly with time post-capture. Plasma glucose also significantly increased with duration of capture-stress and exhibited a positive and significant relationship with plasma corticosterone. Significant variation in basal or stress induced levels of corticosterone in crocodiles was not associated with any ecological or demographic factors including sex, age class or the year of capture that the crocodiles were sampled from. However, three immature males had basal levels of plasma corticosterone greater than 2 standard deviations above the mean. While crocodiles exhibited a pronounced, adrenocortical and hyperglycaemic response to capture stress, limited variation in adrenocortical responsiveness due to ecological and demographic factors was not evident. This feature could arise in part because this population was sampled during a period of environmental benigness. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Low-density koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in the mulgalands of south-west Queensland. IV. Abundance and conservation status

Urban encroachment on dense, coastal koala populations has ensured that their management has received increasing government and public attention. The recently developed National Koala Conservation Strategy calls for maintenance of viable populations in the wild. Yet the success of this, and other, conservation initiatives is hampered by lack of reliable and generally accepted national and regional population estimates. In this paper we address this problem in a potentially large, but poorly studied, regional population in the State that is likely to have the largest wild populations. We draw on findings from previous reports in this series and apply the faecal standing-crop method (FSCM) to derive a regional estimate of more than 59 000 individuals. Validation trials in riverine communities showed that estimates of animal density obtained from the FSCM and direct observation were in close agreement. Bootstrapping and Monte Carlo simulations were used to obtain variance estimates for our population estimates in different vegetation associations across the region. The most favoured habitat was riverine vegetation, which covered only 0.9% of the region but supported 45% of the koalas. We also estimated that between 1969 and 1995 similar to 30% of the native vegetation associations that are considered as potential koala habitat were cleared, leading to a decline of perhaps 10% in koala numbers. Management of this large regional population has significant implications for the national conservation of the species: the continued viability of this population is critically dependent on the retention and management of riverine and residual vegetation communities, and future vegetation-management guidelines should be cognisant of the potential impacts of clearing even small areas of critical habitat. We also highlight eight management implications.

Division of labour within cooperatively breeding groups

Within cooperative societies, group members share in caring for offspring. Although division of labour among group members has been relatively well studied in insects, less is known about vertebrates. Most studies of avian helping focus solely on the extent to which helpers provision the offspring, however, helpers can participate in everything from nest building to predator defence. Bad provisioners may, for example, not be as 'uncooperative' as they appear. if they are good defenders. Thus, the distribution of helping tasks between group members should have important implications for our interpretation of group dynamics. Here, we compare two distinct forms of helping behaviour in the cooperatively breeding noisy miner (Manorina melanocephala): chick provisioning and mobbing nest predators. We show that the way in which individual helpers invest in these two helping behaviours varies enormously across individuals and among social groups. Good provisioners often contributed relatively little to mobbing and vice versa. Indeed, (18%) of helpers only mobbed, 22% just provisioned, whereas 60% of helpers performed both forms of helping. Across nests, provisioning was significantly negatively correlated with mobbing effort. We suggest that small differences in the costs or benefits of different aspects of helping (due to differences in age, relatedness or social status) have a big impact on the division of labour within a group. Consequently, social groups can be made up from individuals who often specialise in one helping behaviour, and/or helpers who perform a number of behaviours to differing degrees. Division of labour within social groups will, therefore, have important consequences for the maintenance of cooperatively breeding in vertebrates.

Ecology and distribution of diatoms in Biscayne Bay, Florida (USA): Implications for bioassessment and paleoenvironmental studies

The spatial and temporal distribution of planktonic, sediment-associated and epiphytic diatoms among 58 sites in Biscayne Bay, Florida was examined in order to identify diatom taxa indicative of different salinity and water quality conditions, geographic locations and habitat types. Assessments were made in contrasting wet and dry seasons in order to develop robust assessment models for salinity and water quality for this region. We found that diatom assemblages differed between nearshore and offshore locations, especially during the wet season when salinity and nutrient gradients were steepest. In the dry season, habitat structure was primary determinant of diatom assemblage composition. Among a suite of physicochemical variables, water depth and sediment total phosphorus (STP) were most strongly associated with diatom assemblage composition in the dry season, while salinity and water total phosphorus (TP) were more important in the wet season. We used indicator species analysis (ISA) to identify taxa that were most abundant and frequent at nearshore and offshore locations, in planktonic, epiphytic and benthic habitats and in contrasting salinity and water quality regimes. Because surface water concentrations of salts, total phosphorus, nitrogen (TN) and organic carbon (TOC) are partly controlled by water management in this region, diatom-based models were produced to infer these variables in modern and retrospective assessments of management-driven changes. Weighted averaging (WA) and weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) regressions produced reliable estimates of salinity, TP, TN and TOC from diatoms (r2 = 0.92, 0.77, 0.77 and 0.71, respectively). Because of their sensitivity to salinity, nutrient and TOC concentrations diatom assemblages should be useful in developing protective nutrient criteria for estuaries and coastal waters of Florida.

The Role of Agriculture and Food Consumption in Tropical Conservation

A growing human population, shifting human dietary habits, and climate change are negatively affecting global ecosystems on a massive scale. Expanding agricultural areas to feed a growing population drives extensive habitat loss, and climate change compounds stresses on both food security and ecosystems. Understanding the negative effects of human diet and climate change on agricultural and natural ecosystems provides a context within which potential technological and behavioral solutions can be proposed to help maximize conservation. The purpose of this research was to (1) examine the potential effects of climate change on the suitability of areas for commercial banana plantations in Latin America in the 2050s and how shifts in growing areas could affect protected areas; (2) test the ability of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to map productivity of banana plantations as a potential tool for increasing yields and decreasing future plantation expansions; (3) project the effects on biodiversity of increasing rates of animal product consumption in developing megadiverse countries; and (4) estimate the capacity of global pasture biomass production and Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis (IGCC-FT) processing to meet electricity, gasoline and diesel needs. The results indicate that (1) the overall extent of areas suitable for conventional banana cultivation is predicted to decrease by 19% by 2050 because of a hotter and drier climate, but all current banana exporting countries are predicted to maintain some suitable areas with no effects on protected areas; (2) Spatial patterns of NDVI and ENDVI were significantly positively correlated with several metrics of fruit yield and quality, indicating that UAV systems can be used in banana plantations to map spatial patterns of fruit yield; (3) Livestock production is the single largest driver of habitat loss, and both livestock and feedstock production are increasing in developing biodiverse tropical countries. Reducing global animal product consumption should therefore be at the forefront of strategies aimed at reducing biodiversity loss; (4) Removing livestock from global pasture lands and instead utilizing the biomass production could produce enough energy to meet 100% of the electricity, gasoline, and diesel needs of over 40 countries with extensive grassland ecosystems, primarily in tropical developing countries.

Resources use and conservation attitudes of local people in the Western Terai landscape, Nepal

Two protected areas: Royal Bardia National Park (RBNP) and Royal Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve (RSWR) in the Western Terai, Nepal, are under threats due to present political turmoil, uncontrolled immigration, inefficient land reform policies and unsustainable resource use. I did a stratified random questionnaire survey of 234 households to determine how resource use patterns and problems influence conservation attitudes. Chi-square, Student's t, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and multiple regression were used. There was spatio-temporal variability in resource use patterns and dependency. People were collecting eight and seven types of resources in RBNP and RSWR, respectively. However, people in RBNP were more dependent on resources than RSWR. In both areas, the problem of firewood is serious. The mean attitude score of RBNP (8.4 ± 1.44) was significantly higher than the score of RSWR (7.7 ± 1.66; t = 3.24, p = 0.0007). Conservation attitude was determined by variables such as participation in trainings, wildlife damage, and satisfaction towards user groups.

Heritability and genetic correlations of personality traits in a wild population of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris)

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Acknowledgments We thank all the marmoteers that helped collect data over the years, and specifically Amanda Lea for help with the pedigree and Leon Chong for help in the field. The comments of two anonymous reviewers helped us improve our original MS. M.B.P. was funded by two U.S. Department of Education GAANN Fellowships, an NSF GK-12 Fellowship, and the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. J.G.A.M. was supported by a Marie-Curie Fellowship. D.T.B was supported by the National Geographic Society, UCLA (Faculty Senate and the Division of Life Sciences), a Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory research fellowship and by the NSF (IDBR-0754247 and DEB-1119660 to D.T.B., as well as DBI 0242960 and 0731346 to the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory).

Estimating density of a rare and cryptic high-mountain Galliform species, the Buff-throated Partridge Tetraophasis szechenyii

Estimates of abundance or density are essential for wildlife management and conservation. There are few effective density estimates for the Buff-throated Partridge Tetraophasis szechenyii, a rare and elusive high-mountain Galliform species endemic to western China. In this study, we used the temporary emigration N-mixture model to estimate density of this species, with data acquired from playback point count surveys around a sacred area based on indigenous Tibetan culture of protection of wildlife, in Yajiang County, Sichuan, China, during April–June 2009. Within 84 125-m radius points, we recorded 53 partridge groups during three repeats. The best model indicated that detection probability was described by covariates of vegetation cover type, week of visit, time of day, and weather with weak effects, and a partridge group was present during a sampling period with a constant probability. The abundance component was accounted for by vegetation association. Abundance was substantially higher in rhododendron shrubs, fir-larch forests, mixed spruce-larch-birch forests, and especially oak thickets than in pine forests. The model predicted a density of 5.14 groups/km², which is similar to an estimate of 4.7 – 5.3 groups/km² quantified via an intensive spot-mapping effort. The post-hoc estimate of individual density was 14.44 individuals/km², based on the estimated mean group size of 2.81. We suggest that the method we employed is applicable to estimate densities of Buff-throated Partridges in large areas. Given importance of a mosaic habitat for this species, local logging should be regulated. Despite no effect of the conservation area (sacred) on the abundance of Buff-throated Partridges, we suggest regulations linking the sacred mountain conservation area with the official conservation system because of strong local participation facilitated by sacred mountains in land conservation.