Habitat selection in zones of parapatric contact between the Common shrew Sorex araneus and Millet's shrew S. coronatus

(1) The common shrew Sorex araneus and Millet's shrew S. coronatus are sibling species.They are morphologically and genetically very similar but do not hybridize. Their parapatric distribution throughout south-western Europe, with a few narrow zones of distributional overlap, suggests that they are in competitive parapatry. (2) Two of these contact zones were studied; there was evidence of coexistence over periods of 2 years as well as habitat segregation. In both zones, the species segregated on litter thickness and humidity variables. (3) A simple analysis of spatial distribution showed that habitats visible in the field corresponded to the habitats selected by the species. Habitat selection was found throughout the annual life-cycle of the shrews. (4) In one contact zone, a removal experiment was performed to test whether habitat segregation is induced by interspecific interactions. The experiment showed that the species select habitats differentially when both are present and abandon habitat selection when their competitor is removed. (5) These results confirm the role of resource partitioning in promoting narrow rangesof distributional overlap between such parapatric species and qualitatively support the prediction of habitat selection theory that, in a two-species system, coexistence may be achieved by differential habitat selection to avoid competition. The results also support the view that the common shrew and Millet's shrew are in competitive parapatry.

Water infiltration in an ultisol after cultivation of common bean

Water infiltration in the soil is an important hydrological process that occurs at the interface of the soil-atmosphere system; thus, the soil management practice used has a strong influence on this process. The aim of this study was to evaluate water infiltration in the soil and compare equations for estimating the water infiltration rate in an Ultisol after harvesting common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) under simulated rainfall. Field tests with a rainfall simulator were carried out in three soil management systems: minimum tillage (MT), conventional tillage (CT), and no tillage (NT). In NT, four levels of plant residue on the soil surface were evaluated: 0, 3, 6, and 9 t ha-1. The models of Kostiakov-Lewis, Horton, and Philip were used to estimate the infiltration rate. In the MT system, the final infiltration rate was 54 mm h-1, whereas in the CT and NT systems with up to 3 t ha-1 of plant residue on the soil surface, the rate was near 17 mm h-1. In addition, the results indicated that in the NT system the infiltration rate increased with plant residue coverage greater than 6 t ha-1, i.e., there was a positive correlation between plant cover and the water infiltration rate. The Horton model was the most suitable in representing the water infiltration process in the soil. Therefore, this model can be recommended for estimation of this variable regardless of the soil tillage system used.

Mapeamento digital de atributos: granulometria e matéria orgânica do solo utilizando espectroscopia de de reflectância difusa

A espectroscopia de reflectância difusa (ERD) pode ser utilizada como alternativa para quantificação de atributos como granulometria e matéria orgânica do solo (MOS). Essa técnica pode ser opção para quantificar esses atributos em grande volume de amostras de solos, visto ser rápida, com menor custo e sem a geração de resíduos químicos. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver modelos usando análise de regressão linear múltipla para predizer o teor de argila, areia, silte e MOS, utilizando dados de ERD em uma área de relevo e geologia complexa localizada na região central do Rio Grande do Sul. No estudo, foram utilizadas 303 amostras coletadas na profundidade de 0,00-0,20 m para determinar os teores de argila, areia, silte e MOS por meio da análise laboratorial e de reflectância espectral. O desempenho dos modelos de predição apresentaram bons resultados, com capacidade de explicação da variância de 77 e 72 % para areia e argila, respectivamente. Mesmo com a complexidade geológica e pedológica, os resultados evidenciaram que a técnica é promissora, sendo possível a aplicação dessa técnica para predição da granulometria e teor de MOS.

COMPARAÇÃO DE ESQUEMAS DE AMOSTRAGEM PARA TREINAMENTO DE MODELOS PREDITORES NO MAPEAMENTO DIGITAL DE CLASSES DE SOLOS

Os modelos preditores usados no mapeamento digital de solos (MDS) precisam ser treinados com dados que captem ao máximo a variação dos atributos do terreno e dos solos, a fim de gerar correlações adequadas entre as variáveis ambientais e a ocorrência dos solos. Para avaliar a acurácia desses modelos, tem sido constatado o uso de diferentes métodos de avaliação da acurácia no MDS. Os objetivos deste estudo foram comparar o uso de três esquemas de amostragem para treinar algoritmo de árvore de classificação (CART) e avaliar a capacidade de predição dos modelos gerados por meio de quatro métodos. Foram utilizados os esquemas de amostragem: aleatório simples; proporcional à área de cada unidade de mapeamento de solos (UM); e estratificado pelo número de UM. Os métodos de avaliação testados foram: aparente, divisão percentual, validação cruzada com 10 subconjuntos e reamostragem com sete conjuntos de dados independentes. As acurácias dos modelos estimadas pelos métodos foram comparadas com as acurácias mensuradas obtidas pela comparação dos mapas gerados, a partir de cada esquema de amostragem, com o mapa convencional de solos na escala 1:50.000. Os esquemas de amostragem influenciaram na quantidade de UMs preditas e na acurácia dos modelos e dos mapas gerados. Os esquemas de amostragem proporcional e estratificada resultaram mapas digitais menos acurados, e a acurácia dos modelos variou conforme o método de avaliação empregado. A amostragem aleatória resultou no mapa digital mais acurado e apresentou valores da acurácia semelhantes para todos os métodos de avaliação testados.

Advanced Kernel Methods For Remote Sensing Image Classification

Résumé Suite aux recentes avancées technologiques, les archives d'images digitales ont connu une croissance qualitative et quantitative sans précédent. Malgré les énormes possibilités qu'elles offrent, ces avancées posent de nouvelles questions quant au traitement des masses de données saisies. Cette question est à la base de cette Thèse: les problèmes de traitement d'information digitale à très haute résolution spatiale et/ou spectrale y sont considérés en recourant à des approches d'apprentissage statistique, les méthodes à noyau. Cette Thèse étudie des problèmes de classification d'images, c'est à dire de catégorisation de pixels en un nombre réduit de classes refletant les propriétés spectrales et contextuelles des objets qu'elles représentent. L'accent est mis sur l'efficience des algorithmes, ainsi que sur leur simplicité, de manière à augmenter leur potentiel d'implementation pour les utilisateurs. De plus, le défi de cette Thèse est de rester proche des problèmes concrets des utilisateurs d'images satellite sans pour autant perdre de vue l'intéret des méthodes proposées pour le milieu du machine learning dont elles sont issues. En ce sens, ce travail joue la carte de la transdisciplinarité en maintenant un lien fort entre les deux sciences dans tous les développements proposés. Quatre modèles sont proposés: le premier répond au problème de la haute dimensionalité et de la redondance des données par un modèle optimisant les performances en classification en s'adaptant aux particularités de l'image. Ceci est rendu possible par un système de ranking des variables (les bandes) qui est optimisé en même temps que le modèle de base: ce faisant, seules les variables importantes pour résoudre le problème sont utilisées par le classifieur. Le manque d'information étiquétée et l'incertitude quant à sa pertinence pour le problème sont à la source des deux modèles suivants, basés respectivement sur l'apprentissage actif et les méthodes semi-supervisées: le premier permet d'améliorer la qualité d'un ensemble d'entraînement par interaction directe entre l'utilisateur et la machine, alors que le deuxième utilise les pixels non étiquetés pour améliorer la description des données disponibles et la robustesse du modèle. Enfin, le dernier modèle proposé considère la question plus théorique de la structure entre les outputs: l'intègration de cette source d'information, jusqu'à présent jamais considérée en télédétection, ouvre des nouveaux défis de recherche. Advanced kernel methods for remote sensing image classification Devis Tuia Institut de Géomatique et d'Analyse du Risque September 2009 Abstract The technical developments in recent years have brought the quantity and quality of digital information to an unprecedented level, as enormous archives of satellite images are available to the users. However, even if these advances open more and more possibilities in the use of digital imagery, they also rise several problems of storage and treatment. The latter is considered in this Thesis: the processing of very high spatial and spectral resolution images is treated with approaches based on data-driven algorithms relying on kernel methods. In particular, the problem of image classification, i.e. the categorization of the image's pixels into a reduced number of classes reflecting spectral and contextual properties, is studied through the different models presented. The accent is put on algorithmic efficiency and the simplicity of the approaches proposed, to avoid too complex models that would not be used by users. The major challenge of the Thesis is to remain close to concrete remote sensing problems, without losing the methodological interest from the machine learning viewpoint: in this sense, this work aims at building a bridge between the machine learning and remote sensing communities and all the models proposed have been developed keeping in mind the need for such a synergy. Four models are proposed: first, an adaptive model learning the relevant image features has been proposed to solve the problem of high dimensionality and collinearity of the image features. This model provides automatically an accurate classifier and a ranking of the relevance of the single features. The scarcity and unreliability of labeled. information were the common root of the second and third models proposed: when confronted to such problems, the user can either construct the labeled set iteratively by direct interaction with the machine or use the unlabeled data to increase robustness and quality of the description of data. Both solutions have been explored resulting into two methodological contributions, based respectively on active learning and semisupervised learning. Finally, the more theoretical issue of structured outputs has been considered in the last model, which, by integrating outputs similarity into a model, opens new challenges and opportunities for remote sensing image processing.

Spatial analysis of erythrocyte membrane fluctuations by digital holographic microscopy.

Red blood cell (RBC) membrane fluctuations provide important insights into cell states. We present a spatial analysis of red blood cell membrane fluctuations by using digital holographic microscopy (DHM). This interferometric and dye-free technique, possessing nanometric axial and microsecond temporal sensitivities enables to measure cell membrane fluctuations (CMF) on the whole cell surface. DHM acquisition is combined with a model which allows extracting the membrane fluctuation amplitude, while taking into account cell membrane topology. Uneven distribution of CMF amplitudes over the RBC surface is observed, showing maximal values in a ring corresponding to the highest points on the RBC torus as well as in some scattered areas in the inner region of the RBC. CMF amplitudes of 35.9+/-8.9 nm and 4.7+/-0.5 nm (averaged over the cell surface) were determined for normal and ethanol-fixed RBCs, respectively.

SELEÇÃO DE DENSIDADE DE AMOSTRAGEM COM BASE EM DADOS DE ÁREAS JÁ MAPEADAS PARA TREINAMENTO DE MODELOS DE ÁRVORE DE DECISÃO NO MAPEAMENTO DIGITAL DE SOLOS

Para estudar técnicas de amostragem, úteis ao mapeamento digital de solos (MDS), objetivou-se avaliar o efeito da variação da densidade de pontos amostrais com base em dados de áreas já mapeadas por métodos tradicionais na acurácia dos modelos de árvores de decisão (AD) para a geração de mapas de solos por MDS. Em duas bacias hidrográficas no noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul, usou-se, como referência, antigos mapas convencionais de solos na escala 1:50.000. A partir do modelo digital de elevação do terreno e da rede hidrográfica, foram gerados mapas das variáveis preditoras: elevação, declividade, curvatura, comprimento de fluxo, acúmulo de fluxo, índice de umidade topográfica e distância euclideana de rios. A escolha dos locais dos pontos amostrais foi aleatória e testaram-se densidades amostrais que variaram de 0,1 a 4 pontos/ha. O treinamento dos modelos foi realizado no software Weka, gerando-se modelos preditores usando diferentes tamanhos do nó final da AD para obter AD com tamanhos distintos. Quando não se controlou o tamanho das AD, o aumento da densidade de amostragem resultou no aumento da concordância com os mapas básicos de referências e no aumento do número de unidades de mapeamento preditas. Nas AD com tamanho controlado, o aumento da densidade de amostragem não influenciou a concordância com os mapas de referência e interferiu muito pouco no número de unidades de mapeamento preditas.

Common Musk Turtle Sternotherus odoratus, 2011

Data sheet produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is about different times of animals, insects, snakes, birds, fish, butterflies, etc. that can be found in Iowa.

Common Barn Owl Tyto alba, 2011

Data sheet produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is about different times of animals, insects, snakes, birds, fish, butterflies, etc. that can be found in Iowa.

Common Ringlet Coenonympha tullia, 2011

Data sheet produced by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is about different times of animals, insects, snakes, birds, fish, butterflies, etc. that can be found in Iowa.

Multiple Geotechnological Tools Applied to Digital Mapping of Tropical Soils

ABSTRACT In recent years, geotechnologies as remote and proximal sensing and attributes derived from digital terrain elevation models indicated to be very useful for the description of soil variability. However, these information sources are rarely used together. Therefore, a methodology for assessing and specialize soil classes using the information obtained from remote/proximal sensing, GIS and technical knowledge has been applied and evaluated. Two areas of study, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, totaling approximately 28.000 ha were used for this work. First, in an area (area 1), conventional pedological mapping was done and from the soil classes found patterns were obtained with the following information: a) spectral information (forms of features and absorption intensity of spectral curves with 350 wavelengths -2,500 nm) of soil samples collected at specific points in the area (according to each soil type); b) obtaining equations for determining chemical and physical properties of the soil from the relationship between the results obtained in the laboratory by the conventional method, the levels of chemical and physical attributes with the spectral data; c) supervised classification of Landsat TM 5 images, in order to detect changes in the size of the soil particles (soil texture); d) relationship between classes relief soils and attributes. Subsequently, the obtained patterns were applied in area 2 obtain pedological classification of soils, but in GIS (ArcGIS). Finally, we developed a conventional pedological mapping in area 2 to which was compared with a digital map, ie the one obtained only with pre certain standards. The proposed methodology had a 79 % accuracy in the first categorical level of Soil Classification System, 60 % accuracy in the second category level and became less useful in the categorical level 3 (37 % accuracy).

Do riverine barriers, history or introgression shape the genetic structuring of a common shrew (Sorex araneus) population?

The common shrew (Sorex araneus) is subdivided into numerous chromosome races. The Valais and Cordon chromosome races meet and hybridize at a mountain river in Les Houches (French Alps). Significant genetic structuring was recently reported among populations found on the Valais side of this hybrid zone. In this paper, a phylogenetic analysis and partial Mantel tests are used to investigate the patterns and causes of this structuring. A total of 185 shrews were trapped at 12 localities. All individuals were typed for nine microsatellite loci. Although several mountain rivers are found in the study area, riverine barriers do not have a significant influence on gene flow. Partial Mantel tests show that our result is caused by the influence of the hybrid zone with the Cordon race. The geographical patterns of this structuring are discussed in the context of the contact zone, which appears to extend up to a group of two rivers. The glacier they originate from is known to have cut the Arve valley as recently as 1818. The recent history of this glacier, its moraine and possibly rivers, may therefore be linked to the history of this hybrid zone.

Ligamentous and tendinous anatomy of the intermetacarpal and common carpometacarpal joints: evaluation with MR imaging and MR arthrography.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to demonstrate the normal ligamentous and tendinous anatomy of the intermetacarpal (IMC) and common carpometacarpal (CCMC) joints with MRI and MR arthrography. METHOD: MR images of 22 wrists derived from fresh human cadavers were obtained before and after arthrography. The MR imaging features of the ligaments and tendons about the CCMC and IMC joints and the joints themselves were analyzed in a randomized fashion and correlated with those seen on anatomic sections. RESULTS: Six CCMC ligaments were visualized. The dorsal and palmar CCMC ligaments and the pisometacarpal ligament were best visualized in the sagittal plane. The radial and ulnar CCMC collateral ligaments and the capito-third metacarpal ligament were best visualized in the coronal plane. Three main IMC ligaments were observed: a dorsal and a palmar ligament and an interosseous ligament complex. All three ligaments were best visualized in the axial plane. Four tendinous insertions to the metacarpal bases were evident. CONCLUSION: The anatomy of the ligaments and tendinous insertions about the second to fifth IMC and the CCMC joints is well demonstrated by MR imaging and MR arthrography. MR arthrography does not significantly improve the visualization of these complex structures.

Thermal energetics and torpor in the common pipistrelle bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Vespertilionidae: Mammalia).

Rate of metabolism and body temperature were studied between -6°C and 38°C in the common pipistrelle bat Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Vespertilionidae), a European species lying close to the lower end of the mammalian size range (body mass 4.9±0.8g, N=28). Individuals maintained only occasionally a normothermic body temperature averaging 35.4±1.1°C (N=4) and often showed torpor during metabolic runs. The thermoneutral zone was found above 33°C, and basal rate of metabolism averaged 7.6±0.8mL O(2)h(-1) (N=28), which is 69% of the value predicted on the basis of body mass. Minimal wet thermal conductance was 161% of the expected value. During torpor, the rate of metabolism was related exponentially to body temperature with a Q(10) value of 2.57. Torpid bats showed intermittent ventilation, with the frequency of ventilatory cycles increasing exponentially with body temperature. Basal rate of metabolism (BMR) varied significantly with season and body temperature, but not with body mass. It was lower before the hibernation period than during the summer. The patterns observed are generally consistent with those exhibited by other vespertilionids of temperate regions. However, divergences occur with previous measurements on European pipistrelles, and the causes of the seasonal variation in BMR, which has only rarely been searched for among vespertilionids, remain to be examined.