Conservation officers killed and assaulted, 1990-1992.

"August 1996."

Arid and semiarid land stewardship : a 10-year review of accomplishments and contributions of the International Arid Lands Consortium /

"November 2001."

High-resolution dynamical downscaling products for the North Slope of Alaska and surrounding areas, links to model result files

Climatic changes are most pronounced in northern high latitude regions. Yet, there is a paucity of observational data, both spatially and temporally, such that regional-scale dynamics are not fully captured, limiting our ability to make reliable projections. In this study, a group of dynamical downscaling products were created for the period 1950 to 2100 to better understand climate change and its impacts on hydrology, permafrost, and ecosystems at a resolution suitable for northern Alaska. An ERA-interim reanalysis dataset and the Community Earth System Model (CESM) served as the forcing mechanisms in this dynamical downscaling framework, and the Weather Research & Forecast (WRF) model, embedded with an optimization for the Arctic (Polar WRF), served as the Regional Climate Model (RCM). This downscaled output consists of multiple climatic variables (precipitation, temperature, wind speed, dew point temperature, and surface air pressure) for a 10 km grid spacing at three-hour intervals. The modeling products were evaluated and calibrated using a bias-correction approach. The ERA-interim forced WRF (ERA-WRF) produced reasonable climatic variables as a result, yielding a more closely correlated temperature field than precipitation field when long-term monthly climatology was compared with its forcing and observational data. A linear scaling method then further corrected the bias, based on ERA-interim monthly climatology, and bias-corrected ERA-WRF fields were applied as a reference for calibration of both the historical and the projected CESM forced WRF (CESM-WRF) products. Biases, such as, a cold temperature bias during summer and a warm temperature bias during winter as well as a wet bias for annual precipitation that CESM holds over northern Alaska persisted in CESM-WRF runs. The linear scaling of CESM-WRF eventually produced high-resolution downscaling products for the Alaskan North Slope for hydrological and ecological research, together with the calibrated ERA-WRF run, and its capability extends far beyond that. Other climatic research has been proposed, including exploration of historical and projected climatic extreme events and their possible connections to low-frequency sea-atmospheric oscillations, as well as near-surface permafrost degradation and ice regime shifts of lakes. These dynamically downscaled, bias corrected climatic datasets provide improved spatial and temporal resolution data necessary for ongoing modeling efforts in northern Alaska focused on reconstructing and projecting hydrologic changes, ecosystem processes and responses, and permafrost thermal regimes. The dynamical downscaling methods presented in this study can also be used to create more suitable model input datasets for other sub-regions of the Arctic.

The role of Community Health Workers. Historical perspective of facilitators and barriers. Case study in Vaupés, Colombia

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Estimating Baselines and Identifying Anomalies in Beached Bird Patterns on the Outer Coasts of Washington and Oregon, USA

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Conservation of freshwater thermal habitats for Pacific salmon in a changing climate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Cross-reactive recognition of human and primate cytomegalovirus sequences by human CD4 cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for glycoprotein B and H

Although the importance of CD4(+) T cell responses to human cytonnegalovirus (HCMV) has recently been recognized in transplant and immunosuppressed patients, the precise specificity and nature of this response has remained largely unresolved. In the present study we have isolated CD4(+) CTL which recognize epitopes from HCMV glycoproteins gB and gH in association with two different HLA-DR antigens, DRA1*0101/DRB1*0701 (DR7) and DRA1*0101/DRB1*1101 (DR11). Comparison of amino acid sequences of HICMV isolates revealed that the gB and gH epitope sequences recognized by human CD4(+) T cells were not only conserved in clinical isolates from HCMV but also in CMV isolates from higher primates (chimpanzee, rhesus and baboon). Interestingly, these epitope sequences from chimpanzee, rhesus and baboon CMV are efficiently recognized by human CD4(+) CTL. More importantly, we show that gB-specific T cells from humans can also efficiently lyse pepticle-sensitized Patr-DR7(+) cells from chimpanzees. These findings suggest that conserved gB and gH epitopes should be considered while designing a prophylactic vaccine against HCMV. In addition, they also provide a functional basis for the conservation of MHC class 11 lineages between humans and Old World primates and open the possibility for the use of such primate models in vaccine development against HCMV.

High nuclear genetic diversity, high levels of outcrossing and low differentiation among remnant populations of Quercus petraea at the margin of its range in Ireland

Background and Aims Quercus petraea colonized Ireland after the last glaciation from refugia on mainland Europe. Deforestation. however. beginning in Neolithic times, has resulted in small, scattered forest fragments, now covering less than 12 000 ha. Methods Plastid (three fragments) and microsatellite variation (13 loci) were characterized in seven Irish populations sampled along a north-south gradient. Using Bayesian approaches and Wright's F-statistics, the effects of colonization and fragmentation on the genetic structure and mating patterns of extant oak populations were investigated. Key-Results All Populations possessed cytotypes common to the Iberian Peninsula. Despite the distance from the refugial core and the extensive deforestation in Ireland, nuclear genetic variation was high and comparable to mainland Europe. Low population differentiation was observed within Ireland and populations showed no evidence for isolation by distance. As expected of a marker with an effective Population size of one-quarter relative to the nuclear genome, plastid variation indicated higher differentiation. Individual inbreeding coefficients indicated high levels of outcrossing. Conclusions Consistent with a large effective Population size in the historical migrant gene pool and/or with high gene flow among populations, high within-population diversity and low population differentiation was observred within Ireland. It is proposed that native Q. petraea populations in Ireland share a common phylogeographic history and that the present genetic structure does not reflect founder effects. (C) 2004 Annals of Botany Company.

Detection of fruit and the selection of primate visual pigments for color vision

Primates have X chromosome genes for cone photopigments with sensitivity maxima from 535 to 562 nm. Old World monkeys and apes (catarrhines) and the New World ( platyrrhine) genus Alouatta have separate genes for 535-nm ( medium wavelength; M) and 562-nm ( long wavelength; L) pigments. These pigments, together with a 425-nm ( short wavelength) pigment, permit trichromatic color vision. Other platyrrhines and prosimians have a single X chromosome gene but often with alleles for two or three M/L photopigments. Consequently, heterozygote females are trichromats, but males and homozygote females are dichromats. The criteria that affect the evolution of M/L alleles and maintain genetic polymorphism remain a puzzle, but selection for finding food may be important. We compare different types of color vision for detecting more than 100 plant species consumed by tamarins ( Saguinus spp.) in Peru. There is evidence that both frequency-dependent selection on homozygotes and heterozygote advantage favor M/L polymorphism and that trichromatic color vision is most advantageous in dim light. Also, whereas the 562-nm allele is present in all species, the occurrence of 535- to 556-nm alleles varies between species. This variation probably arises because trichromatic color vision favors widely separated pigments and equal frequencies of 535/543- and 562-nm alleles, whereas in dichromats, long-wavelength pigment alleles are fitter.

To self, or not to self ... A review of outcrossing and pollen-mediated gene flow in neotropical trees

Despite the typically low population densities and animal-mediated pollination of tropical forest trees, outcrossing and long-distance pollen dispersal are the norm. We reviewed the genetic literature on mating systems and pollen dispersal for neotropical trees to identify the ecological and phylogenetic correlates. The 36 studies surveyed found >90% outcrossed mating for 45 hermaphroditic or monoecious species. Self-fertilization rates varied inversely with population density and showed phylogenetic and geographic trends. The few direct measures of pollen flow (N = 11 studies) suggest that pollen dispersal is widespread among low-density tropical trees, ranging from a mean of 200 m to over 19 km for species pollinated by small insects or bats. Future research needs to examine (1) the effect of inbreeding depression on observed outcrossing rates, (2) pollen dispersal in a wide range of pollination syndromes and ecological classes, (3) and the range of variation of mating system expression at different hierarchical levels, including individual, seasonal, population, ecological, landscape and range wide.

Ecosystem response to antibiotics entering the aquatic environment

Awareness of antibiotics in wastewaters and aquatic ecosystems is growing as investigations into alternate pollutants increase and analytical techniques for detecting these chemicals improve. The presence of three antibiotics (ciproffoxacin, norfloxacin and cephalexin) was evaluated in both sewage effluent and environmental waters downstream from a sewage discharge. Bacteria cultured from the sewage bioreactor and receiving waters were tested for resistance against six antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, ampicillin, trimethoprim, erythromycin and trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole) and effects of short term exposure (24h) to antibiotics on bacterial denitrification rates were examined. Antibiotics were detected entering the sewage treatment plant with varying levels of removal during the treatment process. Antibiotics were also detected in effluent entering receiving waters and detectable 500m from the source. Among the bacteria cultured from the sewage bioreactor, resistance was displayed against all six antibiotics tested and bacteria cultured from receiving waters were resistant against two of the antibiotics tested. Rates of denitrification were observed to decrease in response to some antibiotics and not to others, though this was only observed at concentrations exceeding those likely to be found in the environment. Findings from this preliminary research have indicated that antibiotics are entering our aquatic systems and pose a potential threat to ecosystem function and potentially human health. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applying network analysis to the conservation of habitat trees in urban environments: a case study from Brisbane, Australia

In Australia more than 300 vertebrates, including 43 insectivorous bat species, depend on hollows in habitat trees for shelter, with many species using a network of multiple trees as roosts, We used roost-switching data on white-striped freetail bats (Tadarida australis; Microchiroptera: Molossidae) to construct a network representation of day roosts in suburban Brisbane, Australia. Bats were caught from a communal roost tree with a roosting group of several hundred individuals and released with transmitters. Each roost used by the bats represented a node in the network, and the movements of bats between roosts formed the links between nodes. Despite differences in gender and reproductive stages, the bats exhibited the same behavior throughout three radiotelemetry periods and over 500 bat days of radio tracking: each roosted in separate roosts, switched roosts very infrequently, and associated with other bats only at the communal roost This network resembled a scale-free network in which the distribution of the number of links from each roost followed a power law. Despite being spread over a large geographic area (> 200 km(2)), each roost was connected to others by less than three links. One roost (the hub or communal roost) defined the architecture of the network because it had the most links. That the network showed scale-free properties has profound implications for the management of the habitat trees of this roosting group. Scale-free networks provide high tolerance against stochastic events such as random roost removals but are susceptible to the selective removal of hub nodes. Network analysis is a useful tool for understanding the structural organization of habitat tree usage and allows the informed judgment of the relative importance of individual trees and hence the derivation of appropriate management decisions, Conservation planners and managers should emphasize the differential importance of habitat trees and think of them as being analogous to vital service centers in human societies.