To My Favorite Techno-Mage

Survive & Thrive Facebook group - Prompt 3, write a letter to someone who has influenced you, a historical figure

Trickster Muse

The Facebook Survive and Thrive\u27s Prompt #10 was to write about who is your incarnation of the Trickster archetype, and what they do to or for you

Prompt #10-Untitled

The Facebook Survive and Thrive group\u27s Prompt #8 was about Betrayal. Are we betrayed by others because we betray ourselves

Landscapes: Black wood panel

The Survive and Thrive Facebook group\u27s Prompt #1 was reflecting on landscape. Not being able to remember can tell just as much of a story

Rubidium spacecraft atomic timing system Final report

Rubidium 87 atomic time and frequency reference system for manned space fligh

Spatial and ecological analysis of red fir decline in California using FIA data

Red fir (Abies magnifica) is a high elevation conifer generally growing between an altitude of 1,400 and 2,700 meters. In California, red fir grows in the Sierra Nevada, the Klamath Mountains, the eastern edges of the northern Californian Coast Ranges, and in the southern Cascades. Red fir commonly grows in pure stands and is often found in association with white fir (Abies concolor), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) or Jeffrey pine (Pinus Jeffreyi). Red fir is present in popular recreational areas including Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Lassen Volcanic national parks as well as the Mt. Shasta area and the Lake Tahoe region. Increasing and higher-than-expected red fir mortality and decline over the past five years has been observed in the central Sierra Nevada. This mortality and decline is seen as being caused by a complex interaction of biotic, anthropogenic and abiotic factors. The abiotic factors include drought, climate change (especially decreased snowpack), and the effects of changing fire regimes. The key anthropogenic factors are air pollution and forest management. The biotic factors include red fir dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium abietinum f. sp. magnificae), Annosus root disease (Heterobasidion annosum), Cytospora canker (Cytospora abietis), and the fir engraver beetle (Scolytus ventralis). Using USFS Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) plots at a density of one every 5.47 km (3.4 miles) across California allowed for the first stand-level analysis of the entire red fir distribution zone in California. The results show that mortality is increasing in red fir, which suggests that at least a short term decline is occurring. The rate at which mortality is increasing varies, depending on which analysis approach is used and decreases if recently burned plots are removed from the analysis. At the individual tree level, red fir mortality (all size classes) is occurring at an annual rate of 2.64%. Red fir dwarf mistletoe is the most significant factor in red fir mortality and decline based on our field observations and statistical analysis. There is a clear visual and statistical difference in forest health between areas that possess red fir dwarf mistletoe and those that don't. This remains true even when stands are heavily stocked and Annosus root disease is present, suggesting that Annosus root disease (which is common throughout the red fir distribution range) is greatly exacerbated by the presence of red fir dwarf mistletoe. Cytospora canker is associated with red fir dwarf mistletoe, and is likely a significant reason why the red fir dwarf mistletoe impacts red fir forest health so significantly. The only variation in spatial pattern of red fir mortality in California is an area of very low red fir mortality around Mt. Shasta (where red fir dwarf mistletoes does not occur). There was not a consistent correlation between red fir mortality and drought stress. The amount of fir engraver activity in California is not well characterized making it difficult to assess its' role in red fir mortality

Serologic survey of infectious disease agents in black bears (Ursus americanus) of California, Oregon, and Washington

The causes of natural mortality and disease in free ranging black bears, Ursus americanus, in California, Oregon, and Washington are poorly known. Life history components, such as scavenging and overlapping habitat with many species of carnivores, potentially expose bears to a wide range of infectious disease agents. To date, no disease has been identified that appears to greatly influence black bear population dynamics. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence rates of exposure to selected infectious disease agents in black bears at six study sites of California, Oregon, and Washington, and to assess if age, sex, study area, or year of sampling are related to the prevalence of specific diseases. One hundred and ninety nine black bear serum samples were collected between 1993 and 1997 and tested for selected viral and bacterial disease agents. Antibody prevalence was 0% for bluetongue virus, 12.6% (24/190) for Borrelia burdorferi (Lyme disease), 0% for Brucella spp., 0% for Dirofilaria immitis (heartworm), 4.8% (8/165) for canine distemper virus, 4.5% (9/198) for Ehrlichia equi, 0% for epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus, 9% (8/88) for Francisella tularensis (tularemia), 1.8% (3/165) for canine infectious hepatitis virus, 2.5% (5/198) for Trichinella spiralis, 45% (89/198) for Toxoplasma gondii and 5.5% (11/198) for Yersinia pestis (plague). Prevalence differences were observed among study sites. Lyme disease and plague antibodies were detected only in black bears from California and Oregon. E. equi antibody detection was highest from California bears. This is the first report of E. equi in the Ursidae family, and the first report of morbillivirus in black bears. These data do not support the relationship reported in other studies of rising prevalence rates with increased age of bears. The potential implications of diseases transmitted by translocated bears or re-introduced sympatric carnivores should be considered before management decisions are made