Impacts of Habitat Fragmentation on Northern Bobwhites in the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) has experienced range wide declines over the last several decades, primarily due to loss and fragmentation of habitat. As populations decline, there is a need for understanding factors that impact bobwhite population persistence at local and regional spatial scales. Our goal was to assess changes in land use and their relationship to bobwhite declines at 3 different spatial scales (region, county, and home range) in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. We used North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data from 1974-2014 to create abundance maps and trends. At the regional scale, we compared bobwhite abundance with road density (2000, 2010), human population (1970-2010), and land use (1974-2012). We then used the BBS data to identify counties with stable and declining bobwhite abundance, and then compared bobwhite abundance to land use at metapopulation (800-9600 ha) and home range scales (15 ha). Bobwhite populations decreased from 45.93 ± 1.01 birds/count in 1970 to 11.55 ± 0.64 birds/count in 2012. as road density and human population increased. Pasture and other land increased, woodland was relatively stable, and cropland decreased in 2012. At the metapopulation level, declining populations had higher road density, more edge and patch area for pasture, and larger patches of cropland compared to stable populations. At the home range scale, declining populations had significantly fewer, and smaller, woody patches, more herbaceous habitat, and less bare ground. This study demonstrates that while on a small scale managers can provide woody cover and reduce cropland effects to support stable populations, the large-scale drivers of bobwhite decline, namely human population growth and the resulting loss of habitat, will be critical to quail management in the future

Increased Risk of Autism Development in Children Whose Mothers Experienced Birth Complications or Received Labor and Delivery Drugs

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a perplexing and pervasive developmental disorder characterized by social difficulties, communicative deficits, and repetitive behavior. The increased rate of ASD diagnosis has raised questions concerning the genetic and environmental factors contributing to the development of this disorder; meanwhile, the cause of ASD remains unknown. This study surveyed mothers of ASD and non-ASD children to determine possible effects of labor and delivery (L&D) drugs on the development of ASD. The survey was administered to mothers; however, the results were analyzed by child, as the study focused on the development of autism. Furthermore, an independent ASD dataset from the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center was analyzed and compared. Indeed, L&D drugs are associated with ASD ( p  = .039). Moreover, the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center dataset shows that the labor induction drug, Pitocin, is significantly associated with ASD ( p  = .004). We also observed a synergistic effect between administrations of L&D drugs and experiencing a birth complication, in which both obstetrics factors occurring together increased the likelihood of the fetus developing ASD later in life ( p  = .0003). The present study shows the possible effects of L&D drugs, such as Pitocin labor-inducing and analgesic drugs, on children and ASD