Taking the lead on climate change: Modelling and monitoring the fate of an Amazonian frog

Climate change is expected to have important impacts on biodiversity. However, cases showing explicit links between species decline and climate are scarce, mostly because of a lack of baseline data. Tropical ectotherms with narrow altitudinal ranges are particularly sensitive to climate change; for example the frog Pristimantis espedeus may be at risk, with only nine populations known to date in French Guiana, all on isolated massifs. Ecological niche modelling indicated that these populations could disappear by 2070. To facilitate testing of this prediction we conducted a study to design an efficient, cost-effective monitoring protocol, combining occupancy rate estimations using passive acoustic recorders, and abundance estimations using acoustic repeated counts and capture-mark-recapture. We found the passive recorders to be effective, with a detection probability of 0.8. Two recording sessions were sufficient to estimate occupancy rates reliably. A minimum of 57 surveyed sites were required to detect a decline of 15% in occupancy between two consecutive monitoring events. Acoustic repeated counts and capture-mark-recapture yielded similar density estimates (1.6 and 1.8 calling males per 100 m2, respectively). Based on these results we present a protocol based on passive acoustic recording and abundance monitoring to monitor P. espedeus populations

Liste taxinomique de l'herpétofaune dans l'outre-mer français : II. Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy

La liste taxinomique de référence est établie pour les Amphibiens et les Sauropsides non aviens de la collectivité d’outre-mer français de Saint-Barthélemy, dans les Petites Antilles. Elle tient compte des publications les plus récentes. À côté du nom scientifique zoologique, un nom scientifique français est joint à chaque taxon. Une mise au point sur l'arrivée des Tortues terrestres dans les Petites Antilles est faite

Calculation to Experiment Comparison of SPND Signals in Various Nuclear Reactor Environments

International audienceIn the perspective of irradiation experiments in the future Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR), the Instrumentation Sensors and Dosimetry Laboratory of CEA Cadarache (France) is developing a numerical tool for SPND design, simulation and operation. In the frame of the SPND numerical tool qualification, dedicated experiments have been performed both in the Slovenian TRIGA Mark II reactor (JSI) and very recently in the French CEA Saclay OSIRIS reactor, as well as a test of two detectors in the core of the Polish MARIA reactor (NCBJ). A full description of experimental set-ups and neutron-gamma calculations schemes are provided in the first part of the paper. Calculation to experiment comparison of the various SPNDs in the different reactors is thoroughly described and discussed in the second part. Presented comparisons show promising final results

Concrete radiolysis effect on steels corrosion and comparison with non-irradiated material

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Brillouin optical fiber distributed sensor for settlement monitoring while tunneling the metro line 3 in Cairo, Egypt

International audienceSafety while tunneling is one of the main challenges for underground constructions, avoiding confinement losses, which remain an important risk for public works, leading to additional delays and high insurance costs. In such applications, usual surface instrumentations cannot be set up because of high building density in many overcrowded cities. Tunnelling deals with the challenge of requiring ground surface undisturbed. One original concept proposed in the framework of the European Tunconstruct project, consists in very early settlement detection close to the tunnel vault and before any detectable effect on the surface. The adopted solution is to set-up a sensing element inserted into a directional drilling excavated above the foreseen tunnel. The methodology is based on the well known Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (B-OTDR) in singlemode optical fibres and a special cable design dedicated to bending measurement. Two cables, based on different industrial manufacturing processes, have been developed taking into account the strain sensitivity required, the flexibility and the robustness for borehole installation, a low power attenuation and storage on a drum. Industrial prototypes have been manufactured and validated with tests in open air where settlement profiles geometry can be accurately controlled. Demonstration on job site took place on The Greater Cairo Metro Line 3 (CML3) at the beginning of 2009

Impact damage detection in radome sandwich structures by traditional non destructive evaluation and fiber optic integrated health monitoring systems

Communication to : 10th international conference on adaptive structures and technologies - ICAST'99, Paris (France), October 11-13, 1999SIGLEAvailable from INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : 22419, issue : a.1999 n.189 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Amino Acids and Derivatives as Attractive Starting Materials for the Synthesis of Biomolecules

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