Relationships Between Habitat and Snag Characteristics and the Reproductive Success of the Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) in Eastern Texas.

Habitat use and reproductive success of the Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla Latham) were studied in East Texas during the 2001-2002 breeding seasons. We compared nest cavity selection at used and randomly selected non-used areas. Height of nest trees, midstory density, and percent leaf litter were negatively correlated with nest site selection. Brown-headed Nuthatches showed a strong preference for short snags; yet placed their nest cavity entrances near the top ofthe snags. While nuthatches may be selecting for habitats with little or no midstory density, percent of leaf litter in the nest sites is most likely the consequence of frequent burning. No significant differences among habitat variables and snag characteristics were found between successful and failed nest cavities. Additionally, no habitat variables were correlated with the number of chicks fledged per nest. Predation was the major cause of nest failure in this study

SandflyMap: leveraging spatial data on sand fly vector distribution for disease risk assessments

We feature SandflyMap (www.sandflymap.org), a new map service within VectorMap (www.vectormap.org) that allows free public online access to global sand fly, tick and mosquito collection records and habitat suitability models. Given the short home range of sand flies, combining remote sensing and collection point data give a powerful insight into the environmental determinants of sand fly distribution. SandflyMap is aimed at medical entomologists, vector disease control workers, public health officials and health planners. Data are checked for geographical and taxonomic errors, and are comprised of vouchered specimen information, and both published and unpublished observation data. SandflyMap uses Microsoft Silverlight and ESRI’s ArcGIS Server 10 software platform to present disease vector data and relevant remote sensing layers in an online geographical information system format. Users can view the locations of past vector collections and the results of models that predict the geographic extent of individual species. Collection records are searchable and downloadable, and Excel collection forms with drop down lists, and Excel charts to country, are available for data contributors to map and quality control their data. SandflyMap makes accessible, and adds value to, the results of past sand fly collecting efforts. We detail the workflow for entering occurrence data from the literature to SandflyMap, using an example for sand flies from South America. We discuss the utility of SandflyMap as a focal point to increase collaboration and to explore the nexus between geography and vector-borne disease transmission

Assessing the efficacy of protected and multiple-use lands for bird conservation in the U.S.

Setting land aside has long been a primary approach for protecting biodiversity; however, the efficacy of this approach has been questioned. We examined whether protecting lands positively influences bird species in the U.S., and thus overall biodiversity. We used the North American Breeding Bird Survey and Protected Areas Database of the U.S. to assess effects of protected and multiple-use lands on the prevalence and long-term population trends of imperiled and non-imperiled bird species. We evaluated whether both presence and proportional area of protected and multiple-use lands surrounding survey routes affected prevalence and population trends for imperiled and non-imperiled species. Regarding presence of these lands surrounding these survey routes, our results suggest that imperiled and non-imperiled species are using the combination of protected and multiple-use lands more than undesignated lands. We found no difference between protected and multiple-use lands. Mean population trends were negative for imperiled species in all land categories and did not differ between the land categories. Regarding proportion of protected lands surrounding the survey routes, we found that neither the prevalence nor population trends of imperiled or non-imperiled species was positively associated with any land category. We conclude that, although many species (in both groups) tend to be using these protected and multiple-use lands more frequently than undesignated lands, this protection does not appear to improve population trends. Our results may be influenced by external pressures (e.g., habitat fragmentation), the size of protected lands, the high mobility of birds that allows them to use a combination of all land categories, and management strategies that result in similar habitat between protected and multiple-use lands, or our approach to detect limited relationships. Overall, our results suggest that the combination of protected and multiple-use lands is insufficient, alone, to prevent declines in avian biodiversity at a national scale

Distributional potential of the Triatoma brasiliensis species complex at present and under scenarios of future climate conditions

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T17:04:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 1914 bytes, checksum: 7d48279ffeed55da8dfe2f8e81f3b81f (MD5) jane_costa2etal_IOC_2014.pdf: 2319866 bytes, checksum: 6a8cd0137dfb27ac0649d3628fe2d139 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Laboratório de Biodiversidade Entomológica. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.University of Kansas. Biodiversity Institute. Departments of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Geography. Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA.UNESP. Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas. Araraquara, SP, Brasil.Background The Triatoma brasiliensis complex is a monophyletic group, comprising three species, one of which includes two subspecific taxa, distributed across 12 Brazilian states, in the caatinga and cerrado biomes. Members of the complex are diverse in terms of epidemiological importance, morphology, biology, ecology, and genetics. Triatoma b. brasiliensis is the most disease-relevant member of the complex in terms of epidemiology, extensive distribution, broad feeding preferences, broad ecological distribution, and high rates of infection with Trypanosoma cruzi; consequently, it is considered the principal vector of Chagas disease in northeastern Brazil. Methods We used ecological niche models to estimate potential distributions of all members of the complex, and evaluated the potential for suitable adjacent areas to be colonized; we also present first evaluations of potential for climate change-mediated distributional shifts. Models were developed using the GARP and Maxent algorithms. Results Models for three members of the complex (T. b. brasiliensis, N = 332; T. b. macromelasoma, N = 35; and T. juazeirensis, N = 78) had significant distributional predictivity; however, models for T. sherlocki and T. melanica, both with very small sample sizes (N = 7), did not yield predictions that performed better than random. Model projections onto future-climate scenarios indicated little broad-scale potential for change in the potential distribution of the complex through 2050. Conclusions This study suggests that T. b. brasiliensis is the member of the complex with the greatest distributional potential to colonize new areas: overall; however, the distribution of the complex appears relatively stable. These analyses offer key information to guide proactive monitoring and remediation activities to reduce risk of Chagas disease transmission

Dispersion capacity of Triatoma sherlocki, Triatoma juazeirensis and laboratory-bred hybrids

Flight dispersion is recognized as one of the most important mechanisms for triatomine house infestation. Triatoma sherlocki and T. juazeirensis are closely related species that occur within the same ecotope and their possible reproductive boundaries are unknown. T. sherlocki has shorter wings than T. juazeirensis: a characteristic that possibly implies in reduced flight dispersion, however, this species has been found to invade and colonize homes in Bahia, Brazil. Here, we tested the flight potential of T. sherlocki, compared to that of T. juazeirensis and laboratory-bred hybrids. insects were kept in an apparatus designed to distinguish flyers from nonflyers. Fifty-one and 53% of T. juazeirensis and hybrids were flyers respectively, whereas no T. sherlocki were recorded to fly. Morphometric analysis of the main structures associated with the locomotor abilities showed that hybrids exhibited intermediate size for most of characters. The width of pronotum of both hybrids and T. juazeirensis was significantly larger than T. sherlocki. We suggested that lack of flight ability of T. sherlocki is possibly a result of reduced wing size and distinct shape, combined with undeveloped flight muscles in a shorter thoracic box. The mobility of T. sherlocki might be compensated by its significantly longer legs, and may possibly increase its ability to invade human dwellings by active dispersion. What is more, this study showed that hybrids between T. sherloki and T. juazeirensis have intermediate morphological characters that may give them higher fitness than their parents, and thus may advance the process of house infestation by either fight or walking in case of an eventual natural hybridization. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Constraints on Interpretation of Ecological Niche Models by Limited Environmental Ranges on Calibration Areas: Software Script Appendix

Software for 1-dimensional plots of species' responses to environment, and for MOP calculations.A common application of correlational models of ecological niches of species is to transfer model rules onto other sets of conditions to evaluate distributional potential under those conditions. As with any model fitting exercise, however, interpretation of model predictions outside of the range of the independent variables on which models were calibrated is perilous. We use novel visualization techniques to characterize model response surfaces for a variety of niche modeling algorithms for a virtual species (wherein the truth is known) and for two transfer-based studies published by one of our group. All modeling algorithms, for each species, showed some sort of extrapolation, such that biologically unrealistic responses were reconstructed. We present MOP metrics, a correction and simplification of MESS metrics currently in use, as a means of identifying areas where such extrapolation is likely. We also discuss the implications of these results for studies of ecological niche evolution. Note: This item consists of R code for implementing two of the analyses developed in this paper