Enhanced species distribution models: a case study using essential population data from Actinotus helianthi (flannel flower)

Species distribution models (SDMs) quantify the spatial configuration or change of suitable habitat for species. This makes SDMs indispensable for conservation planning and climate adaptation management. It is timely, therefore, to examine the underlying model assumptions more carefully. These models typically use known localities of individuals of the species as an indication of what environmental conditions the species will persist under. Each confirmed record is treated equally as an indication of suitability, thus assuming that all populations are equal. However, populations vary considerably in the number of individuals, ranging from a few individuals to many thousands with implications for how they might persist. The number of individuals may also indicate another dimension to how suitable the environment is to the growth, survival and reproductive success of that species. A second assumption is that within each population all individuals are equivalent in their requirements from the environment. My thesis focused on testing these assumptions by performing field and laboratory experiments, which incorporated population level data, collected from Actinotus helianthi plants, to determine whether populations are equivalent in their response to current or future environments. Specifically, I report on the variation in plant trait values associated with the reproductive niche of the species. I then incorporated some of the limiting soil environment factors identified in my experiments to produce a new and more accurate SDM prediction than an SDM built on climate alone. The choice of predictors in SDMs is crucial to their success, as the model assumes that all relevant factors are included. My thesis is an important foundation for experimentally testing the assumptions inherent in most SDMs, while at the same time, illustrating how these factors can be added to, or combined with, the initial model

The algebra of price stability

Prices

The federal funds rate as an indicator of monetary policy: evidence from the 1980s

Recently, several economists have argued that movements in the federal funds rate are a good proxy for changes in monetary policy. In this article, Nathan Balke and Kenneth Emery critically examine this view and the evidence supporting it. Using simple vector autoregressions, they find that before 1980 the correlations between the federal funds rate and other important macroeconomic variables are consistent with a traditional monetary policy interpretation of the federal funds rate. However, they show that after 1982 the relationships between the federal funds rate and other macroeconomic variables change significantly. Most important, the correlations between the federal funds rate and other macroeconomic variables observed during the 1980s are not as consistent with a traditional monetary policy view of the federal funds rate as they were before 1980. ; Balke and Emery's work highlights how relationships between important macroeconomic variables can change when institutions or policy regimes change. While the federal funds rate may still be a good indicator of monetary policy, its relationship with other important macroeconomic variables is now clearly different from what it was before 1980.Interest rates ; Economic indicators

Understanding the price puzzle

Recent developments in measuring the stance of monetary policy have highlighted an interesting puzzle--namely, that an unexpected tightening in monetary policy leads to an increase rather than a decrease in the price level. In this article, Nathan Balke and Kenneth Emery present evidence on the price puzzle and discuss possible explanations for it. ; Balke and Emery find that the most plausible explanation is that, during the 1960s and '70s, monetary policy was not implemented in a way that fully offset inflationary supply shocks. During this period, monetary policy would tighten in response to a supply shock but not by enough to prevent inflation from rising. In the data, therefore, contractionary policy is positively correlated with inflation. Since the early 1980s, however, the price puzzle has disappeared for either one, or both, of two reasons: the Federal Reserve has placed greater emphasis on achieving price stability, or there have been fewer inflationary supply shocks to the economy.Prices

Inflation and monetary restraint: too little, too late?

Inflation (Finance) ; Monetary policy

Letter from Nathan Emery to James B. Finley

Emery has received a letter from Rev. Young stating that the Indians at the Mission are greatly in need of potatoes to plant. He and his congregation have gathered forty or fifty bushels. He asks Finley when he will be able to pick them up. He would like Finley to write a short piece about the progress of arts and religion among the Indians at the Mission. Emery indicates that he will have it published in a Columbus paper. Abstract Number - 677https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/finley-letters/1771/thumbnail.jp

Avian Models for Human Cognitive Neuroscience: A Proposal.

Research on avian cognitive neuroscience over the past two decades has revealed the avian brain to be a better model for understanding human cognition than previously thought, despite differences in the neuroarchitecture of avian and mammalian brains. The brain, behavior, and cognition of songbirds have provided an excellent model of human cognition in one domain, namely learning human language and the production of speech. There are other important behavioral candidates of avian cognition, however, notably the capacity of corvids to remember the past and plan for the future, as well as their ability to think about another's perspective, and physical reasoning. We review this work and assess the evidence that the corvid brain can support such a cognitive architecture. We propose potential applications of these behavioral paradigms for cognitive neuroscience, including recent work on single-cell recordings and neuroimaging in corvids. Finally, we discuss their impact on understanding human developmental cognition.Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.04.02

Do birds have the capacity for fun?

A crow carries a jar lid to the top of a sloping snowy rooftop in Russia. Sitting on the lid and sliding down the roof, you could think of it as surfing. It picks up the lid and repeats this behaviour again and again (Figure 1A). A group of black swans ride the crest of a wave that also looks like they are surfing. Once the wave reaches the beach, the swans fly back to another wave crest and perform the same actions again (Figure 1B). In both cases, the birds’ behaviours do not seem to provide any obvious function apart from enjoyment — they look like they are having fun. Videos of these behaviours received millions of views on YouTube, so we appear to like watching other animals having fun. But is this interpretation of the birds’ actions as having fun pure anthropomorphism or is it possible that an animal can act solely for its own enjoyment?This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.09.02

Visual Search for Human Gaze Direction by a Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Background: Humans detect faces with direct gazes among those with averted gazes more efficiently than they detect faces with averted gazes among those with direct gazes. We examined whether this ‘‘stare-in-the-crowd’ ’ effect occurs in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), whose eye morphology differs from that of humans (i.e., low-contrast eyes, dark sclera). Methodology/Principal Findings: An adult female chimpanzee was trained to search for an odd-item target (front view of a human face) among distractors that differed from the target only with respect to the direction of the eye gaze. During visualsearch testing, she performed more efficiently when the target was a direct-gaze face than when it was an averted-gaze face. This direct-gaze superiority was maintained when the faces were inverted and when parts of the face were scrambled. Subsequent tests revealed that gaze perception in the chimpanzee was controlled by the contrast between iris and sclera, as in humans, but that the chimpanzee attended only to the position of the iris in the eye, irrespective of head direction. Conclusion/Significance: These results suggest that the chimpanzee can discriminate among human gaze directions and are more sensitive to direct gazes. However, limitations in the perception of human gaze by the chimpanzee are suggeste

Neuroethological studies of primate social perception

The neuroethological basis of social signals was investigated using a multidisciplinary approach, involving connectional and comparative analysis of anatomical data, single cell recording and behavioural techniques. Previous literature implicates the amygdala, anterior temporal and prefrontal cortex in primate social functions. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and cluster analysis were used to analyse the connectional relatedness of macaque cortico-cortical and amygdalo-cortical connections. This objective analysis separated the amygdala nuclei into two groups, the basolateral (BL) and centromedial (CM) complexes. A comparative analysis was made of the possible functions of the amygdala nuclei by correlating amygdala nuclear volume with 5 socio-ecological indices, across 44 primate species. The lateral basal (LB) nucleus and BL size was found to correlate positively with social complexity. CM size correlated negatively. The LB nucleus receives information from the STS, which contains visual neurons responsive to eyes, heads and bodies. These cells were assessed for coding of socially relevant information. Single cell recording localised within the macaque superior temporal sulcus (STS) revealed neurons responsive to specific views, elevations and orientations of the head, eye position, and specific views of bodies walking in specific directions and reaching to objects. The tuning of these neurons could therefore support the function of recognition of another's purposive behaviour (e.g. direction of attention or intention). Visually responsive neurons in the STS also differentiated faces of different species (i.e. monkeys, humans and other animals). Behavioural studies suggest that monkeys do not follow the direction of attention of humans, yet monkeys appear to have the neural capacity. A behavioural study using video stimuli, revealed that monkeys spontaneously follow other monkeys' gaze onto an object or point in space. It is concluded that the amygdala and STS are part of a neural system which enable monkeys to interpret another's gaze and actions within a purposive behavioural framework