The demography and dynamics of an expanding, managed African wild dog metapopulation

Long-term demographic data are central for the evaluation of endangered species recovery plans. We present the demography and dynamics of a managed African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) metapopulation in South Africa, based on life histories of 553 individually known animals collected between 1998 and 2006. This metapopulation, distributed across nine sites (and not including Kruger National Park), was established through reintroductions (n = 9 events) and maintained by periodic augmentation (n = 10 events) and translocation (n = 20 events). In total, 66 founders were used to establish subpopulations and mean founder group size was 9.6 animals. The metapopulation grew from17 individuals in 1998 to a peak of 202 in 2005. Mean annual population density was 3.3 (S.E. 0.44) wild dogs/100 km2, approaching the upper limit of densities reported from unmanaged populations. Mean size of breeding packs was 11.0 (S.E. 0.76), comparable to pack sizes in Kruger National Park (Kruger), the only viable unmanaged population in South Africa. Fecundity was lower than in Kruger – particularly in the older age classes. Pup survival to adulthood was 45% – nearly three times the survival rate for pups in Kruger.Mean annual population growth rate (ë = 1.08, S.E. 0.13) was higher than in unmanaged populations (range 1.000–1.038), with implications for population viability and management.H.D.M. was supported through grants to D.W.M. from Fauna & Flora International and Siren. Fieldwork was supported by the Endangered Wildlife Trust, De Beers Consolidated Mines and Jaguar Land Rover South Africa.http://www.sawma.co.zaam201

Behavioural adjustments of a large carnivore to access secondary prey in a human-dominated landscape

1. Conflict between people and large carnivores is an urgent conservation issue world-wide. Understanding the underlying ecological drivers of livestock depredation by large carnivores is greatly needed. 2. We studied the spatial, foraging and behavioural ecology of African lions Panthera leo in the Botswana Makgadikgadi ecosystem. This ecosystem comprises a protected area, characterized by high seasonal fluctuation in wild prey abundance, and adjacent lands, which are used for livestock grazing and characterized by stable livestock abundance, but also a risk of anthropogenic mortality. 3. Makgadikgadi lions preferentially preyed upon migratory wild herbivores when they were present; however, data from GPS (Global Positioning System) radiocollared lions revealed that the majority of the study lions did not follow the migratory herds but remained resident at one or other border of the park and switched to livestock (abundant and readily available), and to a lesser extent resident wild herbivores (relatively scarce), in periods of migratory wild herbivore scarcity. 4. Resident lions’ use of space differed between periods of wild prey abundance and scarcity. These changes were likely to increase the frequency of encounter with their primary prey in periods of primary prey abundance and with livestock in periods of primary prey scarcity. 5. The risk of conflict with humans was a major driver of lion ecology in the human-dominated landscape surrounding the protected area. Resident lions generally avoided the close vicinity of cattle- posts.When they used such areas, they avoided temporal overlap with periods that humans were most active and travelled at high speed reducing the time spent in these areas. 6. Synthesis and applications. This study suggests that lions balance the benefits of accessing livestock with the costs associated with livestock raiding. Hence, reduction in livestock availability through effective livestock husbandry in periods of wild prey scarcity should lead to reduced conflict.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2664ab201

Social systems and behaviour of the African wild dog Lycaon pictus and the spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta with special reference to rabies

Differences in the social systems and behaviour of two potentially important hosts of rabies, the African wild dog and the spotted hyaena, may lead to differences in the epizootiology of the disease in the two species. Wild dogs are highly social animals in which pack members are in constant physical contact with each other, but in which inter-pack interactions are rare. Spotted hyaenas are more flexible in their social systems and behaviour. Clan members interact less frequently than do wild dogs, but inter-clan contact rates may be high in high density populations. Rabies transmission within wild dog packs should be rapid, but rare between packs. In spotted hyaenas rabies transmission between clan members may partially depend on the social status of the animals involved and between packs on the density of hyaenas in the area.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.National Parks Board. Endangered Wildlife Trust. Stuart Bromfield Wild Dog Fund.mn201

Prey selection by African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in northern Botswana

Prey selection varies among large carnivores in different ecosystems. Factors influencing prey selection include availability, sex, age, body condition, body size, the prey’s anti-predatory mechanisms such as vigilance and speed, and habitat selection.https://sawma.co.za/african-journal-of-wildlife-researcham2022Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Molecular velocity auto-correlation of simple liquids observed by NMR MGSE method

The velocity auto-correlation spectra of simple liquids obtained by the NMR method of modulated gradient spin echo show features in the low frequency range up to a few kHz, which can be explained reasonably well by a $t^{-3/2}$ long time tail decay only for non-polar liquid toluene, while the spectra of polar liquids, such as ethanol, water and glycerol, are more congruent with the model of diffusion of particles temporarily trapped in potential wells created by their neighbors. As the method provides the spectrum averaged over ensemble of particle trajectories, the initial non-exponential decay of spin echoes is attributed to a spatial heterogeneity of molecular motion in a bulk of liquid, reflected in distribution of the echo decays for short trajectories. While at longer time intervals, and thus with longer trajectories, heterogeneity is averaged out, giving rise to a spectrum which is explained as a combination of molecular self-diffusion and eddy diffusion within the vortexes of hydrodynamic fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figur

Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF

Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps" that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D Rapid Communication

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter