Genetic Differentiation of Selected Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina) Populations in Fragmented Habitats, and a Comparison of Road-based Mortality Rates to Population Size

The decline of eastern box turtle populations is associated with habitat loss and fragmentation, lack of recruitment into breeding populations, removal of individuals from the wild for pets, and road mortality. Box turtle populations in many areas of the eastern United States may effectively be isolated as high traffic volumes on roads adjacent to turtle habitats prevent successful dispersal. If so, populations surrounded by heavily used roads may be less genetically diverse than those in relatively intact habitats. I investigated whether populations in three Montgomery County, Maryland parks that were surrounded by roads were genetically differentiated relative to populations in two larger habitats in Maryland's Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties. Sampling was conducted between 2005 and 2008. I used 10 microsatellite markers to compare these populations, and sampled in an additional five sites (two in Maryland, and one each in Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, and Florida), to better assess population structure. I found little evidence of genetic differentiation among central Maryland populations regardless of the extent of isolation. I attribute these findings to the slow rate of change in turtle evolution; the observed similarities in genetic diversity may reflect past rather than present gene flow. I found moderate to great differentiation in populations separated by substantial distances. To determine whether road mortality exceeds additive mortality levels believed to be a threat to population persistence, I estimated population size in the three Montgomery County, Maryland, parks using mark-recapture techniques, and compared these estimates to the number of dead, injured, and live turtles in or very near roads observed during walking and driving surveys conducted in 2006. Road-based morality rates fell within the range estimated to be inconsistent with population growth in one of the parks. Road mortality appeared to affect females out of proportion to their abundance in the population. Suggestions for reducing box turtle mortality in areas associated with high mortality rates are included

Book review: Myths about women's rights: how, where, and why rights advance

Accepted manuscrip

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: CEDAW and Women\u27s Human Rights in San Francisco

While the United States has ratified many of the international human rights treaties, some have been left languishing in the Senate including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In response to Senate failure to ratify the women\u27s treaty, the city of San Francisco passed its own CEDAW ordinance in 1998 to implement the principles of women\u27s human rights in its jurisdiction. Several factors contributed to the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, including a sturdy base of feminist institutions developed over three decades of women\u27s activism, determined leadership with the commitment, skills, and time to organize the effort, and political will nurtured and sustained through community education. The implementation phase was facilitated by concrete goals that gave specificity to the idea of women\u27s human rights and participatory practices that diffused opposition and engaged city residents in devising solutions to unequal treatment. The San Francisco case provides a useful model for activists in the Cities for CEDAW movement that hope to implement the principles of CEDAW in other municipalities

Thinking Globall, Acting Locally: CEDAW and Women\u27s Human Rights in San Francisco

While the United States has ratified many of the international human rights treaties, some have been left languishing in the Senate including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In response to Senate failure to ratify the women\u27s treaty, the city of San Francisco passed its own CEDAW ordinance in 1998 to implement the principles of women\u27s human rights in its jurisdiction. Several factors contributed to the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, including a sturdy base of feminist institutions developed over three decades of women\u27s activism, determined leadership with the commitment, skills, and time to organize the effort, and political will nurtured and sustained through community education. The implementation phase was facilitated by concrete goals that gave specificity to the idea of women\u27s human rights and participatory practices that diffused opposition and engaged city residents in devising solutions to unequal treatment. The San Francisco case provides a useful model for activists in the Cities for CEDAW movement that hope to implement the principles of CEDAW in other municipalities

Outdoor Cats: An Animal Welfare and Protection Perspective

First raised as a serious conservation issue more than 100 years ago, the impact of free-roaming cats on wildlife has been a subject of debate, controversy, and conflict since then. Cats have been tied directly to the extinction of sensitive species in island environments and implicated as major threats to certain wildlife populations elsewhere. Yet the study of free-roaming cats and the problems attributed to them lags behind the standards of research typical with more traditional vertebrate “pest” species. Alternative management approaches, ranging from traditional practices such as removal and depopulation to emerging concepts such as Trap- Neuter-Return (TNR), have yet to be subject to the scrutiny and experimental study that could lay controversial interpretations of their efficacy to rest. Here, we discuss the need for collaborative management concepts and programs to address growing concerns about cats outdoors

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: CEDAW and Women\u27s Human Rights in San Francisco

While the United States has ratified many of the international human rights treaties, some have been left languishing in the Senate including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In response to Senate failure to ratify the women\u27s treaty, the city of San Francisco passed its own CEDAW ordinance in 1998 to implement the principles of women\u27s human rights in its jurisdiction. Several factors contributed to the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, including a sturdy base of feminist institutions developed over three decades of women\u27s activism, determined leadership with the commitment, skills, and time to organize the effort, and political will nurtured and sustained through community education. The implementation phase was facilitated by concrete goals that gave specificity to the idea of women\u27s human rights and participatory practices that diffused opposition and engaged city residents in devising solutions to unequal treatment. The San Francisco case provides a useful model for activists in the Cities for CEDAW movement that hope to implement the principles of CEDAW in other municipalities

Thinking Globall, Acting Locally: CEDAW and Women\u27s Human Rights in San Francisco

While the United States has ratified many of the international human rights treaties, some have been left languishing in the Senate including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In response to Senate failure to ratify the women\u27s treaty, the city of San Francisco passed its own CEDAW ordinance in 1998 to implement the principles of women\u27s human rights in its jurisdiction. Several factors contributed to the successful passage of the CEDAW ordinance, including a sturdy base of feminist institutions developed over three decades of women\u27s activism, determined leadership with the commitment, skills, and time to organize the effort, and political will nurtured and sustained through community education. The implementation phase was facilitated by concrete goals that gave specificity to the idea of women\u27s human rights and participatory practices that diffused opposition and engaged city residents in devising solutions to unequal treatment. The San Francisco case provides a useful model for activists in the Cities for CEDAW movement that hope to implement the principles of CEDAW in other municipalities