Regional Variation in the Pattern of Maize Adoption and Use in Florida and Georgia

Dietary reconstruction using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from archaeological human bone samples from coastal Georgia and northern and Gulf Coast Florida dating between 400 B.C. and A.D. 1700 serves to illustrate the complexity of the agricultural transition in that region. Isotope analysis of 185 collagen samples drawn from early prehistoric, late prehistoric, and contact-period mortuary sites encompasses two major adaptive shifts in the region, namely the adoption of maize agriculture in late prehistory and the increased emphasis on maize during the mission period. Prior to European contact—and especially before the establishment of Spanish missions among the Guale, Yamasee, Timucua, and Apalachee tribal groups—diet was strongly influenced by local environmental factors. Before contact, coastal and inland populations had different patterns of food consumption, as did populations living in Georgia and Florida. Coastal populations consumed more marine and less terrestrial foods than inland populations. In general, maize was adopted during the eleventh century A.D. by virtually all Georgia populations. However, with the exception of the Lake Jackson site, a major Mississippian center in northern Florida, Florida populations show little use of maize before contact. Following European contact, maize became wide-spread, regardless of location or habitat within the broad region of Spanish Florida. Missionization appears to have been an important factor in the convergence of native diets toward agriculture and away from foraging. This increased emphasis on maize contributed to a decline in quality of life for native populations

South End Mound complex

46 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-46)."This volume presents results of archaeological excavations of two prehistoric burial mounds on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. South End Mound I is an Irene period mortuary site, initially excavated by C.B. Moore during the winter of 1896-1897. Although Moore adequately described his investigations in a subsequent publication, he retained only six complete ceramic vessels for later analysis. These vessels have been reexamined and are discussed here. None of the skeletal materials excavated by Moore, to our knowledge, was saved for later analysis. Field crews from the American Museum of Natural History recently reexcavated parts of this site, finding evidence that at least some of the primary human burials previously exposed by Moore remain intact beneath the backdirt of South End Mound I. Further investigation might be fruitful. South End Mound II, a previously unexplored mortuary site, was discovered not far from Moore's excavations. This St. Catherines/Savannah period burial mound, extensively excavated by the American Museum of Natural History, had a central pit containing two cremations and a mass grave containing at least 15 individuals. Grave goods included a perforated copper sheet, worked galena, a river otter mandible, and a polished stone pendant. Prehistoric copper has rarely been reported from archaeological contexts from this area and, to our knowledge, this is the first occurrence of galena in coastal Georgia. Mound construction methods resemble those employed at Johns and Marys mounds, two roughly contemporary mortuary sites on St. Catherines Island"--P. 4

Artificial reefs: from ecological processes to fishing enhancement tools

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Paediatric autoimmune encephalopathies:Clinical features, laboratory investigations and outcomes in patients with or without antibodies to known central nervous system autoantigens

Objective: To report the clinical and investigative features of children with a clinical diagnosis of probable autoimmune encephalopathy, both with and without antibodies to central nervous system antigens. Method: Patients with encephalopathy plus one or more of neuropsychiatric symptoms, seizures, movement disorder or cognitive dysfunction, were identified from 111 paediatric serum samples referred from five tertiary paediatric neurology centres to Oxford for antibody testing in 2007-2010. A blinded clinical review panel identified 48 patients with a diagnosis of probable autoimmune encephalitis whose features are described. All samples were tested/retested for antibodies to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), VGKC-complex, LGI1, CASPR2 and contactin-2, GlyR, D1R, D2R, AMPAR, GABA(B)R and glutamic acid decarboxylase. Results Seizures (83%), behavioural change (63%), confusion (50%), movement disorder (38%) and hallucinations (25%) were common. 52% required intensive care support for seizure control or profound encephalopathy. An acute infective organism (15%) or abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (32%), EEG (70%) or MRI (37%) abnormalities were found. One 14-year-old girl had an ovarian teratoma. Serum antibodies were detected in 21/48 (44%) patients: NMDAR 13/48 (27%), VGKC-complex 7/48(15%) and GlyR 1/48(2%). Antibody negative patients shared similar clinical features to those who had specific antibodies detected. 18/34 patients (52%) who received immunotherapy made a complete recovery compared to 4/14 (28%) who were not treated; reductions in modified Rankin Scale for children scores were more common following immunotherapies. Antibody status did not appear to in fluence the treatment effect. Conclusions: Our study outlines the common clinical and paraclinical features of children and adolescents with probable autoimmune encephalopathies. These patients, irrespective of positivity for the known antibody targets, appeared to benefit from immunotherapies and further antibody targets may be defined in the future

Education in ecological engineering—a need whose time has come

OVERCOMING LIMITATIONS OF ECOLOGY AND ENGINEERING IN ADDRESSING SOCIETY’S CHALLENGES : By providing an integrated, systems-approach to problem-solving that incorporates ecological principles in engineering design, ecological engineering addresses, many of the limitations of Ecology and Engineering needed to work out how people and nature can beneficially coexist on planet Earth. Despite its origins in the 1950s, ecological engineering remains a niche discipline, while at the same time, there has never been a greater need to combine the rigour of engineering and science with the systems-approach of ecology for pro-active management of Earth’s biodiversity and environmental life-support systems. Broad consensus on the scope and defining elements of ecological engineering and development of a globally consistent ecological engineering curriculum are key pillars to mainstream recognition of the discipline and practice of ecological engineering. THE IMPORTANCE OF ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING IN SOCIETY : In this paper, the importance of ecological engineering education is discussed in relation to the perceived need of our society to address global challenges of sustainable development. The perceived needs of industry, practitioners, educators and students for skills in ecological engineering are also discussed. THE IMPORTANCE AND NEED FOR ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION : The need for integrative, interdisciplinary education is discussed in relation to the scope of ecology, engineering and the unique role of ecological engineering. SCOPE FOR A UNIVERSALLY RECOGNISED CURRICULUM IN ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING : The scope for a universally recognised curriculum in ecological engineering is presented. The curriculum recognises a set of overarching principles and concepts that unite multiple application areas of ecological engineering practice. The integrative, systems-based approach of ecological engineering distinguishes it from the trend toward narrow specialisation in education. It is argued that the systems approach to conceptualising problems of design incorporating ecological principles is a central tenant of ecological engineering practice. CHALLENGES TO WIDER ADOPTION OF ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING AND OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE ADOPTION : Challenges and structural barriers to wider adoption of ecological engineering principles, embedded in our society’s reliance on technological solutions to environmental problems, are discussed along with opportunities to increase adoption of ecological engineering practice. It is suggested that unifying the numerous specialist activity areas and applications of ecological engineering under an umbrella encompassing a set of core principles, approaches, tools and way of thinking is required to distinguish ecological engineering from other engineering disciplines and scale up implementation of the discipline. It is concluded that these challenges can only be realised if ecological engineering moves beyond application by a relatively small band of enthusiastic practitioners, learning by doing, to the education of future cohorts of students who will become tomorrow’s engineers, project managers, procurement officers and decision makers, applying principles informed by a growing body of theory and knowledge generated by an active research community, a need whose time has come, if we are to deploy all tools at our disposal toward addressing the grand challenge of creating a sustainable future.Open access funding provided by ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences.https://www.springer.com/journal/43615hj2022Plant Production and Soil Scienc

Mate-Finding as an Overlooked Critical Determinant of Dispersal Variation in Sexually-Reproducing Animals

Dispersal is a critically important process in ecology, but robust predictive models of animal dispersal remain elusive. We identify a potentially ubiquitous component of variation in animal dispersal that has been largely overlooked until now: the influence of mate encounters on settlement probability. We use an individual-based model to simulate dispersal in sexually-reproducing organisms that follow a simple set of movement rules based on conspecific encounters, within an environment lacking spatial habitat heterogeneity. We show that dispersal distances vary dramatically with fluctuations in population density in such a model, even in the absence of variation in dispersive traits between individuals. In a simple random-walk model with promiscuous mating, dispersal distributions become increasingly ‘fat-tailed’ at low population densities due to the increasing scarcity of mates. Similar variation arises in models incorporating territoriality. In a model with polygynous mating, we show that patterns of sex-biased dispersal can even be reversed across a gradient of population density, despite underlying dispersal mechanisms remaining unchanged. We show that some widespread dispersal patterns found in nature (e.g. fat tailed distributions) can arise as a result of demographic variability in the absence of heterogeneity in dispersive traits across the population. This implies that models in which individual dispersal distances are considered to be fixed traits might be unrealistic, as dispersal distances vary widely under a single dispersal mechanism when settlement is influenced by mate encounters. Mechanistic models offer a promising means of advancing our understanding of dispersal in sexually-reproducing organisms

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements

Diving into the vertical dimension of elasmobranch movement ecology

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and share similar risk to anthropogenic threats that vary on a vertical gradient. We highlight the critical next steps toward incorporating vertical movement into global management and monitoring strategies for elasmobranchs, emphasizing the need to address geographic and taxonomic biases in deployments and to concurrently consider both horizontal and vertical movements