An illustrated key to the mandibles of small mammals of eastern Canada

Skulls are often used to identify small mammals, and most identification keys to small mammals have been developed on the assumption that whole skulls will be available. However, the skulls of small mammals are seldom found intact in predator pellets or nests, and the bones of several individuals are often scattered and mixed, making counting impossible without the use of a specific cranial part. In addition, only a few keys include all the species found in the eastern provinces of Canada.Mandibles readily resist degradation by the gastric acids of both avian and mammalian predators and are often found intact in food caches of mustelids and in bat hibernacula. We therefore designed an illustrated dichotomous key to small mammals (mean mass <5 kg) of eastern Canada based on diagnostic mandible characters (including the teeth and one dentary bone). We identified and confirmed diagnostic characters to distinguish 55 species from the orders Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Soricomorpha, Carnivora, and Chiroptera. These diagnostic characters are based on a review of the literature and were confirmed by measurements performed on both museum and trapped specimens. In order to facilitate identification, photographic illustrations are provided for each couplet of the key.The ability to identify small mammals using their mandibles will reduce the number of skull components needed and has proven to be a useful tool in the study of the diet of predators. This key may also be helpful in identifying bats in the genera Myotis, Perimyotis, and Eptesicus, which are presently affected by the spread of white-nose syndrome (caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans) throughout the eastern part of Canada

An illustrated key to the mandibles of small mammals of eastern Canada

Skulls are often used to identify small mammals, and most identification keys to small mammals have been developed on the assumption that whole skulls will be available. However, the skulls of small mammals are seldom found intact in predator pellets or nests, and the bones of several individuals are often scattered and mixed, making counting impossible without the use of a specific cranial part. In addition, only a few keys include all the species found in the eastern provinces of Canada.Mandibles readily resist degradation by the gastric acids of both avian and mammalian predators and are often found intact in food caches of mustelids and in bat hibernacula. We therefore designed an illustrated dichotomous key to small mammals (mean mass <5 kg) of eastern Canada based on diagnostic mandible characters (including the teeth and one dentary bone). We identified and confirmed diagnostic characters to distinguish 55 species from the orders Lagomorpha, Rodentia, Soricomorpha, Carnivora, and Chiroptera. These diagnostic characters are based on a review of the literature and were confirmed by measurements performed on both museum and trapped specimens. In order to facilitate identification, photographic illustrations are provided for each couplet of the key.The ability to identify small mammals using their mandibles will reduce the number of skull components needed and has proven to be a useful tool in the study of the diet of predators. This key may also be helpful in identifying bats in the genera Myotis, Perimyotis, and Eptesicus, which are presently affected by the spread of white-nose syndrome (caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans) throughout the eastern part of Canada

Woodland salamander population structure and body condition under irregular shelterwood systems

Abstract: Ecosystem-based management aims to preserve old-growth forest attributes using techniques mimicking natural disturbances. One such technique is irregular shelterwood logging, but its impacts on forest floor organisms are poorly known. Our objective was to quantify the effects of three different treatments of irregular shelterwood on population structure and the body condition of the eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) 5–6 years following harvesting. A total of 64 sites in western Québec were sampled using artificial refugia and quadrat searches. Large salamanders (>32 mm) were more abundant in the gap treatment than in strip, uniform, or control treatments. Small salamanders (≤32 mm) followed the same pattern, although the differences were marginal. For a given treatment, small salamanders were as abundant as large salamanders. Salamander body condition differed between the 2 years of sampling but did not differ among treatments, regardless of salamander size. We conclude that environmental conditions in irregular shelterwood treatments 5–6 years following harvesting support populations of small vertebrates on the forest floor.L'aménagement écosystémique vise à maintenir les attributs de vieilles forêts en utilisant des approches qui émulent les perturbations naturelles. La coupe progressive irrégulière est une méthode appliquée aux forêts mixtes, mais son impact sur les organismes présents dans la couverture morte est méconnu. L'objectif de cette étude était de quantifier les effets, sur la structure de population et la condition corporelle de la salamandre cendrée (Plethodon cinereus), de trois différents traitements de coupe progressive irrégulière 5 à 6 ans après la récolte. Nous avons échantillonné 64 sites dans l'ouest du Québec en utilisant des refuges artificiels et des quadrats. Les salamandres de grande taille (>32 mm) étaient plus abondantes dans le traitement de coupe par trouées que dans les coupes par bandes, les coupes uniformes et les témoins. Les petites salamandres (≤32 mm) ont suivi la même tendance, mais l'effet était marginal. Pour un traitement donné, l'abondance des petites salamandres était semblable à celle des salamandres de grande taille. Peu importe la taille des salamandres, leur condition corporelle différait avec l'année d'échantillonnage, mais pas selon le traitement. Nous concluons que les conditions environnementales associées aux coupes progressives irrégulières permettent de maintenir des populations de petits vertébrés sur le sol forestier 5 à 6 ans après la récolte

Ambientes virtuales colaborativos aplicados a la educación superior

IP 1216-11-102-97ARTICULO(S) EN REVISTA: Ambientes virtuales colaborativosaplicados a la Educación superior / Francisco;Cardona. -- En: Futuro inteligente. -- Vol. 4, no. 2 (1998); p.11-20. --ISSN 01226770 -- PONENCIAS EN;CONGRESO: Distance educational and distributed virtual environments / H. trefftz ... [et al.]. -- En: The;virtual campus : trends for higher education (1997 nov. 27-29:Madrid) --Virtual reality and distance;learning in Colombia / Helmunth Trefftz ... [et al.]. -- En: InternationalConference of IASTED (1998 Jun. 1-4;: Halifax, Canada) -- Collaborative virtual environments as means to support distance education in Colombia /;Carlos David Correa ... [et al.]. -- En: collaborative VirtualEnviroments(1998 Jun. 17-19 : Manchester) --;Ambientes virtuales colaborativos aplicados a la Educación/ Carlos Correa... [et al.] -- Ambientes virtuales;colaborativos aplicados a la Educación a distancia en Colombia/Ch. [et al.]. -- En: Congreso Colombiano de;Informatica Educativa (4 : 1998 mar. 31-abr. 4: Manizales,Colombia) -- CD(S): Avalon 3.1