Discrimination of Individual Tigers (\u3cem\u3ePanthera tigris\u3c/em\u3e) from Long Distance Roars

This paper investigates the extent of tiger (Panthera tigris) vocal individuality through both qualitative and quantitative approaches using long distance roars from six individual tigers at Omaha\u27s Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, NE. The framework for comparison across individuals includes statistical and discriminant function analysis across whole vocalization measures and statistical pattern classification using a hidden Markov model (HMM) with frame-based spectral features comprised of Greenwood frequency cepstral coefficients. Individual discrimination accuracy is evaluated as a function of spectral model complexity, represented by the number of mixtures in the underlying Gaussian mixture model (GMM), and temporal model complexity, represented by the number of sequential states in the HMM. Results indicate that the temporal pattern of the vocalization is the most significant factor in accurate discrimination. Overall baseline discrimination accuracy for this data set is about 70% using high level features without complex spectral or temporal models. Accuracy increases to about 80% when more complex spectral models (multiple mixture GMMs) are incorporated, and increases to a final accuracy of 90% when more detailed temporal models (10-state HMMs) are used. Classification accuracy is stable across a relatively wide range of configurations in terms of spectral and temporal model resolution

Bear River Watershed

A map outlining the drainage basin of the Bear River, Utah with topography and a satellite image as the base layers. This was produced by the Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory, Department of Wildland Resources, Quinney College of Natural Resources in support of research conducted by faculty in the Department of Environment and Society in the same college

Great Salt Lake Watershed

A map outlining the drainage basin of the Great Salt Lake, Utah with shaded topography as the base layer. This was produced by the Remote Sensing and GIS Laboratory, Department of Wildland Resources, Quinney College of Natural Resources

Interplay between function and structure in complex networks

We show that abrupt structural transitions can arise in functionally optimal networks, driven by small changes in the level of transport congestion. Our results offer an explanation as to why so many diverse species of network structure arise in Nature (e.g. fungal systems) under essentially the same environmental conditions. Our findings are based on an exactly solvable model system which mimics a variety of biological and social networks. We then extend our analysis by introducing a novel renormalization scheme involving cost motifs, to describe analytically the average shortest path across multiple-ring-and-hub networks. As a consequence, we uncover a 'skin effect' whereby the structure of the inner multi-ring core can cease to play any role in terms of determining the average shortest path across the network.Comment: Expanded version of physics/0508228 with additional new result

Invariant expectations and vanishing of bounded cohomology for exact groups

We study exactness of groups and establish a characterization of exact groups in terms of the existence of a continuous linear operator, called an invariant expectation, whose properties make it a weak counterpart of an invariant mean on a group. We apply this operator to show that exactness of a finitely generated group $G$ implies the vanishing of the bounded cohomology of $G$ with coefficients in a new class of modules, which are defined using the Hopf algebra structure of $\ell_1(G)$.Comment: Final version, to appear in the Journal of Topology and Analysi

Mojave Desert - Shaded Relief

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior. Cartography and image processing by: Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory Department of Geography and Earth Resources College of Natural Resources Utah State University Logan, Utah 84322–5240 Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998. Shaded Relief derived from U.S\u3e Geological Survey (USGS) National Elevation Database. Solar elevation 25°, azimuth 315°, exaggeration 5x, ambient light 0.5 Land ownership compiled from 1:100,000-scale Bureau of Land Management Surface Management Status maps. Populated places produced from USGS Geographic Names Information System. Roads and water bodies produced from USGS 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graph data. Project boundary based on the Mojave Desert Section delineated by Robert G. Bailey, 1995, with a 50 kilometer buffer

Mojave Desert - Land Ownership and Administration

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior. Cartography and image processing by: Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory Department of Geography and Earth Resources College of Natural Resources Utah State University Logan, Utah 84322–5240 Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998. Land ownership compiled from 1:100,000-scale Bureau of Land Management Surface Management Status maps. Populated places produced from USGS Geographic Names Information System. Roads and water bodies produced from USGS 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graph data. Project boundary based on the Mojave Desert Section delineated by Robert G. Bailey, 1995, with a 50 kilometer buffe

Mojave Desert - Satellite Image Map

Produced for the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program under the United States Department of Defense Legacy Program in cooperation with the Department of the Interior. Cartography and image processing by: Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems Laboratory Department of Geography and Earth Resources College of Natural Resources Utah State University Logan, Utah 84322–5240 Cartographic preparation and printing by U.S. Geological Survey, 1998. Image map produced from 15 Landsat Thematic Mapper images recorded from 1991–1993, provided by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as part of the Multi–Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium Activities. Bands 7, 4, 2. Simulated natural color composite. Land ownership compiled from 1:100,000-scale Bureau of Land Management Surface Management Status maps. Populated places produced from USGS Geographic Names Information System. Roads produced from USGS 1:100,000-scale Digital Line Graph data. Project boundary based on the Mojave Desert Section delineated by Robert G. Bailey, 1995, with a 50 kilometer buffer

Feeding site selection by woodland caribou in north-central British Columbia

We examined the foraging habits of the northern woodland caribou ecotype {Rangifer tarandus caribou) at the scale of the individual feeding site. Field data were collected in north-central British Columbia over two winters (Dec 1996-Apr 1998). We trailed caribou and measured vegetation characteristics (species composition and percent cover), snow conditions (depth, density, and hardness), and canopy closure at terrestrial and arboreal feeding sites, and at random sites where feeding had not occurred. Logistic regression was used to determine the attributes of feeding sites that were important to predicting fine scale habitat selection in forested and alpine areas. In the forest, caribou selected feeding sites that had a greater percent cover of Cladina mitis and Cladonia spp, lower snow depths, and a lower percentage of debris and moss. Biomass of Bryoria spp. at the 1-2 m stratum above the snow significantly contributed to predicting what trees caribou chose as arboreal feeding sites. In the alpine, caribou selected feeding sites with a greater percent cover of Cladina mitis, Cladina rangiferina, Cetraria cucullata, Cetraria nivalis, Thamnolia spp., and Stereocaulon alpinum as well as lower snow depths