Between the Land and Sea: How Yellow-Legged Gulls Have Changed Their Dependence on Marine Food in Relation to Landfill Management

The Basque region (Spain) is closing all its open-air landfills, which hence provides an excellent chance to account for the effects on the trophic and spatial ecology of the local yellow-legged gulls Larus michahellis, which highly depend on refuse tips to forage. The closure of several landfills across the region was mainly compensated by a higher intake of terrestrial food (mainly earthworms), though only in summer. The exploitation of terrestrial prey was marginal in winter, and seasonal trophic differences emerged, unlike findings when landfills were still open. With only one landfill now open in theory, movement and territory use analyses showed that two landfills were frequently visited. Positions at two of the target foraging habitats (landfills, pastures) summed ca. 10% of all stationary positions suggesting that, at least in these habitats, gulls seemed to invest a relatively small amount of time, which might support the idea that they were able to obtain food in a fast way and, probably, from resources that they know well and have a predictable temporal distribution

The role of radar wind profilers in ornithology

In the past 70 years radar technology has been increasingly applied in ornithological research in various geographical areas worldwide and has contributed greatly to a better understanding of bird migration. Many different radar types have been used, such as tracking, ship or weather radars. However, radar wind profilers (RWPs) have been largely neglected in avian research. RWPs continuously measure three-dimensional winds and, despite the low frequency range at which these systems operate, available literature provides evidence that birds are recorded at many sites. So far the potential of RWPs in ornithological research has not been fully explored and studies deal predominantly with birds in the context of clutter removal. However, based on their broad implementation in networks (e.g. E-PROFILE in Europe) situated in areas that are strategically important for bird migration, they could offer a valuable complement to already established or planned large-scale bird monitoring schemes by radar. The objective of this paper is to serve as a reference for those who wish to consider RWP data in a biological context. To that end, we provide an overview of the evolution and establishment of operational RWPs as well as of their mode of operation, in order to depict their role in meteorology and to evaluate their potential in ornithology. The assessment is based on available literature on RWPs and radar ornithology outlining the past, present and potential future role of wind profilers. In the past, birds were discarded as contamination and eliminated as far as possible from the meteorological data. Only recently have the echo signatures of biological targets been scrutinized thoroughly in raw data and used successfully for ornithological investigation. On this basis it is possible to consider the potential future utility of this promising data source as a complement to other remote-sensing instruments and other sampling techniques used in avian research. Weather independence of ornithological information was found to be a particular benefit. However, as the development of the bird-specific method is only in an early stage, more detailed studies are necessary in the future to fully assess the potential of this type of radar

Light-in-flight digital holography display

We present a digital speckle-pattern interferometric setup that can be operated at TV frame rates (30 ms) to display the locus of the points at which the optical-path difference between the reference and object beams is within the coherence length. Experimental results are shown

Th e roles of environmental and geographic variables in explaining the diff erential wintering distribution of a migratory passerine in southern Europe

Abstract In birds, spatial segregation between age or sex categories during the non-breeding period is a common phenomenon. The main single-factor hypotheses that have been stated to explain this are: (1) body-size variations (that result in more or less cold tolerance) interact with local climate, which promotes age-or sex-associated distributional optima; (2) the dominant age or sex monopolizes high-quality areas; and (3) the age or sex overwintering closer to breeding quarters does so due to the benefits of earlier arrival at the breeding quarters. Southern European countries host millions of birds from northern Europe during the winter period each year. In this work, we aimed to determine the ultimate causes (geographic location and distance to obligate migratory pathways, temperature and land use as a surrogate for food availability) explaining spatial segregation of Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) by age and sex in winter. We used data from 38 sampling points across Iberia during the winter of 2011-2012. Reed Bunting abundance did not fit any of our possible models better than the null model, so we were unable to predict bird numbers across Iberia. Moreover, males were found to be predominant at sites close to presumably obligate migratory pathways (western/eastern Pyrenees). Body mass was higher in first-year birds and males, and tended to increase with distance to obligate migratory pathways, land use (in particular with a decreasing proportion of open habitats and urban areas), increasing minimum temperature, and decreasing mean temperature. Our data suggest that the increase in the proportion of males close to obligate migratory pathways is associated with the advantage to males in wintering as close as possible to breeding quarters

Una herramienta para la planificación integrada del territorio

El artículo presenta un ejercicio de mapeo de actores realizado en el contexto de una investigación aplicada orientada a la planificación estratégica y reconstrucción del territorio de la provincia de Chañaral posterior a los aluviones de los años 2015 y 2017 que afectaron la región de Atacama, Chile. Se plantea que este instrumento de mapeo tiene potencialidades para comprender el territorio más allá de su utilización tradicional en la resolución de conflictos; para la construcción de una visión compartida del desarrollo deseado y la comprensión de los encadenamientos productivos que se requiere potenciar para lograr ese desarrollo

Home range and habitat use of a bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus L., 1758 along the western border of its Pyrenean distribution area

The region of Gipuzkoa is used on a permanent basis by the bearded vulture Gypaetus barbatus L., 1758, but the colonization process is slow, apparently due to the difficulty of finding a permanent mate. This article aims to contribute to evaluating the role of Gipuzkoa, which forms the western border of the Pyrenean population of bearded vulture, in the expansion and conservation of the species. We used data from a territorial adult male which was captured and GPS-tracked. GPS data revealed a habitual home range area of 235 km2 within the Aralar mountains and its surroundings, although this bird also made “excursions” to the western-central Pyrenees, probably in search of social interactions.Our results thus suggest that Gipuzkoa presents a good foraging environment although this is offset by a poor, deficient, social environment. Consequently, compared to zones in the eastern Pyrenees, the colonization of Gipuzkoa and other regions along the west of the Pyrenees is slow, due seemingly to the very high proportion of transients and the difficulties that settled individuals experience in finding a permanent mate

Effects of a multicomponent physical exercise programme on perceived health-related quality of life and on depressive symptoms in older adults living in long-term nursing homes

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the impact of a multicomponent exercise programme on perceived health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and depressive symptomatology in older people living in a long-term nursing home (LTNH). Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted. Forty-one older people were conveniently selected from the largest LTNH in the Basque Country. The participants were assigned to either an intervention group (n = 21) or a control group (n = 20). The intervention group participated in 50-min moderate intensity multicomponent physical exercise sessions (strength and balance, three sessions a week for 3 months). The control group participants continued their usual activities in the LTNH. Assessments were completed at baseline and reassessed after the 12-week intervention by the same nurse researchers who filled out the questionnaires: the 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results Thirty-eight participants completed the study (19 participants in each group). In the SF-36 parameters, physical functioning increase in the intervention group tends with a mean increase of 11.06 units (a 17.2% increase over the pre). In the role-emotional, the increase in the intervention group is with a mean increase of 5.27 units (a 29.1% increase over the pre) (P < 0.05). In social functioning, the increase in the control group is significant with a mean increase of 13.16 units (a 15.4% increase over the pre) (P < 0.05). There are no significant changes in the rest of the parameters, there are no differences between groups in the evolutionary pattern either. Conclusions As for the effects of the multicomponent exercise programme on HRQoL and depressive symptomatology, no statistically significant effects were obtained in the outcome data among older adults living in LTNHs. An increase in the sample size could confirm the trends obtained. The results may help inform the design of future studies.Open Access funding provided by University of Basque Country

The impact of several environmental factors on density of woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) wintering in a southern European region

Abstract Knowledge of spatio-temporal animal distribution patterns is one of the main chapters of wildlife research, not only due to its biological and ecological importance but also its usefulness in the conservation and management of animal populations. Iberia is a target wintering region for the Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). The aim of the present work is to determine which factors shape woodcock distribution patterns during the winter period. To ascertain this, we used data collected over three consecutive years (winter of 2010/2011-2012/2013) in a region from northern Iberia (Gipuzkoa). Woodcock numbers (W) were modeled using generalized linear mixed models. The models that best fitted our data included a significant effect of latitude, land uses, sampling year, and type of meadow on W (once weighted for the number of visits and the area of each meadow). Overall, W tended to be lower in sites from southern Gipuzkoa, in those areas where there was a higher proportion of tree plantations, in grazed mountain pastures, and during the winters of 2011 and 2012 in relation to 2010 (mean±SD values in 2010, 0.4±0.5 woodcocks/ha; 2011, 0.2±0.3 woodcocks/ha; 2012, 0.2±0.4 woodcocks/ha). Part of the observed variance was due to the Byear^effect, which could include several potential explanatory variables. Future research should try to add variables such as year-associated meteorological conditions, at both breeding and non-breeding quarters. Locally, a mosaic of some forest/woodland with abundant meadows would allow numbers of woodcocks to reach an optimum within the region. Moreover, the species was more abundant in the north; hence, the zones close to the coast had more importance from a conservation standpoint

Medición por un método óptico del desplazamiento del extremo de obenques en el puente Zárate-Brazo Largo

El dispositivo &oacute;ptico utilizado para medir el desplazamiento (en las direcciones horizontal y vertical) del extremo del obenque se esquematiza en la Figura (pag. 4). La unidad emisora, fija pr&oacute;xima al obenque, consiste en un diodo l&aacute;ser visible (de longitud de onda: 670nm y potencia: 1OmW) cuya radiaci&oacute;n se acopla a una gu&iacute;a de luz por fibras &oacute;pticas. Esta gu&iacute;a se divide en dos partes, proporcionando de este modo dos fuentes luminosas con una separaci&oacute;n entre s&iacute; de: d0 = 380 mm, en la direcci&oacute;n vertical En la zona del puente elegida como &quot;punto fijo de referencia&quot;, distante a unos 170m del obenque a medir, se coloc&oacute; la unidad detectora. Esta consiste en un telescopio reflector de distancia focal: f = 210cm, y apertura: a = 18cm, que forma una imagen demagnificada de las fuentes luminosas sobre un arreglo detector CCD (&quot;charge-coupled-device&quot;) con una resoluci&oacute;n espacial de 756 x 581 pixels. La salida de video de la c&aacute;mara CCD, correspondiente a las sucesivas im&aacute;genes detectadas, se almacen&oacute; en una grabadora de video (VCR). La c&aacute;mara CCD se ubic&oacute; de forma que los desplazamientos verticales de la unidad emisora coincidieran con la direcci&oacute;n horizontal, de mayor tama&ntilde;o, del monitor de observaci&oacute;n. A continuaci&oacute;n se describe el procedimiento utilizado para efectuar las mediciones.Digitalizado en SEDICI-CIC Digita