Differences in bird communities on the forest edge and in the forest interior: Are there forest-interior specialists in Japan?

Most North American bird species that are less successful in small forests than in large forests, are forest-interior specialists that winter in the tropics. These species have declined in small forests because of high rates of nest predation and brood parasitism near the forest edge. To determine whether migratory forest-interior specialists are also important components of bird communities in Japan, we surveyed bird populations on plots at the edge and in the interior of deciduous forests in Hokkaido and Kyoto. Surveys were conducted during the breeding season in forest fragments using the point count method. We calculated edge indices for the most abundant species in Hokkaido and Kyoto (38 and 18 species, respectively). Among the nine species that were more abundant in interior than in edge plots in Hokkaido were the following tropical migrants: Turdus cardis, Phylloscopus coronatus, and Cuculus saturatus. In Kyoto, the abundance of particular species of tropical migrants was too low to permit statistical analysis. We therefore analyzed the rare species as a group and this group was more abundant in the forest interior than on the forest edge. Three resident species, Garrulus glandrius, Picus awokera, and Bambusicola thoracica, were also more abundant in the forest interior. The most frequent potential nest predator, Corvus macrorhynchos, was more abundant at the edge than in the interior in Hokkaido, but showed the reverse pattern in Kyoto. The abundance of the most frequent brood parasite in Hokkaido, Cuculus saturatus, had a weak positive relation with the abundance of its host species, but was not significantly related to the distance from the forest edge. Therefore, the major negative edge effects in Japan may be due to nest predation by corvids. The impact of negative edge effects, as well as the effect of forest structure, on forest-interior birds in Japan should be the focus of future research

学齢期の発達障害特性把握のための「行動と学習に関する基礎調査票-S」の作成と信頼性・妥当性の検証

The Basic Questionnaire on Behavior and Learning (BQBL) is a psychological scale constructed to measure several characteristics of developmental disorders, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Learning Disorder (LD), and other developmental disorders, within schoolchildren. In this study, we construct a short version of the BQBL (BQBL-S), by reducing the number of items by half, and assess its reliability, validity, and classification accuracy. Furthermore, we determine the cut-off points for this short version. The results show that the short version has adequate internal consistency and demonstrate support for its validity. Accordingly, the short version is useful for the screening of developmental disorders within schoolchildren

Conservation of birds in fragmented landscapes requires protected areas

For successful conservation of biodiversity, it is vital to know whether protected areas in increasingly fragmented landscapes effectively safeguard species. However, how large habitat fragments must be, and what level of protection is required to sustain species, remains poorly known. We compiled a global dataset on almost 2000 bird species in 741 forest fragments varying in size and protection status, and show that protection is associated with higher bird occurrence, especially for threatened species. Protection becomes increasingly effective with increasing size of forest fragments. For forest fragments >50 ha our results show that strict protection (International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] categories I–IV) is strongly associated with higher bird occurrence, whereas fragments had to be at least 175 ha for moderate protection (IUCN categories V and VI) to have a positive effect. This meta-analysis quantifies the importance of fragment size, protection status, and their interaction for the conservation of bird species communities, and stresses that protection should not be limited to large pristine areas

A novel germline mutation in a patient with nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome showing cystic lesion in the lung

Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) manifests multiple defects involving the skin, endocrine and nervous systems, eyes and bones. Mutations in the patched homologue 1 (PTCH1) gene are the underlying causes of NBCCS, leading to aberrant cell proliferation through constitutive activation of the hedgehog signaling pathway. We identified a novel frameshift mutation (c.1207dupT) of PTCH1 in a NBCCS patient, which might explain multiple cystic lesions and neoplastic growth in the patient