Killer whales and marine mammal trends in the North Pacific : a re-examination of evidence for sequential megafauna collapse and the prey-switching hypothesis

This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Marine Mammal Science 23 (2007): 766–802, doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2006.00093.x.Springer et al. (2003) contend that sequential declines occurred in North Pacific populations of harbor and fur seals, Steller sea lions, and sea otters. They hypothesize that these were due to increased predation by killer whales, when industrial whaling's removal of large whales as a supposed primary food source precipitated a prey switch. Using a regional approach, we reexamined whale catch data, killer whale predation observations, and the current biomass and trends of potential prey, and found little support for the prey-switching hypothesis. Large whale biomass in the Bering Sea did not decline as much as suggested by Springer et al., and much of the reduction occurred 50–100 yr ago, well before the declines of pinnipeds and sea otters began; thus, the need to switch prey starting in the 1970s is doubtful. With the sole exception that the sea otter decline followed the decline of pinnipeds, the reported declines were not in fact sequential. Given this, it is unlikely that a sequential megafaunal collapse from whales to sea otters occurred. The spatial and temporal patterns of pinniped and sea otter population trends are more complex than Springer et al. suggest, and are often inconsistent with their hypothesis. Populations remained stable or increased in many areas, despite extensive historical whaling and high killer whale abundance. Furthermore, observed killer whale predation has largely involved pinnipeds and small cetaceans; there is little evidence that large whales were ever a major prey item in high latitudes. Small cetaceans (ignored by Springer et al.) were likely abundant throughout the period. Overall, we suggest that the Springer et al. hypothesis represents a misleading and simplistic view of events and trophic relationships within this complex marine ecosystem

Trilaciclib prior to chemotherapy and atezolizumab in patients with newly diagnosed extensive-stage small cell lung cancer: A multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II trial

Trilaciclib is an intravenous CDK4/6 inhibitor administered prior to chemotherapy to preserve haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and immune system function from chemotherapy-induced damage (myelopreservation). The effects of administering trilaciclib prior to carboplatin, etoposide and atezolizumab (E/P/A) were evaluated in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study in patients with newly diagnosed extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) (NCT03041311). The primary endpoints were duration of severe neutropenia (SN; defined as absolute neutrophil count <0.5 × 109 cells per L) in Cycle 1 and occurrence of SN during the treatment period. Other endpoints were prespecified to assess the effects of trilaciclib on additional measures of myelopreservation, patient-reported outcomes, antitumour efficacy and safety. Fifty-two patients received trilaciclib prior to E/P/A and 53 patients received placebo. Compared to placebo, administration of trilaciclib resulted in statistically significant decreases in the mean duration of SN in Cycle 1 (0 vs 4 days; P < .0001) and occurrence of SN (1.9% vs 49.1%; P < .0001), with additional improvements in red blood cell and platelet measures and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Trilaciclib was well tolerated, with fewer grade ≥3 adverse events compared with placebo, primarily due to less high-grade haematological toxicity. Antitumour efficacy outcomes were comparable. Administration of trilaciclib vs placebo generated more newly expanded peripheral T-cell clones (P = .019), with significantly greater expansion among patients with an antitumour response to E/P/A (P = .002). Compared with placebo, trilaciclib administered prior to E/P/A improved patients' experience of receiving treatment for ES-SCLC, as shown by reduced myelosuppression, and improved HRQoL and safety profiles

Exposure to rodenticides in Northern Spotted and Barred Owls on remote forest lands in northwestern California: evidence of food web contamination

The documentation of anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) in nontarget species has centered around wildlife that inhabit urban or agricultural settings. However, recent studies in California have shown that AR use in remote forest settings has escalated and has exposed and killed forest carnivores. Anticoagulant rodenticides have been documented as physiological stressors for avian species. Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) critical and occupied habitat overlaps the areas where these studies occurred, yet no data were previously available to demonstrate whether this species was similarly affected. We investigated whether avian predators are also exposed to these specific pesticides and whether Barred Owls (Strix varia) may be a surrogate to indicate exposure rates in Northern Spotted Owls. We documented that 70% of Northern Spotted Owls and 40% of Barred Owls were exposed to one or more anticoagulant rodenticides. None of the rodent prey species sampled within the study area were positive for ARs. There were no spatial clusters for either low or high rates of exposure, though we detected low temporal trend early on throughout the study area. We hypothesize a recent change in land-use toward marijuana cultivation may have led to the increased use of AR in this area. This study demonstrates environmental contamination within occupied Northern Spotted Owl habitat and that Barred Owls can be used as adequate surrogates for detecting these pollutants in a rare species such as the Northern Spotted Owl. Furthermore, additional studies should focus on whether these pesticides are also affecting prey availability for these forest avian species

Data from: Does this title bug (Hemiptera) you? How to write a title that increases your citations

1. Scientists face an overwhelming number of peer-reviewed publications to read and must choose which to cite. Citation rate is used to measure a scientist’s productivity and often affects hiring and promotion. Thus, as the number of scientific publications grows, competition for notice increases. A publication’s title is the first step in the filtering process of a reader; the features of a title that are correlated with citation rate have not been explored for entomology journals. 2. We analyzed titles from two entomology and two ecology journals, documenting the presence of Latin names, common names, functional groups, geographic location, question marks, whether the title attempted humor or was divided into two parts, and the number of words in the title. 3. We found that using a Latin name in a title significantly decreases citations. Using Latin names in a title likely causes readers who are not immediately familiar with that name to skip the paper entirely when perusing a journal’s table of contents, whereas titles that describe a general research area, without indicating the study organism, draw a wider audience and thus more citations. 4. We found that use of functional group names or geographic location in a title increased citations in entomology journals; however, these patterns were driven by a small portion of the data. Use of common names, presence of punctuation, whether the title attempted humor, and title length had no effect on citation rates. 5. Our findings may help authors to write better titles and therefore improve readership and citation rate

Does this Title Bug (Hemiptera) You? How to Write a Title that Increases your Citations

Titles from entomology and ecology journals were analysed, testing the effect of Latin and common names, functional groups, geographic location, question marks, humour, and title length on citation rate. Using the Latin names of study organisms in a title decreases a paper\u27s citation rate. There was no effect of the use of common names, question marks, humour, or title length on citation rate. Effects of functional group and geographic location were variable

Banzai script

Analytical script for bioinformatics (Banzai Pipeline, O'Donnell, available at: https://github.com/jimmyodonnell/banzai/) used in publication

Data from: Genetic signatures of ecological diversity along an urbanization gradient

Despite decades of work in environmental science and ecology, estimating human influences on ecosystems remains challenging. This is partly due to complex chains of causation among ecosystem elements, exacerbated by the difficulty of collecting biological data at sufficient spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales. Here, we demonstrate the utility of environmental DNA (eDNA) for quantifying associations between human land use and changes in an adjacent ecosystem. We analyze metazoan eDNA sequences from water sampled in nearshore marine eelgrass communities and assess the relationship between these ecological communities and the degree of urbanization in the surrounding watershed. Counter to conventional wisdom, we find strongly increasing richness and decreasing beta diversity with greater urbanization, and similar trends in the diversity of life histories with urbanization. We also find evidence that urbanization influences nearshore communities at local (hundreds of meters) rather than regional (tens of km) scales. Given that different survey methods sample different components of an ecosystem, we then discuss the advantages of eDNA—which we use here to detect hundreds of taxa simultaneously—as a complement to traditional ecological sampling, particularly in the context of broad ecological assessments where exhaustive manual sampling is impractical. Genetic data are a powerful means of uncovering human-ecosystem interactions that might otherwise remain hidden; nevertheless, no sampling method reveals the whole of a biological community