The Importance of Early Successional Habitats to Rare, Restricted-range, and Endangered Birds in the Ecuadorian Andes

Since the mid-1980s, exhausted pastures in Ecuador have been increasingly abandoned, allowing forest regeneration. At approximately 2,200 m in the Tandayapa valley I surveyed four abandoned pastures to evaluate their use by birds. Each former pasture represented a different age of vegetation maturity. The number of bird species recorded in each successively older abandoned pasture increased but only half the number of species recorded in the undisturbed forest site was recorded in the most mature pasture. However, at least four restricted-range bird species were recorded in a single pasture. As pastures rapidly convert to secondary forest, more bird species and rarer bird species use them, even in highly disturbed areas where surrounding pristine forest constitutes less than 10% of local forest cover. Conservation efforts should then be directed toward them

Validation of Inverse Seasonal Peak Mortality in Medieval Plagues, Including the Black Death, in Comparison to Modern Yersinia pestis-Variant Diseases

Background: Recent studies have noted myriad qualitative and quantitative inconsistencies between the medieval Black Death (and subsequent ‘‘plagues’’) and modern empirical Y. pestis plague data, most of which is derived from the Indian and Chinese plague outbreaks of A.D. 1900615 years. Previous works have noted apparent differences in seasonal mortality peaks during Black Death outbreaks versus peaks of bubonic and pneumonic plagues attributed to Y. pestis infection, but have not provided spatiotemporal statistical support. Our objective here was to validate individual observations of this seasonal discrepancy in peak mortality between historical epidemics and modern empirical data. Methodology/Principal Findings: We compiled and aggregated multiple daily, weekly and monthly datasets of both Y. pestis plague epidemics and suspected Black Death epidemics to compare seasonal differences in mortality peaks at a monthly resolution. Statistical and time series analyses of the epidemic data indicate that a seasonal inversion in peak mortality does exist between known Y. pestis plague and suspected Black Death epidemics. We provide possible explanations for this seasonal inversion. Conclusions/Significance: These results add further evidence of inconsistency between historical plagues, including the Black Death, and our current understanding of Y. pestis-variant disease. We expect that the line of inquiry into the disputed cause of the greatest recorded epidemic will continue to intensify. Given the rapid pace of environmental change in th

The effect of distance on reaction time in aiming movements

Target distance affects movement duration in aiming tasks but its effect on reaction time (RT) is poorly documented. RT is a function of both preparation and initiation. Experiment 1 pre-cued movement (allowing advanced preparation) and found no influence of distance on RT. Thus, target distance does not affect initiation time. Experiment 2 removed pre-cue information and found that preparing a movement of increased distance lengthens RT. Experiment 3 explored movements to targets of cued size at non-cued distances and found size altered peak speed and movement duration but RT was influenced by distance alone. Thus, amplitude influences preparation time (for reasons other than altered duration) but not initiation time. We hypothesise that the RT distance effect might be due to the increased number of possible trajectories associated with further targets: a hypothesis that can be tested in future experiments

Physical Geography Bibliography

Physical geography is the study of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface, the animals and plants that inhabit it, and the spatial patterns they exhibit. Self-identified in the mid- to late 1800s, physical geographers and in particular geomorphologists dominated the discipline of geography to the late 1930s. But emphasis on description and classification of climates, landforms, and biomes and an unhealthy dose of environmental determinism weakened physical geography to its low point in the 1950s. Physical geography along with human geography underwent radical quantification in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This was followed in the 1970s by a period of intense disciplinary specialization, resulting in the recognition of five broad divisions of physical geography: geomorphology, climatology, biogeography, soil science, and Quaternary environmental change. Within each broad division exists a plethora of subdisciplines and specializations. In the early 21st century, physical geographers and their discipline are undergoing a renaissance in large part due to physical geography’s broad subject matter, its intrinsic interdisciplinary nature, and the accelerating pace of global environmental change. This renaissance is evident in Nicholas J. Clifford’s redefinition of physical geography in “Globalization: A Physical Geography Perspective” (Clifford 2009, cited under General Overviews): “At a fundamental level, Physical Geography has always sought to describe and understand the multiple subsystems of the environment and their connections with human activity: it is global and globalizing at its very roots.” This updated definition stresses the notion that physical geographers must embrace “larger-scale issues of environment and development and environmental change.” Human activity is creating a new geologic era—the Anthropocene. In reaction to this theme, many have argued that physical geographers must become more interdisciplinary while retaining a spatioanalytic approach to their study of human-environmental interactions. Irrespective of disciplinary membership, in the coming decades, if a more integrative physical geographic discipline continues to emerge, physical geographers will become indispensable—global warming will affect the spatial and temporal patterns of local, regional, and global temperatures; precipitation; and evapotranspiration, which affect the following processes (among many others): weathering rates, soil erosion, shallow landslide occurrence, flood hydrologies and river planforms, animal and plant distributions, sea level, and glacier and permafrost melting. Finally, remote sensing and digital mapping and analysis are among many exciting new arenas in physical geography. It is possible, inter alia, to predict soil attributes by using terrain analysis, to predict high spatial and temporal resolution rainfall, to estimate ice-sheet surface lowering, and to estimate soil moisture

Geographies of Plague Pandemics: The Spatial-Temporal Behavior of Plague to the Modern Day

Georgia Southern University faculty member Mark R. Welford authored Geographies of Plague Pandemics: The Spatial-Temporal Behavior of Plague to the Modern Day. Book Summary: Geographies of Plague Pandemics synthesizes our current understanding of the spatial and temporal dynamics of plague, Yersinia pestis. The environmental, political, economic, and social impacts of the plague from Ancient Greece to the modern day are examined. Chapters explore the identity of plague DNA, its human mortality, and the source of ancient and modern plagues. This book also discusses the role plague has played in shifting power from Mediterranean Europe to north-western Europe during the 500 years that plague has raged across the continent. The book demonstrates how recent colonial structures influenced the spread and mortality of plague while changing colonial histories. In addition, this book provides critical insight into how plague has shaped modern medicine, public health, and disease monitoring, and what role, if any, it might play as a terror weapon. The scope and breadth of Geographies of Plague Pandemics offers geographers, historians, biologists, and public health educators the opportunity to explore the deep connections among disease and human existence.https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/geo-facbookshelf/1016/thumbnail.jp

Condors, Caracaras and the Antisana Ecological Reserve: Have Recent Conservation Efforts Backfired!

The 1993 creation of the 120,000 ha Antisana Ecological Reserve (Ecuador) to protect the unique flora and fauna surrounding the Volcano Antisana continues to evolve. In 1998, the La Mica dam was built to increase the capacity of Laguna La Mica and provide water for the Mica–Quito Sur Project. The Mica–Quito Sur Project is the result of an agreement between the Ecuadorian government, a conservation NGO, and a water and sewerage company (EMAAP-Q) to protect a watershed, its fauna and flora, and provide freshwater for Quito Sur. However, recently population decreases have been observed and tabulated by eBird among Condor (Vultur gryphus) and Caracara (Caracara plancus). The removal of cattle and sheep from the recently acquired Hacienda Antisana 4400 ha lot by EMAAP-Q in 2010 and intensified efforts at fire-suppression across the Reserve appears to have triggered these population declines. Cattle and sheep dung and their carcasses once contributed significant nutrients to the landscape while the diversity and number of paramo fire-successional patches supported higher biodiversity. Initial data acquisition suggests condor and caracara observations are declining, though these could be due to these raptors searching for food beyond the reserve. In fact, condor breeding numbers in Antisana have remained stable

Experiences, Reflections and Recommendations of a Teaching Assistant in the U.S.

The Teaching Assistant (TA) system operating in the United States has both advantages and disadvantages to graduate students employed as TAs and undergraduates taught by these TAs. The system develops teaching and communication skills and broadens TA capability, understanding and marketability. Discussion and lab sections taught by TAs provide an arena where undergraduates are exposed to everything from simple ideas to difficult ideas that need hands‐on help. However, few quality control procedures are employed to determine prospective TAs. Moreover, TA training is of limited extent and use. TAs either sink or swim; none the less the vast majority do survive and do an excellent job. A number of measures that any university, college or department might employ if they intend to begin employing TAs are recommended: all TAs should attend TA orientation sessions that discuss university‐wide TA issues; departments should also create sessions that specially train TAs in how to teach their respective courses; and departments should develop TA evaluation schemes that quickly identify TA problems