Development and Validation of the Maternal Distraction Questionnaire

This paper describes the development of a self-report measure of mothers’ engagement in technological activities during mother-infant interactions. In Study 1, mothers (n = 332; infants: 3.8 ± 1.4 months) completed the Maternal Distraction Questionnaire (MDQ) and related questionnaires. Factor analysis revealed two distinct subscales representing engagement with technological distractors and perceived distraction. Subscales correlated with relevant measures of feeding styles, attachment, and infant eating behaviors and temperament. In Study 2, mothers (n = 24; infants: 3.8 ± 1.8 months) completed the MDQ and kept feeding activity diaries. Significant correlations between MDQ subscales and diary data were noted. In sum, the MDQ is a valid measure of maternal engagement with technological activities during mother-infant interactions

Efficiency of birds as bioindicators for other taxa in mountain farmlands

Biodiversity loss is a global issue, particularly in mountain regions, where land-use/land-cover and climate change dramatically impact on species and communities. Sound ecological research and up-to-date information on biodiversity are needed to support conservation efforts. However, this information is often difficult and costly to obtain. Therefore, bioindicators serve as surrogates to provide information on the entire biocenosis. Birds are considered excellent bioindicators as they occupy different ecological niches and trait spaces.We present a study about the efficiency of birds as bioindicators for the diversity of other taxa in a mountain region in the Central Alps. We surveyed bird communities at 115 sites across a gradient of different grasslands and crops and compared them with the diversity of other taxa (bats, butterflies, grasshoppers, arachnids, and vascular plants). We aimed to identify indicator bird species for grasslands and crops, to assess cross-community concordance between birds and other taxa, and to model the efficiency of bird indices and indicator species as bioindicators of the diversity across habitat types and taxa.We identified indicator bird species for different grassland and crop types and found that efficiency of bird indices and single species varied for habitat types and taxa. We highlight the importance of using carefully selected bioindicators in biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning, and the need for an integrated and interdisciplinary approach for biodiversity research. Moreover, by looking at a combination of different indices we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of ecosystem functioning. We also provide a framework for the use of bird-based monitoring programs and bird-derived indices to guide biodiversity conservation, and emphasise the importance of incorporating different bioindicators into biodiversity research and monitoring to provide a more comprehensive understanding of ecological biodiversity patterns and trends

Notulae to the Italian flora of algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens: 10

In this contribution, new data concerning red algae, bryophytes, fungi and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the algal genus Thorea, for the bryophyte genera Ephemerum, Hedwigia, Pogonatum, Riccia, Sphagnum, and Tortella, the fungal genera Pileolaria and Sporisorium, and the lichen genera Bacidia, Cerothallia, Chaenotheca, Cladonia, Halecania, Lecanora, Phylloblastia, Physcia, Protoparmelia, Pycnora, Segestria, and Sphaerophorus

Scale dependence of species–area relationships is widespread but generally weak in Palaearctic grasslands

Questions: Species–area relationships (SARs) are fundamental for understanding biodiversity patterns and are generally well described by a power law with a constant exponent z. However, z-values sometimes vary across spatial scales. We asked whether there is a general scale dependence of z-values at fine spatial grains and which potential drivers influence it. Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 6,696 nested-plot series of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens from the GrassPlot database with two or more grain sizes, ranging from 0.0001 m² to 1,024 m² and covering diverse open habitats. The plots were recorded with two widespread sampling approaches (rooted presence = species “rooting” inside the plot; shoot presence = species with aerial parts inside). Using Generalized Additive Models, we tested for scale dependence of z-values by evaluating if the z-values differ with gran size and tested for differences between the sampling approaches. The response shapes of z-values to grain were classified by fitting Generalized Linear Models with logit link to each series. We tested whether the grain size where the maximum z-value occurred is driven by taxonomic group, biogeographic or ecological variables. Results: For rooted presence, we found a strong monotonous increase of z-values with grain sizes for all grain sizes below 1 m². For shoot presence, the scale dependence was much weaker, with hump-shaped curves prevailing. Among the environmental variables studied, latitude, vegetation type, naturalness and land use had strong effects, with z-values of secondary peaking at smaller grain sizes. Conclusions: The overall weak scale dependence of z-values underlines that the power function generally is appropriate to describe SARs within the studied grain sizes in continuous open vegetation, if recorded with the shoot presence method. When clear peaks of z-values occur, this can be seen as an expression of granularity of species composition, partly driven by abiotic environment

Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier: Modeling, statistics, simulations, and computing needs for direct dark matter detection

This paper summarizes the modeling, statistics, simulation, and computing needs of direct dark matter detection experiments in the next decade.Comment: Contribution to Snowmass 202