Conserving Migratory Land Birds in the New World: Do We Know Enough?

Migratory bird needs must be met during four phases of the year: breeding season, fall migration, wintering, and spring migration; thus, management may be needed during all four phases. The bulk of research and management has focused on the breeding season, although several issues remain unsettled, including the spatial extent of habitat influences on fitness and the importance of habitat on the breeding grounds used after breeding. Although detailed investigations have shed light on the ecology and population dynamics of a few avian species, knowledge is sketchy for most species. Replication of comprehensive studies is needed for multiple species across a range of areas. Information deficiencies are even greater during the wintering season, when birds require sites that provide security and food resources needed for survival and developing nutrient reserves for spring migration and, possibly, reproduction. Research is needed on many species simply to identify geographic distributions, wintering sites, habitat use, and basic ecology. Studies are complicated, however, by the mobility of birds and by sexual segregation during winter. Stable-isotope methodology has offered an opportunity to identify linkages between breeding and wintering sites, which facilitates understanding the complete annual cycle of birds. The twice-annual migrations are the poorest-understood events in a bird\u27s life. Migration has always been a risky undertaking, with such anthropogenic features as tall buildings, towers, and wind generators adding to the risk. Species such as woodland specialists migrating through eastern North America have numerous options for pausing during migration to replenish nutrients, but some species depend on limited stopover locations. Research needs for migration include identifying pathways and timetables of migration, quality and distribution of habitats, threats posed by towers and other tall structures, and any bottlenecks for migration. Issues such as human population growth, acid deposition, climate change, and exotic diseases are global concerns with uncertain consequences to migratory birds and even less-certain remedies. Despite enormous gaps in our understanding of these birds, research, much of it occurring in the past 30 years, has provided sufficient information to make intelligent conservation efforts but needs to expand to handle future challenges

Study of bound states in 12Be through low-energy 11Be(d,p)-transfer reactions

The bound states of 12Be have been studied through a 11Be(d,p)12Be transfer reaction experiment in inverse kinematics. A 2.8 MeV/u beam of 11Be was produced using the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. The outgoing protons were detected with the T-REX silicon detector array. The MINIBALL germanium array was used to detect gamma rays from the excited states in 12Be. The gamma-ray detection enabled a clear identification of the four known bound states in 12Be, and each of the states has been studied individually. Differential cross sections over a large angular range have been extracted. Spectroscopic factors for each of the states have been determined from DWBA calculations and have been compared to previous experimental and theoretical results

Evaluating sealing efficiency of caprocks for CO2 storage: an overview of the Geocarbone Integrity program and results

8 pagesInternational audienceThe objectives of the Geocarbone-Integrity program are to develop techniques, methodologies and knowledge concerning the long term confinement of CO2 in geological storage. Linked to other French programs such as Geocarbone Injectivity or Picoref, it is an integrated approach involving geochemistry, petrophysics, geology and geomechanics. Different scales must be considered in order to describe caprocks: from the pore or grain scale in petrophysics and geochemistry, to regional scale in geology and geomechanics. The program focused on a specific site of the Paris basin but the methodologies developed are general and can be applied elsewhere

Causes of admission to a raptor rehabilitation centre and factors that can be used to predict the likelihood of release

Admission records of rescued birds are an important source of information for tracking the prevalence of human‐related threats to wildlife. In this study, we used admission records from January 2015 to December 2016 to review the causes for raptor admissions to a raptor rehabilitation centre in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and to determine factors that can be used to predict the outcome of rehabilitation. During the study period, 242 raptors were admitted to the centre, representing 33 species. The major causes of admission were collision‐related injuries (52%), grounded birds (12%) and orphaned chicks (10%). The most common casualties were spotted eagle‐owl Bubo africanus (23%), yellow‐billed kite Milvus migrans aegyptius/parasitus (12%), jackal buzzard Buteo rufofuscus (10%) and western barn owl Tyto alba (10%). The rehabilitation centre had a release rate of 48%. Reason for admission was a significant predictor of the outcome of rehabilitation while other variables were not. Raptors with no severe injuries such as orphaned chicks and grounded birds were more likely to have successful rehabilitation treatment than raptors suffering from collision injuries. Wildlife rehabilitators can use the results of the present study to develop triage guidelines for raptors admitted to rehabilitation centres.National Research Foundation (ZA), Inyuvesi Yakwazulu‐Natali and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association.https://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/aje2022-02-08hj2021Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

First Results on In-Beam gamma Spectroscopy of Neutron-Rich Na and Mg Isotopes at REX-ISOLDE

After the successful commissioning of the radioactive beam experiment at ISOLDE (REX-ISOLDE) - an accelerator for exotic nuclei produced by ISOLDE - first physics experiments using these beams were performed. Initial experiments focused on the region of deformation in the vicinity of the neutron-rich Na and Mg isotopes. Preliminary results show the high potential and physics opportunities offered by the exotic isotope accelerator REX in conjunction with the modern Germanium gamma spectrometer MINIBALL.Comment: 7 pages, RNB6 conference contributio

Spectroscopy of 28^{28}Na: shell evolution toward the drip line

Excited states in $^{28}$Na have been studied using the $\beta$-decay of implanted $^{28}$Ne ions at GANIL/LISE as well as the in-beam $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy at the NSCL/S800 facility. New states of positive (J$^{\pi}$=3,4$^+$) and negative (J$^{\pi}$=1-5$^-$) parity are proposed. The former arise from the coupling between 0d$\_{5/2}$ protons and a 0d$\_{3/2}$ neutron, while the latter are due to couplings with 1p$\_{3/2}$ or 0f$\_{7/2}$ neutrons. While the relative energies between the J$^{\pi}$=1-4$^+$ states are well reproduced with the USDA interaction in the N=17 isotones, a progressive shift in the ground state binding energy (by about 500 keV) is observed between $^{26}$F and $^{30}$Al. This points to a possible change in the proton-neutron 0d$\_{5/2}$-0d$\_{3/2}$ effective interaction when moving from stability to the drip line. The presence of J$^{\pi}$=1-4$^-$ negative parity states around 1.5 MeV as well as of a candidate for a J$^{\pi}$=5$^-$ state around 2.5 MeV give further support to the collapse of the N=20 gap and to the inversion between the 0f$\_{7/2}$ and 1p$\_{3/2}$ levels below Z=12. These features are discussed in the framework of Shell Model and EDF calculations, leading to predicted negative parity states in the low energy spectra of the $^{26}$F and $^{25}$O nuclei.Comment: Exp\'erience GANIL/LISE et NSCL/S80

Ranging behaviour of Long-crested Eagles Lophaetus occipitalis in human-modified landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

The ranging behaviour of raptors in human-altered environments, such as agricultural and suburban landscapes, is becoming increasingly important for conservationists in the context of unprecedented high rates of anthropogenic land use change. We studied the movement ecology of adult Long-crested Eagles Lophaetus occipitalis fitted with geographic positioning system transmitters in an agricultural landscape in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Mean home ranges (± SD) of males and females estimated using the autocorrelated kernel density estimator (AKDE) method were 608 ± 552 ha (n = 5) and 664 ± 844 ha (n = 4), respectively. Core areas (KDEhref 50%) were estimated as 80 ± 38 ha and 39 ± 20 ha for males and females, respectively. We also recorded exploratory behaviour (in the form of long excursions) in two of the birds, of up to 49 km from the centre of their home range. The relatively small home ranges reported in this study are suggestive of productive foraging habitats whereby Long-crested Eagles can meet their energy requirements without having to travel long distances to obtain resources. Consistent with predictions, non-breeding male and female Long-crested Eagles showed similar ranging behaviour, which includes occasional exploratory behaviour.Le comportement des rapaces dans les environnements modifiés par l’homme, tels que les paysages agricoles et suburbains, devient de plus en plus important pour les défenseurs de la nature dans le contexte des taux élevés sans précédent de changement d’utilisation des terres par l’homme. Nous avons étudié l’écologie du mouvement des Aigles huppards adultes Lophaetus occipitalis équipés d’émetteurs de système de positionnement géographique dans un paysage agricole de la province du KwaZulu-Natal, en Afrique du Sud. Les domaines vitaux moyens (± SD) des mâles et des femelles estimés à l’aide de la méthode de l’estimateur de densité de noyau autocorrélé (AKDE) étaient respectivement de 608 ± 552 ha (n = 5) et 664 ± 844 ha (n = 4). Les zones centrales (KDEhref 50%) ont été estimées à 80 ± 38 ha et 39 ± 20 ha respectivement pour les mâles et les femelles. Nous avons également enregistré un comportement exploratoire (sous forme de longues excursions) chez deux des oiseaux, jusqu’à 49 km du centre de leur domaine vital. Les domaines vitaux relativement petits signalés dans cette étude suggèrent des habitats de gagnage productifs où l’Aigle huppard peut satisfaire ses besoins énergétiques sans avoir à parcourir de longues distances pour obtenir des ressources. Conformément aux prévisions, les Aigles huppards mâles et femelles non reproducteurs ont montré un comportement territorial similaire, y compris un comportement exploratoire occasionnel.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tost202021-08-06hj2020Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Direct reactions for nuclear structure required for fundamental symmetry tests

A program of nuclear structure studies to support fundamental symmetry tests has been initiated. Motivated by the search for an electric dipole moment in Hg-199, the structure in the vicinity has been explored via direct reaction studies. To date, these have included the Hg-198,Hg-200(d, d') inelastic scattering reactions, with the aim to obtain information on the E2 and E3 strength distributions, and the Hg-198(d, p) and Hg-200(d, t) reactions to obtain information on the single-particle states in 199Hg. The studies using the 200Hg targets have been fully analyzed using the FRESCO reaction code yielding the E2 and E3 strength distribution to 4 MeV in excitation energy, and the (d, t) single-particle strength to over 3 MeV in excitation energy