Spatial variation in breeding habitat selection by Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea) throughout the appalachian mountains

Studies of habitat selection are often of limited utility because they focus on small geographic areas, fail to examine behavior at multiple scales, or lack an assessment of the fitness consequences of habitat decisions. These limitations can hamper the identification of successful site-specific management strategies, which are urgently needed for severely declining species like Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea). We assessed how breeding habitat decisions made by Cerulean Warblers at multiple scales, and the subsequent effects of these decisions on nest survival, varied across the Appalachian Mountains. Selection for structural habitat features varied substantially among areas, particularly at the territory scale. Males within the least-forested landscapes selected microhabitat features that reflected more closed-canopy forest conditions, whereas males in highly forested landscapes favored features associated with canopy disturbance. Selection of nest-patch and nest-site attributes by females was more consistent across areas, with females selecting for increased tree size and understory cover and decreased basal area and midstory cover. Floristic preferences were similar across study areas: White Oak (Quercus alba), Cucumber-tree (Magnolia acuminata), and Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) were preferred as nest trees, whereas red oak species (subgenus Erythrobalanus) and Red Maple (A. rubrum) were avoided. The habitat features that were related to nest survival also varied among study areas, and preferred features were negatively associated with nest survival at one area. Thus, our results indicate that large-scale spatial heterogeneity may influence local habitat-selection behavior and that it may be necessary to articulate site-specific management strategies for Cerulean Warblers

Breeding season concerns and response to forest management: can forest management produce more breeding birds?.

Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea), one of the fastest declining avian species in North America, are associated with heterogeneous canopies in mature hardwood forests. However, the age of most second and third-growth forests in eastern North American is not sufficient for natural tree mortality to maintain structurally diverse canopies. Previous research suggests that forest management through timber harvest also may create conditions suitable as Cerulean Warbler breeding habitat. We conducted a multistate study that examined Cerulean Warbler response to varying degrees of canopy disturbance created by operational timber harvest. Specifically, 3 harvest treatments and an un-harvested reference plot were replicated on 7 study areas in 4 Appalachian states in 2005-2010. We compared pre-harvest and four years post-harvest demographic response of Cerulean Warblers. Over all study areas, Cerulean Warbler territory density remained stable in un-harvested reference plots and increased significantly the first year post-harvest on intermediate harvest plots. By year 3 post-harvest, territory density remained significantly greater for intermediate harvest than reference plots, and marginally greater for light and heavy harvests than reference plots. However, un-harvested reference plots had greater nest survival than most harvest treatments. The one exception was nest survival between reference plots and the intermediate harvest on the northern study areas did not differ. Our results indicate that intermediate harvests likely benefit Cerulean Warblers in some portions of the species’ breeding range. However, additional research is needed to better examine fitness consequences of timber harvests and to estimate population-level implications. In particular, does the greater number of nesting individuals, particularly in intermediate harvests, compensate for lower nesting success? Until researchers provide such insight, we recommend management decisions be based on local conditions, particularly in forests where Cerulean Warbler populations are high

The VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Orion Protostars IV. Unveiling the Embedded Intermediate-Mass Protostar and Disk within OMC2-FIR3/HOPS-370

We present ALMA (0.87~mm and 1.3~mm) and VLA (9~mm) observations toward the candidate intermediate-mass protostar OMC2-FIR3 (HOPS-370; L$_{bol}$~314~L$_{\odot}$) at $\sim$0.1" (40~au) resolution for the continuum emission and ~0.25" (100 au) resolution of nine molecular lines. The dust continuum observed with ALMA at 0.87~mm and 1.3~mm resolve a near edge-on disk toward HOPS-370 with an apparent radius of ~100 au. The VLA observations detect both the disk in dust continuum and free-free emission extended along the jet direction. The ALMA observations of molecular lines (H$_2$CO, SO, CH$_3$OH, $^{13}$CO, C$^{18}$O, NS, and H$^{13}$CN) reveal rotation of the apparent disk surrounding HOPS-370 orthogonal to the jet/outflow direction. We fit radiative transfer models to both the dust continuum structure of the disk and molecular line kinematics of the inner envelope and disk for the H$_2$CO, CH$_3$OH, NS, and SO lines. The central protostar mass is determined to be $\sim$2.5 M_sun with a disk radius of $\sim$94~au, when fit using combinations of the H$_2$CO, CH$_3$OH, NS, and SO lines, consistent with an intermediate-mass protostar. Modeling of the dust continuum and spectral energy distribution (SED) yields a disk mass of 0.035~M$_{\odot}$ (inferred dust+gas) and a dust disk radius of 62~au, thus the dust disk may have a smaller radius than the gas disk, similar to Class II disks. In order to explain the observed luminosity with the measured protostar mass, HOPS-370 must be accreting at a rate between 1.7 and 3.2$\times$10$^{-5}$~M$_{\odot}$~yr$^{-1}$.Comment: Accepted to ApJ; 51 pages, 12 Figures, 7 Table

Emulating Natural Disturbances for Declining Late- Successional Species: A Case Study of the Consequences for Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea)

Forest cover in the eastern United States has increased over the past century and while some late-successional species have benefited from this process as expected, others have experienced population declines. These declines may be in part related to contemporary reductions in small-scale forest interior disturbances such as fire, windthrow, and treefalls. To mitigate the negative impacts of disturbance alteration and suppression on some late-successional species, strategies that emulate natural disturbance regimes are often advocated, but large-scale evaluations of these practices are rare. Here, we assessed the consequences of experimental disturbance (using partial timber harvest) on a severely declining late-successional species, the cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), across the core of its breeding range in the Appalachian Mountains. We measured numerical (density), physiological (body condition), and demographic (age structure and reproduction) responses to three levels of disturbance and explored the potential impacts of disturbance on source-sink dynamics. Breeding densities of warblers increased one to four years after all canopy disturbances (vs. controls) and males occupying territories on treatment plots were in better condition than those on control plots. However, these beneficial effects of disturbance did not correspond to improvements in reproduction; nest success was lower on all treatment plots than on control plots in the southern region and marginally lower on light disturbance plots in the northern region. Our data suggest that only habitats in the southern region acted as sources, and interior disturbances in this region have the potential to create ecological traps at a local scale, but sources when viewed at broader scales. Thus, cerulean warblers would likely benefit from management that strikes a landscape-level balance between emulating natural disturbances in order to attract individuals into areas where current structure is inappropriate, and limiting anthropogenic disturbance in forests that already possess appropriate structural attributes in order to maintain maximum productivity

Emulating Natural Disturbances for Declining Late-Successional Species: A Case Study of the Consequences for Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea)

Forest cover in the eastern United States has increased over the past century and while some late-successional species have benefited from this process as expected, others have experienced population declines. These declines may be in part related to contemporary reductions in small-scale forest interior disturbances such as fire, windthrow, and treefalls. To mitigate the negative impacts of disturbance alteration and suppression on some late-successional species, strategies that emulate natural disturbance regimes are often advocated, but large-scale evaluations of these practices are rare. Here, we assessed the consequences of experimental disturbance (using partial timber harvest) on a severely declining latesuccessional species, the cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), across the core of its breeding range in the Appalachian Mountains. We measured numerical (density), physiological (body condition), and demographic (age structure and reproduction) responses to three levels of disturbance and explored the potential impacts of disturbance on source-sink dynamics. Breeding densities of warblers increased one to four years after all canopy disturbances (vs. controls) and males occupying territories on treatment plots were in better condition than those on control plots. However, these beneficial effects of disturbance did not correspond to improvements in reproduction; nest success was lower on all treatment plots than on control plots in the southern region and marginally lower on light disturbance plots in the northern region. Our data suggest that only habitats in the southern region acted as sources, and interior disturbances in this region have the potential to create ecological traps at a local scale, but sources when viewed at broader scales. Thus, cerulean warblers would likely benefit from management that strikes a landscape-level balance between emulating natural disturbances in order to attract individuals into areas where current structure is inappropriate, and limiting anthropogenic disturbance in forests that already possess appropriate structural attributes in order to maintain maximum productivity

The VLA/ALMA Nascent Disk and Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Orion Protostars. IV. Unveiling the Embedded Intermediate-Mass Protostar and Disk within OMC2-FIR3/HOPS-370

We present ALMA (0.87 and 1.3 mm) and VLA (9 mm) observations toward the candidate intermediate-mass protostar OMC2-FIR3 (HOPS-370; L_(bol) ~ 314 L_⊙) at ~0."1 (40 au) resolution for the continuum emission and ~0."25 (100 au) resolution of nine molecular lines. The dust continuum observed with ALMA at 0.87 and 1.3 mm resolves a near edge-on disk toward HOPS-370 with an apparent radius of ~100 au. The VLA observations detect both the disk in dust continuum and free–free emission extended along the jet direction. The ALMA observations of molecular lines (H₂CO, SO, CH₃OH, ¹³CO, C¹⁸O, NS, and H¹³CN) reveal rotation of the apparent disk surrounding HOPS-370 orthogonal to the jet/outflow direction. We fit radiative transfer models to both the dust continuum structure of the disk and molecular line kinematics of the inner envelope and disk for the H₂CO, CH₃OH, NS, and SO lines. The central protostar mass is determined to be ~2.5 M_⊙ with a disk radius of ~94 au, when fit using combinations of the H₂CO, CH₃OH, NS, and SO lines, consistent with an intermediate-mass protostar. Modeling of the dust continuum and spectral energy distribution yields a disk mass of 0.035 M_⊙ (inferred dust+gas) and a dust disk radius of 62 au; thus, the dust disk may have a smaller radius than the gas disk, similar to Class II disks. In order to explain the observed luminosity with the measured protostar mass, HOPS-370 must be accreting at a rate of (1.7−3.2) × 10⁻⁵ M_⊙ yr⁻¹

Cost-effectiveness of donepezil and memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease (the DOMINO-AD trial).

OBJECTIVE: Most investigations of pharmacotherapy for treating Alzheimer's disease focus on patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms, with little evidence to guide clinical decisions when symptoms become severe. We examined whether continuing donepezil, or commencing memantine, is cost-effective for community-dwelling, moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease patients. METHODS: Cost-effectiveness analysis was based on a 52-week, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, factorial clinical trial. A total of 295 community-dwelling patients with moderate/severe Alzheimer's disease, already treated with donepezil, were randomised to: (i) continue donepezil; (ii) discontinue donepezil; (iii) discontinue donepezil and start memantine; or (iv) continue donepezil and start memantine. RESULTS: Continuing donepezil for 52 weeks was more cost-effective than discontinuation, considering cognition, activities of daily living and health-related quality of life. Starting memantine was more cost-effective than donepezil discontinuation. Donepezil-memantine combined is not more cost-effective than donepezil alone. CONCLUSIONS: Robust evidence is now available to inform clinical decisions and commissioning strategies so as to improve patients' lives whilst making efficient use of available resources. Clinical guidelines for treating moderate/severe Alzheimer's disease, such as those issued by NICE in England and Wales, should be revisited. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd