Local Extinction in the Bird Assemblage in the Greater Beijing Area from 1877 to 2006

Recent growth in industrialization and the modernization of agricultural activities, combined with human population growth, has greatly modified China’s natural environment, particularly in the vicinity of large cities. We compared avifauna checklists made between 1877 and 1938 with current checklists to determine the extent of local bird extinctions during the last century in the greater Beijing area. Our study shows that of the 411 bird species recorded from 1877–1938, 45 (10.9%) were no longer recorded from 2004–2006. Birds recorded as ‘rare’ in 1938 were more likely to have disappeared in subsequent years. Migrant status also influenced the probability of local bird extinction with winter migrants being the most affected class. Moreover, larger birds were more likely to have disappeared than smaller ones, potentially explained by differential ecological requirements and anthropogenic exploitation. Although our habitat descriptions and diet classification were not predictors of local bird extinction, the ecological processes driving local bird extinction are discussed in the light of historical changes that have impacted this region since the end of the 1930 s. Our results are of importance to the broader conservation of bird wildlife

Habitat selection by Eld's deer following relocation to a patchy landscape.

An emerging issue in wildlife conservation is the re-establishment of viable populations of endangered species in suitable habitats. Here, we studied habitat selection by a population of Hainan Eld's deer (Cervus eldi) relocated to a patchy landscape of farmland and forest. Hainan Eld's deer were pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1970s, but their population expanded rapidly from 26 to more than 1000 individuals by 2003 through effective reserve protection. As part of a wider relocation and population management strategy, 131 deer were removed from the reserve and reintroduced into a farmland-forest landscape in 2005. Habitat use under a context of human disturbance was surveyed by monitoring 19 radio-collared animals. The majority of deer locations (77%) were within 0.6-2 km of villages. Annual home ranges of these collared deer averaged 725 ha (SD 436), which was 55% of the size of the reserve from which they had originated. The annual home ranges contained 54% shrub-grassland, 26% forest and 15% farmland. The relocated deer population selected landscape comprising slash-and-burn agriculture and forest, and avoided both intensively farmed areas and areas containing only forest. Within the selected landscape, deer preferred swiddens and shrub-grasslands. Forests above 300 m in elevation were avoided, whereas forests below 300 m in elevation were overrepresented during the dry season and randomly used during the wet season. Our findings show that reintroduced deer can utilize disturbed habitats, and further demonstrate that subsistence agroforest ecosystems have the capacity to sustain endangered ungulates

Rut-induced changes in the activity budgets of male tropical ungulates: Eld’s deer on Hainan Island

Aspects of time budgets, activity patterns and rut-related changes in behavior are well documented in temperate ungulates; however, the application of this understanding to tropical and sub-tropical ungulate species has attracted less attention and remains an area that may re-shape our knowledge of ungulate behavior. Eld’s deer Cervus eldi hainanus has a tropical and sub-tropical distribution on Hainan Island, China, and males have an extended rut exceeding five months during which they do not maintain harems or defend resources. We studied males from the only remaining population on Hainan Island, and describe rut-related changes in behavior by collecting data on time budgets and activity patterns. We show that male Eld’s deer do not follow a strict crepuscular activity pattern, do not spend the majority of their time foraging and do not increase foraging nor display rut-induced hypophagia during rut, in obvious contrast to temperate ungulates. These results are discussed in light of current hypotheses explaining the proximate mechanisms governing feeding time in ungulates, while appreciating the need for further research [Current Zoology 58 (4): 536–540, 2012]

Description of landscapes.

<p>Description of landscapes.</p

Description of landscapes.

<p>Description of landscapes.</p

Oncology and radiation oncology awareness in final year medical students in Australia and New Zealand

This study aimed to determine final year students’ core oncology and radiation oncology knowledge and attitudes about the quality of teaching in medical programmes delivered in Australia and New Zealand. Does the modern medical programme provide core oncology skills in this leading global cause of mortality and morbidity? An online survey was distributed between April and June 2018 and completed by 316 final year students across all 21 medical schools with final year cohorts in Australia and New Zealand. The survey examined teaching and clinical exposure, attitudes and core knowledge for oncology and radiation oncology. Several questions from a survey done of graduates in 2001 were repeated for comparison. We found that clinical exposure to oncology and its disciplines is low. Students rated oncology and haematology the worst taught medical specialties at medical school. Students reported the most confidence identifying when surgical management of cancer may be indicated and much lower levels of confidence identifying when systemic therapy and radiation therapy may be helpful. The majority of students had no formal course content on radiation therapy and more than one third of final year students erroneously believed that external beam radiation therapy turned patients radioactive. Exposure to oncology practice and the teaching of core oncology knowledge remains low for medical students in Australia and New Zealand. Many areas of oncology teaching and knowledge have worsened for medical students in Australia and New Zealand over the past 20\ua0years. Well-established gaps in the core oncology knowledge of medical graduates must be urgently addressed given the increasing incidence of cancer and ongoing underutilisation of radiation therapy in particular

Average percentage of each patch category within the home range of an Eld’s deer.

<p>Average percentage of each patch category within the home range of an Eld’s deer.</p

Habitat selection of Eld’s deer on a landscape scale (a) and stand scale (b).

<p>(a) The available landscape is indicated by a circle centered on the release site with a radius corresponding to the distance to the farthest location recorded for a collared individual. The used landscape is denoted by the convex polygon (black line) inside the circle, which is the 97% kernel home range calculated from all locations for collared Eld’s deer (n  = 17). (b) All collared deer telemetry locations (black points) and their 100% MCP home range (available habitat) are shown.</p

Habitat selection by reintroduced Eld’s deer at the stand scale.

<p>*No locations were within these patch types, so they were considered unavailable.</p><p>Habitat was preferred for confidence interval <i>w_i</i>>1 (+) and avoided for <i>w_i</i><1 (–). Habitats without markings were randomly used.</p

Distances between relocated Eld’s deer and the nearest village.

<p>Distances between relocated Eld’s deer and the nearest village.</p