Review of the millipede subfamily Amplininae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Aphelidesmidae) with remarks on phylogeny and the description of some new South American genera and species

A review of the millipede subfamily Amplininae (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Aphelidesmidae) is presented. The genera Meridiurus, Tribrachiorus, Coleocacamus, Kallistopeltis, Sculptoteles and Pastazina are erected as new. Description of the new species Polylepiscus hirmerae n.sp., Meridiurus venitus n.sp., Tribrachiorus suarezi n.sp., T. huila n.sp., Coleocacamus depressus n.sp., C. labialveus n.sp., Thrinoxethus juani n.sp., T. junini n.sp., Z. siolii n.sp. and Pastazina crassa n.sp. are given. Tribrachiorus polygonatus (GERVAIS, 1847), Kallistopeltis kalonota (ATTEMS, 1899), and Sculptoteles braueri (CARL, 1918) are redescribed. An analysis is attempted to elucidate the phylogenetic and, to some extent, biogeographical relationships of the genera as they are conceived of at the present

Climate Change Impact Modelling Cascade – Benefits and Limitations for Conservation Management

Model results can serve as a basis for adaptation in conservation management. They can help understanding the impact of climate change, and support the formulation of management measures. However, model results rely strongly on the quality and the resolution of the input data; they contain significant uncertainties and need to be interpreted in the context of the modelling assumptions. The perception of models and their results differs between disciplines as well as between science and practice. Part of this gap derives from the long ‘model cascade’ used for the assessment of climate related impacts on biodiversity. For this ‘model cascade’ model results from Global Climate Models are often used to drive Regional Downscaled Climate Models and are transferred to hydrological models or distribution models of plants and animals. In fact, most assessments of potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity rely on habitat modelling of plants and animals. But, only few decision makers are trained to analyse the different outcomes of climate impact modelling. If modelling is integrated into conservation management it must be based on an evaluation of the need for information in protected areas and an assessment of model use in the management process, so as to guarantee maximum usability

Climate Change Impact Modelling Cascade – Benefits and Limitations for Conservation Management

Model results can serve as a basis for adaptation in conservation management. They can help understanding the impact of climate change, and support the formulation of management measures. However, model results rely strongly on the quality and the resolution of the input data; they contain significant uncertainties and need to be interpreted in the context of the modelling assumptions. The perception of models and their results differs between disciplines as well as between science and practice. Part of this gap derives from the long ‘model cascade’ used for the assessment of climate related impacts on biodiversity. For this ‘model cascade’ model results from Global Climate Models are often used to drive Regional Downscaled Climate Models and are transferred to hydrological models or distribution models of plants and animals. In fact, most assessments of potential impacts of climate change on biodiversity rely on habitat modelling of plants and animals. But, only few decision makers are trained to analyse the different outcomes of climate impact modelling. If modelling is integrated into conservation management it must be based on an evaluation of the need for information in protected areas and an assessment of model use in the management process, so as to guarantee maximum usability

Freiwillige Aufnahme von Kokain und Morphin im Tiermodell bei gemeinsamer und getrennter Darbietung sowie deren Beeinflussung durch eine vorangehende, erzwungene Aufnahme

Während der letzten Jahrzehnte finden Probleme des gleichzeitigen Mißbrauchs mehrerer psychoaktiver Drogen zunehmend Beachtung. Die vorliegende Arbeit geht der Frage nach, ob Drogen wie Morphin und Kokain in gleichem Maß als Belohnung empfundene Reaktionen auslösen können. Die Frage wurde im Tierexperiment mit männlichen Sprague-Dawley-Ratten untersucht. Dazu wurde das Modell der „Zwei- oder Drei-Flaschenwahl“ benutzt, bei dem die Versuchstiere die Drogen Morphin und Kokain über das Trinkwasser aufnehmen. Drei Teilaspekte der obigen Frage standen im Mittelpunkt: 1. Beeinflusst eine zum freien Konsum angebotene psychoaktive Substanz die freiwillige Aufnahme einer anderen? 2. Welche Folgen hat ein temporärer Aufnahmezwang für den nachfolgenden freiwilligen Konsum? 3. Welche Bedeutung hat es, wenn die Drogen parallel nebeneinander oder kombiniert als Gemisch angeboten werden? Vier Versuche lieferten die nachfolgend genannten Ergebnisse, die zu einem besseren Verständnis der eingesetzten Methode und zu Antworten auf die zentrale Frage führten. Ergebnisse zum experimentellen Vorgehen: 1. Ratten konsumieren freiwillig Morphin und Kokain, wenn diese Stoffe parallel nebeneinander oder als Gemisch angeboten werden. 2. Der freiwillige Konsum von Morphin und Kokain wies bei männlichen Sprague-Dawley-Ratten große interindividuelle Schwankungen auf, ist jedoch intraindividuell recht konstant. 3. Die tägliche Flüssigkeitsaufnahme wurde durch Morphin und Kokain nicht beeinflusst, wenn die Drogen zum freiwilligen Gebrauch parallel oder als Gemisch oder unter Zwang aufgenommen wurden. 4. Die Zugabe von Saccharin zur Maskierung des Drogengeschmackes führte dauerhaft zu keiner statistisch relevanten Änderung der freiwilligen Aufnahme von Morphin oder Kokain. 5. Die Zugabe von Saccharin zur Trinklösung in Konkurrenz zu Morphin und Kokain veränderte nicht die Aufnahme von Morphin, führte jedoch zu einer größeren Aufnahme von Kokain. 6. Die Positionierung der Trinkflaschen im Käfig führte zu keiner nennenswerten Änderung der freiwilligen Aufnahme von Morphin oder Kokain. Diese Befunde belegen die Brauchbarkeit des eingeschlagenen experimentellen Vorgehens zur Untersuchung von Fragen der freiwilligen Aufnahme von Drogen. Resultate zu Wirkungen der Testsubstanzen: 1. Bei parallelem Angebot war der freiwillige Konsum von Kokain größer als der von Morphin. 2. Bei Angebot einer Morphin-Kokain-Lösung blieb der freiwillige Konsum von Morphin etwa gleich, der Konsum von Kokain nahm dagegen ab. 3. Bei alleinigem Angebot von Morphin oder Kokain im Sinne eines Aufnahmezwanges erhöhte sich die Aufnahme beider Drogen entsprechend der täglichen Gesamtflüssigkeitsaufnahme. 4. Ein temporärer Aufnahmezwang von Morphin erhöhte nachfolgend die freiwillige Aufnahme von Morphin. Die freiwillige Aufnahme von Kokain wurde dagegen vermindert. 5. Ein temporärer Aufnahmezwang von Kokain erhöhte nachfolgend den freiwilligen Konsum von Kokain und Morphin praktisch nicht. Damit wird deutlich, daß Kokain besser angenommen wird als Morphin. Die freiwillige Aufnahme von Kokain wird jedoch durch Morphin supprimiert. Offenbar sind belohnende Wirkungen, die Morphin stimulieren kann stärker ausgeprägt als diejenigen von Kokain. Diese Befunde können die Annahme stützen, daß verschiedene „Belohnungssysteme“ angesprochen werden, wobei das „Morphinzentrum“ das „Kokainzentrum“ dominiert

Rapid treatment monitoring by field spectroscopy

Agricultural crops are in different physiological conditions caused by fertilizer, pest and disease incidence, drought or frost. Vegetation response to treatments varies with both the type and the degree of treatment. On the other hand, treatment may cause biochemical changes in the cellular or leaf structure, which have an effect on pigment system or the canopy moisture content. A variety of factors, including climate, soil, nutrients, phytomass, water content, disease, weeds, insects and more can be measured using field spectral radiometers, airborne multispectral, hyperspectral and thermal cameras. High resolution remote sensing provides primary source of information for identifying, classifying, mapping, monitoring of agricultural phenomenon. It can provide data for site specific management and precision organic farming. In case of our experiments using foliar fertilization treatments on organic spelt fields, field spectroscopy showed a good potential to predict crop quality, while point measurements (SPAD) could not be correlated with spelt quality data. Investigations will be broadened in 2014 in order to gain more detailed results

A Machine Learning Framework for the Classification of Natura 2000 Habitat Types at Large Spatial Scales Using MODIS Surface Reflectance Data

Anthropogenic climate and land use change is causing rapid shifts in the distribution and composition of habitats with profound impacts on ecosystem biodiversity. The sustainable management of ecosystems requires monitoring programmes capable of detecting shifts in habitat distribution and composition at large spatial scales. Remote sensing observations facilitate such efforts as they enable cost-efficient modelling approaches that utilize publicly available datasets and can assess the status of habitats over extended periods of time. In this study, we introduce a modelling framework for habitat monitoring in Germany using readily available MODIS surface reflectance data. We developed supervised classification models that allocate (semi-)natural areas to one of 18 classes based on their similarity to Natura 2000 habitat types. Three machine learning classifiers, i.e., Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forests (RF), and C5.0, and an ensemble approach were employed to predict habitat type using spectral signatures from MODIS in the visible-to-near-infrared and short-wave infrared. The models were trained on homogenous Special Areas of Conservation that are predominantly covered by a single habitat type with reference data from 2013, 2014, and 2016 and tested against ground truth data from 2010 and 2019 for independent model validation. Individually, the SVM and RF methods achieved better overall classification accuracies (SVM: 0.72–0.93%, RF: 0.72–0.94%) than the C5.0 algorithm (0.66–0.93%), while the ensemble classifier developed from the individual models gave the best performance with overall accuracies of 94.23% for 2010 and 80.34% for 2019 and also allowed a robust detection of non-classifiable pixels. We detected strong variability in the cover of individual habitat types, which were reduced when aggregated based on their similarity. Our methodology is capable to provide quantitative information on the spatial distribution of habitats, differentiate between disturbance events and gradual shifts in ecosystem composition, and could successfully allocate natural areas to Natura 2000 habitat types

Open Science und Citizen Science als symbiotische Beziehung? Eine Gegenüberstellung von Konzepten

This article analyzes core attributes of the concepts of Open Science and Citizen Science in European science policy and relates them to one another. Both concepts postulate and advocate a future opening of science – with Open Science policy focusing on the research process and the conceptualization of Citizen Science placing more emphasis on the actors and their interactions. Both approaches claim transparency with regard to both the research process itself and its results. There are synergies in terms of the involvement of citizens and the accessibility of research results and processes. And there are risks when Citizen Science is merely instrumentalized without allowing for effective participation by citizens.In diesem Artikel werden Kernzuschreibungen von Open Science und Citizen Science in der europäischen Wissenschaftspolitik analysiert und zueinander in Beziehung gesetzt. Beide Konzepte postulieren und forcieren eine zukünftige Öffnung von Wissenschaft – wobei die Open-Science-Politik vor allem auf den Prozess von Wissenschaft abhebt, während bei der Konzeptualisierung von Citizen Science die Akteure und ihre Interaktionen stärker im Vordergrund stehen. Beiden Ansätzen gemeinsam ist der Anspruch an einen transparenten Forschungsprozess und frei zugängliche Forschungsergebnisse. Es gibt Synergien, was die Einbindung von Bürgerinnen und Bürger sowie die Zugänglichkeit von Forschungsergebnissen und -prozessen angeht. Risiken bestehen, wenn Citizen Science lediglich instrumentalisiert wird, ohne Bürgerinnen und Bürgern eine echte Teilhabe zu ermöglichen

Combining Multiband Remote Sensing and Hierarchical Distance Sampling to Establish Drivers of Bird Abundance

Information on habitat preferences is critical for the successful conservation of endangered species. For many species, especially those living in remote areas, we currently lack this information. Time and financial resources to analyze habitat use are limited. We aimed to develop a method to describe habitat preferences based on a combination of bird surveys with remotely sensed fine-scale land cover maps. We created a blended multiband remote sensing product from SPOT 6 and Landsat 8 data with a high spatial resolution. We surveyed populations of three bird species (Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola, Ochre-rumped Bunting Emberiza yessoensis, and Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala) at a study site in the Russian Far East using hierarchical distance sampling, a survey method that allows to correct for varying detection probability. Combining the bird survey data and land cover variables from the remote sensing product allowed us to model population density as a function of environmental variables. We found that even small-scale land cover characteristics were predictable using remote sensing data with sufficient accuracy. The overall classification accuracy with pansharpened SPOT 6 data alone amounted to 71.3%. Higher accuracies were reached via the additional integration of SWIR bands (overall accuracy = 73.21%), especially for complex small-scale land cover types such as shrubby areas. This helped to reach a high accuracy in the habitat models. Abundances of the three studied bird species were closely linked to the proportion of wetland, willow shrubs, and habitat heterogeneity. Habitat requirements and population sizes of species of interest are valuable information for stakeholders and decision-makers to maximize the potential success of habitat management measures