Vole spatial distribution and dispersal in European organic and conventional farming systems

North European landscapes are highly dominated by agriculture, where small biotopes, e.g. meadows, uncultivated grassland, hedge rows, field boundaries, surroundings of water ponds, only comprise a low percentage. In recent years organic farming has expanded in acreage due to customers increased awareness regarding pesticide and fertilizer use and biodiversity conservation. However, organic farming has changed from an extensive production with small fields, low mechanical impact and high crop diversity towards larger fields, intensive mechanical treatment, lower weed densities and lower field diversity. Still, organic farms could play an important, role in the agricultural landscape as refuges for some small mammal species. We studied the responses of populations to habitat patches of different size and different surrounding management strategies (ecological and conventional farming). Studies were performed at two localities in Denmark, Kalø Estate in Eastern Jutland and the Bjerringbro area in Central Jutland. The sampling sites were represented by cultivated grassland habitat, small biotopes within cultivated fields and hedgerows between fields in rotation. Small mammal species assemblages were low in numbers in cultural farmland, and, on a property basis, not significantly different between organic and conventional farms. Very few species and individuals were present in the field matrix, and the small biotopes were by far the most important source of species richness. Species density was positively correlated with the size of the habitat, and, generally, more voles were found in organic habitat patches than in conventional ones. More field voles were found in organic grassland and more bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in organic hedge rows than in conventional ones. Telemetry studies of field voles showed low rates of dispersal and low colonization rates of the more or less isolated small biotopes at the time of year with no vegetation cover in the surrounding fields. We found no significant correlations between distance to nearest stepping stones/dispersal corridors and small mammal densities or species composition. In agricultural areas landscape structure influences the small mammal species living in this fragmented habitat matrix. The value of organic farms in respect to small mammal biodiversity depends mainly upon the number and area of small biotopes, and only to a minor degree upon the management of the fields. This is presumably related to a more dense and diverse vegetation cover, due to a lack of pesticide and fertilizer treatment in the organically managed small biotopes

Twenty Three Years of Bird Surveys at Oak Lake Field Station: Patterns of Use and Change

https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/oak-lake_presentations/1002/thumbnail.jp

ORGANIC FARMS AS REFUGES FOR SMALL MAMMAL BIODIVERSITY

Habitat fragmentation, the process by which relatively continuous habitats is broken into smaller pieces, occurs in natural systems but is to a high degree also human- induced through landscape use. Fragmentation of the landscape produces a series of habitat patches surrounded by a matrix of different habitats and/or land use regimes. The major landscape consequences of fragmentation are loss of habitat, reduction in habitat patch size, and increasing isolation of habitat patches. In general, population performance declines in response to habitat loss but size of remaining area and isolation effects is known also to influence the population trend. Small mammals are well suited for examination of population responses to habitat fragmentation as they have modest spatial requirements and short generation times. In theory, organic farms could play an important role in the agricultural landscape as refuges for some small mammal species, as the lack of pesticide and fertiliser treatment, less weed control, more diversified crop structure and a general environmentalfriendly attitude, form a basis for habitats that provide cover and food for small mammals, and thus for larger predators of these species. Furthermore, density and area of small biotopes could be expected to be higher in the organic farms, thus leading to a decreased distance between optimal habitats

Organic farms as refuges for small mammal biodiversity in agro ecosystems

Habitat fragmentation, the process by which relatively continuous habitats is broken into smaller pieces, occurs in natural systems but is to a high degree also human-induced through landscape use. Fragmentation of the landscape produces a series of habitat patches surrounded by a matrix of different habitats and land use regimes. The major landscape consequences of fragmentation are loss of habitat, reduction in habitat patch size, and increasing isolation of habitat patches. In general, population performance declines in response to habitat loss but size of remaining area and isolation effects is known also to influence the population trend. Small mammals are well suited for examination of population responses to habitat fragmentation as they have modest spatial requirements and short generation times. In theory, organic farms could play an important role in the agricultural landscape as refuges for some small mammal species, as the lack of pesticide and fertiliser treatment, less weed control, more diversified crop structure and a general environmental friendly attitude, form a basis for habitats that provide cover and food for small mammals, and thus for larger predators of these species. Furthermore, density and area of small biotopes could be expected to be higher in the organic farms, thus leading to a decreased distance between optimal habitats. This study compares species diversity and abundance of small mammals in conventional farms and intensively and extensively grown organic farms. In a wide range of different fields in conventional and organic farms, the diversity and density of small mammals were investigated by live-trapping sessions, comprising trap lines with 15 meters between each trap. We studied the responses of populations (belonging to 11 species of small mammals) to habitat patches of different size and different surrounding management strategies (ecological and conventional farming). We found a general correlation between the number of small mammal individuals and small biotope size. This correlation applies in autumn as well as in spring. There is only a weak tendency for more small mammals in small biotopes within organic farms compared within conventional farms. The number of small mammal species stabilises at small biotope sizes around 1000 square meters. The value of organic farms in respect to small mammal biodiversity depends mainly upon the number and area of small biotopes, and only to a minor degree upon the treatments of the fields

Prokofiev\u27s Sinfonia Concertante, Opus 125: An Analysis and Thematic Comparison to the Concerto, Opus 58.

Prokofiev\u27s Sinfonia Concertante, Op. 125, written between 1950 and 1952, was a thorough-going revision of the less successful Cello Concerto, Op. 58, composed between 1933 and 1938. The purpose of this monograph is to analyze and explain Prokofiev\u27s unique tonal style through a comparison of themes and their separate treatment in the first movements of these works. The monograph is in three main parts: a brief history of Prokofiev and the background of these two pieces, a comparison of the first movement themes of these works, and an analysis of Prokofiev\u27s key relations and modulatory devices. Almost all of the thematic material of the Concerto appears in the Sinfonia Concertante. However, Prokofiev adapts and expands the themes in the Concerto\u27s ternary movement to create a quasi-sonata form in the Sinfonia Concertante. A comparison of themes and motives in these works indicates the degree to which Prokofiev\u27s composition of these works was a process of arranging clearly conceived thematic ideas. Richard Bass\u27s theory of Chromatic Displacement is employed to explain Prokofiev\u27s melodic chromaticism. The strongly diatonic themes frequently contain chromatically shifted fragments which have the initial characteristics of ornamental chromaticism. Tonally, individual melodic lines may briefly go out of phase with the prevailing key. Or they may contain chromaticism implying one tonal desination while contrapuntally arranged to support the sonorities of a contrasting key area

Emergency Use Authorizations in the Time of Coronavirus

When COVID-19 first emerged in the United States, the pandemic sparked a rush to provide protective gear, develop tests to detect the disease, and implement effective containment strategies to stop the spread. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) process to facilitate the rapid market introduction of medical devices (authorized but unapproved) to combat the emergent public health threat. Unfortunately, performance problems with some medical devices stymied initial containment efforts, arguably resulting in greater spread and suggesting a need for improvement in the EUA process. By reviewing the statutory requirements of the EUA process, this Note examines how the process is intended to function and where it came up short during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Note then identifies the medical devices (diagnostic tests and personal protective equipment) that are most likely to require EUAs during a potential future pandemic and reveals a regulatory gap in quality control procedures that enabled nonperforming devices to reach the market during the current pandemic. Finally, the Note proposes a solution that would likely fill this regulatory gap and help the FDA achieve its goals in the event of another infectious disease emergency. The solution is to require an independent test of the manufactured product to ensure it meets its performance specifications before releasing the medical device to the market

The coupling between entrepreneurship and public policy: Tight in developed countries but loose in development countries

In this paper we compare the coupling between entrepreneurship policy and entrepreneurship activity in developed and developing countries. Using new institutional arguments, we argue that developing countries are prone to implement policies that (1) are based on experiences in developed countries which have not proven to transfer fittingly to developing economies, (2) are only partly implemented and are not internally consistent as a result of a lack of resources to do so, and (3) are more beneficial on paper than on actual activity. Following this perspective, the coupling between entrepreneurship policy and entrepreneurship activity is hypothesized to be lower for developing countries than for developed countries. Using GEM data correlating the TEA index of early-phase entrepreneurship with indicators of policies obtained from key expert informants supports this proposition

Can pathoanatomical pathways of degeneration in lumbar motion segments be identified by clustering MRI findings

Background: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the gold standard for detailed visualisation of spinal pathological and degenerative processes, but the prevailing view is that such imaging findings have little or no clinical relevance for low back pain. This is because these findings appear to have little association with treatment effects in clinical populations, and mostly a weak association with the presence of pain in the general population.However, almost all research into these associations is based on the examination of individual MRI findings, despite its being very common for multiple MRI findings to coexist. Therefore, this proof-of-concept study investigated the capacity of a multivariable statistical method to identify clusters of MRI findings and for those clusters to be grouped into pathways of vertebral degeneration. Methods. This study is a secondary analysis of data from 631 patients, from an outpatient spine clinic, who had been screened for inclusion in a randomised controlled trial. The available data created a total sample pool of 3,155 vertebral motion segments. The mean age of the cohort was 42 years (SD 10.8, range 18-73) and 54% were women.MRI images were quantitatively coded by an experienced musculoskeletal research radiologist using a detailed and standardised research MRI evaluation protocol that has demonstrated high reproducibility. Comprehensive MRI findings descriptive of the disco-vertebral component of lumbar vertebrae were clustered using Latent Class Analysis. Two pairs of researchers, each containing an experienced MRI researcher, then independently categorised the clusters into hypothetical pathoanatomic pathways based on the known histological changes of discovertebral degeneration. Results: Twelve clusters of MRI findings were identified, described and grouped into five different hypothetical pathways of degeneration that appear to have face validity. Conclusions: This study has shown that Latent Class Analysis can be used to identify clusters of MRI findings from people with LBP and that those clusters can be grouped into degenerative pathways that are biologically plausible. If these clusters of MRI findings are reproducible in other datasets of similar patients, they may form a stable platform to investigate the relationship between degenerative pathways and clinically important characteristics such as pain and activity limitation