Indigenizing Restoration: Indigenous Lands before Urban Parks

Climate change and human activities continue to result in negative environmental impacts that alter land productivity, ecosystem health, and their potential land-uses. However, these environmental impacts are being addressed through land restoration frameworks that do not include the robust narrative on the links between land and Indigenous peoples. This link between land and Indigenous peoples is not visible in restoration frameworks due to the linearity these frameworks follow and their deep roots in western science. In this paper, we contend that restoration projects must incorporate three indicators that re-evaluates restoration from an Indigenous lens. Through a literature review & our ongoing restoration project, we identify three major indicators that are important to incorporate in restoration. These indicators are eco-colonialism, kincentric ecology, and environmental narratives. After discussing the three indicators in our paper, we apply these indicators to provide the historical context of our on-going field site, Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center located at Discovery Park. Discovery Park is the largest urban park located in Seattle, Washington. We conclude that including these three indicators into restoration frameworks not only indigenizes restoration, but can also help us create more effective solutions to environmental problems persisting for decades in unhealthy ecosystems

Olfactory communication and hunting behaviour of Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx in the Northwestern Swiss Alps

Chemical signalling in the form of scent-marking with urine, faeces or gland secretions is widespread in mammals and its role in territoriality, competition or mate choice is widely recognised for many species. Mammals regularly check and renew their scent-marks and place their own scent-marks on top of those left by others. Such over-marking is essential for communication with neighbouring territory holders or group members and high scent-marking rates increase reproductive success. However, chemical signals are not only perceived by the intended receivers but can be intercepted and exploited by competitors, predators or parasites (eavesdropping). In wild felids, the occurrence of scent-marking behaviour and the chemical compositions of different scent sources have been described for an increasing number of species. However, the role of over-marking in social organisation of wild felid populations, the factors influencing spatial and temporal distribution of scent-marks in territories (e.g. eavesdropping by prey), and the information content of scent-marks have not yet been studied extensively in wild felids. The aim of my thesis was to explore the possible functions of scent-marking in felid social organisation using the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx as a model species and focusing on the above-mentioned research topics. In my first study (chapter 1), I investigated scent-marking behaviour and its role in communication among resident and non-resident Eurasian lynx using infrared camera traps. I could show that communal marking sites play an important role in communication between male and female lynx and in competition between males. I demonstrated that lynx were able to discriminate between self and non-self and that over-marking does not mask the underlying scent-mark. These results support the function of communal marking sites as “chemical bulletin boards”. In chapter 2, we describe a robust method for identifying kill sites from movement patterns by analysing GPS location clusters (GLCs) generated by GPS-collared lynx. We were able to find large as well as small prey items and could show that the majority of the kills (92%) were found in GLCs lasting ≥ 9h. The method was then used in the next chapter to relate lynx scent-marking rates to hunting behaviour. In my third study (chapter 3), I followed tracks of GPS-collared lynx in the snow and recorded scent-marks and evidence of hunting behaviour along these tracks. I was able to show that overall scent-marking rate was lower when lynx were hunting but that hunting lynx increased scent-marking rates in places, where there was a high chance of detection by conspecifics (along forest roads). Lynx also increased scent-marking rates during mating season but only when they were not hunting. My results suggest that lynx face a trade-off between enhancing the detection probability of scent-marks by conspecifics and avoiding eavesdropping by prey. Finally, in my last study (chapter 4), I collected urine from captive and wild Eurasian lynx and analysed volatile constituents of urine by means of solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. I identified several carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, and esters, as well as high amounts of cyclic octaatomic sulphur. I could show that lynx urine contains sex-specific information on reproductive state, as well as individual identity cues. Relative sulphur content in urine samples decreased with age of the urine sample and could serve as an indicator for the freshness of a scent-mark. The patterns of scent-marking I observed during my studies suggest that urine marking plays an important role in communication between potential mates and rivals and, hence, in social and spatial organisation of Eurasian lynx populations. I was also able to chemically analyse the information content of lynx urine and show that urine marks are well-suited to fulfil the suggested functions in the wild. As such, my work contributes to a better understanding of the functions and constraints of chemical signalling in wide-ranging solitary predators

"Also es gibt keine weitere Frau" - Prozesse der Geschlechterdifferenzierung auf der Führungsebene

Frauen waren und sind in Führungspositionen deutscher Wirtschaftsunternehmen unterrepräsentiert. Trotz politischer und betrieblicher Gleichstellungsmaßnahmen liegt der Anteil weiblicher* Führungskräfte in nahezu allen wirtschaftlichen Sektoren deutlich unter dem Anteil weiblicher* Beschäftigter insgesamt. Unabhängig davon, ob Organisationen als strukturell vergeschlechtlicht (Acker 1991, 2006) betrachtet werden oder die Aktualisierung von Geschlecht als kontextabhängig (z. B. Heintz/Nadai 1998) und kontingent analysiert wird, problematisiert die Geschlechterforschung, dass politische Gesetze und/oder einzelne Selbstverpflichtungen von Unternehmen jene mehr oder weniger subtilen Prozesse der Geschlechterdifferenzierung in Organisationen über die Ungleichheit hergestellt werden, kaum berühren. Anhand einer qualitativen Untersuchung in der Verwaltung eines großen Einzelhandelsunternehmens in Deutschland wird gezeigt, wie informelle Prozesse einer Geschlechtergleichstellung entgegenstehen - selbst wenn die Organisation eine Erhöhung des Frauenanteils in Führungspositionen wünscht und in den untersten Führungsebenen der Frauenanteil bereits vergleichsweise hoch ist.Women remain underrepresented in management positions in Germany. Despite political, legal and company-level equal opportunities measures, the proportion of female* managers in almost all economic sectors is significantly lower than the overall proportion of female* employees. Irrespective of whether organizations are regarded as structurally gendered (Acker 1991, 2006) or gender is analyzed as a contextual and contingent category (i. e. Heintz/Nadai 1998), the main challenge is that political laws and/or individual voluntary commitments by companies hardly touch subtle processes of gender differentiation and inequality at organizational level. Using findings from a qualitative study in the administrative department of a large retail company in Germany, the article shows how informal processes oppose cultural change towards gender equality even though the organization aims at bringing more women into management position. And it shows that a larger percentage of women in lower management positions does not automatically improve their career opportunities

Predicting kill sites of an apex predator from GPS data in different multi-prey systems

© 2022 The Authors. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Kill rates are a central parameter to assess the impact of predation on prey species. An accurate estimation of kill rates requires a correct identification of kill sites, often achieved by field-checking GPS location clusters (GLCs). However, there are potential sources of error included in kill-site identification, such as failing to detect GLCs that are kill sites, and misclassifying the generated GLCs (e.g., kill for nonkill) that were not field checked. Here, we address these two sources of error using a large GPS dataset of collared Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), an apex predator of conservation concern in Europe, in three multiprey systems, with different combinations of wild, semidomestic, and domestic prey. We first used a subsampling approach to investigate how different GPS-fix schedules affected the detection of GLC-indicated kill sites. Then, we evaluated the potential of the random forest algorithm to classify GLCs as nonkills, small prey kills, and ungulate kills. We show that the number of fixes can be reduced from seven to three fixes per night without missing more than 5% of the ungulate kills, in a system composed of wild prey. Reducing the number of fixes per 24 h decreased the probability of detecting GLCs connected with kill sites, particularly those of semidomestic or domestic prey, and small prey. Random forest successfully predicted between 73%–90% of ungulate kills, but failed to classify most small prey in all systems, with sensitivity (true positive rate) lower than 65%. Additionally, removing domestic prey improved the algorithm's overall accuracy. We provide a set of recommendations for studies focusing on kill-site detection that can be considered for other large carnivore species in addition to the Eurasian lynx. We recommend caution when working in systems including domestic prey, as the odds of underestimating kill rates are higher.publishedVersio

Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) regulates bladder nociception

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), is a severely debilitating chronic condition that is frequently unresponsive to conventional pain medications. The etiology is unknown, however evidence suggests that nervous system sensitization contributes to enhanced pain in IC/PBS. In particular, central nervous system plasticity of glutamatergic signaling involving NMDA and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) has been implicated in a variety of chronic pain conditions. Here, we test the hypothesis that mGluR5 mediates both non-inflammatory and inflammatory bladder pain or nociception in a mouse model by monitoring the visceromotor response (VMR) during graded bladder distention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a combination of genetic and pharmacologic approaches, we provide evidence indicating that mGluR5 is necessary for the full expression of VMR in response to bladder distention in the absence of inflammation. Furthermore, we observed that mice infected with a uropathogenic strain of <it>Escherichia coli </it>(UPEC) develop inflammatory hyperalgesia to bladder distention, and that the selective mGluR5 antagonist fenobam [N-(3-chlorophenyl)-N'-(4,5-dihydro-1-methyl-4-oxo-1H-imidazole-2-yl) urea], reduces the VMR to bladder distention in UPEC-infected mice.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Taken together, these data suggest that mGluR5 modulates both inflammatory and non-inflammatory bladder nociception, and highlight the therapeutic potential for mGluR5 antagonists in the alleviation of bladder pain.</p

Leitfaden zum Monitoring von Wildhuftieren

Das Monitoring einheimischer Wildhuftier-Bestände ist ein grundlegendes Element des Wildtiermanagements, das in der Schweiz folgende Zielsetzungen verfolgt (gemäss Bundesgesetz über die Jagd und den Schutz wildlebender Säugetiere und Vögel JSG; SR 922.0): • den Schutz gefährdeter Arten, • dem Lebensraum angepasste Populationsgrössen mit möglichst natürlichen Bestandsstrukturen (Alters- und Geschlechterstruktur), • eine nachhaltige Jagd. Um diese Ziele zu gewährleisten bzw. verlässlich zu überprüfen, braucht es nach aktuellen Standards erhobene, gut dokumentierte Daten über Grösse, Entwicklung, Struktur, Zustand und Verbreitung von Wildtierbeständen. Zudem bilden diese Daten die Ausgangslage bei der Definition von jagdplanerischen Zielsetzungen (z.B. Stabilisierung/Senkung/Anhebung des Bestands; siehe Abb. 1) und dienen der Erfolgskontrolle bzw. Anpassung der umgesetzten Massnahmen im Sinne der rollenden Planung. Daten können mit diversen Monitoring-Methoden erhoben und analysiert werden, die sich zudem ständig weiterentwickeln. Die Arbeitsgruppe (AG) Wildhuftiere der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Wildtierbiologie (SGW) hat deshalb für alle im Management von Wildhuftieren tätigen Personen den vorliegenden Leitfaden erstellt. Darin werden die Parameter aufgelistet, die zur Beantwortung der wichtigsten Fragen im Huftiermanagement bekannt sein müssen, und die Monitoring-Methoden vorgestellt, die zur Erhebung dieser Parameter geeignet sind. Für jede einheimische Huftierart (Reh, Rothirsch, Wildschwein, Gämse, Steinbock) werden Empfehlungen gegeben, welche Standards ein Monitoring erfüllen soll, unter Abwägung der Aussagekraft und der Machbarkeit. Der Leitfaden entspricht dem aktuellen Wissens- und Erfahrungsstand und die Arbeitsgruppe möchte damit einen Beitrag an ein fachlich fundiertes Wildhuftiermanagement in der Schweiz leisten

Timing and synchrony of birth in Eurasian lynx across Europe

The ecology and evolution of reproductive timing and synchrony have been a topic of great interest in evolutionary ecology for decades. Originally motivated by questions related to behavioral and reproductive adaptation to environmental conditions, the topic has acquired new relevance in the face of climate change. However, there has been relatively little research on reproductive phenology in mammalian carnivores. The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) occurs across the Eurasian continent, covering three of the four main climate regions of the world. Thus, their distribution includes a large variation in climatic conditions, making it an ideal species to explore reproductive phenology. Here, we used data on multiple reproductive events from 169 lynx females across Europe. Mean birth date was May 28 (April 23 to July 1), but was similar to 10 days later in northern Europe than in central and southern Europe. Birth dates were relatively synchronized across Europe, but more so in the north than in the south. Timing of birth was delayed by colder May temperatures. Severe and cold weather may affect neonatal survival via hypothermia and avoiding inclement weather early in the season may select against early births, especially at northern latitudes. Overall, only about half of the kittens born survived until onset of winter but whether kittens were born relatively late or early did not affect kitten survival. Lynx are strict seasonal breeders but still show a degree of flexibility to adapt the timing of birth to surrounding environmental conditions. We argue that lynx give birth later when exposed to colder spring temperatures and have more synchronized births when the window of favorable conditions for raising kittens is shorter. This suggests that lynx are well adapted to different environmental conditions, from dry and warm climates to alpine, boreal, and arctic climates. This variation in reproductive timing will be favorable in times of climate change, as organisms with high plasticity are more likely to adjust to new environmental conditions

Prerequisites for coexistence: human pressure and refuge habitat availability shape continental‑scale habitat use patterns of a large carnivore

Context Adjustments in habitat use by large carnivores can be a key factor facilitating their coexistence with people in shared landscapes. Landscape composition might be a key factor determining how large carnivores can adapt to occurring alongside humans, yet broad-scale analyses investigating adjustments of habitat use across large gradients of human pressure and landscape composition are lacking. Objectives Here, we investigate adjustments in habitat use by Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in response to varying availability of refuge habitats (i.e., forests and rugged terrain) and human landscape modifcation. Methods Using a large tracking dataset including 434 individuals from seven populations, we assess functional responses in lynx habitat use across two spatial scales, testing for variation by sex, daytime, and season. Results We found that lynx use refuge habitats more intensively with increasing landscape modifcation across spatial scales, selecting forests most strongly in otherwise open landscapes and rugged terrain in mountainous regions. Moreover, higher forest availability enabled lynx to place their home ranges in more human-modifed landscapes. Human pressure and refuge habitat availability also shaped temporal patterns of lynx habitat use, with lynx increasing refuge habitat use and reducing their use of human-modifed areas during periods of high exposure (daytime) or high vulnerability (postnatal period) to human pressure. Conclusions Our fndings suggest a remarkable adaptive capacity of lynx towards human pressure and underline the importance of refuge habitats across scales for enabling coexistence between large carnivores and people. More broadly, we highlight that the composition of landscapes determines how large carnivores can adapt to human pressure and thus play an important role shaping large carnivore habitat use and distributions.publishedVersio