scholarly journals Moving at the speed of flight: dabbling duck-movement rates and the relationship with electronic tracking interval

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 533
Author(s):  
Fiona McDuie ◽  
Michael L. Casazza ◽  
David Keiter ◽  
Cory T. Overton ◽  
Mark P. Herzog ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interval Data ◽  
Migratory Flight ◽  
Duck Species ◽  
Resource Needs ◽  
Dabbling Duck ◽  
Temporal Intervals ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Electronic Tracking ◽  
Time And Energy

Abstract Context Effective wildlife management requires information on habitat and resource needs, which can be estimated with movement information and modelling energetics. One necessary component of avian models is flight speeds at multiple temporal scales. Technology has limited the ability to accurately assess flight speeds, leading to estimates of questionable accuracy, many of which have not been updated in almost a century. Aims We aimed to update flight speeds of ducks, and differentiate between migratory and non-migratory flight speeds, a detail that was unclear in previous estimates. We also analysed the difference in speeds of migratory and non-migratory flights, and quantified how data collected at different temporal intervals affected estimates of flight speed. Methods We tracked six California dabbling duck species with high spatio-temporal resolution GPS–GSM transmitters, calculated speeds of different flight types, and modelled how estimates varied by flight and data interval (30min to 6h). Key results Median migratory speeds were faster (but non-significant) for the larger mallard (Anas platyrhynchos; 82.5kmh–1), northern pintail (Anas acuta; 79.0kmh–1) and gadwall (Mareca strepera; 70.6kmh–1), than the smaller-bodied northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata; 65.7kmh–1), cinnamon teal (Spatula cyanoptera; 63.5kmh–1) and American wigeon (Mareca Americana; 52kmh–1). Migratory flights were faster than non-migratory flights for all species and speeds were consistently slower with an increasing data interval. Implications The need to balance time and energy requirements may drive different speeds for migratory and non-migratory flights. Lower speeds at longer intervals are likely to be due to a greater proportion of ‘loafing’ time included in flighted segments, demonstrating that data acquired at different intervals provide a means to evaluate and estimate behaviours that influence speed estimation. Shorter-interval data should be the most accurate, but longer-interval data may be easier to collect over lengthier timeframes, so it may be expedient to trade-off a degree of accuracy in broad-scale studies for the larger dataset. Our updated flight speeds for dabbling duck species can be used to parameterise and validate energetics models, guide management decisions regarding optimal habitat distribution, and, ultimately, improve conservation management of wetlands for waterfowl.

scholarly journals Ad hoc properties and locations in Maltese

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 64-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gréte Dalmi
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Semantic Theory ◽  
Alternative States ◽  
Verbal Predicate ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Copular Sentences ◽  
Event Variable ◽  
Temporal Variable ◽  
Account Variation

This paper aims to show that the four-way BE-system of Maltese can best be accommodated in a theory of non-verbal predication that builds on alternative states, without making any reference to the Davidsonian spatio-temporal event variable. The existing theories of non-verbal predicates put the burden of explaining the difference between the ad hoc vs. habitual interpretations either solely on the non-verbal predicate, by postulating an event variable in their lexical layer (see Kratzer 1995; Adger and Ramchand 2003; Magri 2009; Roy 2013), or solely on the copular or non-copular primary predicate, which contains an aspectual operator or an incorporated abstract preposition, responsible for such interpretive differences (Schmitt 2005, Schmitt and Miller 2007, Gallego and Uriagereka 2009, 2011, Marín 2010, Camacho 2012). The present proposal combines Maienborn’s (2003, 2005a,b, 2011) discourse-semantic theory of copular sentences with Richardson’s (2001, 2007) analysis of non-verbal adjunct predicates in Russian, based on alternative states. Under this combined account, variation between the ad hoc vs. habitual interpretations of non-verbal predicates is derived from the presence or absence of a modal OPalt operator that can bind the temporal variable of non-verbal predicates in accessible worlds, in the sense of Kratzer (1991). In the absence of this operator, the temporal variable is bound by the T0 head in the standard way. The proposal extends to non-verbal predicates in copular sentences as well as to argument and adjunct non-verbal predicates in non-copular sentences.

scholarly journals Foraging theory upscaled: the behavioural ecology of herbivore movement

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1550) ◽  
pp. 2267-2278 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Owen-Smith ◽  
J. M. Fryxell ◽  
E. H. Merrill
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Cycle ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diel Activity ◽  
Patch Selection ◽  
Temporal Scales ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Gps Collars ◽  
Activity Schedule ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Time And Energy

We outline how principles of optimal foraging developed for diet and food patch selection might be applied to movement behaviour expressed over larger spatial and temporal scales. Our focus is on large mammalian herbivores, capable of carrying global positioning system (GPS) collars operating through the seasonal cycle and dependent on vegetation resources that are fixed in space but seasonally variable in availability and nutritional value. The concept of intermittent movement leads to the recognition of distinct movement modes over a hierarchy of spatio-temporal scales. Over larger scales, periods with relatively low displacement may indicate settlement within foraging areas, habitat units or seasonal ranges. Directed movements connect these patches or places used for other activities. Selection is expressed by switches in movement mode and the intensity of utilization by the settlement period relative to the area covered. The type of benefit obtained during settlement periods may be inferred from movement patterns, local environmental features, or the diel activity schedule. Rates of movement indicate changing costs in time and energy over the seasonal cycle, between years and among regions. GPS telemetry potentially enables large-scale movement responses to changing environmental conditions to be linked to population performance.

Trends of Diabetes Mortality in Iran at National and Sub-national levels from 1990 to 2015 and its association with socioeconomic factors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niloofar Peykari ◽  
Sahar Saeedi Moghaddam ◽  
Nazila Rezaei ◽  
Anita Mansouri ◽  
Shohreh Naderimagham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Socioeconomic Factors ◽  
National Level ◽  
Gaussian Process Regression ◽  
Mortality Trends ◽  
Registration System ◽  
Diabetes Mortality ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
National Trends

Abstract Background Following global commitments to prevent and control non-communicable diseases, we sought to estimate national and sub-national trends in diabetes mortality in Iran and to assess its association with socioeconomic factors.Methods To assess the correlation between diabetes mortality and socioeconomic factors we used data obtained from the Death Registration System (DRS), the spatio-temporal model and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) levels and the diabetes mortality trends, which were estimated by sex, age and year at national and sub-national levels from 1990 to 2015.Results Between the years 1990 and 2015, the age-standardized diabetes mortality rate (per 100,000) increased from 3.40 (95% UI: 2.33 to 4.99) to 7.72 (95% UI: 5.51 to 10.78) in males and from 4.66 (95% UI: 3.23 to 6.76) to 10.38 (95% UI: 7.54 to 14.23) in females. In 1990, the difference between the highest age-standardized diabetes mortality rate among males was 3.88 times greater than the lowest (5.97 vs. 1.54) and in 2015 this difference was 3.96 times greater (14.65 vs. 3.70). This provincial difference was higher among females and was 5.13 times greater in 1990 (8.41 vs. 1.64) and 5.04 times greater in 2015 (19.87 vs. 3.94). The rate of diabetes mortality rose with urbanization, yet declined with an increase in wealth and years of schooling as the main socio-economic factors.Conclusion The rising trend of diabetes mortality rate at national level and the sub-national disparities associated with socioeconomic status in Iran warrant the implementation of specific interventions recommended by the ‘25 by 25’ goal.

Implications of Spatio-Temporal Variation in Forage Production and Utilization for Animal Productivity in Extensive Grazing Systems.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
DA Roshier ◽  
HI Nicol
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Animal Production ◽  
Forage Production ◽  
Forage Availability ◽  
Typical Experiment ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Plant Animal Interactions

In this paper we examine patterns of utilisation at the level of individual plants and forage availability at the paddock scale on five commercial sheep grazing properties that all experienced drought during the course of the study. Specifically, patterns of forage availability and pasture utilisation in large paddocks are examined against the assumptions of established models of animal productivity and grazing management practice. Forage resources in the rangelands can have dynamics independent of stock density and are not distributed evenly in time or space. Therefore, the extrapolation of known plant-animal interactions across scales is questionable and it is yet to be demonstrated how measures of animal productivity on small trial paddocks relate to production outcomes in large paddocks. A model is proposed for understanding animal production outcomes that incorporates variation in both pasture biomass and stock density. The scales, both spatial and temporal, at which pastoralists and scientists integrate ecological and animal productivity information usually differ. The understanding that each holds of the processes that limit animal productivity and the relationships between different elements of the production system is a product of the perspective from which they view the system. It is concluded that the difference between the 'scale of exploitation' and the scale at which heterogeneity is sufficient for survival of livestock is probably crucial to determining animal production outcomes in grazing systems subject to a high degree of temporal variation in forage availability. In these systems it seems reasonable to suggest that grazing experiments that vary the 'spatial scale of exploitation' while maintaining stock density constant may give as many insights into the limitations on animal productivity as the more typical experiment that only varies stock density. Key words: grazing models, animal productivity, heterogeneity, scale, utilisation, forage availability, stocking rates.

scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Validation of AIRS CO2 Observations Using GAW, HIPPO and TCCON

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 3583
Author(s):  
Hui Yang ◽  
Gefei Feng ◽  
Ru Xiang ◽  
Yunjing Xu ◽  
Yong Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Temporal Validation ◽  
Satellite Sensors ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a significant atmospheric greenhouse gas and its concentrations can be observed by in situ surface stations, aircraft flights and satellite sensors. This paper investigated the ability of the CO2 satellite observations to monitor, analyze and predict the horizontal and vertical distribution of atmospheric CO2 concentration at global scales. CO2 observations retrieved by an Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) were inter-compared with the Global Atmosphere Watch Program (GAW) and HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPOs), with reference to the measurements obtained using high-resolution ground-based Fourier Transform Spectrometers (FTS) in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) from near-surface level to the mid-to-high troposphere. After vertically integrating the AIRS-retrieved values with the column averaging kernels of TCCON measurements, the AIRS observations are spatio-temporally compared with HIPPO-integrated profiles in the mid-to-high troposphere. Five selected GAW stations are used for comparisons with TCCON sites near the surface of the Earth. The results of AIRS, TCCON (5–6 km), GAW and TCCON (1 km) CO2 measurements from 2007 to 2013 are compared, analyzed and discussed at their respective altitudes. The outcomes indicate that the difference of about 3.0 ppmv between AIRS and GAW or other highly accurate in situ surface measurements is mainly due to the different vertical altitudes, rather than the errors in the AIRS. The study reported here also explores the potential of AIRS satellite observations for analyzing the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of CO2 concentration at global scales.

scholarly journals A Spatio-Temporal Bayesian Model for Estimating the Effects of Land Use Change on Urban Heat Island

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Liu ◽  
Zuolin Xiao ◽  
Rui Liu
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Southwest China ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Bayesian Hierarchical ◽  
Temporal Autocorrelation ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference

The urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon has been identified and studied for over two centuries. As one of the most important factors, land use, in terms of both composition and configuration, strongly influences the UHI. As a result of the availability of detailed data, the modeling of the residual spatio-temporal autocorrelation of UHI, which remains after the land use effects have been removed, becomes possible. In this study, this key statistical problem is tackled by a spatio-temporal Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM). As one of the hottest areas in China, southwest China is chosen as our study area. Results from this study show that the difference of UHI levels between different cities in southwest China becomes large from 2000 to 2015. The variation of the UHI level is dominantly driven by temporal autocorrelation, rather than spatial autocorrelation. Compared with the composition of land use, the configuration has relatively minor influence upon UHI, due to the terrain in the study area. Furthermore, among all land use types, the water body is the most important UHI mitigation factor at the regional scale.

Can Theological Language Have Hidden Meaning?

1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56
Author(s):  
John Morreall
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Theological Language

Any reflective account of theological language acknowledges very early that words drawn from our experience with creatures have special meanings when applied to God. Because God transcends the created world, we cannot take predicates which apply to creatures and apply them to God without modification. And the more transcendent God is understood to be, the more modified will our language taken from creatures have to be when it is used in theology. A primitive theism which thinks of God simply as a very powerful person will view the difference between God and creatures as merely a matter of degree and not of kind. In such a view God transcends things in the world only in that he has a greater degree of the properties we find in creatures, so that predicates taken from creatures, ‘wise’ and ‘strong’, for example, can be applied to God in almost a straightforward way. The only change in meaning is that God is moreknowing and stronger. In a more sophisticated theism such as Judaism or Christianity, on the other hand, God' transcendence is seen not simply as a difference in degrees of properties, but as a difference in kind. The being God is is radically other than the kinds of beings we find in the created world. Indeed, it is sometimes claimed that God is not even ‘a being’, a thing which exists; rather God is ‘being itself’, ‘pure existence’. Aquinas, for instance, held that God does not haveproperties. God is absolutely simple, and so if we can talk about properties at all in talking about God, we have to say that God is identical to God' properties. God, too, differs radically from creatures in that he is not in time and space, nor is he dependent on anything else. But our language used with creatures is full of explicit or implicit references to time and space and to dependence, so that we cannot take our ordinary terms derived from our experience with spatio-temporal, dependent creatures and apply them straightforwardly to God.

Spatio-temporal variation in NPP and correlation analysis with aerosol loading and PAR in China during 2001-2017

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Li ◽  
Weiming Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Significance Level ◽  
Aerosol Loading ◽  
Western Yunnan ◽  
Growth Respiration ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference

<p>The net primary productivity (NPP) reflects the growth or production of terrestrial vegetation and plays an important role in the carbon cycle on the earth. It quantifies the difference between the organic matter produced by photosynthesis and the loss of maintenance and growth respiration. The investigation of the spatio-temporal variation in NPP is significant for monitoring plant photosynthesis and carbon uptake in terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, the variability and trend of NPP in China during 2001-2017 are analysed using level 4 MODIS product (MOD17A2H). Additionally, to explore whether the NPP change in recent decades are related with the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) variation caused by increasing aerosol loading, the correlation between NPP, PAR and aerosol optical depth (AOD) are analysed at national, regional, and pixel scales. The results show that the annual mean NPP shows higher values in the southeast than in the northwest. The highest NPP level above 2.5 gCm<sup>-2</sup>day<sup>-1</sup> is mainly distributed in tropical humid regions, including Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and western Yunnan. The NPP increases with an amplitude of 0.131 gCm<sup>-2</sup>day<sup>-1</sup> during the study period. The forests have higher mean levels of NPP (1.808 gCm<sup>-2</sup>day<sup>-1</sup>) and larger increasing magnitudes (0.35 gCm<sup>-2</sup>day<sup>-1</sup>) than those of croplands and grasslands. The NPP and AOD show a negative correlation (-0.6<R<-0.2) at a significance level of 0.05 over the middle area of China. The PAR direct and diffuse components generally have positive (0<R<sub>PARdir_NPP</sub><0.6) and negative correlations (-0.6<R<sub>PARdif_NPP</sub><0) with NPP, respectively, in most of China except the northeast and Tibetan Plateau. The NPP have stronger correlations (0.215 and -0.218) with the direct and diffuse PAR in forests than in croplands and grasslands, implying that NPP is more sensitive to the change in PAR in forests than in other vegetation cover types.</p>

Difference Operators in Simulation Data Warehouses

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhao ◽  
◽  
Yoshiharu Ishikawa ◽  
Yukiko Wakita ◽  
Kento Sugiura
Keyword(s):  
Difference Operator ◽  
Difference Operators ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Temporal Data ◽  
Data Warehouses ◽  
Simulation Data ◽  
Tsunami Disaster ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Mass Evacuation

In analyzing observation data and simulation results, there are frequent demands for comparing more than one data on the same subject to detect any differences between them. For example, comparison of observation data for an object in a certain spatial domain at different times or comparison of spatial simulation data with different parameters. Therefore, this paper proposes the difference operator in spatio-temporal data warehouses, which store temporal and spatial observation data and simulation data. The requirements for the difference operator are summarized, and the approaches to implement them are presented. In addition, the proposed approach is applied to the mass evacuation of simulation data in a tsunami disaster, and its effectiveness is verified. Extensions of the difference operator and their applications are also discussed.

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