Wildlife of Lancewood (Acacia Shirleyi) Thickets and Woodlands in Northern Australia. 1. Variation in Vertebrate Species Composition Across the Environmental Range Occupied by Lancewood Vegetation in the Northern Territory.

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 379 ◽  
Author(s):  
JCZ Woinarski ◽  
A Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Eucalyptus Species ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Contrast Effects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Tall Shrub

Vegetation dominated by lancewood (Acacia shirleyi) occurs extensively across the Northern Territory and Queensland. The vertebrate species (birds, mammals, reptiles and frogs) composition was sampled at 61 patches of lancewood in the Northern Territory (including 22 patches where quadrats were intensively sampled), and the distribution of species was related to a wide range of environmental characteristics, spatial variables, disturbance and season. Of 165 species recorded from lancewood patches, eight species were recorded from more than half of the sampled patches: Pachycephala rufiventris, Pomatostomus temporalis, Rhipidura leucophrys, Cracticus nigrogularis, Melanodryas cucullata, Geopelia cuneata, G. placida and Macropus robustus. Environmental variation within sampled lancewood sites was described by classification of 51 quadrats into 7 classes, and the 61 patches into 5 classes. Vertebrate species showed limited association with this classification, with a few species associated with the occasional co-dominant tall shrub Macropteranthes kekwickii, other species associated with variation in rockiness or soil texture, and other species associated with variation in the occurrence of Eucalyptus species within lancewood vegetation. An ordination of all quadrats by their vertebrate species composition suggested a loose patterning associated mainly with latitude and, less strongly, soil texture and co-occurring tree/shrub species (notably Eucalyptus and Macropteranthes). Suggesting a depauperate and poorly defined vertebrate community in lancewood, quadrats in small isolated lancewood patches had more species than those in large patches, and this pattern was shown for many individual species. Lancewood patches showed some impact of grazing and logging, but this was generally minor and could not be demonstrated to have any consistent relationship with the abundance of individual species. In contrast, effects of fire were generally more severe, and were negatively associated with the abundance of relatively many species. Lancewood vegetation is not represented in any conservation reserve in the Northern Territory.

Decapod Crustaceans of the Kara Sea: species composition and peculiarities of distribution

2021 ◽  
Vol 325 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-372
Author(s):  
O.L. Zimina
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Kara Sea ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Snow Crab ◽  
Western Slope ◽  
Depth Range ◽  
Ecological Groups ◽  
Decapod Crustaceans ◽  
Wide Range

This paper presents data on species composition and peculiarities of distribution of Decapoda in the southern part of Kara Sea obtained during trawl surveys in 2012 and 2016. In total, 11 species of decapod crustaceans were collected. In the last decade the fauna has been enriched by the invasion of the snow crab Chionoecetes opilio. Brief information on the environmental conditions of occurrence and maps of distribution in the studied area are presented for each species. The highest values of species richness (up to 6 species per catch), biomass and abundance of decapods were detected on the western slope of Priyamal shallow at 50–150 m depth range. According to the patterns of distribution and environmental conditions, three groups of species were distinguished: associated with cold and salty waters of Novaya Zemlya Trough; inhabiting lower salinity waters with a wide temperature range of the Priyamal and Ob-Yenisei shallows; and a group that is widespread within the area in wide range of conditions. In comparison with the neighboring Barents Sea, the decapod fauna of the Kara Sea is qualitatively and quantitatively depleted. The obtained data on the distribution of individual species and ecological groups can be used for the background assessment of the state of the decapod fauna, including the period of population formation of the alien species.

Vegetation of the floodplains of the rivers Vychegda and Pechora. The class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea Klika in Klika et Novák 1941

2017 ◽  
pp. 93-118
Author(s):  
G. S. Shushpannikova ◽  
S. M. Yamalov
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Vascular Plant ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Komi Republic ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Aboveground Phytomass ◽  
Wide Range

The present study continues a series of publications by the authors on the diversity of the herb vegetation in the floodplains of the Vychegda and Pechora rivers and their tributaries (Komi Republic). The floristic classification of the orders Molinietalia Koch 1926 and Arrhenatheretalia R. Tx. 1931 was published earlier (Shushpannikova, Yamalov, 2013, 2014). The results of classification of communities belonging to the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea Klika in Klika et Novák 1941 are discussed in this paper in accordance with principles of the Braun-Blanquet approach (Braun-Blanquet, 1964; Mirkin, Naumova, 1998). Analysis was based on 268 relevés made in 1981–2016. The assessment of environmental parameters was performed by ecological methods by L. G. Ramensky (Ramensky et al., 1956). Syntaxonomic diversity of the vegetation of the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea in the floodplain of rivers Vychegda and Pechora is presented by 3 orders (Phragmitetalia W. Koch 1926, Oenanthetalia aquaticae Hejny in Kopecky et Hejny 1965 and Magno-Caricetalia Pignatti 1953), 4 alliances (Phragmition communis W. Koch 1926, Nardosmion laevigatae Klotz et Köck 1986, Equisetion arvensis Mirkin. et Naumova in Kononov et al. 1989 emend. Taran 1995 and Magnocaricion elatae Koch 1926) and 13 associations. The communities of the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea, as well as the order Molinietalia of Molinio–Arrhenatheretea, are located at all levels of the floodplains and are characterized by a variety of humidification conditions. However, the communities of the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea are characterized by higher humidification indices (72.2–86.3) compared to meadow vegetation the order Molinietalia of the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea of (68.8–74.4). A lot of associations, heterogeneous in their floristic composition, can be divided into 9 subassociations and 10 variants. New 4 subassociations (caricetosum vesicariae, equisetosum fluviatilis, persicaretosum amphibiae and lysimachetosum vulgaris), are included into ass. Caricetum gracilis Savich 1926. The peculiarities of the floristic composition of the above mentioned associations, as well as their distribution and ecology are discussed. The distinguished associations are well differentiated by their elevation position on the floodplains. The communities of the ass. Caricetum gracilis are located at all levels of the floodplainons; these of Agrostio stoloniferae–Equisetetum arvensis — on the highest ones; Equisetetum fluviatilis — on the lowest part of the floodplains in the riparian zone. The described communities are located on the soils with various ecological indi­cators. The distinguished associations are differentiated by the levels of humidification (65.9–89.9), mean figures — 70.3–86.3. The communities of the ass. Agrostio stoloniferae–Equisetetum arvensis occupy the driest sites (65.9–72.9); these of associations ­Equisetetum fluviatilis and Nardosmietum laevigatae — the wettest ones (80.7–87.8). The ass. Caricetum aquatilis has a wide range of humidification (72.7–89.9). The variability of humidification varies from alternating to high values (6.4–12.0). The ­greatest differences in humidification are experienced by the communities of the ass. Caricetum gracilis (5.5–12.0). Тhe communities of the ass. Agrostio stoloniferae–Equisetetum arvensis occupy the richest (10.5–15.0) and alluvial soils (4.0–5.0). They are located on the low level in the riverine and middle zone of the floodplain and are formed by annual flooding on alluvial deposits. The distinguished associations are differentiated by pH (3.0–8.0), mean figures — 4.5–7.0. The communities of the associations Caricetum juncellae, Caricetum gracilis and Caricetum acutae–rostratae are located on the most acidic soil; these of the ass. Equisetetum fluviatilis — on the neutral ones. The associations are distributed by the scale of pasture digression in range 2.5–4.5, mean figures — 3.0–3.9. The communities are used for hay-making. The question of the boundary between the meadow vegetation, lowland swamp and semi-aquatic vegetation remains unsolved. The communities of the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea described in this paper belongs to meadows. Ass. Nardosmietum laevigatae (previously referred to the class Galio-Urticetea Pass. 1967) is included into the order Phragmitetalia W. Koch 1926. The communities of the ass. Agrostio stoloniferae–Equisetetum arvensis have a mesophilic species composition and low moisture values, so they represent a transition between the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea order Molinietalia and class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea. A comparison of species composition of the syntaxa in Komi Republic and that in other regions of the Eastern Europe and the Asian part of Russia showed that the semiaquatic communities of the Komi Republic have low species diversity. It is less than 16 species on sample plot. The richest are communities of the associations Caricetum gracilis and Carici acutae–Phalaroidetum arundinaceae. 101 vascular plant species are recorded in 268 geobotanical relevés of the class Phragmito–Magno-Caricetea. The aboveground phytomass varies from 30–80 g/m2 (Agrostio stoloniferae–Equisetetum arvensis) to 420 г/м2 (Phalaroidetum arundinaceae).

The copper content of the liver and blood of some vertebrates.

1956 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
AB Beck
Keyword(s):  
Dry Weight ◽  
Weight Basis ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Copper Level ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Liver Copper ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Current Systems ◽  
High Liver

Determinations have been made of the concentration of copper in the blood and liver from a wide range of vertebrate species. The blood copper levels show trends which do not follow the phylogenetic relationships implied in current systems of classification. The highest levels are found in the pig (1.4 mg copper/L whole blood), and the lowest in the domestic fowl and turkey (0.23 mg/L). Marsupials show low values (0.3-0.4 mg/L), whereas in most other species the values lie between 0.5 and 1.0 mg/L. It is suggested that the usual range in an individual species represents the optimum for the physiological requirements of this species. The concentration of copper in the liver of most species lies below 50 p.p.m. copper on a dry weight basis. High values are found in the ruminant, the duck, the frog, and in certain fish. From a consideration of the data presented, it seems probable that the high liver copper level characteristic of some species is due, not to a higher intake of copper or to a greater absorption, but to a lesser ability to restrict the storage of copper in the liver. Although there is no suggestion of sex difference in liver copper levels of most species, a highly significant difference (P < 0.001) has been noted in the Australian salmon (Arripis trutta Bloch & Schneider).

Kyiv park "Nivki" and "Teremki" forests and ecological analysis of their habitats

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
I. V. Goncharenko ◽  
H. M. Holyk
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Human Impact ◽  
Soil Nitrogen ◽  
Beta Diversity ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Alpha Diversity ◽  
Light Regime ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure

Cenotic diversity and leading ecological factors of its floristic differentiation were studied on an example of two areas – Kyiv parks "Nivki" and "Teremki". It is shown that in megalopolis the Galeobdoloni-Carpinetum impatientosum parviflorae subassociation is formed under anthropogenic pressure on the typical ecotope of near-Dnieper hornbeam oak forests on fresh gray-forest soils. The degree of anthropogenic transformation of cenofloras can be estimated by the number of species of Robinietea and Galio-Urticetea classes, as well as neophytes and cultivars. Phytoindication for hemeroby index may be also used in calculation. We propose the modified index of biotic dispersion (normalized by alpha-diversity) for the estimation of ecophytocenotic range (beta-diversity) of releves series. We found that alpha-diversity initially increases (due to the invasion of antropophytes) at low level of antropogenic pressure, then it decreases (due to the loss of aboriginal species) secondarily with increasing of human impact. Also we found that beta-diversity (differential diversity) decreases, increasing homogeneity of plant cover, under the influence of anthropogenic factor. Vegetation classification was completed by a new original method of cluster analysis, designated as DRSA («distance-ranked sorting assembling»). The classification quality is suggested to be validated on the "seriation" diagram, which is а distance matrix between objects with gradient filling. Dark diagonal blocks confirm clusters’ density (intracluster compactness), uncolored off-diagonal blocks are evidence in favor of clusters’ isolation (intercluster distinctness). In addition, distinction of clusters (syntaxa) in ordination area suggests their independence. For phytoindication we propose to include only species with more than 10% constancy. Furthermore, for the description of syntaxonomic amplitude we suggest to use 25%-75% interquartile scope instead of mean and standard deviation. It is shown that comparative analysis of syntaxa for each ecofactor is convenient to carry out by using violin (bulb) plots. A new approach to the phytoindication of syntaxa, designated as R-phytoindication, was proposed for our study. In this case, the ecofactor values, calculated for individual releves, are not taken into account, however, the composition of cenoflora with species constancies is used that helps us to minimize for phytoindication the influence of non-typical species. We suggested a syntaxon’s amplitude to be described by more robust statistics: for the optimum of amplitude (central tendency) – by a median (instead of arithmetic mean), and for the range of tolerance – by an interquartile scope (instead of standard deviation). We assesses amplitudes of syntaxa by phytoindication method for moisture (Hd), acidity (Rc), soil nitrogen content (Nt), wetting variability (vHd), light regime (Lc), salt regime (Sl). We revealed no significant differences on these ecofactors among ecotopes of our syntaxa, that proved the variant syntaxonomic rank for all syntaxa. We found that the core of species composition of our phytocenoses consists of plants with moderate requirements for moisture, soil nitrogen, light and salt regime. We prove that the leading factor of syntaxonomic differentiation is hidden anthropogenic, which is not subject to direct measurement. But we detect that hidden factor of "human pressure" was correlated with phytoindication parameters (variables) that can be measured "directly" by species composition of plant communities. The most correlated factors were ecofactors of soil nitrogen, wetting variability, light regime and hemeroby. The last one is the most indicative empirically for the assessment of "human impact". We establish that there is a concept of «hemeroby of phytocenosis» (tolerance to human impact), which can be calculated approximately as the mean or the median of hemeroby scores of individual species which are present in it.

scholarly journals Modes of Interaction in Naturally Occurring Medical Encounters With General Practitioners: The “One in a Million” Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973232199379
Author(s):  
Olaug S. Lian ◽  
Sarah Nettleton ◽  
Åge Wifstad ◽  
Christopher Dowrick
Keyword(s):  
General Practitioners ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Mode Competition ◽  
General Applicability ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The One ◽  
Narrative Mode ◽  
Modes Of Interaction

In this article, we qualitatively explore the manner and style in which medical encounters between patients and general practitioners (GPs) are mutually conducted, as exhibited in situ in 10 consultations sourced from the One in a Million: Primary Care Consultations Archive in England. Our main objectives are to identify interactional modes, to develop a classification of these modes, and to uncover how modes emerge and shift both within and between consultations. Deploying an interactional perspective and a thematic and narrative analysis of consultation transcripts, we identified five distinctive interactional modes: question and answer (Q&A) mode, lecture mode, probabilistic mode, competition mode, and narrative mode. Most modes are GP-led. Mode shifts within consultations generally map on to the chronology of the medical encounter. Patient-led narrative modes are initiated by patients themselves, which demonstrates agency. Our classification of modes derives from complete naturally occurring consultations, covering a wide range of symptoms, and may have general applicability.

scholarly journals Uncertainty-Aware Deep Learning-Based Cardiac Arrhythmias Classification Model of Electrocardiogram Signals

Computers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Ahmad O. Aseeri
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Cardiac Arrhythmias ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Classification Model ◽  
Gating Mechanism ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Wide Range

Deep Learning-based methods have emerged to be one of the most effective and practical solutions in a wide range of medical problems, including the diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias. A critical step to a precocious diagnosis in many heart dysfunctions diseases starts with the accurate detection and classification of cardiac arrhythmias, which can be achieved via electrocardiograms (ECGs). Motivated by the desire to enhance conventional clinical methods in diagnosing cardiac arrhythmias, we introduce an uncertainty-aware deep learning-based predictive model design for accurate large-scale classification of cardiac arrhythmias successfully trained and evaluated using three benchmark medical datasets. In addition, considering that the quantification of uncertainty estimates is vital for clinical decision-making, our method incorporates a probabilistic approach to capture the model’s uncertainty using a Bayesian-based approximation method without introducing additional parameters or significant changes to the network’s architecture. Although many arrhythmias classification solutions with various ECG feature engineering techniques have been reported in the literature, the introduced AI-based probabilistic-enabled method in this paper outperforms the results of existing methods in outstanding multiclass classification results that manifest F1 scores of 98.62% and 96.73% with (MIT-BIH) dataset of 20 annotations, and 99.23% and 96.94% with (INCART) dataset of eight annotations, and 97.25% and 96.73% with (BIDMC) dataset of six annotations, for the deep ensemble and probabilistic mode, respectively. We demonstrate our method’s high-performing and statistical reliability results in numerical experiments on the language modeling using the gating mechanism of Recurrent Neural Networks.

scholarly journals Classification of unlabeled online media

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakthi Kumar Arul Prakash ◽  
Conrad Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Real World ◽  
Graphical Model ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Classification Problem ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Social Media Networks ◽  
Online Social Media ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractThis work investigates the ability to classify misinformation in online social media networks in a manner that avoids the need for ground truth labels. Rather than approach the classification problem as a task for humans or machine learning algorithms, this work leverages user–user and user–media (i.e.,media likes) interactions to infer the type of information (fake vs. authentic) being spread, without needing to know the actual details of the information itself. To study the inception and evolution of user–user and user–media interactions over time, we create an experimental platform that mimics the functionality of real-world social media networks. We develop a graphical model that considers the evolution of this network topology to model the uncertainty (entropy) propagation when fake and authentic media disseminates across the network. The creation of a real-world social media network enables a wide range of hypotheses to be tested pertaining to users, their interactions with other users, and with media content. The discovery that the entropy of user–user and user–media interactions approximate fake and authentic media likes, enables us to classify fake media in an unsupervised learning manner.

scholarly journals Sequence data from isolated lichen-associated melanized fungi enhance delimitation of two new lineages within Chaetothyriomycetidae

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 911-927
Author(s):  
Lucia Muggia ◽  
Yu Quan ◽  
Cécile Gueidan ◽  
Abdullah M. S. Al-Hatmi ◽  
Martin Grube ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Data ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
Asexual Propagation ◽  
Dna Sequence Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Family ◽  
Rock Inhabiting Fungi ◽  
Stable Habitat

AbstractLichen thalli provide a long-lived and stable habitat for colonization by a wide range of microorganisms. Increased interest in these lichen-associated microbial communities has revealed an impressive diversity of fungi, including several novel lineages which still await formal taxonomic recognition. Among these, members of the Eurotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes usually occur asymptomatically in the lichen thalli, even if they share ancestry with fungi that may be parasitic on their host. Mycelia of the isolates are characterized by melanized cell walls and the fungi display exclusively asexual propagation. Their taxonomic placement requires, therefore, the use of DNA sequence data. Here, we consider recently published sequence data from lichen-associated fungi and characterize and formally describe two new, individually monophyletic lineages at family, genus, and species levels. The Pleostigmataceae fam. nov. and Melanina gen. nov. both comprise rock-inhabiting fungi that associate with epilithic, crust-forming lichens in subalpine habitats. The phylogenetic placement and the monophyly of Pleostigmataceae lack statistical support, but the family was resolved as sister to the order Verrucariales. This family comprises the species Pleostigma alpinum sp. nov., P. frigidum sp. nov., P. jungermannicola, and P. lichenophilum sp. nov. The placement of the genus Melanina is supported as a lineage within the Chaetothyriales. To date, this genus comprises the single species M. gunde-cimermaniae sp. nov. and forms a sister group to a large lineage including Herpotrichiellaceae, Chaetothyriaceae, Cyphellophoraceae, and Trichomeriaceae. The new phylogenetic analysis of the subclass Chaetothyiomycetidae provides new insight into genus and family level delimitation and classification of this ecologically diverse group of fungi.

Prescribed burning for lowland black spruce regeneration in northern Minnesota

1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott E. Aksamit ◽  
Frank D. Irving
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Controlled Study ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Feather Moss ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Labrador Tea ◽  
Tall Shrub ◽  
The University ◽  
Larger Sample

Concern over the variability of black spruce (Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) regeneration on peatlands in northern Minnesota following prescribed burning led to a cooperative study between the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Twenty-seven black spruce cutovers on State lands that had been prescribed burned and either seeded or left to regenerate naturally were sampled. These were stratified into sphagnum – Labrador-tea – leather-leaf (SPHG) sites (10), feather moss (FM) sites (9), and alder – graminoid – other tall shrub (ALDR) sites (8). Results indicate that fire was not necessary to regenerate SPHG sites. FM sites required fire to modify unfavorable seedbeds and to reduce competition. Best results were obtained by burning when the upper layers of the peat were highly desiccated. ALDR sites occupied a wide range of ecological conditions which led to highly variable regeneration results. A larger sample size and possibly more carefully controlled study conditions are needed to fully understand ALDR site regeneration. Seeding results were uncertain for all sites.

A generally applicable pedotransfer function that estimates field capacity and permanent wilting point from soil texture and bulk density

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. P. Pollacco
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pedotransfer Functions ◽  
Pedotransfer Function ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Fitting Parameters

Hydrological models require the determination of fitting parameters that are tedious and time consuming to acquire. A rapid alternative method of estimating the fitting parameters is to use pedotransfer functions. This paper proposes a reliable method to estimate soil moisture at -33 and -1500 kPa from soil texture and bulk density. This method reduces the saturated moisture content by multiplying it with two non-linear functions depending on sand and clay contents. The novel pedotransfer function has no restrictions on the range of the texture predictors and gives reasonable predictions for soils with bulk density that varies from 0.25 to 2.16 g cm-3. These pedotransfer functions require only five parameters for each pressure head. It is generally accepted that the introduction of organic matter as a predictor improves the outcomes; however it was found by using a porosity based pedotransfer model, using organic matter as a predictor only modestly improves the accuracy. The model was developed employing 18 559 samples from the IGBP-DIS soil data set for pedotransfer function development (Data and Information System of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme) database that embodies all major soils across the United States of America. The function is reliable and performs well for a wide range of soils occurring in very dry to very wet climates. Climatical grouping of the IGBP-DIS soils was proposed (aquic, tropical, cryic, aridic), but the results show that only tropical soils require specific grouping. Among many other different non-climatical soil groups tested, only humic and vitric soils were found to require specific grouping. The reliability of the pedotransfer function was further demonstrated with an independent database from Northern Italy having heterogeneous soils, and was found to be comparable or better than the accuracy of other pedotransfer functions found in the literature. Key words: Pedotransfer functions, soil moisture, soil texture, bulk density, organic matter, grouping

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