scholarly journals Baseline and stress-induced corticosterone levels across birds and reptiles do not reflect urbanization levels

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison S Injaian ◽  
Clinton D Francis ◽  
Jenny Q Ouyang ◽  
Davide M Dominoni ◽  
Jeremy W Donald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Anthropogenic Noise ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Life History Stage ◽  
Baseline Corticosterone ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Rates of human-induced environmental change continue increasing with human population size, potentially altering animal physiology and negatively affecting wildlife. Researchers often use glucocorticoid concentrations (hormones that can be associated with stressors) to gauge the impact of anthropogenic factors (e.g. urbanization, noise and light pollution). Yet, no general relationships between human-induced environmental change and glucocorticoids have emerged. Given the number of recent studies reporting baseline and stress-induced corticosterone (the primary glucocorticoid in birds and reptiles) concentrations worldwide, it is now possible to conduct large-scale comparative analyses to test for general associations between disturbance and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone across species. Additionally, we can control for factors that may influence context, such as life history stage, environmental conditions and urban adaptability of a species. Here, we take a phylogenetically informed approach and use data from HormoneBase to test if baseline and stress-induced corticosterone are valid indicators of exposure to human footprint index, human population density, anthropogenic noise and artificial light at night in birds and reptiles. Our results show a negative relationship between anthropogenic noise and baseline corticosterone for birds characterized as urban avoiders. While our results potentially indicate that urban avoiders are more sensitive to noise than other species, overall our study suggests that the relationship between human-induced environmental change and corticosterone varies across species and contexts; we found no general relationship between human impacts and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone in birds, nor baseline corticosterone in reptiles. Therefore, it should not be assumed that high or low levels of exposure to human-induced environmental change are associated with high or low corticosterone levels, respectively, or that closely related species, or even individuals, will respond similarly. Moving forward, measuring alternative physiological traits alongside reproductive success, health and survival may provide context to better understand the potential negative effects of human-induced environmental change.

scholarly journals Springs and Springs-Dependent Taxa of the Colorado River Basin, Southwestern North America: Geography, Ecology and Human Impacts

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence E. Stevens ◽  
Jeffrey Jenness ◽  
Jeri D. Ledbetter
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Colorado River ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Colorado River Basin ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Groundwater Depletion

The Colorado River basin (CRB), the primary water source for southwestern North America, is divided into the 283,384 km2, water-exporting Upper CRB (UCRB) in the Colorado Plateau geologic province, and the 344,440 km2, water-receiving Lower CRB (LCRB) in the Basin and Range geologic province. Long-regarded as a snowmelt-fed river system, approximately half of the river’s baseflow is derived from groundwater, much of it through springs. CRB springs are important for biota, culture, and the economy, but are highly threatened by a wide array of anthropogenic factors. We used existing literature, available databases, and field data to synthesize information on the distribution, ecohydrology, biodiversity, status, and potential socio-economic impacts of 20,872 reported CRB springs in relation to permanent stream distribution, human population growth, and climate change. CRB springs are patchily distributed, with highest density in montane and cliff-dominated landscapes. Mapping data quality is highly variable and many springs remain undocumented. Most CRB springs-influenced habitats are small, with a highly variable mean area of 2200 m2, generating an estimated total springs habitat area of 45.4 km2 (0.007% of the total CRB land area). Median discharge also is generally low and variable (0.10 L/s, N = 1687, 95% CI = 0.04 L/s), but ranges up to 1800 L/s. Water pH and conductivity is negatively related to elevation, with a stronger negative relationship in the UCRB compared to the LCRB. Natural springs water temperature and geochemistry throughout the CRB varies greatly among springs, but relatively little within springs, and depends on aquifer hydrogeology, elevation, and residence time. As the only state nearly entirely included within the CRB, Arizona is about equally divided between the two geologic provinces. Arizona springs produce approximately 0.6 km3/year of water. Data on >330 CRB springs-dependent taxa (SDT) revealed at least 62 plant species; 216 aquatic and riparian Mollusca, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and other invertebrate taxa; several herpetofanual species; and two-thirds of 35 CRB fish taxa. Springs vegetation structure, composition, and diversity vary strongly by springs type, and plant species density within springs is high in comparison with upland habitats. Plant species richness and density is negatively related to elevation below 2500 m. Human population in and adjacent to the CRB are growing rapidly, and ecological impairment of springs exceeds 70% in many landscapes, particularly in urbanized and rangeland areas. Anthropogenic stressors are primarily related to groundwater depletion and pollution, livestock management, flow abstraction, non-native species introduction, and recreation. Ensuring the ecological integrity and sustainability of CRB groundwater supplies and springs will require more thorough basic inventory, assessment, research, information management, and local ecosystem rehabilitation, as well as improved groundwater and springs conservation policy.

A Multi-proxy assessment of the impact of climate change on Late Holocene (ca 4500-3800 BP) Native American villages of the Georgia coast

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carey James Garland ◽  
Victor D Thompson ◽  
Matthew C Sanger ◽  
Karen Y Smith ◽  
Fred T Andrus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Shell Ring ◽  
Shell Rings ◽  
Georgia Coast ◽  
The Impact

Circular shell rings along the Atlantic Coast of southeastern North America are the remnants of some of the earliest villages that emerged during the Late Archaic Period (5000 – 3000 BP). Many of these villages, however, were abandoned during the Terminal Late Archaic Period (ca 3800 – 3000 BP). Here, we combine Bayesian chronological modeling with multiple environmental proxies to understand the nature and timing of environmental change associated with the emergence and abandonment of shell ring villages on Sapleo Island, Georgia. Our Bayesian models indicate that Native Americans occupied the three Sapelo shell rings at varying times with some generational overlap. By the end of the complex’s occupation, only Ring III was occupied before abandonment ca. 3845 BP. Ring III also consists of statistically smaller oysters ( Crassostrea virginica ) that people harvested from less saline estuaries compared to earlier occupations. These data, when integrated with recent tree ring analyses, show a clear pattern of environmental instability throughout the period in which the rings were occupied. We argue that as the climate became unstable around 4300 BP, aggregation at shell ring villages provided a way to effectively manage fisheries that are highly sensitive to environmental change. However, with the eventual collapse of oyster fisheries and subsequent rebound in environmental conditions ca. 3800 BP, people dispersed from shell rings, and shifted to non-marine subsistence economies and other types of settlements. This study provides the most comprehensive evidence correlations between large-scale environmental change and societal transformations on the Georgia coast during the Late Archaic period.

Human Influences on Wildfire in Alaska from 1988 through 2005: An Analysis of the Spatial Patterns of Human Impacts

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Calef ◽  
A. D. McGuire ◽  
F. S. Chapin
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Model ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Interior Alaska ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Boreal ecosystems in Alaska are responding to climate change in many ways, including changes in the fire regime. While large-scale wildfires are an essential part of the boreal forest ecosystem, humans are changing fire regimes through ignition and suppression. The authors analyzed the impact humans have on fire ignitions and relative area burned with distance into the forest from human access points such as settlements, highways, and major rivers in Alaska from 1988 to 2005. Additionally, a fire prediction model was created to identify drivers for lightning fires in the boreal forest. Human presence increases the number of ignitions near settlements, roads, and rivers and appears to reduce the area burned within 30–40 km of villages and rivers. In contrast to fires near roads and rivers, human presence may somewhat increase the area burned within 30–40 km of highways. The fire prediction model indicated that the probability of fire increases as distance from human settlements increases. In contrast, the model indicated that the probability of fire decreases as distance from roads increases and that the probability of fire in relation to distance from rivers depends on the year of analysis. While the ecological consequences of these human impacts are still unclear, this research shows that human influences on fire regime clearly affect the pattern of fire within 40 km of settlements, which is an area that represents 31% of interior Alaska. Future research should focus on more completely understanding the role of human presence in the suppression of wildfires in interior Alaska.

scholarly journals Evolution in leaps: The punctuated accumulation and loss of cultural innovations

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (49) ◽  
pp. E6762-E6769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oren Kolodny ◽  
Nicole Creanza ◽  
Marcus W. Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Multiple Traits ◽  
Differential Distribution ◽  
Sudden Gains ◽  
Cultural Innovation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Increased Susceptibility

Archaeological accounts of cultural change reveal a fundamental conflict: Some suggest that change is gradual, accelerating over time, whereas others indicate that it is punctuated, with long periods of stasis interspersed by sudden gains or losses of multiple traits. Existing models of cultural evolution, inspired by models of genetic evolution, lend support to the former and do not generate trajectories that include large-scale punctuated change. We propose a simple model that can give rise to both exponential and punctuated patterns of gain and loss of cultural traits. In it, cultural innovation comprises several realistic interdependent processes that occur at different rates. The model also takes into account two properties intrinsic to cultural evolution: the differential distribution of traits among social groups and the impact of environmental change. In our model, a population may be subdivided into groups with different cultural repertoires leading to increased susceptibility to cultural loss, whereas environmental change may lead to rapid loss of traits that are not useful in a new environment. Taken together, our results suggest the usefulness of a concept of an effective cultural population size.

scholarly journals The Impact Singer & Jipen of Dayak Tribe on Environmental Sustainability in Central of Borneo

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Muh. Azhari
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Tree Cutting ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Good Environment

The environment is a mandate that must be maintained, because a good environment will produce a generation that is good and strong. Poor environmental management will create new problems. Ethics that regulate environmental management can maintain environmental conditions and reduce the rate of environmental change, for example by the presence of singer and jipen owned by the Central Of Borneo Dayak Tribe. Singer is a punishment and jipen is the amount of customary punishment given to someone who commits a customary offense. A detrimental activity will distrub the productivity of the environment, with the singer and jipen will be able to reduce the rate of damage. Case examples of the application of singer and jipen such as the Wilmar Group case, productive Durian Tree Cutting, Murder, even defamation, singer and jipen giving in accordance with the impact of the case, whether it is detrimental on a small or large scale and determined. The sentence was determined by the kepala adat / mantir / demang. The research used is a type of ethnography with data collection techniques by observation, interviews and literature studies. Keyword: Singer, Jipen, Dayak tribe & Environmental

scholarly journals When high reliability does not signal reliable detection of experimental effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selena Wang ◽  
Paul De Boeck
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Measurement Quality ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Replication Research ◽  
The Impact

The replication crisis has led to a renewed discussion about the impacts of measurement quality on the precision of psychology research. High measurement quality is associated with low measurement error, yet the relationship between reliability and measurement error is not yet well understood. In this study, we attempt to understand the role of reliability in the replication research through its relationship with power. We outline a latent variable framework to understand this nuanced relationship through their equations. We find that, under the influence of the latent variable variance, reliability and power can be negatively associated. We proceed to demonstrate the impact of this relationship between reliability and power in replication research by imitating different scenarios of large-scale replications. We find negative correlations between reliability and power when there are sizable differences in the latent variable variance and negligible differences in the other parameters across studies. Finally, we apply our conclusions to the data from replications of the ego depletion effect (Hagger et al., 2016) and the replications of the grammatical aspect effect (Eerland et al., 2016). The applications show that a negative relationship between reliability and power is a realistic possibility, which eliminates doubts one might have about the applicability of our results to the applied work.

scholarly journals Denudation and landslides in coastal mountain watersheds : 10,000 years of erosion

2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. H. Guthrie ◽  
J. K. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Mountain Watersheds ◽  
Established Relationship ◽  
Landslide Frequency ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Coastal Mountain

Abstract. A conceptual model of landslide-induced denudation for coastal mountain watersheds spanning 10,000 years of environmental change is presented. The model uses a constructed paleo-climate based on vegetation records and an established relationship between landslide frequencies and precipitation. Landslide frequencies are determined for the early warm dry Holocene, the warm wet middle Holocene and modern climates. Average landslide rates vary between 0.005 landslides·y-1·km-2 and 0.008 landslides·y-1·km-2. Recent human impacts are calculated by recalculating landslide frequencies for logged areas in the 20th century. The impact of logging during the last 100 years is unambiguous as landslide frequency increased to 0.015 landslides·y-1·km-2. This suggests that the impact of logging outpaces that of climatic change. It is estimated that debris slides and flows eroded an average of 0.7 m·m-2 across Vancouver Island during the last 10,000 years.

scholarly journals The coral conservation crisis: interacting local and global stressors reduce reef resiliency and create challenges for conservation solutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Good ◽  
Keisha D. Bahr
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Reef Degradation ◽  
Terrestrial Environments ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems

AbstractCoral reefs are one of the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Humans rely on these coral reef ecosystems to provide significant ecological and economic resources; however, coral reefs are threatened by numerous local and global anthropogenic factors that cause significant environmental change. The interactions of these local and global human impacts may increase the rate of coral reef degradation. For example, there are many local influences (i.e., sedimentation and submarine groundwater discharge) that may exacerbate coral bleaching and mortality. Therefore, researchers and resource managers cannot limit their narratives and actions to mitigating a sole stressor. With the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions, management strategies and restoration techniques need to account for the scale at which environmental change occurs. This review aims to outline the various local and global anthropogenic stressors threatening reef resiliency and address the recent disagreements surrounding present-day conservation practices. Unfortunately, there is no one solution to preserve and restore all coral reefs. Each coral reef region is challenged by numerous interactive stressors that affect its ecosystem response, recovery, and services in various ways. This review discusses, while global reef degradation occurs, local solutions should be implemented to efficiently protect the coral reef ecosystem services that are valuable to marine and terrestrial environments.

scholarly journals Synonymous variants that disrupt messenger RNA structure are significantly constrained in the human population

GigaScience ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey B S Gaither ◽  
Grant E Lammi ◽  
James L Li ◽  
David M Gordon ◽  
Harkness C Kuck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Messenger Rna ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rna Folding ◽  
Rna Stability ◽  
Single Nucleotide Variants ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Human Transcriptome ◽  
Mrna Structure ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The role of synonymous single-nucleotide variants in human health and disease is poorly understood, yet evidence suggests that this class of “silent” genetic variation plays multiple regulatory roles in both transcription and translation. One mechanism by which synonymous codons direct and modulate the translational process is through alteration of the elaborate structure formed by single-stranded mRNA molecules. While tools to computationally predict the effect of non-synonymous variants on protein structure are plentiful, analogous tools to systematically assess how synonymous variants might disrupt mRNA structure are lacking. Results We developed novel software using a parallel processing framework for large-scale generation of secondary RNA structures and folding statistics for the transcriptome of any species. Focusing our analysis on the human transcriptome, we calculated 5 billion RNA-folding statistics for 469 million single-nucleotide variants in 45,800 transcripts. By considering the impact of all possible synonymous variants globally, we discover that synonymous variants predicted to disrupt mRNA structure have significantly lower rates of incidence in the human population. Conclusions These findings support the hypothesis that synonymous variants may play a role in genetic disorders due to their effects on mRNA structure. To evaluate the potential pathogenic impact of synonymous variants, we provide RNA stability, edge distance, and diversity metrics for every nucleotide in the human transcriptome and introduce a “Structural Predictivity Index” (SPI) to quantify structural constraint operating on any synonymous variant. Because no single RNA-folding metric can capture the diversity of mechanisms by which a variant could alter secondary mRNA structure, we generated a SUmmarized RNA Folding (SURF) metric to provide a single measurement to predict the impact of secondary structure altering variants in human genetic studies.

Impact of COVID-19 on Nuclear Medicine in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: An International Survey in April 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (04) ◽  
pp. 294-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutz S. Freudenberg ◽  
Ulf Dittmer ◽  
Ken Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Medicine ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diagnostic Procedures ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Public Versus Private ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction Preparations of health systems to accommodate large number of severely ill COVID-19 patients in March/April 2020 has a significant impact on nuclear medicine departments. Materials and Methods A web-based questionnaire was designed to differentiate the impact of the pandemic on inpatient and outpatient nuclear medicine operations and on public versus private health systems, respectively. Questions were addressing the following issues: impact on nuclear medicine diagnostics and therapy, use of recommendations, personal protective equipment, and organizational adaptations. The survey was available for 6 days and closed on April 20, 2020. Results 113 complete responses were recorded. Nearly all participants (97 %) report a decline of nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures. The mean reduction in the last three weeks for PET/CT, scintigraphies of bone, myocardium, lung thyroid, sentinel lymph-node are –14.4 %, –47.2 %, –47.5 %, –40.7 %, –58.4 %, and –25.2 % respectively. Furthermore, 76 % of the participants report a reduction in therapies especially for benign thyroid disease (-41.8 %) and radiosynoviorthesis (–53.8 %) while tumor therapies remained mainly stable. 48 % of the participants report a shortage of personal protective equipment. Conclusions Nuclear medicine services are notably reduced 3 weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic reached Germany, Austria and Switzerland on a large scale. We must be aware that the current crisis will also have a significant economic impact on the healthcare system. As the survey cannot adapt to daily dynamic changes in priorities, it serves as a first snapshot requiring follow-up studies and comparisons with other countries and regions.

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