scholarly journals Criteria for effective fallow field eco schemes for farmland birds during non-breeding

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjam Rieger ◽  
Sarah Mailänder ◽  
Lea Stier ◽  
Julia Staggenborg ◽  
Nils Anthes
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Food Limitation ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
List Type ◽  
Farmland Birds ◽  
Fallow Field ◽  
Minimum Criteria ◽  
Seed Mixtures

AbstractFarmland eco schemes implemented under the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union are often considered ineffective in halting farmland bird declines. Fallow fields, often seeded with dedicated seed mixtures, rate among the more beneficial eco scheme types. Yet, the CAP currently defines no minimum criteria for fallow fields to qualify as eco scheme, likely jeopardizing their potential biodiversity benefits.We investigated the attractiveness of four fallow field types established under CAP eco schemes and dedicated bird conservation programs in Southern Germany. Our 2-year surveys on > 100 fields focused on the non-breeding season, where food limitation can become particularly problematic. We modelled bird incidences also in response to vegetation structure and adjacent landscape features to derive minimum criteria for effective fallow field eco schemes.Fallow field types varied only mildly in overall species richness but showed striking differences in the attracted species. Finches in particular tended to preferentially visit 1-year fallow fields, while buntings tended towards 2-year and older field types. 1-year CAP fallows, however, are typically removed before mid-winter, and thus potentially act as a trap to farmland birds and other wildlife.The investigated species consistently preferred larger fallow fields with a more differentiated vegetation structure. Placement close to woods and hedgerows positively affected birds inhabiting woodland ecotones, while classic farmland species showed higher incidences on fallow fields embedded in open landscapes.‘Policy implications’ Our findings call for the ongoing CAP revisions to specify minimum requirements that qualify fallow fields as eco schemes. These should include an at least biennial cycle, a diversification of seed mixtures, standards for fallow field size, and criteria for their placement in the landscape matrix.

scholarly journals Survival cost to relocation does not reduce population self-sustainability in an amphibian

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Cayuela ◽  
Lilly Gillet ◽  
Arnaud Laudelout ◽  
Aurélien Besnard ◽  
Eric Bonnaire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Stage ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
Source Population ◽  
List Type ◽  
Intrinsic Factors ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Bombina Variegata ◽  
And Control

AbstractRelocations are increasingly popular among wildlife managers despite sharp debate and low rate of relocation success in vertebrates. In this context, understanding the influence of extrinsic (e.g., relocation design, habitat characteristics) and intrinsic factors (e.g., age and sex) on demographic parameters such as survival that regulate the dynamics of relocated populations is critical to improve relocation protocols and better predict relocation success.We investigated survival in naturally established and relocated populations of yellow-bellied toads (Bombina variegata), an amphibian that was nearly extinct in Belgium by the late 1990s. We quantified survival at three ontogenetic stages (juvenile, subadult, and adult) in the relocated population, the source population, and a control population. In the relocated population, we quantified survival in captive bred individuals and their locally born descendants.We showed that survival at juvenile and subadult stages was relatively similar in all populations. In contrast, relocated adult survival was lower than adult survival in the source and control populations. Despite this, offspring of relocated animals (the next generation, regardless of life stage) survived at similar rates to offspring in the source and control populations. Our simulations revealed that the relocated population was self-sustaining under different scenarios and that the fate (e.g., stability or finite rate of increase) of the simulated populations was highly dependent on the fecundity of relocated adults and their offspring.Policy implications. Our results indicate that survival in relocated individuals is lower than in non-relocated individuals but that this cost (= reduced survival) disappears in the second generation. A finer understanding of how relocation affects demographic processes is an important step in improving relocation success of amphibians and other animals.

scholarly journals Dynamic connectivity maps of pericytes and endothelial cells mediate neurovascular coupling in health and disease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamas Kovacs-Oller ◽  
Elena Ivanova ◽  
Paola Bianchimano ◽  
Botir T. Sagdullaev
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Neurovascular Coupling ◽  
Microvascular Disease ◽  
Field Size ◽  
List Type ◽  
Functional Hyperemia ◽  
Vasomotor Response ◽  
Connectivity Map ◽  
Sensory Stimuli

SummaryFunctional hyperemia, or matching blood flow to activity, is spatially accurate to direct the oxygen and nutrients to regionally firing neurons. The underlying signaling mechanisms of neurovascular coupling remain unclear, but are critical for brain function and establish the diagnostic power of BOLD-fMRI. Here, we described a mosaic of pericytes, the vasomotor capillary cells in the living retina. We then tested if this symmetric net of pericytes and surrounding neuroglia predicted a connectivity map in response to sensory stimuli. Surprisingly, we found that these connections were not only discriminatory across cell types, but also highly asymmetric spatially. First, pericytes connected predominantly to other neighboring pericytes and endothelial cells, and less to arteriolar smooth muscle cells, and not to surrounding neurons or glia. Second, focal, but not global stimulation evoked a directional vasomotor response by strengthening connections along the feeding vascular branch. This activity required local NO signaling and occurred by means of direct coupling via gap-junctions. By contrast, bath application of NO or diabetes, a common microvascular pathology, not only weakened the vascular signaling but also abolished its directionality. We conclude that the discriminatory nature of neurovascular interactions may thus establish spatial accuracy of blood delivery with the precision of the neuronal receptive field size, and is disrupted early in microvascular disease.HighlightsWithin a structurally symmetric mosaic, pericytes form discriminatory connectionsPericyte connectome tunes with a precision matching a neuronal receptive fieldFocal but not global input evokes a vasomotor response by strengthening the gap-junction mediated signaling towards a feeding vascular branchDisrupted functional connectivity map triggers loss of the functional hyperemia in diabetic neuropathy

scholarly journals Divergence in Population Coding for Space between Dorsal and Ventral CA1

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udaysankar Chockanathan ◽  
Krishnan Padmanabhan
Keyword(s):  
Maximum Entropy ◽  
Virtual Environment ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Dorsal Hippocampus ◽  
Population Coding ◽  
Field Size ◽  
List Type ◽  
Entropy Model ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Neuronal Populations

SummaryMolecular, anatomic, and behavioral studies show that the hippocampus is structurally and functionally heterogeneous, with dorsal hippocampus implicated in mnemonic processes and spatial navigation and ventral hippocampus involved in affective processes. By performing electrophysiological recordings of large neuronal populations in dorsal and ventral CA1 in head-fixed mice navigating a virtual environment, we found that this diversity resulted in different strategies for population coding of space. We found that the populations of neurons in dorsal CA1 had a higher dimensionality and showed more complex patterns of activity, translating to more information being encoded, as compared ensembles in vCA1. Furthermore, a pairwise maximum entropy model was better at predicting the structure of global patterns of activity in ventral CA1 as compared to dorsal CA1. Taken together, we uncovered different coding strategies that likely emerge from anatomical and physiological differences along the longitudinal axis of hippocampus and that may, in turn, underpin the divergent ethological roles of dorsal and ventral CA1.HighlightsNo differences in dCA1 and vCA1 place field size in recordings of neuronal populations in mice navigating a virtual environmentdCA1 has higher single-neuron and population-level spatial information compared to vCA1 due to differences in the sparsity of firing.Population activity of dCA1 has higher entropy and is higher dimensional than vCA1Pairwise maximum entropy models are better at predicting population activity in vCA1 compared to dCA1

scholarly journals Urban warming inverse contribution on risk of dengue transmission in the southeastern North America

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorena M. Simon ◽  
Jesús N. Pinto-Ledezma ◽  
Robert R. Dunn ◽  
Thiago Rangel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Southern United States ◽  
List Type ◽  
Climatic Niche ◽  
Transmission Potential ◽  
Dengue Transmission ◽  
Causal Pathway ◽  
Dengue Vectors

ABSTRACTPreventing diseases from becoming a problem where they are not is a common ground for disease ecology. The expectation for vector-borne diseases, especially those transmitted by mosquitos, is that warm and wet conditions favor vector traits increasing transmission potential. The advent of urbanization altering inner climate conditions hazards to increase mosquito’s transmission potential on “disease-free” cooler areas as a consequence of a warming urban heat island (UHI) effect.We assessed the realism of the anticipated dengue transmission potential into the southern United States in a causal pathway with the ongoing UHI effect, vectors’ spatial distribution patterns, and exogenous environment; We also measured the climatic niche similarity between both dengue vectors species.Our path model revealed that the UHI effect presents negative or no relation with dengue transmission potential. Instead, the surrounding non-urban temperature was rather suitable for the expected mosquitos’ transmission potential.Both dengue vectors’ occurrence revealed to be more aggregated then expected by chance. These mosquitos’ density patterns were responsive to the warming effect of UHI-especially Aedes Aegypti-but not a reliable predictor for the anticipated dengue transmission potential pattern. The climatic niches of both vectors are not equivalent. Although currently highly overlapped, there is a wide space of their climatic niche still to be filled.Policy implications. We highlight that the warming UHI effect on urban sites is not congruent with the expected suitability for dengue transmission. Instead, non-urban areas would be a better focus for dengue hazards into the southern United States. Our study also highlights the need for including low scale temperature on further mosquito-borne disease transmission models and track vectors niche filling under anthropogenic changes.

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Risk from sports Equipment (STRIKE)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Edwards ◽  
Grant A Kay ◽  
Ghaith Aljayyoussi ◽  
Sophie I Owen ◽  
Andy R Harland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Load ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Half Life ◽  
Outcome Measure ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Tennis Ball ◽  
List Type ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Infection Control Measures

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVES To investigate the potential of shared sporting equipment as transmission vectors of SARS-CoV-2 during the reintroduction of sports such as soccer, rugby, cricket, tennis, golf and gymnastics. SETTING Laboratory based live SARS-CoV-2 virus study INTERVENTIONS Ten different types of sporting equipment were inoculated with 40μl droplets containing clinically relevant high and low concentrations of live SARS-CoV-2 virus. Materials were then swabbed at time points relevant to sports (1, 5, 15, 30, 90 minutes). The amount of live SARS-CoV-2 recovered at each time point was enumerated using viral plaque assays, and viral decay and half-life was estimated through fitting linear models to log transformed data from each material. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The primary outcome measure was quantification of retrievable SARS-CoV-2 virus from each piece of equipment at pre-determined time points. RESULTS At one minute, SARS-CoV-2 virus was recovered in only seven of the ten types of equipment with the low dose inoculum, one at five minutes and none at 15 minutes. Retrievable virus dropped significantly for all materials tested using the high dose inoculum with mean recovery of virus falling to 0.74% at 1 minute, 0.39% at 15 minutes and 0.003% at 90 minutes. Viral recovery, predicted decay, and half-life varied between materials with porous surfaces limiting virus transmission. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that there is an exponential reduction in SARS-CoV-2 recoverable from a range of sports equipment after a short time period, and virus is less transferrable from materials such as a tennis ball, red cricket ball and cricket glove. Given this rapid loss of viral load and the fact that transmission requires a significant inoculum to be transferred from equipment to the mucous membranes of another individual it seems unlikely that sports equipment is a major cause for transmission of SARS-CoV-2. These findings have important policy implications in the context of the pandemic and may promote other infection control measures in sports to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and urge sports equipment manufacturers to identify surfaces that may or may not be likely to retain transferable virus. WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between individuals playing sport may be via respiratory droplets when in close proximity to an infected person. SARS-CoV-2 remains viable on a variety of surfaces resulting in recommendations to reduce the sharing of sports equipment such as tennis balls when sports were re-opened. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS The recoverable SARS-CoV-2 viral load reduces exponentially with mean viral load of all materials less than 1% of the original inoculum after 1 minute. The type of material has a significant effect on SARS-CoV-2 transfer, with less virus transferred from porous materials such as bovine leather or nylon woven cloth. Policies on infection control measures in sport may be better directed towards areas other than reducing the sharing of sports equipment. Sports equipment manufacturers may consider using materials that absorb or retain virus as a way of reducing viral transmission from sports equipment.

scholarly journals Contextualising UK moorland burning studies: geographical versus potential sponsorship-bias effects on research conclusions

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee E. Brown ◽  
Joseph Holden
Keyword(s):  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
List Type ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Extreme Caution ◽  
Geographical Variability ◽  
Peer Reviewers ◽  
Policy Community

AbstractIt has recently been claimed that geographical variability resulted in false conclusions from some studies examining the impacts of prescribed moorland burning, including the Effects of Moorland Burning on the Ecohydrology of River basins (EMBER) project. We provide multiple lines of evidence to contradict these claims and show that the EMBER results are reliable.A systematic review of the literature also confirms that EMBER conclusions were not out of line with the majority of other published UK studies on responses to prescribed burning of Sphagnum growth/abundance, soil properties, hydrological change, or peat exposure and erosion.We suggest that sponsorship-bias is associated with some recent research conclusions related to moorland burning. Thus, it is of grave concern when sponsorship or other potential conflicts of interest are not declared on publications related to moorland burning.We show that sponsorship and other conflicts of interest were not declared on a recent publication that criticised the EMBER project, thereby entirely undermining that critical assessment.Policy implications: The EMBER findings are robust. Our study suggests that publications on moorland burning that have been funded by pro-burning groups should be treated with extreme caution by the policy community. Publications that have been shown to have failed to declare conflicts of interest from the outset, when first submitted to a journal, should be disregarded by the policy community because peer reviewers and editors may have been unable to evaluate those pieces of work properly.

scholarly journals The definition of tuberculosis infection based on the spectrum of tuberculosis disease

Breathe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 210079
Author(s):  
Giovanni Battista Migliori ◽  
Catherine W.M. Ong ◽  
Linda Petrone ◽  
Lia D'Ambrosio ◽  
Rosella Centis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latent Tuberculosis ◽  
Interferon Γ ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Tuberculosis Infection ◽  
List Type ◽  
Uninfected Individual ◽  
Educational Aims ◽  
Release Assay ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Tuberculosis Disease

Latent tuberculosis infection was the term traditionally used to indicate tuberculosis (TB) infection. This term was used to define “a state of persistent immune response to stimulation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens through tests such as the tuberculin skin test (TST) or an interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) without clinically active TB”. Recent evidence indicates that the spectrum from TB infection to TB disease is much more complex, including a “continuum” of situations didactically reported as uninfected individual, TB infection, incipient TB, subclinical TB without signs/symptoms, subclinical TB with unrecognised signs/symptoms, and TB disease with signs/symptoms. Recent evidence suggests that subclinical TB is responsible for important M. tuberculosis transmission. This review describes the different stages described above and their relationships. It also summarises the new developments in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB infection as well as their public health and policy implications.Educational aimsTo describe the evolution of the definition of “tuberculosis infection” and didactically describe the continuum of stages existing between TB infection and disease.To discuss the recommended approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat TB infection.

scholarly journals Assessing the Burden of COVID-19 in Developing Countries: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Public Policy Implications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Levin ◽  
Nana Owusu-Boaitey ◽  
Sierra Pugh ◽  
Bailey K. Fosdick ◽  
Anthony B. Zwi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Herd Immunity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
High Income ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
List Type ◽  
Fatality Rate ◽  
Assay Sensitivity ◽  
Younger Age

AbstractIntroductionThe infection-fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 has been carefully measured and analyzed in high-income countries, whereas there has been no systematic analysis of age-specific seroprevalence or IFR for developing countries. Indeed, it has been suggested that the death rate in developing countries may be far lower than in high-income countries—an outcome that would be starkly different from the typical pattern for many other infectious diseases.MethodsWe systematically reviewed the literature to identify all serology studies in developing countries that were conducted using representative samples of specimens collected by early 2021. For each of the antibody assays used in these serology studies, we identified data on assay characteristics, including the extent of seroreversion over time. We analyzed the serology data using a Bayesian model that incorporates conventional sampling uncertainty as well as uncertainties about assay sensitivity and specificity. We then calculated IFRs using individual case reports or aggregated public health updates, including age-specific estimates whenever feasible.ResultsSeroprevalence in many developing country locations was markedly higher than in high-income countries but still far short of herd immunity. In most locations, seroprevalence among older adults was similar to that of younger age-groups. Age-specific IFRs were 1.3-2.5x higher than in high-income countries. The median value of population IFR was 0.5% among developing countries with satisfactory death reporting as of 2016, compared to a median of 0.05% for other developing countries.ConclusionThe burden of COVID-19 is far higher in developing countries than in high-income countries, reflecting a combination of elevated transmission to middle-aged and older adults as well as limited access to adequate healthcare. These results underscore the critical need to accelerate the provision of vaccine doses to vulnerable populations in developing countries.Key Points‐Age-specific prevalence and infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 for developing countries has not been well assessed.‐Seroprevalence in developing countries (as measured by antibodies against SARS-CoV-2) is markedly higher than in high-income countries but still far short of herd immunity.‐Seroprevalence among older adults is broadly similar to that of younger age-groups.‐Age-specific IFRs in developing countries are roughly twice those of high-income countries.‐Population IFR in developing countries with satisfactory death reporting (based on UN/WHO data as of 2016) is ten times higher than in other developing countries.‐These results underscore the urgency of disseminating vaccines to vulnerable people in developing countries.

scholarly journals Local differences in habitat selection by Great Bustards Otis tarda in changing agricultural landscapes: implications for farmland bird conservation

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-341 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUAN LÓPEZ-JAMAR ◽  
FABIÁN CASAS ◽  
MARIO DÍAZ ◽  
MANUEL B. MORALES
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Farmland Birds ◽  
Otis Tarda ◽  
South Central

SummaryLocal changes in land use can influence patterns of habitat selection by farmland birds, thus biasing predictions of population responses to land use changes based on wildlife-habitat or niche modelling. This study, based in arable farmland in south-central Spain, determined whether habitat selection (use of agricultural habitats and the distance to roads, tracks and buildings) by Great Bustards Otis tarda varied between two nearby areas with differing land uses. The western sector has experienced a process of land abandonment and infrastructure development linked to an airport project that started in 1998 and finished in 2009, while the eastern sector maintains extensive dry farmland systems. Great Bustards avoided ploughed fields and selected short- and long-term fallows. Selection of fallows was more intensive in the sector suffering recent land-use changes, where these substrates were more abundant. Great Bustards were distributed further from roads, paths and buildings than would be expected if individual birds selected habitats at random. Avoidance of infrastructure was strongest in the area suffering recent land-use changes. Local patterns of habitat selection seemed to change in relation to agricultural abandonment and infrastructure development. Consequently, conservation measures based on knowledge of broad patterns of habitat use and selection such as agri-environmental schemes may fail to ensure steppe bird conservation locally if such local effects are overlooked. Specifically, schemes should include landscape-scale restrictions on the development and use of infrastructure (roads, tracks and buildings). Analyses of the patterns and causes of local and regional changes in habitat selection are essential to conserve populations of endangered farmland birds.

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