Quantifying Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri) Hunting Behavior through Community Science

It is increasingly important to study animal behaviors as these are the first responses organisms mount against environmental changes. Rattlesnakes, in particular, are threatened by habitat loss and human activity, and require costly tracking by researchers to quantify the behaviors of wild individuals. Here, we show how photo-vouchered observations submitted by community members can be used to study cryptic predators like rattlesnakes. We utilized two platforms, iNaturalist and HerpMapper, to study the hunting behaviors of wild Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes. From 220 observation photos, we quantified the direction of the hunting coil (i.e., “handedness”), microhabitat use, timing of observations, and age of the snake. With these data, we looked at whether snakes exhibited an ontogenetic shift in behaviors. We found no age differences in coil direction. However, there was a difference in the microhabitats used by juveniles and adults while hunting. We also found that juveniles were most commonly observed during the spring, while adults were more consistently observed throughout the year. Overall, our study shows the potential of using community science to study the behaviors of cryptic predators.

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Environmental evolution and anthropogenic forcing in the Garigliano coastal plain (Italy) during the Holocene

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/09596836211003242 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095968362110032

Author(s):

Halinka Di Lorenzo ◽

Pietro Aucelli ◽

Giuseppe Corrado ◽

Mario De Iorio ◽

Marcello Schiattarella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Activity ◽

Coastal Plain ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Pollen Data ◽

Human Environment ◽

The Holocene ◽

Natural Processes ◽

History Of ◽

The Rich

The Garigliano alluvial-coastal plain, at the Latium-Campania border (Italy), witnessed a long-lasting history of human-environment interactions, as demonstrated by the rich archaeological knowledge. With the aim of reconstructing the evolution of the landscape and its interaction with human activity during the last millennia, new pollen results from the coastal sector of the Garigliano Plain were compared with the available pollen data from other nearby sites. The use of pollen data from both the coastal and marine environment allowed integrating the local vegetation dynamics within a wider regional context spanning the last 8000 years. The new pollen data presented in this study derive from the analysis of a core, drilled in the coastal sector, which intercepted the lagoon-marshy environments that occurred in the plain as a response to the Holocene transgression and subsequent coastal progradation. Three radiocarbon ages indicate that the chronology of the analyzed core interval ranges from c. 7200 to c. 2000 cal yr BP. The whole data indicate that a dense forest cover characterized the landscape all along the Prehistoric period, when a few signs of human activity are recorded in the spectra, such as cereal crops, pasture activity and fires. The main environmental changes, forced by natural processes (coastal progradation) but probably enhanced by reclamation works, started from the Graeco-Roman period and led to the reduction of swampy areas that favoured the colonisation of the outer plain.

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Hydrological change and human activity during Yuan–Ming Dynasties in the Loulan area, northwestern China

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683618771495 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (8) ◽

pp. 1266-1275 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kangkang Li ◽

Xiaoguang Qin ◽

Lei Zhang ◽

Zhaoyan Gu ◽

Bing Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Activity ◽

Little Ice Age ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Ice Age ◽

Flood Events ◽

Lop Nur ◽

Plant Remains ◽

Ancient Silk Road ◽

Climate Transition ◽

Changes Over Time

Human activity on arid lands has been related to oases evolution. The ancient Loulan, an important transportation hub of the ancient Silk Road, developed on an ancient oasis on the west bank of the lake Lop Nur in Xinjiang, China. Previous studies and historical documents suggest that the region has experienced dramatic natural environmental and human activity–related changes over time, transitioning from a particularly prosperous oasis to a depopulated zone with harsh environment after about 1500 a BP (before present, where present = AD 1950). Based on systematic radiocarbon (14C) dating for natural plant remains and archeological sites in the Loulan area, it was revealed that the region re-experienced oasis environment from 1260 to 1450 cal. AD, corresponding to the Yuan–Ming Dynasties, which is the climate transition stage from the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ to the ‘Little Ice Age’, encompassing a series of pulse-like flood events which cannot be identified from lacustrine deposition due to the limits of sampling resolution and dating. It was found that humans re-occupied the Loulan area and built canals to irrigate farmlands during the period. The more habitable hydrological conditions that resulted from these environmental changes present one major reason for the re-emergence of human activities in the Loulan area.

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Information Flows in Community-Based Monitoring Exercises in the Ecuadorian Amazon

International Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1155/2012/980520 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Johan A. Oldekop ◽

Nathan K. Truelove ◽

Santiago Villamarín ◽

Richard F. Preziosi

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Local Community ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Dung Beetle ◽

Similar Data ◽

Information Flows ◽

Community Members ◽

Community Based ◽

Ecuadorian Amazon ◽

Monitoring Protocols

Community-based monitoring schemes provide alternatives to costly scientific monitoring projects. While evidence shows that local community inhabitants can consistently measure environmental changes, few studies have examined how learned monitoring skills get passed on within communities. Here, we trained members of indigenous Kichwa communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon to measure fern and dung beetle species richness and examined how well they could pass on the information they had learned to other members of their community. We subsequently compared locally gathered species richness data to estimates gathered by trained biologists. Our results provide further evidence that devolved monitoring protocols can provide similar data to that gathered by scientists. In addition, our results show that local inhabitants can effectively pass on learned information to other community members, which is particularly important for the longevity of community-based monitoring initiatives.

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Chronostratigraphy in karst records from the Epipaleolithic to the Mid/Early Neolithic (c. 13.0–6.0 cal ka BP) in the Catalan Coastal Ranges of NE Iberia: environmental changes, sedimentary processes and human activity

Quaternary Science Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.09.008 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 184 ◽

pp. 26-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M. Mercè Bergadà ◽

Josep M. Cervelló ◽

Manel Edo ◽

Artur Cebrià ◽

F. Xavier Oms ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Activity ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Sedimentary Processes

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New Archaeological, Paleoenvironmental, and 14C Data from the Šventoji Neolithic Sites, NW Lithuania

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200047640 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 54 (3-4) ◽

pp. 1017-1031 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Gytis Piličiauskas ◽

Jonas Mažeika ◽

Andrejus Gaidamavičius ◽

Giedrė Vaikutienė ◽

Albertas Bitinas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Human Activity ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Plantago Lanceolata ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Fishing Gear ◽

Pollen Diagram ◽

Remote Areas ◽

The Baltic ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene

Archaeological, geological, and paleoecological investigations supported by radiocarbon dating enabled us to present a reconstruction of chronologically based paleoenvironmental and human activity changes in the Šventoji region, NW Lithuania, during the period 4000–800 cal BC. In addition, we describe the main stages of the Late Glacial and Holocene periods in the area. The Baltic Ice Lake regression was succeeded by a terrestrial period until the Littorina Sea maximal transgression at 5700–5400 cal BC. A marine bay with brackish water was transformed into a freshwater lagoon before the oldest archaeological evidence of human presence, i.e. 4000/3700 cal BC. However, the presence of Cerealia type and Plantago lanceolata pollen dating back to about 4400–4300 cal BC suggests earlier farming activities in the area. Pollen analyses show the minor but continuous role of cereal cultivation after 3250 cal BC. Due to the predominance of the boggy landscape in the immediate vicinity of the Šventoji sites, agricultural fields were situated further away from the sites themselves. Exploitation of remote areas of the freshwater basin by diverse fishing gear was proven by the discovery of a new fishing site, Šventoji 41 (2900–2600 cal BC). This finding together with data of previous research suggest a complex and elaborate coastal economy involving seal hunting and year-round freshwater fishing during the 3rd millennium cal BC. A decline in human activity is seen in the pollen diagram after 1800 cal BC, which could be due to significant environmental changes, including overgrowth of the freshwater lagoon basin with vegetation.

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Hellbender Salamanders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) Exhibit an Ontogenetic Shift in Microhabitat Use in a Blue Ridge Physiographic Region Stream

10.1101/139766 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

K. A. Hecht ◽

M. J. Freake ◽

M. A. Nickerson ◽

P. Colclough

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Life Stage ◽

Quality Parameters ◽

Microhabitat Use ◽

Life Stages ◽

Ontogenetic Shift ◽

Ontogenetic Shifts ◽

Gravel Beds ◽

Cryptobranchus Alleganiensis ◽

Significant Difference

ABSTRACTOrganisms that experience large changes in body size during the life span often exhibit differences in resource use among life stages. Ontogenetic shifts in habitat use reduce intraspecific competition and predation and are common in lotic organisms. Although information on the immature life stages of the Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is limited, this aquatic salamander exhibits ontogenetic shifts in habitat use in some streams, with adults sheltering under large rocks and larvae utilizing interstitial spaces of gravel beds. Due to the geomorphology of Little River, Tennessee, however, limited interstitial spaces within the gravel are filled with sand. Therefore, we quantified microhabitat parameters for three life stages of Hellbenders (larvae, sub-adult, adult) to determine if an ontogenetic shift in microhabitat occurred in Little River. We found no significant differences in stream substrate at capture sites among the stages, but there was a positive correlation between rock shelters underlain with very coarse gravel and overall Hellbender occupancy. Although we found no difference in water quality parameters and streambed particle size among the stage classes at the sites of capture, there was a significant difference in the average shelter size among all stages, with larvae utilizing the smallest shelters. Based on these results, future Hellbender research and conservation efforts should consider differences in life stage habitat use as well as specific stream particle classes.

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Broad and fine-scale threats on threatened Brazilian freshwater fish: variability across hydrographic regions and taxonomic groups

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2020-0980 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Murilo Luiz e Castro Santana ◽

Fernando Rogério Carvalho ◽

Fabrício Barreto Teresa

Keyword(s):

Freshwater Fish ◽

Habitat Loss ◽

Fish Species ◽

Threatened Species ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Fine Scale ◽

Hydrographic Regions ◽

Taxonomic Groups

Abstract: Anthropogenic environmental changes are the main cause of species extinction during the Holocene. Species have been exposed to major source of threats, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, introduced species, and harvesting, many of which are derived from specific anthropogenic activities, such as urbanization, agriculture, and damming (i.e. fine-scale threats). However, the importance of these threats on the species conservation status in a given region depends on the type of impacts they are exposed to and the susceptibility of species to these impacts. In this study, we used a database of threatened Brazilian freshwater fish species to test whether the major source of threats and the specific anthropogenic impacts to species vary across hydrographic regions and taxonomic groups. Our results showed that habitat loss is a ubiquitous major threat jeopardizing the conservation status of the Brazilian fish species. However, different fine-scale threats mediate this process across hydrographic regions and taxonomic groups. The combination of impacts from agriculture, deforestation, and urbanization affects most of the threatened species in the basins of the Northeast, South, and Southeast, including the species of the most threatened order, the Cyprinodontiformes. Damming is the main human activity affecting threatened species of Siluriformes, Characiformes, Gymnotiformes, and Cichliformes, especially in northern basins (Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia). Therefore, we found that specific fine-scale threats influencing threatened species vary across hydrographic regions and taxonomic groups, probably due to geographic variability in the incidence of human activities and differential niche requirements and vulnerability of species to these activities.

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COMMUNITY SCIENCE AS A MECHANISM TO EMPOWER COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN DECISION MAKING

10.1130/abs/2019am-337321 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Angel A. Garcia ◽

◽

Lev Horodyskyj ◽

Nora L. Cavuoto ◽

Alex Garcia

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Community Members ◽

Community Science

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Gliwice Radiocarbon Dates X

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200006937 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 52-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mieczysław F Pazdur ◽

Romuald Awsiuk ◽

Andrzej Bluszcz ◽

Tomasz Goslar ◽

Anna Pazdur ◽

...

Keyword(s):

North America ◽

Human Activity ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Temperate Zone ◽

Reference Sites ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Natural Factors ◽

Geographic Regions

The following list contains all age measurements of paleoenvironmental samples made from 1978 to the end of 1982 for the IGCP 158 Project “Paleohydrological changes in the temperate zone in the last 15,000 years,” Subproject B “Lake and mire environments” (Berglund, 1979), initiated by Bjorn Berglund and Leszek Starkel in 1976. The aim of this project was to reconstruct environmental changes related to climate and human activity in the temperate zone of Asia, Europe, and North America. Broad environmental reconstructions will be based upon a network of reference sites representing the natural geographic regions, distinguished by their geology, climate, vegetation, and other natural factors, according to Berglund (1979). The subdivision of Poland into 29 paleoecological units according to Ralska-Jasiewiczowa (1982) is presented in table 1, and in figure 1 where reference sites dated by 14C in our lab are also indicated.

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