A new rainfrog of the genus Pristimantis (Anura, Brachycephaloidea) from central and eastern Panama

Substantial molecular and morphological character differences lead us to the description of a new species of the genus Pristimantis from the cloud forest of Cerro Chucantí, Maje Mountains, Darien Province, as well as from several other mountain ranges in eastern and central Panama. Pristimantis gretathunbergaesp. nov. is a sister species to the allopatric P. erythropleura-penelopus group from northern Colombia with a mtDNA sequence divergence of > 4.4% at 16S and > 14.6% at COI. Its closest congener in sympatry is P. cruentus that differs by a large sequence divergence of > 9.6% in 16S mtDNA and 19.0% at COI, and from which it differs also by ventral and groin coloration, unusually prominent black eyes, a contrasting light upper lip, commonly a single conical to spine-like tubercle on the upper eyelid, and a larger head. While the habitat continuity at most sites in eastern Panama is moderate, habitats in central Panama are severely fragmented. Cerro Chucantí and the surrounding Maje Mountains are highly threatened by rapid deforestation and replaced by plantations and cattle pastures. Thus, investigations on the ecology of the new species and its population status, especially at the type locality, are highly recommended. As a flagship species, this new frog can help to preserve the Chucantí cloud forest including several recently described species known only from this isolated area in eastern Panama.

Population status and breeding ecology of Black Kite Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) in Pokhara Valley, Nepal

The present study attempted to provide basic knowledge on population status, breeding success and general behaviours of Black kites in the Pokhara Valley of Nepal. Nesting and roosting sites were directly observed to count the bird in the fields during the study period from December 2019 to May 2020. A total of 308 individuals of Black kites were recorded. The highest and least number was recorded in February (n=67) and May (n=31) respectively. The breeding success was found to be 47.22%. The average height, girth and canopy cover of the nesting tree were found at 16.59m, 2.23m and 63.30% respectively. About 67% of nests observed were found active during the breeding season. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient showed a perfect positive relationship between the number of chicks and the number of the nest (r = 1). Bombax ceiba and Dalbergia sissoo were the trees on which the maximum number of nests were observed.

Pendampingan Penyajian dan Pengolahan Data Demografi Kesehatan Penduduk Aparat Desa Negeri Hutumuri Kecamatan Leitimur Selatan Kota Ambon

ABSTRAK Negeri Hutumuri merupakan desa terpadat di wilayah Kecamatan Leitimur Selatan Kota Ambon dengan jumlah penduduk mencapai 4.657 jiwa serta kepadatan penduduk sebesar 310 jiwa setiap km2. Keberadaan profil status jumlah penduduk yang lebih besar memungkinkan peluang munculnya berbagai persoalan kependudukan khususnya kesehatan penduduk apabila tidak dikelola dengan baik. Tujuan dari program Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat ini adalah untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan aparat desa sebagai ujung tombak pembangunan desa terkait penyajian dan pengolahan data demografi kesehatan penduduk. Metode pelaksanaan kegiatannya meliputi pelatihan dan pendampingan tentang analisis statistik data demografi kesehatan penduduk yang meliputi pengukuran dasar data demografi kependudukan desa. Hasil dari pelaksanaan kegiatan ini, dapat menunjang pemahaman, menambah pengetahuan dan pengembangan softskill aparat desa dalam mengelola statistik demografi kesehatan penduduk yang berdampak pada peningkatan kualitas pengelolaan dan penataan data kependudukan yang dapat digunakan untuk pembangunan dan mempermudah pelayanan terhadap masyarakat desa. Kata Kunci: Demografi Kesehatan Penduduk, Penyajian dan Pengolahan Data, Softskill Aparat Desa ABSTRACT Negeri Hutumuri is the most populous village in the South Leitimur Subdistrict, Ambon City, with a population of 4,657 people and a population density of 310 people per km2. The existence of a larger population status profile allows opportunities for various population problems to arise, especially population health if it is not managed properly. The purpose of this Community Service program is to increase the knowledge of village officials as the spearhead of village development related to the presentation and processing of population health demographic data. The method of implementing its activities includes training and assistance on a statistical analysis of population health demographic data which includes basic measurement of village population demographic data. The results of the implementation of this activity can support understanding, increase knowledge and develop soft skills of village officials in managing demographic health statistics of the population which have an impact on improving the quality of management and structuring of population data that can be used for development and facilitating services to village communities. Keywords: Population Health Demographics, Data Presentation, and Processing, Soft Skills for Village Officials.

Data-Limited Stock Assessment for Fish Species Devoid of Catch Statistics: Case Studies for Pampus argenteus and Setipinna taty in the Bohai and Yellow Seas

For many fish stocks, such as Pampus argenteus and Setipinna taty in China, size composition data are more accessible than catch data. Varied results can arise when different length-based stock assessment models are applied to these data, and fishery managers often need to reconcile conflicting estimates of population status. Superensemble modeling, a relatively recent innovation in fish stock assessments commonly used in other fields, may provide an effective solution to resolving uncertainties among the results from multiple length-based models. To verify potential for this approach to improve estimates of population status, we applied ensemble modeling to fit simulated data of P. argenteus and S. taty in the Bohai and Yellow Seas using predictions from a length-based integrated mixed effects (LIME) and length-based spawning potential ratio (LB-SPR) models as covariables in a superensemble model developed in this study. All simulation modeling of P. argenteus and S. taty in the Bohai and Yellow Seas was conducted using the operating model in the R package LIME. Initially, the LIME and LB-SPR performances were tested separately under three scenarios of fishing mortality and recruitment variability (“equilibrium scenario,” “endogenous scenario,” and “one-way base scenario”). Then, estimates of spawning potential ratio (SPR) were combined with the superensemble models (a linear model, a support vector machines, a random forest and a boosted regression tree). We trained our superensemble models with 80% of the simulated data and tested them with the remaining 20%. Our results showed that superensemble modeling substantially improved the estimates of SPR, with support vector machines performing the best at estimating population status: precision improved by 12.7% for S. taty and 8% for P. argenteus on average (namely, median absolute proportional error decreased by 0.127 and 0.08 on average) compared to the individual models. This finding has important implications for fisheries management in the context of species for which catch data are unavailable. Applying the size composition survey data, the results from support vector machines superensemble model suggested that neither S. taty nor P. argenteus in the Bohai Sea in 2019 are overfished, but the stock status of P. argenteus warrants vigilant monitoring.

MONITORING PROPOSAL OF THE SPECIES VIOLET CARPENTER BEE XYLOCOPA VIOLACEA IN POLAND

The main purpose of this scientific publication is to present the suggested methods of monitoring the species violet carpenter bee Xylocopa violacea, which belongs to Hymenoptera of the bee family Apidae. Despite the fact that this insect is only partially protected under Polish national law, there are very few identified localities of these animals in Poland. The main problem related to the uncertainty of the number of the violet carpenter bee Xylocopa violacea is the lack of monitoring within national borders. The proposed method of population status assessment is based on the field research. These studies include the observations of many elements of the population and the environment and on predicting what are the prospects for protecting the violet carpenter bee Xylocopa violacea in Poland. The proposed method of population status assessment is based on the analysis of species presence and abundance and the proposed method of habitat status assessment is based on the analysis of area, food base, type of environment, elements of the habitat, the nature of the surroundings and habitat stability. The proposed methods can be also applied for Xylocopa valga, which can be easily confused with the violet carpenter bee Xylocopa violacea. What is the most important – regular monitoring may contribute to the recognition of other places of occurrence and will enable effective protection of the violet carpenter bee Xylocopa violacea in Poland.

Alternative method for assessment of southwestern Atlantic humpback whale population status

The population of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering off eastern South America was exploited by commercial whaling almost to the point of extinction in the mid-twentieth century. Since cessation of whaling in the 1970s it is recovering, but the timing and level of recovery is uncertain. We implemented a Bayesian population dynamics model describing the population’s trajectory from 1901 and projecting it to 2040 to revise a previous population status assessment that used Sampling-Importance-Resampling in a Bayesian framework. Using our alternative method for model fitting (Markov chain Monte Carlo), which is more widely accessible to ecologists, we replicate a “base case scenario” to verify the effect on model results, and introduce additional data to update the status assessment. Our approach allowed us to widen the previous informative prior on carrying capacity to better reflect scientific uncertainty around historical population levels. The updated model provided more precise estimates for population sizes over the period considered (1901–2040) and suggests that carrying capacity (K: median 22,882, mean 22,948, 95% credible interval [CI] 22,711–23,545) and minimum population size (N1958: median 305, mean 319, 95% CI 271–444) might be lower than previously estimated (K: median 24,558, mean 25,110, 95% CI 22,791–31,118; N1958: median 503, mean 850, 95% CI 159–3,943). However, posterior 95% credible intervals of parameters in the updated model overlap those of the previous study. Our approach provides an accessible framework for investigating the status of depleted animal populations for which information is available on historical mortality (e.g., catches) and intermittent estimates of population size and/or trend.