Niche Partitioning of 5 Sympatric Bornean Ungulates in Response to Spatiotemporal Variation in Fruit Availability and Resulting Implications for Predator-Prey Interactions

<p>Borneo’s rainforests are experiencing some of the fastest deforestation rates worldwide and are home to increasingly vulnerable species, most of which remain poorly understood. Bornean rainforests exhibit dramatic fluctuations in fruit and seed availability during mast-fruiting events which can exert considerable influence on frugivore ecology. Comprehensive spatiotemporal assessments of habitat use, resource partitioning, and responses to fruit availability in mast-fruiting rainforests are lacking for most species, including ungulates. The distribution and habitat use of an apex predator, the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), may be largely shaped by the availability of these ungulates. Yet, factors driving the spatial ecology of this elusive felid remain uncertain. I aimed to quantify spatiotemporal habitat use dynamics of these species and consequently inform effective conservation planning. Specifically, I quantified the effects of human activity, forest type, elevation, and mast-induced fluctuations in resources on the habitat use of lesser mousedeer (Tragulus kanchil), greater mousedeer (T. napu), Bornean yellow muntjacs (Muntiacus atherodes), red muntjacs (M. muntjak), and bearded pigs (Sus barbatus) in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. I applied data from an extensive camera trapping study (n = 42,610 trap nights) to a modified single-season occupancy model to evaluate habitat use over space and time. I then applied estimates of occurrence (Ψ) of the five ungulate species to quantify if habitat use of the Sunda clouded leopard was influenced by prey occurrence and thus if this apex predator responded to bottom-up effects of resource variability. The results from the ungulate modelling revealed that forest type was an important predictor of habitat use of all ungulate species, each preferring different forest habitats. Habitat use estimates were highest in peat swamp forests for lesser mousedeer (Ψ = 0.92 ± 0.05), alluvial bench forests for greater mousedeer (Ψ = 0.52 ± 0.08), lowland granite forests for yellow (Ψ = 0.95 ± 0.07) and red muntjacs (Ψ = 0.98 ± 0.09), and freshwater swamp forests for bearded pigs (Ψ = 0.84 ± 0.07). Bearded pigs exhibited a link between variation in fruit availability and habitat use, indicating an ability to respond to resource variability. Occupancy modelling for Sunda clouded leopards revealed forest type, fruit availability, and bearded pig occurrence as the best predictors of habitat use. The highest estimates were associated with lowland granite forests (Ψ = 0.87 ± 0.09). My results reveal a novel pattern of niche partitioning through both food and habitat resources among five sympatric ungulate species and demonstrate that Sunda clouded leopards may use fruiting events as a cue for abundant prey. My research sheds light on important factors influencing habitat use of understudied ungulates and an apex predator and can be used to refine estimates of habitat suitability across a greater landscape to inform conservation practice amidst continually shrinking remnant forests in Indonesian Borneo.</p>

Niche Partitioning of 5 Sympatric Bornean Ungulates in Response to Spatiotemporal Variation in Fruit Availability and Resulting Implications for Predator-Prey Interactions

<p>Borneo’s rainforests are experiencing some of the fastest deforestation rates worldwide and are home to increasingly vulnerable species, most of which remain poorly understood. Bornean rainforests exhibit dramatic fluctuations in fruit and seed availability during mast-fruiting events which can exert considerable influence on frugivore ecology. Comprehensive spatiotemporal assessments of habitat use, resource partitioning, and responses to fruit availability in mast-fruiting rainforests are lacking for most species, including ungulates. The distribution and habitat use of an apex predator, the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), may be largely shaped by the availability of these ungulates. Yet, factors driving the spatial ecology of this elusive felid remain uncertain. I aimed to quantify spatiotemporal habitat use dynamics of these species and consequently inform effective conservation planning. Specifically, I quantified the effects of human activity, forest type, elevation, and mast-induced fluctuations in resources on the habitat use of lesser mousedeer (Tragulus kanchil), greater mousedeer (T. napu), Bornean yellow muntjacs (Muntiacus atherodes), red muntjacs (M. muntjak), and bearded pigs (Sus barbatus) in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. I applied data from an extensive camera trapping study (n = 42,610 trap nights) to a modified single-season occupancy model to evaluate habitat use over space and time. I then applied estimates of occurrence (Ψ) of the five ungulate species to quantify if habitat use of the Sunda clouded leopard was influenced by prey occurrence and thus if this apex predator responded to bottom-up effects of resource variability. The results from the ungulate modelling revealed that forest type was an important predictor of habitat use of all ungulate species, each preferring different forest habitats. Habitat use estimates were highest in peat swamp forests for lesser mousedeer (Ψ = 0.92 ± 0.05), alluvial bench forests for greater mousedeer (Ψ = 0.52 ± 0.08), lowland granite forests for yellow (Ψ = 0.95 ± 0.07) and red muntjacs (Ψ = 0.98 ± 0.09), and freshwater swamp forests for bearded pigs (Ψ = 0.84 ± 0.07). Bearded pigs exhibited a link between variation in fruit availability and habitat use, indicating an ability to respond to resource variability. Occupancy modelling for Sunda clouded leopards revealed forest type, fruit availability, and bearded pig occurrence as the best predictors of habitat use. The highest estimates were associated with lowland granite forests (Ψ = 0.87 ± 0.09). My results reveal a novel pattern of niche partitioning through both food and habitat resources among five sympatric ungulate species and demonstrate that Sunda clouded leopards may use fruiting events as a cue for abundant prey. My research sheds light on important factors influencing habitat use of understudied ungulates and an apex predator and can be used to refine estimates of habitat suitability across a greater landscape to inform conservation practice amidst continually shrinking remnant forests in Indonesian Borneo.</p>

A model of the evolution of equitable offers in n-person dictator games with interbirth intervals

People are often generous even when it is not in their apparent self-interest to do so as demonstrated by numerous experiments using the dictator game (DG). More recent research using DGs has varied the number of dictators and recipients and used these games to investigate the bystander effect and congestible altruism. These studies have found that people are less generous when there are others who could be generous (the bystander effect) and also less generous when there are multiple recipients (congestible altruism) though the sum of their generosity to all recipients increases. A working hypothesis is proposed that the context-sensitive generosity observed in n-person DGs can be explained as equitable behavior. From an evolutionary perspective, explaining the evolution of equitable behavior is challenging at best. To provide an evolutionary explanation, a second working hypothesis is proposed: equitable offers evolve because they reduce resource deficits produced by variability in the accumulation of resources and thereby minimize the length of interbirth intervals (IBIs) and increase fitness. Based on this working hypothesis, an evolutionary model was developed for n-person DGs to investigate the evolution of equitable offers as a resource allocation problem when reproduction is constrained by IBIs. Simulations demonstrated that equitable offers could evolve in group-structured populations when there is a cost (i.e., longer IBIs) to running resource deficits. Mean evolved offers also varied as a function of the number of dictators and recipients in patterns consistent with the bystander effect and congestible altruism. Equitable offers evolved because they reduced resource variability among group members and thereby reduced resource deficits, which insured higher average rates of reproduction for more equitable groups of agents. Implications of these results are discussed.

Analysis of Long-Term Solar Resource Variability Using NSRDB Version 3

&lt;p&gt;Understanding long-term solar resource variability is essential for planning and deployment of solar energy systems. These variabilities occur due to deterministic effects such as sun cycle and nondeterministic such as complex weather patterns. The NREL&amp;#8217;s National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) provides long term solar resource data covering 1998- 2019 containing more than 2 million pixels over the Americas and gets updated on an annual basis. This dataset is satellite-based and uses a two-step physical model for it&amp;#8217;s development. In the first step we retrieve cloud properties such as cloud mask, cloud type, cloud optical depth and effective radius. The second step uses a fast radiative transfer model to compute solar radiation. &amp;#160;This dataset is ideal for studying solar resource variability. For this study, NSRDB version 3 which contains data from 1998-2017 on a half hourly and 4x4 km temporal and spatial resolution was used. The study analyzed the spatial and temporal trend of solar resource of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal irradiance (DNI) using long-term 20-years NSRDB data. The coefficient of variation (COV) was used to analyze the spatio-temporal interannual and seasonal variabilities. The spatial variability was analyzed by comparing the center pixel to neighboring pixels. The spatial variability result showed higher COV as the number of neighboring pixels increased. Similarly, the temporal variability for the NSRDB domain ranges on average from &amp;#177;10% for GHI and &amp;#177;20% for DNI. Furthermore, the long-term variabilities were also analyzed using the K&amp;#246;ppen-Geiger climate classification. This assisted in the interpretation of the result by reducing the originally large number of pixels into a smaller number of groups. This presentation will provided a unique look at long-term spatial and temporal variability of solar radiation using high-resolution satellite-based datasets.&lt;/p&gt;

Coexistence patterns and diversity in a trait-based metacommunity on an environmental gradient

The dynamics of trait-based metacommunities have attracted much attention, but not much is known about how dispersal and environmental variability mutually interact with each other to drive coexistence mechanisms and diversity patterns. Here, we present a spatially-explicit model of resource competition in a metacommunity on a one-dimensional environmental gradient and analyse the joint influence of dispersal and environmental variability on coexistence mechanisms, spatial structure, trait distribution and local and regional diversity. We find that without dispersal, species are sorted according to their optimal position on the gradient, but with the onset of dispersal source-sink effects are initiated. Thereby, the dispersal rate and the range of spatial environmental variability strongly affect the competition outcomes, composition, and diversity. That is, at low dispersal rates the number of surviving species increases with the spatial environmental variability. Increasing dispersal rates generates trait lumping and strengthens environmental filtering so that only a few dominant species can survive. Interestingly, for very large dispersal rates the system becomes spatially homogeneous, but nevertheless two specialists at the extreme ends of the trait-off curve can coexist. Global species richness depends in an intricate manner on dispersal strength and resource variability, with a classic hump-shaped dependence of diversity on dispersal rate, but also a pronounced peak of global diversity for intermediate values of resource variability. Our findings thus provide important insights into the factors that shape metacommunity structure and promote coexistence and about how spatial environmental variability can lead to different competition outcomes in metacommunities.

Thermo Power Plant “Kosovo B”– A Pollution Source for Sitnica River

Kosovo’s waters are unevenly distributed in time and space. Kosovo is water scarce, and it also has the low level of water resources development and storage. In particular Iber basin is water stressed, but in the next 20 years it is expected that all Kosovo’s basins will be water stressed [1]. This is due to population and general economic growth, and resource variability. The anticipated revitalization of the irrigation and mining sector and additional demands from the energy sector will increase pressure on new water demands [5]. For these reasons, the water quality of existing resources will become an ever-growing problem if not addressed now. The lignite-fired power plant “Kosovo B” is main the energy source in the country. The wastewater produced from its operation is discharged into Sitnica river with minimum treatment. With study of pollution level of wastewater discharges, this article sets several recommendations for treatment of wastewater in order that power plant meets national and EU operation requirements.

Water and Food Nexus: Role of Socio-Economic Status on Water–Food Nexus in an Urban Agglomeration Hyderabad, India using Consumption Water Footprint

Cities are complex and evolving systems with various factors playing key roles, e.g., population increase, the migration of population, the availability of resources, and the flexibility of policies. Consumers' socioeconomic status is also an important aspect that needs to be studied in the context of a self-reliant urban city in its resource consumption. In this regard, the association between water–food and socio-economic attributes was analyzed based on the consumer-centric approach for the Hyderabad Metro Development Authority (HMDA) region, India. In this study, the embedded water content in food consumption was estimated and analyzed for nine food groups and twelve economic classes of the HMDA region. The middle economic classes were found to correspond to ~80% of embedded water content in the HMDA region, followed by the upper and lower economic classes. Except for cereals, per capita, the water consumption of all food groups increased with the spending power of the economic class. The green, blue, and grey consumption water footprints (WFs) suggested that much of the water that is being consumed in the HMDA region is precipitation-driven, followed by surface and groundwater resources. Limited water resources, water resource variability, climate change consequences including future climate projections, uncertainty in data, WF estimates, and region’s future growth imply a detailed study in drafting policies to become a self-reliant region.