Movement and dispersal of a habitat specialist in human-dominated landscapes: a case study of the red panda

Background Habitat specialists living in human-dominated landscapes are likely to be affected by habitat fragmentation and human disturbances more than generalists. But there is a paucity of information on their response to such factors. We examined the effect of these factors on movement patterns of red pandas Ailurus fulgens, a habitat and diet specialist that inhabits the eastern Himalaya. Methods We equipped 10 red pandas (six females, four males) with GPS collars and monitored them from September 2019 to March 2020 in Ilam, eastern Nepal. We collected habitat and disturbance data over four seasons. We considered geophysical covariates, anthropogenic factors and habitat fragmentation metrics, and employed linear -mixed models and logistic regression to evaluate the effect of those variables on movement patterns. Results The median daily distance travelled by red pandas was 756 m. Males travelled nearly 1.5 times further than females (605 m). Males and sub-adults travelled more in the mating season while females showed no seasonal variation for their daily distance coverage. Red pandas were relatively more active during dawn and morning than the rest of the day, and they exhibited seasonal variation in distance coverage on the diel cycle. Both males and females appeared to be more active in the cub-rearing season, yet males were more active in the dawn in the birthing season. Two sub-adult females dispersed an average of 21 km starting their dispersal with the onset of the new moon following the winter solstice. The single subadult male did not disperse. Red pandas avoided roads, small-habitat patches and large unsuitable areas between habitat patches. Where connected habitat with high forest cover was scarce the animals moved more directly than when habitat was abundant. Conclusions Our study indicates that this habitat specialist is vulnerable to human disturbances and habitat fragmentation. Habitat restoration through improving functional connectivity may be necessary to secure the long-term conservation of specialist species in a human-dominated landscape. Regulation of human activities should go in parallel to minimize disturbances during biologically crucial life phases. We recommend habitat zonation to limit human activities and avoid disturbances, especially livestock herding and road construction in core areas.

Initial Investigation of Sulawesi Moor Macaque (Macaca maura) in Tabo-tabo Forest, South Sulawesi - Indonesia

Sulawesi black crested macaque (Macaca maura) is one of the seven endemic macaque inhabited Sulawesi Island and is mainly found in the Southern part of Sulawesi. This species is classified as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN). The aim of this research was 1) to examine the homerange of M. maura and daily activity of the species, 2) to determine tree species used by the species as diet sources and resting trees in Tabo-tabo Forest, Pangkep Regency (South Sulawesi – Indonesia). The home range was measured by connecting coordinate points passed by a moor macaque group in the area for 6 consecutive days. Meanwhile, daily activity of the species was monitored by using scan sampling method for sampled individuals in three observation periods. Direct observation was carried out to identify diet and resting tree species. It was found that the moor macaque group had 22.06 ha width of home range with the total distance around 6.64 km. The daily distance spent by the group was between 0.9-1.5 km or in average was 1.1 km. The highest activities known to be feeding (30.4%) and then followed by moving (25.3%). While resting activities was allocated for 24.7%. The least activities recorded were social activities (19.6%). Tree species used by the group as diet and resting trees were Anthocephalus chinensis and Dracontomelon dao. The tree species known to be a diet tree only were Garcinia nervosa, Arenga pinnata, Flacourtia rukam, Ficus. sp, Eugenia cuminii, Gastonia serratifolia, Mangifera sp., Spondias dulcis, and Muntingia calabura.

Home range and movements of San Joaquin antelope squirrels in the San Joaquin Desert of California

The San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni) is one of five species in the genus and has the most restricted range of the four mainland antelope squirrels, occurring only in the San Joaquin Desert of California. Despite being state-listed as Threatened since 1980, few studies have been conducted on A. nelsoni, especially ecological studies, which hampers recovery efforts. We conducted a radio-telemetry study in 2002 of 19 males on the Lokern Natural Area in the southwestern portion of the San Joaquin Desert. Based on 100% Minimum Convex Polygons (MCP), home ranges varied from 1.25–14.5 ha with a mean of 5.93 ha (± 0.90 standard error). The average daily distance traveled by these 19 males was 128.5 m (range, 71.4–224.5) and the average greatest distance travelled in a day was 313.0 m, with some traveling > 0.5 km. Our data are useful to further refine the estimates of home range and movements of this neglected protected species, but in the future, better home range studies are needed that span multiple years, include both sexes, and occur at sites across its range.

Goal attainment in mobility after acute rehabilitation of mobility-restricting paralysis syndromes with regard to the ambulatory therapeutic level of participation NeuroMoves

Background A central goal of rehabilitation in patients with paralysis syndromes after stroke or spinal cord injury (SCI) is to restore independent mobility as a pedestrian or wheelchair user. However, after acute rehabilitation, the mobility frequently deteriorates in the ambulatory setting, despite the delivery of rehabilitative interventions such as physical therapy or the prescription of assistive devices. The aim of the NeuroMoves study is to identify factors that are associated with changes of mobility in the ambulatory setting after acute inpatient rehabilitation, with a particular focus on participation according to the ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health). Methods The NeuroMoves study is intended as a national multicenter observational cohort study with 9 clinical sites in Germany. A total of 500 patients with mobility-restricting paralysis syndromes (i.e. stroke or SCI) are to be recruited during acute inpatient rehabilitation prior to discharge to the ambulatory setting. Patients will have 8 months of follow-up in the ambulatory setting. Three study visits at the clinical sites (baseline, midterm, and final) are planned at 4-months intervals. The baseline visit is scheduled at the end of the acute inpatient rehabilitation. During the visits, demographical data, neurological, functional, quality of life, and implementation measures will be assessed. At baseline, each study participant receives an activity tracker (sensor for recording ambulatory mobility) along with a tablet computer for home use over the 8 months study duration. While mounted, the activity tracker records mobility data from which the daily distance covered by walking or wheelchair use can be calculated. Customized applications on the tablet computer remind the study participants to answer structured questionnaires about their health condition and treatment goals for physical therapy. Using the study participants’ tablet, therapists will be asked to answer structured questionnaires concerning treatment goals and therapeutic measures they have applied. The primary analysis concerns the association between mobility (daily distance covered) and the degree of participation-oriented rehab interventions. Further exploratory analyses are planned. Discussion The findings could inform healthcare decision-making regarding ambulatory care in Germany focusing on mobility-promoting interventions for patients with mobility-restricting paralysis syndromes. Study registration German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS-ID: DRKS00020487 (18.02.2020).

Big batteries on wheels: converting diesel trains to battery electric can provide significant economic, environmental, and grid resilience benefits

Nearly all locomotives in the U.S. are propelled by an electric drive that is powered by a diesel generator, the air pollution from which contributes to more than 1,000 premature deaths every year. Dramatic improvements in battery technology plus access to cheap renewable electricity open the possibility of battery-electric rail. Given that locomotives already have an electric drive, converting them to battery-electric primarily requires a battery car, which can be connected directly to the drivetrain. We examine the case for a battery-electric U.S. freight rail sector and find that one heavy-duty battery car can power a typical locomotive for 450 miles, three times the average daily distance travelled by U.S. freight trains. We find that battery-electric trains can achieve cost parity with diesel trains with electricity charging costs under 6 cents/kWh. We illustrate how these costs can be achieved with access to wholesale electricity rates. Converting the fleet to battery-electric would remove 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and generate total sector cost savings of $250 billion over 20 years, while introducing 238 GWh of mobile batteries that could address location-specific grid constraints during extreme events.

Improving the delivery of wagon shipments by mathematical-statistical methods

The results of the analysis of the delivery time of loaded wagons were determined by mathematical-statistical methods. The delivery time of the wagon shipment was considered in the example of a shipment with a transport distance of 200, 650, 1000 km of the processing process based on the mathematical-statistical method. According to the law of normal distribution, the accuracy of the approximation of the delivery time is determined by V.I. In an examination using the Romanovsky criterion, it was proved that it would be taken into account in the future. The proposed time delivery technology is based on illustrative data on the completion of a specific delivery time provided to the team by determining a coefficient that considers various factors for the next period, i.e., this coefficient determines the daily distance traveled by the wagon for the next period.

The Sense of Emptiness in the Art of Installation of Yasuaki Onishi

Lorsque nous parlons généralement d’un espace vide, ce vide n’est pas réellement vide physiquement. L’espace vide est rempli d’air, de matière invisible, mais il ne peut pas être vu ou capturé. Pourtant, nous savons bien que l’air, élément indispensable pour tous les êtres vivants, est également présent autour de nous. Devrions-nous alors considérer différemment l’espace vide et l’air dans l’installation ? Pour Yasuaki Onishi (1979-), sculpteur et installateur in situ, l’espace vide est un lieu essentiel pour l’installation et l’inspiration. Il s’intéresse à l’invisible, à l’espace, à l’air, à l’espace négatif, etc. Il révèle ce qui est invisible, en utilisant un matériau léger tel qu’un adhésif liquide noir (colle chaude) et le support de matériaux immatériels tels que la lumière, l’air ou d’autres matériaux intangibles. Parmi ses travaux, en particulier, en analysant les œuvres de la série Vertical Volume, Daily Distance, Gawa (ring), Shaping Air – A Breath of Mobility et Vertical Space, nous cherchons dans cette étude la signification de l’air invisible, du ki (氣, « souffle primordial »), du svi (mot issu du sanscrit sunyata), du wonsang (원상, 圓相) et le sens du vide du Tao et du bouddhisme. Quel est le sens du vide dans une installation de Yasuaki Onishi ? Et quel est l’enjeu entre l’espace vide et l’espace plein, l’espace visible et l’espace invisible, la matérialité et l’immatérialité ? Dans son travail, qui ne suit pas le processus général de la sculpture traditionnelle, nous trouverons le lien avec la signification de l’espace négatif et avec le terme coréen gan (간, 間, « entre, inter-espace »), l’espace-temps, avec le mot japonais ma (間) qui constitue un concept esthétique au Japon.

Ranging behaviour and habitat use in Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus in extensive farmland of Eastern Poland

Agriculture intensification drives changes in bird populations but also in the space use by farmland species. Agriculture in Eastern Europe still follows an extensive farming model, but due to policy shifts aimed at rural restructuring and implementation of government subsidies for farmers, it is being rapidly intensified. Here, we aimed to document the ranging behaviour and habitat use of a declining farmland bird of prey—Montagu’s Harrier—and to compare it to findings from Western Europe. In 2011–2018, 50 individuals were followed with GPS loggers in Eastern Poland to study species spatial ecology. We found home ranges (kernel 90%) to be considerably large: 67.3 (± 42.3) km2 in case of males, but only 4.9 (± 6.1) km2 in females. Home ranges overlapped by 40%, on average, with other males in colonies and by 61%, on average, between consecutive breeding seasons of a particular male. The average daily distance travelled by males and females reached, respectively, 94.5 and 45.3 km, covering a daily home range of 32.3 and 3.1 km2. Individuals foraged up to 35 km from nests (3.5 km on average). Daily distance travelled and daily home ranges varied across the breeding season, in case of females being shortest in July, but sharply increasing in August. Also, individuals with breeding success had higher daily distance travelled but smaller daily home ranges. Average harriers’ distance to nest was generally increasing over the season, but was also changing over time of day: birds were closest to nest during night time, but at the end of the season, males roosted up to 16 km from the nest. While foraging males slightly preferred grasslands, higher elevation and smaller land-use patches, they avoided slopes and proximity of roads. We conclude that the surprisingly large home ranges of breeding harriers may suggest reduced prey availability or high fragmentation of hunting areas, both driving birds to utilise large areas and potentially contributing to population decline.

Development of transportation types and their usage on caravan roads in middle ages

During the existence of the Bukhara khanate, the economic and trade relations with neighboring countries on the territory of Central Asia have been largely based on transport system of the old network of roads. Along with the formation and development of communication routes, transportation vehicles also improved based on the natural climate and geographical location of different regions. In the following article the info is given on the means of the transport used in the caravan routes in the trade-economic relations of khanate of Bukhara with neighboring countries in medieval times. Included there, the starting of domestication and usage of horse drawn vehicles, camels, donkeys and others, the capacity of daily load of camels, horses, donkeys which were core of caravans, their daily distance, the necessary tasks in the incidents occurred in caravan routes (injuries, bruises, contagious diseases) the stopping regulation of caravans (sand storm, in heat and frost) is thoroughly analyzed.

194 Effects of maternal behavior at calving, parity and season on dam behavior during fenceline weaning

The study objective was to assess the effect of maternal behavior at calving, parity and season on dam behavior during the first 24 h of fence-line weaning. Crossbred cattle (n = 58) were fitted with global positioning system collars on the day of weaning their calves and placed in a 10.1-ha pasture adjacent to their calves and separated by a common fence. Dam position was recorded at 5-minute intervals. Dam distance from the fence was analyzed using SAS PROC MIXED. Both maternal aggression score during calf handling within 24 h of calving (MA: 1 = flight response to 5 = fight response) and mothering aptitude score immediately following calf processing at calving (MOM: 1 = calf abandonment, 2 = cow retreats quickly with calf, 3 = cow flees chasing calf, 4 = cow walks away with calf, 5 = cow stays in immediate area with calf) affected mean daily distance to the fence (P < 0.01). Dams assigned a MA of 5 maintained the greatest (P < 0.01) mean daily distance from the fence (274.8 ± 1.0 m), whereas dams assigned a MA of 2 or 1 maintained the least (209.5 ± 0.8 m) (P < 0.01) and second least (220.5 ± 0.8 m) (P < 0.01) mean daily distance from the fence. Daily distance from the fence was in sequential order from greatest to least for dams with MOM scores of 3, 1, 5, 2, and 4 (P < 0.01). Distance from the fence was greater (P < 0.01) during fall than spring and greater (P < 0.01) for multiparous than primiparous dams. This suggests that maternal behavior at calving is related to maternal behavior at weaning and that parity and season also influence weaning behavior of dams.