Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.     

Trade‐offs and efficiencies in optimal budget‐constrained multispecies corridor networks

Conservation biologists recognize that a system of isolated protected areas will be necessary but insufficient to meet biodiversity objectives. Current approaches to connecting core conservation areas through corridors consider optimal corridor placement based on a single optimization goal: commonly, maximizing the movement for a target species across a network of protected areas. We show that designing corridors for single species based on purely ecological criteria leads to extremely expensive linkages that are suboptimal for multispecies connectivity objectives. Similarly, acquiring the least‐expensive linkages leads to ecologically poor solutions. We developed algorithms for optimizing corridors for multispecies use given a specific budget. We applied our approach in western Montana to demonstrate how the solutions may be used to evaluate trade‐offs in connectivity for 2 species with different habitat requirements, different core areas, and different conservation values under different budgets. We evaluated corridors that were optimal for each species individually and for both species jointly. Incorporating a budget constraint and jointly optimizing for both species resulted in corridors that were close to the individual species movement‐potential optima but with substantial cost savings. Our approach produced corridors that were within 14% and 11% of the best possible corridor connectivity for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and wolverines (Gulo gulo), respectively, and saved 75% of the cost. Similarly, joint optimization under a combined budget resulted in improved connectivity for both species relative to splitting the budget in 2 to optimize for each species individually. Our results demonstrate economies of scale and complementarities conservation planners can achieve by optimizing corridor designs for financial costs and for multiple species connectivity jointly. We believe that our approach will facilitate corridor conservation by reducing acquisition costs and by allowing derived corridors to more closely reflect conservation priorities.     

Effects of halobenzoquinone and haloacetic acid water disinfection byproducts on human neural stem cells

Human neural stem cells(h NSCs) are a useful tool to assess the developmental effects of various environmental contaminants; however, the application of h NSCs to evaluate water disinfection byproducts(DBPs) is scarce. Comprehensive toxicological results are essential to the prioritization of DBPs for further testing and regulation. Therefore, this study examines the effects of DBPs on the proliferation and differentiation of h NSCs. Prior to DBP treatment, characteristic protein markers of h NSCs from passages 3 to 6 were carefully examined and it was determined that h NSCs passaged 3 or 4 times maintained stem cell characteristics and can be used for DBP analysis. Two regulated DBPs, monobromoacetic acid(BAA) and monochloroacetic acid(CAA), and two emerging DBPs, 2,6-dibromo-1,4-benzoquinone(2,6-DBBQ) and 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone(2,6-DCBQ), were chosen for h NSC treatment. Both 2,6-DBBQ and 2,6-DCBQ induced cell cycle arrest at S-phase at concentrations up to 1 μmol/L. Comparatively, BAA and CAA at 0.5 μmol/L affected neural differentiation. These results suggest DBP-dependent effects on h NSC proliferation and differentiation. The DBP-induced cell cycle arrest and inhibition of normal h NSC differentiation demonstrate the need to assess the developmental neurotoxicity of DBPs.     

密克罗尼西亚联邦科斯雷岛上的人口迁徙、市场及红树林资源利用

密克罗尼西亚联邦(FSM)的科斯雷岛是易发生经济活动聚集的岛屿经济的典型.家庭平均人口多,可居住土地面积小,经济活动有限,家庭依赖自然资源作为燃料和食物的程度高.我们分析了经济活动聚集--及其通过贸易和人口迁徙得到缓和--是如何影响红树林资源利用的.对1996年和2000年的家庭调查进行比较的结果表明,尽管美国援助和公营部门就业机会的减少,家庭对红树林资源的平均消费并未增加,人口迁徙和汇款收入使得人们可能通过购买进口燃料和建筑材料来取代红树林木材.尽管人们的偏爱发生了变化,重点转向对进口品的消费,人口增长以及美国经济援助的进一步减少将可能造成对红树林和高地木材的总需求上升.此外,持续的移民出境现象,可能会加速锯缘青蟹向岛外科斯雷人居住地的出口.     

Modifying native and exotic species richness correlations: the influence of fire and seed addition.

An important goal in restoration is to increase the richness of native species while reducing exotic species. However, native species richness is often positively correlated with exotic species richness. In a grassland-savanna system in Michigan (USA), we show that management that focuses on changing the nature of the exotic-native richness relationship can be used to restore native communities. Native and exotic species richnesses were positively correlated, likely due to a shared coupling with aboveground live biomass (a surrogate for productivity). The addition of native seed shifted the exotic-native richness relationship from a linear positive to a monotonic relationship: in areas of intermediate levels of exotic species richness, seed addition increased native diversity without an associated effect on exotic diversity, but in areas of high or low exotic richness, it did not affect native species richness. Prescribed burning broke the correlation between native and exotic richness with no consistent effect on the richness of either group. However, when burning was combined with native-seed addition, the relationship between native and exotic richness was maintained and was shifted upwards, enhancing native recruitment. Although aboveground productivity was strongly related to species richness across the landscape, changes in productivity did not drive these shifts.     

Male traits expressed in females: direct or indirect sexual selection?

Summary Colored epaulets in female red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) could be due either to direct sexual selection favoring the maintenance of this trait in females due to intrasexual competition for breeding opportunities, or to sexual selection favoring bright epaulets in males indirectly causing expression of the trait in females by genetic correlation. Older females tend to be brighter than younger females. Also, brighter females tend to breed earlier in the season than dull females. These patterns are consistent with both of the hypotheses. In a series of experiments in which males and females were presented with taxidermic mounts of dull and bright females, the plumage of these mounts had no influence on the response of either males or females. Also, the response of females was independent of their own plumage. The results of all of the experiments consistently supported the interpretation that male plumage characteristics expressed in female redwinged blackbirds have no functional value and are a consequence of genetic correlation with males. Since recent studies have also indicated that female aggression has no functional value, we speculate that this too could be due to genetic correlation with a trait favored in males.     

The impact of feedback and self-efficacy on performance in training

This field experiment examined the main and interactive effects of self-efficacy and feedback (i.e. the use of feedback versus no feedback) on performance in a speed reading class. Results showed that the provision of feedback was beneficial to the performance of all subjects, however as subject self-efficacy increased, the beneficial effects of feedback to the subject's performance also increased. Subjects who received feedback on their performance experienced significantly greater increases in self-efficacy than subjects who received no feedback. The more positive the performance feedback received, the greater the increase in individual self-efficacy. The implications of these results for training programs are discussed.     

RIVER-BED SEDIMENTATION CAUSED BY OFF-ROAD VEHICLES AT RIVER FORDS IN THE VICTORIAN HIGHLANDS,AUSTRALIA1

ABSTRACT: This study investigates some of the effects occurring at recreational off-road vehicle (ORV) crossings on two rivers in eastern Victoria, where many road crossings occur at low-level fords. Further, it provides a method whereby the amount of sediment redeposited downstream of a ford can be measured. Attention is drawn to the fact that sediment is contributed to the river by five major processes: the creation of wheel ruts and concentration of surface runoff, the existence of tracks and exposed surfaces, the compaction and subsequent reduction in the infiltration rate of soils leading to increased surface runoff, backwash from the vehicle, and undercutting of banks by bow wave action. The last two of these processes have not been reported previously. Sediment collection experiments in two Victorian upland rivers indicate a mean deposition rate at the stream bed of approximately 1000 g m^?2 over a period of 30 days.     

Drinking and driving and perceptions of arrest risk among California drivers: Relationships with DUI arrests in their city of residence

Objective: Addressing drinking and driving remains a challenge in the United States. The present study aims to provide feedback on driving under the influence (DUI) in California by assessing whether drinking and driving behavior is associated with the DUI arrest rates in the city in which the driver lives; whether this is due to perceptions that one can get arrested for this behavior; and whether this differed by those drivers who would be most affected by deterrence efforts (those most likely to drink outside the home).

Methods: This study consisted of a 2012 roadside survey of 1,147 weekend nighttime drivers in California. City DUI arrest rates for 2009–2011 were used as an indicator of local enforcement efforts. Population average logistic modeling was conducted modeling the odds of perceived high arrest likelihood for DUI and drinking and driving behavior within the past year.

Results: As the DUI arrest rates for the city in which the driver lives increased, perceived high risk of DUI arrest increased. There was no significant relationship between either city DUI arrest rates or perceived high risk of DUI arrest with self-reported drinking and driving behavior in the full sample. Among a much smaller sample of those most likely to drink outside the home, self-reported drinking and driving behavior was negatively associated with DUI arrests rates in their city of residence but this was not mediated by perceptions.

Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that perceptions are correlated with one aspect of DUI efforts in one's community. Those who were more likely to drink outside the home could be behaviorally influenced by these efforts.