Seasonal changes in burrow geometry of the common mole rat (Rodentia: Bathyergidae)

Sociality in mole rats has been suggested to have evolved as a response to the widely dispersed food resources and the limited burrowing opportunities that result from sporadic rainfall events. In the most arid regions, individual foraging efficiency is reduced, and energetic constraints increase. In this study, we investigate seasonal differences in burrow architecture of the social Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus in a mesic region. We describe burrow geometry in response to seasonal weather conditions for two seasons (wet and dry). Interactions occurred between seasons and colony size for the size of the burrow systems, but not the shape of the burrow systems. The fractal dimension values of the burrow systems did not differ between seasons. Thus, the burrow complexity was dependent upon the number of mole rats present in the social group.     

Shelters from the storm: A note on the geography of hurricane shelters in Barbados, 1982

Barbados, a small island of 166 square miles in the Caribbean, with a population of 246,416 persons, has a total of 177 emergency shelters with a known capacity of 20,623 persons. The average shelter capacity is 117 persons and the total known shelter capacity represents 8.4% of the population.
The spatial arrangement of the grade I shelters, as seen relative to the 1980 population census map by grouped enumeration districts, reveals that there are many areas and persons, who, in time of emergency, will not be able to avail themselves of the protection of a shelter.