Application of ‘Landsat’ data to resource management

Over the past few years, a great deal of interest has been focused on the use of remote sensing for resource management. This paper examines one of the most useful systems — Landsat. Included in this paper is a discussion of this remote-sensing technology, its application and its future as a tool for resources planning and management.     

Song repertoires and density assessment in red-winged blackbirds: further tests of the Beau Geste hypothesis

Summary The Beau Geste hypothesis proposes that song repertoires are advantageous in territory defense because nonterritorial males, who are prospecting for territories, use the number of song types they hear to assess the density of territorial males, and then avoid densely-settled areas. A territorial male can then inflate the apparent density of singers on his territory by singing several distinct song type. This hypothesis assumes (1) a positive correlation between the density of song types and the density of territorial males, and (2) a negative correlation between the rate of trespassing and the densities of both song types and territorial males. We studied the behavior of male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and found support for the first, but not the second, assumption. Results showing a positive correlation between density of song types and density of territorial males show that the proposed method of density assessment is feasible in this species. However, we could find no support for the assumption that nonterritorial male red-winged blackbirds avoid densely settled areas. In contrast to the assumed negative correlation, rate of trespass per territory was not consistently correlated with male density, and trespass rate per unit area was positively correlated with male density. Further, these relationships were retained when we controlled statistically for the effects of territory quality. We conclude that prospecting male red-winged blackbirds to not attempt to avoid densely settled areas, and that, although they do avoid territories defended by many song types, they do not use song type density to assess the density of territorial males. It is thus unlikely that the Beau Geste hypothesis adequately accounts for the evolution of song repertoires in the red-winged blackbird.     

Predicting biodiversity change: outside the climate envelope, beyond the species-area curve

Efforts to anticipate threats to biodiversity take the form of species richness predictions (SRPs) based on simple correlations with current climate and habitat area. We review the major approaches that have been used for SRP, species-area curves and climate envelopes, and suggest that alternative research efforts may provide more understanding and guidance for management. Extinction prediction suffers from a number of limitations related to data and the novelty of future environments. We suggest additional attention to (1) identification of variables related to biodiversity that are diagnostic and potentially more predictable than extinction, (2) constraints on species dispersal and reproduction that will determine population persistence and range shifts, including limited sources or potential immigrants for many regions, and (3) changes in biotic interactions and phenology. We suggest combinations of observational and experimental approaches within a framework available for ingesting heterogeneous data sources. Together, these recommendations amount to a shift in emphasis from prediction of extinction numbers to identification of vulnerabilities and leading indicators of change, as well as suggestions for surveillance tools needed to evaluate important variables and the experiments likely to provide most insight.     

Rank-dependent hoarding effort in willow tits (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parus montanus</Emphasis>): a test of theoretical predictions

Many birds and mammals store energy as hoarded food supplies. A supply of stored food is beneficial during periods when food is scarce, but building up and managing such a supply also entails costs. The optimal number of caches will be reached when the net benefit is at its maximum. If dominants can steal more stored food from subordinates than the other way around, the optimum will differ between these categories. A previous theoretical model of hoarding in groups with dominant and subordinate members produced three testable predictions: (1) hoarders should store more food as anticipated future conditions get worse; (2) subordinate flock members should store more food than dominants; and (3) dominants should increase hoarding relatively more than subordinates as conditions get worse. Here we present a field experiment on willow tits (Parus montanus) designed to test these predictions. We found support for all three. Hoarding increased as conditions got worse, subordinates stored at a higher rate than dominants, and dominants increased their hoarding effort relatively more than subordinates as conditions worsened. These results support the incorporation of information on dominance and food availability into models predicting food storage behaviour.Communciated by J. Dickinson     

Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Reducing the Emission of Nitrogen Oxides in Asia

The purpose of this study is to evaluate cost-effective reduction strategies for nitrogen oxides (NO _x ) in the Asian region. The source-receptor relationships of the Lagrangian “puff” model of long-range transportation, ATMOS-N, were used to calculate the wet/dry deposition of the nitrogen (N) in Asia. Critical loads of N deposition in Asia were calculated from the relationships between the critical load of sulfur (S) and balance of N in and out using the data of S critical load of RAINS-ASIA. The cost functions of N reduction of Asian countries were derived by the regression analysis with the data of cost functions of European countries used in RAINS. In order to assess the environmental impact, the gaps between N deposition and critical load of N were calculated. The emission of NO _x was reduced in some cases of this model, and the changes of gaps between N deposition and critical load were observed as well as the changes of the reduction cost. It is shown that a uniform reduction of NO _x emissions by countries in Asia is not cost-effective strategy.     

Quantifying dry NH3 deposition to an ombrotrophic bog from an automated NH3 field release system

Providing an accurate estimate of the dry component of N deposition to low N background, semi-natural habitats, such as bogs and upland moors dominated by Calluna vulgaris is difficult, but essential to relate nitrogen deposition to effects in these communities. To quantify the effects of NH₃ inputs to moorland vegetation growing on a bog at a field scale, a field release NH₃ fumigation system was established at Whim Moss (Scottish Borders) in 2002. Gaseous NH₃ from a line source was released along of a 60 m transect, when meteorological conditions (wind speed >2.5 m s^?1 and wind direction in the sector 180–215°) were met, thereby providing a profile of decreasing NH₃ concentration with distance from the source. In a complementary study, using a NH₃ flux chamber system, the relationships between NH₃ concentrations and cuticular resistances were quantified for a range of NH₃ concentrations and micrometeorological conditions for moorland vegetation. Cuticular resistances increased with NH₃ concentration from 11 s m^?1 at 3.0 μg m^?3 to 30 s m^?1 at 30 μg m^?3. The NH₃ concentration data and the concentration-dependent canopy resistance are used to calculate NH₃ deposition taking into account leaf surface wetness. The implications of using an NH₃ concentration-dependent cuticular resistance and the importance for refining critical loads are discussed.     

Are Lévy flight patterns derived from the Weber–Fechner law in distance estimation?

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are regularly faced with the task of navigating back to their hives from remote food sources. They have evolved several methods to do this, including compass-directed “vector” flights and the use of landmarks. If these hive-centered mechanisms are disrupted, bees revert to searching for the hive, using an optimal Lévy flight searching strategy. The same strategy is adopted when a food source at a known location ceases to be available. Here, we show that the programming for this Lévy strategy does not need to be very sophisticated or clever on the bee’s part, as Lévy flight patterns can be derived from the Weber–Fechner law in a bee’s odometer. Odometry errors of a different kind occur in desert ants (Cataglyphis spp., Melophorus bagoti). The searching behaviors of these ants are very similar in overall structure to that of honeybees but do not display any Lévy flight characteristics. We suggest that errors in the estimation of distance can be implicitly involved in shaping the structure of systematic search behavior and should not be regarded as merely deficiencies in the odometer.     

An integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression in the brains of Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice after real-world PM2.5 exposure

Fine particulatematter (PM2.5) is associated with increased risks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD),yet the toxicologicalmechanisms of PM2.5 promoting AD remain unclear. In this study,wildtype and APP/PS1 transgenic mice (AD mice) were exposed to either filtered air (FA) or PM2.5 for eight weeks with a real-world exposure system in Taiyuan, China (mean PM2.5 concentration in the cage was 61 μg/m3). We found that PM2.5 exposure could remarkably aggravate AD mice’s ethological and brain ultrastructural damage, along with the elevation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), Aβ-42 and AChE levels and the decline of ChAT levels in the brains. Based on high-throughput sequencing results, some differentially expressed (DE) mRNAs and DE miRNAs in the brains of AD mice after PM2.5 exposure were screened.Using RT-qPCR, seven DEmiRNAs (mmu-miR-193b-5p, 122b-5p, 466h-3p, 10b-5p, 1895, 384–5p, and 6412) and six genes (Pcdhgb8, Unc13b, Robo3, Prph, Pter, and Tbata) were evidenced the and verified. Two miRNA-target gene pairs (miR-125b-Pcdhgb8 pair and miR-466h-3p-IL-17Rα/TGF-βR2/Aβ-42/AChE pairs) were demonstrated that they were more related to PM2.5-induced brain injury. Results of Gene Ontology (GO) pathways and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways predicted that synaptic and postsynaptic regulation, axon guidance, Wnt, MAPK, and mTOR pathways might be the possible regulatory mechanisms associated with pathological response. These revealed that PM2.5- elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and PM2.5-altered neurotransmitter levels in AD mice could be the important causes of brain damage and proposed the promising miRNA andmRNA biomarkers and potentialmiRNA-mRNA interaction networks of PM2.5-promoted AD.