Holocene fire history from the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, New South Wales, Australia: the climate, humans and fire nexus

This study presents a reconstruction of the fire activity of the last ~14,200 cal. years BP (before AD 1950) from Gooches Crater Right, located on the Newnes Plateau, approximately 150 km to the west of Sydney (~33°27′S, 150°16′E) within the Blue Mountains National Park. Charcoal analysis and palynology were undertaken with the aim of untangling any inter-relationship between climate, humans and fire. A chronology of the site was provided by radiocarbon dating. The dominant control on fire in this environment during the Holocene appears to be climate. Periods of climate change, identified in previous studies, are associated with higher levels of fire activity. Fire was less ubiquitous between ~9,000 and 6,000 years BP, a period normally described as having a higher effective moisture in south-eastern Australia. The mid-Holocene fluctuations in charcoal may reflect anthropogenic fire, climate forcing or alternatively human responses to any climate change. Coeval changes in palaeoclimatic sequences elsewhere and palynology at the site support a climatic explanation or that Aboriginal people used fire within a climatic framework.     

Role of amniotic fluid interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis in patient management

We retrospectively reviewed 309 amniotic fluid interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses performed from October 1995 to June 1999 to assess the role of interphase FISH in the management of patients at increased risk for fetal aneuploidies. Gestational age and indications for amniocentesis, clinical interventions after FISH results, as well as interventions after final culture reports were analyzed. There were 244 (79%) normal, 50 (16%) abnormal and 15 (5%) inconclusive FISH results. There were no false-positive or false-negative results, but there were nine (3%) clinically significant chromosomal abnormalities not detectable by FISH. Of the 50 women with abnormal FISH results, 26 (52%) elected to terminate the pregnancy prior to the availability of the standard chromosome analysis. In two of the fetuses with trisomy 21 no abnormalities were reported by ultrasound examination. Our experience indicates that interphase FISH results played an important role in decision making, especially for pregnancies close to 24 weeks' gestation. Standard karyotype analysis is still required for detection of chromosome abnormalities not detectable by interphase FISH techniques and for clarification of unusual or inconclusive FISH results. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Choosing an appropriate soil-gas survey method

Three types of soil-gas surveys were performed over the same location at an industrial facility. The surveys performed were (1) a passive technique using buried collectors, (2) an active technique in which samples were collected in the field by pumping with subsequent analysis at a field laboratory, and (3) a screening technique that employed a hand-held survey instrument. Each of the surveys had desirable features, but there was considerable variability in the quality of data obtained, cost, and ease of performance. The passive and active surveys provided excellent detection limits, but the passive technique does not provide data in real time. The active survey was also time-consuming and required an analytical chemist in the field. Neither the active nor the passive survey were able to delineate the plume of contaminated groundwater. Consequently, the results from the rapid and inexpensive reconnaissance technique provided functionally equivalent data.Publication No. 3672, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL.Operated by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-840R21400.     

Factors influencing length of maternal care in brown bears (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ursus arctos</Emphasis>) and its effect on offspring

Length of maternal care, i.e. the interval between successfully raised litters, is the most important factor explaining the variation in reproductive rate among brown-bear (Ursus arctos) populations. In this paper, we examine the variation in length of maternal care in radio-marked brown bears and its effect on their offspring in northern Sweden. Young stayed with their mothers for 1.4–1.5 or 2.4–2.5 (in one case 3.5) years and were weaned with body masses varying from 17 to 69 kg. The probability of yearling litters staying with their mother for a 2nd year increased with decreasing yearling body mass, and was higher for litters with two offspring than for litters with one or three to four offspring. Staying with their mothers for a 2nd year had a positive effect on mass gain in yearlings and this effect was more pronounced in litters with two than three to four offspring. Body mass of 2-year-olds was not related to age of weaning, suggesting that keeping offspring for an additional year mainly compensated for low yearling body mass. If large offspring body mass positively affects later offspring survival and reproduction, mothers may be able to optimize the length of maternal care according to the litter size and the size of their yearlings.Communicated by F. Trillmich     

Airport noise, location rent, and the market for residential amenities

The present study reports on the influence of aircraft noise on housing prices in the vicinity of six major U.S. airports, including San Francisco, St. Louis, Cleveland, New Orleans, San Diego, and Buffalo. The sampling procedures attempt to control for the effect of accessibility on location rent, and hence, housing prices. Regression results are reported for the individual samples and for a pooled sample consisting of 845 observations. The regression coefficients for aircraft noise are stable about their weighted mean and are comparable to coefficient estimates from the pooled sample. Dummy variables and partitioned regressions are used to test for remaining accessibility effects.     

Statistical inference on patch-specific survival and movement rates from marked animals

Empirical estimates of patch-specific survival and movement rates are needed to parametrize spatially explicit population models, and for inference on the effects of habitat quality and fragmentation on populations. Data from radio-marked animals, in which both the fates and habitat locations of animals are known over time, can be used in conjunction with continuous-time proportional hazards models to obtain inferences on survival rates. Discrete-time conditional logistic models may provide inference on both survival and movement rates. We use Monte Carlo simulation to investigate accuracy of estimates of survival from both approaches, and movement rates from conditional logistic regression, for two habitats. Bias was low (relative bias < 0.04) and interval coverage accurate (close to the nominal 0.95) for estimates of habitat effect on survival based on proportional hazards. Bias was high ( relative bias 0.60) and interval coverage poor ( = 0.26 vs. nominal 0.95) for estimates of habitat effect based on conditional logistic regression; bias was especially influenced by heterogeneity in survival and the shape of the hazard function, whereas both bias and coverage were affected by ‘memory’ effects in movement patterns. Bias estimates of movement rate was low ( relative bias < 0.05), but interval coverage was poor ( = 0.48–0.80), possibly as a result of poor performance of a Taylor series estimate of variance. An example is provided from a radio-telemetry study of 47 wintering American woodcock (Scolopax minor), illustrating practical difficulties in field studies to parametrize these models. We also discuss extensions of continuous-time models to explicitly include a movement process, and further examine tradeoffs between continuous and discrete models.