Treesearch

As the world becomes increasingly urbanized and interconnected, the distinction between urban and rural areas is diminishing. Creation of new urban–rural interface areas causes immediate changes in local natural and social environments, and theseareas are also susceptible to both short-term and long-term environmental changes. Different groups of people have varying levels of exposure to natural hazards and gradual climatic changes, as well as access to different coping and resiliency strategies that create unique sets of assets and vulnerabilities. Social vulnerability to hazards and...

Electronic-detection technologies and instruments increasingly are being utilized in the biomedical field to perform a wide variety of clinical operations and laboratory analyses to facilitate the delivery of health care to patients. The introduction of improved electronic instruments for diagnosing diseases and for administering treatments has required new training of laboratory technicians in order that they may perform routine clinical operations, point-of-care testing, and laboratory analyses using these new diagnostic tools. Continuous education and competency of clinical laboratory...

The identification of aged woody samples is often a difficult task as a result of weathering and physical deterioration over time which removes or obscures distinguishing anatomical features and characteristics required for visual taxonomic determinations. Fortunately, the chemical characteristics of aged woods usually are preserved better than physical characteristics if the wood remains dry in storage. All wood types, determined by the particular plant species from which woody samples are derived, produce and release a unique complex of volatile organic compounds that distinguish...

Vital to the work of the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group has been the collaboration among members to evaluate population status and coordinate planning for future activities, principally in conservation implementation. Two plans have been produced, one a general strategy for the conservation and management of the species over its entire range, and a more restricted plan for conservation of non-breeding populations, their landscapes, and the economic vitality of the local communities. In the process several notable conservation implementation successes have been achieved affecting nearly...

We monitored 15 radio-collared raccoons (Procyon lotor) on Davies Island in March 1987 - May 1988 to determine the extent to which individual tree attributes or spatial configuration of plant associations (habitat types) across the land-scape influenced den use. Of 1091 verified den sites, 428 were in tree cavities. Raccoon occurrence among 4 cover types differed from that expected based on the total area of each across the island and varied across all seasons for all habitat types except Cedar Wood. Preference varied among age and sex groups and across seasons with some groups showing...

The Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) has one of the longest migrations of any small passerine, traveling approximately 4,000 km between breeding grounds in eastern North America and nonbreeding residency in northern South America. However, unlike many migratory birds, little is known about this aspect of the ecology of this species. In 2004 – 2009 teams of resident and foreign biologists conducted 181 line-transect surveys in Belize, southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, during the last week in March and the first three weeks of April. Results generally confirm Parker’s...

Black willow (Salix nigra Marsh.) has the potential to be a significant feedstock source for bioenergy and biofuels production in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV). This potential is based on a number of primary factors including rapid growth, ease of vegetative propagation, excellent rooting, and the ability to regenerate from coppice following harvest. To date, there has been no directed black willow improvement effort for the LMAV and production rates of this species in dedicated energy plantations is unknown. The focus of this program is to identify genetically superior...

Ecological niche models are commonly used to identify regions at risk of species invasions. Relying on climate alone may limit a model's success when additional variables contribute to invasion. While a climate-based model may predict the future spread of an invasive plant, we hypothesized that a model that combined climate with human influences would most successfully explain its present distribution.Weused the ecological niche model MaxEnt to test our hypothesis with Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), a common invasive horticultural plant in the United States.We first predicted...

When El Grupo Cerúleo, a sub-committee of the Cerulean Warbler Technical Group, was formed in 2002, the task of elucidating the nonbreeding distribution, ecology and behavior of the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) was large, our understanding of habitat needs was limited, there was fear that little suitable habitat existed, and conservation partnerships within Latin America and between North, South, and Middle America were few and far between. Our continuing efforts have led to a network of partners in thebody of knowledge about the Cerulean Warbler on its nonbreeding range. The time...

Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea), one of the fastest declining avian species in North America, are associated with heterogeneous canopies in mature hardwood forests. However, the age of most second and third-growth forests in eastern North American is not sufficient for natural tree mortality to maintain structurally diverse canopies. Previous research suggests that forest management through timber harvest also may create conditions suitable as Cerulean Warbler breeding habitat. We conducted a multistate study that examined Cerulean Warbler response to varying degrees of canopy...