PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Landscape-level habitat connectivity is key for species that depend on longleaf pine

Landscape-level habitat connectivity is key for species that depend on longleaf pine
2015-03-18
(Press-News.org) Preserving isolated patches of habitat isn't enough to save species such as Bachman's Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) that depend on longleaf pine; habitat connectivity at the landscape level is also crucial. That is the message of a new paper by Paul Taillie, M. Nils Peterson, and Christopher Moorman of North Carolina State University, published this week in The Condor: Ornithological Applications.

In the past, fire-dependent longleaf pine forests covered vast, unbroken areas of the southeastern U.S., and Bachman's Sparrows and other species adapted to live in this expansive habitat. Today, however, longleaf pines exist primarily in isolated patches surrounded by agriculture and urban development. To see whether small but well-managed patches of longleaf pine were enough to support healthy Bachman's Sparrow populations, Taillie and his colleagues surveyed Bachman's Sparrows in 111 habitat patches in spring 2011 and tested what factors best explained their distribution. They found that while the sparrows did prefer patches that had been burned recently, an even stronger predictor of the presence or absence of Bachman's Sparrows was how much of the land within three kilometers was devoted to longleaf pine--that is, how connected a patch was to a larger longleaf pine landscape.

"While we know a lot about the local habitat characteristics affecting Bachman's Sparrow habitat selection, we don't know much about the role of landscape-level factors," explains Taillie. "As a result of this research, we found that habitat selection actually appears to depend on a very broad range of scales, from 100 meters to several kilometers. Other studies have shown similar patterns for other species associated with longleaf pine, which suggests that connectivity may be important to the function of the greater ecosystem, and possibly other highly fragmented ecosystems as well. Thus, conservation management and planning efforts, such as prescribed burning, habitat restoration, and land acquisition, should also consider a broad range of scales to benefit the diverse assemblage of organisms that comprise this community."

"Taillie, Peterson and Moorman have made a significant contribution to the understanding of Bachman's sparrow's use of the landscape in eastern North Carolina," adds Jeff Marcus of the Nature Conservancy, a longleaf pine management expert who was not involved in the research. "As the broader conservation community strives to restore and enhance longleaf pine habitat across its range, it is important to understand not only the habitat characteristics but also the landscape characteristics that will lead to the most robust and resilient outcome for longleaf-associated species. The Bachman's sparrow is an excellent indicator species to help inform longleaf pine habitat needs because it is closely tied to well-managed longleaf habitat."

INFORMATION:

"The relative importance of multiscale factors in the distribution of Bachman's Sparrow and the implications for ecosystem conservation" is an open-access paper that can be viewed at http://www.aoucospubs.org/doi/full/10.1650/CONDOR-14-137.1.

About the journal: The Condor: Ornithological Applications is a peer-reviewed, international journal of ornithology. The journal began in 1899 as the journal of the Cooper Ornithological Club, a group of ornithologists in California that became the Cooper Ornithological Society.


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Landscape-level habitat connectivity is key for species that depend on longleaf pine

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Nathan sporting hot towers, heavy rainfall

NASA sees Tropical Cyclone Nathan sporting hot towers, heavy rainfall
2015-03-18
The TRMM satellite revealed that Tropical Cyclone Nathan had powerful thunderstorms known as "hot towers" near its center which are indicative of a strengthening storm. Cyclone Nathan is located in the Coral Sea off Australia's Queensland coast. Nathan formed on March 10 near the Queensland coast triggering warnings there before moving east. Once out at sea, Nathan made a loop and headed back to Queensland. On March 18, Nathan was nearing the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland. As a result warnings were in effect from Cape Melville to Innisfail, extending inland to Laura. ...

Is too much artificial light at night making us sick?

2015-03-18
Modern life, with its preponderance of inadequate exposure to natural light during the day and overexposure to artificial light at night, is not conducive to the body's natural sleep/wake cycle. It's an emerging topic in health, one that UConn Health (University of Connecticut, Farmington, Conn.) cancer epidemiologist Richard Stevens has been studying for three decades. "It's become clear that typical lighting is affecting our physiology," Stevens says. "But lighting can be improved. We're learning that better lighting can reduce these physiological effects. By that ...

Traffic fatalities spike during spring break

2015-03-18
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 18, 2015) -- Come spring break, college students from all over the country travel to warmer climates for time off from school and to escape the cold weather. However, it's not all fun in the sun. At popular spring break destinations, fatalities from car crashes are significantly higher during the spring break weeks compared to other times of the year, according to a recent study published in the journal Economic Inquiry. "We found that between the last week of February and the first week of April, a significantly greater number of traffic fatalities ...

Computer sims: In climatic tug of war, carbon released from thawing permafrost wins handily

2015-03-18
There's a carbon showdown brewing in the Arctic as Earth's climate changes. On one side, thawing permafrost could release enormous amounts of long-frozen carbon into the atmosphere. On the opposing side, as high-latitude regions warm, plants will grow more quickly, which means they'll take in more carbon from the atmosphere. Whichever side wins will have a big impact on the carbon cycle and the planet's climate. If the balance tips in favor of permafrost-released carbon, climate change could accelerate. If the balance tips in favor of carbon-consuming plants, climate ...

Buckyballs become bucky-bombs

Buckyballs become bucky-bombs
2015-03-18
In 1996, a trio of scientists won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discovery of Buckminsterfullerene - soccer-ball-shaped spheres of 60 joined carbon atoms that exhibit special physical properties. Now, 20 years later, scientists have figured out how to turn them into Buckybombs. These nanoscale explosives show potential for use in fighting cancer, with the hope that they could one day target and eliminate cancer at the cellular level - triggering tiny explosions that kill cancer cells without affecting surrounding tissue. "Future applications would probably ...

Robot model for infant learning shows bodily posture may affect memory and learning

Robot model for infant learning shows bodily posture may affect memory and learning
2015-03-18
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University cognitive scientist and collaborators have found that posture is critical in the early stages of acquiring new knowledge. The study, conducted by Linda Smith, a professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, in collaboration with a roboticist from England and a developmental psychologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, offers a new approach to studying the way "objects of cognition," such as words or memories of physical objects, are tied to the position ...

On the origin of theory: Were forensic examiners first to uncover 'ecological succession'?

2015-03-18
For generations, students have been taught the concept of "ecological succession" with examples from the plant world, such as the progression over time of plant species that establish and grow following a forest fire. Indeed, succession is arguably plant ecology's most enduring scientific contribution, and its origins with early 20th-century plant ecologists have been uncontested. Yet, this common narrative may actually be false. As posited in an article published in the March 2015 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology, two decades before plant scientists explored the ...

New study shows MeMed's blood test accurately distinguishes bacterial and viral infections

2015-03-18
Tirat Carmel, Israel - March 19, 2015 - MeMed, Ltd., today announced publication of the results of a large multicenter prospective clinical study that validates the ability of its ImmunoXpert in-vitro diagnostic blood test to determine whether a patient has an acute bacterial or viral infection. The study enrolled more than 1,000 patients and is published in the March 18, 2015 online edition of PLOS ONE. Unlike most infectious disease diagnostics that rely on direct pathogen detection, MeMed's assay decodes the body's immune response to accurately characterize the cause ...

Amazon's carbon uptake declines as trees die faster

Amazons carbon uptake declines as trees die faster
2015-03-18
The most extensive land-based study of the Amazon to date reveals it is losing its capacity to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. From a peak of two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year in the 1990s, the net uptake by the forest has halved and is now for the first time being overtaken by fossil fuel emissions in Latin America. The results of this monumental 30-year survey of the South American rainforest, which involved an international team of almost 100 researchers and was led by the University of Leeds, are published today in the journal Nature. Over recent ...

Structure of genetic messenger molecules reveals key role in diseases

2015-03-18
Messenger RNAs (mRNA) are linear molecules that contain instructions for producing the proteins that keep living cells functioning. A new study by UCL researchers has shown how the three-dimensional structures of mRNAs determine their stability and efficiency inside cells. This new knowledge could help to explain how seemingly minor mutations that alter mRNA structure might cause things to go wrong in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. mRNAs carry genetic information from DNA to be translated into proteins. They are generated as long chains of molecules, but ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Helicobacter pylori screening after acute myocardial infarction

Solar Orbiter traces superfast electrons back to Sun

GaN-based electron beam technology from Nagoya University startup poised to overcome critical semiconductor manufacturing challenges at KIOXIA

Circle versus rectangle: Finding ‘Earth 2.0’ may be easier using a new telescope shape

Metformin changes blood metal levels in humans

Long-term anticoagulation discontinuation after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Fractional flow reserve–guided complete vs culprit-only revascularization in non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease

Participation of women in cardiovascular trials from 2017 to 2023

Semaglutide and tirzepatide in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Changes in biology of internal fat may be the leading cause of heart failure

Transcatheter or surgical treatment of patients with aortic stenosis at low to intermediate risk

Promising new drug for people with stubborn high blood pressure

One shot of RSV vaccine effective against hospitalization in older adults for two seasons

Bivalent RSV prefusion F protein–based vaccine for preventing cardiovascular hospitalizations in older adults

Clonal hematopoiesis and risk of new-onset myocarditis and pericarditis

Risk of myocarditis or pericarditis with high-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine

High-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine and cardiovascular outcomes in older adults

Prevalence, determinants, and time trends of cardiovascular health in the WHO African region

New study finds that, after a heart attack, women have worse prognosis when treated with beta-blockers

CNIC-led REBOOT clinical trial challenges 40-year-old standard of care for heart attack patients

Systolic blood pressure and microaxial flow pump–associated survival in infarct-related cardiogenic shock

Beta blockers, the standard treatment after a heart attack, may offer no benefit for heart attack patients and women can have worse outcomes

High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes

All DRII-ed up: How do plants recover after drought?

Research on stigma says to just ‘shake it off’

Scientists track lightning “pollution” in real time using NASA satellite

Millions of women rely on contraceptives, but new Rice study shows they may do more than just prevent pregnancy

Hot days make for icy weather, Philippine study finds

Roxana Mehran, MD, receives the most prestigious award given by the European Society of Cardiology

World's first clinical trial showing lubiprostone aids kidney function

[Press-News.org] Landscape-level habitat connectivity is key for species that depend on longleaf pine