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

Harpy eagles could be under greater threat than previously thought

Harpy eagles could be under greater threat than previously thought
2021-01-27
(Press-News.org) Harpy eagles are considered by many to be among the planet's most spectacular birds. They are also among its most elusive, generally avoiding areas disturbed by human activity - therefore already having vanished from portions of its range - and listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being 'Near-Threatened'.

However, new research led by the University of Plymouth (UK) suggests estimates of the species' current distribution are potentially overestimating range size.

Using a combination of physical sightings and environmental data, they developed a spatial modelling framework which aims to estimate current and past distributions based on the birds' preferred habitat conditions.

The authors then used the model to estimate a current range size 11% smaller than that referenced by the IUCN, with high climatic moisture being the most important factor influencing distribution, followed by a minimum temperature of the warmest month of approximately 27°C.

Based on past and future climatic projections, the researchers showed that harpy eagle distribution will remain stable in the central Amazon, Guyana, eastern Colombia, and Panama, making these regions especially important for their conservation.

In order to ensure their future persistence, the authors suggest current and future conservation policies such as reducing deforestation and addressing issues of persecution should take such spatial models into account.

The research is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, and involved an international collaboration of researchers from The Peregrine Fund (Ecuador, Panama, USA) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), based in Brazil.

Luke Sutton, a PhD student in the University of Plymouth's School of Biological and Marine Sciences and lead author on the research, said: "Harpy eagles are difficult to observe and live at low population densities, so there has been limited research into what environmental factors influence their range limits. Our study shows that predicted future climate stability will be in core areas with extensive lowland tropical forest habitat. That means habitat loss as a result of deforestation is the greatest threat they face, and conservation plans need to take all of that into account."

Senior author Dr Robert Puschendorf, Lecturer in Conservation Biology, added: "More than half of all global raptor species have declining populations. So understanding more about where they choose to live and why should be a critical factor when we are looking at how best to go about conserving raptor populations. The type of model we have presented here is lacking for many rare and threatened species, particularly in tropical regions, but can be a cost-effective and rapid way to direct conservation planning for threatened species."

Harpy eagles are among the world's largest and most powerful eagles and historically ranged across lowland tropical forests from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south.

However, they became locally extinct in parts of Central America and Brazil during the 20th century. Currently there are multiple conservation programmes in place to better understand population dynamics and conserve rainforest habitat to help ensure its future survival.

INFORMATION:


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Harpy eagles could be under greater threat than previously thought

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Pace of prehistoric human innovation could be revealed by 'linguistic thermometer'

Pace of prehistoric human innovation could be revealed by linguistic thermometer
2021-01-27
Multi-disciplinary researchers at The University of Manchester have helped develop a powerful physics-based tool to map the pace of language development and human innovation over thousands of years - even stretching into pre-history before records were kept. Tobias Galla, a professor in theoretical physics, and Dr Ricardo Bermúdez-Otero, a specialist in historical linguistics, from The University of Manchester, have come together as part of an international team to share their diverse expertise to develop the new model, revealed in a paper entitled 'Geospatial distributions reflect temperatures of linguistic feature' authored by Henri Kauhanen, Deepthi Gopal, ...

Secrets of traumatic stress hidden in the brain are exposed

Secrets of traumatic stress hidden in the brain are exposed
2021-01-27
(Scottsdale, Ariz. - January 27, 2021) HIRREM (the legacy research technology of Cereset - a Brain State Company) was utilized by the Wake Forest School of Medicine to study symptoms of traumatic stress in military personnel before and after use of Cereset (legacy) intervention. Whole brain, resting state magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done pre- and post- Cereset intervention. Significant effects on brain network connectivity have been previously reported. For the current study, lateralization of brain connectivity was analyzed. Lateralization here refers to the distribution of brain connections within the right, and left side, or to the opposite side. This is important because common lobes in the ...

Trying to beat a coke habit with cannabis? Not so fast !

2021-01-27
Montreal, January 27, 2021 - Taking cannabidiol, a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant, isn't an effective way to reduce your dependence on cocaine, researchers at the CHUM Research Centre find. In North America, close to 5.5 million people use cocaine regularly, and nearly one in five becomes addicted, developing cocaine use disorder, for which there is no clinical treatment. One solution has been touted, however: treatment with cannabidiol. Better known as CBD, it's a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant known for its protective effects on the brain and liver. But there is very little scientific evidence to support its use as a treatment for addiction. In fact, in a study published ...

Not everyone has equal access to crucial information that can stop the spread of COVID-19

2021-01-27
Stopping the spread of COVID-19 is difficult enough. It's even more complicated and confusing when information and resources provided by governments are largely inaccessible to a variety of disabled populations. A newly-published global survey of national health authority websites in nearly 200 countries has directly quantified COVID-19 information accessibility. The survey, published on January 27, 2021 in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, was conducted by researchers and medical professionals from Bar-Ilan University's Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, the Galilee Medical Center and Tel Aviv ...

Arctic ocean expedition advances climate modeling

Arctic ocean expedition advances climate modeling
2021-01-27
As the climate warms and Arctic sea ice retreats, research vessels and commercial ships are sailing into the Arctic Ocean more and more, but the accuracy and sensitivity of regional weather and marine forecasts for these hazardous waters still lag well behind those of their lower-latitude counterparts, with significant differences between regional models. Direct measurements of atmospheric conditions, such as cloud cover and solar radiation, can help to evaluate and improve these models. In a new study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, a research team led by the National Institute of Polar Research in Tachikawa, ...

Hypertension symptoms in women often mistaken for menopause

2021-01-27
Sophia Antipolis, 27 January 2021: Pregnancy complications and early menopause increase women's future risk of heart disease. Cardiologists, gynaecologists and endocrinologists recommend how to help middle-aged women prevent later heart problems in a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) consensus document published today in European Heart Journal, a journal of the ESC.1 "Physicians should intensify the detection of hypertension in middle-aged women," states the document. Up to 50% of women develop high blood pressure before the age of 60 but the symptoms - for example hot flushes and palpitations - are often attributed ...

Researchers develop virus-based treatment platform to fight pancreatic cancer

2021-01-27
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Zhengzhou University have developed a powerful therapeutic platform that uses a modified virus for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. By using the virus in combination with other drugs, the treatment significantly extended survival in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. Viruses that can selectively infect and destroy cancer cells, known as oncolytic viruses, are a promising new class of therapeutics for cancer. Through various mechanisms, oncolytic viruses kill cancer cells and elicit strong anti-tumour immune responses. However, current oncolytic virotherapy is unable to produce a long-term cure in patients, and the treatment has to be delivered directly into the tumour - a route that is not feasible for deeply embedded ...

Solar material can 'self-heal' imperfections, new research shows

2021-01-27
A material that can be used in technologies such as solar power has been found to self-heal, a new study shows. The findings - from the University of York - raise the prospect that it may be possible to engineer high-performance self-healing materials which could reduce costs and improve scalability, researchers say. The substance, called antimony selenide (Sb2Se3), is a solar absorber material that can be used for turning light energy into electricity. Professor Keith McKenna from the Department of Physics said: "The process by which this semi-conducting material self-heals is rather like how a salamander is able to re-grow limbs when one is severed. Antimony selenide repairs broken bonds created when it is cleaved by ...

Commuting patterns could explain higher incidence of Covid-19 in Black Americans

2021-01-27
The disproportionately high Covid-19 infection rates observed in Black Americans could be linked to their daily commuting patterns, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. The research found that increased exposure to other ethnic groups, for example as a result of an individual's job or use of public transport, can result in the emergence of an "infection gap" in the population, such as the abnormally high incidence of Covid-19 recorded in Black Americans. In some areas of the US Covid-19 incidence in Black Americans can be up to three to five times higher than would be expected based on population data. Previous studies have highlighted socio-economic factors including lower income and poorer access to healthcare facilities ...

Metoclopramide inhibits proliferation of leukemia stem cells

2021-01-27
Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) results from a degeneration of the hematopoietic stem cells (leukemia stem cells), thereby leading to the uncontrolled formation of specific white blood cells, the so-called granulocytes. Research work at the Department of Medical Oncology at the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital and the University of Bern focused therefore on identifying the signaling pathways and control mechanisms of the leukemia stem cell. A promising approach is provided by working with MPR, an anti-emetic medication commonly used to treat nausea and vomiting. Specific blocking of leukemia stem cell proliferation with metoclopramide The exact role of the surface molecule CD93 (cluster of differentiation 93) in controlling the ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Harpy eagles could be under greater threat than previously thought