(Press-News.org) TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST, Calif.—The reclusive American marten is getting even harder to find in the Sierra Nevada, according to a study by a team of researchers from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University. A new study at the Sagehen Experimental Forest found that marten detections have dropped 60 percent since the 1980s—a decrease that may be caused by a degradation of the wooded areas in which they live, researchers say. Their findings appeared in the current issue of the Journal of Wildlife Management.
"Previous work had revealed that marten populations in the northern Sierra and southern Cascades in California have become more fragmented since the early 1900s, but the current work at Sagehen may help explain the mechanism for this pattern," says co-author Bill Zielinski, research ecologist for the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station in Arcata, Calif.
In the early 1900s, American marten could be found in many continuous areas in the higher elevations of the northern Sierra Nevada. Today, populations of the small mammal, which is related to the weasel family and looks like a cross between a mink and a fox, are isolated and discontinuous. Causes for this phenomenon are unclear, but researchers believe that timber harvesting and thinning—the removal of downed woody material on the forest floor—may play a part in the population decline.
The Sagehen Experimental Forest is located in the Tahoe National Forest about 30 miles north of Lake Tahoe and is managed by the Pacific Southwest Research Station and the University of California, Berkeley. Researchers recorded marten detections using track plates—long, baited rectangular boxes which martens enter and leave their tracks on contact paper. The data, which was collected in 2007 and 2008, was then compared to survey results from 1980 to 1993.
"We've estimated that there has been about a 25 percent loss in suitable habitat for martens since the 1980s," says lead author and Oregon State University researcher Katie Moriarty. In their journal article, the authors cite the loss of prime marten habitat in the Sagehen Experimental Forest of more than 270 hectares, or nearly 700 acres.
Based on the results of their findings, the research team suggests the following land management strategies for preserving marten habitat:
Retain the remaining patches of old-growth forest habitat, especially near streams and retain patches of fir in the upper elevations.
Retain corridors of dense, old forest between areas where fire considerations make it is necessary to reduce the forest density (i.e., "thin" the forest).
Strive for an approach to forest management that retains old, dead and malformed trees and logs because of their important value as refuges for martens and as habitat for their prey.
###
To read the full article, go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/publications/zielinski/psw_2011_zielinski002(moriarty).pdf
Headquartered in Albany, Calif., the Pacific Southwest Research develops and communicates science needed to sustain forest ecosystems and other benefits to society. It has laboratories and research centers in California, Hawaii and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. For more information, visit www.fs.fed.us/psw/.
END
Whether it's parents, teachers, coaches, or family friends, there's no question that adults serve as powerful role models for youth as they transition from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Mentoring programs across the United States have tried to harness the power of positive role models in the hopes that relationships with an adult mentor will help to support kids' socioemotional and cognitive development. But are mentoring programs effective? And do all programs have equally positive effects?
A new report in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal ...
Psychological scientist Guillermo Campitelli is a good chess player, but not a great one. "I'm not as good as I wanted," he says. He had an international rating but not any of the titles that chess players get, like Grandmaster and International Master. "A lot of people that practiced much less than me achieved much higher levels." Some of the players he coached became some of the best players in Argentina. "I always wondered: What's going on? Why did this happen?"
Now a researcher at Edith Cowan University in Joondalup, Australia, Campitelli studies practicing. He's ...
University of Illinois scientists report the first identification of a cellular mechanism linked to the toxicity of a major class of drinking water disinfection byproducts. This study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, suggests a possible connection to adverse health effects, including neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's.
"I'm not implying that drinking disinfected water will give you Alzheimer's," said Michael Plewa, lead scientist and professor of genetics in the U of I Department of Crop Sciences. "Certainly, the disinfection of drinking water ...
SoloHealth (www.solohealth.com), a leader in self-service consumer healthcare technology, is pleased to announce the promotion of Stephen Kendig from Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations to Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Reporting directly to CEO and Founder Bart Foster, Kendig takes the role during a time of tremendous growth for the company and will lead the day-to-day operations and strategic direction of SoloHealth, including overseeing the nationwide rollout of the highly anticipated SoloHealth Station this fall.
During his four years ...
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have identified a number of stem rust-resistant wheat varieties and are retesting them to verify their resistance.
Stem rust occurs worldwide wherever wheat is grown. Over a large area, losses from stem rust can be severe, ranging from 50 to 70 percent, and individual fields can be destroyed.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plant pathologist Mike Bonman at the agency's Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Aberdeen, Idaho, and his colleagues screened more than 3,000 wheat landraces from the U.S. ...
HOUSTON - A research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered four new "ZIP codes" in their quest to map the vast blood vessel network of the human body.
The study, published online the week of Oct. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, brings science one step closer to the goal of using the vascular system to personalize cancer therapy, as well as fight obesity, heart disease and other disorders. Researchers also found that some addresses are shared in vasculature across the board instead of always ...
A study by researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco shows that rats given a popularly prescribed antidepressant during development exhibit brain abnormalities and behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders.
The findings suggest that taking a certain class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRIs – during pregnancy might be one factor contributing to a dramatic rise in these developmental disorders in children.
"We saw behaviors in the treated rats and neurological ...
Watching local TV news can lead to déjà vu. During the past decade, a growing number of local television stations have entered into agreements together – to share video footage, reporters, anchors and even full newscasts. A new report by the University of Delaware's Center for Community Research and Service looks at the impact of these possibly monopolistic agreements on local media markets and on the principles the federal government uses to regulate the broadcast industry: diversity, competition and localism.
Danilo Yanich, author of the report and associate professor ...
1. Penny stocks cost a penny for a reason.
While we all dream about investing in the next Microsoft or the next Home Depot, but the truth is, the odds of you finding that once in a decade success story are slim. These companies are either starting out or purchased a shell company because it was cheaper than an IPO. This doesn't make them a bad investment.
2. Trading volumes.
Look for a consistent volume of shares being traded. Looking at the average volume can be misleading. If ABC trades 1 million shares today, and doesn't trade for the rest of the week, the ...
COLUMBIA, Mo.– Women living in rural areas face unique challenges concerning health and wellness issues. Now, an MU researcher has found that rural women are more likely than women living in cities to be diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer, the most severe form of the disease.
"The stage at which the cancer is diagnosed has a tremendous impact on the type of treatment, recovery and survivability," said Faustine Williams, a doctoral student in the Department of Rural Sociology in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. "Finding ways to identify and ...
