Long-term partial cutting impacts on Desmognathus salamander abundance in West Virginia headwater streams

To understand long-term impacts of partial cutting practices on stream-dwelling salamanders in the central Appalachians, we examined pooled abundance of Desmognathus fuscus and D. monticola salamanders (hereafter Desmognathus) in headwater streams located within long-term silvicultural research compartments on the Fernow Experimental Forest, Tucker County, West Virginia. We sampled Desmognathus salamanders in 12 headwater streams within silvicultural research compartments that have been subjected to partial cutting for approximately 50 years. We used an information-theoretic approach to test five a priori models explaining partial cutting effects at the compartment-level on Desmognathus abundance and eight a priori models explaining stream reach-scale habitat effects on Desmognathus abundance. Our modeling efforts resulted in the selection of two competing models explaining partial cutting effects on Desmognathus abundance at the compartment-level. The VOLUME model, which incorporated cumulative timber volume harvested within compartments, received the greatest support and indicated that Desmognathus abundance was impacted negatively by increased timber volume removal. The second model, LASTDISTURB, incorporating the single variable of time since last harvest activity, indicated that Desmognathus abundance increased with time since last harvest at the compartment-level. For stream reach-scale habitat variables, the EMBEDDED model incorporating the percent of embedded substrate within streams, received the strongest support for explaining Desmognathus abundance. Our results suggest that long-term partial cutting suppresses Desmognathus abundance, possibly by increasing stream sedimentation and thereby reducing available cover for juvenile and adult salamanders. However, these practices do not appear to have threatened long-term persistence of Desmognathus in central Appalachian headwater streams.     

乌冈栎种群天然更新研究

种群更新对维持种群的稳定和发展具有极其重要的意义。通过野外实地调查,对不同地区乌冈栎种群的更新情况进行了分析,结果如下:1)大多数地区乌冈栎种群的幼苗结构呈倒金字塔型,说明乌冈栎种群的更新存在一定的困难;但在乌冈栎顶级群落中,由于仍存在一定数量的幼树,短期内的更新仍能继续进行;2)从乌冈栎幼苗空间分布格局来看,林窗或林缘处呈聚集分布,而林冠下呈均匀分布,这与乌冈栎幼苗生长的需光性有极大的关系;3)乌冈栎的萌发实验表明,1～2个月的沙藏处理有利于提高萌发率,而萌发过程中鼠害和虫蛀是限制出苗率的主要原因之一;4)乌冈栎种子的传播除靠重力外,啮齿类动物对它的影响最大,他们之间存在一定的权衡关系。为了提高乌冈栎种群的天然更新率,适当干扰地开辟林窗是较佳的途径。     

An equation for the replacement value of agroforestry

This article examines some of the existing analytical tools which quantify both the ecological and economic aspects of intercropping decisions. The characteristics of tree crops are evaluated to determine how a specific tool, the replacement value of intercropping (RVI), could be modified to better interpret agroforestry improvements to bush fallow farming systems. The modified equation captures some of the potential production improvements associated with agroforestry by accounting for the fraction of time that a field is actually in production over the long run. The result is an improved estimate of the average annual difference between a tree/crop polyculture and a monoculture system which employs fallows.     

The relationship of calfhood morbidity with survival after calving in 25 New York Holstein herds

The association of owner-diagnosed calfhood diseases with the length of herd life after calving was evaluated using data collected prospectively over a ten-year period in 25 New York Holstein dairy herds. Herds selected for the study were milking between 35 and 200 Holstein cows, used dairy herd improvement records, bred cows by artificial insemination unless they needed three or more services, and had regularly-scheduled herd health visits by clinicians from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Owners recorded occurrences of dullness, respiratory disease, and scours from birth through 90 days of age for all heifer calves that lived at least 24 h and were to be kept as replacements. Milking herd life was measured as the difference between the age at first calving and the age at death or sale. Data on cows sold when the herd went out of business or still in the herd at the end of the study were censored observations. Cox's proportional hazards model was used for statistical analysis of the data. Controlling for age at first calving, study month of birth, and sire predicted difference for milk, there was no statistically significant association of calfhood morbidity with length of herd life. The estimated hazard rate ratios for leaving the milking herd and 95% confidence intervals for dullness, respiratory disease, and scours within 90 days of birth were 1.3 (0.9, 1.9), 0.9 (0.6, 1.3), and 1.0 (0.8, 1.3), respectively. Dullness was the only disease category with an estimated hazard rate ratio greater than 1, and although it was not statistically significant, may warrant evaluation in future studies of long term effects of calfhood morbidity.     

森林资源时态GIS数据存储与时空分析方法研究

在分析时态数据库的研究与应用现状基础上,针对森林资源数据特点,在对象—关系Oracle数据库上,扩展基本数据类型和函数集,实现森林资源时空数据的有效储存,对森林资源数据的现状及变化等基本信息进行空间拓扑、时态拓扑和时空拓扑操作,提供完善的时序分析功能,高效地回答与时间相关的各类问题,准确地描述森林资源信息,完整地反映森林资源演变过程,为森林资源数据管理提供服务,对森林资源数据库的建设提供新的思路和方法。     

Early maritime economy and El Nino events at quebrada tacahuay, peru

The archaeological site of Quebrada Tacahuay, Peru, dates to 12,700 to 12,500 calibrated years before the present (10,770 to 10,530 carbon-14 years before the present). It contains some of the oldest evidence of maritime-based economic activity in the New World. Recovered materials include a hearth, lithic cutting tools and flakes, and abundant processed marine fauna, primarily seabirds and fish. Sediments below and above the occupation layer were probably generated by El Nino events, indicating that El Nino was active during the Pleistocene as well as during the early and middle Holocene.