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At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources
USGS2010

Host‐seeking activity and avian host preferences of mosquitoes associated with West Nile virus transmission in the northeastern U.S.A.

Mosquito host‐seeking activity was studied using a custom‐designed trap to explore: (1) at which time interval of the night adult mosquito abatement would be most effective, and (2) if there exists an avian‐specific host‐seeking preference. Overnight trials using traps baited with dry ice showed that Aedes taeniorhynchus (Wiedemann) was most active at dusk and was then captured throughout the night. In contrast, Culex spp. ( Cx. pipiens (Linnaeus) and Cx. restuans (Theobald) delayed most activity until about two h after dusk and were then captured through the night. This pattern suggests that management activities directed at adult Culex spp. would be most effective if initiated well after sunset. Mosquito capture rates in traps baited with birds in net bags were significantly greater than those with empty net bags, indicating that mosquitoes were attracted to the birds and not incidentally being sucked in by the custom trap's strong fan motor (Wilcoxon matched‐pairs signed‐ranks test, n = 24, t = 30, p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that bird weight influenced mosquito attraction ( r 2 = 0.21, p = 0.02). Trials with paired traps that contained different native bird species showed that Gray Catbirds, Dumatella carolinensis , attracted more mosquitoes than the heavier Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis (paired samples t ‐test, t = 2.58, df = 7, p = 0.04). However, attractiveness did not differ substantially among bird species, and Gray Catbirds did not attract more mosquitoes than all other birds combined as a group. American Robins, Turdus migratorius (n = 4) were comparable in attractiveness to other bird species, but not enough American Robins were captured for a comprehensive study of mosquito avian preference.

Rhode Island↗
USGS2015

Patterns in diurnal airspace use by migratory landbirds along an ecological barrier

Migratory bird populations and survival are affected by conditions experienced during migration. While many studies and conservation and management efforts focus on terrestrial stoppage and staging areas, the aerial environment through which migrants move also is subjected to anthropogenic impacts with potential consequences to migratory movement and survival. During autumn migration, the northern coastline of Lake Superior acts as an ecological barrier for many landbirds migrating out of the boreal forests of North America. From 24 observation points, we assessed the diurnal movements of birds throughout autumn migration, 2008-2010, within a 210 km by 10 km coastal region along the northern coast of Lake Superior. Several raptor species showed patterns in airspace associated with topographic features such as proximity to the coastline and presence of ridgelines. Funneling movement, commonly used to describe the concentration of raptors along a migratory diversion line that either prevents or enhances migration progress, occurred only for Bald and Golden Eagles. This suggests a "leaky" migration funnel for most migratory raptors (e.g., migrating birds exiting the purported migration corridor). Passerines migrating during the late season showed more spatial and temporal structure in airspace distribution than raptors, including funneling and an association with airspace near the coast. We conclude that a) the diurnal use of airspace by many migratory landbirds is patterned in space and time, b) autumn count sites situated along ecological barriers substantially underestimate the number of raptors due to 'leakage' out of these concentration areas, and c) the magnitude and structure of diurnal passerine movements in airspace have been overlooked. The heavy and structured use of airspace by migratory landbirds, especially the airspace associated with anthropogenic development (e.g., buildings, towers, turbines) necessitates a shift in focus to airspace management and conservation attention for these animals.

Minnesota↗
USGS2025

Bait trapping of waterfowl increases the environmental contamination of avian influenza virus (AIV)

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5Nx clade 2.3.4.4b has circulated in North America since late 2021, resulting in higher rates of morbidity and mortality in wild birds than observed in this region before. The objective of this study was to determine whether baiting, which is widely conducted in Canada and the United States as part of waterfowl management practices (e.g., duck banding), influences the occurrence of avian influenza virus (AIV) in wetlands. We used a quasi-experimental design, collecting superficial sediment samples ( n = 336) and fecal samples ( n = 242) from paired baited (treatment) and non-baited (control) sites at 2 wetlands in Saskatchewan, Canada, between August and September 2022. We visited sampling sites 3 times during the sampling period: prior to the commencement of baiting activities ( t0 ), approximately 14 days after t0 ( t1 ), and 24 days after t0 ( t2 ). We screened samples for AIV using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) targeting the matrix gene and subjected the PCR-positive samples to next-generation sequencing. We used a mixed-effects logistic regression model to estimate the effect of baiting on the odds of AIV positivity in sediment samples, while controlling for clustering by wetland. At control sites, we did not detect evidence for a difference in the odds of AIV detection in sediment at t1 or t2 versus t0 ; however, at baited sites, the odds of AIV detection at t1 were 5.43 (95% CI = 1.99, 14.79) times the odds at t0 and at t2 the odds of AIV detection were 8.73 (95% CI = 3.29, 23.18) times the odds at t0 . We detected HPAIV clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 in sediment at 1 treatment site following baiting. There was also a trend towards increased fecal AIV positivity and increased fecal and sediment AIV diversity in baited versus non-baited sites; however, there was insufficient power to determine if these findings were statistically significant. Overall, our results indicate that baiting is associated with localized increases in AIV environmental contamination, with baiting potentially creating concentrated areas of AIV accumulation. As such, wetland baiting activities may pose a risk to wildlife population health through the propagation of AIV in wetlands and the waterfowl using those environments and efforts to replace, refine, or reduce this activity may be warranted depending on local ecosystem contexts and cost-benefit analyses.

Saskatchewan↗
USGS2012

Canada Warbler use of harvested stands following timber management in the southern portion of their range

We evaluated Canada Warbler ( Cardellina canadensis ) responses to changes in habitat characteristics (landscape metrics, landcover, and microhabitat features) at multiple spatial scales resulting from timber harvests (clear-cut, heavy partial, and light partial) between 1996 and 2009. Relative abundance of Canada Warblers decreased over time on our West Virginia study area (Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest) and within the Appalachian Bird Conservation Region. Initially, relative abundance was greater closer to roads, but as timber harvests became more common, relative abundance became positively associated with amount of light partial harvests at the local scale. Nest survival was 45.6 ± 18.3% during 1996–1998 and 24.9 ± 14.6% during 2007–2009, but did not differ ( P = 0.38) between these periods. Areas around nests in 2007–2009 ( n = 17) had less intermediate canopy cover and fewer residual trees but more green cover, woody debris, and pole trees than areas around nests in 1996–1998 ( n = 10). Successful nests had more low cover, less vertical diversity, more woody debris, more saplings, and greater edge density than failed nests. We found a positive association between relative abundance and all three types of timber harvests and an improvement in habitat through understory development and retention of residual trees. Our research finds preliminary support for use of timber harvests, particularly light partial harvests, as a management tool for Canada Warblers in the southern portion of their range with the need for extended research using treatments and controls to confirm successful management.

Forest Ecology and Management↗
USGS1984

Effects of egg oiling on larid productivity and population dynamics

Small quantities of petroleum may adhere to the plumage, feet, or nest materials of breeding birds and be transferred to their eggs during incubation. In this study, oil was applied to naturally incubated Great Black-backed Gull ( Larus marinus ) and Herring Gull ( L. argentatus ) eggs, and its effects on reproductive success were assessed. Embryo survival was inversely proportional to the quantity of petroleum applied to eggshell surfaces. Dose responses, however, were dependent on embryonic age at the time of treatment. Eggs of either species, treated with 10-20 μ l of No. 2 fuel oil 4-8 days after laying, experienced significant reductions in hatching success. Embryos oiled past the midpoint of the 28-day incubation period were insensitive to as much as 100 μl of petroleum. Fuel oil weathered outdoors for several weeks was as toxic as fresh oil to larid embryos. Productivity estimates obtained following various oil treatments indicated that only under severe conditions (e.g. large doses of petroleum contaminating young embryos) could egg oiling have a significant impact upon populations of the Herring Gull and species with similar life-history characteristics. Species that are more sensitive to oil, however, those having lower reproductive potentials and higher postfledging mortality rates or those subject to other stresses, may be more adversely affected by oil pollution.

The Auk↗
USGS2018

Energetic fitness: Field metabolic rates assessed via 3D accelerometry complement conventional fitness metrics

Evaluating the fitness of organisms is an essential step towards understanding their responses to environmental change. Connections between energy expenditure and fitness have been postulated for nearly a century. However, testing this premise among wild animals is constrained by difficulties in measuring energy expenditure while simultaneously monitoring conventional fitness metrics such as survival and reproductive output. We addressed this issue by exploring the functional links between field metabolic rate (FMR), body condition, sex, age and reproductive performance in a wild population. We deployed 3D accelerometers on 115 Adélie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae during four breeding seasons at one of the largest colonies of this species, Cape Crozier, on Ross Island, Antarctica. The demography of this population has been studied for the past 18 years. From accelerometry recordings, collected for birds of known age and breeding history, we determined the vector of the dynamic body acceleration (VeDBA) and used it as a proxy for FMR. This allowed us to demonstrate relationships among FMR, a breeding quality index (BQI) and body condition. Notably, we found a significant quadratic relationship between mean VeDBA during foraging and BQI for experienced breeders, and individuals in better body condition showed lower rates of energy expenditure. We conclude that using FMR as a fitness component complementary to more conventional fitness metrics will yield greater understanding of evolutionary and conservation physiology.

Functional Ecology↗
USGS1968

Structure of the New England herring gull population

Measurements of the rates of population increase, reproduction, and mortality together with an observed age ratio, were used to analyze the population of the Herring Gull in New England. Data from sporadic censuses prior to this study, aerial censuses by the authors, and National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count indicated that the New England breeding population has been doubling every 12 to 15 years since the early 1900's. This increase has involved founding new colonies and expanding the breeding range There is evidence that 15 to 30% of the adults do not breed in any given year. Sixty—one productivity measurements on 43 islands from 1963 through 1966, involving almost 13,000 nests, showed that from 0.8 to 1.4 young/breeding pair/year is the usual range of rate of production. The age distribution in the population was determined by classifying Herring Gulls by plumage category on an aerial census of the coast from Tampico, Mexico, to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. Of the 622,000 gulls observed, 68% were adults, 17% were second— and third—year birds, and 15% were first—year birds. Mortality rates derived from band recovery data were too high to be consistent with the observed rate of population growth, productivity, and age structure. Loss of bands increasing to the rate of about 20%/year 5 years after banding eliminates most of the discrepancy. The age structure and rate of population increase indicate a mortality rate of 4 to 9% for gulls 2 years old or older, compared with the 25 to 30% indicated by band recoveries. The population structure we have developed fits everything we have observed about Herring Gull population dynamics, except mortality based on band recoveries.

Ecology↗
USGS1976

Some characteristics of fall migration of female woodcock

Nine female woodcock ( Philohela minor ) were radio-tagged in central Pennsylvania before fall migration to monitor premigratory and migratory movements. Within 15 days of departure, 5 of the birds moved 0.8 to 8.0 km from their normally used area, but the remaining 4 did not move. In 1973 five marked woodcock began migration between 30 November and 8 December. In 1974, four birds departed between 18 and 29 November. Departures coincided with high pressure centers approaching from the north and west or low pressure centers retreating to the north and east, or both. Eight of the 9 woodcock departed 2.5 or more hours after sunset and at least 7 left before midnight. Two hatching-year birds were tracked for up to 201 km SSW of the study area during 2 nights. Their air speeds (mean + SD) were 36 + 2 and 45 + 3 km/h.

Pennsylvania↗
USGS2010

Southeast Regional Assessment Project for the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

The Southeastern United States spans a broad range of physiographic settings and maintains exceptionally high levels of faunal diversity. Unfortunately, many of these ecosystems are increasingly under threat due to rapid human development, and management agencies are increasingly aware of the potential effects that climate change will have on these ecosystems. Natural resource managers and conservation planners can be effective at preserving ecosystems in the face of these stressors only if they can adapt current conservation efforts to increase the overall resilience of the system. Climate change, in particular, challenges many of the basic assumptions used by conservation planners and managers. Previous conservation planning efforts identified and prioritized areas for conservation based on the current environmental conditions, such as habitat quality, and assumed that conditions in conservation lands would be largely controlled by management actions (including no action). Climate change, however, will likely alter important system drivers (temperature, precipitation, and sea-level rise) and make it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain recent historic conditions in conservation lands into the future. Climate change will also influence the future conservation potential of non-conservation lands, further complicating conservation planning. Therefore, there is a need to develop and adapt effective conservation strategies to cope with the effects of climate and landscape change on future environmental conditions. Congress recognized this important issue and authorized the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC; http://nccw.usgs.gov/) in the Fiscal Year 2008. The NCCWSC will produce science that will help resource management agencies anticipate and adapt to climate change impacts to fish, wildlife, and their habitats. With the release of Secretarial Order 3289 on September 14, 2009, the mandate of the NCCWSC was expanded to address climate change-related impacts on all Department of the Interior (DOI) resources. The NCCWSC will establish a network of eight DOI Regional Climate Science Centers (RCSCs) that will work with a variety of partners to provide natural resource managers with tools and information that will help them anticipate and adapt conservation planning and design for projected climate change. The forecasting products produced by the RCSCs will aid fish, wildlife, and land managers in designing suitable adaptive management approaches for their programs. The DOI also is developing Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) as science and conservation action partnerships at subregional scales. The USGS is working with the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to develop science collaboration between the future Southeast RCSC and future LCCs. The NCCWSC Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP) will begin to develop regional downscaled climate models, land cover change models, regional ecological models, regional watershed models, and other science tools. Models and data produced by SERAP will be used in a collaborative process between the USGS, the FWS (LCCs), State and federal partners, nongovernmental organizations, and academia to produce science at appropriate scales to answer resource management questions. The SERAP will produce an assessment of climate change, and impacts on land cover, ecosystems, and priority species in the region. The predictive tools developed by the SERAP project team will allow end users to better understand potential impacts of climate change and sea level rise on terrestrial and aquatic populations in the Southeastern United States. The SERAP capitalizes on the integration of five existing projects: (1) the Multi-State Conservation Grants Program project "Designing Sustainable Landscapes," (2) the USGS multidisciplinary Science Thrust project "Water Availability for Ecological Needs," (3) the USGS Southeast Pilot Project "Climate Change in the Southeastern U.S. and its Impacts on Bird Distributions and Habitats," (4) a sea-level rise impacts study envisioned jointly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and (5) two USGS sea-level rise impact assessment projects that address inundation hazards and provide probabilistic forecasts of coastal geomorphic change. The SERAP will expand on these existing projects and include the following tasks, which were initiated in summer 2009: * Regionally downscaled probabilistic climate-change projections * Integrated coastal assessment * Integrated terrestrial assessment * Multi-resolution assessment of potential climate change effects on biological resources: aquatic and hydrologic dynamics * Optimal conservation strategies to cope with climate change The SERAP seeks to formally integrate these tasks to aid conservation planning and design so that ecosystem management decisions can be optimized for providing desirable outcomes across a range of species and environments. The following chapters detail SERAP's efforts in providing a suite of regional climate, watershed, and landscape-change analyses and develop the interdisciplinary framework required for the biological planning phases of adaptive management and strategic conservation. The planning phase will include the identification of conservation alternatives, development of predictive models and decision support tools, and development of a template to address similar challenges and goals in other regions. The project teams will explore and develop ways to link the various ecological models arising from each component. The SERAP project team also will work closely with members of the LCCs and other partnerships throughout the life of the project to ensure that the objectives of the project meet resources mangers needs in the Southeast.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1970

DDE and DDD residues correlated with mortality of experimental birds

Nearly everywhere in nature are found DDE and DDD, which are metabolites of DDT, and they often become concentrated through food chains. DDD is also a commercial insecticide. large amounts of both are frequently found in birds, but the significance of these amounts has puzzled many owrkers. Studies at Clear Lake, California 1 gave some data on DDD danger levels, but less is known of DDE, the member of the DDT group that is most frequent and most abundant in nature. Although DDE is toxic, relatively alrge residues are found in apparently healthy animals. As one step in untanglig the problem, it seemed important to determine the residue levels that indicate danger to life. earlier work with DDR and dieldrin has shown the value of this approach. 2-5, 1 2

Conference Paper↗
USGS2004

Multi-state analysis of the impacts of avian pox on a population of Serins (Serinus serinus): The importance of estimating recapture rates

Disease is one of the evolutionary forces shaping populations. Recent studies have shown that epidemics like avian pox, malaria, or mycoplasmosis have affected passerine population dynamics, being responsible for the decline of some populations or disproportionately killing males and larger individuals and thus selecting for specific morphotypes. However, few studies have estimated the effects of an epidemic by following individual birds using the capture-recapture approach. Because avian pox can be diagnosed by direct examination of the birds, we are here able to analyze, using multistate models, the development and consequences of an avian pox epidemic affecting in 1996, a population of Serins (Serinus serinus) in northeastern Spain. The epidemics lasted from June to the end of November of 1996, with a maximum apparent prevalence rate > 30% in October. However, recapture rate of sick birds was very high (0.81, range 0.37-0.93) compared to that of healthy birds (0.21, range 0.020-32), which highly inflated apparent prevalence rate. This was additionally supported by the low predicted transition from the state of being uninfected to the state of being infected (0.03, SE 0.03). Once infected, Serin avian pox was very virulent with (15-day) survival rate of infected birds being of only 0.46 (SE 0.17) compared to that of healthy ones (0.87, SE 0.03). Probability of recovery from disease, provided that the bird survived the first two weeks, however, was very high (0.65, SE 0.25). The use of these estimates together with a simple model, allowed us to predict an asymptotic increase to prevalence of about 4% by the end of the outbreak period, followed by a sharp decline, with the only remaining infestations being infected birds that had not yet recovered. This is in contrast to the apparent prevalence of pox and stresses the need to estimate recapture rates when estimating population dynamics parameters. ?? 2004 Museu de Cie??ncies Naturals.

Animal Biodiversity and Conservation↗
USGS2024

Sex-specific recruitment rates contribute to male-biased sex ratio in Adélie penguins

Sex-related differences in vital rates that drive population change reflect the basic life history of a species. However, for visually monomorphic bird species, determining the effect of sex on demographics can be a challenge. In this study, we investigated the effect of sex on apparent survival, recruitment, and breeding propensity in the Adélie penguin ( Pygoscelis adeliae ), a monochromatic, slightly size dimorphic species with known age, known sex, and known breeding history data collected during 1996–2019 ( n = 2127 birds) from three breeding colonies on Ross Island, Antarctica. Using a multistate capture–mark–recapture maximum-likelihood model, we estimated apparent survival (

Ecology and Evolution↗
USGS2018

Is sensitivity to anticoagulant rodenticides affected by repeated exposure in hawks?

A seminal question in wildlife toxicology is whether exposure to an environmental contaminant, in particular a second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide, can evoke subtle long lasting effects on body condition, physiological function and survival. Many reports indicate that non-target predators often carry residues of several rodenticides, which is indicative of multiple exposures. An often-cited study in laboratory rats demonstrated that exposure to the second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide brodifacoum prolongs blood clotting time for a few days, but weeks later when rats were re-exposed to the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide warfarin, coagulopathy was more pronounced in brodifacoum-treated rats than naïve rats exposed to warfarin. To further investigate this phenomenon, American kestrels were fed environmentally realistic doses of chlorophacinone or brodifacoum for a week, and following a week-long recovery period, birds were then challenged with a low-level dietary dose of chlorophacinone. In the present study, neither hematocrit nor clotting time (prothrombin time, Russell’s viper venom time) were differentially affected in sequentially exposed kestrels compared to naïve birds fed low-level dietary dose of chlorophacinone. While the present findings do not reveal lasting effects of anticoagulant exposure on blood clotting ability, findings in laboratory rats and other species have demonstrated such effects on blood clotting, and even other molecular pathways associated with immune function and xenobiotic metabolism. Additional studies using an environmentally realistic route of exposure and dose are underway to further test this hypothesis.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1984

DDE in birds: Lethal residues and loss rates

Lethal brain residues of DDE 2 were determined experimentally in four species of wild birds given dietary dosage of 1,500 ppm DDE until one-half had died, then sacrificing the survivors, chemically analyzing the tissues, and comparing results in dead birds and survivors. In all species, residues of 300 to 400 ppm of DDE in the brain were considered to show increasing likelihood of death from DDE, confirming results of an earlier study with a single species. Body residues (ppm wet weight) were not diagnostic, overlapping grossly in dead birds and survivors, but averaging higher in survivors. Body residues (ppm lipid base), however, were higher in dead birds and did not overlap those in survivors. Loss rate was followed in grackles fed 1,500 ppm DDE for 7 days, then given untreated feed and sacrificed at intervals of 7, 28, 56, and 112 days. DDE was lost slowly from the bodies, at a rate of 0.30% per day (estimated half-life 229 days). DDE was lost more rapidly from brains, half of the initial concentration being reached in 25 days; concentrations in brains increased thereafter in close correlation with percentage of fat in the body.

Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxico↗
USGS2003

Avian fruit preferences across a Puerto Rican forested landscape: Pattern consistency and implications for seed removal

Avian fruit consumption may ensure plant reproductive success when frugivores show consistent preference patterns and effectively remove and disperse seeds. In this study we examined avian fruit preferences and their seed-removal services at five study sites in north-central Puerto Rico. At each site, we documented the diet of seven common fruit-eating avian species from February to September 1998. Using foraging observations and area-based estimates of fruit abundance, we examined preference patterns of birds. We found that 7 out of 68 fleshy-fruited plant species were responsible for most of the fruit diet of birds. Seventeen plant species were preferred and four of them were repeatedly preferred across several study sites and times by at least one avian species. Preferred plant species comprised a small percentage of fleshy fruits at each site (<15% in four out of five study sites), but showed extended phenology patterns. The quantity of seeds removed by frugivore species was not strictly related to preferences. Some frugivores showing no preference could effectively remove more seeds from plants at some locations than species exhibiting constancy in their patterns of preference. Only two frugivores, Euphonia musica and Vireo altiloquous, removed most of the seeds of plants for which they exhibited repeated preference across the landscape. Preference patterns, particularly those exhibiting consistency in space and time for plant species having prolonged fruiting periods, may have important mechanistic consequences for the persistence, succession, and regeneration of tropical plant communities.

Oecologia↗
USGS2017

Movements of four native Hawaiian birds across a naturally fragmented landscape

Animals often increase their fitness by moving across space in response to temporal variation in habitat quality and resource availability, and as a result of intra and inter-specific interactions. The long-term persistence of populations and even whole species depends on the collective patterns of individual movements, yet animal movements have been poorly studied at the landscape level. We quantified movement behavior within four native species of Hawaiian forest birds in a complex lava-fragmented landscape: Hawai‛i ‘amakihi Chlorodrepanis virens , ‘oma‘o Myadestes obscurus , ‘apapane Himatione sanguinea , and ‘i‘iwi Drepanis coccinea . We evaluated the relative importance of six potential intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of movement behavior and patch fidelity: 1) forest fragment size, 2) the presence or absence of invasive rats ( Rattus sp.), 3) season, 4) species, 5) age, and 6) sex. The study was conducted across a landscape of 34 forest fragments varying in size from 0.07 to 12.37 ha, of which 16 had rats removed using a treatment-control design. We found the largest movements in the nectivorous ‘apapane and ‘i‘iwi, intermediate levels in the generalist Hawai‛i ‘amakihi, and shortest average movement for the ‘oma‘o, a frugivore. We found evidence for larger patch sizes increasing patch fidelity only in the ‘oma‘o, and an effect of rat-removal increasing patch fidelity of Hawai‛i ‘amakihi only after two years of rat-removal. Greater movement during the non-breeding season was observed in all species, and season was an important factor in explaining higher patch fidelity in the breeding season for ‘apapane and ‘i‘iwi. Sex was important in explaining patch fidelity in ‘oma‘o only, with males showing higher patch fidelity. Our results provide new insights into how these native Hawaiian species will respond to a changing environment, including habitat fragmentation and changing distribution of threats from climate change.

Journal of Avian Biology↗
USGS2012

Partly cloudy with a chance of migration: Weather, radars, and aeroecology

Aeroecology is an emerging scientific discipline that integrates atmospheric science, Earth science, geography, ecology, computer science, computational biology, and engineering to further the understanding of biological patterns and processes. The unifying concept underlying this new transdisciplinary field of study is a focus on the planetary boundary layer and lower free atmosphere (i.e., the aerosphere), and the diversity of airborne organisms that inhabit and depend on the aerosphere for their existence. Here, we focus on the role of radars and radar networks in aeroecological studies. Radar systems scanning the atmosphere are primarily used to monitor weather conditions and track the location and movements of aircraft. However, radar echoes regularly contain signals from other sources, such as airborne birds, bats, and arthropods. We briefly discuss how radar observations can be and have been used to study a variety of airborne organisms and examine some of the many potential benefits likely to arise from radar aeroecology for meteorological and biological research over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Radar systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated with the advent of innovative signal processing and dual-polarimetric capabilities. These capabilities should be better harnessed to promote both meteorological and aeroecological research and to explore the interface between these two broad disciplines. We strongly encourage close collaboration among meteorologists, radar scientists, biologists, and others toward developing radar products that will contribute to a better understanding of airborne fauna.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society↗
USGS1992

Assessing effects of pesticides on amphibians and reptiles: status and needs

Growing concern about the decline of certain amphibian populations and for conservation of amphibians and reptiles has led to renewed awareness of problems from pesticides. Testing amphibians and reptiles as a requirement for chemical registration has been proposed but is difficult because of the phylogenetic diversity of these groups. Information from the literature and research may determine whether amphibians and reptiles are adequately protected by current tests for mammals, birds, and fish. Existing information indicates that amphibians are unpredictably more resistant to certain cholinesterase inhibitors, and more sensitive to two chemicals used in fishery applications than could have been predicted. A single study on one species of lizard suggests that reptiles may be close in sensitivity to mammals and birds. Research on effects of pesticides on amphibians and reptiles should compare responses to currently tested groups and should seek to delineate those taxa and chemicals for which cross-group prediction is not possible. New tests for amphibians and reptiles should rely to the greatest extent possible on existing data bases, and should be designed for maximum economy and minimum harm to test animals. A strategy for developing the needed information is proposed. Good field testing and surveillance of chemicals in use may compensate for failures of predictive evaluations and may ultimately lead to improved tests.

Herpetological Journal↗