scholarly journals Modeling effects of crop production, energy development and conservation-grassland loss on avian habitat

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill A. Shaffer ◽  
Cali L. Roth ◽  
David M. Mushet

AbstractBirds are essential components of most ecosystems and provide many services valued by society. However, many populations have undergone striking declines as habitats have been lost or degraded by human activities. Terrestrial grasslands are vital habitat for birds in the North American Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), but grassland conversion and fragmentation from agriculture and energy-production activities have destroyed or degraded millions of hectares. Conservation grasslands can provide alternate habitat. In the United States, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest program maintaining conservation grasslands on agricultural lands, but conservation grasslands in the PPR have declined by over 1 million ha since the program’s zenith in 2007. We used an ecosystem-services model (InVEST) parameterized for the PPR to quantify grassland-bird habitat remaining in 2014 and to assess degradation status of this remaining habitat as influenced by crop and energy (i.e., oil, natural gas, and wind) production. We compared our resultant habitat-quality ratings to grassland-bird abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey to confirm that ratings were related to grassland-bird abundance. Of the grassland-bird habitat remaining in 2014, about 18% was degraded by nearby crop production, whereas energy production degraded an additional 16%. We further quantified changes in availability of grassland-bird habitat under various land-cover scenarios representing incremental losses (10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) of CRP grasslands from 2014 levels. Our model identified 1 million ha (9%) of remaining grassland-bird habitat in the PPR that would be lost or degraded if all CRP conservation grasslands were returned to crop production. In addition to direct losses, an economic climate favoring energy and commodity production over conservation has resulted in substantial degradation of remaining grassland-bird habitat across the PPR. Other grassland regions of the world face similar challenges in maintaining avian habitat.

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1278
Author(s):  
Michael Glenn O’Connor ◽  
Amjad Horani ◽  
Adam J. Shapiro

Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) is a rare, under-recognized disease that affects respiratory ciliary function, resulting in chronic oto-sino-pulmonary disease. The PCD clinical phenotype overlaps with other common respiratory conditions and no single diagnostic test detects all forms of PCD. In 2018, PCD experts collaborated with the American Thoracic Society (ATS) to create a clinical diagnostic guideline for patients across North America, specifically considering the local resources and limitations for PCD diagnosis in the United States and Canada. Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) testing is recommended for first-line testing in patients ≥5 years old with a compatible clinical phenotype; however, all low nNO values require confirmation with genetic testing or ciliary electron micrograph (EM) analysis. Furthermore, these guidelines recognize that not all North American patients have access to nNO testing and isolated genetic testing is appropriate in cases with strong clinical PCD phenotypes. For unresolved diagnostic cases, referral to a PCD Foundation accredited center is recommended. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide insight on the North American PCD diagnostic process, to enhance the understanding of and adherence to current guidelines, and to promote collaboration with diagnostic pathways used outside of North America.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ayana Omilade Flewellen ◽  
Justin P. Dunnavant ◽  
Alicia Odewale ◽  
Alexandra Jones ◽  
Tsione Wolde-Michael ◽  
...  

This forum builds on the discussion stimulated during an online salon in which the authors participated on June 25, 2020, entitled “Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter,” and which was cosponsored by the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), the North American Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG), and the Columbia Center for Archaeology. The online salon reflected on the social unrest that gripped the United States in the spring of 2020, gauged the history and conditions leading up to it, and considered its rippling throughout the disciplines of archaeology and heritage preservation. Within the forum, the authors go beyond reporting the generative conversation that took place in June by presenting a road map for an antiracist archaeology in which antiblackness is dismantled.


1940 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Stuart Walley

As noted below the two North American species described in Syndipnus by workers appear to belong in other genrra. In Europe the gunus is represented by nearly a score of species and has been reviewed in recent years by two writers (1, 2). North American collections contain very few representatives of the genus; after combining the material in the National Collection with that from the United States National Museum, the latter kindly loaned to me by Mr. R. A. Cushman, only thirty-seven specimens are available for study.


Author(s):  
D. V. Dorofeev

The research is devoted to the study of the origin of the historiography of the topic of the genesis of the US foreign policy. The key thesis of the work challenges the established position in the scientific literature about the fundamental role of the work of T. Lyman, Jr. «The diplomacy of the United States: being an account of the foreign relations of the country, from the first treaty with France, in 1778, to the Treaty of Ghent in 1814, with Great Britain», published in 1826. The article puts forward an alternative hypothesis: the emergence of the historiography of the genesis of the foreign policy of the United States occurred before the beginning of the second quarter of the XIX century – during the colonial period and the first fifty years of the North American state. A study of the works of thirty-five authors who worked during the 1610s and 1820s showed that amater historians expressed a common opinion about North America’s belonging to the Eurocentric system of international relations; they were sure that both the colonists and the founding fathers perceived international processes on the basis of raison d’être. The conceptualization of the intellectual heritage of non-professional historians allowed us to distinguish three interpretations of the origin of the United States foreign policy: «Autochthonous» – focused on purely North American reasons; «Atlantic» – postulated the borrowing of European practice of international relations by means of the system of relations that developed in the Atlantic in the XVII–XVIII centuries; «Imperial» – stated the adaptation of the British experience. The obtained data refute the provisions of scientific thought of the XX–XXI centuries and create new guidelines for further study of the topic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Clements ◽  
Todd Larsen ◽  
Jennifer Grenz

AbstractInvasive species with distributions that encompass much of the North American environment often demand a range of management approaches, for several key reasons. Firstly, the North American environment includes a large number of highly variable habitats in terms of climatic, edaphic, and landscape features. Secondly, these regional habitat differences are accentuated by jurisdictions within Canada and the United States, whereby approaches and available resources differ at local, regional, and national scales. Another important consideration is whether an invasive species or complex also possesses genetic variation. All three of these factors render the knotweed complex in North America a highly variable target for management. In this paper we review existing knowledge of the variable nature of knotweed species (Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr., Fallopia sachalinensis (F. Schmidt ex Maxim) Ronse Decr., and Fallopia × bohemica, (Chrtek and Chrtková) J. P. Bailey in North America, and evaluate how herbicidal, mechanical and biological control measures must account for this genetic variation, as well as accounting for regional differences and the potential northward expansion of knotweed under climate change. The imminent release of the psyllid, Aphalara itadori Shinji as a biological control agent in North America must also navigate regional and genetic differences. Prior European experience dealing with the three knotweed species should prove useful, but additional research is needed to meet the emerging challenge posed by F. × bohemica in North America, including the possibility of glyphosate resistance. Managers also face challenges associated with posttreatment restoration measures. Furthermore, disparities in resources available to address knotweed management across the continent need to be addressed to contain the rapid spread of this highly persistent and adaptable species. Linking practitioners dealing with knotweed “on the ground” with academic research is a crucial step in the process of marshalling all available resources to reduce the rapidly spreading populations of knotweed.


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