Rangeland Songbirds

I used mark-recapture analysis and radio telemetry to characterize winter movement patterns of six grassland sparrows in southeastern Arizona. Mark-recapture data were generated by banding birds captured during repeated flush-netting sessions conducted on a series of 7-ha plots over three consecutive winters. This resulted in 2,641 captures of 2,006 individual sparrows of the six species. Radio telemetry was conducted concurrently on 20 individuals of four of these species. Recapture data and radio telemetry indicated that Cassin's Sparrow (Aimophila cassinii) and Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) were the most sedentary, followed by Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii), Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus), Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), and Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri). Grasshopper, Baird's, Savannah, and Vesper sparrows tended to remain within fixed home ranges during winter. With the exception of Savannah Sparrows, whose movement behavior varied among study sit...

In most pastoral areas of Ethiopia, rangelands have traditionally been managed by customary institutions, especially in Borana but with the start of various pressures, this management system is increasingly undermined and the interventions ended up with little success story but more of in favor of environmental degradations. Looking into indigenous rangeland management practices of pastoral community is a useful way to develop sustainable rangeland productivity. Rangeland plays an essential role in the livelihood activities of Ethiopian pastoralists as well as Ethiopian economy. Numerous researches have been done on rangeland management practices, but little study has been done with respect to the determinants of indigenous rangeland management in specific social, economic and ecological context. In this case, the aim of the study was to assess the determinants of the indigenous rangeland management practices of pastoral communities and assess perception of pastoral households towards the attributing causes of rangeland degradation in Borana. The study employed descriptive and inferential statistical methods to analyze the data. The findings indicate that the indigenous practice accurately reflects the productivity of the rangeland since the Borana area is unpredictable environment and victim for severe drought every year. The results of binary logit regression showed that a unit increase in age of the household head, the odds ratio in favor of practicing in traditional rangelands management increase by 1.096. Holding other variables constant, a unit increase in cultivated farm size would decrease the odds ratio in favor of practicing traditional management by a factor of 0.618. In Borana area, grazing land and water resources are jointly handled. Hence, privately owned grazing land and water points disturb patterns of mobility in a way grazing land use becomes inefficient as grazing concentrates close to the water points, leading to degradation of the rangelands. Access to communal water point was also found to be significant influence on respondents’ traditional rangeland management practice at 10% significance level (p < 0.1). On the other hand, the result of odd-ratio indicates that, access to communal water point will increase the probability of rangeland management practice by 0.22 percent. The study recommends bases for ecologically sound and culturally appropriate indigenous rangeland management practices.

Evaluating Multimodel Ensemble Seasonal Climate Forecasts on Rangeland Plant Production in the California Annual Grassland

Weather Variability and Adaptive Management for Rangeland Restoration

Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe is one of North America's most imperiled ecosystems, as the result of many factors including grazing, development, fire, and invasion of exotic plants. Threats to sagebrush steppe are expected to increase because of climate change and further human development. Many songbirds use sagebrush steppe opportunistically, but a few obligate species are dependent on it. To quantify the habitat associations of three sagebrush obligates, the Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), Sagebrush Sparrow (Artemisiospiza nevadensis), and Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri), and nine other songbird species that use this habitat, we surveyed across a broad region of Idaho. At each of 104 sites, we selected three plots, one each in relatively poor, moderate, and good condition, defined qualitatively by the cover of native shrubs. We quantified bird abundance by point counts, described the habitat at these points by a line-intercept method, and at each plot calculated the fraction of a circle (radius 1 km) covered in shrubs or grassland. We compared two-scale occupancy models based on these data by the information-theoretic approach. According to the models, our qualitative assessment of habitat condition within a site distinguished birds' use of relatively good habitat from their use of poor habitats only, not from those in moderate condition. Thus the sagebrush-obligate species may tolerate some local habitat degradation, at least up to some unidentified threshold. Occurrence of all three sagebrush obligates correlated well with one or more characteristics of sagebrush such as its cover, height, or heterogeneity in height. They differed in the Sage Thrasher being most sensitive to sagebrush cover, the Sagebrush Sparrow being found more often at lower elevations, and the Brewer's Sparrow being less sensitive to ground cover. The nine other species evaluated were less or negatively associated with attributes of sagebrush. On the basis of these results, we suggest that the three sagebrush obligates are best conserved by promoting shrublands over a broad range of elevations, containing both sagebrush and other shrubs in patches of mixed height, and minimizing invasive annual grasses.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (NHP) includes grassland habitats that are maintained for the interpretation of historic Civil War battles. In 2022, as part of the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring program, the University of Delaware conducted a grassland bird and raptor inventory in the park. The goals of this inventory were to determine the grassland bird use of Harpers Ferry grasslands during Spring and Fall migration, estimate the abundance and daily nest survival for focal breeding species, and determine the raptor use during migration. We established and used multiple avian sampling techniques to address these goals including distance sampling using line transects, mist-netting to capture passerine birds, point counts, hawk watching, and nest searching and monitoring. We conducted this inventory during the annual cycle starting in March 2022 and completed the sampling in October 2022. During the course of this effort, we detected 111 species using the Harpers Ferry grasslands at some time during the year. We found that the park is supporting migrating and breeding grassland birds and that the avian species composition changes over the course of the annual cycle. During migration, we detected focal grassland bird species including Bobolink, Savannah Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark. During the breeding season, we located and monitored Eastern Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrow nests with adequate sample sizes to estimate daily nest survival. We found that Eastern Meadowlark daily nest survival was relatively high (99%) and was influenced by the proximity of the nest to a forested edge. We recommend the park focus on Eastern Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrows as these two species used the park during both Spring and Fall migrations and successfully fledged young during the breeding season. The park could attempt to maintain or enhance Eastern Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrow use of the park during all stages of the annual cycle but especially during the breeding season. This could be achieved by continuing to keep the existing breeding areas intact through delayed mowing (no mowing from 15 May ? 15 July), removing tree lines and woody or non-native vegetation to increase the perceived openness and grassland patch size, and continuing to monitor the effects of any management actions that may influence grassland bird use of Harpers Ferry NHP. Grassland birds are a national conservation priority so any sites that have the capacity to maintain or enhance these declining habitat specialists should do so. Grassland birds provide an opportunity to integrate cultural and natural resources as these birds were most certainly present prior to, during, and after the Civil War Battles that Harpers Ferry was established to commemorate.

Based on data from Breeding Bird Survey routes, the grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) has declined in West Virginia (Whitmore and Hall 1978). In much of the mid-Appalachians, surface-mine reclamation procedures have created large tracts of grassland that have potential for use by grasshopper sparrows (Allaire 1978, Whitmore 1978, Whitmore and Hall 1978). Because of the availability of this new habitat, grasshopper sparrows have become locally common in West Virginia, reaching population densities of 120 pairs/100 ha (Whitmore 1979). Because little was known about grasshopper sparrows (Smith 1963), my study was designed to quantify their habitat requirements, with special reference to key aspects of vegetation structure. The procedures outlined could serve as a basis

Functional silos and other governance challenges of rangeland management in Iceland

Grassland bird responses to grazing and prescribed fire are species-specific and are primarily known from systems with cattle as the predominant grazer. There is less knowledge of how grazing by bison impacts grassland birds, especially in sites restored and reconstructed from row-crop agriculture. Working at a tallgrass prairie site consisting of restored and remnant prairie in the years following bison reintroduction and ongoing prescribed burning, we assessed overall species richness and the relative detection frequency of five focal species (Grasshopper Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, Dickcissel, Eastern Meadowlark, and Brown-headed Cowbird). We used stationary bioacoustics recorders to record the soundscape during the summer breeding season in areas with and without bison from 2016 to 2018. Species richness and the detection frequencies of our focal species were not influenced by bison disturbance. Grasshopper Sparrow and Dickcissel detection frequency increased slightly in response to prescribed fire, whereas Henslow's Sparrow detection frequency decreased. Time since sites were restored was a predominant factor that influenced the variation in detection frequency of Henslow's Sparrows and Eastern Meadowlarks, likely due to vegetation differences in restored versus remnant sites and each species' vegetation structure preferences. Brown-headed Cowbird detection frequency was unaffected by bison presence, prescribed fire, or time since restoration, but varied among sampling years. Our focal species showed no response to bison disturbance 4 y after the bison reintroduction. This suggests there could be a time-lag for a response or that these species will not respond to the bison reintroduction at this study site.

Black-tailed and mule deer (both designated as Odocoileus hemionus; hereafter referred to as “deer” or “mule deer”) comprise an iconic species that is broadly distributed across western North America. This species occurs in all rangeland types including grasslands, desert shrublands, forests, savannah woodlands, and even portions of tundra. The distribution of mule deer has changed little since Euro-American settlement, but abundance has fluctuated in response to environmental variation and rangeland management practices. These deer are medium-sized, polygynous mammals classified as generalist herbivores (foregut fermenters). Population growth in this species is strongly influenced by survival of adult females and recruitment of young. The management of rangelands has direct influence on deer populations given the wide distribution of this species and measurable responses to rangeland management practices. Rangeland management practices including development of water, grazing by domestic livestock, prescribed fire, energy extraction, vegetation alteration, and others can have positive or negative influences or both on this species. Although mule deer are widely distributed and relatively abundant, conservation of this species is challenged by rapid changes currently occurring on rangelands of western North America. Altered fire regimes due to climate change and invasive plants, competition (with feral horses [Equus ferus caballus], livestock, and other wild ungulates), development of energy, ex-urban and urban expansion, and many other challenges threaten continued abundance of this species. Rangelands and their associated management will continue to play a disproportionally large role in the conservation of mule deer in the future.

This paper investigates the impacts of policy and governance institutions on rangeland management practices in southern Africa. A scoping review was conducted, using literature from Web of Science, JSTOR, Scopus and Africa-wide bibliographic databases in the past three decades. The results revealed that several initiatives have been implemented in southern Africa to improve the condition of rangelands, including livestock destocking policies, grazing schemes, improved forage grasses, veld legume reinforcement, high-market beef value chains and agroforestry technology. However, the success of these initiatives has been limited due to a lack of meaningful participation in rangeland management. Moreover, the absence of responsive policies to support communal rangeland management in southern Africa has led to their transformation into unsustainable systems. Additionally, commercial interests often drive national-level policies and tend to disempower traditional institutions, causing conflicts and discord in rangeland management. Therefore, unrolling participatory bottom-up approaches will be essential for inclusive and sustainable rangeland management.

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-managed reservation occupying about 890 square miles in southeastern Idaho. The INEEL lies within the upper Snake River Plain sagebrush steppe ecosystem. Much of the sagebrush steppe ecosystem throughout the west has been segmented and lost to development and agriculture. The remaining sagebrush steppe ecosystem and the habitat it provides is threatened with irreversible conversion to non-native annual weeds by rangeland management practices in combination with the natural fire process. The sagebrush steppe of the INEEL is now threatened and DOE must evaluate its management role and alternatives available to preserve this important component of the western ecosystem.

It is widely acknowledged that the climate is warming globally and within the UK. In this paper, studies which assess the direct impact of current increased temperatures and heat-waves on health and those which project future health impacts of heat under different climate change scenarios in the UK are reviewed.This review finds that all UK studies demonstrate an increase in heat-related mortality occurring at temperatures above threshold values, with respiratory deaths being more sensitive to heat than deaths from cardiovascular disease (although the burden from cardiovascular deaths is greater in absolute terms). The relationship between heat and other health outcomes such as hospital admissions, myocardial infarctions and birth outcomes is less consistent. We highlight the main populations who are vulnerable to heat. Within the UK, these are older populations, those with certain co-morbidities and those living in Greater London, the South East and Eastern regions.In all assessments of heat-related impacts using different climate change scenarios, deaths are expected to increase due to hotter temperatures, with some studies demonstrating that an increase in the elderly population will also amplify burdens. However, key gaps in knowledge are found in relation to how urbanisation and population adaptation to heat will affect health impacts, and in relation to current and future strategies for effective, sustainable and equitable adaptation to heat. These and other key gaps in knowledge, both in terms of research needs and knowledge required to make sound public- health policy, are discussed.

Urban environments have some of the most highly modified soundscapes on the planet, affecting the way many animals communicate using acoustic signals. Communication involves transmission of information via signals, such as bird song, between a signaler and a receiver. Much work has focused on the effects of urbanization on signalers and their signals, yet very little is known about how noise pollution affects receiver behaviors and sensory systems. Here, we synthesize key findings to date regarding avian acoustic communication in the urban environment and delineate key gaps in knowledge for future work. We leverage our own work comparing current and historical songs from urban and rural habitats for a subspecies of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli). We use this system, along with findings from other systems, to answer three key questions in the field: (1) Is song variation consistent with temporal and spatial variation in anthropogenic noise? (2) How are birds adjusting their song to the urban environment? (3) How does song 'urbanization' affect signal function? Our synthesis illustrates that the adjustments birds make to their songs in noisy environments can improve signal detection, but potentially at the cost of signal function. Many key gaps in knowledge need to be addressed to complete our understanding of how acoustic communication systems evolve in urban areas, specifically in regard to sexual selection and female preference, as well as how receivers perceive signals in an urban environment.

Background The United States Preventative Services Task Force in their 2023 recommendations identified areas where more research data is needed to inform future breast cancer screening recommendations. Research areas identified are: improve clinicians and patients understanding and evaluation of dense breast tissue on a screening mammogram, benefits and harms of supplemental screening using ultrasound or MRI for women with dense breasts, health outcomes such as rates of breast cancer diagnosis requiring treatment, rates of advanced breast cancers diagnosed across consecutive screening rounds, and breast cancer-associated morbidity and mortality, causes of increased risk of breast cancer mortality in black women across spectrum of stages and biomarker patterns, understand why black women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancers that have biomarker patterns that are indicative of poor health outcomes, assess benefits/harms differences between annual and biennial screening for breast cancer in women overall and if there are differences between black and white women, approaches to reduce the risk of overdiagnosis leading to overtreatment of breast lesions found at screening that may not cause morbidity and mortality, natural history of DCIS, and identify prognostic indicators of breast tumors that are unlikely to affect quality or length of life. Methods The ongoing TMIST study, currently with 88,801 asymptomatic women presenting for screening mammography ages 45-74 enrolled out of 128,905, could contribute to scientific evidence to support the above research areas through existing study aims and planned ancillary studies. Supplemental Screening with US and MRI: TMIST PreSCRIB will utilize Machine Learning applied to TMIST and All of Us data, including genetics, mammograms, social determinates of health and other data to recommend individualized screening strategies for women. DxMRI is a study where women will get AbMRI at time of Dx work-up. There are plans to use these examinations plus supplemental screening MRIs performed on TMIST subjects in an enriched reader study to evaluate the role of supplemental screening MRI in moderate risk women. Rates of breast cancer treatment, consecutive screening, morbidity, and mortality: TMIST’s primary outcome is the proportion of women experiencing an advanced breast cancer and needing treatment. TMIST is also collecting information on health care utilization following a cancer diagnosis, including types of treatment given, and costs data from the screening and diagnostic work-up visits, and mortality data for study participants. Increased risk of breast cancer mortality in black women: TMIST is performing PAM50 plus p53 status, immune profile, DNA repair phenotype, and 21-gene recurrence assay on all breast cancers and a subset of benign tissue. Blood and buccal smears might also help address this issue. Ongoing work, funded by the Susan B. Komen Foundation, focuses on improving Black participation in TMIST Biorepository (currently about 45% participation of the 21% of TMIST US black subjects). Surveys are planned on perceived racism and social determinates of health as part of DxMRI Study. Screening Frequency: We are developing a collaboration with the UK-based clinical trial PROSPECTS to compare rates of all cancers and advanced cancers for annual, biennial, and 3-year screening. Overdiagnosis, natural history of DCIS, prognostic indicators of breast tumors not impacting quality of life: PRoGram- will use radiomics, genomics and pathomics to develop a greater understanding of the variability of the non-advanced cancers diagnosed in the TMIST population, including DCIS. It is hoped that this model will provide greater understanding of the risk of poor outcomes for women diagnosed with lower risk cancers, including DCIS. Citation Format: Etta Pisano, Constantine Gatsonis, Mitchell Schnall, Melissa Troester, Elodia Cole, Jean Cormack, Ilana Gareen, Martin Yaffe, Laura Collins, Amarinthia Curtis, Ruth Carlos, Kathy Miller, Christopher Comstock. Addressing USPSTF 2023 Identified Key Gaps in Knowledge in Breast Cancer Screening through TMIST (ECOG-ACRIN EA1151) or its Ancillary Studies [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO3-19-03.