Changes In Resource Availability Research Articles

Rabies transmission in the Arctic: An agent-based model reveals the effects of broad-scale movement strategies on contact risk between Arctic foxes

Arctic rabies is an ongoing threat to human populations and domestic animals inpolar regions, where Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are the main reservoir hosts. Human-driven changes in resource availability are shifting the distribution of Arctic foxes and these changes may affect the risk of rabies transmission and spread. Our understanding of the effects of broad-scale movement strategies in Arctic foxes and spatial distribution of resources on contact patterns among Arctic foxes, and their consequences on the dynamics of rabies epidemiology remains limited, in part, due to the difficulty of obtaining contact data from such remote and expansive regions. In this perspective, we built a spatially explicit agent-based model coupled with hidden Markov models to explore how Arctic fox movement behavior, combined with Arctic fox population density, resource availability and rabies transmission dynamics, affects the risk of infectious contact between Arctic foxes across heterogeneous landscapes. The model was parameterized using a combination of unique field data collected in the Canadian High Arctic and published studies from other Arctic regions. A sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the effects of multiple model input parameters on contact rates among Arctic foxes. Our results showed that cumulative contact rates per fox were driven by predictors related to rabies transmission dynamics and fox carrying capacity, while unique contact rates per fox and unique infectious contact rates per rabid fox were best predicted by parameters associated with rabies transmission dynamics, fox movement behavior, and fox carrying capacity. Ultimately, our study provides new insights into the ecological drivers of rabies transmission and may inspire further research on modelling cost-effective rabies prevention strategies in the Arctic.

Airline maintenance task rescheduling in a disruptive environment

Airline maintenance task scheduling takes place in a disruptive environment. The stochastic arrival of corrective maintenance tasks and changes in both fleet and resource availability require schedules to be continuously adjusted. An optimal schedule ensures that all tasks are executed before their due date in both an efficient (at minimum use of ground-time) and a stable (limited number of schedule changes) manner. This paper is the first study to address disruption management for the hangar maintenance task scheduling problem, proposing a practical and efficient modeling framework. The framework comprises a mixed integer linear programming model for airline maintenance task rescheduling in a disruptive environment, in which task scheduling is constrained by the availability of resources. The model’s capabilities include creating and adjusting maintenance schedules continuously and dynamically reacting to new information when this becomes available. The modeling framework was tested in a case study provided by a large airline, and its performance was compared to the current practice of the airline. The results show that the proposed approach produces more efficient and stable results. A 3% ground time decrease was achieved, while the number of schedule changes in the last days before operations was decreased by more than half.

Healthy Here: A Promising Referral System Model for Community-Clinical Linkages to Prevent Chronic Disease.

Linking clinical services to community-based resources is a promising strategy for assisting patients with chronic disease prevention and management. However, there remains a gap in understanding how to effectively develop and implement community-clinical linkages (CCLs), especially in communities of color. The Healthy Here initiative used Stage Theory of organizational change to implement a centralized wellness referral system, linking primary care clinics to community organizations in majority Hispanic/Latinx and Native American communities. Data were collected using a standardized referral form. Facilitators and challenges were identified through semi-structured discussions with partner organizations. Between 2016 and 2021, 43 clinics and 497 health care providers made 7,465 referrals, the majority of which were from the focus populations. The average proportion of patients referred by clinic champions decreased significantly over time, reflecting diffusion of the intervention within clinics. Facilitators to system success included building on existing networked partnerships, utilizing a centralized referral center, leveraging funding, sharing data, addressing challenges collectively, incorporating multilevel leadership, and co-developing and testing a standardized referral form and process with a single clinic and provider before scaling up. Challenges included funding restrictions, decreasing referrals within clinics over time, changing availability of resources and programs, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This innovative initiative demonstrates that CCLs can be developed and implemented to successfully reach Hispanic/Latinx and Native American communities and provides strategies for overcoming challenges.

Tule elk selection of surface water and forage is mediated by season and drought

Climate change is expected to affect arid-system ungulate populations by altering the distribution and availability of critical resources such as water and forage, particularly through more frequent and extreme droughts. Tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes), a subspecies of North American elk endemic to the Mediterranean climate regions of California, USA, can provide insight into the habitat selection behaviors arid-system ungulate populations use in response to changing resource availability. We used location data collected between 2005⁠–⁠2017 from GPS-collared tule elk to model elk response to surface water sources, forage dynamics (i.e., spatio-temporal changes in forage quality and abundance), and drought in the wet and dry seasons. These data spanned the extreme drought that occurred from 2012–⁠2017, a time when survival was apparently stable in the population. We found that, in the dry season, tule elk localized around water sources but selected areas farther from water with greater forage abundance. In the wet season, high quality forage and road avoidance were the primary factors influencing selection. These patterns were intensified by the extreme drought, with elk selecting areas closer to water in the dry season and farther from water sources in the wet season. Tule elk appeared to modify their behavior to minimize the impacts of drought on their survival. These findings suggest that water source availability and the relationship between water sources and other landscape features, including forage and roads, are a critical component of ungulate management in drought-prone regions.

Carbon and Nitrogen Availability Drives Seasonal Variation in Soil Microbial Communities along an Elevation Gradient

Changes in soil abiotic and biotic properties can be powerful drivers of feedback between plants and soil microbial communities. However, the specific mechanisms by which seasonal changes in environmental factors shape soil microbial communities are not well understood. Here, we collected soil samples from three sites along an elevational gradient (200–1200 m) in subtropical forests with unvarying canopy vegetation. We used an elevation gradient with similar annual precipitation but a clear temperature gradient, and phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) were measured to determine the seasonal variations in the composition of soil microbial communities in response to rising temperatures. Our results showed that the abundance of Gram-negative bacteria and total PLFAs were the lowest at low elevations in winter, and the ratio of Gram-positive to Gram-negative bacteria decreased with increasing elevation. However, the biomass of other microbial groups was the highest at medium elevations in summer, with the exception of actinomycetes species and fungi. Regardless of seasonal changes, soil fungal biomass tended to increase with increasing elevation. Moreover, in summer, microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) increased with increasing elevation, whereas an opposite trend was observed in winter. Redundancy analysis and structural equation modeling showed that the dissolved organic carbon in soil was the main factor affecting the microbial communities along the elevation gradient in winter, whereas in summer, the microbial community structure was driven by shifting nitrogen availability, with both being associated with changing microbial CUE. As such, this study demonstrates distinct seasonal changes in the soil microbial community composition across an elevation gradient that are driven by carbon and nitrogen resource availability and shifts in microbial CUE. Furthermore, our results suggest that the interaction of underground plant roots and microbes drives changes in resource availability, thereby resulting in seasonal variation in soil microbial community composition across an elevation gradient.

Resource availability drives bacteria community resistance to pathogen invasion via altering bacterial pairwise interactions.

Microbial interactions within resident communities are a major determinant of resistance to pathogen invasion. Yet, interactions vary with environmental conditions, raising the question of how community composition and environments interactively shape invasion resistance. Here, we use resource availability (RA) as a model parameter altering the resistance of model bacterial communities to invasion by the plant pathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum. We found that at high RA, interactions between resident bacterial species were mainly driven by the direct antagonism, in terms of the means of invader inhibition. Consequently, the competitive resident communities with a higher production of antibacterial were invaded to a lesser degree than facilitative communities. At low RA, bacteria produced little direct antagonist potential, but facilitative communities reached a relatively higher community productivity, which showed higher resistance to pathogen invasion than competitive communities with lower productivities. This framework may lay the basis to understand complex microbial interactions and biological invasion as modulated by the dynamic changes of environmental resource availability.

Season and reproductive activity influence cortisol levels in the Malagasy primate Lepilemur edwardsi.

Throughout the year, wild animals are exposed to a variety of challenges such as changing environmental conditions and reproductive activity. These challenges may affect their stress hormone levels for varying durations and in varying intensities and impacts. Measurements of the glucocorticoid hormone cortisol in the hair of mammals are considered a good biomarker for measuring physiological stress and are increasingly used to evaluate stress hormone levels of wild animals. Here, we examined the influence of season, reproductive activity, sex, as well as body condition on hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) in Lepilemur edwardsi, a small Malagasy primate species. L. edwardsi lives in the seasonal dry forests of western Madagascar, which are characterized by a strongly changing resource availability throughout the year. We hypothesized that these seasonal changes of resource availability and additionally the reproductive cycle of this species would influence HCC of L. edwardsi. Results revealed that hair cortisol concentration of females did not change seasonally or with the reproductive cycle. However, we found a significant increase of hair cortisol levels in males from the early wet season during the early dry season (mating season). This increase is presumably due to changed behavior during the mating season, as sportive lemurs travel more and show aggressive behavior during this time of the year. This behavior is energy-costly and stressful, and presumably leads to elevated HCC. As elevated cortisol levels may impair immune function, L. edwardsi males might also be more susceptible to parasites and diseases, which is unfavorable in particular during a period of low resource availability (dry season).

Influence of environmental variables on leaf area index in loblolly pine plantations

The productivity of even-aged forest stands varies from one year to the next as a function of canopy size and its interaction with the effective radiation used for photosynthesis. To characterize this relation, ecologists use leaf area index (LAI), a metric that serves as an indicator of the photosynthetic capacity on a given site. In this research, we proposed a model describing leaf area index dynamics in loblolly pine plantations growing in the southeastern United States. The model implements a delayed differential equation using periodic coefficients that enforce the seasonality in resource availability. The equation was further expanded to accommodate climatic variables to evaluate their contribution in reducing the observed variability. The proposed model uses environmental modifiers to account for the changes in resource availability and to adjust the carrying capacity in forest stands. From a range of tested variables, we found monthly maximum temperature and monthly excess water to be the most influential on leaf area index dynamics. With the addition of environmental modifiers and a local carrying capacity parameter, root mean square error was reduced to 0.3802 units LAI (m2/m2) from a base model RMSE of 0.4427 units LAI (m2/m2). The results indicate that the delay component has a small 41-day effect in the model, which is contrary to our initial hypothesis that stored within-tree carbohydrates can be used for further seasons to build foliage.

Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis, exhibits a flexible feeding ecology in the Southern California Bight.

Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis, migrates from spawning grounds in the western Pacific Ocean to foraging grounds in the California Current System (CCS), where they are thought to specialize on high energy, surface schooling prey. However, there has been substantial variability in estimates of forage availability in the CCS over the past two decades. To examine the foraging ecology of juvenile T. orientalis in the face this variability, we quantified the diet and prey energetics of 963 individuals collected in the Southern California Bight (SCB) from 2008 to 2016. Using classification and regression tree analysis, we observed three sampling periods characterized by distinct prey. In 2008, T. orientalis diet was dominated by midwater lanternfishes and enoploteuthid squids. During 2009–2014, T. orientalis consumed diverse fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Only in 2015–2016 did T. orientalis specialize on relatively high energy, surface schooling prey (e.g. anchovy, pelagic red crab). Despite containing the smallest prey, stomachs collected in 2009–2014 had the highest number of prey and similar total energetic contents to stomachs collected in 2015–2016. We demonstrate that T. orientalis is an opportunistic predator that can exhibit distinct foraging behaviors to exploit diverse forage. Expanding our understanding of T. orientalis foraging ecology will improve our ability to predict its responses to changes in resource availability as well as potential impacts on the fisheries it supports.

Dietary preferences and feeding strategies of Colombian highland woolly monkeys

Primates are very selective in the foods they include in their diets with foraging strategies that respond to spatial and temporal changes in resource availability, distribution and quality. Colombian woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha lugens), one of the largest primate species in the Americas, feed mainly on fruits, but they also eat a high percentage of arthropods. This differs from closely related Atelid species that supplement their diet with leaves. In an 11 month study, we investigated the foraging strategies of this endemic monkey and assessed how resource availability affects dietary selection. Using behavioural, phenological, arthropod sampling and metabarcoding methods, we recorded respectively foraging time, forest productivity, arthropod availability in the forest and arthropod consumption. Scat samples and capturing canopy substrates (i.e. moss, bromeliads, aerial insects) were used for assigning arthropod taxonomy. The most important resource in the diet was fruits (54%), followed by arthropods (28%). Resource availability predicted feeding time for arthropods but not for fruits. Further, there was a positive relationship between feeding time on fruits and arthropods, suggesting that eating both resources during the same periods might work as an optimal strategy to maximize nutrient intake. Woolly monkeys preferred and avoided some fruit and arthropod items available in their home range, choosing a wide variety of arthropods. Geometrid moths (Lepidoptera) were the most important and consistent insects eaten over time. We found no differences in the type of arthropods adults and juveniles ate, but adults invested more time foraging for this resource, especially in moss. Although woolly monkeys are generalist foragers, they do not select their food items randomly or opportunistically.

The Feast and the Famine: Spring Body Mass Variations and Life History Traits in a Pulse Resource Ecosystem.

AbstractPhenotypic plasticity is the most immediate mechanism of adaptative response to environmental change. Studying plastic changes in response to fluctuating environments provides insights into how such adjustments may impact life history traits. Here, we used a 14-year data set of repeated body mass measurements in male eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) to assess the extent of plastic changes for this trait in a resource pulse ecosystem. We first determined the magnitude of variation in body mass at the population level in response to the drastic change in food resource availability from American beech tree seeds (Fagus grandifolia). Males that emerged in the spring from winter torpor following a nonmast year had a lower body mass than males emerging after a mast year, but they tended to recover this loss by mid-June. We found significant among-individual variation in spring body mass plasticity (i.e., individual-by-environment interaction). We then investigated the relationships between individual spring body mass plasticity, longevity, and lifetime reproductive success. Interestingly, heavier males lived longer than lighter males, but more plastic males had a lower longevity and lower lifetime reproductive success than less plastic males. The report of such plastic response in a stochastic resource system provides valuable insights into the interplay between the costs and benefits of phenotypic plasticity as an adaptation to environmental fluctuations.

Epidemiology and Ecology of Influenza A Viruses among Wildlife in the Arctic.

Arctic regions are ecologically significant for the environmental persistence and geographic dissemination of influenza A viruses (IAVs) by avian hosts and other wildlife species. Data describing the epidemiology and ecology of IAVs among wildlife in the arctic are less frequently published compared to southern temperate regions, where prevalence and subtype diversity are more routinely documented. Following PRISMA guidelines, this systematic review addresses this gap by describing the prevalence, spatiotemporal distribution, and ecological characteristics of IAVs detected among wildlife and the environment in this understudied region of the globe. The literature search was performed in PubMed and Google Scholar using a set of pre-defined search terms to identify publications reporting on IAVs in Arctic regions between 1978 and February 2022. A total of 2125 articles were initially screened, 267 were assessed for eligibility, and 71 articles met inclusion criteria. IAVs have been detected in multiple wildlife species in all Arctic regions, including seabirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, seals, sea lions, whales, and terrestrial mammals, and in the environment. Isolates from wild birds comprise the majority of documented viruses derived from wildlife; however, among all animals and environmental matrices, 26 unique low and highly pathogenic subtypes have been characterized in the scientific literature from Arctic regions. Pooled prevalence across studies indicates 4.23% for wild birds, 3.42% among tested environmental matrices, and seroprevalences of 9.29% and 1.69% among marine and terrestrial mammals, respectively. Surveillance data are geographically biased, with most data from the Alaskan Arctic and many fewer reports from the Russian, Canadian, North Atlantic, and Western European Arctic. We highlight multiple important aspects of wildlife host, pathogen, and environmental ecology of IAVs in Arctic regions, including the role of avian migration and breeding cycles for the global spread of IAVs, evidence of inter-species and inter-continental reassortment at high latitudes, and how climate change-driven ecosystem shifts, including changes in the seasonal availability and distribution of dietary resources, have the potential to alter host–pathogen–environment dynamics in Arctic regions. We conclude by identifying gaps in knowledge and propose priorities for future research.

Livelihood Activities, Climate Change and Water Resources Availability in the Lower Cross River State, Nigeria

This study aims to assess how human livelihood activities influence climate change and water resource availability in the Northern part of Cross River State, Nigeria. Majorly, the paper looked at how human livelihoods activities like deforestation for agricultural expansion, carving, and timber, exploitation of non-timber forest products, sand mining, and faulty agricultural practices among others had influenced the removal of forest vegetation cover, how these activities also influenced the reduction in rainfall and subsequent paving of ways for climate change. These activities contributed greatly to increasing ambient temperature orchestrating carbon accumulation in the surrounding environment and reduction in the amount of rainfall within the study area. Using both soft and hardware computer applications including German 12 handheld GPS, and Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS), were used for data collection. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected for the study. The GIS information software package was used to manipulate and perform feature identification, recognition, classification, calculation, and ground-truthing. A structured questionnaire was also used to collect data on some livelihood activities, the influence of livelihoods activities on water availability, and climate change among others. Secondary data set include the use of satellite imageries of Bekwarra, this was acquired from the Nigeria Center for Remote Sensing and Nigerian Meteorological Center, Jos for 1987- 2017. After analysis, it was found that the forest vegetation cover is fast disappearing, the built-up area had increased and the forest and water bodies are shrunken. Ambient temperature and carbon accumulation had seriously increased, while rainfall has reduced seriously leading to climate change and reduced water availability. It was recommended among others that tree planting and afforestation, alternative sources of livelihood that are feasible, sustainable, cheap, and practicable should be introduced to reduce pressure on the natural ecosystem.

Effects of dual mycorrhizal inoculation on Pinus strobus seedlings are influenced by soil resource availability

PurposeMycorrhizal interactions can drive plant productivity, diversity, and ecosystem function; however, gaps remain in our understanding of interactions among plants and different mycorrhizal types. Species in the Pinaceae primarily associate with ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi; however, some species can be colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi as rudimentary hosts. Interactions between plants and mycorrhizal fungi are expected to change along the mutualism-parasitism spectrum with changes in resource availability; however, the impacts of AM fungi on rudimentary hosts under different resource conditions are unknown.MethodsIn this study, we assessed the individual and interactive effects of ECM and AM inoculation on Pinus strobus seedlings under factorial combinations of low, medium, or high nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply.ResultsNo AM colonization was observed at the end of the experiment; however, seedlings inoculated with AM fungi showed significantly reduced growth. AM inoculation also had the greatest effect on P. strobus tissue nutrient concentrations under low fertilization including increased P and reduced N and N:P ratio. ECM colonization benefited P. strobus growth and P uptake, especially under low P availability, but ECM colonization rate itself was limited by low P. ECM colonization also improved seedling regulation of N:P ratio near optimum compared to uncolonized seedlings.ConclusionWe conclude that the effects of ECM and AM inoculation on P. strobus are context dependent, which is important for understanding mutualistic and rudimentary host responses and may have important implications for regeneration and early growth of P. strobus in natural and managed forests.

Dynamic sensitivity to resource availability influences population responses to mismatches in a shorebird.

Climate change has caused shifts in seasonally recurring biological events leading to the temporal decoupling of consumer–resource pairs, that is, phenological mismatching. Although mismatches often affect individual fitness, they do not invariably scale up to affect populations, making it difficult to assess the risk they pose. Individual variation may contribute to this inconsistency, with changes in resource availability and consumer needs leading mismatches to have different outcomes over time. Nevertheless, most models estimate a consumer's match from a single time point, potentially obscuring when mismatches matter to populations. We analyzed how the effects of mismatches varied over time by studying precocial Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) chicks and their invertebrate prey from 2009 to 2019. We developed individual‐ and population‐level models to determine how age‐specific variation affects the relationship between godwits and resource availability. We found that periods with abundant resources led to higher growth and survival of godwit chicks, but also that chick survival was increasingly related to the availability of larger prey as chicks aged. At the population level, estimates of mismatches using age‐structured consumer demand explained more variation in annual godwit fledging rates than more commonly used alternatives. Our study suggests that modeling the effects of mismatches as the disrupted interaction between dynamic consumer needs and resource availability clarifies when mismatches matter to both individuals and populations.

Old World Vultures Reflect Effects of Environmental Pollutants Through Human Encroachment.

African wildlife face challenges from many stressors including current and emerging contaminants, habitat and resource loss, poaching, intentional and unintentional poisoning, and climate-related environmental change. The plight of African vultures exemplifies these challenges due to environmental contaminants and other stressors acting on individuals and populations that are already threatened or endangered. Many of these threats emanate from increasing human population size and settlement density, habitat loss from changing land use for agriculture, residential areas, and industry, and climate-related changes in resource availability. Environmental chemicals that are hazardous include legacy chemicals, emerging chemicals of concern, and high-volume-use chemicals that are employed as weed killers and in other agricultural applications. Furthermore, there are differences in risk for species living in close proximity to humans or in areas affected by habitat loss, climate, and industry. Monitoring programs are essential to track the status of nesting pairs, offspring survival, longevity, and lifetime productivity. This is important for long-lived birds, such as vultures, that may be especially vulnerable to chronic exposure to chemicals as obligate scavengers. Furthermore, their position in the food web may increase risk due to biomagnification of chemicals. We review the primary chemical hazards to Old World vultures and the interacting stressors affecting these and other birds. Habitat is a major consideration for vultures, with tree-nesters and cliff-nesters potentially experiencing different risks of exposure to environmental chemicals. The present review provides information from long-term monitoring programs and discusses a range of these threats and their effects on vulture populations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2022;41:1586-1603. © 2022 SETAC.

Movement and habitat use by smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu velox in a dynamic Ozark Highlands riverscape.

Stream fish movement in response to changing resource availability and habitat needs is important for fish growth, survival and reproduction. The authors used radio telemetry to evaluate individual movements, daily movement rates, home ranges and habitat-use characteristics of adult (278-464 mm LT ) Neosho smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu velox in three Ozark Highlands streams from June 2016 to February 2018. The authors quantified variation in movement and habitat use among seasons and streams and examined relations with select environmental cues (i.e., temperature and discharge), fish size and sex. Maximum movement distances were an order of magnitude greater in the larger Elk River (17.0 km) and Buffalo Creek (12.9 km) than in the smaller Sycamore Creek (1.71 km), were similar in both upstream and downstream directions and typically occurred during the spring. Most movement rates were ≤10 m day-1 in all streams and seasons, except for Elk River during spring. Ranking of linear mixed-effects models using AICc supported that movement rates were much greater in spring and increased with stream size. Spring movement rate increased with discharge and water temperature; only weak relationships were apparent during other seasons. Increased variation in water temperature had a small negative effect on movement rate. Home range size was highly variable among individuals, ranging 45-15,061 m (median: 773 m), and was not related to fish size, sex, season or stream. Although some fish moved between rivers, this study's tagged fish did not use reservoir or associated interface habitat. Water temperatures used by this study's tagged fish followed seasonal patterns but indicated the use of thermal refugia during summer and winter. Deeper-water habitats were used in Buffalo Creek and in winter across all study streams, whereas greater velocities used in the Elk River likely reflect the increased use of run habitats. Use of pool habitats predominated among tagged fish, particularly in smaller streams. The results of this study indicate considerable heterogeneity in movement and habitat use within and among lotic populations of Neosho smallmouth bass. These findings suggest that population-specific management may be appropriate and highlight the importance of natural flow conditions (i.e., spring high flows) and connected habitats for this endemic sport fish, particularly in smaller streams.

Soil Arthropod Community in Spruce Forests (Picea abies) Affected by a Catastrophic Storm Event

At the end of October 2018, the “Vaia” storm hit the eastern sector of the Italian Alps, causing major damage to forests. The resulting changes in habitat and resource availability are expected to shape the structure and abundance of soil communities. In this research, a soil arthropod community is studied one year after the catastrophic Vaia event in forests affected by the storm (W: Windthrow) to highlight the shift in the soil faunal community in a Mediterranean area increasingly impacted by climate change. Intact forests (IF) close to W were studied as a control condition and meadows (M) were considered to understand if W is moving toward a conversion to M or if the wooded character still prevails. Soil organic matter content was higher in IF than in W and M. The arthropod community was different between M and forests, both W and IF, while no differences were detected between W and IF considering the whole soil arthropod community. The Vaia catastrophic event does not appear to have radically changed the soil arthropod community and biodiversity after one year, despite upheaval to the vegetation cover, but the response is partially OTU (operative taxonomic unit)-specific. Hymenoptera adults and Coleoptera and Diptera larvae appear to be the most affected OTUs, showing lower abundance in W than IF. Conversely, Chilopoda seemed to benefit from the habitat changes, the result strongly related with the W condition. The two most present OTUs, Collembola and Acarina, were not affected by the Vaia storm. We may conclude that the soil system needs longer time to show a clear shift in the soil arthropod community.

Depressive and anxious symptoms among young adults in the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from monitoring the future.

PurposeThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) pandemic is associated with worsening mental health among young adults, but further research is necessary to quantify the associations with depression and anxiety.MethodsUsing Monitoring the Future data (N = 1244 young adults, modal age: 19, Fall 2020 supplement), we examined internalizing symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire‐8 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale‐7 separately), dividing the sample into those without clinically significant scores, significant scores but minimal pandemic‐attributed symptoms, and significant scores with substantial pandemic‐attributed symptoms. Logistic regression analyses linked demographic factors, pandemic‐related experiences, and coping methods to symptom groups.ResultsInternalizing symptoms were highly prevalent, with many occurring among a majority at least several days over the past 2 weeks. Major changes in education, employment, and resource availability predicted elevated symptom risk (e.g., lacking a place to sleep or money for rent, gas, or food led to 4.43 [95% confidence interval: 2.59–7.55] times the risk of high depressive symptoms significantly attributed to the pandemic). High internalizing symptoms were linked to underutilization of healthy coping behaviors, substance use overutilization, and dietary changes. High depressive and anxious symptoms attributed to the pandemic were marked by high levels of taking breaks from the news/social media and contacting healthcare providers.ConclusionsThe pandemic's associations with young adults' depressive and anxious symptoms warrants urgent attention through improved mental health treatment infrastructure and stronger structural support.

Contaminated consignment simulation to support risk-based inspection design.

Invasive nonnative plant pests can cause extensive environmental and economic damage and are very difficult to eradicate once established. Phytosanitary inspections that aim to prevent biological invasions by limiting movement of nonnative plant pests across borders are a critical component of the biosecurity continuum. Inspections can also provide valuable information about when and where plant pests are crossing national boundaries. However, only a limited portion of the massive volume of goods imported daily can be inspected, necessitating a highly targeted, risk-based strategy. Furthermore, since inspections must prioritize detection and efficiency, their outcomes generally cannot be used to make inferences about risk for cargo pathways as a whole. Phytosanitary agencies need better tools for quantifying pests going undetected and designing risk-based inspection strategies appropriate for changing operational conditions. In this research, we present PoPS (Pest or Pathogen Spread) Border, an open-source consignment inspection simulator for measuring inspection outcomes under various cargo contamination scenarios to support recommendations for inspection protocols and estimate pest slippage rates. We used the tool to estimate contamination rates of historical interception data, quantify tradeoffs in effectiveness and workload for inspection strategies, and identify vulnerabilities in sampling protocols as changes in cargo configurations and contamination occur. These use cases demonstrate how this simulation approach permits testing inspection strategies and measuring quantities that would otherwise be impossible in a field-based setting. This work represents the first steps toward a decision support tool for creating dynamic inspection protocols that respond to changes in available resources, workload, and commerce trends.