Relative Frequency Of Occurrence Research Articles

Investigative power of genomic informational field theory relative to genome-wide association studies for genotype-phenotype mapping.

Identifying associations between phenotype and genotype is the fundamental basis of genetic analyses. Inspired by frequentist probability and the work of R. A. Fisher, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) extract information using averages and variances from genotype-phenotype datasets. Averages and variances are legitimated upon creating distribution density functions obtained through the grouping of data into categories. However, as data from within a given category cannot be differentiated, the investigative power of such methodologies is limited. Genomic informational field theory (GIFT) is a method specifically designed to circumvent this issue. The way GIFT proceeds is opposite to that of GWAS. Although GWAS determines the extent to which genes are involved in phenotype formation (bottom-up approach), GIFT determines the degree to which the phenotype can select microstates (genes) for its subsistence (top-down approach). Doing so requires dealing with new genetic concepts, a.k.a. genetic paths, upon which significance levels for genotype-phenotype associations can be determined. By using different datasets obtained in Ovis aries related to bone growth (dataset 1) and to a series of linked metabolic and epigenetic pathways (dataset 2), we demonstrate that removing the informational barrier linked to categories enhances the investigative and discriminative powers of GIFT, namely that GIFT extracts more information than GWAS. We conclude by suggesting that GIFT is an adequate tool to study how phenotypic plasticity and genetic assimilation are linked.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The genetic basis of complex traits remains challenging to investigate using classic genome-wide association studies (GWASs). Given the success of gene editing technologies, this point needs to be addressed urgently since there can only be useful editing technologies whether precise genotype-phenotype mapping information is available initially. Genomic informational field theory (GIFT) is a new mapping method designed to increase the investigative power of biological/medical datasets suggesting, in turn, the need to rethink the conceptual bases of quantitative genetics.

Understanding Human-Nilgai negative interactions in India: a systematic review through print media report analysis

Despite being one of the most conflict-prone species in India, the Nilgai antelope Boselaphus tragocamelus has received little scientific attention. In this study, we address this knowledge gap by conducting an analysis of secondary data extracted from print media reports on Human-Nilgai negative interactions at the regional scale (tehsils and districts) across different states of India. Our findings revealed notable variations in conflict levels among different states, with Bihar emerging as the most affected (86 tehsils and 22 districts), followed by Madhya Pradesh (34 tehsils; 21 districts) and Uttar Pradesh (33 tehsils; 20 districts). Within Bihar, Muzaffarpur and East Champaran districts stand out for their high conflict levels. Crop raiding by different populations of Nilgai is identified as the primary cause of the negative interaction, with a relative frequency of occurrence of 98%. Attacks on humans by nilgai, although rare, accounted for a relative frequency of occurrence of only 1.2%. Additionally, newspapers reported retaliatory killings, with a relative frequency of occurrence of 0.84%. Between 2018 and 2022, nilgai populations were documented raiding 45 distinct crop types. Analysis of these raids revealed varying frequencies across different crop categories, with vegetables being the most heavily targeted (31%), followed by pulses (22%) and cereals (20%). Our study identifies priority tehsils and districts across different states in the country where studies aiming at nilgai-crop interactions, population dynamics, and movement ecology can be carried out to devise effective mitigation measures.

Benthic Foraminifera as Bio-Indicators of Trace Element Pollution at St. Martin’s Island, Bangladesh

Benthic Foraminifera occupied all marine environments. The practice of utilizing benthic foraminifera for monitoring the state of the marine environment has garnered widespread recognition all over the world. Changes in foraminiferal assemblage indicate the level of environmental stress. The prime concern of the present research is to evaluate the abundance and distribution of benthic foraminifera stress and how anthropogenic stresses affect their diversity in St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh. About 250 foraminifera specimens were collected, of which 22 species, 19 genera, and 17 families of predominantly benthic provenance were recognized. Astrorhiza holds the first position in order of relative abundance and frequency of occurrence followed by the Elphidium, Robulus, and Eponoides. The stress-tolerant and heterotrophic genera (Quinqueloculina, Elphidium, Ammonia, Trochammina) dominated the sensitive or symbiont genera (Calcarina, Operculina, Cibicides, Nummulites). Analysis of various diversity indices reveals that the northern part of the island near the boat terminal shows a lower diversity of benthic foraminifera. The southern part of the island shows moderate diversity indicating less pollution. For the investigation of the Foraminiferal shell, in addition to statistical computing, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis), and XRD (X-ray Diffraction) analyses have been utilized. From the EDX analysis, it has been found that lower oxygen (O) with a weight range of (36.51-53.71%) and calcium (Ca) with a weight range of (30.44-53.38%) are the primary components of the foraminifera test. The shells also contain higher percentages of trace elements such as silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), chlorine (Cl), sodium (Na), aluminum (Al), and manganese (Mn). Anthropogenic activity is the main source of these trace elements, which clearly demonstrates the island's environmentally stressed condition. The intrusion of these elements in the benthic foraminiferal shell indicates they react to anthropogenic contaminants. These exogenous trace elements are responsible for particular morphological distortion of foraminifera shells which are also observed in St. Martin’s Island. The outcomes from the current research will build a foundation for future researchers focusing on anthropogenic impact assessment and sustainable coastal management in Bangladesh. The Dhaka University Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 12(2), 2023, P 1-14

A Novel Global Probabilistic Fuzzy System for Occupa-tional Risk Assessment (GPFSORA)

Occupational risk assessment is the process of estimating the magnitude of risks that cannot be avoided. Then, the corresponding assessment is carried out, using comparative tables with different evaluation methods. Current risk assessment techniques enable the individual assessment of each potential risk, but there is no method to globally assess potential risks in an organization. The motivation of this research was to develop an objective and quantitative risk assessment system through a diffuse probabilistic model integrating stochastic and non-stochastic uncertainty. To this effect, an empirical collective record was used, whose attribute of interest was the occurrence of different accident types over a period of 52 weeks. Here, each of the collectives represented a linguistic input variable. In the probabilistic fuzzification stage, the frequentist probability of the occurrence of accidents was determined. One of our most important contributions to probabilistic fuzzy systems lies in our classification of language labels based on the linguistic projection of frequentist probabilities via a projection membership function determined by experts. The use of the total probability theorem in the implication stage is also proposed. The output of the system determines the type of risk, its evaluation, and the probability of its occurrence, vital factors to be considered in prevention work. The system’s stages are explicitly described and applied to real data corresponding to construction materials distribution company. One of the relevant conclusions of this research is that the integration of stochastic and imprecise uncertainty allows for a more reliable risk assessment system.

Global tropical cyclone extreme wave height climatology

A global study of extreme value (1 in 100-year return period) tropical cyclone generated waves is conducted across all tropical cyclone basins. The study uses a 1000 year tropical cyclone synthetic track database to force a validated parametric wave model. The resulting distributions of extreme significant wave height show that values in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific basins are the largest globally. This is partly due to the relative intensities and frequencies of occurrence of storms in these basins but also because the typical velocities of forward movement of storms are larger and hence can sustain the generation of larger waves. These larger values of velocity of forward movement tend to occur at higher latitudes. As a result, in both of these basins the largest extreme waves occur at higher latitudes than the maximum tropical cyclone winds. In all other tropical cyclone basins, storms tend to propagate more east–west and hence the maximum values of extreme significant wave height and wind speed occur at comparable latitudes.

Natural emergency modeling and forecasting

The purpose of this study is to develop forecast and analytical models (FAM) for predicting the most catastrophic natural emergencies caused by floods, earthquakes and forest fires. The article discusses predictive and analytical solutions for natural hazards for urbanized areas based on the Bayesian classifiers. The result is a formalized description of models for predicting forest fires, consequences of earthquakes and floods. The novelty of the models is due to the application of a unified scientific approach - the statistical processing method based on Bayes’ theorem. In contrast to the frequency probability determined by the relative frequency of occurrence of random events over sufficiently long observations, the Bayesian probability is the main forecasting method for constructing and training neural networks. Scientific forecasting of crises and incidents based on the Bayesian method and Bayesian networks requires a large amount of up-to-date data to model natural disasters, which is typical for frequently recurring negative events. Due to the lack of statistical data, the Bayesian method is not applicable to predicting catastrophic natural disasters that occur rarely but cause significant damage.

ENSO Disrupts Boreal Winter CRE Feedback

Abstract Twenty years of satellite-based cloud and radiation observations allow us to examine the observed cloud radiative effect (CRE) feedback (i.e., CRE change per unit change in global mean surface temperature). By employing a decomposition method to separate the contribution of “internal changes” and “relative-frequency-of-occurrence (RFO) changes” of distinct cloud regime (CR) groups, notable seasonal contrasts of CRE feedback characteristics emerge. Boreal winter CRE feedback is dominated by the positive shortwave CRE (SWCRE) feedback of oceanic low-thick clouds, due to their decreasing RFO as temperature rises. This signal is most likely due to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity. When ENSO signals are excluded, boreal winter CRE feedback becomes qualitatively similar to the boreal summer feedback, where several CR groups contribute to the total CRE feedback more evenly. Most CR groups’ CRE feedbacks largely come from changing RFO (e.g., the predominant transition from oceanic cumulus to broken clouds and more occurrences of higher convective clouds with warming temperature). At the same time, low-thick and broken clouds experience optical thinning and decreasing cloud fraction, and these features are more prominent in boreal summer than winter. Overall, the seasonally asymmetric patterns of CRE feedback, primarily due to ENSO, introduce complexity in assessments of CRE feedback.

Study on medicinal food plants in the Gaoligongshan Biosphere Reserve, the richest biocultural diversity center in China

BackgroundTraditional knowledge associated with medicinal food plants (MFPs) plays a vital role in fighting hidden hunger and safeguarding the health of local people. MFPs resources are abundant in the Gaoligongshan area, a biosphere reserve with the richest biocultural diversity in China. Local people of different linguistic groups also have rich traditional botanical knowledge. However, there are still few comprehensive and systematic studies on MFPs there.MethodsEthnobotanical investigation including market survey, semi-structured interviews, free listing and key informant interviews was conducted in the Gaoligongshan area, Western Yunnan, Southwest China. A total of 13 local farmers’ markets were selected and information about medicinal food plants, including food categories, medicinal and edible parts, modes of consumption, medicinal effects, and distribution were collected. The relative occurrence frequency (RFO) and cultural food significance index (CFSI) were calculated to identify the culturally significant MFPs.ResultsA total of 184 species of MFPs, belonging to 83 families, were collected in the Gaoligongshan area, including vegetables (77), medicinal diets (26), fruits (25), spices (18), herbal tea (13), tea substitutes (11), substitutes for staple food (8), nuts (5), oils and fats (4), and dye material (1). The most frequently used families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae, with 11, 10, and 9 species, respectively. The most frequently used plant parts were the stems, followed by fruits and leaves. Based on the evaluation results of the CFSI and RFO indices, 18 species of MFPs with magnificent local cultural importance have been screened out, such as Houttuynia cordata, Eryngium foetidum, Sechium edule, Centella asiatica and Pseudocydonia sinensis.ConclusionThese findings have guiding significance for conservation of traditional knowledge associated with MFPs and facilitation of scientific utilization of MFPs to meet local people’s needs for a healthy life.

Evaluating the Representation of Tropical Stratocumulus and Shallow Cumulus Clouds As Well As Their Radiative Effects in CMIP6 Models Using Satellite Observations

AbstractLow clouds over tropical oceans reflect a great proportion of solar radiation back to space and thereby cool the Earth, yet this phenomenon has been poorly simulated in several previous generations of climate models. The principal aim of the present study is to employ satellite observations to evaluate the representation of marine tropical low clouds and their radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere in a subset of latest climate models participating in CMIP6. We strive for regime‐oriented model validation and hence introduce a qualitative approach to discriminate stratocumulus (Sc) from shallow cumulus (Cu). The novel Sc‐Cu categorization has a conceptual advantage of being based on cloud properties, rather than relying on a model response to a cloud‐controlling factor. We find that CMIP6 models underestimate low‐cloud cover in both Sc‐regions and Cu‐regions of tropical oceans. A more detailed investigation of cloud biases reveals that most CMIP6 models underestimate the relative frequency of occurrence (RFO) of Sc and overestimate RFO of Cu. We further demonstrate that tropical low cloudiness in CMIP6 models remains too bright. The regime‐oriented validation represents the basis for improving parameterizations of physical processes that determine the cloud cover and radiative impact of Sc and Cu, which are still misrepresented in current climate models.

A Modified Kain–Fritsch Convection Scheme for Extended-Range Prediction

Abstract This paper describes the convection parameterization in the Navy Earth System Prediction Capability (ESPC) system developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, with a focus on the scheme configuration in the v2.0 system. The parameterization is an update of a modification of the Kain–Fritsch convection scheme by Ridout et al. based on an assumed quasi-balance of updraft parcel buoyancy at the cloud-base level. Scheme updates include the treatment of updraft/environment mixing and additional updraft model features, including a parameterized reduction in net detrainment in cases of significant near-cloud upward motion, and a modified cloud-top condition. The scheme includes two convection modes: a turbulence-triggered and a dynamically triggered mode. Hindcast sensitivity with Navy ESPC to features of the scheme is investigated with 45-day integrations from 1 November 2011 for a portion of the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) research program observational period that overlaps with the occurrence of two episodes of the MJO. The modified updraft mixing is critical in the hindcasts for consistent MJO eastward propagation, whereas the additional updraft updates significantly improve the representation of small-scale rainfall variability, while helping to inhibit development of excessive low-level easterly flow. The added turbulence-triggered convection mode helps to improve the representation of the separation of periods of enhanced MJO convection. The relative occurrence frequency of convective cloud-top height and column water vapor in the equatorial Indo-Pacific is investigated in the hindcasts, showing significant similarities with satellite retrieval results. Significance Statement This study describes the scheme used to represent the effects of convective clouds such as cumulus and cumulonimbus (thunderstorm clouds) in computerized 45-day global forecasts of the Earth system in a forecast model developed at the Naval Research Laboratory, focusing on the version currently undergoing testing for use by the U.S. Navy. Some of the development history and physical basis for the scheme are presented, and results from test simulations are included. The test results investigate potential forecast sensitivity to various features of the scheme and illustrate that the scheme can successfully represent certain effects of convective clouds on large-scale storm systems in the tropics that have global-scale impacts on extended-range (several weeks) prediction of the Earth’s atmosphere/ocean system.

An assessment of silvopastoral systems condition and their capacity to generate ecosystem services in the Colombian Amazon

ABSTRACT Livestock production in the Colombian Amazonia is typically dual-purpose (meat and milk) based on silvopastoral systems. We aimed to assess how the ecological condition of these systems correspond to the ecosystem services they generate based on an assessment of farmers’ knowledge of the tree species. We evaluated 159 paddocks. We recorded 143 tree species from 37 families, with 22 species being most common (relative occurrence frequency = 57%). Based on tree species composition, we characterized four states of silvopastoral condition (hereon ‘paddock condition types’) using clustering techniques: (i) High structural complexity and highest tree species richness (HSCR); (ii) High species diversity and tall trees (HDTT); (iii) High species diversity and medium-sized trees (HDMT); (iv) Structurally simple with lowest species richness (SSLR). Tree species richness was significantly higher in HSCR (11.70 ± 1.47 per paddock), than in SSLR (2.86 ± 0.80). HDTT and HDMT had similar richness, with intermediate values (5.55 ± 0.82 and 6.38 ± 0.51, respectively). Farmers appreciate a number of ecosystem services provided by the silvopastoral system, but a limited number of tree species are valued. This indicates the need for additional biodiversity conservation measures in these landscapes, including measures to improve knowledge about the value of tree species with few occurrences or low densities.

Seasonal and spatial variations in the diet of the Egyptian mongoose in its north-eastern Iberian range edge

The Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) is considered a generalist and opportunistic predator whose European distribution is restricted to Iberia. However, all the previous studies on the Egyptian mongoose’s diet in the Iberian Peninsula have been performed in Portugal and Doñana National Park (southwestern Spain), covering a small region of the species’ current distribution. To improve the knowledge on the trophic ecology of the species, we estimated the feeding habits of the Egyptian mongoose in central Spain, its north-eastern range edge. Our study was based on the analysis of (1) scats (n = 251) and (2) stomach contents (n = 32); samples were collected between 2018 and 2022. We calculated the relative frequency of occurrence (%RFO) and the percentage consumed biomass (%CB) for 12 food groups across central Spain and we assessed site-seasonal variations in diet composition in three study areas. We also estimated rabbit densities in the three study areas to assess the effect of rabbit abundance on mongoose diets. Overall, our results showed that European rabbits were the group with highest %CB (30.7%) in the diet of the Egyptian mongoose, followed by reptiles (19.9%) and small mammals (19.9%). In the intensively studied areas, the %CB of rabbits was the highest in the area with the highest abundance of this prey, whereas reptiles had the highest %CB in the area with the lowest availability of rabbits. Diet diversity (Shannon index) varied between 1.73 and 2.47 in those areas and was inversely related to the availability of rabbits. Our results confirm the dietary flexibility of this predator that adapts its diet to the relative availability of different prey species in different habitats.

Abundance of pests of flood recession maize (Zea mays L.) in the Senegal River Valley

Maize, a foodstuff of economic and nutritional importance, is grown in Senegal in four regions such as the Senegal River valley, especially in the cold season. However, maize is subject to many pests. In view of the damage they cause, a knowledge of the entomofauna remains interesting. The abundance of the entomofauna of floodplain maize in the river valley, particularly in Dembancané, was determined. Thus, a population of 590 individuals was collected. Consequently, the absolute and relative abundance and frequency of occurrence or Constance were evaluated. The Kruskall-wallis test was performed followed by the DUNN test. Following this a Fisher test and a Chi-2 test were performed. From the beginning of flowering to the beginning of ripening, the study covered 58 species of insects and 5 species of spiders belonging to eight orders. The absolute abundance of species varies according to the plot and the development phase. In addition, Heteroptera are the most represented with 35.46% followed by Coleoptera and Orthoptera with 26.24%. The contribution of each species in this study area differs as a result of the different values found of relative abundance and Constance.

Predicting microbial community compositions in wastewater treatment plants using artificial neural networks

BackgroundActivated sludge (AS) of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is one of the world’s largest artificial microbial ecosystems and the microbial community of the AS system is closely related to WWTPs' performance. However, how to predict its community structure is still unclear.ResultsHere, we used artificial neural networks (ANN) to predict the microbial compositions of AS systems collected from WWTPs located worldwide. The predictive accuracy R21:1 of the Shannon–Wiener index reached 60.42%, and the average R21:1 of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) appearing in at least 10% of samples and core taxa were 35.09% and 42.99%, respectively. We also found that the predictability of ASVs was significantly positively correlated with their relative abundance and occurrence frequency, but significantly negatively correlated with potential migration rate. The typical functional groups such as nitrifiers, denitrifiers, polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs), glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs), and filamentous organisms in AS systems could also be well recovered using ANN models, with R21:1 ranging from 32.62% to 56.81%. Furthermore, we found that whether industry wastewater source contained in inflow (IndConInf) had good predictive abilities, although its correlation with ASVs in the Mantel test analysis was weak, which suggested important factors that cannot be identified using traditional methods may be highlighted by the ANN model.ConclusionsWe demonstrated that the microbial compositions and major functional groups of AS systems are predictable using our approach, and IndConInf has a significant impact on the prediction. Our results provide a better understanding of the factors affecting AS communities through the prediction of the microbial community of AS systems, which could lead to insights for improved operating parameters and control of community structure.2jzZ-nU4sRefzvXQz6KqH6Video

Cedar plantations as habitat for Japanese squirrels in the cool temperate zone

In this study, we determine whether coniferous plantations in the cool temperate zone of northeast Japan, with few natural evergreen forests, can serve as a habitat for Japanese squirrels. We also examine whether Japanese squirrel habitat use in cedar plantations varies based on forest structure. Our results showed that the relative frequency of squirrel occurrence, determined by camera traps and the number of feeding signs, was significantly higher at cedar forest survey sites than other forest types. The best generalised linear model for frequency of occurrence included the number of standing trees, canopy openness and understory visibility, while the best model for the number of feeding signs included total basal area, canopy openness and the number of walnut trees. The results suggest that cedar plantations within the study area serve partially as a habitat for squirrels, replacing natural evergreen trees. Furthermore, squirrel habitat use differed between cedar plantations based on forest structure, confirming the importance of a diverse forest structure for squirrels. Therefore, when considering the conservation and management of small arboreal mammals that use such plantations, they must include diverse structures to facilitate their use as a habitat.

Dietary preference of striped hyena in the anthropogenic landscape of Rajasthan, India

Understanding the dietary patterns of large carnivores is a key feature of their niche and addresses their ecological role in ecosystems. The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is a large carnivore distributed in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world and its diet is largely understudied in its range. We studied the dietary patterns of striped hyenas in the anthropogenic landscape, located in the semi-arid region of Rajasthan, India. We collected and analyzed a total number of 127 scat samples from November 2019 to February 2022. The relative biomass and frequency of occurrence of the large-sized prey species (>30 kg) were higher in the striped hyena's diet. However, the species requires a wide range of smaller prey to enrich its diet and a total of twenty-one prey species have been recorded in the hyena diet. The diet diversity of the striped hyena computed by the Shannon-Weiner Index (H) was 3.28. The proportion of prey in the scats indicated that very large to large and medium-sized prey accounted for 95.7% of total dietary biomass and was mostly preferred by striped hyenas, which was probably consumed through scavenging. Livestock (cows, buffaloes, sheep, camels, and dogs) accounted for 56.54% of total dietary biomass. The higher amount of presence of livestock mammals in the scats suggests that striped hyenas may frequently visit human settlement areas, which could be influenced by high carcass availability. The presence of small prey such as mongoose, hares, foxes, and rats indicate that the striped hyenas might partially hunt the smaller animals or opportunistic feed. This study added to our understanding of the striped hyena's feeding ecology in areas where anthropogenic food is quite abundant compared to wild prey. Hence hyenas benefit from anthropogenic food scavenging, whereas humans benefit from the non-lethal nature of hyenas and waste removal.

Proposal of a Method for Transferring High-Quality Scientific Literature Data to Virtual Patient Cases Using Categorical Data Generated by Bernoulli-Distributed Random Values: Development and Prototypical Implementation

Teaching medicine is a complex task because medical teachers are also involved in clinical practice and research and the availability of cases with rare diseases is very restricted. Automatic creation of virtual patient cases would be a great benefit, saving time and providing a wider choice of virtual patient cases for student training. This study explored whether the medical literature provides usable quantifiable information on rare diseases. The study implemented a computerized method that simulates basic clinical patient cases utilizing probabilities of symptom occurrence for a disease. Medical literature was searched for suitable rare diseases and the required information on the respective probabilities of specific symptoms. We developed a statistical script that delivers basic virtual patient cases with random symptom complexes generated by Bernoulli experiments, according to probabilities reported in the literature. The number of runs and thus the number of patient cases generated are arbitrary. We illustrated the function of our generator with the exemplary diagnosis "brain abscess" with the related symptoms "headache, mental status change, focal neurologic deficit, fever, seizure, nausea and vomiting, nuchal rigidity, and papilledema" and the respective probabilities from the literature. With a growing number of repetitions of the Bernoulli experiment, the relative frequencies of occurrence increasingly converged with the probabilities from the literature. For example, the relative frequency for headache after 10.000 repetitions was 0.7267 and, after rounding, equaled the mean value of the probability range of 0.73 reported in the literature. The same applied to the other symptoms. The medical literature provides specific information on characteristics of rare diseases that can be transferred to probabilities. The results of our computerized method suggest that automated creation of virtual patient cases based on these probabilities is possible. With additional information provided in the literature, an extension of the generator can be implemented in further research.

Species composition and spatial and temporal distribution of occasional fishes in Haizhou Bay, Shandong, China.

Occasional species are often neglected in community ecology studies due to low abundance and frequence. However, they are closely related to biodiversity maintenance and marine conservation. We used index of relative importance (IRI), distribution center of gravity and Mann-Kendall trend test to elucidate the spatial and temporal distributions and changing trends of occasional fishes in Haizhou Bay based on the fishery resources survey data collected from 2013 to 2019. The occasional fishes in Haizhou Bay was identified based on IRI. Nine of the occasional species were selected to analyze the spatial distribution and interannual trends of relative biomass and occurrence frequency. The results showed that a total of 93 fish species were recorded in the multi-year survey in Haizhou Bay. Among which, 61 species had IRI<10, indicating the existence of a large number of occasional fishes in Haizhou Bay. The nine selected occasional species had distinctive spatial distribution characteristics. Erisphex pottii, Azuma emmnion, and Raja porosa were mainly distributed in the eastern part of Haizhou Bay, with a wide habitat range. Sphyraena pinguis, Coilia nasus, and Zebrias zebra were distributed in the western and southern parts, respectively. The rest species were mainly distributed in the southwestern part. In terms of interannual variation, the biomass and occurrence frequency of Coilia mystus, R. porosa, A. emmnion, and S. pinguis showed fluctuating changes, while Odontamblyopus rubicundus and Ctenotrypauchen microcephalus showed an increasing trend. The biomass and occurrence of Z. zebra, C. nasus and E. pottii gradually decreased with no catch in recent years. This study would contribute to the understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of occasional species, and provide guidance for the conservation of occasional biological resources and species diversity, especially for the establishment of marine protected areas.

Effective Density Derived from Laboratory Measurements of the Vapor Growth Rates of Small Ice Crystals at −65° to −40°C

Abstract An electrodynamic levitation thermal-gradient diffusion chamber was used to grow 268 individual, small ice particles (initial radii of 8–26 μm) from the vapor, at temperatures ranging from −65° to −40°C, and supersaturations up to liquid saturation. Growth limited by attachment kinetics was frequently measured at low supersaturation, as shown in prior work. At high supersaturation, enhanced growth was measured, likely due to the development of branches and hollowed facets. The effects of branching and hollowing on particle growth are often treated with an effective density ρeff. We fit the measured time series with two different models to estimate size-dependent ρeff values: the first model decreases ρeff to an asymptotic deposition density ρdep, and the second models ρeff by a power law with exponent P. Both methods produce similar results, though the fits with ρdep typically have lower relative errors. The fit results do not correspond well with models of isometric or planar single-crystalline growth. While single-crystalline columnar crystals correspond to some of the highest growth rates, a newly constructed geometric model of budding rosette crystals produces the best match with the growth data. The relative frequency of occurrence of ρdep and P values show a clear dependence on ice supersaturation normalized to liquid saturation. We use these relative frequencies of ρdep and P to derive two supersaturation-dependent mass–size relationships suitable for cloud modeling applications.

Diet composition of omnivorous Mesopotamian spiny-tailed lizards (Saara loricata) in arid human-altered landscapes of Southwest Iran.

The Mesopotamian spiny-tailed lizard, Saara loricata, is one of the largest lizard species in the Middle East. Here, we report on the diet of the lizard and their potential role in seed dispersal in Southwestern Iran. We analyzed lizard fecal pellet groups (n= 124) for their food item composition and seed content. We calculated the relative frequency of occurrence (FO%), relative volume (V%), and importance value (IV%) for each food item. Moreover, the number of seeds of each plant food item was counted. Our findings reveal the first solid evidence of omnivorous behavior in the lizard. In total, 16 plant food items and 14 animal food items were identified. Herbaceous plants (IV=110.2%) and invertebrates (4.8%) were the most important food groups. The plant food items with the highest FO% were Poaceae (56.4%), Centaurea sp. (43.5%), and Medicago polymorpha (27.4%); and the V% for these items were 53.6%, 30.9%, and 13.1%, respectively. Most of the seeds that were consumed by lizards were from Poaceae (547 seeds; 47.81%) and Fabaceae (285 seeds; 24.91%). We also found that each individual lizard could play an equal role in the seed dispersal of all plant families identified. Previous studies show that plant species density and richness are important features for the burrow site selection of Mesopotamian spiny-tailed lizard. This study highlights the potential role of lizards in influencing the vegetation communities around their burrows through seed dispersal.