Front Royal Research Articles

Gut bacterial composition shows sex-specific shifts during breeding season in ex situ managed black-footed ferrets.

The gut microbiome of mammals engages in a dynamic relationship with the body and contributes to numerous physiological processes integral to overall health. Understanding the factors shaping animal-associated bacterial communities is therefore paramount to the maintenance and management in ex situ wildlife populations. Here, we characterized the gut microbiome of 48 endangered black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) housed at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (Front Royal, Virginia, USA). We collected longitudinal fecal samples from males and females across two distinct reproductive seasons to consider the role of host sex and reproductive physiology in shaping bacterial communities, as measured using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Within each sex, gut microbial composition differed between breeding and non-breeding seasons, with five bacterial taxa emerging as differentially abundant. Between sexes, female and male microbiomes were similar during non-breeding season but significantly different during breeding season, which may result from sex-specific physiological changes associated with breeding. Finally, we found low overall diversity consistent with other mammalian carnivores alongside high relative abundances of potentially pathogenic microbes such as Clostridium, Escherichia, Paeniclostridium, and (to a lesser degree) Enterococcus - all of which have been associated with gastrointestinal or reproductive distress in mammalian hosts, including black-footed ferrets. We recommend further study of these microbes and possible therapeutic interventions to promote more balanced microbial communities. These results have important implications for ex situ management practices that can improve the gut microbial health and long-term viability of black-footed ferrets.

David Elwood Gushee

David Elwood Gushee, 90, died Dec. 28, 2020, in Atlanta. “Dave Gushee served with distinction in the Korean War, and with DuPont, the American Chemical Society, and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. He was especially proud of the policy analysis he undertook for the CRS—nonpartisan, fair minded, balanced—and for its impact in shaping US government energy and environmental policy. He was a committed servant of his community, with a special focus on Babe Ruth League baseball, church work, and town planning in Front Royal, Virginia.”—David Paul Gushee, son Most recent title: Senior specialist in environmental policy, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress Education: BS, chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1950 Survivors: Daughters, Alice and Kathryn; son, David; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren To recognize your late loved one or colleague, submit obituary information at cenm.ag/obits .

Leaf turgor loss point shapes local and regional distributions of evergreen but not deciduous tropical trees.

Summary The effects of climate change on tropical forests will depend on how diverse tropical tree species respond to drought. Current distributions of evergreen and deciduous tree species across local and regional moisture gradients reflect their ability to tolerate drought stress, and might be explained by functional traits.We measured leaf water potential at turgor loss (i.e. ‘wilting point’; πtlp), wood density (WD) and leaf mass per area (LMA) on 50 of the most abundant tree species in central Panama. We then tested their ability to explain distributions of evergreen and deciduous species within a 50 ha plot on Barro Colorado Island and across a 70 km rainfall gradient spanning the Isthmus of Panama.Among evergreen trees, species with lower πtlp were associated with drier habitats, with πtlp explaining 28% and 32% of habitat association on local and regional scales, respectively, greatly exceeding the predictive power of WD and LMA. In contrast, πtlp did not predict habitat associations among deciduous species.Across spatial scales, πtlp is a useful indicator of habitat preference for tropical tree species that retain their leaves during periods of water stress, and holds the potential to predict vegetation responses to climate change.

An approach for decomposing river water-quality trends into different flow classes

A number of statistical approaches have been developed to quantify the overall trend in river water quality, but most approaches are not intended for reporting separate trends for different flow conditions. We propose an approach called FN2Q, which is an extension of the flow-normalization (FN) procedure of the well-established WRTDS (“Weighted Regressions on Time, Discharge, and Season”) method. The FN2Q approach provides a daily time series of low-flow and high-flow FN flux estimates that represent the lower and upper half of daily riverflow observations that occurred on each calendar day across the period of record. These daily estimates can be summarized into any time period of interest (e.g., monthly, seasonal, or annual) for quantifying trends. The proposed approach is illustrated with an application to a record of total nitrogen concentration (632 samples) collected between 1985 and 2018 from the South Fork Shenandoah River at Front Royal, Virginia (USA). Results show that the overall FN flux of total nitrogen has declined in the period of 1985–2018, which is mainly attributable to FN flux decline in the low-flow class. Furthermore, the decline in the low-flow class was highly correlated with wastewater effluent loads, indicating that the upgrades of treatment technology at wastewater treatment facilities have likely led to water-quality improvement under low-flow conditions. The high-flow FN flux showed a spike around 2007, which was likely caused by increased delivery of particulate nitrogen associated with sediment transport. The case study demonstrates the utility of the FN2Q approach toward not only characterizing the changes in river water quality but also guiding the direction of additional analysis for capturing the underlying drivers. The FN2Q approach (and the published code) can easily be applied to widely available river monitoring records to quantify water-quality trends under different flow conditions to enhance understanding of river water-quality dynamics.

Rheology of a coaxial shear zone in the Virginia Blue Ridge: Wet quartzite dislocation creep at ~250–280 °C

Cambrian quartzite along the western margin of the Blue Ridge near Front Royal, Virginia records significant penetrative strain under subgreenschist-facies conditions. Strain analyses of the quartzite indicate general flattening and octahedral shear strain values up to 1.25 (X:Z up to 5.7:1). Samples with X:Z as low as 1.5:1 have crystallographic preferred orientations that record a dominance of basal <a> slip and patterns consistent with coaxial flattening. In most samples quartz has undergone minor amounts of dynamic recrystallization with mean grain sizes ~4–5 μm. Locally, the quartzite is brittlely deformed, and subgrains and recrystallized bulges are present along fractures and extinction bands. Fluid-inclusion planes and fluid inclusions along deformation lamellae are abundant, and quartz FTIR analyses yield average H:106Si values of 1100–3300, indicating fluid flow and high intragranular water content during deformation. Higher strain samples generally record lower water contents, which may indicate that fluids migrated to grain boundaries during deformation. Dissolution microstructures are rare in high strain samples, and we interpret most strain to have been accommodated by dislocation creep. Thermal modeling of zircon low-temperature thermochronology data coupled with quartz c-axis opening angle thermometry suggest deformation temperatures were likely ~250–280 °C. These deformation temperatures are lower than what is typically considered the brittle-plastic transition in quartz. We attribute localization of this high strain zone and dislocation creep at these temperatures to hydrolytic weakening and a relatively low strain rate estimated to be ~10−15 s−1.

Management Regime and Field Age Affect Species Richness and Cover of Native Forbs and Exotic Species in Virginia Grasslands

Joseph Ledvina Joseph Ledvina Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA and Natural Resources Section, Environmental Division, Department of Transportation, Little Rock, AR.

Toray opens foam innovation center

Toray Plastics (America) has opened an innovation center in Front Royal, Virginia, for its business in polyolefin foam made with electron beam cross-linking. Toray says the $4 million center boasts...

Getting the world’s fastest cat to breed with speed

Cheetahs once rarely reproduced in captivity. Today, cubs are born every year in zoos. Breeding programs have turned their luck around—but they aren’t done yet . Cheetahs have a reputation as stubborn breeders. But the study of cats such as Fatir at the Smithsonian’s breeding facility suggests that a better understanding of natural history and reproductive physiology can dramatically improve captive reproduction. Image credit: Mehgan Murphy/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Three fluffy cheetah cubs lounge under a tree at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, in Front Royal, Virginia. Off exhibit from the public, the 1-year-old cats roam a large and grassy enclosure behind a high, chain-link fence. They are the newest of 56 cubs born at this facility since 2007 (1). Breeding cheetahs to produce cubs such as these was once famously difficult. The biggest problem was that zoos were “not paying attention to natural history,” says Craig Saffoe, curator of lions, tigers, and bears at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, who in 2004 led the team that produced the zoo’s first litter. Tattoos of cheetahs now adorn his forearms. Zoos once tried to breed cheetahs very differently, he says, keeping males and females together rather than mimicking their lifestyle in the wild. Out on the savannah, females are solitary and roam vast distances. Males defend smaller territories and mate when females pass through (2). Designing exhibits to reflect that natural history has been a major part of breeding success over the last three decades, Saffoe says. Success has also come from a better understanding of cheetah reproductive physiology (3). Reproductive studies in the last 30 years have improved breeding by increasing understanding of males’ poor sperm quality, females’ ovulation cycle, and mate choice. Zoos now consistently produce cubs. The majority of North American captive cheetahs are managed …

Genetic Cryopreservation of Rare Breeds of Domesticated North American Livestock: Smithsonian &amp; SVF Biodiversity Preservation Project

Modern agriculture has responded to the growing pressure for animal-protein consumption in the global human population by selecting for specific production traits, which, over the last fifty years, has resulted in a loss of genetic diversity. Most rare and endangered breeds of livestock have not experienced the same selection pressures for production and therefore may contain useful genetic traits not found within modern breeds. In an effort to maintain biodiversity of livestock breeds, the SVF Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to preserve the genetic diversity of food and fiber livestock, has established an ex situ repository of genetic material from endangered North American cattle, sheep, and goats. This genetic material includes in vivo and in vitro produced embryos, semen, fibroblasts, serum, and whole blood DNA cards. The majority of samples in the SVF repository are cryopreserved, creating a genome resource bank for future use. Through the Smithsonian and SVF Biodiversity Preservation Project, this repository will be maintained at the Smithsonian’s Front Royal, VA, facility. This effort represents an excellent model for understanding and sustaining the genetic diversity of rare breeds in the US and in other countries.

Assessing terrestrial laser scanning for developing non-destructive biomass allometry

Forests provide essential ecosystem services and hold approximately 45% of global terrestrial carbon. Estimates of the quantity and spatial distribution of global forest carbon are built on the assumption that regional- or national-scale allometry accurately captures growth form across the wide spectrum of plant size. Allometry is painstaking and costly to create: trees must be cut, dried, and weighed, over the span of months. This bottleneck has left most equations low in sample size and without large trees (>50 cm), which can contain over 40% of aboveground carbon. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can potentially increase the range and sample size of allometric equations through non-destructive biomass estimation and must be evaluated in this context. We deployed TLS at the Center for Tropical Forest Science - Forest Global Earth Observatory (CTFS-ForestGEO) plot in Front Royal, Virginia and virtually reconstructed 329 trees with diameters up to 123 cm. Three-dimensional tree models were the basis for 22 local allometric relationships for comparison to the Jenkins et al. (2003) and Chojnacky et al. (2014) equations. Overall, TLS allometry had lower RMSE and predicted higher tree-level biomass compared to the equivalent national equations. We evaluated site-wide allometry for errors from insufficient sample size and diameter range. Allometric equations did not stabilize to a consistent set of parameters until 100–200 samples were reached and exclusion of large trees severely limited prediction accuracy. This work implies that current biomass equations may be inadequate and highlights TLS stem modeling as an appropriate method of non-destructive allometric equation development for updating allometry and reducing uncertainty in landscape-level biomass estimates.

The Virginia Difference

Designed in-house by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the recently completed Route 340 South Fork Bridge, in Front Royal, replaces an existing structure that dated to the early 1940s. The longest jointless steel bridge in Virginia, the new 1,910 ft long steel plate girder bridge incorporates the unique “Virginia abutment” to accommodate significant thermal movements and avoid problems associated with the interaction of soil and pavement that are common to long bridges that have integral abutments.

Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters by Joseph P. Byrd IV

Reviewed by: Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters by Joseph P. Byrd IV Lisa L. Denmark Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters. By Joseph P. Byrd IV. (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2016. Pp. xxviii, 292. $35.00, ISBN 978-0-88146-568-6.) Joseph P. Byrd IV grew up listening to his father recount childhood memories about "Uncle William," a "Confederate War hero" (p. vii). Aided by a previously unpublished manuscript produced in the 1960s by a second cousin, an unreconstructed Byrd proudly recounts the Civil War experiences of his ancestor, Major William E. Simmons. In the first two of twenty-five very short chapters, Byrd briefly relates the early life of Simmons, who was born to a prominent family in Gwinnett County, Georgia, received his education at Emory College, and edited the Lawrenceville (Georgia) News, established by his father, himself a prominent attorney, politician, slave owner, and cotton mill owner. In contrast to his Unionist-leaning father—an interesting individual deserving of greater attention—the younger Simmons took an uncompromising stance on the expansion of slavery and supported John C. Breckinridge's candidacy in the presidential election of 1860. Byrd moves hurriedly through secession and employs only one direct quotation from Simmons's newspaper, noting that secession was "the only safe and honorable course left to the South" (p. 9). Simmons's service in the American Civil War constitutes the bulk of this conventional military biography. In the spring of 1861 Simmons was elected a lieutenant in the Gwinnett Volunteers, which became part of the Sixteenth Georgia Infantry. As part of the Army of Northern Virginia, Simmons's regiment saw action in most of the war's major engagements, including the [End Page 430] Seven Days, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, Knoxville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. In 1863 Simmons received promotion to captain of the newly formed Third Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion, commanded by a fellow Georgian, Brigadier General W. T. Wofford. Byrd provides some interesting details about sharpshooter training exercises, particularly range finding; however, beyond noting that the Third Battalion was "in the thick of the action," Simmons's battlefield activities remain rather amorphous (p. 143). During Wofford's poorly planned attack on George Armstrong Custer's Union cavalry at Front Royal in 1864, Simmons, recently promoted to major, was captured and sent to Fort Delaware. He remained in prison until well after April 1865 for refusing to take the oath of loyalty after the surrenders of Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston. The final four chapters recount Simmons's postwar experience. Byrd relates that "the Major" put the war behind him and looked to the future (p. 178). That future included a stint in the Georgia General Assembly during the 1870s, a career as a successful attorney, involvement in the newspaper business, an appointment to the Georgia University Board of Trustees, and familial responsibilities as a generous and devoted husband and uncle. Byrd makes use of the Official Records in detailing the movements and activities of the Sixteenth Georgia Infantry and the Third Sharpshooter Battalion and the actions of the generals who served under James Longstreet. As a member of Longstreet's regiment, Simmons indeed may have been present, but his personal experiences and individual voice are largely lost in the minutiae of troop movements and battle descriptions. In describing the soldier's perspective of life in the regiment, Byrd provides numerous block quotations derived from other personal accounts. With few exceptions, such as Simmons's compassion toward injured enemy soldiers and his postcapture meeting with Custer, the reader never really gets a sense of Simmons's personal experience. Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters is generally well written. The author utilizes the most common official sources, several personal memoirs, and a few of the most recent secondary works. While specialists will find little that contributes to our overall understanding of the role of sharpshooters during the American Civil War, general readers and...

Three Days in the Shenandoah: Stonewall Jackson at Front Royal and Winchester

Three Days in the Shenandoah: Stonewall Jackson at Front Royal and Winchester

The Past as Pilgrimage: Narrative, Tradition &amp; the Renewal of Catholic History by Christopher Shannon &amp; Christopher O. Blum (review)

Reviewed by: The Past as Pilgrimage: Narrative, Tradition & the Renewal of Catholic History by Christopher Shannon & Christopher O. Blum Sandra Yocum The Past as Pilgrimage: Narrative, Tradition & the Renewal of Catholic History. By Christopher Shannon & Christopher O. Blum. Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 2014. 174 pp. Shannon and Blum describe The Past as Pilgrimage as “an essay in the literal sense of the word” (xiii), a carefully crafted argument outlining “principles” for and providing exemplars of authentic Catholic history, narratives detailing the past within the overarching story of God’s salvific work in Jesus Christ. The authors identify this work as part of their generation’s task of recovering Christian traditions, reclaimed from the wasteland of post-Vatican II Catholicism. Recovery here is more than an academic exercise; it generates a renewal of authentic Christian culture which sustains Catholic historical work, manifested in teaching as much as publications, within a community where faith integrates every aspect of daily living. The Past as Pilgrimage presents the argument in four chapters, bookended with an Introduction and Conclusion. As the first pages make clear, Alasdair McIntyre’s understanding of tradition serves as starting point and inspiration for their vision of the historian’s task, i.e., to provide narratives in “the service of the common good” (5) within the Catholic intellectual tradition. The Introduction features two examples that “display the art of the true narrative” (5): three sermons extolling the virtuous St. King Louis IX to Louis XIV’s subjects and The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity. The first chapter deftly extends Peter Novick’s account of “objectivity” and the modern American historical profession to American Catholic historians. Shannon and Blum trace specific Catholic scholars’ improper “inculturation” (61) placing Catholicism within secular history’s nationalist liberal narrative to produce a “faithless history” (77) devoid of a “distinctly Catholic historical imagination” (78). The second chapter offers a way out of modernity’s faithless master narrative, predicated on the Catholic historian’s task of making right judgments. Shannon and Blum identify two kinds of “intrinsic principles of historical judgment. … narrative and dramatic” (92). Bossuet’s Discourse on Universal History and John Henry [End Page 103] Newman’s The Church of the Fathers illustrate historical narratives which assume the unity of faith and reason and testify to “the true immortality of the communion of saints” (108). The final two chapters turn to contemporary Catholic historians, first, Eamon Duffy, and then Benedict XVI. Following the Marxist-inspired British cultural historians, most notably, E.P. Thompson, Duffy illustrates “a proper inculturation of the achievements of modern professional standards”(61). Beginning with the critically acclaimed The Stripping of the Altars, Duffy’s writings present “Catholic History as the Communion of Saints” (128). Benedict XVI’s Wednesday addresses on the saints (general audiences, 2006-2011) provide “A Papal Proposal for a Renewed Hagiography” (139) within an “implicit master-narrative” in which “friendship with Christ” animates the Christian culture that gave rise to Europe’s civilization (148). Shannon and Blum conclude the essay inviting serious engagement with rather than assent to their proposals, but their examples and claims may test the patience of even the most generous reader, especially those who, like me, come from the generation roundly indicted as producing faithless history. Yet strong reactions seem appropriate given that the questions go to the very heart of a Catholic historian’s work. Perhaps others, like me, will resonate with their desire to foster a Catholic intellectual community which encourages creativity in teaching and writing, beyond narrow academic monographs, to make the depth and breadth of Christianity come alive in the collective imagination of contemporary Christians. Still any serious discussion among Catholic historians will prove difficult at best, and here I offer only one example. A lingering unease arose in me from the authors’ persistent use of “he” in reference to the generic “historian,” reinforced in choosing only men as exemplars of “the historian’s craft.” The authors might well dismiss my unease as that liberal penchant for cheap equality rather than hard-won Christian excellence given that women are mentioned as historical subjects, but my unease arises from the essay’s particular focus: the historian’s agency in exercising “right...

“Are you a Catholic historian?”

“Are you a Catholic historian?” William L. Portier (bio) Christopher Shannon and Christopher O. Blum, The Past As Pilgrimage: Narrative Tradition and the Renewal of Catholic History (Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press, 2014). 174 pages. “‘Are you a Catholic historian?’ isn’t a polite question. … It suggests that you have ceased to be a serious, independent-minded seeker after truth and instead have been corralled into the Catholic Church’s public relations department.” This quote comes from the Tablet’s account (6 October 2012, p. 14) of a recent dust-up in the UK over Eamon Duffy’s Saints, Sacrileges, and Sedition. Tudor historian Diarmaid MacCulloch accused Duffy of having ceased to be a historian who is Catholic and become a “Catholic historian.” This quote also shows what Shannon and Blum are up against in their effort to renew “Catholic history” and promote “the historian’s craft as practiced by Catholics, not the practice of Catholics who happen to be historians” (xii). They begin with a critique, based on Alasdair MacIntyre’s perspective in After Virtue (1981) and later works, of twentieth-century ideals of objectivity and inclusion that they think still dominate the field of professional history. Chapter 2 lays out their alternative understanding of the historian’s craft in Christian communities. Stories of human deeds raise inevitable questions about the good. Because it narrates progress rather than the common good of communities, “objective,” supposedly “neutral” history cannot aid in the pursuit of wisdom. Using the common good as a measure, historians are called to practice the virtue of right judgment, “a firm habitual disposition to evaluate practical matters in light of an adequate conception of the common good” (85). As they help teach about the good and pass on Christian culture, such prudence orders the historians’ craft to the final end of charity. Chapter 3 offers a powerful and convincing account of Eamon Duffy’s work as rooted in the kind of community consciousness the authors want to promote. They suggest an intriguing secular parallel in the revision of Marxist class consciousness by the generation of Duffy’s professors. In Duffy’s account: “The English people became Protestant less through a conscious decision on matters of doctrine than through an enduring attachment to their local parish community” (122). For an example of Catholic history of a different sort, Chapter 4 turns to Pope Benedict XVI’s three volumes of Wednesday audiences on the saints and Fathers of the Church. They show the historian’s craft in the service of “renew[ing] Christian life in our time” (133). The choice of Pope Benedict anticipates the authors’ concluding challenge to Catholic historians to look beyond the monograph for wholeness rather than specialization, for new genres and forms of practicing the craft of history rooted in church community rather than the profession. The authors issue an inspiring and learned call for a renewal of Catholic history. Historical work should “help particular communities in their [End Page 132] common pursuit of the good life” (151). We need an “ecology of professional life” (154). The call for new institutions, practices, and genres is timely. A new kind of biographical writing can indeed be a privileged form of narrating the works of God in history. I want to respond to their call with enthusiasm, but I work in a university and belong to the generations who “have not kept the narrative of Christian civilization in good order” (156). Indeed, I was part of the 2003 symposium on John McGreevy’s Catholicism and American Freedom that appeared in these pages and which the authors lament as representing the universal praise, seemingly undeserved, of “the Catholic historical establishment in America” (75–76, n.69). I do not think the authors want to deny that a Catholic historian can work in a contemporary university. On the other hand, they do not just want to say that Catholic historians can serve the goods of their communities in many other venues as well. There is something about the contemporary university that tends to deform would-be Catholic historians and render their lot “unfortunate” (79). Bede, Bossuet, and Newman are invoked as models for the Catholic historian. They are admirable...

Advancing the Mentorship of Academic-Year Governor's School (AYGS) Student Research Across VA: Teacher Professional Development for the 19 VA AYGS at Front Royal

Advancing the Mentorship of Academic-Year Governor's School (AYGS) Student Research Across VA: Teacher Professional Development for the 19 VA AYGS at Front Royal

Initial census, woody seedling, seed rain, and stand structure data for the SCBI SIGEO Large Forest Dynamics Plot

We present data from the first five years (2008–2012) of the establishment of the 25.6‐ha Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) Large Forest Dynamics Plot, comprising the initial woody stem census, woody seedling plot surveys, seed rain, and dendrochronological data. The plot is in mature secondary mixed deciduous forest 5 km south of Front Royal, Virginia, USA. The initial plot census enumerated 38 932 free‐standing living stems and 29 991 living individuals ≥1 cm dbh comprising 62 species, 38 genera, and 26 families, along with an additional 1248 dead/missing standing stems, for a total of 40 180 stems. Dominant canopy trees include tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), hickories (Carya spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), white ash (Fraxinus americana), and black gum (Nyssa sylvatica). Prominent understory components include spicebush (Lindera benzoin), pawpaw (Asimina triloba), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana), and eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis). Few species predominate numerically on the plot; seven species have &gt;1000 individuals (71.3% of the total). Mean stand density was 1179 living individuals/ha, while mean basal area was 34.1 m2/ha. Of the total plot area, 4 ha have had white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exclusion since 1990. Woody seedling surveys from 2010–2012 in 354 1‐m2 plots measured 19 415 seedlings of 47 species, from new germinants up to 1 cm dbh. Community‐wide seed rain data from 200 0.5‐m2 litterfall traps yielded a total of 9197 records from 37 species. Long‐term seed data collected from 1986–2011 for Quercus and Carya within the exclosure and two replicate sites are also presented, documenting considerable annual variation in mast production. Dendrochronological data from 492 tree cores suggested the major canopy trees established circa 1900, but scattered trees of several species existed earlier. Large‐scale forest dynamics plots employing standardized methodology have a long, rich history in the tropics. Similar plots in the temperate zone have been largely lacking, however. The SCBI plot represents one of the first of its kind in the Smithsonian Global Earth Observatory's recently established network of such plots, complementing its well‐known network of tropical forest plots and enabling comparative studies on forest ecology and climate change at the global scale.

Optimal attractants to increase visits by clouded leopards to remote‐camera sets

AbstractClouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) are rare Southeast Asian felids; they are almost exclusively studied in the wild using remote cameras. These studies identify presence–absence and estimate abundance of clouded leopards to improve conservation efforts. Photographing clouded leopards at remote‐camera sites requires extensive time in the field. Improving success of remote‐camera sets could improve knowledge about population dynamics and identify critical conservation areas for these animals. This study tested a range of visual and scent attractants widely used to attract felids and other carnivores to remote‐camera sites. The goal was to identify attractants that might best attract clouded leopards. During August 2011, we used captive animals (n = 9) at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, Virginia, USA, to test attractants. Turkey feathers and U.S. Department of Agriculture scent disks were the best‐performing visual and scent attractants (P &lt; 0.05 vs. control); a combination of the two was not significantly different from either individual treatment (P &gt; 0.05). Turkey feathers and scent disks are attractants that are highly effective in a controlled setting and should be field‐tested; it appears that they may significantly improve success of remote‐camera sets targeting clouded leopards. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

CONGEN-2010: A Semester in a Fortnight

The AGA-sponsored 2010 workshop on ‘‘Recent Advances in Conservation Genetics’’ was held 7–20 February, 2010, at the impressive White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida. This was the 9th edition of the workshop, which has expanded beyond its first home at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, to include versions in Florida, Brazil, Hawaii, and the Republic of Panama. The goal of these workshops is to teach the participants how to develop and interpret a variety of genetic data for application to pressing problems in biodiversity conservation. The workshop was organized by Dr Stephen O’Brien and members of his Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, and several of the lab’s scientists gave extended faculty lectures and assistance during the 2-week workshop. Students at the workshop represented 12 countries, almost every continent, and diverse experience/background levels. They included graduate students, postdocs, biology professors and veterinarians, as well as other scientists interested in learning more about conservation genetics. The schedule was jam-packed with sessions starting at 8:30 AM every day and continuing through evening lectures and late-night computer sessions. Outside the classroom, practical ‘‘laboratory’’ sessions included tissue sampling, blood work, artificial insemination, sperm and egg evaluation and banking, and a wonderful conservation center tour. A half-day field trip to the Okefenokee swamp with the very knowledgeable owner and guides from Okefenokee Adventures provided a mid-workshop break on the middle Sunday. Upon arrival, each attendee was presented with a new laptop computer (donated by Apple for use during the workshop) preloaded with the software for the course and communication tools—servers, calendars, and chat services. This made for very efficient time use, as it wasn’t necessary to delay teaching while software was configured for multiple platforms and operating systems. Theoretical and practical classroom sessions occupied the morning and afternoon time slots, and evenings were reserved for very educational invited lectures that put the daily lessons into a real-world context (Table 1). Time was also allotted for workshop participants to analyze their own data with faculty help. These tutorials always prove popular, as the ‘‘students’’ get one-on-one help from the experts—not only on ‘‘How’’ to organize and analyze their data but why to do it that way, what other possibilities might be evaluated, and how to interpret the differences. Topics covered were both broad and deep. Techniques and data types ranged from SNPs and microsatellites, through DNA bar coding, sequencing, and genomics. Databases, metadata, and sample management were also presented through the ‘‘conservation lens.’’ Specific content included: data mining, databases, bioinformatics, sequence alignment, trait mapping and strategies, molecular dating methodologies, Bayesian inference, ancient DNA, genetic markers, population genetics, microsatellites, DNA sequence data, DNA bar coding, basic and advanced phylogenetics, comparative genomics, microarray and second/third generation sequencing and pyrosequencing technologies, haplotype inference, detecting and measuring selection, host specificity and disease adaptation, parentage analysis, disease pathology and conservation, genetics of domestication, landscape ecology, and an open session on career, financial, and research planning. What the lectures and lecturers really taught, beyond the subject matter presented, was how to do science ‘‘right.’’ The lecturers told their stories thoroughly, including dead-ends pursued, noninformative data and analyses, and tangents of discovery. The value and power of outreach and education were also an integral part of many presentations. Attendee feedback was universally positive, with consistent comments on the practical utility of what was presented. Though I had attended both the Molecular Evolution Workshop and the Advances in Genomics and Bioinformatics Workshop in the past (at MBL/Woods Hole and a recent molecular evolution refresher at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History), I was still lacking much experience with SNPs, microsatellites, and other populationlevel genetic data analyses. This course extended the data analyses to the population level as none of the other courses had, providing exposure to the methods of most relevance to biodiversity. I would strongly recommend this workshop to scientists of all levels desiring a high-quality immersive introduction to the elements of conservation genetics. The 2011 ConGen workshop will be held September 3–11 in Pantanel, Brazil.

Scleral Lenses in the Management of Keratoconus

To describe the use of Jupiter scleral lenses (Medlens Innovations, Front Royal, VA; and Essilor Contact Lenses, Inc., Dallas, TX) in the management of keratoconus. We performed a single-center retrospective chart review of our initial 32 patients with keratoconus evaluated for scleral lens wear. All patients were referred for scleral lens evaluation after exhausting other nonsurgical options for visual correction. Diagnostic lenses were used in the initial fitting process. If adequate fit could not be achieved with standard lenses, custom lenses were designed in consultation with the manufacturers' specialists. The following measures were evaluated for each patient: ability to tolerate and handle lenses, visual acuity with scleral lenses, number of lenses, and visits needed to complete the fitting process. Fifty-two eyes of 32 patients were evaluated for scleral lens wear. Of these, 12 patients (20 eyes) decided not to pursue scleral lens wear after initial evaluation. One patient (2 eyes) abandoned the fitting process after cataract surgery. The remaining 19 patients (30 eyes) were fit successfully. The average number of lenses ordered per eye was 1.5. The fitting process required an average of 2.8 visits. Standard lenses were prescribed for 23 eyes, and custom designs were needed for 7 eyes. Median best-corrected visual acuity improved from 20/40 (mean, 20/76) before scleral lens fitting to 20/20 (mean, 20/30) after fitting. Follow-up ranged from 3 to 32 months. Jupiter scleral lenses provide acceptable visual acuity and comfort in patients with keratoconus. The availability of diagnostic lenses facilitates the fitting process.