Intact Areas Research Articles

Fire Does Not Strongly Affect Genetic Diversity or Structure of a Common Treefrog in the Endangered Florida Scrub.

Fire regimes influence natural populations of organisms in diverse ways, via direct effects on population dynamics as well as indirect effects on habitat and ecosystem processes. Although many amphibian species have evolved to persist in fire-dependent ecosystems, the effects of fire on the genetic diversity of amphibian populations remain relatively unexplored. We examined how different aspects of fire history relate to population genetic diversity and structure of an abundant anuran, Hyla femoralis, in a large, intact area of Florida scrub containing hundreds of seasonally inundated ponds. Specifically, we assessed the overall population genetic structure and examined whether variation in time since fire, fire intensity, or historical fire frequency at breeding sites explained spatial variation in genetic diversity. Based on our sampling of 17 breeding aggregations within the 2,100-ha study area, neither recent nor frequent fire reduce genetic diversity or restrict connectivity among ponds for H. femoralis. Overall, mean effective population sizes were large (average range = 68-572). We detected a positive trend between effective population size (Ne) and average intensity of the most-recent fire, with this factor explaining 42% of the variation in Ne. Our results contrast with previous studies that consistently demonstrate strong relationships between fire history and population genetic structure of scrub-associated lizard species, suggesting that H. femoralis is resilient to a wide range of fire regimes. More generally, our study contributes to understanding the roles of life-history characteristics and environmental unpredictability in shaping organisms' responses to fire.

Weed Establishment and Persistence after Water Pipeline Installation and Reclamation in the Mixed Grass Prairie of Western North Dakota

Erin K. Espeland Corresponding author, Research Ecologist, USDA ARS NPARL Pest Management Research Unit, Sidney MT 59270, erin.espeland{at}ars.usda.gov.

Riparian and landscape disturbance effects on stream fish community composition in an agriculturally-dominated drainage

We compared historical stream fish community sampling and remote sensing data from 1993–2011 in an agriculturally-dominated drainage basin to determine the effects of varying levels of riparian and landscape disturbances on fish communities. Stream fish guilds were analyzed with National Land Cover Database and aerial imagery products to quantify disturbance levels at a local and watershed scale. Insectivores and benthic insectivores were associated with intact riparian areas, whereas environmentally tolerant and omnivorous species were found in environments with degraded riparian areas. Riparian disturbances had the greatest effect near the stream (0–10 m), and the effects diminished with increasing distance from the stream. This spatial scale corresponds with those reported in the literature whereby allocthonous inputs and riparian filtering influenced stream fish communities and water quality. The landscape disturbance was not a strong predictor for any fish guild, indicating that local riparian condit...

The Birth Registration Rate in Bangladesh Observed in Rural and Urban Region

The aim of this study is to analyze the birth registration rate of Bangladesh where the data has been observed during the period of 2009. The intact geographical area of Bangladesh has been covered in this survey. The number of birth registration in the categories of gender, the areas where these children belong to, their mother’s education have been focused in this write up based on the survey collected from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2009 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Later on some graphs and analysis of those graphs to evaluate the comparison of the socio economic life of the nation and how that effects the affordability of many necessary things in life and few essential matters that fails to create impact in our rural society. One of such issue is the child birth registration. The data provides the snapshot of the nation and key information that benefits to perform any survey based research. The bar graphs have been used to analyze the classification of the population in statistical perception.

Portuguese Houses: Non-invasive investigations at a no-dig fur trade site

The Portuguese Houses site is a fur trading post established in 1834 on Wyoming's Powder River. Unlike many similar Rocky Mountain posts, Portuguese Houses has not been subjected to secondary use which can blur or destroy the fur trade occupation at the site. This characteristic combined with minimal modern surface disturbance means the site represents an excellent opportunity to yield significant fur trade era data. However, Portuguese Houses also presents a unique challenge. The private landowners are open to archaeological inquiry on the site, but request no digging take place on the locality. As such, all investigations at the Portuguese Houses site need to be non-invasive in nature. The initial geophysical investigations identified not only the palisade walls and intact activity areas within them, but also possible evidence of occupation outside the fort's walls. These results demonstrate that further investigations are warranted.

Spatial distribution and dynamics of carbon storage in natural Larix gmelinii forest in Daxing’anling mountains of Inner Mongolia, northeastern China

In order to clarify the geographic distribution and change of natural Larix gmelinii forest in carbon storage in Daxing’anling mountains (Great Khingan Range) in North China’s Inner Mongolia, an area-irrelevant conversion equation of biomass from timber volume in the form of B = 0.6966 V was developed by using survey data. Based on the equation, the carbon storage was estimated at 190.172 Tg, and the average carbon density was 41.659 Mg/hm2 (area 4.565 × 106 hm2). Carbon stored in standing trees was predominantly distributed in mid-age and mature forests and mainly stocked in the northern part of the study area. Assuming the carbon density of intact area as the maximum value, the potential carbon storage in the entire study area would be 263.674 Tg, approximately 1.4 times of the actual level. Over the period of 1995 to 2010, the carbon storage and carbon density increased by 3.260 Tg and 0.224 Mg/hm2, respectively, indicating a weak carbon sink. Comparing with China’s national average level, the carbon density in this area is not as high as expected. Forest quality in terms of carbon capacity is expected to be enhanced by appropriate management schemes under the in-implementation program of forest protection.

Anatomical factors in otoneurological dysfunction and compensation

Sharing the standpoint that physician otoneurologist should combine detailed knowledge about the anatomy, physiology and pathological physiology of central vestibular and oculomotor systems as well as about the peripheral part of vestibular and acoustic systems, the authors emphasize the necessity of knowledge about the complex anatomical links and functional relationships of these systems with the somatosensory and somatomotor systems of human organism. Otoneurologists’ attention is focused on the ‘trigemino-vascular system’ as an anatomical and physiological substrate of migraine and accompanying headache, on comorbidity between balance disorders, anxiety disorders and migraine and on the ‘trigemino-cervical system’ as an anatomical and physiological substrate not only of the patients in whom the pathological alterations of upper cervical vertebrae and their connections cause painful sensations in completely intact areas such as paranasal sinuses and teeth provided with sensory innervation by the trigeminal nerve but also on the so-called ‘startle reflex’ as a component of reflex defense of man and animal against sudden stroke on head or sudden fall.

A Contact Pressure Analysis Comparing an All-Inside and Inside-Out Surgical Repair Technique for Bucket-Handle Medial Meniscus Tears

To directly compare effectiveness of the inside-out and all-inside medial meniscal repair techniques in restoring native contact area and contact pressure across the medial tibial plateau at multiple knee flexion angles. Twelve male, nonpaired (n= 12), fresh-frozen human cadaveric knees underwent a series of 5 consecutive states: (1) intact medial meniscus, (2) MCL tear and repair, (3) simulated bucket-handle longitudinal tear of the medial meniscus, (4) inside-out meniscal repair, and (5) all-inside meniscal repair. Knees were loaded with a 1,000-N axial compressive force at 5 knee flexion angles (0°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 90°), and contact area, mean contact pressure, and peak contact pressure were calculated using thin film pressure sensors. No significant differences were observed between the inside-out and all-inside repair techniques at any flexion angle for contact area, mean contact pressure, and peak contact pressure (all P>.791). Compared with the torn meniscus state, inside-out and all-inside repair techniques resulted in increased contact area at all flexion angles (all P<.005 and all P < .037, respectively), decreased mean contact pressure at all flexion angles (all P < .007 and all P < .001, respectively) except for 0° (P= .097 and P= .39, respectively), and decreased peak contact pressure at all flexion angles (all P < .001, all P < .001, respectively) except for 0° (P= .080 and P= .544, respectively). However, there were significant differences in contact area and peak contact pressure between the intact state and inside-out technique at angles ≥45° (all P< .014 and all P < .032, respectively). Additionally, there were significant differences between the intact state and all-inside technique in contact area at 60° and 90° and peak contact pressure at 90° (both P<.005 and P= .004, respectively). Median values of intact contact area, mean contact pressure, and peak contact pressure over the tested flexion angles ranged from 498 to 561mm2, 786 to 997N/mm2, and 1,990 to 2,215N/mm2, respectively. Contact area, mean contact pressure, and peak contact pressure were not significantly different between the all-inside and inside-out repair techniques at any tested flexion angle. Both techniques adequately restored native meniscus biomechanics near an intact level. An all-inside repair technique provided similar, native-state-restoring contact mechanics compared with an inside-out repair technique for the treatment of displaced bucket-handle tears of the medial meniscus. Thus, both techniques may adequately decrease the likelihood of cartilage degeneration.

Threats to intact tropical peatlands and opportunities for their conservation.

Large, intact areas of tropical peatland are highly threatened at a global scale by the expansion of commercial agriculture and other forms of economic development. Conserving peatlands on a landscape scale, with their hydrology intact, is of international conservation importance to preserve their distinctive biodiversity and ecosystem services and maintain their resilience to future environmental change. We explored threats to and opportunities for conserving remaining intact tropical peatlands; thus, we excluded peatlands of Indonesia and Malaysia, where extensive deforestation, drainage, and conversion to plantations means conservation in this region can protect only small fragments of the original ecosystem. We focused on a case study, the Pastaza‐Marañón Foreland Basin (PMFB) in Peru, which is among the largest known intact tropical peatland landscapes in the world and is representative of peatland vulnerability. Maintenance of the hydrological conditions critical for carbon storage and ecosystem function of peatlands is, in the PMFB, primarily threatened by expansion of commercial agriculture linked to new transport infrastructure that is facilitating access to remote areas. There remain opportunities in the PMFB and elsewhere to develop alternative, more sustainable land‐use practices. Although some of the peatlands in the PMFB fall within existing legally protected areas, this protection does not include the most carbon‐dense (domed pole forest) areas. New carbon‐based conservation instruments (e.g., REDD+, Green Climate Fund), developing markets for sustainable peatland products, transferring land title to local communities, and expanding protected areas offer pathways to increased protection for intact tropical peatlands in Amazonia and elsewhere, such as those in New Guinea and Central Africa which remain, for the moment, broadly beyond the frontier of commercial development.

Long-term follow-up indicates unimpaired oral health-related quality of life for people having shortened dental arches

ObjectivesTo assess and analyse OHRQoL of people with shortened dental arches (SDA) in a long-term cohort study. MethodsAll participants of a long-term cohort study on SDA who were still attending the university dental clinic and still had an SDA (SDA group) with 3–5 posterior occluding pairs and intact anterior areas, an SDA plus removable dental prosthesis (SDA plus PRDP group) or complete dental arch (CDA group) completed the Dutch version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49NL) and additional questions on satisfaction with their dental status (yes/no). Mann-Whitney tests were performed for OHIP total scores and OHIP domain scores. The chance that the difference in median OHIP scores between the groups was larger than 6 OHIP units, was calculated by a bootstrapping procedure. Results10 participants were eligible for SDA group and 11 for CDA group. The SDA plus PRDP group (n=1) was excluded from analyses. Mean follow-up period was 29.3±5.5 for SDA group and 36.7±5.5years for CDA group. Mean OHIP-49NL score was 13.9±10.9 for SDA group and 11.3±8.6 for CDA group. Differences in mean total scores and mean scores per domain were not statistically different. The probability that a difference in median OHIP total scores between groups was larger than 6 OHIP units was 0.25. Both groups showed high percentages of satisfaction with dental condition, except for dental appearance. ConclusionOHRQoL of people with a long-term SDA condition was similar to that of people with CDA. Clinical significancePeople having SDA for long periods are expected to report similar OHRQoL and satisfaction levels/oral comfort as people with CDA.

Brain activity, regional gray matter loss, and decision-making in multiple sclerosis

Background: Decision-making (DM) abilities deteriorate with multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression which impairs everyday life and is thus clinically important. Objective: To investigate the underlying neurocognitive processes and their relation to regional gray matter (GM) loss induced by MS. Methods: We used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Iowa Gambling Task to measure DM-related brain activity in 36 MS patients and 21 healthy controls (HC). From this activity, we determined neural parameters of two cognitive stages, a deliberation (“choice”) period preceding a choice and a post-choice (“feedback”) stage reporting decision outcomes. These measures were related to DM separately in intact and damaged GM areas as determined by a voxel-based morphometry analysis. Results: Severely affected patients (with high lesion burden) showed worse DM-learning than HC (t = −1.75, p = 0.045), moderately affected (low lesion burden) did not. Activity in the choice stage in intact insular (t = 4.60, pFamily-Wise Error [FWE] corrected = 0.034), anterior cingulate (t = 4.50, pFWE = 0.044), and dorsolateral prefrontal areas (t = 4.43, pFWE = 0.049) and in insular areas with GM loss (t = 3.78, pFWE = 0.011) was positively linked to DM performance across patients with severe tissue damage and HC. Furthermore, activity in intact orbitofrontal areas was positively linked to DM-learning during the feedback stage across these participants (t = 4.49, pFWE = 0.032). During none of the stages, moderately affected patients showed higher activity than HC, which might have indicated preserved DM due to compensatory activity. Conclusion: We identified dysregulated activity linked to impairment in specific cognitive stages of reward-related DM. The link of brain activity and impaired DM in areas with MS-induced GM loss suggests that this deficit might be tightly coupled to MS neuropathology.

Spatial planning for a green economy: National-level hydrologic ecosystem services priority areas for Gabon.

Rapidly developing countries contain both the bulk of intact natural areas and biodiversity, and the greatest untapped natural resource stocks, placing them at the forefront of “green” economic development opportunities. However, most lack scientific tools to create development plans that account for biodiversity and ecosystem services, diminishing the real potential to be sustainable. Existing methods focus on biodiversity and carbon priority areas across large geographies (e.g., countries, states/provinces), leaving out essential services associated with water supplies, among others. These hydrologic ecosystem services (HES) are especially absent from methods applied at large geographies and in data-limited contexts. Here, we present a novel, spatially explicit, and relatively simple methodology to identify countrywide HES priority areas. We applied our methodology to the Gabonese Republic, a country undergoing a major economic transformation under a governmental commitment to balance conservation and development goals. We present the first national-scale maps of HES priority areas across Gabon for erosion control, nutrient retention, and groundwater recharge. Priority sub-watersheds covered 44% of the country’s extent. Only 3% of the country was identified as a priority area for all HES simultaneously, highlighting the need to conserve different areas for each different hydrologic service. While spatial tradeoffs occur amongst HES, we identified synergies with two other conservation values, given that 66% of HES priority areas intersect regions of above average area-weighted (by sub-watersheds) total forest carbon stocks and 38% intersect with terrestrial national parks. Considering implications for development, we identified HES priority areas overlapping current or proposed major roads, forestry concessions, and active mining concessions, highlighting the need for proactive planning for avoidance areas and compensatory offsets to mitigate potential conflicts. Collectively, our results provide insight into strategies to protect HES as part of Gabon’s development strategy, while providing a replicable methodology for application to new scales, geographies, and policy contexts.

Feeding Ecology and Dietary Flexibility of Colobus angolensis palliatus in Relation to Habitat Disturbance

Behavioral and dietary flexibility permits primates to survive in variable environments. It is clear that some species cope with habitat disturbance and fragmentation better than others. I examined the dietary flexibility of Colobus angolensis palliatus by studying three groups inhabiting structurally distinct ranges in Kenya’s Diani Forest. I predicted that the two groups inhabiting more disturbed areas would have reduced food availability and would respond by increasing dietary diversity and consuming greater proportions of lianas and exotic plant species compared to the group inhabiting the more intact area. Forest composition and overall plant part availability differed among home ranges; however, group diets did not differ in their proportions of different plant parts, nor did groups select plant parts in proportion to their availability. Diets differed dramatically with regard to species-specific plant parts, i.e., mean monthly dietary overlap among groups = 10.4%. Contrary to my predictions, all three groups exhibited considerable dietary diversity, i.e., 63–76 plant species, and relied heavily on lianas, i.e., 20.8–38.4% of the diet, and exotic plant species, i.e., 30.1–40.3% of the diet. The presence of exotic plant species in all three ranges suggests that even the most intact areas of the Diani Forest are perturbed and should be classified along a spectrum of habitat disturbance rather than intact vs. degraded. Nonetheless, this study emphasizes that diets can vary considerably among groups living in the same forest, and this degree of dietary flexibility likely enables C. a. palliatus to survive within increasingly disturbed habitats.

Three-dimensional quantitative analysis of humeral head and glenoid bone defects with recurrent glenohumeral instability

Although bone defects of the humeral head and glenoid could affect glenohumeral instability, bone loss has not been sufficiently evaluated. The purpose of this study was to quantify bone defects 3-dimensionally in cases with glenohumeral instability. Three-dimensional surface models of bilateral proximal humeri and glenoids were reconstructed from computed tomography scans of 90 patients with symptomatic, unilateral, recurrent glenohumeral instability. The left-side models were mirrored, and intact bone areas were matched to those of the right-side models. The volume, length, width, and depth of identified bone defects were assessed. After the values were corrected by patient height, the characteristics of the bone defects were evaluated. Bone defects were present in 97.8% of the humeral heads and 96.7% of the glenoids, and women had significantly smaller bone defects than men did. The volume of humeral head defects had a mild correlation with that of glenoid defects. The number of traumatic episodes was not correlated with humeral head bone defects, but it was positively correlated with glenoid bone defects. Patients with recurrent dislocations had significantly deeper and larger Hill-Sachs lesions than the other cases. Bone defects of the humeral head and the glenoid in cases with symptomatic traumatic glenohumeral instability were quantified 3-dimensionally using a computed tomography surface-matching technique. Almost all cases showed bone defects in the humeral head and glenoid compared with the intact shoulder, and such bone defects may be more common than previously reported. This study suggested that bipolar bone lesions are not always created by the same mechanism.

High performance carbon/silica co-decorated TiO2 nanotubes for visible-light driven water splitting

A novel carbon/silica co-decorated TiO2 nanotubes (TNT) photocatalyst (CS@TNT) was prepared for visible light driven water splitting by a facile two-steps process of amino-propyl-triethoxy silane modification and calcination. Structure characterizations (XRD, STEM, XPS, UV–vis spectra and PL spectra) revealed that the silica and carbon dots were homogeneously dispersed on the surfaces of TNT. The introduced silica resists crystallization of TNT, and keeps the tubular morphology intact and high surface area; the co-existence of carbon dots increases the visible light absorbance capacity and promotes the electron-hole separation efficiency. The CS@TNT preserves intact tubular morphology during calcination (500°C), and a high activity of 0.096mmol/h is achieved, which was 1.7 times higher than that of actual catalyst made of gold nanoparticles loading on TNT.

Geotechnical Evaluation of Clayey Soil Contaminated with Industrial Wastewater

Abstract The impacts of industrial wastewater contamination on the geotechnical properties of clayey soil have been studied in the research presented in this paper. The contaminant in question is industrial wastewater released from Thi-Qar oil refinery as a by-product of production, and the soil samples obtained from Thi-Qar oil refinery plant in Al-Nassyriah (a city located in the south of Iraq). The geotechnical properties of contaminated soil samples were compared with those of intact soil to measure the effects of such a contaminant. The soil samples were obtained from three locations in the study area; representing the highly contaminated area, the slightly contaminated area, and the intact area used as a reference for comparison of test results. The results of the tests showed that the contaminant causes an increase of natural moisture content, field unit weight, Atterberg’s limits, and maximum dry unit weight, as well as an increase of the compression index and the coefficient of vertical consolidation. Also, the contaminant causes a decrease in specific gravity, the optimum moisture content initial void ratio, the swelling index, the coefficient of permeability, and cohesion between soil particles.

Nanoengineered Superhydrophobic Surfaces of Aluminum with Extremely Low Bacterial Adhesivity.

Bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation on surfaces are troublesome in many industrial processes. Here, nanoporous and nanopillared aluminum surfaces were engineered by anodizing and postetching processes and made hydrophilic (using the inherent oxide layer) or hydrophobic (applying a Teflon coating) with the aim of discouraging bacterial adhesion. Adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 12600 (Gram-positive, spherically shaped) and Escherichia coli K-12 (Gram-negative, rod-shaped) was evaluated to the nanoengineered surfaces under both static and flow conditions (fluid shear rate of 37 s-1). Compared to a nonstructured electropolished flat surface, the nanostructured surfaces significantly reduced the number of adhering colony forming units (CFUs) for both species, as measured using agar plating. For the hydrophilic surfaces, this was attributed to a decreased contact area, reducing bacterial adhesion forces on nanoporous and nanopillared surfaces to 4 and 2 nN, respectively, from 8 nN on flat surfaces. Reductions in the numbers of adhering CFUs were more marked on hydrophobic surfaces under flow, amounting to more than 99.9% and 99.4% for S. aureus and E. coli on nanopillared surfaces, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a few bacteria found on the hydrophobic nanopillared surfaces adhered predominantly to defective or damaged areas, whereas the intact area preserving the original nanopillared morphology was virtually devoid of adhering bacteria. The greater decrease in bacterial adhesion to hydrophobic nanopillared surfaces than to hydrophilic or nanoporous ones is attributed to effective air entrapment in the three-dimensional pillar morphology, rendering them superhydrophobic and slippery, in addition to providing a minimized contact area for bacteria to adhere to.

Favorable Clinical and Radiographic Results of Transtrochanteric Anterior Rotational Osteotomy for Collapsed Subchondral Insufficiency Fracture of the Femoral Head in Young Adults.

Background:Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head (SIF) occurs infrequently in young adults. As the collapsed SIF lesion is usually located at the anterior portion of the femoral head, young adults with SIF are considered to be candidates for transtrochanteric anterior rotational osteotomy, similar to patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ON). In the present study, we assessed the clinical and radiographic results of anterior rotational osteotomy for the treatment of SIF as compared with ON.Methods:We retrospectively reviewed 28 consecutive patients who underwent anterior rotational osteotomy for the treatment of unilateral SIF (7 patients) or unilateral ON (21 patients). The mean duration of follow-up was 3.7 years (range, 2.0 to 6.2 years). Clinical and radiographic assessments were performed with use of the Harris hip score (HHS), sequential radiographs, and single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) with 99mTc-hydroxymethylene diphosphonate performed 5 weeks after surgery.Results:The mean HHS (and standard deviation) in the SIF group improved significantly from 51.6 ± 11.7 preoperatively to 91.9 ± 7.1 at 1 year after surgery and to 96.9 ± 3.8 at the time of the latest follow-up (p = 0.0010 and 0.0002, respectively). Similarly, the mean HHS in the ON group improved significantly from 52.4 ± 13.7 preoperatively to 80.7 ± 10.0 at 1 year after surgery and to 88.2 ± 12.6 at the time of the latest follow-up (p < 0.0001 for both). The HHS was significantly higher in the SIF group than in the ON group at 1 year after surgery (p = 0.019), but there was no significant difference between the groups at the time of the latest follow-up (p = 0.10). A postoperative intact ratio (calculated as the intact area of the femoral head divided by the weight-bearing area of the acetabulum on an anteroposterior radiograph) of >80% was achieved in association with smaller femoral neck-shaft varus angles in the SIF group (10.0° ± 4.2°) as compared with the ON group (15.3° ± 8.2°). Postoperative progression of collapse at the anteriorly rotated subchondral lesion was observed in 5 patients (23.8%) in the ON group but no patients in the SIF group. SPECT/CT images showed that rate of increased tracer uptake at the collapsed lesions in the SIF group was significantly higher than that in the ON group (p < 0.0001).Conclusions:The present study suggested that the absence of progression of collapse and a sufficient postoperative intact ratio without the need for marked varus realignment may be associated with favorable results following anterior rotational osteotomy for the treatment of SIF in young adults.Level of Evidence:Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Three-Dimensional Analysis of Morphologic Changes and Visual Outcomes in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

To investigate the association of three-dimensionally quantified lesions with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in typical neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). We retrospectively analyzed 65 eyes of 61 typical nAMD patients. Lesions at baseline and month 12 were manually delineated in optical coherence tomography. The volume of intraretinal fluid (IRF), subretinal fluid (SRF), subretinal hyperreflective material (SHRM), and pigment epithelial detachment (PED) were measured. In addition, the areas of external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) were calculated. At baseline, poor baseline BCVA was associated with increased volume of IRF and SHRM and impaired area of ELM (β = 0.34, P = 0.001; β = 0.46, P < 0.001; and β = -0.23, P = 0.03, respectively). At month 12, poor BCVA was associated with increased volume of IRF, reduced intact ELM area, and decreased EZ area (β = 0.24, P = 0.01; β = -0.30, P = 0.02; and β = -0.37, P = 0.004, respectively). Baseline BCVA, volume of IRF, and intact area of ELM were significant predictors for BCVA at month 12 (β = 0.29, P = 0.01; β = 0.30, P = 0.01; and β = -0.28, P = 0.01). Changes of BCVA were associated with changes of SHRM volume, intact EZ area, and ELM area (β = 0.35, P = 0.002; β = -0.28, P = 0.01; and β = -0.22, P = 0.048, respectively). The predictive power of volumetric analysis was higher than that of qualitative analysis (R2 = 0.47 vs. R2 = 0.37). The volume of SRF and fibrovascular PED showed positive and negative effect on visual outcome each, but they were not strong enough to remain in multivariate model. Best-corrected visual acuity could be explained by three-dimensional optical coherence tomography morphology to a fair degree. In addition, three-dimensional analysis could predict visual outcomes better than qualitative analysis.

Long-term recovery of epiphytic communities in the Great Bear Rainforest of coastal British Columbia

The recent Great Bear Rainforest agreement recognises the high biodiversity values of this large intact area of coastal temperate rainforest by calling for old forest targets to be met by 2264. Recruiting young stands has joined conserving existing old stands as a strategy for achieving targets, but the point at which second growth stands recover oldgrowth attributes remains uncertain. We examined the recovery of epiphytes towards oldgrowth conditions by comparing community composition, richness and abundance between young (55–100year old), mature (101–250years old) and oldgrowth stands (>250year old). We felled 77 western redcedar, amabilis fir, western hemlock and Sitka spruce trees, identified all epiphytes, and examined effects of stand age, region, tree species, site nutrient status and presence of residual trees on the epiphyte community. We found 229 taxa, including 49 bryophytes, 98 macrolichens and 82 crustose lichens. Epiphyte community varied by region and among tree species, but not by site productivity or presence of residual trees. In the northern region, trees in oldgrowth supported twice as many epiphyte species, seven times as many unique species, and a significantly different community composition for all functional groups (bryophytes, crustose lichens, hair lichens, cyanolichens and other macrolichens) relative to trees in stands younger than 200years. Overall similarity between second growth and oldgrowth was about 50%. Young and mature stands overlapped considerably in richness, abundance, and community composition, indicating little recovery between 55 and 200years. Our study suggests that in the northern region of the Great Bear Rainforest, epiphyte communities need more than 200years to recover to oldgrowth conditions.