Maternal Season Research Articles

Prehibernation Habitat Use and Foraging Activity by Endangered Ozark Big-Eared Bats (Plecotus townsendii ingens)

-Knowledge of the habitat requirements of the Ozark big-eared bat (Plecotus townsendii ingens) is limited but is critcally important to recovery objectives for this endangered subspecies. We studied habitat use and foraging activity by P t. ingens during October 1991 and August and September 1992. Fourteen females and six males were fitted with radiotransmitters. Intraand intersexual comparisons showed no differences in median distances to foraging areas, median size of foraging areas, or number of foraging sites per bat. Late emergence times and frequent periods of inactivity during October 1991 may have been due to cold weather. Females traveled shorter distances to foraging sites and used smaller foraging areas than females previously studied during the maternity season. Females used habitats in proportion to their availability, but males used forest habitat more than expected in September. Habitat use likely was determined by prey distribution because P t. ingens has high flight maneuverability and thus would not be restricted in its use of habitat types. Our results suggest that recovery efforts that include habitat conservation should focus on areas within a radius of 8 km from caves used by P t. ingens, but additional research on movements and habitat use at other times of the year are needed to assure recovery biologists that all critical habitats are identified.

Nutrition, infant feeding and post-partum amenorrhoea in rural Bangladesh.

SummaryThe duration of amenorrhoea among a group of chronically malnourished women in a rural area of Bangladesh is examined by application of multivariate hazard models with time-varying covariates, including the influence of maternal nutrition, seasonality and patterns of infant feeding. Both maternal weight at pregnancy termination and the pattern of infant feeding affected the length of post-partum amenorrhoea. Analyses focused on season of birth showed the importance of differences by education in infant feeding.

Intra-uterine Mortality and Maternal Nutritional Status in Rural Bangladesh

This paper is an investigation of the relationship of a maternal nutritional status with intra-uterine mortality in a population of chronically malnourished rural Bangladeshi women. First, life-table techniques are used to compare the level of intra-uterine mortality in this population with levels reported in other studies. Then the relationships of maternal nutritional status, age, parity, foetal loss and season of conception with intra-uterine mortality are examined in a multivariate analysis. The results indicate foetal mortality in rural Bangladesh to be markedly higher than in other populations where living conditions and health care are superior. Maternal nutritional status, maternal age and season of conception all appear to be related significantly to foetal mortality.