Months Of Season Research Articles

Predicting climate-change induced heat-related illness risk in Grand Canyon National Park visitors.

The climate crisis is the greatest public health threat of the 21st century. Excessive heat is responsible for more deaths than any other extreme weather event, and the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme heat events are increasing globally due to climate change. Exposure to excessive heat can result in heat related illnesses (HRIs) and long-term poor health outcomes. Physical exertion, sudden exposure to excessive heat, and the lack of physical or behavioral adaptation resources are all associated with greater HRI risk, which is expected to increase for visitors to Grand Canyon National Park (GCNP) and other public lands as climate change worsens. Our objectives were to understand 1) the relationship between weather and HRI in GCNP visitors, 2) how future HRI rates may change, and 3) how land management agencies can update risk mitigation strategies to match changing risk and better manage an increased HRI burden. We utilized previously published data on HRI in GCNP visitors, and records of daily visitation, temperatures, and maximum and minimum daily humidity from the same study period to develop a model estimate for HRI risk. We then used future climate projections from the World Climate Research Programme's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 multi-model dataset to model future HRI risk under different climate scenarios. The incidence of HRI was significantly associated with maximum daily temperature and minimum relative humidity, and was more common in the shoulder season months. We estimated that HRI will increase 29%-137% over 2004-2009 levels through 2100, assuming no change in visitation. Climate change will continue to increase HRI risk for GCNP visitors and poses risks to public land managers' mission to provide for safe recreation experiences for the benefit of this and future generations in places like GCNP. Excessive risk during the shoulder season months presents an opportunity to increase preventative search and rescue and education efforts to mitigate increased risk.

EFFECT OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL POLLUTION OF RIVER DEORANIA ON THE METABOLIC ACTIVITIES OF PREDATORY FISH, CHANNA PUNCTATUS AT DISTRICT BAREILLY (U.P.) INDIA

The present study was aimed at assessing the value of different physicochemical parameters of two sites (i.e. site A is clear and considered a control site while site B is loaded with heavy pollution so it is considered as experimental site) during December 2005-2006 and 2020-2021 in extreme months of different seasons. The analysis showed that the discharge of a major part of domestic wastes of Bareilly City, city refuge, debris, animal and human excreta and industrial effluents, enhanced the pollution load at site B and thereby enhanced the abnormal metabolic activities of fish. Whereas at clear site A the metabolic activities of fish were normal. In the present study, the following parameters i.e. temperature, colour, transparency, dissolved oxygen (DO), free CO2, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), level of glycogen, reducing sugar level, total protein level, level of amino acids, activity of alkaline phosphatase and acid phosphatase enzymes were analysed.

The Spatio-Temporal Cloud Frequency Distribution in the Galapagos Archipelago as Seen from MODIS Cloud Mask Data

Clouds play an important role in the climate system; nonetheless, the relationship between climate change in general and regional cloud occurrence is not yet well understood. This particularly holds for remote areas such as the iconic Galapagos archipelago in Ecuador. As a first step towards a better understanding, we analyzed the spatio-temporal patterns of cloud cover over Galapagos. We found that cloud frequency and distribution exhibit large inter- and intra-annual variability due to the changing influence of climatic drivers (trade winds, sea surface temperature, El Niño/La Niña events) and spatial variations due to terrain characteristics and location within the archipelago. The highest cloud frequencies occur in mid-elevations on the slopes exposed to the southerly trade winds (south-east slopes). Towards the highlands ( >900 m a.s.l), cloud frequency decreases, with a sharp leap towards high-level crater areas mainly on Isabela Island that frequently immerse into the trade inversion layer. With respect to the diurnal cycle, we found a lower cloud frequency over the islands in the evening than in the morning. Seasonally, cloud frequency is higher during the hot season (January–May) than in the cool season (June–December). However, spatial differences in cloudiness were more pronounced during the cool season months. We further analyzed two periods beyond average atmospheric forcing. During El Niño 2015, the cloud frequency was higher than usual, and differences between altitudes and aspects were less pronounced. La Niña 2007 led to negative anomalies in cloud frequency over the islands, with intensified differences between altitude and aspect.

Seasonal and diel variations in the acoustic communication of tree hyraxes in Taita Hills, Kenya

Tree hyraxes (Dendrohyrax spp.) are highly vocal, elusive nocturnal mammals that live in forests across much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we studied how tree hyrax acoustic communication activity varies during the year in a moist montane forest in Taita Hills, Kenya. Our study increases the knowledge about the seasonal and diel variation in tree hyrax calling activity and on the impact of exogenous factors on the calling behavior of the species. A group of tree hyraxes called 700–2000 times during the night, and calling rate was highest during dry season months. Calling activity was bimodal, with peaks between 19.00 and 20.00 h in the evening and between 04.00 and 05.00 h in the morning; however, counter-calling bouts occurred throughout the night. Singing peaked in May, possibly coinciding with the species’ mating season. Calling activity decreased during full moon phases, probably because the animals felt vulnerable to predation. Tree hyrax calling was suppressed by rain, as rainfall is a powerful acoustic competitor. Annual changes in night temperature, the background chorus of vocalizing orthopterans, or the competing calls of nocturnal primates did not reduce tree hyrax calling rates. The latter suggests that sympatric nocturnal mammals have adapted to each other’s calls as an intrinsic feature of the soundscape of their forest habitat.

Impact of mining industries on the groundwater level fluctuation in Singrauli coalfield area by using remote sensing and GIS, India

AbstractThe coal mining industries influence hydro‐geological parameters, which affect the aquifer recharge in the coal mining areas. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of various hydro‐geological parameters on fluctuation of groundwater level in the study area. The various hydro‐geological parameters such as soil, geology, drainage pattern, elevation and slope have been considered to accomplish the objective. A comparative analysis was performed by comparing the groundwater level fluctuation (WLF) map with the GIS‐based various hydro‐geological parameter maps to assess the combined influence of different hydro‐geological parameters on groundwater level fluctuation. A total of eighty‐six (86) dug‐wells were chosen to monitor the level of the groundwater for around ten blocks of Singrauli coalfield, and these wells were examined during the months of dry and wet seasons for 2016. Based on the comparative analysis between the WLF map and thematic maps of various hydro‐geological parameters, it has been found that WLF in the south‐western and some portions of the north‐eastern showed moderate to a higher value. This may be because most of the non‐hilly areas come under gentle to moderate slope category, with lower elevation in the area forming the suitable hydro‐geological condition for recharging groundwater. It was observed that the northwest, south‐east and central part of the study area showed lower WLF, which may be due to the presence of overburden dump, presence of higher elevation and steep slope. Thus, the combined effect of slope, elevation, geology, drainage and mining activities on the WLF in the study region is moderate.

Kosi-Ganga-River-Creek 35 years’ Additive Time Series and Seasonal Analysis Using Remote Sensing Data.

Climate change effect can be observed around the globe but the most devastation is faced by economically weak and farmers in India. Kosi-Ganga-River-Creek area has witnessed frequent floods and heavy rainfall over the years. The study area is the creek where Kosi and Ganga river joins together in the Katihar district of Bihar, India. Two variables, total daily precipitation (PTot) and max daily air temperature (Tmax) (remote sensing climatological data) were fetched from ERA5 dataset using Google Earth Engine Coder to assess the climate change in the study area. The data shows stochastically fitting in further forecasting methods is as important to conduct as settings the approach reliability. This study applied exclusively time series analysis (such as decomposing a time series, seasonal subseries, and autocorrelation function (ACF) and lag time series) along with descriptive statistical analysis for both parameters of the dataset. The study found the changes in Tmax over the 30-year time period show significant variability in temperature. Tmax peaked during the year of 1990, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2014 whereas a drop in Tmax before and after such rise was observed in the series pattern. The exponential increase in the seasonal monthly precipitation (Ptot) also correlates with the temperature increase. However, the increase is more during non-monsoon seasons like January, February and March. Although significant reduction in Ptot can be observed during May, June, July, August and September. The changes in Ptot and Tmax have caused severe damage to the agriculture and economy of the area. Thus it is essential to study climate change and forecast the probable changes in future along with other climatological conditions to mitigate the extreme weather effect. Without proper study, monitoring, assessment and management policies in Bihar will most likely continue to suffer due to agricultural losses, lively hood, life, economic losses and infrastructure.

ESTIMATION OF MODERN CHANGES IN ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATION IN CENTRAL AFRICA

Long-term time series of monthly precipitation from the beginning of observations to 2022 at 57 meteorological stations in central Africa were studied to assess the impact of climate change on precipitation dynamics in this part of the African continent. The spatio-temporal distributions of precipitation for the dry and wet seasons have been obtained and it has been established that the least amount of precipitation is observed from November to March, and the biggest - from April to October. According to the type of intra-annual changes in precipitation, four homogeneous climatic regions were identified, and in each of them an assessment of the changes that occurred was given. Various methodological approaches have been applied to assess changes in precipitation in the months of the wet and dry seasons of the year. In general, no significant changes in the dynamics were found, however, a general trend was established for a decrease in precipitation during the months of the wet season and their increase in certain parts of the territory during the months of the dry season of the year. The decrease in wet season months ranged from -25.5 mm to -138.5 mm or 0.8 to 1.2 RMSD and a separate increase of 52.8 mm and 68.1 mm or 0.8 to 1.1 RMSD. During the dry season, the largest decrease was in the north and central regions, reaching -31.6mm (0.88 RMSD) in February, while a significant increase occurred in the coastal areas of the Gulf of Guinea, reaching 15mm (2 RMSD) in January.

Effects of Long-Term Grazing on Feed Intake and Digestibility of Cattle in Meadow Steppe

(1) Estimation of grazing livestock intake is the basis for studying animal–plant relationships and the nutritional status of grazing livestock and has important implications for grassland composition and productivity. (2) We used the saturated alkanes method to determine the feed intake and vegetation nutrient digestibility of livestock at different grazing intensities and in different months. (3) We found that C31 had the highest concentration in both pasture and fecal output, and the average recovery of C31 was 77.99%. The different grazing intensities significantly affected livestock intake. As the grazing intensity increased, there was a decreasing trend of livestock intake and the highest livestock feed intake was 6.11 kg DM/day in light grazing. With the increase in grazing season months, the highest livestock intake was 6.67 kg DM/day in the cold period in September. The month also had a significant effect on the digestibility of livestock for all nutrient variables when compared to the grazing intensity. Livestock weight and medium palatability species are more important for livestock intake. (4) Our study provides a more accurate measurement of grazing livestock intake, which can be used as a reference for the scientific management of grazing livestock and the rational use of grazing pastures.

A quantitative and qualitative investigation of ball and foam covers coated with cement slurry and their composition on reducing evaporation and choosing the best coating by the AHP method

Abstract The present study sought to use a 20 mm thick foam coated with cement slurry and blue ball in 50 and 80% surface covers, and their composite in 80% surface coverage in the Colorado pan. Then, the pans' daily evaporation was calculated and compared with the amount of control evaporation. The results indicated that the combined method (plastic ball and foam) with 80% reduced the evaporation by about 68%, plastic ball with 80% cover about 58%, foam with 80% coating about 53%, plastic ball with 50% coating about 34%, and finally 50% foam by about 28%. Concerning the statistical analysis of this research, a significant correlation was observed between the control pan and average temperature, although there was no fixed and uniform relationship between the control pan and maximum wind speed, air pressure, average relative humidity, and the number of sunshine hours. In this research, foam 50%, composite 80%, foam 80%, ball 80%, and ball 50% had better performance in terms of the best water quality based on the water electrical conductivity (EC), respectively. Finally, the composite cover 80% was selected as the best coverage using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and considering different criteria.

Late-fall satellite-based soil moisture observations show clear connections to subsequent spring streamflow

Because runoff production is more efficient over wetter soils, and because soil moisture has an intrinsic memory, soil moisture information can potentially contribute to the accuracy of streamflow predictions at seasonal leads. In this work, we use surface (0–5 cm) soil moisture retrievals obtained with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite instrument in conjunction with streamflow measurements taken within 236 intermediate-scale (2000–10,000 km2) unregulated river basins in the conterminous United States to show that late-fall satellite-based surface soil moisture estimates are indeed strongly connected to subsequent springtime streamflow. We thus show that the satellite-based soil moisture retrievals, all by themselves, have the potential to produce skillful seasonal streamflow predictions several months in advance. In poorly instrumented regions, they could perform better than reanalysis soil moisture products in this regard.

Association between season of conception, month of conception with preterm birth in China: a population-based retrospective cohort study

BackgroundSeasonal patterns of preterm birth were identified in previous studies, but the effect of conception season on preterm birth has not been extensively studied. Based on the notion that the etiological roots of preterm birth lie in the beginning of pregnancy, we did a population-based retrospective cohort study in Southwest China to examine the effects of season of conception and month of conception on preterm birth.MethodsWe did a population-based retrospective cohort study in women (aged 18–49) who participated in the NFPHEP from 2010 to 2018, and had a singleton livebirth in southwest China. According to the time of the last menstruation reported by the participants, month of conception and season of conception were then ascertained. We used multivariate log-binomial model to adjust the potential risk factors for preterm birth and obtained adjusted risk ratio (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) for conception season, conception month and preterm birth.ResultsAmong 194 028 participants, 15 034 women had preterm birth. Compared with pregnancies that were conceived in the summer, pregnancies that were conceived in the spring, autumn and winter had the higher risk of preterm birth (Spring: aRR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.04–1.15; Autumn: aRR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09–1.20; Winter: aRR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.22–1.34) and also had a higher risk of early preterm birth (Spring: aRR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01–1.18; Autumn: aRR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01–1.19; Winter: aRR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.08–1.25). Pregnancies in December, and January had a higher risk of preterm birth and early preterm birth than pregnancies that were conceived in July.ConclusionsOur study found that preterm birth was significantly related to season of conception. Preterm and early preterm birth rates were the highest among pregnancies that were conceived in winter, and the lowest among pregnancies in summer.

Traditional Techniques of Search, Finding, Rear, and Harvest of Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa Mandarinia Smith) and its Socio-economic Perspective in Phek District of Nagaland, North East, India

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia Smith), also called “khude” in the local tongue of chokri speaking people of Phek district, Nagaland, is widely reared in its traditional method in almost all villages and towns during the months of May to October every year. This annual proceeding is pursued by both the town and village dwellers for the purpose of economy and consumption in the near future. It is found beneath the surface of the earth in the forest region. The Asian giant hornet is first engaged from sap-giving trees (usually the oak trees- a tree of the genus Quercus, abound in the district) which produce healthy sap in the months of the Spring season. Here, the Asian giant hornet is located, collected, and is relocated to a new rearing site. Although the sting of the Asian giant hornet is quite unpleasant and deadly, it does not devalue people’s interest in finding and rearing it. Neither, do people wear modern safety gear while harvesting the hive. The Asian giant hornet is one of the highly sought varieties of edible insects found in the Phek district of Nagaland. In the district, rearing of the Asian giant hornet with nil capital input has become mini-industry a thriving mini-industry and a source of income to a small section of the community, and moreover, a food delicacy to both the young write-up old. Thus, this write-up thoroughly deals with a detailed process of finding traditional search, find, collect, consuming, rear, harvesting, consuming, and selling of the Asian giant hornet in this part of Nagaland.

Climate and dengue transmission in Grenada for the period 2010–2020: Should we be concerned?

The impacts of climate change on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases (VBZD) are well founded in some countries but remain poorly understood in Caribbean countries. VBZD impose significant burdens on individuals and healthcare systems, heightening the need for studies and response measures to address epidemics and persistent high prevalence of these diseases in any region. This study analyses the pattern of dengue case distribution in Grenada between 2010–2020 and investigates the relationship between rainfall and cases. The total number of dengue cases in the wet seasons (June to December) and dry seasons (January to May) were 1741 and 458, respectively, indicating higher prevalence of the disease in wet periods. The data also shows that rainfall was not consistently higher during the typical rainy season months. The observed patterns in 2013, 2018 and 2020 show, while these were the driest years, the number of cases were higher than in other years. Two factors may explain high number of cases in the drier years (1) frequent sporadic heavy rainfall and (2) poor water storage practices in dry season. With each 30 mm unit decrease in annual rainfall, the incidence rate ratio of dengue was reduced by a factor of .108 (89.2%). The work of the Vector Control Unit is shown to be effective in managing dengue in Grenada. The study highlights the need for year-round surveillance and interventions to control the mosquito population and dengue transmission.

Influence of abiotic factors on seasonal and non-seasonal emergence of Tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta Drury

Aim: The present study was carried out to introspect the effect of temperature, humidity and rainfall on the emergence of Antheraea mylitta Drury. Methodology: An experiment on seasonal and non-seasonal emergence was carried out in 2019 and 2020 at Kathikund and Kharsawan of Jhakhand, India. Meteorological parameters (temperature, humidity and rainfall) were noted twice daily. Similarly number of adult moths emerged were age-graded and segregated as male and female. They were counted twice in a day within the grainage buildings (preservatory of seed cocoons). Results: The emergence of Antheraea mylitta varied month wise following: June to September, March to May, and November to February. Although the emergence of male individuals was more compared to females, no significant difference was observed statistically. Further increase in rainfall (57%) – humidity (15%) triggered more non-seasonal emergence of females. A strong positive correlation between humidity and rainfall with the emergence of adult moths compared to temperature throughout the year across both the seasonal (June-October) and non-seasonal (November-May) months was observed. The erratic/non-seasonal emergence was strongly correlated with humidity (0.75) compared to rainfall (0.32) and temperature (0.19). Daily emergence differed significantly (p<0.01) between the seasonal and non-seasonal months. Interpretation: During seasonal months, the number of adult moths emerged remained almost constant; however in non-seasonal months, the pattern of adult emergence exhibited a non-linear interrupted by sudden intervals of zero emergence. The intervals corresponded significantly to the effect of humidity and rainfall (p<0.001), however, no significant effect of temperature (p>0.05) was observed. Key words: Abiotic factors, Antheraea mylitta, Seasonal emergence, Tasar silkworm

Lightning Development over the Distinct Climate Regions of Uttarakhand, India

Objectives: Lightning activity and its connections with meteorology and aerosol loading over Uttarakhand, with varying topography and climates, is studied using ISS Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard international space station (ISS) data during the period 2018–2021. Methods: To understand the variation of lightning activity with meteorology and aerosol loading the correlation of lightning activity with different meteorological parameters such as surface temperature, convective available potential energy (CAPE), aerosol optical depth (AOD), and convective precipitation is studied. Findings: Very poor correlation is observed between lightning flash counts with the meteorological parameters. Annual variation of lightning activity over Uttarakhand shows maximum during the monsoon season (June–September) with a peak during the pre–monsoon season (March–May) month April. The high frequency of western disturbances defined as warm low-pressure systems associated with moisture originated over Mediterranean Sea travelling from west to east across the northern states are responsible for peak lightning activity during pre–monsoon month April and maximum lightning activity in the monsoon season is attributed to the monsoon convection. Novelty: The study made the spatio – temporal variation of lightning over Uttarakhand and also reveals the connection between lightning and different meteorological parameters in different climatic conditions of Uttarakhand which is first defining the importance of large-scale meteorological processes in the development of lightning in Uttarakhand. Keywords: Lightning; Meteorological Parameters; Aerosol optical depth and Convective Available Potential energy (CAPE)

Meteorological Satellite Observations Reveal Diurnal Exceedance of Water Quality Guideline Thresholds in the Coastal Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a marine protected area subject to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Water quality is critical for the health and protecting resilience of GBR coral ecosystems against the synergistic and cumulative pressures of tropical cyclones, marine heat waves, and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish. The concentration of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) is a key water quality parameter measured at multiple spatio-temporal scales from in situ probes to satellite observations. High TSS concentrations can adversely impact coral and seagrasses on the inshore GBR. We present diurnal TSS derived from Himawari-8 Geostationary satellite observations at 10 min frequency and demonstrate its applicability for improved monitoring of GBR water quality. Diurnal TSS obtained from Himawari-8 observations were compared to TSS computed from in situ bio-optical measurements at the Lucinda Jetty Coastal Observatory (LJCO). The coastal waters at LJCO experience diurnal variability of TSS (~7 mg L−1), where magnitude peaks followed the slack tides, and the largest diurnal changes were associated with freshwater discharge residuals from the wet season. Exceedance maps revealed that TSS is above guideline thresholds in the open coastal and mid-shelf waters for ~60% of the valid monthly observations, including during dry season months.

The Refractive Effect of k-Factor on Radio Propagation over Lokoja, Nigeria

The effective earth radius factor (k-factor) has a refractive propagation effect on transmitted radio signals thus making its study necessary for the proper planning of terrestrial radio links and power budget. This study was carried out over the city of Lokoja, Nigeria, using ten years (2011 to 2020) atmospheric data of temperature, pressure and humidity both at the surface (12 m) and at 100 m AGL. The data were retrieved from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5. The k-factor yearly variation follows the same trend with minimum and maximum values obtained during dry and wet season months respectively. In addition, the highest mean value of 1.00042 was recorded in the month of August while the lowest value of 1.00040 was recorded in the month of January with an overall mean value of 1.0003. This value is less than the recommended standard of 1.33 by ITU-R. The propagation effect corresponding to k < 1.33 is sub-refractive. The implication of this on radio wave propagation, especially terrestrial communications is that transmitted wireless signal is prone to losses. This can be mitigated through an effective power budget: Choice of transmitting antenna’s height and gain, so as to improve the Quality of Service over the study area.

Global reanalysis products cannot reproduce seasonal and diurnal cycles of tropospheric ozone in the Congo Basin

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary pollutant and a greenhouse gas with a positive radiative forcing. Many studies have documented its negative impacts on plant growth and human health. Historically, studies have focused on determining levels of exposure in mid- and high-latitude regions. In the tropics, high O3 concentrations are expected due to large concurrent and future precursor emissions. In Africa, seasonal biomass burning (from both natural and anthropogenic fires) during the dry season plays a crucial role in O3 precursor production. However, O3 observational studies in tropical Africa are currently missing. To fill this major knowledge gap, we established in November 2019 a continuous monitoring of near-surface O3 in the Congo Basin at the Yangambi research centre in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Using this unique dataset in the heart of the second-largest tropical forest in the world, we assessed the ability of current remote sensing products to capture the magnitude and temporal dynamics of in situ tropospheric O3 concentrations, especially O3 concentration variation between dry and wet seasons until March of 2022. We compared near-surface atmospheric O3 measurements collected in Yangambi and four different reanalysis products: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ECMWF) v5 (ERA5), Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service reanalysis (CAMSRA), Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) and Japanese Reanalysis (JRA-55). The results show that reanalysis products overestimated the magnitude of near-surface O3 across the region with a mean bias of 27.3 ppbv, 19.9 ppbv, 10.8 ppbv and 1.0 ppbv for ERA5, CAMSRA, MERRA-2 and JRA-55, respectively. ERA5 and CAMSRA reanalysis were the only products able to capture, to some extent, the observed annual variation, showing higher O3 concentrations during dry season months, despite the inability to reproduce the daily cycle of near-surface O3.

Ferruginous Hawk movements respond predictably to intra‐annual variation but unexpectedly to anthropogenic habitats

Birds exhibit flexible movement responses to environmental variation across the annual cycle, and those responses can provide insight into potential impacts that environmental changes may have on these species. To understand year‐round variation in space use by Ferruginous Hawks Buteo regalis, we tracked 12 birds breeding in southwestern Idaho, USA, using GPS telemetry collected over 207 bird‐months. Home‐range sizes of territorial adult hawks showed strong intra‐annual variation, being smallest from April to June and largest from July to October. In contrast, juvenile birds (< 2 years old) did not appear to hold territories and showed no detectable intra‐annual variation in ranging behaviour. Association with land‐cover types by territorial birds varied between breeding and non‐breeding months and was linked to home‐range size. Home‐range sizes of non‐territorial birds were larger than those of territorial birds, and that size did not vary across the year. Association with anthropogenic habitats (irrigated cropland habitats that can provide high rodent densities and increased foraging opportunities) was negatively associated with home‐range size in months of the non‐breeding season. Unexpectedly, the opposite was true in the months of the breeding season, such that use of croplands resulted in larger home‐ranges. Patterns in home‐range size were probably linked to intrinsic factors such as the timing of breeding and migratory behaviour, and to extrinsic factors such as prey availability associated with specific land‐cover types. These results have implications for our understanding of the response of Ferruginous Hawks and other similar species to predicted changes in land cover, and they suggest unexpected relationships between human activity and wildlife behaviour. Furthermore, because the birds we tracked used a large portion of western North America, they are probably relevant far beyond the small area where these individuals were trapped.

Residential Water Conservation and the Rebound Effect: A Temporal Decomposition and Investigation

AbstractWater conservation in California has been a major subject of concern for agencies in their efforts to satisfy their residential demand while coping with frequent shortfalls, especially in periods of drought. During the 2012–2016 severe drought in California, the state enacted a conservation mandate that imposed specific conservation targets of 4% up to 36% for water utilities. While the utilities met those targets in 2015, water use, on average, has slowly crept up or rebounded subsequently, although not to pre‐drought levels. Understanding the manner and degree to which water use rebounds can be critically important for water utilities in their planning and investment decisions. Using a unique panel dataset on single‐family residential water use by nearly 20,000 customers of a Northern California water agency from 2013 to 2019, this paper explores the magnitude and character of the rebound effect that occurred after the cessation of a statewide conservation mandate that was imposed on water use in response a severe drought enveloping California from 2014 through 2016. Our results suggest the presence of a significant rebound in water use—of approximately 9% on average—after the conservation mandate ended. Yet, and novel to our research, we find significant heterogeneity in the rebound effects across seasons and water users, with a greater rebound in the warm season months relative to other months and among lower water use households relative to higher water use households. Our results also suggest a significant shift in water use to earlier periods of the day once the mandate was lifted. Understanding the magnitude and variation in rebound effects both temporally and across different types of water users can be useful to water agencies in their efforts to make informed decisions surrounding investments, management, and messaging in response to drought, conservation, and water scarcity.