Territories In Response Research Articles

Spatial overlap of gray wolves and ungulate prey changes seasonally corresponding to prey migration

BackgroundPrey are more vulnerable during migration due to decreased familiarity with their surroundings and spatially concentrated movements. Predators may respond to increased prey vulnerability by shifting their ranges to match prey. Moose (Alces alces) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are primary gray wolf (Canis lupus) prey and important subsistence species for Indigenous communities. We hypothesized wolves would increase use of ungulate migration corridors during migrations and predicted wolf distributions would overlap primary available prey.MethodsWe examined seasonal gray wolf, moose, and white-tailed deer movements on and near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA. We analyzed GPS collar data during 2012–2021 using Brownian bridge movement models (BBMM) in Migration Mapper and mechanistic range shift analysis (MRSA) to estimate individual- and population-level occurrence distributions and determine the status and timing of range shifts. We estimated proportional overlap of wolf distributions with moose and deer distributions and tested for differences among seasons, prey populations, and wolf sex and pack affiliations.ResultsWe identified a single migration corridor through which white-tailed deer synchronously departed in April and returned in October–November. Gray wolf distributions overlapped the deer migration corridor similarly year-round, but wolves altered within-range distributions seasonally corresponding to prey distributions. Seasonal wolf distributions had the greatest overlap with deer during fall migration (10 October–28 November) and greatest overlap with moose during summer (3 May–9 October).ConclusionsGray wolves did not increase their use of the white-tailed deer migration corridor but altered distributions within their territories in response to seasonal prey distributions. Greater overlap of wolves and white-tailed deer in fall may be due to greater predation success facilitated by asynchronous deer migration movements. Greater summer overlap between wolves and moose may be linked to moose calf vulnerability, American beaver (Castor canadensis) co-occurrence, and reduced deer abundance associated with migration. Our results suggest increases in predation pressure on deer in fall and moose in summer, which can inform Indigenous conservation efforts. We observed seasonal plasticity of wolf distributions suggestive of prey switching; that wolves did not exhibit migratory coupling was likely due to spatial constraints resulting from territoriality.

Stopover territoriality in songbirds crossing the Sahara: aggression and energetics during migration

Stopover territoriality, i.e., the defense and broadcast of an ephemeral home range during avian migration, is rare or perhaps overlooked. However, settling on a territory may allow for easier access to resources and therefore promote faster refueling despite the added costs of territory defense. We examined the occurrence of stopover territoriality and its relationship to body condition and refueling rates. We color-ringed Western Subalpine Warblers (Curruca iberiae) mapped their home ranges and measured associated habitat characteristics during a spring stopover in the Sahara. We simulated territory intrusions via song playback to quantify territorial behavior. Males aggressively defended and broadcasted their stopover territories in response to intruders. Initial body condition in males was negatively related to home range vegetation density, suggesting that males in higher condition are selective for certain territory features. Low vegetation density does not support habitat selection for foraging, but perhaps does support social monitoring or predator vigilance as its functions. Fuel deposition rates in recaptured males were unrelated to home range habitat characteristics. Female Subalpine Warblers did not use repeated home ranges yet had similar refueling rates, body conditions, and stopover durations as territorial males. Therefore, while stopover territories were selected based on body condition, territory characteristics did not influence refueling rates. Subalpine Warblers expressed reduced migratory characteristics, making prolonged stopovers of up to 27 days with low refueling rates but maintaining body condition while defending territories. These results suggest that some individuals are staging for non-energetic reasons, such as pre-breeding preparations, or transitioning between a migratory and a breeding life history stage.Significance statementTerritoriality in birds is commonly associated with breeding activities, less so with the wintering period and rarely with migratory periods. However, territoriality during migration may be energetically beneficial. During a trans-Saharan stopover, male warblers establish and defend temporary territories by singing and engaging in physical defense of home ranges, and those in better condition occupied territories with sparser vegetation. Females were not territorial but refueled at similar rates as males. Stopover territoriality did not increase access to food-rich patches, but perhaps aided in efficient social monitoring and preparations for the approaching breeding season. This is the first detailed documentation of birds defending ephemeral territories during migration, and its potential functions, costs and benefits may inform studies of full-annual cycles and life histories of many migratory species.

Ageing and Loneliness in Times of Pandemic: A Scoping Review

Understand, organize and systematically analyse the scientific evidence generated in relation to the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the processes and feelings of isolation and loneliness of the elderly population, from the beginning of the health crisis until the date of search. a scoping review was conducted using the methodology of Arksey and O'Malley, which included a review of the studies available in the online databases Proquest, Scopus and WOS. From the search, information related to the isolation and collective of elderly people during the pandemic was extracted. a total of 32 articles were included, from which three fundamental areas of analysis emerged and three issues emerged: older people and institutionalisation during the pandemic, ageism and hospitalisation of the elderly during the pandemic, and loneliness and isolation of older people throughout the pandemic. the lack of material resources and infrastructures to be able to face the problem of isolation in institutions was evident. The importance of acquiring, on the part of the elderly, competences, knowledge and skills in new technologies in order to continue with contact with their peer group and family was also observed. this study identifies areas already understood, as well as knowledge gaps, that allow for determining opportunities for future research and thus the ability to improve in situations similar to the one that occurred.

Perceptions of Public Officers Towards the Effects of Climate Change on Ecosystem Services: A Case-Study From Northern Portugal

How institutional stakeholders perceive the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ES) under distinct contexts determines which planning actions are deemed priority or not. Public officers play a crucial role in social-ecological management and decision-making processes, but there is a paucity of research exploring their perceptions on ES supply and demand under a changing climate. We address this gap through an exploratory study that analyses the views of public officers on the potential impacts of climate-change related drivers on multiple ES in a major administrative region from Portugal (EU NUTS 3). We combined qualitative spatial data from participatory maps and semi-quantitative answers from questionnaire-based surveys with 22 officers from public institutions contributing to territorial planning. Contrary to other similar studies, public officers shared a common view on the importance of ES. This view aligns with scientific projections on how a changing climate is expected to influence ES in the region over the next decade. In agreement with other observations in Mediterranean regions, the most perceivably valued ES concerned tangible socio-economic benefits (e.g., periurban agriculture and wine production). Surprisingly, despite the region’s potential for cultural ES, and considering the impacts that climate change may hold on them, recreation and tourism did not seem to be embedded in the officers’ views. We explore the implications of our findings for territorial planning and social-ecological adaptation, considering that the way stakeholders manage the territory in response to climate change depends on the extent to which they are aware and expect to experience climatic consequences in the future.

Temperature and fuel availability control fire size/severity in the boreal forest of central Northwest Territories, Canada

The north-central Canadian boreal forest experienced increased occurrence of large and severe wildfires caused by unusually warm temperatures and drought events during the last decade. It is, however, difficult to assess the exceptional nature of this recent wildfire activity, as few long-term records are available in the area. We analyzed macroscopic sedimentary charcoal from four lakes and pollen grains from one of those lakes to reconstruct long-term fire regimes and vegetation histories in the boreal forest of central Northwest Territories. We used regional estimates of past temperature and hydrological changes to identify the climatic drivers of fire activity over the past 10,000 years. Fires were larger and more severe during warm periods (before ca. 5000 cal yrs. BP and during the last 500 years) and when the forest landscape was characterized by high fuel abundance, especially fire-prone spruce. In contrast, colder conditions combined with landscape opening (i.e., lower fuel abundance) during the Neoglacial (after ca. 5000 cal yrs. BP) were related with a decline in fire size and severity. Fire size and severity increased during the last five centuries, but remained within the Holocene range of variability. According to climatic projections, fire size and severity will likely continue to increase in central Northwest Territories in response to warmer conditions, but precipitation variability, combined with increased abundance of deciduous species or opening of the landscape, could limit fire risk in the future.

Nuclear myosin 1 activates p21 gene transcription in response to DNA damage through a chromatin-based mechanism

Nuclear myosin 1 (NM1) has been implicated in key nuclear functions. Together with actin, it has been shown to initiate and regulate transcription, it is part of the chromatin remodeling complex B-WICH, and is responsible for rearrangements of chromosomal territories in response to external stimuli. Here we show that deletion of NM1 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts leads to chromatin and transcription dysregulation affecting the expression of DNA damage and cell cycle genes. NM1 KO cells exhibit increased DNA damage and changes in cell cycle progression, proliferation, and apoptosis, compatible with a phenotype resulting from impaired p53 signaling. We show that upon DNA damage, NM1 forms a complex with p53 and activates the expression of checkpoint regulator p21 (Cdkn1A) by PCAF and Set1 recruitment to its promoter for histone H3 acetylation and methylation. We propose a role for NM1 in the transcriptional response to DNA damage response and maintenance of genome stability.

Application of Systems Thinking to the assessment of an institutional development project of river restoration at a campus university in Southern Brazil.

Rapid urban growth and high population density have become a problem for urban water resources, especially in developing countries. In general, the pollution of rivers and degradation of ecosystems are the result of both management failures and lack of sewage treatment. River restoration appears as a solution to improve this scenario, but it is common for there to be an absence of a systemic vision in these projects. Thus, this work analysed one of these projects as an initial approach to create coherent (qualitative) shared perspectives on the same problem. This project was developed in a Brazilian university territory in response to a Public Civil Action. Rivers within the university surroundings are degraded due to sewage disposal and wastewater pollution from external and internal sources within the university, but the programme actions contemplate only interventions within the perimeter of the university while excluding the other parts of its watershed. We analyse this problem under a Systems Thinking approach by using causal loop diagrams, being clear that ecosystems cannot be reduced to territorial limits only. The systemic map shows many actions that contribute to the water quality degradation, with emphasis on illegal dumping of wastewater (sewage) and land use change in the upstream areas prior to the university. Point measures are palliative and do not guarantee the quality of river water. Regulation of impervious surfaces and correct disposal of wastewater can improve the current panorama, but greater integration between stakeholders and other key actors is required.

Genes responsive to rapamycin and serum deprivation are clustered on chromosomes and undergo reorganization within local chromatin environments.

We previously demonstrated that genome reorganization, through chromosome territory repositioning, occurs concurrently with significant changes in gene expression in normal primary human fibroblasts treated with the drug rapamycin, or stimulated into quiescence. Although these events occurred concomitantly, it is unclear how specific changes in gene expression relate to reorganization of the genome at higher resolution. We used computational analyses, genome organization assays, and microscopy, to investigate the relationship between chromosome territory positioning and gene expression. We determined that despite relocation of chromosome territories, there was no substantial bias in the proportion of genes changing expression on any one chromosome, including chromosomes 10 and 18. Computational analyses identified that clusters of serum deprivation and rapamycin-responsive genes along the linear extent of chromosomes. Chromosome conformation capture (3C) analysis demonstrated the strengthening or loss of specific long-range chromatin interactions in response to rapamycin and quiescence induction, including a cluster of genes containing Interleukin-8 and several chemokine genes on chromosome 4. We further observed that the LIF gene, which is highly induced upon rapamycin treatment, strengthened interactions with up- and down-stream intergenic regions. Our findings indicate that the repositioning of chromosome territories in response to cell stimuli, this does not reflect gene expression changes occurring within physically clustered groups of genes.

Cerebral blood flow territory instability in patients with atherosclerotic intracranial stenosis.

Stroke risk stratification in patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic arterial disease (ICAD) remains an important clinical objective owing to the high 14-19% recurrent stroke rate in these patients on standard-of-care medical management. There thus remains a need for hemodynamic markers that may allow for the selection of personalized therapies for high-risk symptomatic patients. To determine if shifting of cerebral blood flow (CBF) territories in response to changes in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) may provide a marker for stroke risk in ICAD patients. Prospective. Twenty ICAD patients who experienced a stroke within 45 days of study enrollment and 10 healthy controls. 3.0T MRI including anatomical imaging (T1 -weighted, T2 -weighted/FLAIR), 3D MR angiography, and normocapnic and hypercapnic vessel-encoded CBF-weighted arterial spin labeling. Patients were scanned within 45 days of overt stroke and monitored (duration = 13.2 ± 4.4 months) for the endpoint of non-cardioembolic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Flow territory shifting (shifting index) was calculated from the first scan by determining whether a voxel shifted from its primary arterial source from normocapnia to hypercapnia. A Mann-Whitney U-test (significance: P < 0.05) was performed to determine whether patients meeting the endpoint had greater shifting indices relative to controls or patients not meeting the endpoint. Shifting indices (mean ± standard error) were significantly higher in patients meeting endpoint criteria relative to controls (P = 0.0057; adjusted P = 0.036) and patients not meeting endpoint criteria (P = 0.0047; adjusted P = 0.036). Flow territory shifting may provide a marker of recurrent stroke risk in symptomatic ICAD patients on standard-of-care medical management therapies. 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:1441-1451.

Community-Based Monitoring as the practice of Indigenous governance: A case study of Indigenous-led water quality monitoring in the Yukon River Basin

Indigenous peoples are increasingly developing Community-Based Monitoring programs to protect the waters and lands within their territories in response to multiple ecological and political stressors. Furthermore, CBM tends to focus on Indigenous peoples’ role as ‘knowledge holders.’ This paper explores CBM through a governance lens by understanding CBM as a strategy for the assertion of Indigenous sovereignty and jurisdiction. Research findings revealed that CBM is understood as both a method for generating data useful for decision-making and an expression of governance itself, rooted in understandings of stewardship, kinship and responsibility. Our findings also suggest that data quality and credibility, trust and legitimacy and relevance to decision contexts are key to mobilizing CBM data in relevant decision-making processes. We provide three recommendations to improve linkages between CBM programs and Indigenous governance: Indigenous governments must take a leading role in CBM programs; networked capacity between Indigenous governments can be built using a bridging organization; and CBM programs should be closely coupled with Indigenous environmental governance strategies. All research herein is collaborative and is based on our engagement with the Indigenous Observation Network – an Indigenous-led community-based water quality monitoring network involving Yukon and BC First Nations as well as Alaska Native Tribes. It is considered the largest Indigenous water quality network in the world and is coordinated by the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council and the United States Geological Survey. Results are derived from interviews with twenty samplers and ten other stakeholders with attention to ways to better inform internal and external decision-making processes.

Territorial aggression in urban and rural Song Sparrows is correlated with corticosterone, but not testosterone

Urban songbirds of several species more vigorously defend their territories in response to conspecific song playback than do their rural counterparts, but the hormonal basis of this behavioral difference is unclear. It is well established in vertebrates that both testosterone and corticosterone affect the intensity of territoriality. Previous studies have found no evidence that initial (i.e., immediately following territorial challenge, but prior to restraint) plasma testosterone accounts for the elevated territorial aggression of urban birds. Determining if testosterone still contributes to urban-rural differences in territoriality requires also assessing males' abilities to transiently increase plasma testosterone (in response to an injection of gonadotropin-releasing hormone). We tested whether these hormones are correlated with the territorial response to conspecific song playback in urban and rural male Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) in Montgomery County, Virginia. We found that the elevated territorial aggression of urban sparrows was not related to variation in either initial plasma testosterone or the ability to transiently increase testosterone. In contrast, despite no overall habitat difference in initial corticosterone, levels of this hormone were positively correlated with territoriality in urban and rural sparrows. Furthermore, for a given level of corticosterone, urban sparrows were more territorially aggressive. Our findings suggest that initial corticosterone may either play a role in the regulation of persistent differences in territorial behavior between free-ranging urban and rural male Song Sparrows or be affected by the intensity of behavioral response to territorial challenge.

Rural restructuring in China: Theory, approaches and research prospect

Rural restructuring is a process of reshaping socio-economic morphology and spatial pattern in rural territory in response to the changes of elements both in kernel system and external system of rural development, by optimally allocating and efficiently managing the material and non-material elements in the two systems. It aims at ultimately optimizing the structure and promoting the function within rural territorial system as well as realizing the coordination of structure and complementation of function between urban and rural territorial system. This paper establishes a theoretical framework of rural restructuring through elaborating the concept and connotations as well as analyzing the mechanism pushing forward rural restructuring based on the evolution of “elements-structure-function”, and probes the approaches from the three aspects of spatial restructuring, economic restructuring and social restructuring. Besides, the authors argue that the study of rural restructuring in China in the future needs to focus on the aspects of long-term and multi-scale process and pattern, mechanism, regional models, rural planning technology system and standard, policy and institutional innovations concerning rural restructuring as well as the impacts of globalization on rural restructuring, in order to serve the current national strategic demands and cope with the changes of rural development elements in the process of urban-rural development transformation.

A Mechanistic Link from GABA to Cortical Architecture and Perception

SummaryUnderstanding both the organization of the human cortex and its relation to the performance of distinct functions is fundamental in neuroscience. The primary sensory cortices display topographic organization, whereby receptive fields follow a characteristic pattern, from tonotopy to retinotopy to somatotopy [1]. GABAergic signaling is vital to the maintenance of cortical receptive fields [2]; however, it is unclear how this fine-grain inhibition relates to measurable patterns of perception [3, 4]. Based on perceptual changes following perturbation of the GABAergic system, it is conceivable that the resting level of cortical GABAergic tone directly relates to the spatial specificity of activation in response to a given input [5, 6, 7]. The specificity of cortical activation can be considered in terms of cortical tuning: greater cortical tuning yields more localized recruitment of cortical territory in response to a given input. We applied a combination of fMRI, MR spectroscopy, and psychophysics to substantiate the link between the cortical neurochemical milieu, the tuning of cortical activity, and variability in perceptual acuity, using human somatosensory cortex as a model. We provide data that explain human perceptual acuity in terms of both the underlying cellular and metabolic processes. Specifically, higher concentrations of sensorimotor GABA are associated with more selective cortical tuning, which in turn is associated with enhanced perception. These results show anatomical and neurochemical specificity and are replicated in an independent cohort. The mechanistic link from neurochemistry to perception provides a vital step in understanding population variability in sensory behavior, informing metabolic therapeutic interventions to restore perceptual abilities clinically.

Actor-pluralism, the ‘turn to responsibility’ and the jus ad bellum: ‘unwilling or unable’ in context

With the increasing (although by no means uniquely modern) phenomenon of unattributable non-state actor (NSA) cross-border violence, a purely inter-state-rights-based approach to Article 51 of the UN Charter is not (if ever indeed it was) sustainable. The jus ad bellum does, and should, reflect broader shifts in general international law. This article argues that (i) the ever-increasing but nevertheless long-standing diversity of actors in modern international law is accommodated within a pluralistic conception of the UN Charter; (ii) the increasingly recognised shift in international law from ‘sovereignty as right’ to ‘sovereignty as responsibility’ is contextually relevant in interpreting the right to use force in self-defence; and that (iii) together, these broader shifts in general international law, as reflected in the jus ad bellum, support and inform the legal basis of a victim state's right to use defensive force in a foreign host state's territory in response to unattributable armed attacks by NSAs, both via the ‘unwilling or unable’ doctrine.

Attracting songbirds with conspecific playback: a community approach

The presence of conspecifics is an indicator of good habitat for a number of songbird species; a cue positively associated with territory selection. Thus, conspecific playback may be a cost-effective tool for attracting songbirds to particular, preselected sites of high-quality habitat. Previous studies have used conspecific playback to encourage the establishment of a single species; however, few have researched the potential for the simultaneous attraction of multiple species. Furthermore, empirical studies on the effect of song playback for nonfocal species are sparse. We investigated whether 6 migratory songbird species are more likely to establish nesting territories in response to multispecies playback. To evaluate the effect on the greater songbird community, we assessed the responses of 22 nonfocal species. Three of 6 focal species increased their use of areas near playback speakers, and none became less common. However, several nonfocal species were less likely to use playback sites. Phylogenetic comparison revealed that species closely related to playback species were those most likely to be affected. Our results suggest that conspecific attraction can be used to attract multiple songbird species simultaneously, but that its impact on nonfocal species should be considered before implementation.

Reversing the Outcome of Synapse Elimination at Developing Neuromuscular Junctions In Vivo: Evidence for Synaptic Competition and Its Mechanism

Author SummaryEarly in development, neurons make multiple synaptic connections with their target cells. Over time, many of these connections disappear, leaving behind a fraction of the original connections. Because this pruning occurs when mammals first leave the uterus, it's thought that this type of remodeling may serve to sculpt the nervous system to match a particular environment. However, what causes synapse elimination is not well understood. In this study, we use in vivo imaging to study the connections between motor neuron axons and their target muscle cells, at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), during a developmental stage when each NMJ has multiple connections. We find that synapse loss is driven by competition between nerve cells vying to remain in contact with the same target cell. We show that an axon that would have been eliminated can always be spared by removing (with laser microsurgery) another axon converging on the same synaptic site. The remaining axon not only survives but rapidly grows to occupy the synaptic sites vacated by the removed axon. These results provide a framework for understanding synaptic rearrangements in the developing nervous system.

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT EFFECTIVENESS AND THE INITIATIVE FOR THE INTEGRATION OF REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA (IIRSA): A MULTIPLE CASE REVIEW

Over the last decade, South American countries have been promoting physical integration of the territory in response to regional export-driven industrialisation policies and the global demand for agriculture products, livestock, and energy sources. A prominent example of this is the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), which was launched at the Meeting of South American Presidents in 2000. At the time of writing, 514 infrastructure projects (including roads, pipelines, waterways, dams and telecommunications systems), with an estimated investment of US$69 billion, had been initiated. Importantly, previous similar development processes in the region have caused serious negative environmental and social impacts. Therefore, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been mandated to ensure that the social and environmental issues are adequately addressed in the project planning process. This paper identifies the conditions under which: (a) the SEAs of the IIRSA projects have been undertaken, and (b) the Action Plans have been (or will be) implemented. Using case studies, it analyses whether the SEAs that have been carried out for the IIRSA's projects can be considered effective under these conditions. Finally, drawing on the case study findings, potential ways for improving SEA performance and maximising effectiveness in South America are discussed.

Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

In cooperative breeders, mature males may compete for fertilizations. In this study, we measured the degree of multiple paternity in a natural population of a cooperatively breeding fish. Neolamprologus pulcher (Perciformes: Cichlidae) is a highly social cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. We used highly variable microsatellite loci to survey 12 groups with an average number of 10.6 brood care helpers per group and a total of 43 offspring (mean 3.6 per brood). In 11 of 12 groups, all young were assigned to the dominant female. The dominant male sired all offspring in three groups, part of the offspring in four groups, and in five groups, he had no paternity at all. In total, 44.2% of young were not fathered by the current male territory owner. Multiple paternity was found in 5 of 12 broods (41.7 %), with 8 of 35 young (22.9 %) being sired by males other than the respective territory owners. This is an exceptionally high rate of extra-pair paternity among cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Neither helpers present in these territories during collection nor neighbouring males were unequivocally assigned to have sired these extra-pair young. However, behavioural observations suggest that male helpers may have produced these young before being expelled from the territory in response to this reproductive parasitism. We discuss these results in the light of reproductive skew theory, cooperative breeding in vertebrates and alternative reproductive tactics in fish.

The function of breeding season chip calls by female hooded warblers (Wilsonia citrina)

We document use of 'chip' vocalizations by breeding female hooded warblers (Wilsonia citrina) and propose explanations for the function of the calls. Fertile females (building or laying stage) chip differently than incubating females, via a lower chip rate, shorter bouts of chipping and more bouts per hour. Females responded to playbacks of fertile chipping and a female model on their territories by approaching and chip calling. Resident males were generally not responsive to their mate's chip calls and did not move closer when their mates chipped; however, neighbouring males often intruded onto territories in response to female chip calls. Neighbouring males did not distinguish between playbacks of fertile and incubation chip calls, but responded to both at equally low frequencies. Radio-tracked neighbouring males intruded onto territories significantly more frequently when females were chipping than when they were silent. Such intrusions likely function as extra-pair mating attempts. Finally, variation in call pattern among fertile females did not correlate with frequency of extra-pair young. Our study provides some support that chip calls of hooded warblers function in female territory defence and attraction of potential extra-pair males but further testing of these hypotheses is required.

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