Winter Hibernation Research Articles

Nesting and Biology of Alastor mocsaryi (Hymenoptera, Vespidae: Eumeninae)

The nest structure of Alastor mocsaryi in trap nests was studied in Crimea. Fifteen nests were examined, located inside hollow reed stems 3.0–4.8 mm in inner diameter. The nests contained 1–9 cells separated by partitions. These were made of gravel cemented with soil mastic or sand. The bottom partitions (present in 14 nests) and final plugs (present in 2 nests) also contained loose gravel particles. The mean cell length was greater in the nests made in narrow cavities than in those made in broad cavities. The mean length of a cell with a female exceeded that of a cell with a male. Females provisioned the nest cells with weakly paralyzed larvae of curculionid beetles. The cocoon looked as whitish cobweb-like film and could be detached from the cell walls. The prepupae retained a high level of mobility during winter hibernation. Adult feeding was recorded on flowers of 12 plant species belonging to 9 families. Only 3 of them had nectar accessible to A. mocsaryi while 9 species were specialized melittophilous (7 species) or psychophilous plants (2 species). The wasps obtained nectar from flowers of the latter plants through holes in the perianth which they gnawed out with their mandibles. The nest partitions were found to contain monosaccharides; this indicates that wasp females use nectar as building material, to moisten and bond dry soil and sand particles. Water collection by female A. mocsaryi was recorded only once. The species is univoltine. The sex ratio is female-biased. Attachment behavior of the females to the point of their emergence from mother nests (philopatry) was recorded. The nests were infested with the parasitoid wasps Melittobia acasta and Hoplocryptus coxator, a larva of the beetle Trichodes apiarius, and a puparium of an unidentified tachinid fly. The progeny mortality was 38.8%. Nesting of A. mocsaryi is discussed in relation to the phylogenetic position of the genus Alastor. The use of nectar as building material may be related to nectar robbing from the flowers of many plant species; this feature may also be characteristic of some other members of the subfamily Eumeninae.

Трофічні зв'язки бавовникової совки за сучасних технологій вирощування соняшнику та кукурудзи в Лісостепу України

The features of reproduction of cotton shoots of sunflower seeds and corn under modern agricultural systems in the forest-steppe of Ukraine are highlighted. The analysis of efficiency of application of modern monitoring of a complex of pests at new systems of protection of sunflower and corn is carried out. On the crops of sunflower and corn in the Poltava region, Mirgorod district, the dynamics of the number of cotton bollworm, in the period 2014-2018, which reflects a sharp fluctuation in the number of pests in the crops, is reflected. The basic ecological and biological peculiarities of formation of the structure of cotton bollworm in the crops of the studied cultures are determined. The feature of monitoring and control of cutworms in the forest-steppe of Ukraine is highlighted. A complex of the most effective biological insecticides is described, for controlling the amount of the pest. The analysis of efficiency of modeling of the number of harmful and useful insect species for resource-saving systems of protection of sunflower and corn is carried out. The peculiarities of biology and ecology, as well as the phenology of the development of cotton bollworm in the research area have been specified. The peculiarities of forming the number of pests in agrocenosis vary according to certain parameters, optimum temperatures during winter hibernation, warm and moderate-humid weather in the spring-summer period of vegetation and the presence of honey plants during the period of the imago. For effective crop management, it is relevant to determine the total demand of pests in feeding on the actual population of individuals at different stages of ontogenesis of cereals and industrial crops. Also, a comprehensive set of preventive measures for the distribution of cotton shoots in sunflower and corn crops, for modern agricultural systems. Application in the production of methods for forecasting the dynamics of phytophagous crops on cereals and industrial crops due to the influence of biotic and abiotic factors in different periods of development of plants and phytophagous, allows to determine quantitative changes of cotton bollworms in time and space. Keywords: trophic relations, cotton bollworm, sunflower, maize, monitoring

Seasonal changes in eicosanoid metabolism in the brown bear

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) exert several important functions across organ systems. During winter, hibernators divert PUFAs from oxidation, retaining them in their tissues and membranes, to ensure proper body functions at low body temperature. PUFAs are also precursors of eicosanoids with pro- and anti-inflammatory properties. This study investigated seasonal changes in eicosanoid metabolism of free-ranging brown bears (Ursus arctos). By using a lipidomic approach, we assessed (1) levels of specific omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids involved in the eicosanoid cascade and (2) concentrations of eicosanoids in skeletal muscle and blood plasma of winter hibernating and summer active bears. We observed significant seasonal changes in the specific omega-3 and omega-6 precursors. We also found significant seasonal alterations of eicosanoid levels in both tissues. Concentrations of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, such as thromboxane B2, 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE), and 15-HETE and 18-HETE, were significantly lower in muscle and/or plasma of hibernating bears compared to summer-active animals. Further, plasma and muscle levels of 5,6-epoxyeicosatrienoic acid (EET), as well as muscle concentration of 8,9-EET, tended to be lower in bears during winter hibernation vs. summer. We also found lower plasma levels of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, such as 15dPGJ2 and PGE3, in bears during winter hibernation. Despite of the limited changes in omega-3 and omega-6 precursors, plasma and muscle concentrations of the products of all pathways decreased significantly, or remained unchanged, independent of their pro- or anti-inflammatory properties. These findings suggest that hibernation in bears is associated with a depressed state of the eicosanoid cascade.

Assessing the Use of Artificial Hibernacula by the Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) and Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) in Cold Climate in Southeast Norway

Construction of artificial overwintering habitats, hibernacula, or newt hotels, is an important mitigation measure for newt populations in urban and agricultural areas. We have monitored the use of four artificial hotels built in September 2011 close to a 6000 m2 breeding pond in Norway. The four hotels ranged from 1.6 to 12.4 m3 and were located from 5 to 40 m from the breeding pond. In 2013–2015, 57 Great Crested Newts (Triturus cristatus) and 413 Smooth Newts (Lissotriton vulgaris) spent the winter in the hotels. The proportions of juveniles were 75% and 62%, respectively, and the hotels may be important to secure recruitment. Knowledge on emigration routes and habitat quality for summer use and winter hibernation is important to find good locations for newt hotels. The study documented that newts may survive a minimum temperature of −6.7 °C. We recommend that newt hotels in areas with harsh climate are dug into the ground in slopes to reduce low-temperature exposure during winter.

Seasonal migrations, body temperature fluctuations, and infection dynamics in adult amphibians.

Risks of parasitism vary over time, with infection prevalence often fluctuating with seasonal changes in the annual cycle. Identifying the biological mechanisms underlying seasonality in infection can enable better prediction and prevention of future infection peaks. Obtaining longitudinal data on individual infections and traits across seasons throughout the annual cycle is perhaps the most effective means of achieving this aim, yet few studies have obtained such information for wildlife. Here, we tracked spiny common toads (Bufo spinosus) within and across annual cycles to assess seasonal variation in movement, body temperatures and infection from the fungal parasite, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Across annual cycles, toads did not consistently sustain infections but instead gained and lost infections from year to year. Radio-tracking showed that infected toads lose infections during post-breeding migrations, and no toads contracted infection following migration, which may be one explanation for the inter-annual variability in Bd infections. We also found pronounced seasonal variation in toad body temperatures. Body temperatures approached 0 °C during winter hibernation but remained largely within the thermal tolerance range of Bd. These findings provide direct documentation of migratory recovery (i.e., loss of infection during migration) and escape in a wild population. The body temperature reductions that we observed during hibernation warrant further consideration into the role that this period plays in seasonal Bd dynamics.

Lack of Tenderness: The Main Culprit for the Relationship between Husband and Wife in Lady Chatterley’s Lover

This article presents the case of Chatterley and Clifford, the two main characters in Lady Chatterley’s Lover, to consider tenderness a basic working emotion to shape human relationship. The lack of tenderness causes emotional as well as physical distance in relation, especially that of male-female’s relation. The first part of the article reviews tenderness. The second part reviews how tenderness and lack of tenderness affects male-female relationship in the selected novel, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. On the basis of a careful analysis of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the present writer tries to prove that the lack of tenderness is the main culprit for the broken relationship between husband and wife: a major one of the relations between man and woman in human society and mutual tenderness elicits people awakening to a new way of living in an exterior world that is uncracking after the long winter hibernation. Lawrence, through revelation of Connie’s gradual awakening from tenderness, has made his utmost effort to explore possible solutions to harmonious androgyny between men and women so as to revitalize the distorted human nature caused by the industrial civilization.

Cave deposits as a sedimentary trap for the Marine Isotope Stage 3 environmental record: The case study of Pod Hradem, Czech Republic

Pod Hradem Cave, located in the Moravian Karst, Czech Republic, offers an excellent opportunity for environmental reconstructions of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) in Central Europe due to its detailed sedimentary record dated 50,000 to 28,000 cal BP. Identifying the natural environments of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) transition is necessary to understand the settlement strategies and related behaviour of both Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans, both of whom may have occupied the region at the same time. A multidisciplinary excavation was carried out between 2011 and 2016. Detailed analyses of the sediments, vertebrate microfauna, pollen and charcoal revealed minor but observable fluctuations in climate, with little change in the surrounding vegetation. The Pod Hradem palaeoenvironmental dataset is complex, but generally reflects a predominantly glacial climate with a range of vegetation types and habitats during the Late Pleistocene, followed by the warmer and more humid Holocene. The MUP transition as recorded in Pod Hradem Cave was a glacial environment interrupted by two relatively warmer periods. Central Europe experienced extreme climate fluctuations during MIS3, as recorded from different sedimentary archives, but it seems that the Pod Hradem Cave environment may have acted as a buffer zone, ameliorating those extremes, and providing a suitable refuge for both bears seeking winter hibernation dens and occasionally visiting humans.

Tree roosts of northern long‐eared bats following white‐nose syndrome

ABSTRACTSpring emergence and summer maternity seasons are critical to long‐term survival of cave‐hibernating bats inhabiting geographic regions affected by white‐nose syndrome (WNS). White‐nose syndrome reached cave‐hibernating populations of bats in Mammoth Cave National Park (MCNP), Kentucky, USA, in 2013, with significant declines in several species of bats that hibernate in MCNP during winter 2014–2015, including the northern long‐eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). To assess behavior and roost selection of individuals surviving to spring emergence and the summer maternity season, we radio‐tracked 26 northern long‐eared bats captured at various locations with differing habitat conditions in MCNP during 2015 and 2016. We tracked bats daily to identify roosting sites and patterns in use of roosts, describe habitat conditions associated with roosting sites, and quantify variation in size of colonies occupying roost trees. The average number of bats emerging from roost trees (3.58 ± 0.57 [SE]) was low compared with estimates for the species in studies completed pre‐WNS. Adult female bats selected trees within 6 roost areas with no overlap in use of roost areas between non‐reproductive females in spring and pregnant and lactating females in summer. Variation in roost tree and surrounding forest characteristics occurred across sex and reproductive condition classes, with males and pregnant and lactating females roosting at higher landscape positions than non‐reproductive females. Comparisons of roosting habitat models demonstrated the torpor model (decay class, stem diameter, canopy cover) to be parsimonious, regardless of sex and reproductive condition class, suggesting importance for choosing roost trees that facilitate use of daytime torpor. Such a strategy would promote energy savings and be consistent with behaviors anticipated for bats vulnerable to WNS effects during winter hibernation because these bats are potentially compromised in health and physiologic condition upon emergence from hibernation in spring. We encourage land managers responsible for roost trees of northern long‐eared bats to consider seasonal and landscape‐level variation in roosting habitat needs of these bats. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.

Purification and characterization of skeletal muscle pyruvate kinase from the hibernating ground squirrel, Urocitellus richardsonii: potential regulation by posttranslational modification during torpor.

Ground squirrel torpor during winter hibernation is characterized by numerous physiological and biochemical changes, including alterations to fuel metabolism. During torpor, many tissues switch from carbohydrate to lipid catabolism, often by regulating key enzymes within glycolytic and lipolytic pathways. This study investigates the potential regulation of pyruvate kinase (PK), a key member of the glycolytic pathway, within the skeletal muscle of hibernating ground squirrels. PK was purified from the skeletal muscle of control and torpid Richardson's ground squirrels, and PK kinetics, structural stability, and posttranslational modifications were subsequently assessed. Torpid PK displayed a nearly threefold increase in K m PEP as compared to control PK when assayed at 5°C. ProQ Diamond phosphoprotein staining as well as phospho-specific western blots indicated that torpid PK was significantly more phosphorylated than the euthermic control. PK from the torpid condition was also shown to possess nearly twofold acetyl content as compared to control PK. In conclusion, skeletal muscle PK from the Richardson's ground squirrel may be regulated posttranslationally between the euthermic and torpid states, and this may inhibit PK functioning during torpor in accordance with the decrease in glycolytic rate during dormancy.

Hibernating Little Pocket Mice Show Few Seasonal Changes in Bone Properties

Periods of disuse or physical inactivity increases bone porosity and decreases bone mineral density, resulting in a loss of bone mechanical competence in many animals. Although large hibernators like bears and marmots prevent bone loss during hibernation, despite long periods of physical inactivity, some small hibernators do lose bone during hibernation. Little pocket mice (Perognathus longimembris) remain underground during winter hibernation and undergo bouts of torpor and interbout arousals, but the torpor bout duration is shorter than other rodent hibernators. Additionally, little pocket mice may enter torpor during summer estivation. In this study, cortical and trabecular bone architectural, mineral, and mechanical properties were analyzed for femurs from little pocket mice captured during 8 different months (March to October) to determine seasonal effects on bone. There were no differences in any bone properties between the pre-hibernation month of October and the post-hibernation month of March, suggesting winter hibernation did not adversely affect bone properties. However, cortical area was higher in March than April, May, and June. Bone mechanical and osteocyte lacunar properties were not different between any months. Trabecular bone in the distal femoral epiphysis showed no changes between months. The distal femoral metaphyseal region showed higher trabecular spacing and lower trabecular number in May than August, otherwise, there were no differences in trabecular parameters. The few monthly differences in bone properties may be due to physical inactivity from periodic summer estivation or from the timing of birth and growth in spring and summer months. Anat Rec, 300:2175-2183, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Polar bears experience skeletal muscle atrophy in response to food deprivation and reduced activity in winter and summer.

When reducing activity and using stored energy during seasonal food shortages, animals risk degradation of skeletal muscles, although some species avoid or minimize the resulting atrophy while experiencing these conditions during hibernation. Polar bears may be food deprived and relatively inactive during winter (when pregnant females hibernate and hunting success declines for other demographic groups) as well as summer (when sea ice retreats from key foraging habitats). We investigated muscle atrophy in samples of biceps femoris collected from free-ranging polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea (SBS) throughout their annual cycle. Atrophy was most pronounced in April-May as a result of food deprivation during the previous winter, with muscles exhibiting reduced protein concentration, increased water content, and lower creatine kinase mRNA. These animals increased feeding and activity in spring (when seal prey becomes more available), initiating a period of muscle recovery. During the following ice melt of late summer, ~30% of SBS bears abandon retreating sea ice for land; in August, these 'shore' bears exhibited no muscle atrophy, indicating that they had fully recovered from winter food deprivation. These individuals subsequently scavenged whale carcasses deposited by humans and by October, had retained good muscle condition. In contrast, ~70% of SBS bears follow the ice north in late summer, into deep water with less prey. These 'ice' bears fast; by October, they exhibited muscle protein loss and rapid changes in myosin heavy-chain isoforms in response to reduced activity. These findings indicate that, unlike other bears during winter hibernation, polar bears without food in summer cannot mitigate atrophy. Consequently, prolonged summer fasting resulting from climate change-induced ice loss creates a risk of greater muscle atrophy and reduced abilities to travel and hunt.

Physical inactivity and platelet function in humans and brown bears: A comparative study

Physical inactivity increases the risk of thromboembolism. However, good standardized human models on inactivity are in short supply and experimental models are few.Our objective was to investigate how standardized bed rest affects platelet aggregation in humans and to investigate if aggregation is altered in a translational model system – the hibernating brown bear (Ursus arctos). We collected blood from (1) healthy male volunteers participating in a 21-day bed rest study in head-down tilt position (−6°) 24 h a day; (2) free-ranging brown bears captured during winter hibernation and again during active state in summer. We analyzed platelet function using multiple electrode platelet aggregometry. In total, 9 healthy male volunteers (age 31.0 ± 6.4 years) and 13 brown bears (7 females and 6 males, age 2.8 ± 0.6 years) were included. In hibernating bears adenosine diphosphate, arachidonic acid, thrombin receptor activating peptide, and collagen impedance aggregometry tests were all halved compared to summer active state. In human volunteers no statistically significant changes were found between baseline and the end of bed rest. In human male volunteers 3 weeks of bed rest did not affect platelet function. In hibernating brown bears platelet aggregation was halved compared to summer and we hypothesize that this is a protective measure to avoid formation of thrombi under periods of low blood flow.

Faeces of Rhinolophus euryale (Chiroptera) from the winter season contain inorganic matter

Hibernating mammals arouse periodically from their torpor under the influence of an unknown mechanism to perform activities necessary for the correct functioning of metabolism. Our model species, the Mediterranean horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus euryale Blasius, 1853), wakes up during the winter and produces both typical consumptive as well as non-consumptive faeces (produced after no feeding activity). The aim of this study was to characterize the composition of the latter droppings of R. euryale in comparison to summer droppings to better understand the processes involved in such arousals from winter hibernation. The non-consumptive samples were morphologically similar and consisted of mucous material on the outside and a homogeneous mass inside. The internal homogenous mass inside the faeces was composed of organic as well as inorganic material, consisting of phosphate, calcium carbonate, quartz particles, and clay. We also confirmed the overall presence of faecal spherulites, calcite crystals and siliceous needles. The faeces contained no cells or if some, merely fragments of them. In contrast, summer faeces were composed of insect fragments; i.e. they were typically consumptive. In addition, we found no trace of insect-prey DNA in the winter droppings, which contained bat DNA instead. We also found peptides belonging to Mammalia as well as to other craniate and eukaryotes, but Arthropoda peptides occurred in only a rudimental occurrence. We found Bacteria peptides as well. Internal parasites were also visually retrieved. The high concentration of inorganic material and virtual lack of prey observed in the non-consumptive faeces indicate that drinking as well as direct sediment consumption occur inside the cave environment during the hibernation period. We conclude that winter arousals are unlikely to be aimed at gaining energy through foraging but most likely allow regulating water balance by active drinking.

A molecular‐genetic understanding of diapause in spider mites: current knowledge and future directions

AbstractDuring unfavourable conditions, many arthropods have the ability to enter into diapause and synchronize their development and reproduction to seasonal patterns. Diapause or winter hibernation in insects and mites is set off by a number of cues, with photoperiod being the most well‐defined and strongest signal. This review focuses on the current knowledge of ‘‐omics’ data and the genetics of diapause in the two‐spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae, a member of the family Tetranychidae (Arthropoda: Chelicerata: Arachnida: Acari). This species is a serious polyphagous pest and females undergo a reproductive facultative diapause when immature stages are exposed to long nights. Winter hibernation induces different physiological processes characterized by a metabolic suppression, different energy use, increased stress tolerance and the production of cryoprotectants, all initiated by a complex signal transduction pathway. Keto‐carotenoids are known to cause the deeply orange colour typical for diapausing females. Furthermore, research with colour mutants of T. urticae has shown the need for carotenoids with respect to the induction of diapause, even though the molecular‐genetic mechanisms underlying these colour phenotypes are still unknown. In addition, marked latitudinal variation in diapause incidence among populations has been observed in nature, with modes of inheritance ranging from recessive to dominant, as well as monogenic to polygenic. We end by highlighting the emerging opportunities for functional studies that aim to unravel the complex factors underlying diapause in spider mites.

Regulation of blood oxygen transport in hibernating mammals.

Along with the periodic reductions in O2 requirements of mammalian hibernators during winter, the O2 affinity of the blood of mammalian hibernators is seasonally regulated to help match O2 supply to consumption, contributing to limit tissue oxidative stress, particularly at arousals. Specifically, mammalian hibernators consistently show an overall increase in the blood-O2 affinity, which causes a decreased O2 unloading to tissues, while having similar or lower tissue O2 tensions during hibernation. This overview explores how the decreased body temperature and concentration of red blood cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG) that occur in hibernation contribute separately or in combination to the concurrent increase in the O2 affinity of the hemoglobin, the O2 carrier protein of the blood. Most mammalian hemoglobins are responsive to changes in DPG concentrations, including that of the hibernating brown bear, although the smaller hibernators, such as golden-mantled ground squirrel, chipmunks, and dormice, have hemoglobins with low sensitivity to DPG. While the effect of DPG on oxygenation may vary, the decrease in body temperature invariably increases hemoglobin's O2 affinity in all hibernating species. However, the temperature sensitivity of hemoglobin oxygenation is low in hibernators compared to human, apparently due in part to endothermic allosteric quaternary transition in ground squirrels and dissociation of chloride ions in brown bears. A low heat of blood oxygenation in temporal heterotherms, like hibernators, may thus contribute to reduce heat loss, as found in regional heterotherms, like polar mammals, although the significance would be low in winter hibernation.

The effect of hibernation on lipids of the liver mitochondrial fraction in the Yakut ground squirrel Spermophilus undulatus

We demonstrated that the level of phospholipids in the liver mitochondrial fraction is increased by 60% during the winter hibernation season in the Yakut ground squirrel S. undulatus; the phospholipid composition in sleeping animals is characterized by an increase in phosphatidylethanolamine compared with summer animals. A sharp increase in the level of cholesterol, as well as fatty acid, monoglycerides, and diglycerides was found in the mitochondrial fraction of hibernating ground squirrels in relation to summer ground squirrels. Functional changes during hibernation concern the level of phosphatidylserine (the growth in sleeping animals compared with active animals). Seasonal modification of the lipid composition of the liver mitochondria (particularly, an increase in the level of cholesterol) can play a role in the resistance of mitochondria to the seasonal increase in the level of fatty acids in the liver. Lipids of the liver mitochondrial fraction are involved in the ground squirrel adaptation to the hibernation season.

Documentation of Overwintering Bat Species Presence and Hibernacula Use In the Badlands of North Dakota

Little work has focused on species presence, distributions, and habitat use of bats in the Great Plains of North America. In particular, no previous study has attempted to determine if bats are utilizing hibernacula during the winter months in North Dakota. The current lack of information regarding bat species presence during the winter months in North Dakota can have great conservation implications. Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungal pathogen responsible for white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats across the United States and Canada, has led to great concern for wildlife managers. For many of the areas where WNS is present, information about the presence and location of hibernacula are known, allowing for close monitoring of the spread of the disease. However, some locations within the predicted path of WNS still lack information as to bat species presence during the winter months. Due to mortality rates sometimes reaching upwards of 100% as a result of WNS infection, filling in these information gaps is critical for conservation research. The purpose of this study was to determine if the badlands region of North Dakota supports over-wintering bat communities, document both utilized and potential hibernacula, and develop a Geographic Information Systems model in the program MaxEnt to be used for future studies and wildlife managers. Six species were positively identified in the badlands region of North Dakota during the pre-hibernation and winter hibernation periods: Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus), Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus), Long-eared Myotis (Myotis evotis), Townsend's Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), and Western Small-footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum). Habitat suitability modeling was employed to model potential hibernacula in the study area. Knowledge of these potential hibernacula could be of great importance to wildlife managers, and results from this study may be used by regional wildlife managers to develop strategies for curtailing the spread of this disease into North Dakota.

Review: A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, DC

Choukas-Bradley, Melanie. A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, DC Staunton, VA: George F. Thompson Publishing, 2014. 240 pp., illus., maps, photographs. ISBN: 9781938086243, US$29.95, paper. Photographs by Susan Austin Roth.When walk through the bottomland forest and into the upland woods, may be deep in solitary reverie but am never alone (p. 7). Naturalist Melanie ChoukasBradley (with beautiful photographs by Susan Austin Roth) presents a colourful ode to Rock Creek Park, ...a welcoming sanctuary for millions of city-dwellers who feel the need to commune with Nature (p.7). Through vivid descriptions and poetic musings, Choukas-Bradley documents the 'natural events' of a year in the park. The detailed daily entries are divided into four seasons and record the changes that take place over the course of the year in this crucial urban habitat for birds, wildflowers, trees, and those seeking solace from the bustle of the Washington, DC area. While the author describes the physical and aesthetic as well as emotional refuge in lyrical detail, what sets this book apart is the undertone of the imminent threat to the habitat from global climate change.In Part 1, Winter, the author begins with her reluctant move from their rural family home in Comus, Maryland to be closer to the city, and how she initially felt exiled from Nature (p. 13) until discovering Washington's Boundary Bridge Trail Network- named for the border between D.C. and Maryland-and Rock Creek Park. Quoting from Thoreau's 1854 Walden, I went to the woods because wished to live deliberately., (p. 17) the author explains that she wished to do the same thing but had to remain in the city both for work and her family. Yet she is able to live my life in communion with Nature, here in Rock Creek Park, where.I feel have lived in the woods all along (p. 17). She describes both the personal significance of the sanctuary through its whitened winter landscape, the storms and sleet, different paw prints in the snow, and the melting of the creek ice at the beginning of spring.With its rich descriptions but clear warnings about the fragility of the author's beloved sanctuary, the book serves as homage to an ecosystem, while demonstrating its fragility. Choukas-Bradley writes:What is winter if not the chance to rest in a state of semi-hibernation, the stillness and cold serving as antidote to the industry of all the other seasons. .the stillness that is not death but the incubating prelude to exuberant rebirth. (p. 27)In Part 2, Spring, Choukas-Bradley tells us: .I want to be out of the cave and into the day and the night, especially the fertile night (51). Spring brings with it new life, birds repopulating the wooded areas, and first leaves on plants and trees bringing new hope and rebirth from the winter hibernation. …

Snow Leopard and Himalayan Wolf: Food Habits and Prey Selection in the Central Himalayas, Nepal.

Top carnivores play an important role in maintaining energy flow and functioning of the ecosystem, and a clear understanding of their diets and foraging strategies is essential for developing effective conservation strategies. In this paper, we compared diets and prey selection of snow leopards and wolves based on analyses of genotyped scats (snow leopards n = 182, wolves n = 57), collected within 26 sampling grid cells (5×5 km) that were distributed across a vast landscape of ca 5000 km2 in the Central Himalayas, Nepal. Within the grid cells, we sampled prey abundances using the double observer method. We found that interspecific differences in diet composition and prey selection reflected their respective habitat preferences, i.e. snow leopards significantly preferred cliff-dwelling wild ungulates (mainly bharal, 57% of identified material in scat samples), whereas wolves preferred typically plain-dwellers (Tibetan gazelle, kiang and argali, 31%). Livestock was consumed less frequently than their proportional availability by both predators (snow leopard = 27%; wolf = 24%), but significant avoidance was only detected among snow leopards. Among livestock species, snow leopards significantly preferred horses and goats, avoided yaks, and used sheep as available. We identified factors influencing diet composition using Generalized Linear Mixed Models. Wolves showed seasonal differences in the occurrence of small mammals/birds, probably due to the winter hibernation of an important prey, marmots. For snow leopard, occurrence of both wild ungulates and livestock in scats depended on sex and latitude. Wild ungulates occurrence increased while livestock decreased from south to north, probably due to a latitudinal gradient in prey availability. Livestock occurred more frequently in scats from male snow leopards (males: 47%, females: 21%), and wild ungulates more frequently in scats from females (males: 48%, females: 70%). The sexual difference agrees with previous telemetry studies on snow leopards and other large carnivores, and may reflect a high-risk high-gain strategy among males.

Antioxidant capacity of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in different soil types

This work considers the results obtained by testing the parameters of antioxidant status in leaves and roots of oilseed rape at different growth stages (phase I: formation of leaf rosettes and preparing for winter hibernation; phase II: after the winter hibernation; phase III: flowering) grown in semicontrolled field conditions on different soil types. The experiment was conducted on four oilseed rape genotypes (Banacanka, Jasna, Kata, and Zlatna) in semicontrolled conditions in containers with three soil types: chernozem, solonetz, and solonchak. The germination failed on solonchak due to the excessive amount of salt, but results were obtained for plant material on chernozem and solonetz. The following parameters were examined: superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme activity, glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, lipid peroxidation (LP) intensity, glutathione (GSH) content, and total antioxidant capacity (by ferric reducing antioxidant power, FRAP method). The activity of all the tested parameters of antioxidant status in all genotypes, both in leaves and roots, was higher in plants grown on solonetz soil compared to plants grown on chernozem. Furthermore, the activity of all the tested parameters on both soil types was highest in the second phase of testing, the stage after the winter hibernation, because the plants were exposed to low temperatures in addition to salt stress. The vital thing to note is that GPx activity is important for the defense at the initial stages of growth, while in the later growth stages SOD assumes this role. The genotype Banacanka has been distinguished as the most tolerant, while the genotype Zlatna was the most sensitive.