Article
Biodiversity Conservation
A. Laguardia, S. Bourgeois, S. Strindberg, K. S. Gobush, G. Abitsi, H. G. Bikang Bi Ateme, F. Ebouta, J. M. Fay, A. M. Gopalaswamy, F. Maisels, E. L. F. Simira Banga Daouda, L. J. T. White, E. J. Stokes
Summary: Robust monitoring programs are essential for understanding changes in wildlife population dynamics and distribution over time, especially for species of conservation concern. In this study, a rapid non-invasive sampling approach was applied to the Critically Endangered African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) at nationwide scale in Gabon. The results showed Gabon to be the main stronghold for forest elephants, with an estimated population size of 95,110 and a spatial distribution of 250,782 km2.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Julie Bonnald, Jose Utge, Mary K. Kuhner, Samuel K. Wasser, Edward Asalu, John Paul Okimat, Sabrina Krief
Summary: African elephants are now recognized as two distinct species, the savannah elephant and the forest elephant, both of which are endangered due to threats such as forest loss, fragmentation, degradation, and illegal ivory trade. Research in a hybridization zone revealed a large proportion of hybrid individuals, with pure forest elephants being rare in their native habitat. This highlights the need for conservation efforts to protect these species before it is too late given the current high threats faced by African elephant species.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Jean-Gabriel Young, Alec Kirkley, M. E. J. Newman
Summary: This article describes a Bayesian analysis framework for handling data with multiple possible structures in network reconstruction. By defining a finite mixture model and Gibbs sampling procedure, the measured networks are clustered into groups with similar structure.
Article
Entomology
Karol Zubek, Joanna Czerwik-Marcinkowska, Andrzej Borkowski
Summary: The fully non-invasive method presented in this study can be used to evaluate the population sizes of Tomicus piniperda in areas under strict protection. The research collected data from natural traps made from live uncolonised trees in forests with different stand structures. The results showed that the size of T. piniperda populations was influenced by various factors, including the number of maternal tunnels, stem bark thickness, and stand structure. The proposed method can explain 93% of the variability in population size and has an estimation error of 20.1%. This method is particularly valuable for studying the direct effects of climate change on T. piniperda population dynamics.
Article
Mathematics, Applied
Muhammad Azeem, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Rafiq, Shabir Ahmad
Summary: This paper introduces a new modified systematic sampling method for linear trend situations and demonstrates its efficiency through data comparison. The findings suggest that the new method is more efficient in handling linear trends than existing methods.
Article
Ecology
John R. Poulsen, Christopher Beirne, Colin Rundel, Melissa Baldino, Seokmin Kim, Julia Knorr, Taylor Minich, Lingrong Jin, Chase L. Nunez, Shuyun Xiao, Walter Mbamy, Guichard Ndzeng Obiang, Juliana Masseloux, Tanguy Nkoghe, Medard Obiang Ebanega, Connie J. Clark, Michael J. Fay, Pete Morkel, Joseph Okouyi, Lee J. T. White, Justin P. Wright
Summary: This study found that large, fruit-eating animals influence plant population spread and community dynamics through seed dispersal, with dispersal distances being influenced by both environmental and individual-level variables. Elephants disperse seeds through gut passage time and movement, with gender and behavioral traits playing a role in dispersal distances.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Sonia A. Jesus, Anke Schmidt, Joerns Fickel, Marcus G. Doherr, Khajohnpat Boonprasert, Chatchote Thitaram, Ladawan Sariya, Parntep Ratanakron, Thomas B. Hildebrandt
Summary: This study aims to increase knowledge of the coagulation status in healthy Asian elephants from different backgrounds and age groups, and provides reference values and mutation information for their health check-ups and clinical emergencies.
Article
Agronomy
Alisson da Silva Santana, Ana Paula Santana Lima, Emile Dayara Rabelo Santana, Ane Caroline Celestino Santos, Paulo Fellipe Cristaldo, Ana Paula Albano Araujo, Leandro Bacci
Summary: This study developed conventional sampling plans for egg masses and nymphs of the citrus blackfly, Aleurocanthus woglumi, in orange orchards. The sampling plans, consisting of 54 samples for egg masses and 35 samples for nymphs, allow quick and efficient decision-making, with sampling times less than 1 hour and costs less than US$ 3.
Article
Biology
Nicolas Parisey, Melen Leclerc, Katarzyna Adamczyk-Chauvat
Summary: Using spatialised population measurements and geographic habitat data, it is possible to derive concise spatially explicit population models and estimate their parameters. While mathematical methods and computational power are available, the high cost of biological measurements remains a major obstacle for the widespread use of such models.
JOURNAL OF THEORETICAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Forestry
Marcos Vinicius Bohrer Monteiro Siqueira, Miklos Maximiliano Bajay, Carolina Grando, Jaqueline Bueno de Campos, Jayca Amate Marim Toledo, Giovana Tomazela Domingues, Camila Macrini, Evandro Vagner Tambarussi, Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion, Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues, Jose Baldin Pinheiro, Maria Imaculada Zucchi
Summary: The study focuses on restoration projects in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, revealing higher genetic diversity in restored locations compared to natural remnants and higher genetic variation within populations than between populations in different environments. The evaluation of restored tree populations of C. sylvestris is crucial for monitoring long-term restoration programs.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
N. K. Abram, B. Skara, N. Othman, M. Ancrenaz, K. Mengersen, B. Goossens
Summary: In the Kinabatangan floodplain, the expansion of oil palm plantations and human settlements has resulted in the reduction and fragmentation of the lowland tropical forests, affecting the behavior of the endangered Bornean elephants. While female elephants exhibit a high fidelity to forests, male elephants and some females heavily use oil palm estates.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jeremy P. Bird, Aleks Terauds, Richard A. Fuller, Penelope P. Pascoe, Toby D. Travers, Julie C. McInnes, Rachael Alderman, Justine D. Shaw
Summary: Maximising survey efficiency can help reduce the tradeoff between spending limited conservation resources on identifying population changes and responding to those changes through management. We evaluated a stratified random survey design for generating unbiased population estimates simultaneously for four petrel species nesting on Macquarie Island, Australia, where the survey cue, burrow entrances, is similar for all species. We failed to generate unbiased population estimates for two rare and localised species from our stratified random survey.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
David J. Bastien, Anna M. M. Scaife, Hongming Tang, Micah Bowles, Fiona Porter
Summary: The study presents a model for generating postage stamp images of radio galaxies, optimizing the model through improved autoencoders and data preprocessing.
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sydney Otten, Sascha Caron, Wieske de Swart, Melissa van Beekveld, Luc Hendriks, Caspar van Leeuwen, Damian Podareanu, Roberto Ruiz de Austri, Rob Verheyen
Summary: The researchers investigate the use of generative modeling to simulate physical events, utilizing generative machine learning models to efficiently generate events with accurate distributions. By buffering density information and using Variational Autoencoders, they are able to construct an effective method for data generation that is computationally less expensive and can help detect anomalies in the process.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Goran Andersson, Ted Proschwitz, Christoffer Fagerstrom, Martin Green, Henrik G. Smith, Ake Lindstrom
Summary: This study monitored the abundance of arthropods in a subalpine birch forest in Swedish Lapland over a period of 53 years. The results showed that there was no significant change in the arthropod numbers and biomass in this relatively unaffected area. This suggests that the factors causing arthropod declines identified in other habitats may have little to no impact due to the low human population density in this region.
INSECT CONSERVATION AND DIVERSITY
(2022)