Review
Environmental Sciences
Ioannis Zacharakis, Vassilios A. Tsihrintzis
Summary: This review aims to collect and analyze integrated modeling approaches in estimating forest fire danger, examining the driving factors and evaluating their influence on fire occurrence. Machine learning techniques outperform average classic statistics, while geographic information systems and remote sensing are considered valuable supplementary tools. The study proposes the top performing methods and the most important risk factors for the development of an Integrated Wildfire Danger Risk System (IWDRS).
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Melodie Kunegel-Lion, Eric W. Neilson, Nicolas Mansuy, Devin W. Goodsman
Summary: Increases in frequent disturbances caused by climate change disrupt animal movement patterns and affect species distribution and abundance. Using static habitat models to predict animal locations in areas with frequent disturbances will likely produce inaccurate predictions.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Qiongzi Qiu, Qing Zhou, Aoran Luo, Xufan Li, Kezhen Li, Wenfeng Li, Mengqian Yu, Md Amanullah, Bingjian Lu, Weiguo Lu, Pengyuan Liu, Yan Lu
Summary: Race may play a role in influencing vulnerability to HPV variants and cervical cancer prevalence. Integrated analysis of virus and host transcriptomes reveals differences in tumor subtypes and immune infiltration between populations, shedding light on racial disparities in HPV-associated cervical cancers.
Article
Fisheries
Elisabeth Van Beveren, Hugues P. Benoit, Daniel E. Duplisea
Summary: Various algorithms can be used to forecast recruitment in age-structured stock assessment models, and the choice of method can have a significant impact on the advice provided. Testing the forecast skill of different methods showed that time-series methods were more likely to perform poorly. Factors like age at maturity and recruitment autocorrelation influenced forecast skill across all methods, with some resulting in systematic over- or underestimation of spawning stock biomass.
FISH AND FISHERIES
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Grant M. Harris, Matthew J. Butler, David R. Stewart, James W. Cain
Summary: Stable or growing populations may face extinction when they cannot tolerate large fluctuations and random forces. This study aims to determine the minimum abundance threshold for Caprinae populations, which lack demographic data, in order to guide conservation and management actions. Using population projection matrices and simulations, the researchers found that a population with 50 adult females or 70 with translocation (removals) would have a low chance of quasi-extinction in 10-30 years. Monitoring the population's relationship to this threshold only requires abundance and recruitment data, making it a more practical approach.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mehnaz Jahid, Holly N. Steeves, Jason T. Fisher, Simon J. Bonner, Saman Muthukumarana, Laura L. E. Cowen
Summary: Integrating presence-absence data from camera traps with capture-recapture data from hair traps does not improve the precision of density estimates for grizzly bears.
Article
Ecology
Andrii Zaiats, Megan E. Cattau, David S. Pilliod, Rongsong Liu, Juan M. Requena-Mullor, T. Trevor Caughlin
Summary: This study develops a framework for forecasting post-wildfire regeneration of sagebrush cover in the Great Basin region of the Western US. The research demonstrates that accounting for wildfire and within-wildfire spatial heterogeneity improves the accuracy of recovery predictions.
Article
Ecology
Nathan J. Hostetter, Eric Regehr, Ryan R. Wilson, J. Andrew Royle, Sarah J. Converse
Summary: Animal movement plays a crucial role in ecological processes such as individual survival and reproduction, population structure, and community dynamics. However, current methods for quantifying animal movement and spatiotemporal abundances often fail to capture the linkages between individual-level and population-level processes. This study proposes an integrated spatial capture-recapture (SCR) movement model that can jointly estimate the number and distribution of individuals in a defined spatial region, as well as their movement through time. Applied to a study of polar bears, the model successfully quantifies individual and population-level space use and provides estimates of density within a specific spatial region and temporal period.
Article
Thermodynamics
Mohammad Miri, Mohammadali Saffari, Reza Arjmand, Madeleine McPherson
Summary: This study develops a new framework to assess the flexibility of Canada's renewable energy system by combining insights from operational and planning models. The results show that achieving a zero-emission power system requires transmission and storage capacities beyond the initial output of the planning model, as well as corrections in wind capacity estimation.
Article
Ecology
P. T. Besbeas, R. S. McCrea, B. J. T. Morgan
Summary: Integrated population modelling is a widely used method in ecology, but there is a lack of formal assessment on selecting the best model. This study focuses on determining the age-structure for annual survival probabilities of wild animals using state-space models with different numbers of states. The authors reject the naive use of AIC and suggest using likelihood-ratio tests based on combined data. Simulation results show that the asymptotic chi-square distribution can be applied to compare integrated models when they have the same state variables.
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
(2022)
Article
History & Philosophy Of Science
Eric Hochstein
Summary: This paper argues that integration in cognitive science does not necessarily require constructing a unified model or theory, but can be achieved by understanding and synthesizing coherent inferences across different models. This alternative approach allows for a consistent, comprehensive, and non-contradictory understanding of the target phenomenon.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jin-Kuk Kim, Haryn Park, Se-Jung Kim, Joohwa Lee, Yongjae Song, Sung Chul Yi
Summary: Novel and simple optimization methods have been developed to design and operate cost-effective energy systems with renewable energy. The new optimization framework considers time-dependent variations in energy demand and renewable energy availability, avoiding unnecessary non-linearity and complexities. The proposed solution strategy enables the use of a spreadsheet-based solver that predicts the impact of renewable energy integration on fossil fuel-based energy generation and economic sizes of energy storage units.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mahery Randrianarivo, Radonirina Lebely Botosoamananto, Lucie Penin, Gildas Todinanahary, Mehdi Adjeroud
Summary: Recruitment is crucial for coral assemblages, and the influence of pre- and post-settlement processes on spatial heterogeneity of adults needs to be determined. We examined the density of juveniles and adults among 18 stations in three regions near Madagascar and assessed the impact of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Our findings did not show a significant positive effect of MPAs on juveniles, except for Porites at the study scale. However, the MPA effect was more pronounced for adults, especially for Acropora, Montipora, Seriatopora, and Porites at the regional scale. The correlation between juvenile and adult densities suggests recruitment-limitation relationships for several coral taxa, and highlights the need for conservation measures to specifically protect recruitment processes.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Vincent Nealis, Jacques Regniere
Summary: A study on outbreak populations of western spruce budworm in Douglas-fir forests in British Columbia found that factors influencing population density changes included generation survival, larval survival, and dispersal of moths. Of particular importance were the survival rates of small, non-feeding larval stages, feeding larvae, and pupal stages. The differential in adult densities among locations in outbreak areas resulted in greater per-capita egg recruitment to areas of lower density, leading to apparent synchrony and extended duration of outbreaks.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Alice Monnier-Corbel, Alexandre Robert, Yves Hingrat, Blas M. Benito, Anne-Christine Monnet
Summary: Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) derived from Species Distribution Model (SDM) has been used to infer or predict local demographic properties such as abundance for many species. However, the relationship between HSI and abundance has been a topic of debate, with some studies showing a lack of correlation. To better understand this relationship, we studied the temporal variation of HSI and abundance using data from a 10-year monitoring of a Houbara bustard population in Morocco. Our results showed a triangular relationship between local abundance and HSI, with the upper limit of abundance increasing with HSI. Additionally, sites with the highest HSI had the least variation in abundance. These findings provide empirical evidence supporting the importance of investigating the relationship between HSI and abundance using temporal variation.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2023)