scholarly journals The Status of Contaminants in Bald Eagles and Wildland Firefighters in the Teton Ecosystem

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 117-124
Author(s):  
George Montopoli ◽  
Hank Harlow ◽  
W. Smith, MD ◽  
A. Wheeler, MD ◽  
Andy Byerly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Bald Eagle ◽  
Bald Eagles ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Lead Ammunition ◽  
The Status ◽  
Small Sample Sizes

Advancing global climate change and associated desiccation of temperate and boreal forests, exacerbated by extensive clear-cutting, may increase poisoning of aquatic ecosystems with high levels of contaminants, especially Hg. We report on contaminants identified in nestling bald eagles and wildland firefighters of the Teton Ecosystem (Grand Teton National Park (GTNP) and the Snake River Unit (SRU), Wyoming) during summers of 2006, 2007 and 2008. In bald eagles, we focus primarily on mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), and selenium (Se) because each was detected in all nestlings during all summers at moderate levels. In wildland firefighters, we report primarily on Hg due to potential contamination from Hg when fighting fires and ingesting smoke and particulates produced by those fires. We feel that studying Hg both in the eagles and humans simultaneously is a better indicator of the general health of the environment than studying them separately. Both humans and bald eagles occupy top tiers on the food web, and intricately reflect the status of the environment. Results of the bald eagle analyses showed trends indicating increases in Hg and Pb from 2006 to 2007, and decreases from 2007 to 2008. Selenium essentially remained constant from 2006 to 2007 and increased from 2007 to 2008. In wildland firefighters, Hg appears to be elevated in those firefighters who are exposed to significant levels of smoke and particulates, both in 2007 and 2008. Conjectures about firefighters, however, are not statistically significant due to small sample sizes and logistical problems. Encouraging trends in bald eagle contaminant levels from 2007 to 2008 suggest reduction (or stabilization) of contaminant concentrations in the Teton Ecosystem. We also encourage the continued elimination of Pb attributable to humans (lead ammunition, lead shot, etc.) from the Teton Ecosystem. We encourage periodic monitoring of contaminants in the Teton Ecosystem, minimally at five-year intervals (Harmata 1996), unless unexpected events mandate more immediate monitoring. In wildland firefighters, we suggest a well-designed, comprehensive research study for summer 2009, to immediately address future ecological issues that are emerging due to climate change.

scholarly journals An observational analysis of Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis) foraging and caching ecology in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA

2022 ◽  
pp. 133-146
Author(s):  
K.N. Swift ◽  
E.J. Williams ◽  
J.M. Marzluff
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Fresh Food ◽  
Perisoreus Canadensis ◽  
Varied Diet ◽  
Cache Recovery ◽  
Small Sample Sizes ◽  
Denali National Park

Arctic and subarctic wildlife are among the most vulnerable species to climate change. Canada Jays (Perisoreus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1776)) are generalist residents of northern boreal forests and scatter-hoard food to insulate against food scarcity during winter. Unlike most scatter-hoarders, however, Canada Jays primarily cache perishable food, rendering their caches more susceptible to climate change induced degradation and loss. Here we use a mostly noninvasive approach to document Canada Jay foraging ecology among a population in interior Alaska, USA, including the types of food acquired, foraging and caching rates, and cache longevity and loss. We also tested for associations between foraging and caching rates with reproductive metrics to assess possible relationships among food and productivity. We found that Canada Jays have a varied diet that changed seasonally, and responded to a record-setting warm spring by directing foraging efforts away from cache recovery and towards the emergence of fresh food. We did not find evidence for relationships between foraging and caching rate with reproductive output, possibly owing to small sample sizes. We found that caches were recovered quickly (<4 weeks) and frequently lost to conspecific and heterospecific competitors. Our study suggests that Canada Jays may be better poised to respond to changes in cache integrity and food availability than has been previously recognized.

scholarly journals Statistical Decision Properties of Imprecise Trials Assessing COVID-19 Drugs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Manski ◽  
Aleksey Tetenov
Keyword(s):  
Standard Care ◽  
Decision Criterion ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Decision Criteria ◽  
Statistical Decision ◽  
Empirical Success ◽  
Experimental Drugs ◽  
The Status ◽  
Average Patient ◽  
Small Sample Sizes

AbstractAs the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, researchers are reporting findings of randomized trials comparing standard care with care augmented by experimental drugs. The trials have small sample sizes, so estimates of treatment effects are imprecise. Seeing imprecision, clinicians reading research articles may find it difficult to decide when to treat patients with experimental drugs. Whatever decision criterion one uses, there is always some probability that random variation in trial outcomes will lead to prescribing sub-optimal treatments. A conventional practice when comparing standard care and an innovation is to choose the innovation only if the estimated treatment effect is positive and statistically significant. This practice defers to standard care as the status quo. To evaluate decision criteria, we use the concept of near optimality, which jointly considers the probability and magnitude of decision errors. An appealing decision criterion from this perspective is the empirical success rule, which chooses the treatment with the highest observed average patient outcome in the trial. Considering the design of recent and ongoing COVID-19 trials, we show that the empirical success rule yields treatment results that are much closer to optimal than those generated by prevailing decision criteria based on hypothesis tests.We have benefitted from the comments of Michael Gmeiner, Valentyn Litvin, Francesca Molinari, and John Mullahy. Tetenov has received funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation through grant number 100018-192580.

The status of wetlands and the predicted effects of global climate change: the situation in Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Finlayson ◽  
J. A. Davis ◽  
P. A. Gell ◽  
R. T. Kingsford ◽  
K. A. Parton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The Status

Multiplicity of Ontologies: Lakes and Humans in Siberia

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 523-542
Author(s):  
Csaba Mészáros
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Human Agency ◽  
Local Practices ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Multiple Ontologies ◽  
The Way

Global climate change and modernization efforts in the Soviet era have affected the relationship between humans and lakes in Northeast Siberia and have compelled local Sakhas to perceive and renegotiate the status of lakes. These changes have distanced Sakhas from their lakes, and, thus, fishermen and trappers have entered a new epoch, when they not longer fully understand the way lakes respond to human agency. By describing contemporary incoherent local practices at lakes (trapping and fishing), I intend to reflect on new, emergent and multiple ontologies among Sakhas.

The Role of Eco-Municipalities in Climate Change for a Sustainable Future

2018 ◽  
pp. 506-524
Author(s):  
Seda H. Bostanci ◽  
Ayse Nur Albayrak
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Sustainable Future ◽  
The Status ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
Participation Mechanisms

Creating a sustainable future for cities is a critical issue worldwide and municipalities help shape cities from different perspectives. An eco-municipality is a governance strategy and holistic approach to creating sustainable communities and development. The sustainable strategies and projects of these municipalities mostly focus on public participation mechanisms, creating and building renewable energy sources, and designing healthy and green cities. The aim of this chapter is to examine the status of the strongly connected studies concerning global climate change and the eco-municipality model. In this regard, the projects and strategies of Nordic countries which have been pioneers in eco-municipalities and the studies of Turkish municipalities which have recently taken action to develop integrated environmental approaches will be discussed. In addition, an evaluation of projects and strategies of local governments in Turkey relevant to climate change will be critiqued.

scholarly journals Will climate change drive 21st century burn rates in Canadian boreal forest outside of its natural variability: collating global climate model experiments with sedimentary charcoal data

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yves Bergeron ◽  
Dominic Cyr ◽  
Martin P. Girardin ◽  
Christopher Carcaillet
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forest ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Model Experiments ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Canadian Boreal Forest

Natural ecosystems have developed within ranges of conditions that can serve as references for setting conservation targets or assessing the current ecological integrity of managed ecosystems. Because of their climate determinism, forest fires are likely to have consequences that could exacerbate biophysical and socioeconomical vulnerabilities in the context of climate change. We evaluated future trends in fire activity under climate change in the eastern Canadian boreal forest and investigated whether these changes were included in the variability observed during the last 7000 years from sedimentary charcoal records from three lakes. Prediction of future annual area burned was made using simulated Monthly Drought Code data collected from an ensemble of 19 global climate model experiments. The increase in burn rate that is predicted for the end of the 21st century (0.45% year–1 with 95% confidence interval (0.32, 0.59) falls well within the long‐term past variability (0.37 to 0.90% year–1). Although our results suggest that the predicted change in burn rates per se will not move this ecosystem to new conditions, the effects of increasing fire incidence cumulated with current rates of clear‐cutting or other low‐retention types of harvesting, which still prevail in this region, remain preoccupying.

scholarly journals Farmers’ Perception of Climate Change: A Review of the Literature for Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isael Fierros-González ◽  
Alejandro López-Feldman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Agricultural Producers ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
The Status

Global climate is changing rapidly, and it is not clear if agricultural producers in developing countries will be able to adapt fast enough in order to mitigate its negative effects. In order to be willing to take adaptation measures, farmers need to perceive that the climate is changing or could change, and they need to attribute enough weight to this perception to take action. During the last two decades, the literature that examines farmers’ perception of climate change has gained ground, but it is still scant. This is particularly true for Latin America, which is highly vulnerable to climate change. Based on a review of original research articles published between 2000 and 2020, this article presents the status of knowledge about the topic in the region to identify research gaps and inform future research. The review found that the available research has been based mostly on qualitative analyses of case studies for a few countries. More research that identifies causal relationships is necessary. Data from surveys that are representative at the national or subnational levels, as well as longitudinal data, will be very helpful to better understand farmer’s perceptions. Finally, the use of field experiments and choice experiments can complement the use of observational data.

scholarly journals Climate change, fire return intervals and the growing risk of permanent forest loss in boreal Eurasia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arden Burrell ◽  
Qiaoqi Sun ◽  
Robert Baxter ◽  
Elena Kukavskaya ◽  
Sergey Zhila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Fire Regime ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
Recruitment Failure ◽  
Extreme Risk ◽  
In Fire

Climate change has driven an increase in the frequency and severity of fires in Eurasian boreal forests. A growing number of field studies have linked the change in fire regime to post-fire recruitment failure and permanent forest loss. In this study we used four burnt area and two forest loss datasets to calculate the landscape-scale fire return interval (FRI) and associated risk of permanent forest loss. We then used machine learning to predict how the FRI will change under a high emissions scenario (SSP3-7.0) by the end of the century. We found that there is currently 133 000 km2 at high, or extreme, risk of fire-induced forest loss, with a further 3 M km2 at risk by the end of the century. This has the potential to degrade or destroy some of the largest remaining intact forests in the world, negatively impact the health and economic wellbeing of people living in the region, as well as accelerate global climate change.

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