Application of the Rural Water Sustainability Index (RWSI) in Amazon rural communities, Pará, Brazil

This paper proposes an adaptation of the Rural Water Sustainability Index (RWSI) to the Brazilian Amazon region. Policymakers can use this tool to identify areas of water stress and develop actions to guarantee water access to rural communities. Multi-criteria analysis and a geographical information system were integrated to incorporate various indicators and produce maps displaying spatial water sustainability levels in rural communities. The RWSI was employed on a case study at 16 rural communities in Santa Luzia do Pará, Pará, Brazil. In total, 380 closed and structured interviews were conducted with people living in the area to collect local information for the model application. The results showed a varied spatial behavior between rural communities of Santa Luzia do Pará, with similarities and differences based on the overall condition of water resources (final index values). Half of the locations had ‘Poor’ or ‘Poor-Medium’ water quality. The remaining sample obtained scores ranging from ‘Medium-Good’ to ‘Good’ water sustainability. RWSI’ scores varied widely (from 5.7 to 6.5) among the communities. It was also found that localities more distant from surface water presented more water stress.

Redundancy and reducibility in the formats of spatial representations

Mental representations are the essence of cognition. Yet, to understand how the mind works, we must understand not just the content of mental representations (i.e., what information is stored), but also the format of those representations (i.e., how that information is stored). But what does it mean for representations to be formatted? How many formats are there? Is it possible that the mind represents some pieces of information in multiple formats at once? To address these questions, I discuss a ‘case study’ of representational format: the representation of spatial location. I review work (a) across species and across development, (b) across spatial scales, and (c) across levels of analysis (e.g., high-level cognitive format vs. low-level neural format). Along the way, I discuss the possibility that the same information may be organized in multiple formats simultaneously (e.g., that locations may be represented in both Cartesian and polar coordinates). Ultimately, I argue that seemingly ‘redundant’ formats may support the flexible spatial behavior observed in humans, and that we should approach the study of all mental representations with this possibility in mind.

Suitability of Rural Living & Work Facilities, Spatial Behavior of Farmers and Family Income

In recent years, China has put forward policies to improve rural infrastructure and promote the development of rural industries causing to dramatic transition in the living and employment conditions. Moreover, under the pressure of the high expenditure of living and the difficulty of finding jobs, new changes have taken place in the spatial behavior pattern of farmers’ residence and employment. Based on a field survey of 839 observations in 123 villages in Poyang Lake basin, China, we developed indicators to evaluate the suitability of rural living facilities (SLF) and work facilities (SWF). Multinomial logit regression model was used to measure the relationship between SWF, SLF and the spatial behavior patterns of farmers. The results show that: (1) SWF development in rural areas lags behind SLF; (2) Higher SLF is most distributed in suburban areas ; (3) Higher SWF is mostly distributed in suburban towns and characteristic towns; (4) The effects of SLF and SWF on the spatial behavior patterns of farmers are significantly positive; (5) Farmers in the urban-rural amphibious pattern usually obtain a higher income level, and also bring vitality to the countryside.

Long distance homing in the cane toad (Rhinella marina) in its native range

Many animals exhibit complex navigation over different scales and environments. Navigation studies in amphibians have largely focused on species with life histories that require accurate spatial movements, such as territorial poison frogs and migratory pond-breeding amphibians that show fidelity to mating sites. However, other amphibian species have remained relatively understudied, leaving open the possibility that well-developed navigational abilities are widespread. Here, we measured short-term space use in non-territorial, non-migratory cane toads (Rhinella marina) in their native range in French Guiana. After establishing site fidelity, we tested their ability to return home following translocations of 500 and 1000 meters. Toads were able to travel in straight trajectories back to home areas, suggesting navigational abilities similar to those observed in amphibians with more complex spatial behavior. These observations break with the current paradigm of amphibian navigation and suggest that navigational abilities may be widely shared among amphibians.

The catscape: spatial manifestation of a pet cat population with outdoor access

The domestic cat (Felis catus) is the most popular companion animal and the most abundant carnivore globally. It is also a pet with an immense ecological footprint, because even non-feral and food-subsidized cats are prolific predators. Whereas knowledge about the spatial behavior of individual domestic cats is growing, we still know little about how a local population of free-ranging pet cats occupies the landscape. Using a citizen science approach, we GPS-tagged 92 pet cats with outdoor access living in a residential area in southern Norway. The resulting position data allowed us to construct both individual home range kernels and a population-level utilization distribution. Our results reveal a dense predatory blanket that outdoor cats drape over and beyond the urban landscape. It is this population-level intensity surface - the catscape - that potential prey have to navigate. There were almost no gaps in the catscape within our residential study area and therefore few terrestrial refuges from potential cat predation. However, cats spent on average 79% of their outdoor time within 50 meters to their owner's home, which suggests that the primary impact is local and most acute for wildlife in the vicinity to homes with cats. We discuss the catscape as a conceptual and quantitative tool for better understanding and mitigating the environmental impact of domestic cats.

Spatial Behavior of Soil Erodibility in the La Villa River Basin, Panama

Introduction: Soil erodibility is an important factor in understanding the erosion that takes place in a territory. This is a parameter that can behave erratically in small spaces, but that describes a trend in larger spaces. Aim: Determine the K factor of soil erodibility in the La Villa-Panama river basin. Place and Duration of Study: La Villa River Basin-Azuero Peninsula, Panama. 2010-2012. Methodology: 98 points of the La Villa river watershed were sampled. Factor K was calculated using the adaptation to the sol-erodibility nomogram. The percentage of organic matter, structure class (in the field), permeability (combination permeameter) and the percentages of sand, silt and very fine sand (Bouyoucos method) were determined. To obtain the most complete information possible on the distribution of erodibility, a superficial interpolation of the point values ​​corresponding to the soil samples taken was carried out. The software used was Arcview 3.3 and the Spatial Analyst extension. The interpolation method was IDW (Inverse Distance Weight). The erodibility values ​​were categorized into seven intervals in such a way that it was possible to observe the differences on the map. Results: The erodibility values ​​were influenced by the content of organic matter and coarse particles (percentage of sand and silt + very fine sand) of the soil. In the province of Herrera, 86% of the land surface and 76% in the province of Los Santos presents susceptibility to erosion in the ranges of 0.032 to 0.043 Ton ha h ha-1 Mj-1 mm-1. Conclusion: The results indicate that 80% of the soils of the La Villa river basin present a moderately high erodibility factor, with the highest values ​​being registered in the upper middle zone.

Spatial Behavior and Habitat Use of Two Sympatric Bat Species

Movement behavior and habitat use of the long-eared bat species Plecotus auritus and Plecotus austriacus were studied in the Havelland region in Brandenburg (Germany). Data collection included mist-netting, radiotelemetry, reconstruction of prey items, and monitoring of roosting sites. Body measurements confirm a high degree of phenotypic similarity between the two species. Total activity areas (100% Minimum Convex Polygons, MCPS) of Plecotus austriacus (2828.3 ± 1269.43 ha) were up to five-fold larger compared to Plecotus auritus (544.54 ± 295.89 ha). The activity areas of Plecotus austriacus contained up to 11 distinct core areas, and their mean total size (149.7 ± 0.07 ha) was approximately three-fold larger compared to core areas of Plecotus auritus (49.2 ± 25.6 ha). The mean distance between consecutive fixes per night was 12.72 ± 3.7 km for Plecotus austriacus and 4.23 ± 2.8 km for Plecotus auritus. While Plecotus austriacus was located most frequently over pastures (>40%) and meadows (>20%), P. auritus was located mostly within deciduous (>50%) and mixed forests (>30%) in close vicinity to its roosts. Roost site monitoring indicates that the activity of P. austriacus is delayed relative to P. auritus in spring and declined earlier in autumn. These phenological differences are probably related to the species’ respective diets. Levins’ measure of trophic niche breadth suggests that the prey spectrum for P. auritus is more diverse during spring (B = 2.86) and autumn (B = 2.82) compared to P. austriacus (spring: B = 1.7; autumn: B = 2.1). Our results give reason to consider these interspecific ecological variations and species-specific requirements of P. auritus and P. austriacus to develop adapted and improved conservation measures.