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Knowledge of ecological impacts of exotic beach almond (Terminalia catappa) in the central Pacific of Costa Rica are little known, but studies have found this species to be a potentially important food source for endangered scarlet macaws (Ara macao). In this study, reproductive phenology and seed predation by variegated squirrels (Sciurus variegatoides) and scarlet macaws were measured during March and April 2011 on beaches of central Pacific coastal Costa Rica. Seed productivity and predation levels were quantified on a weekly basis for 111 beach almond trees to assess the importance of beach almond as a food source for scarlet macaws and the extent of resource partitioning between seed predators. Seed production of the trees was great (about 194 272 seeds) and approximately 67% of seeds were predated by seed predators. Macaws consumed an estimated 49% of seeds while squirrels consumed 18%. Additionally, evidence of resource partitioning between squirrels and macaws was found. Scarlet macaws preferred to feed on the northern side and edge of the canopy while squirrels preferred to feed on the southern and inside parts of the canopy. Both species ate most seeds on the ocean side of the tree. Despite the status of this tree as an exotic species, the beach almond appears to be an important resource for scarlet macaw population recovery. The resource produced by this tree should be taken into account as reforestation efforts continue in Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. Trop. 62 (3): 929-938. Epub 2014 September 01. El conocimiento de los impactos ecológicos del almendro de playa exótico (Terminalia catappa) en el Pacífico Central de Costa Rica son poco conocidos, pero los estudios han encontrado que esta especie es una fuente de alimento potencialmente importante para la lapa roja (Ara macao), en peligro de extinción. En este estudio, se midieron la fenología reproductiva y la depredación de semillas por las ardillas (Sciurus variegatoides) y lapas rojas durante marzo y abril 2011 en las playas de la costa Pacífica Central de Costa Rica. Los niveles de productividad y depredación de semillas se cuantificaron semanalmente para 111 almendros de playa, para evaluar la importancia del almendro de playa como fuente de alimento para la lapa roja y el grado de repartición de recursos entre los depredadores de semillas. La producción de semillas de los árboles fue alta (cerca de 194 272 semillas) y aproximadamente el 67% de las semillas fueron comidas por los depredadores, las lapas rojas consumen un estimado de 49% de las semillas, mientras que las ardillas consumen el 18%. Adicionalmente, se encontró evidencia de la repartición de recursos entre las ardillas y las lapas. Las lapas rojas prefieren alimentarse en el lado norte y el borde de la copa, mientras que las ardillas prefieren las regiones del sur y el interior de la copa. Ambas especies se comieron la mayoría de las semillas en la parte del árbol con lado al mar. A pesar de la situación de este árbol como una especie exótica, la playa de almendras parece ser un recurso importante para la recuperación de la población de lapas rojas. El recurso que produce este árbol debe tomarse en cuenta para continuar con los esfuerzos de reforestación en Costa Rica.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is an important cash crop in tropical climates such as that of Latin America. Over the past several decades, the infection of cultivated cacao by Moniliophthora roreri, known commonly as “monilia”, has significantly hindered cacao production in Latin America. Studies have proposed the use of Trichoderma sp. Fungi in biocontrol treatments to prevent and reduce monilia infection, yet tests of Trichoderma-containing spray treatments on cacao agroforests have produced mixed results. Researchers and agricultural workers have suggested that addition of soil, fly ash, or other carbon sources to a Trichoderma spray may improve its efficacy in fighting monilia. To test these suggestions, we designed a series of spray mixtures including Trichoderma cultures, soil, and all necessary controls. We applied the spray mixtures to 80 cacao trees (20 trees for each of four resistant-selected clones to monilia) at the FINMAC organic cacao plantation in Pueblo Nuevo de Guacimo, Limón Province, in northeastern Costa Rica in March-April 2013. Five treatments were applied (control, water, water plus sterilized soil, water plus Trichoderma, and water plus sterilized soil plus Trichoderma). Each treatment was applied to four trees of each clone. We monitored the incidence of moniliainfection under each spray treatment over the course of 35d. We found that spraying entire cacao trees two times with a mixture containing Trichoderma and sterilized soil significantly reduced the incidence of monilia infection by 11% (p

The increase of ecotourism operations within Costa Rica during the last 20yrs has brought more and more humans into close, direct contact with several wildlife species. One of these species is the white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus), highly gregarious, and with exposure over time, willing to come into close vicinity of humans and their developments. Such contact has its advantages and disadvantages for the ecotourism industry. We observed white-faced monkeys in order to assess the impact of human presence and development on monkey behavior, with a focus on aggressive, affiliative, and foraging behaviors in Curú Wildlife Refuge (CWR), located in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and to ascertain the degree of over-habituation of capuchin populations at CWR. Though there exists no discrete behavioral parameters that measure over-habituation, it can be defined as an extreme state of habituation in which non-human primates not only lose fear of humans, but also actively include humans in social interactions or treat them as a food resource. We used instantaneous focal animal and group scan sampling during 8wks in March and April 2012. Two groups (approximately 20-30 individuals each) of capuchins were observed; the first near the tourist development at the Southwestern area of CWR, representing a habituated population that regularly foraged, rested, and groomed in the presence of humans. The second, was observed in the Northeastern area of CWR, did not visit the center of human activity and exhibited fear of humans. The habituated group exhibited significantly fewer instances of threatened behavior in response to human presence (p

Demixing is the task of identifying multiple signals given only their sum and prior information about their structures. Examples of demixing problems include (i) separating a signal that is sparse with respect to one basis from a signal that is sparse with respect to a second basis; (ii) decomposing an observed matrix into low-rank and sparse components; and (iii) identifying a binary codeword with impulsive corruptions. This thesis describes and analyzes a convex optimization framework for solving an array of demixing problems. Our framework includes a random orientation model for the constituent signals that ensures the structures are incoherent. This work introduces a summary parameter, the statistical dimension, that reflects the intrinsic complexity of a signal. The main result indicates that the difficulty of demixing under this random model depends only on the total complexity of the constituent signals involved: demixing succeeds with high probability when the sum of the complexities is less than the ambient dimension; otherwise, it fails with high probability. The fact that a phase transition between success and failure occurs in demixing is a consequence of a new inequality in conic integral geometry. Roughly speaking, this inequality asserts that a convex cone behaves like a subspace whose dimension is equal to the statistical dimension of the cone. When combined with a geometric optimality condition for demixing, this inequality provides precise quantitative information about the phase transition, including the location and width of the transition region.

We report on the multi†year process of developing the California PECAS statewide integrated land use/transportation model and the preliminary results of a sensitivity test. In the Trend 2030 Scenario, the model allocated economic activities and developed floorspace in a plausible pattern, when viewed statewide or regionally. In the High Fuel Cost Scenario, a more†compact development pattern was found. We conclude that the initial demonstration model performed reasonably well. The chief problems that we encountered are discussed and our future work is outlined.

We are developing a statewide urban growth model for California. It will be run in iteration with the California statewide travel model to evaluate major transportation improvement scenarios, such as freeway widenings and high speed rail. In addition, we will evaluate land use policies intended to provide for more affordable housing and for habitat protection. This model is uniquely capable of providing performance measures for total travel, travel delay, mode shares, economic development, wages, economic welfare, economic equity, rents paid by households and firms, energy use in vehicles and buildings, greenhouse gas emissions, vehicular air pollution, loss of agricultural lands, habitat loss, and erosion potential. We propose a framework for interpreting all of these data, based on recent advances in the theory of well-being for persons and for nations.

In the next 40 years, the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley are projected to double in population from 3.3 million to more than 7 million (Great Valley Center 2006). The region faces many challenges with respect to its capacity to accommodate this dramatic increase in population while maintaining its environmental infrastructure and preserving its diminishing natural resources. In response to these growing pressures, Governor Schwarzenegger announced in June 2005 the formation of the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley (Partnership) to “…improve the economic well-being of the Valley and the quality of life of its residents” (Department of Business Housing and Transportation 2006a). This 26-member Partnership, led by the Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, is composed of eight state government members (primarily cabinet level appointees), eight local government members (primarily members of county boards of supervisor), eight private sector members (representing leadership in various business sectors), and two deputy chairs. The Partnership region includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and Kern Counties. The Information Center for the Environment (ICE) at UC Davis supported the Partnership by providing geographic information system (GIS) data and growth allocation build-out scenarios. Based on input from the Partnership and the Great Valley Center, ICE developed and produced seven urban growth scenarios for the region that project popula¬tion to year 2050 using UPlan, a rule-based GIS urban growth model (Johnston et al. 2006). These scenarios were developed based on different goals (such as Compact—within current spheres of influence; Farmland Protection—prime farmland masked; Great Cities—create “mega-cities” in concentrated regions) and produced vastly different outcomes. This paper discusses the seven growth scenarios and the implications of mapped future urban growth in the San Joaquin under those scenarios on a collection of biologically significant factors. A team of federal, state, and non-government organization biological experts selected 14 key biological layers crucial for protecting high value open space in the San Joaquin Valley. ICE combined the modeled urban growth output for the seven growth scenarios with the 14 biologically significant GIS layers. The growth scenarios reflect seven different policy directions that the region’s leaders may choose when planning for growth in the upcoming several decades. Results showed that depending on the scenario chosen (and hence the policy emphasis), the magnitude of biological resources likely to be lost varies significantly. The scenario with the least overall ecological impact is the Compact Growth Scenario (Scenario 3), with Scenarios 6 (New Cities) and 7 (Great Cities) also fairly low in relative impact. Scenario 4 (Prime Farmland Protection) resulted in the largest decline in the acreage of the 14 key biological data layers we examined. Scenarios 5 (I-5 to Highway 99 Exclusion), 2 (East/West Road Improvement) and 1 (Status Quo) also showed relatively high negative impacts.

Developing regional assessments of environmental needs can help streamline the environmental-review process for transportation projects, thus leading to faster and less-costly reviews and more effective biological or ecological mitigation. This study is a demonstration of a rapid-assessment approach using a high-resolution vegetation map derived from agency data to model 12 endangered or threatened species’ potential occurrence on 6638 polygons. Those units, occurring on 44 capacity-improvement sites along the 315-km of State Highway 99 in the study, were classed to measure their degree of similarity, thus permitting estimates of the potential for multi-project mitigation planning.

The Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG) was chosen by the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Transportation to pilot a new program, Partnership for Integrated Planning (PIP), which aimed to: streamline planning and the project-delivery process; avoid environmental impacts; foster collaboration among planning, transportation, and environmental agencies; and engage the public at the beginning of long-term transportation planning. Merced County provides a challenging test case through rapid population growth, cultural diversity, high unemployment, and increasing conflicts between stewardship of sensitive habitats and prime farmland and demands for transportation improvements and housing. The Partnership for Integrated Planning (PIP) included the development of geographic information system (GIS) tools for modeling growth and environmental impacts to produce real-time maps and tables resulting from policy choices at public meetings. PIP engaged all regionally relevant planning, natural resource, and regulatory agencies in data-sharing exercises to integrate data important to each agency into the scenario testing and planning process. Most importantly, the Merced County Association of Governments (MCAG), which is the coordinating partner in PIP, led an extensive outreach program to engage the community in PIP. To project land-use changes, we adapted UPlan, a rule-based land-use model developed at the University of California at Davis. UPlan incorporates user-controlled policy inputs ranging from general plan map choices, housing densities, and household labor rates to the ranking of environmental amenities. These are combined with user-settable infrastructure growth attractors to distribute population-growth estimates into spatially explicit land-use scenarios. UPlan stores all user-specified assumptions so many scenarios may be tested against one another in a transparent fashion. We evaluated information needs by asking planning agencies which features (such as roads and urban service boundaries) they considered attractions and discouragement factors for growth. Resource agencies were asked what environmental factors should discourage or constrain growth. All agencies were asked to provide all available and relevant data. This shared information resulted in an Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) map and a Prime Agricultural Lands map. These two maps were evaluated at a workshop attended by resource agencies’ representatives, elected officials, and city and county planners. Contributors included over 20 federal, state, and non-governmental organizations. Like most public agencies, MCAG has historically solicited public input for regional transportation planning from a few community workshops. For example, in 2001 the agency held seven workshops for its previous plan. Under PIP, MCAG held 20-32 meetings each quarter, for a total of 100+ public meetings in 18 months. In addition, MCAG replaced the previous narrow focus on transportation by asking county residents to develop a vision for land use, natural resources, and transportation throughout their community. MCAG mastered the use of UPlan and accompanying environmental data and improved substantially on both throughout the course of these public meetings. Historically, transportation-plan approval has run into considerable public and agency opposition. Federal officials in the last decade have attempted to streamline the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, which is California’s NEPA equivalent), and other permitting procedures. A goal of PIP was to find a method for responsibly arriving at a consensus plan with less conflict, particularly in the environmental-review phase. The Regional Transportation Plan was approved by the MCAG Governing Board and received no opposition during the CEQA Environmental Impact Report (EIR) public-comment period. Results of the Partnership for Integrated Planning model include: * 800 percent increase in public participation in the transportation-planning process * 89 percent of participants said they enjoyed the PIP project * 89.1 percent of participants said they learned more about transportation issues * 30 percent increase in awareness of the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) among all county residents * New issues brought to the surface from county groups who had not previously participated in the process * Better relationships were built at both the county and city level among civic organizations, agencies, and residents * RTP was approved by the MCAG Governing Board and received no opposition during public-comment periods * Development of an Environmentally Sensitive Areas map based on shared information from a variety of resource- agency databases * Development of a Prime Agricultural Lands map based on input and information from a variety of agricultural interests Further research is needed on the portability of this information and this tool-centered collaborative approach. Adjacent counties with similar needs are prime candidates for study. In addition, future projects should include measures of the social and political planning decision network structures existing before and after the conduct of such projects.

The first fact to know about CARA is that participating groups or individuals collectively felt that scores of sets of facts were critical to their individual or cooperative work with California's rivers. In all, 99 sets of statewide, regional, or local data were integrated directly into CARA. Links were created to another 206 internet providers of information. CARA contains 39 sets of mapped geographical information system(GIS) layers, 60 sets of tabular (database) and textual text) data, as well as links (internet connections) to 510 additional maps, tables and texts located on other servers. All of this data is organized by watershed and theme. CARA makes the data available to interested parties over the internet for a wide variety of analytical and management purposes.

The Sacramento, California, U.S.A, Area Council of Governments (SACOG) commissioned the Information Center for the Environment, University of California, Davis (ICE) to assemble a suite of the best available region-wide GIS data depicting natural resource values and conservation opportunities for the six County, 6,500 square mile (16,830 square kilometer) Sacramento, California region. This region is planned and managed by a large and diverse number of government entities and it contains a population of approximately 2,000,000 with a wide range of natural resource and economic interests. The purpose of this commission was to create a visual, conceptual tool depicting and weighting natural resource variables that are of value to the many parties of interest in land use and conservation planning in the region.