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This study is intended to provide insight into geospatial practitioners' viewpoints toward the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (DOLETA) Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM). These viewpoints are significant since business professionals use workplace competencies for job analysis, professional certification, and defining workforce requirements. The research sought to determine the views held toward a set of geospatial competencies and provide the field with an understanding of how practitioners perceive these competency statements. Sixty‐one participants sorted 42 cards (with geospatial competency statements) on a scale of −5 to 5 and completed two short surveys with demographic and open‐ended questions. The data were evaluated using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and a combination of high, low, and distinguishing statements to provide meaning to the viewpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide body measurements of snow leopards collected from 55 individuals sampled in five of the major mountain ranges within the species distribution range; the Altai, Hindu Kush, Himalayas, Pamirs and Tien Shan mountains. Snow leopards appear to be similarly sized across their distribution range with mean body masses of 36 kg and 42 kg for adult females and adult males, respectively. In contrast to other large felids, we found little variation in body size and body mass between the sexes; adult males were on average 5% longer and 15% heavier than adult females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study intended to provide insight into geospatial practitioners' and educators' viewpoints toward the National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence (GeoTech Center) Geospatial Competency Matrix. These viewpoints are significant since educators and business professionals use workplace competencies for curriculum development, professional certification, and defining workforce requirements. The research question sought to determine the viewpoints toward the geospatial competencies and provides the field an understanding of how practitioners perceive these competency statements. Seventy participants sorted 72 cards (with Geospatial Competency Matrix Statements) on a scale of -6 to 6 and completed two short surveys with demographic and open-ended questions. The data was evaluated using factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and a crib sheet of high, low, and distinguishing statements to provide meaning to the viewpoints. This study found seven viewpoints toward a geospatial competency matrix: Factor 1: We are Cartographers (map evaluators); Factor 2: Vector Data are our Paramount Focus; Factor 3: Analysis is the Key to Addressing Geospatial Problems; Factor 4: Using Programming to Support Analysis; Factor 5: Where in the World is the Data; Factor 6: Data Refinements are a Critical Step in Spatial Analysis, and Factor 7: We have a Love/Hate Relationship with Data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding of predator feeding ecology, interactions among co-occurring predator species, and seasonal changes is critical for conservation management given the important role that predators play in shaping their ecosystems, but is lacking for most regions of the world. Dietary studies have demonstrated varying conclusions in the role that resource partitioning plays in the maintenance of predator communities due to complex inter-related factors that may shape prey use. We used DNA metabarcoding on 581 scat samples to determine the dietary composition, similarity, diversity, and niche overlap of eight predator species (Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata), red fox (V. vulpes), Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), and beech marten (Martes foina)) across four sampling periods (September 2019, December 2019, March 2020, July 2020) in the Gouli Nature Reserve located in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, China. We identified 26 unique prey items, with blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) and pika (Ochotona spp.) being most common. Small mammals had the highest frequency of occurrence, while domestic and wild ungulates contributed the most biomass. No significant differences in diet were detected across months, with the exception of March and December for the red fox (p = 0.010). Dietary niche overlap was greater than expected when considering all species (p < 0.001) across seasons and between the Tibetan wolf and snow leopard in March (p = 0.007) when compared for species pairs by season. This study contributes to understanding of fine-scale temporal changes in predator diet, and offers methodological and management strategies that may have applicability to other predator guilds living in complex landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammals, being social creatures communicate through a variety of signal cues, thus it is vital to understand how wild carnivores create and maintain connections with their neighbors for their survival. However, observing elusive species in their natural habitats poses significant challenges leading to scarcities of data. In this study, we aimed to provide a detailed long-term observation of snow leopards in the northern region of Pakistan, hence we utilized data from 136 camera traps between 2018 and 2023 in order to investigate the territorial marking behavior of snow leopards in Baltistan. We documented 813 sightings of snow leopards with 103 videos showing territorial marking behavior from 40 sightings during snow presence and 63 on snow-free days. Nine unique communication behaviors were identified during the presence or absence of snow cover. We observed that snow leopard marking behavior occurred more often at night in the absence of snow and less often during the day in the presence of snow. The marking activities were higher during the crepuscular period in the presence of snow and showed a preference for marking activities in open areas over mixed herbaceous and shrub habitats. Olfaction and scraping were observed more frequently in open areas while fecal deposition was found in herbaceous and shrub habitats. Scraping and urine spraying were associated with cliffs, rocky outcrops and boulders in open areas. In conclusion, our findings discovered new insights into the marking patterns of snow leopards during both day and night, having taken into consideration the influence of snow conditions. Moreover, the identified marking locations hold significant potential as powerful assets for wildlife preservation initiatives., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (© 2024 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)