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Umbrella species management offers a potential solution to the financial and logistical challenges of managing for the many declining species in early-successional forests, a habitat that is also critical for many mature and young forest songbird species during the post-fledging and post-breeding period. We investigated the movements of adult Eastern Towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) during the post-fledging period in 4 [km.sup.2] landscapes managed for American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), a popular umbrella species candidate for young forest management. Home range size (mean = 2.8 ha. SE 0.33) did not differ during the post-fledging period between adult towhees inhabiting landscapes designated as high-likelihood (HL) or low-likelihood (LL) of woodcock use. Adults moved distances of ~37-47 m per day during the first 3 weeks of the post-fledging period and this did not differ between the 2 landscapes. In contrast, once their young became independent, adults moved longer distances in HL compared to LL landscapes (49.5 m [SE 2.9] and 36.7 m [SE 3.6], respectively) and these distances increased with home range size and patch size. Landscape features within 100 m of the towhee home range best explained variation in towhee movement distance. Young forest habitat was also the predominant forest type used by adult towhees caring for fledglings throughout the post-fledging period. These results suggest that early successional forest management for woodcock can provide effective breeding habitat for towhees, but likely at a smaller spatial scale than typically managed for woodcock. Received 31 March 2018. Accepted 27 November 2018. Key words: adult movements, American Woodcock, Eastern Towhee, independence, post-fledging, umbrella species management Dia de la independencia: movimientos posemancipatorios y comportamiento del rascador Pipilo erythrophthalmus en paisajes manejados para la chocha Scolopax minor El manejo dc especics paraguas ofrece una solucion potencial a los retos financieros y logisticos del manejo de muchas especics de bosques sucesionalcs tempranos en declive. Este es un habitat que tambien es critico para muchas cspecies de pajaros de bosques tempranos y maduros durante el periodo posemancipatorio y posreproductivo. Investigamos los movimientos dc adultos del rascador Pipilo erythrophthalmus durante el periodo posemancipatorio en paisajes de 4 [km.sup.2] manejados para la chocha Scolopax minor, una espeeic paraguas popular como candidata para el manejo de bosques tempranos. El tamano del ambito hogareno (media = 2.8 ha, EE 0.33) no difiere durante el periodo posemancipatorio entre aquellos rascadores que habitan paisajes disenados como de alta verosimilitud (HL) o baja verosimilitud (LL) para su uso por chochas. Los adultos se movieron a distancias de ~37-47 m por dia durante las primeras 3 semanas del periodo posemancipatorio y esto no difirio entre los dos paisajes. En contraste, una vez que sus crias se independizaron, los adultos dc movieron a mayores distancias en paisajes HL comparados con LL (49.5 m [EE 2.9] y 36.7 m [EE 3.6], respectivamente) y estas distancias se incrementaron con el tamano del ambito hogareno y el tamano del parche de habitat. Las caracteristicas del paisaje a menos de 100 m del ambito hogareno del rascador explican mejor la variacion en la distancia de sus movimientos. A lo largo del periodo posemancipatorio, el habitat de bosques tempranos fuc el tipo predominante utilizado por rascadores adultos a cargo del cuidado de polluelos. Estos estudios sugieren que el manejo de bosque succsional temprano para la chocha puedc proporcionar de manera efectiva habitat reproductivo para los rascadorcs. aunque a una escala espacial mas pequena que la que se maneja tipicamente para la chocha. Palabras clavc: chocha, independencia, manejo de especies paraguas, movimientos de adultos, posemancipacion, rascador, Land managers and conservationists frequently face the challenge of using limited resources while having to manage for multiple species. Umbrella species management can offer an efficient solution to such challenges [...]

One of the most cited advantages of making pathologic diagnoses digitally, using whole slide images viewed on a computer display, is the ability to work flexibly. (1) Recently, the Royal [...], * Context.--Flexible working at diverse or remote sites is a major advantage when reporting using digital pathology, but currently there is no method to validate the clinical diagnostic setting within digital microscopy. Objective.--To develop a preliminary Point-of-Use Quality Assurance (POUQA) tool designed specifically to validate the diagnostic setting for digital microscopy. Design.--We based the POUQA tool on the red, green, and blue (RGB) values of hematoxylin-eosin. The tool used 144 hematoxylin-eosin-colored, 5x5-cm patches with a superimposed random letter with subtly lighter RGB values from the background color, with differing levels of difficulty. We performed an initial evaluation across 3 phases within 2 pathology departments: 1 in the United Kingdom and 1 in Sweden. Results.--In total, 53 experiments were conducted across all phases resulting in 7632 test images viewed in all. Results indicated that the display, the user's visual system, and the environment each independently impacted performance. Performance was improved with reduction in natural light and through use of medical-grade displays. Conclusions.--The use of a POUQA tool for digital microscopy is essential to afford flexible working while ensuring patient safety. The color-contrast test provides a standardized method of comparing diagnostic settings for digital microscopy. With further planned development, the color-contrast test may be used to create a 'Verified Login' for diagnostic setting validation. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019;143:1246-1255; doi: 10.5858/arpa.2018-0210-OA)

Wildfires in conifer forests create patchy, heterogeneous landscapes. For many animal species, this post-fire variability means having to navigate quite different habitat patches to locate adequate cover and food. For snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777), post-fire landscapes could include risky open patches, as well as dense regenerating stands rich in food and cover. We analyzed snowshoe hare tortuosity, speed of movement, and amount of browse along winter foraging pathways in unburned mature forest and indense regenerating standsoropen areas with sparse regeneration 12-13 years after the Okanagan Mountain Parkfire (>25 000hanear Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada) to determine whether hares change foraging behaviour in relation to cover type. Hares moved the fastest and browsed the least in open habitats. Hares browsed most often in areas where sapling regeneration was dense; their main forage was lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon). No differences were found in pathway tortuosity in relation to cover type (open, regenerating, or mature patches). When hares moved slower along foraging pathways, they also moved slightly more tortuously and ate more. These results suggest that hares prefer post-fire areas with dense tree regeneration. Key words: wildfire, habitat, foraging, diet, snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus, movements, regeneration, tortuosity, forest. Les feux dans les forêts de conifères produisent des paysages hétérogènes et parcellaires. Pour de nombreuses espèces animales, cette variabilité après un feu signifie qu'elles doivent se déplacer dans des parcelles d'habitat très différentes pour trouver des abris et de la nourriture adéquats. Pour les lièvres d'Amérique (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777), les paysages laissés par les feux peuvent comprendre des parcelles ouvertes à risque ainsi que des peuplements en régénération denses et riches en nourriture et en abris. Nous avons analysé la tortuosité et la vitesse des déplacements de lièvres d'Amérique, ainsi que la quantité de nourriture le long de voies d'approvisionnement hivernales dans une forêt mature non brûlée et dans des peuplements en régénération denses et des aires ouvertes où la régénération était éparse, de 12 à 13 ans après l'incendie du parc du Mont Okanagan (>25 000 ha près de Kelowna, en Colombie-Britannique, Canada) afin de déterminer si les lièvres modifient leur comportement d'approvisionnement en fonction du type de couverture. Les lièvres se déplaçaient le plus rapidement et se nourrissaient le moins dans les habitats ouverts. Ils mangeaient le plus fréquemment dans les zones où la régénération des gaules était dense; leur principale source de nourriture était le pin tordu latifolié (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon). Aucune variation de la tortuosité des voies en fonction du type de couverture (ouverte, en régénération, ou parcelles matures) n'a été notée. Quand les lièvres se déplaçaient plus lentement le long de voies d'approvisionnement, ils se déplaçaient aussi de manière plus tortueuse et mangeaient plus. Ces résultats donnent à penser que les lièvres préfèrent les zones après un feu où la régénération des arbres est dense. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : feu de forêt, habitat, approvisionnement, régime alimentaire, lièvre d'Amérique, Lepus americanus, déplacements, régénération, tortuosité, forêt., Introduction Animals are under strong pressure to adapt their foraging behaviours to maximize the food that they consume and minimize their risk of predation (Stephens and Krebs 1986; Lima and [...]

We reprocessed legacy three-dimensional (3D) seismic data from the Halfmile Lake and Brunswick areas, both of which were acquired for mineral exploration in the Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick. Each 3D seismic survey was acquired over known volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits and covered areas with strong mineral potential. Most improvements resulted from a reduction of coherent and random noise on prestack gathers and from an improved velocity model, combined with re-imaging with dip moveout corrections and poststack migration or prestack time migration. At Halfmile Lake, the new imaging results show the Deep zone and a possible extension of the sulphide mineralization at greater depth. True amplitude processing has shown that this anomaly has strong amplitudes and is offset from the Deep zone by a shallowly dipping fault ( Nous avons traite a nouveau des donnees sismiques tridimensionnelles (3D) existantes pour les regions du lac Halfmile et de Brunswick, acquises dans les deux cas a des fins d'exploration minerale dans le camp minier de Bathurst, au Nouveau-Brunswick. Chaque releve de sismique 3D a ete effectue au-dessus de gisements de sulfures massifs volcanogeniques connus et couvrait des regions caracterisees par un bon potentiel minier. La plupart des ameliorations decoulent de la reduction du bruit coherent et aleatoire sur les collections non sommees et d'un modele de vitesses ameliore combine a la production de nouvelles images avec des corrections pour les deltas-t associes au pendage et a la migration post-sommation ou la migration temporelle pre-sommation. Au lac Halfmile, les nouvelles images montrent la zone profonde et un prolongement possible de la mineralisation en sulfures a plus grande profondeur. Le traitement des amplitudes reelles a demontre que cette anomalie presente de fortes amplitudes et est decalee de la zone profonde par une faille de faible pendage (< 15[degrees]). Cette anomalie qui semble etre une anomalie isolee sur les images d'origine obtenues par Noranda Exploration Ltd., devient une cible d'exploration defendable au vu du contexte geologique mieux defini que fournissent nos resultats. La geometrie d'acquisition et les reseaux de recepteurs non orthogonaux du releve sismique 3D Brunswick n[degrees] 6 generent des artefacts apres le traitement des deltas-t associes au pendage qui reduisent la qualite globale des volumes sismiques. En utilisant une approche de filtrage basee sur l'application d'un filtre laplacien-gaussien pondere dans le domaine Kx-Ky, nous reduisons le bruit et ameliorons la continuite des reflexions. Nous avons egalement revele des reflexions courtes et planes qui n'etaient observees par le passe que dans la partie peu profonde des donnees pre-sommation apres leur migration temporelle. Ces reflexions courtes se presentent comme des diffractions sur la coupe somme filtree avec les corrections pour les deltas-t, indiquant qu'elles sont causees par de petits corps ou discontinuites geologiques dans le sous-sol. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Over the past 50 years, seismic methods have been used successfully to explore for a wide range of mineral commodities (see Malehmir et al. 2012a and references therein). Many [...]

Urban grasslands often exist as fragmented patches with varying threat levels. These patches are generally inappropriately managed due to limited data on their responses to disturbance and seed bank regenerative potential. This study compared seed banks between non-naturally disturbed and undisturbed patches of South African subtropical grasslands in an urban environment. Standing vegetation was characterised via year-round quadrat and monthly transect sampling. The seed banks were sampled after the two main dispersal periods and assessed for species composition and density. The seed bank species (24) represented a subset (9%) of the standing vegetation, with forbs being the most speciose lifeformandgrasses themostabundant. Disturbancehada moderate impactonseedbankdensity but significantly affected species composition and ordering. Clustering and ordination analyses separated seed banks based on disturbance history. However, seed banks in disturbed patches maintained the general character of the grassland type. Diagnostic, rare and threatened taxa were absent from seed banks, irrespective of disturbance history. Consequently, restoration will possibly require seed enrichment and species reintroduction rather than exploitation of natural seed banks. Identifying disturbance-sensitive species through seed bank surveys can inform grassland conservation and restoration strategies. Key words: disturbance, grassland, seed banks, urban environment. Les prairies urbaines existent souvent sous forme de parcelles fragmentees, menacees a des degres variables. Ces parcelles sont generalement gerees de facon inappropriee a cause des donnees limitees quant a leurs reponses aux perturbations et au potentiel regenerateur des banques de graines. Cette etude a compare des banques de graines issues de parcelles perturbees de facon non naturelle et de parcelles non perturbees de prairies subtropicales d'un environnement urbain en Afrique du Sud. La vegetation sur pied a ete caracterisee au moyen d'echantillonnage tout au long de l'annee de quadrats et d'un echantillonnage mensuel de transects. Les banques de graines ont ete echantillonnees apres deux periodes principales de dispersion et evaluees quant a la composition et la densite des especes. Les especes des banques (24) representaient une sous-categorie (9 %) de la vegetation sur pied, les herbes non gramineennes constituant la forme de vie la plus diversifiee alors que les graminees etaient les plus abondantes. La perturbation avait un impact modere sur la densite des banques de graines, mais elle affectait significativement la composition et le classement des especes. Les analyses par segmentation et d'ordination separaient les banques de graines sur la base de leur historique de perturbations. Cependant, les banques de graines des parcelles perturbees conservaient le caractere general de la prairie. Les taxons diagnostiques, rares et menaces etaient absents des banques de graines, nonobstant l'historique de perturbations. En consequence, la restauration necessitera possiblement un enrichissement en graines et la reintroduction d'especes plutot que l'exploitation des banques de graines naturelles. L'identification d'especes sensibles aux perturbations par le suivi des banques de graines peut guider les strategies de conservation et de restauration des prairies. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : perturbation, prairie, banques de graines, environnement urbain., Introduction Tropical and subtropical grasslands are ancient, with high levels of plant endemism and many specialised plant taxa (Bond 2016). In South Africa, subtropical grasslands occur along the eastern seaboard, [...]

Author(s): D. S. Lauretta [sup.1] , D. N. DellaGiustina [sup.1] , C. A. Bennett [sup.1] , D. R. Golish [sup.1] , K. J. Becker [sup.1] , S. S. Balram-Knutson [sup.1] [...], NASA&apos;S Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft recently arrived at the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, a primitive body that represents the objects that may have brought prebiotic molecules and volatiles such as water to Earth.sup.1. Bennu is a low-albedo B-type asteroid.sup.2 that has been linked to organic-rich hydrated carbonaceous chondrites.sup.3. Such meteorites are altered by ejection from their parent body and contaminated by atmospheric entry and terrestrial microbes. Therefore, the primary mission objective is to return a sample of Bennu to Earth that is pristine--that is, not affected by these processes.sup.4. The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft carries a sophisticated suite of instruments to characterize Bennu&apos;s global properties, support the selection of a sampling site and document that site at a sub-centimetre scale.sup.5-11. Here we consider early OSIRIS-REx observations of Bennu to understand how the asteroid&apos;s properties compare to pre-encounter expectations and to assess the prospects for sample return. The bulk composition of Bennu appears to be hydrated and volatile-rich, as expected. However, in contrast to pre-encounter modelling of Bennu&apos;s thermal inertia.sup.12 and radar polarization ratios.sup.13--which indicated a generally smooth surface covered by centimetre-scale particles--resolved imaging reveals an unexpected surficial diversity. The albedo, texture, particle size and roughness are beyond the spacecraft design specifications. On the basis of our pre-encounter knowledge, we developed a sampling strategy to target 50-metre-diameter patches of loose regolith with grain sizes smaller than two centimetres.sup.4. We observe only a small number of apparently hazard-free regions, of the order of 5 to 20 metres in extent, the sampling of which poses a substantial challenge to mission success. Observations of asteroid (101955) Bennu with NASA&apos;s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveal an unexpected surficial diversity that poses a challenge to the success of the sample-return mission.