Models for Jointly Estimating Abundances of Two Unmarked Site-Associated Species Subject to Imperfect Detection     

Rafael A. Moral  John Hinde  Clarice G. B. Demétrio  Carolina Reigada  Wesley A. C. Godoy 《Journal of Agricultural, Biological & Environmental Statistics》2018,23(1):20-38

In ecological field surveys, it is often of interest to estimate the abundance of species. It is frequently the case that unmarked animals are counted on different sites over several time occasions. A natural starting point to model these data, while accounting for imperfect detection, is by using Royle’s N-mixture model (Biometrics 60:108–115, 2004). Subsequently, many multivariate extensions have been proposed to model communities as a whole. However, these approaches are used to study species richness and other community-level variables and do not focus on the relationship between two site-associated species. Here, we extend the N-mixture modelling framework to model two site-associated species abundances jointly and propose to measure the influence of one species’ abundance on the populations of the other and study how this changes over time and space. By including a new parameter in the abundance distribution of one of the species, linking it to abundance of the other, our proposed model treats extra variability as an effect induced by an associated species’ abundance and allows one to study how environmental covariates may affect this. Using results from simulation studies, we show that the model is able to recover true parameter estimates. We illustrate our approach using data from bald eagles and mallards obtained in the 2015 survey of the North American Breeding Bird Survey. By using the joint model, we were able to separate overdispersion from mallard-induced variability and hence what would be accounted for with a dispersion parameter in the univariate framework for the eagles was explained by covariates related to mallard abundance in the joint model. Our approach represents an attractive, yet simple, way of modelling site-associated species populations jointly. Conservation ecologists can use the approach to devise management strategies based on the strength of association between species, which may be due to direct interactions and/or environmental effects affecting both species’ populations. Also, mathematical ecologists can use this framework to develop tools for studying population dynamics under different scenarios. Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear on-line.  相似文献   

Maize diversity in southern Brazil: indication of a microcenter of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> L.     

Flaviane Malaquias Costa  Natália Carolina de Almeida Silva  Juliana Bernardi Ogliari 《Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution》2017,64(4):681-700

‘Microcenters of diversity’ are restricted geographical areas within which a significant diversity of genetic resources is accumulated. Maize genetic variability, one of the largest among cultivated species, particularly in far western Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, has shown a rich store of landraces, conserved on farm by small-scale farmers. Thus, this study aimed to characterize the diversity of Zea mays L. landraces in two municipalities of this micro-region in Santa Catarina, as well as its geographic distribution, developing the census of diversity as a methodological proposal. Diagnosis was made according to the farmers’ knowledge. The field survey was conducted in 70 rural communities involving 2049 farms. The methodology allowed identifying 136 populations of wild relatives, of which some belong to the species Zea luxurians (Durieu and Ascherson) Bird, and 1513 populations of maize landraces, comprising 1078 of popcorn, 337 of common maize, 61 of sweet maize and 37 of flour maize. The identification of 59 morphological groups, the high use, adaptive and agronomic values, and the Shannon index (H′), estimated according to the grain shape (0.79), endosperm type (0.73), size (0.87), color (1.40), and morphological group (3.16), showed at set a considerable diversity distribution conserved on farm in this micro-region. Landrace richness and the presence of wild relative species, associated with the local human activity and sociocultural aspects, allowed to characterize the far western Santa Catarina as a ‘microcenter of diversity’ of Zea mays L.  相似文献   

Beating heart mitral valve replacement with a bovine pericardial bioprosthesis for treatment of mitral valve dysplasia in a Bull Terrier     

Behr L  Chetboul V  Sampedrano CC  Vassiliki G  Pouchelon JL  Laborde F  Borenstein N 《Veterinary surgery : VS》2007,36(3):190-198

OBJECTIVES: To describe an open, beating heart surgical technique and use of a bovine pericardial prosthetic valve for mitral valve replacement (MVR) in the dog. STUDY DESIGN: Clinical case report. ANIMALS: Male Bull Terrier (17-month-old, 26 kg) with mitral valve dysplasia and severe regurgitation. METHODS: A bovine pericardial bioprosthesis was used to replace the mitral valve using an open beating heart surgical technique and cardiopulmonary bypass. RESULTS: Successful MVR was achieved using a beating heart technique. Mitral regurgitation resolved and cardiac performances improved (left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased from 57.6 to 48.7 mm, and left atrium/aorta ratio returned to almost normal, from 1.62 to 1.19). Cardiopulmonary by-pass time and total surgical duration were decreased compared with standard cardioplegic techniques. Surgical recovery was uneventful and on echocardiography 6 months later valve function was excellent. CONCLUSION: Considering the technique advantages (no cardiac arrest, ischemic reperfusion injury, and hypothermia, or the need for aortic dissection and cannulation for administration of cardioplegic solution), short-term mortality and morbidity may be reduced compared with standard cardioplegic techniques. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Based on experience in this dog, beating heart mitral valvular replacement is a seemingly safe and viable option for the dog and bovine pericardial prosthesis may provide better long-term survival than mechanical prostheses.  相似文献