A Patch Hath Smaller Patches: Delineating Ecological Neighborhoods for Parasites

Ecological neighborhoods : scaling environmental patterns

In this paper we review, develop, and differentiate among concepts associated with environmental patterning (patch,-division, and heterogeneity), spatial and temporal scales of ecological proaesses (ecological neighborhoods), and responses of organisms to environmental patterning (relative patch size, relative patch duration, ielative patgh isolation" and grain lespoqse), We gencralizc the conc...

µ-shapes: Delineating urban neighborhoods using volunteered geographic information

Urban neighborhoods are a unique form of geography in that their boundaries rely on a social definition rather than a well-defined physical or administrative boundary. Currently, geographic gazetteers capture little more than then the centroid of a neighborhood, limiting potential applications of the data. In this paper, we present μ-shapes, an algorithm that employs fuzzy-set theory to model n...

What Hath We Wrought?

People, Patches, and Parasites: The Case of Trypanosomiasis in Zimbabwe

Understanding the socio-ecology of disease requires careful attention to the role of patches within disease landscapes. Such patches, and the interfaces between different socio-epidemiological systems, we argue, have important implications for disease control. We conducted an interdisciplinary study over three years to investigate the spatial dynamics of human and animal trypanosomiasis in the ...

Sunfish foraging among patches: the patch-departure decision

Patch-use behaviour of small bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, foraging for chironomid larvae, Chironomus riparius, was investigated in artificial macrophyte patches to examine search pattern within a patch and to determine the decision rule used by fish when leaving a patch. Fish were exposed to a sequence of habitats which differed in quality (i.e. total prey density); however, within a ...