Costs are key when reintroducing threatened species to multiple release sites

When to stop managing or surveying cryptic threatened species.

Threatened species become increasingly difficult to detect as their populations decline. Managers of such cryptic threatened species face several dilemmas: if they are not sure the species is present, should they continue to manage for that species or invest the limited resources in surveying? We find optimal solutions to this problem using a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process and rul...

Biodiversity : are microbial species threatened ? Commentary

Introduction A well known microbiologist and I were talking recently about microbial diversity. He asked me, “Microbiologists are not concerned about endangered species, are we?” His attitude reflects the view of many microbiologists. Whereas botanists and zoologists, as well as the public at large, know that many plant and animal species are threatened with extinction, the question as it perta...

Reintroducing resurrected species: selecting DeExtinction candidates.

Technological advances have raised the controversial prospect of resurrecting extinct species. Species DeExtinction should involve more than the production of biological orphans to be scrutinized in the laboratory or zoo. If DeExtinction is to realize its stated goals of deep ecological enrichment, then resurrected animals must be translocated (i.e., released within suitable habitat). Therefore...

Renin cells are precursors for multiple cell types that switch to the renin phenotype when homeostasis is threatened.

Renin-synthesizing cells are crucial in the regulation of blood pressure and fluid-electrolyte homeostasis. Adult mammals subjected to manipulations that threaten homeostasis increase circulating renin by increasing the number of renin-expressing/-releasing cells. We hypothesize that the ability of adult cells to synthesize renin does not occur randomly in any cell type, depending instead on th...

To What Extent Vital Signs Are Important to Medical Toxicologists When Conflicts Arise in Defining Toxidroms