Understanding the responses of terrestrial ecosystems to global change remains a major challenge of ecological research. We exploited a natural elevation gradient in a northern hardwood forest to determine how reductions in snow accumulation, expected with climate change, directly affect dynamics of soil winter frost, and indirectly soil microbial biomass and activity during the growing season....

BACKGROUND Prior research has examined access to syringe exchange program (SEP) services among persons who inject drugs (PWID), but no research has been conducted to evaluate variations in SEP access based on season. This is an important gap in the literature given that seasonal weather patterns and inclement weather may affect SEP service utilization. The purpose of this research is to examine...

The El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) maintained its warm state through the austral spring of 2002, however the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) remained only weakly negative, with values of –7.6, –7.4 and –6.0 for September, October and November respectively. This resulted in a seasonal mean SOI of –7.0, an increase of 1.5 since the winter season (Jones 2003). The SOI for spring (arguably)...

During the breeding season extending from spring to summer, the ovaries of the fish, Oryzias latipes, contain hundreds of follicles, each with an egg at various stages of maturation. Usually, five to fifty eggs are laid by a single female almost every morning(Egami, 1954c). On the other hand, ovaries are small and inactive in winter months. The present author has already reported that small win...

In this investigation, serum steroid hormones such as testosterone (T), 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) in 12 female of the migratory population of Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in southeast of Caspian Sea during a year from May 2011 to May 2012 were studied. The results of present study revealed that changes in levels of steroid hormones, (E2) and (T) were closely correlated to ovarian...

Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps; mean adult body mass=72.5 g) inhabit extreme deserts of Israel. Previous studies have shown that their daily field metabolic rates are similar in winter and summer and that there is an increase during the breeding season. We hypothesized that the difference in seasonal daily field metabolic rate would be a consequence of differences in daytime metabolic r...

Gastrointestinal nematodes result in severe economic and production losses to the sheep industry. An increase in resistance of the nematodes to chemicals used for control, as well as a demand of consumers for meat products free from chemicals, has fostered research on alternative control strategies. Breeding for resistance to nematodes offers an alternative to control parasitism but its effecti...

During the 1995-96 winter season (i.e., November 1995 through April 1996), both the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) and the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) detected an increase in deaths associated with snowmobile use in Maine. From the fall of 1991 through the spring of 1995, three to eight snowmobile-related deaths occurred each winter season (mean: ...

A 3-yr study was conducted to evaluate the effects of calving system, weaning age, and postweaning management on growth and reproduction in beef heifers. Heifer calves (n = 676) born in late winter (average birth date = February 7 +/- 9 d) or early spring (average birth date April 3 +/- 10 d) were weaned at 190 or 240 d of age, and heifers born in late spring (average birth date May 29 +/- 10 d...

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of season on intake by sheep as well as certain selected qualitative characteristics of Panicum maximum (cv Gatton) (Guinea grass) at the mature growing stage. The lower DM content of the spring and summer grass (41.6 and 40.2%) did not hamper DOMI (48.1 and 26.7 W/d), respectively. The N concentration of the spring and summer grass was...