For socially monogamous species, breeder bond dissolution has important consequences for population dynamics, but the extent to which extrinsic or intrinsic population factors causes pair dissolution remain poorly understood, especially among carnivores. Using an extensive life-history data set, a survival analysis and competing risks framework, we examined the fate of 153 different wolf (Canis...

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) comprises a majority of green turtle stranding in Hawaii; however, green turtles in the Pacific are also susceptible to non-FP related causes of death. We present here necropsy findings from 230 free-ranging green turtles originating from Hawaii, the Mariana archipelago, Palmyra Atoll, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll that died from non-FP related causes. Most turtles...

Estuarine and coastal systems represent a challenge when it comes to determining the causes of ecological change because human and natural perturbations often interact. Phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a) and group-specific photopigment indicators were examined from 1994 to 2007 to assess community responses to nutrient and climatic perturbations in the Neuse River Estuary, NC. This system ex...

Dear Sir, Global warming is a hypothesis that the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere is increasing because of the release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that is the most important anthropogenic gas. Global warming controversy includes the causes and the consequences of a possible global warming. Although there is no scientific evidence to claim a man-made global warming, ...

In this study, the natural Cu background concentration and Cu natural and anthropogenic contamination in soil, water and crop were investigated systematically in Huangshi area. The results show that regional geology is the dominant factor controlling the natural Cu background concentration in soil and water, and that pH is important to control the vertical distribution of Cu in soil under the s...

Significant declines in spring Northern Hemisphere (NH) snow cover extent (SCE) have been observed over the last five decades. As one step toward understanding the causes of this decline, an optimal fingerprinting technique is used to look for consistency in the temporal pattern of spring NH SCE between observations and simulations from 15 global climate models (GCMs) that form part of phase 5 ...

Global warming has clearly affected the occurrence of extreme events in recent years. Here, we assess changes frequency temperature extremes and their causes, using percentile-based indices. Cold are defined as temperatures below 10th percentile daily minimum (TN10) maximum (TX10) while hot exceed 90th (TN90) (TX90) temperatures. We analyze Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST) for observed...

Abstract Turkey has a high potential for wildfires along its Mediterranean coast because of dense forest cover and mild climate. An average 250 occurs every year with more than 10,000 hectares destroyed due to natural human-related causes. The study area is sensitive fires caused by lightning, stubble burning, discarded cigarette butts, electric arcing from power lines, deliberate fire setting,...

Avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) is a disease of unknown etiology, which has been diagnosed in a variety of birds from surface water reservoirs in the southeastern United States. Pathology suggests a natural or anthropogenic compound may be the cause of this disease. With the goal of identifying the toxicant that causes AVM, we qualitatively analyzed sediments and American coot (Fulica america...