Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meinhold, A.F.; Holtzman, S.; DePhillips, M.P.

1995-11-01

Potential human health and environmental impacts from discharge of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico concern regulators at the State and Federal levels, environmental interest groups, industry and the public. Current regulations in the United States require or propose azero discharge limit for coastal facilities based primarily on studies performed in low energy,poorly flushed environments. Produced water discharges in coastal Louisiana, however,include a number located in open bays, where potential and impacts are likely to be larger than the minimal impacts associated with offshore discharges, but smaller than those demonstrated in low-energy canal environments. This paper summarizes results ofmore » a conservative screening-level health and ecological assessment for contaminants discharged in produced water to open bays in Louisiana, and reports results of a probabilistic human health risk assessment for radium and lead. The initial human health and ecological risk assessments consisted of conservative screening analyses that identified potentially important contaminants and excluded others from further consideration. A more quantitative probabilistic risk assessment was completed for the human health effects of the two contaminants identified in this screen: radium and lead. This work is part of a series of studies on the health and ecological risks from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico, supported by the United States Department of Energy (USDOE).« less

Impact of skin cancer screening and secondary prevention campaigns on skin cancer incidence and mortality: A systematic review.

PubMed

Brunssen, Alicia; Waldmann, Annika; Eisemann, Nora; Katalinic, Alexander

2017-01-01

Benefits of skin cancer screening remain controversial. We sought to update evidence on the impact of skin cancer screening and secondary prevention campaigns on skin cancer incidence, mortality, stage-specific incidence, and interval cancers after negative screening. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies published in English or German between January 1, 2005, and February 4, 2015. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and critical appraisal. Results were described in a narrative synthesis. Of 2066 records identified in databases and 10 records found by manual search, we included 15 articles. Overall, evidence suggests that with implementation of skin cancer screening, incidence of in situ and invasive skin cancer increased; increasing rates of thin and decreasing rates of thick melanoma were observed. After cessation of screening, invasive melanoma incidence decreased. A significant melanoma mortality reduction was shown in a German study; 2 other studies observed fewer deaths than expected. No study on interval cancers was identified. Publication bias cannot be ruled out. Most studies are limited because of their ecological design. Large ecological studies, a cohort study, a case-control study, and a survey indicate benefits of skin cancer screening, but the evidence level is very low. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The political ecology of lead poisoning in eastern North Carolina.

PubMed

Hanchette, Carol L

2008-06-01

In the United States, childhood blood lead levels have dropped substantially since 1991, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implemented new screening guidelines. Many states, including North Carolina, have established successful screening and intervention programs. Still, pockets of higher lead poisoning rates continue to be a problem in some geographic areas. One of these areas consists of several counties in eastern North Carolina. This cluster of higher rates cannot be explained by poverty and housing characteristics alone. Instead, the explanation requires an understanding of place that encompasses a range of historical, social, political, and economic processes. This paper utilizes a political ecology approach to provide a deeper understanding of how these processes can contribute to ill health.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

M. L. Abbott; K. N. Keck; R. E. Schindler

This screening level risk assessment evaluates potential adverse human health and ecological impacts resulting from continued operations of the calciner at the New Waste Calcining Facility (NWCF) at the Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC), Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The assessment was conducted in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report, Guidance for Performing Screening Level Risk Analyses at Combustion Facilities Burning Hazardous Waste. This screening guidance is intended to give a conservative estimate of the potential risks to determine whether a more refined assessment is warranted. The NWCF uses a fluidized-bed combustor to solidifymore » (calcine) liquid radioactive mixed waste from the INTEC Tank Farm facility. Calciner off volatilized metal species, trace organic compounds, and low-levels of radionuclides. Conservative stack emission rates were calculated based on maximum waste solution feed samples, conservative assumptions for off gas partitioning of metals and organics, stack gas sampling for mercury, and conservative measurements of contaminant removal (decontamination factors) in the off gas treatment system. Stack emissions were modeled using the ISC3 air dispersion model to predict maximum particulate and vapor air concentrations and ground deposition rates. Results demonstrate that NWCF emissions calculated from best-available process knowledge would result in maximum onsite and offsite health and ecological impacts that are less then EPA-established criteria for operation of a combustion facility.« less

An ecologic study of prostate-specific antigen screening and prostate cancer mortality in nine geographic areas of the United States.

PubMed

Shaw, Pamela A; Etzioni, Ruth; Zeliadt, Steven B; Mariotto, Angela; Karnofski, Kent; Penson, David F; Weiss, Noel S; Feuer, Eric J

2004-12-01

Ecologic studies of cancer screening examine cancer mortality rates in relation to use of population screening. These studies can be confounded by treatment patterns or influenced by choice of outcome and time horizon. Interpretation can be complicated by uncertainty about when mortality differences might be expected. The authors examined these issues in an ecologic analysis of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening and prostate cancer mortality across nine cancer registries in the United States. Results suggested a weak trend for areas with greater PSA screening rates to have greater declines in prostate cancer mortality; however, the magnitude of this trend varied considerably with the time horizon and outcome measure. A computer model was used to determine whether divergence of mortality declines would be expected under an assumption of a clinically significant survival benefit due to screening. Given a mean lead time of 5 years, the model projected that differences in mortality between high- and low-use areas should be apparent by 1999 in the absence of other factors affecting mortality. The authors concluded that modest differences in PSA screening rates across areas, together with additional sources of variation, could have produced a negative ecologic result. Ecologic analyses of the effectiveness of PSA testing should be interpreted with caution.

SURVEY OF METHODOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPING MEDIA SCREENING VALUES FOR ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Barron, Mace G. and Steve Wharton. Submitted. Survey of Methodologies for Developing Media Screening Values for Ecological Risk Assessment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 44 p. (ERL,GB 1200).

Concurrent with the increase in the number of ecological risk assessments over the past...

Ecological risk assessment for Mather Air Force Base, California: Phase 1, screening assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meyers-Schoene, L.; Fischer, N.T.; Rabe, J.J.

Mather Air Force Base (AFB) is among the numerous facilities scheduled for closure under the US Air Force (USAF) Installation Restoration Program (IRP). A component of the Mather AFB IRP is to prepare risk assessments for each of the chemically contaminated sites. Because no previous ecological risk related studies have been conducted on Mather AFB, the authors proposed a phased approach to assessing ecological risks at the base. Phase 1 consisted of baseline ecological surveys that collected data over a 12-month period. In addition, benchmark screening criteria were used in conjunction with modeling results that utilized measured concentrations of chemicalmore » analytes in abiotic samples. Phase 2 may consist of the collection of more site-specific data and toxicity testing, if warranted by the Phase 1 screening analysis. This approach was in agreement with the USAF`s ecological risk assessment guidance and met the approval of the Air Force and USEPA Region 9. The authors found the use of established and derived screening values to effectively aid in the focusing of the ecological risk assessment on those chemicals most likely to be hazardous to ecological receptors at the base. Disadvantages in the use of screening values include the uncertainties associated with the conservative assumptions inherent in the derivation of benchmark values and the difficulty in extrapolating from laboratory determined benchmark values to impacts in the field.« less

Site-specific probabilistic ecological risk assessment of a volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon-contaminated tidal estuary.

PubMed

Hunt, James; Birch, Gavin; Warne, Michael St J

2010-05-01

Groundwater contaminated with volatile chlorinated hydrocarbons (VCHs) was identified as discharging to Penrhyn Estuary, an intertidal embayment of Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia. A screening-level hazard assessment of surface water in Penrhyn Estuary identified an unacceptable hazard to marine organisms posed by VCHs. Given the limitations of hazard assessments, the present study conducted a higher-tier, quantitative probabilistic risk assessment using the joint probability curve (JPC) method that accounted for variability in exposure and toxicity profiles to quantify risk (delta). Risk was assessed for 24 scenarios, including four areas of the estuary based on three exposure scenarios (low tide, high tide, and both low and high tides) and two toxicity scenarios (chronic no-observed-effect concentrations [NOEC] and 50% effect concentrations [EC50]). Risk (delta) was greater at low tide than at high tide and varied throughout the tidal cycle. Spatial distributions of risk in the estuary were similar using both NOEC and EC50 data. The exposure scenario including data combined from both tides was considered the most accurate representation of the ecological risk in the estuary. When assessing risk using data across both tides, the greatest risk was identified in the Springvale tributary (delta=25%)-closest to the source area-followed by the inner estuary (delta=4%) and the Floodvale tributary (delta=2%), with the lowest risk in the outer estuary (delta=0.1%), farthest from the source area. Going from the screening level ecological risk assessment (ERA) to the probabilistic ERA changed the risk from unacceptable to acceptable in 50% of exposure scenarios in two of the four areas within the estuary. The probabilistic ERA provided a more realistic assessment of risk than the screening-level hazard assessment. Copyright (c) 2010 SETAC.

INVERTEBRATE AND PLANT ECO-SSLS DERIVED FROM PUBLISHED TOXICITY STUDIES

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), in collaboration with other federal, state, and industry groups has developed Ecological Soil Screening Levels (Eco-SSLs) for common contaminants found at Superfund sites. The Eco-SSLs were created as a tool to identify soil conta...

THE ECOTOX DATABASE AND ECOLOGICAL SOIL SCREENING LEVEL (ECO-SSL) WEB SITES

EPA Science Inventory

The EPA's ECOTOX database (http://www.epa.gov/ecotox/) provides a web browser search interface for locating aquatic and terrestrial toxic effects information. Data on more than 8100 chemicals and 5700 terrestrial and aquatic species are included in the database. Information is ...

Cultural Context and Modification of Behavior Change Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanders Thompson, Vetta L.

2009-01-01

Although social and cultural contexts act on each level of the multilevel ecologic model to affect cancer risk, health behavior, and cancer screening and promotion in health behavior research, people have yet to develop theories that sufficiently integrate the social and environmental context with group and individual behavior. The "Behavioral…

Efforts to standardize wildlife toxicity values remain unrealized.

PubMed

Mayfield, David B; Fairbrother, Anne

2013-01-01

Wildlife toxicity reference values (TRVs) are routinely used during screening level and baseline ecological risk assessments (ERAs). Risk assessment professionals often adopt TRVs from published sources to expedite risk analyses. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) developed ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) to provide a source of TRVs that would improve consistency among risk assessments. We conducted a survey and evaluated more than 50 publicly available, large-scale ERAs published in the last decade to evaluate if USEPA's goal of uniformity in the use of wildlife TRVs has been met. In addition, these ERAs were reviewed to understand current practices for wildlife TRV use and development within the risk assessment community. The use of no observed and lowest observed adverse effect levels culled from published compendia was common practice among the majority of ERAs reviewed. We found increasing use over time of TRVs established in the Eco-SSL documents; however, Eco-SSL TRV values were not used in the majority of recent ERAs and there continues to be wide variation in TRVs for commonly studied contaminants (e.g., metals, pesticides, PAHs, and PCBs). Variability in the toxicity values was driven by differences in the key studies selected, dose estimation methods, and use of uncertainty factors. These differences result in TRVs that span multiple orders of magnitude for many of the chemicals examined. This lack of consistency in TRV development leads to highly variable results in ecological risk assessments conducted throughout the United States. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.

Improving ecological risk assessment of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals by using an integrated modeling system - An example assessing chloroparaffins in riverine environments.

EPA Science Inventory

Chemical risk assessment (CRA) is primarily carried out at the screening level relying on empirical relationships between chemical properties and tested toxicity effects. Ultimately, risk to aquatic ecosystems is strongly dependent on actual exposure, which depends on chemical pr...

Development of a bacteria-based index of biotic integrity (Ba-IBI) for assessing ecological health of the Three Gorges Reservoir in different operation periods.

PubMed

Li, Yi; Yang, Nan; Qian, Bao; Yang, Zhengjian; Liu, Defu; Niu, Lihua; Zhang, Wenlong

2018-05-30

It is urgently needed to quantitatively assess ecological health of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) when considering its special environmental conditions and temporal variations caused by reservoir operation. This study developed a bacteria-based index of biotic integrity (Ba-IBI) based on sediment samples collected along the TGR in low water level period, impoundment period and sluicing period, respectively. Reference conditions were defined using 8 ecological variables describing the hydromorphology and anthropogenic disturbances around the sites. Five core metrics, including % Acidobacteria, % Gemmatimonadetes, % Geobacter, Methanotroph and Phototroph, were selected after the screening processes. The developed index could clearly discriminate reference and impaired conditions and exhibited significant relationship with environmental parameters according to the redundancy (p < 0.01) and multivariable linear regression analysis (R 2  = 0.76). By implementing Ba-IBI in the TGR, the ecological health of the sampling sites was defined as "Excellent" (25%), "Good" (50%) and "Fair" (25%) separately. The spatial variation of biotic integrity was closely associated with environmental and ecological changes, especially the increase of nutrient concentrations. This study revealed a significant tendency that the ecological health in the low water level and sluicing periods was better than that in the impoundment period, which could be attributed to the hydrodynamic changes due to water level fluctuation. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of ecological health of the TGR in different operation periods and the index offers a guideline for the reservoir regulation in the similar areas. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Deriving site-specific clean-up criteria to protect ecological receptors (plants and soil invertebrates) exposed to metal or metalloid soil contaminants via the direct contact exposure pathway

PubMed Central

Checkai, Ron; Van Genderen, Eric; Sousa, José Paulo; Stephenson, Gladys; Smolders, Erik

2014-01-01

Soil contaminant concentration limits for the protection of terrestrial plants and soil invertebrates are commonly based on thresholds derived using data from laboratory ecotoxicity tests. A comprehensive assessment has been made for the derivation of ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSL) in the United States; however, these limits are conservative because of their focus on high bioavailability scenarios. Here, we explain and evaluate approaches to soil limit derivation taken by 4 jurisdictions, 2 of which allow for correction of data for factors affecting bioavailability among soils, and between spiked and field-contaminated soils (Registration Evaluation Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals [REACH] Regulation, European Union [EU], and the National Environment Protection Council [NEPC], Australia). Scientifically advanced features from these methods have been integrated into a newly developed method for deriving soil clean-up values (SCVs) within the context of site-specific baseline ecological risk assessment. Resulting site-specific SCVs that account for bioavailability may permit a greater residual concentration in soil when compared to generic screening limit concentrations (e.g., Eco-SSL), while still affording acceptable protection. Two choices for selecting the level of protection are compared (i.e., allowing higher effect levels per species, or allowing a higher percentile of species that are potentially unprotected). Implementation of this new method is presented for the jurisdiction of the United States, with a focus on metal and metalloid contaminants; however, the new method can be used in any jurisdiction. A case study for molybdate shows the large effect of bioavailability corrections and smaller effects of protection level choices when deriving SCVs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2014;10:346–357. PMID:24470189

Uncertainty factors in screening ecological risk assessments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duke, L.D.; Taggart, M.

2000-06-01

The hazard quotient (HQ) method is commonly used in screening ecological risk assessments (ERAs) to estimate risk to wildlife at contaminated sites. Many ERAs use uncertainty factors (UFs) in the HQ calculation to incorporate uncertainty associated with predicting wildlife responses to contaminant exposure using laboratory toxicity data. The overall objective was to evaluate the current UF methodology as applied to screening ERAs in California, USA. Specific objectives included characterizing current UF methodology, evaluating the degree of conservatism in UFs as applied, and identifying limitations to the current approach. Twenty-four of 29 evaluated ERAs used the HQ approach: 23 of thesemore » used UFs in the HQ calculation. All 24 made interspecies extrapolations, and 21 compensated for its uncertainty, most using allometric adjustments and some using RFs. Most also incorporated uncertainty for same-species extrapolations. Twenty-one ERAs used UFs extrapolating from lowest observed adverse effect level (LOAEL) to no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL), and 18 used UFs extrapolating from subchronic to chronic exposure. Values and application of all UF types were inconsistent. Maximum cumulative UFs ranged from 10 to 3,000. Results suggest UF methodology is widely used but inconsistently applied and is not uniformly conservative relative to UFs recommended in regulatory guidelines and academic literature. The method is limited by lack of consensus among scientists, regulators, and practitioners about magnitudes, types, and conceptual underpinnings of the UF methodology.« less

Promoting Breast Cancer Screening in Rural, African American Communities: The "Science and Art" of Community Health Promotion.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altpeter, Mary; Earp, Jo Anne L.; Shopler, Janice H.

1998-01-01

Social ecological theory, social-work community organization models, and health-promotion models are brought together to address ways to generate change at the individual and policy levels, and to provide guidance for community health-promotion programs. An eight-year cancer-prevention project is presented as a case study. (EMK)

Healthcare Use and Mammography Among Latinas With and Without Health Insurance Near the US-Mexico Border.

PubMed

Lapeyrouse, Lisa M; Miranda, Patricia Y; Morera, Osvaldo F; Heyman, Josiah McC; Balcazar, Hector G

2017-04-01

Among Latinas, lacking health insurance and having lower levels of acculturation are associated with disparities in mammography screening. We seek to investigate whether differences in lifetime mammography exist between Latina border residents by health insurance status and health care site (i.e., U.S. only or a combination of U.S. and Mexican health care). Using data from the 2009 to 2010 Ecological Household Study on Latino Border Residents, mammography screening was examined among (n = 304) Latinas >40 years old. While more acculturated women were significantly (p < .05) more likely to report ever having a mammogram than less acculturated women, ever having a mammogram was not predicted by health care site or insurance status. Latinas who utilize multiple systems of care have lower levels of acculturation and health insurance, thus representing an especially vulnerable population for experiencing disparities in mammography screening.

Utility of bioassays (lettuce, red clover, red fescue, Microtox, MetSTICK, Hyalella, bait lamina) in ecological risk screening of acid metal (Zn) contaminated soil.

PubMed

Chapman, E Emily V; Hedrei Helmer, Stephanie; Dave, Göran; Murimboh, John D

2012-06-01

The objective of this study was to assess selected bioassays and ecological screening tools for their suitability in a weight of evidence risk screening process of acidic metal contaminated soil. Intact soil cores were used for the tests, which minimizes changes in pH and metal bioavailability that may result from homogenization and drying of the soil. Soil cores were spiked with ZnCl(2) or CaCl(2). Leachate collected from the soil cores was used to account for the exposure pathways through pore water and groundwater. Tests assessed included MetSTICK in soil cores and Microtox in soil leachate, lettuce (Lactuca sativa), red fescue (Festuca rubra) and red clover (Trifolium pratense) in the soil cores and lettuce and red clover in soil leachate, Hyallella azteca in soil leachate, and an ecological soil function test using Bait Lamina in soil cores. Microtox, H. azteca, lettuce and red fescue showed higher sensitivity to low pH than to Zn concentrations and are therefore not recommended as tests on intact acidic soil cores and soil leachate. The Bait Lamina test appeared sensitive to pH levels below 3.7 but should be investigated further as a screening tool in less acidic soils. Among the bioassays, the MetSTICK and the T. pratense bioassays in soil cores were the most sensitive to Zn, with the lowest nominal NOEC of 200 and 400mg Zn/kg d.w., respectively. These bioassays were also tolerant of low pH, which make them suitable for assessing hazards of metal contaminated acid soils. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological and health risk-based characterization of agricultural soils contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the vicinity of a chemical plant in China.

PubMed

Liu, Geng; Niu, Junjie; Guo, Wenjiong; An, Xiangsheng; Zhao, Long

2016-11-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from chemical plants can cause serious pollution of surrounding agricultural soils. A comprehensive study of agricultural soils was conducted in the vicinity of a chemical plant in China to characterize the soil PAH concentration, as well as their composition and sources. Human health and a screening-level ecological risk assessment were conducted for PAH contamination in agricultural soils. The results showed that the total concentrations of 16 priority PAHs ranged from 250.49 to 9387.26 ng g(-1), with an average of 2780.42 ng g(-1). High molecular weight PAHs (four to six rings) were the dominant component, accounting for more than 60% of all PAHs. Principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization model (PMF) suggested that diesel emissions, coal combustion, coke ovens, and fuel combustion and gasoline emissions were the main sources of PAHs in agricultural soils. The ecological risk assessment results based on the effects range-low (ERL), the effects range-median (ERM), and the ecological screening levels (ESL) indicated that the exposure to ∑PAH16 was >ERL, >ERM, and ≥ERL and ESL at 78.1% of the soil sampling stations, and could induce biological effects in mammals. The Bapeq concentrations posed a potential carcinogenic risk to humans. Further risk management and control of soil PAHs in these agricultural soils is required to ensure the safety of the biocoenosis and human health. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Colorectal cancer screening in Korean workers: using a stage model approach to examine the ecological predictors of behavior.

PubMed

Park, Su Ho; Kim, Gwang Suk

2014-01-01

Early detection is important for reducing mortality by colorectal cancer. Workplaces have access to a large number of people, approximately half of the Korean population. For cancer prevention, it is necessary to approach cancer screening through the workplace. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to identify colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) stages and to predict factors that affect the respective stages. Data were collected from 314 manual workers at 32 medium-sized and small workplaces located in Korea. The dependent variable was the stage of CRCS, and independent variables were intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational levels. At the intrapersonal level, workers who increased work hours per week or who felt stress were less likely to be in the acting/maintenance stage than in the decided to act stage of CRCS. At the organizational level, workers in medium-sized workplaces, those whose administrators secured health checkup and cancer screening budget for their workplace, and those considering health checkup and cancer screening were more likely to be in the acting/maintenance stage, compared with the decided to act stage. Our findings suggest that the respective stages are affected by different intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational factors. The workplace environment and organizational predictors before the implementation of CRCS promotion programs may produce better results.

Hidden drivers of low-dose pharmaceutical pollutant mixtures revealed by the novel GSA-QHTS screening method

PubMed Central

Rodea-Palomares, Ismael; Gonzalez-Pleiter, Miguel; Gonzalo, Soledad; Rosal, Roberto; Leganes, Francisco; Sabater, Sergi; Casellas, Maria; Muñoz-Carpena, Rafael; Fernández-Piñas, Francisca

2016-01-01

The ecological impacts of emerging pollutants such as pharmaceuticals are not well understood. The lack of experimental approaches for the identification of pollutant effects in realistic settings (that is, low doses, complex mixtures, and variable environmental conditions) supports the widespread perception that these effects are often unpredictable. To address this, we developed a novel screening method (GSA-QHTS) that couples the computational power of global sensitivity analysis (GSA) with the experimental efficiency of quantitative high-throughput screening (QHTS). We present a case study where GSA-QHTS allowed for the identification of the main pharmaceutical pollutants (and their interactions), driving biological effects of low-dose complex mixtures at the microbial population level. The QHTS experiments involved the integrated analysis of nearly 2700 observations from an array of 180 unique low-dose mixtures, representing the most complex and data-rich experimental mixture effect assessment of main pharmaceutical pollutants to date. An ecological scaling-up experiment confirmed that this subset of pollutants also affects typical freshwater microbial community assemblages. Contrary to our expectations and challenging established scientific opinion, the bioactivity of the mixtures was not predicted by the null mixture models, and the main drivers that were identified by GSA-QHTS were overlooked by the current effect assessment scheme. Our results suggest that current chemical effect assessment methods overlook a substantial number of ecologically dangerous chemical pollutants and introduce a new operational framework for their systematic identification. PMID:27617294

Visioning the Future: Scenarios Modeling of the Florida Coastal Everglades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flower, Hilary; Rains, Mark; Fitz, Carl

2017-11-01

In this paper, we provide screening-level analysis of plausible Everglades ecosystem response by 2060 to sea level rise (0.50 m) interacting with macroclimate change (1.5 °C warming, 7% increase in evapotranspiration, and rainfall that either increases or decreases by 10%). We used these climate scenarios as input to the Ecological Landscape Model to simulate changes to seven interactive hydro-ecological metrics. Mangrove forest and other marine influences migrated up to 15 km inland in both scenarios, delineated by the saltwater front. Freshwater habitat area decreased by 25-30% under our two climate change scenarios and was largely replaced by mangroves and, in the increased rainfall scenario, open water as well. Significant mangroves drowned along northern Florida Bay in both climate change scenarios due to sea level rise. Increased rainfall of 10% provided significant benefits to the spatial and temporal salinity regime within the marine-influenced zone, providing a more gradual and natural adjustment for at-risk flora and fauna. However, increased rainfall also increased the risk of open water, due to water depths that inhibited mangrove establishment and reduced peat accumulation rates. We infer that ecological effects related to sea level rise may occur in the extreme front-edge of saltwater intrusion, that topography will control the incursion of this zone as sea level rises, and that differences in freshwater availability will have ecologically significant effects on ecosystem resilience through the temporal and spatial pattern of salinity changes.

Visioning the Future: Scenarios Modeling of the Florida Coastal Everglades.

PubMed

Flower, Hilary; Rains, Mark; Fitz, Carl

2017-11-01

In this paper, we provide screening-level analysis of plausible Everglades ecosystem response by 2060 to sea level rise (0.50 m) interacting with macroclimate change (1.5 °C warming, 7% increase in evapotranspiration, and rainfall that either increases or decreases by 10%). We used these climate scenarios as input to the Ecological Landscape Model to simulate changes to seven interactive hydro-ecological metrics. Mangrove forest and other marine influences migrated up to 15 km inland in both scenarios, delineated by the saltwater front. Freshwater habitat area decreased by 25-30% under our two climate change scenarios and was largely replaced by mangroves and, in the increased rainfall scenario, open water as well. Significant mangroves drowned along northern Florida Bay in both climate change scenarios due to sea level rise. Increased rainfall of 10% provided significant benefits to the spatial and temporal salinity regime within the marine-influenced zone, providing a more gradual and natural adjustment for at-risk flora and fauna. However, increased rainfall also increased the risk of open water, due to water depths that inhibited mangrove establishment and reduced peat accumulation rates. We infer that ecological effects related to sea level rise may occur in the extreme front-edge of saltwater intrusion, that topography will control the incursion of this zone as sea level rises, and that differences in freshwater availability will have ecologically significant effects on ecosystem resilience through the temporal and spatial pattern of salinity changes.

Determination of Selenium Toxicity for Survival and Reproduction of Enchytraeid Worms in a Sandy Loam Soil

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

ecotoxicological benchmarks for developing the ecological soil screening levels (Eco-SSLs) for risk assessments of contaminated soils. For the present study, we...or manufacturers ’ names in this report does not constitute an official endorsement of any commercial products. This report may not be cited for...Disposal of Se in commercial products and waste can also contribute to Se contaminant levels in soil. Se has been found in at least 508 of the 1623

Systematic review: cultural adaptation and feasibility of screening for autism in non-English speaking countries.

PubMed

Al Maskari, Turkiya S; Melville, Craig A; Willis, Diane S

2018-01-01

Screening children for autism has gained wider acceptance within clinical practice, and early intervention has improved outcomes. Increasingly, adapting an existing screening instrument is a common, fast method to create a usable screening tool, especially for countries with limited resources and/or expertise. However, concerns have been raised regarding adaptation adequacy and the feasibility of screening across cultural groups. This study systematically examined the levels of cultural adaptation and feasibility aspects considered when screening for autism in non-English speaking countries to build upon the sparse knowledge that exists on this topic in the literature. Nineteen studies, obtained from five electronic databases, were examined. PRISMA guidance was used for this review. The Ecological Validity Framework model, and Bowen Recommendations for Feasibility were adopted to extract relevant data, which was synthesised narratively. Cultural adaptation within the included studies mostly involved language translation with little information offered to enable conclusions on how the processes were guided and maintained. Few cultural adjustments involved modifying screening methods; clarifying difficult concepts and changing instrument content were employed to address the core values, competence, beliefs, and norms of the adapted culture. However, less attention was given to adapt the screening goals within the context of cultural values, and customs or to consider interactional match between the clients and assessors. The review also highlighted an acceptable level of practicality to screen for autism but did not encourage integrating autism screening within routine practice or beyond the study context for different cultures. Concurring with previous literature, we agree that knowledge on cultural adaptation for autism screening instruments is limited and not sufficiently documented to establish adaptation levels (process and/or contents), and prove adequacy. However, this review provides an infrastructure to improve future adaptation processes. Integrating autism screening as routine medical practice is not encouraged and warrants further feasibility studies to minimize wasted resources and improve screening effectiveness in various health care systems.

Derivation of Draft Ecological Soil Screening Levels for TNT and RDX Utilizing Terrestrial Plant and Soil Invertebrate Toxicity Benchmarks

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-11-01

TSL Soils Utilizing Growth Benchmarks for Alfalfa , Barnyard Grass, and Perennial Ryegrass ............................................. 5 3...Derivation of Terrestrial Plant-Based Draft Eco-SSL Value for RDX Weathered-and-Aged in SSL or TSL Soils Utilizing Growth Benchmarks for Alfalfa ...studies were conducted using the following plant species:  Dicotyledonous symbiotic species alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)  Monocotyledonous

Building the United States National Vegetation Classification

USGS Publications Warehouse

Franklin, S.B.; Faber-Langendoen, D.; Jennings, M.; Keeler-Wolf, T.; Loucks, O.; Peet, R.; Roberts, D.; McKerrow, A.

2012-01-01

The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Vegetation Subcommittee, the Ecological Society of America Panel on Vegetation Classification, and NatureServe have worked together to develop the United States National Vegetation Classification (USNVC). The current standard was accepted in 2008 and fosters consistency across Federal agencies and non-federal partners for the description of each vegetation concept and its hierarchical classification. The USNVC is structured as a dynamic standard, where changes to types at any level may be proposed at any time as new information comes in. But, because much information already exists from previous work, the NVC partners first established methods for screening existing types to determine their acceptability with respect to the 2008 standard. Current efforts include a screening process to assign confidence to Association and Group level descriptions, and a review of the upper three levels of the classification. For the upper levels especially, the expectation is that the review process includes international scientists. Immediate future efforts include the review of remaining levels and the development of a proposal review process.

Breast cancer mortality and associated factors in São Paulo State, Brazil: an ecological analysis.

PubMed

Diniz, Carmen Simone Grilo; Pellini, Alessandra Cristina Guedes; Ribeiro, Adeylson Guimarães; Tedardi, Marcello Vannucci; Miranda, Marina Jorge de; Touso, Michelle Mosna; Baquero, Oswaldo Santos; Santos, Patrícia Carlos Dos; Chiaravalloti-Neto, Francisco

2017-08-23

Identify the factors associated with the age-standardised breast cancer mortality rate in the municipalities of State of São Paulo (SSP), Brazil, in the period from 2006 to 2012. Ecological study of the breast cancer mortality rate standardised by age, as the dependent variable, having each of the 645 municipalities in the SSP as the unit of analysis. The female resident population aged 15 years or older, by age group and municipality, in 2009 (mid-term), obtained from public dataset (Informatics Department of the Unified Health System). Women 15 years or older who died of breast cancer in the SSP were selected for the calculation of the breast cancer mortality rate, according to the municipality and age group, from 2006 to 2012. Mortality rates for each municipality calculated by the direct standardisation method, using the age structure of the population of SSP in 2009 as the standard. In the final linear regression model, breast cancer mortality, in the municipal level, was directly associated with rates of nulliparity (p<0.0001), mammography (p<0.0001) and private healthcare (p=0.006). The findings that mammography ratio was associated, in the municipal level, with increased mortality add to the evidence of a probable overestimation of benefits and underestimation of risks associated with this form of screening. The same paradoxical trend of increased mortality with screening was found in recent individual-level studies, indicating the need to expand informed choice for patients, primary prevention actions and individualised screening. Additional studies should be conducted to explore if there is a causality link in this association. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Breast cancer mortality and associated factors in São Paulo State, Brazil: an ecological analysis

PubMed Central

Diniz, Carmen Simone Grilo; Pellini, Alessandra Cristina Guedes; Ribeiro, Adeylson Guimarães; Tedardi, Marcello Vannucci; de Miranda, Marina Jorge; Touso, Michelle Mosna; Baquero, Oswaldo Santos; dos Santos, Patrícia Carlos

2017-01-01

Objective Identify the factors associated with the age-standardised breast cancer mortality rate in the municipalities of State of São Paulo (SSP), Brazil, in the period from 2006 to 2012. Design Ecological study of the breast cancer mortality rate standardised by age, as the dependent variable, having each of the 645 municipalities in the SSP as the unit of analysis. Settings The female resident population aged 15 years or older, by age group and municipality, in 2009 (mid-term), obtained from public dataset (Informatics Department of the Unified Health System). Participants Women 15 years or older who died of breast cancer in the SSP were selected for the calculation of the breast cancer mortality rate, according to the municipality and age group, from 2006 to 2012. Main outcome measures Mortality rates for each municipality calculated by the direct standardisation method, using the age structure of the population of SSP in 2009 as the standard. Results In the final linear regression model, breast cancer mortality, in the municipal level, was directly associated with rates of nulliparity (p<0.0001), mammography (p<0.0001) and private healthcare (p=0.006). Conclusions The findings that mammography ratio was associated, in the municipal level, with increased mortality add to the evidence of a probable overestimation of benefits and underestimation of risks associated with this form of screening. The same paradoxical trend of increased mortality with screening was found in recent individual-level studies, indicating the need to expand informed choice for patients, primary prevention actions and individualised screening. Additional studies should be conducted to explore if there is a causality link in this association. PMID:28838894

Reconnaissance soil geochemistry at the Riverton Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Site, Fremont County, Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, David B.; Sweat, Michael J.

2012-01-01

Soil samples were collected and chemically analyzed from the Riverton Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Site, which lies within the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fremont County, Wyoming. Nineteen soil samples from a depth of 0 to 5 centimeters were collected in August 2011 from the site. The samples were sieved to less than 2 millimeters and analyzed for 44 major and trace elements following a near-total multi-acid extraction. Soil pH was also determined. The geochemical data were compared to a background dataset consisting of 160 soil samples previously collected from the same depth throughout the State of Wyoming as part of another ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey. Risk from potentially toxic elements in soil from the site to biologic receptors and humans was estimated by comparing the concentration of these elements with soil screening values established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. All 19 samples exceeded the carcinogenic human health screening level for arsenic in residential soils of 0.39 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), which represents a one-in-one-million cancer risk (median arsenic concentration in the study area is 2.7 mg/kg). All 19 samples also exceeded the lead and vanadium screening levels for birds. Eighteen of the 19 samples exceeded the manganese screening level for plants, 13 of the 19 samples exceeded the antimony screening level for mammals, and 10 of 19 samples exceeded the zinc screening level for birds. However, these exceedances are also found in soils at most locations in the Wyoming Statewide soil database, and elevated concentrations alone are not necessarily cause for alarm. Uranium and thorium, two other elements of environmental concern, are elevated in soils at the site as compared to the Wyoming dataset, but no human or ecological soil screening levels have been established for these elements.

Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessments of Some Military Munitions and Obscurant-related Compounds for Selected Threatened and Endangered Species

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-01

species resulting from dispersion and deposi- tion of vapors and particles found in the fog oils, hexachloroethane smoke, colored smokes, white...dispersion and deposition of vapors and particles found in the fog oils, hexachloroethane smoke, colored smokes, white phosphorus, and obscurants...titanium dioxide colored smoke (red, green, yellow, purple) polyethylene glycol (PEG) brass flakes graphite flakes terephelatic acid For this

Ecologic and sociodemographic risk determinants for dengue transmission in urban areas in Thailand.

PubMed

Koyadun, Surachart; Butraporn, Piyarat; Kittayapong, Pattamaporn

2012-01-01

This study analyzed the association between household-level ecologic and individual-level sociodemographic determinants and dengue transmission in urban areas of Chachoengsao province, Thailand. The ecologic and sociodemographic variables were examined by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. In the ecologic model, dengue risk was related to households situated in the ecotope of residential mixed with commercial and densely populated urban residential areas (RCDENPURA) (aOR = 2.23, P = 0.009), high historical dengue risk area (aOR = 2.06, P < 0.001), and presence of household window screens (aOR = 1.62, P = 0.023). In the sociodemographic model, the dengue risk was related to householders aged >45 years (aOR = 3.24, P = 0.003), secondary and higher educational degrees (aOR = 2.33, P = 0.013), household members >4 persons (aOR = 2.01, P = 0.02), and community effort in environmental management by clean-up campaign (aOR = 1.91, P = 0.035). It is possible that the preventive measures were positively correlated with dengue risk because these activities were generally carried out in particular households or communities following dengue experiences or dengue outbreaks. Interestingly, the ecotope of RCDENPURA and high historical dengue risk area appeared to be very good predictors of dengue incidences.

Ecologic and Sociodemographic Risk Determinants for Dengue Transmission in Urban Areas in Thailand

PubMed Central

Koyadun, Surachart; Butraporn, Piyarat; Kittayapong, Pattamaporn

2012-01-01

This study analyzed the association between household-level ecologic and individual-level sociodemographic determinants and dengue transmission in urban areas of Chachoengsao province, Thailand. The ecologic and sociodemographic variables were examined by univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. In the ecologic model, dengue risk was related to households situated in the ecotope of residential mixed with commercial and densely populated urban residential areas (RCDENPURA) (aOR = 2.23, P = 0.009), high historical dengue risk area (aOR = 2.06, P < 0.001), and presence of household window screens (aOR = 1.62, P = 0.023). In the sociodemographic model, the dengue risk was related to householders aged >45 years (aOR = 3.24, P = 0.003), secondary and higher educational degrees (aOR = 2.33, P = 0.013), household members >4 persons (aOR = 2.01, P = 0.02), and community effort in environmental management by clean-up campaign (aOR = 1.91, P = 0.035). It is possible that the preventive measures were positively correlated with dengue risk because these activities were generally carried out in particular households or communities following dengue experiences or dengue outbreaks. Interestingly, the ecotope of RCDENPURA and high historical dengue risk area appeared to be very good predictors of dengue incidences. PMID:23056042

Waste area grouping 2 Phase I task data report: Ecological risk assessment and White Oak Creek watershed screening ecological risk assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Efroymson, R.A.; Jackson, B.L.; Jones, D.S.

1996-05-01

This report presents an ecological risk assessment for Waste Area Grouping (WAG) 2 based on the data collected in the Phase I remedial investigation (RI). It serves as an update to the WAG 2 screening ecological risk assessment that was performed using historic data. In addition to identifying potential ecological risks in WAG 2 that may require additional data collection, this report serves to determine whether there are ecological risks of sufficient magnitude to require a removal action or some other expedited remedial process. WAG 2 consists of White Oak Creek (WOC) and its tributaries downstream of the Oak Ridgemore » National Laboratory (ORNL) main plant area, White Oak Lake (WOL), the White Oak Creek Embayment of the Clinch River, associated flood plains, and the associated groundwater. The WOC system drains the WOC watershed, an area of approximately 16.8 km{sup 2} that includes ORNL and associated WAGs. The WOC system has been exposed to contaminants released from ORNL and associated operations since 1943 and continues to receive contaminants from adjacent WAGs.« less

Screening for EIA in India: enhancing effectiveness through ecological carrying capacity approach.

PubMed

Rajaram, T; Das, Ashutosh

2011-01-01

Developing countries across the world have embraced the policy of high economic growth as a means to reduce poverty. This economic growth largely based on industrial output is fast degrading the ecosystems, jeopardizing their long term sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has long been recognized as a tool which can help in protecting the ecosystems and aid sustainable development. The Screening guidelines for EIA reflect the level of commitment the nation displays towards tightening its environmental protection system. The paper analyses the screening process for EIA in India and dissects the rationale behind the exclusions and thresholds set in the screening process. The screening process in India is compared with that of the European Union with the aim of understanding the extent of deviations from a screening approach in the context of better economic development. It is found that the Indian system excludes many activities from the purview of screening itself when compared to the EU. The constraints responsible for these exclusions are discussed and the shortcomings of the current command and control system of environmental management in India are also explained. It is suggested that an ecosystem carrying capacity based management system can provide significant inputs to enhance the effectiveness of EIA process from screening to monitoring. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The sediments of the Venice Lagoon (Italy) evaluated in a screening risk assessment approach: part I--application of international sediment quality guidelines.

PubMed

Apitz, Sabine E; Barbanti, Andrea; Bocci, Martina; Carlin, Anna; Montobbio, Laura; Bernstein, Alberto Giulio

2007-07-01

A number of studies carried out in recent years have shown the presence of a wide range of contaminants in the Venice Lagoon. It is important to have a good understanding of the ecological quality of Venice Lagoon sediments in order to 1) define and locate areas where a threat to the environment is present and therefore an intervention is needed (i.e., in situ assessment and management); and 2) define sustainable and environmentally correct ways of managing sediments that are to be dredged for navigational purposes or in relation to other interventions (i.e., ex situ management). This study reports on a critical comparison of chemical quality of sediments in Venice Lagoon and its subregions. Data on the Venice Lagoon were compiled from several studies conducted during the past decade on surface sediment contamination; temporal variation and risks for contaminants at depth were not addressed. The comparison of observed pollutant concentrations with local and internationally used sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) was used as a tool to benchmark different sites and for a tier I (screening) ecological risk assessment. Meaning and relevance of a number of SQGs are discussed, together with the options available for carrying out the comparison with sediment data. The screening of the Venice Lagoon sediment quality is discussed from a risk-assessment perspective and appropriate values for use in an in situ-ex situ management framework are suggested. Although there were some differences depending upon which specific SQGs were applied, different SQGs provided the same general picture of screening risk in Venice Lagoon: Although there are geographic differences, median levels for several contaminants in surface sediments exceeded a number of SQGs. Many contaminants exceed threshold effects SQGs, and Hg exceeds probable effects SQGs in most sub-basins except the southern Lagoon. Venice Lagoon south has the lowest screening risk levels, Venice Lagoon central/north has the highest (and is nearest to the Porto Marghera and Venice City Canals sites). Ranges are high in all areas, therefore any remedial or disposal decision should use site-specific data.

Zebrafish Developmental Screening of the ToxCast™ Phase I Chemical Library

EPA Science Inventory

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an emerging toxicity screening model for both human health and ecology. As part of the Computational Toxicology Research Program of the U.S. EPA, the toxicity of the 309 ToxCast™ Phase I chemicals was assessed using a zebrafish screen for developmental ...

Research on screening of suitable forage grasses in coastal saline - alkaline soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Xiaoyu; Han, Xin; Song, Qianhong; Yang, Xu; Zhou, Qingyun

2017-11-01

The screening of salt-tolerant plants can provide suitable tree species for the afforestation of coastal salinity and maintain biodiversity and ecological stability. The research was based on the study of seven grasses, such as high fescue, the bermuda grass, the thyme, the rye grass, the precocious grass, the third leaf, and the red three leaves. Each pasture was planted in three different kinds of soil, such as salt alkali soil, salt alkali soil + ecological bag and non-saline alkali soil. The effect of salt alkali soil on germinating time, germination rate and grass growth was analyzed. The effects of ecological bag on soil salt and the growth and germination of grass was also analyzed in order to provide the reference basis for the widespread and systematic selection of salt-tolerant plants, with the grass being selected for the suitable ecological bag.

Macrocyclic fragrance materials--a screening-level environmental assessment using chemical categorization.

PubMed

Salvito, Daniel; Lapczynski, Aurelia; Sachse-Vasquez, Christen; McIntosh, Colin; Calow, Peter; Greim, Helmut; Escher, Beate

2011-09-01

A screening-level aquatic environmental risk assessment for macrocyclic fragrance materials using a "group approach" is presented using data for 30 macrocyclic fragrance ingredients. In this group approach, conservative estimates of environmental exposure and ecotoxicological effects thresholds for compounds within two subgroups (15 macrocyclic ketones and 15 macrocyclic lactones/lactides) were used to estimate the aquatic ecological risk potential for these subgroups. It is reasonable to separate these fragrance materials into the two subgroups based on the likely metabolic pathway required for biodegradation and on expected different ecotoxicological modes of action. The current volumes of use for the macrocyclic ketones in both Europe and North America ranges from <1 (low kg quantities) to no greater than 50 metric tonnes in either region and for macrocyclic lactones/lactides the volume of use range for both regions is <1 to no greater than 1000 metric tonnes in any one region. Based on these regional tonnages, biodegradability of these two subgroups of materials, and minimal in stream dilution (3:1), the conservatively predicted exposure concentrations for macrocyclic ketones would range from <0.01 to 0.05 μg/L in Europe and from <0.01 to 0.03 μg/L in North America. For macrocyclic lactones/lactides, the concentration within the mixing zone would range from <0.01 to 0.7 μg/L in Europe and from <0.01 to 1.0 μg/L in North America. The PNECs derived for the macrocyclic ketones is 0.22 μg/L and for macrocyclic lactones/lactides is 2.7 μg/L. The results of this screening-level aquatic ecological risk assessment indicate that at their current tonnage, often referred to as volumes of use, macrocyclic fragrance materials in Europe and North America, pose a negligible risk to aquatic biota; with no PEC/PNEC ratio exceeding 1 for any material in any subgroup. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Obesity prevention and obesogenic behavior interventions in child care: A systematic review.

PubMed

Sisson, Susan B; Krampe, Megan; Anundson, Katherine; Castle, Sherri

2016-06-01

Review peer-reviewed interventions designed to reduce obesity and improve obesogenic behaviors, including physical activity, diet, and screen time, at child care centers. Interventions components and outcomes, study design, duration, use of behavioral theory, and level of social ecological influence are detailed. Article searches were conducted from March 2014, October 2014, March 2015, January 2016 across three databases. Eligible interventions were conducted in child care settings, included 3-to-5-year-old children, included an outcome measure of obesity or obesogenic behavior, and published in English. Study design quality was assessed using Stetler's Level of Quantitative Evidence. All unique records were screened (n=4589): 237 articles were assessed for eligibility. Of these, 97 articles describing 71 interventions met inclusion criteria. Forty-four articles included multi-level interventions. Twenty-nine interventions included an outcome measure of obesity. Forty-one interventions included physical activity. Forty-five included diet. Eight included screen time. Fifty-five percent of interventions were Level II (randomized controlled trials), while 37% were Level III (quasi-experimental or pre-post only study design), and 8% were Level IV (non-experimental or natural experiments). Most interventions had the intended effect on the target: obesity 48% (n=14), physical activity 73% (n=30), diet 87% (n=39), and screen time 63% (n=5). Summarizing intervention strategies and assessing their effectiveness contributes to the existing literature and may provide direction for practitioners and researchers working with young children in child care. Most interventions produced the targeted changes in obesity and obesity-associated behaviors, supporting current and future efforts to collaborate with early-care centers and professionals for obesity prevention. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fe en Accion/Faith in Action: Design and implementation of a church-based randomized trial to promote physical activity and cancer screening among churchgoing Latinas

PubMed Central

Arredondo, Elva M.; Haughton, Jessica; Ayala, Guadalupe X.; Slymen, Donald J.; Sallis, James F.; Burke, Kari; Holub, Christina; Chanson, Dayana; Perez, Lilian G.; Valdivia, Rodrigo; Ryan, Sherry; Elder, John

2015-01-01

Objectives To describe both conditions of a two-group randomized trial, one that promotes physical activity and one that promotes cancer screening, among churchgoing Latinas. The trial involves promotoras (community health workers) targeting multiple levels of the Ecological Model. This trial builds on formative and pilot research findings. Design Sixteen churches were randomly assigned to either the physical activity intervention or cancer screening comparison condition (approximately 27 women per church). In both conditions, promotoras from each church intervened at the individual- (e.g., beliefs), interpersonal- (e.g., social support), and environmental- (e.g., park features and access to health care) levels to affect change on target behaviors. Measurements The study’s primary outcome is min/wk of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at baseline and 12 and 24 months following implementation of intervention activities. We enrolled 436 Latinas (aged 18–65 years) who engaged in less than 250 min/wk of MVPA at baseline as assessed by accelerometer, attended church at least four times per month, lived near their church, and did not have a health condition that could prevent them from participating in physical activity. Participants were asked to complete measures assessing physical activity and cancer screening as well as their correlates at 12- and 24-months. Summary Findings from the current study will address gaps in research by showing the long term effectiveness of multi-level faith-based interventions promoting physical activity and cancer screening among Latino communities. PMID:26358535

Ecological validity of the screening module and the Daily Living tests of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery using the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 in postacute brain injury rehabilitation.

PubMed

Zgaljardic, Dennis J; Yancy, Sybil; Temple, Richard O; Watford, Monica F; Miller, Rebekah

2011-11-01

The assessment of ecological validity of neuropsychological measures is an area of growing interest, particularly in the postacute brain injury rehabilitation (PABIR) setting, as there is an increasing demand for clinicians to address functional and real-world outcomes. In the current study, we assessed the predictive value of the Screening module and the Daily Living tests of the Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NAB) using clinician ratings from the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 (MPAI-4) in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Forty-seven individuals were each administered the NAB Screening module (NAB-SM) and the NAB Daily Living (NAB-DL) tests following admission to a residential PABIR program. MPAI-4 ratings were also obtained at admission. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between these functional and neuropsychological assessment measures. We replicated prior work (Temple at al., 2009) and expanded evidence for the ecological validity of the NAB-SM. Furthermore, our findings support the ecological validity of the NAB-DL Bill Payment, Judgment, and Map Reading tests with regards to functional skills and real-world activities. The current study supports prior work from our lab assessing the predictive value of the NAB-SM, as well as provides evidence for the ecological validity for select NAB-DL tests in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury admitted to a residential PABIR program.

Understanding screen-related sedentary behavior and its contributing factors among school-aged children: a social-ecologic exploration.

PubMed

He, Meizi; Harris, Stewart; Piché, Leonard; Beynon, Charlene

2009-01-01

To explore the factors that contribute to children's screen-related sedentary (S-RS) behaviors. Elementary schools. A random sample of children in grades five and six and their parents. The outcome measure was children's S-RS activity level measured by a self-administered questionnaire. A full spectrum of potential contributing factors for children's S-RS behaviors was obtained through surveys. Multilevel linear regression methods were used to determine the associations between these factors and children's screen time (hours per day) and results were expressed as regression coefficients (g). Of 955 child-parent pairs in 14 participating schools, 508 pairs (53%) completed the surveys. At an intrapersonal level, protective factors included being a girl (g = -.71); belonging to a sports team inside (g = -.56) or outside (g = -.49) of school; having a negative attitude toward S-RS activities (g = -.13); and having a positive attitude toward physical activity (g = .48). At the interpersonal and social levels, parental leisure S-RS behaviors (g = .32) were positively associated, whereas strict parental rules on computer use (g = -.27) and family income (g = -.32) were inversely correlated with S-RS behavior. At the environmental level, the presence of TVs in children's bedrooms (g = .44) and owning videogame devices (g = .58) increased the risk of S-RS behaviors, whereas after school programs (g = - .86) and schools' participation in the Turn Off the Screen Week campaign (g = -.91) decreased the risk. Public health interventions should target multilevel factors, including increasing children's awareness, promoting parental involvement in healthy lifestyle pursuits, and creating less screenogenic environments.

Ecological risk assessment of landfill air emissions from a hazardous waste management facility in Ontario

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Durda, J.L.; Suit-Kowalski, L.; Preziosi, D.

1997-12-31

An ecological risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the potential for adverse environmental impacts associated with chemicals released to air as a result of a proposed expansion of a hazardous waste landfill in Ontario. The purpose of the risk assessment was to characterize ecological risks associated with the proposed expansion relative to those associated with the existing landfill and those that would exist if the current landfill was completely closed and background conditions prevailed. The ecological risk assessment was one part of a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the proposed landfill continuation that was being performed under the requirements ofmore » Ontario`s Environmental Assessment Act. Air monitoring data from the facility were used to identify a list of 141 chemicals potentially released during landfill continuation, as well as to characterize current emissions and background chemical levels. An ecological risk-based chemical screening process that considered background concentration, source strength, environmental partitioning, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity was used to select a group of 23 chemicals for detailed evaluation in the ecological risk assessment. Dispersion, deposition, partitioning and bioaccumulation modeling were used to predict potential exposures in ecological receptors. Receptors were selected for evaluation based on regional habitat characteristics, exposure potential, toxicant sensitivity, ecological significance, population status, and societal value. Livestock and agricultural crop and pasture species were key receptors for the assessment, given the highly agricultural nature of the study area. In addition, native wildlife species, including the endangered Henslow`s sparrow and the regionally vulnerable pugnose minnow, also were considered.« less

Screening and vaccination as determined by the Social Ecological Model and the Theory of Triadic Influence: a systematic review.

PubMed

Nyambe, Anayawa; Van Hal, Guido; Kampen, Jarl K

2016-11-17

Vaccination and screening are forms of primary and secondary prevention methods. These methods are recommended for controlling the spread of a vast number of diseases and conditions. To determine the most effective preventive methods to be used by a society, multi-level models have shown to be more effective than models that focus solely on individual level characteristics. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) and the Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI) are such models. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify main differences and similarities of SEM and TTI regarding screening and vaccination in order to prepare potentially successful prevention programs for practice. A systematic review was conducted. Separate literature searches were performed during January and February 2015 using Medline, Ovid, Proquest, PubMed, University of Antwerp Discovery Service and Web of Science, for articles that apply the SEM and TTI. A Data Extraction Form with mostly closed-end questions was developed to assist with data extraction. Aggregate descriptive statistics were utilized to summarize the general characteristics of the SEM and TTI as documented in the scientific literature. A total of 290 potentially relevant articles referencing the SEM were found. As for the TTI, a total of 131 potentially relevant articles were found. After strict evaluation for inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 SEM studies and 46 TTI studies were included in the systematic review. The SEM and TTI are theoretical frameworks that share many theoretical concepts and are relevant for several types of health behaviors. However, they differ in the structure of the model, and in how the variables are thought to interact with each other, the TTI being a matrix while the SEM has a ring structure. The main difference consists of the division of the TTI into levels of causation (ultimate, distal and proximal) which are not considered within the levels of the SEM. It was further found that in the articles studied in this systematic review, both models are often considered effective, while the empirical basis of these (and other) conclusions reached by their authors is in many cases unclear or incompletely specified.

Comparative habitat ecology of Texas and masked bobwhites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guthery, F.S.; King, N.M.; Nolte, K.R.; Kuvlesky, W.P.; DeStefano, S.; Gall, S.A.; Silvy, N.J.

2000-01-01

The habitat ecology of masked bobwhites (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi) is poorly understood, which hampers recovery efforts for this endangered bird. During 1994-96, we analyzed the habitat ecology of masked bobwhites in Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona, and compared these findings with the habitat ecology of Texas bobwhites (C. v. texanus) in southern Texas. Mean values for the quantity of low screening cover (<50 cm aboveground), operative temperature (??C), and exposure to aerial predators were relatively constant across regions (CV <14.2%), indicating these variables are important in adaptive habitat-use decisions by bobwhites. Bobwhites exhibited preference in all regions for higher canopy coverage of woody vegetation, lower exposure to aerial predators, and lower operative temperatures in comparison with randomly available conditions. The major habitat deficiencies for masked bobwhites were lack of woody and herbaceous cover, which led to high exposure to aerial predators in Sonora and Arizona. High operative temperatures at quail level were associated with the loss of ???24% of potential habitat space-time in Texas, Sonora, and Arizona. Management to improve habitat for masked bobwhites includes any practice that increases canopy coverage of woody vegetation, and height and coverage of herbaceous vegetation.

[Rapid screening and identification of 22 allergenic disperse dyes in ecological textiles by high performance liquid chromatography-linear ion trap/orbitrap mass spectrometry].

PubMed

Niu, Zengyuan; Luo, Xin; Ye, Xiwen; Xiu, Xiaoli; Zhang, Li; Wang, Xin; Chen, Jing

2015-10-01

A rapid screening method based on high performance liquid chromatography-linear ion trap/orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap MS) for 22 disperse dyes in ecological textiles has been established. The target compounds were extracted by pyridine/water (1:1, v/v) by shaking extraction in 90 degrees C water bath. The extracts were then separated by a CAPCELL PAK C18 column (100 mm x 2.0 mm, 5 μm) using gradient elution with acetonitrile-5 mmol/L ammonium acetate containing 0.01% (v/v) formic acid as mobile phases, and finally analyzed by HPLC-LTQ/Orbitrap in positive and negative ESI modes. The retention time and accurate mass of parent ion were used for fast screening of 22 disperse dyes, while the confirmatory analysis was obtained by fragments generated by collision-induced dissociation (CID) MS/MS. Target analysis exhibited high mass accuracy (< 5 x 10(-6)). Each target showed a good linearity in its own concentration range and the correlation coefficient was higher than 0.99. The LOQs were 0.125-2.5 mg/kg. Except for Disperse Yellow 49, the average recoveries of most disperse dyes at three spiked levels were 65%-120%, and the relative standard deviations (n = 6) were less than 15%. The method was applied for screening 40 different kinds of textiles, and Disperse Orange 37/76 was detected in one of them. With high selectivity and strong anti-jamming ability, this method is simple, rapid, accurate, and it can be used for the inspection of disperse dyes in textiles.

Association of blood lead levels in children 0-72 months with living in Mid-Appalachia: a semi-ecologic study.

PubMed

Wiener, R Constance; Jurevic, Richard J

2016-01-01

Lead exposure in children remains a significant public health issue, although many advances have been made. The Mid-Appalachia area (Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia) is 89-91% rural with a population density of 16-21 people/km2 (41-54 people/mi2). Mid-Appalachia has significant health disparities including concerns for the consequences of greater lead exposure to children due to mining and industrial footprints, and existing older housing. The purpose of this study is to compare the reported blood lead levels of screened children, aged 0-72 months in Mid-Appalachia, to the children in the USA in general. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the US Census Bureau were analyzed in a semi-ecological study. The blood lead level of 5 μg/dL was compared between children in Mid-Appalachia and the US housing units built before 1950; US housing units built before 1940 were also compared. The number of children with blood lead levels of 5 μg/dL was significantly greater in Mid-Appalachia than nationally (7.75% vs 5.79%, respectively; p<0.0001). The number of homes built before 1950 (p<0.0001) and built before 1940 (p<0.0001) was significantly greater in Mid-Appalachia than nationally. Blood lead levels in children are higher in Mid-Appalachia than nationally and there is an ecological relationship with the number of homes built before 1950 and before 1940.

The pros and cons of ecological risk assessment based on data from different levels of biological organization

PubMed Central

Rohr, Jason R.; Salice, Christopher J.; Nisbet, Roger M.

2016-01-01

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is the process used to evaluate the safety of manufactured chemicals to the environment. Here we review the pros and cons of ERA across levels of biological organization, including suborganismal (e.g. biomarkers), individual, population, community, ecosystem, and landscapes levels. Our review revealed that level of biological organization is often related negatively with ease at assessing cause-effect relationships, ease of high-throughput screening of large numbers of chemicals (it is especially easier for suborganismal endpoints), and uncertainty of the ERA because low levels of biological organization tend to have a large distance between their measurement (what is quantified) and assessment endpoints (what is to be protected). In contrast, level of biological organization is often related positively with sensitivity to important negative and positive feedbacks and context dependencies within biological systems, and ease at capturing recovery from adverse contaminant effects. Some endpoints did not show obvious trends across levels of biological organization, such as the use of vertebrate animals in chemical testing and ease at screening large numbers of species, and other factors lacked sufficient data across levels of biological organization, such as repeatability, variability, cost per study, and cost per species of effects assessment, the latter of which might be a more defensible way to compare costs of ERAs than cost per study. To compensate for weaknesses of ERA at any particular level of biological organization, we also review mathematical modeling approaches commonly used to extrapolate effects across levels of organization. Finally, we provide recommendations for next generation ERA, submitting that if there is an ideal level of biological organization to conduct ERA, it will only emerge if ERA is approached simultaneously from the bottom of biological organization up as well as from the top down, all while employing mathematical modeling approaches where possible to enhance ERA. Because top-down ERA is unconventional, we also offer some suggestions for how it might be implemented efficaciously. We hope this review helps researchers in the field of ERA fill key information gaps and helps risk assessors identify the best levels of biological organization to conduct ERAs with differing goals. PMID:27340745

REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING PROTOCOLS FOR ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS USING ESTUARINE CRUSTACEANS

EPA Science Inventory

The objective of this research is to develop in vivo screening protocols for endocrine disruption in marine crustaceans, invertebrates of ecological and economic importance. A series of comparative developmental and reproductive studies were performed on several species of estuar...

AN OVERVIEW OF THE USE OF QSARS FOR RANKING AND PRIORITIZING LARGE CHEMICAL INVENTORIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological risk assessments for chemical stressors are used to establish linkages between likely exposure concentrations and adverse effects to ecological receptors. At times, it is useful to conduct screening risk assessments to assist in prioritizing or ranking chemicals on the...

[The screening diagnostic of micro ecological disorders of oral cavity].

PubMed

Petrushanko, T A; Tchereda, V V; Loban, G A

2014-06-01

The original mode of screening evaluation of colonizational resistance of oral cavity made it possible to detect its decreasing under caries of teeth solid tissue and development of catarrhal gingivitis. In springtime, the degree of failure of primarily barrier mechanism of oral mucous membrane increases.

Development of UV-B screening compounds in response to variation in ambient levels of UV-B radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Joe H.; Xu, Chenping; Gao, Wei; Slusser, James R.

2005-08-01

The induction of UV-B screening compounds in response to exposure to UV-B radiation is a commonly reported response and is generally considered to be an adaptive response of plants for protection from UVinduced damage. However, a number of questions remain to be answered including the importance of qualitative and localization differences among species in providing protection, indirect consequences of changes in leaf secondary chemistry on ecological processes and the dose response of metabolite accumulation. In this study we utilized UV monitoring data provided on site by the USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program to monitor the changes in UV-screening compounds in soybeans under a range of UV-B levels due to natural variation in ambient UV-B radiation. Soybean cultivars Essex, Clark and Clark-magenta, an isoline of Clark that produces minimal levels of flavonols, were grown beneath shelters covered either with polyester to block most UV-B radiation or teflon which is nearly transparent in the UV range and harvested at regular intervals for pigment and protein analysis. Daily levels of weighted UV-B varied from <1 to >7 kJ m-2. Increases in UV-screening compounds showed a positive dose response to UV-B radiation in all cultivars with Essex showing the steepest dose response. UV-A also induced screening compounds in all species The hydroxycinnimates of the magenta isoline showed a steep dose response to UV-A and a rather constant (non dose specific) but small additional increment in response to UV-B. The Clark isoline, which produced primarily the flavonol quercetin, showed a dose response to UV-B intermediate between that of Clark-magenta and Essex. All three cultivars show similar tolerance to UV-B in field conditions indicating that UV-induced pigment production is adequate to protect them from excessive UV-B damage.

Associations between factors within the home setting and screen time among children aged 0–5 years: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Excessive engagement in screen time has several immediate and long-term health implications among pre-school children. However, little is known about the factors that influence screen time in this age group. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use the Ecologic Model of Sedentary Behavior as a guide to examine associations between intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors within the home setting and screen time among pre-school children. Methods Participants were 746 pre-school children (≤ 5 years old) from the Kingston, Ontario, Canada area. From May to September, 2011, parents completed a questionnaire regarding several intrapersonal (child demographics), interpersonal (family demographics, parental cognitions, parental behavior), and physical environment (television, computer, or video games in the bedroom) factors within the home setting. Parents also reported the average amount of time per day their child spent watching television and playing video/computer games. Associations were examined using linear and logistic regression models. Results Most participants (93.7%) watched television and 37.9% played video/computer games. Several intrapersonal, interpersonal, and physical environment factors within the home setting were associated with screen time. More specifically, age, parental attitudes, parental barriers, parental descriptive norms, parental screen time, and having a television in the bedroom were positive predictors of screen time; whereas, parental education, parental income, and parental self-efficacy were negative predictors of screen time in the linear regression analysis. Collectively these variables explained 64.2% of the variance in screen time. Parental cognitive factors (self-efficacy, attitudes, barriers, descriptive norms) at the interpersonal level explained a large portion (37.9%) of this variance. Conclusions A large proportion of screen time in pre-school children was explained by factors within the home setting. Parental cognitive factors at the interpersonal level were of particular relevance. These findings suggest that interventions aiming to foster appropriate screen time habits in pre-school children may be most effective if they target parents for behavioral change. PMID:22823887

A refined ecological risk assessment for California red-legged frog, Delta smelt, and California tiger salamander exposed to malathion.

PubMed

Clemow, Yvonne H; Manning, Gillian E; Breton, Roger L; Winchell, Michael F; Padilla, Lauren; Rodney, Sara I; Hanzas, John P; Estes, Tammara L; Budreski, Katherine; Toth, Brent N; Hill, Katie L; Priest, Colleen D; Teed, R Scott; Knopper, Loren D; Moore, Dwayne Rj; Stone, Christopher T; Whatling, Paul

2018-03-01

The California red-legged frog (CRLF), Delta smelt (DS), and California tiger salamander (CTS) are 3 species listed under the United States Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), all of which inhabit aquatic ecosystems in California. The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has conducted deterministic screening-level risk assessments for these species potentially exposed to malathion, an organophosphorus insecticide and acaricide. Results from our screening-level analyses identified potential risk of direct effects to DS as well as indirect effects to all 3 species via reduction in prey. Accordingly, for those species and scenarios in which risk was identified at the screening level, we conducted a refined probabilistic risk assessment for CRLF, DS, and CTS. The refined ecological risk assessment (ERA) was conducted using best available data and approaches, as recommended by the 2013 National Research Council (NRC) report "Assessing Risks to Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides." Refined aquatic exposure models including the Pesticide Root Zone Model (PRZM), the Vegetative Filter Strip Modeling System (VFSMOD), the Variable Volume Water Model (VVWM), the Exposure Analysis Modeling System (EXAMS), and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) were used to generate estimated exposure concentrations (EECs) for malathion based on worst-case scenarios in California. Refined effects analyses involved developing concentration-response curves for fish and species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) for fish and aquatic invertebrates. Quantitative risk curves, field and mesocosm studies, surface-water monitoring data, and incident reports were considered in a weight-of-evidence approach. Currently, labeled uses of malathion are not expected to result in direct effects to CRLF, DS or CTS, or indirect effects due to effects on fish and invertebrate prey. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:224-239. © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). © 2017 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Screening for Stockholm Convention persistent organic pollutants in the Bosna River (Bosnia and Herzogovina).

PubMed

Harman, Christopher; Grung, Merete; Djedjibegovic, Jasmina; Marjanovic, Aleksandra; Sober, Miroslav; Sinanovic, Kemo; Fjeld, Eirik; Rognerud, Sigurd; Ranneklev, Sissel Brit; Larssen, Thorjørn

2013-02-01

The Stockholm Convention, which aspires to manage persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at the international level, was recently ratified in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Despite this fact, there is in general a paucity of data regarding the levels of POPs in the environment in BiH. In the present study, screening for POPs was conducted in one of the country's major rivers, the Bosna. A two-pronged approach was applied using passive samplers to detect the freely dissolved and bioavailable concentrations in the water phase and sediment analysis to provide an integrated measure of historical contamination. At several places along the river, the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were high and exhibited potential for both chronic and acute effects to biota. River water also showed elevated concentrations of PAH, up to 480 ng L(-1) near the city of Doboj, and diagnostic ratios suggested combustion sources for the contamination present in both types of sample. The levels of the other contaminants measured-polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers--were generally low in the water phase. However, PCBs and some OCPs were present in river sediments at levels which breach the international criteria and thus suggest potential for ecological damage. Additionally, the levels of heptachlor breached these criteria in many of the sites investigated. This study presents the first screening data for some of these Stockholm Convention relevant compounds in BiH and reveals both low concentrations of some chemical groups, but significant point sources and historic contamination for others.

Methods used to characterize the chemical composition and biological activity of environmental waters throughout the United States, 2012-14

USGS Publications Warehouse

Romanok, Kristin M.; Reilly, Timothy J.; Barber, Larry B.; Boone, J. Scott; Buxton, Herbert T.; Foreman, William T.; Furlong, Edward T.; Hladik, Michelle; Iwanowicz, Luke R.; Journey, Celeste A.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Kuivila, Kathryn; Loftin, Keith A.; Mills, Marc A.; Meyer, Michael T.; Orlando, James L.; Smalling, Kelly L.; Villeneuve, Daniel L.; Bradley, Paul M.

2017-03-22

A vast array of chemical compounds are in wide commercial use in the United States, and the potential ecological and human-health effect of exposure to chemical mixtures has been identified as a high priority in environment health science. Awareness of the potential effects of low-level chemical exposures is rising. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, conducted a study in which samples were collected from 38 streams in 25 States to provide an overview of contaminants found in stream water across the Nation. Additionally, biological screening assays were used to help determine any potential ecological and human-health effects of these chemical mixtures and to prioritize target chemicals for future toxicological studies. This report describes the site locations and the sampling and analytical methods and quality-assurance procedures used in the study.

Comparing methods for measuring peak look duration: are individual differences observed on screen-based tasks also found in more ecologically valid contexts?

PubMed

Wass, Sam V

2014-08-01

Convergent research points to the importance of studying the ontogenesis of sustained attention during the early years of life, but little research hitherto has compared and contrasted different techniques available for measuring sustained attention. Here, we compare methods that have been used to assess one parameter of sustained attention, namely infants' peak look duration to novel stimuli. Our focus was to assess whether individual differences in peak look duration are stable across different measurement techniques. In a single cohort of 42 typically developing 11-month-old infants we assessed peak look duration using six different measurement paradigms (four screen-based, two naturalistic). Zero-order correlations suggested that individual differences in peak look duration were stable across all four screen-based paradigms, but no correlations were found between peak look durations observed on the screen-based and the naturalistic paradigms. A factor analysis conducted on the dependent variable of peak look duration identified two factors. All four screen-based tasks loaded onto the first factor, but the two naturalistic tasks did not relate, and mapped onto a different factor. Our results question how individual differences observed on screen-based tasks manifest in more ecologically valid contexts. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparing methods for measuring peak look duration: Are individual differences observed on screen-based tasks also found in more ecologically valid contexts?

PubMed Central

Wass, Sam V.

2014-01-01

Convergent research points to the importance of studying the ontogenesis of sustained attention during the early years of life, but little research hitherto has compared and contrasted different techniques available for measuring sustained attention. Here, we compare methods that have been used to assess one parameter of sustained attention, namely infants’ peak look duration to novel stimuli. Our focus was to assess whether individual differences in peak look duration are stable across different measurement techniques. In a single cohort of 42 typically developing 11-month-old infants we assessed peak look duration using six different measurement paradigms (four screen-based, two naturalistic). Zero-order correlations suggested that individual differences in peak look duration were stable across all four screen-based paradigms, but no correlations were found between peak look durations observed on the screen-based and the naturalistic paradigms. A factor analysis conducted on the dependent variable of peak look duration identified two factors. All four screen-based tasks loaded onto the first factor, but the two naturalistic tasks did not relate, and mapped onto a different factor. Our results question how individual differences observed on screen-based tasks manifest in more ecologically valid contexts. PMID:24905901

U.S. EPA Superfund Program's Policy for Risk and Dose Assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walker, Stuart

2008-01-15

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) has primary responsibility for implementing the long-term (non-emergency) portion of a key U.S. law regulating cleanup: the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, CERCLA, nicknamed 'Superfund'. The purpose of the Superfund program is to protect human health and the environment over the long term from releases or potential releases of hazardous substances from abandoned or uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The focus of this paper is on risk and dose assessment policies and tools for addressing radioactively contaminated sites by the Superfund program. EPA has almost completedmore » two risk assessment tools that are particularly relevant to decommissioning activities conducted under CERCLA authority. These are the: 1. Building Preliminary Remediation Goals for Radionuclides (BPRG) electronic calculator, and 2. Radionuclide Outdoor Surfaces Preliminary Remediation Goals (SPRG) electronic calculator. EPA developed the BPRG calculator to help standardize the evaluation and cleanup of radiologically contaminated buildings at which risk is being assessed for occupancy. BPRGs are radionuclide concentrations in dust, air and building materials that correspond to a specified level of human cancer risk. The intent of SPRG calculator is to address hard outside surfaces such as building slabs, outside building walls, sidewalks and roads. SPRGs are radionuclide concentrations in dust and hard outside surface materials. EPA is also developing the 'Radionuclide Ecological Benchmark' calculator. This calculator provides biota concentration guides (BCGs), also known as ecological screening benchmarks, for use in ecological risk assessments at CERCLA sites. This calculator is intended to develop ecological benchmarks as part of the EPA guidance 'Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund: Process for Designing and Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments'. The calculator develops ecological benchmarks for ionizing radiation based on cell death only.« less

A "weight of evidence" approach for the integration of environmental "triad" data to assess ecological risk and biological vulnerability.

PubMed

Dagnino, Alessandro; Sforzini, Susanna; Dondero, Francesco; Fenoglio, Stefano; Bona, Elisa; Jensen, John; Viarengo, Aldo

2008-07-01

A new Expert Decision Support System (EDSS) that can integrate Triad data for assessing environmental risk and biological vulnerability at contaminated sites has been developed. Starting with ecosystem relevance, the EDSS assigns different weights to the results obtained from Triad disciplines. The following parameters have been employed: 1) chemical soil analyses (revealing the presence of potentially dangerous substances), 2) ecotoxicological bioassays (utilizing classical endpoints such as survival and reproduction rates), 3) biomarkers (showing sublethal pollutant effects), and 4) ecological parameters (assessing changes in community structure and functions). For each Triad discipline, the EDSS compares the data obtained at the studied field sites with reference values and calculates different 0-1 indexes (e.g., Chemical Risk Index, Ecotoxicological Risk Index, and Ecological Risk Index). The EDSS output consists of 3 indexes: 1) Environmental Risk index (EnvRI), quantifying the levels of biological damage at population-community level, 2) Biological Vulnerability Index (BVI), assessing the potential threats to biological equilibriums, and 3) Genotoxicity Index (GTI), screening genotoxicity effects. The EDSS has been applied in the integration of a battery of Triad data obtained during the European Union-funded Life Intervention in the Fraschetta Area (LINFA) project, which has been carried out in order to estimate the potential risk from soils of a highly anthropized area (Alessandria, Italy) mainly impacted by deposition of atmospheric pollutants. Results obtained during 4 seasonal sampling campaigns (2004-2005) show maximum values of EnvRI in sites A and B (characterized by industrial releases) and lower levels in site D (affected by vehicular traffic emissions). All 3 potentially polluted sites have shown high levels of BVI and GTI, suggesting a general change from reference conditions (site C).

Depression and work performance: an ecological study using web-based screening.

PubMed

Harvey, S B; Glozier, N; Henderson, M; Allaway, S; Litchfield, P; Holland-Elliott, K; Hotopf, M

2011-05-01

Depression is reported to be a major cause of illness-related sub-optimal work performance (presenteeism). However, the majority of studies examining presenteeism have relied on self-report measures of work performance. Furthermore, employers currently face a number of practical challenges in attempting to facilitate early identification of depression. To test whether a web-based screening tool for depression could be used successfully in the workplace and whether it was possible to detect an association between rates of depression and objective measures of impaired workgroup performance. All permanent employees of a telecommunications company with UK-based call centres were encouraged to complete a web-based psychological assessment using the Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9). In addition to confidential individual level results, the tool was able to provide anonymized summary statistics for each workgroup. Four objective measures of work performance were collected for each workgroup. During the study period, 1161 web-based PHQ-9 questionnaires were completed. There was a negative linear relationship between rates of depressive symptoms and the overall performance of a workgroup (P < 0.001). The linear relationship between depression and workgroup performance remained after controlling for gender balance, percent of temporary staff, employees' perceived level of engagement and satisfaction with their line manager (P < 0.01). Workgroups with high levels of depressive symptoms tend to perform poorly. Computer-aided web-based screening for symptoms of depression is feasible in a work setting.

High throughput and miniaturised systems for biodegradability assessments.

PubMed

Cregut, Mickael; Jouanneau, Sulivan; Brillet, François; Durand, Marie-José; Sweetlove, Cyril; Chenèble, Jean-Charles; L'Haridon, Jacques; Thouand, Gérald

2014-01-01

The society demands safer products with a better ecological profile. Regulatory criteria have been developed to prevent risks for human health and the environment, for example, within the framework of the European regulation REACH (Regulation (EC) No 1907, 2006). This has driven industry to consider the development of high throughput screening methodologies for assessing chemical biodegradability. These new screening methodologies must be scalable for miniaturisation, reproducible and as reliable as existing procedures for enhanced biodegradability assessment. Here, we evaluate two alternative systems that can be scaled for high throughput screening and conveniently miniaturised to limit costs in comparison with traditional testing. These systems are based on two dyes as follows: an invasive fluorescent dyes that serves as a cellular activity marker (a resazurin-like dye reagent) and a noninvasive fluorescent oxygen optosensor dye (an optical sensor). The advantages and limitations of these platforms for biodegradability assessment are presented. Our results confirm the feasibility of these systems for evaluating and screening chemicals for ready biodegradability. The optosensor is a miniaturised version of a component already used in traditional ready biodegradability testing, whereas the resazurin dye offers an interesting new screening mechanism for chemical concentrations greater than 10 mg/l that are not amenable to traditional closed bottle tests. The use of these approaches allows generalisation of high throughput screening methodologies to meet the need of developing new compounds with a favourable ecological profile and also assessment for regulatory purpose.

Screening assessment and requirements for a comprehensive assessment: Volume 1, Draft. Columbia River comprehensive impact assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1997-04-01

To evaluate the impact to the Columbia River from the Hanford Site-derived contaminants, the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Washington State Department of Ecology initiated a study referred to as the Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA). To address concerns about the scope and direction of CRCIA as well as enhance regulator, tribal, stockholder, and public involvement, the CRCIA Management Team was formed in August 1995. The Team agreed to conduct CRCIA using a phased approach. The initial phase, includes two components: 1) a screening assessment to evaluate the potential impact to the river, resulting frommore » current levels of Hanford-derived contaminants in order to support decisions on Interim Remedial Measures, and 2) a definition of the essential work remaining to provide an acceptable comprehensive river impact assessment. The screening assessment is described in Part I of this report. The essential work remaining is Part II of this report. The objective of the screening assessment is to identify areas where the greatest potential exists for adverse effects on humans or the environment. Part I of this report discusses the scope, technical approach, and results of the screening assessment. Part II defines a new paradigm for predecisional participation by those affected by Hanford cleanup decisions.« less

Organochlorine pesticides across the tributaries of River Ravi, Pakistan: Human health risk assessment through dermal exposure, ecological risks, source fingerprints and spatio-temporal distribution.

PubMed

Baqar, Mujtaba; Sadef, Yumna; Ahmad, Sajid Rashid; Mahmood, Adeel; Li, Jun; Zhang, Gan

2018-03-15

This study monitored the human health risks through dermal exposure, hazardous risks to ecological integrity, contamination levels, spatio-temporal distribution, and congener specific analysis of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) across River Ravi and its three northern tributaries (Nullah Bein, Nullah Basanter and Nullah Deg). The residual levels of OCPs isomers were screened for water (n=54) and surface sediment (n=54) samples from twenty seven sampling sites in two alternate seasons (pre-monsoon and post-monsoon). The ∑OCPs concentrations ranged from 13.61 to 1992.18ng/g dry weight and 12.89 to 128.16ng/L with predominance of β-endosulfan and p,p'-DDT in sediment and water matrixes, respectively. Distribution pattern revealed significantly higher concentrations in upstream and midstream, suggesting considerable transboundary OCPs pollution. Calculated ratios of α-HCH/γ-HCH, o,p'-DDT/p,p'-DDT, (DDE+DDD)/∑DDTs and cis/trans-chlordane for water and sediments identified the fresh addition of lindane, technical DDTs and chlordane in the study area. Risk quotient (RQ) based ecological risk was found to be >1 at all studied streams during both seasons and elucidates higher risks for endosulfan (α-endosulfan) and endrin. Human health risk assessment indicated absence of hazardous (non-carcinogenic) risk through bathing in studied streams; as the hazard index values ranged from 1.09E-05 to 2.48E-02 (acceptable limit; <1). However, the calculated carcinogenic risk possessed by OCPs through dermal exposure ranged from 1.39E-10 to 1.98E-05 that highlighted the considerable carcinogenic risk associated to aldrin, dieldrin, p,p'-DDT and β-endosulfan at certain studied sites. Therefore, the high levels of ecological risk and carcinogenic human health risk had emphasized an immediate elimination of ongoing OCPs addition in the studied area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-level stressor analysis from the DNA/biochemical level to community levels in an urban stream and integrative health response (IHR) assessments.

PubMed

Lee, Jae Hoon; Kim, Joon Ha; Oh, Hee-Mock; An, Kwang-Guk

2013-01-01

The objectives of this study were to identify multi-level stressors at the DNA/biochemical level to the community level in fish in an urban stream and to develop an integrative health response (IHR) model for ecological health diagnosis. A pristine control site (S (c) ) and an impacted site (S (i) ) were selected from among seven pre-screened sites studied over seven years. Various chemical analyses indicated that nutrient enrichment (Nitrogen, Phosphorus) and organic pollution were significantly greater (t > 8.783, p < 0.01) at the S (i) site compared to the S (c) site. Single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assays) of DNA-level impairment indicated significantly (t = 5.678, p < 0.01) greater tail intensity, expressed as % tail-DNA, at the S (i) site and genotoxic responses were detected in the downstream reach. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assays, as a physiological bioindicator, were 2.8-fold higher (p < 0.05, NK-test after ANOVA) at the S (i) site. Tissue analysis using a necropsy-based health assessment index (NHAI) showed distinct internal organ disorders in three tissues, i.e., liver, kidney, and gill, at the S (i) site. Population-level analysis using the sentinel species Zacco platypus showed that the regression coefficient (b) was 3.012 for the S (i) site and 2.915 for the S (c) site, indicating population skewness in the downstream reach. Community-level health was impaired at the S (i) site based on an index of biological integrity (IBI), and physical habitat modifications were identified by a qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI). Overall, the model values for the integrative health response (IHR), developed using the star plot approach, were 3.22 (80.5%) at the S (c) site and 0.74 (18.5%) at the S (i) site, indicating that, overall, ecological health impairments were evident in the urban reach. Our study was based on multi-level approaches using biological organization and the results suggest that there is a pivotal point of linkage between mechanistic understanding and real ecological consequences of environmental stressors.

An evaluation of inorganic toxicity reference values for use in assessing hazards to American robins (Turdus migratorius)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beyer, W. Nelson; Sample, Bradley E.

2017-01-01

When performing screening-level and baseline risk assessments, assessors usually compare estimated exposures of wildlife receptor species with toxicity reference values (TRVs). We modeled the exposure of American robins (Turdus migratorius) to 10 elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Se, Zn, and V) in spring and early summer, a time when earthworms are the preferred prey. We calculated soil benchmarks associated with possible toxic effects to these robins from 6 sets of published TRVs. Several of the resulting soil screening-level benchmarks were inconsistent with each other and less than soil background concentrations. Accordingly, we examined the derivations of the TRVs as a possible source of error. In the case of V, a particularly toxic chemical compound (ammonium vanadate) containing V, not normally present in soil, had been used to estimate a TRV. In the cases of Zn and Cu, use of uncertainty values of 10 in estimating TRVs led to implausibly low soil screening values. In the case of Pb, a TRV was calculated from studies demonstrating reductions in egg production in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) exposed to Pb concentrations well below than those causing toxic effects in other species of birds. The results on quail, which were replicated in additional trials, are probably not applicable to other, unrelated species, although we acknowledge that only a small fraction of all species of birds has been tested. These examples underscore the importance of understanding the derivation and relevance of TRVs before selecting them for use in screening or in ecological risk assessment.

Next steps in the development of ecological soil clean-up values for metals.

PubMed

Wentsel, Randall; Fairbrother, Anne

2014-07-01

This special series in Integrated Environmental Assessment Management presents the results from 6 workgroups that were formed at the workshop on Ecological Soil Levels-Next Steps in the Development of Metal Clean-Up Values (17-21 September 2012, Sundance, Utah). This introductory article presents an overview of the issues assessors face when conducting risk assessments for metals in soils, key US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) documents on metals risk assessment, and discusses the importance of leveraging from recent major terrestrial research projects, primarily to address Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemical Substances (REACH) requirements in Europe, that have significantly advanced our understanding of the behavior and toxicity of metals in soils. These projects developed large data sets that are useful for the risk assessment of metals in soil environments. The workshop attendees met to work toward developing a process for establishing ecological soil clean-up values (Eco-SCVs). The goal of the workshop was to progress from ecological soil screening values (Eco-SSLs) to final clean-up values by providing regulators with the methods and processes to incorporate bioavailability, normalize toxicity thresholds, address food-web issues, and incorporate background concentrations. The REACH data sets were used by workshop participants as case studies in the development of the ecological standards for soils. The workshop attendees discussed scientific advancements in bioavailability, soil biota and wildlife case studies, soil processes, and food-chain modeling. In addition, one of the workgroups discussed the processes needed to frame the topics to gain regulatory acceptance as a directive or guidance by Canada, the USEPA, or the United States. © 2013 SETAC.

Empirical Research on Ecological Development Level of Resource-based Industries-Base on the data of the Silk Road Economic Belt Core Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lei; Yan, Min

2017-11-01

Industrial ecology is the epitome of sustainable development in industry level, is one effective gateway to realizing green transformation. On the basis of industrial ecology development, including resource efficiency and environmental efficiency of ecological evaluation index system, this paper evaluates the level of industrial ecology development of resource-based industries in Xinjiang using entropy method. Research shows that the overall ecological development level of resource-based industries has remained at continuous improved trend with slow improvement in resource efficiency, and relative faster improvement in environmental efficiency. With economic development entering into the period of new normal at the end of the “twelfth five year plan”, the resource efficiency of ecological development of resource-based industries demonstrated a downward trend. The overall level of industrial ecology also faced with certain fluctuations, various ecological development level of resource-based industries also presented a downward trend. To promote ecological development of resource-based industries in Xinjiang, countermeasures and suggestions are initiated.

[Travel time and participation in breast cancer screening in a region with high population dispersion].

PubMed

Borda, Alfredo; Sanz, Belén; Otero, Laura; Blasco, Teresa; García-Gómez, Francisco J; de Andrés, Fuencisla

2011-01-01

To analyze the association between travel time and participation in a breast cancer screening program adjusted for contextual variables in the province of Segovia (Spain). We performed an ecological study using the following data sources: the Breast Cancer Early Detection Program of the Primary Care Management of Segovia, the Population and Housing Census for 2001 and the municipal register for 2006-2007. The study period comprised January 2006 to December 2007. Dependent variables consisted of the municipal participation rate and the desired level of municipal participation (greater than or equal to 70%). The key independent variable was travel time from the municipality to the mammography unit. Covariables consisted of the municipalities' demographic and socioeconomic factors. We performed univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses of the participation rate, and logistic regression of the desired participation level. The sample was composed of 178 municipalities. The mean participation rate was 75.2%. The desired level of participation (≥ 70%) was achieved in 119 municipalities (67%). In the multivariate Poisson and logistic regression analyses, longer travel time was associated with a lower participation rate and with lower participation after adjustment was made for geographic density, age, socioeconomic status and dependency ratio, with a relative risk index of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.81-0.96) and an odds ratio of 0.22 (95% CI: 0.1-0.47), respectively. Travel time to the mammography unit may help to explain participation in breast cancer screening programs. Copyright © 2010 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meinhold, A.F.; DePhillips, M.P.; Holtzman, S.

1996-03-22

The US Department of Energy (USDOE) has a program of research in the environmental aspects of oil and gas extraction. This sampling project will characterize the environmental impacts associated with the discharge of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), metals and organics in produced water. This report is part of a series of studies of the health and ecological risks from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico, supported by the USDOE. These assessments are being coordinated with the field study, using the collected data to perform human health and ecological risk assessments. These assessments will provide input tomore » regulators in the development of guidelines and permits, and to industry in the development and use of appropriate discharge practices. The initial human health and ecological risk assessments consist of conservative screening analyses meant to identify potentially important contaminants, and to eliminate others from further consideration. More quantitative assessments were done for contaminants identified, in the screening analysis, as being of potential concern. Section 2 gives an overview of human health and ecological risk assessment to help put the analyses presented here in perspective. Section 3 provides the hazard assessment portion of the risk assessment, and identifies the important receptors and pathways of concern. Section 3 also outlines the approach taken to the risk assessments presented in the rest of the report. The remaining sections (4 through 9) present the human health and ecological risk assessments for discharges of produced water to open bays in Louisiana.« less

The value of health screening in music schools and conservatoires.

PubMed

Clark, Terry; Williamon, Aaron; Redding, Emma

2013-04-01

Interest in musicians' health and well-being is growing, reflected by increasing numbers of investigations into the physicality and psychology of musical performance. Within sport and dance, screening and profiling programmes, especially of the musculoskeletal system, have furthered understanding on not only physical and psychological capabilities and demands but also musculoskeletal injury mechanisms and susceptibility. This article engages with questions relating to the development and delivery of musician-specific health screening programmes. Effective screening can offer a variety of benefits for musicians, providing informed recommendations for sustaining performance-related fitness across educational and professional contexts. Employing an interdisciplinary approach when developing screening programmes is essential, as is the ecological appropriateness of the measures used. The implications inherent in delivering and sustaining successful screening programmes in schools and conservatoires are discussed.

Factors influencing the prevalence and infestation levels of Varroa destructor in honeybee colonies in two highland agro-ecological zones of Uganda.

PubMed

Chemurot, Moses; Akol, Anne M; Masembe, Charles; de Smet, Lina; Descamps, Tine; de Graaf, Dirk C

2016-04-01

Varroa mites are ecto-parasites of honeybees and are a threat to the beekeeping industry. We identified the haplotype of Varroa mites and evaluated potential factors that influence their prevalence and infestation levels in the eastern and western highland agro-ecological zones of Uganda. This was done by collecting samples of adult worker bees between December 2014 and September 2015 in two sampling moments. Samples of bees were screened for Varroa using the ethanol wash method and the mites were identified by molecular techniques. All DNA sequences obtained from sampled mite populations in the two zones were 100 % identical to the Korean Haplotype (AF106899). Mean mite prevalence in the apiaries was 40 and 53 % for the western and eastern zones, respectively, during the first sampling. Over the second sampling, mean mite prevalence increased considerably in the western (59 %) but not in the eastern (51 %) zone. Factors that were associated with Varroa mite infestation levels include altitude, nature of apiary slope and apiary management practices during the first sampling. Our results further showed that Varroa mites were spreading from lower to higher elevations. Feral colonies were also infested with Varroa mites at infestation levels not significantly different from those in managed colonies. Colony productivity and strength were not correlated to mite infestation levels. We recommend a long-term Varroa mite monitoring strategy in areas of varying landscape and land use factors for a clear understanding of possible changes in mite infestation levels among African honeybees for informed decision making.

What factors affect patient access and engagement with clubfoot treatment in low- and middle-income countries? Meta-synthesis of existing qualitative studies using a social ecological model.

PubMed

Drew, Sarah; Lavy, Christopher; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2016-05-01

To conduct a systematic synthesis of previous research to identify factors that affect treatment-seeking for clubfoot and community-level interventions to improve engagement in low- and middle-income counties. A search of five databases was conducted, and articles screened using six criteria. Quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Eleven studies were identified for inclusion. Analysis was informed by a social ecological model, which specifies five inter-related factors that may affect treatment-seeking: intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community or socio-cultural factors and public policy. Intrapersonal barriers experienced were a lack of income and additional responsibilities. At the interpersonal level, support from fathers, the extended family and wider community affected on treatment-seeking. Institutional or organisational factors included long distances to treatment centres, insufficient information about treatments and challenges following treatment. Guardians' beliefs about the causes of clubfoot shaped behaviour. At the level of public policy, two-tiered healthcare systems made it difficult for some groups to access timely care. Interventions to address these challenges included counselling sessions, outreach clinics, brace recycling and a range of education programmes. This study identifies factors that affect access and engagement with clubfoot treatment across diverse settings and strategies to address them. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Characterization of the Activity Spectrum of MON 88702 and the Plant-Incorporated Protectant Cry51Aa2.834_16

PubMed Central

Ahmad, Aqeel; Ahrens, Jeffrey E.; Akbar, Waseem; Baum, James A.; Brown, Scott; Clark, Thomas L.; Fridley, Jennifer M.; Gowda, Anilkumar; Greenplate, John T.; Jensen, Peter D.; Mueller, Geoffrey M.; Odegaard, Matthew L.; Tan, Jianguo; Uffman, Joshua P.; Levine, Steven L.

2017-01-01

The spectrum of insecticidal activity of Cry51Aa2.834_16 protein targeting hemipteran and thysanopteran insect pests in cotton was characterized by selecting and screening multiple pest and non-pest species, based on representation of ecological functional groups, taxonomic relatedness (e.g. relationship to species where activity was observed), and availability for effective testing. Seven invertebrate orders, comprising 12 families and 17 representative species were screened for susceptibility to Cry51Aa2.834_16 protein and/or the ability of the protein to protect against feeding damage in laboratory, controlled environments (e.g. greenhouse/growth chamber), and/or field studies when present in cotton plants. The screening results presented for Cry51Aa2.834_16 demonstrate selective and limited activity within three insect orders. Other than Orius insidiosus, no activity was observed for Cry51Aa2.834_16 against several groups of arthropods that perform key ecological roles in some agricultural ecosystems (e.g. pollinators, decomposers, and natural enemies). PMID:28072875

An evaluation of inorganic toxicity reference values for use in assessing hazards to American robins (Turdus migratorius).

PubMed

Beyer, W Nelson; Sample, Bradley E

2017-03-01

When performing screening-level and baseline risk assessments, assessors usually compare estimated exposures of wildlife receptor species with toxicity reference values (TRVs). We modeled the exposure of American robins (Turdus migratorius) to 10 elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Se, Zn, and V) in spring and early summer, a time when earthworms are the preferred prey. We calculated soil benchmarks associated with possible toxic effects to these robins from 6 sets of published TRVs. Several of the resulting soil screening-level benchmarks were inconsistent with each other and less than soil background concentrations. Accordingly, we examined the derivations of the TRVs as a possible source of error. In the case of V, a particularly toxic chemical compound (ammonium vanadate) containing V, not normally present in soil, had been used to estimate a TRV. In the cases of Zn and Cu, use of uncertainty values of 10 in estimating TRVs led to implausibly low soil screening values. In the case of Pb, a TRV was calculated from studies demonstrating reductions in egg production in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) exposed to Pb concentrations well below than those causing toxic effects in other species of birds. The results on quail, which were replicated in additional trials, are probably not applicable to other, unrelated species, although we acknowledge that only a small fraction of all species of birds has been tested. These examples underscore the importance of understanding the derivation and relevance of TRVs before selecting them for use in screening or in ecological risk assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:352-359. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are ecological disrupting compounds (EcoDC)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richmond, Erinn; Grace, Michael; Kelly, John R.; Reisinger, Andrew; Rosi, Emma J.; Walters, David M.

2017-01-01

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are ubiquitous in freshwater ecosystems worldwide and are recognized as contaminants of concern. Currently, contaminants of concern are classified for their persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity (PBT criteria). PPCPs are not classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), although some PPCPs share characteristics similar to POPs. For example, PPCPs are known to be pseudopersistent due to constant discharge into the environment, often at low concentrations. At commonly reported environmental concentrations, PPCPs are rarely toxic, but the ability of these compounds to disrupt ecological processes and functions in freshwater ecosystems is often overlooked. Herein we briefly summarize recent studies highlighting the potential ecological effects of PPCPs, including effects on key ecological processes (e.g. primary productivity and community respiration), and we propose that appropriate screening for harmful effects of PPCPs in surface waters should be expanded to include Ecologically Disrupting Compounds (EcoDC) in addition to the established PBT criteria.

The value of metals bioavailability and speciation information for ecological risk assessment in arid soils.

PubMed

Suedel, Burton C; Nicholson, Andrew; Day, Christopher H; Spicer, James

2006-10-01

When evaluating the risk chemicals may pose to mammals and birds in ecological risk assessments (ERAs), it is common practice to conservatively assume that all (100%) of a chemical in an environmental medium is bioavailable to receptors. This assumption often leads to overestimating ecological risk and may ultimately result in costly and unnecessary risk management actions. While effects of bioavailability and speciation of metals such as arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) have been considered in human health risk assessment, these effects are rarely taken into consideration when assessing risks to mammals and birds. An ERA was conducted at the former Col-Tex refinery site in Colorado City, Texas, USA, to characterize risks to select wildlife species from exposure to chromium (Cr) and Pb found in soils. The focus on these metals was based on results of a screening-level ERA that found that Cr and Pb were posing ecological risks at the site. Soils were analyzed for total Cr and Pb, trivalent Cr (CrIII), hexavalent Cr (CrVI), organic Pb, and the bioavailability and speciation of Pb. Results for Pb and Cr indicated that >94% of the Cr was present as the less toxic and immobile Cr(III) and that >99% of the Pb in soils was present as inorganic Pb. Lead bioaccessibility measured by in vitro testing ranged from 8% to 77.8%, depending on location of individual soil samples. Results demonstrated that Pb and Cr bioavailability and speciation information can raise soil cleanup concentrations while being protective of ecological receptors. The costs of performing the ERA were de minimus compared to the reduction in remediation costs at the site. The refined hazard estimates allowed informed decision making in the management and segregation of soils, allowing for effective risk management at the site.

A critical review of environmental impact statements in Sri Lanka with particular reference to ecological impact assessment.

PubMed

Samarakoon, Miriya; Rowan, John S

2008-03-01

This article critically reviews environmental assessment (EA) practices in Sri Lanka, with a particular focus on ecology. An overview is provided of the domestic and international influences which have shaped the administrative process which is currently a two-tiered scheme. An Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) provides a preliminary screening tool, prior to the requirement for a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). A comprehensive survey of Sri Lankan national archives showed that 463 EAs were completed in the period 1981-2005, with the bulk of these in the more populated Western and North Western Provinces. Two-thirds were IEE surveys, while the remaining third advanced to full EIA. A representative sample of 130 EAs (both IEEs and full EIAs) spanning a broad range of project types, scales, and environmental settings was selected to evaluate the quality of the ecological investigations within the published environmental impact statements (EISs). These were assigned into five classes of "explanatory power", on the basis of their scientific content in relation to survey, analysis, and reporting of ecological interests. Within most EISs, the ecological impact assessment (EcIA) was restricted to the lowest two categories of ecological assessment, i.e., tokenistic presentation of reconnaissance-level species lists without further analysis of the development implications for individual organisms or communities. None of the assessments reviewed provided statistically rigorous analysis, which would be required if ecological impact studies are to include quantitative and testable predictions of impact, which could then be followed up by appropriate post-impact monitoring programs. Attention to key local issues such as biodiversity or ecosystem services, which also have strong social dimensions in the developing world, was also notably underrepresented. It was thus concluded that despite the existence of a sound legislative framework in Sri Lanka, the analysis contained within EISs generally fails to convey meaningful information to the relevant stakeholders and decision makers involved in protecting ecological interests and promoting sustainable development. The introduction of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is considered an important tool to strengthen the institutional capacity of Sri Lankan government to implement current regulations and, in particular, to combat the cumulative effects of incremental development.

[Spatial-temporal pattern and obstacle factors of cultivated land ecological security in major grain producing areas of northeast China: a case study in Jilin Province].

PubMed

Zhao, Hong-Bo; Ma, Yan-Ji

2014-02-01

According to the cultivated land ecological security in major grain production areas of Northeast China, this paper selected 48 counties of Jilin Province as the research object. Based on the PSR-EES conceptual framework model, an evaluation index system of cultivated land ecological security was built. By using the improved TOPSIS, Markov chains, GIS spatial analysis and obstacle degree models, the spatial-temporal pattern of cultivated land ecological security and the obstacle factors were analyzed from 1995 to 2011 in Jilin Province. The results indicated that, the composite index of cultivated land ecological security appeared in a rising trend in Jilin Province from 1995 to 2011, and the cultivated land ecological security level changed from being sensitive to being general. There was a pattern of 'Club Convergence' in cultivated land ecological security level in each county and the spatial discrepancy tended to become larger. The 'Polarization' trend of cultivated land ecological security level was obvious. The distributions of sensitive level and critical security level with ribbon patterns tended to be dispersed, the general security level and relative security levels concentrated, and the distributions of security level scattered. The unstable trend of cultivated land ecological security level was more and more obvious. The main obstacle factors that affected the cultivated land ecological security level in Jilin Province were rural net income per capita, economic density, the proportion of environmental protection investment in GDP, degree of machinery cultivation and the comprehensive utilization rate of industrial solid wastes.

Hydrology and Conservation Ecology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narayanan, M.

2006-12-01

Responses to change in the behavior of ecological systems are largely governed by interactions at different levels. Research is essential and is to be necessarily designed to gain insights into various interactions at the community level. Sustainable resource management is only possible if conservation of biodiversity can be accomplished by properly using the knowledge discovered. It is well known that the United States Department of Agriculture provides technical information, resources, and data necessary to assist the researchers in addressing their conservation needs. Conservation aims to protect, preserve and conserve the earth's natural resources. These include, but not limited to the conservation of soil, water, minerals, air, plants and all living beings. The United States Department of Agriculture also encourages farmers and ranchers to voluntarily address threats to soil and water. Protection of wetlands and wildlife habitat has been on the radar screen of conservation experts for a very long time. The main objective has always been to help farmers and landowners conform and comply with federal and state environmental laws. During the implementation phase, farmers should be encouraged to make beneficial, cost-effective changes to methods of irrigation systems. In some cases, the hydrologic regime of the project area can be thought of as principally an issue of river flow regimes for floodplain forests. In this presentation, the author tries to focus on the impact of hydrology and conservation ecology on global warming. He also discusses the impact of hydrology and conservation ecology global air concerns such as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. References: Chow, V. T, D. R. Maidment, and L. W. Mays. 1988. Applied Hydrology. McGraw-Hill, Inc. U.S. Soil Conservation Service. Technical Release 55: Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds. USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). June 1986. Lehner, B. and P. Döll (2004). Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. Journal of Hydrology 296/1-4. 1-22. http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov http://www.ceh-nerc.ac.uk http://www.usda.gov

The Ecological Culture of Russian and American College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ermolaeva, P. O.

2014-01-01

Comparative research data show that there is both a high level of ecological concern and a high level of ecological passivity among students in Russia, indicating that their ecological culture exists only on the symbolic level. The "green" culture of American college students, in contrast to that of Russia's college students, has become…

[An emergy-ecological footprint model based evaluation of ecological security at the old industrial area in Northeast China: A case study of Liaoning Province.

PubMed

Yang, Qing; Lu, Cheng Peng; Zhou, Feng; Geng, Yong; Jing, Hong Shuang; Ren, Wan Xia; Xue, Bing

2016-05-01

Based on the integrated model of emergy-ecological footprint approaches, the ecological security of Liaoning Province, a typical case for the old industrial area, was quantitatively evaluated from 2003 to 2012, followed by a scenario analysis on the development trend of the ecological secu-rity by employing the gray kinetic model. The results showed that, from 2003 to 2012, the value of emergy ecological-capacity per capita in Liaoning Province decreased from 3.13 hm 2 to 3.07 hm 2 , while the emergy-ecological footprint increased from 13.88 hm 2 to 21.96 hm 2 , which indicated that the ecological deficit existed in Liaoning Province and the situation was getting worse. The ecological pressure index increased from 4.43 to 7.16 during the studied period, and the alert level of ecological security changed from light to middle level. According to the development trend, the emergy ecological capacity per capita during 2013-2022 would correspondingly decrease from 3.04 hm 2 to 2.98 hm 2 , while the emergy ecological footprint would increase from 22.72 hm 2 to 35.87 hm 2 , the ecological pressure index would increase from 7.46 to 12.04, and the ecological deficit would keep increasing and the ecological security level would slide into slightly unsafe condition. The alert level of ecological security would turn to be middle or serious, suggesting the problems in ecological safety needed to be solved urgently.

Object permanence in cats (Felis catus): an ecological approach to the study of invisible displacements.

PubMed

Dumas, C

1992-12-01

A single invisible displacement object permanence task was administered to 19 cats (Felis catus). In this task, cats watched a target object from behind a transparent panel. However, cats had to walk around an opaque panel to reach the object. While cats were behind the opaque panel, the object was hidden behind one of two screens. As cats did not perceive the disappearance of the object behind the target screen, the object was invisibly hidden. Results showed that cats solved this task with great flexibility, which markedly contrasts with what has been observed in previous research. The discussion emphasizes the difference between the typical Piagetian task in which the information necessary to succeed must be dealt with in retrospective way, whereas in our task cats had to anticipate a new position of the object. The ecological relevance of this new task is also discussed.

Differences in Mothers' and Children's Dietary Intake during Physical and Sedentary Activities: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.

PubMed

O'Connor, Sydney G; Koprowski, Carol; Dzubur, Eldin; Leventhal, Adam M; Huh, Jimi; Dunton, Genevieve Fridlund

2017-08-01

Physical activity and diet are major modifiable health behaviors contributing to obesity risk. Although patterns of these behaviors tend to cluster within individuals and within family units, it is unknown to what extent healthy and unhealthy dietary intake might differentially accompany sedentary and physical activities in mothers compared with their children. Our goal was to examine differences in co-occurrence of activities and dietary intake between mothers and children, as measured in real time using ecological momentary assessment. This study examined cross-sectional data from 175 mothers and their children aged 8 to 12 years. Participants completed 8 days of ecological momentary assessment surveys, reporting on whether the following activities had occurred during the past 2 hours: sedentary screen activity, physical activity, and intake of healthy (ie, fruits and vegetables) and unhealthy (ie, fast food, chips/fries, pastries/sweets, and soda/energy drinks) foods. Multilevel logistic regression models estimated the adjusted odds of consuming healthy and unhealthy dietary intake for mothers and children during time periods reporting physical activity (vs no physical activity) or sedentary screen activity (vs no sedentary screen activity). Post hoc tests compared estimates for mothers vs children. Children were significantly more likely than their mothers to consume unhealthy foods during 2-hour windows that included physical activity (odds ratio [children] 1.85, 95% CI 1.47 to 2.31; odds ratio [mothers] 0.83, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.20; P diff <0.05), but not sedentary screen activity (P diff =0.067). In addition, children and their mothers did not differ in their likelihood of consuming healthy foods during 2-hour windows with sedentary screen activity (P diff  =0.497) or physical activity (P diff  =0.170). Results indicate that the consumption of unhealthy foods may be more likely to co-occur within a 2-hour window including physical activity in children as compared to their mothers. Future research should examine reasons for this difference, and potential areas for intervention. Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological concerns following Superstorm Sandy: stressor level and recreational activity levels affect perceptions of ecosystem

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Coastal habitats are vulnerable to storms, and with increasing urbanization, sea level rise, and storm frequency, some urban populations are at risk. This study examined perceptions of respondents in coastal and central New Jersey to Superstorm Sandy, including: 1) concerns about ecological resources and effects (open-ended question), 2) information sources for ecology of the coast (open-ended), and 3) ratings of a list of ecological services as a function of demographics, location (coastal, central Jersey), stressor level (power outages, high winds, flooding) and recreational rates. “Wildlife” and “fish” were the ecological concerns mentioned most often, while beaches and dunes were most often mentioned for environmental concerns. Television, radio, and web/internet were sources trusted for ecological information. The data indicate 1) stressor level was a better predictor of ratings of ecological services than geographical location, but days engaged in recreation contributed the most to variations in ratings, 2) ecological services were rated the highest by respondents with the highest stressor levels, and by those from the coast, compared to others, 3) Caucasians rated ecological services higher than all others, and 4) recreational rates were highest for coastal respondents, and ratings for ecological services increased with recreational rates. Only 20 % of respondents listed specific ecological services as one of their three most important environmental concerns. These data will be useful for increasing preparedness, enhancing educational strategies for shore protection, and providing managers and public policy makers with data essential to developing resiliency strategies. PMID:27011729

Population history, gene flow, and bottlenecks in island populations of a secondary seed disperser, the southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis koenigi)

PubMed Central

Padilla, David P; Spurgin, Lewis G; Fairfield, Eleanor A; Illera, Juan Carlos; Richardson, David S

2015-01-01

Studying the population history and demography of organisms with important ecological roles can aid understanding of evolutionary processes at the community level and inform conservation. We screened genetic variation (mtDNA and microsatellite) across the populations of the southern grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis koenigi) in the Canary Islands, where it is an endemic subspecies and an important secondary seed disperser. We show that the Canarian subspecies is polyphyletic with L. meridionalis elegans from North Africa and that shrikes have colonized the Canary Islands from North Africa multiple times. Substantial differences in genetic diversity exist across islands, which are most likely the product of a combination of historical colonization events and recent bottlenecks. The Eastern Canary Islands had the highest overall levels of genetic diversity and have probably been most recently and/or frequently colonized from Africa. Recent or ongoing bottlenecks were detected in three of the islands and are consistent with anecdotal evidence of population declines due to human disturbance. These findings are troubling given the shrike's key ecological role in the Canary Islands, and further research is needed to understand the community-level consequences of declines in shrike populations. Finally, we found moderate genetic differentiation among populations, which largely reflected the shrike's bottleneck history; however, a significant pattern of isolation-by-distance indicated that some gene flow occurs between islands. This study is a useful first step toward understanding how secondary seed dispersal operates over broad spatial scales. PMID:25628862

Environmental concern-based site screening of carbon dioxide geological storage in China.

PubMed

Cai, Bofeng; Li, Qi; Liu, Guizhen; Liu, Lancui; Jin, Taotao; Shi, Hui

2017-08-08

Environmental impacts and risks related to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture and storage (CCS) projects may have direct effects on the decision-making process during CCS site selection. This paper proposes a novel method of environmental optimization for CCS site selection using China's ecological red line approach. Moreover, this paper established a GIS based spatial analysis model of environmental optimization during CCS site selection by a large database. The comprehensive data coverage of environmental elements and fine 1 km spatial resolution were used in the database. The quartile method was used for value assignment for specific indicators including the prohibited index and restricted index. The screening results show that areas classified as having high environmental suitability (classes III and IV) in China account for 620,800 km 2 and 156,600 km 2 , respectively, and are mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Qinghai and Xinjiang. The environmental suitability class IV areas of Bayingol Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Hotan Prefecture, Aksu Prefecture, Hulunbuir, Xilingol League and other prefecture-level regions not only cover large land areas, but also form a continuous area in the three provincial-level administrative units. This study may benefit the national macro-strategic deployment and implementation of CCS spatial layout and environmental management in China.

Screening ecological impacts of environmental surface waters using cell-based metabolomics

EPA Science Inventory

Anthropogenic chemicals are routinely detected in aquatic ecosystems downstream from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), industrial and agricultural operations, and numerous other sources. Various studies have shown that exposure to such complex chemical mixtures can produce adv...

Screening for an Allergic Response to 2nd Generation Biofuel Sources

EPA Science Inventory

Abstract for March 2014 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting The use of cellulosic biofuels crops can potentially reduce our carbon footprint. However, they may have unintended ecological and health effects such as increased competitiveness and allergenicity...

Overcoming Barriers in Unhealthy Settings

PubMed Central

Lemke, Michael K.; Meissen, Gregory J.; Apostolopoulos, Yorghos

2016-01-01

We investigated the phenomenon of sustained health-supportive behaviors among long-haul commercial truck drivers, who belong to an occupational segment with extreme health disparities. With a focus on setting-level factors, this study sought to discover ways in which individuals exhibit resiliency while immersed in endemically obesogenic environments, as well as understand setting-level barriers to engaging in health-supportive behaviors. Using a transcendental phenomenological research design, 12 long-haul truck drivers who met screening criteria were selected using purposeful maximum sampling. Seven broad themes were identified: access to health resources, barriers to health behaviors, recommended alternative settings, constituents of health behavior, motivation for health behaviors, attitude toward health behaviors, and trucking culture. We suggest applying ecological theories of health behavior and settings approaches to improve driver health. We also propose the Integrative and Dynamic Healthy Commercial Driving (IDHCD) paradigm, grounded in complexity science, as a new theoretical framework for improving driver health outcomes. PMID:28462332

Screening level model for ecological risk assessment at EF-Site Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alldredge, A.W.; Kirchner, T.B.; McLendon, T.

1995-12-01

In response to a paucity of data on the chemical toxicity of uranium to plants, a factorial experiment employing five uranium concentrations (0, 50, 500, 5000, 25000 ppm) and three moisture regimes (low, medium, high) was performed using three native grasses. Buchloe dactyloides (buffalograss-mid/late seral), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem-late seral), and Aristida longiseta (purple threeawn-early/mid seral) were grown in monocultures and every mixture of two species under all combinations of uranium and moisture levels. This design allows for the analysis of uranium effects, as well as possible compound effects due to moisture stress. Several measures of plant health and viabilitymore » were made, including: percent emergence, survivability of seedlings and mature plants, root and shoot biomass, and the number and mass of inflorescences. No significant differences between uranium levels were observed in terms of emergence and seedling survival. Effects are evident for plant biomass, fecundity, and long-term survivability.« less

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination in stormwater detention pond sediments in coastal South Carolina.

PubMed

Weinstein, John E; Crawford, Kevin D; Garner, Thomas R

2010-03-01

The purpose of this study was to characterize the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination in the sediments of stormwater detention ponds in coastal South Carolina. Levels of the sum of PAH analytes were significantly higher in the sediments of commercial ponds compared to that of reference, golf course, low-density residential, and high-density residential ponds. Isomer ratio analysis suggested that the predominant source of PAHs were pyrogenic; however, many ponds had a PAH signature consistent with mixed uncombusted and combusted PAH sources. PAH levels in these sediments could be modeled using both pond drainage area and pond surface area. These results demonstrate that the sediment from most commercial ponds, and a few residential and golf course ponds, were moderately contaminated with PAHs. PAH levels in these contaminated ponds exceeded between 42% and 75% of the ecological screening values for individual PAH analytes established by US EPA Region IV, suggesting that they may pose a toxicological risk to wildlife.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria are required for optimal attractiveness to Drosophila melanogaster

PubMed Central

Schiabor, Kelly M.; Quan, Allison S.; Eisen, Michael B.

2014-01-01

While screening a large collection of wild and laboratory yeast strains for their ability to attract Drosophila melanogaster adults, we noticed a large difference in fly preference for two nearly isogenic strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, BY4741 and BY4742. Using standard genetic analyses, we tracked the preference difference to the lack of mitochondria in the BY4742 strain used in the initial experiment. We used gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy to examine the volatile compounds produced by BY4741 and the mitochondria-deficient BY4742, and found that they differed significantly. We observed that several ethyl esters are present at much higher levels in strains with mitochondria, even in fermentative conditions. We found that nitrogen levels in the substrate affect the production of these compounds, and that they are produced at the highest level by strains with mitochondria when fermenting natural fruit substrates. Collectively these observations demonstrate that core metabolic processes mediate the interaction between yeasts and insect vectors, and highlight the importance mitochondrial functions in yeast ecology. PMID:25462617

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

The Monsanto Chemical Company Superfund Site is located in Caribou County, Idaho, approximately one mile north of the City of Soda Springs. After screening using conservative human health and ecological screening values, the contaminants of potential concern in soils and on-Plant source piles include, radionuclides (radium-226, lead-210, and uranium-238) and chemicals (arsenic, beryllium, selenium and zinc). The groundwater contaminants of potential concern include those substances detected at concentrations above primary MCLs, i.e., cadmium, fluoride, nitrate, and selenium, and manganese, which is present above a secondary MCL.

Comparison of estrogen mixtures in vitro vs. in vivo

EPA Science Inventory

Numerous sources contribute to widespread contamination of drinking water sources with both natural and synthetic estrogens, which isa concern for potential ecological and human health effects. In vitro screening assays are valuable tools for identifying mechanisms of toxicity bu...

A Rapid Screen Technique for Estimating Nanoparticle Transport in Porous Media

EPA Science Inventory

Quantifying the mobility of engineered nanoparticles in hydrologic pathways from point of release to human or ecological receptors is essential for assessing environmental exposures. Column transport experiments are a widely used technique to estimate the transport parameters of ...

Application of Chemical Genomics to Plant-Bacteria Communication: A High-Throughput System to Identify Novel Molecules Modulating the Induction of Bacterial Virulence Genes by Plant Signals.

PubMed

Vandelle, Elodie; Puttilli, Maria Rita; Chini, Andrea; Devescovi, Giulia; Venturi, Vittorio; Polverari, Annalisa

2017-01-01

The life cycle of bacterial phytopathogens consists of a benign epiphytic phase, during which the bacteria grow in the soil or on the plant surface, and a virulent endophytic phase involving the penetration of host defenses and the colonization of plant tissues. Innovative strategies are urgently required to integrate copper treatments that control the epiphytic phase with complementary tools that control the virulent endophytic phase, thus reducing the quantity of chemicals applied to economically and ecologically acceptable levels. Such strategies include targeted treatments that weaken bacterial pathogens, particularly those inhibiting early infection steps rather than tackling established infections. This chapter describes a reporter gene-based chemical genomic high-throughput screen for the induction of bacterial virulence by plant molecules. Specifically, we describe a chemical genomic screening method to identify agonist and antagonist molecules for the induction of targeted bacterial virulence genes by plant extracts, focusing on the experimental controls required to avoid false positives and thus ensuring the results are reliable and reproducible.

Preliminary study of PCBs in raccoons living on or near the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Kentucky

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halbrook, Richard S.

2016-01-15

The “Ecological Monitoring at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant: Historical Evaluation and Guidelines for Future Monitoring” report (Halbrook, et al. 2007) recommended the raccoon as a species for study at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). This species was selected to fill data gaps in ecological resources and provide resource managers with knowledge that will be valuable in making decisions and implementing specific actions to safeguard ecological resources and reduce human exposure. The current paper reports results of a preliminary evaluation to establish protocols for collection of tissues and initial screening of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in raccoons collected near themore » PGDP. These data are useful in developing future more comprehensive studies.« less

Bias magnification in ecologic studies: a methodological investigation

PubMed Central

Webster, Thomas F

2007-01-01

Background As ecologic studies are often inexpensive to conduct, consideration of the magnitude and direction of ecologic biases may be useful in both study design and sensitivity analysis of results. This paper examines three types of ecologic bias: confounding by group, effect measure modification by group, and non-differential exposure misclassification. Methods Bias of the risk difference on the individual and ecologic levels are compared using two-by-two tables, simple equations, and risk diagrams. Risk diagrams provide a convenient way to simultaneously display information from both levels. Results Confounding by group and effect measure modification by group act in the same direction on the individual and group levels, but have larger impact on the latter. The reduction in exposure variance caused by aggregation magnifies the individual level bias due to ignoring groups. For some studies, the magnification factor can be calculated from the ecologic data alone. Small magnification factors indicate little bias beyond that occurring at the individual level. Aggregation is also responsible for the different impacts of non-differential exposure misclassification on individual and ecologic studies. Conclusion The analytical tools developed here are useful in analyzing ecologic bias. The concept of bias magnification may be helpful in designing ecologic studies and performing sensitivity analysis of their results. PMID:17615079

[Coupling coordinated development of ecological-economic system in Loess Plateau].

PubMed

Zhang, Qing-Feng; Wu, Fa-Qi; Wang, Li; Wang, Jian

2011-06-01

Based on system theory, a coupling coordinated development model of ecological-economic system in Loess Plateau was established, and the evaluation criteria and basic types of the coordinated development of the ecological-economic system were proposed. The county-level coupling coordinated development of the ecological-economic system was also discussed, based on the local characteristics. The interactions between the ecological and economic systems in Loess Plateau could be divided into four stages, i.e., seriously disordered development stage, mild-disordered development stage, low-level coordinated development stage, and high level well-coordinated development stage. At each stage, there existed a cyclic process of profit and loss-antagonist-running-dominant-synchronous development. The coupling development degree of the ecological-economic system in Loess Plateau was overall at a lower level, being about 62.7% of the counties at serious disorder, 30.1% of the counties at mild disorder, and 7.1% of the counties at low but coordinated level. The coupling development degree based on the model established in this study could better reflect the current social-economic and ecological environment situations, especially the status of coordination. To fully understand the coupling of ecological-economic system and to adopt appropriate development mode would be of significance to promote the county-level coordinated development in Loess Plateau.

Ecological activity for mycotoxin beyond toxicity: screening mycotoxins for quorum inhibition

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

ABSTRACT: Biocontrol organisms are becoming essential features of several agricultural based crops, and bacterial endophytes are important components of several biocontrol systems. We are developing bacterial endophytes for use as biocontrol organisms for the corn fungal endophyte Fusarium verticil...

Advancing Ecological Models to Compare Scale in Multi-Level Educational Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woo, David James

2016-01-01

Education systems as units of analysis have been metaphorically likened to ecologies to model change. However, ecological models to date have been ineffective in modelling educational change that is multi-scale and occurs across multiple levels of an education system. Thus, this paper advances two innovative, ecological frameworks that improve on…

Preparation of fosmid libraries and functional metagenomic analysis of microbial community DNA.

PubMed

Martínez, Asunción; Osburne, Marcia S

2013-01-01

One of the most important challenges in contemporary microbial ecology is to assign a functional role to the large number of novel genes discovered through large-scale sequencing of natural microbial communities that lack similarity to genes of known function. Functional screening of metagenomic libraries, that is, screening environmental DNA clones for the ability to confer an activity of interest to a heterologous bacterial host, is a promising approach for bridging the gap between metagenomic DNA sequencing and functional characterization. Here, we describe methods for isolating environmental DNA and constructing metagenomic fosmid libraries, as well as methods for designing and implementing successful functional screens of such libraries. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Levels of organization in biology: on the nature and nomenclature of ecology's fourth level.

PubMed

Lidicker, William Z

2008-02-01

Viewing the universe as being composed of hierarchically arranged systems is widely accepted as a useful model of reality. In ecology, three levels of organization are generally recognized: organisms, populations, and communities (biocoenoses). For half a century increasing numbers of ecologists have concluded that recognition of a fourth level would facilitate increased understanding of ecological phenomena. Sometimes the word "ecosystem" is used for this level, but this is arguably inappropriate. Since 1986, I and others have argued that the term "landscape" would be a suitable term for a level of organization defined as an ecological system containing more than one community type. However, "landscape" and "landscape level" continue to be used extensively by ecologists in the popular sense of a large expanse of space. I therefore now propose that the term "ecoscape" be used instead for this fourth level of organization. A clearly defined fourth level for ecology would focus attention on the emergent properties of this level, and maintain the spatial and temporal scale-free nature inherent in this hierarchy of organizational levels for living entities.

Development of a National-Scale Fish Contaminant Indicator for the National Coastal Assessment

EPA Science Inventory

Transforming measurable concentrations of chemicals found in whole-body fish and shellfish into an ecologically relevant indicator is not easily accomplished since few pertinent biologically protective contaminant-screening tools exist, and none have been published for use at a n...

COMPARISON OF TAXONOMIC, COLONY MORPHOTYPE AND PCR-RFLP METHODS TO CHARACTERIZE MICROFUNGAL DIVERSITY

EPA Science Inventory

We compared three methods for estimating fungal species diversity in soil samples. A rapid screening method based on gross colony morphological features and color reference standards was compared with traditional fungal taxonomic methods and PCR-RFLP for estimation of ecological ...

Spatial Approaches for Ecological Screening and Exposure Assessment of Chemicals and Radionclides

EPA Science Inventory

This presentation details a tool, SADA, available for use in environmental assessments of chemicals that can also be used for radiological assessments of the environment. Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA) is a Windows freeware program that incorporates tools from e...

Developmental origins of novel gut morphology in frogs

PubMed Central

Bloom, Stephanie; Ledon-Rettig, Cris; Infante, Carlos; Everly, Anne; Hanken, James; Nascone-Yoder, Nanette

2013-01-01

SUMMARY Phenotypic variation is a prerequisite for evolution by natural selection, yet the processes that give rise to the novel morphologies upon which selection acts are poorly understood. We employed a chemical genetic screen to identify developmental changes capable of generating ecologically relevant morphological variation as observed among extant species. Specifically, we assayed for exogenously applied small molecules capable of transforming the ancestral larval foregut of the herbivorous Xenopus laevis to resemble the derived larval foregut of the carnivorous Lepidobatrachus laevis. Appropriately, the small molecules that demonstrate this capacity modulate conserved morphogenetic pathways involved in gut development, including downregulation of retinoic acid (RA) signaling. Identical manipulation of RA signaling in a species that is more closely related to Lepidobatrachus, Ceratophrys cranwelli, yielded even more similar transformations, corroborating the relevance of RA signaling variation in interspecific morphological change. Finally, we were able to recover the ancestral gut phenotype in Lepidobatrachus by performing a reverse chemical manipulation to upregulate RA signaling, providing strong evidence that modifications to this specific pathway promoted the emergence of a lineage-specific phenotypic novelty. Interestingly, our screen also revealed pathways that have not yet been implicated in early gut morphogenesis, such as thyroid hormone signaling. In general, the chemical genetic screen may be a valuable tool for identifying developmental mechanisms that underlie ecologically and evolutionarily relevant phenotypic variation. PMID:23607305

Odorant receptor-based discovery of natural repellents of human lice.

PubMed

Pelletier, Julien; Xu, Pingxi; Yoon, Kyong S; Clark, John M; Leal, Walter S

2015-11-01

The body louse, Pediculus humanus humanus, is an obligate blood-feeding ectoparasite and an important insect vector that mediates the transmission of diseases to humans. The analysis of the body louse genome revealed a drastic reduction of the chemosensory gene repertoires when compared to other insects, suggesting specific olfactory adaptations to host specialization and permanent parasitic lifestyle. Here, we present for the first time functional evidence for the role of odorant receptors (ORs) in this insect, with the objective to gain insight into the chemical ecology of this vector. We identified seven putative full-length ORs, in addition to the odorant receptor co-receptor (Orco), and expressed four of them in the Xenopus laevis oocytes system. When screened with a panel of ecologically-relevant odorants, PhumOR2 responded to a narrow set of compounds. At the behavior level, both head and body lice were repelled by the physiologically-active chemicals. This study presents the first evidence of the OR pathway being functional in lice and identifies PhumOR2 as a sensitive receptor of natural repellents that could be used to develop novel efficient molecules to control these insects. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Spatially Explicit Landscape-Level Ecological Risks Induced by Land Use and Land Cover Change in a National Ecologically Representative Region in China.

PubMed

Gong, Jian; Yang, Jianxin; Tang, Wenwu

2015-11-09

Land use and land cover change is driven by multiple influential factors from environmental and social dimensions in a land system. Land use practices of human decision-makers modify the landscape of the land system, possibly leading to landscape fragmentation, biodiversity loss, or environmental pollution-severe environmental or ecological impacts. While landscape-level ecological risk assessment supports the evaluation of these impacts, investigations on how these ecological risks induced by land use practices change over space and time in response to alternative policy intervention remain inadequate. In this article, we conducted spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis in Ezhou City, China. Our study area is a national ecologically representative region experiencing drastic land use and land cover change, and is regulated by multiple policies represented by farmland protection, ecological conservation, and urban development. We employed landscape metrics to consider the influence of potential landscape-level disturbance for the evaluation of landscape ecological risks. Using spatiotemporal simulation, we designed scenarios to examine spatiotemporal patterns in landscape ecological risks in response to policy intervention. Our study demonstrated that spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis combined with simulation-driven scenario analysis is of particular importance for guiding the sustainable development of ecologically vulnerable land systems.

Spatially Explicit Landscape-Level Ecological Risks Induced by Land Use and Land Cover Change in a National Ecologically Representative Region in China

PubMed Central

Gong, Jian; Yang, Jianxin; Tang, Wenwu

2015-01-01

Land use and land cover change is driven by multiple influential factors from environmental and social dimensions in a land system. Land use practices of human decision-makers modify the landscape of the land system, possibly leading to landscape fragmentation, biodiversity loss, or environmental pollution—severe environmental or ecological impacts. While landscape-level ecological risk assessment supports the evaluation of these impacts, investigations on how these ecological risks induced by land use practices change over space and time in response to alternative policy intervention remain inadequate. In this article, we conducted spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis in Ezhou City, China. Our study area is a national ecologically representative region experiencing drastic land use and land cover change, and is regulated by multiple policies represented by farmland protection, ecological conservation, and urban development. We employed landscape metrics to consider the influence of potential landscape-level disturbance for the evaluation of landscape ecological risks. Using spatiotemporal simulation, we designed scenarios to examine spatiotemporal patterns in landscape ecological risks in response to policy intervention. Our study demonstrated that spatially explicit landscape ecological risk analysis combined with simulation-driven scenario analysis is of particular importance for guiding the sustainable development of ecologically vulnerable land systems. PMID:26569270

Toxicities and risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments of Taihu Lake, China, based on sediment quality guidelines.

PubMed

Zhang, Yanfeng; Han, Yuwei; Yang, Jinxi; Zhu, Lingyan; Zhong, Wenjue

2017-12-01

The occurrence, toxicities, and ecological risks of five heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn and Ni) in the sediment of Taihu Lake were investigated in this study. To evaluate the toxicities caused by the heavy metals, the toxicities induced by organic contaminants and ammonia in the sediments were screened out with activated carbon and zeolite. The toxicities of heavy metals in sediments were tested with benthic invertebrates (tubificid and chironomid). The correlations between toxicity of sediment and the sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) derived previously were evaluated. There were significant correlations (p<0.0001) between the observed toxicities and the total risk quotients of the heavy metals based on SQGs, indicating that threshold effect level (TEL) and probable effect level (PEL) were reliable to predict the toxicities of heavy metals in the sediments of Taihu Lake. By contrast, the method based on acid volatile sulfides (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), such as ∑SEM/AVS and ∑SEM-AVS, did not show correlations with the toxicities. Moreover, the predictive ability of SQGs was confirmed by a total predicting accuracy of 77%. Ecological risk assessment based on TELs and PELs showed that the contaminations of Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn in the sediments of Taihu Lake were at relatively low or medium levels. The risks caused by heavy metals in the sediments of northern bay of the lake, which received more wastewater discharge from upper stream, were higher than other area of the lake. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Modes and Experience of Green Mine Construction in Yunnan, China: Case Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Xianfeng; Huang, Qianrui; Yang, Shuran; Xu, Jun; Fan, Youcai; Xu, Gang; Yang, Jiaqing; Yuan, Jia; Qi, Wufu

2017-12-01

Yunnan is one of most important provinces with mineral resources and exploration in China. Meanwhile, Yunnan is Chinese ecological protective screen and try to be Pacesetter of ecological civilization. However, mining industry always disturbs ecological environment seriously. So green mine construction is inevitable and the best choice for Yunnan. In this paper, achievement of green mine construction in Yunnan was summarized. Then the paper takes two mines from Dahongshan and 4 mines from Yunnan Phosphate Chemical Group Co., Ltd (YPC for short) as case studies. Technological innovation in Dahongshan Fe Mine and Dahongshan Cu Mine guarantees their success of green mine construction. Land rehabilitation and harmonious community are highlights of 4 mines from YPC. These modes and experience could be referential to construct green mine.

Focusing ecological research for conservation.

PubMed

Cristescu, Bogdan; Boyce, Mark S

2013-11-01

Ecologists are increasingly actively involved in conservation. We identify five key topics from a broad sweep of ecology that merit research attention to meet conservation needs. We examine questions from landscape ecology, behavioral ecology, ecosystem dynamics, community ecology, and nutrient cycling related to key topics. Based on literature review and publication trend assessment, consultation with colleagues, and roundtable discussions at the 24th International Congress for Conservation Biology, focused research on the following topics could benefit conservation while advancing ecological understanding: 1. Carbon sequestration, requiring increased linkages to biodiversity conservation; 2. Ecological invasiveness, challenging our ability to find solutions to ecological aliens; 3. Individual variation, having applications in the conservation of rare species; 4. Movement of organisms, integrating ecological processes across landscapes and scales and addressing habitat fragmentation; and 5. Trophic-level interactions, driving ecological dynamics at the ecosystem-level. Addressing these will require cross-disciplinary research under the overarching framework of conservation ecology.

Estimating functional connectivity of wildlife habitat and its relevance to ecological risk assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, A.R.; Allen, Craig R.; Simpson, K.A.N.; Kapustka, Lawrence; Biddinger, Gregory R.; Luxon, Matthew; Galbraith, Hector

2004-01-01

Habitat fragmentation is a major threat to the viability of wildlife populations and the maintenance of biodiversity. Fragmentation relates to the sub-division of habitat into disjunct patches. Usually coincident with fragmentation per se is loss of habitat, a reduction in the size of the remnant patches, and increasing distance between patches. Natural and anthropogenic processes leading to habitat fragmentation occur at many spatial scales, and their impacts on wildlife depend on the scales at which species interact with the landscape. The concept of functional connectivity captures this organism-based view of the relative ease of movement or degree of exchange between physically disjunct habitat patches. Functional connectivity of a given habitat arrangement for a given wildlife species depends on details of the organism's life history and behavioral ecology, but, for broad categories of species, quantities such as home range size and dispersal distance scale allometrically with body mass. These relationships can be incorporated into spatial analyses of functional connectivity, which can be quantified by indices or displayed graphically in maps. We review indices and GIS-based approaches to estimating functional connectivity, presenting examples from the literature and our own work on mammalian distributions. Such analyses can be readily incorporated within an ecological risk framework. Estimates of functional connectivity may be useful in a screening-level assessment of the impact of habitat fragmentation relative to other stressors, and may be crucial in detailed population modeling and viability analysis.

The antimicrobial activity of heterotrophic bacteria isolated from the marine sponge Erylus deficiens (Astrophorida, Geodiidae)

PubMed Central

Graça, Ana Patrícia; Viana, Flávia; Bondoso, Joana; Correia, Maria Inês; Gomes, Luis; Humanes, Madalena; Reis, Alberto; Xavier, Joana R.; Gaspar, Helena; Lage, Olga M.

2015-01-01

Interest in the study of marine sponges and their associated microbiome has increased both for ecological reasons and for their great biotechnological potential. In this work, heterotrophic bacteria associated with three specimens of the marine sponge Erylus deficiens, were isolated in pure culture, phylogenetically identified and screened for antimicrobial activity. The isolation of bacteria after an enrichment treatment in heterotrophic medium revealed diversity in bacterial composition with only Pseudoalteromonas being shared by two specimens. Of the 83 selected isolates, 58% belong to Proteobacteria, 23% to Actinobacteria and 19% to Firmicutes. Diffusion agar assays for bioactivity screening against four bacterial strains and one yeast, revealed that a high number of the isolated bacteria (68.7%) were active, particularly against Candida albicans and Vibrio anguillarum. Pseudoalteromonas, Microbacterium, and Proteus were the most bioactive genera. After this preliminary screening, the bioactive strains were further evaluated in liquid assays against C. albicans, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Filtered culture medium and acetone extracts from three and 5 days-old cultures were assayed. High antifungal activity against C. albicans in both aqueous and acetone extracts as well as absence of activity against B. subtilis were confirmed. Higher levels of activity were obtained with the aqueous extracts when compared to the acetone extracts and differences were also observed between the 3 and 5 day-old extracts. Furthermore, a low number of active strains was observed against E. coli. Potential presence of type-I polyketide synthases (PKS-I) and non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) genes were detected in 17 and 30 isolates, respectively. The high levels of bioactivity and the likely presence of associated genes suggest that Erylus deficiens bacteria are potential sources of novel marine bioactive compounds. PMID:25999928

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sample, B.E. Opresko, D.M. Suter, G.W.

Ecological risks of environmental contaminants are evaluated by using a two-tiered process. In the first tier, a screening assessment is performed where concentrations of contaminants in the environment are compared to no observed adverse effects level (NOAEL)-based toxicological benchmarks. These benchmarks represent concentrations of chemicals (i.e., concentrations presumed to be nonhazardous to the biota) in environmental media (water, sediment, soil, food, etc.). While exceedance of these benchmarks does not indicate any particular level or type of risk, concentrations below the benchmarks should not result in significant effects. In practice, when contaminant concentrations in food or water resources are less thanmore » these toxicological benchmarks, the contaminants may be excluded from further consideration. However, if the concentration of a contaminant exceeds a benchmark, that contaminant should be retained as a contaminant of potential concern (COPC) and investigated further. The second tier in ecological risk assessment, the baseline ecological risk assessment, may use toxicological benchmarks as part of a weight-of-evidence approach (Suter 1993). Under this approach, based toxicological benchmarks are one of several lines of evidence used to support or refute the presence of ecological effects. Other sources of evidence include media toxicity tests, surveys of biota (abundance and diversity), measures of contaminant body burdens, and biomarkers. This report presents NOAEL- and lowest observed adverse effects level (LOAEL)-based toxicological benchmarks for assessment of effects of 85 chemicals on 9 representative mammalian wildlife species (short-tailed shrew, little brown bat, meadow vole, white-footed mouse, cottontail rabbit, mink, red fox, and whitetail deer) or 11 avian wildlife species (American robin, rough-winged swallow, American woodcock, wild turkey, belted kingfisher, great blue heron, barred owl, barn owl, Cooper's hawk, and red-tailed hawk, osprey) (scientific names for both the mammalian and avian species are presented in Appendix B). [In this document, NOAEL refers to both dose (mg contaminant per kg animal body weight per day) and concentration (mg contaminant per kg of food or L of drinking water)]. The 20 wildlife species were chosen because they are widely distributed and provide a representative range of body sizes and diets. The chemicals are some of those that occur at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) waste sites. The NOAEL-based benchmarks presented in this report represent values believed to be nonhazardous for the listed wildlife species; LOAEL-based benchmarks represent threshold levels at which adverse effects are likely to become evident. These benchmarks consider contaminant exposure through oral ingestion of contaminated media only. Exposure through inhalation and/or direct dermal exposure are not considered in this report.« less

A Policy-Driven Large Scale Ecological Restoration: Quantifying Ecosystem Services Changes in the Loess Plateau of China

Treesearch

Yihe Lu; Bojie Fu; Xiaoming Feng; Yuan Zeng; Yu Liu; Ruiying Chang; Ge Sun; Bingfang Wu

2012-01-01

As one of the key tools for regulating human-ecosystem relations, environmental conservation policies can promote ecological rehabilitation across a variety of spatiotemporal scales. However, quantifying the ecological effects of such policies at the regional level is difficult. A case study was conducted at the regional level in the ecologically vulnerable region of...

Ecological risk of methylmercury to piscivorous fish of the Great Lakes region.

PubMed

Sandheinrich, Mark B; Bhavsar, Satyendra P; Bodaly, R A; Drevnick, Paul E; Paul, Eric A

2011-10-01

Contamination of fish populations with methylmercury is common in the region of the Laurentian Great Lakes as a result of atmospheric deposition and methylation of inorganic mercury. Using fish mercury monitoring data from natural resource agencies and information on tissue concentrations injurious to fish, we conducted a screening-level risk assessment of mercury to sexually mature female walleye (Sander vitreus), northern pike (Esox lucius), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Great Lakes and in interior lakes, impoundments, and rivers of the Great Lakes region. The assessment included more than 43,000 measurements of mercury in fish from more than 2000 locations. Sexually mature female fish that exceeded threshold-effect tissue concentrations of 0.20 μg g(-1) wet weight in the whole body occurred at 8% (largemouth bass) to 43% (walleye) of sites. Fish at 3% to 18% of sites were at risk of injury and exceeded 0.30 μg g(-1) where an alteration in reproduction or survival is predicted to occur. Most fish at increased risk were from interior lakes and impoundments. In the Great Lakes, no sites had sexually mature fish that exceeded threshold-effect concentrations. Results of this screening-level assessment indicate that fish at a substantive number of locations within the Great Lakes region are potentially at risk from methylmercury contamination and would benefit from reduction in mercury concentrations.

Advances in EPA’s Rapid Exposure and Dosimetry Project (Interagency Alternatives Assessment Webinar)

EPA Science Inventory

Estimates of human and ecological exposures are required as critical input to risk-based prioritization and screening of chemicals. The CSS Rapid Exposure and Dosimetry project seeks to develop the data, tools, and evaluation approaches required to generate rapid and scientifical...

REVIEW OF RAPID METHODS FOR ASSESSING WETLAND CONDITION

EPA Science Inventory

We evaluated over 40 wetland rapid assessment methods developed for a variety of purposes for their use in the assessment of ecological integrity or ecosystem condition. Four criteria were used to screen methods: 1) the method can be used to measure condition, 2) it is truly rap...

Ecological community integration increases with added trophic complexity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wright, Christopher K.

2008-01-01

The existence of functional biological organization at the level of multi-species communities has long been contested in ecology and evolutionary biology. I found that adding a trophic level to simulated ecological communities enhanced their ability to compete at the community level, increasing the likelihood of one community forcing all or most species in a second community to extinction. Community-level identity emerged within systems of interacting ecological networks, while competitive ability at the community level was enhanced by intense within-community selection pressure. These results suggest a reassessment of the nature of biological organization above the level of species, indicating that the drive toward biological integration, so prominent throughout the history of life, might extend to multi-species communities.

W Photoprotection in Tropical Marine Organisms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Roy A.

1997-01-01

Increasing levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the earth's surface which results from stratospheric ozone depletions could have serious implications for terrestrial plants and for aquatic organisms within the euphotic zone. A documented 9% decline in ozone at mid-latitudes is considered to produce a 12% increase in harmful UV radiation. The biologically damaging effects of higher UV levels, particularly W-B (280-320 rim), could manifest earlier in the tropics because of the relative thinness of the earth's equatorial ozone layer. Tropical marine organisms are also living close to their upper tolerance levels of water temperature, However, despite the large potential effects on plants and animals, little is known about UV effects on tropical ecosystems. Long-term ecological studies are needed to quantify the effects of increased UV radiation on terrestrial and marine ecosystems and to produce reliable data for prediction. Plants have developed several mechanisms to protect themselves from harmful UV radiation, one of which is the production of secondary leaf pigments that absorb W-B radiation (screening pigments). A higher concentration of screening pigments (e.g. flavonoids) in leaves may be interpreted as a natural response to increased W radiation. If higher concentrations of flavonoids filter out the excessive W radiation, no damage will occur, as suggested by Caldwell et al. (1989) and Tevini (1993). Failure to screen all W-B may result in deleterious effects on photosynthesis, plant genetic material, and plant and leaf morphology and growth. Eventually this will have an impact on ecosystem processes, structure, species composition, and productivity. This paper describes an ongoing project that is assessing the responses of mangroves, seagrasses and corals to W radiation by studying pigment concentrations, biophysical parameters, and variations in spectral reflectance in the field and in W-reduction experiments. Preliminary results on the distribution of W-absorbing flavonoid compounds in red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) and the seagrass Thalassia testudinum, are presented. This research also provides, for the first time, a permanent record of daily W irradiance measurements at a tropical -location.

Landscape ecology in North America: past, present, and future

Treesearch

Monica G. Turner

2005-01-01

Landscape ecology offers a spatially explicit perspective on the relationships between ecological patterns and processes that can be applied across a range of scales. Concepts derived from landscape ecology now permeate ecological research across most levels of ecological organization and many scales. Landscape ecology developed rapidly after ideas that originated in...

Combining qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze serious games outcomes: A pilot study for a new cognitive screening tool.

PubMed

Vallejo, Vanessa; Mitache, Andrei V; Tarnanas, Ioannis; Muri, Rene; Mosimann, Urs P; Nef, Tobias

2015-08-01

Computer games for a serious purpose - so called serious games can provide additional information for the screening and diagnosis of cognitive impairment. Moreover, they have the advantage of being an ecological tool by involving daily living tasks. However, there is a need for better comprehensive designs regarding the acceptance of this technology, as the target population is older adults that are not used to interact with novel technologies. Moreover given the complexity of the diagnosis and the need for precise assessment, an evaluation of the best approach to analyze the performance data is required. The present study examines the usability of a new screening tool and proposes several new outlines for data analysis.

The correlates of preschoolers' compliance with screen recommendations exist across multiple domains.

PubMed

Hinkley, Trina; Salmon, Jo; Okely, Anthony D; Crawford, David

2013-09-01

To investigate the individual, social and physical environment correlates of preschool children's compliance with Australian/Canadian and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) screen recommendations. An Ecological Model (EM) was used to identify constructs potentially associated with children's screen time. In 2008-2009, parents in Melbourne, Australia, reported their child's screen time and on a range of potential correlates. Children (n = 935; 54% boys, mean age 4.54 ± 0.70 years) were assessed as meeting or not meeting each of the screen recommendations. Logistic regression assessed bivariable and multivariable associations. In total, 15 explanatory variables, across the three domains of the EM were associated with boys' and/or girls' compliance with either Australian/Canadian or AAP recommendations. Correlates varied by sex and recommendation. Maternal television viewing time was the only consistent correlate for both boys' and girls' compliance with both recommendations. No demographic groups were identified as being less likely to comply with screen recommendations. Public health programs should take account of the sex-specific nature of correlates of preschool children's screen time. Preschool children across all demographic groups need support to engage in less screen use. Parents may benefit from education and parenting skills to minimize potentially harmful effects of excessive screen time for their child. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EPA Exposure Research and the ExpoCast Project: New Methods and New Data (NIEHS Exposome webinar)

EPA Science Inventory

Estimates of human and ecological exposures are required as critical input to risk-based prioritization and screening of thousands of chemicals. In a 2009 commentary in Environmental Health Perspectives, Shelden and Hubal proposed that “Novel statistical and informatic approaches...

Methods for screening Port-Orford-cedar for resistance to Phytophthora lateralis

Treesearch

Everett M. Hansen; Paul Reeser; Wendy Sutton; Richard A. Sniezko

2012-01-01

Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murray) Parl.) (POC) is an economically and ecologically valuable tree in the forests of southwest Oregon and northern California and in the horticultural trade worldwide. Phytophthora lateralis, the aggressive, invasive cause of POC root disease, was introduced to the native...

Evaluating the Zebrafish Embryo Toxicity Test for Pesticide Hazard Screening

EPA Science Inventory

Given the numerous chemicals used in society, it is critical to develop tools for accurate and efficient evaluation of potential risks to human and ecological receptors. Fish embryo acute toxicity tests are 1 tool that has been shown to be highly predictive of standard, more reso...

Toxicity testing in the 21st Century: Extrapolation from in vitro to in vivo using xenoestrogens as a model

EPA Science Inventory

Slides associated with the following abstract: Numerous sources contribute to widespread contamination of drinking water sources with both natural and synthetic estrogens, which is a concern for potential ecological and human health effects. In vitro screening assays are valuabl...

CONNECTICUT RIVER FISH TISSUE CONTAMINANT STUDY (2000): ECOLOGICAL AND HUMAN HEALTH RISK SCREENING

EPA Science Inventory

The study targeted commonly caught recreational fish, as well as other fish that are important in the river food chain. Smallmouth bass, white suckers and yellow perch were collected during 2000 from the mainstem of the Connecticut River and composite samples were analyzed for t...

RELATIVE BINDING AFFINITY OF ALKYLPHENOLS TO RAINBOW TROUT ESTROGEN RECEPTOR

EPA Science Inventory

RELATIVE BINDING AFFINITY OF ALKYLPHENOLS TO RAINBOW TROUT ESTROGEN RECEPTOR. T R Henry1, J S Denny2 and P K Schmieder2. USEPA, ORD, NHEERL, 1Experimental Toxicology Division and 2Mid-Continent Ecology Division, Duluth, MN, USA.
The USEPA has been mandated to screen industria...

20171003 - Exposure Research in EPA’s Chemical Safety for Sustainability Research Program (ACC LRI SST Science Discussion)

EPA Science Inventory

Estimates of human and ecological exposures are required as critical input to risk-based prioritization and screening of chemicals. This project seeks to develop the data, tools, and evaluation approaches required to generate rapid and scientifically-defensible exposure predictio...

Tech Tonic: Towards a New Literacy of Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cordes, Colleen; Miller, Edward

2004-01-01

This report addresses the effect of technology on today's children, advancing three central arguments: (1) Our children face a technological frontier of irreversible changes in human biology and the world's ecology; (2) Children's lives are increasingly filled with screen time rather than real time with nature, caring adults, the arts, and…

Outcomes from a mass media campaign to promote cervical screening in NSW, Australia.

PubMed

Morrell, Stephen; Perez, Donna A; Hardy, Margaret; Cotter, Trish; Bishop, James F

2010-09-01

Despite the decline in the incidence of cervical cancer in Australia as a result of population screening, a substantial proportion of women in NSW screen less regularly than the recommended two-yearly interval or do not screen. With higher rates of cervical cancer in unscreened and underscreened women, and despite the introduction of the human papillomavirus vaccine, there remains a need to continue to remind women to screen. The mass media has been shown to be effective at improving participation in cervical screening. A 2007 television advertising campaign to promote cervical screening in New South Wales (NSW) was examined. Data from the NSW Papanicolaou (Pap) Test Register were used to compare weekly numbers of Pap tests for NSW overall and in metropolitan local government areas with low screening rates by age group and by time since the last Pap test. Time series regression analysis incorporating seasonal effects was used to estimate the strength of the association between screening and the media campaign. Overall during the advertising campaign, 15% more screens (16 700) occurred than expected for 2007 without the advertising campaign. Increases were evident among unscreened and underscreened women, with little overscreening occurring. Women living in low screening areas also showed a significant increase in mean weekly screens of 21% (388) over that expected in the absence of the media campaign. Despite the ecological nature of this study, the mass media campaign appears to have been successful in increasing screening in unscreened and underscreened women in NSW.

Geographic variation and effect of area-level poverty rate on colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Lian, Min; Schootman, Mario; Yun, Shumei

2008-10-16

With a secular trend of increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, concerns about disparities in CRC screening also have been rising. It is unclear if CRC screening varies geographically, if area-level poverty rate affects CRC screening, and if individual-level characteristics mediate the area-level effects on CRC screening. Using 2006 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, a multilevel study was conducted to examine geographic variation and the effect of area-level poverty rate on CRC screening use among persons age 50 or older. Individuals were nested within ZIP codes (ZIP5 areas), which in turn, were nested within aggregations of ZIP codes (ZIP3 areas). Six groups of individual-level covariates were considered as potential mediators. An estimated 51.8% of Missourians aged 50 or older adhered to CRC screening recommendations. Nearly 15% of the total variation in CRC screening lay between ZIP5 areas. Persons residing in ZIP5 areas with > or = 10% of poverty rate had lower odds of CRC screening use than those residing in ZIP5 areas with <10% poverty rate (unadjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.58-0.81; adjusted OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.98). Persons who resided in ZIP3 areas with > or = 20% poverty rate also had lower odds of following CRC screening guidelines than those residing in ZIP3 areas with <20% poverty rate (unadjusted OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52-0.83; adjusted OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.83). Obesity, history of depression/anxiety and access to care were associated with CRC screening, but did not mediate the effect of area-level poverty on CRC screening. Large geographic variation of CRC screening exists in Missouri. Area-level poverty rate, independent of individual-level characteristics, is a significant predictor of CRC screening, but it only explains a small portion of the geographic heterogeneity of CRC screening. Individual-level factors we examined do not mediate the effect of the area-level poverty rate on CRC screening. Future studies should identify other area- and individual-level characteristics associated with CRC screening in Missouri.

CONTRIBUTIONS OF ESTUARINE HABITAT TYPES TO THE ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY OF A SMALL COVE

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. EPA, NHEERL, Atlantic Ecology Division, is investigating ecosystem-level approaches to evaluate ecological integrity at multiple scales. The ultimate goal of our project is to develop an ecosystem-level tool to examine impacts of nitrogen pollution on biological integrit...

Evaluation and Analysis of Eco-Security in Environmentally Sensitive Areas Using an Emergy Ecological Footprint.

PubMed

Chen, Han-Shen

2017-01-30

In this paper, the overall ecological and environmental sustainability in the Cing-Jing region in Taiwan is examined. As land use and cover change has been found to be an important analysis method, an emergy ecological footprint model was applied and the eco-security assessed to ensure authorities maintain a balance between ecological preservation and tourism development. While the ecological environment in the Cing-Jing region from 2008 to 2014 was found to be within safe levels, all related indices had increased considerably. A Grey model was used to predict the 2015-2024 ecological carrying capacities, from which it was found that there is expected to be a large increase in per capita ecological footprints (EFs), meaning that in the future there is going to be a larger ecological deficit and a higher ecological pressure index (EFI), with the eco-security predicted to reach a Grade 2 intermediate level in 2022. As the Cing-Jing region is predicted to become ecologically unsustainable, local, regional, and national governments need to implement regulations to strictly control the land use in the Cing-Jing region. This study demonstrated that emergy EF (EEF) theory application can give objective guidance to decision-makers to ensure that recreational non-urban eco-security can be maintained at a safe level.

Evaluation and Analysis of Eco-Security in Environmentally Sensitive Areas Using an Emergy Ecological Footprint

PubMed Central

Chen, Han-Shen

2017-01-01

In this paper, the overall ecological and environmental sustainability in the Cing-Jing region in Taiwan is examined. As land use and cover change has been found to be an important analysis method, an emergy ecological footprint model was applied and the eco-security assessed to ensure authorities maintain a balance between ecological preservation and tourism development. While the ecological environment in the Cing-Jing region from 2008 to 2014 was found to be within safe levels, all related indices had increased considerably. A Grey model was used to predict the 2015–2024 ecological carrying capacities, from which it was found that there is expected to be a large increase in per capita ecological footprints (EFs), meaning that in the future there is going to be a larger ecological deficit and a higher ecological pressure index (EFI), with the eco-security predicted to reach a Grade 2 intermediate level in 2022. As the Cing-Jing region is predicted to become ecologically unsustainable, local, regional, and national governments need to implement regulations to strictly control the land use in the Cing-Jing region. This study demonstrated that emergy EF (EEF) theory application can give objective guidance to decision-makers to ensure that recreational non-urban eco-security can be maintained at a safe level. PMID:28146086

An Ecological Perspective on Deafness.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Michael A.; Dym, Barry

1988-01-01

The article offers an ecological view of deafness through identification of the hierarchically arranged, bio-psych-social levels which influence development and the sequences of interaction within and between levels. The organization of ecological fields is described by a cybernetic model from family therapy. A detailed case example is presented.…

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project

DOE PAGES

Weston, David J.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Johnson, Matthew G.; ...

2017-10-27

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even ‘extend’ to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. The progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Therefore, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. We introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration,more » biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses.« less

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weston, David J.; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Johnson, Matthew G.

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even ‘extend’ to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. The progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Therefore, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. We introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration,more » biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses.« less

The Sphagnome Project: enabling ecological and evolutionary insights through a genus-level sequencing project.

PubMed

Weston, David J; Turetsky, Merritt R; Johnson, Matthew G; Granath, Gustaf; Lindo, Zoë; Belyea, Lisa R; Rice, Steven K; Hanson, David T; Engelhardt, Katharina A M; Schmutz, Jeremy; Dorrepaal, Ellen; Euskirchen, Eugénie S; Stenøien, Hans K; Szövényi, Péter; Jackson, Michelle; Piatkowski, Bryan T; Muchero, Wellington; Norby, Richard J; Kostka, Joel E; Glass, Jennifer B; Rydin, Håkan; Limpens, Juul; Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina; Ullrich, Kristian K; Carrell, Alyssa; Benscoter, Brian W; Chen, Jin-Gui; Oke, Tobi A; Nilsson, Mats B; Ranjan, Priya; Jacobson, Daniel; Lilleskov, Erik A; Clymo, R S; Shaw, A Jonathan

2018-01-01

Considerable progress has been made in ecological and evolutionary genetics with studies demonstrating how genes underlying plant and microbial traits can influence adaptation and even 'extend' to influence community structure and ecosystem level processes. Progress in this area is limited to model systems with deep genetic and genomic resources that often have negligible ecological impact or interest. Thus, important linkages between genetic adaptations and their consequences at organismal and ecological scales are often lacking. Here we introduce the Sphagnome Project, which incorporates genomics into a long-running history of Sphagnum research that has documented unparalleled contributions to peatland ecology, carbon sequestration, biogeochemistry, microbiome research, niche construction, and ecosystem engineering. The Sphagnome Project encompasses a genus-level sequencing effort that represents a new type of model system driven not only by genetic tractability, but by ecologically relevant questions and hypotheses. © 2017 UT-Battelle New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Developmental origins of a novel gut morphology in frogs.

PubMed

Bloom, Stephanie; Ledon-Rettig, Cris; Infante, Carlos; Everly, Anne; Hanken, James; Nascone-Yoder, Nanette

2013-05-01

Phenotypic variation is a prerequisite for evolution by natural selection, yet the processes that give rise to the novel morphologies upon which selection acts are poorly understood. We employed a chemical genetic screen to identify developmental changes capable of generating ecologically relevant morphological variation as observed among extant species. Specifically, we assayed for exogenously applied small molecules capable of transforming the ancestral larval foregut of the herbivorous Xenopus laevis to resemble the derived larval foregut of the carnivorous Lepidobatrachus laevis. Appropriately, the small molecules that demonstrate this capacity modulate conserved morphogenetic pathways involved in gut development, including downregulation of retinoic acid (RA) signaling. Identical manipulation of RA signaling in a species that is more closely related to Lepidobatrachus, Ceratophrys cranwelli, yielded even more similar transformations, corroborating the relevance of RA signaling variation in interspecific morphological change. Finally, we were able to recover the ancestral gut phenotype in Lepidobatrachus by performing a reverse chemical manipulation to upregulate RA signaling, providing strong evidence that modifications to this specific pathway promoted the emergence of a lineage-specific phenotypic novelty. Interestingly, our screen also revealed pathways that have not yet been implicated in early gut morphogenesis, such as thyroid hormone signaling. In general, the chemical genetic screen may be a valuable tool for identifying developmental mechanisms that underlie ecologically and evolutionarily relevant phenotypic variation. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prevalence of Failure due to Adverse Reaction to Metal Debris in Modern, Medium and Large Diameter Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacements – The Effect of Novel Screening Methods: Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis

PubMed Central

Reito, Aleksi; Lainiala, Olli; Elo, Petra; Eskelinen, Antti

2016-01-01

Metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacements were used for almost a decade before adverse reactions to metal debris (ARMD) were found to be a true clinical problem. Currently, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the usefulness of systematic screening for ARMD. We implemented a systematic review and meta-analysis to establish the prevalence of revision confirmed ARMD stratified by the use of different screening protocols in patients with MoM hip replacements. Five levels of screening were identified: no screening (level 0), targeted blood metal ion measurement and/or cross-sectional imaging (level 1), metal ion measurement without imaging (level 2), metal ion measurement with targeted imaging (level 3) and comprehensive screening (both metal ions and imaging for all; level 4). 122 studies meeting our eligibility criteria were included in analysis. These studies included 144 study arms: 100 study arms with hip resurfacings, 33 study arms with large-diameter MoM total hip replacements (THR), and 11 study arms with medium-diameter MoM THRs. For hip resurfacing, the lowest prevalence of ARMD was seen with level 0 screening (pooled prevalence 0.13%) and the highest with level 4 screening (pooled prevalace 9.49%). Pooled prevalence of ARMD with level 0 screening was 0.29% and with level 4 screening 21.3% in the large-diameter MoM THR group. In metaregression analysis of hip resurfacings, level 4 screening was superior with regard to prevalence of ARMD when compared with other levels. In the large diameter THR group level 4 screening was superior to screening 0,2 and 3. These outcomes were irrespective of follow-up time or study publication year. With hip resurfacings, routine cross-sectional imaging regardless of clinical findings is advisable. It is clear, however, that targeted metal ion measurement and/or imaging is not sufficient in the screening for ARMD in any implant concepts. However, economic aspects should be weighed when choosing the preferred screening level. PMID:26930057

Integrating ecological risk assessments across levels of organization using the Franklin-Noss model of biodiversity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brugger, K.E.; Tiebout, H.M. III

1994-12-31

Wildlife toxicologists pioneered methodologies for assessing ecological risk to nontarget species. Historically, ecological risk assessments (ERAS) focused on a limited array of species and were based on a relatively few population-level endpoints (mortality, reproduction). Currently, risk assessment models are becoming increasingly complex that factor in multi-species interactions (across trophic levels) and utilize an increasingly diverse number of ecologically significant endpoints. This trend suggests the increasing importance of safeguarding not only populations of individual species, but also the overall integrity of the larger biotic systems that support them. In this sense, ERAs are in alignment with Conservation Biology, an applied sciencemore » of ecological knowledge used to conserve biodiversity. A theoretical conservation biology model could be incorporated in ERAs to quantify impacts to biodiversity (structure, function or composition across levels of biological organization). The authors suggest that the Franklin-Noss model for evaluating biodiversity, with its nested, hierarchical approach, may provide a suitable paradigm for assessing and integrating the ecological risk that chemical contaminants pose to biological systems from the simplest levels (genotypes, individual organisms) to the most complex levels of organization (communities and ecosystems). The Franklin-Noss model can accommodate the existing ecotoxicological database and, perhaps more importantly, indicate new areas in which critical endpoints should be identified and investigated.« less

Contrasting parasite communities among allopatric colour morphs of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Tropheus

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Adaptation to different ecological environments is thought to drive ecological speciation. This phenomenon culminates in the radiations of cichlid fishes in the African Great Lakes. Multiple characteristic traits of cichlids, targeted by natural or sexual selection, are considered among the driving factors of these radiations. Parasites and pathogens have been suggested to initiate or accelerate speciation by triggering both natural and sexual selection. Three prerequisites for parasite-driven speciation can be inferred from ecological speciation theory. The first prerequisite is that different populations experience divergent infection levels. The second prerequisite is that these infection levels cause divergent selection and facilitate adaptive divergence. The third prerequisite is that parasite-driven adaptive divergence facilitates the evolution of reproductive isolation. Here we investigate the first and the second prerequisite in allopatric chromatically differentiated lineages of the rock-dwelling cichlid Tropheus spp. from southern Lake Tanganyika (Central Africa). Macroparasite communities were screened in eight populations belonging to five different colour morphs. Results Parasite communities were mainly composed of acanthocephalans, nematodes, monogeneans, copepods, branchiurans, and digeneans. In two consecutive years (2011 and 2012), we observed significant variation across populations for infection with acanthocephalans, nematodes, monogeneans of the genera Gyrodactylus and Cichlidogyrus, and the copepod Ergasilus spp. Overall, parasite community composition differed significantly between populations of different colour morphs. Differences in parasite community composition were stable in time. The genetic structure of Tropheus populations was strong and showed a significant isolation-by-distance pattern, confirming that spatial isolation is limiting host dispersal. Correlations between parasite community composition and Tropheus genetic differentiation were not significant, suggesting that host dispersal does not influence parasite community diversification. Conclusions Subject to alternating episodes of isolation and secondary contact because of lake level fluctuations, Tropheus colour morphs are believed to accumulate and maintain genetic differentiation through a combination of vicariance, philopatric behaviour and mate discrimination. Provided that the observed contrasts in parasitism facilitate adaptive divergence among populations in allopatry (which is the current situation), and promote the evolution of reproductive isolation during episodes of sympatry, parasites might facilitate speciation in this genus. PMID:23409983

Predictors of malaria infection in a wild bird population: landscape-level analyses reveal climatic and anthropogenic factors.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Quevedo, Catalina; Davies, Richard G; Richardson, David S

2014-09-01

How the environment influences the transmission and prevalence of disease in a population of hosts is a key aspect of disease ecology. The role that environmental factors play in host-pathogen systems has been well studied at large scales, that is, differences in pathogen pressures among separate populations of hosts or across land masses. However, despite considerable understanding of how environmental conditions vary at fine spatial scales, the effect of these parameters on host-pathogen dynamics at such scales has been largely overlooked. Here, we used a combination of molecular screening and GIS-based analysis to investigate how environmental factors determine the distribution of malaria across the landscape in a population of Berthelot's pipit (Anthus berthelotii, Bolle 1862) on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) using spatially explicit models that account for spatial autocorrelation. Minimum temperature of the coldest month was found to be the most important predictor of malaria infection at the landscape scale across this population. Additionally, anthropogenic factors such as distance to artificial water reservoirs and distance to poultry farms were important predictors of malaria. A model including these factors, and the interaction between distance to artificial water reservoirs and minimum temperature, best explained the distribution of malaria infection in this system. These results suggest that levels of malaria infection in this endemic species may be artificially elevated by the impact of humans. Studies such as the one described here improve our understanding of how environmental factors, and their heterogeneity, affect the distribution of pathogens within wild populations. The results demonstrate the importance of measuring fine-scale variation - and not just regional effects - to understand how environmental variation can influence wildlife diseases. Such understanding is important for predicting the future spread and impact of disease and may help inform disease management programmes as well as the conservation of specific host species. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2014 British Ecological Society.

[Assessment and early warning of land ecological security in rapidly urbanizing coastal area: A case study of Caofeidian new district, Hebei, China].

PubMed

Zhang, Li; Chen, Ying; Wang, Shu-tao; Men, Ming-xin; Xu, Hao

2015-08-01

Assessment and early warning of land ecological security (LES) in rapidly urbanizing coastal area is an important issue to ensure sustainable land use and effective maintenance of land ecological security. In this study, an index system for the land ecological security of Caofeidian new district was established based on the Pressure-State-Response (P-S-R) model. Initial assessment units of 1 km x 1 km created with the remote sensing data and GIS methods were spatially interpolated to a fine pixel size of 30 m x 30 m, which were combined with the early warning method (using classification tree method) to evaluate the land ecological security of Caofeidian in 2005 and 2013. The early warning level was classed into four categories: security with degradation potential, sub-security with slow degradation, sub-security with rapid degradation, and insecurity. Result indicated that, from 2005 to 2013, the average LES of Caofeidian dropped from 0.55 to 0.52, indicating a degradation of land ecological security from medium security level to medium-low security level. The areas at the levels of insecurity with rapid degradation were mainly located in the rapid urbanization areas, illustrating that rapid expansion of urban construction land was the key factor to the deterioration of the regional land ecological security. Industrial District, Shilihai town and Nanpu saltern, in which the lands at the levels of insecurity and sub-security with rapid degradation or slow degradation accounted for 58.3%, 98.9% and 81.2% of their respective districts, were at the stage of high early warning. Thus, land ecological security regulation for these districts should be strengthened in near future. The study could provide a reference for land use planning and ecological protection of Caofeidian new district.

Construction and curation of a large ecotoxicological dataset for the EcoTTC

EPA Science Inventory

The Ecological Threshold for Toxicological Concern, or ecoTTC, has been proposed as a natural next step to the well-known human safety TTC concept. The ecoTTC is particularly suited for use as an early screening tool in the risk assessment process, in situations where chemical h...

In vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation of xenoestrogens using an estrogen responsive in vitro transcriptional activation assay and the in vivo uterotrophic assay##

EPA Science Inventory

Widespread contamination of waters with both natural and synthetic estrogens is a concern for potential adverse ecological and human health effects. In vitro assays are valuable screening tools for identifying contaminated environmental samples and chemical specific mechanisms of...

In vitro-to-in vivo extrapolation of xenoestrogens using an estrogen responsive in vitro transcriptional activation assay and the in vivo uterotrophic assay

EPA Science Inventory

Widespread contamination of waters with both natural and synthetic estrogens is a concern for potential adverse ecological and human health effects. In vitro assays are valuable screening tools for identifying contaminated environmental samples and chemical specific mechanisms o...

Chemical ecology: studies from East Africa.

PubMed

Meinwald, J; Prestwich, G D; Nakanishi, K; Kubo, I

1978-03-17

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), in Nairobi, provides a laboratory at which a multinational group of scientists pursues interdisciplinary research. In collaboration with their colleagues in biology, ICIPE chemists have characterized the sex pheromones of the tick which serves as a vector of East Coast fever and have identified a termite queen-cell-building pheromone. The structure of many anthropod defensive chemicals have been determined; most interesting of these are the trinervitenes, structurally novel diterpenoids from nasute termites. Several highly active insect antifeedants were discovered using a simple bioassay to screen selected East African plants. These antifeedants may provide leads for the development of new insect-control techniques.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sharma, R K; Freeman, III, R F

Region III of the US Fish and Wildlife Service contracted with the Division of Environmental Impact Studies, Argonne National Laboratory, to make the 316(b) determination for the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant of the Indiana and Michigan Power Company and to make recommendations for improvement in intake design to facilitate compliance. To conduct this assessment, appropriate literature on screening systems and reports furnished by the applicant on intake design and operation and on ecological studies at the site were reviewed. Modifications of the location and design of the existing intake and possibilities of retrofitting with fine-mesh screening to screenmore » larval forms of fishes were examined. It was determined that currently there is no dictated need for fine-mesh screening of intake flow at the D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant.« less

It is time to develop ecological thresholds of toxicological concern to assist environmental hazard assessment.

PubMed

Belanger, Scott E; Sanderson, Hans; Embry, Michelle R; Coady, Katie; DeZwart, Dick; Farr, Brianna A; Gutsell, Steve; Halder, Marlies; Sternberg, Robin; Wilson, Peter

2015-12-01

The threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) concept is well established for assessing human safety of food-contact substances and has been reapplied for a variety of endpoints, including carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and reproductive toxicity. The TTC establishes an exposure level for chemicals below which no appreciable risk to human health or the environment is expected, based on a de minimis value for toxicity identified for many chemicals. Threshold of toxicological concern approaches have benefits for screening-level risk assessments, including the potential for rapid decision-making, fully utilizing existing knowledge, reasonable conservativeness for chemicals used in lower volumes (low production volume chemicals (e.g., < 1 t/yr), and reduction or elimination of unnecessary animal tests. Higher production volume chemicals (>1 t/yr) would in principle always require specific information because of the presumed higher exposure potential. The TTC approach has found particular favor in the assessment of chemicals used in cosmetics and personal care products, as well as other chemicals traditionally used in low volumes. Use of the TTC in environmental safety is just beginning, and initial attempts are being published. Key questions focus on hazard extrapolation of diverse taxa across trophic levels, importance of mode of action, and whether safe concentrations for ecosystems estimated from acute or chronic toxicity data are equally useful and in what contexts. The present study provides an overview of the theoretical basis for developing an ecological (eco)-TTC, with an initial exploration of chemical assessment and boundary conditions for use. An international collaboration under the International Life Sciences Institute Health and Environmental Sciences Institute has been established to address challenges related to developing and applying useful eco-TTC concepts. © 2015 SETAC.

Health risk assessment of semi-volatile organic pollutants in Lhasa River China.

PubMed

Liu, Feng; Liu, Yan; Jiang, Dongsheng; Zhang, Rongfei; Cui, Yibin; Li, Mei

2014-05-01

The semi-volatile organic compounds in Lhasa River were determined qualitatively and quantitatively by gas chromatography method with mass spectrometric detection. Total concentrations of 23 organic pollutants in samples from five sites ranged from 1.56 to 2.78 μg/L. The average concentrations for ΣPAEs, ΣPAHs and ΣBTEXs obtained in this study were 1.53, 0.33 and 0.51 μg/L, respectively. Moreover, the results of analysis of variable showed that there were significant differences (P < 0.05) among the sites for levels of ΣPAHs, ΣPAEs and ΣBTEXs. Cluster analysis was applied to detect spatial similarity for grouping of sites under the monitoring network. The results indicated that the five sites in this study could be divided into two significant groups, i.e. low and high pollutant groups. Health risk assessment was conducted by multimedia environmental goals (MEG), risk quotient (RQ) for each pollutant and hazard quotient (HQ) approach from USA ecological risk assessment (ERA) for screening stage. Calculated both total ambient severity and RQ were less than 1 and therefore minimal risk to human and ecological health. For analysis results of HQ, whether for the ingestion exposure or dermal adsorption pathway were all less than 1, the results also agreed with the RQ model and MEG model for evaluating the potential for adverse health effects due to exposure semi-volatile organic compounds from surface water. Therefore, SVOCs in Lhasa River posed little or no threat to the health of local consumers and ecological environment.

Military service member and veteran reintegration: A critical review and adapted ecological model.

PubMed

Elnitsky, Christine A; Blevins, Cara L; Fisher, Michael P; Magruder, Kathryn

2017-01-01

Returning military service members and veterans (MSMVs) experience a wide range of stress-related disorders in addition to social and occupational difficulties when reintegrating to the community. Facilitating reintegration of MSMVs following deployment is a societal priority. With an objective of identifying challenges and facilitators for reintegration of MSMVs of the current war era, we critically review and identify gaps in the literature. We searched 8 electronic databases and identified 1,764 articles. Screening of abstracts and full-text review based on our inclusion/exclusion criteria, yielded 186 articles for review. Two investigators evaluating relevant articles independently found a lack of clear definition or comprehensive theorizing about MSMV reintegration. To address these gaps, we linked the findings from the literature to provide a unified definition of reintegration and adapted the social ecological systems theory to guide research and practice aimed at MSMV reintegration. Furthermore, we identified individual, interpersonal, community, and societal challenges related to reintegration. The 186 studies published from 2001 (the start of the current war era) to 2015 included 6 experimental studies or clinical trials. Most studies do not adequately account for context or more than a narrow set of potential influences on MSMV reintegration. Little evidence was found that evaluated interventions for health conditions, rehabilitation, and employment, or effective models of integrated delivery systems. We recommend an ecological model of MSMV reintegration to advance research and practice processes and outcomes at 4 levels (individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Prioritizing US Cervical Cancer Prevention With Results From a Geospatial Model

PubMed Central

Kish, Jonathan K.; Rolin, Alicia I.; Zou, Zhaohui; Cucinelli, James E.; Tatalovich, Zaria; Saraiya, Mona

2016-01-01

Purpose To determine if differences in screening and vaccination patterns across the population may accentuate ethnic and geographic variation in future burden of disease. Methods Using Cancer in North America data provided by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, county cervical cancer incidence trends from 1995 to 2009 were modeled for the entire United States using ecologic covariates. Rates for health service areas were also modeled by ethnicity. State-level incidence was mapped together with Papanicolaou (Pap) screening, past 3 years (women ≥ 18 years old), and three-dose human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage (girls 13 to 17 years old) to identify potential priority areas for preventive services. Results US cervical cancer incidence decreased more during the periods 1995 to 1999 and 2000 to 2004 than during the period 2005 to 2009. During these 15 years, the most affected areas became increasingly confined to Appalachia, the lower Mississippi Valley, the Deep South, Texas, and Florida. Hispanic and black women experienced a higher incidence of cervical cancer than both white and Asian and Pacific Islander women during each period. Women in 10 of 17 states/districts with a high incidence (≥ 8.14/100,000) reported low Pap testing (< 78.5%), HPV vaccine coverage (< 33.9%), or both prevention technologies. Conclusion The decline in cervical cancer incidence has slowed in recent years. Access to HPV vaccination, targeted screening, and treatment in affected populations is needed to reduce cervical cancer disparities in the future. PMID:28413829

The effects of UV radiation A and B on diurnal variation in photosynthesis in three taxonomically and ecologically diverse microbial mats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cockell, C. S.; Rothschild, L. J.

1999-01-01

Photosynthetic primary production, the basis of most global food chains, is inhibited by UV radiation. Evaluating UV inhibition is therefore important for assessing the role of natural levels of UV radiation in regulating ecosystem behavior as well as the potential impact of stratospheric ozone depletion on global ecosystems. As both photosynthesis and UV fluxes are subject to diurnal variations, we examined the diurnal variability of the effect of UV radiation on photosynthesis in three diverse algal mats. In one of the mats (Cyanidium caldarium) a small mean decrease in primary productivity over the whole day occurred when both UVA and UVB were screened out. In two of the mats (Lyngbya aestuarii and Zygogonium sp.) we found a mean increase in the total primary productivity over the day when UVB alone was screened and a further increase when UVA and UVB were both screened out. Variations in the effects of UV radiation were found at different times of the day. This diurnal variability may be because even under the same solar radiation flux, there are different factors that may control photosynthetic rate, including nutritional status and other physiological processes in the cell. The results show the importance of assessing the complete diurnal productivity. For some of the time points the increase in the mean was still within the standard deviations in primary productivity, illustrating the difficulty in dissecting UV effects from other natural variations.

An Evaluation of the Addition of Critical Congenital Heart Defect Screening in Georgia Newborn Screening Procedures.

PubMed

Rentmeester, Shelby T; Pringle, Johanna; Hogue, Carol R

2017-11-01

Objectives Each year in the U.S., approximately 7200 infants are born with a critical congenital heart defect (CCHD). The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) mandated routine screening for CCHD starting January 2015. The current study evaluated hospital performance of the mandated CCHD screenings in Georgia. Methods Utilizing the DPH newborn screening surveillance system, data from 6 months before and after the mandate were analyzed for reports submitted and positive CCHD screening results. Chi square tests of independence were performed to examine the association between reporting of results for CCHD screening after the mandate and hospital nursery level [level I (well-baby/newborn); level II (special care); level III (neonatal intensive care unit-NICU)] and NICU submissions. Results In the 6 months following implementation, reports of the screening increased, but the DPH had not received information for approximately 40% of newborns. Hospitals with level III nurseries had poorer reporting rates compared to hospitals with level I or II nurseries. Newborn screening (NBS) cards submitted by NICUs were less likely to contain the CCHD screening results compared to cards submitted by regular Labor and Delivery units. Conclusions for Practice Further attention should focus on improving both CCHD screening and reporting of screening results within hospitals with level III nurseries and from NICUs at all hospital levels. Identifying and addressing the root of the issue, whether it be hospital compliance with CCHD screening or reporting of the results, will help to improve screening rates for all newborns, especially those most vulnerable.

Impacts of social indicators on assessing the recovery potential of impaired watersheds.

PubMed

Sinshaw, Tadesse A; Surbeck, Cristiane Q

2018-05-09

An analysis was carried out to understand how watersheds' potential for restoration was impacted by social indicators. This study employed the USEPA Recovery Potential Screening tool, a decision support system, to compare 51 watersheds in the state of Mississippi, USA, using ecological, stressor, and social indices, and the recovery potential integrated (RPI) index. An in-depth analysis was performed on four watersheds in the Delta region of Mississippi (Lake Washington, Harris Bayou, Steele Bayou, and Coldwater River), each impaired by sediments and nutrients. Sixteen social indicators were categorized into three subcategories: Socio-Economic, Organizational, and Informational. Watersheds with lower social indices had lower RPI scores. In the particular watersheds studied, the Socio-Economic subcategory was observed to be the most impactful to the overall recovery potential when compared to the other two social subcategories. As a sensitivity analysis, a "what if" simulation was performed to explore alternatives to upgrade a watershed's social index and, consequently, the relative recovery potential of the watershed to a target level. This analysis is useful for understanding how particular social indicators of a community impact the relative potential for recovering a watershed, beyond just the ecological and stressor conditions. It also sheds light on assessing which social indicators can be improved. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A systematic RE-AIM review to assess sugar-sweetened beverage interventions for children and adolescents across the socio-ecological model

PubMed Central

Porter, Kathleen; Estabrooks, Paul; Zoellner, Jamie

2016-01-01

Background Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among children and adolescents is a determinant of childhood obesity. Many programs to reduce consumption across the socio-ecological model report significant positive results; however, the generalizability of the results, including whether reporting differences exist among socio-ecological strategy levels, is unknown. Objectives This systematic review aims to (1) examine the extent to which studies reported internal and external validity indicators defined by RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) and (2) assess reporting differences by socio-ecological level: intrapersonal/interpersonal (Level 1), environmental/policy (Level 2), multi-level (Combined Level). Methods Six major databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Cinahl, CAB Abstracts, ERIC, and Agiricola) systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies from 2004–2015 meeting inclusion criteria (targeting children aged 3–12, adolescents 13–17, and young adults 18 years, experimental/quasi-experimental, substantial SSB component). Interventions were categorized by socio-ecological level, and data were extracted using a validated RE-AIM protocol. A one-way ANOVA assessed differences between levels. Results There were 55 eligible studies (N) accepted, including 21 Level 1, 18 Level 2, and 16 Combined Level studies. Thirty-six (65%) were conducted in the USA, 19 (35%) internationally, and 39 (71%) were implemented in schools. Across levels, reporting averages were low for all RE-AIM dimensions (reach=29%, efficacy/effectiveness=45%, adoption=26%, implementation=27%, maintenance=14%). Level 2 studies had significantly lower reporting on reach and effectiveness (10% and 26%, respectively) compared to Level 1 (44%, 57%) or Combined Level studies (31%, 52%) (p<0.001). Adoption, implementation, and maintenance reporting did not vary among levels. Conclusion Interventions to reduce SSB in children and adolescents across the socio-ecological spectrum do not provide the necessary information for dissemination and implementation in community nutrition settings. Future interventions should address both internal and external validity to maximize population impact. PMID:27262383

An Ecological Systems Approach to Bullying Behaviors among Middle School Students in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chang-Hun

2011-01-01

The aim of this study is to identify an ecological prediction model of bullying behaviors. Based on an ecological systems theory, this study identifies significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of middle and high school. These levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically,…

Socio-ecological perspective of older age life expectancy: income, gender inequality, and financial crisis in Europe.

PubMed

Kim, Jong In; Kim, Gukbin

2017-08-18

Population is aging rapidly in Europe. Older age life expectancy (OLE) can be influenced by country-level depth of credit information (DCI) as an indicator of financial crisis, gross national income (GNI) per capita, and gender inequality index (GII). These factors are key indicators of socio-ecological inequality. They can be used to develop strategies to reduce country-level health disparity. The objective of this study was to confirm the relationship between socio-ecological factors and OLE in Europe. Data were obtained from World Bank, WHO, and UN database for 34 Europe countries. Associations between socio-ecological factors and OLE were assessed with Pearson correlation coefficients and three regression models. These models assumed that appropriate changes in country-level strategies of healthy aging would produce changes in GNI per capital as personal perspective, GII in social environment perspective, and DCI in public policy perspective to implement socio-ecological changes. Hierarchal linear regression was used for final analysis. Although OLE (women and men) had significant negative correlation with GII (gender inequality index, r = - 0.798, p = 0.001), it had positive correlations with GNI (gross national income per capita, r = 0.834, p = 0.001) and DCI (depth of credit information index, r = 0.704, p = 0.001) levels caused by financial crisis. Higher levels GNI and DCI but lower GII were found to be predictors of OLE (women and men) (R 2  = 0.804, p < 0.001). Factors affecting older age life expectancy in Europe were identified from socio-ecological perspective. Socio-ecological indicators (GII, GNI, and DCI) in Europe appear to have a latent effect on OLE levels. Thus, country-level strategies of successful aging in Europe should target socio-ecological factors such as GII, GNI, and DCI value.

Population Genetics and Demography Unite Ecology and Evolution.

PubMed

Lowe, Winsor H; Kovach, Ryan P; Allendorf, Fred W

2017-02-01

The interplay of ecology and evolution has been a rich area of research for decades. A surge of interest in this area was catalyzed by the observation that evolution by natural selection can operate at the same contemporary timescales as ecological dynamics. Specifically, recent eco-evolutionary research focuses on how rapid adaptation influences ecology, and vice versa. Evolution by non-adaptive forces also occurs quickly, with ecological consequences, but understanding the full scope of ecology-evolution (eco-evo) interactions requires explicitly addressing population-level processes - genetic and demographic. We show the strong ecological effects of non-adaptive evolutionary forces and, more broadly, the value of population-level research for gaining a mechanistic understanding of eco-evo interactions. The breadth of eco-evolutionary research should expand to incorporate the breadth of evolution itself. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Ecological Environment Security in Contiguous Poverty Alleviation Area of Sichuan Province

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xian, W.; Chen, Y.; Chen, J.; Luo, X.; Shao, H.

2018-04-01

According to the overall requirements of ecological construction and environmental protection, rely on the national key ecological engineering, strengthen ecological environmental restoration and protection, improve forest cover, control soil erosion, construct important ecological security barrier in poor areas, inhibit poverty alleviation through ecological security in this area from environmental damage to the vicious cycle of poverty. Obviously, the dynamic monitoring of ecological security in contiguous destitute areas of Sichuan province has a policy sense of urgency and practical significance. This paper adopts RS technology and GIS technology to select the Luhe region of Jinchuan county and Ganzi prefecture as the research area, combined with the characteristics of ecological environment in poor areas, the impact factors of ecological environment are determined as land use type, terrain slope, vegetation cover, surface water, soil moisture and other factors. Using the ecological environmental safety assessment model, the ecological environment safety index is calculated. According to the index, the ecological environment safety of the research area is divided into four levels. The ecological environment safety classification map of 1990 in 2009 is obtained. It can be seen that with the human modern life and improve their economic level, the surrounding environment will be destroyed, because the research area ecological environment is now in good, the ecological environment generally tends to be stable. We should keep its ecological security good and improve local economic income. The relationship between ecological environmental security and economic coordinated development in poor areas has very important strategic significance.

Recent ecological transitions in China: greening, browning, and influential factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lü, Yihe; Zhang, Liwei; Feng, Xiaoming; Zeng, Yuan; Fu, Bojie; Yao, Xueling; Li, Junran; Wu, Bingfang

2015-03-01

Ecological conservation and restoration are necessary to mitigate environmental degradation problems. China has taken great efforts in such actions. To understand the ecological transition during 2000-2010 in China, this study analysed trends in vegetation change using remote sensing and linear regression. Climate and socioeconomic factors were included to screen the driving forces for vegetation change using correlation or comparative analyses. Our results indicated that China experienced both vegetation greening (restoration) and browning (degradation) with great spatial heterogeneity. Socioeconomic factors, such as human populations and economic production, were the most significant factors for vegetation change. Nature reserves have contributed slightly to the deceleration of vegetation browning and the promotion of greening; however, a large-scale conservation approach beyond nature reserves was more effective. The effectiveness of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program lay between the two above approaches. The findings of this study highlighted that vegetation trend detection is a practical approach for large-scale ecological transition assessments, which can inform decision-making that promotes vegetation greening via proper socioeconomic development and ecosystem management.

Recent ecological transitions in China: greening, browning, and influential factors.

PubMed

Lü, Yihe; Zhang, Liwei; Feng, Xiaoming; Zeng, Yuan; Fu, Bojie; Yao, Xueling; Li, Junran; Wu, Bingfang

2015-03-04

Ecological conservation and restoration are necessary to mitigate environmental degradation problems. China has taken great efforts in such actions. To understand the ecological transition during 2000-2010 in China, this study analysed trends in vegetation change using remote sensing and linear regression. Climate and socioeconomic factors were included to screen the driving forces for vegetation change using correlation or comparative analyses. Our results indicated that China experienced both vegetation greening (restoration) and browning (degradation) with great spatial heterogeneity. Socioeconomic factors, such as human populations and economic production, were the most significant factors for vegetation change. Nature reserves have contributed slightly to the deceleration of vegetation browning and the promotion of greening; however, a large-scale conservation approach beyond nature reserves was more effective. The effectiveness of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program lay between the two above approaches. The findings of this study highlighted that vegetation trend detection is a practical approach for large-scale ecological transition assessments, which can inform decision-making that promotes vegetation greening via proper socioeconomic development and ecosystem management.

Applying a Social-Ecological Framework to Factors Related to Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Adolescent Smoking Cessation.

PubMed

King, Jessica L; Merten, Julie W; Wong, Tzu-Jung; Pomeranz, Jamie L

2018-06-01

This systematic review synthesizes factors related to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) use among adolescents seeking to quit smoking, using the social-ecological model as a guiding framework. Searches of PubMED, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and ERIC were conducted in July 2016. Original studies of cigarette smokers younger than 18 years that discussed NRT were included. Two reviewers individually extracted study purpose, sample, design, and results. Factors were categorized by social-ecological model level and summarized. A total of 103 907 articles were identified during initial search. After narrowing to peer-reviewed articles in English and eliminating reviews and adult-only studies, we reviewed 51 articles. These 51 articles identified factors from studies at each level of the social-ecological model: intrapersonal ( k = 20), interpersonal ( k = 2), organizational ( k = 7), community ( k = 11), and public policy ( k = 14). Findings provide insight into the applicability of NRT for adolescent smoking cessation, and factors by social-ecological model level highlight areas for additional research. Future adolescent NRT studies should assess factors at the interpersonal, organizational, and community levels, as well as the interactions between levels.

[Residual level and ecological risk assessment of OCPs and PCBs in sediments of mudflat shellfish culturing areas in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province of East China].

PubMed

Zhu, Yun-Hai; You, Zhong-Jie; Shentu, Ji-Kang; Zhong, Hui-Ying; Chai, Li-Yue

2012-06-01

GC-ECD methods were adopted to determine the residual level of OCPs (including HCHs and DDTs) and PCBs in the surface sediments collected from mudflat shellfish culturing areas in Ningbo, with the sources of the OCPs and PCBs analyzed and the ecological risks of the residual OCPs and PCBs evaluated. The residual level of OCPs was 0.80-32.40 ng X g(-1), and that of PCBs was 3.20-33.33 ng X g(-1). The HCHs mainly came from long distance atmospheric transportation and historical residues, while the DDTs had new input at some sites, possibly coming from the application of dicofol. At most sites, there existed potential ecological risks of p, p'-DDT and DDTs, with strong indications in Qiangtou and Xidian where the residual level of p, p'-DDT was higher than the effect rang median (ERM), suggesting an ecological menace to the benthos. The residual PCBs at most sites were in low level ecological risk.

Cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge. An empirical analysis from the Tsimane' in the Bolivian Amazon.

PubMed

Reyes-García, Victoria; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Luz, Ana C; Gueze, Maximilien; Macía, Manuel J; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan

2014-01-01

Among the different factors associated to change in traditional ecological knowledge, the study of the relations between cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge has received scan and inadequate scholarly attention. Using data from indigenous peoples of an Amazonian society facing increasing exposure to the mainstream Bolivian society, we analyzed the relation between traditional ecological knowledge, proxied with individual plant use knowledge (n=484), and cultural change, proxied with individual- and village-level (n=47) measures of attachment to traditional beliefs and values. We found that both the individual level of detachment to traditional values and the village level of agreement in detachment to traditional values were associated with individual levels of plant use knowledge, irrespective of other proxy measures for cultural change. Because both the individual- and the village-level variables bear statistically significant associations with plant use knowledge, our results suggest that both the individual- and the supra-individual level processes of cultural change are related to the erosion of plant use knowledge. Results from our work highlight the importance of analyzing processes that happen at intermediary social units -the village in our case study- to explain changes in traditional ecological knowledge.

Cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge. An empirical analysis from the Tsimane’ in the Bolivian Amazon

PubMed Central

Reyes-García, Victoria; Paneque-Gálvez, Jaime; Luz, Ana C.; Gueze, Maximilien; Macía, Manuel J.; Orta-Martínez, Martí; Pino, Joan

2016-01-01

Among the different factors associated to change in traditional ecological knowledge, the study of the relations between cultural change and traditional ecological knowledge has received scan and inadequate scholarly attention. Using data from indigenous peoples of an Amazonian society facing increasing exposure to the mainstream Bolivian society, we analyzed the relation between traditional ecological knowledge, proxied with individual plant use knowledge (n=484), and cultural change, proxied with individual- and village-level (n=47) measures of attachment to traditional beliefs and values. We found that both the individual level of detachment to traditional values and the village level of agreement in detachment to traditional values were associated with individual levels of plant use knowledge, irrespective of other proxy measures for cultural change. Because both the individual- and the village-level variables bear statistically significant associations with plant use knowledge, our results suggest that both the individual- and the supra-individual level processes of cultural change are related to the erosion of plant use knowledge. Results from our work highlight the importance of analyzing processes that happen at intermediary social units -the village in our case study- to explain changes in traditional ecological knowledge. PMID:27642188

Social Ecology of Child Soldiers: Child, Family, and Community Determinants of Mental Health, Psychosocial Wellbeing, and Reintegration in Nepal

PubMed Central

Kohrt, Brandon A.; Jordans, Mark J.D.; Tol, Wietse A.; Perera, Em; Karki, Rohit; Koirala, Suraj; Upadhaya, Nawaraj

2013-01-01

This study employs social ecology to evaluate psychosocial wellbeing in a cross-sectional sample of 142 former child soldiers in Nepal. Outcome measures included the Depression Self Rating Scale (DSRS), Child Posttraumatic Stress Scale (CPSS), and locally developed measures of function impairment and reintegration. At the child level, traumatic exposures, especially torture, predicted poor outcomes, while education improved outcomes. At the family level, conflict-related death of a relative, physical abuse in the household, and loss of wealth during the conflict predicted poor outcomes. At the community level, living in high caste Hindu communities predicted fewer reintegration supports. Ultimately, social ecology is well-suited to identify intervention foci across ecological levels, based on community differences in vulnerability and protective factors. PMID:21088102

Deriving site-specific soil clean-up values for metals and metalloids: Rationale for including protection of soil microbial processes

PubMed Central

Kuperman, Roman G; Siciliano, Steven D; Römbke, Jörg; Oorts, Koen

2014-01-01

Although it is widely recognized that microorganisms are essential for sustaining soil fertility, structure, nutrient cycling, groundwater purification, and other soil functions, soil microbial toxicity data were excluded from the derivation of Ecological Soil Screening Levels (Eco-SSL) in the United States. Among the reasons for such exclusion were claims that microbial toxicity tests were too difficult to interpret because of the high variability of microbial responses, uncertainty regarding the relevance of the various endpoints, and functional redundancy. Since the release of the first draft of the Eco-SSL Guidance document by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 2003, soil microbial toxicity testing and its use in ecological risk assessments have substantially improved. A wide range of standardized and nonstandardized methods became available for testing chemical toxicity to microbial functions in soil. Regulatory frameworks in the European Union and Australia have successfully incorporated microbial toxicity data into the derivation of soil threshold concentrations for ecological risk assessments. This article provides the 3-part rationale for including soil microbial processes in the development of soil clean-up values (SCVs): 1) presenting a brief overview of relevant test methods for assessing microbial functions in soil, 2) examining data sets for Cu, Ni, Zn, and Mo that incorporated soil microbial toxicity data into regulatory frameworks, and 3) offering recommendations on how to integrate the best available science into the method development for deriving site-specific SCVs that account for bioavailability of metals and metalloids in soil. Although the primary focus of this article is on the development of the approach for deriving SCVs for metals and metalloids in the United States, the recommendations provided in this article may also be applicable in other jurisdictions that aim at developing ecological soil threshold values for protection of microbial processes in contaminated soils. PMID:24376192

The individualistic fallacy, ecological studies and instrumental variables: a causal interpretation.

PubMed

Loney, Tom; Nagelkerke, Nico J

2014-01-01

The validity of ecological studies in epidemiology for inferring causal relationships has been widely challenged as observed associations could be biased by the Ecological Fallacy. We reconsider the important design components of ecological studies, and discuss the conditions that may lead to spurious associations. Ecological associations are useful and valid when the ecological exposures can be interpreted as Instrumental Variables. A suitable example may be a time series analysis of environmental pollution (e.g. particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of <10 micrometres; PM10) and health outcomes (e.g. hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction) as environmental pollution levels are a cause of individual exposure levels and not just an aggregate measurement. Ecological exposures may also be employed in situations (perhaps rare) where individual exposures are known but their associations with health outcomes are confounded by unknown or unquantifiable factors. Ecological associations have a notorious reputation in epidemiology and individualistic associations are considered superior to ecological associations because of the "ecological fallacy". We have argued that this is incorrect in situations in which ecological or aggregate exposures can serve as an instrumental variable and associations between individual exposure and outcome are likely to be confounded by unmeasured variables.

Defining acceptable levels for ecological indicators: an approach for considering social values.

PubMed

Smyth, Robyn L; Watzin, Mary C; Manning, Robert E

2007-03-01

Ecological indicators can facilitate an adaptive management approach, but only if acceptable levels for those indicators have been defined so that the data collected can be interpreted. Because acceptable levels are an expression of the desired state of the ecosystem, the process of establishing acceptable levels should incorporate not just ecological understanding but also societal values. The goal of this research was to explore an approach for defining acceptable levels of ecological indicators that explicitly considers social perspectives and values. We used a set of eight indicators that were related to issues of concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Our approach was based on normative theory. Using a stakeholder survey, we measured respondent normative evaluations of varying levels of our indicators. Aggregated social norm curves were used to determine the level at which indicator values shifted from acceptable to unacceptable conditions. For seven of the eight indicators, clear preferences were interpretable from these norm curves. For example, closures of public beaches because of bacterial contamination and days of intense algae bloom went from acceptable to unacceptable at 7-10 days in a summer season. Survey respondents also indicated that the number of fish caught from Lake Champlain that could be safely consumed each month was unacceptably low and the number of streams draining into the lake that were impaired by storm water was unacceptably high. If indicators that translate ecological conditions into social consequences are carefully selected, we believe the normative approach has considerable merit for defining acceptable levels of valued ecological system components.

Using ecological propensity score to adjust for missing confounders in small area studies.

PubMed

Wang, Yingbo; Pirani, Monica; Hansell, Anna L; Richardson, Sylvia; Blangiardo, Marta

2017-11-09

Small area ecological studies are commonly used in epidemiology to assess the impact of area level risk factors on health outcomes when data are only available in an aggregated form. However, the resulting estimates are often biased due to unmeasured confounders, which typically are not available from the standard administrative registries used for these studies. Extra information on confounders can be provided through external data sets such as surveys or cohorts, where the data are available at the individual level rather than at the area level; however, such data typically lack the geographical coverage of administrative registries. We develop a framework of analysis which combines ecological and individual level data from different sources to provide an adjusted estimate of area level risk factors which is less biased. Our method (i) summarizes all available individual level confounders into an area level scalar variable, which we call ecological propensity score (EPS), (ii) implements a hierarchical structured approach to impute the values of EPS whenever they are missing, and (iii) includes the estimated and imputed EPS into the ecological regression linking the risk factors to the health outcome. Through a simulation study, we show that integrating individual level data into small area analyses via EPS is a promising method to reduce the bias intrinsic in ecological studies due to unmeasured confounders; we also apply the method to a real case study to evaluate the effect of air pollution on coronary heart disease hospital admissions in Greater London. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Does the nature of schools matter? An exploration of selected school ecology factors on adolescent perceptions of school connectedness.

PubMed

Waters, Stacey; Cross, Donna; Shaw, Therese

2010-09-01

Connectedness to school is a significant predictor of adolescent health and academic outcomes. While individual predictors of connectedness have been well-described, little is known about school-level factors which may influence connectedness. A school's ecology, or its structural, functional, and built aspects, coupled with interpersonal interactions, may also help to enhance adolescent connectedness. This study aims to identify school ecological characteristics which predict enhanced connectedness in secondary school. Data from 5,159 Grade 8 students (12-13 years) from 39 randomly selected schools were tracked until the end of Grade 9 (13-14 years). Students' self-reported school, teacher, and family connectedness, mental health and peer relationships were measured at two time points. Accounting for school-level clustering, student- and school-level ecological characteristics were modelled on self-reported school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9. Students' higher school connectedness in Grades 8 and 9 was influenced by greater levels of family connectedness, fewer classroom and peer problems, less difficult secondary school transition, fewer emotional problems, and greater prosocial skills. Seven school-level ecological variables were significantly associated with school connectedness after controlling for student-level predictors. At the school-level, priority for pastoral care and students' aggregated writing skills scores significantly predicted concurrent and future enhanced connectedness. Interventions to improve students' school connectedness should address individual student characteristics and school functional features such as pastoral care strategies and helping students to achieve greater academic outcomes. Future studies should focus on the cumulative longitudinal influence of school ecological and student-level predictors of school connectedness.

Defining Acceptable Levels for Ecological Indicators: An Approach for Considering Social Values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, Robyn L.; Watzin, Mary C.; Manning, Robert E.

2007-03-01

Ecological indicators can facilitate an adaptive management approach, but only if acceptable levels for those indicators have been defined so that the data collected can be interpreted. Because acceptable levels are an expression of the desired state of the ecosystem, the process of establishing acceptable levels should incorporate not just ecological understanding but also societal values. The goal of this research was to explore an approach for defining acceptable levels of ecological indicators that explicitly considers social perspectives and values. We used a set of eight indicators that were related to issues of concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Our approach was based on normative theory. Using a stakeholder survey, we measured respondent normative evaluations of varying levels of our indicators. Aggregated social norm curves were used to determine the level at which indicator values shifted from acceptable to unacceptable conditions. For seven of the eight indicators, clear preferences were interpretable from these norm curves. For example, closures of public beaches because of bacterial contamination and days of intense algae bloom went from acceptable to unacceptable at 7-10 days in a summer season. Survey respondents also indicated that the number of fish caught from Lake Champlain that could be safely consumed each month was unacceptably low and the number of streams draining into the lake that were impaired by storm water was unacceptably high. If indicators that translate ecological conditions into social consequences are carefully selected, we believe the normative approach has considerable merit for defining acceptable levels of valued ecological system components.

Operational disease screening program for resistance to wilt in Acacia koa in Hawaii

Treesearch

Nick Dudley; Robert James; Richard Sniezko; Phil Cannon; Aileen Yeh; Tyler Jones; Michael Kaufmann

2012-01-01

In Hawaii, koa (Acacia koa A. Gray) is a valuable tree species economically, ecologically, and culturally. With significant land use change and declines in sugarcane, pineapple, and cattle production, there is an opportunity and keen interest in utilizing native koa in reforestation and restoration efforts. However, moderate to high mortality rates...

Adapting the Climate Resilience Screening Index (CRSI) for demonstration in selected U.S. coastal counties: EPA Region 4 and South Carolina

EPA Science Inventory

Natural disasters often impose significant and long-lasting stress on financial, social and ecological systems. From Atlantic hurricanes to Midwest tornadoes to Western wildfires, no corner of the U.S. is immune to the threat of devastating climate events. Across the nation, ther...

Exploring parent-reported barriers to supporting their child's health behaviors: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Jarvis, Jocelyn W; Harrington, Daniel W; Manson, Heather

2017-05-15

Parents can influence the health behaviors of their children by engaging in supportive behaviors (e.g., playing outside with their child, limiting recreational screen time). How, and the extent to which parents engage in supportive behaviors may be influenced by perceived barriers. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the frequency, and types, of barriers to providing parental support are dependent on the type of child health behavior being supported (i.e., physical activity, recreational screen time reduction, healthy eating, and sleep). Study participants were 1140 Ontario parents with at least one child under the age of 18 who completed a Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey about parental support behaviors. Open-ended responses about perceived barriers to parental support were coded, and aggregated to meta-categories adopted from the social-ecological model (i.e., individual child, individual parent, interpersonal, environmental). Freidman rank sum tests were used to assess differences across child behaviors. Wilcoxon rank sum tests with Bonferroni adjustments were used as a post hoc test for significant Freidman results. There were more barriers reported for supporting physical activity than for any other child behavior (ps < .01, As ≥ .53). Parents reported more parent level and environmental level barriers to supporting child physical activity versus other behaviors (ps < .001, As ≥ .55), child level barriers were more frequently reported for supporting healthy eating and sleep (ps < .001, As ≥ .57), and interpersonal barriers were more frequently reported for supporting recreational screen time reduction (ps < .001, As ≥ .52). Overall, parents reported more child and parent level barriers versus interpersonal and environmental barriers to supporting child health. Parents experience a variety of barriers to supporting their children's health behaviors. Differences in types of barriers across child health behaviors emerged; however, some frequently reported barriers (e.g., child preferences) were common across behaviors. Interventions promoting parental support should consider strategies that can accommodate parents' busy schedules, and relate to activities that children find enjoyable. Creating supportive environments that help facilitate support behaviors, while minimizing parent level barriers, may be of particular benefit. Future research should explore the impact of barriers on parental support behaviors, and effective strategies for overcoming common barriers.

Social ecology of child soldiers: child, family, and community determinants of mental health, psychosocial well-being, and reintegration in Nepal.

PubMed

Kohrt, Brandon A; Jordans, Mark J D; Tol, Wietse A; Perera, Em; Karki, Rohit; Koirala, Suraj; Upadhaya, Nawaraj

2010-11-01

This study employed a social ecology framework to evaluate psychosocial well-being in a cross-sectional sample of 142 former child soldiers in Nepal. Outcome measures included the Depression Self Rating Scale (DSRS), Child Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale (CPSS), and locally developed measures of functional impairment and reintegration. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the contribution of factors at multiple levels. At the child level, traumatic exposures, especially torture, predicted poor outcomes, while education improved outcomes. At the family level, conflict-related death of a relative, physical abuse in the household, and loss of wealth during the conflict predicted poor outcomes. At the community level, living in high caste Hindu communities predicted lack of reintegration supports. Ultimately, social ecology is well suited to identify intervention foci across ecological levels based on community differences in vulnerability and protective factors.

White Paper: Summary of the NOAA Workshop - Ecological Effect of Sea Level Rise in the Florida Panhandle and Coastal Alabama: Research and Modeling Needs

EPA Science Inventory

The Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) is addressing current and future impacts to ecological systems due to the long term effect of sea level rise due to climate change and subsidence on coastal ecosystems through the peer-reviewed research program, the Ecologic...

Use of probability analysis to establish routine bioassay screening levels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carbaugh, E.H.; Sula, M.J.; McFadden, K.M.

1990-09-01

Probability analysis was used by the Hanford Internal Dosimetry Program to establish bioassay screening levels for tritium and uranium in urine. Background environmental levels of these two radionuclides are generally detectable by the highly sensitive urine analysis procedures routinely used at Hanford. Establishing screening levels requires balancing the impact of false detection with the consequence of potentially undetectable occupation dose. To establish the screening levels, tritium and uranium analyses were performed on urine samples collected from workers exposed only to environmental sources. All samples were collected at home using a simulated 12-hour protocol for tritium and a simulated 24-hour collectionmore » protocol for uranium. Results of the analyses of these samples were ranked according to tritium concentration or total sample uranium. The cumulative percentile was calculated and plotted using log-probability coordinates. Geometric means and screening levels corresponding to various percentiles were estimated by graphical interpolation and standard calculations. The potentially annual internal dose associated with a screening level was calculated. Screening levels were selected corresponding to the 99.9 percentile, implying that, on the average, 1 out of 1000 samples collected from an unexposed worker population would be expected to exceed the screening level. 4 refs., 2 figs.« less

A catalog of putative adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) that ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

A number of putative AOPs for several distinct MIEs of thyroid disruption have been formulated for amphibian metamorphosis and fish swim bladder inflation. These have been entered into the AOP knowledgebase on the OECD WIKI. The EDSP has been actively advancing high-throughput screening for chemical activity toward estrogen, androgen and thyroid targets. However, it has been recently identified that coverage for thyroid-related targets is lagging behind estrogen and androgen assay coverage. As thyroid-related medium-high throughput assays are actively being developed for inclusion in the ToxCast chemical screening program, a parallel effort is underway to characterize putative adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) specific to these thyroid-related targets. This effort is intended to provide biological and ecological context that will enhance the utility of ToxCast high throughput screening data for hazard identification.

Organizational Factors Affecting the Likelihood of Cancer Screening Among VA Patients.

PubMed

Chou, Ann F; Rose, Danielle E; Farmer, Melissa; Canelo, Ismelda; Yano, Elizabeth M

2015-12-01

Preventive service delivery, including cancer screenings, continues to pose a challenge to quality improvement efforts. Although many studies have focused on person-level characteristics associated with screening, less is known about organizational influences on cancer screening. This study aims to understand the association between organizational factors and adherence to cancer screenings. This study employed a cross-sectional design using organizational-level, patient-level, and area-level data. Dependent variables included breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening. Organizational factors describing resource sufficiency were constructed using factor analyses from a survey of 250 Veterans Affairs primary care directors. We conducted random-effects logistic regression analyses, modeling cancer screening as a function of organizational factors, controlling for patient-level and area-level factors. Overall, 87% of the patients received mammograms, 92% received cervical and 78% had colorectal screening. Quality improvement orientation increased the odds of cervical [odds ratio (OR): 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-1.57] and colorectal cancer screening (OR: 1.10; 95% CI, 1.00-1.20). Authority in determining primary care components increased the odds of mammography screening (OR: 1.23; 95% CI, 1.03-1.51). Sufficiency in clinical staffing increased the odds of mammography and cervical cancer screenings. Several patient-level factors, serving as control variables, were associated with achievement of screenings. Resource sufficiency led to increased odds of screening possibly because they promote excellence in patient care by conveying organizational goals and facilitate goal achievement with resources. Complementary to patient-level factors, our findings identified organizational processes associated with better performance, which offer concrete strategies in which facilities can evaluate their capabilities to implement best practices to foster and sustain a culture of quality care.

Summary Report: Risk Assessment Forum Technical Workshop on Population-level Ecological Risk Assessment

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2008 technical workshop regarding development of additional guidelines or best practices for planning, implementing and interpreting ecological risk assessments that involve population-level assessment endpoints.

Population genetics and demography unite ecology and evolution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lowe, Winsor H.; Kovach, Ryan; Allendorf, Fred W.

2017-01-01

The interplay of ecology and evolution has been a rich area of research for decades. A surge of interest in this area was catalyzed by the observation that evolution by natural selection can operate at the same contemporary timescales as ecological dynamics. Specifically, recent eco-evolutionary research focuses on how rapid adaptation influences ecology, and vice versa. Evolution by non-adaptive forces also occurs quickly, with ecological consequences, but understanding the full scope of ecology–evolution (eco–evo) interactions requires explicitly addressing population-level processes – genetic and demographic. We show the strong ecological effects of non-adaptive evolutionary forces and, more broadly, the value of population-level research for gaining a mechanistic understanding of eco–evo interactions. The breadth of eco-evolutionary research should expand to incorporate the breadth of evolution itself.

Correlates between feeding ecology and mercury levels in historical and modern arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus).

PubMed

Bocharova, Natalia; Treu, Gabriele; Czirják, Gábor Árpád; Krone, Oliver; Stefanski, Volker; Wibbelt, Gudrun; Unnsteinsdóttir, Ester Rut; Hersteinsson, Páll; Schares, Gereon; Doronina, Lilia; Goltsman, Mikhail; Greenwood, Alex D

2013-01-01

Changes in concentration of pollutants and pathogen distribution can vary among ecotypes (e.g. marine versus terrestrial food resources). This may have important implications for the animals that reside within them. We examined 1) canid pathogen presence in an endangered arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population and 2) relative total mercury (THg) level as a function of ecotype ('coastal' or 'inland') for arctic foxes to test whether the presence of pathogens or heavy metal concentration correlate with population health. The Bering Sea populations on Bering and Mednyi Islands were compared to Icelandic arctic fox populations with respect to inland and coastal ecotypes. Serological and DNA based pathogen screening techniques were used to examine arctic foxes for pathogens. THg was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry from hair samples of historical and modern collected arctic foxes and samples from their prey species (hair and internal organs). Presence of pathogens did not correlate with population decline from Mednyi Island. However, THg concentration correlated strongly with ecotype and was reflected in the THg concentrations detected in available food sources in each ecotype. The highest concentration of THg was found in ecotypes where foxes depended on marine vertebrates for food. Exclusively inland ecotypes had low THg concentrations. The results suggest that absolute exposure to heavy metals may be less important than the feeding ecology and feeding opportunities of top predators such as arctic foxes which may in turn influence population health and stability. A higher risk to wildlife of heavy metal exposure correlates with feeding strategies that rely primarily on a marine based diet.

Correlates between Feeding Ecology and Mercury Levels in Historical and Modern Arctic Foxes (Vulpes lagopus)

PubMed Central

Krone, Oliver; Stefanski, Volker; Wibbelt, Gudrun; Unnsteinsdóttir, Ester Rut; Hersteinsson, Páll; Schares, Gereon; Doronina, Lilia; Goltsman, Mikhail; Greenwood, Alex D.

2013-01-01

Changes in concentration of pollutants and pathogen distribution can vary among ecotypes (e.g. marine versus terrestrial food resources). This may have important implications for the animals that reside within them. We examined 1) canid pathogen presence in an endangered arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population and 2) relative total mercury (THg) level as a function of ecotype (‘coastal’ or ‘inland’) for arctic foxes to test whether the presence of pathogens or heavy metal concentration correlate with population health. The Bering Sea populations on Bering and Mednyi Islands were compared to Icelandic arctic fox populations with respect to inland and coastal ecotypes. Serological and DNA based pathogen screening techniques were used to examine arctic foxes for pathogens. THg was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry from hair samples of historical and modern collected arctic foxes and samples from their prey species (hair and internal organs). Presence of pathogens did not correlate with population decline from Mednyi Island. However, THg concentration correlated strongly with ecotype and was reflected in the THg concentrations detected in available food sources in each ecotype. The highest concentration of THg was found in ecotypes where foxes depended on marine vertebrates for food. Exclusively inland ecotypes had low THg concentrations. The results suggest that absolute exposure to heavy metals may be less important than the feeding ecology and feeding opportunities of top predators such as arctic foxes which may in turn influence population health and stability. A higher risk to wildlife of heavy metal exposure correlates with feeding strategies that rely primarily on a marine based diet. PMID:23671561

Community Social Capital, Built Environment, and Income-Based Inequality in Depressive Symptoms Among Older People in Japan: An Ecological Study From the JAGES Project.

PubMed

Haseda, Maho; Kondo, Naoki; Ashida, Toyo; Tani, Yukako; Takagi, Daisuke; Kondo, Katsunori

2018-03-05

Although reducing socioeconomic inequalities in depression is necessary, their associated factors have rarely been studied. This study aimed to screen the potential contextual factors associated with income-based inequality in older adults' depression. Using data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) of 2013, we conducted an ecological study covering 77 communities in Japan. Our measures of socioeconomic inequalities in depression were the slope index of inequalities (SII) and the relative index of inequalities (RII) of the prevalence of depressive symptoms across three income levels. We categorized available community-level factors, including socio-demographic factors, social participation, social relationships, subjective changes in the residential area, and the built environment. These indicators were aggregated from individual responses of 51,962 and 52,958 physically independent men and women, respectively, aged 65 years or more. We performed multiple linear regression analyses to explore factors with statistical significance of a two-tailed P-value less than 0.05. Factors associated with shallower gradients in depression for men included higher participation in local activities and reception or provision of social support, which did not show significant association among women. Perceived increases in unemployment and economic inequalities were positively associated with larger inequalities in both genders (P < 0.05). The built environment did not indicate any significant association. A community environment fostering social activities and relationships might be associated with smaller income-based inequalities in depression. There is a need for more deterministic studies for planning of effective community interventions to address socioeconomic inequalities in depression.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giuliani, Sarah E; Frank, Ashley M; Corgliano, Danielle M

Abstract Background: Transporter proteins are one of an organism s primary interfaces with the environment. The expressed set of transporters mediates cellular metabolic capabilities and influences signal transduction pathways and regulatory networks. The functional annotation of most transporters is currently limited to general classification into families. The development of capabilities to map ligands with specific transporters would improve our knowledge of the function of these proteins, improve the annotation of related genomes, and facilitate predictions for their role in cellular responses to environmental changes. Results: To improve the utility of the functional annotation for ABC transporters, we expressed and purifiedmore » the set of solute binding proteins from Rhodopseudomonas palustris and characterized their ligand-binding specificity. Our approach utilized ligand libraries consisting of environmental and cellular metabolic compounds, and fluorescence thermal shift based high throughput ligand binding screens. This process resulted in the identification of specific binding ligands for approximately 64% of the purified and screened proteins. The collection of binding ligands is representative of common functionalities associated with many bacterial organisms as well as specific capabilities linked to the ecological niche occupied by R. palustris. Conclusion: The functional screen identified specific ligands that bound to ABC transporter periplasmic binding subunits from R. palustris. These assignments provide unique insight for the metabolic capabilities of this organism and are consistent with the ecological niche of strain isolation. This functional insight can be used to improve the annotation of related organisms and provides a route to evaluate the evolution of this important and diverse group of transporter proteins.« less

[System construction of early warning for ecological security at cultural and natural heritage mixed sites and its application: a case study of Wuyishan Scenery District].

PubMed

You, Wei-Bin; He, Dong-Jin; Qin, De-Hua; Ji, Zhi-Rong; Wu, Li-Yun; Yu, Jian-An; Chen, Bing-Rong; Tan, Yong

2014-05-01

This paper proposed a new concept of ecological security for protection by a comprehensive analysis of the contents and standards of world heritage sites. A frame concept model named "Pressure-State-Control" for early warning of ecological security at world heritage mixed sites was constructed and evaluation indicators of this frame were also selected. Wuyishan Scenery District was chosen for a case study, which has been severely disturbed by natural and artificial factors. Based on the frame model of "Pressure-State-Control" and by employing extension analysis, the matter-element model was established to assess the ecological security status of this cultural and natural world heritage mixed site. The results showed that the accuracy of ecological security early warning reached 84%. Early warning rank was I level (no alert status) in 1997 and 2009, but that in 2009 had a higher possibility to convert into II level. Likewise, the early-warning indices of sensitive ranks were different between 1997 and 2009. Population density, population growth rate, area index for tea garden, cultivated land owned per capita, level of drought, and investment for ecological and environmental construction were the main limiting factors to hinder the development of ecological security from 2009 to future. In general, the status of Wuyishan Scenery District ecological security was relatively good and considered as no alert level, while risk conditions also existed in terms of a few early-warning indicators. We still need to pay more attention to serious alert indicators and adopt effective prevention and control measures to maintain a good ecological security status of this heritage site.

Sewage impacts coral reefs at multiple levels of ecological organization.

PubMed

Reopanichkul, Pasinee; Schlacher, Thomas A; Carter, R W; Worachananant, Suchai

2009-09-01

Against a backdrop of rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification which pose global threats to coral reefs, excess nutrients and turbidity continue to be significant stressors at regional and local scales. Because interventions usually require local data on pollution impacts, we measured ecological responses to sewage discharges in Surin Marine Park, Thailand. Wastewater disposal significantly increased inorganic nutrients and turbidity levels, and this degradation in water quality resulted in substantial ecological shifts in the form of (i) increased macroalgal density and species richness, (ii) lower cover of hard corals, and (iii) significant declines in fish abundance. Thus, the effects of nutrient pollution and turbidity can cascade across several levels of ecological organization to change key properties of the benthos and fish on coral reefs. Maintenance or restoration of ecological reef health requires improved wastewater management and run-off control for reefs to deliver their valuable ecosystems services.

Yes! There are resilient generalizations (or "laws") in ecology.

PubMed

Linquist, Stefan; Gregory, T Ryan; Elliott, Tyler A; Saylor, Brent; Kremer, Stefan C; Cottenie, Karl

2016-06-01

ABSTRACT It is often argued that ecological communities admit of no useful generalizations or "laws" because these systems are especially prone to contingent historical events. Detractors respond that this argument assumes an overly stringent definition of laws of nature. Under a more relaxed conception, it is argued that ecological laws emerge at the level of communities and elsewhere. A brief review of this debate reveals an issue with deep philosophical roots that is unlikely to be resolved by a better understanding of generalizations in ecology. We therefore propose a strategy for transforming the conceptual question about the nature of ecological laws into a set of empirically tractable hypotheses about the relative re- silience of ecological generalizations across three dimensions: taxonomy, habitat type, and scale. These hypotheses are tested using a survey of 240 meta-analyses in ecology. Our central finding is that generalizations in community ecology are just as prevalent and as resilient as those in population or ecosystem ecology. These findings should help to establish community ecology as a generality-seeking science as opposed to a science of case studies. It also supports the capacity for ecologists, working at any of the three levels, to inform matters of public policy.

Summary Report of Ecological Risk Assessment for the Operation of the Explosives Waste Treatment Facility at Site 300 of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gallegos, Gretchen M.; Terusaki, Stan H.

2013-12-01

An ecological risk assessment is required as part of the Resource Recovery and Conservation Act (RCRA) permit renewal process for Miscellaneous Units subject to 22 CCR 66270.23. This risk assessment is prepared in support of the RCRA permit renewal for the Explosives Waste Treatment Facility (EWTF) at Site 300 of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). LLNL collected soil samples and used the resulting data to produce a scoping-level ecological risk assessment pursuant to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment at Hazardous Waste Sites and Permitted Facilities, Part A: Overview, July 4, 1996. The scoping-levelmore » ecological risk assessment provides a framework to determine the potential interaction between ecological receptors and chemicals of concern from hazardous waste treatment operations in the area of EWTF. A scoping-level ecological risk assessment includes the step of conducting soil sampling in the area of the treatment units. The Sampling Plan in Support of the Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment for the Operation of the Explosives Waste Treatment Facility at Site 300 of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, (Terusaki, 2007), outlines the EWTF project-specific soil sampling requirements. Soil samples were obtained and analyzed for constituents from four chemical groups: furans, explosives, semi-volatiles and metals. Analytical results showed that furans, explosives and semi-volatiles were not detected; therefore, no further analysis was conducted. The soil samples did show the presence of metals. Soil samples analyzed for metals were compared to site-wide background levels, which had been developed for site -wide cleanup activities pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Total metal concentrations from 28 discrete soil samples obtained in the EWTF area were all below CERCLA-developed background levels. Therefore, following DTSC 1996 guidance, the EWTF hazardous waste treatment units exit the ecological risk evaluation process upon completion of the requirements of a scoping-level assessment report. This summary report documents that the requirements of a scoping-level assessment have been met.« less

Ecological hierarchies and self-organisation - Pattern analysis, modelling and process integration across scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reuter, H.; Jopp, F.; Blanco-Moreno, J. M.; Damgaard, C.; Matsinos, Y.; DeAngelis, D.L.

2010-01-01

A continuing discussion in applied and theoretical ecology focuses on the relationship of different organisational levels and on how ecological systems interact across scales. We address principal approaches to cope with complex across-level issues in ecology by applying elements of hierarchy theory and the theory of complex adaptive systems. A top-down approach, often characterised by the use of statistical techniques, can be applied to analyse large-scale dynamics and identify constraints exerted on lower levels. Current developments are illustrated with examples from the analysis of within-community spatial patterns and large-scale vegetation patterns. A bottom-up approach allows one to elucidate how interactions of individuals shape dynamics at higher levels in a self-organisation process; e.g., population development and community composition. This may be facilitated by various modelling tools, which provide the distinction between focal levels and resulting properties. For instance, resilience in grassland communities has been analysed with a cellular automaton approach, and the driving forces in rodent population oscillations have been identified with an agent-based model. Both modelling tools illustrate the principles of analysing higher level processes by representing the interactions of basic components.The focus of most ecological investigations on either top-down or bottom-up approaches may not be appropriate, if strong cross-scale relationships predominate. Here, we propose an 'across-scale-approach', closely interweaving the inherent potentials of both approaches. This combination of analytical and synthesising approaches will enable ecologists to establish a more coherent access to cross-level interactions in ecological systems. ?? 2010 Gesellschaft f??r ??kologie.

Sleeping site ecology, but not sex, affect ecto- and hemoparasite risk, in sympatric, arboreal primates (Avahi occidentalis and Lepilemur edwardsi).

PubMed

Hokan, May; Strube, Christina; Radespiel, Ute; Zimmermann, Elke

2017-01-01

A central question in evolutionary parasitology is to what extent ecology impacts patterns of parasitism in wild host populations. In this study, we aim to disentangle factors influencing the risk of parasite exposure by exploring the impact of sleeping site ecology on infection with ectoparasites and vector-borne hemoparasites in two sympatric primates endemic to Madagascar. Both species live in the same dry deciduous forest of northwestern Madagascar and cope with the same climatic constraints, they are arboreal, nocturnal, cat-sized and pair-living but differ prominently in sleeping site ecology. The Western woolly lemur ( Avahi occidentalis ) sleeps on open branches and frequently changes sleeping sites, whereas the Milne-Edward's sportive lemur ( Lepilemur edwardsi ) uses tree holes, displaying strong sleeping site fidelity. Sleeping in tree holes should confer protection from mosquito-borne hemoparasites, but should enhance the risk for ectoparasite infestation with mites and nest-adapted ticks. Sex may affect parasite risk in both species comparably, with males bearing a higher risk than females due to an immunosuppressive effect of higher testosterone levels in males or to sex-specific behavior. To explore these hypotheses, ectoparasites and blood samples were collected from 22 individuals of A. occidentalis and 26 individuals of L. edwardsi during the dry and rainy season. L. edwardsi, but not A. occidentalis , harbored ectoparasites, namely ticks ( Haemaphysalis lemuris [Ixodidae], Ornithodoros sp. [Argasidae]) and mites ( Aetholaelaps trilyssa , [Laelapidae]), suggesting that sleeping in tree holes promotes infestation with ectoparasites. Interestingly, ectoparasites were found solely in the hot, rainy season with a prevalence of 75% ( N  = 16 animals). Blood smears were screened for the presence and infection intensity of hemoparasites. Microfilariae were detected in both species. Morphological characteristics suggested that each lemur species harbored two different filarial species. Prevalence of microfilarial infection was significantly lower in L. edwardsi than in A. occidentalis. No significant difference in infection intensity between the two host species, and no effect of season, daytime of sampling or sex on prevalence or infection intensity was found. In neither host species, parasite infection showed an influence on body weight as an indicator for body condition. Our findings support that sleeping site ecology affects ectoparasite infestation in nocturnal, arboreal mammalian hosts in the tropics, whereas there is no significant effect of host sex. The influence of sleeping site ecology to vector-borne hemoparasite risk is less pronounced. The observed parasite infections did not affect body condition and thus may be of minor importance for shaping reproductive fitness. Findings provide first evidence for the specific relevance of sleeping site ecology on parasitism in arboreal and social mammals. Further, our results increase the sparse knowledge on ecological drivers of primate host-parasite interactions and transmission pathways in natural tropical environments.

Do College Introductory Biology Courses Increase Student Ecological Literacy?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheruvelil, Kendra Spence; Ye, Xuemei

2012-01-01

College introductory biology educators have an opportunity to increase ecological literacy. This research used a pre-/postsurvey design to ask the following questions: (a) What level of ecological literacy do underclass science majors have? (b) What demographic factors are related to ecological literacy? and (c) Does taking introductory organismal…

Ecological units of the Northern Region: Subsections

Treesearch

John A. Nesser; Gary L. Ford; C. Lee Maynard; Debbie Dumroese

1997-01-01

Ecological units are described at the subsection level of the Forest Service National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units. A total of 91 subsections are delineated on the 1996 map "Ecological Units of the Northern Region: Subsections," based on physical and biological criteria. This document consists of descriptions of the climate, geomorphology,...

Lecture and Laboratory Approaches to the Teaching of Ecology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, George W.

1970-01-01

Discusses the relationships of individual, population and ecosystem level approaches to ecology. Outlines how these approaches can be used in introductory college ecology courses. Emphasizes the importance of laboratory and field work and makes explicit suggestions. Outlines course sequences in the undergraduate systems ecology program at San…

Conservation success as a function of good alignment of social and ecological structures and processes.

PubMed

Bodin, Orjan; Crona, Beatrice; Thyresson, Matilda; Golz, Anna-Lea; Tengö, Maria

2014-10-01

How to create and adjust governing institutions so that they align (fit) with complex ecosystem processes and structures across scales is an issue of increasing concern in conservation. It is argued that lack of such social-ecological fit makes governance and conservation difficult, yet progress in explicitly defining and rigorously testing what constitutes a good fit has been limited. We used a novel modeling approach and data from case studies of fishery and forest conservation to empirically test presumed relationships between conservation outcomes and certain patterns of alignment of social-ecological interdependences. Our approach made it possible to analyze conservation outcome on a systems level while also providing information on how individual actors are positioned in the complex web of social-ecological interdependencies. We found that when actors who shared resources were also socially linked, conservation at the level of the whole social-ecological system was positively affected. When the scales at which individual actors used resources and the scale at which ecological resources were interconnected to other ecological resources were aligned through tightened feedback loops, conservation outcome was better than when they were not aligned. The analysis of individual actors' positions in the web of social-ecological interdependencies was helpful in understanding why a system has a certain level of social-ecological fit. Results of analysis of positions showed that different actors contributed in very different ways to achieve a certain fit and revealed some underlying difference between the actors, for example in terms of actors' varying rights to access and use different ecological resources. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Screening and Intervention for Comorbid Substance Disorders, PTSD, Depression, and Suicide: A Trauma Center Survey.

PubMed

Love, Jeff; Zatzick, Douglas

2014-07-01

Few investigations have examined screening and intervention procedures for comorbid substance use and mental disorders at trauma centers in the United States, although these disorders are endemic among survivors of traumatic injury. In 2006, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) mandated that level I and level II trauma centers screen for alcohol use problems and that level I centers provide brief intervention for those who screen positive. The ACS is expected to recommend best practice policy guidelines for screening for drug use problems and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined screening and intervention procedures for the full spectrum of comorbid mental and substance use disorders at U.S. trauma centers. Respondents at all level I and level II trauma centers (N=518) in the United States were asked to complete a survey describing screening and intervention procedures for alcohol and drug use problems, suicidality, depression, and PTSD. There were 391 (75%) respondents. Over 80% of trauma centers routinely screened for alcohol and drug use problems. Routine screening and intervention for suicidality, depression, and PTSD were markedly less common; in fact, only 7% of centers reported routine screening for PTSD. Consistent with ACS policy, level I centers were significantly more likely than level II centers to provide alcohol intervention. Alcohol screening and intervention occurred frequently at U.S. trauma centers and appeared to be responsive to ACS mandates. In the future, efforts to orchestrate clinical investigation and policy could enhance screening and intervention procedures for highly prevalent, comorbid mental disorders.

Interest in health screening as a predictor of long-term overall mortality: multilevel analysis of a Japanese national cohort study.

PubMed

Fujino, Yoshihisa; Tanabe, Naohito; Honjo, Kaori; Suzuki, Sadao; Iso, Hiroyasu; Tamakoshi, Akiko

2011-01-01

In Japan, screening programmes have been widely implemented as a public health practice. We investigated the effect of the area-level interest in health screening on mortality using data from a large cohort in Japan. A baseline survey was conducted between 1988 and 1990 among 110,792 residents of 45 areas, aged 40-79 years. Area-level interest in health screening was defined as the proportion of people with high and moderate interest in health screening in an area. Multilevel Poisson regression was employed in a two-level structure of individuals nested within the areas. During 15 years of follow-up (1,035,617 person-years), 13,184 deaths were observed. The reduction in mortality rate was (a) 2% in both men (p=0.009) and women (p=0.038) for each percent increase in area-level interest in screening, and (b) 10% in men (p=0.001) and 9% in women (p=0.001) for individual attendance to screening in the year before follow-up. There was no interaction between area-level interest in screening, individual-level attendance at screening and overall mortality. Area-level and individual interest for health screening appear to be independent predictor of 15-year mortality in this national Japanese study. The present findings may support public health practices to promote knowledge and participation in screening programmes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An ecological systems approach to bullying behaviors among middle school students in the United States.

PubMed

Lee, Chang-Hun

2011-05-01

The aim of this study is to identify an ecological prediction model of bullying behaviors. Based on an ecological systems theory, this study identifies significant factors influencing bullying behaviors at different levels of middle and high school. These levels include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. More specifically, the ecological factors investigated in this multilevel analysis are individual traits, family experiences, parental involvement, school climate, and community characteristics. Using data collected in 2008 from 485 randomly selected students in a school district, this study identifies a best-fitting structural model of bullying behavior. Findings suggest that the ecological model accounted for a high portion of variance in bullying behaviors. All of the ecological systems as well as individual traits were found to be significant influences on bullying behaviors either directly or indirectly.

Synthetic microbial ecology and the dynamic interplay between microbial genotypes.

PubMed

Dolinšek, Jan; Goldschmidt, Felix; Johnson, David R

2016-11-01

Assemblages of microbial genotypes growing together can display surprisingly complex and unexpected dynamics and result in community-level functions and behaviors that are not readily expected from analyzing each genotype in isolation. This complexity has, at least in part, inspired a discipline of synthetic microbial ecology. Synthetic microbial ecology focuses on designing, building and analyzing the dynamic behavior of ‘ecological circuits’ (i.e. a set of interacting microbial genotypes) and understanding how community-level properties emerge as a consequence of those interactions. In this review, we discuss typical objectives of synthetic microbial ecology and the main advantages and rationales of using synthetic microbial assemblages. We then summarize recent findings of current synthetic microbial ecology investigations. In particular, we focus on the causes and consequences of the interplay between different microbial genotypes and illustrate how simple interactions can create complex dynamics and promote unexpected community-level properties. We finally propose that distinguishing between active and passive interactions and accounting for the pervasiveness of competition can improve existing frameworks for designing and predicting the dynamics of microbial assemblages.

Propeamussiidae, Inoceramidae, and other Bivalvia from the Lower Cretaceous Puez Formation (Valanginian–Cenomanian; Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy)☆

PubMed Central

Schneider, Simon; Crampton, James S.; Lukeneder, Alexander

2013-01-01

A bivalve assemblage from the Lower Cretaceous Puez Formation at the type locality, Piz de Puez (Dolomites, South Tyrol, northern Italy) is described. Given the large amount of sedimentary rock screened during the course of this study, the <50 bivalves examined here, although occurring in very low abundance, are considered to represent a reasonably comprehensive sample. The assemblage provides insight into an autochthonous, Mesozoic, deep-water bivalve community, which was dominated by glass scallops. Two species are described as new, Parvamussium pizpuezense n. sp. and the giant P. mordsdrum n. sp. Presumably, they lived as epifaunal-reclining carnivores and preyed on various meiofauna, occupying a similar ecologic niche as their modern counterparts. Scarce epifaunal, suspension-feeding Inoceramidae entered only by occasional recruitment of larvae into an environment that is inferred to have been characterised by low levels of suspended nutrients. PMID:27087719

Novel Strain of Andes Virus Associated with Fatal Human Infection, Central Bolivia

PubMed Central

Cruz, Cristhopher D.; Vallejo, Efrain; Agudo, Roberto; Vargas, Jorge; Blazes, David L.; Guevara, Carolina; Laguna-Torres, V. Alberto; Halsey, Eric S.; Kochel, Tadeusz J.

2012-01-01

To better describe the genetic diversity of hantaviruses associated with human illness in South America, we screened blood samples from febrile patients in Chapare Province in central Bolivia during 2008–2009 for recent hantavirus infection. Hantavirus RNA was detected in 3 patients, including 1 who died. Partial RNA sequences of small and medium segments from the 3 patients were most closely related to Andes virus lineages but distinct (<90% nt identity) from reported strains. A survey for IgG against hantaviruses among residents of Chapare Province indicated that 12.2% of the population had past exposure to >1 hantaviruses; the highest prevalence was among agricultural workers. Because of the high level of human exposure to hantavirus strains and the severity of resulting disease, additional studies are warranted to determine the reservoirs, ecologic range, and public health effect of this novel strain of hantavirus. PMID:22515983

Genetic diversity analysis of Zingiber Officinale Roscoe by RAPD collected from subcontinent of India.

PubMed

Ashraf, Kamran; Ahmad, Altaf; Chaudhary, Anis; Mujeeb, Mohd; Ahmad, Sayeed; Amir, Mohd; Mallick, N

2014-04-01

The present investigation was undertaken for the assessment of 12 accessions of Zingiber officinale Rosc. collected from subcontinent of India by RAPD markers. DNA was isolated using CTAB method. Thirteen out of twenty primers screened were informative and produced 275 amplification products, among which 261 products (94.90%) were found to be polymorphic. The percentage polymorphism of all 12 accessions ranged from 88.23% to 100%. Most of the RAPD markers studied showed different levels of genetic polymorphism. The data of 275 RAPD bands were used to generate Jaccard's similarity coefficients and to construct a dendrogram by means of UPGMA. Results showed that ginger undergoes genetic variation due to a wide range of ecological conditions. This investigation was an understanding of genetic variation within the accessions. It will also provide an important input into determining resourceful management strategies and help to breeders for ginger improvement program.

Genetic diversity analysis of Zingiber Officinale Roscoe by RAPD collected from subcontinent of India

PubMed Central

Ashraf, Kamran; Ahmad, Altaf; Chaudhary, Anis; Mujeeb, Mohd.; Ahmad, Sayeed; Amir, Mohd.; Mallick, N.

2013-01-01

The present investigation was undertaken for the assessment of 12 accessions of Zingiber officinale Rosc. collected from subcontinent of India by RAPD markers. DNA was isolated using CTAB method. Thirteen out of twenty primers screened were informative and produced 275 amplification products, among which 261 products (94.90%) were found to be polymorphic. The percentage polymorphism of all 12 accessions ranged from 88.23% to 100%. Most of the RAPD markers studied showed different levels of genetic polymorphism. The data of 275 RAPD bands were used to generate Jaccard’s similarity coefficients and to construct a dendrogram by means of UPGMA. Results showed that ginger undergoes genetic variation due to a wide range of ecological conditions. This investigation was an understanding of genetic variation within the accessions. It will also provide an important input into determining resourceful management strategies and help to breeders for ginger improvement program. PMID:24600309

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a quantitative immunochemical test for colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Wilschut, Janneke A; Hol, Lieke; Dekker, Evelien; Jansen, Jan B; Van Leerdam, Monique E; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris; Kuipers, Ernst J; Habbema, J Dik F; Van Ballegooijen, Marjolein

2011-11-01

Two European randomized trials (N = 30,000) compared guaiac fecal occult blood testing with quantitative fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) and showed better attendance rates and test characteristics for FIT. We aimed to identify the most cost-effective FIT cutoff level for referral to colonoscopy based on data from these trials and allowing for differences in screening ages. We used the validated MIcrosimulation SCreening ANalysis (MISCAN)-Colon microsimulation model to estimate costs and effects of different screening strategies for FIT cutoff levels of 50, 75, 100, 150, and 200 ng/mL hemoglobin. For each cutoff level, screening strategies were assessed with various age ranges and screening intervals. We assumed sufficient colonoscopy capacity for all strategies. At all cost levels, FIT screening was most effective with the 50 ng/mL cutoff level. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of biennial screening between ages 55 and 75 years using FIT at 50 ng/mL, for example, was 3900 euro per life year gained. Annual screening had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 14,900 euro per life year gained, in combination with a wider age range (between ages 45 and 80 years). In the sensitivity analysis, 50 ng/mL remained the preferred cutoff level. FIT screening is more cost-effective at a cutoff level of 50 ng/mL than at higher cutoff levels. This supports the recommendation to use FIT at a cutoff level of 50 ng/mL, which is considerably lower than the values used in current practice. Copyright © 2011 AGA Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological risk assessment of agricultural soils for the definition of soil screening values: A comparison between substance-based and matrix-based approaches.

PubMed

Pivato, Alberto; Lavagnolo, Maria Cristina; Manachini, Barbara; Vanin, Stefano; Raga, Roberto; Beggio, Giovanni

2017-04-01

The Italian legislation on contaminated soils does not include the Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) and this deficiency has important consequences for the sustainable management of agricultural soils. The present research compares the results of two ERA procedures applied to agriculture (i) one based on the "substance-based" approach and (ii) a second based on the "matrix-based" approach. In the former the soil screening values (SVs) for individual substances were derived according to institutional foreign guidelines. In the latter, the SVs characterizing the whole-matrix were derived originally by the authors by means of experimental activity. The results indicate that the "matrix-based" approach can be efficiently implemented in the Italian legislation for the ERA of agricultural soils. This method, if compared to the institutionalized "substance based" approach is (i) comparable in economic terms and in testing time, (ii) is site specific and assesses the real effect of the investigated soil on a battery of bioassays, (iii) accounts for phenomena that may radically modify the exposure of the organisms to the totality of contaminants and (iv) can be considered sufficiently conservative.

Screening for Autochthonous Phytoextractors in a Heavy Metal Contaminated Coal Mining Area

PubMed Central

Li, Kuangjia; Lun, Zijian; Zhao, Lin; Zhu, Qilong; Gu, Yansheng; Li, Manzhou

2017-01-01

In order to protect public health and crops from soil heavy metal (HM) contamination at a coal mining area in Henan, central China, HM pollution investigation and screening of autochthonous HM phytoextractors were conducted. The concentrations of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in surface soils exceeded the corresponding local background values and the China National Standard (CNS). The maximum potential ecological risk (RI) was 627.30, indicating very high ecological risk. The monomial risk of Cd contributed the most to the RI, varying from 85.48% to 96.48%. The plant community structure in the study area was simple, and was composed of 24 families, 37 genera and 40 species. B. pilosa, A. roxburghiana, A. argyi, A. hispidus were found to be the most dominant species at considerable risk sites. Based on the comprehensive analysis of Cd concentration, bioconcentration factor, translocation factor and adaptability factor, B. pilosa and A. argyi had potential for phytoextraction at considerable risk sites. A. roxburghiana had potential for Cd phytoextraction at moderately risk sites and A. hispidus seemed suitable for phytostabilization. The results could contribute to the phytoremediation of the similar sites. PMID:28914778

Effect of ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition on patients with gastrointestinal fistulas.

PubMed

Wang, Q-H

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of early ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition on the nutritional status, immune function and intestinal mucosal barrier in patients with gastrointestinal fistulas. 54 patients with gastrointestinal fistulas were randomized to either the ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition group (EIEN group, 28) or the parenteral nutrition group (PN group, 26). The changes in the immunity, nutrition index and intestinal mucosal barrier indexes before the ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition support and at 7 days and 14 days after the ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition support were determined. Compared with the PN group, the indexes of the CD3 and CD4 positive cells, the CD4/CD8 values and the plasma levels of IgA and IgM were significantly higher than those in EIEN group (p<0.05). Moreover, with EIEN nutritional support, the nutrition indexes, such as the plasma ALB, PA and TFN, and the intestinal mucosal barrier index (the plasma D-lactate levels and endotoxin levels), also recovered gradually to normal levels and were higher than those of the PN group (p<0.05). For patients with gastrointestinal fistulas, ecological immune-enhanced enteral nutrition can not only improve the cellular immunity function, humoral immunity, and nutritional status but also enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier.

Overcoming ecologic bias using the two-phase study design.

PubMed

Wakefield, Jon; Haneuse, Sebastien J-P A

2008-04-15

Ecologic (aggregate) data are widely available and widely utilized in epidemiologic studies. However, ecologic bias, which arises because aggregate data cannot characterize within-group variability in exposure and confounder variables, can only be removed by supplementing ecologic data with individual-level data. Here the authors describe the two-phase study design as a framework for achieving this objective. In phase 1, outcomes are stratified by any combination of area, confounders, and error-prone (or discretized) versions of exposures of interest. Phase 2 data, sampled within each phase 1 stratum, provide accurate measures of exposure and possibly of additional confounders. The phase 1 aggregate-level data provide a high level of statistical power and a cross-classification by which individuals may be efficiently sampled in phase 2. The phase 2 individual-level data then provide a control for ecologic bias by characterizing the within-area variability in exposures and confounders. In this paper, the authors illustrate the two-phase study design by estimating the association between infant mortality and birth weight in several regions of North Carolina for 2000-2004, controlling for gender and race. This example shows that the two-phase design removes ecologic bias and produces gains in efficiency over the use of case-control data alone. The authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the approach.

The multiscale classification system and grid encoding mode of ecological land in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jing; Liu, Aixia; Lin, Yifan

2017-10-01

Ecological land provides goods and services that have direct or indirect benefic to eco-environment and human welfare. In recent years, researches on ecological land have become important in the field of land changes and ecosystem management. In the study, a multi-scale classification scheme of ecological land was developed for land management based on combination of the land-use classification and the ecological function zoning in China, including eco-zone, eco-region, eco-district, land ecosystem, and ecological land-use type. The geographical spatial unit leads toward greater homogeneity from macro to micro scale. The term "ecological land-use type" is the smallest one, being important to maintain the key ecological processes in land ecosystem. Ecological land-use type was categorized into main-functional and multi-functional ecological land-use type according to its ecological function attributes and production function attributes. Main-functional type was defined as one kind of land-use type mainly providing ecological goods and function attributes, such as river, lake, swampland, shoaly land, glacier and snow, while multi-functional type not only providing ecological goods and function attributes but also productive goods and function attributes, such as arable land, forestry land, and grassland. Furthermore, a six-level grid encoding mode was proposed for modern management of ecological land and data update under cadastral encoding. The six-level irregular grid encoding from macro to micro scale included eco-zone, eco-region, eco-district, cadastral area, land ecosystem, land ownership type, ecological land-use type, and parcel. Besides, the methodologies on ecosystem management were discussed for integrated management of natural resources in China.

[Ecological risk assessment and its management of Bailongjiang watershed, southern Gansu based on landscape pattern].

PubMed

Gong, Jie; Zhao, Cai-Xia; Xie, Yu-Chu; Gao, Yan-Jing

2014-07-01

Watershed ecological risk assessment is an important research subject of watershed ecological protection and environmental management. Research on the ecological risk focuses on addressing the influence of human activities and its spatial variation at watershed scale is vital to policy-making to control the impact of human activity and protocols for sustainable economic and societal development. A comprehensive ecological environment index, incorporating a landscape index and an assessment of ecological vulnerability, was put forward to assess the spatio-temporal characteristics of ecological risk of the Bailongjiang watershed, southern Gansu Province, Northwest China. Using ArcGIS and Fragstats software and a land use map of 2010, an ecological risk map was obtained through spatial sampling and disjunctive Kriging interpolation. The results indicated that there were some obvious spatial differences of ecological risk levels in the watershed. The ecological risk level of the north and northwest of the Bailongjiang was higher than that of the western and southern extremities of the watershed. Ecological risk index (ERI) of Wudu and Tanchang was higher than that of Wenxian and Diebu. Some measures for ecological risk management were put forward on the basis of ERI of Bailongjiang watershed. To strengthen the integrated management of human activities and land use in the watershed, to carry out the vegetation restoration and ecological reconstruction, and to reduce the ecological risks and hazards of irrational human disturbance, are vital to the realization 'multiple-win' of the economic, social and ecological protection and for the sustainable development in the hilly area in southern Gansu.

[Coupling coordination evaluation method between eco-environment quality and economic development level in contiguous special poverty-stricken areas of China].

PubMed

Wang, Yan-hui; Li, Jing-yi

2015-05-01

It is one of the important strategies in the new period of national poverty alleviation and development to maintain the basic balance between the ecological environment and economic development, and to promote the coordinated sustainable development of economy and ecological environment. Taking six contiguous special poverty-stricken areas as the study areas, a coupling coordination evaluation method between eco-environment quality and economic development level in contiguous special poverty-stricken areas was explored in this paper. The region' s ecological poverty index system was proposed based on the natural attribute of ecological environment, and the ecological environment quality evaluation method was built up by using AHP weighting method, followed by the design of the coupling coordination evaluation method between the ecological environment indices and the county economic poverty comprehensive indices. The coupling coordination degrees were calculated and their spatial representation differentiations were analyzed respectively at district, province, city, and county scales. Results showed that approximately half of the counties in the study areas achieved the harmoniously coordinated development. However, the ecological environmental quality and the economic development in most counties could not be synchronized, where mountains, rivers and other geographic features existed roughly as a dividing line of the coordinated development types. The phenomena of dislocation between the ecological environment and economic development in state-level poor counties were more serious than those of local poor counties.

Sharing feelings online: studying emotional well-being via automated text analysis of Facebook posts.

PubMed

Settanni, Michele; Marengo, Davide

2015-01-01

Digital traces of activity on social network sites represent a vast source of ecological data with potential connections with individual behavioral and psychological characteristics. The present study investigates the relationship between user-generated textual content shared on Facebook and emotional well-being. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and stress were collected from 201 adult Facebook users from North Italy. Emotion-related textual indicators, including emoticon use, were extracted form users' Facebook posts via automated text analysis. Correlation analyses revealed that individuals with higher levels of depression, anxiety expressed negative emotions on Facebook more frequently. In addition, use of emoticons expressing positive emotions correlated negatively with stress level. When comparing age groups, younger users reported higher frequency of both emotion-related words and emoticon use in their posts. Also, the relationship between online emotional expression and self-report emotional well-being was generally stronger in the younger group. Overall, findings support the feasibility and validity of studying individual emotional well-being by means of examination of Facebook profiles. Implications for online screening purposes and future research directions are discussed.

Sharing feelings online: studying emotional well-being via automated text analysis of Facebook posts

PubMed Central

Settanni, Michele; Marengo, Davide

2015-01-01

Digital traces of activity on social network sites represent a vast source of ecological data with potential connections with individual behavioral and psychological characteristics. The present study investigates the relationship between user-generated textual content shared on Facebook and emotional well-being. Self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and stress were collected from 201 adult Facebook users from North Italy. Emotion-related textual indicators, including emoticon use, were extracted form users’ Facebook posts via automated text analysis. Correlation analyses revealed that individuals with higher levels of depression, anxiety expressed negative emotions on Facebook more frequently. In addition, use of emoticons expressing positive emotions correlated negatively with stress level. When comparing age groups, younger users reported higher frequency of both emotion-related words and emoticon use in their posts. Also, the relationship between online emotional expression and self-report emotional well-being was generally stronger in the younger group. Overall, findings support the feasibility and validity of studying individual emotional well-being by means of examination of Facebook profiles. Implications for online screening purposes and future research directions are discussed. PMID:26257692

Community-level consequences of cannibalism.

PubMed

Ohlberger, Jan; Langangen, Oystein; Stenseth, Nils C; Vøllestad, L Asbjørn

2012-12-01

Ecological interactions determine the structure and dynamics of communities and their responses to the environment. Understanding the community-level effects of ecological interactions, such as intra- and interspecifc competition, predation, and cannibalism, is therefore central to ecological theory and ecosystem management. Here, we investigate the community-level consequences of cannibalism in populations with density-dependent maturation and reproduction. We model a stage-structured consumer population with an ontogenetic diet shift to analyze how cannibalism alters the conditions for the invasion and persistence of stage-specific predators and competitors. Our results demonstrate that cannibalistic interactions can facilitate coexistence with other species at both trophic levels. This effect of cannibalism critically depends on the food dependence of the demographic processes. The underlying mechanism is a cannibalism-induced shift in the biomass distribution between the consumer life stages. These findings suggest that cannibalism may alter the structure of ecological communities through its effects on species coexistence.

A socio-ecological model for unintentional injuries in minorities: a case study of Arab Israeli children.

PubMed

Baron-Epel, Orna; Ivancovsky, Michal

2015-01-01

Minority children have often been reported to be at high risk of injury. The higher levels of reported unintentional injuries among Arab children compared to Jewish children in Israel are mainly due to pedestrian traffic crashes, falls and burns. Arab children aged 1-4 years have a higher relative risk of injury compared to Jews. We suggest a socio-ecological model to explain these differences in risk based on individual, interpersonal, community and societal ecological levels of society. Each level is divided into social and physical environments and behaviour. Two main factors may contribute to the high rates of injury among Arab children: the quality of the physical environment in which the children live and play and the levels of child supervision. Socio-economic status may contribute to these differences at all ecological levels of society. This approach could be useful for researchers and practitioners to analyse similar issues in other communities and help develop appropriate interventions.

Temporal associations with declining Trichomonas vaginalis diagnosis rates among women in the state of Victoria, Australia, 1947 to 2005.

PubMed

Marrone, John; Fairley, Christopher K; Saville, Marian; Bradshaw, Catriona; Bowden, Francis J; Horvath, Leonie B; Donovan, Basil; Chen, Marcus; Hocking, Jane S

2008-06-01

To investigate the temporal associations between Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) diagnoses in women at a large urban sexual health clinic and a major Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening laboratory in Victoria, Australia with Pap smear screening rates and the introduction of nitroimidazole treatments. An ecological analysis of TV diagnosis rates at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and the Victorian Cytology Service, Pap smear screening rates and nitroimidazole prescription data. Diagnoses of TV at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre peaked in the 1950s at 20% to 30% and then rapidly declined through the 1960s and 1970s to below 1% in 1990. A similar pattern was observed at the Victorian Cytology Service. Metronidazole prescribing and opportunistic Pap smear screening began in Victoria in the 1960s coinciding with declining TV. The availability of tinidazole in 1976 led to further declines in TV in the late 1970s. A national cervical screening program introduced in 1991 was temporally associated with further declines in TV. Our analyses suggest that the introduction of metronidazole was associated with a large reduction in TV among Victorian women in the 1960s. The subsequent availability of tinidazole and increased Pap smear screening may have contributed to the current low TV prevalence in Victoria.

Comprehensive evaluation of ecological security in mining area based on PSR-ANP-GRAY.

PubMed

He, Gang; Yu, Baohua; Li, Shuzhou; Zhu, Yanna

2017-09-06

With the large exploitation of mineral resources, a series of problems have appeared in the ecological environment of the mining area. Therefore, evaluating the ecological security of mining area is of great significance to promote its healthy development. In this paper, the evaluation index system of ecological security in mining area was constructed from three dimensions of nature, society and economy, combined with Pressure-State-Response framework model. Then network analytic hierarchy process and GRAY relational analysis method were used to evaluate the ecological security of the region, and the weighted correlation degree of ecological security was calculated through the index data of a coal mine from 2012 to 2016 in China. The results show that the ecological security in the coal mine area is on the rise as a whole, though it alternatively rose and dropped from 2012 to 2016. Among them, the ecological security of the study mining area is at the general security level from 2012 to 2015, and at a relatively safe level in 2016. It shows that the ecological environment of the study mining area can basically meet the requirement of the survival and development of the enterprises.

Level III Ecoregions of Kentucky

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Michigan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Idaho

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Arkansas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Mississippi

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Ohio

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Connecticut

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Georgia

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Colorado

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Wisconsin

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Oregon

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Texas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Arkansas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Florida

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Idaho

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Nevada

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Texas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Virginia

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Illinois

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Virginia

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Delaware

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Wyoming

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Alabama

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Maine

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Alabama

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Nebraska

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Delaware

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Maine

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Kansas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Louisiana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Michigan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Arizona

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Georgia

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Utah

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Montana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Iowa

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Nebraska

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Vermont

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Wisconsin

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Kansas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Tennessee

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Nevada

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Colorado

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Oklahoma

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Maryland

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Wyoming

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Connecticut

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Missouri

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Utah

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Washington

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Minnesota

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Iowa

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Massachusetts

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Tennessee

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Washington

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Maryland

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Mississippi

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Vermont

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Kentucky

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Ohio

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Illinois

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Indiana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Louisiana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Oklahoma

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Massachusetts

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Montana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of California

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Pennsylvania

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Florida

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of California

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Minnesota

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Arizona

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Pennsylvania

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of Oregon

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Indiana

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of Missouri

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

An ecological method to understand agricultural standardization in peach orchard ecosystems

PubMed Central

Wan, Nian-Feng; Zhang, Ming-Yi; Jiang, Jie-Xian; Ji, Xiang-Yun; Hao-Zhang

2016-01-01

While the worldwide standardization of agricultural production has been advocated and recommended, relatively little research has focused on the ecological significance of such a shift. The ecological concerns stemming from the standardization of agricultural production may require new methodology. In this study, we concentrated on how ecological two-sidedness and ecological processes affect the standardization of agricultural production which was divided into three phrases (pre-, mid- and post-production), considering both the positive and negative effects of agricultural processes. We constructed evaluation indicator systems for the pre-, mid- and post-production phases and here we presented a Standardization of Green Production Index (SGPI) based on the Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator (FPPSI) method which we used to assess the superiority of three methods of standardized production for peaches. The values of SGPI for pre-, mid- and post-production were 0.121 (Level IV, “Excellent” standard), 0.379 (Level III, “Good” standard), and 0.769 × 10−2 (Level IV, “Excellent” standard), respectively. Here we aimed to explore the integrated application of ecological two-sidedness and ecological process in agricultural production. Our results are of use to decision-makers and ecologists focusing on eco-agriculture and those farmers who hope to implement standardized agricultural production practices. PMID:26899360

An ecological method to understand agricultural standardization in peach orchard ecosystems.

PubMed

Wan, Nian-Feng; Zhang, Ming-Yi; Jiang, Jie-Xian; Ji, Xiang-Yun; Hao-Zhang

2016-02-22

While the worldwide standardization of agricultural production has been advocated and recommended, relatively little research has focused on the ecological significance of such a shift. The ecological concerns stemming from the standardization of agricultural production may require new methodology. In this study, we concentrated on how ecological two-sidedness and ecological processes affect the standardization of agricultural production which was divided into three phrases (pre-, mid- and post-production), considering both the positive and negative effects of agricultural processes. We constructed evaluation indicator systems for the pre-, mid- and post-production phases and here we presented a Standardization of Green Production Index (SGPI) based on the Full Permutation Polygon Synthetic Indicator (FPPSI) method which we used to assess the superiority of three methods of standardized production for peaches. The values of SGPI for pre-, mid- and post-production were 0.121 (Level IV, "Excellent" standard), 0.379 (Level III, "Good" standard), and 0.769 × 10(-2) (Level IV, "Excellent" standard), respectively. Here we aimed to explore the integrated application of ecological two-sidedness and ecological process in agricultural production. Our results are of use to decision-makers and ecologists focusing on eco-agriculture and those farmers who hope to implement standardized agricultural production practices.

[Spatial and temporal analysis of the coverage for neonatal hearing screening in Brazil (2008-2015)].

PubMed

Paschoal, Monique Ramos; Cavalcanti, Hannalice Gottschalck; Ferreira, Maria Ângela Fernandes

2017-11-01

This article seeks to establish the coverage of neonatal hearing screening in Brazil between January 2008 and June 2015. It is an ecological study that uses the country, through the Urban Articulation Regions, as a base. To calculate the screening coverage percentage, the Live Births Information System, the Outpatient Information System and the Beneficiaries of the National Supplementary Health Agency Information System were used. An exploratory analysis of maps and spatial statistical analysis was conducted using TerraView 4.2.2 software. The coverage of neonatal hearing screening saw an increase of 9.3% to 37.2% during the study period. In 2008-2009 it was observed that the percentage of coverage ranged from 0% to 79.92%, but most areas received coverage from 0% to 20%, though in 2014-2015 coverage ranged from 0% to 171.77%, and there was a visible increase in the percentage of coverage in the country, mainly in the Southern Region. The screening coverage has increased over time, but is still low with an uneven distribution in the territory, which may be explained by local laws and policies and by the existence of different types of auditory health service in the country.

Microbes Should Be Central to Ecological Education and Outreach

PubMed Central

Barberán, Albert; Hammer, Tobin J.; Madden, Anne A.; Fierer, Noah

2016-01-01

Our planet is changing rapidly, and responding to the ensuing environmental challenges will require an informed citizenry that can understand the inherent complexity of ecological systems. However, microorganisms are usually neglected in the narratives that we use to understand nature. Here, we advocate for the inclusion of microbial ecology across education levels and delineate the often neglected benefits of incorporating microbes into ecology curricula. We provide examples across education levels, from secondary school (by considering one’s self as a microbial ecosystem), to higher education (by incorporating our knowledge of the global ecological role and medical application of microbes), to the general public (by engagement through citizen-science projects). The greater inclusion of microbes in ecological education and outreach will not only help us appreciate the natural world we are part of, but will ultimately aid in building a citizenry better prepared to make informed decisions on health and environmental policies. PMID:27047584

Ecological Factors Predict Transition Readiness/Self-Management in Youth With Chronic Conditions.

PubMed

Javalkar, Karina; Johnson, Meredith; Kshirsagar, Abhijit V; Ocegueda, Sofia; Detwiler, Randal K; Ferris, Maria

2016-01-01

Health care transition readiness or self-management among adolescents and young adults (AYA) with chronic conditions may be influenced by factors related to their surrounding environment. Study participants were AYA diagnosed with a chronic condition and evaluated at pediatric- and adult-focused subspecialty clinics at the University of North Carolina Hospital Systems. All participants were administered a provider-administered self-management/transition-readiness tool, the UNC TRxANSITION Scale. Geographic area and associated characteristics (ecological factors) were identified for each participant's ZIP code using the published U.S. Census data. The Level 1 model of the hierarchical linear regression used individual-level predictors of transition readiness/self-management. The Level 2 model incorporated the ecological factors. We enrolled 511 AYA with different chronic conditions aged 12-31 years with the following characteristics: mean age of 20± 4 years, 45% white, 42% black, and 54% female. Participants represented 214 ZIP codes in or around North Carolina, USA. The Level 1 model showed that age, gender, and race were significant predictors of transition readiness/self-management. On adding the ecological factors in the Level 2 model, race was no longer significant. Participants from a geographic area with a greater percentage of females (β = .114, p = .005) and a higher median income (β = .126, p = .002) had greater overall transition readiness. Ecological factors also predicted subdomains of transition readiness/self-management. In this cohort of adolescents and young adults with different chronic conditions, ecological disparities such as sex composition, median income, and language predict self-management/transition readiness. It is important to take ecological risk factors into consideration when preparing patients for health self-management or transition. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Toward Guidelines for Population-level Ecological Risk Assessment: Results of a U.S. EPA Risk Assessment Forum Workshop

EPA Science Inventory

The choice of levels of biological organization reflected in ecological risk assessment (ERA) is receiving increasing attention. Most ERAs conducted for chemicals by the U.S. EPA, and indeed by most organizations worldwide, focus on organism-level attributes (e.g., survival, gro...

Panglobalism and pandemics: ecological and ethical concerns.

PubMed

Rolston, Holmes

2005-10-01

A pandemic is a human medical problem but must be understood at multiple levels. Analysis of social and commercial forces is vital, and, more comprehensively, an ecological framework is necessary for an inclusive picture. Ecological health webworked with political and social determinants surrounds issues of human health. In this constellation of both natural and social factors, ethical concerns will arise at these multiple levels, from human health to the conservation and health of wild nature.

Population Viability Analysis of Riverine Fishes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bates, P.; Chandler, J.; Jager, H.I.

Many utilities face conflkts between two goals: cost-efficient hydropower generation and protecting riverine fishes. Research to develop ecological simulation tools that can evaluate alternative mitigation strategies in terms of their benefits to fish populations is vital to informed decision-making. In this paper, we describe our approach to population viability analysis of riverine fishes in general and Snake River white sturgeon in particular. We are finding that the individual-based modeling approach used in previous in-stream flow applications is well suited to addressing questions about the viability of species of concern for several reasons. Chief among these are: (1) the abiIity tomore » represent the effects of individual variation in life history characteristics on predicted population viabili~, (2) the flexibili~ needed to quanti~ the ecological benefits of alternative flow management options by representing spatial and temporal variation in flow and temperaturty and (3) the flexibility needed to quantifi the ecological benefits of non-flow related manipulations (i.e., passage, screening and hatchery supplementation).« less

[Patterns and characteristics of ecological water demand in west arid zone of China--a case study of green corridor in the lower reaches of Tarim River].

PubMed

Wang, Ranghui; Lu, Xinming; Song, Yudong; Fan, Zili; Ma, Yingjie

2003-04-01

Ecological water demand has some characteristics. The ecological water demand that was used for protection of the green corridor in the lower reaches of Tarim River was chiefly water demand by natural vegetation below Daxihaizi reservoir, and it included gross restoration water amount of ground water level and gross stand water amount in all over the lower reaches of Tarim River. The gross restoration water amount of ground water level mainly included restoration water amount of ground water level and lateral discharge, as well as evaporation of the course. Based on the drainage target of Alagan in 2005, gross ecological water demand was the gross water amount of restoration ground water level between Daxihaizi and Alagan, which would be 13.20 x 10(8) m3. Meanwhile, the annual average water demand would be 2.64 x 10(8) m3. Because the drainage target and vegetation protection target would be all Taitema lake in 2010, the gross ecological water demand included not only the gross water amount of restoration ground water level between Alagan and Taitema lake, but also the ecological stand water amount between Daxihaizi and Taitema lake, which would be 18.32 x 10(8) m3. Meanwhile, the annual average water demand would be 3.66 x 10(8) m3. From the year 2010 to 2030, the gross ecological water demand would be consisted of two parts (the gross stand water amount between Daxihaizi and Alagan, and the water demand by increased vegetation of 18.67 x 10(4) hm2), and the total ecological water demand during the 20 years would be 139.00 x 10(8) m3. Meanwhile, the annual average water demand would be 6.95 x 10(8) m3.

An ecological model of the impact of sexual assault on women's mental health.

PubMed

Campbell, Rebecca; Dworkin, Emily; Cabral, Giannina

2009-07-01

This review examines the psychological impact of adult sexual assault through an ecological theoretical perspective to understand how factors at multiple levels of the social ecology contribute to post-assault sequelae. Using Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1986, 1995) ecological theory of human development, we examine how individual-level factors (e.g., sociodemographics, biological/genetic factors), assault characteristics (e.g., victim-offender relationship, injury, alcohol use), microsystem factors (e.g., informal support from family and friends), meso/ exosystem factors (e.g., contact with the legal, medical, and mental health systems, and rape crisis centers), macrosystem factors (e.g., societal rape myth acceptance), and chronosystem factors (e.g., sexual revictimization and history of other victimizations) affect adult sexual assault survivors' mental health outcomes (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidality, and substance use). Self-blame is conceptualized as meta-construct that stems from all levels of this ecological model. Implications for curbing and/or preventing the negative mental health effects of sexual assault are discussed.

Sediments from stormwater drainage system as sorbents of organic and inorganic pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sałata, Aleksandra; Dąbek, Lidia

2017-11-01

The study presents the results of tests aimed at determining variations in concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a, h]anthracene, benzo[g, h, i]perylene and indeno[1, 2, 3-c, d]pyrene) and heavy metals (copper, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead and zinc) in the sediments from the stormwater sewer system. Results of this study were then compared to Polish regulations and established ecological screening values to determine their potential risk to environment. The results suggest that stormwater sediments are moderately contaminated with PAHs and heavy metals according to domestic regulations and highly contaminated according to ecological benchmarks.

Population Ecology (Organizational Ecology): An Experiential Exercise Demonstrating How Organizations in an Industry Are Born, Change, and Die

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacMillan, Karen; Komar, Jennifer

2018-01-01

This article describes a classroom exercise that is designed to help students understand the basic tenets of population ecology (also known as organizational ecology). The macro-level, longitudinal approach to understanding organizations can be difficult for students to conceptualize as it involves systems thinking. This exercise makes the theory…

Musicking as Education for Social and Ecological Peace: A New Synthesis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Golden, Michael

2016-01-01

The aim of this article is twofold: first, to confirm the multi-level linkage between the ecological and social realms in terms of violence, peace, and education, and second, to explore what light ecological thinking can shed on musicking as a potentially effective tool in peace education. The effects of violence in the ecological and social…

Social-ecological research in urban natural areas: an emergent process for integration

Treesearch

Michelle L. Johnson; D. S. Novem Auyeung; Nancy F. Sonti; Clara C. Pregitzer; Heather L. McMillen; Richard Hallett; Lindsay K. Campbell; Helen M. Forgione; Mina Kim; Sarah Charlop-Powers; Erika S. Svendsen

2018-01-01

Understanding the structure and function of urban landscapes requires integrating social and ecological research. Here, we integrate parallel social and ecological assessments of natural areas within New York City. We examined social data (from a rapid assessment of park use and meaning, collected at a park zone level) alongside ecological data (froma plot-based...

FROM MOLECULES TO POPULATIONS: USING POPULATION GENETICS TO ANSWER THE SO WHAT QUESTION

EPA Science Inventory

Important endpoints for ecological risk assessments are usually those that affect population or species persistence rather than individual-level responses. Nonetheless, ecological risk assessments are generally based on measures of individual-level responses. Extrapolation of i...

Soil properties affect the toxicities of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) to the enchytraeid worm Enchytraeus crypticus.

PubMed

Kuperman, Roman G; Checkai, Ronald T; Simini, Michael; Phillips, Carlton T; Kolakowski, Jan E; Lanno, Roman

2013-11-01

The authors investigated individual toxicities of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) to the potworm Enchytraeus crypticus using the enchytraeid reproduction test. Studies were designed to generate ecotoxicological benchmarks that can be used for developing ecological soil-screening levels for ecological risk assessments of contaminated soils and to identify and characterize the predominant soil physicochemical parameters that can affect the toxicities of TNT and RDX to E. crypticus. Soils, which had a wide range of physicochemical parameters, included Teller sandy loam, Sassafras sandy loam, Richfield clay loam, Kirkland clay loam, and Webster clay loam. Analyses of quantitative relationships between the toxicological benchmarks for TNT and soil property measurements identified soil organic matter content as the dominant property mitigating TNT toxicity for juvenile production by E. crypticus in freshly amended soil. Both the clay and organic matter contents of the soil modulated reproduction toxicity of TNT that was weathered and aged in soil for 3 mo. Toxicity of RDX for E. crypticus was greater in the coarse-textured sandy loam soils compared with the fine-textured clay loam soils. The present studies revealed alterations in toxicity to E. crypticus after weathering and aging TNT in soil, and these alterations were soil- and endpoint-specific. © 2013 SETAC.

"May I Buy a Pack of Marlboros, Please?" A Systematic Review of Evidence to Improve the Validity and Impact of Youth Undercover Buy Inspections.

PubMed

Lee, Joseph G L; Gregory, Kyle R; Baker, Hannah M; Ranney, Leah M; Goldstein, Adam O

2016-01-01

Most smokers become addicted to tobacco products before they are legally able to purchase these products. We systematically reviewed the literature on protocols to assess underage purchase and their ecological validity. We conducted a systematic search in May 2015 in PubMed and PsycINFO. We independently screened records for inclusion. We conducted a narrative review and examined implications of two types of legal authority for protocols that govern underage buy enforcement in the United States: criminal (state-level laws prohibiting sales to youth) and administrative (federal regulations prohibiting sales to youth). Ten studies experimentally assessed underage buy protocols and 44 studies assessed the association between youth characteristics and tobacco sales. Protocols that mimicked real-world youth behaviors were consistently associated with substantially greater likelihood of a sale to a youth. Many of the tested protocols appear to be designed for compliance with criminal law rather than administrative enforcement in ways that limited ecological validity. This may be due to concerns about entrapment. For administrative enforcement in particular, entrapment may be less of an issue than commonly thought. Commonly used underage buy protocols poorly represent the reality of youths' access to tobacco from retailers. Compliance check programs should allow youth to present themselves naturally and attempt to match the community's demographic makeup.

"May I Buy a Pack of Marlboros, Please?" A Systematic Review of Evidence to Improve the Validity and Impact of Youth Undercover Buy Inspections

PubMed Central

Lee, Joseph G. L.; Gregory, Kyle R.; Baker, Hannah M.; Ranney, Leah M.; Goldstein, Adam O.

2016-01-01

Most smokers become addicted to tobacco products before they are legally able to purchase these products. We systematically reviewed the literature on protocols to assess underage purchase and their ecological validity. We conducted a systematic search in May 2015 in PubMed and PsycINFO. We independently screened records for inclusion. We conducted a narrative review and examined implications of two types of legal authority for protocols that govern underage buy enforcement in the United States: criminal (state-level laws prohibiting sales to youth) and administrative (federal regulations prohibiting sales to youth). Ten studies experimentally assessed underage buy protocols and 44 studies assessed the association between youth characteristics and tobacco sales. Protocols that mimicked real-world youth behaviors were consistently associated with substantially greater likelihood of a sale to a youth. Many of the tested protocols appear to be designed for compliance with criminal law rather than administrative enforcement in ways that limited ecological validity. This may be due to concerns about entrapment. For administrative enforcement in particular, entrapment may be less of an issue than commonly thought. Commonly used underage buy protocols poorly represent the reality of youths' access to tobacco from retailers. Compliance check programs should allow youth to present themselves naturally and attempt to match the community’s demographic makeup. PMID:27050671

Quantifying gaze and mouse interactions on spatial visual interfaces with a new movement analytics methodology

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Eye movements provide insights into what people pay attention to, and therefore are commonly included in a variety of human-computer interaction studies. Eye movement recording devices (eye trackers) produce gaze trajectories, that is, sequences of gaze location on the screen. Despite recent technological developments that enabled more affordable hardware, gaze data are still costly and time consuming to collect, therefore some propose using mouse movements instead. These are easy to collect automatically and on a large scale. If and how these two movement types are linked, however, is less clear and highly debated. We address this problem in two ways. First, we introduce a new movement analytics methodology to quantify the level of dynamic interaction between the gaze and the mouse pointer on the screen. Our method uses volumetric representation of movement, the space-time densities, which allows us to calculate interaction levels between two physically different types of movement. We describe the method and compare the results with existing dynamic interaction methods from movement ecology. The sensitivity to method parameters is evaluated on simulated trajectories where we can control interaction levels. Second, we perform an experiment with eye and mouse tracking to generate real data with real levels of interaction, to apply and test our new methodology on a real case. Further, as our experiment tasks mimics route-tracing when using a map, it is more than a data collection exercise and it simultaneously allows us to investigate the actual connection between the eye and the mouse. We find that there seem to be natural coupling when eyes are not under conscious control, but that this coupling breaks down when instructed to move them intentionally. Based on these observations, we tentatively suggest that for natural tracing tasks, mouse tracking could potentially provide similar information as eye-tracking and therefore be used as a proxy for attention. However, more research is needed to confirm this. PMID:28777822

Quantifying gaze and mouse interactions on spatial visual interfaces with a new movement analytics methodology.

PubMed

Demšar, Urška; Çöltekin, Arzu

2017-01-01

Eye movements provide insights into what people pay attention to, and therefore are commonly included in a variety of human-computer interaction studies. Eye movement recording devices (eye trackers) produce gaze trajectories, that is, sequences of gaze location on the screen. Despite recent technological developments that enabled more affordable hardware, gaze data are still costly and time consuming to collect, therefore some propose using mouse movements instead. These are easy to collect automatically and on a large scale. If and how these two movement types are linked, however, is less clear and highly debated. We address this problem in two ways. First, we introduce a new movement analytics methodology to quantify the level of dynamic interaction between the gaze and the mouse pointer on the screen. Our method uses volumetric representation of movement, the space-time densities, which allows us to calculate interaction levels between two physically different types of movement. We describe the method and compare the results with existing dynamic interaction methods from movement ecology. The sensitivity to method parameters is evaluated on simulated trajectories where we can control interaction levels. Second, we perform an experiment with eye and mouse tracking to generate real data with real levels of interaction, to apply and test our new methodology on a real case. Further, as our experiment tasks mimics route-tracing when using a map, it is more than a data collection exercise and it simultaneously allows us to investigate the actual connection between the eye and the mouse. We find that there seem to be natural coupling when eyes are not under conscious control, but that this coupling breaks down when instructed to move them intentionally. Based on these observations, we tentatively suggest that for natural tracing tasks, mouse tracking could potentially provide similar information as eye-tracking and therefore be used as a proxy for attention. However, more research is needed to confirm this.

Individual-Level Factors in Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Review of the Literature on the Relation of Individual-Level Health Behavior Constructs and Screening Behavior

PubMed Central

Kiviniemi, Marc T.; Bennett, Alyssa; Zaiter, Marie; Marshall, James R.

2010-01-01

Compliance with colorectal cancer screening recommendations requires considerable conscious effort on the part of the individual patient, making an individual's decisions about engagement in screening an important contributor to compliance or noncompliance. The objective of this paper was to examine the effectiveness of individual-level behavior theories and their associated constructs in accounting for engagement in colorectal cancer screening behavior. We reviewed the literature examining constructs from formal models of individual-level health behavior as factors associated with compliance with screening for colorectal cancer. All published studies examining one or more constructs from the health belief model, theory of planned behavior, transtheoretical model, or social cognitive theory and their relation to screening behavior or behavioral intentions were included in the analysis. By and large, results of studies supported the theory-based predictions for the influence of constructs on cancer screening behavior. However, the evidence base for many of these relations, especially for models other than the health belief model, is quite limited. Suggestions are made for future research on individual-level determinants of colorectal cancer screening. PMID:21954045

Soil Sample Report in Support of the Site 300 EWTF Ecological Risk Assessment and Permit Renewal-September 2012

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Terusaki, Stanley; Gallegos, Gretchen; MacQueen, Donald

2012-10-02

LLNL Site 300 has applied to renew the permits for its Explosives Waste Treatment Facility (EWTF), Explosives Waste Storage Facility (EWSF) and Building 883 Storage Facility. As a part of the permit renewal process, the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) requested LLNL to obtain soil samples in order to conduct a scoping-level ecological risk assessment pursuant to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment at Hazardous Waste Sites and Permitted Facilities, Part A: Overview, July 4, 1996. As stated in the guidance document, the scoping-level ecological risk assessment provides a framework to determine the potentialmore » interaction ecological receptors and chemicals of concern from hazardous waste treatment operations in the area of EWTF.« less

Recovery after mass extinction: evolutionary assembly in large-scale biosphere dynamics.

PubMed Central

Solé, Ricard V; Montoya, José M; Erwin, Douglas H

2002-01-01

Biotic recoveries following mass extinctions are characterized by a process in which whole ecologies are reconstructed from low-diversity systems, often characterized by opportunistic groups. The recovery process provides an unexpected window to ecosystem dynamics. In many aspects, recovery is very similar to ecological succession, but important differences are also apparently linked to the innovative patterns of niche construction observed in the fossil record. In this paper, we analyse the similarities and differences between ecological succession and evolutionary recovery to provide a preliminary ecological theory of recoveries. A simple evolutionary model with three trophic levels is presented, and its properties (closely resembling those observed in the fossil record) are compared with characteristic patterns of ecological response to disturbances in continuous models of three-level ecosystems. PMID:12079530

Integrating plant ecological responses to climate extremes from individual to ecosystem levels.

PubMed

Felton, Andrew J; Smith, Melinda D

2017-06-19

Climate extremes will elicit responses from the individual to the ecosystem level. However, only recently have ecologists begun to synthetically assess responses to climate extremes across multiple levels of ecological organization. We review the literature to examine how plant responses vary and interact across levels of organization, focusing on how individual, population and community responses may inform ecosystem-level responses in herbaceous and forest plant communities. We report a high degree of variability at the individual level, and a consequential inconsistency in the translation of individual or population responses to directional changes in community- or ecosystem-level processes. The scaling of individual or population responses to community or ecosystem responses is often predicated upon the functional identity of the species in the community, in particular, the dominant species. Furthermore, the reported stability in plant community composition and functioning with respect to extremes is often driven by processes that operate at the community level, such as species niche partitioning and compensatory responses during or after the event. Future research efforts would benefit from assessing ecological responses across multiple levels of organization, as this will provide both a holistic and mechanistic understanding of ecosystem responses to increasing climatic variability.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Ecological conversion efficiency and its influencers in twelve species of fish in the Yellow Sea Ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Qisheng; Guo, Xuewu; Sun, Yao; Zhang, Bo

2007-09-01

The ecological conversion efficiencies in twelve species of fish in the Yellow Sea Ecosystem, i.e., anchovy ( Engraulis japonicus), rednose anchovy ( Thrissa kammalensis), chub mackerel ( Scomber japonicus), halfbeak ( Hyporhamphus sajori), gizzard shad ( Konosirus punctatus), sand lance ( Ammodytes personatus), red seabream ( Pagrus major), black porgy ( Acanthopagrus schlegeli), black rockfish ( Sebastes schlegeli), finespot goby ( Chaeturichthys stigmatias), tiger puffer ( Takifugu rubripes), and fat greenling ( Hexagrammos otakii), were estimated through experiments conducted either in situ or in a laboratory. The ecological conversion efficiencies were significantly different among these species. As indicated, the food conversion efficiencies and the energy conversion efficiencies varied from 12.9% to 42.1% and from 12.7% to 43.0%, respectively. Water temperature and ration level are the main factors influencing the ecological conversion efficiencies of marine fish. The higher conversion efficiency of a given species in a natural ecosystem is acquired only under the moderate environment conditions. A negative relationship between ecological conversion efficiency and trophic level among ten species was observed. Such a relationship indicates that the ecological efficiency in the upper trophic levels would increase after fishing down marine food web in the Yellow Sea ecosystem.

Environmental Education for Social-Ecological System Resilience: A Perspective from Activity Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krasny, Marianne E.; Roth, Wolff-Michael

2010-01-01

In this paper we attempt to integrate environmental education, with a focus on building capacity at the level of the individual, with frameworks for resilience, with a focus on adaptive capacity at the level of the social-ecological system. Whereas previous work has focused on enhancing system-level capacity through building adaptive capacity in…

Examining Ecological and Ecosystem Level Impacts of Aquatic Invasive Species in Lake Michigan Using An Ecosystem Productivity Model, LM-Eco

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological and ecosystem-level impacts of aquatic invasive species in Lake Michigan were examined using the Lake Michigan Ecosystem Model (LM-Eco). The LM-Eco model includes a detailed description of trophic levels and their interactions within the lower food web of Lake Michiga...

Heavy metal pollution and ecological risk assessment of the paddy soils near a zinc-lead mining area in Hunan.

PubMed

Lu, Sijin; Wang, Yeyao; Teng, Yanguo; Yu, Xuan

2015-10-01

Soil pollution by Cd, Hg, As, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn was characterized in the area of the mining and smelting of metal ores at Guiyang, northeast of Hunan Province. A total of 150 topsoil (0-20 cm) samples were collected in May 2012 with a nominal density of one sample per 4 km(2). High concentrations of heavy metals especially, Cd, Zn, and Pb were found in many of the samples taken from surrounding paddy soil, indicating a certain extent of spreading of heavy metal pollution. Sequential extraction technique and risk assessment code (RAC) were used to study the mobility of chemical forms of heavy metals in the soils and their ecological risk. The results reveal that Cd represents a high ecological risk due to its highest percentage of the exchangeable and carbonate fractions. The metals of Zn and Cu pose a medium risk, and the rest of the metals represent a low environmental risk. The range of the potential ecological risk of soil calculated by risk index (RI) was 123.5~2791.2 and revealed a considerable-high ecological risk in study area especially in the neighboring and surrounding the mining activities area. Additionally, cluster analyses suggested that metals such as Pb, As, Hg, Zn, and Cd could be from the same sources probably related to the acidic drainage and wind transport of dust. Cluster analysis also clearly distinguishes the samples with similar characteristics according to their spatial distribution. The results could be used during the ecological risk screening stage, in conjunction with total concentrations and metal fractionation values to better estimate ecological risk.

Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection

PubMed Central

Qin, Xinghu; Hao, Kun; Ma, Jingchuan; Huang, Xunbing; Tu, Xiongbing; Ali, Md. Panna; Pittendrigh, Barry R.; Cao, Guangchun; Wang, Guangjun; Nong, Xiangqun; Whitman, Douglas W.; Zhang, Zehua

2017-01-01

While ecological adaptation in insects can be reflected by plasticity of phenotype, determining the causes and molecular mechanisms for phenotypic plasticity (PP) remains a crucial and still difficult question in ecology, especially where control of insect pests is involved. Oedaleus asiaticus is one of the most dominant pests in the Inner Mongolia steppe and represents an excellent system to study phenotypic plasticity. To better understand ecological factors affecting grasshopper phenotypic plasticity and its molecular control, we conducted a full transcriptional screening of O. asiaticus grasshoppers reared in four different grassland patches in Inner Mongolia. Grasshoppers showed different degrees of PP associated with unique gene expressions and different habitat plant community compositions. Grasshopper performance variables were susceptible to habitat environment conditions and closely associated with plant architectures. Intriguingly, eco-transcriptome analysis revealed five potential candidate genes playing important roles in grasshopper performance, with gene expression closely relating to PP and plant community factors. By linking the grasshopper performances to gene profiles and ecological factors using canonical regression, we first demonstrated the eco-transcriptomic architecture (ETA) of grasshopper phenotypic traits (ETAGPTs). ETAGPTs revealed plant food type, plant density, coverage, and height were the main ecological factors influencing PP, while insect cuticle protein (ICP), negative elongation factor A (NELFA), and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) were the key genes associated with PP. Our study gives a clear picture of gene-environment interaction in the formation and maintenance of PP and enriches our understanding of the transcriptional events underlying molecular control of rapid phenotypic plasticity associated with environmental variability. The findings of this study may also provide new targets for pest control and highlight the significance of ecological management practice on grassland conservation. PMID:29066978

[Heavy metal pollution characteristics and ecological risk analysis for soil in Phyllostachys praecox stands of Lin'an].

PubMed

Fang, Xiao-bo; Shi, Han; Liao, Xin-feng; Lou, Zhong; Zhou, Lyu-yan; Yu, Hai-xia; Yao, Lin; Sun, Li-ping

2015-06-01

An investigation was carried out in an attempt to reveal the characteristics of heavy metals contamination in the soils of Phyllostachys praecox forest in Lin' an. Based on the concentrations of Hg, As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co and Mn in 160 topsoil samples, the pollution status and ecological risks of heavy metals in the soils were assessed by single factor pollution index, Nemerow integrated pollution index and Hankanson potential ecological risk index. The spatial variability of heavy metal concentrations in the soils closely related to the distribution of traffic, industrial and livestock pollution sources. The average concentrations of Hg, As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co and Mn in the soils were 0.16, 7.41, 34.36, 87.98, 103.98, 0.26, 59.12, 29.56, 11.44 and 350.26 mg · kg(-1), respectively. Pb, Cd, Zn and Cu concentrations were as 2.89, 1.70, 1.12 and 1.12 times as the background values of soil in Zhejiang Province, respectively. But their concentrations were all lower than the threshold values of the National Environmental Quality Standard for Soil (GB 15618-1995). The average single factor pollution index revealed that the level of heavy metal pollution in the soils was in order of Pb>Cd>Cu= Zn>Hg>As>Ni>Co>Cr>Mn. Pb pollution was of moderate level while Cd, Cu and Zn pollutions were slight. There was no soil pollution caused by the other heavy metals. However, the Nemerow integrated pollution index showed that all the 160 soil samples were contaminated by heavy metals to a certain extent. Among total 160 soil samples, slight pollution level, moderate pollution level and heavy pollution level accounted for 55.6%, 29.4% and 15.0%, respectively. The average single factor potential ecological risk index (Er(i)) implied that the potential ecological risk related to Cd reached moderate level, while the others were of slight level. Furthermore, Cd and Hg showed higher potential ecological risk indices which reached up to 256.82 and 187.33 respectively, indicating Cd and Hg had a strong ecological risk and therefore might pose the most serious ecological risk in the soils of P. praecox standsin Lin' an. In addition, the integrated factor potential ecological risk analysis suggested a slight risk to local ecosystem originated from heavy metal contamination in the soils of P. praecox stands in Lin'an.

Harms, benefits and costs of fecal immunochemical testing versus guaiac fecal occult blood testing for colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Goede, S Lucas; Rabeneck, Linda; van Ballegooijen, Marjolein; Zauber, Ann G; Paszat, Lawrence F; Hoch, Jeffrey S; Yong, Jean H E; Kroep, Sonja; Tinmouth, Jill; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris

2017-01-01

The ColonCancerCheck screening program for colorectal cancer (CRC) in Ontario, Canada, is considering switching from biennial guaiac fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) screening between age 50-74 years to the more sensitive, but also less specific fecal immunochemical test (FIT). The aim of this study is to estimate whether the additional benefits of FIT screening compared to gFOBT outweigh the additional costs and harms. We used microsimulation modeling to estimate quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained and costs of gFOBT and FIT, compared to no screening, in a cohort of screening participants. We compared strategies with various age ranges, screening intervals, and cut-off levels for FIT. Cost-efficient strategies were determined for various levels of available colonoscopy capacity. Compared to no screening, biennial gFOBT screening between age 50-74 years provided 20 QALYs at a cost of CAN$200,900 per 1,000 participants, and required 17 colonoscopies per 1,000 participants per year. FIT screening was more effective and less costly. For the same level of colonoscopy requirement, biennial FIT (with a high cut-off level of 200 ng Hb/ml) between age 50-74 years provided 11 extra QALYs gained while saving CAN$333,300 per 1000 participants, compared to gFOBT. Without restrictions in colonoscopy capacity, FIT (with a low cut-off level of 50 ng Hb/ml) every year between age 45-80 years was the most cost-effective strategy providing 27 extra QALYs gained per 1000 participants, while saving CAN$448,300. Compared to gFOBT screening, switching to FIT at a high cut-off level could increase the health benefits of a CRC screening program without considerably increasing colonoscopy demand.

[Ecological risk assessment of Taihu Lake basin based on landscape pattern].

PubMed

Xie, Xiao Ping; Chen, Zhi Cong; Wang, Fang; Bai, Mao Wei; Xu, Wen Yang

2017-10-01

Taihu Lake basin was selected as the study site. Based on the landscape data of 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015, the Markov and CLUE-S models were used to simulate the landscape types with different scenarios in 2030, and landscape ecological risk index was constructed. The shift of gravity center and spatial statistics were used to reveal landscape ecological risk of Taihu Lake basin with temporal and spatial characteristics. The results showed that the ecological risk mainly was at medium and low levels in Taihu Lake basin, and the higher ecological risk areas were mainly distributed at the Taihu Lake area during 2000 to 2015, and the low ecological risk was transferred from the southwest and south of Taihu Lake to the developed areas in the northern part of Taihu Lake area. Spatial analysis showed that landscape ecological risk had negative correlation with natural factors, which was weakened gradually, while the correlation with socioeconomic factors trended to become stronger, with human disturbance affecting the landscape ecological risk significantly. The impact of socioeconomic factors on landscape ecological risks differed in different urbanization stages. In the developing area, with the economic development, the landscape was increasingly fragmented and the ecological risk was correspondingly increased. While in the developed area, with the further development of the economy, the aggregation index was increased, and fragmentation and separation indexes were decreased, ecological construction was restored, and the landscape ecological risk began to decline. CLUE-S model simulation showed that the ecological risk of Taihu Lake basin would be reduced in future, mainly on the low and relatively low levels. Taihu Lake area, both in history and the future, is a high ecological risk zone, and its management and protection should be strengthened.

Ecological Determinants of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) Outbreaks in Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Syed S. U.; Ersbøll, Annette K.; Biswas, Paritosh K.; Christensen, Jens P.; Hannan, Abu S. M. A.; Toft, Nils

2012-01-01

Background The agro-ecology and poultry husbandry of the south Asian and south-east Asian countries share common features, however, with noticeable differences. Hence, the ecological determinants associated with risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI-H5N1) outbreaks are expected to differ between Bangladesh and e.g., Thailand and Vietnam. The primary aim of the current study was to establish ecological determinants associated with the risk of HPAI-H5N1 outbreaks at subdistrict level in Bangladesh. The secondary aim was to explore the performance of two different statistical modeling approaches for unmeasured spatially correlated variation. Methodology/Principal Findings An ecological study at subdistrict level in Bangladesh was performed with 138 subdistricts with HPAI-H5N1 outbreaks during 2007–2008, and 326 subdistricts with no outbreaks. The association between ecological determinants and HPAI-H5N1 outbreaks was examined using a generalized linear mixed model. Spatial clustering of the ecological data was modeled using 1) an intrinsic conditional autoregressive (ICAR) model at subdistrict level considering their first order neighbors, and 2) a multilevel (ML) model with subdistricts nested within districts. Ecological determinants significantly associated with risk of HPAI-H5N1 outbreaks at subdistrict level were migratory birds' staging areas, river network, household density, literacy rate, poultry density, live bird markets, and highway network. Predictive risk maps were derived based on the resulting models. The resulting models indicate that the ML model absorbed some of the covariate effect of the ICAR model because of the neighbor structure implied in the two different models. Conclusions/Significance The study identified a new set of ecological determinants related to river networks, migratory birds' staging areas and literacy rate in addition to already known risk factors, and clarified that the generalized concept of free grazing duck and duck-rice cultivation interacted ecology are not significant determinants for Bangladesh. These findings will refine current understanding of the HPAI-H5N1 epidemiology in Bangladesh. PMID:22470496

Mosquito-borne arbovirus surveillance at selected sites in diverse ecological zones of Kenya; 2007 – 2012

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Increased frequency of arbovirus outbreaks in East Africa necessitated the determination of distribution of risk by entomologic arbovirus surveillance. A systematic vector surveillance programme spanning 5 years and covering 11 sites representing seven of the eight provinces in Kenya and located in diverse ecological zones was carried out. Methods Mosquitoes were sampled bi-annually during the wet seasons and screened for arboviruses. Mosquitoes were identified to species, pooled by species, collection date and site and screened for arboviruses by isolation in cell culture and/or RT-PCR screening and sequencing. Results Over 450,000 mosquitoes in 15,890 pools were screened with 83 viruses being detected/isolated that include members of the alphavirus, flavivirus and orthobunyavirus genera many of which are known to be of significant public health importance in the East African region. These include West Nile, Ndumu, Sindbis, Bunyamwera, Pongola and Usutu viruses detected from diverse sites. Ngari virus, which was associated with hemorrhagic fever in northern Kenya in 1997/98 was isolated from a pool of Anopheles funestus sampled from Tana-delta and from Aedes mcintoshi from Garissa. Insect only flaviviruses previously undescribed in Kenya were also isolated in the coastal site of Rabai. A flavivirus most closely related to the Chaoyang virus, a new virus recently identified in China and two isolates closely related to Quang Binh virus previously unreported in Kenya were also detected. Conclusion Active transmission of arboviruses of public health significance continues in various parts of the country with possible undetermined human impact. Arbovirus activity was highest in the pastoralist dominated semi-arid to arid zones sites of the country where 49% of the viruses were isolated suggesting a role of animals as amplifiers and indicating the need for improved arbovirus disease diagnosis among pastoral communities. PMID:23663381

Weathering and aging of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in soil increases toxicity to potworm Enchytraeus crypticus.

PubMed

Kuperman, Roman G; Checkai, Ronald T; Simini, Michael; Phillips, Carlton T; Kolakowski, Jan E; Kurnas, Carl W

2005-10-01

Energetic materials are employed in a wide range of commercial and military activities and often are released into the environment. Scientifically based ecological soil-screening levels (Eco-SSLs) are needed to identify contaminant explosive levels in soil that present an acceptable ecological risk. Insufficient information for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) to generate Eco-SSLs for soil invertebrates necessitated toxicity testing. We adapted the standardized Enchytraeid Reproduction Test and selected Enchytraeus crypticus for these studies. Tests were conducted in Sassafras sandy loam soil, which supports relatively high bioavailability of TNT. Weathering and aging procedures for TNT amended to test soil were incorporated into the study design to produce toxicity data that better reflect the soil exposure conditions in the field compared with toxicity in freshly amended soils. This included exposing hydrated TNT-amended soils in open glass containers in the greenhouse to alternating wetting and drying cycles. Definitive tests showed that toxicity for E. crypticus adult survival and juvenile production was increased significantly in weathered and aged soil treatments compared with toxicity in freshly amended soil based on 95% confidence intervals. The median effect concentration and 20% effective concentration for reproduction were 98 and 77 mg/kg, respectively, for TNT freshly amended into soil and 48 and 37 mg/kg, respectively, for weathered and aged TNT soil treatments. These findings of increased toxicity to E. crypticus in weathered and aged TNT soil treatments compared with exposures in freshly amended soils show that future investigations should include a weathering and aging component to generate toxicity data that provide more complete information on ecotoxicological effects of energetic contaminants in soil.

Community Social Capital, Built Environment, and Income-Based Inequality in Depressive Symptoms Among Older People in Japan: An Ecological Study From the JAGES Project

PubMed Central

Takagi, Daisuke; Kondo, Katsunori

2018-01-01

Background Although reducing socioeconomic inequalities in depression is necessary, their associated factors have rarely been studied. This study aimed to screen the potential contextual factors associated with income-based inequality in older adults’ depression. Methods Using data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) of 2013, we conducted an ecological study covering 77 communities in Japan. Our measures of socioeconomic inequalities in depression were the slope index of inequalities (SII) and the relative index of inequalities (RII) of the prevalence of depressive symptoms across three income levels. We categorized available community-level factors, including socio-demographic factors, social participation, social relationships, subjective changes in the residential area, and the built environment. These indicators were aggregated from individual responses of 51,962 and 52,958 physically independent men and women, respectively, aged 65 years or more. We performed multiple linear regression analyses to explore factors with statistical significance of a two-tailed P-value less than 0.05. Results Factors associated with shallower gradients in depression for men included higher participation in local activities and reception or provision of social support, which did not show significant association among women. Perceived increases in unemployment and economic inequalities were positively associated with larger inequalities in both genders (P < 0.05). The built environment did not indicate any significant association. Conclusions A community environment fostering social activities and relationships might be associated with smaller income-based inequalities in depression. There is a need for more deterministic studies for planning of effective community interventions to address socioeconomic inequalities in depression. PMID:29093358

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 7

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 7

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of New Jersey

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 1

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of New Mexico

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 10

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III ecoregions. Methods used to define the ecoregions are explained in Omernik (

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 3

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 10

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 2

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 2

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of North Carolina

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 5

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 5

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 1

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 6

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of South Carolina

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 3

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of Alaska

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. The ecoregions of Alaska are a framework for organizing and interpreting environmental data for State, national, and international level inventory, monitoring, and research efforts. The map and descriptions for 20 ecological regions were derived by synthesizing information on the geographic distribution of environmental factors such as climate, physiography, geology, permafrost, soils, and vegetation. A qualitative assessment was used to interpret the distributional patterns and relative importance of these factors from place to place (Gallant and others, 1995). Numeric identifiers assigned to the ecoregions are coordinated with those used on the map of Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States (Omernik 1987, U.S. EPA 2010) as a continuation of efforts to map ecoregions for the United States. Additionally, the ecoregions for Alaska and the conterminous United States, along with ecological regions for Canada (Wiken 1986) and Mexico, have been combined for maps at three hierarchical levels for North America (Omernik 1995, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 1997, 2006). A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions. At Level III, there are currently 182

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 6

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of New Hampshire

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III eco

Level IV Ecoregions of EPA Region 4

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

Level III Ecoregions of EPA Region 4

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecoregions by EPA region were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level I

How Do the Chinese Perceive Ecological Risk in Freshwater Lakes?

PubMed Central

Huang, Lei; Han, Yuting; Zhou, Ying; Gutscher, Heinz; Bi, Jun

2013-01-01

In this study, we explore the potential contributions of a risk perception framework in understanding public perceptions of unstable ecosystems. In doing so, we characterize one type of common ecological risk– harmful algal blooms (HABs)–in four of the most seriously eutrophicated freshwater lakes in China. These lakes include Chaohu, Dianchi, Hongze, and Taihu, where a total of 2000 residents living near these sites were interviewed. Regional discrepancies existed in the pilot study regarding public perceptions of ecological changes and public concerns for ecological risk. Comparing HABs and other kinds of risks (earthquake, nuclear, and public traffic) through the psychometric paradigm method, Knowledge, Effect, and Trust were three key factors formulating the risk perception model. The results indicated that Knowledge and risk tolerance levels had significant negative correlations in the higher economic situation while correlations in the lower economic situation were significantly positive. Effect and risk tolerance levels had significant negative correlations in the high and middle education situation while correlations in the low education situation were close to zero or insignificant. For residents from Taihu with comparatively higher economic and educational levels, more investment in risk prevention measures and stronger policies are needed. And for residents from Hongze and Dianchi with comparatively low economic and educational levels, improvement of the government’s credibility (Trust) was the most important factor of risk tolerance, so efforts to eliminate ecological problems with the stepwise development of economic and educational levels should be implemented and gradually strengthened. In turn, this could prevent public discontent and ensure support for ecological protection policies. PMID:23671602

[Some comments on ecological field].

PubMed

Wang, D

2000-06-01

Based on the data of plant ecological field studies, this paper reviewed the conception of ecological field, field eigenfunctions, graphs of ecological field and its application of ecological field theory in explaining plant interactions. It is suggested that the basic character of ecological field is material, and based on the current research level, it is not sure whether ecological field is a kind of specific field different from general physical field. The author gave some comments on the formula and estimation of parameters of basic field function-ecological potential model on ecological field. Both models have their own characteristics and advantages in specific conditions. The author emphasized that ecological field had even more meaning of ecological methodology, and applying ecological field theory in describing the types and processes of plant interactions had three characteristics: quantitative, synthetic and intuitionistic. Field graphing might provide a new way to ecological studies, especially applying the ecological field theory might give an appropriate quantitative explanation for the dynamic process of plant populations (coexistence and interference competition).

RFC 18001 – Regional Screening Level Tables – Anthraquinone

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

9,10-Anthraquinone (CASRN 84-65-1) in Provisional Peer-Reviewed Toxicity Values, EPA/690/R-11/007F, Final 2-17-2011, and EPA Regional Screening Level (RSL) Tables at: https://www.epa.gov/risk/regional-screening-levels-rsls-generic-tables-november-2017

Exposing ecological and economic costs of the research-implementation gap and compromises in decision making.

PubMed

Kareksela, Santtu; Moilanen, Atte; Ristaniemi, Olli; Välivaara, Reima; Kotiaho, Janne S

2018-02-01

The frequently discussed gap between conservation science and practice is manifest in the gap between spatial conservation prioritization plans and their implementation. We analyzed the research-implementation gap of one zoning case by comparing results of a spatial prioritization analysis aimed at avoiding ecological impact of peat mining in a regional zoning process with the final zoning plan. We examined the relatively complex planning process to determine the gaps among research, zoning, and decision making. We quantified the ecological costs of the differing trade-offs between ecological and socioeconomic factors included in the different zoning suggestions by comparing the landscape-level loss of ecological features (species occurrences, habitat area, etc.) between the different solutions for spatial allocation of peat mining. We also discussed with the scientists and planners the reasons for differing zoning suggestions. The implemented plan differed from the scientists suggestion in that its focus was individual ecological features rather than all the ecological features for which there were data; planners and decision makers considered effects of peat mining on areas not included in the prioritization analysis; zoning was not truly seen as a resource-allocation process and not emphasized in general minimizing ecological losses while satisfying economic needs (peat-mining potential); and decision makers based their prioritization of sites on site-level information showing high ecological value and on single legislative factors instead of finding a cost-effective landscape-level solution. We believe that if the zoning and decision-making processes are very complex, then the usefulness of science-based prioritization tools is likely to be reduced. Nevertheless, we found that high-end tools were useful in clearly exposing trade-offs between conservation and resource utilization. © 2017 Society for Conservation Biology.

Generalizing ecological site concepts of the Colorado Plateau for landscape-level applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duniway, Michael C.; Nauman, Travis; Johanson, Jamin K.; Green, Shane; Miller, Mark E.; Bestelmeyer, Brandon T.

2016-01-01

Numerous ecological site descriptions in the southern Utah portion of the Colorado Plateau can be difficult to navigate, so we held a workshop aimed at adding value and functionality to the current ecological site system.We created new groups of ecological sites and drafted state-and-transition models for these new groups.We were able to distill the current large number of ecological sites in the study area (ca. 150) into eight ecological site groups that capture important variability in ecosystem dynamics.Several inventory and monitoring programs and landscape scale planning actions will likely benefit from more generalized ecological site group concepts.

Screening for elevated levels of fear-avoidance beliefs regarding work or physical activities in people receiving outpatient therapy.

PubMed

Hart, Dennis L; Werneke, Mark W; George, Steven Z; Matheson, James W; Wang, Ying-Chih; Cook, Karon F; Mioduski, Jerome E; Choi, Seung W

2009-08-01

Screening people for elevated levels of fear-avoidance beliefs is uncommon, but elevated levels of fear could worsen outcomes. Developing short screening tools might reduce the data collection burden and facilitate screening, which could prompt further testing or management strategy modifications to improve outcomes. The purpose of this study was to develop efficient yet accurate screening methods for identifying elevated levels of fear-avoidance beliefs regarding work or physical activities in people receiving outpatient rehabilitation. A secondary analysis of data collected prospectively from people with a variety of common neuromusculoskeletal diagnoses was conducted. Intake Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) data were collected from 17,804 people who had common neuromusculoskeletal conditions and were receiving outpatient rehabilitation in 121 clinics in 26 states (in the United States). Item response theory (IRT) methods were used to analyze the FABQ data, with particular emphasis on differential item functioning among clinically logical groups of subjects, and to identify screening items. The accuracy of screening items for identifying subjects with elevated levels of fear was assessed with receiver operating characteristic analyses. Three items for fear of physical activities and 10 items for fear of work activities represented unidimensional scales with adequate IRT model fit. Differential item functioning was negligible for variables known to affect functional status outcomes: sex, age, symptom acuity, surgical history, pain intensity, condition severity, and impairment. Items that provided maximum information at the median for the FABQ scales were selected as screening items to dichotomize subjects by high versus low levels of fear. The accuracy of the screening items was supported for both scales. This study represents a retrospective analysis, which should be replicated using prospective designs. Future prospective studies should assess the reliability and validity of using one FABQ item to screen people for high levels of fear-avoidance beliefs. The lack of differential item functioning in the FABQ scales in the sample tested in this study suggested that FABQ screening could be useful in routine clinical practice and allowed the development of single-item screening for fear-avoidance beliefs that accurately identified subjects with elevated levels of fear. Because screening was accurate and efficient, single IRT-based FABQ screening items are recommended to facilitate improved evaluation and care of heterogeneous populations of people receiving outpatient rehabilitation.

Considerations in representing human individuals in social ecological models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Manfredo, Michael J.; Teel, Tara L.; Gavin, Michael C.; Fulton, David C.

2017-01-01

In this chapter we focus on how to integrate the human individual into social-ecological systems analysis, and how to improve research on individual thought and action regarding the environment by locating it within the broader social-ecological context. We discuss three key questions as considerations for future research: (1) is human thought conceptualized as a dynamic and adaptive process, (2) is the individual placed in a multi-level context (including within-person levels, person-group interactions, and institutional and structural factors), and (3) is human thought seen as mutually constructed with the social and natural environment. Increased emphasis on the individual will be essential if we are to understand agency, innovation, and adaptation in social-ecological systems.

The mediating role of the home environment in relation to parental educational level and preschool children's screen time: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Määttä, Suvi; Kaukonen, Riikka; Vepsäläinen, Henna; Lehto, Elviira; Ylönen, Anna; Ray, Carola; Erkkola, Maijaliisa; Roos, Eva

2017-09-02

Previous studies suggest that preschoolers from low socioeconomic backgrounds engage in more screen time. Still, the factors in the social and physical home environment driving these differences in preschool children's screen time are poorly understood. This study examines potential home environment mediators in the associations between parental educational level and preschoolers' screen time. A total of 864 children aged 3-6 years and their parents participated in a cross-sectional DAGIS study in 2015-2016. Parents recorded their children's screen time in a diary (N = 823). For the analyses, the daily average screen time at home was calculated. Parental questionnaires (N = 808) assessed educational level and eight social and physical environment factors in the home (i.e., descriptive norm for children's screen time, parental screen use in front of children, parental importance for limiting children's screen time, parental attitude toward societal pressures for children's screen time, access to screens at home, parental self-efficacy for limiting children's screen time, satisfaction of children's screen time, and rules for limiting children's screen time). Parental education was grouped into low, middle, and high education. The associations were tested by conducting mediation analyses adjusted by season and children's sex and age. The significant mediators in the single-mediator models were included in the final multiple-mediator models. Of the potential eight mediators, the following four had a significant indirect association: descriptive norm for children's screen time, parental screen use in front of children, parental importance for limiting children's screen time, and parental attitude toward societal pressures for children's screen time. Parents with high education had lower descriptive norm and used fewer screens in front of children compared to parents with middle or low education, and in turn, these factors were associated with less screen time among children from parents with a higher education level. Parents with high education placed greater importance on limiting children's screen time and felt less societal pressures about children's screen time compared to parents with low education, and in turn, these factors were associated with less screen time among children from parents with a higher education level. Our study recognized multiple modifiable mediators in the associations between parental education and preschool children's screen time. When aiming to diminish socioeconomic status differences in preschool children's screen time, the focus should be on parental role models, attitudes, and norm related to children's screen time.

Selecting predictors for discriminant analysis of species performance: an example from an amphibious softwater plant.

PubMed

Vanderhaeghe, F; Smolders, A J P; Roelofs, J G M; Hoffmann, M

2012-03-01

Selecting an appropriate variable subset in linear multivariate methods is an important methodological issue for ecologists. Interest often exists in obtaining general predictive capacity or in finding causal inferences from predictor variables. Because of a lack of solid knowledge on a studied phenomenon, scientists explore predictor variables in order to find the most meaningful (i.e. discriminating) ones. As an example, we modelled the response of the amphibious softwater plant Eleocharis multicaulis using canonical discriminant function analysis. We asked how variables can be selected through comparison of several methods: univariate Pearson chi-square screening, principal components analysis (PCA) and step-wise analysis, as well as combinations of some methods. We expected PCA to perform best. The selected methods were evaluated through fit and stability of the resulting discriminant functions and through correlations between these functions and the predictor variables. The chi-square subset, at P < 0.05, followed by a step-wise sub-selection, gave the best results. In contrast to expectations, PCA performed poorly, as so did step-wise analysis. The different chi-square subset methods all yielded ecologically meaningful variables, while probable noise variables were also selected by PCA and step-wise analysis. We advise against the simple use of PCA or step-wise discriminant analysis to obtain an ecologically meaningful variable subset; the former because it does not take into account the response variable, the latter because noise variables are likely to be selected. We suggest that univariate screening techniques are a worthwhile alternative for variable selection in ecology. © 2011 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Evaluation of a novel Serious Game based assessment tool for patients with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Vallejo, Vanessa; Wyss, Patric; Rampa, Luca; Mitache, Andrei V; Müri, René M; Mosimann, Urs P; Nef, Tobias

2017-01-01

Despite growing interest in developing ecological assessment of difficulties in patients with Alzheimer's disease new methods assessing the cognitive difficulties related to functional activities are missing. To complete current evaluation, the use of Serious Games can be a promising approach as it offers the possibility to recreate a virtual environment with daily living activities and a precise and complete cognitive evaluation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usability and the screening potential of a new ecological tool for assessment of cognitive functions in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Eighteen patients with Alzheimer's disease and twenty healthy controls participated to the study. They were asked to complete six daily living virtual tasks assessing several cognitive functions: three navigation tasks, one shopping task, one cooking task and one table preparation task following a one-day scenario. Usability of the game was evaluated through a questionnaire and through the analysis of the computer interactions for the two groups. Furthermore, the performances in terms of time to achieve the task and percentage of completion on the several tasks were recorded. Results indicate that both groups subjectively found the game user friendly and they were objectively able to play the game without computer interactions difficulties. Comparison of the performances between the two groups indicated a significant difference in terms of percentage of achievement of the several tasks and in terms of time they needed to achieve the several tasks. This study suggests that this new Serious Game based assessment tool is a user-friendly and ecological method to evaluate the cognitive abilities related to the difficulties patients can encounter in daily living activities and can be used as a screening tool as it allowed to distinguish Alzheimer's patient's performance from healthy controls.

Ecological, psychological, and cognitive components of reading difficulties: testing the component model of reading in fourth graders across 38 countries.

PubMed

Chiu, Ming Ming; McBride-Chang, Catherine; Lin, Dan

2012-01-01

The authors tested the component model of reading (CMR) among 186,725 fourth grade students from 38 countries (45 regions) on five continents by analyzing the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study data using measures of ecological (country, family, school, teacher), psychological, and cognitive components. More than 91% of the differences in student difficulty occurred at the country (61%) and classroom (30%) levels (ecological), with less than 9% at the student level (cognitive and psychological). All three components were negatively associated with reading difficulties: cognitive (student's early literacy skills), ecological (family characteristics [socioeconomic status, number of books at home, and attitudes about reading], school characteristics [school climate and resources]), and psychological (students' attitudes about reading, reading self-concept, and being a girl). These results extend the CMR by demonstrating the importance of multiple levels of factors for reading deficits across diverse cultures.

Ecological determinants of divorce: a structural approach to the explanation of Japanese divorce.

PubMed

Fukurai, H; Alston, J P

1992-01-01

This paper examines the ecological determinants of contemporary Japanese divorce rates on the prefectural level. LISREL and computer-generated graphics are the analytic methods used. The aggregate level of analysis demands the use of the ecological model which posits that demographic changes, economic activities, migration patterns, and the level of urbanization are significant predictors of divorce rate. Our analysis demonstrates that sex ratio, female labor force participation, female in-migration patterns, population increase, and net household income all play a significant role in affecting the divorce rate. Our findings also confirm the well-supported hypothesis that both population density and modernization positively influence modern Japan's divorce rates. The residual analysis also points out that in order to account for the large proportion of the unexplained variance of Japanese divorce, behavioral-related variables and island- or prefecture-specific dimensions need to be included in the ecological model of divorce.

[Socio-economic aspects of epidemiology of helicobateriosis].

PubMed

Fedichkina, T P; Solenova, L G; Zykova, I E; German, S V; Modestova, A V; Kislitsyn, V A; Rakhmanin, Yu A; Bobrovnitsky, I P

There are considered special social and economic aspects of the epidemiology of Helicobacter pylori. These aspects acquired the particular importance for the last time due to the fact that the provision of the people with pure water has been becoming the focus of the attention of geopolitical and socio-economic interests in a number of countries. The availability ofpure drinking water serves a marker of the socio-economic state of the territory and the population living there. In Russia where different climatic conditions are deposited by considerable regional differences in the conditions of communal services caused both by various level of the socio-economic development of the territory, the supplementation with pure drinking water serves as the social determinant of the ecological conditions of the population’s life. This particularly has impact on the unfeasible technical state of the water distribution systems, microorganism ecology of which can substantially affect public health. The performed by authors a specialized screening ofpresented at the official web site of the joint-stock company «Mosvodokanal» current data concerning the quality of drinking water consumed by 2500 Moscovites, tested for the Helicobacter pylori infection revealed no deviations from the sanitary standards in the water received by the consumers. Along with that, the comparison of the map documents of the distribution of the Helicobacter pylori infection in Moscow with the distribution of citizens’ complaints of the decline of the quality of tap water has revealed a territorial fastening of the high values of the population infection rate of n^ylori and the urban sites with the greatest number of complaints. In the microbial ecology of water-distribution systems there are tightly aligned problems of their epidemiological safety, technical state and economic damage caused by corrosion as a result of microbiotic activity. In contrast to acute bacterial and viral infections which are deemed of the greatest importance when assessing the sanitary condition of water sources and water-distribution systems, the consequences of infection with H. pylori may not be manifestedfor a long time but some years later they may be manifested as serious chronic diseases (from gastritis to adenocarcinoma of the stomach and a wide range of extraintestinal pathologies), which causes great social and economic losses. Thus, the socio-economic aspect of the epidemiology of helicobacteriosis includes at least two components: the technic - the maintenance of the feasible technic and sanitary state of the water distribution systems and the medico-social - expenditures for screening and treatment of infected patients. In total they are an inseparable part of the prevention of socially-important diseases in the public health system.

The influence of visitor use levels on visitor spatial behavior in off-trail areas of dispersed recreation use.

PubMed

D'Antonio, Ashley; Monz, Christopher

2016-04-01

A variety of social and ecological factors influence the level and extent of ecological change that occurs in a park or protected area. Understanding these factors and how they are interrelated can help managers prevent undesirable ecological impacts, especially in areas without formal trails and visitor sites. This study examines the relationship between levels of visitor use and spatial patterns of visitor behavior at a variety of backcountry recreation destinations. Current assumptions in both the literature and simulation modeling efforts assume that visitor behavior either does not change with use level or that visitors are more likely to disperse at high levels of visitor use. Using visitor counts and GPS tracks of visitor behavior in locations where visitors could disperse off-trail, we found that visitors' spatial behavior does vary with visitor use level in some recreation settings, however the patterns of visitor behavior observed in this study are sometimes contrary to current generalizations. When visitor behavior does vary with use level, visitors are dispersing more at low levels of visitor use not when use level is high. Overall, these findings suggest that in certain situations the amount of visitor use at a recreation destination may be a less important driver of ecological change than visitor behavior. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifiability in N-mixture models: a large-scale screening test with bird data.

PubMed

Kéry, Marc

2018-02-01

Binomial N-mixture models have proven very useful in ecology, conservation, and monitoring: they allow estimation and modeling of abundance separately from detection probability using simple counts. Recently, doubts about parameter identifiability have been voiced. I conducted a large-scale screening test with 137 bird data sets from 2,037 sites. I found virtually no identifiability problems for Poisson and zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) binomial N-mixture models, but negative-binomial (NB) models had problems in 25% of all data sets. The corresponding multinomial N-mixture models had no problems. Parameter estimates under Poisson and ZIP binomial and multinomial N-mixture models were extremely similar. Identifiability problems became a little more frequent with smaller sample sizes (267 and 50 sites), but were unaffected by whether the models did or did not include covariates. Hence, binomial N-mixture model parameters with Poisson and ZIP mixtures typically appeared identifiable. In contrast, NB mixtures were often unidentifiable, which is worrying since these were often selected by Akaike's information criterion. Identifiability of binomial N-mixture models should always be checked. If problems are found, simpler models, integrated models that combine different observation models or the use of external information via informative priors or penalized likelihoods, may help. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Viral Diversity, Prey Preference, and Bartonella Prevalence in Desmodus rotundus in Guatemala

PubMed Central

Wray, Amy K.; Olival, Kevin J.; Morán, David; Lopez, Maria Renee; Alvarez, Danilo; Navarrete-Macias, Isamara; Liang, Eliza; Simmons, Nancy B.; Lipkin, W. Ian; Daszak, Peter; Anthony, Simon J.

2016-01-01

Certain bat species serve as natural reservoirs for pathogens in several key viral families including henipa-, lyssa-, corona-, and filoviruses, which may pose serious threats to human health. The Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus), due to its abundance, sanguivorous feeding habit involving humans and domestic animals, and highly social behavioral ecology, may have an unusually high potential for interspecies disease transmission. Previous studies have investigated rabies dynamics in D. rotundus, yet the diversity of other viruses, bacteria, and other microbes that these bats may carry remains largely unknown. We screened 396 blood, urine, saliva, and fecal samples from D. rotundus captured in Guatemala for 13 viral families and genera. Positive results were found for rhabdovirus, adenovirus, and herpesvirus assays. We also screened these samples for Bartonella spp. and found that 38% of individuals tested positive. To characterize potential for interspecies transmission associated with feeding behavior, we also analyzed cytochrome B sequences from fecal samples to identify prey species and found that domestic cattle (Bos taurus) made up the majority of blood meals. Our findings suggest that the risk of pathogen spillover from Desmodus rotundus, including between domestic animal species, is possible and warrants further investigation to characterize this microbial diversity and expand our understanding of foraging ecology in their populations. PMID:27660213

Molecular phylogeny and ecological diversification in a clade of New World songbirds (genus Vireo).

PubMed

Cicero, C; Johnson, N K

1998-10-01

We constructed a molecular phylogeny for a clade of eye-ringed vireos (Vireo flavifrons and the V. solitarius complex) to examine existing hypotheses of speciation and ecological diversification. Complete sequences of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene were obtained from 47 individuals of this group plus four vireonid outgroups. Mean levels of sequence divergence in the clade varied from 0.29% to 5.7%. Differences were greatest between V. flavifrons and four taxa of 'V. solitarius'. The latter separated into three taxonomic, geographical and ecological groups: V. plumbeus plumbeus, V. cassinii cassinii, and V. solitarius solitarius plus V. solitarius alticola. These differed by an average of 2.6-3.2%. Populations within each group revealed low levels of sequence variation (x = 0.20%) and little geographical structuring. The mtDNA data generally corroborate results from allozymes. V. plumbeus shows a loss of yellow-green carotenoid pigmentation from the ancestral condition. The occupancy of relatively dry habitats by this species and V. cassinii represents a derived ecological shift from more-humid environments occupied by other species of vireonids. Ecological divergence in this clade occurred in allopatry and is associated with generic-level stability in morphometrics and foraging styles. Migratory behaviour and seasonal habitat shifts apparently evolved multiple times in vireos breeding in temperate environments. Present geographical and ecological distributions, and low levels of intrataxon genetic divergence, are hypothesized to be the result of postglacial regionalization of climate-plant associations and rapid northward expansion of breeding ranges.

Construction and screening of marine metagenomic libraries.

PubMed

Weiland, Nancy; Löscher, Carolin; Metzger, Rebekka; Schmitz, Ruth

2010-01-01

Marine microbial communities are highly diverse and have evolved during extended evolutionary processes of physiological adaptations under the influence of a variety of ecological conditions and selection pressures. They harbor an enormous diversity of microbes with still unknown and probably new physiological characteristics. Besides, the surfaces of marine multicellular organisms are typically covered by a consortium of epibiotic bacteria and act as barriers, where diverse interactions between microorganisms and hosts take place. Thus, microbial diversity in the water column of the oceans and the microbial consortia on marine tissues of multicellular organisms are rich sources for isolating novel bioactive compounds and genes. Here we describe the sampling, construction of large-insert metagenomic libraries from marine habitats and exemplarily one function based screen of metagenomic clones.

[Distribution and risk assessment of mercury species in soil of the water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir].

PubMed

Zhang, Cheng; Chen, Hong; Wang, Ding-Yong; Sun, Rong-Guo; Zhang, Jin-Yang

2014-03-01

To investigate pollution level and ecological risk of mercury in soils of the water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, 192 surface soil samples from 14 counties (districts) in Chongqing were obtained. Concentrations of THg and Hg species, bioavailable Hg were analyzed and discussed. Geoaccumulation index (I(geo)) and Håkanson potential ecological risk index (E(r)) were applied to assess the pollution status and potential ecological risk of THg and Hg species, respectively. The results showed that significant differences in the concentration of THg were found in soils of water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir. The THg concentration ranged from 22.4 to 393.5 microg x kg(-1), with an average of (84.2 +/- 54.3) microg x kg(-1). 76.6% of the samples' THg content was higher than the soil background value in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region. The percentage of five mercury species (water-soluble Hg, HCl-soluble Hg, KOH-soluble Hg, H2O2-soluble Hg, residue Hg) in soils were 4.1%, 15.5%, 18.3%, 10.9%, 51.3%, respectively. The average concentrations of bioavailable mercury varied between 19.7-36.6 microg x kg(-1), and the percentage of bioavailable Hg was 22.1%-51.6% of THg. According to the geoaccumulation index, the soils were lightly polluted by Hg. Håkanson single potential ecological risk index evaluation showed that Hg species had a low potential ecological risk, moreover, soils of water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir were at low ecological risk levels as evaluated by bioavailable Hg. While, the assessment results based on THg of soils was much higher than that based on the Hg species. Two methods of evaluation showed that the I(geo) and E(r) values calculated based on the Hg species better reflected the actual pollution levels of soils and its hazard to aquatic organisms.

[Uncertainty analysis of ecological risk assessment caused by heavy-metals deposition from MSWI emission].

PubMed

Liao, Zhi-Heng; Sun, Jia-Ren; Wu, Dui; Fan, Shao-Jia; Ren, Ming-Zhong; Lü, Jia-Yang

2014-06-01

The CALPUFF model was applied to simulate the ground-level atmospheric concentrations of Pb and Cd from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plants, and the soil concentration model was used to estimate soil concentration increments after atmospheric deposition based on Monte Carlo simulation, then ecological risk assessment was conducted by the potential ecological risk index method. The results showed that the largest atmospheric concentrations of Pb and Cd were 5.59 x 109-3) microg x m(-3) and 5.57 x 10(-4) microg x m(-3), respectively, while the maxima of soil concentration incremental medium of Pb and Cd were 2.26 mg x kg(-1) and 0.21 mg x kg(-1), respectively; High risk areas were located next to the incinerators, Cd contributed the most to the ecological risk, and Pb was basically free of pollution risk; Higher ecological hazard level was predicted at the most polluted point in urban areas with a 55.30% probability, while in rural areas, the most polluted point was assessed to moderate ecological hazard level with a 72.92% probability. In addition, sensitivity analysis of calculation parameters in the soil concentration model was conducted, which showed the simulated results of urban and rural area were most sensitive to soil mix depth and dry deposition rate, respectively.

Learning about Bird Species on the Primary Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randler, Christoph

2009-01-01

Animal species identification is often emphasized as a basic prerequisite for an understanding of ecology because ecological interactions are based on interactions between species at least as it is taught on the school level. Therefore, training identification skills or using identification books seems a worthwhile task in biology education, and…

Environmental Sciences Division annual progress report for period ending September 30, 1981

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Auerbach, S.I.; Reichle, D.E.

1982-04-01

Research programs from the following sections and programs are summarized: aquatic ecology, environmental resources, earth sciences, terrestrial ecology, advanced fossil energy program, toxic substances program, environmental impacts program, biomass, low-level waste research and development program, US DOE low-level waste management program, and waste isolation program.

Cognitive Socialization and Competence: The Academic Development of Chicanos. Chapter 7.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laosa, Luis M.; Henderson, Ronald W.

This chapter focuses on the innermost level of Bronfenbrenner's four-level conception of the human environmental ecology, namely the microsystem, and more specifically, the child's socialization in the family. Following discussion of concepts related to socialization, competence, and environmental ecology, selected research studies are reviewed to…

Predicting Dropout Using Student- and School-Level Factors: An Ecological Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Laura; Kiperman, Sarah; Esch, Rachel C.; Leroux, Audrey J.; Truscott, Stephen D.

2017-01-01

High school dropout has been associated with negative outcomes, including increased rates of unemployment, incarceration, and mortality. Dropout rates vary significantly depending on individual and environmental factors. The purpose of our study was to use an ecological perspective to concurrently explore student- and school-level predictors…

Characterizing land use change in multidisciplinary landscape-level analyses.

Treesearch

Jeffrey D. Kline

2003-01-01

Economists increasingly face opportunities to collaborate with ecologists on landscape-level analyses of socioeconomic and ecological processes. This often calls for developing empirical models to project land use change as input into ecological models. Providing ecologists with the land use information they desire can present many challenges regarding data, modeling,...

A Framework for Linking Population Model Development with Ecological Risk Assessment Objectives

EPA Science Inventory

The value of models that link organism-level impacts to the responses of a population in ecological risk assessments (ERA) has been demonstrated extensively over the past few decades. There is little debate about the utility of these models to translate multiple organism-level en...

Integrating urbanization into landscape-level ecological assessments.

Treesearch

Jeffrey D. Kline; Alissa Moses; Ralph J. Alig

2001-01-01

Economists and ecologists are often asked to collaborate on landscape-level analyses designed to jointly assess economic and ecological conditions resulting from environmental policy scenarios. This trend toward multidisciplinary projects, coupled with the growing use of geographic information systems, has led to the development policy scenarios. This trend toward...

Development of Triad approach based system for ecological risk assessment for contaminated areas of Kyrgyzstan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kydralieva, Kamilia; Uzbekov, Beksultan; Khudaibergenova, Bermet; Terekhova, Vera; Jorobekova, Sharipa

2014-05-01

This research is aimed to develop a high-effective system of an ecological risk assessment and risk-based decision making for anthropogenic ecosystems, with particular focus on the soils of the Kyrgyz Republic. The study is focused on the integration of Triad data including chemical, biological and ecotoxicological soil markers to estimate the potential risk from soils of highly anthropized areas impacted by deposition of different pollutants from mining operation. We focus on technogenic areas of Kyrgyzstan, the former uranium-producing province. Triad-based ecological risk assessment for technogenic sites are not currently used in Kyrgyzstan. However, the vitality of such research is self-evident. There are about 50 tailing dumps and more than 80 tips of radioactive waste which are formed as a result of uranium and complex ores (mercury, antimony, lead, cadmium and etc) mining around the unfavorable aforementioned places. According to the Mining Wastes' Tailings and Fills Rehabilitation Centre established in 1999 by a special Government's Resolution, one of the most ecologically dangerous uranium tailings resides in Kadzhi-Say. Although uranium processing is no longer practiced in Kadzhi-Say, a large number of open landfills and uranium ore storages still remain abandoned at the vicinity of this settlement. These neglected sites have enormous problems associated with soil erosion known as "technogenic deserts". The upper soil horizons are deprived of humus and vegetation, which favor the formation of low-buffer landscapes in the zones of maximum contamination. As a result, most of these areas are not re-cultivated and remain in critical environmental condition (Bykovchenko, et al., 2005; Tukhvatshin, 2005; Suranova, 2006). Triad data for assessing environmental risk and biological vulnerability at contaminated sites will be integrated. The following Triad-based parameters will be employed: 1) chemical soil analyses (revealing the presence of potentially dangerous substances), 2) ecological parameters (assessing changes in microorganism's community structure and functions, bioindication); and 3) toxicological bioassays (utilizing classical endpoints such as survival and reproduction rates, genotoxicity). The output will be consisted of 3 indexes: 1) Environmental Risk Index, quantifying the level of biological damage at population-community level, 2) Biological Vulnerability Index, assessing the potential threats to biological equilibria, and 3) Genotoxicity Index, screening genotoxic effects. Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) will be used to integrate a set of environmental Triad data to be obtained during the project, which will be carried out in order to estimate the potential risk from soil contamination of the highly anthropized areas of Kadzhi-Say, which have been impacted by deposition of heavy metals. The basis of the development under this research is studies with a particular focus concerning the biocenosis mapping of Kyrgyz soils (Mamytova et al., 2003, 2010), investigations on interaction of humic substances with soil contaminants (Jorobekova, Kydralieva, Khudaibergenova, 2004; Khudaibergenova, 2005, 2007), and in addition, technical approach for ecotoxicological assessment of soils (Terekhova, 2007, 2011). Soil ecotoxicological estimation has been studied with a battery of tests using test-organisms of many trophic levels. Currently, bioindication of soils with various humus states is under study (Senesi, Yakimenko 2007; Yakimenko, et al., 2008).

Do Community-based Institutions Build Resilience to Climate Change in Mongolia?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez-Gimenez, M.

2012-12-01

Climate change impacts are inherently local, yet relatively little is known about the role of local people and institutions in adapting to climate change. Mongolia has experienced one of the strongest warming trends on Earth over the past 40 years, associated declines in streamflow, and increases in the frequency of extreme winter weather events. Environmental changes are compounded by rapid political, economic and social transformations beginning in 1990. We investigate the complex interactions of social, ecological and climate changes across multiple levels from local to regional to national. We hypothesize that community-based institutions increase resilience by strengthening self-regulating feedbacks between social and ecological systems through development and enforcement of formal management rules, implementation of innovative management practices, strengthening of social networks and information exchange within and across levels of social organization, and enhanced monitoring. These result in better ecological and socio-economic conditions and greater adaptive capacity in areas under formal community-based management compared to adjacent areas without formal community management institutions. Evaluation of this hypothesis involves integrated collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative ecological, social and hydro-climatic data at household, community and regional levels of spatial and social organization. Here, we present preliminary results evaluating these hypotheses from 10 counties (soum) in 3 provinces (aimag) in the Gobi desert-steppe of southern Mongolia based on household-level social data and plot-level ecological data representing. Our initial findings support the hypothesis that community-based institutions are associated with greater household adaptive capacity and healthier pasture ecological conditions, characterized by greater perennial vegetation cover and biomass, especially in the functional group most important for livestock production, grasses. Our results suggest that even in the Gobi desert-steppe, where inter-annual variations in climate and vegetation production are high, formal community-based management institutions may play an important role in enhancing the adaptive capacity of social-ecological systems.

Environmental management: Integrating ecological evaluation, remediation, restoration, natural resource damage assessment and long-term stewardship on contaminated lands

PubMed Central

Burger, Joanna

2014-01-01

Ecological evaluation is essential for remediation, restoration, and Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), and forms the basis for many management practices. These include determining status and trends of biological, physical, or chemical/radiological conditions, conducting environmental impact assessments, performing remedial actions should remediation fail, managing ecosystems and wildlife, and assessing the efficacy of remediation, restoration, and long-term stewardship. The objective of this paper is to explore the meanings of these assessments, examine the relationships among them, and suggest methods of integration that will move environmental management forward. While remediation, restoration, and NRDA, among others, are often conducted separately, it is important to integrate them for contaminated land where the risks to ecoreceptors (including humans) can be high, and the potential damage to functioning ecosystems great. Ecological evaluations can range from inventories of local plants and animals, determinations of reproductive success of particular species, levels of contaminants in organisms, kinds and levels of effects, and environmental impact assessments, to very formal ecological risk assessments for a chemical or other stressor. Such evaluations can range from the individual species to populations, communities, ecosystems or the landscape scale. Ecological evaluations serve as the basis for making decisions about the levels and kinds of remediation, the levels and kinds of restoration possible, and the degree and kinds of natural resource injuries that have occurred because of contamination. Many different disciplines are involved in ecological evaluation, including biologists, conservationists, foresters, restoration ecologists, ecological engineers, economists, hydrologist, and geologists. Since ecological evaluation forms the basis for so many different types of environmental management, it seems reasonable to integrate management options to achieve economies of time, energy, and costs. Integration and iteration among these disciplines is possible only with continued interactions among practitioners, regulators, policy-makers, Native American Tribes, and the general public. PMID:18687455

Beyond the "I" in the obesity epidemic: a review of social relational and network interventions on obesity.

PubMed

Leroux, Janette S; Moore, Spencer; Dubé, Laurette

2013-01-01

Recent research has shown the importance of networks in the spread of obesity. Yet, the translation of research on social networks and obesity into health promotion practice has been slow. To review the types of obesity interventions targeting social relational factors. Six databases were searched in January 2013. A Boolean search was employed with the following sets of terms: (1) social dimensions: social capital, cohesion, collective efficacy, support, social networks, or trust; (2) intervention type: intervention, experiment, program, trial, or policy; and (3) obesity in the title or abstract. Titles and abstracts were reviewed. Articles were included if they described an obesity intervention with the social relational component central. Articles were assessed on the social relational factor(s) addressed, social ecological level(s) targeted, the intervention's theoretical approach, and the conceptual placement of the social relational component in the intervention. Database searches and final article screening yielded 30 articles. Findings suggested that (1) social support was most often targeted; (2) few interventions were beyond the individual level; (3) most interventions were framed on behaviour change theories; and (4) the social relational component tended to be conceptually ancillary to the intervention. Theoretically and practically, social networks remain marginal to current interventions addressing obesity.

The ecological impacts of marine debris: unraveling the demonstrated evidence from what is perceived.

PubMed

Rochman, Chelsea M; Browne, Mark Anthony; Underwood, A J; van Franeker, Jan A; Thompson, Richard C; Amaral-Zettler, Linda A

2016-02-01

Anthropogenic debris contaminates marine habitats globally, leading to several perceived ecological impacts. Here, we critically and systematically review the literature regarding impacts of debris from several scientific fields to understand the weight of evidence regarding the ecological impacts of marine debris. We quantified perceived and demonstrated impacts across several levels of biological organization that make up the ecosystem and found 366 perceived threats of debris across all levels. Two hundred and ninety-six of these perceived threats were tested, 83% of which were demonstrated. The majority (82%) of demonstrated impacts were due to plastic, relative to other materials (e.g., metals, glass) and largely (89%) at suborganismal levels (e.g., molecular, cellular, tissue). The remaining impacts, demonstrated at higher levels of organization (i.e., death to individual organisms, changes in assemblages), were largely due to plastic marine debris (> 1 mm; e.g., rope, straws, and fragments). Thus, we show evidence of ecological impacts from marine debris, but conclude that the quantity and quality of research requires improvement to allow the risk of ecological impacts of marine debris to be determined with precision. Still, our systematic review suggests that sufficient evidence exists for decision makers to begin to mitigate problematic plastic debris now, to avoid risk of irreversible harm.

White Oak Creek Watershed: Melton Valley Area Remedial Investigation Report, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee: Volume 3 Appendix C

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This report provides details on the baseline ecological risk assessment conducted in support of the Remedial Investigation (RI) Report for the Melton Valley areas of the White Oak Creek watershed (WOCW). The RI presents an analysis meant to enable the US Department of Energy (DOE) to pursue a series of remedial actions resulting in site cleanup and stabilization. The ecological risk assessment builds off of the WOCW screening ecological risk assessment. All information available for contaminated sites under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Energy`s Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act Federal Facilities Agreement within the White Oakmore » Creek (WOC) RI area has been used to identify areas of potential concern with respect to the presence of contamination posing a potential risk to ecological receptors within the Melton Valley area of the White Oak Creek watershed. The risk assessment report evaluates the potential risks to receptors within each subbasin of the watershed as well as at a watershed-wide scale. The WOC system has been exposed to contaminant releases from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and associated operations since 1943 and continues to receive contaminants from adjacent waste area groupings.« less

[Simulation of urban ecological security pattern based on cellular automata: a case of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province of South China].

PubMed

Yang, Qing-Sheng; Qiao, Ji-Gang; Ai, Bin

2013-09-01

Taking the Dongguan City with rapid urbanization as a case, and selecting landscape ecological security level as evaluation criterion, the urbanization cellular number of 1 km x 1 km ecological security cells was obtained, and imbedded into the transition rules of cellular automata (CA) as the restraint term to control urban development, establish ecological security urban CA, and simulate ecological security urban development pattern. The results showed the integrated landscape ecological security index of the City decreased from 0.497 in 1998 to 0.395 in 2005, indicating that the ecological security at landscape scale was decreased. The CA-simulated integrated ecological security index of the City in 2005 was increased from the measured 0.395 to 0.479, showing that the simulated urban landscape ecological pressure from human became lesser, ecological security became better, and integrated landscape ecological security became higher. CA could be used as an effective tool in researching urban ecological security.

Pupils' Interest before, during, and after a Curriculum Dealing with Ecological Topics and Its Relationship with Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randler, Christoph; Bogner, Franz X.

2007-01-01

We surveyed interest in ecology prior, during, and after an ecological unit of 14 lessons ("Ecosystem Lake"). Achievement was assessed in a pretest (T-1), a class test (T-2; used for grading), and a retention test (T-3). We found a main effect of stratification on the level of interest in ecology after the educational unit (pupils from…

Ecological Factors in Migration in Nonmetropolitan Counties, 1950-1970.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murdock, Steve H.

To determine the dominant ecosystem types in nonmetropolitan counties and the role of ecological factors in determination of levels of total and age-specific migration patterns within nonmetropolitan areas and ecosystem types for 1950-60 and 1960-70, 30 ecological variables representing POET concepts of population, organization, environment, and…

Exploration of the Meaning of Sustainability in Textiles and Apparel Discipline and Prospects for Curriculum Enhancement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pasricha, Anupama

2010-01-01

Sustainability is gaining importance because of heightened ecological challenges. The UN declared 2005-2014 as the decade of sustainable development encouraging educational institutions at all levels to nurture ecologically literate individuals. An ecologically literate person has the knowledge necessary to comprehend interrelatedness among…

An Assessment of Students' Understanding of Ecosystem Concepts: Conflating Ecological Systems and Cycles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Rebecca; Gray, Steven; Demeter, Marylee; Lui, Lei; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E.

2009-01-01

Teaching ecological concepts in schools is important in promoting natural science and environmental education for young learners. Developing educational programs is difficult, however, because of complicated ecological processes operating on multiple levels, the unlimited nature of potential system interactions (given the openness of systems), and…

Social capital and common mental disorder: a systematic review.

PubMed

Ehsan, Annahita M; De Silva, Mary J

2015-10-01

This study aims to systematically review all published quantitative studies examining the direct association between social capital and common mental disorders (CMD). Social capital has potential value for the promotion and prevention of CMD. The association between different types of social capital (individual cognitive and structural, and ecological cognitive and structural) and CMD must be explored to obtain conclusive evidence regarding the association, and to ascertain a direction of causality. 10 electronic databases were searched to find studies examining the association between social capital and CMD published before July 2014. The effect estimates and sample sizes for each type of social capital were separately analysed for cross-sectional and cohort studies. From 1857 studies retrieved, 39 were selected for inclusion: 31 cross-sectional and 8 cohort studies. 39 effect estimates were found for individual level cognitive, 31 for individual level structural, 9 for ecological level cognitive and 11 for ecological level structural social capital. This review provides evidence that individual cognitive social capital is protective against developing CMD. Ecological cognitive social capital is also associated with reduced risk of CMD, though the included studies were cross-sectional. For structural social capital there was overall no association at either the individual or ecological levels. Two cross-sectional studies found that in low-income settings, a mother's participation in civic activities is associated with an increased risk of CMD. There is now sufficient evidence to design and evaluate individual and ecological cognitive social capital interventions to promote mental well-being and prevent CMD. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Reverse Ecology: from systems to environments and back.

PubMed

Levy, Roie; Borenstein, Elhanan

2012-01-01

The structure of complex biological systems reflects not only their function but also the environments in which they evolved and are adapted to. Reverse Ecology-an emerging new frontier in Evolutionary Systems Biology-aims to extract this information and to obtain novel insights into an organism's ecology. The Reverse Ecology framework facilitates the translation of high-throughput genomic data into large-scale ecological data, and has the potential to transform ecology into a high-throughput field. In this chapter, we describe some of the pioneering work in Reverse Ecology, demonstrating how system-level analysis of complex biological networks can be used to predict the natural habitats of poorly characterized microbial species, their interactions with other species, and universal patterns governing the adaptation of organisms to their environments. We further present several studies that applied Reverse Ecology to elucidate various aspects of microbial ecology, and lay out exciting future directions and potential future applications in biotechnology, biomedicine, and ecological engineering.

[Ecological risk assessment of rural-urban ecotone based on landscape pattern: A case study in Daiyue District of Tai' an City, Shandong Province of East China].

PubMed

Shi, Hao-Peng; Yu, Kai-Qin; Feng, Yong-jun

2013-03-01

Based on the remote sensing data in 2000, 2005, and 2010, this paper analyzed the variation trends of the land use type and landscape pattern in Daiyue District of Tai' an City from 2000 to 2010. The ecological risk index was built, that of the District was re-sampled and spatially interpolated, and the spatiotemporal pattern of the ecological risk in the rural-urban ecotone of the District was analyzed. In 2000-2010, the main variation trend of the land use type in the District was the shift from natural landscape to artificial landscape. The intensity of human disturbance was larger in cultivated land, garden plot, and forestland than in other landscape types, while the human disturbance in water area was smaller. The ecological loss degree of cultivated land and water area decreased somewhat, while that of the other land use types presented an increasing trend. The ecological risk distribution in the District was discrete in 2000 and 2010, but most centralized in 2005. The ecological risk of each ecological risk sub-area had an increasing trend in 2000-2005, but was in adverse in 2005-2010. In 2000-2010, the ecological risk of the District was mainly at medium level. Spatially, the distribution of the ecological risk in the District had an obvious differentiation, with an overall diffusive increasing from forestland as the center to the surrounding areas. In the District, the ecological risk was mainly at medium and higher levels, the area with lower ecological risk had an obvious dynamic change, while that with the lowest and highest ecological risk had less change.

10 CFR 26.131 - Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests. 26.131 Section 26.131 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FITNESS FOR DUTY PROGRAMS Licensee Testing Facilities § 26.131 Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests. (a) Each...

10 CFR 26.131 - Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests. 26.131 Section 26.131 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FITNESS FOR DUTY PROGRAMS Licensee Testing Facilities § 26.131 Cutoff levels for validity screening and initial validity tests. (a) Each...

Ecological Interface Design for Computer Network Defense.

PubMed

Bennett, Kevin B; Bryant, Adam; Sushereba, Christen

2018-05-01

A prototype ecological interface for computer network defense (CND) was developed. Concerns about CND run high. Although there is a vast literature on CND, there is some indication that this research is not being translated into operational contexts. Part of the reason may be that CND has historically been treated as a strictly technical problem, rather than as a socio-technical problem. The cognitive systems engineering (CSE)/ecological interface design (EID) framework was used in the analysis and design of the prototype interface. A brief overview of CSE/EID is provided. EID principles of design (i.e., direct perception, direct manipulation and visual momentum) are described and illustrated through concrete examples from the ecological interface. Key features of the ecological interface include (a) a wide variety of alternative visual displays, (b) controls that allow easy, dynamic reconfiguration of these displays, (c) visual highlighting of functionally related information across displays, (d) control mechanisms to selectively filter massive data sets, and (e) the capability for easy expansion. Cyber attacks from a well-known data set are illustrated through screen shots. CND support needs to be developed with a triadic focus (i.e., humans interacting with technology to accomplish work) if it is to be effective. Iterative design and formal evaluation is also required. The discipline of human factors has a long tradition of success on both counts; it is time that HF became fully involved in CND. Direct application in supporting cyber analysts.

Applying operations research to optimize a novel population management system for cancer screening.

PubMed

Zai, Adrian H; Kim, Seokjin; Kamis, Arnold; Hung, Ken; Ronquillo, Jeremiah G; Chueh, Henry C; Atlas, Steven J

2014-02-01

To optimize a new visit-independent, population-based cancer screening system (TopCare) by using operations research techniques to simulate changes in patient outreach staffing levels (delegates, navigators), modifications to user workflow within the information technology (IT) system, and changes in cancer screening recommendations. TopCare was modeled as a multiserver, multiphase queueing system. Simulation experiments implemented the queueing network model following a next-event time-advance mechanism, in which systematic adjustments were made to staffing levels, IT workflow settings, and cancer screening frequency in order to assess their impact on overdue screenings per patient. TopCare reduced the average number of overdue screenings per patient from 1.17 at inception to 0.86 during simulation to 0.23 at steady state. Increases in the workforce improved the effectiveness of TopCare. In particular, increasing the delegate or navigator staff level by one person improved screening completion rates by 1.3% or 12.2%, respectively. In contrast, changes in the amount of time a patient entry stays on delegate and navigator lists had little impact on overdue screenings. Finally, lengthening the screening interval increased efficiency within TopCare by decreasing overdue screenings at the patient level, resulting in a smaller number of overdue patients needing delegates for screening and a higher fraction of screenings completed by delegates. Simulating the impact of changes in staffing, system parameters, and clinical inputs on the effectiveness and efficiency of care can inform the allocation of limited resources in population management.

Linking effects of anthropogenic debris to ecological impacts

PubMed Central

Browne, Mark Anthony; Underwood, A. J.; Chapman, M. G.; Williams, Rob; Thompson, Richard C.; van Franeker, Jan A.

2015-01-01

Accelerated contamination of habitats with debris has caused increased effort to determine ecological impacts. Strikingly, most work on organisms focuses on sublethal responses to plastic debris. This is controversial because (i) researchers have ignored medical insights about the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to disease and mortality, and (ii) debris is considered non-hazardous by policy-makers, possibly because individuals can be injured or removed from populations and assemblages without ecological impacts. We reviewed the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to assemblages and populations. Using plastic, we show microplastics reduce the ‘health’, feeding, growth and survival of ecosystem engineers. Larger debris alters assemblages because fishing-gear and tyres kill animals and damage habitat-forming plants, and because floating bottles facilitate recruitment and survival of novel taxa. Where ecological linkages are not known, we show how to establish hypothetical links by synthesizing studies to assess the likelihood of impacts. We also consider how population models examine ecological linkages and guide management of ecological impacts. We show that by focusing on linkages to ecological impacts rather than the presence of debris and its sublethal impacts, we could reduce threats posed by debris. PMID:25904661

Relationships between adaptive and neutral genetic diversity and ecological structure and functioning: a meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Whitlock, Raj

2014-01-01

Understanding the effects of intraspecific genetic diversity on the structure and functioning of ecological communities is a fundamentally important part of evolutionary ecology and may also have conservation relevance in identifying the situations in which genetic diversity coincides with species-level diversity.Early studies within this field documented positive relationships between genetic diversity and ecological structure, but recent studies have challenged these findings. Conceptual synthesis has been hampered because studies have used different measures of intraspecific variation (phenotypically adaptive vs. neutral) and have considered different measures of ecological structure in different ecological and spatial contexts. The aim of this study is to strengthen conceptual understanding by providing an empirical synthesis quantifying the relationship between genetic diversity and ecological structure.Here, I present a meta-analysis of the relationship between genetic diversity within plant populations and the structure and functioning of associated ecological communities (including 423 effect sizes from 70 studies). I used Bayesian meta-analyses to examine (i) the strength and direction of this relationship, (ii) the extent to which phenotypically adaptive and neutral (molecular) measures of diversity differ in their association with ecological structure and (iii) variation in outcomes among different measures of ecological structure and in different ecological contexts.Effect sizes measuring the relationship between adaptive diversity (genotypic richness) and both community- and ecosystem-level ecological responses were small, but significantly positive. These associations were supported by genetic effects on species richness and productivity, respectively.There was no overall association between neutral genetic diversity and measures of ecological structure, but a positive correlation was observed under a limited set of demographic conditions. These results suggest that adaptive and neutral genetic diversity should not be treated as ecologically equivalent measures of intraspecific variation.Synthesis. This study advances the debate over whether relationships between genetic diversity and ecological structure are either simply positive or negative, by showing how the strength and direction of these relationships changes with different measures of diversity and in different ecological contexts. The results provide a solid foundation for assessing when and where an expanded synthesis between ecology and genetics will be most fruitful. PMID:25210204

A Real-Time PCR Assay for Bat SARS-Like Coronavirus Detection and Its Application to Italian Greater Horseshoe Bat Faecal Sample Surveys

PubMed Central

Balboni, Andrea; Gallina, Laura; Palladini, Alessandra; Prosperi, Santino; Battilani, Mara

2012-01-01

Bats are source of coronaviruses closely related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. Numerous studies have been carried out to identify new bat viruses related to SARS-coronavirus (bat-SARS-like CoVs) using a reverse-transcribed-polymerase chain reaction assay. However, a qualitative PCR could underestimate the prevalence of infection, affecting the epidemiological evaluation of bats in viral ecology. In this work an SYBR Green-real time PCR assay was developed for diagnosing infection with SARS-related coronaviruses from bat guano and was applied as screening tool in a survey carried out on 45 greater horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) sampled in Italy in 2009. The assay showed high sensitivity and reproducibility. Its application on bats screening resulted in a prevalence of 42%. This method could be suitable as screening tool in epidemiological surveys about the presence of bat-SARS-like CoVs, consequently to obtain a more realistic scenario of the viral prevalence in the population. PMID:22654650

Acting performance and flow state enhanced with sensory-motor rhythm neurofeedback comparing ecologically valid immersive VR and training screen scenarios.

PubMed

Gruzelier, John; Inoue, Atsuko; Smart, Roger; Steed, Anthony; Steffert, Tony

2010-08-16

Actors were trained in sensory-motor rhythm (SMR) neurofeedback interfaced with a computer rendition of a theatre auditorium. Enhancement of SMR led to changes in the lighting while inhibition of theta and high beta led to a reduction in intrusive audience noise. Participants were randomised to a virtual reality (VR) representation in a ReaCTor, with surrounding image projection seen through glasses, or to a 2D computer screen, which is the conventional neurofeedback medium. In addition there was a no-training comparison group. Acting performance was evaluated by three experts from both filmed, studio monologues and Hamlet excerpts on the stage of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Neurofeedback learning reached an asymptote earlier as did identification of the required mental state following training in the ReaCTor training compared with the computer screen, though groups reached the same asymptote. These advantages were paralleled by higher ratings of acting performance overall, well-rounded performance, and especially the creativity subscale including imaginative expression, conviction and characterisation. On the Flow State scales both neurofeedback groups scored higher than the no-training controls on self-ratings of sense of control, confidence and feeling at-one. This is the first demonstration of enhancement of artistic performance with eyes-open neurofeedback training, previously demonstrated only with eyes-closed slow-wave training. Efficacy is attributed to psychological engagement through the ecologically relevant learning context of the acting-space, putatively allowing transfer to the real world otherwise achieved with slow-wave training through imaginative visualisation. The immersive VR technology was more successful than a 2D rendition. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thermal preference predicts animal personality in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus.

PubMed

Cerqueira, Marco; Rey, Sonia; Silva, Tome; Featherstone, Zoe; Crumlish, Margaret; MacKenzie, Simon

2016-09-01

Environmental temperature gradients provide habitat structure in which fish orientate and individual thermal choice may reflect an essential integrated response to the environment. The use of subtle thermal gradients likely impacts upon specific physiological and behavioural processes reflected as a suite of traits described by animal personality. In this study, we examine the relationship between thermal choice, animal personality and the impact of infection upon this interaction. We predicted that thermal choice in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus reflects distinct personality traits and that under a challenge individuals exhibit differential thermal distribution. Nile tilapia were screened following two different protocols: 1) a suite of individual behavioural tests to screen for personality and 2) thermal choice in a custom-built tank with a thermal gradient (TCH tank) ranging from 21 to 33 °C. A first set of fish were screened for behaviour and then thermal preference, and a second set were tested in the opposite fashion: thermal then behaviour. The final thermal distribution of the fish after 48 h was assessed reflecting final thermal preferendum. Additionally, fish were then challenged using a bacterial Streptococcus iniae model infection to assess the behavioural fever response of proactive and reactive fish. Results showed that individuals with preference for higher temperatures were also classified as proactive with behavioural tests and reactive contemporaries chose significantly lower water temperatures. All groups exhibited behavioural fever recovering personality-specific thermal preferences after 5 days. Our results show that thermal preference can be used as a proxy to assess personality traits in Nile tilapia and it is a central factor to understand the adaptive meaning of animal personality within a population. Importantly, response to infection by expressing behavioural fever overrides personality-related thermal choice. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2016 British Ecological Society.

Ecological modelling and toxicity data coupled to assess population recovery of marine amphipod Gammarus locusta: Application to disturbance by chronic exposure to aniline.

PubMed

de los Santos, Carmen B; Neuparth, Teresa; Torres, Tiago; Martins, Irene; Cunha, Isabel; Sheahan, Dave; McGowan, Tom; Santos, Miguel M

2015-06-01

A population agent-based model of marine amphipod Gammarus locusta was designed and implemented as a basis for ecological risk assessment of chemical pollutants impairing life-history traits at the individual level. We further used the model to assess the toxic effects of aniline (a priority hazardous and noxious substance, HNS) on amphipod populations using empirically-built dose-response functions derived from a chronic bioassay that we previously performed with this species. We observed a significant toxicant-induced mortality and adverse effects in reproductive performance (reduction of newborn production) in G. locusta at the individual level. Coupling the population model with the toxicological data from the chronic bioassay allowed the projection of the ecological costs associated with exposure to aniline that might occur in wild populations. Model simulations with different scenarios indicated that even low level prolonged exposure to the HNS aniline can have significant long-term impacts on G. locusta population abundance, until the impacted population returns to undisturbed levels. This approach may be a useful complement in ecotoxicological studies of chemical pollution to transfer individual-collected data to ecological-relevant levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Individuals versus organisms versus populations in the definition of ecological assessment endpoints.

PubMed

Suter, Glenn W; Norton, Susan B; Fairbrother, Anne

2005-11-01

Discussions and applications of the policies and practices of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in ecological risk assessment will benefit from continued clarification of the concepts of assessment endpoints and of levels of biological organization. First, assessment endpoint entities and attributes can be defined at different levels of organization. Hence, an organism-level attribute, such as growth or survival, can be applied collectively to a population-level entity such as the brook trout in a stream. Second, assessment endpoints for ecological risk assessment are often mistakenly described as "individual level," which leads to the idea that such assessments are intended to protect individuals. Finally, populations play a more important role in risk assessments than is generally recognized. Organism-level attributes are used primarily for population-level assessments. In addition, the USEPA and other agencies already are basing management decisions on population or community entities and attributes such as production of fisheries, abundance of migratory bird populations, and aquatic community composition.

Screening for Infectious Diseases among Newly Arrived Migrants in EU/EEA Countries—Varying Practices but Consensus on the Utility of Screening

PubMed Central

Kärki, Tommi; Napoli, Christian; Riccardo, Flavia; Fabiani, Massimo; Dente, Maria Grazia; Carballo, Manuel; Noori, Teymur; Declich, Silvia

2014-01-01

Screening is one possible tool for monitoring infectious diseases among migrants. However, there is limited information on screening programmes targeted for newly arrived migrants in EU/EEA countries. Our aim was to investigate the implementation, practices and usefulness of these programmes. We conducted a survey among country experts from EU/EEA countries and Switzerland, asking whether their countries had implemented screening programmes. We also estimated the association between the implementation of these programmes and the rate of asylum-seekers in the population. Of the countries, 16 (59%) had implemented screening programmes and 15 (56%) had national guidelines. The rate of asylum-seekers was associated with implementation of screening programmes (p = 0.014). Screening was performed most often for tuberculosis; most commonly on holding level, and was targeted to specific migrant groups in over half of the countries performing screening. Twenty-five of all the country experts (96%) considered screening among migrants useful, and 24 (92%) would welcome EU level guidelines for screening. The implementation of screening programmes varied, and the practices were different among countries. Our survey suggests, that establishing EU level guidelines for screening would be useful, although they would have to take into account differences between individual countries. PMID:25337945

Everyday Theory: A Practical Application of the Ecological Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barry, Adam; Honore, Heather

2009-01-01

Knowledge of health behavior theory allows health practitioners to design health promotion interventions that are based on factors that influence behavior. Objectives: At the conclusion of this lesson, students will be able to: (1) identify and define the three major levels of influence of the Ecological Perspective, (2) identify how each level of…

PROJECTING POPULATION-LEVEL RESPONSE OF PURPLE SEA URCHINS TO LEAD CONTAMINATION FOR AN ESTUARINE ECOLOGICAL RISK ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

As part of an ecological risk assessment case study at the Portsmouth naval Shipyard (PNS), Kittery, Maine, USA, the population level effects of lead exposure to purple sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata, were investigated using a stage-classified matrix population model. The model d...

Measurement of Ecological Dissonance with Bases of Power.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Shang-Ping

This study examined a new measure of ecological dissonance (ED), whether different degrees of ED existed within levels of a university's power hierarchy, the relationship between ED and worker morale as a function of administrative power levels, and ED theory. Ninety-four faculty members at Mississippi State University completed the Index of Power…

Exploring an Ecological Model of Perceived Usability within a Multi-Tiered Vocabulary Intervention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neugebauer, Sabina R.; Chafouleas, Sandra M.; Coyne, Michael D.; McCoach, D. Betsy; Briesch, Amy M.

2016-01-01

The present study examines an ecological model for intervention use to explain student vocabulary performance in a multi-tiered intervention setting. A teacher self-report measure composed of factors hypothesized to influence intervention use at multiple levels (i.e., individual, intervention, and system level) was administered to 54 teachers and…

Patterns of Reasoning about Ecological Systemic Reasoning for Early Elementary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hokayem, H.

2016-01-01

Systems and system models are recognized as a crosscutting concept in the newly released framework for K-12 science education (NRC [National Research Council], 2012). In previous work, I developed a learning progression for systemic reasoning in ecology at the elementary level. The learning progression captured five levels of students' reasoning…

Spatial screening methods for evaluating environmental contaminant hazards and exposure vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, D. K.

2016-12-01

Human and biotic communities are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise and severe storms due to climate change. These events enhance the dispersion and concentration of natural and anthropogenic chemicals and pathogenic microorganisms, which could adversely impact the health and resilience of coastal communities and ecosystems in coming years. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed spatial screening methods to identify and map contaminant sources and potential exposure pathways for human and ecological receptors. These methods have been applied within the northeastern U.S. to document contaminants of emerging concern, highlight vulnerable communities, and prioritize locations for future sampling campaigns. Integration of this information provides a means to better assess the baseline status of a complex system and the significance of changes in contaminant hazards due to storm-induced (episodic) and sea-level rise (incremental) disturbances. This presentation will provide an overview of a decision support tool developed by the USGS to document contaminants in the environment relative to key receptor populations and historic storm vulnerabilities. The support tool is designed to accommodate a broad array of geologic, land-use, and climatic variables and utilizes public, nationally available data sources to define contaminant sources and storm vulnerabilities. By employing a flexible and adaptable strategy built upon publicly available data, the method can readily be applied to other site selection or landscape evaluation efforts. Examples will be presented including the Sediment-bound Contaminant Resiliency and Response pilot study (see http://toxics.usgs.gov/scorr/), and investigations of endocrine disruption in the Chesapeake Bay. Key limitations and future applications will be discussed in addition to ongoing method developments to accommodate non-coastal disaster scenarios and more refined contaminant definitions.

Effectiveness of FISK, an invasiveness screening tool for non-native freshwater fishes, to perform risk identification assessments in the Iberian Peninsula.

PubMed

Almeida, David; Ribeiro, Filipe; Leunda, Pedro M; Vilizzi, Lorenzo; Copp, Gordon H

2013-08-01

Risk assessments are crucial for identifying and mitigating impacts from biological invasions. The Fish Invasiveness Scoring Kit (FISK) is a risk identification (screening) tool for freshwater fishes consisting of two subject areas: biogeography/history and biology/ecology. According to the outcomes, species can be classified under particular risk categories. The aim of this study was to apply FISK to the Iberian Peninsula, a Mediterranean climate region highly important for freshwater fish conservation due to a high level of endemism. In total, 89 fish species were assessed by three independent assessors. Results from receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that FISK can discriminate reliably between noninvasive and invasive fishes for Iberia, with a threshold of 20.25, similar to those obtained in several regions around the world. Based on mean scores, no species was categorized as "low risk," 50 species as "medium risk," 17 as "moderately high risk," 11 as "high risk," and 11 as "very high risk." The highest scoring species was goldfish Carassius auratus. Mean certainty in response was above the category "mostly certain," ranging from tinfoil barb Barbonymus schwanenfeldii with the lowest certainty to eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki with the highest level. Pair-wise comparison showed significant differences between one assessor and the other two on mean certainty, with these two assessors showing a high coincidence rate for the species categorization. Overall, the results suggest that FISK is a useful and viable tool for assessing risks posed by non-native fish in the Iberian Peninsula and contributes to a "watch list" in this region. © 2013 Crown copyright This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

An ecological approach to children's rights and participation: interrelationships and correlates of rights in different ecological systems.

PubMed

Ben-Arieh, Asher; Attar-Schwartz, Shalhevet

2013-01-01

Current knowledge emphasizes either a developmental or a cultural/contextual theoretical framework for understanding children's approaches to the concepts of rights and participation. This study, carried out among 1,753 Israeli adolescents (ages 15-17), uses a socioecological perspective instead to understand children's rights and participation. It examines adolescents' approaches to their rights and participation at 4 ecological levels-family, school, community, and the larger sociopolitical system-as well as a number of possible child, family, and societal correlates. It also looks at the interactions between some of these correlates. The findings show that different correlates have different links with various ecological circles. For example, girls reported higher levels of participation in the family and at school, but no significant differences were found between boys and girls in their participation in the community and at civic-political levels. Israeli Palestinians reported higher levels of participation in their schools and at the civic-political level but lower levels of participation in the family and the community compared with their Jewish counterparts. The significant interaction effect between nation and gender showed that, among Arab students, there were larger gaps between boys and girls in the different participation domains than there were among Jewish students. Furthermore, higher rates of participation in the family and lower rates of civic participation were found among students from single-parent families. This study shows that employing an ecological framework to the efforts to understand children's approaches to rights and participation is a first step in the right direction for fostering children's rights and participation. © 2013 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

Insecticide resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus mosquitoes after the introduction of insecticide-treated bed nets in Macha, Zambia.

PubMed

Norris, Laura C; Norris, Douglas E

2011-12-01

Culex quinquefasciatus, an arboviral and filarial vector, is present in high numbers throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and insecticide-resistant populations have been reported worldwide. In order to determine the insecticide resistance status of Cx. quinquefasciatus in Macha, Zambia, adult mosquitoes reared from eggs collected from oviposition traps were tested by bioassay. High levels of resistance to DDT, pyrethroids, malathion, and deltamethrin-treated net material were detected, and molecular assays revealed that the knockdown resistance (kdr) allele was frequent in the Cx. quinquefasciatus population, with 7.0% homozygous for the kdr L1014 allele and 38.5% heterozygous (0.263 kdr frequency). The kdr frequency was significantly higher in mosquitoes that had successfully fed on human hosts, and screening archived specimens revealed that kdr was present at lower frequency prior to the introduction of ITNs, indicating that ITNs might be a selective force in this population. Additionally, metabolic detoxification enzyme activity assays showed upregulated glutathione S-transferases, α-esterases, and β-esterases. Continued monitoring and assessment of the Cx. quinquefasciatus population is necessary to determine levels of resistance. © 2011 The Society for Vector Ecology.

Low-level visual attention and its relation to joint attention in autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Jaworski, Jessica L Bean; Eigsti, Inge-Marie

2017-04-01

Visual attention is integral to social interaction and is a critical building block for development in other domains (e.g., language). Furthermore, atypical attention (especially joint attention) is one of the earliest markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study assesses low-level visual attention and its relation to social attentional processing in youth with ASD and typically developing (TD) youth, aged 7 to 18 years. The findings indicate difficulty overriding incorrect attentional cues in ASD, particularly with non-social (arrow) cues relative to social (face) cues. The findings also show reduced competition in ASD from cues that remain on-screen. Furthermore, social attention, autism severity, and age were all predictors of competing cue processing. The results suggest that individuals with ASD may be biased towards speeded rather than accurate responding, and further, that reduced engagement with visual information may impede responses to visual attentional cues. Once attention is engaged, individuals with ASD appear to interpret directional cues as meaningful. These findings from a controlled, experimental paradigm were mirrored in results from an ecologically valid measure of social attention. Attentional difficulties may be exacerbated during the complex and dynamic experience of actual social interaction. Implications for intervention are discussed.

[Urban ecological risk assessment: a review].

PubMed

Wang, Mei-E; Chen, Wei-Ping; Peng, Chi

2014-03-01

With the development of urbanization and the degradation of urban living environment, urban ecological risks caused by urbanization have attracted more and more attentions. Based on urban ecology principles and ecological risk assessment frameworks, contents of urban ecological risk assessment were reviewed in terms of driven forces, risk resources, risk receptors, endpoints and integrated approaches for risk assessment. It was suggested that types and degrees of urban economical and social activities were the driven forces for urban ecological risks. Ecological functional components at different levels in urban ecosystems as well as the urban system as a whole were the risk receptors. Assessment endpoints involved in changes of urban ecological structures, processes, functional components and the integrity of characteristic and function. Social-ecological models should be the major approaches for urban ecological risk assessment. Trends for urban ecological risk assessment study should focus on setting a definite protection target and criteria corresponding to assessment endpoints, establishing a multiple-parameter assessment system and integrative assessment approaches.

Elevated Lead in Drinking Water in Washington, DC, 2003–2004: The Public Health Response

PubMed Central

Guidotti, Tee L.; Calhoun, Thomas; Davies-Cole, John O.; Knuckles, Maurice E.; Stokes, Lynette; Glymph, Chevelle; Lum, Garret; Moses, Marina S.; Goldsmith, David F.; Ragain, Lisa

2007-01-01

Background In 2003, residents of the District of Columbia (DC) experienced an abrupt rise in lead levels in drinking water, which followed a change in water-disinfection treatment in 2001 and which was attributed to consequent changes in water chemistry and corrosivity. Objectives To evaluate the public health implications of the exceedance, the DC Department of Health expanded the scope of its monitoring programs for blood lead levels in children. Methods From 3 February 2004 to 31 July 2004, 6,834 DC residents were screened to determine their blood lead levels. Results Children from 6 months to 6 years of age constituted 2,342 of those tested; 65 had blood lead levels > 10 μg/dL (the “level of concern” defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the highest with a level of 68 μg/dL. Investigation of their homes identified environmental sources of lead exposure other than tap water as the source, when the source was identified. Most of the children with elevated blood lead levels (n = 46; 70.8%) lived in homes without lead drinking-water service lines, which is the principal source of lead in drinking water in older cities. Although residents of houses with lead service lines had higher blood lead levels on average than those in houses that did not, this relationship is confounded. Older houses that retain lead service lines usually have not been rehabilitated and are more likely to be associated with other sources of exposure, particularly lead paint. None of 96 pregnant women tested showed blood lead levels > 10 μg/dL, but two nursing mothers had blood lead levels > 10 μg/dL. Among two data sets of 107 and 71 children for whom paired blood and water lead levels could be obtained, there was no correlation (r2 = –0.03142 for the 107). Conclusions The expanded screening program developed in response to increased lead levels in water uncovered the true dimensions of a continuing problem with sources of lead in homes, specifically lead paint. This study cannot be used to correlate lead in drinking water with blood lead levels directly because it is based on an ecologic rather than individualized exposure assessment; the protocol for measuring lead was based on regulatory requirements rather than estimating individual intake; numerous interventions were introduced to mitigate the effect; exposure from drinking water is confounded with other sources of lead in older houses; and the period of potential exposure was limited and variable. PMID:17520055

Analyzing key ecological functions for transboundary subbasin assessments.

Treesearch

B.G Marcot; T.A. O' Neil; J.B. Nyberg; A. MacKinnon; P.J. Paquet; D.H. Johnson

2007-01-01

We present an evaluation of the ecological roles ("key ecological functions" or KEFs) of 618 wildlife species as one facet of subbasin assessment in the Columbia River basin (CRB) of the United States and Canada. Using a wildlife-habitat relationships database (IBIS) and geographic information system, we have mapped KEFs as levels of functional redundancy (...

Family ecology of young children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

LaForme Fiss, A; Chiarello, L A; Bartlett, D; Palisano, R J; Jeffries, L; Almasri, N; Chang, H-J

2014-07-01

Family ecology in early childhood may influence children's activity and participation in daily life. The aim of this study was to describe family functioning, family expectations of their children, family support to their children, and supports for families of young children with cerebral palsy (CP) based on children's gross motor function level. Participants were 398 children with CP (mean age = 44.9 months) and their parents residing in the USA and Canada. Parents completed four measures of family ecology, the Family Environment Scale (FES), Family Expectations of Child (FEC), Family Support to Child (FSC) and Family Support Scale (FSS). The median scores on the FES indicated average to high family functioning and the median score on the FSS indicated that families had helpful family supports. On average, parents reported high expectations of their children on the FEC and strong support to their children on the FSC. On the FES, higher levels of achievement orientation were reported by parents of children in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level II than parents of children in level I, and higher levels of control were reported by parents of children in level I than parents of children in level IV. On the FEC, parents of children with limited gross motor function (level V) reported lower expectations than parents of children at all other levels. Family ecology, including family strengths, expectations, interests, supports and resources, should be discussed when providing interventions and supports for young children with CP and their families. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Living in the branches: population dynamics and ecological processes in dendritic networks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grant, E.H.C.; Lowe, W.H.; Fagan, W.F.

2007-01-01

Spatial structure regulates and modifies processes at several levels of ecological organization (e.g. individual/genetic, population and community) and is thus a key component of complex systems, where knowledge at a small scale can be insufficient for understanding system behaviour at a larger scale. Recent syntheses outline potential applications of network theory to ecological systems, but do not address the implications of physical structure for network dynamics. There is a specific need to examine how dendritic habitat structure, such as that found in stream, hedgerow and cave networks, influences ecological processes. Although dendritic networks are one type of ecological network, they are distinguished by two fundamental characteristics: (1) both the branches and the nodes serve as habitat, and (2) the specific spatial arrangement and hierarchical organization of these elements interacts with a species' movement behaviour to alter patterns of population distribution and abundance, and community interactions. Here, we summarize existing theory relating to ecological dynamics in dendritic networks, review empirical studies examining the population- and community-level consequences of these networks, and suggest future research integrating spatial pattern and processes in dendritic systems.

Functional ecomorphology: Feedbacks between form and function in fluvial landscape ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Stuart G.; Heffernan, James B.; Sponseller, Ryan A.; Welter, Jill R.

2007-09-01

The relationship between form and function has been a central organizing principle in biology throughout its history as a formal science. This concept has been relevant from molecules to organisms but loses meaning at population and community levels where study targets are abstract collectives and assemblages. Ecosystems include organisms and abiotic factors but ecosystem ecology too has developed until recently without a strong spatially explicit reference. Landscape ecology provides an opportunity to once again anneal form and function and to consider reciprocal causation between them. This ecomorphologic view can be applied at a variety of ecologically relevant scales and consists of an investigation of how geomorphology provides a structural template that shapes, and is shaped by ecological processes. Running water ecosystems illustrate several principles governing the interaction of landscape form and ecological function subsumed by the concept of "Functional Ecomorphology". Particularly lucrative are ecosystem-level interactions between geologic form and biogeochemical processes integrated by hydrologic flowpaths. While the utility of a flowpath-based approach is most apparent in streams, spatially explicit biogeochemical processing pervades all landscapes and may be of general ecological application.

Liquid Acquisition Device Design Sensitivity Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDyke, M. K.; Hastings, L. J.

2012-01-01

In-space propulsion often necessitates the use of a capillary liquid acquisition device (LAD) to assure that gas-free liquid propellant is available to support engine restarts in microgravity. If a capillary screen-channel device is chosen, then the designer must determine the appropriate combination screen mesh and channel geometry. A screen mesh selection which results in the smallest LAD width when compared to any other screen candidate (for a constant length) is desirable; however, no best screen exists for all LAD design requirements. Flow rate, percent fill, and acceleration are the most influential drivers for determining screen widths. Increased flow rates and reduced percent fills increase the through-the-screen flow pressure losses, which drive the LAD to increased widths regardless of screen choice. Similarly, increased acceleration levels and corresponding liquid head pressures drive the screen mesh selection toward a higher bubble point (liquid retention capability). After ruling out some screens on the basis of acceleration requirements alone, candidates can be identified by examining screens with small flow-loss-to-bubble point ratios for a given condition (i.e., comparing screens at certain flow rates and fill levels). Within the same flow rate and fill level, the screen constants inertia resistance coefficient, void fraction, screen pore or opening diameter, and bubble point can become the driving forces in identifying the smaller flow-loss-to-bubble point ratios.

Knowledge about cervical cancer and barriers of screening program among women in Wufeng County, a high-incidence region of cervical cancer in China.

PubMed

Jia, Yao; Li, Shuang; Yang, Ru; Zhou, Hang; Xiang, Qunying; Hu, Ting; Zhang, Qinghua; Chen, Zhilan; Ma, Ding; Feng, Ling

2013-01-01

Cervical cancer screening is an effective method for reducing the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer, but the screening attendance rate in developing countries is far from satisfactory, especially in rural areas. Wufeng is a region of high cervical cancer incidence in China. This study aimed to investigate the issues that concern cervical cancer and screening and the factors that affect women's willingness to undergo cervical cancer screening in the Wufeng area. A cross-sectional survey of women was conducted to determine their knowledge about cervical cancer and screening, demographic characteristics and the barriers to screening. Women who were willing to undergo screenings had higher knowledge levels. "Anxious feeling once the disease was diagnosed" (47.6%), "No symptoms/discomfort" (34.1%) and "Do not know the benefits of cervical cancer screening" (13.4%) were the top three reasons for refusing cervical cancer screening. Women who were younger than 45 years old or who had lower incomes, positive family histories of cancer, secondary or higher levels of education, higher levels of knowledge and fewer barriers to screening were more willing to participate in cervical cancer screenings than women without these characteristics. Efforts are needed to increase women's knowledge about cervical cancer, especially the screening methods, and to improve their perceptions of the screening process for early detection to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates.

Telemedicine and Diabetic Retinopathy: Review of Published Screening Programs

PubMed Central

Tozer, Kevin; Woodward, Maria A.; Newman-Casey, Paula A.

2016-01-01

Background Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide even though successful treatments exist. Improving screening and treatment could avoid many cases of vision loss. However, due to an increasing prevalence of diabetes, traditional in-person screening for DR for every diabetic patient is not feasible. Telemedicine is one viable solution to provide high-quality and efficient screening to large number of diabetic patients. Purpose To provide a narrative review of large DR telemedicine screening programs. Methods Articles were identified through a comprehensive search of the English-language literature published between 2000 and 2014. Telemedicine screening programs were included for review if they had published data on at least 150 patients and had available validation studies supporting their model. Screening programs were then categorized according to their American Telemedicine Association Validation Level. Results Seven programs from the US and abroad were identified and included in the review. Three programs were Category 1 programs (Ophdiat, EyePacs, and Digiscope), two were Category 2 programs (Eye Check, NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Program), and two were Category 3 programs (Joslin Vision Network, Alberta Screening Program). No program was identified that claimed category 4 status. Programs ranged from community or city level programs to large nationwide programs including millions of individuals. The programs demonstrated a high level of clinical accuracy in screening for DR. There was no consensus amongst the programs regarding the need for dilation, need for stereoscopic images, or the level of training for approved image graders. Conclusion Telemedicine programs have been clinically validated and successfully implemented across the globe. They can provide a high-level of clinical accuracy for screening for DR while improving patient access in a cost-effective and scalable manner. PMID:27430019

Study on the path selection of sustainable development in the mountainous area of Beijing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Malin; Zhou, Zhujun; Zhang, Huizhi; Chen, Ci; Chen, Junhong; Zhou, Zhongren

2018-02-01

The mountainous area of Beijing is the broad region with weak economic features, ecologically fragile and special ecological functions. The ecological conditions, sustainability and regional economic development are intercorrelated in the region. It is arduous to enhance the regional competitive advantage and improve the economic development level through the environmental protection and ecological conservation. This study elaborates the relationship between ecology and economic development from the perspectives of ecology, productivity and life style in mountainous areas of Beijing. Then this paper discusses how to increase sustainable development of mountain areas from several aspects, including key regional developments, industrial development, and ecological compensation mechanism, considering the strategic goals of accelerating economic transformation, coordinating urban and rural development, and promoting new-type urbanization.

Social-Ecological Correlates in Adult Autism Outcome Studies: A Scoping Review.

PubMed

Anderson, Kristy A; Roux, Anne M; Kuo, Alice; Shattuck, Paul T

2018-04-01

The transition into adulthood is a critical period in the life course that shapes later outcomes. Many adults on the autism spectrum fare poorly across a wide range of quality of life indicators. Understanding the multilevel factors that influence transition outcomes is necessary to develop strategies that promote better outcomes. In this scoping review, we characterize the use of social-ecological factors in adult autism outcome studies, identify understudied areas of research, and provide recommendations for future research. We conducted a literature search for studies in which the relationship between social-ecological factors and transition outcomes among transition-age youth with autism was assessed. We organized variables used in studies across 5 levels of influence: family-, interpersonal-, institutional-, community-, and policy-level factors. Our findings reveal that both breadth and depth of social-ecological factors usage in autism outcomes studies is limited because of the narrow inclusion of variables across social-ecological levels, the overreliance on a limited number of national data sets, and the overall lack of variation in research design. We propose 9 recommendations to inform the development of multilevel studies. Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Healthcare access and mammography screening in Michigan: a multilevel cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Breast cancer screening rates have increased over time in the United States. However actual screening rates appear to be lower among black women compared with white women. Purpose To assess determinants of breast cancer screening among women in Michigan USA, focusing on individual and neighborhood socio-economic status and healthcare access. Methods Data from 1163 women ages 50-74 years who participated in the 2008 Michigan Special Cancer Behavioral Risk Factor Survey were analyzed. County-level SES and healthcare access were obtained from the Area Resource File. Multilevel logistic regression models were fit using SAS Proc Glimmix to account for clustering of individual observations by county. Separate models were fit for each of the two outcomes of interest; mammography screening and clinical breast examination. For each outcome, two sequential models were fit; a model including individual level covariates and a model including county level covariates. Results After adjusting for misclassification bias, overall cancer screening rates were lower than reported by survey respondents; black women had lower mammography screening rates but higher clinical breast examination rates than white women. However, after adjusting for other individual level variables, race was not a significant predictor of screening. Having health insurance or a usual healthcare provider were the most important predictors of cancer screening. Discussion Access to healthcare is important to ensuring appropriate cancer screening among women in Michigan. PMID:22436125

Cyanobacteria: photosynthetic factories combining biodiversity, radiation resistance, and genetics to facilitate drug discovery.

PubMed

Cassier-Chauvat, Corinne; Dive, Vincent; Chauvat, Franck

2017-02-01

Cyanobacteria are ancient, abundant, and widely diverse photosynthetic prokaryotes, which are viewed as promising cell factories for the ecologically responsible production of chemicals. Natural cyanobacteria synthesize a vast array of biologically active (secondary) metabolites with great potential for human health, while a few genetic models can be engineered for the (low level) production of biofuels. Recently, genome sequencing and mining has revealed that natural cyanobacteria have the capacity to produce many more secondary metabolites than have been characterized. The corresponding panoply of enzymes (polyketide synthases and non-ribosomal peptide synthases) of interest for synthetic biology can still be increased through gene manipulations with the tools available for the few genetically manipulable strains. In this review, we propose to exploit the metabolic diversity and radiation resistance of cyanobacteria, and when required the genetics of model strains, for the production and radioactive ( 14 C) labeling of bioactive products, in order to facilitate the screening for new drugs.

Prioritizing Environmental Risk of Prescription Pharmaceuticals

PubMed Central

Dong, Zhao; Senn, David B.; Moran, Rebecca E.

2015-01-01

Low levels of pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in aquatic environments worldwide, but their human and ecological health risks associated with low dose environmental exposure is largely unknown due to the large number of these compounds and a lack of information. Therefore prioritization and ranking methods are needed for screening target compounds for research and risk assessment. Previous efforts to rank pharmaceutical compounds have often focused on occurrence data and have paid less attention to removal mechanisms such as human metabolism. This study proposes a simple prioritization approach based on number of prescriptions and toxicity information, accounting for metabolism and wastewater treatment removal, and can be applied to unmeasured compounds. The approach was performed on the 200 most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. in 2009. Our results showed that under-studied compounds such as levothyroxine and montelukast sodium received the highest scores, suggesting the importance of removal mechanisms in influencing the ranking, and the need for future environmental research to include other less-studied but potentially harmful pharmaceutical compounds. PMID:22813724

The impact of level of education on adherence to breast and cervical cancer screening: Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Damiani, Gianfranco; Basso, Danila; Acampora, Anna; Bianchi, Caterina B N A; Silvestrini, Giulia; Frisicale, Emanuela M; Sassi, Franco; Ricciardi, Walter

2015-12-01

To assess the inequalities in adherence to breast and cervical cancer screening according to educational level. A systematic review was carried out between 2000 and 2013 by querying an electronic database using specific keywords. Studies published in English reporting an estimation of the association between level of education and adherence to breast and/or cervical cancer screening were included in the study. Two different meta-analyses were carried out for adherence to breast and cervical cancer screening, respectively: women with the highest level of education and women with the lowest level of education were compared. The level of heterogeneity was investigated and subgroup analyses were carried out. Of 1231 identified articles, 10 cross-sectional studies were included in the analysis. The meta-analyses showed that women with the highest level of education were more likely to have both screenings with an overall OR=1.61 (95% CI 1.36-1.91; I(2)=71%) for mammography and OR=1.96 (95% CI 1.79-2.16; I(2)=0%) for Pap test, respectively. Stratified meta-analysis for breast cancer screening included only studies that reported guidelines with target age of population ≥50 years and showed a reduction in the level of heterogeneity and an increase of 36% in the adherence (95% CI 1.19-1.55; I(2)=0%). This study confirms and reinforces evidence of inequalities in breast and cervical cancer screening adherence according to educational level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Socioeconomic disparity in cervical cancer screening among Korean women: 1998–2010

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Cervical cancer is the sixth most common cause of cancer among Korean women and is one of the most preventable cancers in the world. This study aimed to investigate the change in cervical cancer screening rates, the level of socioeconomic disparities in cervical cancer screening participation, and whether there was a reduction in these disparities between 1998 and 2010. Methods Using the Korean Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, women 30 years or older without a history of cervical cancer and who completed a health questionnaire, physical examination, and nutritional survey were included (n = 17,105). Information about participation in cervical cancer screening was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between cervical cancer screening participation and the socioeconomic status of the women. Results The cervical cancer screening rate increased from 40.5% in 1998 to 52.5% in 2010. Socioeconomic disparities influenced participation, and women with lower educational levels and lower household income were less likely to be screened. Compared with the lowest educational level, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for screening in women with the highest educational level were 1.56 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05–2.30) in 1998, and 1.44 (95% CI: 1.12–1.87) in 2010. Compared with women with the lowest household income level, the adjusted ORs for screening in women with the highest household income level were 1.80 (95% CI: 1.22–2.68), 2.82 (95% CI: 2.01–3.96), and 1.45 (95% CI: 1.08–1.94) in 2001, 2005, and 2010, respectively. Conclusion Although population-wide progress has been made in participation in cervical cancer screening over the 12-year period, socioeconomic status remained an important factor in reducing compliance with cancer screening. PMID:23742100

Representation of Ecological Systems within the Protected Areas Network of the Continental United States

PubMed Central

Aycrigg, Jocelyn L.; Davidson, Anne; Svancara, Leona K.; Gergely, Kevin J.; McKerrow, Alexa; Scott, J. Michael

2013-01-01

If conservation of biodiversity is the goal, then the protected areas network of the continental US may be one of our best conservation tools for safeguarding ecological systems (i.e., vegetation communities). We evaluated representation of ecological systems in the current protected areas network and found insufficient representation at three vegetation community levels within lower elevations and moderate to high productivity soils. We used national-level data for ecological systems and a protected areas database to explore alternative ways we might be able to increase representation of ecological systems within the continental US. By following one or more of these alternatives it may be possible to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network both quantitatively (from 10% up to 39%) and geographically and come closer to meeting the suggested Convention on Biological Diversity target of 17% for terrestrial areas. We used the Landscape Conservation Cooperative framework for regional analysis and found that increased conservation on some private and public lands may be important to the conservation of ecological systems in Western US, while increased public-private partnerships may be important in the conservation of ecological systems in Eastern US. We have not assessed the pros and cons of following the national or regional alternatives, but rather present them as possibilities that may be considered and evaluated as decisions are made to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network across their range of ecological, geographical, and geophysical occurrence in the continental US into the future. PMID:23372754

Representation of ecological systems within the protected areas network of the continental United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Aycrigg, Jocelyn L.; Davidson, Anne; Svancara, Leona K.; Gergely, Kevin J.; McKerrow, Alexa; Scott, J. Michael

2013-01-01

If conservation of biodiversity is the goal, then the protected areas network of the continental US may be one of our best conservation tools for safeguarding ecological systems (i.e., vegetation communities). We evaluated representation of ecological systems in the current protected areas network and found insufficient representation at three vegetation community levels within lower elevations and moderate to high productivity soils. We used national-level data for ecological systems and a protected areas database to explore alternative ways we might be able to increase representation of ecological systems within the continental US. By following one or more of these alternatives it may be possible to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network both quantitatively (from 10% up to 39%) and geographically and come closer to meeting the suggested Convention on Biological Diversity target of 17% for terrestrial areas. We used the Landscape Conservation Cooperative framework for regional analysis and found that increased conservation on some private and public lands may be important to the conservation of ecological systems in Western US, while increased public-private partnerships may be important in the conservation of ecological systems in Eastern US. We have not assessed the pros and cons of following the national or regional alternatives, but rather present them as possibilities that may be considered and evaluated as decisions are made to increase the representation of ecological systems in the protected areas network across their range of ecological, geographical, and geophysical occurrence in the continental US into the future.

Impact of a public cholesterol screening program.

PubMed

Fischer, P M; Guinan, K H; Burke, J J; Karp, W B; Richards, J W

1990-12-01

The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has endorsed physician case finding as the primary method to detect individuals with elevated cholesterol levels. Despite this recommendation, promotional and for-profit public screening programs have flourished. We surveyed participants of a mall-based cholesterol screening program 1 year after their screening. Sixty-four percent of those screened had not previously known their cholesterol levels. Those who were newly screened were less likely to benefit from this testing than the general public, since they were older (mean age, 55.3 years), more likely to be female (67.4%), and nonsmokers (88%). Screenees had excellent recall of their cholesterol level (mean absolute reporting error, 0.24 mmol/L [9 mg/dL]) and a good understanding of cholesterol as a coronary heart disease risk. Those with elevated cholesterol levels reported high distress from screening but no reduction in overall psychosocial well-being and an actual decrease in absenteeism. Only 53.7% of all who were advised to seek follow-up because of an elevated screening value had done so within the year following the screening program. However, of those with values greater than 6.2 mmol/L (240 mg/dL), 68% had sought follow-up. Many of those who participate in public screening programs have been previously tested, fall into low-benefit groups, or fail to comply with recommended follow-up. We therefore conclude that cholesterol screening programs of the type now commonly offered are unlikely to contribute greatly to the national efforts to further reduce coronary heart disease.

The negative ecological impacts of a globally introduced species decrease with time since introduction.

PubMed

Závorka, Libor; Buoro, Mathieu; Cucherousset, Julien

2018-05-25

While there is a long-history of biological invasions and their ecological impacts have been widely demonstrated across taxa and ecosystems, our knowledge on the temporal dynamic of these impacts remains extremely limited. Using a meta-analytic approach, we investigated how the ecological impacts of non-native brown trout (Salmo trutta), a model species with a 170-year long and well-documented history of intentional introductions across the globe, vary with time since introduction. We first observed significant negative ecological impacts immediately after the species introduction. Second, we found that the negative ecological impacts decrease with time since introduction and that the average ecological impacts become non-significant more than one century after introduction. This pattern was consistent across other ecological contexts (i.e. geographical location, levels of biological organisation, and methodological approach). However, overall negative ecological impacts were more pronounced at the individual and population levels and in experimental studies. While the mechanisms leading to this decrease remain to be determined, our results indicate that rapid response of native organisms (e.g. adaptation, but also local extinction) may play an important role in this dynamic. Changes in native species traits and local extinction can have important conservation implications. Therefore, we argue that the decline of the negative ecological impacts over time should not be used as an argument to neglect the negative impacts of biological invasions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Cancer screening delivery in persistent poverty rural counties.

PubMed

Bennett, Kevin J; Pumkam, Chaiporn; Bellinger, Jessica D; Probst, Janice C

2011-10-01

Rural populations are diagnosed with cancer at different rate and stages than nonrural populations, and race/ethnicity as well as the area-level income exacerbates the differences. The purpose of this analysis was to explore cancer screening rates across persistent poverty rural counties, with emphasis on nonwhite populations. The 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was used, combined with data from the Area Resource File (analytic n = 309 937 unweighted, 196 344 347 weighted). Unadjusted analysis estimated screening rates for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. Multivariate analysis estimated the odds of screening, controlling for individual and county-level effects. Rural residents, particularly those in persistent poverty counties, were less likely to be screened than urban residents. More African Americans in persistent poverty rural counties reported not having mammography screening (18.3%) compared to 15.9% of urban African Americans. Hispanics had low screening rates across all service types. Multivariate analysis continued to find disparities in screening rates, after controlling for individual and county-level factors. African Americans in persistent poverty rural counties were more likely to be screened for both breast cancer (odds ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.85) and cervical cancer (1.46; 1.07-1.99) when compared with urban whites. Disparities in cancer screening rates exist across not only race/ethnicity but also county type. These disparities cannot be fully explained by either individual or county-level effects. Programs have been successful in improving screening rates for African American women and should be expanded to target other vulnerable women as well as other services such as colorectal cancer screening.

Applying operations research to optimize a novel population management system for cancer screening

PubMed Central

Zai, Adrian H; Kim, Seokjin; Kamis, Arnold; Hung, Ken; Ronquillo, Jeremiah G; Chueh, Henry C; Atlas, Steven J

2014-01-01

Objective To optimize a new visit-independent, population-based cancer screening system (TopCare) by using operations research techniques to simulate changes in patient outreach staffing levels (delegates, navigators), modifications to user workflow within the information technology (IT) system, and changes in cancer screening recommendations. Materials and methods TopCare was modeled as a multiserver, multiphase queueing system. Simulation experiments implemented the queueing network model following a next-event time-advance mechanism, in which systematic adjustments were made to staffing levels, IT workflow settings, and cancer screening frequency in order to assess their impact on overdue screenings per patient. Results TopCare reduced the average number of overdue screenings per patient from 1.17 at inception to 0.86 during simulation to 0.23 at steady state. Increases in the workforce improved the effectiveness of TopCare. In particular, increasing the delegate or navigator staff level by one person improved screening completion rates by 1.3% or 12.2%, respectively. In contrast, changes in the amount of time a patient entry stays on delegate and navigator lists had little impact on overdue screenings. Finally, lengthening the screening interval increased efficiency within TopCare by decreasing overdue screenings at the patient level, resulting in a smaller number of overdue patients needing delegates for screening and a higher fraction of screenings completed by delegates. Conclusions Simulating the impact of changes in staffing, system parameters, and clinical inputs on the effectiveness and efficiency of care can inform the allocation of limited resources in population management. PMID:24043318

Knowledge and Acceptability of Anal Cytology Screening Among Women.

PubMed

Blankenship, Stephanie A; Debnath, Priyanka; Szlachta-McGinn, Alec W; Maguire, Karla; Garcia, Jorge J; Aserlind, Alexandra; Lipshultz, Emma; Potter, JoNell E

2016-01-01

Medical providers have initiated anal cytology screening among women to detect anal neoplasia early. Lack of knowledge of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and anticipated screening discomfort may limit patient acceptance. This study investigates attitudes toward anal cytology screening among women. Women seen for gynecologic care at an urban university medical center were invited to complete an anonymous survey assessing their understanding of HPV and interest in anal cytology screening. Subjects reported the level of pain, discomfort, and embarrassment they expected from screening on a 100-mm visual analog scale. Four hundred four women with mean (SD) age 36 (13) years met criteria for participation. Three hundred thirty-five women reported their race: 52% were white and 36% were African American. Three hundred forty-eight women reported their ethnicities: 76% were Hispanic and 12% were Haitian. Twenty-two percent had never heard of HPV, 57% were not familiar with anal cytology screening, 67% acknowledged that screening was very helpful in detecting anal neoplasia early, and 28% were very interested in undergoing screening. Mean (SD) level of anticipated pain, discomfort, and embarrassment during screening was 62 (32), 68 (30), and 58 (34) mm, respectively. Level of familiarity with anal cytology screening (p < .001), belief in its utility in detecting anal neoplasia (p < .001), and level of anticipated pain (p = .004) were significant predictors of acceptability. Medical providers should improve counseling about anal cytology screening among at-risk women to familiarize them with the procedure, describe its role in detecting anal neoplasia, and address expectations surrounding pain to increase its acceptability.

Analysis of the ecological water diversion project in Wenzhou City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Haibo; Fu, Lei; Lin, Tong

2018-02-01

As a developed city in China, Wenzhou City has been suffered from bad water quality for years. In order to improve the river network water quality, an ecological water diversion project was designed and executed by the regional government. In this study, an investigation and analysis of the regional ecological water diversion project is made for the purpose of examining the water quality improvements. A numerical model is also established, different water diversion flow rates and sewer interception levels are considered during the simulation. Simulation results reveal that higher flow rate and sewer interception level will greatly improve the river network water quality in Wenzhou City. The importance of the flow rate and interception level has been proved and future work will be focused on increasing the flow rate and upgrading the sewer interception level.

Ecological correlates of multiple sexual partnerships among adolescents and young adults in urban Cape Town: a cumulative risk factor approach.

PubMed

Muchiri, Evans; Odimegwu, Clifford; Banda, Pamela; Ntoimo, Lorreta; Adedini, Sunday

2017-07-01

Studies in South Africa have reported unsafe levels of risky sexual behvaiours among adolescents and young adults, with the country reporting the highest burden of HIV/AIDS globally, as well as a high rate of teenage pregnancy. While determinants of risky sexual behaviours have been investigated for factors occurring at the individual and household levels, not fully explored in the literature is the effect of community level factors. Furthermore, it is unclear whether risk factors occurring within the ecology of adolescents and young adults act cumulatively to influence their sexual practices. This article aims to address this knowledge gap using a case study of the Cape Area Panel Study of adolescents and young adults in urban Cape Town, South Africa. The ecological framework was adopted to guide the selection of risk factors at the individual, household, and community levels. Multivariate linear discriminant function analyses were used to select significant risk factors for multiple sexual partnerships and used to produce risk indices for the respondents. The cumulative risk approach was applied to test whether significant risk factors acted cumulatively. Findings point to the importance of ecological factors in influencing outcomes of multiple sexual partnerships among respondents and further demonstrate that ecological risk factors may act cumulatively. These findings are important for South Africa that is grappling with teenage pregnancy and disproportionate HIV epidemic among the youth.

A Single-Granule-Level Approach Reveals Ecological Heterogeneity in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor

PubMed Central

Mei, Ran; Narihiro, Takashi; Bocher, Benjamin T. W.; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Liu, Wen-Tso

2016-01-01

Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor has served as an effective process to treat industrial wastewater such as purified terephthalic acid (PTA) wastewater. For optimal UASB performance, balanced ecological interactions between syntrophs, methanogens, and fermenters are critical. However, much of the interactions remain unclear because UASB have been studied at a “macro”-level perspective of the reactor ecosystem. In reality, such reactors are composed of a suite of granules, each forming individual micro-ecosystems treating wastewater. Thus, typical approaches may be oversimplifying the complexity of the microbial ecology and granular development. To identify critical microbial interactions at both macro- and micro- level ecosystem ecology, we perform community and network analyses on 300 PTA–degrading granules from a lab-scale UASB reactor and two full-scale reactors. Based on MiSeq-based 16S rRNA gene sequencing of individual granules, different granule-types co-exist in both full-scale reactors regardless of granule size and reactor sampling depth, suggesting that distinct microbial interactions occur in different granules throughout the reactor. In addition, we identify novel networks of syntrophic metabolic interactions in different granules, perhaps caused by distinct thermodynamic conditions. Moreover, unseen methanogenic relationships (e.g. “Candidatus Aminicenantes” and Methanosaeta) are observed in UASB reactors. In total, we discover unexpected microbial interactions in granular micro-ecosystems supporting UASB ecology and treatment through a unique single-granule level approach. PMID:27936088

"Generality of mis-fit"? The real-life difficulty of matching scales in an interconnected world.

PubMed

Keskitalo, E Carina H; Horstkotte, Tim; Kivinen, Sonja; Forbes, Bruce; Käyhkö, Jukka

2016-10-01

A clear understanding of processes at multiple scales and levels is of special significance when conceiving strategies for human-environment interactions. However, understanding and application of the scale concept often differ between administrative-political and ecological disciplines. These mirror major differences in potential solutions whether and how scales can, at all, be made congruent. As a result, opportunities of seeking "goodness-of-fit" between different concepts of governance should perhaps be reconsidered in the light of a potential "generality of mis-fit." This article reviews the interdisciplinary considerations inherent in the concept of scale in its ecological, as well as administrative-political, significance and argues that issues of how to manage "mis-fit" should be awarded more emphasis in social-ecological research and management practices. These considerations are exemplified by the case of reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia. Whilst an indigenous small-scale practice, reindeer husbandry involves multi-level ecological and administrative-political complexities-complexities that we argue may arise in any multi-level system.

The role of social message using norm abstraction level and ecological value orientation to achieve sustainable consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekasari, A.

2018-01-01

Pro-environmental behavior is one of human activities to achieve sustainability. In order to encourage people to do so, it needs contribution from marketing discipline using social message. The research aims to investigate the effect of social message framed by norm abstraction level and ecological value orientation on attitude and intention to act pro-environmental behavior in the context of littering. This study implemented a 3 (message framing: biospheric/altruistic/egoistic) × 2 (norm abstraction level : abstract/concrete) between subject experimental design to collect the data. An independent sample t test was used to analyze the data. The results indicate that a social message using concrete norm combined with the three ecological value orientation gains more positive response than the use of abstract norm with the same ecological value orientations. Findings of the research are expected to help government or other institutions to create an appropriate social message in anti littering campaign and motivates people to change their behavior in practicing sustainable consumption.

Quantifying Ecological Literacy in an Adult Western Community: The Development and Application of a New Assessment Tool and Community Standard

PubMed Central

Pitman, Sheryn D.; Daniels, Christopher B.

2016-01-01

Knowledge and understanding about how the Earth functions and supports life create the foundation for ecological literacy. Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth have resulted in changed relationships between many human communities and the natural world. A potential consequence is a compromised capability to make well-informed decisions about how to live sustainably. To gain a measure of ecological literacy within the South Australian community, we collaborated with senior scientists and educators to develop and apply an instrument with the capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological knowledge and understanding. A formal, variable credit, multiple-choice assessment instrument was distributed online to groups and individuals within diverse community sectors and industries. Quantitative analyses of scores indicated that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within a self-selected sample of over one thousand individuals ranged from very low to extremely high, with the majority of respondents achieving moderate to high scores. This instrument has a demonstrated capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological literacy within and between individuals and groups. It is able to capture mastery of ecological knowledge and understanding achieved through both formal and informal pathways. Using the results, we have been able to establish a range of standards and an aspirational target score for the South Australian community. The value of this work is in its potential to deliver insights into relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world, and into characteristics of eco-literate individuals and communities, that might not otherwise emerge. PMID:26938258

Quantifying Ecological Literacy in an Adult Western Community: The Development and Application of a New Assessment Tool and Community Standard.

PubMed

Pitman, Sheryn D; Daniels, Christopher B

2016-01-01

Knowledge and understanding about how the Earth functions and supports life create the foundation for ecological literacy. Industrialisation, urbanisation and population growth have resulted in changed relationships between many human communities and the natural world. A potential consequence is a compromised capability to make well-informed decisions about how to live sustainably. To gain a measure of ecological literacy within the South Australian community, we collaborated with senior scientists and educators to develop and apply an instrument with the capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological knowledge and understanding. A formal, variable credit, multiple-choice assessment instrument was distributed online to groups and individuals within diverse community sectors and industries. Quantitative analyses of scores indicated that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within a self-selected sample of over one thousand individuals ranged from very low to extremely high, with the majority of respondents achieving moderate to high scores. This instrument has a demonstrated capacity to determine indicative levels of ecological literacy within and between individuals and groups. It is able to capture mastery of ecological knowledge and understanding achieved through both formal and informal pathways. Using the results, we have been able to establish a range of standards and an aspirational target score for the South Australian community. The value of this work is in its potential to deliver insights into relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world, and into characteristics of eco-literate individuals and communities, that might not otherwise emerge.

Composition profiles, levels, distributions and ecological risk assessments of trihalomethanes in surface water from a typical estuary of Bohai Bay, China.

PubMed

Niu, Zhiguang; Li, Xiaonan; Zhang, Ying

2017-04-15

To characterize the spatiotemporal distribution and potential ecological risk for trihalomethanes (THMs) in the surface water of a river estuary, surface water samples were collected over five consecutive months (from March to July 2016) from four sites in the Haihe River estuary of Bohai Bay. The potential ecological risks of THMs were evaluated quantitatively based on a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) model. The results demonstrate that trichloromethane (TCM) was the predominant THM in surface water of the Haihe River estuary (2.93±1.98μg/L) followed by tribromomethane (TBM) (0.42±0.33μg/L), bromodichloromethane (BDCM) (0.14±0.06μg/L) and dibromochloromethane (DBCM) (0.09±0.10μg/L). The concentration of TCM was higher in summer than that in spring, while TBM displayed the opposite trend. The TCM concentration decreased from the estuary to the adjacent sea. However, the levels of TBM and DBCM in the adjacent sea were higher than those in the estuary. The ecological risks of THMs in surface water of Haihe River were notably low, and the ecological risks of THMs in freshwater were generally higher than those in seawater. Compared with other contaminants in water and surface sediment from rivers and coastal areas, the ecological risk levels of THMs in surface water can be considered low. This study is a contribution to the progress of ecological risk assessment of THMs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Early Instruction in Geography: An Exploration in the Ecology of Kindergarten and First-Grade Geography Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Scott L.

2007-01-01

This article presents an introductory study of early-grade level geography education in terms of human ecology using accepted cognitive process and knowledge dimensions related to learning. The central question addressed is "at what cognitive process and knowledge levels do kindergarten and first-grade teachers teach geography?" A tentative answer…

Synthesis: Ecological Impacts of Forest Vegetation Management

Treesearch

Jerry L. Michael; M. Hermy

2002-01-01

Ecological impacts of forest vegetation management are highly complex with many interactions. Interactions are bounded on the one hand by hierarchical levels from genes to species to ecosystems and on the other hand by the tools used and the intensity of management applied to each level of possible interactions. Some impacts are easy to measure, but impacts become more...

Income Disparities in the Use of Health Screening Services Among University Students in Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study of 2479 Participants in a University.

PubMed

Lee, Su Hyun; Joh, Hee-Kyung; Kim, Soojin; Oh, Seung-Won; Lee, Cheol Min; Kwon, Hyuktae

2016-05-01

Public health insurance coverage for preventive care in young adults is incomplete in Korea. Few studies have focused on young adults' socioeconomic disparities in preventive care utilization. We aimed to explore household income disparities in the use of different types of health screening services among university students in Korea.This cross-sectional study used a web-based self-administered survey of students at a university in Korea from January to February 2013. To examine the associations between household income levels and health screening service use within the past 2 years, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression with adjustment for various covariables.Of 2479 participants, 45.5% reported using health screening services within 2 years (university-provided screening 32.9%, private sector screening 16.7%, and both 4.1%). Household income levels were not significantly associated with overall rates of health screening service use with a multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) in the lowest versus highest income group of 1.12 (0.87-1.45, Ptrend = 0.35). However, we found significantly different associations in specific types of utilized screening services by household income levels. The multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) of university-provided health screening service use in the lowest versus highest income level was 1.74 (1.30-2.34; Ptrend < 0.001), whereas the multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) of private sector service use in the lowest versus highest income level was 0.45 (0.31-0.66; Ptrend < 0.001).This study demonstrated significant disparities in the types of utilized health screening services by income groups among university students in Korea, although overall rates of health screening service use were similar across income levels. Low-income students were more likely to use university-provided health screening services, and less likely to use private sector screening services. To ensure appropriate preventive care delivery for young adults and to address disparities in disadvantaged groups, the expansion of medical insurance coverage for preventive health care, establishment of a usual source of care, focusing on vulnerable groups, and the development of evidence-based standardized health screening guidelines for young adults are needed.

Income Disparities in the Use of Health Screening Services Among University Students in Korea

PubMed Central

Lee, Su Hyun; Joh, Hee-Kyung; Kim, Soojin; Oh, Seung-Won; Lee, Cheol Min; Kwon, Hyuktae

2016-01-01

Abstract Public health insurance coverage for preventive care in young adults is incomplete in Korea. Few studies have focused on young adults’ socioeconomic disparities in preventive care utilization. We aimed to explore household income disparities in the use of different types of health screening services among university students in Korea. This cross-sectional study used a web-based self-administered survey of students at a university in Korea from January to February 2013. To examine the associations between household income levels and health screening service use within the past 2 years, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression with adjustment for various covariables. Of 2479 participants, 45.5% reported using health screening services within 2 years (university-provided screening 32.9%, private sector screening 16.7%, and both 4.1%). Household income levels were not significantly associated with overall rates of health screening service use with a multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) in the lowest versus highest income group of 1.12 (0.87–1.45, Ptrend = 0.35). However, we found significantly different associations in specific types of utilized screening services by household income levels. The multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) of university-provided health screening service use in the lowest versus highest income level was 1.74 (1.30–2.34; Ptrend < 0.001), whereas the multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) of private sector service use in the lowest versus highest income level was 0.45 (0.31–0.66; Ptrend < 0.001). This study demonstrated significant disparities in the types of utilized health screening services by income groups among university students in Korea, although overall rates of health screening service use were similar across income levels. Low-income students were more likely to use university-provided health screening services, and less likely to use private sector screening services. To ensure appropriate preventive care delivery for young adults and to address disparities in disadvantaged groups, the expansion of medical insurance coverage for preventive health care, establishment of a usual source of care, focusing on vulnerable groups, and the development of evidence-based standardized health screening guidelines for young adults are needed. PMID:27196475

[Urban ecological land in Changsha City: its quantitative analysis and optimization].

PubMed

Li, Xiao-Li; Zeng, Guang-Ming; Shi, Lin; Liang, Jie; Cai, Qing

2010-02-01

In this paper, a hierarchy index system suitable for catastrophe progression method was constructed to comprehensively analyze and evaluate the status of ecological land construction in Changsha City in 2007. Based on the evaluation results, the irrationalities of the distribution pattern of Changsha urban ecological land were discussed. With the support of geographic information system (GIS), the ecological corridors of the urban ecological land were constructed by using the 'least-cost' modeling, and, in combining with conflict analysis, the optimum project of the urban ecological land was put forward, forming an integrated evaluation system. The results indicated that the ecological efficiency of urban ecological land in Changsha in 2007 was at medium level, with an evaluation value being 0.9416, and the quantitative index being relatively high but the coordination index being relatively low. The analysis and verification with software Fragstats showed that the ecological efficiency of the urban ecological land after optimization was higher, with the evaluation value being 0.9618, and the SHDI, CONTAG, and other indices also enhanced.

The role of acculturation and collectivism in cancer screening for Vietnamese American women.

PubMed

Nguyen, Anh B; Clark, Trenette T

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of demographic variables and the interplay between collectivism and acculturation on breast and cervical cancer screening outcomes among Vietnamese American women. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 111 Vietnamese women from the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area, who participated in a larger cancer screening intervention. All participants completed measures on demographic variables, collectivism, acculturation, and cancer-screening-related variables (i.e., attitudes, self-efficacy, and screening behavior). Findings indicated that collectivism predicted both positive attitudes and higher levels of self-efficacy with regard to breast and cervical cancer screening. Collectivism also moderated the relationship between acculturation and attitudes toward breast cancer screening such that for women with low levels of collectivistic orientation, increasing acculturation predicted less positive attitudes towards breast cancer screening. This relationship was not found for women with high levels of collectivistic orientation. The current findings highlight the important roles that sociodemographic and cultural variables play in affecting health attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior among Vietnamese women. The findings potentially inform screening programs that rely on culturally relevant values in helping increase Vietnamese women's motivation to screen.

The Role of Acculturation and Collectivism in Cancer Screening for Vietnamese American Women

PubMed Central

NGUYEN, ANH B.; CLARK, TRENETTE T.

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of demographic variables and the interplay between collectivism and acculturation on breast and cervical cancer screening outcomes among Vietnamese American women. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 111 Vietnamese women from the Richmond, VA, metropolitan area, who participated in a larger cancer screening intervention. All participants completed measures on demographic variables, collectivism, acculturation, and cancer-screening-related variables (i.e., attitudes, self-efficacy, and screening behavior). Findings indicated that collectivism predicted both positive attitudes and higher levels of self-efficacy with regard to breast and cervical cancer screening. Collectivism also moderated the relationship between acculturation and attitudes toward breast cancer screening such that for women with low levels of collectivistic orientation, increasing acculturation predicted less positive attitudes towards breast cancer screening. This relationship was not found for women with high levels of collectivistic orientation. The current findings highlight the important roles that sociodemographic and cultural variables play in affecting health attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior among Vietnamese women. The findings potentially inform screening programs that rely on culturally relevant values in helping increase Vietnamese women’s motivation to screen. PMID:24313445

Faith, Morality and Mortality: The Ecological Impact of Religion on Population Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blanchard, Troy C.; Bartkowski, John P.; Matthews, Todd L.; Kerley, Kent R.

2008-01-01

Although the past decade has witnessed increased usage of ecological data to map the community-level effects of religion, the vast majority of studies in this body of scholarship continue to be plagued by two key shortcomings. First, ecological research on religion is often conducted in an atheoretical manner, one that privileges the structural…

Development of an ecological classification system for the Wayne National Forest

Treesearch

David M. Hix; Andrea M. Chech

1993-01-01

In 1991, a collaborative research project was initiated to create an ecological classification system for the Wayne National Forest of southeastern Ohio. The work focuses on the ecological land type (ELT) level of ecosystem classification. The most common ELTs are being identified and described using information from intensive field sampling and multivariate data...

The natural ecological value of wilderness

Treesearch

H. Ken Cordell; Danielle Murphy; Kurt H. Riitters; J.E. Harvard

2005-01-01

In Chapters 7 through 10 of this book, we examined the social and economic benefits or values from Wilderness. In this chapter, we attempt to examine the natural ecological values of Wilderness. We define ecological value generally as the level of benefits that the space. water, minerals, biota, and all other factors that make up natural ecosystems provide to support...

Ecological Literacy through Critical/Place-Based Pedagogy in the Environmental Studies Program at a Small Liberal Arts College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beeman-Cadwallader, Nicole

2014-01-01

Few studies have critically examined pedagogical practices for ecological literacy at the tertiary level (Adomssent, Godemann, Michelsen, 2007). The purpose of this study is to critically examine how students and faculty in the Environmental Studies/Science programs at Trueblood College pursue ecological literacy through place-based pedagogy. Two…

Ecoregions of Arizona (poster)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Griffith, Glenn E.; Omernik, James M.; Johnson, Colleen Burch; Turner, Dale S.

2014-01-01

Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources; they are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. By recognizing the spatial differences in the capacities and potentials of ecosystems, ecoregions stratify the environment by its probable response to disturbance. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The Arizona ecoregion map was compiled at a scale of 1:250,000. It revises and subdivides an earlier national ecoregion map that was originally compiled at a smaller scale. The approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of the spatial patterns and the composition of biotic and abiotic phenomena that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity. These phenomena include geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another regardless of the hierarchical level. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions. At level III, the continental United States contains 105 ecoregions and the conterminous United States has 85 ecoregions. Level IV is a further subdivision of level III ecoregions. Arizona contains arid deserts and canyonlands, semiarid shrub- and grass-covered plains, woodland- and shrubland-covered hills, lava fields and volcanic plateaus, forested mountains, glaciated peaks, and river alluvial floodplains. Ecological diversity is remarkably high. There are 7 level III ecoregions and 52 level IV ecoregions in Arizona and many continue into ecologically similar parts of adjacent states. This poster is part of a collaborative project primarily between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), USEPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (Corvallis, Oregon), USEPA Region IX, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)–Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The Nature Conservancy, and several Arizona state agencies. The project is associated with an interagency effort to develop a common national framework of ecological regions. Reaching that objective requires recognition of the differences in the conceptual approaches and mapping methodologies applied to develop the most common ecoregion-type frameworks, including those developed by the USDA–Forest Service, the USEPA, and the NRCS. As each of these frameworks is further refined, their differences are becoming less discernible. Collaborative ecoregion projects, such as this one in Arizona, are a step toward attaining consensus and consistency in ecoregion frameworks for the entire nation.

Linking effects of anthropogenic debris to ecological impacts.

PubMed

Browne, Mark Anthony; Underwood, A J; Chapman, M G; Williams, Rob; Thompson, Richard C; van Franeker, Jan A

2015-05-22

Accelerated contamination of habitats with debris has caused increased effort to determine ecological impacts. Strikingly, most work on organisms focuses on sublethal responses to plastic debris. This is controversial because (i) researchers have ignored medical insights about the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to disease and mortality, and (ii) debris is considered non-hazardous by policy-makers, possibly because individuals can be injured or removed from populations and assemblages without ecological impacts. We reviewed the mechanisms that link effects of debris across lower levels of biological organization to assemblages and populations. Using plastic, we show microplastics reduce the 'health', feeding, growth and survival of ecosystem engineers. Larger debris alters assemblages because fishing-gear and tyres kill animals and damage habitat-forming plants, and because floating bottles facilitate recruitment and survival of novel taxa. Where ecological linkages are not known, we show how to establish hypothetical links by synthesizing studies to assess the likelihood of impacts. We also consider how population models examine ecological linkages and guide management of ecological impacts. We show that by focusing on linkages to ecological impacts rather than the presence of debris and its sublethal impacts, we could reduce threats posed by debris. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Ecological and Evolutionary Effects of Stickleback on Community Structure

PubMed Central

Des Roches, Simone; Shurin, Jonathan B.; Schluter, Dolph; Harmon, Luke J.

2013-01-01

Species’ ecology and evolution can have strong effects on communities. Both may change concurrently when species colonize a new ecosystem. We know little, however, about the combined effects of ecological and evolutionary change on community structure. We simultaneously examined the effects of top-predator ecology and evolution on freshwater community parameters using recently evolved generalist and specialist ecotypes of three-spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used a mesocosm experiment to directly examine the effects of ecological (fish presence and density) and evolutionary (phenotypic diversity and specialization) factors on community structure at lower trophic levels. We evaluated zooplankton biomass and composition, periphyton and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a concentration, and net primary production among treatments containing different densities and diversities of stickleback. Our results showed that both ecological and evolutionary differences in the top-predator affect different aspects of community structure and composition. Community structure, specifically the abundance of organisms at each trophic level, was affected by stickleback presence and density, whereas composition of zooplankton was influenced by stickleback diversity and specialization. Primary productivity, in terms of chlorophyll-a concentration and net primary production was affected by ecological but not evolutionary factors. Our results stress the importance of concurrently evaluating both changes in density and phenotypic diversity on the structure and composition of communities. PMID:23573203

Planting the SEED: Towards a Spatial Economic Ecological Database for a shared understanding of the Dutch Wadden area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daams, Michiel N.; Sijtsma, Frans J.

2013-09-01

In this paper we address the characteristics of a publicly accessible Spatial Economic Ecological Database (SEED) and its ability to support a shared understanding among planners and experts of the economy and ecology of the Dutch Wadden area. Theoretical building blocks for a Wadden SEED are discussed. Our SEED contains a comprehensive set of stakeholder validated spatially explicit data on key economic and ecological indicators. These data extend over various spatial scales. Spatial issues relevant to the specification of a Wadden-SEED and its data needs are explored in this paper and illustrated using empirical data for the Dutch Wadden area. The purpose of the SEED is to integrate basic economic and ecologic information in order to support the resolution of specific (policy) questions and to facilitate connections between project level and strategic level in the spatial planning process. Although modest in its ambitions, we will argue that a Wadden SEED can serve as a valuable element in the much debated science-policy interface. A Wadden SEED is valuable since it is a consensus-based common knowledge base on the economy and ecology of an area rife with ecological-economic conflict, including conflict in which scientific information is often challenged and disputed.

Multi-Target Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Farmland Soil Based on the Environment-Ecological-Health Effect.

PubMed

Wang, Zhongyang; Meng, Bo; Zhang, Wei; Bai, Jinheng; Ma, Yingxin; Liu, Mingda

2018-05-28

There are potential impacts of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) (e.g., Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Zn, Hg, and Pb) in soil from the perspective of the ecological environment and human health, and assessing the pollution and risk level of soil will play an important role in formulating policies for soil pollution control. Lingyuan, in the west of Liaoning Province, China, is a typical low-relief terrain of a hilly area. The object of study in this research is the topsoil of farmland in this area, of which 71 soil samples are collected. In this study, research methods, such as the Nemerow Index, Potential Ecological Hazard Index, Ecological Risk Quotient, Environmental Exposure Hazard Analysis, Positive Matrix Factorization Model, and Land Statistical Analysis, are used for systematical assessment of the pollution scale, pollution level, and source of PTEs, as well as the ecological environmental risks and health risks in the study area. The main conclusions are: The average contents of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Zn, Ni, and Pb of the soil are 5.32 mg/kg, 0.31 mg/kg, 50.44 mg/kg, 47.05 mg/kg, 0.03 mg/kg, 79.36 mg/kg, 26.01 mg/kg, and 35.65 mg/kg, respectively. The contents of Cd, Cu, Zn, and Pb exceed the background value of local soil; Cd content of some study plots exceeds the National Soil Environmental Quality Standard Value (0.6 mg/kg), and the exceeding standard rate of study plots is 5.63%; the comprehensive potential ecological hazard assessment in the study area indicates that the PTEs are at a slight ecological risk; probabilistic hazard quotient assessment indicates that the influence of PTEs on species caused by Cu is at a slight level ( p = 10.93%), and Zn, Pb, and Cd are at an acceptable level. For the ecological process, Zn is at a medium level ( p = 25.78%), Cu is at a slight level (19.77%), and the influence of Cd and Pb are acceptable; human health hazard assessment states that the Non-carcinogenic comprehensive health hazard index HI = 0.16 < 1, indicating that PTEs in soil have no significant effect on people's health through exposure; the PMF model (Positive Matrix Factorization) shows that the contribution rates of agricultural source, industrial source, atmospheric dust source, and natural source are 13.15%, 25.33%, 18.47%, and 43.05%, respectively.

Ecological release and venom evolution of a predatory marine snail at Easter Island.

PubMed

Duda, Thomas F; Lee, Taehwan

2009-05-20

Ecological release is coupled with adaptive radiation and ecological diversification yet little is known about the molecular basis of phenotypic changes associated with this phenomenon. The venomous, predatory marine gastropod Conus miliaris has undergone ecological release and exhibits increased dietary breadth at Easter Island. We examined the extent of genetic differentiation of two genes expressed in the venom of C. miliaris among samples from Easter Island, American Samoa and Guam. The population from Easter Island exhibits unique frequencies of alleles that encode distinct peptides at both loci. Levels of divergence at these loci exceed observed levels of divergence observed at a mitochondrial gene region at Easter Island. Patterns of genetic variation at two genes expressed in the venom of this C. miliaris suggest that selection has operated at these genes and contributed to the divergence of venom composition at Easter Island. These results show that ecological release is associated with strong selection pressures that promote the evolution of new phenotypes.

Ecological Insights from Pelagic Habitats Acquired Using Active Acoustic Techniques.

PubMed

Benoit-Bird, Kelly J; Lawson, Gareth L

2016-01-01

Marine pelagic ecosystems present fascinating opportunities for ecological investigation but pose important methodological challenges for sampling. Active acoustic techniques involve producing sound and receiving signals from organisms and other water column sources, offering the benefit of high spatial and temporal resolution and, via integration into different platforms, the ability to make measurements spanning a range of spatial and temporal scales. As a consequence, a variety of questions concerning the ecology of pelagic systems lend themselves to active acoustics, ranging from organism-level investigations and physiological responses to the environment to ecosystem-level studies and climate. As technologies and data analysis methods have matured, the use of acoustics in ecological studies has grown rapidly. We explore the continued role of active acoustics in addressing questions concerning life in the ocean, highlight creative applications to key ecological themes ranging from physiology and behavior to biogeography and climate, and discuss emerging avenues where acoustics can help determine how pelagic ecosystems function.

Lack of quantitative training among early-career ecologists: a survey of the problem and potential solutions

PubMed Central

Ezard, Thomas H.G.; Jørgensen, Peter S.; Zimmerman, Naupaka; Chamberlain, Scott; Salguero-Gómez, Roberto; Curran, Timothy J.; Poisot, Timothée

2014-01-01

Proficiency in mathematics and statistics is essential to modern ecological science, yet few studies have assessed the level of quantitative training received by ecologists. To do so, we conducted an online survey. The 937 respondents were mostly early-career scientists who studied biology as undergraduates. We found a clear self-perceived lack of quantitative training: 75% were not satisfied with their understanding of mathematical models; 75% felt that the level of mathematics was “too low” in their ecology classes; 90% wanted more mathematics classes for ecologists; and 95% more statistics classes. Respondents thought that 30% of classes in ecology-related degrees should be focused on quantitative disciplines, which is likely higher than for most existing programs. The main suggestion to improve quantitative training was to relate theoretical and statistical modeling to applied ecological problems. Improving quantitative training will require dedicated, quantitative classes for ecology-related degrees that contain good mathematical and statistical practice. PMID:24688862

[Study on ecological risk assessment technology of fluoride pollution from arid oasis soil].

PubMed

Xue, Su-Yin; Li, Ping; Wang, Sheng-Li; Nan, Zhong-Ren

2014-03-01

According to translocation regulation of fluoride in the typical oasis soil-plant system under field, an ecological risk assessment model of fluoride was established, and this model was used to assess ecological risk to fluoride pollution from suburban oasis soils in Baiyin City, which was specifically expressed with the potential ecological risk of bioavailability (ER(bc)) model to assess ecological risk of fluoride pollution in oasis regions. Results showed that the ecological risk indices of fluoride pollution from this region were 1.37-24.81, the level of risk at most sites was high to very high, the average ecological risk index was 11.28, belonged to very high risk. This indicated that in the suburb soil of Baiyin City needs to be concerned about the remediation of fluoride pollution.

Filling the gap in functional trait databases: use of ecological hypotheses to replace missing data.

PubMed

Taugourdeau, Simon; Villerd, Jean; Plantureux, Sylvain; Huguenin-Elie, Olivier; Amiaud, Bernard

2014-04-01

Functional trait databases are powerful tools in ecology, though most of them contain large amounts of missing values. The goal of this study was to test the effect of imputation methods on the evaluation of trait values at species level and on the subsequent calculation of functional diversity indices at community level using functional trait databases. Two simple imputation methods (average and median), two methods based on ecological hypotheses, and one multiple imputation method were tested using a large plant trait database, together with the influence of the percentage of missing data and differences between functional traits. At community level, the complete-case approach and three functional diversity indices calculated from grassland plant communities were included. At the species level, one of the methods based on ecological hypothesis was for all traits more accurate than imputation with average or median values, but the multiple imputation method was superior for most of the traits. The method based on functional proximity between species was the best method for traits with an unbalanced distribution, while the method based on the existence of relationships between traits was the best for traits with a balanced distribution. The ranking of the grassland communities for their functional diversity indices was not robust with the complete-case approach, even for low percentages of missing data. With the imputation methods based on ecological hypotheses, functional diversity indices could be computed with a maximum of 30% of missing data, without affecting the ranking between grassland communities. The multiple imputation method performed well, but not better than single imputation based on ecological hypothesis and adapted to the distribution of the trait values for the functional identity and range of the communities. Ecological studies using functional trait databases have to deal with missing data using imputation methods corresponding to their specific needs and making the most out of the information available in the databases. Within this framework, this study indicates the possibilities and limits of single imputation methods based on ecological hypothesis and concludes that they could be useful when studying the ranking of communities for their functional diversity indices.

Filling the gap in functional trait databases: use of ecological hypotheses to replace missing data

PubMed Central

Taugourdeau, Simon; Villerd, Jean; Plantureux, Sylvain; Huguenin-Elie, Olivier; Amiaud, Bernard

2014-01-01

Functional trait databases are powerful tools in ecology, though most of them contain large amounts of missing values. The goal of this study was to test the effect of imputation methods on the evaluation of trait values at species level and on the subsequent calculation of functional diversity indices at community level using functional trait databases. Two simple imputation methods (average and median), two methods based on ecological hypotheses, and one multiple imputation method were tested using a large plant trait database, together with the influence of the percentage of missing data and differences between functional traits. At community level, the complete-case approach and three functional diversity indices calculated from grassland plant communities were included. At the species level, one of the methods based on ecological hypothesis was for all traits more accurate than imputation with average or median values, but the multiple imputation method was superior for most of the traits. The method based on functional proximity between species was the best method for traits with an unbalanced distribution, while the method based on the existence of relationships between traits was the best for traits with a balanced distribution. The ranking of the grassland communities for their functional diversity indices was not robust with the complete-case approach, even for low percentages of missing data. With the imputation methods based on ecological hypotheses, functional diversity indices could be computed with a maximum of 30% of missing data, without affecting the ranking between grassland communities. The multiple imputation method performed well, but not better than single imputation based on ecological hypothesis and adapted to the distribution of the trait values for the functional identity and range of the communities. Ecological studies using functional trait databases have to deal with missing data using imputation methods corresponding to their specific needs and making the most out of the information available in the databases. Within this framework, this study indicates the possibilities and limits of single imputation methods based on ecological hypothesis and concludes that they could be useful when studying the ranking of communities for their functional diversity indices. PMID:24772273

The relationship between religiosity and cancer screening among Vietnamese women in the United States: the moderating role of acculturation.

PubMed

Nguyen, Anh B; Hood, Kristina B; Belgrave, Faye Z

2012-01-01

In this study the authors explore the relationship between intrinsic, personal extrinsic, and social extrinsic religiosity to breast and cervical cancer screening efficacy and behavior among Vietnamese women recruited from a Catholic Vietnamese church and a Buddhist temple in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. The potential moderating effect of acculturation was of interest. Participants were 111 Vietnamese women who participated in a larger cancer screening intervention. Data collection began early fall of 2010 and ended in late spring 2011. High levels of acculturation were associated with increased self-efficacy for Pap tests and having received a Pap test. Acculturation moderated the relationships between religiosity and self-efficacy for breast and cervical cancer screening. Higher levels of social extrinsic religiosity were associated with increased efficacy for cancer screening among less acculturated women. Acculturation also moderated the relationship between religiosity and breast cancer screening. Specifically, for less acculturated women, increasing levels of intrinsic religiosity and personal extrinsic religiosity were associated with lower likelihood probability of Pap testing. For highly acculturated women, increasing levels of intrinsic religiosity and personal extrinsic religiosity were associated with higher likelihood probability of Pap testing. The authors' findings demonstrate the need for further investigation of the dynamic interplay of multi-level factors that influence cancer screening.

Related factors of violence against women with infertility: A systematic review study based on an ecological approach

PubMed Central

Hajizade-Valokolaee, Maryam; Khani, Soghra; Fooladi, Ensieh; Peivandi, Sepideh

2017-01-01

Background and aim Infertility as a global problem, affects the different aspects of women’s health. Also, violence against infertile women affects their psychological wellbeing and treatment consequence. This study aimed at reviewing related factors to violence against infertile women, based on an ecological approach. Methods In this systematic review, the researchers conducted their search in electronic databases such as Google Scholar, and then in more specialized ones such as Medline via PubMed, Science Direct, Up-to-date, Springer, SID, Magiran, Iranmedex and Irandoc with the key words violence, infertility, women, risk factors, social environment, and individuality, from 1988 to 2016. The selection of papers was undertaken from 20–27 January 2017. The articles were selected based on the following criteria: 1), the articles focused on the research question 2), infertility and violence were included in the title of the articles, and 3) articles were published in online journals. Exclusion criteria were articles which focused on violence against the general population, pregnant women and female sex workers and articles that were not available in full text form or written in other languages (Not Persian or English). The quality of selected studies was appraised using a 16-item checklist adapted from Tao. This checklist consisted of 16 items which used a 0 or 1 scoring system (not eligible or eligible). If an article received a score of 75% (12–16 points), it was of high quality. A score of 50% to 74% (8–12 points) indicated moderate quality, and less than 50% (8 points) indicated low quality. The process of titles, abstracts and full-texts’ appraisal led to the selection of 16 articles, which were used to write this article Results Two of the articles based on 16-items of the check list had high quality score, 8 of them had moderate and the remaining articles had low quality score. Our findings were classified under three categories corresponding with the ecological approach: (1) Microsystem level “individual sociodemographic and infertility characteristics”, (2) Mesosystem level “interpersonal’ and husband sociodemographic characteristics” and (3) Macro system level considered ethnicity and cultural factors. Conclusion Violence against infertile women and the stress caused by it, would affect the consequences of infertility treatment. It is noted that various cultural-contextual factors cause violence in different societies. There is a need for the development of screening tools and applying counselors to identify infertile women at the risk of violence, and provide clinical services, counseling and social support. PMID:29403627