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In September 2010, 6 species of shrews (genus: Sorex ) were collected at a single locality on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Such high sympatric diversity within a single mammalian genus is seldom realized. This phenomenon at high latitudes highlights complex Arctic community dynamics that reflect significant turnover through time as a consequence of environmental change. Each of these shrew species occupies a broad geographic distribution collectively spanning the entire Holarctic, although the study site lies within Eastern Beringia, near the periphery of all individual ranges. A review of published genetic evidence reflects a depauperate shrew community within ice-free Beringia through the last glaciation, and recent assembly of current diversity during the Holocene.
Review of: Real, L. A., 1994. Ecological Genetics. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. XV + 238 pp. ISBN 0-691-03241-6 (cloth); 0-691-00066-2 (paper).
Review of: Harrier, hawk of the marshes: the hawk that is ruled by a mouse. Frances Hamerstrom. Smithsonian Books; First Edition edition (August 1986). 158 p. ISBN: 0874745381.
Review of: Wildflowers across the prairies. F. R. Vance, J. R. Jowsey and J. S. McLean. Saskatoon : Western Producer Prairie books, 1977. 214 p. : col. ill., map ; 22 cm.
This attractive, slim volume provides a wonderful introduction to a neglected aspect of prairie plant identification: seeds and seedlings. Williams, and the illustrator Brent Butler, take the mystery out of dichotomous keys with clear descriptions, vivid illustrations, and abundant photographs of characteristics that distinguish common, tallgrass prairie, seedlings. A botanical novice should have no problem using this book to identify seedlings in their prairie garden – presuming that they planted only those species included in the book (more on that later). Review info: The Tallgrass Prairie Center guide to seed and seedling identification in the Upper Midwest . By Dave Williams, 2010. ISBN: 978-1587299025, 132 pp.
Review of: The youngest science: notes of a medicine-watcher. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Series. Lewis Thomas. Penguin Books, 1995. Pennsylvania State University. 270 pp. ISBN: 0140243275, 9780140243277.
The northwestern limit of the Henslow's sparrow ( Ammodramus henslowii ) breeding distribution occurs in southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin. In North Dakota, observations of Henslow's sparrows are reported infrequently, and there are no published nest records in the state. Herein, we summarize and review previous reports of Henslow's sparrows in North Dakota and document the first two nest records of Henslow's sparrow in the state.
No abstract available.
Review of: For everything there is a season : the sequence of natural events in the Grand Teton-Yellowstone area. F. C. Craighead. 1994. Falcon Press. 206 pp. ISBN: 1560441879.
Bumblebee identification is generally considered straightforward, yet mistakes often are made due to the degree of similarity between the color patterns of different species. Bumble Bees of North America aims to improve the accuracy of identifications by both casual observers and professionals through the use of intuitive diagrams, descriptions, and the more technical dichotomous keys. In addition to providing the first complete field guide to North American bumblebees, the authors make efficient use of the reader’s attention by summarizing taxonomic history, favored food plants, and environmental issues concerning bumblebees. Review info: Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide. By Paul H. Williams, Robbin W. Thorp, Leif L. Richardson & Sheila R. Colla, 2014. ISBN: 978-0691152226, 208 pp.
Review of: Building Models for Conservation and Wildlife Management. By Anthony Starfield and A. L. Bleloch. New York: Macmillan; London: Collier Macmillan, 1986. ISBN: 002948040X. xi, 253 p.: ill.; 25 cm.
Well edited, well-produced book of invited papers from a 1985 conference. Subject categories include surveys and status, environmental contaminants, captive breeding and release, and population biology
A major bottleneck in the time required to publish a scientific or scholarly paper is the speed with which reviews by peers are returned to journals. Peer review is a reciprocal altruistic system in which each individual may perform every task—editors, reviewers, and authors—at different times. Journals have no way to coerce reviewers to return their critiques faster. To greatly shorten the time to publication, all actors in this altruistic network should abide by the Golden Rule of Reviewing: review for others as you would have others review for you. Say yes to reviewing whenever your duties and schedule allow; provide a thorough, fair, and constructive critique of the work; and do it at your first opportunity regardless of the deadline.
The management and conservation of faunas at regional scales depend on current data on species diversity and distribution. Relative to the ichthyofauna of West Virginia, few studies have recently documented the richness and distribution of fishes in the state, with even the most comprehensive publications rarely discussing either the conservation status of individual fishes or historical sportfish stockings. In this paper, we review the state's historic sportfish stockings. We also clarify inconsistent published data and present new information for several species, delete 3 species from the West Virginia ichthyofaunal list, and add 35 species representing extant or extirpated populations. Lastly, we provide a checklist of 195 species by major drainage of West Virginia's fishes, including their origin (i.e., native or introduced).
Introduced American bullfrogs ( Rana catesbeiana ) come in contact with native amphibians on four continents and are well established in lowlands of western North America. To date, research on the effects of introduced bullfrogs on native frogs has focused on competition and predation, and is based largely on larval interactions. We present observations of interspecific amplexus between bullfrogs and two native ranid frogs ( R. aurora and R. pretiosa ) from six sites across the Pacific Northwest that imply that this interaction is more widespread than currently recognized. Our observations indicate that R. catesbeiana juveniles and subadults in this region are of appropriate size to elicit marked amplectic responses from males of both native species. Our literature review suggests that greater opportunity may exist for pairings between R. catesbeiana and native R. aurora or R. pretiosa than among syntopic native ranids in western North America. We hypothesize that interspecific amplexus with introduced R. catesbeiana could result in reproductive interference with negative demographic consequences in native ranid populations that have been reduced or altered by other stressors.
Bottomland hardwood forests (BLH) are found in temperate, humid regions of the southeastern US, primarily on alluvial floodplains adjacent to rivers. Altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains has caused changes in stand development and species composition of BLHs. We hypothesize that the driving mechanisms behind these changes are related to the regeneration process because of the complexity of recruitment and the vulnerability of species at that age in development. Here we review the state of our understanding regarding BLH regeneration, and identify potential bottlenecks throughout the stages of seed production, seed dispersal, germination, establishment, and survival. Our process-level understanding of regeneration by seed in BLHs is rudimentary, thus limiting our ability to predict the effects of hydrologic alterations on species composition. By focusing future research on the appropriate stages of regeneration, we can better understand the sources of forest-community transitions across the diverse range of BLH systems.
In 1815, the naturalist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783–1840) previewed three new species of cetaceans – Delphinus dalippus , Physeter urganantus and Oxypterus mongitori – that he intended to describe from Sicily based on illustrations in Antonino Mongitore's published work Della Sicilia ricercata nelle cose più memorabili (1742–1743). Although formal descriptions of the three species were never published, Rafinesque's reference to Mongitore's illustrations made the names available by “indication”. The names, nonetheless, fell into obscurity, most likely a result of contemporary taxonomists' lack of access to Mongitore's work. Rafinesque's names remain relevant to the history of cetacean taxonomy, although they are no longer applicable. Moreover, the animals associated with these names add to the historical record of whale strandings in the Mediterranean. For these reasons, we studied the illustrations Rafinesque indicated for his cetaceans and reviewed Mongitore's accompanying text, which together provide sufficient distinctive characters that two of the three animals can be confidently identified with modern species, namely the sperm whale, Physeter catodon ( Linnaeus, 1758), and the false killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846). Had Rafinesque's name D. dalippus been recognized for what it was, it would have had priority over P. crassidens as the earliest scientific name for the false killer whale.