CHARACTERISTICS OF SANDHILL CRANE ROOSTS IN THE SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA OF CALIFORNIA

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) region of California is an important wintering region for 2 subspecies of Pacific Flyway sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis): the Central Valley Population of the greater sandhill crane (G. c. tabida) and the Pacific Flyway Population of the lesser sandhill crane (G. c. canadensis). During the winters of 2007-08 and 2008-09 we conducted roost counts, roadside surveys, aerial surveys, and tracked radio-marked birds to locate and assess important habitats for roosting cranes in the Delta. Of the 69 crane night roosts we identified, 35 were flooded cropland sites and 34 were wetland sites. We found that both larger individual roost sites and larger complexes of roost sites supported larger peak numbers of cranes. Water depth used by roosting cranes averaged 10 cm (range 3-21 cm, mode 7 cm) and was similar between subspecies. We found that cranes avoided sites that were regularly hunted or had high densities of hunting blinds. We suggest that managers could decide on the size of roost sites to provide for a given crane population objective using a ratio of 1.5 cranes/ha. The fact that cranes readily use undisturbed flooded cropland sites makes this a viable option for creation of roost habitat. Because hunting disturbance can limit crane use of roost sites we suggest these 2 uses should not be considered readily compatible. However, if the management objective of an area includes waterfowl hunting, limiting hunting to low blind densities and restricting hunting to early morning may be viable options for creating a crane-compatible waterfowl hunt program

A postmodern approach to ecological sustainability : the re-enchantment of Fiji's forests

"Na cava na i sau ni taro ni kena tamusuki na veikau e Viti?”, a vuqa era taroga. Au nanuma ni bibi cake na taro. Kevaka e cala na veitaro e tarogi sa dredre sara me kunei na kena i sau a veiganiti. E gadrevi li me vakavinakataki na kena vakatulewataki? Se na navunavuci vinaka li? Na bula toro cake vakailavo li? Se na i tovo vakavanua? Au nanuma ni vu ni nodra vakacacana na tamata na veika e tu tikivi keda a Viti me vaka na musu kau e vakatau mai na noda i tovo vakavanua. Ia na mataqali tovo vakavanua cava a tokoni e Viti me baleta na kena i tuvaki ni vanua, se tiki ni tovo cava e cala? E Viti e kunei kina na bula veimaliwai ni veimatatamata, ia sa bula ka donumaka e dua na gauna ni veisau you. Na veisau vovou sa kena i tovo na kila ka, kei na i tovo e bucini cake ena yavu ni vakasama e taucoko. Na veisau vovou sa veisautaka na i rairai ni vanua e Viti ka kidomoka na veika kece e vakamareqeti ki na dua na kena yaga e qiqo. Ia, na tamusuki ni vaikau sa vakayacori makawa e Viti ni bera na gauna ni veisau oqo, e na gauna ni bula va-Koloni, ka sa dodonu me rau beitaki ruarua na i tovo e rua oqo. Na nona dusi e dua me beitaki ena sega ni vukea na leqa, ia na veika e rawa ni vakayacori sa i koya na noda taqomaki keda mai na noda vakalecalecava ni sega ni cala na i tovo ena kena vakacacani na veika e tu tikivi keda. Na vei tovo kece sara e dodonu me ra vakaitavi ena kena kunei na bula toro caki. Na i vakarau ena sega ni vunitaki dua mai na i tavi me qaravi. Na kena rawati na i naki ni nodra karoni me tudei na veika bula e tu tikivi keda sa gadrevi kina na vakatulewa matau ka ni veika e dau yaco e sega ni vaka i vakarau. Sa gadrevi talega kina na i tovo ka sega ni okata na kila ka me gaunisala duadua ni kena veivosakitaki na i tuvaki ni vanua. Na kena vakaduavatataki ni veivakasama kei na rokovi ni veika tawa kilai vakakina na veika e tawa siqemi rawa sa rawa ni kunei ena vuqa na i tovo, ka okati kina na vei tovo makawa vaka-Viti kei na nodra na vavalagi. Kevaka e vakasaqarai dina me tudei tu na vanua era bula voli kina na veika bula tikivi keda, na i tavi e tu sa i koya na kena vakasaqarai se kunei vou tale eso na veivakasama vovou kei na kena vakauqeti na nodra bula vakataki ira ga na veika bula. "What is the answer to deforestation in Fiji?" many people are asking. To find an answer we first need a question. If the wrong question is asked the possibility of an appropriate answer is out of reach. Is better management needed? Is it better planning? Perhaps it is a greener economy? Or is it culture? I argue that the causes of human induced environmental degradation in Fiji such as deforestation lie in the character of culture. But what culture or cultures do the landscapes of Fiji support, and what aspect of culture is at fault? Fiji is culturally diverse but currently dominated by modernity. Modernity is a culture of knowledge, and a culture built upon the foundations of a steady state rationality. Modernity has disenchanted the landscapes of Fiji and squeezed all forms of value into the narrow framework of utility. However, deforestation also happened in Fiji before modernity arrived with the colonial British, and so both pre-modern and modern cultures in Fiji must share the blame. Pointing at someone to blame does not solve our problem, but what it can do is prevent us from pretending that cultures are innocent when it comes to environmental disharmony. All cultures are responsible for enacting a sustainable life. Tradition will not hide anyone from that responsibility. Fulfilling the obligation of ecological sustainability requires a rationality of process because reality is in a constant state of flux. It also requires a culture that does not see knowledge as the only way of engaging in a conversation about or with a landscape. A rationality of process and a respect for the unknown and unknowable can be found in many different cultures, including the non-modern Fijian culture and non-modern cultures in the West. If ecological sustainability is what is sought, the task is a discovery or re-discovery of process thinking and a re-enchantment of Nature

Supramolecular Double Helices from Small C-3-Symmetrical Molecules Aggregated in Water

Supramolecular fibers in water, micrometers long and several nanometers in width, are among the most studied nanostructures for biomedical applications. These supramolecular polymers are formed through a spontaneous self-assembly process of small amphiphilic molecules by specific secondary interactions. Although many compounds do not possess a stereocenter, recent studies suggest the (co)existence of helical structures, albeit in racemic form. Here, we disclose a series of supramolecular (co)polymers based on water-soluble benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamides (BTAs) that form double helices, fibers that were long thought to be chains of single molecules stacked in one dimension (1D). Detailed cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM) studies and subsequent three-dimensional-volume reconstructions unveiled helical repeats, ranging from 15 to 30 nm. Most remarkable, the pitch can be tuned through the composition of the copolymers, where two different monomers with the same core but different peripheries are mixed in various ratios. Like in lipid bilayers, the hydrophobic shielding in the aggregates of these disc-shaped molecules is proposed to be best obtained by dimer formation, promoting supramolecular double helices. It is anticipated that many of the supramolecular polymers in water will have a thermodynamic stable structure, such as a double helix, although small structural changes can yield single stacks as well. Hence, it is essential to perform detailed analyses prior to sketching a molecular picture of these 1D fibers

Understanding the growth mechanism of graphene on Ge/Si(001) surfaces

The practical difficulties to use graphene in microelectronics and optoelectronics is that the available methods to grow graphene are not easily integrated in the mainstream technologies. A growth method that could overcome at least some of these problems is chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of graphene directly on semiconducting (Si or Ge) substrates. Here we report on the comparison of the CVD and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth of graphene on the technologically relevant Ge(001)/Si(001) substrate from ethene (C2H4) precursor and describe the physical properties of the films as well as we discuss the surface reaction and diffusion processes that may be responsible for the observed behavior. Using nano angle resolved photoemission (nanoARPES) complemented by transport studies and Raman spectroscopy as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we report the direct observation of massless Dirac particles in monolayer graphene, providing a comprehensive mapping of their low-hole doped Dirac electron bands. The micrometric graphene flakes are oriented along two predominant directions rotated by 30° with respect to each other. The growth mode is attributed to the mechanism when small graphene “molecules” nucleate on the Ge(001) surface and it is found that hydrogen plays a significant role in this process

Wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies of Sandhill Crane: Correlations between body size, site fidelity, and movement patterns

Body size is known to correlate with many aspects of life history in birds, and this knowledge can be used to manage and conserve bird species. However, few studies have compared the wintering ecology of sympatric subspecies that vary significantly in body size. We used radiotelemetry to examine the relationship between body size and site fidelity, movements, and home range in 2 subspecies of Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) wintering in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta of California, USA. Both subspecies showed high interannual return rates to the Delta study area, but Greater Sandhill Cranes (G. c. tabida) showed stronger within-winter fidelity to landscapes in our study region and to roost complexes within landscapes than did Lesser Sandhill Cranes (G. c. canadensis). Foraging flights from roost sites were shorter for G. c. tabida than for G. c. canadensis (1.9 ± 0.01 km vs. 4.5 ± 0.01 km, respectively) and, consequently, the mean size of 95% fixed-kernel winter home ranges was an order of magnitude smaller for G. c. tabida than for G. c. canadensis (1.9 ± 0.4 km² vs. 21.9 ± 1.9 km², respectively). Strong site fidelity indicates that conservation planning to manage for adequate food resources around traditional roost sites can be effective for meeting the habitat needs of these cranes, but the scale of conservation efforts should differ by subspecies. Analysis of movement patterns suggests that conservation planners and managers should consider all habitats within 5 km of a known G. c. tabida roost and within 10 km of a G. c. canadensis roost when planning for habitat management, mitigation, acquisition, and easements.Keywords: Sandhill Crane, home range, Grus canadensis, scale, California, site fidelity, conservation planning, wintering ecology, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delt

Weakly Trapped, Charged, and Free Excitons in Single-Layer MoS2 in the Presence of Defects, Strain, and Charged Impurities

Few- and single-layer MoS2 host substantial densities of defects. They are thought to influence the doping level, the crystal structure, and the binding of electron-hole pairs. We disentangle the concomitant spectroscopic expression of all three effects and identify to what extent they are intrinsic to the material or extrinsic to it, i.e., related to its local environment. We do so by using different sources of MoS2 - a natural one and one prepared at high pressure and high temperature - and different substrates bringing varying amounts of charged impurities and by separating the contributions of internal strain and doping in Raman spectra. Photoluminescence unveils various optically active excitonic complexes. We discover a defect-bound state having a low binding energy of 20 meV that does not appear sensitive to strain and doping, unlike charged excitons. Conversely, the defect does not significantly dope or strain MoS2. Scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory simulations point to substitutional atoms, presumably individual nitrogen atoms at the sulfur site. Our work shows the way to a systematic understanding of the effect of external and internal fields on the optical properties of two-dimensional materials

Raman spectroscopy as a versatile tool for studying the properties of graphene.

Raman spectroscopy is an integral part of graphene research. It is used to determine the number and orientation of layers, the quality and types of edge, and the effects of perturbations, such as electric and magnetic fields, strain, doping, disorder and functional groups. This, in turn, provides insight into all sp(2)-bonded carbon allotropes, because graphene is their fundamental building block. Here we review the state of the art, future directions and open questions in Raman spectroscopy of graphene. We describe essential physical processes whose importance has only recently been recognized, such as the various types of resonance at play, and the role of quantum interference. We update all basic concepts and notations, and propose a terminology that is able to describe any result in literature. We finally highlight the potential of Raman spectroscopy for layered materials other than graphene

Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries

Science is crucial for evidence-based decision-making. Public trust in scientists can help decision makers act on the basis of the best available evidence, especially during crises. However, in recent years the epistemic authority of science has been challenged, causing concerns about low public trust in scientists. We interrogated these concerns with a preregistered 68-country survey of 71,922 respondents and found that in most countries, most people trust scientists and agree that scientists should engage more in society and policymaking. We found variations between and within countries, which we explain with individual- and country-level variables, including political orientation. While there is no widespread lack of trust in scientists, we cannot discount the concern that lack of trust in scientists by even a small minority may affect considerations of scientific evidence in policymaking. These findings have implications for scientists and policymakers seeking to maintain and increase trust in scientists

Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries – the TISP dataset

Science is integral to society because it can inform individual, government, corporate, and civil society decision-making on issues such as public health, new technologies or climate change. Yet, public distrust and populist sentiment challenge the relationship between science and society. To help researchers analyse the science-society nexus across different geographical and cultural contexts, we undertook a cross-sectional population survey resulting in a dataset of 71,922 participants in 68 countries. The data were collected between November 2022 and August 2023 as part of the global Many Labs study “Trust in Science and Science-Related Populism” (TISP). The questionnaire contained comprehensive measures for individuals’ trust in scientists, science-related populist attitudes, perceptions of the role of science in society, science media use and communication behaviour, attitudes to climate change and support for environmental policies, personality traits, political and religious views and demographic characteristics. Here, we describe the dataset, survey materials and psychometric properties of key variables. We encourage researchers to use this unique dataset for global comparative analyses on public perceptions of science and its role in society and policy-making