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/ We examined data relative to species abundance, distribution, anddiversity patterns of reptiles and amphibians to determine how perceptionschange over time and with level of sampling effort. Location data werecompiled on more than one million individual captures or observations of 98species during a 44-year study period on the US Department of Energy's(DOE) Savannah River Site National Environmental Research Park (SRS-NERP) inSouth Carolina. We suggest that perceptions of herpetofaunal speciesdiversity are strongly dependent on level of effort and that land managementdecisions based on short-term data bases for some faunal groups could resultin serious errors in environmental management. We provide evidence thatacquiring information on biodiversity distribution patterns is compatiblewith multiyear spatially extensive research programs and also provide aperspective of what might be achieved if long-term, coordinated researchefforts were instituted nationwide.To conduct biotic surveys on government-managed lands, we recommend revisionsin the methods used by government agencies to acquire and report biodiversitydata. We suggest that government and industry employees engaged inbiodiversity survey efforts develop proficiency in field identification forone or more major taxonomic groups and be encouraged to measure the status ofpopulations quantitatively with consistent and reliable methodologies. Wealso suggest that widespread academic cooperation in the dissemination ofinformation on regional patterns of biodiversity could result byestablishment of a peer-reviewed, scientifically rigorous journal concernedwith status and trends of the biota of the United States. KEY WORDS: Abundance; Amphibian; Biodiversity; Distribution; Landmanagement; Reptile

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At present the role of capillary electrophoresis in the detection of doping agents in athletes is, for the most part, nonexistent. More traditional techniques, namely gas and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection, remain the gold standard of antidoping tests. This Feature will investigate the in-roads that capillary electrophoresis has made, the limitations that the technique suffers from, and where the technique may grow into being a key tool for antidoping analysis.

CZE has become widespread for the separation and analysis of biomolecules such as proteins and peptides, due to factors such as, the speed of the separations, low sample volume, and high resolution associated with the technique. However, the separation of biomolecules by CZE does present a significant challenge due to the electrostatic attraction and adsorption of cationic, or cation containing, biomolecules to the capillary surface. To that end numerous methods have been developed to passivate, or protect the surface, in order to prevent the adsorption of analytes. Yet, in the process of protecting the capillary surface, the potential for further modification of the EOF, a factor crucial to effective analyte resolution, is greatly diminished. In seeking to overcome this limitation we have explored the potential of incorporating a range of metal cations into a phospholipid bilayer capillary coating. It has previously been established that the inclusion of calcium into the separation buffer with a phospholipid coating will reverse the EOF in the capillary. Here, we present our investigation of a broader range of metal cations included in the separation buffer (Ca(2+) , Mg(2+) , Co(2+) , Ni(2+) , Sr(2+) , Ba(2+) , and Ce(3+) ) revealing that the choice of metal cation can drastically influence the EOF, with observed values between -3.80 × 10(-4) and -5.74 × 10(-5) cm(2) /V·s.