Twenty-eight worldwide reports of massive mangrove tree mortalities are reviewed. Massive mortality is defined as tree mortalities that occur in response to rapid environmental change and affect all size dasses. Massive mortality occurs in addition to normal tree mortality. Normal tree mortality was described using structural data from 114 mangrove stands. This mortality is density dependent, follows orderly time dependent patterns dictated by stand maturation (related to average tree diameter), and usually occurs in the smaller diameter size classes. Disease and other biotic factors do not appear to be primary causes of massive mangrove mortalities. Instead, these factors appear to attack forests weakened by changes in the physical environment. Mangrove environments are dynamic and cyclical and mangrove associations adapt to such environments by both growing and dying fast. Mangrove species' characteristics such as the capacity to produce large quantities of propagules that take advantage of dispersal agents, sharp species zonations, and even-aged populations contribute to the rapid growth-mortality cycles in mangroves. Humans may tilt the balance towards higher mortality rates by introducing chronic stressors that inhibit regeneration mechanisms.

The distributions of migratory species in the ocean span local, national and international jurisdictions. Across these ecologically interconnected regions, migratory marine species interact with anthropogenic stressors throughout their lives. Migratory connectivity, the geographical linking of individuals and populations throughout their migratory cycles, influences how spatial and temporal dynamics of stressors affect migratory animals and scale up to influence population abundance, distribution and species persistence. Population declines of many migratory marine species have led to calls for connectivity knowledge, especially insights from animal tracking studies, to be more systematically and synthetically incorporated into decision-making. Inclusion of migratory connectivity in the design of conservation and management measures is critical to ensure they are appropriate for the level of risk associated with various degrees of connectivity. Three mechanisms exist to incorporate migratory connectivity into international marine policy which guides conservation implementation: site-selection criteria, network design criteria and policy recommendations. Here, we review the concept of migratory connectivity and its use in international policy, and describe the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean system, a migratory connectivity evidence-base for the ocean. We propose that without such collaboration focused on migratory connectivity, efforts to effectively conserve these critical species across jurisdictions will have limited effect.

In an examination of sex and race effects on attitudes about sexual assault, 336 Latino and Caucasian undergraduates reacted to a written acquaintance rape vignette that manipulated victim and perpetrator race. Reactions were assessed by the Rape Empathy Scale, the Attitudes Toward Rape Victim Scale (ARVS), and the Rape Myth Acceptance Scale (RMAS). Results indicated that women reported higher perceptions of empathy, ascribed more credibility toward the rape victim, and were less accepting of rape myths compared with their male counterparts. Interactions involving sex and race were obtained for the ARVS and RMAS ratings, indicating that, compared with Latinas, Caucasian women reported stronger positive attitudes toward rape victims generally and more accurate perceptions of rape when the victim was portrayed as Caucasian.

No abstract

Our data support ancient and persistent introgressive hybridization among new world Rhizophora and argue for a full revision of the systematic relationships of the group based on much finer morphological, ecological, and genetic analyses.