Housing development is often intermixed within natural land cover, creating coupled humannatural systems that benefit some species, while eliminating critical habitat for others. As carnivore populations recover and expand in North America, understanding how populations may recolonize human-dominated landscapes is an important goal for conservation. We empirically test whether a population of American black bear (Ursus americanus) recolonizing a developed landscape is responding to land cover, housing density, or the amount of intermixture between forest and housing as quantified by the Wildland Urban Interface. Housing density was the most supported spatially explicit mark-recapture model and indicated that bear density was highest among exurban housing densities. Mean estimated bear density in exurban areas (6-49 houses/km 2) was 0.18 individuals/km 2 compared to 0.12 individuals/km 2 in rural areas (< 6 houses/km 2). Bear densities also declined to zero as development approached 50 houses/km 2. We also tested for differences in sex ratio between more and less intensely developed areas, using hybrid mixture models. Sex ratios were significantly more male-biased in areas of higher housing density. Elevated bear densities provide evidence that exurban land-use can facilitate recolonization of black bears, yet high housing density may also limit the recovery of bear populations. Explicit relationships between land-use and bear density will allow managers to anticipate future population distribution, and areas where bears and people may come into frequent contact.
Lung cancer is the most common cancer in the world. Globally, the annual diagnosis rate of new cases is approximately 1.6 million. The latest figures for the UK show that there are approximately 39000 cases each year and that lung cancer accounts for about 22% of all cancer deaths (Cancer Research UK, 2013a). This article will look at the latest national recommendations for managing and treating non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80% of lung cancers, as well as emerging therapies. It is not within the scope of this article to discuss each type and aspect of lung cancer in detail and further reading is encouraged.
1.The puma Puma concolor is the fourth largest wild felid and the most widespread native terrestrial mammal of the Americas. We synthesised published literature documenting the biotic interactions of pumas, in order to: 1) advance our understanding of the ecological roles pumas play in natural systems, and 2) support strategic decision-making about conservation investments, public education, and whole-ecosystem conservation management. 2. We divided puma biotic interactions into five categories: 1) diet and prey regulation, 2) fear effects on prey (including trophic cascades), 3) effects via carrion production, 4) effects on other carnivores, and 5) ecosystem services.We reviewed 162 studies that met our search criteria, which described 543 ecological interactions between pumas and 485 other species. 3. Puma diet and prey regulation was the most common research topic. The geographic distribution of research was highly skewed towards the USA and Canada, and research in Tropical moist forests was underrepresented. We found a steep increase in the number of scientific publications exploring the biotic interactions associated with pumas over time, but publications that reported effect sizes or measured the strength of interactions did not increase as quickly. We noted numerous gaps in our knowledge of puma biotic interactions and found few well-controlled studies of prey fear effects, trophic cascades, or ecosystem services. 4. We conclude that pumas are influential ecological actors in natural systems and important brokers of energy and nutrients throughout ecosystems in the
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