Response of pollinator taxa to fire is consistent with historic fire regimes in the Sierra Nevada and mediated through floral richness†.

Many fire-prone forests are experiencing wildfires that burn outside the historical range of variation in extent and severity. These fires impact pollinators and the ecosystem services they provide, but how the effects of fire are mediated by burn severity in different habitats is not well understood. We used generalized linear mixed models in a Bayesian framework to model the abundance of pollinators as a function of burn severity, habitat, and floral resources in post-fire, mid-elevation, conifer forest, and meadow in the Sierra Nevada, California. Although most species-level effects were not significant, we found highly consistent negative impacts of burn severity in meadows where pollinators were most abundant, with only hummingbirds and some butterfly families responding positively to burn severity in meadows. Moderate-severity fire tended to increase the abundance of most pollinator taxa in upland forest habitat, indicating that even in large fires that burn primarily at high- and moderate-severity patches may be associated with improved habitat conditions for pollinator species in upland forest. Nearly all pollinator taxa responded positively to floral richness but not necessarily to floral abundance. Given that much of the Sierra Nevada is predicted to burn at high severity, limiting high-severity effects in meadow and upland habitats may help conserve pollinator communities whereas low- to moderate-severity fire may be needed in both systems.

Food webs for three burn severities after wildfire in the Eldorado National Forest, California.

Wildfire dynamics are changing around the world and understanding their effects on ecological communities and landscapes is urgent and important. We report detailed food webs for unburned, low-to-moderate and high severity burned habitats three years post-fire in the Eldorado National Forest, California. The cumulative cross-habitat food web contains 3,084 ontogenetic stages (nodes) or plant parts comprising 849 species (including 107 primary producers, 634 invertebrates, 94 vertebrates). There were 178,655 trophic interactions between these nodes. We provide information on taxonomy, body size, biomass density and trophic interactions under each of the three burn conditions. We detail 19 sampling methods deployed across 27 sites (nine in each burn condition) used to estimate the richness, body size, abundance and biomass density estimates in the node lists. We provide the R code and raw data to estimate summarized node densities and assign trophic links.

Small mammal responses to fire severity mediated by vegetation characteristics and species traits.

The frequency of large, high-severity "mega-fires" has increased in recent decades, with numerous consequences for forest ecosystems. In particular, small mammal communities are vulnerable to post-fire shifts in resource availability and play critical roles in forest ecosystems. Inconsistencies in previous observations of small mammal community responses to fire severity underscore the importance of examining mechanisms regulating the effects of fire severity on post-fire recovery of small mammal communities. We compared small mammal abundance, diversity, and community structure among habitats that burned at different severities, and used vegetation characteristics and small mammal functional traits to predict community responses to fire severity three years after one mega-fire in the Sierra Nevada, California. Using a model-based fourth-corner analysis, we examined how interactions between vegetation variables and small mammal traits associated with their resource use were associated with post-fire small mammal community structure among fire severity categories. Small mammal abundance was similar across fire severity categories, but diversity decreased and community structure shifted as fire severity increased. Differences in small mammal communities were large only between unburned and high-severity sites. Three highly correlated fire-dependent vegetation variables affected by fire and the volume of soft coarse woody debris were associated with small mammal community structures. Furthermore, we found that interactions between vegetation variables and three small mammal traits (feeding guild, primary foraging mode, and primary nesting habit) predicted community structure across fire severity categories. We concluded that resource use was important in regulating small mammal recovery after the fire because vegetation provided required resources to small mammals as determined by their functional traits. Given the mechanistic nature of our analyses, these results may be applicable to other fire-prone forest systems, although it will be important to conduct studies across large biogeographic regions and over long post-fire time periods to assess generality.

The Prevalence of Dental Anxiety in Dental Practice Settings.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental anxiety and missed dental appointments due to dental anxiety among patients within three types of private dental offices.Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study utilized the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS). The MDAS consists of five questions to assess dental anxiety. Demographics and an open-ended question about missed dental appointments due to dental anxiety were included. Linear and logistic regression models were used to analyze anxiety scores as related to gender and age. Participants' responses to the open-ended question were compiled according to themes.Results: Three hundred and eight (n=308) dental patients participated in the study. Using the MDAS cut-off scores of 15 and 19, the prevalence estimates of moderate to high and high dental anxiety within the total study population was 19% and 6.82% respectively. Females had an MDAS score 2.12 times higher than males (p<0.05). For every one unit increase in age, the MDAS score was 0.08 units lower (p<0.05). Out of the 308 participants, 26 (8.4%) responded to missing a dental appointment due to dental anxiety. Five common themes were coded as the source of dental anxiety: fear of dental experience, previous negative dental experience, cost of treatment, gag reflex, and fear of bad news.Conclusions: Moderate to high dental anxiety was present in 19% of the population sampled. Awareness of patients' dental anxiety level and the utilization of anxiety reducing measures during treatment may encourage routine care.

Alcohol consumption in young adults: the role of multisensory imagery.

Little is known about the subjective experience of alcohol desire and craving in young people. Descriptions of alcohol urges continue to be extensively used in the everyday lexicon of young, non-dependent drinkers. Elaborated Intrusion (EI) Theory contends that imagery is central to craving and desires, and predicts that alcohol-related imagery will be associated with greater frequency and amount of drinking. This study involved 1535 age stratified 18-25 year olds who completed an alcohol-related survey that included the Imagery scale of the Alcohol Craving Experience (ACE) questionnaire. Imagery items predicted 12-16% of the variance in concurrent alcohol consumption. Higher total Imagery subscale scores were linearly associated with greater drinking frequency and lower self-efficacy for moderate drinking. Interference with alcohol imagery may have promise as a preventive or early intervention target in young people.

Conservation of avian diversity in the Sierra Nevada: moving beyond a single-species management focus.

BACKGROUND: As a result of past practices, many of the dry coniferous forests of the western United States contain dense, even-aged stands with uncharacteristically high levels of litter and downed woody debris. These changes to the forest have received considerable attention as they elevate concerns regarding the outcome of wildland fire. However, attempts to reduce biomass through fuel reduction (i.e., thinning of trees) are often opposed by public interest groups whose objectives include maintaining habitat for species of concern such as the spotted owl, Strix occidentalis, the northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis, and the Pacific fisher, Martes pennanti. Whether protection of these upper-trophic level species confers adequate conservation of avian forest diversity is unknown. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We use a multi-species occurrence model to estimate the habitat associations of 47 avian species detected at 742 sampling locations within an 880-km(2) area in the Sierra Nevada. Our approach, which accounts for variations in detectability of species, estimates occurrence probabilities of all species in a community by linking species occurrence models into one hierarchical community model, thus improving inferences on all species, especially those that are rare or observed infrequently. We address how the avian community is influenced by covariates related to canopy cover, tree size and shrub cover while accounting for the impacts of abiotic variables known to affect species distributions. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: Environmental parameters estimated through our approach emphasize the importance of within and between stand-level heterogeneity in meeting biodiversity objectives and suggests that many avian species would increase under more open canopy habitat conditions than those favored by umbrella species of high conservation concern. Our results suggest that a more integrated approach that emphasizes maintaining a diversity of habitats across environmental gradients and minimizing urbanization may have a greater benefit to ecosystem functioning then a single-species management focus.

Is publication rate an equal opportunity metric?

Publication quantity is frequently used as a ranking metric for employment, promotion, and grant success, and is considered an unbiased metric for comparing applicants. However, research suggests that women publish fewer papers, such that the measure may not be equitable. We suggest reasons for the disparity, and potential future remedies. Publication quality and impact provide more equitable metrics of research performance and should be stressed above publication quantity.

How do giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) respond to varying properties of enrichments? A comparison of behavioral profiles among five enrichment items.

This study investigated the responses of 14 giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to 5 enrichment items (3 manipulable objects, 2 feeding devices) that possess different properties affording varying behavioral opportunities. Enrichment items were quantitatively described by using 12 properties. Pandas displayed no preferences among the 5 enrichment treatments, all of which had similar positive effects on behavioral measures of well-being (behavioral diversity, stereotypy). However, each item promoted a distinct behavioral profile, readily mapped onto the enrichment's properties. These results suggest that it may be important to stimulate behavioral diversity but that specific behaviors or enrichment properties are not required. The unique behavioral topography seen with these enrichments also suggests that providing multiple enrichments with varying properties will maximize overall behavioral diversity.