A major cause of amphibian declines worldwide is habitat destruction or alteration. Public green spaces, such as golf courses and parks, could serve as safe havens to curb the effects of habitat loss if managed in ways to bolster local amphibian communities. We reared larval Blanchard's cricket frogs (Acris blanchardi) and green frogs (Rana clamitans) in golf course ponds with and without 1 m t...

The ongoing destruction of old-growth forests puts tropical forest species under great pressure because of the resulting habitat loss. A pre-requisite for the maintenance of a viable metacommunity in a fragmented landscape is the connectivity between habitable patches. We experimentally studied four vital steps of epiphyte dispersal in different habitat types in western Panama. (i) Seed falling...

Native bees are important ecologically and economically because their role as pollinators fulfills a vital ecosystem service. Pollinators are declining due to various factors, including habitat degradation and destruction. Grasslands, an important habitat for native bees, are particularly vulnerable. One highly imperiled and understudied grassland type in the United States is the Pacific Northw...

This study assesses the effects of considering within-site habitat configuration when designing reserve networks. This attribute takes all its importance in situations where the long-term integrity of (within-site) habitat patches cannot be preserved without protecting their surrounding environment. We addressed this issue through the concrete problem of selecting a reserve network of natural p...

Biodiversity protects ecosystem against infectious diseases. Increased human contact with wild life have caused high impact diseases such as SARS, Novel Corona virus, Nipah Virus, Ebola fever and many more. Anthropogenic activities hunting, farming, encroachments, trade, introduction of domestic species, bush meat road building, mining increased wildlife rates lead to massive decline in biodive...

The attractiveness of both ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to various actors throughout the world represents a serious threat to U.S. security. These weapons and delivery systems are popular in part because they are highly visible symbols of military prowess. As such, they provide significant influence on regional balances of power, even among friends and allies. Furthe...

Having personally witnessed the destruction at the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, this paper presents my personal feelings and observations as an observer of both disaster and terror. Aside from the unimaginable horror as a result of the carnage, a feeling of helplessness was particularly prominent due to the inability to be able to care for casualties since most victims were fataliti...

The tragic events of 9/11 and the concerns about the potential for a terrorist or hostile state attack with weapons of mass destruction have led to an increased emphasis on risk analysis for homeland security. Uncertain hazards (natural and engineering) have been successfully analyzed using probabilistic risk analysis (PRA). Unlike uncertain hazards, terrorists and hostile states are intelligen...