Interspecific hybridization is common in plants and animals, particularly in waterfowl (Anatidae). One factor shown to contribute to hybridization is restricted mate choice, which can occur when two species occur in sympatry but one is rare. The Hubbs principle, or "desperation hypothesis," states that under such circumstances the rarer species is more likely to mate with heterospecifics. Here ...

Populations of marsh-birds are believed to be declining throughout North America in response to a decrease in wetland habitats. As a result, several species of marshbirds are of heightened conservation status at the local and regional levels and the need to monitor populations of these birds is critical to effective conservation and management. Our objective was to estimate population densities...

A migratory divide usually signals the presence of a geographical region over which other traits, such as morphology and genotypes, also undergo rapid change. A migratory divide has been hypothesized in central southern Africa for the abundant migratory weaver, the red-billed quelea Quelea quelea. The positioning of the divide in the region is based on the patterns of rainfall in the region tha...

A decrease in wetland habitats throughout North America has caused a decline in populations of marsh birds. The objective of this study was to estimate population densities and abundances of secretive marsh birds in Iowa. Call-broadcast surveys were conducted in conjunction with distance sampling for eight species of marsh birds at wetlands in three regions of Iowa during 2009 and 2010. Regions...

We report that a latitudinal cline in intertidal food distribution is associated with the nonbreeding distribution of the Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri). This novel result is the first to demonstrate a clear relationship between patterns of differential nonbreeding distribution and food availability for any shorebird species. Within each age class and sex, longer-billed Western Sandpipers w...

BACKGROUND Personal support services enable many individuals to stay in their homes, but there are no standard ways to classify need for functional support in home and community care settings. The goal of this project was to develop an evidence-based clinical tool to inform service planning while allowing for flexibility in care coordinator judgment in response to patient and family circumstanc...

Investigating the extent (or the existence) of local adaptation is crucial to understanding how populations adapt. When experiments or fitness measurements are difficult or impossible to perform in natural populations, genomic techniques allow us to investigate local adaptation through the comparison of allele frequencies and outlier loci along environmental clines. The thick-billed murre (Uria...

BACKGROUND Brain injuries are a significant public health problem, particularly among the pediatric population. Brain injuries account for a significant portion of pediatric injury deaths, and are the highest contributor to morbidity and mortality in the pediatric and young adult populations. Several studies focus on particular mechanisms of brain injury and the cost of treating brain injurie...

To evaluate the current status of the western population of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) along the Sacramento and Feather rivers in California's Sacramento Valley, we conducted extensive call playback surveys in 2012 and 2013. We also quantified the amount and distribution of potential habitat. Our survey transects were randomly located and spatially balanced to sample represe...

The Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne has been providing teleconsultations since 2011 using web-based videoconferencing. We reviewed telehealth activity over the first 30 months of the programme. The average consultation rate was 14 per month in 2012, 39 in 2013 and 49 per month in the first half of 2014. One-third of all activity (265 out of 852 consultations) was provided by only t...