Sea turtle egg mortality, egg predation, and small organisms associated with turtle nests were studied at Playa Ostional, Costa Rica. Sites with concentrated sea turtle nesting were compared with solitary nesting sites as a function of place and time based on ANOVA, Akaike's Information Criterion, and Bayesian analyses. Results indicate that sea turtle egg mortality was significantly associated (P < 0.005) with flowing water that erodes or saturates nesting sites, and with overlapped nesting in which sea turtles disturb each other's nests. Sarcophagid and calliphorid fly larvae (Bayesian prior = 1.19; posterior = 2.27), fungi (prior = 1.14; posterior = 1.92), mites (prior = 0.51; posterior = 1.15), and several other types of small organisms increased in number after turtle egg laying (N = 303 nests; 34,451 turtle eggs). During peak sea turtle nesting periods, visitation to nesting sites by poachers and vertebrate predators was high, and relative number of nests disturbed by these predators was low (P < 0.02). In multimodel analysis, the three most parsimonious models were: (1) turtle egg mortality and distance from mean high tide; (2) turtle egg predation and distance from mean high tide; and (3) turtle egg mortality and nesting density, with Akaike weights of 0.224, 0.203, and 0.153 respectively. Intensive sea turtle nesting might result in upwelling and turnover of nesting debris and nest organisms, and may influence biotic community structure of sandy beach ecosystems.Abstract in Portuguese is available at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/loi/btp.
We measure how leg actions of cadaver monkeys are transferred within the hip-joint, and we compare physical femoral mobility of wild and captive monkeys in Panama, Costa Rica, and in zoological parks of California. We acquire leg movement data of howler, capuchin and spider monkeys with random 1 second digital photography during 4 months in Central America, and weekly visits for 2 months in California zoos (n=47 wild primates, 1879 focal events; 24 captive primates, 959 focal events). We employ computer software to objectively assess leg angle in regards to flexion, neutral and extension postures of the femur, relative to the hip socket. We apply leg action data to cadaver pelvises in primate bone collections at University of California, Davis, University of Oregon Osteology Lab, and the Denver Museum. Our study reveals that extreme femoral action translates as high diversity of articular contacts within the primate hip joint, and that captive monkeys in artificial habitats have less femoral movements than wild monkeys, with statistical comparisons being: Full leg flexion P = 0.0012; Flexion P = 0.023; Ambulatory as in walking P = 0.075; Extension P = 0.002; and Full extension with leg in line with body P = 0.00011. We speculate that the primate body is built to move in extreme but non-traumatic, wide-ranging appendicular actions. Such movements may help to simulate peripheral articular cartilage, contributing to the longevity of joints, and perhaps extending the life of primates who move in this manner.
Teachers may use apprenticeships and collaboration as instructional strategies that help students to make authentic scientific discoveries as they work as amateur researchers in academic field studies. This concept was examined with 643 students, ages 14-72, who became proficient at field research through cognitive apprenticeships with the Smithsonian Institute, School for Field Studies and Earthwatch. Control student teams worked from single research goals and sets of methods, while experimental teams varied goals, methods, and collaborative activities in Kenya, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. Results from studies indicate that students who conducted local pilot studies, collaborative symposia, and ongoing, long-term fieldwork generated significantly more data than did control groups. Research reports of the experimental groups were ranked highest by experts, and contributed the most data to international science journals. Data and anecdotal information in this report indicate that structured collaboration in local long-term studies using apprenticeships may increase the potential for students' academic field studies contribution of new information to science.
Movement ecology of arboreal monkeys in Central America involves the action of diverse body postures to address challenges in rain forests, where scattered resources and complex habitat structure demand that a primate frequently employ extreme physical finesse to survive. What is not clearly understood about this area of study is the connection between primate body postures as responses to specific types of forest architecture and how forest structure may influence a monkey's continued capacity for wide-ranging mobility over time. We studied tree canopy structure and branch connectivity associated with the movement ecology of black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata), Geoffroy's tamarins (Saguinus geoffroyi), and white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in Panama and Costa Rica. Laboratory study of primate cadaver pelvises was done at UC Davis, Oregon Osteology Lab, and the Denver Museum. Rain forests appear to induce wide-ranging leg movements in wild neotropical monkeys that were not observed in the same species of monkeys inhabiting artificial environments. We also found that a wild primate employs frequent wide-ranging leg movement that result in widely dispersed contacts between the articulating surfaces within the hip, potentially maintaining cartilage and contributing to the longevity of that joint. Thus, a connection may exist between rain forests, the leg action of wild monkeys, and the continued capacity to move over time in this group of long-lived animals. postures as responses to specific types of forest architecture and how forest structure may influence a monkey's continued capacity for wide-ranging mobility over time. We studied tree canopy structure and branch connectivity associated with the movement ecology of blackhanded spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), mantled howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata), Geoffroy's tamarins (Saguinus geoffroyi), and white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) in Panama and Costa Rica. Laboratory study of primate cadaver pelvises was done at UC Davis, Oregon Osteology Lab, and the Denver Museum. Rain forests appear to induce wide-ranging leg movements in wild neotropical monkeys that were not observed in the same species of monkeys inhabiting artificial environments. We also found that a wild primate employs frequent wide-ranging leg movement that result in widely dispersed contacts between the articulating surfaces within the hip, potentially maintaining cartilage and contributing to the longevity of that joint. Thus, a connection may exist between rain forests, the leg action of wild monkeys, and the continued capacity to move over time in this group of long-lived animals.PeerJ PrePrints | https://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.1002v1 | CC-BY 4.0 Open Access |
We measure how leg actions of cadaver monkeys are transferred within the hip-joint, and we compare physical femoral mobility of wild and captive monkeys in Panama, Costa Rica, and in zoological parks of California. We acquire leg movement data of howler, capuchin and spider monkeys with random 1 second digital photography during 4 months in Central America, and weekly visits for 2 months in California zoos (n=47 wild primates, 1879 focal events; 24 captive primates, 959 focal events). We employ computer software to objectively assess leg angle in regards to flexion, neutral and extension postures of the femur, relative to the hip socket. We apply leg action data to cadaver pelvises in primate bone collections at University of California, Davis, University of Oregon Osteology Lab, and the Denver Museum. Our study reveals that extreme femoral action translates as high diversity of articular contacts within the primate hip joint, and that captive monkeys in artificial habitats have less femoral movements than wild monkeys, with statistical comparisons being: Full leg flexion P = 0.0012; Flexion P = 0.023; Ambulatory as in walking P = 0.075; Extension P = 0.002; and Full extension with leg in line with body P = 0.00011. We speculate that the primate body is built to move in extreme but nontraumatic, wide-ranging appendicular actions. Such movements may help to simulate peripheral articular cartilage, contributing to the longevity of joints, and perhaps extending the life of primates who move in this manner.PeerJ PrePrints | http://dx.doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.727v1 | CC-BY 4.0 Open Access | rec:
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