Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments. If all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times recent rates. Some threatened species will survive the century, but many species not now threatened will succumb. Regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction. Although new technology provides details of habitat losses, estimates of future extinctions are hampered by our limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics.

Summary:uncertainty of a cure with high-dose, intensive treatment regimens. While there has been increasing attention paid to QOL issues in BMT patients, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] there have been few We developed a 12-item bone marrow transplant subscale (BMTS) for the general Functional Assessment of instruments designed specifically to measure quality of life in the transplant patient population. One other available Cancer Therapy (FACT) measure. The subscale combined with the FACT, (FACT-BMT) is a 47-item, valid instrument 10 was developed for post-treatment survivors of bone marrow transplantation, so its appropriateness for and reliable measure of five dimensions of quality of life in bone marrow transplant patients. The three-step patients during transplantation is unknown.Health-related quality of life measurement has evolved validation process involved the generation and selection of BMT-specific items and the testing of the overall meaover the past 25 years to the point where the Food and Drug Administration recommends QOL assessment for any sure. Items were selected from a list produced by seven oncology experts and 15 patients and were designed to new drug therapies developed in cancer medicine. 11,12Initially, general measures of psychological health and assess content not represented in the general FACT items. A total of 182 patients completed the FACT-BMT functional status were used to assess patient response to cancer therapies and other areas such as cardiac care and at baseline, prior to BMT. An analysis measuring sensitivity to change was performed with 74 patients after renal transplantation. Cancer specific instruments were developed to measure the particular issues faced by cancer transplantation and 60 patients over the three timepoints of baseline, hospital discharge and 100 days. The patients. 13,14 Further advancement of QOL measurement technology has produced site-specific scales that FACT-BMT and all subscales were correlated, sensitivity to change was measured, and the internal consistaccompany general cancer measures and are utilized to assess the unique problems faced by patients with differency for each scale was calculated. Coefficients of reliability and validity ranged from 0.86 to 0.89 for the ent diagnoses.14,15While many uses of QOL data have been described, 16 entire FACT-BMT and 0.54 to 0.63 for the BMTS. The BMTS was able to discriminate patients on the basis of there are three primary reasons why QOL measurement is important, especially in a BMT population. 17 First, when performance status rating and also demonstrated sensitivity to change over time. The FACT-BMT has good two treatments are compared in a clinical trial, QOL data may provide additional information upon which to base psychometric properties for use in assessing quality of life in bone marrow transplant patients. The addition treatment decisions. Since BMT regimens are relatively new compared to standard chemotherapeutic and radioof the bone marrow transplant subscale to the general FACT measure makes it an e...

In the face of worldwide habitat fragmentation, managers need to devise a time frame for action. We ask how fast do understory bird species disappear from experimentally isolated plots in the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, central Amazon, Brazil. Our data consist of mist-net records obtained over a period of 13 years in 11 sites of 1, 10, and 100 hectares. The numbers of captures per species per unit time, analyzed under different simplifying assumptions, reveal a set of species-loss curves. From those declining numbers, we derive a scaling rule for the time it takes to lose half the species in a fragment as a function of its area. A 10-fold decrease in the rate of species loss requires a 1,000-fold increase in area. Fragments of 100 hectares lose one half of their species in <15 years, too short a time for implementing conservation measures.

Summary:The purpose of this study was to measure the trajectory of psychosocial recovery over the first year after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). BMT patients were assessed at baseline (n = 86), hospital discharge (n = 74), 100 days (n = 64) and at 1 year (n = 45). Participants completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Bone Marrow Transplant Scale (FACT-BMT), the Profile of Mood States Total Mood Disturbance Scale (POMS-TMDS), the Medical Outcomes Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale screener, a performance Status Rating Scale (PSR), and an interview questionnaire. The recovery trajectory in this patient population showed three distinct trends. The trajectory for distress was linear and improved over time with approximately 20% of patients continuing to have psychological distress at 1 year. Secondly, the trend for overall quality of life was parabolic, worsening at discharge, then improving at 100 days and at 1 year. However, there were individual areas of deficit at follow-up, eg fatigue, even while overall quality of life mean scores improved. Thirdly, the trend for patient concerns over time was linear and worsening. These recovery trajectories suggest psychosocial interventions before and after BMT that may prepare patients for increasing and worsening concerns even as physical well-being improves. Keywords: quality of life; psychological distress; bone marrow transplantationThe psychological adaptation of bone marrow transplantation patients has been the subject of study for over 20 years.1 However, the first study indexed by the National Library of Medicine's Medline under both terms 'quality of life' and 'bone marrow transplantation' was published as recently as 1982.2 Case studies and clinical observations 1,3,4 have provided the impetus for post-transplant surveys designed to assess the psychological status and physical functioning of patients in cross-sectional, longitudinal stud- ies. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] More recently, studies that employ a prospective longitudinal design measuring quality of life (QOL) both before and at multiple time points after transplantation have been utilized. [13][14][15][16] Several comprehensive reviews of the literature provide an overview of the numerous studies conducted to date. [17][18][19][20] Even with a developing consensus that post-BMT functioning can be satisfactory for most survivors, questions remain about how quickly patients recover a life of quality following BMT. For example, what concerns and problems do recipients experience in returning to normal during the 1 year time period post-BMT? 21,22 Our understanding of post-bone marrow transplant functioning has benefited greatly from surveys completed by patients following transplantation. However, patients who are assessed at variable time points months to years after transplantation do not represent a homogenous group. There is some evidence of a trajectory of recovery over the first year following transplantation. Patients may...

Most studies of exotic species invasions only consider the factors that affect the establishment of populations following release, yet this is only one step on the invasion pathway. Different factors are likely to influence which species are transported and released. Here, we examine the influence of species traits on the successful transition of species through several stages in the introduction pathway (transport, release, and establishment), using parrots (Aves: Psittaciformes) as a model system. We use a specieslevel supertree of parrots to test for phylogenetic auto-correlation in the introduction process. Our analyses find that different sets of variables are related to the probability that a species enters each stage on the invasion pathway. The availability of individuals for transport and release seems to be most important for passage through these stages, but has no obvious effect on establishment following release. Rather, establishment success is higher for sedentary species, and species with broad diets.

We compared the distribution of historical bird and mammal species extinctions across genera and families with the distribution we would expect if these extinctions had occurred at random with respect to taxonomy. We then repeated the comparison for species listed in various categories of threat according to the 1996 Red List of the World Conservation Union. We found the distributions of extinctions and threat classifications to be almost always nonrandom-"selective"-with clustering in certain genera and families. Furthermore, extinctions tended to be clustered in taxa that contain few species; species in smaller genera tended to have higher probabilities of extinction. This tendency was strong for historical extinctions but was reduced or absent for some categories of threat. We attribute this to a change in the causes of extinction whereby predation and introduced species have been joined or superseded by widespread habitat loss. We then assessed the implications of this variable selectivity for the past and likely future losses of genera and families. In most cases, the number of lost taxa rises. Finally, we made predictions about minimum losses of taxa at specific dates in the future and showed that, despite the reduction in some forms of selectivity, we will still lose more taxa than if species extinctions were random. Selectividad Taxonómica Presente y Futura Extinciones de Aves y MamíferosResumen: Se comparó la distribución de las extinciones históricas de especies de aves y mamíferos con la distribución que se esperaría si las extinciones hubieran ocurrido al azar con respecto a la taxonomía. La comparación fue repetida para las especies incluidas en distintas categorías de riesgo en la Lista Roja de la UICN. En casi todos los casos se encontró que las distribuciones de las extinciones y de las categorías de riesgo no estaban distribuidas al azar, sin que fueron 'selectivas,' con distribución agrupada en ciertos géneros y familias. Se observó, además, que las extinciones tendieron a estar agrupadas en taxones que contienen pocas especies; las especies en géneros más pequeños tienden a tener mayores probabilidades de extinción. Esta tendencia fue fuerte para las extinciones históricas, pero reducida o ausente para algunas categorías de riesgo. Esto se atribuyó a un cambio en las causas de extinción, donde la predación y las especies introducidas se han sumado o han sido reemplazadas por la gran destrucción de hábitat. Se evaluaron luego las consecuencias de esta selectividad variable para las extinciones de géneros y familias en el pasado y en un futuro probable. En la mayoría de los casos el número de taxones extinguidos aumenta. Finalmente, se hicieron predicciones acerca de las extinciones mínimas de taxones en el futuro, demostrándose que, a pesar de la reducción en algunas formas de selectividad, se extinguirán más taxones que si las extinciones fueran al azar.

Managers in southern Africa are concerned that continually increasing elephant populations will degrade ecosystems. Culling, translocation and birth control are flawed solutions. An alternative is providing elephants more space but this hinges on identifying landscape preferences. We examined two diverse ecosystems and uncovered similarities in elephant habitat use, expressing these as 'rules'. We considered arid Etosha National Park, (Namibia) and the tropical woodlands of Tembe Elephant Park (South Africa) and Maputo Elephant Reserve (Mozambique). Landscape data consisted of vegetation types, distances from water and settlements. To surmount issues of scale and availability we incorporated elephant movements as a function that declined as distance from an elephant's location increased. This presumes that elephants optimize tradeoffs between benefiting from high-quality resources and costs to find them. Under a likelihood-based approach we determined the important variables and shapes of their relationships to evaluate and compare models separated by gender, season and location. After consid-ering elephants' preferences for areas nearby, habitat use usually increased with proximity to water in all locations. Elephants sought places with high proportions of vegetation, especially when neighbouring areas had low vegetative cover. Lastly, elephants avoided human settlements (when present), and cows more so than bulls. In caricature, elephants preferred to move little, drink easily, eat well, and avoid people. If one makes more areas available, elephants will probably favour areas near water with high vegetative cover (of many different types) and away from people. Managers can oblige elephants' preferences by supplying them. If so, they should anticipate higher impacts to neighbouring vegetation.

We compared the distribution of historical bird and mammal species extinctions across genera and families with the distribution we would expect if these extinctions had occurred at random with respect to taxonomy. We then repeated the comparison for species listed in various categories of threat according to the 1996 Red List of the World Conservation Union. We found the distributions of extinctions and threat classifications to be almost always nonrandom-"selective"-with clustering in certain genera and families. Furthermore, extinctions tended to be clustered in taxa that contain few species; species in smaller genera tended to have higher probabilities of extinction. This tendency was strong for historical extinctions but was reduced or absent for some categories of threat. We attribute this to a change in the causes of extinction whereby predation and introduced species have been joined or superseded by widespread habitat loss. We then assessed the implications of this variable selectivity for the past and likely future losses of genera and families. In most cases, the number of lost taxa rises. Finally, we made predictions about minimum losses of taxa at specific dates in the future and showed that, despite the reduction in some forms of selectivity, we will still lose more taxa than if species extinctions were random. Selectividad Taxonómica Presente y Futura Extinciones de Aves y MamíferosResumen: Se comparó la distribución de las extinciones históricas de especies de aves y mamíferos con la distribución que se esperaría si las extinciones hubieran ocurrido al azar con respecto a la taxonomía. La comparación fue repetida para las especies incluidas en distintas categorías de riesgo en la Lista Roja de la UICN. En casi todos los casos se encontró que las distribuciones de las extinciones y de las categorías de riesgo no estaban distribuidas al azar, sin que fueron 'selectivas,' con distribución agrupada en ciertos géneros y familias. Se observó, además, que las extinciones tendieron a estar agrupadas en taxones que contienen pocas especies; las especies en géneros más pequeños tienden a tener mayores probabilidades de extinción. Esta tendencia fue fuerte para las extinciones históricas, pero reducida o ausente para algunas categorías de riesgo. Esto se atribuyó a un cambio en las causas de extinción, donde la predación y las especies introducidas se han sumado o han sido reemplazadas por la gran destrucción de hábitat. Se evaluaron luego las consecuencias de esta selectividad variable para las extinciones de géneros y familias en el pasado y en un futuro probable. En la mayoría de los casos el número de taxones extinguidos aumenta. Finalmente, se hicieron predicciones acerca de las extinciones mínimas de taxones en el futuro, demostrándose que, a pesar de la reducción en algunas formas de selectividad, se extinguirán más taxones que si las extinciones fueran al azar.