Rhys E. Green
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198520863
- eISBN:
- 9780191706189
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198520863.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter considers all aspects of the study of the breeding biology of wild birds, and how to gain representative measures of nest success and other aspects. It discusses the selection of study ...
More
This chapter considers all aspects of the study of the breeding biology of wild birds, and how to gain representative measures of nest success and other aspects. It discusses the selection of study areas, measuring the success of individual breeding attempts, and determining the proximate causes of breeding failure from signs left at the nest, using wax or plasticine eggs, cameras, and temperature loggers. It also discusses the use of artificial nests to measure nest success and causes of failure, and methods of measuring overall annual productivity from detailed field studies, or from counts or captures after the breeding season, or from the use of simulation models. Final sections deal with assessments of the timing of breeding, measurements of eggs and chicks, and the use of experiments to disentangle the ultimate and proximate causes of breeding failure.Less
This chapter considers all aspects of the study of the breeding biology of wild birds, and how to gain representative measures of nest success and other aspects. It discusses the selection of study areas, measuring the success of individual breeding attempts, and determining the proximate causes of breeding failure from signs left at the nest, using wax or plasticine eggs, cameras, and temperature loggers. It also discusses the use of artificial nests to measure nest success and causes of failure, and methods of measuring overall annual productivity from detailed field studies, or from counts or captures after the breeding season, or from the use of simulation models. Final sections deal with assessments of the timing of breeding, measurements of eggs and chicks, and the use of experiments to disentangle the ultimate and proximate causes of breeding failure.
Sue Fawn Chung
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039447
- eISBN:
- 9780252097553
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039447.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Though recognized for their work in the mining and railroad industries, the Chinese also played a critical role in the nineteenth-century lumber trade. This book continues an examination of the ...
More
Though recognized for their work in the mining and railroad industries, the Chinese also played a critical role in the nineteenth-century lumber trade. This book continues an examination of the impact of Chinese immigrants on the American West by bringing to life the tensions, towns, and lumber camps of the Sierra Nevada during a boom period of economic expansion. Chinese workers, like whites, labored as wood cutters and flume-herders, lumber jacks and loggers. Exploding the myth of the Chinese as a docile and cheap labor army, the book shows Chinese laborers earned wages similar to those of non-Asians. Men working as camp cooks, among other jobs, could even make more. At the same time, the book draws on archives and archaeology to reconstruct everyday existence, offering evocative portraits of camp living, small town life, personal and work relationships, and the production and technical aspects of a dangerous trade. The book examines the role of the Chinese in the lumber trade in the American West during the late nineteenth century, with a focus on the Sierra Nevada in the 1870s to 1890s. It looks at Chinese laborers' contribution to the building of the American West by analyzing their migration, their communities and lifestyles, lived experiences, transnationalism, and their work in relationship to mining and railroad construction.Less
Though recognized for their work in the mining and railroad industries, the Chinese also played a critical role in the nineteenth-century lumber trade. This book continues an examination of the impact of Chinese immigrants on the American West by bringing to life the tensions, towns, and lumber camps of the Sierra Nevada during a boom period of economic expansion. Chinese workers, like whites, labored as wood cutters and flume-herders, lumber jacks and loggers. Exploding the myth of the Chinese as a docile and cheap labor army, the book shows Chinese laborers earned wages similar to those of non-Asians. Men working as camp cooks, among other jobs, could even make more. At the same time, the book draws on archives and archaeology to reconstruct everyday existence, offering evocative portraits of camp living, small town life, personal and work relationships, and the production and technical aspects of a dangerous trade. The book examines the role of the Chinese in the lumber trade in the American West during the late nineteenth century, with a focus on the Sierra Nevada in the 1870s to 1890s. It looks at Chinese laborers' contribution to the building of the American West by analyzing their migration, their communities and lifestyles, lived experiences, transnationalism, and their work in relationship to mining and railroad construction.
Patrick Chura
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813034935
- eISBN:
- 9780813038278
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034935.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Henry David Thoreau, one of America's most prominent environmental writers, supported himself as a land surveyor for much of his life, parceling land that would be sold off to loggers. This book ...
More
Henry David Thoreau, one of America's most prominent environmental writers, supported himself as a land surveyor for much of his life, parceling land that would be sold off to loggers. This book analyzes this seeming contradiction to show how the best surveyor in Concord combined civil engineering with civil disobedience. Placing Thoreau's surveying in historical context, the book explains the cultural and ideological implications of surveying work in the mid-nineteenth century. It explains the ways in which Thoreau's environmentalist disposition and philosophical convictions asserted themselves, even as he reduced the land to measurable terms and acted as an agent for bringing it under proprietary control. The book also describes in detail Thoreau's 1846 survey of Walden Pond. By identifying the origins of Walden in—of all places—surveying data, the book re-creates a previously lost supporting manuscript of this American classic.Less
Henry David Thoreau, one of America's most prominent environmental writers, supported himself as a land surveyor for much of his life, parceling land that would be sold off to loggers. This book analyzes this seeming contradiction to show how the best surveyor in Concord combined civil engineering with civil disobedience. Placing Thoreau's surveying in historical context, the book explains the cultural and ideological implications of surveying work in the mid-nineteenth century. It explains the ways in which Thoreau's environmentalist disposition and philosophical convictions asserted themselves, even as he reduced the land to measurable terms and acted as an agent for bringing it under proprietary control. The book also describes in detail Thoreau's 1846 survey of Walden Pond. By identifying the origins of Walden in—of all places—surveying data, the book re-creates a previously lost supporting manuscript of this American classic.
M.G.L. Mills and M.E.J. Mills
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198712145
- eISBN:
- 9780191780639
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198712145.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Animal Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Measurements of daily energy expenditure and water turnover showed that energy expenditure in cheetahs was not significantly greater than expected, but water turnover was low. There were no sex ...
More
Measurements of daily energy expenditure and water turnover showed that energy expenditure in cheetahs was not significantly greater than expected, but water turnover was low. There were no sex differences in daily energy expenditure, but when hunting along riverbeds cheetahs used more energy than when hunting in the dunes, probably because they moved further in the riverbeds. There were no differences in daily energy expenditure between females in different stages of reproduction. Energy expended chasing prey differed; small prey being least costly and large species most costly. Analyses of prey chases using both GPS and accelerometer loggers revealed that there were two phases; an initial rapid acceleration to catch up with the prey, followed by a slowing phase as cheetahs followed twists and turns of the prey as the distance between them closed. A visualization of five phases recorded from accelerometer data during a successful steenbok hunt is presented.Less
Measurements of daily energy expenditure and water turnover showed that energy expenditure in cheetahs was not significantly greater than expected, but water turnover was low. There were no sex differences in daily energy expenditure, but when hunting along riverbeds cheetahs used more energy than when hunting in the dunes, probably because they moved further in the riverbeds. There were no differences in daily energy expenditure between females in different stages of reproduction. Energy expended chasing prey differed; small prey being least costly and large species most costly. Analyses of prey chases using both GPS and accelerometer loggers revealed that there were two phases; an initial rapid acceleration to catch up with the prey, followed by a slowing phase as cheetahs followed twists and turns of the prey as the distance between them closed. A visualization of five phases recorded from accelerometer data during a successful steenbok hunt is presented.
Fred V. Brock and Scott J. Richardson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780195134513
- eISBN:
- 9780197561584
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780195134513.003.0015
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Meteorology and Climatology
Along the signal path from the atmosphere, through the sensors and the data logger to the final archive, the signal quality may be irreversibly comprised. These faults ...
More
Along the signal path from the atmosphere, through the sensors and the data logger to the final archive, the signal quality may be irreversibly comprised. These faults include aliasing caused by poor sampling practice and quantization in an analog to- digital converter. Aliasing and quantization will be defined in this chapter. Drift in some of the system parameters, such as temperature sensitivity, is generally preventable but is not always reversible. Sampling of a signal occurs in the time domain and, frequently, in the space domain with one, two, or three dimensions. In the time domain, the time interval between successive points is called the sampling interval and the data logger controls this interval. When two or more sensors are distributed, vertically, along a mast then the system is sampling both in the time domain and in the space domain. When multiple measurements are arrayed along the surface of the earth, the sampling is occurring in time and in two or three space dimensions. Most meteorological systems are undersampled both in time and space. Space undersampling is an economic necessity. The consequence of undersampling is that frequencies above a certain limit, called the Nyquist frequency, will appear at lower frequencies and this is an irreversible effect. Quantization occurs when the signal is converted from analog to digital in the analog-to-digital converter. Since the range of the converter is expressed in a finite number of digital states, signal amplitudes smaller than this quantity will be lost. This is another irreversible effect. These are not the only irreversible effects. For example, drift is caused by physical changes in a sensor or other component of the measurement system. Drift may have a causal component, such as undocumented temperature sensitivity, and a random component such as wearing of an anemometer bearing. The former is theoretically preventable and reversible, whereas the latter is irreversible. Each element of the system may include some signal averaging, and each element may add bias and gain. As noted in earlier chapters, a sensor is a transducer, a device that changes energy from one form to another.
Less
Along the signal path from the atmosphere, through the sensors and the data logger to the final archive, the signal quality may be irreversibly comprised. These faults include aliasing caused by poor sampling practice and quantization in an analog to- digital converter. Aliasing and quantization will be defined in this chapter. Drift in some of the system parameters, such as temperature sensitivity, is generally preventable but is not always reversible. Sampling of a signal occurs in the time domain and, frequently, in the space domain with one, two, or three dimensions. In the time domain, the time interval between successive points is called the sampling interval and the data logger controls this interval. When two or more sensors are distributed, vertically, along a mast then the system is sampling both in the time domain and in the space domain. When multiple measurements are arrayed along the surface of the earth, the sampling is occurring in time and in two or three space dimensions. Most meteorological systems are undersampled both in time and space. Space undersampling is an economic necessity. The consequence of undersampling is that frequencies above a certain limit, called the Nyquist frequency, will appear at lower frequencies and this is an irreversible effect. Quantization occurs when the signal is converted from analog to digital in the analog-to-digital converter. Since the range of the converter is expressed in a finite number of digital states, signal amplitudes smaller than this quantity will be lost. This is another irreversible effect. These are not the only irreversible effects. For example, drift is caused by physical changes in a sensor or other component of the measurement system. Drift may have a causal component, such as undocumented temperature sensitivity, and a random component such as wearing of an anemometer bearing. The former is theoretically preventable and reversible, whereas the latter is irreversible. Each element of the system may include some signal averaging, and each element may add bias and gain. As noted in earlier chapters, a sensor is a transducer, a device that changes energy from one form to another.
Keith A. Christian, Christopher R. Tracy, and C. Richard Tracy
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- June 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198726135
- eISBN:
- 9780191825934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198726135.003.0024
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology, Animal Biology
This chapter looks at thermal ecology and the process of quantifying thermal biology of reptiles. Body temperature influences most physiological processes, including metabolism, digestion, ...
More
This chapter looks at thermal ecology and the process of quantifying thermal biology of reptiles. Body temperature influences most physiological processes, including metabolism, digestion, reproductive physiology, and locomotion, therefore an animal’s body temperature has ecological consequences, including its ability to escape predators, capture prey, grow, reproduce, and be susceptible to disease. Reptiles and other ectothermic animals rely on their environments to achieve their body temperature using behaviour to select among thermal patches in the environment, and behaviour (along with their morphology and physiological adjustments) to control heat exchanges within a thermal patch. There are two ways for evaluating thermoregulation in reptiles: computational models and physical models; and while both have their advantages and disadvantages, physical models are not useful for determining thermal transients in particular. However, under certain conditions, data loggers may be used in place of physical models.Less
This chapter looks at thermal ecology and the process of quantifying thermal biology of reptiles. Body temperature influences most physiological processes, including metabolism, digestion, reproductive physiology, and locomotion, therefore an animal’s body temperature has ecological consequences, including its ability to escape predators, capture prey, grow, reproduce, and be susceptible to disease. Reptiles and other ectothermic animals rely on their environments to achieve their body temperature using behaviour to select among thermal patches in the environment, and behaviour (along with their morphology and physiological adjustments) to control heat exchanges within a thermal patch. There are two ways for evaluating thermoregulation in reptiles: computational models and physical models; and while both have their advantages and disadvantages, physical models are not useful for determining thermal transients in particular. However, under certain conditions, data loggers may be used in place of physical models.
Curt Lamberth and Jocelyne M.R. Hughes
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198766384
- eISBN:
- 9780191820908
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198766384.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Aquatic Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
We consider three categories of physical variables that can be measured for different freshwater ecosystems: (1) variables measured or described at the catchment or sub-catchment scale (e.g., ...
More
We consider three categories of physical variables that can be measured for different freshwater ecosystems: (1) variables measured or described at the catchment or sub-catchment scale (e.g., bathymetry, depth, topography, geology); (2) those in or near to the water (e.g., temperature, turbidity, solar radiation); and (3) variables used to describe the substrate (e.g., particle size, mineral vs. peat). In this chapter we consider the practical aspects of undertaking a freshwater survey that includes measurement of physical variables; the approaches needed to undertake the survey; choosing a sampling strategy or protocol; practical tips on choice of measurement method or sensor, battery type, equipment calibration, resolution, accuracy, and links to literature providing further detail. The final section provides examples from a diversity of freshwaters where physical variables have been measured as part of an ecological survey, forming the evidence-base for management or conservation decisions.Less
We consider three categories of physical variables that can be measured for different freshwater ecosystems: (1) variables measured or described at the catchment or sub-catchment scale (e.g., bathymetry, depth, topography, geology); (2) those in or near to the water (e.g., temperature, turbidity, solar radiation); and (3) variables used to describe the substrate (e.g., particle size, mineral vs. peat). In this chapter we consider the practical aspects of undertaking a freshwater survey that includes measurement of physical variables; the approaches needed to undertake the survey; choosing a sampling strategy or protocol; practical tips on choice of measurement method or sensor, battery type, equipment calibration, resolution, accuracy, and links to literature providing further detail. The final section provides examples from a diversity of freshwaters where physical variables have been measured as part of an ecological survey, forming the evidence-base for management or conservation decisions.