bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Size and shape of the geographical ranges of Andean passerine birds: spatial patterns in environmental resistance and anisotropy
Authors: Ruggiero Adriana 
Published: March 2003

AimThe geographical distribution of 839 Andean passerine species was analysed using two biogeographical indices: environmental resistance (R50) and anisotropy (A50). R50 quantifies the loss of biotic resemblance occurring from any point in the map to the rest of the continent. A50 quantifies the extent to which the perimeter : area ratio of the geographical ranges of all species whose distributions overlap at any particular location depart from the perimeter : area ratio of a circle. Three predictions derived from the climatic‐tolerance hypothesis were tested: (1) the latitudinal Rapoport effect predicts an increase in the range‐sizes of species, and hence a decrease in the values of R50, towards the south; (2) Janzen’s argument that ‘mountain passes are higher in the tropics’ predicts greater anisotropy in the tropics; (3) because environmental conditions are relatively constant across the tropics, and begin to change at the boundaries, this predicts high spatial turnover – and hence rapid change of R50 values – at the limits of the tropics.LocationThe Andes, in South America.MethodsThe geographical ranges of 839 passerine species were drawn on a standardized grid map of the Andean region. The presence–absence (1–0) of each species in each of the 150 cells in the grid map was recorded. These data were used to create equiprobabilistic maps, which then were used to estimate a value of R50 and A50 for each cell in the grid map (sensuRapoport, 1975, 1979, 1982).ResultsThe spatial patterns in R50 and A50 offer partial support to the original predictions. The tendency for R50 data to decrease with latitude (Rapoport effect) vanishes after controlling for differences in species richness among latitudes compared. In contrast, A50 data clearly offer indirect support to Janzen’s prediction of narrower climatic tolerances of species around the tropics, even after controlling for differences in species richness. The Andean passerine species confirm that spatial turnover of species exists at the southern edge of the tropics, and also at different latitudes within the tropics.Main conclusionsThe analysis suggests that it is the major structural change in the topography of mountains – and not merely latitude – that ultimately governs the spatial variation in size and shape of species ranges along the Andes.
Year‐to‐year variation in carabid beetle (Coleoptera, Carabidae) assemblages on the Åland Islands, south‐west Finland
Authors: Kotze D. Johan , Niemelä Jari 
Published: March 2003

Aims(1) To investigate changes in structure of carabid assemblages between sites on the main island of Åland and five small nearby islands between 1982 and 1999. (2) To determine whether island differences observed in one year is mirrored in another one. (3) To examine changes in abundance levels of individual carabid species on these islands since 1982. (4) To compare the proportion of flightless species on the main island of Åland with those on the small islands.LocationIslands in the Baltic Sea, Finland; the main island of Åland (90,000 ha) and five small, nearby islands (8–29 ha).MethodsCarabid beetles were collected, using pitfall traps, during 4 years (1982, 1987, 1988 and 1999). Sampling took place in moist, spruce‐dominated, lush forest patches.ResultsOverall, 12,127 individuals representing forty‐six carabid species were collected; forty‐one species (8580 individuals) on the main island of Åland, and thirty‐one species (3547 individuals) on the small islands. Carabid assemblage structure, measured using ordination techniques, was consistently and significantly different between the main island and the small island sites. Carabid assemblage structure and abundances of individual species did change significantly between years, possibly because of a combination of climatological and habitat changes in the Åland archipelago. The six most abundant species collected on the small islands, and the three most abundant species overall, were all short‐winged. Furthermore, the small islands had a higher proportion and number of short‐winged species compared with the main island of Åland.Main conclusionsCarabid assemblage structure was significantly different between the main island and the small islands in all years sampled, indicating that single‐year studies are sufficient to demonstrate differences in carabid assemblages on Baltic islands. Small islands host a non‐random proportion of species pools available on the main island of Åland and mainland Finland. It appears that dispersal to islands in the Baltic Sea is easy for carabid beetles of all wing forms, but that short‐winged species are more successful colonizers.
Mammal extinctions on Australian islands: causes and conservation implications
Authors: Burbidge Andrew A. , Manly Bryan F. J. 
Published: March 2003

AimData on Australian landbridge islands were analysed to seek relationships between the extinction of mammals on islands and a number of variables related to the islands, the native mammal species that occur on them and the presence or absence of exotic mammalian predators. The data base included attributes of the mammals (mean adult body weight, diet and shelter habitat) and of the islands [area, rainfall, presence/absence of significant areas of rockpile habitat, presence/absence of European red fox Vulpes vulpes Linnaeus, 1758, feral cat Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758, and rats Rattus rattus (Linnaeus, 1758) and R. exulans (Peale, 1848)].MethodsStatistical analysis of the 388 cases where a Critical Weight Range (CWR) mammal is extant and the forty‐one cases where a CWR mammal is extinct was conducted using logistic regression to model the probability of extinction as a function of the island and mammal variables.ResultsFoxes and cats are correlated with CWR mammal extinctions, but cats are associated with extinctions particularly on more arid islands. Extinctions are more likely on islands with an absence of significant areas of rockpile habitat and where the native mammal is restricted to the ground's surface, and is relatively large.ConclusionsAn association between the presence of cats and native mammal extinctions has not previously been demonstrated for Australian islands. The introduction of exotic predators to Australian islands with native mammal species should be avoided and should any of these predators establish all means should be employed to eradicate them. For Australian continental islands the introduction of exotic predators, not habitat clearance, has been the major factor in extinctions.
The relative abundance of three plant functional types in temperate grasslands and shrublands of North and South America: effects of projected climate change
Authors: Epstein Howard E. , Gill Richard A. , Paruelo Jose M. , Lauenroth William K. , Jia Gensuo J. , Burke Ingrid C. 
Published: March 2003

AimUse a regression model that relates climatic variables to the relative abundances of shrubs, C4 and C3 grasses to project the plant functional type composition of temperate grasslands and shrublands within North and South America in response to climate change.LocationThe temperate zone grassland and shrubland regions of North and South America.MethodsWe used a regression model to project changes in the relative abundances of shrubs, C4 and C3 grasses under three general circulation model (GFDL, GISS, UKMO) climate change scenarios. The three climate change scenarios were applied to a global data set of mean monthly temperatures and precipitation. The regression model, which incorporates mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation and seasonality of precipitation as input variables, was used to project plant functional type changes. Spatial patterns of change were analysed using a geographical information system.ResultsRelative abundance of C4 grasses were projected to increase >10% throughout most of the study region at the expense of C3 grasses. There were essentially no areas where C4 grasses decreased in abundance, and the areas with no change were largely the southern Great Plains and the Intermountain Basin and Range of North America. C3 grasses declined throughout with the exception of the north‐western Great Plains of the US and Canada, and north central Argentina. Changes in shrub abundance were mixed with some increases in Patagonia and the desert regions of the south‐western US; there were also some projected decreases, however, the locations varied across models.Main conclusionsThe projections made by our regression model were consistent with those of other more complex vegetation dynamics models. Changes in plant community composition in response to climate change may be substantial in certain areas and will probably lead to changes in water and nutrient cycling.
Complex biogeographical distribution of genetic variation within Podarcis wall lizards across the Strait of Gibraltar
Authors: Harris D. J. , Carranza S. , Arnold E. N. , Pinho C. , Ferrand N. 
Published: March 2003

Abstract Aim  To examine the effect of a known geological barrier on genetic variation within a wall lizard species complex.Location  The Iberian Peninsula and North Africa.Methods  Sequencing of partial 12S rRNA and cytochrome b mtDNA.Results  The current distribution of genetic variability is not related to the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar.Conclusions  Podarcis hispanica in North Africa is probably a species complex. The Strait of Gibraltar should not be used as a known barrier to gene flow in other land based organisms without careful sampling to test for multiple crossings since its formation.
The illusion of preservation: a global environmental argument for the local production of natural resources
Authors: Berlik Mary M. , Kittredge David B. , Foster David R. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractAim The United States (US) and other affluent countries consume vast quantities of global natural resources, but contribute proportionately less to the extraction of many raw materials. This imbalance is due, in part, to domestic policies intended to protect the environment. Ironically, developed nations are often better equipped to extract resources in an environmentally prudent manner than the major suppliers. Thus, although citizens of affluent countries may imagine that preservationist domestic policies are conserving resources and protecting nature, heavy consumption rates necessitate resource extraction elsewhere and oftentimes under weak environmental oversight. A major consequence of this ‘illusion of natural resource preservation’ is greater global environmental degradation than would arise if consumption were reduced and a large portion of production was shared by affluent countries. This paper considers some implications of the consumption, management and conservation of forests and wood at a local and global scale.Location We focus on Massachusetts, the eighth most forested state in the USA (by area), the third most densely populated, and an affluent region with consumption rates that are among the highest in the country.Methods Estimates of wood production and consumption are generated, and comparisons are made with other commonly used materials (e.g. steel, concrete, aluminium).Results A comparison of the feasibility and environmental impact of various strategies for dealing with rising wood demand suggests that the US should strive to: (1) reduce per capita consumption of wood and its substitutes, (2) recycle forest products more effectively, (3) protect extensive areas of intensively managed and unmanaged forests and (4) promote sound forest management where the environmental consequences are mild. Forestry and the sustainable generation of wood in Massachusetts would allow preservation of primary forests elsewhere in the world.Main conclusions When aggressive reductions in wood consumption and effective recycling are combined with judiciously increased harvest levels, 50% of the Massachusetts's wood consumption could be met at sustainable rates, even while preserving large undisturbed blocks of forest.
Environmental responses ofPinus ponderosaand associated species in the south‐western USA
Authors: Humphries H. C. , Bourgeron P. S. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractAim We addressed four objectives: (1) Determine the regional responses of species, size classes and a vegetation type to climate and parent material predictors, including their distributions in environmental space and the relative contributions of the predictors to explained variation. (2) Determine whether size classes of a species respond similarly to climate and parent material. (3) Assess the extent to which the predicted regional distribution of a vegetation type can be approximated by the distribution of its diagnostic species andvice versa. The establishment of a consistent relationship between the distribution of a vegetation type and its diagnostic species would facilitate change detection, management and conservation planning by allowing the use of one distribution to generate the other when data availability is limited. (4) Examine landscape‐scale environmental variability in predicted species and vegetation type distributions.Location South‐western USA (Arizona, New Mexico and southern Colorado).Methods Ecological response surface models were developed using a data base of 1409 vegetation plots to analyse biotic–environmental relationships of (1)Pinus ponderosaP. & C. Lawson andAbies concolor(Gord. & Glend.) Lindl. Ex Hildebr. size classes, (2)P. ponderosa, A. concolorandQuercus gambeliiNutt. combined size classes, and (3) aP. ponderosaforest type widely distributed in the south‐western USA.Results and main conclusions Pinus ponderosaandA. concolormodels generally were judged to be successful.Quercus gambeliimodels were judged unsuccessful, which may result from the influence of variables not modelled, such as soil moisture, disturbance, biotic factors and other site limiting factors. Size classes differed in the range of environmental conditions associated with high occurrence probabilities within and between species, reflecting differences in the effects of climate variability and anthropogenic changes, such as fire suppression, on the distribution of each size class.Pinus ponderosaalliance was predicted to be distributed over a narrower range of environmental conditions thanP. ponderosaspecies models, therefore limiting the use of this vegetation type as a surrogate for the distribution of the dominant species, andvice versa. Maps of combinations of environmental variables that produced a high probability ofP. ponderosaoccurrence showed that some landscapes predicted to contain the species exhibited diverse environmental conditions over short distances. The use of regional environmental relationships to characterize areas with high local environmental variability may facilitate identification of areas of potential rapid biotic change.
Using a supervisory framework to support and evaluate a multiproject practice development programme
Authors: Ward Martin F. , Titchen Angie , Morrell Clare , McCormack Brendan , Kitson Alison 
Published: March 2003

• The paper describes a multiproject practice development programme undertaken over a period of 1 year.• The background and development of the programme are outlined, whilst attention is paid to the innovatory nature of the work, particularly the use of inductive, deductive and integrated approaches to both change implementation and project supervision.• The programme was monitored throughout using different data sources and the paper uses evaluative material retrospectively to provide answers to organizational and professional difficulties which arose during the course of the programme.• The authors conclude that the use of combinations of different models for practice development has potential, but requires careful supervision.• They also recommend that those involved in practice development are made fully aware of its local or micropolitics, and develop strategies to deal with change before it occurs, not after it has taken place.
Using the Delphi technique to identify the content and context of nurses' continuing professional development needs
Authors: GIBSON JOSEPHINE M. E. 
Published: March 2003

• In order to identify and prioritize the development needs of medical and surgical nurses, their possible approaches to learning, and the contextual factors influencing their professional development, a Delphi survey was carried out using a panel of 28 participants.• Current development needs included skills in essential clinical care, specialist nursing, changing roles, patient care management, research and practice development.• Although there was ambivalence about changing nurses' clinical roles, participants expected roles to diversify in the future.• The need for responsiveness to change was emphasized, as was the need to maintain current areas of expertise.• Professional development activity could take many forms, but fostering an organizational climate in which development was inherent in everyday working practices was felt to be as valuable as formal course attendance.• Restricting factors included lack of time, resources, support and recognition.• The survey has enabled professional and practice development activities to be prioritized locally, and the method used could be readily applied to other settings.
Facilitating critical reflection in mothers of chronically ill children
Authors: GIBSON CHERYL H. 
Published: March 2003

• The hybrid model, developed by Schwartz‐Barcott & Kim guided the conduct of a study of empowerment in mothers of chronically ill children.• Integral to the model of empowerment that emerged from the study was an ongoing process of critical reflection.• Through this process, mothers became aware of their strengths, abilities and resources.• This paper is an in‐depth analysis of the process of critical reflection, which corroborates recent theory on women's development.• The process of critical reflection is illuminated by women's ways of knowing, as exemplified in the story of one mother, and by elements of maternal thinking.• Implications for nursing practice in working with mothers of chronically ill children are highlighted.
Professional assessment of optimal nursing care intensity level: a new method of assessing personnel resources for nursing care
Authors: FAGERSTRÖM LISBETH , RAINIO ANNA‐KAISA 
Published: March 2003

•The primary aim of patient classification is to be able to respond to the constant variation in patients' caring needs. Systems of patient classification usually include some form of time study, e.g. work sampling or time‐and‐motion studies.•This article deals with the pros and cons of traditional time studies and with the theoretical bases of a new method of assessing the need for staff resources for nursing, a method termed `Professional Assessment of Optimal Nursing Care Intensity Level'.•The main idea of the method is to arrive at an optimal level of nursing care intensity for a ward by means of professional assessment and daily patient classification. The optimal level of nursing care intensity is supposed to prevail when there is a balance between the patients' need for care and the hospital's staff resources.•The development of this new method and an account of a pilot study carried out in two wards are presented.•The results of the pilot study established that the development of the method is worth continuing in order to create an administrative tool which, by its nature, is more compatible than traditional time studies with the idea of caring from the perspective of caring science.
A study of the effectiveness of different measuring times and counting methods of human radial pulse rates
Authors: Hwu Yueh‐Juen , Coates Vivien E. , Lin Feng‐Yu 
Published: March 2003

• The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of measuring resting radial pulse rates by the use of three measuring times: 15, 30 and 60 s; and two counting methods: one beginning with zero (0) and the other with one (1).• A two‐factor within‐subjects experimental design was used to determine the mean difference between pulse rates obtained from the radial artery, and the heart rates recorded by simultaneous electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings. The sample comprised 206 students.• Mean difference was used to calculate the extent of any differences between radial pulse rates and the rate shown by the ECG. The interaction between measuring time and counting methods was confirmed using a two‐factor within‐subjects analysis of variance.• For all types of measuring time, the counting from zero method produced a greater mean difference than the counting from one method. For all measuring times, the mean difference between radial pulse rates and rates shown by the ECG were non‐significant in the counting from one method. In other words, when the pulse rate is counted from one, the rates obtained at 15 or 30 s could be used to predict the one‐minute resting pulse rates.• The results of this study can contribute to the evidence base for this commonly used aspect of patient care.
Asian patients’ perspective on the communication facilities provided in a large inner city hospital
Authors: Brooks  , Magee  , Bhatti  , Briggs  , Buckley  , Guthrie  , Moltesen  , Moore  , Murray  
Published: March 2003

• Existing studies indicate the importance of communication, particularly for patients from minority ethnic groups, and the difficulties that occur in the healthcare arena when this communication is not effective.• This study explored how verbal communication took place in an acute NHS trust between inpatients who spoke Urdu or Punjabi and health care providers.• A total of 277 patients were recruited, of whom 34% spoke and understood English fluently, 35% spoke and understood limited English and 31% did not speak or understand English.• Only half the respondents were aware of the existence of the interpreting service, the majority of whom found it useful. When the interpreting service was not available communication was directed primarily through relatives and visitors, members of staff and other patients, whilst a small percentage were unable to communicate at all.• Patients were able to identify service improvements such as more interpreters, increasing patient awareness of the service, more Asian nurses and doctors working on the wards, interpreters linked to the wards and increased availability and accessibility of the interpreting service over the 24 h.• This study has been successful in identifying the effectiveness of current communication provision and in developing recommendation for the Trust in order to shape and inform future service developments for minority ethnic groups.
A question of competence? Re‐evaluating the roles of the nursing auxiliary and health care assistant in the NHS
Authors: Thornley Carole 
Published: March 2003

• This article draws from the first national sample survey evidence and detailed case studies of both the long‐standing grade of Nursing Auxiliary/Assistant and of the new grade of ‘Health Care Assistant/Support Worker’ in the NHS.• It argues for a fundamental re‐evaluation of the real competencies of non‐registered caregivers, and of their potential to progress into registered nurse training.• The study demonstrates their real maturity, experience, competencies, roles and responsibilities, along with the extent to which they perceive themselves as ‘substituting’ for registered nursing staff.• It is shown that many have been blocked from entering registered nurse training due to domestic and financial constraints.• The rise of NVQ accreditation has now provided both the potential for a formal recognition of their experiential learning and also the means by which they might progress into registered nurse training or even along parallel – and more practice‐orientated – lines.• It is argued that registered nurses should welcome a more fluid and progressive role for these team members, since, failing such a welcome, managers will otherwise continue to ‘undercut’ registered staff with their ‘cheaper’ non‐registered caregiving colleagues.