New records of bat species using Gatkop Cave in the maternal season

Eight bat species were recorded at Gatkop Cave, in the northern part of South Africa in December 2011 (

Home range establishment and utilization by reintroduced lions (Panthera leo) in a small South African wildlife reserve

Understanding of animal spatial behavior is essential for informed management decisions. In southern Africa, reintroduction of lions (Panthera leo) to small reserves (<1000 km² ) has increased since the early 2000s, however studies on their ranging behavior in these enclosed systems remain lacking. We applied Time Local Convex Hull (T-LoCoH) methods to study the home range establishment and utilization of 11 lions reintroduced to Dinokeng Game Reserve, South Africa, during 2011 through 2014. Lions established home ranges close to their release sites and during the following 3 years their home range sizes continued to increase, but in each individual case the size remained smaller than half of the reserve area (<70 km² ). Space use strategies differed between the core and the entire home range, with higher frequency of visits found in core areas. Exceptionally high rates (>60 separate visits) around the largest dam and along rivers suggest the importance of water and its surrounding vegetation in the lions' space utilization pattern. The home range size did not differ with season or sex of the individuals, whereas shifts in locations of home ranges revealed differences in the response of the 2 sexes to territorial conflicts and management interventions. Our study shows a dynamic home range utilization pattern and highlights the importance of both fine-scale space use patterns (frequency and duration of visits) and broad-scale home range changes in understanding the ranging behavior of reintroduced animals.

Humpback Dolphins in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta: Status, Threats and Conservation Challenges

In coastal waters of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) is thought to number approximately 2500 individuals. Given these figures, the putative PRD population may appear strong enough to resist demographic stochasticity and environmental pressures. However, living in close proximity to the world's busiest seaport/airport and several densely populated urban centres with major coastal infrastructural developments comes with challenges to the long-term survival of these animals. There are few other small cetacean populations that face the range and intensity of human-induced pressures as those present in the PRD and current protection measures are severely inadequate. Recent mark-recapture analyses of the animals in Hong Kong waters indicate that in the past two decades the population parameters have not been well understood, and spatial analyses show that only a very small proportion of the dolphins' key habitats are given any form of protection. All current marine protected areas within the PRD fail to meet a minimum habitat requirement that could facilitate the population's long-term persistence. Demographic models indicate a continuous decline of 2.5% per annum, a rate at which the population is likely to drop below the demographic threshold within two generations and lose 74% of the current numbers within the lifespan of three generations. In Hong Kong, the case of humpback dolphins represents a particularly explicit example of inadequate management where a complete revision of the fundamental approach to conservation management is urgently needed.

Gene flow and population structure of a solitary top carnivore in a human-dominated landscape

While African leopard populations are considered to be continuous as demonstrated by their high genetic variation, the southernmost leopard population exists in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa, where anthropogenic activities may be affecting this population's structure. Little is known about the elusive, last free-roaming top predator in the region and this study is the first to report on leopard population structuring using nuclear DNA. By analyzing 14 microsatellite markers from 40 leopard tissue samples, we aimed to understand the populations' structure, genetic distance, and gene flow (Nm). Our results, based on spatially explicit analysis with Bayesian methods, indicate that leopards in the region exist in a fragmented population structure with lower than expected genetic diversity. Three population groups were identified, between which low to moderate levels of gene flow were observed (Nm 0.5 to 3.6). One subpopulation exhibited low genetic differentiation, suggesting a continuous population structure, while the remaining two appear to be less connected, with low emigration and immigration between these populations. Therefore, genetic barriers are present between the subpopulations, and while leopards in the study region may function as a metapopulation, anthropogenic activities threaten to decrease habitat and movement further. Our results indicate that the leopard population may become isolated within a few generations and suggest that management actions should aim to increase habitat connectivity and reduce human-carnivore conflict. Understanding genetic diversity and connectivity of populations has important conservation implications that can highlight management of priority populations to reverse the effects of human-caused extinctions.

Coenzyme Q10 in patients undergoing CABG: Effect of statins and nutritional supplementation

BACKGROUND

The hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) are effective cholesterol lowering medications, however, statins may interfere with CoQ(10) biosynthesis. We examined the effect of statin therapy as well as nutritional supplements on plasma, cardiac and skeletal muscle concentrations of CoQ(10).

METHODS

Forty patients with left ventricular dysfunction had fasting blood samples collected at baseline and following four weeks of supplementation (150mg/day of CoQ(10)). Cardiac and skeletal muscle biopsies were collected at the time of surgery and frozen in liquid nitrogen until analyzed for CoQ(10) levels by high performance liquid chromatography.

RESULTS

Nutrient supplementation significantly increased plasma [(1.8 (1.2, 2.7) vs 0.8 (0.6, 0.94) mug/ml plasma, median+IQR; p=0.001)] and cardiac tissue concentrations of CoQ(10) [(120.5 (76.5, 177.1) vs 87.3 (60.5, 110.8) nmol/g wet weight, p=0.04)]. No effect of supplementation was seen on samples of skeletal muscle from the chest wall. Statin therapy was not found to influence plasma, cardiac or chest wall levels of CoQ(10).

CONCLUSION

Nutrient supplementation significantly increased plasma and cardiac tissue levels of CoQ(10) but did not influence chest wall muscle concentrations. Statin therapy did not significantly influence tissue concentrations of CoQ(10). Longer term studies are needed to confirm this observation.

Can anthropogenic variables be used as threat proxies for South African plant richness?

Human demographic and socio-economic measures (anthropogenic variables) reflect the detrimental impact of humans on plant diversity globally. The Pretoria (PRE) Computerised Information System (PRECIS) of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), provided three sets of South Afncan plant richness data, overall (OPR), endemic (EPR), and threatened (TPR), to investigate the relationships between richness and six anthropogenic variables. Spearman’s Rank order correlations, Kruskal Wallis Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Generalized Linear Models (GLZ) were used. Although all three plant richness measures were correlated with anthropogenic variables, individual anthropogenic variables contributed a small fraction to the explained variation in richness. Differences in spatial and temporal scaling of the datasets, or the response to another causal mechanism, may have contributed to this low explained variation. Because more variation was accounted for in OPR than EPR or TPR, OPR is a more suitable surrogate measure of plant biodiversity when investigating the anthropogenic variables used here. Average human density (HD), infrastructure (degree of urbanization and road cover) (LRU) and percentage land area transformed and degraded (LTD) were identified as useful surrogates of human impacts on OPR. LTD may be a more inclusive human impact measure when conducting analyses of human impacts using OPR. LTD includes the effects of urban expansion, road networks and other land transformation impacts, such as agriculture.