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Cowan, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Cowan, D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Identifying and prioritising conflicts between human and wildlife interests in Great Britain

O_LIA literature review was conducted to identify human-wildlife conflicts associated with British terrestrial mammal species. Conflicts were classified as economic, health, environmental or social, divided into 32 subcategories, and ranked using a Generic Impact Scoring System (GISS). C_LIO_LIWe identified 48 species associated with 200 conflicts. Sika deer were involved in the most conflicts. The highest ranked conflicts were measurable on an economic scale (involving rabbits, badgers, brown rats, grey squirrels), with the total estimated cost of all economic conflicts exceeding {pound}0.5 billion. C_LIO_LIThe most common conflicts were reservoirs of disease and zoonotic disease, with non-native species scoring statistically higher than native species for the latter. Generally, we scored these conflicts low, deemed localised and mild, but highlighted the importance of surveillance to monitor and control disease spread. C_LIO_LIMost species caused minimal conflict, likely due to their limited distribution. We identified potential impact increased as a function of biomass and population size, therefore a GISS may help identify species capable of expanding beyond their current range, such as recently reintroduced beavers. C_LIO_LIA GISS is useful for identifying conflict species but there is also the need to understand the value of British wildlife. We identified costs-to-benefits trade-offs for several high impact species, including rabbits, deer, badgers and foxes, which underlie human-conflict and/or coexistence and are critical for informed decision-making. As one in four British mammal species face local extinction, the emphasis should encourage focus away from conflict resolution to acceptance and/or tolerance where wildlife and people coexist. C_LI

ecology↗

Microbial dispersal limitation to isolated soil habitats in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica

Dispersal is a critical yet poorly understood factor underlying macroecological patterns in microbial communities. Airborne microbial transport is assumed to occupy a central role in determining dispersal outcomes and extra-range dispersal has important implications for predicting ecosystem resilience and response to environmental change. One of the most pertinent biomes in this regard is Antarctica given its geographic isolation and vulnerability to climate change and human disturbance. Here we report the first characterisation of microbial diversity in near-ground and high-altitude air above a typical Antarctic Dry Valley as well as that of underlying soil microbial communities. We found that persistent airborne inputs were unable to fully explain local soil community assembly. Comparison with airborne microbial diversity from non-polar sources suggests that strong selection occurs during atmospheric transport resulting in regionally isolated airborne inputs and highly specialized soil communities where fungi displayed greater isolation than bacteria from non-polar sources. Overall microbial communities from this isolated Antarctic ecosystem displayed limited connectivity to the global microbial pool. Our findings provide critical insights to forecast the potential outcomes for microbial communities of climate change-mediated shifts in air circulation to the Dry Valleys, the largest ice-free region of Antarctica.

microbiology↗

A single-cell anatomical blueprint for intracortical information transfer from primary visual cortex

The wiring diagram of the neocortex determines how information is processed across dozens of cortical areas. Each area communicates with multiple others via extensive long-range axonal projections 1-6, but the logic of inter-area information transfer is unresolved. Specifically, the extent to which individual neurons send dedicated projections to single cortical targets or distribute their signals across multiple areas remains unclear5,7-20. Distinguishing between these possibilities has been challenging because axonal projections of only a few individual neurons have been reconstructed. Here we map the projection patterns of axonal arbors from 591 individual neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) using two complementary methods: whole-brain fluorescence-based axonal tracing21,22 and high-throughput DNA sequencing of genetically barcoded neurons (MAPseq)23. Although our results confirm the existence of dedicated projections to certain cortical areas, we find these are the exception, and that the majority of V1 neurons broadcast information to multiple cortical targets. Furthermore, broadcasting cells do not project to all targets randomly, but rather comprise subpopulations that either avoid or preferentially innervate specific subsets of cortical areas. Our data argue against a model of dedicated lines of intracortical information transfer via \"one neuron - one target area\" mapping. Instead, long-range communication between a sensory cortical area and its targets may be based on a principle whereby individual neurons copy information to, and potentially coordinate activity across, specific subsets of cortical areas.

neuroscience↗