Native prey, not landscape change or novel prey, drive cougar () distribution at a boreal forest range edge.

Many large carnivores, despite widespread habitat alteration, are rebounding in parts of their former ranges after decades of persecution and exploitation. Cougars () are apex predator with their remaining northern core range constricted to mountain landscapes and areas of western North America; however, cougar populations have recently started rebounding in several locations across North America, including northward in boreal forest landscapes. A camera-trap survey of multiple landscapes across Alberta, Canada, delineated a range edge; within this region, we deployed an array of 47 camera traps in a random stratified design across a landscape spanning a gradient of anthropogenic development relative to the predicted expansion front.

An interspecific foraging association with polar bears increases foraging opportunities for avian predators in a declining Arctic seabird colony.

Interspecific foraging associations (IFAs) are biological interactions where two or more species forage in association with each other. Climate-induced reductions in Arctic sea ice have increased polar bear () foraging in seabird colonies, which creates foraging opportunities for avian predators. We used drone video of bears foraging within a common eider () colony on East Bay Island (Nunavut, Canada) in 2017 to investigate herring gull () foraging in association with bears.

How landscape traits affect boreal mammal responses to anthropogenic disturbance.

Understanding mammalian responses to anthropogenic disturbance is challenging, as ecological processes and the patterns arising therefrom notoriously change across spatial and temporal scales, and among different landscape contexts. Responses to local scale disturbances are likely influenced by landscape context (e.g.

A colonial-nesting seabird shows limited heart rate responses to natural variation in threats of polar bears.

Several predator-prey systems are in flux as an indirect result of climate change. In the Arctic, earlier sea-ice loss is driving polar bears () onto land when many colonial nesting seabirds are breeding. The result is a higher threat of nest predation for birds with potential limited ability to respond.

Artificial intelligence for automated detection of large mammals creates path to upscale drone surveys.

Imagery from drones is becoming common in wildlife research and management, but processing data efficiently remains a challenge. We developed a methodology for training a convolutional neural network model on large-scale mosaic imagery to detect and count caribou (Rangifer tarandus), compare model performance with an experienced observer and a group of naïve observers, and discuss the use of aerial imagery and automated methods for large mammal surveys. Combining images taken at 75 m and 120 m above ground level, a faster region-based convolutional neural network (Faster-RCNN) model was trained in using annotated imagery with the labels: "adult caribou", "calf caribou", and "ghost caribou" (animals moving between images, producing blurring individuals during the photogrammetry processing).

A colonial-nesting seabird shows no heart-rate response to drone-based population surveys.

Aerial drones are increasingly being used as tools for ecological research and wildlife monitoring in hard-to-access study systems, such as in studies of colonial-nesting birds. Despite their many advantages over traditional survey methods, there remains concerns about possible disturbance effects that standard drone survey protocols may have on bird colonies. There is a particular gap in the study of their influence on physiological measures of stress.

Correction to: Common ancestry of heterodimerizing TALE homeobox transcription factors across Metazoa and Archaeplastida.

Upon publication of the original article [1], it was noticed that Alexandra Z. Worden's affiliation is not complete. The full affiliation information for Alexandra Z.

Kin grouping is insufficient to explain the inclusive fitness gains of conspecific brood parasitism in the common eider.

Conspecific brood parasitism allows females to exploit other females' nests and enhance their reproductive output. Here, we test a recent theoretical model of how host females gain inclusive fitness from brood parasitism. High levels of relatedness between host and parasitizer can be maintained either by: (a) kin recognizing and parasitizing each other as a form of cooperative breeding or (b) natal philopatry and nest site fidelity facilitating the formation of kin groups, thereby increasing the probability of parasitism between relatives nesting in close proximity.

A comparison of drone imagery and ground-based methods for estimating the extent of habitat destruction by lesser snow geese (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) in La Pérouse Bay.

Lesser snow goose (Anser caerulescens caerulescens) populations have dramatically altered vegetation communities through increased foraging pressure. In remote regions, regular habitat assessments are logistically challenging and time consuming. Drones are increasingly being used by ecologists to conduct habitat assessments, but reliance on georeferenced data as ground truth may not always be feasible.

Common ancestry of heterodimerizing TALE homeobox transcription factors across Metazoa and Archaeplastida.

Background: Complex multicellularity requires elaborate developmental mechanisms, often based on the versatility of heterodimeric transcription factor (TF) interactions. Homeobox TFs in the TALE superclass are deeply embedded in the gene regulatory networks that orchestrate embryogenesis. Knotted-like homeobox (KNOX) TFs, homologous to animal MEIS, have been found to drive the haploid-to-diploid transition in both unicellular green algae and land plants via heterodimerization with other TALE superclass TFs, demonstrating remarkable functional conservation of a developmental TF across lineages that diverged one billion years ago.

Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys.

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are relatively new technologies gaining popularity among wildlife biologists. As with any new tool in wildlife science, operating protocols must be developed through rigorous protocol testing. Few studies have been conducted that quantify the impacts UAS may have on unhabituated individuals in the wild using standard aerial survey protocols.