Local weather affects body condition of three North American songbird species on the Texas Coast.

Body condition is a frequently used physiological indicator of avian health and can be affected by an array of environmental variables. Although a number of studies have investigated the specific effects of individual weather variables on body condition in birds, few have analyzed the effects of both temperature and precipitation within the context of an extreme weather event such as hurricanes. In this study, we examined the relationship between breeding-season body condition and daily maximum temperature, daily minimum temperature, and monthly total precipitation for three passerine bird species at the Welder Wildlife Refuge near Rockport, Texas.

Trace mineral supplies for populations of little and large herbivores.

Copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) are essential trace minerals for the reproduction, growth, and immunity of mammalian herbivore populations. We examined the relationships between Cu, Fe, and Zn in soils, common plants, and hepatic stores of two wild herbivores to assess the effects of weather, sex, and population density on the transfer of trace minerals from soils to mammals during the growing season. Soils, grasses, woody browse, hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were sampled across 19 sites.

Simulation of vegetation dynamics and management strategies on south Texas, semi-arid rangeland.

In this paper, we describe a model designed to simulate seasonal dynamics of warm and cool season grasses and forbs, as well as the dynamics of woody plant succession through five seral stages, in each of nine different plant communities on the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Refuge. The Welder Wildlife Refuge (WWR) is located in the Gulf Coastal Prairies and Marshes ecoregion of Texas. The model utilizes and integrates data from a wide array of research projects that have occurred in south Texas and WWR.

Varied citrus treatment of ruminant gagging in a teenager with Batten's disease.

Chronic ruminant gagging was substantially reduced in a severely retarded 13-year-old girl with Batten's disease through the use of contingent citrus juice in an ABAB design. Previous literature suggests that citrus juice may not be effective for treatment of rumination in older and/or handicapped children due to habituation. In this study, habituation may have been prevented by alternating lime juice and lemon juice when ruminative gagging reached a predetermined rate.

Testicular self-examination: validation of a training strategy for early cancer detection.

Testicular self-examination (TSE) can lead to early diagnosis and treatment of testicular cancer, the third leading cause of death in young men. We evaluated the effectiveness of a brief and specific checklist for teaching TSE skills. Ten men were videotaped while performing testicular self-examinations before and after training.