Publications by authors named "Josh Ackerman"

Background: Identifying animal behaviors, life history states, and movement patterns is a prerequisite for many animal behavior analyses and effective management of wildlife and habitats. Most approaches classify short-term movement patterns with high frequency location or accelerometry data. However, patterns reflecting life history across longer time scales can have greater relevance to species biology or management needs, especially when available in near real-time.

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Article Synopsis
  • Plants play a crucial role in affecting methylmercury (MeHg) levels in different types of wetlands, particularly in agricultural settings like white rice and wild rice fields.
  • Seasonal changes in vegetation biomass and nutrient composition were studied from May 2007 to February 2008, revealing that white rice fields exhibited the highest productivity and distinctive carbon sources.
  • Although vegetation temporarily stores MeHg, the concentrations of MeHg in rice seeds are significant, suggesting that rice may transfer MeHg into the food chain, especially affecting waterfowl that consume rice seeds.
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Although perceived risk is central to most theories of health behavior, there is little consensus on its measurement with regard to item wording, response set, or the number of items to include. In a methodological assessment of perceived risk, we assessed the impact of changing the order of three commonly used perceived risk items: quantitative personal risk, quantitative population risk, and comparative risk. Participants were 432 men and women enrolled in an ancillary study of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

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