Crystal structure of 4-bromo-5,7-dimeth-oxy-2,3-di-hydro-1-inden-1-one.

In the title mol-ecule, CHBrO, the di-hydro-indene moiety is essentially planar but with a slight twist in the saturated portion of the five-membered ring. The meth-oxy groups lie close to the above plane. In the crystal, π-stacking inter-actions between six-membered rings form stacks of mol-ecules extending along the axis direction, which are linked by weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯Br hydrogen bonds.

Relating gut microbiome composition and life history metrics for pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in the Red Desert, Wyoming.

Host microbial communities (hereafter, the 'microbiome') are recognized as an important aspect of host health and are gaining attention as a useful biomarker to understand the ecology and demographics of wildlife populations. Several studies indicate that the microbiome may contribute to the adaptive capacity of animals to changing environments associated with increasing habitat fragmentation and rapid climate change. To this end, we investigated the gut microbiome of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), an iconic species in an environment that is undergoing both climatic and anthropogenic change.

Species-wide genomics of kākāpō provides tools to accelerate recovery.

The kākāpō is a critically endangered, intensively managed, long-lived nocturnal parrot endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. We generated and analysed whole-genome sequence data for nearly all individuals living in early 2018 (169 individuals) to generate a high-quality species-wide genetic variant callset. We leverage extensive long-term metadata to quantify genome-wide diversity of the species over time and present new approaches using probabilistic programming, combined with a phenotype dataset spanning five decades, to disentangle phenotypic variance into environmental and genetic effects while quantifying uncertainty in small populations.

Hidden impacts of conservation management on fertility of the critically endangered kākāpō.

Background: Animal conservation often requires intensive management actions to improve reproductive output, yet any adverse effects of these may not be immediately apparent, particularly in threatened species with small populations and long lifespans. Hand-rearing is an example of a conservation management strategy which, while boosting populations, can cause long-term demographic and behavioural problems. It is used in the recovery of the critically endangered kākāpō (), a flightless parrot endemic to New Zealand, to improve the slow population growth that is due to infrequent breeding, low fertility and low hatching success.