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A frequent response of organisms to climate change is altering the timing of reproduction, and advancement of reproductive timing has been a common reaction to warming temperatures in temperate regions. We tested whether this pattern applied to two common North American turtle species over the past three decades in Nebraska, USA. The timing of nesting (either first date or average date) of the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) was negatively correlated with mean December maximum temperatures of the preceding year and mean May minimum and maximum temperatures in the nesting year and positively correlated with precipitation in July of the previous year. Increased temperatures during the late winter and spring likely permit earlier emergence from hibernation, increased metabolic rates and feeding opportunities, and accelerated vitellogenesis, ovulation, and egg shelling, all of which could drive earlier nesting. However, for the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta), the timing of nesting was positively correlated with mean minimum temperatures in September, October, December of the previous year, February of the nesting year, and April precipitation. These results suggest warmer fall, and winter temperature may impose an increased metabolic cost to painted turtles that impedes fall vitellogenesis, and April rains may slow the completion of vitellogenesis through decreased basking opportunities. For both species, nest deposition was highly correlated with body size, and larger females nested earlier in the season. Although average annual ambient temperatures have increased over the last four decades of our overall fieldwork at our study site, spring temperatures have not yet increased, and hence, nesting phenology has not advanced at our site for Chelydra. While Chrysemys exhibited a weak trend toward later nesting, this response was likely due to increased recruitment of smaller females into the population due to nest protection and predator control (Procyon lotor) in the early 2000s. Should climate change result in an increase in spring temperatures, nesting phenology would presumably respond accordingly, conditional on body size variation within these populations., A frequent response of organisms to climate change is altering the timing of reproduction. Over the past three decades, the timing of nesting of the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) was negatively correlated with mean December maximum temperatures of the preceding year and mean May minimum and maximum temperatures in the nesting year and positively correlated with precipitation in July of the previous year. For the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta), the timing of nesting was positively correlated with mean minimum temperatures in September, October, December of the previous year, February of the nesting year, and April precipitation.

There is great interspecific variation in the nutritional composition of natural diets, and the varied nutritional content is physiologically tolerated because of evolutionarily based balances between diet composition and processing ability. However, as a result of landscape change and human exposure, unnatural diets are becoming widespread among wildlife without the necessary time for evolutionary matching between the diet and its processing. We tested how a controlled, unnatural high glucose diet affects glucose tolerance using captive green iguanas, and we performed similar glucose tolerance tests on wild Northern Bahamian rock iguanas that are either frequently fed grapes by tourists or experience no such supplementation. We evaluated both short and longer-term blood glucose responses and corticosterone (CORT) concentrations as changes have been associated with altered diets. Experimental glucose supplementation in the laboratory and tourist feeding in the wild both significantly affected glucose metabolism. When iguanas received a glucose-rich diet, we found greater acute increases in blood glucose following a glucose challenge. Relative to unfed iguanas, tourist-fed iguanas had significantly lower baseline CORT, higher baseline blood glucose, and slower returns to baseline glucose levels following a glucose challenge. Therefore, unnatural consumption of high amounts of glucose alters glucose metabolism in laboratory iguanas with short-term glucose treatment and free-living iguanas exposed to long-term feeding by tourists. Based on these results and the increasing prevalence of anthropogenically altered wildlife diets, the consequences of dietary changes on glucose metabolism should be further investigated across species, as such changes in glucose metabolism have health consequences in humans (e.g. diabetes).

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) encompass a myriad of biological, psychological, and physiological variants. In primary care, FASDs are not routinely screened for, while prevalence rates remain high at 5% to 9%. Alcohol screening and brief intervention is an evidence-based practice that identifies those who may be consuming alcohol at risky levels and provides a brief motivation-enhancing intervention. FASDs are completely preventable when women do not consume alcohol during the prenatal period, and nurse practitioners who provide patient-centered primary care to women are ideally positioned to help in the prevention FASDs

∙ Animal patterns of space use have fundamental consequences for ecological processes such as animal‐ mediated seed dispersal. This study examines the use of space of an understory frugivore: the White‐crowned Manakin (Dixiphia pipra) during the non‐breeding season at Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Ecuador. We radio‐tracked seven individuals of different sexes and ages. We found that White‐crowned Manakins have relatively small home ranges varying from 1.19 to 5.73 ha. The home ranges of male juveniles (2.25 ± 0.62 SE) were larger than that of the adult males (1.20 ± 0.01 SE), but smaller than those of females (4.27 ± 0.77 SE). Females and second‐year males were found to perform more long distance flights outside their core home range than hatch‐year or adult males. These movement differences suggest that they disperse seeds longer distances and more evenly across their home range. Adult and hatch‐year males appear to perform more short distance seed dispersal events. We argue that these contributions are complementary, and that White‐crowned Manakins are key dispersal agents that have a significantly influence in the structure and composition of understory plant communities in the Amazon rainforest.Resumen ∙ Uso de espacio del Saltarín Coroniblanco (Dixiphia pipra) en la Amazonía Ecuatoriana Los patrones de uso espacial utilizados por animales tienen consecuencias fundamentales en procesos ecológicos, tales como la dispersión de semillas. Este estudio examina el uso espacial de una especie frugívora de sotobosque: el Saltarín Coroniblanco (Dixiphia pipra) durante el ciclo no‐reproductivo en la Estación de Biodiversidad de Tiputini en Ecuador. Seguimos por radio telemetría a siete individuos de diferentes sexos y edades. Encontramos que el Saltarín Coroniblanco tiene un rango de hogar relativamente pequeño, variando entre 1,19 a 5,73 ha. El rango de hogar de los machos juveniles (2,25 ± 0,62 EE) es más grande que el de los machos adultos (1,20 ± 0,01 EE), pero más pequeño que el de las hembras (4,27 ± 0,77 EE). El estudio encontró que las hembras y los machos de segundo año realizaron vuelos más largos fuera del núcleo de su rango de hogar, comparado con machos juveniles del año o machos adultos. Estas diferencias sugieren que podrían dispersar semillas a mayores distancias y de manera más homogénea a lo largo de su rango de hogar. Los machos adultos y los juveniles del año parecen llevar a cabo eventos de dispersión de semillas a distancias más cortas. Nosotros argumentamos que estas contribuciones son complementarias y que los Saltarines Coroniblancos son agentes de dispersión claves, influenciando considerablemente la estructura y la composición de las comunidades de plantas del sotobosque en el bosque tropical lluvioso de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana.