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Purpose The purpose of this case report is to describe school-based physical therapy services received throughout high school by a student with diplegic cerebral palsy and to share her functional gains. Key points This previously discharged 15-year-old freshman was re-referred due to a perceived walking regression using long-leg braces/reverse rolling walker and her desire to again try crutches. She subsequently resumed walking, typically 4 days per week at school and progressed to axillary crutches on level surfaces and stairs. Gross Motor Function Measure scores increased from 66.4% freshman year to 78.8% senior year, with the greatest dimension changes in standing (35.9%-69.2%) and walking, running, and jumping (8.3%-25.0%). Conclusion School-based physical therapists are uniquely positioned to work with students in natural environments to optimize activity and participation. This report shows that continued ambulation gains in individuals with cerebral palsy are possible throughout adolescence.

The history of the low-elevation forest and forest-steppe ecotone on the east side of the Andes is revealed in pollen and charcoal records obtained from mid-latitude lakes. Prior to 15,000 cal yr BP, the vegetation was characterized by steppe vegetation with isolated stands of Nothofagus. The climate was generally dry, and the sparse vegetation apparently lacked sufficient fuels to burn extensively. After 15,000 cal yr BP, a mixture of Nothofagus forest and shrubland/steppe developed. Fire activity increased between 13,250 and 11,400 cal yr BP, contemporaneous with a regionally defined cold dry period (Huelmo/Mascardi Cold Reversal). The early-Holocene period was characterized by an open Nothofagus forest/shrubland mosaic, and fire frequency was high in dry sites and low in wet sites; the data suggest a sharp decrease in moisture eastward from the Andes. A shift to a surface-fire regime occurred at 7500 cal yr BP at the wet site and at 4400 cal yr BP at the dry site, preceding the expansion of Austrocedrus by 1000–1500 yr. The spread of Austrocedrus is explained by a shift towards a cooler and wetter climate in the middle and late Holocene. The change to a surface-fire regime is consistent with increased interannual climate variability and the onset or strengthening of ENSO. The present-day mixed forest dominated by Nothofagus and Austrocedrus was established in the last few millennia.

Physiological tolerance of environmental conditions can influence species-level responses to climate change. Here, we used species-specific thermal tolerances to predict the community responses of ant species to experimental forest-floor warming at the northern and southern boundaries of temperate hardwood forests in eastern North America. We then compared the predictive ability of thermal tolerance vs. correlative species distribution models (SDMs) which are popular forecasting tools for modeling the effects of climate change. Thermal tolerances predicted the responses of 19 ant species to experimental climate warming at the southern site, where environmental conditions are relatively close to the ants' upper thermal limits. In contrast, thermal tolerances did not predict the responses of the six species in the northern site, where environmental conditions are relatively far from the ants' upper thermal limits. Correlative SDMs were not predictive at either site. Our results suggest that, in environments close to a species' physiological limits, physiological trait-based measurements can successfully forecast the responses of species to future conditions. Although correlative SDMs may predict large-scale responses, such models may not be accurate for predicting site-level responses.

Climatic change is expected to have differential effects on ecological communities in different geographic areas. However, few studies have experimentally demonstrated the effects of warming on communities simultaneously at different locales. We manipulated air temperature with in situ passive warming and cooling chambers and quantified effects of temperature on ant abundance, diversity, and foraging activities (predation, scavenging, seed dispersal, nectivory, granivory) in two deciduous forests at 35° and 43° N latitude in the eastern U.S. In the southern site, the most abundant species, Crematogaster lineolata, increased while species evenness, most ant foraging activities, and abundance of several other ant species declined with increasing temperature. In the northern site, species evenness was highest at intermediate temperatures, but no other metrics of diversity or foraging activity changed with temperature. Regardless of temperature, ant abundance and foraging activities at the northern site were several orders of magnitude lower than those in the southern site.

Rhytidoponera violacea (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is a keystone seed disperser in Kwongan heathl and habitats of southwestern Australia. Like many myrmecochorous ants, little is known about the basic biology of this species. In this study various aspects of the biology of R. violacea were examined and the researchers evaluated how these characteristics may influence seed dispersal. R. violacea nesting habits (relatively shallow nests), foraging behavior (scramble competitor and lax food selection criteria), and other life history characteristics complement their role as a mutualist that interacts with the seeds of many plant species.