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Invasive earthworms are rapidly transforming detrital communities in North America. Recent studies have investigated the effects of European earthworms, whereas Asian earthworms, such as species of the genus Amynthas Kinberg, 1867, remain understudied. Amynthas is a surface-dwelling earthworm that voraciously consumes the litter layer of temperate forest floor habitats. The accumulation of detritus is important for the terrestrial Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818)) because this microhabitat provides the matrix through which salamanders travel when foraging, searching for mates, and dispersing. We examined the effect of Amynthas on the activity of 'naive' (no history of co-occurrence with Amynthas) and 'experienced' (recent co-occurrence with Amynthas) salamanders in laboratory microcosms. We hypothesized that earthworms would disturb normal salamander activity through the reduction of leaf litter and physical impediment, with greater negative effects on naive salamanders encountering this 'novel' invasive species. Consistent with published studies, earthworm presence significantly decreased leaf-litter mass over time. Prior experience with earthworms did not appear to influence salamander response. However, earthworm presence had a significant effect on salamander activity, with salamanders exhibiting increased movement, cover-object use, and co- occurrence under cover objects with earthworms as the study progressed. Unnecessary movement has the potential to incur fitness costs to salamanders in the form of energetic expenditure and increased exposure to predators. Key words: Plethodon cinereus, Eastern Red-backed Salamander, Amynthas, crazy snake worm, Megascolecidae, non-native, leaf-litter community, physical disturbance. Les lombriciens envahissants transforment rapidement les communautes detritiques d'Amerique du Nord. Si des etudes recentes se sont penchees sur les effets des lombriciens europeens, les lombriciens asiatiques tels qu'especes du genre Amynthas Kinberg, 1867 demeurent sous-etudies. Amynthas est un ver de terre vivant a la surface du sol qui consomme voracement la couche de litiere d'habitats de tapis forestier de forets temperees. L'accumulation de detritus est importante pour les salamandres cendrees (Plethodon cinereus (Green, 1818)) terrestres parce que ce microhabitat constitue la matrice a travers laquelle les salamandres se deplacent quand elles s'approvisionnent, cherchent un compagnon ou se dispersent. Nous avons examine les effets d'Amynthas sur l'activite de salamandres<< naives>> (aucun antecedent de cooccurrence avec Amynthas) et << experimentees>> (cooccurrence recente avec Amynthas) dans des microcosmes en laboratoire. Nous avions postule que les lombriciens perturberaient l'activite normale des salamandres en reduisant la couverture de feuilles mortes et les obstacles physiques, les effets negatifs les plus importants etant sur les salamandres naives mises en presence de cette << nouvelle >> espece envahissante. Conformement a des etudes publiees, la presence de lombriciens se traduisait par une diminution significative de la masse de la litiere de feuilles mortes dans le temps. Une experience prealable de la presence de lombriciens ne semblait pas influencer la reaction des salamandres. La presence de lombriciens avait toutefois un effet significatif sur l'activite des salamandres, qui presentaient des augmentations, au fil de l'etude, de leurs deplacements, de l'utilisation d'objets de la litiere et de la cooccurrence avec des lombriciens sous les objets de la litiere. Les deplacements non necessaires pourraient entrainer des couts relatifs a l'aptitude pour les salamandres sous forme de depenses d'energie et d'une exposition accrue aux predateurs. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : Plethodon cinereus, salamandre cendree, Amynthas, lombric gris, megascolecides, non indigene, communaute de litiere de feuilles mortes, perturbation physique., Introduction Invasive species are considered one of the greatest threats to biodiversity (Simberloff and Rajmanek 2010). The ability of exotic species to predate, infect, and outcompete native species has reduced [...]

Dwight Billings, James B. Duke Professor of Botany at Duke University, eminent ecologist, writer, prolific mentor, original thinker, and master of his discipline, contributed much to our ecological understanding of [...]

Abstract The Drug Effectiveness Review Project was initiated in 2003 in response to dramatic increases in the cost of pharmaceuticals, which lessened the purchasing power of state Medicaid budgets. A collaborative group of state Medicaid agencies and other organizations formed to commission high-quality comparative effectiveness reviews to inform evidence-based decisions about drugs that would be available to Medicaid recipients. The Project is coordinated by the Center for Evidence-based Policy (CEbP) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and the systematic reviews are undertaken by the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) at OHSU and at the University of North Carolina. The reviews adhere to high standards for comparative effectiveness reviews. Because the investigators have direct, regular communication with policy-makers, the reports have direct impact on policy and decision-making, unlike many systematic reviews. The Project was an innovator of methods to involve stakeholders and continues to develop its methods in conducting reviews that are highly relevant to policy-makers. The methods used for selecting topics, developing key questions, searching, determining eligibility of studies, assessing study quality, conducting qualitative and quantitative syntheses, rating the strength of evidence, and summarizing findings are described. In addition, our on-going interactions with the policy-makers that use the reports are described.