Northeastern Naturalist 

About: Northeastern Naturalist is an academic journal published by Eagle Hill Institute. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Species richness. It has an ISSN identifier of 1092-6194. Over the lifetime, 1437 publications have been published receiving 14349 citations.

Possessing Nature: Museums, Collecting, and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy

Abstract: In 1500 few Europeans regarded nature as a subject worthy of inquiry. Yet fifty years later the first museums of natural history had appeared in Italy, dedicated to the marvels of nature. Italian patricians, their curiosity fuelled by new voyages of exploration and the humanist rediscovery of nature, created vast collections as a means of knowing the world and used this knowledge to their greater glory. Drawing on extensive archives of visitors' books, letters, travel journals, memoirs, and pleas for patronage, Paula Findlen reconstructs the lost social world of Renaissance and Baroque museums. She follows the new study of natural history as it moved out of the universities and into sixteenth- and seventeenth-century scientific societies, religious orders, and princely courts. Findlen argues convincingly that natural history as a discipline blurred the border between the ancients and the moderns, between collecting in order to recover ancient wisdom and the development of new textual and experimental scholarship. Her vivid account reveals how the scientific revolution grew from the constant mediation between the old forms of knowledge and the new.

Camera Trapping of Carnivores: Trap Success Among Camera Types and Across Species, and Habitat Selection by Species, on Salt Pond Mountain, Giles County, Virginia

Abstract: To evaluate trap success among camera types and across species as well as assess habitat selection by target carnivore species, we established 16 infrared-triggered camera stations across a 26.9-km2 study area located on primarily Jefferson National Forest land in Virginia. We monitored camera stations for 72 days (August to October 2005) for a total of 891 trap nights (TN) of effort. Overall trap success for all animals combined was 40.74 captures per 100 TN. Procyon lotor (raccoon) had the highest predator trap success (2.81/100 TN), followed by: Ursus americanus (black bear, 1.91/100 TN); Lynx rufus (bobcat, 1.46/100 TN); Canis latrans (coyote, 1.01/100 TN); and Urocyon cinereoargenteus (gray fox, 0.56/100 TN). Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer) had the highest overall trap success (21.32/100 TN), followed by Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel, 6.17/100 TN). Passive camera units, especially DeerCam, had higher trap success than active camera units, and digital camera units (Reconyx) o...

Impacts of Garlic Mustard Invasion on a Forest Understory Community

Abstract: To assess the community-level responses of a New England forest to invasion by the Eurasian biennial Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard), we conducted a vegetation census at twenty-four plots ranging from low to high invasive cover, and experimentally removed 0, 50, or 100% of garlic mustard from adjacent highly invaded plots at the same study site. Species richness did not respond to natural or experimental levels of invasion, but the Shannon diversity and equitability indices declined with increasing in situ densities of garlic mustard, and increased in response to removal of garlic mustard at the experimental plots. Individual species demon- strated variable responses to high-, intermediate-, and low-level invasion. Of all plant functional groups, tree seedlings declined most notably with increasing in situ levels of invasion. This functional group, and seedlings of three key canopy tree species within the group, increased in response to partial, but not full eradication of garlic mustard. Our results demonstrate that the effectiveness of full or partial removal depends on management priorities for promoting overall diversity, species richness, native species composition, and/or individual species performance within native communities.

An annotated list of deepwater fishes from off the new england region, with new area records

Abstract: A review of literature, museum specimens, and records from four recent National Marine Fisheries Service deepwater surveys allows us to present an annotated list of 591 species in 132 families that live below 200 meters in the area between the Scotian Shelf and the southern New England Shelf south to about 38½N. Three orders (Stomiiformes, Perciformes, and Myctophiformes) of the 24 in the area account for 41% of the species. New area records for 111 species are included; the majority (83%) represent extensions from the south, with only 17% from the north and east. Although the deep-sea ichthyofauna off eastern North America is quite well known, it is noted that 96 new species have been described since 1950 and 34 since 1975.

Influence of land use and site characteristics on invasive plant abundance in the Quinebaug Highlands of southern New England

Abstract: Invasive exotic plants have been identified as one of the major threats to ecosystem function and biodiversity. This study examined the distribution and abundance (cover and frequency) of invasive plants in natural habitats of the Quinebaug Highlands forest block (13,760 ha) of northern Connecticut and southern Massachusetts in relation to current and historical land use and site conditions. Multiple regression and GIS analyses were used to identify areas of high infestation and factors most useful in predicting invasions. Celastrus orbiculatus, Rosa multiflora, and Berberis thunbergii were the most frequent invasives. Past land use was the strongest predictor of invasive cover (r2 = 0.219) and richness (r2 = 0.303; p < 0.001 both regressions). Current land development and physical soil characteristics were also strongly correlated. These results add to our understanding of factors promoting plant invasions. Because invasive species control in natural areas is time- and resource-intensive, this i...