Scavenging by threatened turtles regulates freshwater ecosystem health during fish kills

Carrion ecology in inland aquatic ecosystems: a systematic review

Carrion ecology, i.e. the decomposition and recycling of dead animals, has traditionally been neglected as a key process in ecosystem functioning. Similarly, despite the large threats that inland aquatic ecosystems (hereafter, aquatic ecosystems) face, the scientific literature is still largely biased towards terrestrial ecosystems. However, there has been an increasing number of studies on carrion ecology in aquatic ecosystems in the last two decades, highlighting their key role in nutrient recirculation and disease control. Thus, a global assessment of the ecological role of scavengers and carrion in aquatic ecosystems is timely. Here, we systematically reviewed scientific articles on carrion ecology in aquatic ecosystems to describe current knowledge, identify research gaps, and promote future studies that will deepen our understanding in this field. We found 206 relevant studies, which were highly biased towards North America, especially in lotic ecosystems, covering short time periods, and overlooking seasonality, a crucial factor in scavenging dynamics. Despite the low number of studies on scavenger assemblages, we recorded 55 orders of invertebrates from 179 families, with Diptera and Coleoptera being the most frequent orders. For vertebrates, we recorded 114 species from 40 families, with birds and mammals being the most common. Our results emphasise the significance of scavengers in stabilising food webs and facilitating nutrient cycling within aquatic ecosystems. Studies were strongly biased towards the assessment of the ecosystem effects of carrion, particularly of salmon carcasses in North America. The second most common research topic was the foraging ecology of vertebrates, which was mostly evaluated through sporadic observations of carrion in the diet. Articles assessing scavenger assemblages were scarce, and only a limited number of these studies evaluated carrion consumption patterns, which serve as a proxy for the role of scavengers in the ecosystem. The ecological functions performed by carrion and scavengers in aquatic ecosystems were diverse. The main ecological functions were carrion as food source and the role of scavengers in nutrient cycling, which appeared in 52.4% (N = 108) and 46.1% (N = 95) of publications, respectively. Ecosystem threats associated with carrion ecology were also identified, the most common being water eutrophication and carrion as source of pathogens (2.4%; N = 5 each). Regarding the effects of carrion on ecosystems, we found studies spanning all ecosystem components (N = 85), from soil or the water column to terrestrial vertebrates, with a particular focus on aquatic invertebrates and fish. Most of these articles found positive effects of carrion on ecosystems (e.g. higher species richness, abundance or fitness; 84.7%; N = 72), while a minority found negative effects, changes in community composition, or even no effects. Enhancing our understanding of scavengers and carrion in aquatic ecosystems is crucial to assessing their current and future roles amidst global change, mainly for water-land nutrient transport, due to changes in the amount and speed of nutrient movement, and for disease control and impact mitigation, due to the predicted increase in occurrence and magnitude of mortality events in aquatic ecosystems.

Reliability and validity evaluation of the chinese revision of the attitude towards adult vaccination scale

BACKGROUND

Although vaccination is one of the critical interventions to address global health issues, inadequate vaccination rates has become an international challenge. Vaccine hesitancy is the key to affecting inadequate vaccination rates. According to the WHO SAGE working group's definition, vaccine hesitancy refers to delaying or refusing vaccination and has been ranked as one of the top 10 health threats. There has yet to be a scale that evaluates vaccination attitudes among Chinese adults. However, an attitude quantity, the adult vaccination attitude scale, has been developed to assess adult vaccination attitudes and reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

OBJECTIVE

The Adult Attitudes to Vaccination Scale (ATAVAC) was initially developed by Professor Zoi Tsimtsiou et al. This study aimed to analyze the structure of the Chinese version of the ATAVAC and explore the relationship between adult vaccination attitudes, e-health literacy, and medical distrust.

METHODS

After obtaining author permission for the initial scales, the study was translated using the Brislin back-translation method. 693 adults were enrolled to the study. To validate this hypothesis, participants finished the socio-demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the ATAVAC, the electronic Health Literacy Scale (e-HEALS) and the Medical Mistrust Index (MMI). The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to examine the underlying structure of the factors of the Chinese version of the Adult Vaccination Attitude Scale and to measure its reliability and validity.

RESULTS

The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the Chinese version of the ATAVAC was 0.885, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.850 to 0.958 for each dimension. The content validity index was 0.90, and the retest reliability was 0.943. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the 3-factor structure of the translation instrument, and the scale had good discriminant validity. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed a degree of freedom of 1.219, a model fit index (GFI) of 0.979, a normative fit index (NFI) of 0.991, a Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) of 0.998, a comparability index (CFI) of 0.998 and a root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) of 0.026.

CONCLUSION

The results show that the Chinese version of the ATAVAC has demonstrated good reliability and validity. Hence, it can be used as an effective tool to assess vaccination attitudes among Chinese adults.

Adaptive Management to Reduce Nest Inundation of a Critically Endangered Freshwater Turtle: Confirming the Win-win

Inundation of Australian freshwater turtle nests has been identified as a threat to recruitment and long-term viability of species such as the critically endangered white-throated snapping turtle (Elseya albagula). Water level fluctuations within water storage infrastructure can inundate significant proportions of E. albagula nests in any year. Using an ecological risk assessment framework, operating rules for a water storage in the Burnett River (South East Queensland, Australia) were implemented to support nesting of E. albagula. Turtles were encouraged to nest at higher elevations on riverbanks by maintaining higher water levels in the impoundment during the nesting season, followed by lowering of water levels during the incubation period to minimise rates of nest inundation from riverine inflows. To verify the success of the new rules, a three-year confirmation monitoring program of nest heights and water levels was undertaken. Results of confirmation monitoring showed that 3% (2018), 11% (2019) and 0% (2020) of E. albagula nests were inundated under the new operating rules, compared to previously estimated nest inundation rates of >20% in ~24% of years of a 118-year simulation period (1890-2008) under previous storage operating rules. Emergency releases from an upstream storage in 2019 and 2020 for dam safety did not affect the success of the rule, demonstrating its resilience to natural and artificial flow regimes. This study demonstrates the importance of confirmation monitoring in verifying the efficacy of targeted changes to water management, and highlights potential application across other water storage infrastructure with threatened freshwater turtle populations requiring adaptive management.