This paper empirically investigates three hypotheses regarding biases of National Basketball Association (NBA) referees. Using a sample of 28,388 quarter-level observations from six seasons, we find that referees make calls that favor home teams, teams losing during games, and teams losing
in playoff series. All three biases are likely to...
Understanding the drivers of species occurrence is a fundamental goal in basic and applied ecology. Occupancy models have emerged as a popular approach for inferring species occurrence because they account for problems associated with imperfect detection in field surveys. Current models, however, are limited because they assume covariates are independent...
A key uncertainty concerning the effect of wildfire on carbon dynamics is the rate at which fire-killed biomass (e.g., dead trees) decays and emits carbon to the atmosphere. We used a ground-based approach to compute decomposition of forest biomass killed, but not combusted, in the Biscuit Fire of 2002, an...
Summary 1. Woody plant encroachment of grasslands is occurring globally, with profound ecological consequences. Attempts to restore herbaceous dominance may fail if the woody state is resilient or if intervention leads to an alternate, undesirable state. Restoration outcomes often hinge on biotic interactions – particularly on priority effects that inhibit...
Many obligate symbiotic fungi are difficult to maintain in culture, and there is a growing need for alternative approaches to obtaining tissue and subsequent genomic assemblies from such species. In this study, the genome of Elaphomyces granulatus was sequenced from sporocarp tissue. The genome assembly remains on many contigs, but...
Large-scale poisoning events are common to scavenging bird species that forage communally, many of which are in decline. To reduce the threat of poisoning and compensate for other persistent threats, management, including supplemental feeding, is ongoing for many reintroduced and endangered vulture populations. Through a longitudinal study of lead exposure...
Livestock fences have been hypothesized to significantly contribute to mortality of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus); however, quantification of mortality due to fence collisions is lacking across their current distribution. Variation in fence density, landscape composition and configuration, and land use could influence collision risk of lesser prairie-chickens. We monitored fences...
BACKGROUND: School-based social-emotional and character development (SECD) programs can influence not only SECD, but also academic-related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of one SECD program, Positive Action (PA), on educational outcomes among low-income, urban youth.
METHODS: The longitudinal study used a matched-pair, cluster-randomized controlled...
Mixia osmundae (Basidiomycota, Pucciniomycotina) represents a monotypic class containing
an unusual fern pathogen with incompletely understood biology. We sequenced and analyzed
the genome of M. osmundae, focusing on genes that may provide some insight into its
mode of pathogenicity and reproductive biology.
Mixia osmundae has the smallest plant pathogenic basidiomycete...