Identifying the migration routes and stopover sites used by declining species is critical for developing targeted conservation actions. Long-distance migratory shorebirds are among the groups of birds declining most rapidly, yet we frequently lack detailed knowledge about the routes and stopover sites they use during their hemisphere-spanning migrations. This is especially true for species that migrate through mid-continental regions in the Western Hemisphere. We therefore used satellite transmitters to track 212 individuals of 6 shorebird species during their southward migrations-Pluvialis dominica (American Golden-Plover), Limosa haemastica (Hudsonian Godwit), Tringa flavipes (Lesser Yellowlegs), Calidris subruficollis (Buff-breasted Sandpiper), C. melanotos (Pectoral Sandpiper), and Bartramia longicauda (Upland Sandpiper)-as they crossed the Amazon Basin of South America, a region from which reports of shorebird numbers are increasing but remain relatively rare. Our results make clear that the Amazon Basin provides stopover habitat for a large number of shorebirds: more than 74% of individuals tracked crossing the Amazon Basin stopped over in the region for an average of 2-14 days, with some spending the entire nonbreeding season there. All species selected stopover sites along the region's many rivers and lakes, while within stopover sites each species exhibited distinct habitat preferences. The timing of stopovers within sub-basins of the Amazon Basin also coincided with periods of low water, when the muddy, shallow water habitats preferred by most shorebirds are likely plentiful. Together, our results highlight the need for detailed investigations into shorebird abundance and distribution within the Amazon Basin, threats to shorebirds within particular subbasins, and links between shorebird conservation efforts and those targeting the myriad other species that inhabit this dynamic, hyper-diverse region. center dot Long-distance migratory shorebirds are declining worldwide. For many of these species, we lack essential information about their habitats throughout the year, including the stopover sites they use during migration.center dot In the Western Hemisphere, information is particularly lacking for the midcontinent of South America, a region that several shorebird species may cross during their southward migrations.center dot We examine satellite tracking data from 6 shorebird species to show that stops in the Amazon Basin are surprisingly common, occurring in more than 74% of southward migratory tracks.center dot Shorebirds selected stopover sites along rivers and lakes and exhibited distinct local-scale habitat preferences. These results highlight the need for detailed investigations into shorebird abundance and stopover site characteristics within the Amazon Basin, as well as potential links to broader conservation efforts. Identificar las rutas migratorias y los sitios de parada utilizados por las especies en declive es crucial para desarrollar acciones de conservaci & oacute;n espec & iacute;ficas. Las aves playeras migratorias de larga distancia est & aacute;n entre los grupos de aves que disminuyen m & aacute;s r & aacute;pidamente, pero con frecuencia carecemos de conocimientos detallados sobre las rutas y los sitios de parada que utilizan durante sus migraciones de magnitud hemisf & eacute;rica. Esto es especialmente cierto para las especies que migran a trav & eacute;s de las regiones medio-continentales del Hemisferio Occidental. Por lo tanto, utilizamos transmisores satelitales para rastrear a 212 individuos de 6 especies de aves playeras durante sus migraciones hacia el sur-Pluvialis dominica, Limosa haemastica, Tringa flavipes, Calidris subruficollis, C. melanotos y Bartramia longicauda-mientras cruzaban la cuenca amaz & oacute;nica de Am & eacute;rica del Sur, una regi & oacute;n en la cual los estudios sobre el n & uacute;mero de aves playeras est & aacute;n aumentando, pero siguen siendo relativamente raros. Nuestros resultados dejan claro que la cuenca amaz & oacute;nica proporciona h & aacute;bitat de parada para un gran n & uacute;mero de aves playeras: m & aacute;s del 74% de los individuos rastreados que cruzaron la cuenca amaz & oacute;nica se detuvieron en la regi & oacute;n durante un promedio de 2 a 14 d & iacute;as, y algunos pasaron toda la temporada no reproductiva all & iacute;. Todas las especies seleccionaron sitios de parada a lo largo de los numerosos r & iacute;os y lagos de la regi & oacute;n, mientras que dentro de los sitios de parada cada especie mostr & oacute; preferencias de h & aacute;bitat distintas. El momento de las paradas dentro de las subcuencas de la cuenca amaz & oacute;nica tambi & eacute;n coincidi & oacute; con per & iacute;odos de aguas bajas, cuando los h & aacute;bitats de aguas poco profundas y fangosas preferidos por la mayor & iacute;a de las aves playeras son probablemente abundantes. En conjunto, nuestros resultados destacan la necesidad de investigaciones detalladas sobre la abundancia y distribuci & oacute;n de las aves playeras dentro de la cuenca amaz & oacute;nica, las amenazas a las aves playeras dentro de subcuencas particulares, y los v & iacute;nculos entre los esfuerzos de conservaci & oacute;n de las aves playeras y aquellos dirigidos a la mir & iacute;ada de otras especies que habitan esta regi & oacute;n din & aacute;mica y de gran diversidad.

Lay Summary center dot Understanding threats and basic ecology throughout the full annual cycle is critical for effective conservation of migratory birds. center dot We used GPS data with satellite imagery during the nonbreeding period to describe foraging and roosting habitat use in the declining Eastern Whip-poor-will. We combined these data with stable isotope values to analyze how land use and habitat moisture impacted home range size and relative trophic level. center dot Whip-poor-will nonbreeding home ranges are small (mean: 1.86 +/- 1.90 ha) compared to breeding home ranges, and all birds depended on forests for both foraging and roosting. center dot Smaller, more fragmented forests were associated with increased home range sizes in whip-poor-wills, particularly when agriculture was present, potentially reflecting a reduced capacity for human-altered lands to meet habitat requirements. center dot Minimizing the conversion of forest to agricultural lands, including the protection of small forest fragments, could prevent the loss of additional habitat for whip-poor-wills and other forest-dependent species. Migratory bird populations can be limited by events in disparate parts of the world. Birds wintering in tropical regions are facing rapid habitat loss, climate change, and intensive agricultural regimes, potentially contributing to population declines. However, an understanding of basic nonbreeding ecology of species, such as habitat and space use, is critical for determining if this is the case. Populations of the nocturnal/crepuscular Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus) have declined by 70% since the 1960's, yet data on the species are sparse outside of the breeding season. We extracted data from 41 archival GPS tags deployed on whip-poor-wills and estimated nonbreeding home ranges and land covers used. We used satellite imagery and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values from claws grown during the nonbreeding season to analyze how land cover and habitat moisture impacted home range size and relative trophic level. Forest was by far the most prevalent land cover used by whip-poor-wills, occurring in all home ranges and accounting for >80% of diurnal roosting points. We found that less forest, the presence of agriculture, and more edge (irrespective of land cover) were associated with larger home ranges. Stable isotope values differed by broadscale ecoregion but not local land cover characteristics in our study, indicating that regional idiosyncrasies or broadscale processes can be more important in determining stable isotope ratios. Our findings suggest that the loss, fragmentation, and replacement of forest by agriculture in the core of the whip-poor-will's nonbreeding range may represent a threat to the species, as they rely heavily upon forest, and appear to alter space use in response to changes in forest cover.

Nut-bearing trees such as oaks (Quercus genus) and American chestnut (Castanea dentata, hereafter: chestnut) rely on scatter-hoarding animals for seed dispersal. With the pursuit of blight-resistant chestnuts for eventual reintroduction into eastern hardwood forests of the United States, it becomes important to understand how foraging preferences of avian seed-hoarders will influence chestnut dispersal in oak-dominated forests. Using six seed selection trials over three years and two "seasons " (early fall and late fall), we assess the relative seed preferences - when gathering seeds for hoarding or consumption - of five species of avian seed dispersers in southeast Ohio. In each trial, we presented an equal number of chestnuts and two species of common acorns, black (Q. velutina) and white oak (Q. alba), to wild birds on feeding platforms monitored by cameras. We used Bayesian discrete choice models to determine preferences of each species, and estimate the influence of natural variation in background mast availability (i.e., different years and seasons). Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) showed a consistent preference for the seeds of black oak over chestnut over white oak, and the strength of preference for black oak increased in late season when acorns were scarce. Other species showed variable preferences, with White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) the only species to prefer chestnuts over both acorns, though sample size was small (n = 26 selections). Our results suggest chestnuts are used by a host of avian seed-hoarders that may facilitate dispersal of chestnut, particularly in years of black oak mast failure.

Abstract Many populations of long‐distance migrant shorebirds are declining rapidly. Since the 1970s, the lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) has experienced a pronounced reduction in abundance of ~63%. The potential causes of the species' decline are complex and interrelated. Understanding the timing of migration, seasonal routes, and important stopover and non‐breeding locations used by this species will aid in directing conservation planning to address potential threats. During 2018–2022, we tracked 118 adult lesser yellowlegs using GPS satellite tags deployed on birds from five breeding and two migratory stopover locations spanning the boreal forest of North America from Alaska to Eastern Canada. Our objectives were to identify migratory routes, quantify migratory connectivity, and describe key stopover and non‐breeding locations. We also evaluated predictors of southbound migratory departure date and migration distance. Individuals tagged in Alaska and Central Canada followed similar southbound migratory routes, stopping to refuel in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, whereas birds tagged in Eastern Canada completed multi‐day transoceanic flights covering distances of >4000 km across the Atlantic between North and South America. Upon reaching their non‐breeding locations, lesser yellowlegs populations overlapped, resulting in weak migratory connectivity. Sex and population origin were significantly associated with the timing of migratory departure from breeding locations, and body mass at the time of GPS‐tag deployment was the best predictor of southbound migratory distance. Our findings suggest that lesser yellowlegs travel long distances and traverse numerous political boundaries each year, and breeding location likely has the greatest influence on migratory routes and therefore the threats birds experience during migration. Further, the species' dependence on wetlands in agricultural landscapes during migration and the non‐breeding period may make them vulnerable to threats related to agricultural practices, such as pesticide exposure.

Aim: A full annual cycle approach to conservation and understanding of regional population trends requires an understanding of migratory connectivity. We present tracking data on the eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus), a Neotropical migrant that has declined by 70% in recent decades. When and where populations of this species are limited throughout the annual cycle is poorly understood. Methods: We utilized data from 52 archival GPS tags from five breeding areas covering a 9.5-degree latitudinal span (similar to 1000 km) of the whip-poor-will breeding range in the summers of 2017 and 2019. We identified migratory routes and spatiotemporal bottlenecks, stopover and wintering locations, calculated migratory connectivity throughout migration and on the wintering grounds and tested predictions for three latitudinal connectivity patterns. Results: Whip-poor-wills circumvented the Gulf of Mexico, and populations across a large latitudinal gradient came together in eastern Texas in early October, resulting in decreased connectivity throughout migration. Breeding-winter migratory connectivity was low (MC = 0.22 +/- 0.12), with extensive overlap of core wintering areas in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The overlap of wintering areas by individuals from dispersed breeding latitudes suggests that whip-poor-wills most closely resemble telescopic migrants. Main conclusions: Circumventing the Gulf of Mexico influenced connectivity in the whip-poor-will, funnelling individuals into a small region in eastern Texas in migration and likely influencing breeding-winter connectivity. Thus, geographically dispersed breeding populations overlap in space and time during migration and winter, and non-breeding season conditions affecting populations (both positively and negatively) impact individuals from across the core breeding range. For example, extensive deforestation occurring in the whip-poor-will's core wintering area likely impacts individuals from all five deployment locations. We demonstrate that combining multiple indices of spatiotemporal cohesion is critical to fully understand how migratory animals are distributed in the non-breeding season.

Significant differences in treatment received and OS due to receipt of PET may be due to stage migration or unmeasured confounders. However, in a CRT subgroup, receipt of PET was associated with improved OS. Advocating for increased access to PET scans in this patient population is of utmost importance especially now with an additional survival benefit of adjuvant immunotherapy following CRT. The timing of the PET scan relative to initiating treatment did not have an obvious impact on survival, which may be reassuring for centers that may lack the capability to perform timely scans or are experiencing delays due to the COVID pandemic.

The contribution of interspecific competition to structuring population and community dynamics remains controversial and poorly tested. Interspecific competition has long been thought to influence the structure of migrant-resident bird communities in winter, yet experimental evidence remains elusive. The arrival of billions of songbirds into Neotropical habitats, where they co-exist with residents, provides a unique opportunity to assess interspecific competition and its consequences. Working in 15 ha of Jamaican black mangrove forest, we used removal experiments to test whether dominant resident Yellow Warblers compete interspecifically with subordinate wintering American Redstarts; we also used observational evidence (interspecific territorial overlap) to understand whether this coexistence influences physical condition, spring departure dates or annual return rates. Consistent with interspecific competition, after experimental removal of the resident, yearling male Redstarts (but not females or adult males) immediately moved into vacated Yellow Warbler territories, increasing their overlap with the space by 7.3%. Yearling Redstarts also appeared to adjust their territorial space use by actively avoiding Yellow Warblers; for example, Redstarts departing the wintering grounds as yearlings and returning the following winter shifted such that their territories overlapped 32% less with those of Yellow Warblers. Adult Redstarts showed no such territorial flexibility. Adult male Redstarts also showed evidence supporting the consequences of coexistence: territorial overlap with Yellow Warblers was negatively correlated with body condition and annual return rates. Adult male Redstarts with <25% territorial overlap with Yellow Warblers were more than three times as likely to return between seasons than those with 100% overlap. We propose that the territorial inflexibility of adult male Redstarts produces these consequences, which may be due to their years-long investment in that particular territory. More generally, the temporary nature of migrant-resident interspecific competition is likely what allows coexistence during winter, the most resource-poor time of year. Interspecific competition and the consequences of coexistence are likely age- and sex-specific and the product of intraspecific dominance hierarchy in Redstarts. Our observations suggest that interspecific coexistence has measurable consequences, and our experiments support the long-held, but previously untested belief that resident birds compete interspecifically with wintering migrants.

Understanding spatial and temporal movement patterns of migratory birds throughout the annual cycle can help identify potential population threats. The behavior and habitat use of birds during migration and stopover periods is particularly understudied in many species. In this study, we used high spatial resolution archival GPS tags to track Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus) from one eastern (New Hampshire) and two western (Alaska and Alberta) breeding populations across the annual cycle. We sought to determine: 1) migratory connectivity of the three distinct populations; 2) migratory phenology, behavior, and time spent during each phase of the annual cycle; and 3) habitat use of individuals throughout the nonbreeding period. We retrieved 7 tags from 30 tagged individuals following 1-year deployments. We found that four Alberta individuals overwintered in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, two Alaska individuals overwintered in either the Great Plains or the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, and the single New Hampshire individual overwintered on the Southeastern Coastal Plain. Length of annual cycle stages varied among individuals, with the combined migratory periods occupying between 12% and 48% of the annual cycle. Stopover behavior was also widely variable, as minimum convex polygons of stopovers ranged from < 1 hectare to 505 km(2) and stopover durations ranged from 1 to 35 days (n = 40 stopovers). Birds predominantly used woody wetlands and emergent marsh during the nonbreeding period, but habitat use differed between roosting and foraging. Marshes were used more for nocturnal roosting, whereas woody wetlands were used for diurnal foraging. Our results can help efforts to conserve this declining species by targeting regions and habitats at specific times of year for management during the nonbreeding period. In particular, the large amount of time spent during migration periods suggests conservation efforts in stopover regions are just as important as those on the wintering grounds.

ABSTRACT The Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) is a widespread, uncommon migrant that has experienced heavy population declines over the last century. This species can spend over a quarter of their annual cycle on migration, so it is important to determine their habitat requirements during stopover events to inform effective conservation planning. We assessed their habitat selection at an important stopover site in northern Ohio during both fall and spring migration. Since stopover habitat selection is scale-dependent, we investigated both patch-scale (between patches) and fine-scale (within a patch) selection using radio telemetry to locate foraging and roosting flocks, and compared habitat variables between used and available points across the study site. At the patch scale, we found that birds preferred dogwood–willow swamp, low-lying forest patches, and areas of greater habitat complexity for foraging in both seasons. At the fine scale, spring migrants foraged closer to habitat edges than random, and preferred areas with more wet leaf litter and shallow water, and less grass cover. Fall migrants also preferred shallow water and leaf litter cover, and avoided areas with dense grass, forbs, and herbaceous shrub cover. By contrast, birds consistently roosted in dense stands of emergent Phragmites or Typha marsh, suggesting that the best stopover or staging sites are those with a matrix of different wetland habitats. Although the migratory range of Rusty Blackbirds is currently dominated by agricultural development, our results suggest that fragmented landscapes can still provide adequate habitat for migrants if the available land is managed for a variety of wet habitat types. LAY SUMMARY The Rusty Blackbird is a widespread, uncommon migrant that has experienced heavy population declines over the last century. Rusty Blackbirds can spend over a quarter of the year on migration, so it is important to determine their habitat requirements during stopover events to inform conservation planning. We assessed their habitat selection at 2 spatial scales at an important stopover site in Ohio during fall and spring migration, using radio telemetry to locate foraging and roosting flocks. At the patch scale, we found that Rusty Blackbirds preferred dogwood–willow swamp, flooded forest patches, and areas of habitat complexity for foraging. At the fine scale, birds foraged close to habitat edges, and preferred areas with more wet leaf litter and shallow water, while avoiding dense grass, forbs, and herbaceous shrub cover. By contrast, Rusty Blackbirds consistently roosted in dense stands of emergent marsh, suggesting that the best stopover sites are those with several different wetland habitats.

Standard therapy for high-risk (HR) prostate cancer (PrCa) involves androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and pelvic conventional fractionation (CF) external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by boost CF-EBRT treatment to prostate f or a total of 78 to 80 Gy in 39 to 40 fractions. This is a long and inconvenient treatment for patients. Brachytherapy boost treatment studies indicate that escalation of biological dose of radiotherapy (RT) can improve outcomes in HR-PrCa. However, brachytherapy is an invasive treatment associated with increased toxicity and requires specialized resources. Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is a promising, non-invasive alternative to brachytherapy. However, i ts impact on patient quality of life (QoL) and RT-associated toxicity has not been investigated in a randomized setting. I n this study, we investigate SBRT as a boost treatment, following pelvic CF-EBRT, in patients with HR-PrCa treated with ADT. One hundred patients with locally advanced PrCa will be randomized to receive daily CF-EBRT of 45 to 46 Gy in 23 to 25 fractions followed by either daily CF-EBRT of 32 to 33 Gy in 15 to 16 fractions (control arm) or SBRT boost treatment of 19.5 to 21 Gy in 3 fractions (1 fraction per week) (experimental arm). The primary objective of the PBS trial is early bowel and urinary QoL (expanded prostate index composite [EPIC], up to 6 months after RT). This phase II randomized study (PBS) provides an appropriate setting to investigate effectively the impact of SBRT boost on QoL and toxicity in patients with HR-PrCa, before this modality can be compared against the current standard of care in larger phase III protocols. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The field of conservation physiology strives to achieve conservation goals by revealing physiological mechanisms that drive population declines in the face of human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) and has informed many successful conservation actions. However, many studies still struggle to explicitly link individual physiological measures to impacts across the biological hierarchy (to population and ecosystem levels) and instead rely on a 'black box' of assumptions to scale up results for conservation implications. Here, we highlight some examples of studies that were successful in scaling beyond the individual level, including two case studies of well-researched species, and using other studies we highlight challenges and future opportunities to increase the impact of research by scaling up the biological hierarchy. We first examine studies that use individual physiological measures to scale up to population-level impacts and discuss several emerging fields that have made significant steps toward addressing the gap between individual-based and demographic studies, such as macrophysiology and landscape physiology. Next, we examine how future studies can scale from population or species-level to community- and ecosystem-level impacts and discuss avenues of research that can lead to conservation implications at the ecosystem level, such as abiotic gradients and interspecific interactions. In the process, we review methods that researchers can use to make links across the biological hierarchy, including crossing disciplinary boundaries, collaboration and data sharing, spatial modelling and incorporating multiple markers (e.g. physiological, behavioural or demographic) into their research. We recommend future studies incorporating tools that consider the diversity of 'landscapes' experienced by animals at higher levels of the biological hierarchy, will make more effective contributions to conservation and management decisions.

The Arctic is entering a new ecological state, with alarming consequences for humanity. Animal-borne sensors offer a window into these changes. Although substantial animal tracking data from the Arctic and subarctic exist, most are difficult to discover and access. Here, we present the new Arctic Animal Movement Archive (AAMA), a growing collection of more than 200 standardized terrestrial and marine animal tracking studies from 1991 to the present. The AAMA supports public data discovery, preserves fundamental baseline data for the future, and facilitates efficient, collaborative data analysis. With AAMA-based case studies, we document climatic influences on the migration phenology of eagles, geographic differences in the adaptive response of caribou reproductive phenology to climate change, and species- specific changes in terrestrial mammal movement rates in response to increasing temperature.

Climate change is predicted to impact tropical mangrove forests due to decreased rainfall, sea-level rise, and increased seasonality of flooding. Such changes are likely to influence habitat quality for migratory songbirds occupying mangrove wetlands during the tropical dry season. Overwintering habitat quality is known to be associated with fitness in migratory songbirds, yet studies have focused primarily on territorial species. Little is known about the ecology of nonterritorial species that may display more complex movement patterns within and among habitats of differing quality. In this study, we assess within-season survival and movement at two spatio-temporal scales of a nonterritorial overwintering bird, the prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea), that depends on mangroves and tropical lowland forests. Specifically, we (a) estimated within-patch survival and persistence over a six-week period using radio-tagged birds in central Panama and (b) modeled abundance and occupancy dynamics at survey points throughout eastern Panama and northern Colombia as the dry season progressed. We found that site persistence was highest in mangroves; however, the probability of survival did not differ among habitats. The probability of warbler occupancy increased with canopy cover, and wet habitats were least likely to experience local extinction as the dry season progressed. We also found that warbler abundance is highest in forests with the tallest canopies. This study is one of the first to demonstrate habitat-dependent occupancy and movement in a nonterritorial overwintering migrant songbird, and our findings highlight the need to conserve intact, mature mangrove, and lowland forests.

Aims: Radiation-induced heart disease is a late effect of cardiac irradiation and has been shown in patients with lymphoma and thoracic cancers. There is no established measurement tool to detect acute cardiac damage. However, high sensitivity troponin I and T (HsTnI and HsTnT) and echocardiograms have shown promise in some studies. A pilot trial was conducted to characterise whether these instruments may detect subclinical radiotherapy-induced cardiac damage. Materials and methods: Eligible patients received high cardiac doses defined by either at least 30 Gy to 5% of cardiac volume or a mean dose of 4 Gy. HsTnI and HsTnT were measured before radiotherapy and after 2 and 4 weeks of radiotherapy; three-dimensional echocardiograms were completed before and 1 year after radiotherapy. Results: Of 19 patients, the median 'mean left ventricular dose' was 3.1 Gy and the 'mean cardiac dose' was 8.6 Gy. Significant positive associations between HsTnI and HsTnT were observed at all time points, but there was no significant association with cardiac dose. The mean left ventricular dose and the maximum left ventricular dose were, however, associated with a decrease in ejection fraction (P = 0.054, 0.043) as well as an increase in left ventricular strain (P = 0.058). Conclusion: This study suggests that HsTnI and HsTnT are intimately related, but detection of acute cardiac damage was not shown, potentially due to limitations of these markers or low radiotherapy doses using conformal techniques. Our results also suggest subacute damage at 1 year may depend on the dose to the left ventricle. Further studies are needed, as identification of early damage could facilitate the ability to closely monitor and intervene in patients at risk for radiation-induced heart disease. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal College of Radiologists.

Abstract Due to a long running research bias toward the breeding season, there are major gaps in knowledge on the basic nonbreeding ecology of many species, preventing a full‐annual cycle focus in ecology and conservation. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that many species are extremely difficult to detect outside of breeding. Here, we demonstrate a partial solution to this problem by using archival GPS tags to examine the overwintering ecology of a migratory nocturnal bird, the eastern whip‐poor‐will (Antrostomus vociferous). We deployed tags on 21 individuals and were able to recover 11 (52%) one year later. Tags collected high precision (approx. 10 m) points throughout the nonbreeding period. With continuous time movement models, we used these data to estimate overwintering home ranges. All individuals exhibited at least one bounded home range during this phase of the annual cycle, three of eleven had two wintering locations, and home range area ranged from 0.50 to 10.85 ha. All overwintering home ranges contained closed‐canopy forest land cover (42%–100%), and no other land cover type represented >40% of any home range. We found some evidence, with caveats, that total edge within the landscape surrounding the home range was negatively related to home range area. The prevalence of contiguous closed‐canopy forest cover in overwintering home ranges contrasts with apparent breeding habitat preferences, which includes clear‐cuts and other, more open, habitats. This study is the first to reveal key aspects of overwintering space use in this species by using archival GPS to overcome both logistical and methodological limitations. Expanded use of such technology is critical to gathering basic ecological and distributional data, necessary for achieving a more complete understanding of full‐annual cycles of animal populations.

To achieve greater understanding of the full annual cycles of birds, it is critical to describe the spatial nature of little-understood phases. One of the least understood aspects of avian annual cycles is the ecology of molt: the periodic replacement of feathers. While work on the spatial nature of molt in migratory passerines has increasingly found incidences of species and populations completing molt during migration, this work has been limited entirely to prebasic flight feather molt. We examined the prevalence and progression of contour feather molt in a migratory songbird, the Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus), during spring stopover. We found that 98% of birds exhibited a partial prealternate molt during stopover, primarily in the head region. Furthermore, molt intensity peaked in the middle of the migration period and was negatively associated with fat score. This is the first evidence in the passerine literature of an obligate prealternate molt completed during migration, which is in many ways similar to the molt strategy of a variety of shorebirds (Families Charadriidae and Scolopacidae). These findings could prove crucial to understanding the constraints on spring migration in this declining species. Furthermore, we argue that molt schedules such as those of the Rusty Blackbird and shorebirds should be referred to as "prealternate molt-migration," broadening the traditional definition of molt-migration beyond prebasic flight feather molt.

Background: Patients with NSCLC who undergo incomplete resection (R1) have significantly worse survival compared to those with complete resection (R0). The efficacy of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) in treating small lung tumors is established, but its use as neo-adjuvant therapy in locally-advanced (LA)-NSCLC is not investigated. We hypothesized that pre-operative SBRT can be done safely and could improve rates of R0 resection in LA-NSCLC. This concept could introduce a rapid, convenient and less toxic neoadjuvant therapy in LA-NSCLC to help improve rates of complete resection. LINNEARRE I is single institution phase I study that investigates the safety and feasibility of delivering, timely, neo-adjuvant hypo-fractionated RT of escalating Biological Equivalent Doses (BED) approaching those of SBRT. Trial design: A total of twenty patients with biopsy proven T3-T4, N0-1, M0, NSCLC will be enrolled. Patients must be deemed as medically operable, by a thoracic surgeon, but at risk of