Diversity, Habitat Utilization and Nesting Characteristics of Waterbirds in and around Maduru Oya Reservoir in Maduru Oya National Park, Sri Lanka

Maduru Oya National Park (MONP) including its largest reservoir, Maduru Oya Reservoir (MOR), has been identified with a high waterbird density. However, a limited number of researches have been conducted on waterbirds in MONP. In this study, diversity, habitat use of waterbirds at MOR and their nesting characteristics were analyzed. Bird survey was carried out using the point count method and block count method. A common ethogram was constructed to identify the behavior categories. Percentage cover of habitat types was estimated by quadrat method. A total of 30 species belonging to 15 families were recorded, including two globally threatened species and three winter visitors. Year around Shannon-Weiner index for MOR was 1.491. Little Cormorant had the highest relative abundance. Percentage coverage of grass had increased gradually from March to September with the highest in September (69.27%) while open water had the highest coverage in the other months. Significantly high number of individuals used areas of grass, open water and mud for feeding and exposed rocks, dead trees/logs for resting (One-way ANOVA, p ≤ 0.05). Four waterbird species were observed building nests. Occupied nesting tree species were Senna spectabilis (Kaha Kona), Dymorphocalyx glabellus (Weliwanna) and Alstonia scholaris (RukAththana). The number of nests observed in three layers of canopy was significantly different (p ≤ 0.05). The highest average number of nests was observed in middle layer (8.90 ± 2.67). Black-headed Ibises had high preference to nest in Dymorphocalyx glabellus (p ≤ 0.05, 3.30 ± 1.32) while Great Cormorants (p ≤ 0.05, 2.38 ± 0.74) and Grey Herons (p ≤ 0.05, 4.27 ± 2.12) in Alstonia scholaris. Little Cormorants had no significant difference in their preference for nesting trees. As a preliminary study, this can be used for future research on waterbirds and to compose management and conservation plans.

Towards an Ecological Understanding of Translation Etemality in the Context of Iran

This study attempted to investigate the similarities and differences regarding the conceptions of translation eternality among a small group of Iranian people of different social positions and different ages. Sixty-two participants were selected based on the maximum variation sampling. To gather data, semi-structured interview was utilized. The participants were asked a list of 11 questions collected from the existing literature on the similar topics. Then, the interviews were transcribed for analyzing the data. Besides, Erikson＇s （1959） theory of development was used to classify participants of different ages in four groups of teenager, young, middle age, and old. The high frequency factors were found and analyzed with the use of Bronfenbrenner＇s （1979） nested ecological model. Moreover, the participants were classified in 11 groups based on their social positions and their conceptions were analyzed with the same method. Broadly speaking, 17 central tendencies in the interviews were obtained： People mainly focused on subjects of the books, translation fluency, author＇s competence in writing, and translator＇s competence, translations which have common grounds with social events of Iran, advertisement, existence of movie or cartoon adaptation of the book, translator＇s awareness of the content of the book, existence of cultural similarities between the source and target culture, popularity of the translator, author, and the original book, conversational language in translation, translation fidelity, being both translator and author, and effect of censorship on translation. Besides, old participants seemed to have more precise view on translation eternality and teenager＇s concerns were mostly about the appearance-related issues.

Artificial nesting habitats as a conservation strategy for turtle populations experiencing global change

Diamondback terrapins(Malaclemys terrapin)inhabit estuaries in eastern USA and may tolerate salinity of seawater for short durations.Many North American estuaries are adversely affected by anthropogenic impacts,such as pollution,dredging and invasion by non-native plants.Many nesting areas have been altered or destroyed,causing terrapins to nest on roadsides and artificial islands made of dredged substrate from bottom sediments.Shading by non-native plants may suppress development and reduce survival of embryos.In Barnegat Bay,New Jersey,USA,there is a mosaic of natural and degraded terrapin nesting habitats.We investigated the effects of dredge soil and shade on the hatching success of diamondback terrapins to determine whether nesting habitat could be increased by using dredged bottom sediments.In year 1,unshaded nests in natural loamy-sand had the highest hatching success(55.2%),while nests in dredge soil produced no hatchlings.In year 2,nests in unshaded loamy-sand had a hatching success of 85.3%,whereas those in dredge soil,aged 1 year,had a hatching success of 59.4%.Dredge soil improved as an incubation substrate after aging 1 year by the washout of salt.Nest temperatures were generally cool and produced mostly male hatchlings.Uncontaminated dredge soil may provide suitable nesting substrates for diamondback terrapins if used after one year,and may be particularly beneficial if used for constructing islands that provide new nesting sites with reduced access of mammalian predators.