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Award ID contains: 1854114

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  1. Abstract Parallel laser photogrammetry (PLP), which consists of attaching two or three parallel laser beams at a known inter‐beam distance to a camera, can be used to collect morphological measurements of organisms noninvasively. The lasers project onto the photo being taken, and because the inter‐beam distance is known, they act as a scale for image analysis programs like ImageJ. Traditionally, this method has been used to measure larger morphological traits (e.g., limb length, crown‐rump length) to serve as proxies for overall body size, whereas applications to smaller anatomical features remain limited. To that end, we used PLP to measure the testes of 18 free‐living mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata)at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We tested whether this method could reliably measure this relatively small and globular morphology, and whether it could detect differences among individuals. We tested reliability in three ways: within‐photo (coefficient of variation [CV] = 4.7%), between‐photo (CV = 5.5%), and interobserver (intraclass correlation = 0.92). We found an average volume of 36.2 cm3and a range of 16.4–54.4 cm3, indicating variation in testes size between individuals. Furthermore, these sizes are consistent with a previous study that collected measurements by hand, suggesting that PLP is a useful method for making noninvasive measurements of testes. 
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  2. Bossart, Janice L (Ed.)
    Variation in tropical forest management directly affects biodiversity and provisioning of ecosystem services on a global scale, thus it is necessary to compare forests under different conservation approaches such as protected areas, payments for ecosystem services programs (PES), and ecotourism, as well as forests lacking any formal conservation plan. To examine the effectiveness of specific conservation approaches, we examined differences in forest structure and tree recruitment, including canopy cover; canopy height; seedling, sapling, and adult tree density; and average and total diameter at breast height (DBH) across 78 plots in 18 forests across Costa Rica representing protected areas, private forests utilizing PES and/or ecotourism, and private forests not utilizing these economic incentives. The effectiveness of conservation approaches in providing suitable primate habitat was assessed by conducting broad primate census surveys across a subset of eight forests to determine species richness and group encounter rate of three primate species: mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), and the white-faced capuchin monkey (Cebus imitator). Only canopy height was significantly different across the three approaches, with protected areas conserving the tallest and likely oldest forests. Canopy height was also significantly associated with the group encounter rate for both mantled howler and spider monkeys, but not for capuchins. Total group encounter rate for all three monkey species combined was higher in incentivized forests than in protected areas, with capuchin and howler monkey group encounter rates driving the trend. Group encounter rate for spider monkeys was higher in protected areas than in incentivized forests. Incentivized conservation (PES and ecotourism) and protected areas are paragons of land management practices that can lead to variation in forest structure across a landscape, which not only protect primate communities, but support the dietary ecologies of sympatric primate species. 
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