Identifying habitat modification by Chinese pangolin in subtropical forests of southern China.

The excavation of Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is expected to alter habitat heterogeneity and thus affect the functioning and structure of forest ecosystems. In this study, the bioturbation of Chinese pangolin on forest soils in three regions (Heping, Tianjingshan, and Wuqinzhang) across Guangdong province was quantified. Overall, a mean of 2.66 m3·ha-1 and 83.1 m2·ha-1 of burrows and bare mounds, respectively, was excavated by Chinese pangolin; the disturbed soils had significantly lower water content and P, C, available N concentrations, but higher bulk density, pH, and microbial abundance than those undisturbed soils. The unevenness of habitat heterogeneity improvement was mainly ascribed to the stronger soil disturbance caused in resting burrows by pangolins. Patterns of altering habitat heterogeneity were site-specific, with high-intensity soil disturbance occurring most in shrubs, meadows, steep habitats at high elevations, and mountain tops in Heping, while in broad-leaved, coniferous and mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests away from human settlements in Tianjingshan and upper mountains at high elevations far away from roads and human settlements in Wuqinzhang. Road networks are the main interference for the burrow distribution in Heping and Wuqinzhang and should be programmed.

Risk factors for injury among high school football players.

BACKGROUND: Football is the most popular interscholastic high school sport in the United States. Prior research has described a higher rate of injury among high school football players than in other sports, but few studies have examined potential predictors while controlling for other risk factors. METHODS: Using a 2-stage cluster sampling technique, we conducted a prospective cohort study from 1996 to 1999 among varsity athletes from 12 sports in 100 North Carolina high schools. A total of 3323 football players participated. Injury exposure and risk factor data were collected by trained school personnel. Incidence rates, rate ratios, and odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using Poisson and logistic regression. RESULTS: There were 1064 injured athletes and 1238 injuries; 106 injuries resulted in greater than 3 weeks lost from participation. The overall incidence rate was 3.54 per 1000 athlete-exposures (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.31-3.78). The rate of game injury was 9 times that of practice injury (OR = 9.2; 95% CI = 6.6-11). Athletes with a prior injury had twice the injury rate of those without (1.9; 1.5-2.4). Among those injured, having a coach with more experience, qualifications, and training was associated with half the odds of severe injury (0.49; 0.27-0.92). CONCLUSIONS: Prior injury, additional years of playing experience, and older age were predictors of injury incidence after controlling for multiple risk factors. A high level of coaching skills did not reduce the injury rate, but was protective against severe injury.

A prospective study of injury incidence among North Carolina high school athletes.

Sports-related injuries are an issue of concern in high school sports athletes. A prospective cohort study of injury risk factors was conducted from 1996 to 1999 among varsity high school athletes in 12 sports in 100 North Carolina high schools. Data were collected by trained school personnel. Unadjusted and adjusted incidence rates and rate ratios were estimated using Poisson regression models. The overall rate of injury was 2.08 per 1,000 athlete-exposures (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.79, 2.41). At 3.54 per 1,000 athlete-exposures (95% CI: 2.87, 4.37), football had the highest rate of injury of all sports. The adjusted rate ratio for athletes with a history of injury, compared with those without a prior injury, was 1.94 (95% CI: 1.69, 2.22). The injury rate rose with each year of playing experience (rate ratio=1.06, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.12). In a subanalysis restricted to gender-comparable sports, boys had a higher rate of injury than did girls (rate ratio=1.33, 95% CI: 0.99, 1.79). All other factors did not appear to be independent predictors of the injury rate. The influence of prior injury suggests that proper rehabilitation and primary prevention of the initial injury are important strategies for injury control.