Г. В. Гавардашвили, Э. Г. Кухалашвили, Т. Г. Супаташвили, И. Р. Иремашвили, И. А. Купарашвили, К. Г. Бзиава, Г. Т. Натрошвили. ОЦЕНКА РИСКОВ ПРОРЫВА ЖИНВАЛИЙСКОЙ ПЛОТИНЫ С УЧЕТОМ МЕТОДА «CAPRA»Georgia is one of the most vulnerable... more
Г. В. Гавардашвили, Э. Г. Кухалашвили, Т. Г. Супаташвили, И. Р. Иремашвили, И. А. Купарашвили, К. Г. Бзиава, Г. Т. Натрошвили. ОЦЕНКА РИСКОВ ПРОРЫВА ЖИНВАЛИЙСКОЙ ПЛОТИНЫ С УЧЕТОМ МЕТОДА «CAPRA»Georgia is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters within South Caucasus Region. In recent years, the disaster risk has increased due to faulty land-using. Outstanding building codes lead to inadequate building construction. There is a lack of real data on natural disasters and the impact of mudflows, floods, debris flows etc. on land-use planning and prompt actions after above mentioned catastrophes. Therefore, it is important task to carry out assessments of critical structures sensitive to natural threats such as dams and reservoirs. In order to be able to improve the resistance of hydraulic engineering structures it is necessary to utilize a formal risk analysis framework, such as the Critical Asset and Portfolio Risk Analysis (CAPRA) method. The scientific article examin...
Traditional classification in the genus Capra is based mainly on horn morphology. However, previous investigations based on allozyme data are not consistent with this classification. We thus reexamined the evolutionary history of the... more
Traditional classification in the genus Capra is based mainly on horn morphology. However, previous investigations based on allozyme data are not consistent with this classification. We thus reexamined the evolutionary history of the genus by analyzing mitochon-drial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation. We collected bone samples from museums or dead animals found in the field. Thirty-four individuals were successfully sequenced for a portion of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and control region (500 bp in total). We obtained a star-like phylogeny supporting a rapid radiation of the genus. In accordance with traditional classification, mtDNA data support the presence of two clades in the Caucasus and the hypothesis of a domestication event in the Fertile Crescent. However, in conflict with morphology , we found that C. aegagrus and C. ibex are polyphyletic species, and we propose a new scenario for Capra immigration into Europe. 1999 Academic Press
Sexual segregation, a widely observed phenomenon in vertebrates, is commonly categorized into habitat and social segregation. A universal explanation for sexual segregation is, however, lacking and debated. Causes of segregation and their... more
Sexual segregation, a widely observed phenomenon in vertebrates, is commonly categorized into habitat and social segregation. A universal explanation for sexual segregation is, however, lacking and debated. Causes of segregation and their division into proximate and ultimate causes is also highly debated, and the relative contributions of habitat and social factors to segregation are also seldom quantified. We studied the Eurasian wild sheep in trans-Himalayan rangelands to identify these causes and estimate the contributions of habitat and social components to sexual segregation. We observed male, lactating, and nonlactating female groups feeding during 3 springs and summers. The 3 groups strongly segregated and differed in their activity budgets, partly because of antipredation risks, with lactating females being the most vigilant (40% of the time). At the feeding habitat scale, males selected the patches of highest quality. We found that the social component contributed the most to segregation (70%) as compared with habitat segregation (30%). This is the first study that quantifies the contribution of habitat and social components to sexual segregation. We emphasize the role of antipredator behavior of lactating females on activity budgets and selection of relatively poor-quality sites as compared with other groups and illustrate that the usual division into proximal and ultimate causes of sexual segregation is not as clear-cut as usually presented.
Processes of habitat selection occur at multiple spatiotemporal scales, where large-scale selection is often determined by predation risk and landscape features, and finer scale selection by resource abundance and quality. To determine... more
Processes of habitat selection occur at multiple spatiotemporal scales, where large-scale selection is often determined by predation risk and landscape features, and finer scale selection by resource abundance and quality. To determine whether this hierarchy exists in relatively homogenous systems, we investigated patterns of habitat (landscape topography) and resource (feeding patch and plant group) selection by a medium-sized ungulate, the Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni Blyth, 1840), in the high-altitude rangelands of the Indian Trans-Himalaya. We ran ecological niche factor analyses to explore habitat selection, bias-reduced logistic regression to analyze the selection of feeding patches, fuzzy correspondence analysis for vegetation categories, and microhistological analyses for the selection of plant groups. For springs and summers of 2005–2007, argali preferred an intermediate range of altitude, slope, and forage abundance. Selection of feeding patch was mainly determined by forage quality, not biomass, selecting graminoids and forbs, in particular. The avoidance of habitat with high forage abundance could indicate a trade-off between forage quality and quantity; a pattern consistent at the feeding-patch scale. Our results provide evidence that the hierarchical pattern of habitat selection probably also occurs in relatively homogeneous systems.
Traditional classification in the genus Capra is based mainly on horn morphology. However, previous investigations based on allozyme data are not consistent with this classification. We thus reexamined the evolutionary history of the... more
Traditional classification in the genus Capra is based mainly on horn morphology. However, previous investigations based on allozyme data are not consistent with this classification. We thus reexamined the evolutionary history of the genus by analyzing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation. We collected bone samples from museums or dead animals found in the field. Thirty-four individuals were successfully sequenced for a portion of the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and control region (500 bp in total). We obtained a star-like phylogeny supporting a rapid radiation of the genus. In accordance with traditional classification, mtDNA data support the presence of two clades in the Caucasus and the hypothesis of a domestication event in the Fertile Crescent. However, in conflict with morphology, we found that C. aegagrus and C. ibex are polyphyletic species, and we propose a new scenario for Capra immigration into Europe.
Г. В. Гавардашвили, Э. Г. Кухалашвили, Т. Г. Супаташвили, И. Р. Иремашвили, И. А. Купарашвили, К. Г. Бзиава, Г. Т. Натрошвили. ОЦЕНКА РИСКОВ ПРОРЫВА ЖИНВАЛИЙСКОЙ ПЛОТИНЫ С УЧЕТОМ МЕТОДА «CAPRA»Georgia is one of the most vulnerable... more
Г. В. Гавардашвили, Э. Г. Кухалашвили, Т. Г. Супаташвили, И. Р. Иремашвили, И. А. Купарашвили, К. Г. Бзиава, Г. Т. Натрошвили. ОЦЕНКА РИСКОВ ПРОРЫВА ЖИНВАЛИЙСКОЙ ПЛОТИНЫ С УЧЕТОМ МЕТОДА «CAPRA»Georgia is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural disasters within South Caucasus Region. In recent years, the disaster risk has increased due to faulty land-using. Outstanding building codes lead to inadequate building construction. There is a lack of real data on natural disasters and the impact of mudflows, floods, debris flows etc. on land-use planning and prompt actions after above mentioned catastrophes. Therefore, it is important task to carry out assessments of critical structures sensitive to natural threats such as dams and reservoirs. In order to be able to improve the resistance of hydraulic engineering structures it is necessary to utilize a formal risk analysis framework, such as the Critical Asset and Portfolio Risk Analysis (CAPRA) method. The scientific article examin...
