Annual migrations,diving behavior,and thermal biology of Atlantic bluefin tuna, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thunnus thynnus</Emphasis>, on their Gulf of Mexico breeding grounds

Electronic tags were used to examine the biology of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus L.) on their breeding grounds in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The hypothesis that movement patterns, diving behavior, and thermal biology change during different stages of the breeding migration was tested. Mature Atlantic bluefin tuna tagged in the western Atlantic and the GOM, were on their breeding grounds from February to June for an average of 39 ± 11 days. The bluefin tuna experienced significantly warmer mean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) within the GOM (26.4 ± 1.6°C) than outside the GOM (20.2 ± 1.9°C). As the bluefin tuna entered and exited the GOM, the fish dove to daily maximum depths of 568 ± 50 and 580 ± 144 m, respectively, and exhibited directed movement paths to and from the localized breeding areas. During the putative breeding phase, the bluefin tuna had significantly shallower daily maximum depths (203 ± 76 m), and exhibited shallow oscillatory dives during the night. The movement paths of the bluefin tuna during the breeding phase were significantly more residential and sinuous. The heat transfer coefficients (K) were calculated for a bluefin tuna in the GOM using the recorded ambient and body temperatures. The K for this fish increased rapidly at the high ambient temperatures encountered in the GOM, and was significantly higher at night in the breeding phase when the fish was exhibiting shallow oscillatory dives. This suggests that the fish were behaviorally and physiologically thermoregulating in the Gulf of Mexico. This study demonstrates that the movement patterns, diving behavior, and thermal biology of Atlantic bluefin tuna change significantly at different stages of the breeding migration and can be used to define spawning location and timing. Electronic supplementary material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at and is accessible for authorized users.     

Genetic evidence of multiple parentage in broods of cliff swallows

Summary Parental exclusion analyses based on allozyme data were performed on 105 families of cliff swallows (Hirundo pyrrhonota) from southwestern Nebraska, USA. The protein products of seve polymorphic loci were resolved from blood, and at least one parental exclusion occurred at six of these loci. One or both putative parents were excluded for 35 nestlings from 22 different families. The mean number of non-kin nestlings in these families was 1.59. Non-kin nestlings were found in families with brood sizes ranging from two to five. A greater percentage of families in an 1100-nest colony had non-kin offspring than in two smaller colonics, although the difference was not statistically significant. Application of genetic models to these data and the observed distribution of parental exclusions suggested that multiple parentage in cliff swallows results more often from intraspecific brood parasitism than from forced extra-pair copulations. Based on the calculated probabilities of detecting non-kin, we estimate that 23.7% of all nestlings in our population are not the offspring of one or both of their putative parents. We estimate that about 43% of all cliff swallow nests in Nebraska contain at least one offspring resulting from intraspecific brood parasitism, and that about 6% of nests might contain offspring resulting from extra-pair copulations.     

Rethinking the contribution of indigenous management in small-scale water provision among selected rural communities in Cameroon

This paper describes the pro-active role of rural communities in negotiating livelihood and sustenance through the improvement of some of their local water sources. It discusses the strategies put in place to ensure the availability of water, one of the world’s scarcest natural resources. Despite some external assistance, local communities are increasingly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring the availability of water through self-reliant efforts. These attempts are being undermined by a high incidence of waterborne and water-related diseases, which are impacting on health, and hygiene and other health care delivery systems. The management of potable water is proving to be a herculean task for most communities after the departure of funding partners. To guarantee the proper maintenance of pipe borne water schemes, communities are rethinking their strategies as they grapple with difficulties to put in place viable techniques for sustainability of water supply schemes.     

AN ALGORITHM FOR ESTIMATING SURFACE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT CONCENTRATIONS WITH LANDSAT MSS DIGITAL DATA1

ABSTRACT: Algorithms for Landsat MSS digital data are needed to reduce the necessity of calibrating each Landsat scene if these data are to be useful in monitoring programs for surface suspended sediments. In this study digital data were extracted from 16 Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS) scenes collected between March 1987 and August 1988 over Enid Reservoir in North Central Mississippi. These data were converted to radiance and reflectance data for comparison with field measurements of surface suspended sediment concentrations. Concentrations ranged from 2 to 168 mg/1 during the study with only four greater than 100 mg/l. Linear and polynomial regression analyses were used to relate the surface suspended sediment concentrations with radiance and reflectance. Reflectance in MSS band 2 (0.6 to 0.7 μm) and MSS band 3 (0.7 to 0.8 μm) were best related to the surface suspended sediment concentrations with coefficients of determination accounting for 71 percent and 68 percent of the variation in the data, respectively. Regressions with radiance data accounted for 36 percent (band 2) or less of the variation. Logarithmic transformations of either reflectance or sediment concentrations increase the coefficients of determination for MSS band 2 reflectance data to 81 percent. Regressions between the ratio of MSS band 1 to MSS band 2 reflectances and concentrations also accounted for 80 percent of the variation. An equation Log_e SS (mg/l) = 9.21R½+ 2.71R½2 + 8.45, where S is surface suspended sediment concentrations and R¹/₂ is the ratio of MSS band 1 to MSS band 2 reflectances, provided the best fit to the data with a coefficient of determination of 0.82. This equation is essentially the same as an algorithm proposed by Topliss et at. (1990), for estimating surface suspended sediment concentrations in Canadian coastal waters. These equations for Enid Reservoir and Canadian waters suggest that it may be possible to develop an algorithm for widespread use for estimating surface suspended sediments.     

THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING ON THE PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY OF A SUBALPINE LAKE1

ABSTRACT Atmospheric scientists have predicted that large-scale climatic changes will result from increasing levels of tropospheric CO₂ We have investigated the potential effects of climate change on the primary productivity of Castle Lake, a mountain lake in Northern California. Annual algal productivity was modeled empirically using 25 years of limnological data in order to establish predictive relationships between productivity and the climatic variables of accumulated snow depth and precipitation. The outputs of monthly temperature and precipitation from three general circulation models (GCMs) of doubled atmospheric CO₂ were then used in the regression model to predict annual algal productivity. In all cases, the GCM scenarios predicted increased algal productivity for Castle Lake under cenditions of doubled atmospheric CO₂The primary cause of enhanced productivity was the increased length of the growing season resulting from earlier spring ice-out.     

Implications of environmental program planning for siting a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain,Nevada, USA

The US Department of Energy (DOE) plans to conduct site characterization studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to determine if the location is a suitable site for a nuclear waste repository. In lieu of traditional environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the DOE is relying on an environmental assessment (EA) mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as the cornerstone of its environmental program for the Yucca Mountain Project. Because of statutory restrictions, the EA is not based on comprehensive baseline information. Neither does it address fundamentals of environmental analysis such as ecological integrity and assessment of cumulative impacts. Consequently, the present environmental program for Yucca Mountain reflects decisions made without complete information and integrated environmental review. The shortcomings of the program risk compromising the natural integrity of Yucca Mountain and invalidating future assessment of the ability of a nuclear waste repository located at the site to protect the environment. Significant improvements are needed in the repository siting program before it can serve as a model of how society can evaluate the long-term environmental consequences of advanced technologies, as has been suggested.     

Optimizing carbon sequestration in commercial forests by integrating carbon management objectives in wood supply modeling

This paper provides a methodology for generating forest management plans, which explicitly maximize carbon (C) sequestration at the forest-landscape level. This paper takes advantage of concepts first presented in a paper by Meng et al. (2003; Mitigation Adaptation Strategies Global Change 8:371–403) by integrating C-sequestration objective functions in existing wood supply models. Carbon-stock calculations performed in Woodstock^TM (RemSoft Inc.) are based on C yields generated from volume table data obtained from local Forest Development Survey plots and a series of wood volume-to-C content conversion factors specified in von Mirbach (2000). The approach is used to investigate the impact of three demonstration forest-management scenarios on the C budget in a 110,000 ha forest in south-central New Brunswick, Canada. Explicit demonstration scenarios addressed include (1) maximizing timber extraction either by clearcut or selection harvesting for greatest revenue generation, (2) maximizing total C storage in the forest landscape and in wood products generated from harvesting, and (3) maximizing C storage together with revenue generation. The level of clearcut harvesting was greatest for scenario 1 (≥15 × 10⁴ m³ of wood and ≥943 ha of land per harvesting period), and least for scenario 2 (=0 m³ per harvesting period) where selection harvesting dominated. Because softwood saw logs were worth more than pulpwood ($60 m⁻³ vs. $40 m⁻³) and were strategic to the long-term storage of C, the production of softwood saw logs exceeded the production of pulpwood in all scenarios. Selection harvesting was generally the preferred harvesting method across scenarios. Only in scenario 1 did levels of clearcut harvesting occasionally exceed those of selection harvesting, mainly in the removal of old, dilapidated stands early in the simulation (i.e., during periods 1 through 3). Scenario 2 provided the greatest total C-storage increase over 80 years (i.e., 14 × 10⁶ Mg C, or roughly 264 Mg ha⁻¹) at a cost of $111 per Mg C due to lost revenues. Scenarios 3 and 1 produced reduced storage rates of roughly 9 × 10⁶ Mg C and 3 × 10⁶ Mg C, respectively; about 64% and 22% of the total, 80-year C storage calculated in scenario 2. The bulk of the C in scenario 2 was stored in the forest, amounting to about 76% of the total C sequestered.     

Isolation and 16S DNA characterization of soil microorganisms from tropical soils capable of utilizing the herbicides hexazinone and tebuthiuron

Six non-fermentative bacteria were isolated from Colombian (South America) and Hawaiian (USA) soils after enrichment with minimal medium supplemented with two herbicides, hexazinone (Hex) and tebuthiuron (Teb). Microscopic examination and physiological tests were followed by partial 16S DNA sequence analysis, using the first 527 bp of the 16S rRNA gene for bacterial identification. The isolated microorganisms (and in brackets, the herbicide that each degraded) were identified as: from Colombia. Methylobacterium organophilum [Teb], Paenibacillus pabuli [Teb], and Micrmbacterium foliorum [Hex]; and from Hawaii, Methylobacterium radiotolerans [Teb], Paenibacillus illinoisensis [Hex], and Rhodococcus equi [Hex]. The findings further explain how these herbicides, which have potential for illicit coca (Erythroxylum sp.) control, dissipate following their application to tropical soils.