Growth,production and biomass of the burrowing protobranch mollusc Yoldia limatula in the Bideford River,Prince Edward Island,Canada

Samples of the population of Yoldia limatula Say were obtained from the Bideford River, Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada, during the summers of 1979 and 1980 by means of a dredge and a Ponar grab sampler. Size frequency analysis demonstrated that individuals in the size range 25- to 35-mm shell length were numerically dominant in May, June and July. Recruitment of juveniles in August resulted in the dominance of individuals of 5 mm and smaller which comprised 50% of the population at that time. The overall sex ratio was 48.8% males to 51.2% females. From annual lengths measured at successive winter growth bands it was determined that one-yr olds attained a shell length of between 13.8 and 17.7 mm, two-yr olds between 26.7 and 28.0 mm, three-yr olds between 33.8 and 35.2 mm, and foru-yr olds had a mean length of 38.7 mm. Y. limatula produced a croppable annual yield of between 1.19 and 2.65 g dry tissue weight m^-2 with P/B ratios of 0.65 and 1.45 respectively.     

Introduced and cryptogenic species in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia

Port Phillip Bay (PPB) is a large (1,930 km²), temperate embayment in southern Victoria, Australia. Extensive bay-wide surveys of PPB have occurred since 1840. In 1995/1996 the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) undertook an intensive evaluation of the region with the aims of developing a comprehensive species list of native and introduced biota and contrasting previous bay-wide assessments with a current field survey in order to detect new incursions and discern alterations to native communities. Two methods were used to meet these aims: a re-evaluation of regional museum collections and published research in PPB to identify and determine the timing of introductions; and field surveys for benthic (infauna, epifauna and encrusting) organisms between September 1995 to March 1996. One hundred and sixty introduced (99) and cryptogenic (61) species were identified representing over 13% of the recorded species of PPB. As expected, the majority of these are concentrated around the shipping ports of Geelong and Melbourne. Invasions within PPB appear to be increasing, possibly due to an increase in modern shipping traffic and an increase in aquaculture (historically associated with incidental introductions); however the records of extensive biological surveys suggest that this may, in part, be an artefact of sampling effort. In contrast to Northern Hemisphere studies, PPB (and Southern Hemisphere introductions in general) have significantly different suites of successfully invading taxa. PPB is presented as one of the most invaded marine ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere.Communicated by M.S. Johnson, Crawley     

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993–2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTI_SD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTI_SD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTI_SD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.     

The use of enhanced bioremediation at the Savannah River Site to remediate pesticides and PCBs

Enhanced bioremediation is quickly developing into an economical and viable technology for the remediation of contaminated soils. Until recently, chlorinated organic compounds have proven difficult to bioremediate. Environmentally recalcitrant compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and persistent organic pesticides (POPs) such as dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) have shown to be especially arduous to bioremediate. Recent advances in field‐scale bioremedial applications have indicated that biodegradation of these compounds may be possible. Engineers and scientists at the Savannah River Site (SRS), a major DOE installation near Aiken, South Carolina, are using enhanced bioremediation to remediate soils contaminated with pesticides (DDT and its metabolites, heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin, and endrin) and PCBs. This article reviews the ongoing remediation occurring at the Chemicals, Metals, and Pesticides (CMP) Pits using windrow turners to facilitate microbial degradation of certain pesticides and PCBs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Inferring linear feature use in the presence of GPS measurement error

Global Positioning System (GPS) collars are increasingly used to study animal movement and habitat use. Measurement error is defined as the difference between the observed and true value being measured. In GPS data measurement error is referred to as location error and leads to misclassification of observed locations into habitat types. This is particularily true when studying habitats of small spatial extent with large amounts of edge, such as linear features (e.g. roads and seismic lines). However, no consistent framework exists to address the effect of measurement error on habitat classification of observed locations and resulting biological inference. We developed a mechanistic, empirically-based method for buffering linear features that minimizes the underestimation of animal use introduced by GPS measurement error. To do this we quantified the distribution of measurement error and derived an explicit formula for buffer radius which incorporated the error distribution, the width of the linear feature, and a predefined amount of acceptable type I error in location classification. In our empirical study we found the GPS measurement error of the Lotek GPS_3300 collar followed a bivariate Laplace distribution with parameter ρ = 0.1123. When we applied our method to a simulated landscape, type I error was reduced by 57%. This study highlights the need to address the effect of GPS measurement error in animal location classification, particularily for habitats of small spatial extent.     

Building an integrated environmental,health, and safety management system

This article discusses an integrated management system that aligns and integrates the various environmental, health, and safety functions and disciplines. This model is easily adopted to provide performance measures required to satisfy Responsible Care®, ISO 14001, and the European Union EMAS requirements.     

Sex ratios and intrasexual competition for mates in a sex-role reversed shorebird,Wilson's phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)

Summary Operational sex ratio (OSR) was proposed by Emlen and Oring (1977) as an empirical measure of the intensity of sexual selection. Few studies, however, have examined the link between OSR and levels of intrasexual competition, which may influence selection. We studied the seasonal relationship between OSR and female-female competition for mates in Wilson's phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor), a sex-role reversed, non-territorial shorebird. Positive correlations between four measures of OSR (Scan Ratio, Day Ratio, Focal Ratio, and Chase Ratio) indicated seasonal changes in the availability of mates for females. Changes in mate availability resulted from the interaction between paternal care and female emancipation, asynchronous spring arrival schedules of the sexes (Reynolds et al. 1986), and the effect of clutch failure on renesting opportunities. Measures of intrasexual competition (courtship chases, percent males defended, rate and intensity of mate defense, and female-male proximity) varied significantly within and among years. Univariate and multivariate correlations indicated general agreement between measures of OSR and estimates of intrasexual competition. Our results suggest that OSR may provide a useful estimate of the opportunity for sexual selection, especially in species with matedefense mating systems.     

Low roost-site fidelity in pallid bats: associated factors and effect on group stability

Despite potential costs of changing roost or densites, many animals frequently move between roosts or dens. Pallid bats (Antrozous pallidus) change diurnal roost sites frequently and also reportedly have a variety of cooperative social behaviors, many of which are associated with the care of developing offspring. Roost switching is likely to increase the costs of maintaining the group stability expected with social cooperation. Pallid bats roosting in rock crevices in central Oregon were studied with radiotelemetry to (1) examine characteristics of day roosts, (2) determine what ecological factors were correlated with low roost fidelity, and (3) examine the temporal stability of roosting groups of pregnant and lactating bats. Pallid bats changed roosts an average of once every 1.4 days throughout the summer. The bats exhibited seasonal shifts in roost use, occupying roosts behind thin slabs of rock in cool weather and roosts in deep rock crevices in warm weather. Roost switching was not correlated with daily variations in weather conditions or with structural characteristics of the diurnal roosts, although switching may have allowed bats to maintain familiarity with several roosts that vary in microclimate. Roost switching was positively correlated with ectoparasite load. High ectoparasite levels were correlated with lower body weights in lactating females (Fig. 3), suggesting that parasites may be costly to the bats. Roost switching may be a strategy to decrease ectoparasite loads by interrupting the reproductive cycles of those parasites that spend at least part of their life cycle on the walls of the roost. Both pregnant and lactating pallid bats frequently changed their diurnal roost location, but lactating bats tended to travel shorter distances between consecutive roosts. Lactating bats were more likely to continue to associate with particular roostmates despite changes in the location of the diurnal roost (Fig. 4) and were less likely to roost alone. Although the stability of groups of lactating bats was not absolute, evidence supported the prediction that such groups are more cohesive than are those of pregnant bats. Received: 20 June 1995/Accepted after revision: 13 July 1996     

Day/night vertical distribution of euphausiids in the eastern tropical Pacific

Between March 23 and April 4, 1981, samples were taken in the eastern tropical Pacific. The day/night vertical distribution of euphausiid species and biomass are described and contrasted in detail on two eastern tropical Pacific stations, the DOME station, in a region of continuous upwelling and the BIOSTAT station, in a nonupwelling area. The effects of various biological parameters, such as temperature, salinity and oxygen concentrations on the distributions of the species are examined. The numbers of euphausiids m^-2 on both stations were highest during the day, indicating that avoidance of the sampler was not a problem. During the day the largest concentration of adult euphausiids was between 300 and 350 m whereas the juveniles were concentrated between 170 and 80 m on both stations. Very few individuals were found within the oxygen minimum layer, but low concentrations of some species were found below the oxygen minimum down to 1 000 m. At night the euphausiid concentration migrated upward into the mixed layer (20 to 30 m) at BIOSTAT and to the base of the mixed layer at the DOME. Significant differences in the night depths of the species were found on both stations. The oxygen minimum layer appeared to act as a barrier to the vertical distribution of all species. Only two species were found in water with an oxygen concentration of <0.1 ml O₂ l^-1. Twentyone species of euphausiids were found on the two stations but the adult population was dominated by only two or three species on both stations. The reproductive state of the species suggested that some species reproduced earlier on the DOME than on BIOSTAT. Analysis of the depth distribution by cluster analysis showed that the most abundant species occupied different depths during the night and day at BIOSTAT but the two most abundant species were concentrated at the same depth at the DOME station although portions of each species population occupied different pelagic zones.