Trends in fish prey capture by common terns following zebra mussel invasion : do terns track fish species abundance? /

The Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) is a ground nesting colonial seabird. Terns rely primarily on small prey fishes which they obtain through plunge diving for their survival as well as the survival of their offspring during the breeding season. The zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is a small bivalve mollusk that invaded North American waters in the late 1980's. Through its suspension feeding, the zebra mussel has the ability to alter the entire aquatic ecosystem, ultimately leading to a reduction in pelagic organisms including small prey fish. The objective of the study was to determine what (if any) indirect effects the invasion of the zebra mussel has had on fish prey captured by terns. The study took place in two separate two-year periods, 1990-91 and 1995-96 on a concrete breakwall off the north shore of Lake Erie near Port Colborne, Ontario. Daily nest checks revealed clutch initiation dates, egg-laying chronology, hatching success and morphological egg characteristics (length and breadth). Behavioural observations included time each sex spent in attendance with its brood, the frequency of feeding chicks and the prey species composition and size fed to chicks as well as to females (courtship feeding). Egg sizes did not differ between study periods, nor did feeding rates to chicks, suggesting that food was not a limiting resource. Terns spent less time with their broods (more time foraging) in the 1995-96 period. However, they also had significantly larger broods and fledged more offspring. The time of each individual foraging trip decreased, suggesting that fish were easier to obtain in 1995 and 1996. Lastly, kleptoparasitism rates decreased, suggesting that the costs of foraging (time, energy) actually decreased as fewer birds adopted this strategy to compensate for what I assumed to be a lack of available food (fish). The only significant difference between the periods of 1990, 1991 and 1995, 1996 was a change in diet. Terns delivered significantly fewer rainbow smelt and more emerald shiner in 1995 and 1996. However, the average size of fish delivered did not change. Thus, there was little impact on prey captured by Common Terns in Lake Erie since the invasion of the zebra mussel.

The Welland Canals Foundation, Honourable William Hamilton Merritt and the St. Catharines Historical Society and Museum, 1971-1990, n.d.

‘The Father of Canadian Transportation’ is a term commonly associated with William Hamilton Merritt. Although he is most known for being one of the driving forces behind the building of the first Welland Canal, he was many things throughout his life; a soldier, merchant, promoter, entrepreneur and politician to name a few. Born on July 3, 1793 at Bedford, Westchester County, N.Y. to Thomas Merritt and Mary Hamilton, Merritt’s family relocated to Canada shortly after in 1796. The move came after Merritt’s father petitioned John Graves Simcoe for land in Upper Canada after serving under him in the Queen’s Rangers during the American Revolution. The family quickly settled into their life at Twelve Mile Creek in St. Catharines. Merritt’s father became sheriff of Lincoln County in 1803 while Merritt began his education in mathematics and surveying. After some brief travel and further education Merritt returned to Lincoln County, in 1809 to help farm his father’s land and open a general store. While a farmer and merchant, Merritt turned his attention to military endeavours. A short time after being commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Lincoln militia, the War of 1812 broke out. Fulfilling his duty, Merritt fought in the Battle of Queenston Heights in October of 1812, and numerous small battles until the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in July 1814. It was here that Merritt was captured and held in Cheshire, Massachusetts until the war ended. Arriving back in the St. Catharines area upon his release, Merritt returned to being a merchant, as well as becoming a surveyor and mill owner. Some historians hypothesize that the need to draw water to his mill was how the idea of the Welland Canals was born. Beginning with a plan to connect the Welland River with the Twelve mile creek quickly developed into a connection between the Lakes Erie and Ontario. Its main purpose was to improve the St. Lawrence transportation system and provide a convenient way to transport goods without having to go through the Niagara Falls portage. The plan was set in motion in 1818, but most living in Queenston and Niagara were not happy with it as it would drive business away from them. Along with the opposition came financial and political restraints. Despite these factors Merritt pushed on and the Welland Canal Company was chartered by the Upper Canadian Assembly on January 19, 1824. The first sod was turned on November 30, 1824 almost a year after the initial chartering. Many difficulties arose during the building of the canal including financial, physical, and geographic restrictions. Despite the difficulties two schooners passed through the canal on November 30, 1829. Throughout the next four years continual work was done on the canal as it expended and was modified to better accommodate large ships. After his canal was underway Merritt took a more active role in the political arena, where he served in various positions throughout Upper Canada. In 1851, Merritt withdrew from the Executive Council for numerous reasons, one of which being that pubic interest had diverted from the canals to railways. Merritt tried his hand at other public works outside transportation and trade. He looked into building a lunatic asylum, worked on behalf of War of 1812 veterans, aided in building Brock’s monument, established schools, aided refugee slaves from the U.S. and tried to establish a National Archives among many other feats. He was described by some as having “policy too liberal – conceptions too vast – views too comprehensive to be comprehensible by all”, but he still made a great difference in the society in which he lived. After his great contributions, Merritt died aboard a ship in the Cornwall canal on July 5, 1862. Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=38719 retrieved October 2006 Today numerous groups carry on the legacy of Merritt and the canals both in the past and present. One such group is the Welland Canals Foundation. They describe themselves as: “. . . a volunteer organization which strives to promote the importance of the present and past Welland Canals, and to preserve their history and heritage. The Foundation began in 1980 and carries on events like William Hamilton Merritt Day. The group has strongly supported the Welland Canals Parkway initiative and numerous other activities”. The Welland Canals Foundation does not work alone. They have help from other local groups such as the St. Catharines Historical Society. The Society’s main objective is to increase knowledge and appreciation of the historical aspects of St. Catharines and vicinity, such as the Welland Canals. http://www.niagara.com/~dmdorey/hssc/dec2000.html - retrieved Oct. 2006 http://www.niagara.com/~dmdorey/hssc/feb2000.html - retrieved Oct. 2006

Last Will and Testament - Angus Shaw

Last Will and Testament of Angus Shaw of Montreal. He leaves his possessions to Marjory Shaw, his wife; children of his sister Marion (wife of Duncan McDougall) and his nieces who are daughters of his deceased sister Isabella, May 9, 1809.

The Midnight express phenomenon : a historical materialist approach to the reception of the film Midnight express /

This thesis examines the Midnight Express phenomenon focusing on the film's reception by audiences in Europe, North America, and Turkey between 1978-2003. Using and enhancing the "historical materialist approach" to film reception developed by Janet Staiger, the thesis considers the historical determinants of the film's nationally and culturally differential readings in different periods and of the transformations in those readings. The thesis argues that while Midnight Express was most likely read in the late 1970s as an attempt to reaffirm American social identity by projecting Turks as an instance of the negative Other, there has been an important shift in the reception of the film in the West during the 1990s due to the changes in the discursive contexts in which the film has been circulating. One does not observe any specific reference to Turkish prisons as a part of the issue of human rights violations in Turkey in the initial reception of the film by European and American critics, whereas these issues appear to be important constituents of a particular reception of the film in the West in the present. The thesis explains this shift by pointing to the constitution of a particular discourse on human rights violations in Turkey after 1980, and especially throughout the 1990s, which has become a part of the discursive repertoires of the Western audience. Therefore, the thesis argues that today, Midnight Express functions as a more legitimate political statement about Turkey in the eyes of some Western audiences than it had been in the 1970s. On the other hand, parallel to the increasing desire of Turkey to connect itself to the West, particularly to become a member of the European Union, one observes an immense increase in the belief in and defense against the negative effects of Midnight Express on Turkey's international representation since the 1990s. The historical and current discourses that audiences, both in Turkey and abroad, bring into play suggest that these audiences engage with Midnight Express by assuming or denying not only the subject positions constructed by the film text but also certain history-specific extra-filmic subject positions produced by other social and discursive formations.

A geochemical and paleoceanographic investigation using marine molluscs of the late Quaternary marine submergences Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia

Sedjrrlents deposited in the Late Quaternary marine sUbrnergences that follov'ted the deglaciation of Ontario} Quebec., and 6ritlst-1 Columbia often contaln an abundant nlarlne invertebrate macrofauna. The rnacrofauna~ dotYllnated by aragonitic pelecypods} is fully preserved In their original mineralogy and cherrlistry 8S deternl1ned by x-ray dlffractlon., scannlng electron tl-,lcroscoDY., trace and r1l1 nor elet11ent analyses and stable isotopes. Ttle trace elernent and stable isotope geochen-Ilstry of chernlcal1y unaltered aragorlitlc molluscs can be used to determine paleoter1-lperatures and paleosallnltles." HO\Never} corrections need to be tllade \fvtlen deterrTIlnlng oxygen-isotope paleotenlperi:ttures due to the lnfluence of isotopically 11gtlt glaciol rneltv-laters and reduced sal1nltles. Ttle eastern Laurentide Ice Sheet probably had an o:~ygen lS0tOP1C composition as low as -8e) 0/00 (Sr1[IW). In additl0fl} corrections need to be rnade to the carbonlsotope values, before salinity deterrnlnatlons are t11ade., due to the reJjuctlon of the terrestrial carbon bl0rnass during glac1al maxlrna. Using geochernlcal data frot11 537 marlne n-'8crolnvertebrates frorTI 72 localities in soutt-,easter Ontarl0 and southern Quebec, it tras been deterrnined that the Late Quaternary Char1lplaln Sea \N6S density stratified along salinity and temperatlJre gradients. The deep-\h/aters of tt-,e Charnplaln Sea tlad salinities that ranged frorn 31 to 36 ppt} and terrlperatures of 00 to 5°C. Conversely.. the st1alloy./-\f*later regirrle of ttle Ctlarnplaln Sea tlad sal1nltles that ranged fron-, 24 to 33 ppt} Y.tltt1 terrlperatures ranglng from 5° to 15°C. Tr,8 rrlajorl rnlnor1 and trace e1et1-,ent geochernlcal analysls of 155 marine lnvertebrates frorn 4 10C611t1es of tt-,e Late Quaternary Ft. Langley Forrnatlon and Capl1ano Sedlments;. souttl\Nestern Brltlsh Columblal suggest l t~lat the 'waters of the o-,arlne lnundation that fol1o....ved the retreating Cordl11eran Ice Sheet had sal1nltles ranglng frorn 32 to 3f. DPt.

An examination of the effects of locus of control on perceptions of core job dimensions and job satisfaction

This study examined the moderating effects of locus of control on core job dimensions (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback) and job satisfaction. Survey data were collected from 1995 educators in Southern Ontario. When core job dimensions were perceived to be high, job satisfaction scores were high. The converse relationship was also true; when core job dimensions were perceived to be low, job satisfaction scores were also low. As well, the investigation explored the effect of educators' locus of control of reinforcement on the relationship between core job dimensions and job satisfaction. Internals (N = 483-486) perceived more skill variety, more task identity, more task significance, more autonomy, more feedback and greater job satisfaction than externals (N = 626-629). However, contrary to expectation, the correlations between specific core job dimensions namely autonomy and feedback, were not systematically greater for internals compared to externals. In addition the findings reported here suggest some appropriate directions and strategies for measuring and increasing job satisfaction among teachers.

Pen and sunlight sketches of scenery reached by the Grand Trunk Railway and connections : including Niagara Falls, Thousand Islands, Rapids of the Saint Lawrence, Montreal, Quebec, and the mountains of New England.--

At head of title: "The tourist route of America".

Pen and sunlight sketches of scenery reached by the Grand Trunk Railway and connections : including Niagara Falls, Thousand Islands, Rapids of the St. Lawrence, Montreal, Quebec, and the Mountains of New England. --

At head of title: "The tourist route of America."

The Ontario and St. Lawrence Steamboat Company's hand-book for travelers to Niagara Falls, Montreal and Quebec, and through Lake Champlain to Saratoga Springs.

"Illustrated with maps, and numerous engravings from original sketches."

Pen and sunlight sketches of scenery reached by the Grand Trunk Railway system and connections with summer routes and fares to principal points : including Niagara Falls, Thousand Islands, Rapids of the St. Lawrence, Montreal, Quebec, Parry Sound, Georgian Bay, Muskoka Lakes, Adirondacks, Lake St. John, Mackinac Island, Midland District Lakes, the White Mountains, the Suquenay River, Rangeley Lakes and the sea-shore.--

At head of title: "Great tourist route of America".

Summer resorts reached by the Grand Trunk Railway and its connections : Including Niagara Falls, The Thousand Islands, Rapids of the St. Lawrence River, The White Mountains, Montreal, Quebec, The Saquenay River, and the seashore. --

Compliments of Passenger Department.