Biological Impacts and Uses of Black Bass Competitive Fishing Tournaments on Large Lake Systems

Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2016-09-28 15:06:46.124

Changes in the Ecology and Abundance of Smallmouth Bass in Lake Ontario: 1958-2014

Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2016-10-04 08:39:25.778

Audit report on the Holiday Lake Rural Improvement Zone for the year ended June 30, 2016

Audit report on the Holiday Lake Rural Improvement Zone for the year ended June 30, 2016

The influence of particles recycling on the geochemistry of sediments in a large tropical dam lake in the Amazonian region, Brazil

The influence of particles recycling on the geochemistry of sediments in a large tropical dam lake in the Amazonian region, Brazil. Article in Journal of South American Earth Sciences 72 · December 2016 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsames.2016.09.012 1st Rita Fonseca 16.85 · Universidade de Évora 2nd Catarina Pinho 3rd Manuela Oliveira 22.6 · Universidade de Évora Abstract As a result of over-erosion of soils, the fine particles, which contain the majority of nutrients, are easily washed away from soils, which become deficient in a host of components, accumulating in lakes. On one hand, the accumulation of nutrients-rich sediments are a problem, as they affect the quality of the overlying water and decrease the water storage capacity of the system; on the other hand, sediments may constitute an important resource, as they are often extremely rich in organic and inorganic nutrients in readily available forms. In the framework of an extensive work on the use of rock related materials to enhance the fertility of impoverish soils, this study aimed to evaluate the role on the nutrients cycle, of particles recycling processes from the watershed to the bottom of a large dam reservoir, at a wet tropical region under high weathering conditions. The study focus on the mineralogical transformations that clay particles undergo from the soils of the drainage basin to their final deposition within the reservoir and their influence in terms of the geochemical characteristics of sediments. We studied the bottom sediments that accumulate in two distinct seasonal periods in Tucuruí reservoir, located in the Amazonian Basin, Brazil, and soils from its drainage basin. The surface layers of sediments in twenty sampling points with variable depths, are representative of the different morphological sections of the reservoir. Nineteen soil samples, representing the main soil classes, were collected near the margins of the reservoir. Sediments and soils were subjected to the same array of physical, mineralogical and geochemical analyses: (1) texture, (2) characterization and semi-quantification of the clay fraction mineralogy and (3) geochemical analysis of the total concentration of major elements, organic compounds (organic C and nitrogen), soluble fractions of nutrients (P and K), exchangeable fractions (cation exchange capacity, exchangeable bases and acidity) and pH(H2O).

The Lake of the Cemetery

This is brief paper written in the "here and now" as the event happened and describes the early morning journey of the author by balsa wood raft to the breeding colony of greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) on the island of Isabela in the Galapagos archipelago in 1976. Isabela comprises five volcanoes in a north south alignment. The Lake of the Cemetary is close to the site of a former penal colony which is now the only village on the island. The ethological observations at the bird colony are discussed.

Tools for successful NRM in the Lake Eyre Basin : achieving effective engagement

This chapter was developed as part of the ‘People, communities and economies of the Lake Eyre Basin’ project. It has been written for communities, government agencies and interface organisations involved in natural resource management (NRM) in the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB). Its purpose is to identify the key factors for successful community engagement processes relevant to the LEB and present tools and principles for successful engagement processes. The term ‘interface organisation’ is used here to refer to the diverse range of local and regional organisations (such as Catchment Committees or NRM Regional Bodies) that serve as linkages, or translators, between local communities and broader Australian and State Governments. The importance of fostering and harnessing effective processes of community engagement has been identified as crucial to building a prosperous future for rural and remote regions in Australia. The chapter presents an overview of the literature on successful community engagement processes for NRM, as well as an overview of the current NRM arrangements in the LEB. The main part of the chapter presents findings of the series of interviews conducted with the government liaison officers representing both state and federal organisations who are responsible for coordinating and facilitating regional NRM in the LEB, and with the members of communities of the LEB.

Cryptanalysis of the LAKE hash family

We analyse the security of the cryptographic hash function LAKE-256 proposed at FSE 2008 by Aumasson, Meier and Phan. By exploiting non-injectivity of some of the building primitives of LAKE, we show three different collision and near-collision attacks on the compression function. The first attack uses differences in the chaining values and the block counter and finds collisions with complexity 233. The second attack utilizes differences in the chaining values and salt and yields collisions with complexity 242. The final attack uses differences only in the chaining values to yield near-collisions with complexity 299. All our attacks are independent of the number of rounds in the compression function. We illustrate the first two attacks by showing examples of collisions and near-collisions.

Priority threat management of invasive plant species in the Lake Eyre Basin

This project is led by scientists in conservation decision appraisal and brings together a group of experts working across the Lake Eyre Basin (LEB). The LEB covers a sixth of Australia, with an array of globally significant natural values that are threatened by invasive plants, among other things. Managers at various levels are investing in attempts to control, contain and eradicate these invasive plant species, under severe time and resources limitations. To date there has been no basin-wide assessment of which weed management strategies and locations provide the best investments for maximising outcomes for biodiversity per unit cost. Further, there has been no assessment of the extent of ecosystem intactness that may be lost without effective invasive plant species management strategies. Given that there are insufficient resources to manage all invasive plant species everywhere, this information has the potential to improve current investment decisions. Here, we provide a prioritisation of invasive plant management strategies in the LEB. Prioritisation was based on cost-effectiveness for biodiversity benefits. We identify the key invasive plant species to target to protect ecosystem intactness across the bioregions of the LEB, the level of investment required and the likely reduction in invasive species dominance gained per dollar spent on each strategy. Our focus is on strategies that are technically and socially feasible and reduce the likelihood that high impact invasive plant species will dominate native ecosystems, and therefore change their form and function. The outputs of this work are designed to help guide decision-making and further planning and investment in weed management for the Basin. Experts in weed management, policy-making, community engagement, biodiversity and natural values of the Basin, attended a workshop and agreed upon 12 strategies to manage invasive plants. The strategies focused primarily on 10 weeds which were considered to have a high potential for broad, significant impacts on natural ecosystems in the next 50 years and for which feasible management strategies could be defined. Each strategy consisted of one or more supporting actions, many of which were spatially linked to IBRA (Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation of Australia) bioregions. The first strategy was an over-arching recommendation for improved mapping, information sharing, education and extension efforts in order to facilitate the more specific weed management strategies. The 10 more specific weed management strategies targeted the control and/or eradication of the following high-impact exotic plants: mesquite, parkinsonia, rubber vine, bellyache bush, cacti, mother of millions, chinee apple, athel pine and prickly acacia, as well as a separate strategy for eradicating all invasive plants from one key threatened ecological community, the GAB (Great Artesian Basin dependant) mound springs. Experts estimated the expected biodiversity benefit of each strategy as the reduction in area that an invasive plant species is likely to dominate in over a 50-year period, where dominance was defined as more than 30% coverage at a site. Costs were estimated in present day terms over 50 years largely during follow up discussions post workshop. Cost-effectiveness was then calculated for each strategy in each bioregion by dividing the average expected benefit by the average annual costs. Overall, the total cost of managing 12 invasive plant strategies over the next 50 years was estimated at $1.7 billion. It was estimated that implementation of these strategies would result in a reduction of invasive plant dominance by 17 million ha (a potential 32% reduction), roughly 14% of the LEB. If only targeting Weeds of National Significance (WONS), the total cost was estimated to be $113 million over the next 50 years. Over the next 50 years, $2.3 million was estimated to eradicate all invasive plant species from the Great Artesian Basin Mound Springs threatened ecological community. Prevention and awareness programs were another key strategy targeted across the Basin and estimated at $17.5 million in total over 50 years. The cost of controlling, eradicating and containing buffel grass were the most expensive, over $1.5 billion over 50 years; this strategy was estimated to result in a reduction in buffel grass dominance of a million ha in areas where this species is identified as an environmental problem. Buffel grass has been deliberately planted across the Basin for pasture production and is by far the most widely distributed exotic species. Its management is contentious, having economic value to many graziers while posing serious threats to biodiversity and sites of high cultural and conservation interest. The strategy for containing and locally eradicating buffel grass was a challenge to cost based on expert knowledge, possibly because of the dual nature of this species as a valued pastoral grass and environmental weed. Based on our conversations with experts, it appears that control and eradication programs for this species, in conservation areas, are growing rapidly and that information on the most cost-effective strategies for this species will continue to develop over time. The top five most cost-effective strategies for the entire LEB were for the management of: 1) parkinsonia, 2) chinee apple, 3) mesquite, 4) rubber vine and 5) bellyache bush. Chinee apple and mother of millions are not WONS and have comparatively small populations within the semi-arid bioregions of Queensland. Experts felt that there was an opportunity to eradicate these species before they had the chance to develop into high-impact species within the LEB. Prickly acacia was estimated to have one of the highest benefits, but the costs of this strategy were high, therefore it was ranked 7th overall. The buffel grass strategy was ranked the lowest (10th) in terms of cost effectiveness. The top five most cost-effective strategies within and across the bioregions were the management of: 1) parkinsonia in the Channel Country, 2) parkinsonia in the Desert Uplands, 3) mesquite in the Mitchell Grass Downs, 4) parkinsonia in the Mitchell Grass Downs, and 5) mother of millions in the Desert Uplands. Although actions for several invasive plant species like parkinsonia and prickly acacia were concentrated in the Queensland part of the LEB, the actions involved investing in containment zones to prevent the spread of these species into other states. In the NT and SA bioregions of the LEB, the management of athel pine, parkinsonia and cacti were the main strategies. While outside the scientific research goals of study, this work highlighted a number of important incidental findings that led us to make the following recommendations for future research and implementation of weed management in the Basin: • Ongoing stakeholder engagement, extension and participation is required to ensure this prioritisation effort has a positive impact in affecting on-ground decision making and planning. • Short term funding for weed management was identified as a major reason for failure of current efforts, hence future funding needs to be secure and ongoing. • Improved mapping and information sharing is essential to implement effective weed management. • Due to uncertainties in the outcomes and impacts of management options, strategies should be implemented as part of an adaptive management program. The information provided in this report can be used to guide investment for controlling high-impact invasive plant species for the benefits of biodiversity conservation. We do not present a final prioritisation of invasive plant strategies for the LEB, and we have not addressed the cultural, socio-economic or spatial components necessary for an implementation plan. Cost-effectiveness depends on the objectives used; in our case we used the intactness of ecosystems as a surrogate for expected biodiversity benefits, measured by the extent that each invasive plant species is likely to dominate in a bioregion. When other relevant factors for implementation are considered the priorities may change and some actions may not be appropriate in some locations. We present the costs, ecological benefits and cost-effectiveness of preventing, containing, reducing and eradicating the dominance of high impact invasive plants through realistic management actions over the next 50 years. In doing so, we are able to estimate the size of the weed management problem in the LEB and provide expert-based estimates of the likely outcomes and benefits of implementing weed management strategies. The priorities resulting from this work provide a prospectus for guiding further investment in management and in improving information availability.

Flight-training effect on the cervical muscle isometric strength of trainee pilots

External stimulus/loading initiates adaptations within skeletal muscle. It has been previously found that the cervical area has the highest loading while performing flying maneuvers under +Gz. The first purpose of this study was to examine the neck muscle response to the physical environment associated with flight training, incorporating limited exposure to +Gz force, in a Pilatus PC-9 aircraft. The second purpose was to examine the short-term range of movement (ROM) response to flight training. Isometric cervical muscle strength and ROM was monitored in 9 RAAF pilots completing an 8-mo flight-training course at Pearce Airbase in Western Australia, and in 10 controls matched for gender, age, height, and weight. Isometric cervical muscle strength and ROM were measured at baseline and at 8 mo using the multi-cervical rehabilitation unit (Hanoun Medical, Downsview, Ontario, Canada). Results indicated that an increase in pilot neck strength was limited to flexion while in a neutral position. No strength changes were recorded in any other site in the pilots or for the controls. These findings suggest that short-term exposure to the physical environment associated with flight training had a limited significant effect on increasing isometric cervical muscle strength. No significant changes were observed in pilot ROM, indicating that short-term exposure to flight does not effect ROM.

A pilot study in different unstable designs on the biomechanical effect of gait characteristics

The purpose of this study was to compare kinematics and kinetics during walking for healthy subjects using unstable shoes with different designs. Ten subjects participated in this study, and foot biomechanical data during walking were quantified using motion analysis system and a force plate. Data were collected for unstable shoes condition after accommodation period of one week. With soft material added in the heel region, the peak impact force was effectively reduced when compared among similar shapes. In addition, the soft material added in the rocker bottom showed more to be in dorsiflexed position during the initial stance. The shoe with three rocker curves design reduced the contact area in the heel strike, which may result in increasing human body forward speed. Further studies shall be carried out after adapting to long periods of wearing unstable shoes.

The effects of human induced disturbances on the sediment geochemistry of Baltic Sea embayments with a focus on eutrophication history

Historical sediment nutrient concentrations and heavy-metal distributions were studied in five embayments in the Gulf of Finland and an adjacent lake. The main objective of the study was to examine the response of these water bodies to temporal changes in human activities. Sediment cores were collected from the sites and dated using 210Pb and 137Cs. The cores were analyzed for total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), organic phosphorus (OP), inorganic phosphorus (IP), biogenic silica (BSi), loss on ignition (LOI), grain size, Cu, Zn, Al, Fe, Mn, K, Ca, Mg and Na. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to summarize the trends in the geochemical variables and to compare trends between the different sites. The links between the catchment land use and sediment geochemical data were studied using a multivariate technique of redundancy analysis (RDA). Human activities produce marked geochemical variations in coastal sediments. These variations and signals are often challenging to interpret due to various sedimentological and post-depositional factors affecting the sediment profiles. In general, the sites studied here show significant upcore increases in sedimentation rates, TP and TN concentrations. Also Cu, which is considered to be a good indicator of anthropogenic influence, showed clear increases from 1850 towards the top part of the cores. Based on the RDA-analysis, in the least disturbed embayments with high forest cover, the sediments are dominated by lithogenic indicators Fe, K, Al and Mg. In embayments close to urban settlement, the sediments have high Cu concentrations and a high sediment Fe/Mn ratio. This study suggests that sediment accumulation rates vary significantly from site to site and that the overall sedimentation can be linked to the geomorphology and basin bathymetry, which appear to be the major factors governing sedimentation rates; i.e. a high sediment accumulation rate is not characteristic either to urban or to rural sites. The geochemical trends are strongly site specific and depend on the local geochemical background, basin characteristics and anthropogenic metal and nutrient loading. Of the studied geochemical indicators, OP shows the least monotonic trends in all studied sites. When compared to other available data, OP seems to be the most reliable geochemical indicator describing the trophic development of the study sites, whereas Cu and Zn appear to be good indicators for anthropogenic influence. As sedimentation environments, estuarine and marine sites are more complex than lacustrine basins with multiple sources of sediment input and more energetic conditions in the former. The crucial differences between lacustrine and estuarine/coastal sedimentation environments are mostly related to Fe. P sedimentation is largely governed by Fe redox-reactions in estuarine environments. In freshwaters, presence of Fe is clearly linked to the sedimentation of other lithogenic metals, and therefore P sedimentation and preservation has a more direct linkage to organic matter sedimentation.

Geological factors affecting on after-use of Finnish cut-over peatlands : with implications on the carbon accumulation

In Finland, peat harvesting sites are utilized down almost to the mineral soil. In this situation the properties of mineral subsoil are likely to have considerable influence on the suitability for the various after-use forms. The aims of this study were to recognize the chemical and physical properties of mineral subsoils possibly limiting the after-use of cut-over peatlands, to define a minimum practice for mineral subsoil studies and to describe the role of different geological areas. The future percentages of the different after-use forms were predicted, which made it possible to predict also carbon accumulation in this future situation. Mineral subsoils of 54 different peat production areas were studied. Their general features and grain size distribution was analysed. Other general items studied were pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, water soluble nutrients (P, NO3-N, NH4-N, S and Fe) and exchangeable nutrients (Ca, Mg and K). In some cases also other elements were analysed. In an additional case study carbon accumulation effectiveness before the intervention was evaluated on three sites in Oulu area (representing sites typically considered for peat production). Areas with relatively sulphur rich mineral subsoil and pool-forming areas with very fine and compact mineral subsoil together covered approximately 1/5 of all areas. These areas were unsuitable for commercial use. They were recommended for example for mire regeneration. Another approximate 1/5 of the areas included very coarse or very fine sediments. Commercial use of these areas would demand special techniques - like using the remaining peat layer for compensating properties missing from the mineral subsoil. One after-use form was seldom suitable for one whole released peat production area. Three typical distribution patterns (models) of different mineral subsoils within individual peatlands were found. 57 % of studied cut-over peatlands were well suited for forestry. In a conservative calculation 26% of the areas were clearly suitable for agriculture, horticulture or energy crop production. If till without large boulders was included, the percentage of areas suitable to field crop production would be 42 %. 9-14 % of all areas were well suitable for mire regeneration or bird sanctuaries, but all areas were considered possible for mire regeneration with correct techniques. Also another 11 % was recommended for mire regeneration to avoid disturbing the mineral subsoil, so total 20-25 % of the areas would be used for rewetting. High sulphur concentrations and acidity were typical to the areas below the highest shoreline of the ancient Litorina sea and Lake Ladoga Bothnian Bay zone. Also differences related to nutrition were detected. In coarse sediments natural nutrient concentration was clearly higher in Lake Ladoga Bothnian Bay zone and in the areas of Svecokarelian schists and gneisses, than in Granitoid area of central Finland and in Archaean gneiss areas. Based on this study the recommended minimum analysis for after-use planning was for pH, sulphur content and fine material (<0.06 mm) percentage. Nutrition capacity could be analysed using the natural concentrations of calcium, magnesium and potassium. Carbon accumulation scenarios were developed based on the land-use predictions. These scenarios were calculated for areas in peat production and the areas released from peat production (59300 ha + 15 671 ha). Carbon accumulation of the scenarios varied between 0.074 and 0.152 million t C a-1. In the three peatlands considered for peat production the long term carbon accumulation rates varied between 13 and 24 g C m-2 a-1. The natural annual carbon accumulation had been decreasing towards the time of possible intervention.

Paleomagnetic and rock magnetic study with emphasis on the Precambrian intrusions and impact structures in Fennoscandia and South Africa

The importance of supercontinents in our understanding of the geological evolution of the planet Earth has been recently emphasized. The role of paleomagnetism in reconstructing lithospheric blocks in their ancient paleopositions is vital. Paleomagnetism is the only quantitative tool for providing ancient latitudes and azimuthal orientations of continents. It also yields information of content of the geomagnetic field in the past. In order to obtain a continuous record on the positions of continents, dated intrusive rocks are required in temporal progression. This is not always possible due to pulse-like occurrences of dykes. In this work we demonstrate that studies of meteorite impact-related rocks may fill some gaps in the paleomagnetic record. This dissertation is based on paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data obtained from samples of the Jänisjärvi impact structure (Russian Karelia, most recent 40Ar-39Ar age of 682 Ma), the Salla diabase dyke (North Finland, U-Pb 1122 Ma), the Valaam monzodioritic sill (Russian Karelia, U-Pb 1458 Ma), and the Vredefort impact structure (South Africa, 2023 Ma). The paleomagnetic study of Jänisjärvi samples was made in order to obtain a pole for Baltica, which lacks paleomagnetic data from 750 to ca. 600 Ma. The position of Baltica at ca. 700 Ma is relevant in order to verify whether the supercontinent Rodinia was already fragmented. The paleomagnetic study of the Salla dyke was conducted to examine the position of Baltica at the onset of supercontinent Rodinia's formation. The virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) from Salla dyke provides hints that the Mesoproterozoic Baltica - Laurentia unity in the Hudsonland (Columbia, Nuna) supercontinent assembly may have lasted until 1.12 Ga. Moreover, the new VGP of Salla dyke provides new constraint on the timing of the rotation of Baltica relative to Laurentia (e.g. Gower et al., 1990). A paleomagnetic study of the Valaam sill was carried out in order to shed light into the question of existence of Baltica-Laurentia unity in the supercontinent Hudsonland. Combined with results from dyke complex of the Lake Ladoga region (Schehrbakova et al., 2008) a new robust paleomagnetic pole for Baltica is obtained. This pole places Baltica on a latitude of 10°. This low latitude location is supported also by Mesoproterozoic 1.5 1.3 Ga red-bed sedimentation (for example the Satakunta sandstone). The Vredefort impactite samples provide a well dated (2.02 Ga) pole for the Kaapvaal Craton. Rock magnetic data reveal unusually high Koenigsberger ratios (Q values) in all studied lithologies of the Vredefort dome. The high Q values are now first time also seen in samples from the Johannesburg Dome (ca. 120 km away) where there is no impact evidence. Thus, a direct causative link of high Q values to the Vredefort impact event can be ruled out.

On the use of weather radar for mesoscale applications in northern conditions

Mesoscale weather phenomena, such as the sea breeze circulation or lake effect snow bands, are typically too large to be observed at one point, yet too small to be caught in a traditional network of weather stations. Hence, the weather radar is one of the best tools for observing, analyzing and understanding their behavior and development. A weather radar network is a complex system, which has many structural and technical features to be tuned, from the location of each radar to the number of pulses averaged in the signal processing. These design parameters have no universal optimal values, but their selection depends on the nature of the weather phenomena to be monitored as well as on the applications for which the data will be used. The priorities and critical values are different for forest fire forecasting, aviation weather service or the planning of snow ploughing, to name a few radar-based applications. The main objective of the work performed within this thesis has been to combine knowledge of technical properties of the radar systems and our understanding of weather conditions in order to produce better applications able to efficiently support decision making in service duties for modern society related to weather and safety in northern conditions. When a new application is developed, it must be tested against ground truth . Two new verification approaches for radar-based hail estimates are introduced in this thesis. For mesoscale applications, finding the representative reference can be challenging since these phenomena are by definition difficult to catch with surface observations. Hence, almost any valuable information, which can be distilled from unconventional data sources such as newspapers and holiday shots is welcome. However, as important as getting data is to obtain estimates of data quality, and to judge to what extent the two disparate information sources can be compared. The presented new applications do not rely on radar data alone, but ingest information from auxiliary sources such as temperature fields. The author concludes that in the future the radar will continue to be a key source of data and information especially when used together in an effective way with other meteorological data.