Pinniped Populations at Islas ae Guadalupe, San Benito, Cedros, and Natividad, Baja California, in 1968

In April and June 1968, the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program (POBSP) of the Smithsonian Institution conducted surveys on breeding marine birds and pinnipeds on various Mexican islands. Between 18 to 26 April and 21 to 29 June, pinniped populations were surveyed at Islas de Guadalupe, San Benito, Cedros, and Natividad off Baja California. Species observed were the California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi, harbor seal, Phoca vitulina, and northern elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris

U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments

Under the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) were required to produce stock assessment reports for all marine mammal stocks in waters within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. This document contains the stock assessment reports for the U.S. Pacific marine mammal stocks under NMFS jurisdiction. Marine mammal species which are under the management jurisdiction of the USFWS are not included in this report. A separate report containing background, guidelines for preparation, and .a summary of all stock assessment reports is available from the NMFS Office of Protected Resources. This report was prepared by staff of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NMFS and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NMFS. The information presented here was compiled primarily from published sources, but additional unpublished information was included where it contributed to the assessments. The authors wish to thanks the members of the Pacific Scientific Review Group for their valuable contributions and constructive criticism: Hannah Bernard, Robin Brown, Mark Fraker, Doyle Hanan, John Heyning, Steve Jeffries, Katherine Ralls, Michael Scott, and Terry Wright. Their comments greatly improved the quality of these reports, We also thanks the Marine Mammal Commission, The Humane Society of the United States, The Marine Mammal Center, The Center for Marine Conservation, and Friends of the Sea Otter for their careful reviews and thoughtful comments. Special thanks to Paul Wade of the Office of Protected Resources for his exhaustive review and comments, which greatly enhanced the consistency and technical quality of the reports. Any ommissions or errors are the sole responsibility of the authors. This is a working document and individual stock assessment reports will be updated as new information becomes available and as changes to marine mammal stocks and fisheries occur; therefore, each stock assessment report is intended to be a stand alone document. The authors solicit any new information or comments which would improve future stock assessment reports. This is Southwest Fisheries Science Center Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC- 219, July 1995. 111

BIRD CONTROL UNDER A STATE FISH AND GAME PERMIT SYSTEM

I guess the impetus for laws in our state, really was the action of the city of Boston in 1963, when the Parks and Recreation Department felt that it was time to do something about massive populations of pigeons on the Boston Commons and in the city. The Parks Department came to our agency to find out what could be done. We immediately found as a result of a reorganization and recodification of the laws some 20 years before, that it was illegal to use or apply poisons for the purpose of killing any birds or mammals in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Property owners were given the privilege to destroy animals that were doing damage to their property, but only through mechanical means, certainly not by the use of toxicants. We helped the city of Boston draft a bill in 1963, which allowed our agency, the Division of Fisheries and Game, the agency responsible for all wildlife species in the state, the opportunity to issue certain permits for the use of poison, giving full authority to the director of Fisheries and Game with, of course, approval of my board. This allowed certain discretion on our part.

Community Life and Housing in Rural Nebraska: 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll Results

Many rural communities are experiencing population decline. However, rural residents have continued to show a strong attachment to their communities. How do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Do they own their home? What is the condition of their home? This report details 2,851 responses to the 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll, the tenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community and housing. Trends for some of these questions are examined by comparing data from the nine previous polls to this year’s results. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, that is, comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: Rural Nebraskans’ views of the change in their community are similar to those expressed last year. This year, 28 percent believe their community has changed for the better, compared to 26 percent last year. And, in 2005, only 20 percent think their community has changed for the worse, compared to 22 percent last year. The proportion of expected movers who plan to leave the state decreased this year. Last year, 56 percent of the persons planning to move from their community expected to leave the state. That proportion decreased to 47 percent this year. Rural Nebraskans living in or near the largest communities are more likely than persons living in or near the smaller communities to say their community has changed for the better. Thirty-nine percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more believe their community has changed for the better during the past year, but only 15 percent of persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people share this opinion. The community services and amenities that rural Nebraskans are most dissatisfied with include: entertainment, retail shopping and restaurants. At least one-third of rural Nebraskans express dissatisfaction with these three services. They are most satisfied with parks and recreation, library services, basic medical care services, highways and bridges, and education (K - 12). At least one-half of rural Nebraskans are satisfied with the following items in their community: appearance of residential areas (66%), crime control (61%), maintenance of sidewalks and public areas (57%) and noise (54%). Rural Nebraskans generally have positive views about their community. Sixty percent agree that their community is an ideal place to live and 52 percent say their community has good business leaders. Rural Nebraskans have mixed opinions about the future of their community. Fortyfour percent agree that their community’s future looks bright, but 42 percent disagree with this statement. Fourteen percent have no opinion. Rural Nebraskans living in or near the larger communities are more likely than residents of the smaller communities to think their community’s future looks bright. Fifty-nine percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more agree with this statement, compared to only 25 percent of residents living in or near communities with less than 500 people. Further, 61 percent of the residents of the smallest communities disagree with this statement, compared to only 28 percent of the residents of the largest communities. Over three-quarters of rural Nebraskans disagree that younger residents of their community tend to stay there after completing high school. Seventy-six percent disagree with this statement, 16 percent have no opinion and eight percent agree that younger residents stay after completing high school. When comparing responses by age, younger persons are more likely than older persons to agree that younger residents stay in their community after high school. Sixteen percent of persons age 19 to 29 agree with this statement, compared to only six percent of persons age 50 to 64. Younger persons are more likely than older persons to be planning to move from their community next year. Fifteen percent of persons between the ages of 19 and 29 are planning to move next year, compared to only two percent of persons age 65 and older. An additional 17 percent of the younger respondents indicate they are uncertain if they plan to move. Most rural Nebraskans own their home. Eighty-four percent of rural Nebraskans own their home. Older persons are more likely than younger persons to own their home. Eighty-eight percent of persons over the age of 50 own their home, compared to only 52 percent of persons age 19 to 29. Housing in rural Nebraska has an average age of 50 years. Twenty-four percent of residences were built before 1930. Another 24 percent were built between 1930 and 1959. Twenty-nine percent were built between 1960 and 1979 and the remaining 24 percent were built in 1980 or later. The housing stock in smaller communities is older than the housing located in larger communities. Over one-third (35%) of the residences in communities with less than 1,000 people were built before 1930. Only 12 percent of the homes in communities with populations of 10,000 or more were built in this time period. Most rural Nebraskans appear satisfied with their home. Only 24 percent say the current size of their home does not meet their needs. The same proportion (24%) say their home is in need of major repairs. Thirty-eight percent agree that their home needs a lot of routine maintenance, but 87 percent like the location (neighborhood) of their home. One-third of rural Nebraskans living in or near the smallest communities say their home is in need of major repairs. Only 19 percent of persons living in or near communities with populations of 5,000 or more are facing this problem. Home ownership is very important to most rural Nebraskans. Eighty-two percent believe it is very important to own their home. An additional 12 percent say it is somewhat important and six percent say it is not at all important. However, persons who do not currently own their home do not feel it is important for them to do so. Only 32 percent of renters say it is very important to own their home, compared to 91 percent of home owners. And, 35 percent of renters say it is not at all important to own their home.

Music at the Fair! The Trans- Mississippi and International Exposition. An Interactive Website

“Music at the Fair!” gives the daily musical programs for The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, held in Omaha, Nebraska, June 1 through October 31, 1898. The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition brought an unprecedented array of local, national, and international musical acts to Omaha, NE in 1898. This served to designate Omaha, "the gateway to the west" as a musical hub, as well as to incite musical excitement in the region. Some of the more popular acts featured were the Theodore Thomas Orchestra, the U.S. Marine Band, and the Apollo Club of Chicago. Many more groups and their musical programs can be found within the pages of this site. The “Music at the Fair!” website was created by Grace Carey, and last revised on May 19, 2006.It is the result of a two- year research grant funded by an Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences (UCARE) grant through the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. It is an extension of an ongoing project on music at the TME by Music Professor Peter Lefferts. The primary sources of information for the site are the following newspapers from June – November 1898: The Omaha Daily Bee, the Omaha Evening Bee, and the Omaha World Herald, and the the official programs of the fair located in the archives at the Omaha Public Library. I would like to thank the helpful staff at the Nebraska State Historical Society and the downtown branch of the Omaha Public Library. Site Creator: Grace Carey Project Advisor: Peter Lefferts, Professor of Music History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln The linked “Document” is a flat PDF version of the interactive website. To download the fully interactive html version, click on the “Related file” to download the zipped folder. When unzipped, click on the file named “index” to enter the website.

Vibrio cholerae O1 detection in estuarine and coastal zooplankton

Vibrio cholerae is an autochthonous marine bacterium, and its association with diverse planktonic crustaceans has been extensively investigated; however, the presence of V. cholerae on individuals of most phyla of planktonic animals is still incompletely understood. The objective of this study was to analyze the distribution of V. cholerae serogroup O1 associated with specific zooplankton taxa in an estuary and the adjacent continental shelf of the southeastern Brazilian coast. The occurrence of the bacterium was assessed in zooplankton samples, specifically on the most abundant taxa, using direct fluorescence assay (DFA) and direct viable count-direct fluorescence assay (DVC-DFA) methods. Vibrio cholerae O1 was detected in 88% of samples collected from the Santos-Bertioga estuary and in 67% of samples from the shelf. The salinity of the estuarine water ranged from 21.8 to 34.6, significantly lower than the shelf water which was 32.1-36.1. Salinity was the only environmental variable measured that displayed a significant correlation with the presence of V. cholerae (P < 0.05). Vibrio cholerae O1 was detected in chaetognaths, pluteus larvae of echinoderms and planktonic fish eggs (Engraulidae), all new sites for this bacterium.

Lipidic and proteic absorption in digestive tract of tropical fat snook (Centropomus parallelus, POEY 1860)

The tropical fat snook Centropomus parallelus is a species of recognized ecological importance and with a high economical potential for fisheries and aquaculture. The investigations of digestive tube morphology in association with their feeding abilities are fundamental to improve techniques for aquaculture feeding procedures. Sudan black staining and Perl`s method were used to evaluate their absorption capacity of fat and protein respectively. The Sudan black stain was performed 12 h after the ingestion of lipids. The lipids are intensely absorbed in the ceca epithelium and less intensely in the intestine and rectum. The Perl`s method was performed 12 h after the ingestion of ferritin. The proteins are absorbed only in the rectum. This is the first description of fat and protein absorption ability by the digestive tube of fat snook. These data enhance the possibility of the addition of macromolecules in rations that can show a diversity of physiological effects. The histological implications of each segment of the digestive tube in association with fish biology are further discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Are the preference and selection patterns of hermit crabs for gastropod shells species- or site-specific?

Experimental analyses of hermit crabs and their preferences for shells are essential to understand the intrinsic relationship of the crabs` dependence on shells, and may be useful to explain their shell use pattern in nature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of crab species and site on the pattern of shell use, selection, and preference in the south-western Atlantic hermit crabs Pagurus brevidactylus and Pagurus criniticornis, comparing sympatric and allopatric populations. Differently from the traditional approach to evaluate shell preference by simply determining the shell selection pattern (i.e., the number of shells of each type selected), preference was defined (according to [Liszka, D., Underwood, AJ., 1990. An experimental design to determine preferences for gastropod shells by a hermit-crab. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol., 137(1), 47-62]) by the comparison of the number of crabs changing for a particular shell type when three options were given (Cerithium atratum, Morula nodulosa, and Tegula viridula) with the number of crabs changing for this same type when only this type was offered. The effect of crab species was tested at Cabelo Gordo Beach, where P. brevidacrylus was found occupying shells of C. atratum, M. nodulosa, and T viridula in similar frequencies, whereas P. criniticornis occupied predominantly shells of C atratum. In laboratory experiments the selection patterns of the two hermit-crab species for these three gastropods were different, with P criniticornis selecting mainly shells of C atratum, and R brevidactylus selecting more shells of M. nodulosa. The shell preference was also dependent on crab species, with P. criniticornis showing a clear preference for shells of C atratum, whereas P. brevidactylus did not show a preference for any of the tested shells. The effect of site was tested for the two species comparing data from Cabelo Gordo to Preta (P brevidactylus) and Araca beaches (P. criniticornis). The pattern of shell use, selection, and preference was demonstrated to be dependent on site only for P. brevidactylus. The results also showed that the shell use pattern of P criniticornis can be explained by its preference at both sites, whereas for P. brevidactylus it occurred only at Cabelo Gordo, where the absence of preference was correlated with the similar use of the three gastropod species studied. Finally, the results showed that the shell selection pattern cannot be considered as a measure of shell preference, since it overestimates crab selectivity. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Burrow ventilation and associated porewater irrigation by the polychaete Marenzelleria viridis

Burrow ventilation of benthic infauna generates water currents that irrigate the interstices of the sediments surrounding the burrow walls. Such activities have associated effects on biogeochemical processes affecting ultimately important ecosystem processes. In this study, the ventilation and irrigation behavior of Marenzelleria viridis, an invasive polychaete species in Europe, was analyzed using different approaches. M. viridis showed to perform two types of ventilation: (1) muscular pumping of water out of the burrow and (2) cilia pumping of water into the burrow. Flowmeter measurements presented muscular pumping in time averaged rates of 0.15 ml min(-1). Oxygen needle electrodes positioned above the burrow openings revealed that muscular undulation of the worm body pumps anoxic water out of the burrow. On the other hand, microscope observations of the animal showed that ventilation of oxygen-rich water in the burrow occurs by ciliary action. The volume of water irrigated by M. viridis appears to vary linearly within the first 24 h incubation, with rates ranging from 0.003 to 0.01 ml min(-1). From those rates we could estimate that the time averaged rate of cilia ventilation should be about 0.16 ml min(-1). Since the cilia pumping into the burrow occurs in periods of 24 +/- 12 min and at 50-70% of the measured time, considerable amounts of water from deeper sediments may percolate upwards to the sediment surface. This water is rich in reduced compounds and nutrients and may have important associated ecological implications in the ecosystem (e.g. affecting redox conditions, organic matter degradation, benthic recruitment and primary production). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of specimen geometry and loading mode on crack growth resistance curves of a high-strength pipeline girth weld

This work presents an investigation of the ductile tearing properties for a girth weld made of an API 5L X80 pipeline steel using experimentally measured crack growth resistance curves. Use of these materials is motivated by the increasing demand in the number of applications for manufacturing high strength pipes for the oil and gas industry including marine applications and steel catenary risers. Testing of the pipeline girth welds employed side-grooved, clamped SE(T) specimens and shallow crack bend SE(B) specimens with a weld centerline notch to determine the crack growth resistance curves based upon the unloading compliance (UC) method using the single specimen technique. Recently developed compliance functions and η-factors applicable for SE(T) and SE(B) fracture specimens with homogeneous material and overmatched welds are introduced to determine crack growth resistance data from laboratory measurements of load-displacement records.

On the lifecycle of aerosol particles : Sources and dispersion over Scandinavia

Aerosol particles are likely important contributors to our future climate. Further, during recent years, effects on human health arising from emissions of particulate material have gained increasing attention. In order to quantify the effect of aerosols on both climate and human health we need to better quantify the interplay between sources and sinks of aerosol particle number and mass on large spatial scales. So far long-term, regional observations of aerosol properties have been scarce, but argued necessary in order to bring the knowledge of regional and global distribution of aerosols further. In this context, regional studies of aerosol properties and aerosol dynamics are truly important areas of investigation. This thesis is devoted to investigations of aerosol number size distribution observations performed through the course of one year encompassing observational data from five stations covering an area from southern parts of Sweden up to northern parts of Finland. This thesis tries to give a description of aerosol size distribution dynamics from both a quantitative and qualitative point of view. The thesis focuses on properties and changes in aerosol size distribution as a function of location, season, source area, transport pathways and links to various meteorological conditions. The investigations performed in this thesis show that although the basic behaviour of the aerosol number size distribution in terms of seasonal and diurnal characteristics is similar at all stations in the measurement network, the aerosol over the Nordic countries is characterised by a typically sharp gradient in aerosol number and mass. This gradient is argued to derive from geographical locations of the stations in relation to the dominant sources and transport pathways. It is clear that the source area significantly determine the aerosol size distribution properties, but it is obvious that transport condition in terms of frequency of precipitation and cloudiness in some cases even more strongly control the evolution of the number size distribution. Aerosol dynamic processes under clear sky transport are however likewise argued to be highly important. Southerly transport of marine air and northerly transport of air from continental sources is studied in detail under clear sky conditions by performing a pseudo-Lagrangian box model evaluation of the two type cases. Results from both modelling and observations suggest that nucleation events contribute to integral number increase during southerly transport of comparably clean marine air, while number depletion dominates the evolution of the size distribution during northerly transport. This difference is largely explained by different concentration of pre-existing aerosol surface associated with the two type cases. Mass is found to be accumulated in many of the individual transport cases studied. This mass increase was argued to be controlled by emission of organic compounds from the boreal forest. This puts the boreal forest in a central position for estimates of aerosol forcing on a regional scale.

Human Abuses of Coral Reefs- Adaptive Responses and Regime Transitions

During the last few decades, coral reefs have become a disappearing feature of tropical marine environments, and those reefs that do remain are severely threatened. It is understood that humans have greately altered the environment under which these ecosystems previously have thrived and evoloved. Overharvesting of fish stocks, global warming and pollution are some of the most prominent threats, acting on coral reefs at several spatial and temporal scales. Presently, it is common that coral reefs have been degraded into alternative ecosystem regimes, such as macroalgae-dominated or sea urchin-barren. Although these ecosystems could potentially return to coral dominance in a long-term perspective, when considdering current conditions, it seems likely that they will persist in their degraded states. Thus, recovery of coral reefs cannot be taken for granted on a human timescale. Multiple stressors and disturbances, which are increasingly characteristic of coral reef environments today, are believed to act synergistically and produce ecological surprises. However, current knowledge of effects of compounded disturbances and stress is limited. Based on five papers, this thesis investigates the sublethal response of multiple stressors on coral physiology, as well as the effects of compounded stress and disturbance on coral reef structure and function. Adaptive responses to stress and disturbance in relation to prior experience are highlighted. The thesis further explores how inherent characteristics (traits) of corals and macroalgae may influence regime expression when faced with altered disturbance regimes, in particular overfishing, eutrophication, elevated temperature, and enhanced substrate availability. Finally, possibilities of affecting the resilience of macroalgae-dominaed reefs and shifting the community composition towards a coral-dominated regime are explored.

Effect of temperature and food concentration on the relationship between growth

[EN] The in situ activity of the enzymes aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AARS) and the growth rates of naupliar stages of the planktonic marine copepod Paracartia grani were measured in the laboratory under different temperature and food concentrations. We assessed the effect of these parameters on growth and protein synthesis rates of P. grani nauplii. Growth and protein synthesis rates of P. grani nauplii depended on temperature and food concentration. AARS activity is valid as an index of somatic growth for P. grani nauplii when growth is not limited by food availability. However, the relationship between protein-specific AARS activity and nauplii growth varied according to food availability levels. The degradation of proteins during starvation and/or the ß-oxidation of fatty acids affected the relationship between specific AARS activity and growth rates. The results presented here add to previous studies showing that the AARS activity is a useful tool for estimating somatic growth of this and other key copepod species. Nevertheless, further research is required to elucidate the validity of AARS activity as a universal proxy for growth.

Physiological and metabolic effects of nutrient enrichment on adult Artemia franciscana

[EN] Brine shrimp nauplii (Artemia sp.) are used in aquaculture as the major food source for many cultured marine larvae, and also used in the adult phase for many juvenile and adult fish. One artemia species, Artemia franciscana is most commonly preferred, due to the availability of its cysts and to its ease in hatching and biomass production. The problem with A. franciscana is that its nutritional quality is relatively poor in essential fatty acids, so that it is common practice to enrich it with emulsions like SELCO and ORIGO. This “bioencapsulation”, enrichment method permits the incorporation of different kinds of products into the artemia. This brine-shrimp’s non-selective particle-feeding habits, makes it particularly suitable for this enrichment process. The bioencapsulation is done just prior to feeding the artemia to a predator organism. This allows the delivery of different substances, not only for nutrient enrichment, but also for changing pigmentation and administering medicine. This is especially useful in culturing ornamental seahorses and tropical fish in marine aquaria In this study the objectives were to determine, the relative nutrient value of ORIGO and SELCO as well as the optimal exposure to these supplements prior to their use as food-organisms.