West Coast Of America Research Articles

Subseasonal Variation Characteristics of Low-Cloud Fraction in Southeastern and Northwestern North Pacific

The subseasonal variability of the low-cloud fraction (LCF) over the southeastern North Pacific (SENP) and northwestern North Pacific (NWNP) was studied using satellite observations and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis. It is found that subseasonal variability of the LCF was closely related to variations in the estimated inversion strength (EIS), sea surface wind speed (SSW), sensible heat flux (SHF), sea surface temperature (SST), surface temperature advection (Tadv), relative humidity (RH), surface level pressure (SLP) and surface air temperature (SAT). An increase in the LCF over the SENP is associated with the development of an anomalous anticyclonic circulation, which is located on the west coast of America. The cold advection, together with the subsidence warming associated with the anticyclonic circulation, strengthens the temperature inversion, favoring the development of the LCF. In the NWNP, the maximum LCF anomaly was also correlated with the stable boundary layer. The southerly wind blows airflow over the Kuroshio Extension from the subtropics, which brings warm and moist air. When air flows to the colder sea surface, it is cooled and condensed by the intensified heat exchange. A lead-lag composite analysis indicates that the mechanisms are different between the SENP and the NWNP, possibly due to the different types of low-level clouds over these two regions. In the SENP, the trade cumulus dominates under a strong capping inversion over the subtropics, whereas fog and stratus often occur under a shallow capping inversion in the NWNP. The effects of atmospheric circulation are also discussed.

Why Seasonal Prediction of California Winter Precipitation Is Challenging

Abstract Despite an urgent demand for reliable seasonal prediction of precipitation in California (CA) due to the recent recurrent and severe drought conditions, our predictive skill for CA winter precipitation remains limited. October hindcasts by the coupled dynamical models typically show a correlation skill of about 0.3 for CA winter (November–March) precipitation. In this study, an attempt is made to understand the underlying processes that limit seasonal prediction skill for CA winter precipitation. It is found that only about 25% of interannual variability of CA winter precipitation can be attributed to influences by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Instead, the year-to-year CA winter precipitation variability is primarily due to circulation anomalies independent from ENSO, featuring a circulation center over the west coast United States as a portion of a short Rossby wave train pattern over the North Pacific. Analyses suggest that dynamical models show nearly no skill in predicting these ENSO-independent circulation anomalies, thus leading to limited predictive skill for CA winter precipitation. Low predictability of these ENSO-independent circulation anomalies is further demonstrated by a large ensemble of atmospheric-only climate model simulations. While low predictability of the ENSO-independent circulation anomalies could be due to chaotic internal atmospheric processes over the mid- to high latitudes, possible underexploited predictability sources for CA precipitation in models are also discussed. This study pinpoints an urgent need for improved understanding of the formation mechanisms of ENSO-independent circulation anomalies over the U.S. West Coast for a breakthrough in seasonal prediction of CA winter precipitation.

Influence of Life-History Parameters on Persistent Organic Pollutant Concentrations in Blubber of Eastern North Pacific Gray Whales (Eschrichtius robustus).

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can significantly impact marine mammal health, reproduction, and fitness. This study addresses a significant 20-year gap in gray whale contaminant monitoring through analysis of POPs in 120 blubber biopsies. The scope of this substantial sample set is noteworthy in its range and diversity with collection between 2003 and 2017 along North America's west coast and across diverse sex, age, and reproductive parameters, including paired mothers and calves. Mean blubber concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (∑PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (∑DDTs), and chlordanes (∑CHLs) generally decreased since previous reports (1968-1999). This is the first report of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and select hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in this species. Statistical modeling of the 19 most frequently detected compounds in this dataset revealed sex-, age-, and reproductive status-related patterns, predominantly attributed to maternal offloading. Mean POP concentrations differed significantly by sex in adults (17 compounds, up to 3-fold higher in males) but not in immatures (all 19 compounds). Mean POP concentrations were significantly greater in adults versus immatures in both males (17 compounds, up to 12-fold) and females (13 compounds, up to 3-fold). POP concentrations were detected with compound-specific patterns in nursing calves, confirming maternal offloading for the first time in this species.

Local disconnects in global discourses—The unintended consequences of marine mammal protection on small‐scale fishers

AbstractGlobal commitments prioritize protection of wildlife and improvements to human wellbeing. Local disconnects in these commitments are rarely acknowledged—or their implications assessed—preventing the development of effective solutions. National and international efforts to protect marine mammals along South America's west coast have contributed to species recovery, but also to conflict between sea lions and small‐scale fisheries. To understand the concerns ultimately motivating this conflict, we assessed how 301 coastal small‐scale fishers perceive their interactions with South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens). We then reviewed the terrestrial human–wildlife literature to identify potential management solutions to resolve the conflict. We find that fishers are chiefly concerned with increases in sea lion populations, perceive that sea lion interactions have significantly increased over the past 80 years, and report sea lion‐driven catch and income losses of ≥26%. We propose solutions to manage conflict that are sensitive to heterogeneity among fisher groups.

Oil + Architecture

ABSTRACTDrilling of the deep-test oil well Dammam No. 7 began in Saudi Arabia in December 1936. In March 1938, at a depth of 1,440 metres it punctured the reservoir and began to produce a commercial quantity of crude oil. Geopolitical, entrepreneurial, financial, and exploratory events leading up to this momentous emanation from the desert are complex, but it was Standard Oil of California (SOCAL) that in 1933 gained a concession to explore for oil in the Kingdom. The Saudi King’s choice of SOCAL connected oil exploration and extraction directly to the west coast of America with its already well-established architectural culture of lightweight balloon framing and a burgeoning interest in the production of prefabricated, factory-made buildings, particularly houses. SOCAL and its successor company, Aramco parachuted these new-world building technologies, along with a simulacrum of Californian (sub)urbanism, into Saudi Arabian desert compounds to house expatriate oil workers. While initially viewed with deep suspicion and confined behind wire and gates, within a few decades, industrialised and prefabricated construction techniques had become the Saudi government’s standard method of delivering enormous numbers of affordable houses.

Heterosis and triploid advantage between Chinese and American populations of Kumamoto oysters ( Crassostrea sikamea )

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 熊本牡蛎中国群体与美国群体杂交效应及杂交三倍体优势分析 DOI: 作者: 作者单位: 1. 中国科学院南海海洋研究所, 中国科学院热带海洋生物资源与生态重点实验室, 广东省应用海洋生物学重点实验室, 广东 广州 510301;2. 云南农业大学动物科学技术学院, 云南 昆明 650201;3. 中国科学院大学, 北京 100049 作者简介: 武祥伟(1984-),男,博士,研究方向为贝类养殖与繁育.E-mail:wxw9559@126.com 通讯作者: 中图分类号: S968;Q343.2 基金项目: 国家贝类产业体系建设专项（CARS-49）；广东省科技厅项目（2016TQ03N905，2016A02020811，2016B020233005，2017B030314052）；广东省海洋与渔业厅项目（A201601A04）. Heterosis and triploid advantage between Chinese and American populations of Kumamoto oysters (Crassostrea sikamea) Author: Affiliation: 1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China;2. Animal Science and Technology College, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China;3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:为了评估熊本牡蛎（）中国群体与美国群体的杂交效应与杂交三倍体优势，构建了杂交群体和自交群体，并使用细胞松弛素B诱导了杂交三倍体，比较分析了幼虫、稚贝与成贝的生长与存活优势。自交群体和杂交群体的幼虫、稚贝与成贝的培养条件均相同，室内培育幼虫，培育密度为4~5个/mL，自然海区养殖稚贝与成贝，养殖密度为40~45个/吊。结果表明，与自交组相比，杂交二倍体具有较高的卵裂率（13.61%）与D幼率（5.67%）（<0.05），但杂交二倍体幼虫的壳高生长表现杂种劣势（-0.43%），而稚贝、成贝的壳长与壳高的生长表现杂种优势，平均优势率分别为3.96%与6.65%。杂交三倍体诱导组幼虫的壳高生长优势率为3.69%，稚贝及成贝的壳长与壳高平均生长优势率分别为12.69%与13.64%，并且日龄越大生长优势越显著。总体上，杂交三倍体诱导组在3~180日龄具有存活劣势，并且15日龄存活劣势率最大（-48.72%），而在360日龄存活优势率为6.70%。杂交二倍体幼虫与成贝均具有存活优势，平均优势率分别为10.44%与4.59%。本研究表明熊本牡蛎中美地理群体杂交二倍体的生长和存活优于自交二倍体，而杂交三倍体诱导组的生长优势较显著，并且在成贝期具有显著的成活率优势，表明杂交三倍体诱导组的优势来源于三倍体优势和部分杂种优势。 Abstract:The Kumamoto oyster (Amemiya, 1928) is mainly distributed in Eastern Asia, from the southern coast of China to Korea and the Ariake Sea of Japan. Compared to other oysters, is known for its flavored meat and firm texture, and it is therefore preferred in commercial markets over other commercial oyster species. It has been one of the most important commercial species in the shellfish industry on the west coast of America since the 1950s. In China, the wild population of is abundant and is considered an important wild fishery resource. In our laboratory, two strains of have been developed for artificial hatchery breeding in recent years. Hybridization breeding is one of the important methods for developing a new strain of . Moreover, triploid marine bivalves generally have growth and survival advantages over common diploids. Therefore, hybridization for marine bivalves has gained increasing interest for scientists. In the present study, the hybrid diploids and triploids from two strains of the Chinese population and American population of were induced to evaluate the hybridization effect and triploid advantage. The conditions for larvae and adult rearing were the same throughout the entire period. The larvae were reared in indoor tanks, with a density of 4-5 individuals per milliliter water. The juveniles were farmed on the sea, with 40-45 individuals per sting of attachment. The results showed that the hybrid diploids had heterosis for cleavage rate (13.61%) and D larvae rate (5.67%) compared to that of the controls, while the larvae of hybrid diploids had negative heterosis for their shell height growth (-0.43%). However, the juveniles and adults had heterosis of 3.96% and 6.65% for their shell height and shell length, respectively. On the other hand, the hybrid triploids had a growth advantage during the entire period, with high levels of advantage in the late growth stage. The larvae had a growth advantage of 3.69% on average, and the juveniles and adults had an advantage of 12.69% and 13.64% for their shell height and shell length, respectively. The hybrid triploids had negative survival rate from 3 days to 180 days, with a highest value of -48.72% at 15 days. However, a positive survival rate of 6.70% was detected at 360 days. In contrast, the hybrid diploids had a higher survival rate compared to that of the hybrid triploids, with mean survival advantages of 10.44% and 4.59% for the larvae and adults, respectively. The hybrid triploids had a significant growth advantage in the entire period and had a positive advantage of survival rate in the adults, suggesting that the advantages of hybrid triploids resulted from triploidy advantage and partial heterosis. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Precipitation Prediction Skill for the West Coast United States: From Short to Extended Range

AbstractPrecipitation variability significantly influences the heavily populated West Coast of the United States, raising the need for reliable predictions. We investigate the region’s short- to extended-range precipitation prediction skill using the hindcast database of the Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Prediction Project (S2S). The prediction skill–lead time relationship is evaluated, using both deterministic and probabilistic skill scores. Results show that the S2S models display advantageous deterministic skill at week 1. For week 2, prediction is useful for the best-performing model, with a Pearson correlation coefficient larger than 0.6. Beyond week 2, predictions generally provide little useful deterministic skill. Sources of extended-range predictability are investigated, focusing on El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). We found that periods of heavy precipitation associated with ENSO are more predictable at the extended range period. During El Niño years, Southern California tends to receive more precipitation in late winter, and most models show better extended-range prediction skill. On the contrary, during La Niña years Oregon tends to receive more precipitation in winter, with most models showing better extended-range skill. We believe the excessive precipitation and improved extended-range prediction skill are caused by the meridional shift of baroclinic systems as modulated by ENSO. Through examining precipitation anomalies conditioned on the MJO, we verified that active MJO events systematically modulate the area’s precipitation distribution. Our results show that most models do not represent the MJO or its associated teleconnections, especially at phases 3–4. However, some models exhibit enhanced extended-range prediction skills under active MJO conditions.

Echiniscoides rugostellatusa new marine tardigrade from Washington, U.S.A. (Heterotardigrada: Echiniscoidea: Echiniscoididae: Echiniscoidinae)

Abstract The first new species of tardigrade in the family Echiniscoididae from the west coast of America is presented with an integrative description. Echiniscoides rugostellatus n. sp. was found on barnacles from a piling, in the Straits of Juan Fuca, Puget Sound, Port Townsend, Washington, USA. The new species is named after its granulated dorsal cuticle and the star-shaped tip of its internal and external cirri. The new species is separated from all other Echiniscoides by its granulated cuticle with flat patches, the number of claws on the legs of the adult and the structure of the buccal cirri.

Cloud Occurrences and Cloud Radiative Effects (CREs) from CCCM and CloudSat Radar-Lidar Products.

Two kinds of radar-lidar synergy cloud products are compared and analyzed in this study; CERES-CALIPSO-CloudSat-MODIS (CCCM) product and CloudSat radar-lidar (RL) product such as GEOPROF-LIDAR and FLXHR-LIDAR. Compared to GEOPROF-LIDAR, CCCM has more low-level (< 1 km) clouds over tropical oceans because CCCM uses a more relaxed threshold of Cloud-Aerosol Discrimination (CAD) score for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) vertical feature mask (VFM) product. In contrast, GEOPROF-LIDAR has more mid-level (1-8 km) clouds than CCCM at high latitudes (> 40°). The difference occurs when hydrometeors are detected by CALIPSO lidar but are undetected by CloudSat radar, which may be related to precipitation. In the comparison of cloud radiative effects (CREs), global mean differences between CCCM and FLXHR-LIDAR are mostly smaller than 5 W m-2, while noticeable regional differences are found over three regions. First, CCCM has larger shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) CREs than FXLHR-LIDAR along the west coasts of Africa and America. This might be caused by missing small-scale marine boundary layer clouds in FLXHR-LIDAR. Second, over tropical oceans where precipitation frequently occurs, SW and LW CREs from FLXHR-LIDAR are larger than those from CCCM partly because FLXHR-LIDAR algorithm includes the contribution of rainwater to total liquid water path. Third, over midlatitude storm-track regions, CCCM shows larger SW and LW CREs than FLXHR-LIDAR, due to CCCM biases caused by larger cloud optical depth or higher cloud effective height.

Annual greenhouse gas budget for a bog ecosystem undergoing restoration by rewetting

Abstract. Many peatlands have been drained and harvested for peat mining, agriculture, and other purposes, which has turned them from carbon (C) sinks into C emitters. Rewetting of disturbed peatlands facilitates their ecological recovery and may help them revert to carbon dioxide (CO2) sinks. However, rewetting may also cause substantial emissions of the more potent greenhouse gas (GHG) methane (CH4). Our knowledge of the exchange of CO2 and CH4 following rewetting during restoration of disturbed peatlands is currently limited. This study quantifies annual fluxes of CO2 and CH4 in a disturbed and rewetted area located in the Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area in Delta, BC, Canada. Burns Bog is recognized as the largest raised bog ecosystem on North America's west coast. Burns Bog was substantially reduced in size and degraded by peat mining and agriculture. Since 2005, the bog has been declared a conservancy area, with restoration efforts focusing on rewetting disturbed ecosystems to recover Sphagnum and suppress fires. Using the eddy covariance (EC) technique, we measured year-round (16 June 2015 to 15 June 2016) turbulent fluxes of CO2 and CH4 from a tower platform in an area rewetted for the last 8 years. The study area, dominated by sedges and Sphagnum, experienced a varying water table position that ranged between 7.7 (inundation) and −26.5 cm from the surface during the study year. The annual CO2 budget of the rewetted area was −179 ± 26.2 g CO2–C m−2 yr−1 (CO2 sink) and the annual CH4 budget was 17 ± 1.0 g CH4–C m−2 yr−1 (CH4 source). Gross ecosystem productivity (GEP) exceeded ecosystem respiration (Re) during summer months (June–August), causing a net CO2 uptake. In summer, high CH4 emissions (121 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1) were measured. In winter (December–February), while roughly equal magnitudes of GEP and Re made the study area CO2 neutral, very low CH4 emissions (9 mg CH4–C m−2 day−1) were observed. The key environmental factors controlling the seasonality of these exchanges were downwelling photosynthetically active radiation and 5 cm soil temperature. It appears that the high water table caused by ditch blocking suppressed Re. With low temperatures in winter, CH4 emissions were more suppressed than Re. Annual net GHG flux from CO2 and CH4 expressed in terms of CO2 equivalents (CO2 eq.) during the study period totalled −22 ± 103.1 g CO2 eq. m−2 yr−1 (net CO2 eq. sink) and 1248 ± 147.6 g CO2 eq. m−2 yr−1 (net CO2 eq. source) by using 100- and 20-year global warming potential values, respectively. Consequently, the ecosystem was almost CO2 eq. neutral during the study period expressed on a 100-year time horizon but was a significant CO2 eq. source on a 20-year time horizon.

Vancouver’s Mapping of the West Coast of North America

George Vancouver’s epic survey of the west coast of America and Canada required 65,000 mi of travel, lasted four years, and produced maps so accurate that they remained unchallenged for 100 years.

Indirect effects and prey behavior mediate interactions between an endangered prey and recovering predator

AbstractManaging for simultaneous recovery of interacting species, particularly top predators and their prey, is a longstanding challenge in applied ecology and conservation. The effects of sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni) on abalone (Haliotis spp.) is a salient example along North America's west coast where sea otters are recovering from 18th‐ and 19th‐century fur trade while efforts are being made to recover abalone from more recent overfishing. To understand the direct and indirect effects of sea otters on northern abalone (H. kamtschatkana) and the relative influence of biotic and abiotic conditions, we surveyed subtidal rocky reef sites varying in otter occupation time in three regions of British Columbia, Canada. Sites occupied by sea otters for over 30 years had 16 times lower densities of exposed abalone than sites where otters have yet to recover (0.46 ± 0.08/20 m2 vs. 7.56 ± 0.98/20 m2), but they also had higher densities of cryptic abalone (2.17 ± 1.31/20 m2 vs. 1.31 ± 0.20/20 m2). Abalone densities were greater in deeper vs. shallower habitats at sites with sea otters compared to sites without otters. Sea otter effects on exposed abalone density were three times greater in magnitude than those of any other factor, whereas substrate and wave exposure effects on cryptic abalone were six times greater than those of sea otters. While higher substrate complexity may benefit abalone by providing refugia from sea otter predation, laboratory experiments revealed that it may also lead to higher capture efficiency by sunflower stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides), a ubiquitous mesopredator, compared to habitat with lower complexity. Sea otter recovery indirectly benefitted abalone by decreasing biomass of predatory sunflower stars and competitive grazing sea urchins, while increasing stipe density and depth of kelp that provides food and protective habitat. Importantly, abalone persisted in the face of sea otter recovery, albeit at lower densities of smaller and more cryptic individuals. We provide empirical evidence of how complex ecological interactions influence the effects of recovering predators on their recovering prey. This ecosystem‐based understanding can inform conservation trade‐offs when balancing multifaceted ecological, cultural, and socio‐economic objectives for species at risk.

Time scale of the peopling of the Americas

Paleontology Peopling of the Americas was a late event in human expansion that has been shrouded in uncertainty. Llamas et al. analyzed the mitochondrial genomes of 92 pre-Columbian skeletons from 8600 to 500 years ago to shed light on human migration into the Americas. These immigrants from Asia were briefly isolated in the Bering Land Bridge during the last major ice age that lowered sea levels to permit the crossing. Starting about 16,000 years ago, these peoples rapidly spread along the west coast of the Americas. Interestingly, a mass extinction of these peoples on the west coast of South America appears to coincide with the time of European incursions. Sci. Adv. 2 , 10.1126.sciadv.01385 (2016)

Biodiversity and Biogeography of Chthamalid Barnacles from the North-Eastern Pacific (Crustacea Cirripedia).

The biogeography and ecology of the species of Chthamalus present on the west coast of America are described, using data from 51 localities from Alaska to Panama, together with their zonation on the shore with respect to that of other barnacles. The species present were C. dalli, Pilsbry 1916, C. fissus, Darwin, 1854, C. anisopoma Pilsbry 1916 and four species in the C. panamensis complex. The latter are C. panamensis Pilsbry, 1916, C. hedgecocki, Pitombo & Burton, 2007, C. alani nom. nov. (formerly C. southwardorum Pitombo & Burton, 2007) and C. newmani sp. nov.). These four species were initially separated by enzyme electrophoresis. They could only be partially separated by DNA bar coding but may be separated using morphological characters.

Letter

 OHQ vol. 116, no. 3 LETTER To the Editor: As a longtime member of the Oregon Historical Society (OHS), I have read many scholarly accounts about how Oregon got its name. I wish to share a personal story on this subject with my fellow OHS members, before it escapes my 85-year-old memory. As a young naval officer in 1953,I was a guest at lunch withAdmiral Bobadilla,Spanish Navy, and his family in Barcelona,Spain.When I told the admiral that I was from Oregon,he became quite animated, got to his feet, and tried to tell me in Spanish that the name Oregon came from the Spanish expression for ‘natives with large ears.’ He may have actually grabbed my ear, but I’m not sure about that today. My Spanish at the time was non-existent, and the admiral had little English, but one of his daughters was conversant in English. I regret not asking the admiral how he came by this information. My guess is that the story had been passed down through his Bobadilla family. A Francisco de Bobadilla succeeded Columbus in the early 1500s as governor in Spain’s new territories in America, and I suspect that Bobadilla ancestors may have sailed with the early Spanish explorers on the West Coast of America. In checking Google translate, I find‘natives with large ears’ translates to nativos con orejas grandes. I have no language or linguistic skills to explore this further.Admiral Bobadilla may have put a Catalan“spin”on his pronunciation of the word Oregon. In an early edition of Oregon Geographic Names, Lewis A. McArthur reports discussing large ears with a Native American, and they concluded that Native Americans had the same ears as everybody else. With all due respect to both, I believe that they missed the point. I think that there were some Native tribes between northern California and Nootka Sound, who adorned their ears with heavy ornaments of bone, wood or stone, which would make for “large ears”? Perhaps some current researcher of journals and logbooks from the early Spanish explorers may find mention of a Bobadilla or natives wearing ornaments in their ears? Larry G. Valade Fredericksburg, Virginia Edwin Battistella discusses the origins of Oregon’s name — including this possible interpretation — in “Oregon, the name,” in The Oregon Encyclopedia. Readers can access this article by scanning the QR code to the left or by visiting the website: http://oregonencyclopedia. org/articles/oregon_the_name. ...

Review: No Otter Zone

Book Review| September 01 2014 Review: No Otter Zone No Otter Zone (DVD, 2012, 16 minutes; The Video Project, http://www.videoproject.com) Richard Lord, Jr. Richard Lord, Jr. 123 Blake Ave. Saco, ME 04072 e-mail: rnlord@aol.com. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2014) 76 (7): 481. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2014.76.7.12b Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Richard Lord, Jr.; Review: No Otter Zone. The American Biology Teacher 1 September 2014; 76 (7): 481. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2014.76.7.12b Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search Sea otters once ranged along the west coast of America from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to Baja California in Mexico. Because of the value of their fur, humans hunted them to near extinction, leaving behind just a few isolated populations. In the absence of sea otters, the ecology of these regions changed. Urchins, the sea otters’ natural prey, reproduced rapidly, eventually supporting a thriving urchin fishing industry. In 1982, a plan was crafted to relocate sea otters in an attempt to recover their populations. To protect the fishermen’s interests, a “no otter zone” was set up from Point Conception, California, to the Mexican border. Organizers intended to insert otters near San Nicolas Island, one of the Channel Islands. Yet some otters moved into the “no otter zone.” Soon after, urchin fishermen and environmental groups seeking to conserve otter populations began to clash. No Otter Zone features biologists, environmentalists, and... You do not currently have access to this content.

First Detection of Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi in Ticks Collected from a Raptor in Canada

During a pan‒Canadian tick‒host study, the authors detected the spirochetal bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, which causes Lyme disease, in ticks from a raptor. Lyme disease is one of a number of zoonotic, tick‒borne diseases causing morbidity and mortality worldwide. Larvae of the avian coastal tick, Ixodes auritulus, were collected by wildlife rehabilitators from a Cooper’s hawk, Accipter cooperii, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Using PCR [polymerase chain reaction] amplification of the linear plasmid ospA gene of B. burgdorferi, 4 (18%) of 22 larvae were positive. Since these engorged I. auritulus larvae had not had a previous blood meal and B. burgdorferi is rarely transmitted from infected female ticks to their progeny, authors propose that Cooper’s hawks are reservoir‒ competent hosts of B. burgdorferi. Authors’ tick‒host discovery provides the first report of bird‒feeding ticks on a Cooper’s hawk, and exhibits the premier record of B. burgdorferi‒positive ticks on a raptor. Not only are passerine (perching) and gallinaceous (chicken‒like) birds included in the wide dispersal of Lyme disease vector ticks, raptors also now are implicated in the dissemination of B. burgdorferi‒infected ticks. Although I. auritulus does not bite humans, this tick species plays an integral role in the four‒tick enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi along the West Coast of America. In essence, raptors and I. auritulus ticks may help to amplify this infectious agent in nature, and increase the likelihood of people contracting Lyme Disease, especially in coastal areas.

Book Review: Understanding Occupy from Wall Street to Portland, edited by Renee Guarriello Heath, Courtney Vail Fletcher, and Ricardo Munoz

Understanding Occupy from Wall Street to Portland. Renee Guarriello Heath, Courtney Vail Fletcher, and Ricardo Munoz, eds. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2013. 264 pp. $90 hbk. $89.99 ebook.Late in 2011, the Occupy movement shook the U.S. political landscape with a force not achieved by any protest movement since the 1960s. Drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring and national protest movements opposed to post-recession austerity mea- sures, Occupy Wall Street was initiated by a call from Canadian culture-jammers Adbusters for a peaceful occupation of Wall Street. The subsequent occupation of Lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park brought a sustained, popular mass protest against neoliberal globalization to world capitalism's financial center.The popular convergence soon thereafter became a global protest movement as Occupy-inspired demonstrations sprouted in hundreds of locations in over eighty countries. Among them was Occupy Portland, on America's west coast, the site of research for Renee Guarriello Heath, Courtney Vail Fletcher, and Ricardo Munoz's edited collection Understanding Occupy from Wall Street to Portland. Heath is an associate professor of communication studies and Fletcher is an assistant professor of communication studies-both at the University of Portland-and Munoz is a PhD student in communication at the University of Colorado, Boulder.Organized into three sections, the collection situates Occupy in a global context, interrogates the operation of the movement at the micro level in Portland, and examines local media representations of the protest. The topics addressed by the first of these sections, titled Situating Occupy Globally: The Cultural and Economic Context, pro- vide readers with a wide frame through which to understand Occupy Portland's conver- gence. However, the chapters in this section restate histories and themes that are likely to be familiar to many readers already. It is in the two subsequent sections, where Occupy Portland itself is examined, that the collection is most compelling.Over the four chapters of the second section, the various contributors deliver a nicely targeted exploration of the internal operation of Occupy Portland. Munoz's and Heath's contributions are particularly compelling: Munoz describes the Occupy movement's determination to work in a genuinely participatory way, with decision- making occurring horizontally among the people involved, rather than vertically as it would if it were left to a conventional leadership group. But the creation and mainte- nance of Occupy's horizontal organizational structure was massively challenging: not only did those present have to develop new communication frameworks to sup- port this way of working, but they also had to do it in an environment charged with emotions, and with the constant threat of intervention by police. The nuanced ethnog- raphy Munoz delivers on these matters is the outcome of participant-observation; he researched the movement while fully taking part in Occupy Portland.Addressing similar themes, Heath's research explores some of the pitfalls inherent to participatory organizing of the kind in operation: groups that appear to have no hierarchy may actually be masking an unequal distribution of power within them, whereas decision-making through mass assemblies can be chaotic and ineffective, making ever-present the danger that mob rule and not meaningful strategic thinking will take over. …

An ensemble estimation of impact times and strength of Fukushima nuclear pollution to the east coast of China and the west coast of America

Based on the statistics of all surface drifting buoys of 1978–2011 and Lagrangian tracers simulated from high quality ocean reanalysis currents, the impact times and strength of Fukushima nuclear pollution to the east coast of China and the west coast of America have been estimated. Under the circumstances of the radioactive pollutants drifting in the ocean surface, preliminary research results show that while the tracers took about 4 years to reach the west coast of USA, there are two types of tracers to carry out Fukushima nuclear pollutants to reach the east coast of China, corresponding to 1.5-year recirculation gyre transport and 3.5-year subtropical circulation transport. The distributions of the impact strength at these time scales are given according to the variation of relative number concentration with time combined with the decaying rate of radioactive matter. For example, starting from 1% at 1.5-year, of the initial level at the originating area of Fukushima nuclear pollution, the impact strength of Cesium-137 in the South China Sea continuously increases up to 3% by 4 years, while the impact strength of Cesium-137 in the west coast of America is as high as 4% due to the role of strong Kuroshio-extension currents as a major transport mechanism of nuclear pollutants for that area.

Space, Gender, Race: Josephine Miles and the Poetics of the California Suburbs

This essay takes as its focus the rich—if hither overlooked—seam of poetry emerging from and reflecting on the suburbs of the West Coast of America across their mid-twentieth century decades of settlement and maturity. It examines in particular the work of Josephine Miles (1911-1985) and reads her poetry in relation to the historical and discursive contexts in which suburbia emerged and flourished and as a corpus which in its own detail and complexity has much to tell us about the specificities of Californian suburban experience. It argues that Miles's poetry traces the changing discourses of suburban landscape, architecture, community, and subjectivity in this period. And by comparing examples of her poetry with work by Langston Hughes, it suggests that Miles engages in compelling, if sometimes disturbing, ways with the processes of spatial, gender, and racial exclusion on which the suburbs were founded.