Blue Heron Research Articles

Brominated flame retardant trends in aquatic birds from the Salish Sea region of the west coast of North America, including a mini-review of recent trends in marine and estuarine birds

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) increased in many matrices during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since voluntary restrictions and regulations on PBDEs were implemented in North America circa early 2000s, decreases in PBDEs have occurred in many of these same matrices. To examine temporal trends in the North Pacific, we retrospectively analysed PBDEs and eight non-PBDE flame retardants (FR) in eggs of two aquatic bird species, great blue herons, Ardea herodias, and double-crested cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus, collected along the British Columbia coast, Canada from 1979 to 2012. Increasing PBDE concentrations were observed in both species followed by significant decreases post-2000 for all dominant congeners and ΣPBDE. Non-PBDE FRs were generally undetected in cormorant eggs, or detected at very low levels in heron eggs, except for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD). HBCDD, currently unregulated in North America, was not detected in early sampling years; however low concentrations were observed in both species in recent sampling years (2003–2012). Dietary tracers (δ13C and δ15N) did not change significantly over time, indicating that temporal changes in PBDEs are likely caused by implemented regulations. A comparison with recently published temporal trends of ΣPBDE in marine birds from North America and Europe is given.

Field investigations of winter transmission of eastern equine encephalitis virus in Florida.

Studies investigating winter transmission of Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) were conducted in Hillsborough County, Florida. The virus was detected in Culiseta melanura and Anopheles quadrimaculatus in February 2012 and 2013, respectively. During the winter months, herons were the most important avian hosts for all mosquito species encountered. In collections carried out in the summer of 2011, blood meals taken from herons were still common, but less frequently encountered than in winter, with an increased frequency of mammalian- and reptile-derived meals observed in the summer. Four wading bird species (Black-crowned Night Heron [Nycticorax nycticorax], Yellow-crowned Night Heron [Nyctanassa violacea], Anhinga [Anhinga anhinga], and Great Blue Heron [Ardea herodias]) were most frequently fed upon by Cs. melanura and Culex erraticus, suggesting that these species may participate in maintaining EEEV during the winter in Florida.

Decline in breeding of the Great Black-backed Gull, <em>Larus marinus</em>, and the Herring Gull, <em>L. argentatus</em>, on Boot Island, Nova Scotia, 1986 to 2010

For over 50 years, Boot Island, Nova Scotia, has supported a significant mixed bird colony: Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), Herring Gull (L. argentatus), Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias), and Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus). In 2002, the largest Great Black-backed Gull colony in Canada was located there. Over the last quarter century, the Herring Gull colony has shown a dramatic and near-linear decrease from 727 nests in 1986 to 67 in 2000; in 2010, only two nests remained. The number of Great Black-backed Gull nests has also declined by 44%, from 1467 nests in 1992 to 819 in 2010. These reductions may be partly attributed to factors external to the colony, such as changes in regional fisheries and better landfill management. However, a more immediate problem may be nest predation and disturbance by American Mink (Neovison vison), Raccoon (Procyon lotor), Coyote (Canis latrans), and Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).

Rainfall Effects on Heron and Egret Nest Abundance in the San Francisco Bay Area

Twelve models addressing the current and delayed effects of seasonal rainfall and rainfall volatility (a measure of storm intensity) were used to evaluate changes in nest abundances of herons and egrets in the San Francisco Bay area, from 1991 to 2010. Wetter- or drier-than-average conditions, two winters before nesting, were associated with reduced growth rates of Great Egret (Ardea alba) nest abundance. Similarly, growth rates of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) nest abundance were maximized near average levels of rainfall volatility two winters prior nesting. Annual growth rates of Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) and Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) abundances declined with heavier-than-usual winter rainfall volatility immediately prior to nesting and with increases in spring rainfall volatility 2 years prior to nesting. The dynamics of heron and egret nest abundances were not associated with annual production of fledglings within the region, The results suggest the possibility of regional declines in the growth or resilience of heron and egret abundances with increasingly rainy or stormy seasonal conditions in northwestern California.

Poor Doreen: A Fishy Tale by Sally Lloyd-Jones (review)

Reviewed by: Poor Doreen: A Fishy Tale by Sally Lloyd-Jones Jeannette Hulick Lloyd-Jones, Sally. Poor Doreen: A Fishy Tale; illus. by Alexandra Boiger. Schwartz & Wade, 2014. [36p]. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96918-8 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86918-1 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-98786-1 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R 6-8 yrs. Miss Doreen Randolph-Potts, an “Ample Roundy Fish,” is on her way to visit her cousin when she is caught by a fisherman. One would think Doreen would be terrified, but she is buoyantly clueless about the dangers that face her: she thinks the dragonfly lure is real and that she is “a remarkable swimmer” as the fisherman speedily reels her in. When he gives the final yank that sends her flying toward him through the air, she cries “Yippee! I’m going on an outing!” to which the unseen narrator responds, “Oh dear, Doreen. No. You’re not.” A blithe disregard for reality carries the unflappable Doreen through her experiences of being unhooked and put in a pail of water, being stolen from said bucket by a great blue heron, and, finally, being dropped from a great height back into the water by the bird. It all makes for an exciting and cheerful story that Doreen then relays to her cousin. The cautionary narrative asides, sonorous language (“Through the glittering water she spies a dragonfly, darting, dancing deliciously above her”), and Doreen’s complete (but enthusiastic) misunderstanding of her situation make this a boatload of fun to read aloud. Boiger’s watercolor, gouache, pencil, and colored pencil illustrations are pleasantly watery, but some of the paler tones and contrasts might not translate well to larger crowds. Still, one can’t help but like the oblivious and rotund Doreen in her jaunty red headscarf and inexplicably toting a red umbrella, and her tale will likely make a splash, either as the silly story it is or as a lesson in perspective. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Intracellular Yeasts in Endothelial Cells of a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Intracellular organisms in the endothelial cells of several organs of an adult great blue heron (Ardea herodias) were identified as a yeast in the family Saccharomycetales based on ultrastructural morphology and sequence data from the ribosomal RNA operon. Morphologically similar organisms of unknown identity have been described previously in Muscovy (Cairina moschata) and domestic (Anas platyrhynchos domestica) ducks.

The fate of dead fish tagged with biotelemetry transmitters in an urban stream

Mortality is a key factor in understanding the population dynamics of fish. For studies using biotelemetry, missing individuals pose a challenge since the ultimate fate of both the animal and the tag are unknown. In this study, we document three releases of carcasses in a simulated small-scale summer fish kill in a small urban stream using juvenile white sucker (Catostomus commersonii). Passive integrated transponder (PIT) and radio tags were affixed to carcasses that were tracked to determine the fate of both the dead fish and the tags. Mean daily dispersal distances ranged from 0.0 to 7.6 m day−1 and included downstream and lateral dispersal. Of the 44 radio-tagged carcasses, 26 tags (and presumably carcasses) were consumed by scavengers; the majority were consumed by snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) with fewer carcasses scavenged by great blue heron (Ardea herodias), raccoon (Procyon lotor) and muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus). We also contrasted the decomposition rates of in-stream carcasses with those experimentally placed on the riverbank and found that while there was no significant difference in the time to carcass evisceration, the rate of decomposition was more rapid in-stream compared to on-shore. Radio tag loss during the decomposition study was moderate (one of three lost); PIT tag loss occurred when carcasses became eviscerated, typically by invertebrates. By examining the role of scavengers, dispersal and decomposition, it is possible to understand the fate of dead fish, the fate of tags and role of mortality in tagging experiments and the connections between stream and riparian habitats and organisms. This information will help inform the interpretation of potential mortalities in fish tracking studies and improve fish kill investigations.

Recent switch by the Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias fannini in the Pacific northwest to associative nesting with Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) to gain predator protection

The Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias fannini Chapman, 1901 in the Pacific northwest appears to have modified nesting behaviour in response to the strong recent recovery of the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus (L., 1766)) population. Previously undescribed, herons now often nest in close association with some breeding eagles, even though eagles depredate heron nestlings, are implicated in the recent reproductive decline of herons, and may induce abandonment of heron breeding colonies. We tested the hypothesis that breeding herons gain protection from the territorial behaviour of eagles. Natural observations and simulated incursions showed that nesting eagles actively repel other eagles within at least 250 m around the nest site, thereby establishing a relatively safe place for herons to nest. Surveys showed that 70% of heron nests and 19% of heron colonies were located within 200 m of eagle nests with high reproductive success. These herons had greater reproductive success than those nesting far from eagle nests.

BREVETOXICOSIS IN SEABIRDS NATURALLY EXPOSED TO KARENIA BREVIS BLOOMS ALONG THE CENTRAL WEST COAST OF FLORIDA

Harmful algal bloom events caused by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis occurred along the central west Florida, USA, coast from February 2005 through December 2005 and from August 2006 through December 2006. During these events, from 4 February 2005 through 28 November 2006, live, debilitated seabirds admitted for rehabilitation showed clinical signs that included disorientation, inability to stand, ataxia, and seizures. Testing of blood, biologic fluids, and tissues for brevetoxin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay found toxin present in 69% (n=95) of rehabilitating seabirds. Twelve of the 19 species of birds had evidence of brevetoxin exposure. Commonly affected species included Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis), Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), and Common Loons (Gavia immer). Serial blood and fecal samples taken from several live seabirds during rehabilitation showed that brevetoxin was cleared within 5-10 days after being admitted to the rehabilitation facility, depending on the species tested. Among seabirds that died or were euthanized, the highest brevetoxin concentrations were found in bile, stomach contents, and liver. Most dead birds had no significant pathologic findings at necropsy, thereby supporting brevetoxin-related mortality.

PERFLUORINATED COMPOUND CONCENTRATIONS IN GREAT BLUE HERON EGGS NEAR ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, USA, IN 1993 AND 2010–2011

A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) colony on Pig's Eye Island on the Mississippi River near St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, is located near several potential perfluorinated compound (PFC) sources. The PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs reported from a 1993 collection from the Pig's Eye colony were among the highest measured in bird eggs worldwide. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs at the Pig's Eye colony have changed since 1993. Total PFC concentrations in great blue heron eggs collected at the Pig's Eye colony in 2010 and 2011 (geometric mean=340 and 492 ng/g wet wt) were 60% lower than the 1993 collection (1,015 ng/g wet wt). Among PFCs, perfluoroalkyl sulfonate concentrations were lower and perfluoroalkyl carboxylate concentrations were higher in the 2010 and 2011 collections. Two of 20 (10%) of the eggs analyzed from Pig's Eye in 2010 and 2011 were >1,000 ng PFCs/g wet weight and the maximum PFC value (2,506 ng PFCs/g wet wt) measured in 2010 and 2011 was among the highest PFC concentration reported in bird eggs. These high concentrations are at levels associated with physiological and neurological effects in birds.

Diversidade e abundância sazonal da avifauna em duas planícies de maré no estuário da baía da Babitonga, norte de Santa Catarina

Informações sobre a ocorrência de aves nos ambientes estuarinos de Santa Catarina ainda são escassas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi registrar a diversidade, abundância e variação sazonal das aves em duas planícies de maré na baía da Babitonga. As amostragens foram realizadas durante um ano (maio de 2006 a abril 2007). No total foram identificadas 25 espécies, sendo 15 no Linguado (LG) e 24 na desembocadura do Monte de Trigo (MT). Apenas uma espécie foi exclusiva no LG Himantopus melanurus (Vieillot, 1817), enquanto dez espécies ocorreram apenas no MT. O número de espécies em MT foi superior ao encontrado em LG. A espécie mais abundante em MT foi Rynchops niger (Linnaeus, 1758) e em LG foi Egretta caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758). Durante alguns meses foram registradas espécies migratórias neárticas em ambas as áreas, o que representou um acréscimo na diversidade. A extensa planície de maré formada pelo fechamento do canal do Linguado tem sido muito ocupada por aves, possivelmente pela maior disponibilidade de alimento.

Six Poems with One Title

Six Poems with One Title Robert Bringhurst (bio) Language Poem (1) The heron has practised his silence longer than time has been time. When he rises and speaks, there is no one in the cove who doesn’t listen, there is no one in the cove who couldn’t translate what he says, and no one in the cove who wouldn’t realize the heron had been lost in that translation. Everything speaks for itself in this world, and everything rests in what is unspoken. Hairy woodpecker too, mystified, miffed, or exasperated or pleased, utters his one word and jumps or hunkers down and squeezes hard: hanging on for dear life to what is, or swimming right through it as if it were there. And it is. And it is. How many more words would it take to make up a language? Does language actually have to have words? What it must have are meanings—and some way of saying, These and not those are the meanings that stand here uncovered—or covered. The meanings a language must have are the meanings it lacks: located outside it, like sunlight and grass. So together with meaning there has to be pointing at meaning. A language, in other words, has to have gestures and speakers. One each, let us say, for a start. With a little bit more— one speaker, two gestures; one gesture, two speakers—along with the requisite [End Page 173] bedrock and fauna and flora of meanings— it might make the first blunt lurch toward a life of its own. The sounds of our speech are nothing but gestures that reach around corners and work in the dark, the sounds of our footsteps nothing but gestures out hunting for meaning. There are, as you know, languages spoken by millions of humans in which there are syllables, gestures, with dozens or hundreds of meanings. Imagine a language with only one word and five hundred meanings. Imagine one finger and five hundred moons. You are not so far now from the woodpecker’s language, and not so far now as you were from the shuddering throat of the great blue heron or the sandhill crane. If you tried, you might cling for a moment or two to those hollow-boned fingers of air in which five million years’ worth of watching and thinking are caught like a fossilized fish in one braided, eroded, unanalyzed word. The invisible dictionary that sits on a rickety, tilted shelf of air there in the great blue heron’s study, open to the weather, perpetually shredded and reprinted by the wind, has only one entry, a thousand pages long. What does it mean, this evergreen book full of one-fingered meanings? That words are like wind in the leaves and leaves in the wind: scraps of reality. And that we harness them nevertheless, as the fishermen, far up the river harness their cormorants, horsemen their horses, and as the go players harness their stones. That gestures are gestures only because we employ them as gestures—and gestures, like other things, are what they are. They are not what they point at and not what we thought we would get them to say, in the same way that horses are not what they pull. [End Page 174] That the journey will tell you, whenever it’s ready, where you were heading. That meaning was here before you were, or they were, and will be long after. That gestures, like horses, are part of it, yes, but gestures can never—no matter how beautiful they may be—create what they say. What gestures give life to, and birth to, are gestures, and that is their value—the same as with cormorants, humans, and horses. And this: that what speaks from its heart is in that moment spoken—a form of the language, a part of the speech—swinging down and back up and back down on the dangling tongue in its mouth like a bell—sometimes moving toward singing, and sometimes toward walking and sometimes toward freezing and holding its breath in the presence of meaning. Language Poem (2) The gesture is open, the symbol is closed. But...

Brief Summary of Jetty Island History

More than 50,000 people annually come to a two-mile long, man-made island in Everett, Washington to relax on sandy beaches, wade in warm and shallow water, join guided nature hikes, watch wildlife, kayak around the perimeter and kite board with steady afternoon winds. Jetty Island is recognized today as one of Snohomish County’s top recreational and wildlife resources but if the founders of Everett had achieved their goals then the riprap jetty would have more closely resembled Seattle’s Harbor Island. Today’s Jetty Island is not only a top tourist destination but also a wildlife conservation area. Its sandy beaches, mud flat and salt water marshes provide important habitat not as readily available elsewhere in Snohomish River delta. It supports an abundance of wildlife, including bald eagles, Chinook salmon, osprey, bull trout, and blue heron. In fact, observers have identified 115 species of birds in the vicinity of the island. Everett’s treasured island may not have realized the potential envisioned by city founders but it stands in sharp contrast to Seattle’s Harbor Island, an industrialized and toxic Superfund site.

Redescription of Chabaudacuaria multispinosa (Pérez Vigueras, 1938) n. g., n. comb. (Nematoda: Spirurida: Acuariidae) based on specimens from Ardea herodias L. and Nyctanassa violacea (L.) (Ardeidae) in Florida

Chabaudacuaria n. g. is erected, as monotypic, for C. multispinosa (Pérez Vigueras, 1938) n. comb. (Spirurida: Acuariidae) [syns Cheilospirura multispinosa Pérez Vigueras, 1938; Acuaria multispinosa (Pérez Vigueras, 1938) Yamaguti, 1961]. This species, a parasite of various ardeid birds, is redescribed by means of light and scanning electron microscopy based on material from great blue herons Ardea herodias L. and yellow-crowned night herons Nyctanassa violacea (L.) in Florida, USA. Chabaudacuaria n. g. resembles Acuaria Bremser, 1811, Cheilospirura Diesing, 1861, Skrjabinocerca Schikhobalova, 1930 and Xenocordon Mawson, 1982 in its straight cordons which do not anastomose. However, it can be distinguished from them by the didelphic-prodelphic uterus and the absence of caudal alae in the males. In the pattern of its cordons (consisting of a row of plates and a longitudinal ridge) and the absence of an area rugosa, the new genus is similar to Chevreuxia Seurat, 1918, Syncuaria Gil'bert, 1927, Aviculariella Wehr, 1931, Skrjabinocara Kurashvili, 1940, Decorataria Sobolev, 1949 and Desportesius Chabaud & Campana, 1949, which are characterised by anastomosing cordons. The didelphic-prodelphic female reproductive system of Chabaudacuaria is intermediate between the didelphic-amphidelphic uterus of Chevreuxia and the monodelphic-prodelphic uterus of Syncuaria, Aviculariella, Skrjabinocara, Desportesius and Decorataria. Therefore, the straight and non-anastomosing cordons are considered to be autapomorphic for Chabaudacuaria.

Quality of Flooded Rice and Fallow Fields as Foraging Habitat for Little Blue Herons and Great Egrets in the Everglades Agricultural Area, USA

Wading birds have been observed foraging in agricultural wetlands worldwide where natural wetlands have become lost, degraded, or seasonally dry, yet the ability of wading birds to satisfy daily energy requirements in agricultural wetlands has been little studied. The ability to meet daily energy requirements for Little Blue Herons (Egretta caerulea) and Great Egrets (Ardea alba) foraging in flooded rice and fallow fields of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) was evaluated during April-June 2008 and 2009. Focal samples were used to measure capture rates (captures/min), identify prey and estimate captured prey size, and calculate energy budgets for both species. Within flooded fields prey density was measured and foraging sites and random locations were compared. Habitat variables did not differ between foraging sites and random locations. Vegetation cover and prey abundance increased in rice fields over time and were greater in rice than fallow fields. Small prey, dominated by fish, were captured by both species and corresponded to prey sampled. Most wading birds in June were observed in newly flooded fallow fields despite lower prey densities. Little Blue Herons met daily energy requirements for both years; but Great Egrets did not, likely due to predominantly small prey, increasing vegetative cover in rice fields, and lower prey densities in newly flooded fallow fields. Although Great Egrets did not meet daily caloric requirements, the EAA may still function as an important transitional habitat at a time when foraging resources in the region are limited.

Identification of Amino Acids Important for Substrate Specificity in Sucrose Transporters Using Gene Shuffling

Plant sucrose transporters (SUTs) are H(+)-coupled uptake transporters. Type I and II (SUTs) are phylogenetically related but have different substrate specificities. Type I SUTs transport sucrose, maltose, and a wide range of natural and synthetic α- and β-glucosides. Type II SUTs are more selective for sucrose and maltose. Here, we investigated the structural basis for this difference in substrate specificity. We used a novel gene shuffling method called synthetic template shuffling to introduce 62 differentially conserved amino acid residues from type I SUTs into OsSUT1, a type II SUT from rice. The OsSUT1 variants were tested for their ability to transport the fluorescent coumarin β-glucoside esculin when expressed in yeast. Fluorescent yeast cells were selected using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). Substitution of five amino acids present in type I SUTs in OsSUT1 was found to be sufficient to confer esculin uptake activity. The changes clustered in two areas of the OsSUT1 protein: in the first loop and the top of TMS2 (T80L and A86K) and in TMS5 (S220A, S221A, and T224Y). The substrate specificity of this OsSUT1 variant was almost identical to that of type I SUTs. Corresponding changes in the sugarcane type II transporter ShSUT1 also changed substrate specificity, indicating that these residues contribute to substrate specificity in type II SUTs in general.

Adapting foraging to habitat heterogeneity and climate change: an individual-based model for wading birds

In an effort to assess the role of adaptive foraging behaviour to the spatial and temporal heterogeneity as a factor determining the success of the colony, we used single-colony individual-based spatial models for a visual foraging, the Great Blue Heron and a tactile foraging bird, the Wood Stork. The model followed simultaneously daily activities of individuals, their spatial movements, foraging efficiency, bioenergetics and growth of the nestlings during a nesting season. For each colony we used two scenarios; in the first, that depicted a normal nesting season, the extent and distribution of feeding sites led to successful reproduction for both species. In the second, we simulated increased precipitation regimes resulting in reversals in water depth (i.e. increases in depth during the dry season when water levels are normally falling). The results reveal that Wood Storks were significantly more adversely affected than Great Blue Herons by the prey dilution caused by the reversals in water depth. In the latter scenario where resources became scarce, resource predictability decreased. The foraging birds that foraged in groups exhibited low foraging success, resulting in poor reproductive performance. This result was more pronounced in the case of storks that foraged in groups than for herons foraging in groups. Concluding, increased variance in precipitation regimes is more likely to affect tactile rather than visual foraging bird species. Further, in harsh climatic conditions (increased precipitation and water level regimes) solitary foraging was more beneficial for wading birds than group foraging.

Abundance, breeding and food of the Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea (Aves, Ardeidae) in the Patos Lagoon estuary, a recently colonized area in southern Brazil

We document the expansion of the breeding distribution of the Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758) to 850 km beyond its previous southern limit in South America. In addition we present data on abundance, breeding biology and food of the species in the Patos Lagoon estuary, the area which the species recently colonized. The maximum abundance recorded in the breeding colony and in a nocturnal roosting site was 53 and 49 individuals respectively. Nesting occurred from September to March. Birds nested in a mixed breeding colony together with about 3,000 breeding pairs of seven other species of Pelecaniformes, in a swampy forest near the margin of the estuary. Five nests were between 1.5 and 4.3 m from the ground, on the shrub Daphnopsis racemosa (Thymelaeaceae), on the trees Sebastiana brasiliensis (Euphorbiaceae) and Mimosa bimucronata (Leguminosae), or on the bamboo Bambusa sp. (Poaceae). Four nests produced two fledglings each, while one nest was abandoned. Of 13 grouped samples of food regurgitated by five nestlings, Pink Shrimp Farfantepenaeus paulensis (Perez-Farfante, 1967) constituted 70% in mass, while total length of ingested fishes and shrimps varied mostly between 20 and 50 mm. Estuarine prey items represented 99% of the total food mass. The recent southward expansion of the breeding range of the Little Blue Heron in South America may be a response to climate warming of the Patos Lagoon estuary. Degradation of estuaries in the southwestern Atlantic may also be forcing the birds to breed in areas outside previous geographical range.

Leftovers, 1993

Leftovers, 1993 Dave Zoby (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Photo by Gene Royer Interstate 64 from Richmond, Virginia, to Newport News tunnels through thick and silent stands of pitch pines. Occasionally there are breaks in the trees, and the traveler glimpses a farmhouse, peanut fields or a swampy depression in the landscape where cypress knees swim in brackish lagoons. But mostly it's just pine trees and pine trees. They crowd the interstate and block the view on both sides of the highway. At night—when I do most of my driving—the moonlight pools on the pavement. Stars appear in the narrow cut of sky above. [End Page 179] Back in those days I departed Richmond when the bars closed. Driving my father's white station wagon, I ascended the on-ramp at Boulevard. I mashed the accelerator and watched the city rise behind me as I fled it. In the wee hours of the night, I raced past Mechanicsville, then Cold Harbor, then Norge, out into the dark, unpeopled stretches of Virginia. The yard lights of farmhouses floated out there, just barely connected to the earth. Is it worth pointing out that I believed the people in these farmhouses were happier than the people I knew in real life? I was in graduate school, studying poetry under the late Larry Levis. He was late even then: late to class, late to meetings. But I was late too, so we got along. I had a part-time job in a bar in the Fan neighborhood. The Fan was a neighborhood of streets that spun from a center point like spokes on a wheel. In the 1990s it was famous for recent gentrification and its handful of transvestites who hung on despite the hike in rents. The bar was close enough to the university that professors wandered in shyly to sip beer and conduct their illicit love affairs with students half their ages. I was studying literature, and here I will resist the temptation to list titles and names of authors. Often I went out to the tiny bars along Clive Street or holed up in the Village Café until closing. I would go to the Church Hill neighborhood and sit upon the frowsy furniture of drinking parlors. My friends would choose petty arguments with each other about poetry and art. Some of them would claim relations to long-gone Virginian families of wealth and stature. But our real aim was to spot the ghostly figure of Levis moving along the unlit streets. Most of the time we were unsuccessful; last call would come and go. And I realized, at these moments, that I had wrung all of the pleasure out of the day. There was nothing left. So I drove east, seventy-five miles to Newport News. As I tunneled east through pine forests, I kept the windows cracked. There was the cool air keeping me alert, the radio coming and going. I had an estranged girlfriend in Newport News, and I bore the vision of her before me as I drove. The scent of rotting leaves faded, replaced by the scent of salt marshes. I was getting somewhere. Williamsburg, then Yorktown; I was closing in. The blue heron was standing out there somewhere in the purple darkness of the salt marsh, standing alone, as always. I believe now that it was my mother who kept my father from changing the locks. She was proud that her son was studying poetry, though had she known the true nature of my pursuits, she would have been unenthusiastic. My father was becoming increasingly suspicious, and he was tired of the [End Page 180] predawn arrivals. All my brothers and sisters had gone off to begin their lives. They were married and lived in their own houses. They had careers. My parents' house was largely empty, and it sounded hollow when I opened and shut the doors of empty rooms. One fall morning, I woke up in Tidewater with a terrible hangover. My mother offered me coffee, juice, an English muffin. I was irritated and gruff. Her generosity made me feel foul. My father was at the library. I...

Identification of Grass-specific Enzyme That Acylates Monolignols with p-Coumarate

Lignin is a major component of plant cell walls that is essential to their function. However, the strong bonds that bind the various subunits of lignin, and its cross-linking with other plant cell wall polymers, make it one of the most important factors in the recalcitrance of plant cell walls against polysaccharide utilization. Plants make lignin from a variety of monolignols including p-coumaryl, coniferyl, and sinapyl alcohols to produce the three primary lignin units: p-hydroxyphenyl, guaiacyl, and syringyl, respectively, when incorporated into the lignin polymer. In grasses, these monolignols can be enzymatically preacylated by p-coumarates prior to their incorporation into lignin, and these monolignol conjugates can also be "monomer" precursors of lignin. Although monolignol p-coumarate-derived units may comprise up to 40% of the lignin in some grass tissues, the p-coumarate moiety from such conjugates does not enter into the radical coupling (polymerization) reactions of lignification. With a greater understanding of monolignol p-coumarate conjugates, grass lignins could be engineered to contain fewer pendent p-coumarate groups and more monolignol conjugates that improve lignin cleavage. We have cloned and expressed an enzyme from rice that has p-coumarate monolignol transferase activity and determined its kinetic parameters.