Days Of Fieldwork Research Articles

Observations of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in new Caledonian waters during 1991–1993

Recent sightings confirm that humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae migrate to New Caledonia. Totals of 37 and 73 incidental sightings were made during the winter and spring of 1991 and 1992 respectively. Sightings were distributed widely all around New Caledonia, but concentrated in the south, mainly around Noumea, Ile des Pins and the Southeast Lagoon, areas with the highest human visitation. Very young calves were photographed in some sightings. Encouraged by the number of sightings, in August 1993 we commenced a programme of photo-identification and behavioural observation in the Southeast Lagoon. In five days of field work, 12 humpback whales were individually identified. One of these was a resight of an animal previously photographed off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in 1991. This supports the hypothesis that humpback whales migrating to New Caledonia are from Antarctic Area V stock. ‘Surface active’ group behaviour, typical of male competition for females in breeding areas, was also noted, and humpback whale song was detected on every day on which it was monitored for in the study area. Several juvenile animals were also observed. We interpret these observations as strong evidence that humpback whales mate and calve in New Caledonian waters.

Structure et organisation du peuplement d ’Anoures de Cocha Cashu, Parc National Manu, Amazonie péruvienne

The structure, relative abundance and density of the anuran community of Cocha Cashu, in the amazonian rainforest of Peru (350 m, 11° 55' S, 71° 18' W, Manu National Park) was studied during 395 days of field work, from September 1985 to November 1989. The study compared the two major types of upper amazonian habitats, floodplain forest and upland forest. The entire assemblage is composed of 81 species (Table I). There are more diurnal species in the upland forest than in the floodplain forest. Although each type of habitat has twenty terrestrial species and twelve food specialists, mainly ant eaters, these guilds account for significantly different proportions on each of the assemblages (Tables II and III). Sixty six species (out of 71) were observed in 250 days of transect sampling in the floodplain, whereas 49 species were counted in only 55 days on the uplands (Fig. 9) ; ten of these species do not occur in the floodplain and 39 are common to both habitats. Although relative abundance curves of both habitats are similar (Fig. 1 0), relative abundances of the 39 shared species differ significantly for each type of habitat (Fig. 1 1). Most of the Anuran species are small. Mean males’ Snout-Vent-Length ranges from 13.5 mm in Eleutherodactylus cf. carvalhoi to 136 mm in Leptodac-tylus pentadactylus, and at least 80 % weigh less than 10 g (Table V). None of the species accounts for more than 1 5 % of the relative abundances in floodplain or in the upland, suggesting a rather equitable distribution of abundance. No significant differences between the two types of habitats were found in terms of numbers of species, grouped by mode of reproduction (Table V). However, when relative abundance of individuals grouped by mode of reproduction were compared, all but the species laying their eggs in vegetation overhanging water and those building terrestrial foam nests without free tadpoles, showed significant differences (Table VI). The Cocha Cashu floodplain data are compared to those from Santa Cecilia (Ecuador, 350 m, 0° 03' N 77°11'W), the richest site in Anuran species (87 species) until now. There are no differences in the number of species by mode of reproduction, but, except for the Dendrobatidae, all relative abundances of individuals by mode of reproduction differ significantly between the two sites (Tab. VII). Densities were estimated by two methods : 219 censuses of male calling activity of ten forest breeding species (Table VIII), and 80 forest litter plots. Densities estimated by these two methods did not coincide. Plots revealed an uneven distribution of frogs in the forest and densities similar to other amazonian sites, but lower than those estimated for Central America (Table XI). Although most species were observed on transects, pit-fall traps were effective on catching active nocturnal terrestrial species not easily observed by other methods (Table XII). None of the methods used here to estimate diversity or density are efficient enough to sample adequately the entire community. The possible causes of the anuran species richness at Cocha Cashu are briefly discussed. The number of species at Cocha Cashu and Santa Cecilia being very similar (respectively 81 and 87 species) despite the striking differences in rainfall regime between the two sites, high atmospheric humidity cannot be considered as the only determinant of the high species diversity of anurans in tropical rainforests. The importance of historical factors, and more particularly of the effect of river dynamics on the heterogeneity of the Upper Amazonian environment, is emphasized.

Autumnal Densities of Small Mammals in Douglas County, Kansas

Autumnal Densities of Small Mammals in Douglas County, Kansas

Carboniferous to Tertiary development of the Wandel Sea Basin, eastern North Greenland

This paper presents a report on the first systematic mapping in the northem half of the Wandel Sea Basin carried out in 1978. Due to unfavourable weather conditions along the north-east coast of Peary Land, only 20 days of actual fieldwork were achieved. The Wandel Sea Basin comprises a series of Carboniferous to Paleocene rocks in eastern North Greenland (Dawes & Soper, 1973). Previous visits to the northem part of the basin have been very brief (Koch, 1929a; Troelsen, 1950, 1956; Håkansson & Heinberg, 1977) and only in the southern part is the basin known in any detail (Dawes, 1976).

The role of a halfway house in social work education.

#{149}A social work student who lives in and works as a parttime manager of a psychiatric halfway house has an integrated work and education experience that facilitates the development of social work skills. For the past eight years students at Boston University School of Social Work have participated in such a work and education program as live-in managers at Berkeley House, which accommodates about 23 young adults. Under the current program, a student house manager in the second year of training can arrange to receive academic credit for a portion of his work at Berkeley House. He can earn one half-day per week of fieldwork credit. He spends the remaining two and one half days of fieldwork per week in supervised clinical work at McLean Hospital, a training site for Boston University School of Social Work and the facility that operates Berkeley House. The unique combination of theory and practice increases the student’s sense of professional identity and enhances his feeling of competence in areas such as clinical interviewing, diagnostic assessment, group leadership, community relations, and program administration. The house manager uses the clinical social work methods of casework and group work daily. In addition, he gains valuable experience in collaborating with a variety of agencies and resources in the community. Social casework-focusing on the psychosocial aspects of a person’s life-is a major portion of the house manager’s work. The manager helps the resident to develop new and different ways of relating to his peers, of dealing with conflicts in his job or at school, and of working on problems with his family. Residents in psychiatric halfway house programs of-

Mamíferos terrestres de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka’an, Quintana Roo, México

Con base en el muestreo de siete localidades y una extensa revisión bibliográfica, se obtuvo la lista de especies de mamíferos terrestres de la Reserva de la Biosfera de Sian Ka’an estado de Quintana Roo, México. Durante 57 días de campo, se utilizaron trampas Sherman, Tomahawk, redes de niebla y escopetas, se registraron rastros y observaciones directas. Se registraron 70 especies, ocho órdenes, 22 familias y 57 géneros. Se encontraron seis especies como nuevos registros: Marmosa mexicana, Micronycteris microtis, Micronycteris schmidtorum, Eptesicus furinalis, Rhogeessa parvula y Ototylomys phyllotis. Doce especies son catalogadas bajo algún riesgo ecológico según la Norma Oficial Mexicana; trece especies son endémicas a Mesoamérica y una endémica de México. Se presentan cuadros de abundancia relativa, registro por localidades y por tipo de vegetación de cada especie.

Birds Observed on San Nicolas Island, California

was descending the expedition trail alone 11 September when he made his sighting at about 2048 meters elevation. In a convincing memorandum to the Superintendent, Hawaii-Volcanoes National Park, Mr. Morrison reported seeing the unusual bird several times at distances varying from 8-10 to 12-15 meters. Size, bill shape, and coloration of this individual as described to me by Mr. Morrison were similar to those of the nukupuus I saw. In his letter to the Superintendent, Mr. Morrison described the “tremendously long, curved bill,” the upper mandible being “34 times the length of the lower” as was evident during a “yawn.” Mr. Morrison is interested in Hawaiian birds and familiar with their appearance. I consider his sighting of nukupuu valid, substantiating my own observations in this area. Thus two of the three races of Hemignuthus lucidus, those of Kauai and now of Maui, have been rediscovered in recent years; only the Oahu race is now believed extinct. Pseudonestor xatihophrys. Maui Parrotbill. Late in the afternoon on 29 August, the last day of expedition field work, I was seated at an overlook of the upper Kipahulu Valley at about 2000 meters elevation and prepared to photograph any of the various species of honeycreepers that might visit an ohia tree in bloom below. At I7:33 a smallish, but “big headed” bird was seen to fly into a nonblooming ohia tree, one of a stand below my lookout. Observation through the 7 x 35 binoculars made identification of this bird positive at the first viewing. It was Pseudonestor xanthophrys without a question. It flew toward me and alighted several times, finally perching directly overhead not more than 10 or 20 meters away. Body size and plumage color were not greatly different from the first nukupuu I saw, but the much shorter, more hooked upper mandible and massive lower one

Three Human Skeletons From The Pk Burial Sheridan County, Wyoming

Three Human Skeletons From The Pk Burial Sheridan County, Wyoming