Eastern Nova Scotia Research Articles

Identifying important habitat for northern bottlenose and Sowerby's beaked whales in the western North Atlantic

Abstract Understanding habitat requirements for species at risk is crucial for effective conservation management, even though the location and extent of vital habitats may be unknown for rare or elusive species. In the case of marine species, determining important habitat often relies on limited occurrence data or extrapolation from species distribution models (SDMs). SDMs predict habitat by associating species records with environmental variables, assuming a functional ecological relationship. This study focuses on northern bottlenose whales (NBW; Hyperoodon ampullatus) and Sowerby's beaked whales (SBW; Mesoplodon bidens) in the western North Atlantic. As both NBW and SBW are at risk in Canada, the objective was to identify the extent and function of important habitats to guide conservation efforts. The analysis mapped all available geographic occurrence data and used passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data to inform the development of ensemble SDMs to predict potential habitat and assess the persistence of realized habitat use. Important habitats for NBW and SBW were found primarily concentrated along the continental shelf edges, at an average depth of 1200 m ± 460 SD. All habitat areas support foraging and movement and critical life history functions for both species. The Gully and other submarine canyons off eastern Nova Scotia emerged as important areas for both species, validating the existing Critical Habitat for NBW. However, spatial–temporal patterns diverged on either side of this region. North‐eastern Newfoundland was identified as the next closest area of near‐year‐round presence for NBW, whereas the south‐western Scotian Shelf region, Georges Bank and the Fundian Channel supported persistent foraging by SBW. By integrating multiple data sources (sightings, acoustic detections and SDMs) and demonstrating the temporal persistence of habitat use by NBW and SBW, this study provides valuable insights for identifying, protecting and managing important habitat for beaked whales.

A New History of American and Canadian Folk Music

Because it mostly covers so much familiar territory, this book's title, A New History of American and Canadian Folk Music, is misleading primarily because there is not much “New” here. Weissman largely recounts well-known information about the usual suspects: the importance of Alan Lomax, the impact of the 1950s/1960s “folk revival,” the rise of folk festivals, and so on. The “Canadian” suggests a new geographic perspective on this expansive topic—most books encompassing folk music in North America stop at the Canadian border. However, the Canadian perspective is disappointingly meager. Only one 14-page chapter, “Meanwhile, Back in Canada,” focuses on this vast country to the north of the United States. I can only imagine that someone at Bloomsbury said, “Hey, Dick, if you want to include Canada in the title, you have to have at least one chapter set there.” Unfortunately, the Canadian content in the book is scant and represents a lost opportunity. For example, the long-standing, vibrant, and well-documented Cape Breton fiddle tradition in eastern Nova Scotia has undergone its own renaissance since the 1970s with Natalie MacMaster as its best-known and very public current proponent. This tradition, at least, calls for at least a few paragraphs somewhere in the Canadian chapter that largely focuses on artists involved with the folk scene in the 1960s.However one defines folk music, no single volume could hope to do more than skim the surface of the topics encompassed by the title of this book, and Weissman does plenty of skimming. The “Contents” page gives the reader a glimpse of what's to come: 18 generally too-short chapters on topics meandering from “The Civil Rights Movement” to “The Folk Music Business,” presented in roughly chronological order. Many of the sections within these chapters are exceptionally brief. For example, “Taj Mahal” in the chapter titled “What's Going On: Expansion, Contraction, and Evolution” consists of five sentences split into two short paragraphs. In the same chapter, Hawaiian guitar wizard “Bob Brozman” clocks in at three sentences. Such brief sections contain no new information or insights. I would have been much more interested if Weissman had more fully developed this chapter into a longer, richer, and more seamless essay with fewer terse sections, most of which seem to be tossed in.A New History of American and Canadian Folk Music often draws on the author's personal experience, participation, or observations, which constitutes its greatest strength. The book is filled with dozens of short sections, meditations on topics with which Weissman often has had personal experience, most notably the “revival” era of folk-rock, singer-songwriters, and festivals. And when he spends more time musing about these and related topics, the book becomes more meaningful. Take, for instance, “The Riddle of Authenticity.” In this chapter, the author is largely playing his strong suit because he goes into greater depth, which results in an interesting and provocative examination of the topic. These longer and more personal chapters are the book's most noteworthy contributions.The publisher's blurb indicates that A New History of American and Canadian Folk Music “examines the history of folk music into the 21st century and how it evolved from an agrarian style as it became increasingly urbanized.” Well, sort of. The book is not really a history because it lacks the depth implied by the title. And rather than the rural to urban theme, I believe that the interaction between folk and popular styles lies at the heart of Weissman's interests. Readers seeking a comprehensive overview implied by A New History of American and Canadian Folk Music will be disappointed. Ultimately, I found it frustratingly scattershot. The title is enticing, but the book falls short of its promise.Dick Weissman has been a keen observer of and participant in the folk scene for some 60 years. I wish that he had taken the opportunity to lend a far greater personal voice to a book, perhaps titled “Dick Weissman's Personal Guide to Folk Music in the United States.” Such a book aimed at a general reader, which seems to be the audience for the book under review, is one that I would look forward to reading.

Elegies and Laments in the Nova Scotia Gaelic Song Tradition: Conservatism and Innovation

Gaelic-speaking emigrants brought with them a massive body of oral tradition, including a rich and varied corpus of song–poetry, and many of the emigrants were themselves highly skilled song-makers. Elegies were a particularly prominent genre that formed a crucially important aspect of the sizeable amount of panegyric verse for members of the Gaelic aristocracy, which is a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. This contribution will demonstrate that elegies retained a prominent place in the Gaelic tradition in the new world Gaelic communities established in many parts of Canada and in particular in eastern Nova Scotia. In many respects, the tradition is a conservative one: there are strong elements of continuity. One important difference is the subjects for whom elegies were composed: in the new world context, praise for clan chiefs and other members of the traditional Gaelic aristocracy were no longer of relevance, although a small number were composed primarily out of a sense of personal obligation for patronage shown in the Old Country. Instead—and as was increasingly happening in the nineteenth century in Scotland, as well—the deaths of new community leaders, including clergy, and other prominent Gaels were recorded in verse. The large number of songs composed to mark the deaths of community members is also important—particularly young people lost at sea and in other tragic circumstances, occasionally in military service, and so forth. In these song–poems, we see local poets playing a role assumed by song-makers throughout Gaelic-speaking Scotland and Ireland: that of spokespeople for the community as a whole.

Application of allometric systems for compatible area-based LiDAR-assisted estimation in the Province of Nova Scotia

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is used to estimate tree, stand, and forest characteristics across large geographic areas. In the province of Nova Scotia, an enhanced forest inventory (EFI) was developed to provide high-resolution spatial forest inventory estimates across the landscape. For various forest attributes, independent LiDAR-based relationships were built leading to mathematical and biological inconsistency among forest attribute estimates. A systems approach, composed of allometric equations describing the relationships between volume per unit area, Lorey’s average height, basal area, quadratic mean diameter, and density, is developed to address these inconsistencies. Previous results showed that applying the systems approach provided reasonable and compatible estimates and eliminated inconsistency issues among forest attributes. This study evaluates application of the systems approach applied to eastern Nova Scotia using field data from a network of permanent sample plots and recent LiDAR acquisitions. The independent EFI estimates had inconsistencies of greater than 100% for basal area and implied stand-level form factor. These inconsistencies were eliminated using the systems approach. Results show that the systems approach can be scaled to larger landscape areas and that long-term field data can be leveraged to fit the allometric systems producing mathematically and biologically consistent estimates.

Modelling Internal Tides in the Strait of Canso

ABSTRACT A three-dimensional regional circulation model is used to investigate the internal M2 tide structure in the Strait of Canso located in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. The embayment, an active shipping port, was found to have M2 baroclinic velocities occasionally reaching 0.15 m s−1 and typically faster than the barotropic tide. An internal tide spatial structure develops, characterized by the first vertical mode, and highly sensitive to the details of stratification. A region near the mouth of the Strait, with a strong cross-bathymetry barotropic flow was identified as the main generating site. The regular “canyon-like” features of the Strait concentrate the energy towards the bottom and head and, under favourable conditions, reflect energy from the head, forming a standing wave. The modelling study found that, although some internal tide is generated year-round, only summer stratification conditions were favourable for standing wave development because of both increased internal energy levels and longer wavelengths capable of transporting the energy farther up the Strait. A balanced internal energy budget for the area highlights a tendency towards local dissipation and enhanced mixing rates. Persistent convection cells and upwelling zones suggest possible impacts on biological activity, sediment, and oil spill dynamics in the region. The findings are validated with current meter and water level observations.

The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonish by Peter Ludlow

Reviewed by: The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonishby Peter Ludlow Santo Dodaro The Canny Scot: Archbishop James Morrison of Antigonish. By Peter Ludlow. [ McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion, vol. 72.] (Montreal: McGill–Queen's University Press. 2015. Pp. xvi, 330. $34.95 paperback. ISBN 978-0-7735-4498-7.) In The Canny Scot, Peter Ludlow presents a multidimensional characterization of James Morrison (1861–1950), Bishop and Archbishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, describing the nature of the man, his life, and his time in history. Ludlow details Morrison's many contributions to the Catholic Church in general and the Diocese of Antigonish in particular, his role as Chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University (StFXU) in strengthening the institution, and his contribution to the establishment of the University's Extension Department and the promotion of the Antigonish Movement. Ludlow portrays Morrison as an exceptional man in exceptional circumstances, intensely private, austere and committed to his faith, but also pragmatic. [End Page 583]As a young priest in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Morrison served as rector of St. Dunstan's College and oversaw the building of St. Dunstan's Cathedral. He took his tasks to heart and refused to cater to special interests, political or otherwise. The term "canny Scot", which was ascribed to Morrison by Father Jimmy Tompkins, reflected his approach in protecting the interests of the Church and the well-being of his parishioners, as well as those of StFXU. Morrison's accomplishments and shortcomings are described within their local and global historical contexts. For example, Ludlow discusses the economic plight of the rural areas of the Maritime Provinces and industrial Cape Breton, as well as the global concerns related to the World Wars and their aftermaths. Ludlow presents Morrison's role in the emergence and spread of the Antigonish Movement as complementary to that of Fathers Moses Coady and Tompkins, stressing his facilitation role; without his willingness to allow priest-professors to participate, the movement may never have occurred. While conservative and fiscally prudent, Morrison understood that action was required ,and it was best to give Coady and the others the freedom to carry it out. Ludlow also notes that Morrison may have 'overstayed' in his role as bishop. Efforts towards encouraging him to retire included granting him the title of Archbishop. Moreover, the appointment of Bishop John R. MacDonald to assist him was not well received by Morrison, who continued to carry out his functions in the same way as before, virtually until his death at age eighty-eight in 1950. The bulk of the narrative (chapters 2 to 5) focuses on Morrison's lengthy tenure as Bishop of Antigonish; a period that coincided with tumultuous global events including two World Wars and the rise of communism, important developments in the Catholic Church, and the emergence and workings of the Antigonish Movement. Nevertheless, he also traces Morrison's life from his birth and early childhood in PEI, which was painfully marked by the loss of his mother in childbirth when he was six years old, through his life as a young man, as a student in Rome, and his ministry as a priest in PEI. These formative years established the foundations of Morrison's character, beliefs, and worldview, while also exposing him to the critical challenges facing the Church during the time, including animosities based along ethnic lines, in the Maritimes, Canada, and worldwide. By the time he left PEI to assume the role of Bishop of Antigonish, Morrison was an erudite, serious, and pragmatic cleric. Chapter 2 describes Morrison's early years as Bishop of Antigonish. His appointment as Bishop is one of an 'outsider' in the face of severe divisions that existed within the Antigonish Diocese. Ludlow describes Morrison's journey of fitting into his new role as bishop and new environment of Eastern Nova Scotia. As a Church Administrator, Morrison exhibited characteristics of a 'workaholic' who adopted an approach guided by professionalism, diplomacy, and political neutrality. His dedication to meeting the needs of rural and industrial workers and immigrants and his commitment to schools and education were consistent with Father [End Page 584]Tompkins' concerns with socioeconomic plight of...

Inscribing Ethnicity: A Preliminary Analysis of Gaelic Headstone Inscriptions in Eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton

Focusing on the verbal rather than the visual elements of early and more modern headstones in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, this essay will comment on a selection of Gaelic headstone inscriptions, highlighting such elements as word choice (whether secular or religious), cemetery location, time period, and the deceased’s background. Despite the striking paucity of Gaelic examples, it is our objective to discuss why Gaelic had a limited presence in Nova Scotia’s pioneer Scottish immigrant cemeteries and to demonstrate how these cemeteries were contested sites, which mirrored ongoing tensions between assimilation and cultural retention. In sum, this article will assess the importance of cemeteries as material articulations of language use and language maintenance among Nova Scotia’s diasporic Scots, set against the wider background of their struggles, aspirations, and shared values.

Fine-scale temperature-associated genetic structure between inshore and offshore populations of sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus).

In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) has been characterized by a latitudinal genetic cline with a breakpoint between northern and southern genetic clusters occurring at ~45°N along eastern Nova Scotia, Canada. Using 96 diagnostic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) capable of discriminating between northern and southern clusters, we examined fine-scale genetic structure of scallops among 27 sample locations, spanning the largest geographic range evaluated in this species to date (~37-51°N). Here, we confirmed previous observations of northern and southern groups, but we show that the boundary between northern and southern clusters is not a discrete latitudinal break. Instead, at latitudes near the previously described boundary, we found unexpected patterns of fine-scale genetic structure occurring between inshore and offshore sites. Scallops from offshore sites, including St. Pierre Bank and the eastern Scotian Shelf, clustered with southern stocks, whereas inshore sites at similar latitudes clustered with northern stocks. Our analyses revealed significant genetic divergence across small spatial scales (i.e., 129-221 km distances), and that spatial structure over large and fine scales was strongly associated with temperature during seasonal periods of thermal minima. Clear temperature differences between inshore and offshore locations may explain the fine-scale structuring observed, such as why southern lineages of scallop occur at higher latitudes in deeper, warmer offshore waters. Our study supports growing evidence that fine-scale population structure in marine species is common, often environmentally associated, and that consideration of environmental and genomic data can significantly enhance the identification of marine diversity and management units.

Spatiotemporal Variability in Lake‐Atmosphere Net CO2 Exchange in the Littoral Zone of an Oligotrophic Lake

AbstractLakes may function as either sinks or sources of CO2. Their response to climate change is uncertain, as we lack continuous data of lake CO2 efflux and its drivers. This is especially true in the littoral zone of lakes, which can be very dynamic from the continuous injection and remobilization of terrestrial nutrients. This study used high‐frequency measurements of CO2 exchange during the ice‐free season by prototype low‐power floating forced diffusion autochambers. We quantified the net surface flux of CO2 across a transect of the littoral zone of a small deep oligotrophic lake in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada, and examined potential drivers. The littoral zone was a net source for CO2, on average emitting 0.171 ± 0.023 μmol CO2 · m−2 · s−1, but we did observe significant temporal variation across diel and seasonal periods, as well as with distance from shore. While no pelagic environmental driver appeared to explain this variability in CO2 exchange, our study suggests that factors that vary on a fine spatial scale within the littoral zone may effectively regulate CO2 exchange. If environmental drivers of pelagic CO2 exchange are unrelated to CO2 exchange in the littoral zone, this may have large implications for current mechanistic understandings of lake carbon dynamics and for upscalings of fluxes. This work shows the spatial and temporal variability of littoral CO2 efflux, as well as the utility of low‐power forced diffusion automated chambers for observing lake‐atmosphere net CO2 exchange.

The narrative self in rural dementia: a case study from eastern Nova Scotia

ABSTRACTThis analysis examines how the narrative self of a person with dementia is maintained by family members in a small rural Nova Scotian community. In the literature, the expectation is often that rurality is a condition of isolation, distance from family and limited health resources. However, drawing on three years of ethnographic and interviewing research with a large extended family whose patriarch, Alexander, is a person with dementia, we demonstrate how a community's rurality influences interpretations of dementia. In Alexander's rurality, of particular import are local definitions of belonging, which privilege intimate knowledge of local history, working as a farmer to shape the land, and being of Scottish descent and male. As family members find Alexander's belonging to come into question in their community, we show them to employ narratives in which he is valorised for continuing to uphold local values – of ‘usefulness’ and of ‘being the land’. We show how the family members must also revisit and revise these narratives when Alexander's belonging is further called into question outside the family setting and, specifically, at the local farmer's market, where Alexander is often no longer greeted by other marketgoers. The men and women of the family arrive at different interpretations of this development, with the women considering marketgoers to demean and dehumanise Alexander, while the men feel that the marketgoers are avoiding interactions that would embarrass him. Such disagreements reveal the ongoing emotional labour of creating narratives that lack closure, certainty and consensus, as well as ways in which gender and rurality operate intersectionally in the process of meaning-making.

Distribution of fishery benefits and community well-being: a review of increased access to the Eastern Nova Scotia snow crab fishery

Distribution of fishery benefits and community well-being: a review of increased access to the Eastern Nova Scotia snow crab fishery

RAD sequencing reveals genomewide divergence between independent invasions of the European green crab (Carcinus maenas) in the Northwest Atlantic.

Genomic studies of invasive species can reveal both invasive pathways and functional differences underpinning patterns of colonization success. The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) was initially introduced to eastern North America nearly 200 years ago where it expanded northwards to eastern Nova Scotia. A subsequent invasion to Nova Scotia from a northern European source allowed further range expansion, providing a unique opportunity to study the invasion genomics of a species with multiple invasions. Here, we use restriction‐site‐associated DNA sequencing‐derived SNPs to explore fine‐scale genomewide differentiation between these two invasions. We identified 9137 loci from green crab sampled from 11 locations along eastern North America and compared spatial variation to mitochondrial COI sequence variation used previously to characterize these invasions. Overall spatial divergence among invasions was high (pairwise FST ~0.001 to 0.15) and spread across many loci, with a mean FST ~0.052 and 52% of loci examined characterized by FST values >0.05. The majority of the most divergent loci (i.e., outliers, ~1.2%) displayed latitudinal clines in allele frequency highlighting extensive genomic divergence among the invasions. Discriminant analysis of principal components (both neutral and outlier loci) clearly resolved the two invasions spatially and was highly correlated with mitochondrial divergence. Our results reveal extensive cryptic intraspecific genomic diversity associated with differing patterns of colonization success and demonstrates clear utility for genomic approaches to delineating the distribution and colonization success of aquatic invasive species.

Hitching a ride: firewood as a potential pathway for range expansion of an exotic beech leaf-mining weevil, Orchestes fagi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

AbstractWe investigated the potential for human-mediated range expansion of an exotic beech leaf-mining weevil, Orchestes fagi (Linnaeus) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Curculioninae: Rhamphini) (formerly known as Rhynchaenus fagi) on timber or firewood, which for eight to nine months of the year may harbour adults in diapause. In both relatively low-density and high-density populations, adults were found on the base, middle, and upper boles of the primary host, American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart; Fagaceae), as well as red maple (Acer rubrum Linnaeus; Sapindaceae) and red spruce (Picea rubens Sargent; Pinaceae) in the vicinity. Comparatively few individuals were found on tree branches, or in the moss, duff, or soil collected beneath beech trees. Overwintering adults appeared to favour parts of trees with relatively high bark roughness. Our study suggests that, between the months of July through May, any woody stems near areas having O. fagi outbreaks are likely to harbour adults. Moreover, as all of the trees studied are common sources of timber or firewood, the harvest and transport of wood from these areas may facilitate outbreak spread; this may explain the multiple, distantly distributed populations of O. fagi that have been reported in eastern Nova Scotia, Canada in recent years.

Colonial Marine Birds Influence Island Soil Chemistry Through Biotransport of Trace Elements

Marine birds are important vectors of nutrient and contaminant transfer from sea to land. In eastern Nova Scotia, Canada, colonial marine birds nest on specific nearshore islands within archipelagoes, and we predicted that soils on islands with bird colonies would have higher concentrations of selected trace elements (notably K, Ca, As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Se, Hg, and Zn) than soils on islands without colonies. In this study, common eider (Somateria mollissima), Leach’s storm petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), black guillemot (Cepphus grylle), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), and herring gull (Larus argentatus) were considered to be the principal avian vectors for contaminant transfer. Results indicate that soils from islands with bird colonies had unique chemical compositions and commonly displayed elevated concentrations of K, Ca, Cu, Se, and Zn when compared to islands without colonies. Thus, marine birds feeding in the nearby marine zone move pollutants and nutrients from the ocean to nesting islands, potentially influencing habitat quality for coastal terrestrial species.

Book Reviews/Critiques d'ouvrages

Dimitry Anastakis, Autonomous State: The Struggle for a Canadian Car Industry from OPEC to Free Trade, reviewed by Alexander Burnett and Brendan Sweeney Terrence Sullivan and Jean-Louis Denis, eds., Building Better Health Care Leadership for Canada: Implementing Evidence, reviewed by Gregory P. Marchildon Santo Dodaro and Leonard Pluta, The Big Picture: The Antigonish Movement of Eastern Nova Scotia, reviewed by Corey Slumkoski

Magnetic polarity stratigraphy and palynostratigraphy of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary interval in eastern North America and the age of the beginning of the Kiaman

Magnetic polarity data from the Maritimes Basin in eastern Canada reveal patterns of magnetic reversal through ∼17 m.y. of late Mississippian and early Pennsylvanian time. We collected samples from three sections on Cape Breton Island, a fourth that extends a section studied previously, and a fifth from a deep cored well on Prince Edward Island. We compared the polarity data from these sections to previous results from lower parts of the Joggins section of eastern Canada. All sections are constrained by new palynological data and collectively span the late Mississippian, Brigantian, Pendleian, and much of the Arnsbergian substages. A major unconformity at the Pennsylvanian-Mississippian boundary makes correlation difficult. The late Mississippian Arnsbergian substage is dominated by normal polarity, whereas the Pendleian and Brigantian are characterized by normal and reversed polarity intervals in about equal proportions. In the United States, the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary is a major hiatus that juxtaposes strata of early Pennsylvanian age on Mississippian strata ranging in age from Brigantian to mid- to late Arnsbergian. Data for the Mauch Chunk Formation in the United States provide polarity reversal patterns for correlative sequences in the Central Appalachian Basin. Field mapping and magnetic polarity data show closely comparable Mississippian-Pennsylvanian relationships in the Maritimes Basin more than 1500 km northeast from the U.S. sections. The eustatic event that coincides with the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary unconformity is late Arnsbergian to Yeadonian in both the central Appalachians and Maritime Basins. Basal Pennsylvanian strata of Yeadonian to Langsettian age on Cape Breton Island reveal normal paleomagnetic polarity through several hundred meters of section. These strata are overlain by a thick section showing only reversed polarity. We believe that this polarity boundary is the base of the Kiaman. An early Langsettian position (ca. 318 Ma) for the base-Kiaman superchron is indicated by these new data. In eastern Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the sedimentary rocks just above the unconformity are of reversed polarity. It is clear that the sedimentation in the two areas is affected by the unconformity, and no magnetic or palynological correlation is possible. Above the unconformity, only saetosa zone sediments are present.

Book Review: The Big Picture: The Antigonish Movement of Eastern Nova Scotia

Book Review: The Big Picture: The Antigonish Movement of Eastern Nova Scotia

Irruptive prey dynamics following the groundfish collapse in the Northwest Atlantic: an illusion?

Abstract Frank, K. T., Leggett, W. C., Petrie, B., Fisher, J. A. D., Shackell, N. L., and Taggart, C. T. 2013. Pelagic fish outbreak in the Northwest Atlantic - reality or illusion? – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: . The collapse of Northwest Atlantic groundfish in the early 1990s yielded a “natural experiment” within which to explore responses of ecosystems to a major perturbation. The “Pelagic Outburst” hypothesis was developed to explain an up to 900% increase in the abundance of small-bodied forage fishes and macroinvertebrates following this collapse and a subsequent trophic cascade extending across four trophic levels. Recently, this theory has been challenged and an alternative “Suprabenthic Habitat Occupation” (SHO) hypothesis has been advanced; it proposes the prey outburst associated with the forage fish component was an illusion created by changes in the vertical distribution of small pelagic fishes after the cod collapse in favour of a more bottom-oriented distribution that increased their vulnerability to bottom trawls. We evaluated the SHO hypothesis as it applied to the relationship between changes in the biomass of cod and the vertical distribution of herring and sand lance, the major small pelagic species of the Scotian Shelf ecosystem off eastern Nova Scotia. Contrary to predictions of the SHO hypothesis our initial conclusion that a pelagic outburst occurred in that ecosystem was confirmed and we found no evidence of a predator effect on vertical distributions of these species. We also explored the acoustic survey design and execution that generated the data that form the cornerstone of the SHO hypothesis, and the coherence between the behaviour depicted in these data and catch rates in the surface-oriented purse-seine fishery for herring operating at the time of these surveys. In combination, the results of our re-analysis of the population dynamics and behaviour of herring on the eastern Scotian Shelf, lead us to conclude that the SHO hypothesis, at least as it relates to the post-cod collapse dynamics of the affected Northwest Atlantic ecosystems, is not supported.

Spatial and temporal variation in size at maturity for female American lobster in Nova Scotia

Using the development stage of cement glands to predict spawning, maturity ogives were constructed for six fishing ports in eastern Nova Scotia. The size at which 50% of females attained maturity (L50) and the ogive slopes were compared between locations and years. Among ports within years, 21 of 25 L50 pairs were significantly different, while only 5 of 24 slope pairs were different. These results fill a geographic gap and indicate that most of the areas should not be grouped when calculating egg production. Comparing among years within ports, most significant differences were again for L50 rather than slopes. In two ports, the change in the ogive among years gave a 2- or 2.4-fold change in eggs per recruit and a 2.9- or 5-fold change in the percentage of females that reach maturity by the legal minimum size. On a larger scale, L50 was intermediate in Newfoundland, consistently low throughout the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, abruptly increased on the outer coast of Nova Scotia into the Bay of Fundy, and again intermediate inshore and offshore New England.

The Relationship Among Skin‐to‐Skin Contact, Breastfeeding, and Mother–Infant Interaction: Implications for Nursing

Newborn Care Poster Presentation Objective To investigate the effect of mother–infant skin‐to‐skin contact (SSC) on the maintenance of breastfeeding over the first 3 months and the effect of breastfeeding on mother–infant interaction. Design Longitudinal quasi‐experiment. Setting Home visits in eastern Nova Scotia. Sample Seventy‐seven full‐term infants and their mothers were seen in their homes at 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. Methods Mothers in an SSC group were requested to provide SSC, no request for SSC was made to control group mothers. All mothers kept daily records of the SSC they provided. The SSC group mothers provided approximately 5 hours/day of SSC in the infants' first week and then more than 2 hours/day until the infants were 1 month old. Control group mothers provided little or no SSC. At each home visit, mothers reported whether they provided exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, or no breastfeeding. Mother–infant interactions were assessed at each visit using the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale (NSAFS). Results The SSC group mothers provided more SSC than control group mothers (week 1: SSC, M = 4.92 hours/day, control M = 0.48 hours/day; weeks 2‐4 SSC, M = 2.77 hours/day, control M = 0.19 hours/day). At 1 week, the percentage of breastfeeding dyads was similar in both groups (exclusive: SSC=77%, control=69%; exclusive + partial: SSC=81%, control=75%). The percentage of breastfeeding dyads (exclusive + partial) declined in the control group as the infants aged but remained stable in the SSC group. Breastfeeding dyads had significantly higher scores on the NCAFS Caregiver Scale, indicating more positive maternal interactions at 1 week, 2 months, and 3 months. Conclusion/Implications for Nursing Practice Though numerous studies have shown SSC to benefit newborns' physiological adjustment, few studies have investigated the effect of SSC on breastfeeding duration beyond the newborn period. In this study, SSC facilitated the maintenance of breastfeeding during the infants' early months, and breastfeeding was associated with increased positive maternal interactions. The findings imply the importance of the promotion of SSC to help mothers maintain the decision to breastfeed to the benefits of infants, mothers, and the developing mother–infant relationship. As providers of postpartum care, nurses are uniquely positioned to educate and support mothers in SSC and to influence broader public health policy about maternal–child health.