Remote Sensing of Earth Resources (1970 - 1973 supplement): A literature survey with indexes. Section 2: Indexes

Documents related to the identification and evaluation by means of sensors in spacecraft and aircraft of vegetation, minerals, and other natural resources, and the techniques and potentialities of surveying and keeping up-to-date inventories of such riches are cited. These documents were announced in the NASA scientific and technical information system between March 1970 and December 1973

Mutation breeding, genetic diversity and crop adaptation to climate change

This book presents reviews on the application of the technology for crop improvement towards food and nutrition security, and research status on mutation breeding and associated biotechnologies in both seed crops and vegetatively propagated crops. It also presents perspectives on the significance of next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics in determining the molecular variants underlying mutations and on emerging biotechnologies such as gene editing. Reviews and articles are organized into five sections in the publication: (1) Contribution of Crop Mutant Varieties to Food Security; (2) Mutation Breeding in Crop Improvement and Climate-Change Adaptation; (3) Mutation Induction Techniques for Enhanced Genetic Variation; (4) Mutation Breeding in Vegetatively Propagated and Ornamental Crops; and (5) Induced Genetic Variation for Crop Improvement in the Genomic Era. The contents of this volume present excellent reference material for researchers, students and policy makers involved in the application of induced genetic variation in plants for the maintenance of biodiversity and the acceleration of crop adaptation to climate change to feed a growing global population in the coming years and decades.illustrato

Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: A literature survey with indexes (1970 - 1973 supplement). Section 1: Abstracts

Abstracts of reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between March 1970 and December 1973 are presented in the following areas: agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, oceanography and marine resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Data bases and data base systems related to NASA's aerospace program. A bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 1778 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system, 1975 through 1980

The historical fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea: A reconstruction of trawl gear, effort and trends in demersal fish stocks

An extensive search of historical data sources and publications has been carried out in different countries of the Mediterranean. This lead to the construction of the largest compilation of historical fisheries information existing in the Mediterranean region. The goal first here was to quantify historical trawling effort. This shows that Mediterranean demersal communities underwent a much longer and more systematic exploitation than previously thought, very likely the longest known exploitation by means of trawls in Europe and North America. Analysis of the data available for the Catalonian, Italian and French areas showed a clearly emerging pattern: fishing capacity increased in Mediterranean EU countries up to and through the 20th Century until the 1980s-1990s, depending on the area. From that period on, fleet size has been decreasing steadily. However, it is unclear whether this decrease in vessel numbers in the last 20 years has been accompanied by a decrease in fishing power and fishing mortality. Trawl gear was reconstructed with the goal of deriving qualitative and quantitative estimates of increase in fishing power and improved gear performance. The rate of adoption of new technology (synthetic nets, hydraulic winches, navigation equipment, etc.) was reconstructed by area and the effect of these improvements on catch rates was discussed. Analysis of the change in the horizontal opening in trawl nets over time, parameter A1, proved that, with the adoption of new net material and net rigging, the actual size of the net, for the same vessel HP, almost doubled over 40 years. Reconstructing relative trends in demersal species abundance was one of the primary goals of this project and the intention was to go as far back in time as possible. A first set of analyses was carried out by individual fishing areas/countries with consistent data going back only to 1950. In Blanes, France, the Adriatic Sea and the Sicilian Channel, the drop in biomass was extremely large. In Tuscany the temporal trend since the mid 1960s appears flat but in this analysis the historical data are likely underestimates and a fishing power correction was not used. The second set of analyses pooled all available data together, including LPUEs from sail and steam trawlers from the beginning of the 20th Century and covered the entire western Mediterranean. When LPUE kg/fishing day was modeled, the highest relative biomass was identified in the 1920s with a second lower peak in the 1960s and contemporary biomass even lower. The further back the series was reconstructed, the larger the decline in demersal biomass. This is a quantification of the shifting baseline syndrome: today we are assessing stock solely based on data from the past 20 years, which correspond to the lower part of the trends in all models, so that we have no knowledge of the extent of the decline. A case study was built with data from Catalonia for individual species. Results showed steep declines for red shrimp and blue whiting and important declines for hake and mullets, although for the latter, residual patterns are not optimal. The overall depleted status of demersal stocks in most West Mediterranean calls for serious management and implementation of credible recovery plans for most demersal stock via adequate reductions of F paired with the establishment of large MPAs. The latter will allow the recovery of vulnerable species that have life history traits that would not be unresponsive compatible with even reduced fishing mortality levels. The incorporation of historical data will be of crucial importance for proper assessment of demersal stocks given the exploitation history as well as for the constructing rebuilding plans

Meiofauna Biodiversity and Ecology

Meiofauna are small organisms ranging 30–500 μm in body size, inhabiting marine sediments and other substrata all over the world, even the most extreme ones. We can find many different meiofaunal species in a very small handful of sediment, with the most varied and curious shapes, that share peculiar lifestyles, ecological relationships, and evolutionary traits. They contribute significantly to the processes and functioning of marine ecosystems, thanks to their high abundance and taxonomical diversity, fast turnover and metabolic rates. Some meiofaunal taxa have also revealed their considerable utility in the evaluation of the ecological quality of coastal marine sediments in accordance with European Directives. Therefore, understanding the distribution patterns of their biodiversity and identifying the factors that control it at a global level and in different types of habitats is of great importance. Due to their very small morphological characteristics utilized for the taxonomical identification of these taxa, the suite of necessary skills in taxonomy, and the general taxonomic crisis, many young scientists have been discouraged to tackle meiofauna systematics. The papers collected in this book, however, bring together important themes on the biology, taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of meiofauna, thanks to the contribution of researchers from around the world from the USA, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico, Cuba, Italy, Belgium, France, Denmark, Russia, Kuwait, Vietnam, and South Korea. This was certainly an additional opportunity to build a more solid network among experts in this field and contribute to increasing the visibility of these tiny organisms. A special thanks to Prof. Wonchoel Lee for the wonderful taxonomic drawings of the species described in this volume that contribute to make our cover unique

Perspectives on European Earthquake Engineering and Seismology: Volume 2

Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Science

Meiofauna Biodiversity and Ecology

Sedimentary habitats cover the vast majority of the ocean floor and constitute the largest ecosystem on Earth. These systems supply fundamental services to human beings, such as food production and nutrient recycling. It is well known that meiofauna are an abundant and ubiquitous component of sediments, even though their biodiversity and importance in marine ecosystem functioning remain to be fully investigated. In this book, the meiofaunal biodiversity trends in marine habitats worldwide are documented, along with the collection of empirical evidence on their role in ecosystem services, such as the production, consumption, and decomposition of organic matter, and energy transfer to higher and lower trophic levels. Meiofaunal activities, like feeding and bioturbation, induce changes in several physico-chemical and biological properties of sediments, and might increase the resilience of the benthic ecosystem processes that are essential for the supply of ecosystem goods and services required by humans. As a key component of marine habitats, the taxonomical and functional aspects of the meiofaunal community are also used for the ecological assessment of the sediments’ quality status, providing important information on the anthropogenic impact of benthos

Reports of Planetary Geology Program, 1981

Abstracts of 205 reports from Principal investigators of NASA's Planetary Geology Program succinctly summarize work conducted and reflect the significant accomplishments. The entries are arranged under the following topics: (1) Saturnian satellites; (2) asteroids, comets and Galilean satellites; (3) cratering processes and landform development; (4) volcanic processes and landforms; (5) Aerolian processes and landforms; (6) fluvial, preglacial, and other processes of landform development; (7) Mars polar deposits, volatiles, and climate; (8) structure, tectonics, and stratigraphy; (9) remote sensing and regolith chemistry; (10) cartography and geologic mapping; and (11) special programs