42 - A comparison of two automated bat-call classifying software programs.

Bats are an integral part of many ecosystems and provide numerous valuable services such as pollination, seed dispersal and, in our region, insect control. Sampling the bat community to assess ecosystem health and document bat species of conservation interest is typically accomplished by capturing individuals in combination with collecting acoustic data. Acoustic sampling has the advantages of being effective in many varied habitat types, potentially less biased than capture data, and non-invasive to the bats. Many surveys are now entirely acoustic as the technology and ability to assign species identification to each has advanced substantially during the last few decades. In fact, regulatory agencies currently allow acoustic only surveys to assess the presence/probably absence of endangered bat species when automated acoustic identification software is used to assign calls. Unfortunately, identifying species based on calls is extremely challenging and often plagued by high inaccuracies. Our objective for this project was to assess the reliability of software programs that are approved for bat surveys by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To accomplish this objective, we used Anabat Swift detectors to record calls for 129 detector nights during July-August, 2018. We used two different automated acoustic identification software programs to assign species identity to all recorded files. Our preliminary analyses indicate substantial differences between results produced by these two software programs. We recommend caution when relying solely on acoustic data and automated software programs to determine presence/probably absence of bat species of conservation concern within a landscape

Solar Eclipse Has Little Discernible Effect On Bat Activity

N/A - Research Not

Atmospheric potential oxygen: New observations and their implications for some atmospheric and oceanic models

Measurements of atmospheric O2/N2 ratios and CO2 concentrations can be combined into a tracer known as atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ≈ O2/N2 + CO2) that is conservative with respect to terrestrial biological activity. Consequently, APO reflects primarily ocean biogeochemistry and atmospheric circulation. Building on the work of Stephens et al. (1998), we present a set of APO observations for the years 1996-2003 with unprecedented spatial coverage. Combining data from the Princeton and Scripps air sampling programs, the data set includes new observations collected from ships in the low-latitude Pacific. The data show a smaller interhemispheric APO gradient than was observed in past studies, and different structure within the hemispheres. These differences appear to be due primarily to real changes in the APO field over time. The data also show a significant maximum in APO near the equator. Following the approach of Gruber et al. (2001), we compare these observations with predictions of APO generated from ocean O2 and CO2 flux fields and forward models of atmospheric transport. Our model predictions differ from those of earlier modeling studies, reflecting primarily the choice of atmospheric transport model (TM3 in this study). The model predictions show generally good agreement with the observations, matching the size of the interhemispheric gradient, the approximate amplitude and extent of the equatorial maximum, and the amplitude and phasing of the seasonal APO cycle at most stations. Room for improvement remains. The agreement in the interhemispheric gradient appears to be coincidental; over the last decade, the true APO gradient has evolved to a value that is consistent with our time-independent model. In addition, the equatorial maximum is somewhat more pronounced in the data than the model. This may be due to overly vigorous model transport, or insufficient spatial resolution in the air-sea fluxes used in our modeling effort. Finally, the seasonal cycles predicted by the model of atmospheric transport show evidence of an excessive seasonal rectifier in the Aleutian Islands and smaller problems elsewhere. Copyright 2006 by the American Geophysical Union

The evolution of silicon transporters in diatoms

© The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Phycology 52 (2016): 716–731, doi:10.1111/jpy.12441.Diatoms are highly productive single-celled algae that form an intricately patterned silica cell wall after every cell division. They take up and utilize silicic acid from seawater via silicon transporter (SIT) proteins. This study examined the evolution of the SIT gene family to identify potential genetic adaptations that enable diatoms to thrive in the modern ocean. By searching for sequence homologs in available databases, the diversity of organisms found to encode SITs increased substantially and included all major diatom lineages and other algal protists. A bacterial-encoded gene with homology to SIT sequences was also identified, suggesting that a lateral gene transfer event occurred between bacterial and protist lineages. In diatoms, the SIT genes diverged and diversified to produce five distinct clades. The most basal SIT clades were widely distributed across diatom lineages, while the more derived clades were lineage-specific, which together produced a distinct repertoire of SIT types among major diatom lineages. Differences in the predicted protein functional domains encoded among SIT clades suggest that the divergence of clades resulted in functional diversification among SITs. Both laboratory cultures and natural communities changed transcription of each SIT clade in response to experimental or environmental growth conditions, with distinct transcriptional patterns observed among clades. Together, these data suggest that the diversification of SITs within diatoms led to specialized adaptations among diatoms lineages, and perhaps their dominant ability to take up silicic acid from seawater in diverse environmental conditions.Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Grant Numbers: GBMF2637, GBMF3776; University of Washington; National Science Foundation Grant Number: OCE-120523

Pedagogical Considerations for Effectively Teaching Qualitative Research to Students in an Online Environment

Qualitative research aims to understand both individual meaning as well as complex systemic interactions as they apply to social problems or individual experiences. This method of research is both inductive and flexible, allowing for a holistic approach that facilitates a rich understanding of the content examined. Past research identifies a number of challenges associated with teaching qualitative methodology to undergraduate students, including: the research skills and values maintained by the instructor, the prestige associated with qualitative research in particular, as well as a number of other interpersonal and environmental factors. These challenges are further complicated, it seems, when extended into the online learning environment. This paper explores the factors related to the instruction of qualitative research in an online environment and provides recommendations for best practices in teaching

Correction: A Feasible and Efficacious Mobile-Phone Based Lifestyle Intervention for Filipino Americans with Type 2 Diabetes: Randomized Controlled Trial.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.2196/diabetes.8156.]

Theologie

Die Theologie beschäftigt sich mit keiner anderen Welt als die Umwelt(natur)wissenschaften. Sie versteht die Welt jedoch nicht aus sich heraus, sondern als Teil eines Relationsgefüges. Dabei thematisiert sie das komplexe Verhältnis von Mensch und Natur im Kontext seiner religiösen Deutungen. Eine Sakralisierung oder Divinisierung der Natur oder des Lebens wird dabei ebenso problematisiert wie ein materialistischer Reduktionismus. Während die bibelwissenschaftliche und historische Theologie religiöse Deutungsmuster von „Natur“ in ihrem historischen Kontext analysiert, bezieht die systematische Theologie Fragen gegenwärtiger Welt- und Naturverhältnisse in den Forschungsdiskurs ein. Theologische Umweltethik bedenkt religiöse, kulturelle und ethische Aspekte menschlicher Lebensführung. Hier setzt sie sich insbesondere mit der engen Korrelation von sozialen und ökologischen Aspekten sowie mit Freiheit, Verantwortung und Handlungsfähigkeit unter Endlichkeitsbedingungen und angesichts bedrohlicher Zukunftsszenarien auseinander

Colony formation in Phaeocystis antarctica : connecting molecular mechanisms with iron biogeochemistry

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeosciences 15 (2018): 4923-4942, doi:10.5194/bg-15-4923-2018.Phaeocystis antarctica is an important phytoplankter of the Ross Sea where it dominates the early season bloom after sea ice retreat and is a major contributor to carbon export. The factors that influence Phaeocystis colony formation and the resultant Ross Sea bloom initiation have been of great scientific interest, yet there is little known about the underlying mechanisms responsible for these phenomena. Here, we present laboratory and field studies on Phaeocystis antarctica grown under multiple iron conditions using a coupled proteomic and transcriptomic approach. P. antarctica had a lower iron limitation threshold than a Ross Sea diatom Chaetoceros sp., and at increased iron nutrition (>120pM Fe') a shift from flagellate cells to a majority of colonial cells in P. antarctica was observed, implying a role for iron as a trigger for colony formation. Proteome analysis revealed an extensive and coordinated shift in proteome structure linked to iron availability and life cycle transitions with 327 and 436 proteins measured as significantly different between low and high iron in strains 1871 and 1374, respectively. The enzymes flavodoxin and plastocyanin that can functionally replace iron metalloenzymes were observed at low iron treatments consistent with cellular iron-sparing strategies, with plastocyanin having a larger dynamic range. The numerous isoforms of the putative iron-starvation-induced protein (ISIP) group (ISIP2A and ISIP3) had abundance patterns coinciding with that of either low or high iron (and coincident flagellate or the colonial cell types in strain 1871), implying that there may be specific iron acquisition systems for each life cycle type. The proteome analysis also revealed numerous structural proteins associated with each cell type: within flagellate cells actin and tubulin from flagella and haptonema structures as well as a suite of calcium-binding proteins with EF domains were observed. In the colony-dominated samples a variety of structural proteins were observed that are also often found in multicellular organisms including spondins, lectins, fibrillins, and glycoproteins with von Willebrand domains. A large number of proteins of unknown function were identified that became abundant at either high or low iron availability. These results were compared to the first metaproteomic analysis of a Ross Sea Phaeocystis bloom to connect the mechanistic information to the in situ ecology and biogeochemistry. Proteins associated with both flagellate and colonial cells were observed in the bloom sample consistent with the need for both cell types within a growing bloom. Bacterial iron storage and B12 biosynthesis proteins were also observed consistent with chemical synergies within the colony microbiome to cope with the biogeochemical conditions. Together these responses reveal a complex, highly coordinated effort by P. antarctica to regulate its phenotype at the molecular level in response to iron and provide a window into the biology, ecology, and biogeochemistry of this group.Support for this study was provided by an Investigator grant to Mak A. Saito from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF3782), National Science Foundation grants NSF-PLR 0732665, OCE-1435056, OCE-1220484, and ANT-1643684, the WHOI Coastal Ocean Institute, and a CINAR Postdoctoral Scholar Fellowship provided to Sara J. Bender through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Support was provided to Andrew E. Allen through NSF awards ANT-0732822, ANT-1043671, and OCE-1136477 and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant GBMF3828. Additional support was provided to GRD through NSF award OPP-0338097