Approval plans, discipline change, and the importance of human mediated book selection

This study examines holdings of 21 members of the Association of Research Libraries for books reviewed in American Historical Review. The study asserts that approval plans are inadequate for collecting from small publishers or from scholarship that crosses disciplinary boundaries. Although approval plans increase efficiency in collection development, the need for expert selection cannot be overstated. Results indicated that small publisher’s books were less likely to be in libraries than university press publisher’s books, and that history monographs are frequently classified outside disciplinary boundaries, and are therefore invisible to approval plans that define disciplines based on classification systems

CONSEQUENCES OF SHRUB ENCROACHMENT: LINKING CHANGES IN CANOPY STRUCTURE TO SHIFTS IN THE RESOURCE ENVIRONMENT

Shrub expansion in herbaceous ecosystems is emerging as an important ecological response to global change, especially in mesic systems where increases in canopy biomass are greatest. Two consequences of woody encroachment are increases in belowground resources, such as carbon and nitrogen, and reductions in above-ground resources such as light, which affect diversity, community trajectory, and ecosystem function. My objective was to determine how expansion of the nitrogen-fixing shrub Morella cerifera affected the resource environment across a chronosequence of shrub expansion on a Virginia barrier island. I quantified changes in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, canopy structure and understory light associated with M. cerifera expansion. Litterfall in shrub thickets exceeded litterfall for other woody communities in the same region, and due to high N concentration, resulted in a return of as much as 169 kg N ha-1 yr-1 to the soil, 70% of which was from symbiotic N fixation. Litter and soil C and N pools were 3-10 times higher in shrub thickets than in adjacent grasslands. Understory light in shrub thickets decreased to as low as 0.5% of above-canopy light. Sunflecks in shrub thickets were shorter, smaller and less intense than sunflecks in forest understories. However, relative to other shrub species such as Elaeagnus umbellata, M. cerifera was less efficient at intercepting light. Although M. cerifera had the highest leaf area index (LAI) of five shrub species studied, M. cerifera was relatively inefficient at light attenuation due to low levels of branching, steep leaf angles and a relatively shallow canopy. The shift from grassland to shrub thicket on barrier islands, and in other mesic systems, results in a significant change in canopy structure that alters understory resource availability and greatly alters ecosystem function and trajectory

Seasonal and Spatial Variation in Leaf Area Index, Litter Production, and Light Levels in Myrica Cerifera,Shrub Thickets Across a Barrier Island Chronsequence

Leaf area index (LAI), litter production and understory light levels of Myrica cergera shrub thickets were assessed on Hog Island, Virginia to quantify spatial and seasonal variations in leaf area and light attenuation among four thickets representing a successional chronosequence and compare methods of estimating LA1 in shrub- dominated systems. Seasonal LA1 estimates were made seven times throughout the year with a portable integrating radiometer (Li-Cor LAI-2000) and three times by measurement of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and use of the Beer-Larnbert law. Leaf area index was also estimated through leaf litter collection and use of allometric relationships between stem diameter and leaf area. The oldest of the four thickets had the lowest LA1 and litter production throughout the year. Peak LA1 measurements with the portable integrating radiometer ranged from 2.0 ± 0.2 to 4.0 ± 0.3 for the oldest and youngest thickets, respectively which appear to be substantial underestimates of the actual values. According to annual litterfall, LA1 ranged from 4.1 ± 0.5 for the oldest thicket to 10.2 ± 0.4 for a 20 year old thicket. Leaf area index varied from 6.4 ± 0.2 for the oldest thicket to 1 1.4 ± 2.1 for the 40 year old thicket according to the allometric relationships, which may overestimate LA1 in stands with many large stems. The high light attenuation by the shrub canopy and heavy litterfall may contribute to the low diversity within thicket canopies by inhibiting germination and growth of other species. The study demonstrates that these low diversity shrub thickets have a higher LA1 and litter production, and thus higher potential for primary productivity, than many temperate forested systems and that stand age may be the major determinant of productivity

Food Habits of Juvenile American Alligators in the Upper Lake Pontchartrain Estuary

Food habits of juvenile (0.49-1.21 m total length) American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from an area in southeastern Louisiana were investigated. One-hundred and one stomach samples were obtained by stomach-pumping. Crustaceans (crayfish; blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus; grass shrimp, Palaemonetes sp.), insects (hemipterans, coleopterans), and small fish (least killifish, Heterandria formosa; mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis) constituted the majority of prey items taken. Fish consumption was significantly more frequent during April and May than during June through September (P\u3c0.025). This differential use of prey species may be due to seasonally fluctuating water levels in the study area. Comparisons of juvenile alligator food habits revealed dietary differences between Louisiana and Florida (P\u3c0.001), possibly due to the different prey available at the two areas. Prey utilization was not significantly different between larger alligators (0.9-1.2 m total length) and smaller alligators (0.3·0.9 m total length) (P\u3e0.25)

Loss of foundation species revisited: conceptual framework with lessons learned from eastern hemlock and whitebark pine

Ecologists and conservation biologists often prioritize the study of species that are declining, threatened, or endangered over species that are abundant and ecologically important, such as foundation species (FS ). Because entire ecosystems and their biodiversity depend on FS , we argue that they have high conservation priority. A citation analysis reveals that FS are studied, but often are characterized ambiguously. More effort is needed to identify FS before they, and the ecosystems they define, are at risk of decline or loss. We suggest a new conceptual framework that includes: informed identification of FS in ecosystems; documentation of ecosystem services provided by FS ; a long‐term monitoring strategy to detect threats to FS within specified ecosystems; and, if threats are identified, a comprehensive conservation and adaptive management strategy for FS . We use two widely distributed, rapidly declining North American foundation tree species (Tsuga canadensis [eastern hemlock] and Pinus albicaulis [whitebark pine]) to illustrate this framework. These species exemplify the importance of identifying FS early and conserving or restoring them when they are threatened

Changes to southern Appalachian water yield and stormflow after loss of a foundation species

ABSTRACT Few studies have examined how insect outbreaks affect landscape-level hydrologic processes. We report the hydrologic effects of the invasive, exotic hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) in a headwater catchment in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The study watershed experienced complete mortality of an evergreen tree species, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. (eastern hemlock), after infestation was first detected in 2003. Hemlock mortality resulted in a~6% reduction in basal area in the watershed, and this loss was primarily concentrated in riparian zones. We used a paired-watershed approach to quantify changes in water yield and peak stormflow using streamflow data from the infested watershed and a nearby watershed with significantly lower hemlock basal area. We hypothesized that yield would increase shortly after hemlock infestation but decrease over the longer-term. We found that annual yield did not increase significantly in any year after infestation but decreased significantly by 12·0 cm (~8%) in 2010. Monthly yield also decreased after infestation, but changes were limited to the dormant season. The decline in yield is likely to persist as hemlock is replaced by species with higher transpiration rates. Peakflow increased significantly after infestation during the two largest flow events in the post-infestation period. Changes in stormflow during extreme events may have been temporary as another evergreen, Rhododendron maximum, may have mitigated some of the changes after hemlock loss. Thus, streams draining watersheds where eastern hemlock has been lost due to HWA infestation demonstrate permanent reductions in yield and transient increases in peakflow during large-flow events. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA

Barrier Island Morphology and Sediment Characteristics Affect the Recovery of Dune Building Grasses following Storm-Induced Overwash

Barrier islands are complex and dynamic systems that provide critical ecosystem services to coastal populations. Stability of these systems is threatened by rising sea level and the potential for coastal storms to increase in frequency and intensity. Recovery of dune-building grasses following storms is an important process that promotes topographic heterogeneity and long-term stability of barrier islands, yet factors that drive dune recovery are poorly understood. We examined vegetation recovery in overwash zones on two geomorphically distinct (undisturbed vs. frequently overwashed) barrier islands on the Virginia coast, USA. We hypothesized that vegetation recovery in overwash zones would be driven primarily by environmental characteristics, especially elevation and beach width. We sampled species composition and environmental characteristics along a continuum of disturbance from active overwash zones to relict overwash zones and in adjacent undisturbed environments. We compared species assemblages along the disturbance chronosequence and between islands and we analyzed species composition data and environmental measurements with Canonical Correspondence Analysis to link community composition with environmental characteristics. Recovering and geomorphically stable dunes were dominated by Ammophila breviligulata Fernaud (Poaceae) on both islands while active overwash zones were dominated by Spartina patens (Aiton) Muhl. (Poaceae) on the frequently disturbed island and bare sand on the less disturbed island. Species composition was associated with environmental characteristics only on the frequently disturbed island (p = 0.005) where A. breviligulata was associated with higher elevation and greater beach width. Spartina patens, the second most abundant species, was associated with larger sediment grain size and greater sediment size distribution. On the less frequently disturbed island, time since disturbance was the only factor that affected community composition. Thus, factors driving the abundance of dune-building grasses and subsequent recovery of dunes varied between the two geomorphically distinct islands

Sensory Communication

Contains table of contents for Section 2, an introduction and reports on fourteen research projects.National Institutes of Health Grant RO1 DC00117National Institutes of Health Grant RO1 DC02032National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grant R01 DC00126National Institutes of Health Grant R01 DC00270National Institutes of Health Contract N01 DC52107U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research/Naval Air Warfare Center Contract N61339-95-K-0014U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research/Naval Air Warfare Center Contract N61339-96-K-0003U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-96-1-0379U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-95-1-0176U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research Grant F49620-96-1-0202U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Subcontract 40167U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research/Naval Air Warfare Center Contract N61339-96-K-0002National Institutes of Health Grant R01-NS33778U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-92-J-184