Copland and Bernstein: How the American Left Responds to McCarthyism Through Music: An Annotated Bibliography

Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein were not only two of the most influential American composers but were also important cultural figures in left-wing American politics throughout their lifetimes. As public figures with sometimes communist sympathies, they fell victim to McCarthyism’s Red Scare tactics like so many others did, facing scrutiny from the US government. The Cold War era, marked by a contradictory combination of a cultural push for family values and consumerism with the overarching fear of foreign infiltration and nuclear annihilation, led to a feeling of anxiety and mistrust. In this paper, I examine the ways in which Copland’s and Bernstein’s politics informed their compositions in response to McCarthyism and the Cold War era. Primarily through the examples of both a stage work (Copland’s The Tender Land and Bernstein’s Candide) and a symphonic work (Copland’s Symphony No. 3 and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2), this response can be analyzed through both explicit messaging and subtle musical characteristics

Ciguatoxin occurrence in food-web components of a Cuban Coral Reef Ecosystem: Risk-assessment implications

In Cuba, ciguatera poisoning associated with fish consumption is the most commonly occurring non-bacterial seafood-borne illness. Risk management through fish market regulation has existed in Cuba for decades and consists of bans on selected species above a certain weight; however, the actual occurrence of ciguatoxins (CTXs) in seafood has never been verified. From this food safety risk management perspective, a study site locally known to be at risk for ciguatera was selected. Analysis of the epiphytic dinoflagellate community identified the microalga Gambierdiscus. Gambierdiscus species included six of the seven species known to be present in Cuba (G. caribaeus, G. belizeanus, G. carpenteri, G. carolinianus, G. silvae, and F. ruetzleri). CTX-like activity in invertebrates, herbivorous and carnivorous fishes were analyzed with a radioligand receptor-binding assay and, for selected samples, with the N2A cell cytotoxicity assay. CTX activity was found in 80% of the organisms sampled, with toxin values ranging from 2 to 8 ng CTX3C equivalents g−1 tissue. Data analysis further confirmed CTXs trophic magnification. This study constitutes the first finding of CTX-like activity in marine organisms in Cuba and in herbivorous fish in the Caribbean. Elucidating the structure–activity relationship and toxicology of CTX from the Caribbean is needed before conclusions may be drawn about risk exposure in Cuba and the wider Caribbean.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Responses of marine macroalgae to short and long-term changes in nutrient availability under varying environmental conditions

While macroalgae provide habitat and trophic support in many marine ecosystems, excessive proliferation is often considered an indicator of an impacted system, particularly in tropical reef ecosystems. How the processes structuring these macroalgal communities are affected by anthropogenic impacts, particularly within the context of spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity, remains unclear. I conducted a series of short-term and long-term experiments in both tropical and intertidal temperate ecosystems examining the role of nutrient enrichment and its interactions with other anthropogenic stressors (reduction of herbivores, sediments) in regulating macroalgal populations and structuring macroalgal communities.On an impacted tropical reef, I manipulated nutrient availability on the dominant reef flat macroalgal species at various times after rainfall. Nutrient limitation rapidly switched from nitrogen to phosphorous to no limitation over very short time scales, highlighting the dynamic relationship with environmental context. Additionally, field and lab experiments examined how terrestrial sediment loads on these algal thalli disturbed nutrient and herbivory control. I found that environmental conditions created by sediment loads had variable effects on algal biomass accumulation of different species, suggesting effects by different mechanisms. On an intertidal temperate reef, I manipulated nutrient availability and herbivory on macroalgal communities for two years, encompassing the heterogeneous nature of rocky reefs. Grazers had more dramatic and immediate effects, increasing cover by >10x in the first year. However, nutrients influenced the community in nearly all metrics in the second year.Overall, my results indicated that nutrient control of tropical reef macroalgae is more complex than previously recognized and depends on both the species and context under consideration. Moreover, sediment loads may strongly modulate controls on macroalgal dynamics by altering, among other things, nutrient availability and herbivory. Finally, on intertidal temperate reefs, where nutrient control remains a matter of debate, my results showed that nutrient addition and herbivore reduction have complex effects on algal diversity and structure that changed over time and depended on habitat complexity. Together, these results indicate the importance of considering timescales and environmental context when determining the consequences of anthropogenic alteration to controls of macroalgal dynamics on both tropical and temperate reefs

Accounting for environmental stress in restoration of intertidal foundation species

Restoration of foundation species in historical habitat may be difficult if adult facilitation is obligatory for survival of early life stages. 2. On intertidal Mediterranean coasts, large-scale loss of the dominant forest- forming macroalga Ericaria amentacea have prompted restoration efforts using recruits. Yet, early life stages may be more susceptible to the abiotic stress that characterizes their habitat. 3. We tested strategies to enhance resilience of lab-cultured juveniles of E. amen- tacea to environmental stress in historical habitat lacking conspecifics. Juveniles were exposed in culture to fluctuations of the dominant physical stressors, irra- diance and temperature, and then outplanted in upper and lower zones of their native intertidal range. 4. Without adult canopy, juvenile outplant survival was limited to the lower tidal range, with nearly complete mortality in the upper zone. Survival was also strongly determined by spatial clumping of recruits within the outplant sub- strate. Longer-term growth in the lower zone was enhanced by fluctuating mild stress in culture, with variable irradiance and concurrent heat pulses increas- ing post-outplant cover by 40%–60% after 4 months. Clumping also promoted growth across experimental treatments. 5. Synthesis and applications. Reliance on self-facilitation feedbacks is a common barrier to foundation species restoration in high-stress habitats. Our results sug- gest that without adult habitat amelioration, environmental stress limits recruit survival in intertidal algal forest. Yet, exposure to transient, low environmental stress in culture and outplanting of clumped individuals may confer resilience and allow successful establishment of early life stages in zones of reduced abi- otic stress, providing a source for gradual colonization of more high-stress areas

Data from: Bolstered physical defences under nutrient-enriched conditions may facilitate a secondary foundational algal species in the South Pacific

1. Humans have a long history of changing species’ ranges and habitat distributions, making studies of the ecological processes that may facilitate these changes of key importance, particularly in cases where a primary foundation species is replaced by another, less desirable species. 2. We investigated the impact of nutrients and herbivory on Turbinaria ornata, a secondary foundational macroalga that depends on and likely competes with coral, the primary foundational community. T. ornata is also rapidly expanding in range and habitat across the South Pacific. We conducted: 1) a mesocosm experiment assessing relative nutrient limitation, 2) a field experiment comparing importance of nutrients (+/-) and herbivory (+/-) to biomass accumulation, and 3) an herbivory assay and toughness test comparing enriched and ambient thalli to assess changes to anti-herbivory defences. 3. We found no evidence of growth being nutrient limited in T. ornata; rather than stimulating growth, nutrient addition deterred herbivores. However, when physical toughness was removed, enriched algae were preferred, with consumption rates 25-fold those of unenriched algae. Additionally, enriched thalli were tougher than ambient thalli, suggesting physical defences were bolstered by nutrient enrichment. 4. Synthesis. We found a unique interaction where nutrients inhibit herbivory and facilitate Turbinaria ornata biomass accumulation. While concern is often placed on degradation of foundation species via anthropogenic change, instead here we show that anthropogenic change can facilitate secondary foundation species. This facilitation may allow a secondary foundation species to better compete with primary foundation species

The role of marine biotoxins on the trophic transfer of Mn and Zn in fish

International audienceEssential nutrients are critical for physiological processes of organisms. In fish, they are obtained primarily from the diet, and their transfer and accumulation are known to be impacted by environmental variables such as water temperature, pH and salinity, as well as by diet composition and matrices. Yet, prey items consumed by fish may also contain toxic compounds such as marine toxins associated with harmful algae. These biotoxins have the potential to affect essential trace element assimilation in fish through chemical interactions such as the formation of trace element-toxin complexes or by affecting general fish physiology as in the modification of ion-specific transport pathways. We assessed the influence of dietary exposure to brevetoxins (PbTxs), ichthyotoxic neurotoxins produced by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, on trophic transfer of two essential trace elements, Mn and Zn, in a fish model. Using ecologically relevant concentrations of PbTxs and trace elements in controlled laboratory conditions, juvenile turbots Scophthalmus maximus were given food containing PbTxs before or at the same time as a feeding with radiotracers of the chosen essential elements (54 Mn and 65 Zn). Treatments included simultaneous exposure (PbTxs + 54 Mn + 65 Zn) in a single-feeding, 3-week daily pre-exposure to dietary PbTx followed by a single feeding with 54 Mn and 65 Zn, and a control (54 Mn and 65 Zn only). After a 21-day depuration period, turbot tissue brevetoxin levels were quantified and assimilation efficiencies of 54 Mn and 65 Zn were assessed. PbTxs were found in turbot tissues in each exposure treatment, demonstrating dietary trophic transfer of these toxins; yet, no differences in assimilation efficiencies of Mn or Zn were found between treatments or the control (p > 0.05). These results indicate that, in our experimental conditions, PbTx exposure does not significantly affect the trophic transfer of Mn and Zn in fish

A study of the influence of brevetoxin exposure on trace element bioaccumulation in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis

International audienceMarine organisms are exposed to and affected by a multitude of chemicals present in seawater and can accumulate in their tissues a wide range of contaminants as well as natural biotoxins associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs). Trace elements and biotoxins may modify physiological functions in exposed organisms, and studies have been conducted to better understand their respective kinetics and effects in marine species. Despite the increasing concern of concurrent toxic HABs and pollution events due to anthropogenic pressures and global change, very little information is available on their combined effects. Chemical interactions between biotoxins and trace elements have been reported, and exposure to certain biotoxins is known to modify ion transport pathways, suggesting that biotoxins have the potential to alter trace element uptake. Using specific and sensitive radiotracer techniques (radioligand receptor binding assay and γ-spectrometry), this laboratory study examined the influence of pre-exposure to the brevetoxins (PbTxs)-producing microalgae Karenia brevis on the bioaccumulation of selected non-essential (Cd) and essential (Co, Mn and Zn) trace elements in the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. PbTxs are a group of neurotoxins known to accumulate in bivalves but also to have lethal effects on a number of marine organisms including fish and mammals. We found that, over 23 days exposure to the radiotracers, the bioaccumulation of the dissolved essential trace elements Co, Mn and Zn in M. edulis was not significantly affected by pre-exposure to toxic K. brevis. In contrast, the uptake rate constant ku of Cd was significantly higher in the pre-exposed group (p < 0.05), likely caused by a decrease in mussel clearance rates after K. brevis exposure. These results suggest that the effects of algal toxin exposure on bioaccumulation of trace elements in mussels may be trace element-dependent