Physical Activity: A Tool for Improving Health (Part 2—Mental Health Benefits)

By promoting physical activities and incorporating them into their community-based programs, Extension professionals are improving the health of individuals, particularly those with limited resources. This article is the second in a three-part series describing the benefits of physical activity for human health: (1) biological health benefits of physical activity, (2) mental health benefits of physical activity, and (3) recommended amounts of physical activity for optimal health. Each part of the series is designed to help Extension professionals effectively integrate physical activity into community programs and motivate individuals to maintain an interest in being physically active during and after a program

Physical Activity: A Tool for Improving Health (Part 1—Biological Health Benefits

Extension educators have been promoting and incorporating physical activities into their community-based programs and improving the health of individuals, particularly those with limited resources. This article is the first of a three-part series describing the benefits of physical activity for human health: 1) biological health benefits of physical activity, 2) mental health benefits of physical activity, and 3) recommended amounts of physical activity for optimal health. Each part of the series is designed to help Extension educators effectively integrate physical activity into community programs and motivate individuals to maintain an interest in being physically active during and after the program

The Effects of the Endicott Development Project on the Boulder Patch, an Arctic Kelp Community in Stefansson Sound, Alaska

The Boulder Patch in Stefansson Sound, Beaufort Sea, of Alaska harbors a diverse arctic kelp community in areas where rock cover exceeds 10%. In 1985, the Endicott Development Project, the first major offshore oil development in the Alaskan Arctic, was constructed shoreward of this community at the mouth of the Sagavanirktok River. A 7-year study was conducted to determine the effects of the development on kelp health and growth and taxa diversity of the overall community. No adverse effects were detected. The regional patterns of sediment transport served to protect the community from development-derived sediment loadings and discharges. Sediment transport patterns likely also contribute to the unusual presence of this community in the sound.Key words: Boulder Patch, kelp, Laminaria solidungula, Beaufort Sea, productivity, colonization, epilithic community, epilithic flora, epilithic fauna, benthic community, sediment transportBoulder Patch, dans le détroit Stefansson situé dans la mer de Beaufort (Alaska), abrite une communauté d'algues diversifiée dans les endroits où la couverture rocheuse dépasse 10 p. cent. En 1985 a été lancé le projet de développement d'Endicott, premier grand aménagement d'exploitation pétrolière en mer dans l'Arctique alaskien, établi entre le rivage et cette communauté, à l'embouchure de la rivière Sagavanirktok. Une étude de sept ans a été menée pour déterminer les effets du développement sur l'état de santé et la croissance des algues ainsi que sur la diversité des taxons de l'ensemble de la communauté. Aucun effet nocif n'a été détecté. Les schémas régionaux du transport sédimentaire ont servi à protéger la communauté de l'accumulation et du débit sédimentaires dus à l'exploitation. Les schémas de transport des sédiments ont aussi probablement contribué à la présence inhabituelle de cette communauté dans le détroit.Mots clés: Boulder Patch, algues, Laminaria solidungulam, mer de Beaufort, productivité, colonisation, communauté épilithique, flore épilithique, faune épilithique, communauté benthique, transsrt solid

The Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) Subsistence and Commercial Fisheries, Colville River, Alaska: A Conceptual Model

The arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis), known regionally by its Inupiat name qaaqtaq, is the principal target of fall subsistence and commercial fisheries that operate in the Colville River along the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. Our conceptual model of the fisheries is based on more than two decades of continuous scientific study conducted in conjunction with oil industry growth on the North Slope. It expands upon an existing body of published literature to discuss additional factors that affect fishery yields. Long-term data indicate that arctic cisco spawn in Canada’s Mackenzie River system. Young-of-the-year are transported westward into Alaska by wind-driven coastal currents. Arctic cisco successfully recruit to Alaska’s Colville River when summer winds blow from the east with an average speed greater than 5 km/h. The successful recruitment of these young arctic cisco to central Alaska is a prerequisite for the eventual entry of harvestable five- to eight-year-old fish into the region’s subsistence and commercial fisheries. Recruitment into the fisheries also requires that fish survive in central Alaska for the five to six years it takes for them to grow to a harvestable size. Once these fish are recruited into the fisheries, annual harvests are strongly dependent on salinity conditions within the fishing grounds. Although fishing mortality occurs, the loss of older fish from the region is attributed largely to the emigration of sexually mature fish back to Canada.Le cisco arctique (Coregonus autumnalis), connu régionalement sous le nom de qaaqtaq en inupiat, est la principale cible des pêcheries commerciales et de la subsistance d’automne de Colville River, le long de la partie alaskienne de la mer de Beaufort. Notre modèle conceptuel des pêcheries repose sur une étude scientifique réalisée sans arrêt pendant plus de deux décennies à la lumière de l’essor connu par l’industrie du pétrole sur la côte Nord. Il s’appuie également sur de la documentation publiée et englobe d’autres facteurs qui ont une incidence sur le rendement des pêcheries. Les données de longue date laissent entendre que le cisco arctique fraie dans la partie canadienne du réseau du fleuve Mackenzie. Les jeunes de l’année sont transportés vers l’Ouest, en Alaska, par les courants de dérive du littoral. Le cisco arctique réussit à se recruter dans la région alaskienne de Colville River lorsque les vents d’été soufflent de l’est à une vitesse moyenne de 5 km/h. Le recrutement réussi de ces jeunes ciscos arctiques vers le centre de l’Alaska est un préalable pour l’entrée éventuelle des poissons pêchables de cinq à huit ans en vue de la subsistance de la région et de la pêche commerciale. Le recrutement implique également que les poissons doivent survivre dans le centre de l’Alaska pendant les cinq à six années qu’il leur faut pour atteindre une taille se prêtant à la pêche. Une fois que ces poissons sont recrutés dans les pêcheries, les récoltes annuelles dépendent beaucoup des conditions de salinité présentes aux pêcheries. Malgré le taux de mortalité par pêche, la perte de poissons plus âgés dans la région est grandement attribuable à l’émigration au Canada de poissons prêts à se reproduire

Population Estimates and Geographic Distribution of the Yellow Mud Turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) in Iowa

The yellow mud turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) is an endangered species in Iowa known from six localities in the stare. The only large population is located on a private preserve on Big Sand Mound in Muscatine and Louisa Countries and is estimated to consist of 2,000 to 3,000 individuals. Following the removal of predators in 1979, density estimates have tripled as estimated by the Sequential Bayes Algorithm of mark-recapture data. Assuming the Big Sand Mound population was nor severely damaged by the drought of 1988, it is judged sufficiently large to serve as a source to enrich certain of Iowa\u27s other mud turtle populations

Evaluation of the Status of the Kemp\u27s Ridley Sea Turtle After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Coincident with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, unprecedented numbers of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) stranded on northern Gulf of Mexico beaches and the number of nests recorded on the primary nesting beaches plummeted far below expected levels. High levels of strandings have continued since 2010 and the number of nests recovered to approximately 2009 levels in 2011, and improved slightly in 2012. A stock assessment conducted in 2012 indicated that a mortality event occurred in 2010, and that the number of nests should once more exhibit an increasing trend from 2013 and beyond. This has not happened; rather, the number of nests declined sharply in 2013. We conducted a new stock assessment to evaluate additional scenarios, including 1) three stock-recruitment options; 2) the potential that a new source of ongoing mortality is present; and 3) the potential that the number of nests-per-adult-female is dependent on the size of the age-2+ benthic population. The latter model provided the best fit to the data. Further, the preliminary estimate of actual nesting in 2014 is consistent with model projections. The reduction in reproductive output could be due to the combination of a large population and reduced prey levels. Together these may have increased the remigration interval or reduced the number of nests per female. However, research is needed to evaluate this and other plausible hypotheses. Nesting may be highly variable in the future depending on feeding conditions on the foraging grounds

Contributions to the Science of Environmental Impact Assessment: Three Papers on the Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) of Northern Alaska

Editor's Introduction -- D. W. Norton; An Assessment of the Colville River Delta Stock of Arctic Cisco--Migrants from Canada? -- B. J. Gallaway, W. B. Griffiths, P. C. Craig, W. J. Gazey, and J. W. Helmericks; Temperature Preference of Juvenile Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) From the Alaskan Beaufort Sea -- R. G. Fechhelm, W. H. Neill, and B. J. Gallaway; Modeling Movements and Distribution of Arctic Cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) Relative to Temperature-Salinity Regimes of the Beaufort Sea Near the Waterflood Causeway, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. -- W. H. Neill, R. G. Fechhelm, B. J. Gallaway, J. D. Bryan, and S. W. Anderson; Notice to Author

Estimating the Hydrographic Effects of Prudhoe Bay Causeway Breaches Using the Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) Analysis

A Before-After Control-Impact (BACI) analysis was used to test the effects of new breaches constructed in two Prudhoe Bay causeways on hydrographic conditions during the open-water summer season. At West Dock, under east wind conditions, significant cross-causeway differentials in salinity and temperature at the surface (1 m depth or less) were observed in all eight pre-breach cases tested. In the years following construction of the breach, there were no significant cross-causeway differentials in seven of those eight cases. At Endicott Causeway, under east wind conditions, significant cross-causeway differentials in surface salinity and temperature were observed in all eight pre-breach cases tested. Significant cross-causeway differentials continued in all eight cases following construction of the new breach. Results suggest that the new breach at West Dock has successfully mitigated cross-causeway hydrographic differentials, and that the new breach at the Endicott Causeway has had no observable effect. The possible reasons for this disparity include different hydrographic dynamics in the vicinity of each causeway.On a procédé à une analyse de contrôle-incidence avant-après pour tester les effets de nouvelles brèches aménagées dans deux ponts-jetées de la baie Prudhoe sur les conditions hydrographiques durant la saison estivale d'eau libre. Au West Dock, par vent d'est, on a observé des écarts notables de part et d'autre du pont-jetée dans la salinité et la température de surface (jusqu'à 1 m de profondeur) dans les huit tests effectués avant l'aménagement de la brèche. Au cours des années suivantes, on n'a relevé aucun écart notable de part et d'autre du pont-jetée dans sept de ces huit cas. Au pont-jetée Endicott, par vent d'est, on a relevé d'importants écarts dans la salinité et la température de surface dans les huit tests datant d'avant la brèche. D'importants écarts de part et d'autre ont continué à se manifester dans les huit cas, après la construction de la nouvelle brèche. Les résultats suggèrent qu'au West Dock, la nouvelle brèche a réussi à atténuer les écarts hydrographiques, et qu'au pont-jetée Endicott, elle n'a pas causé d'effet observable. Parmi les raisons possibles de cette disparité, il faut compter une différence dans la dynamique hydrographique au voisinage de chaque pont-jetée