Observations of Musk Oxen on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada

Notes summer 1963 observations of Ovibos moschatus. On a reconnaissance flight over the northern third of the island on Aug. 2 nearly sixty were seen, indicating greater abundance than hitherto supposed. Only two were seen south of the reconnaissance area during a two-month period; apparently they concentrate in the northern part at least during the summer

Comparison of Cyssor analogues in the cysteine-specific chemical cleavage of ovalbumin

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73531/1/j.1399-3011.1984.tb02721.x.pd

Foraging Behavior of American Redstarts in Breeding and Wintering Habitats: Implications for Relative Food Availability

We investigated food availability for a long-distance migrant species, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), in both its summer breeding habitat in New Hampshire and in its winter habitat in Jamaica. We used four components of foraging behavior (prey attack rate, foraging speed, time spent foraging, and foraging maneuver use) as indicators of the relative availability of prey in the two seasons. Redstarts attacked prey at a significantly greater rate in summer than in winter, indicating that foraging birds encountered prey more frequently in summer. The winter prey-encounter rate was low even though redstarts moved almost twice as fast while foraging in winter as in summer. Male redstarts also spent more time foraging in winter (85%) than in summer (43-65%), possibly to balance the low rate at which they encountered prey. In winter, redstarts used more foraging maneuvers that were directed towards small flying prey, whereas in summer they used maneuvers that resulted in the capture of relatively large and presumably energy-rich prey such as lepidopteran larvae. That wintering redstarts foraged faster, attacked prey less often, and spent more time foraging than those in summer indicates that the winter is a period of relative food scarcity for this species, whereas the breeding season is a period of greater resource abundance

Flux of nutrients from Russian rivers to the Arctic Ocean: Can we establish a baseline against which to judge future changes?

Climate models predict significant warming in the Arctic in the 21st century, which will impact the functioning of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as alter land‐ocean interactions in the Arctic. Because river discharge and nutrient flux integrate large‐scale processes, they should be sensitive indicators of change, but detection of future changes requires knowledge of current conditions. Our objective in this paper is to evaluate the current state of affairs with respect to estimating nutrient flux to the Arctic Ocean from Russian rivers. To this end we provide estimates of contemporary (1970s–1990s) nitrate, ammonium, and phosphate fluxes to the Arctic Ocean for 15 large Russian rivers. We rely primarily on the extensive data archives of the former Soviet Union and current Russian Federation and compare these values to other estimates and to model predictions. Large discrepancies exist among the various estimates. These uncertainties must be resolved so that the scientific community will have reliable data with which to calibrate Arctic biogeochemical models and so that we will have a baseline against which to judge future changes (either natural or anthropogenic) in the Arctic watershed

Spatial Scaling of Avian Population Dynamics: Population Abundance, Growth Rate, and Variability

Synchrony in population fluctuations has been identified as an important component of population dynamics. In a previous study, we determined that local‐scale (\u3c15‐km) spatial synchrony of bird populations in New England was correlated with synchronous fluctuations in lepidopteran larvae abundance and with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Here we address five questions that extend the scope of our earlier study using North American Breeding Bird Survey data. First, do bird populations in eastern North America exhibit spatial synchrony in abundances at scales beyond those we have documented previously? Second, does spatial synchrony depend on what population metric is analyzed (e.g., abundance, growth rate, or variability)? Third, is there geographic concordance in where species exhibit synchrony? Fourth, for those species that exhibit significant geographic concordance, are there landscape and habitat variables that contribute to the observed patterns? Fifth, is spatial synchrony affected by a species\u27 life history traits? Significant spatial synchrony was common and its magnitude was dependent on the population metric analyzed. Twenty‐four of 29 species examined exhibited significant synchrony in population abundance: mean local autocorrelation (ρ) = 0.15; mean spatial extent (mean distance where ρ = 0) = 420.7 km. Five of the 29 species exhibited significant synchrony in annual population growth rate (mean local autocorrelation = 0.06, mean distance = 457.8 km). Ten of the 29 species exhibited significant synchrony in population abundance variability (mean local autocorrelation = 0.49, mean distance = 413.8 km). Analyses of landscape structure indicated that habitat variables were infrequent contributors to spatial synchrony. Likewise, we detected no effects of life history traits on synchrony in population abundance or growth rate. However, short‐distance migrants exhibited more spatially extensive synchrony in population variability than either year‐round residents or long‐distance migrants. The dissimilarity of the spatial extent of synchrony across species suggests that most populations are not regulated at similar spatial scales. The spatial scale of the population synchrony patterns we describe is likely larger than the actual scale of population regulation, and in turn, the scale of population regulation is undoubtedly larger than the scale of individual ecological requirements

Quench Crucibles Reinforced with Metal

Improved crucibles consisting mainly of metal-reinforced ceramic ampules have been developed for use in experiments in which material specimens are heated in the crucibles to various high temperatures, then quenched by, for example, plunging the crucibles into water at room temperature. In a traditional quench crucible, the gap between the ampule and the metal cartridge impedes the transfer of heat to such a degree that the quench rate (the rate of cooling of the specimen) can be too low to produce the desired effect in the specimen. One can increase the quench rate by eliminating the metal cartridge to enable direct quenching of the ampule, but then the thermal shock of direct quenching causes cracking of the ampule. In a quench crucible of the present improved type, there is no gap and no metal cartridge in the traditional sense. Instead, there is an overlay of metal in direct contact with the ampule, as shown on the right side of the figure. Because there is no gap between the metal overlay and the ampule, the heat-transfer rate can be much greater than it is in a traditional quench crucible. The metal overlay also reinforces the ampule against cracking

Lidar Remote Sensing Variables Predict Breeding Habitat of a Neotropical Migrant Bird

A topic of recurring interest in ecological research is the degree to which vegetation structure influences the distribution and abundance of species. Here we test the applicability of remote sensing, particularly novel use of waveform lidar measurements, for quantifying the habitat heterogeneity of a contiguous northern hardwoods forest in the northeastern United States. We apply these results to predict the breeding habitat quality, an indicator of reproductive output of a well-studied Neotropical migrant songbird, the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). We found that using canopy vertical structure metrics provided unique information for models of habitat quality and spatial patterns of prevalence. An ensemble decision tree modeling approach (random forests) consistently identified lidar metrics describing the vertical distribution and complexity of canopy elements as important predictors of habitat use over multiple years. Although other aspects of habitat were important, including the seasonality of vegetation cover, the canopy structure variables provided unique and complementary information that systematically improved model predictions. We conclude that canopy structure metrics derived from waveform lidar, which will be available on future satellite missions, can advance multiple aspects of biodiversity research, and additional studies should be extended to other organisms and regions

Better VPS Fabrication of Crucibles and Furnace Cartridges

An experimental investigation has shown that by (1) vacuum plasma spraying (VPS) of suitable refractory metal alloys on graphite mandrels, and then (2) heat-treating the VPS alloy deposits under suitable conditions, it is possible to fabricate improved crucibles and furnace cartridges that could be used at maximum temperatures between 1,400 and 1,600 C and that could withstand chemical attack by the materials to be heated in the crucibles and cartridges. Taken by itself, the basic concept of fabricating furnace cartridges by VPS of refractory materials onto graphite mandrels is not new; taken by itself, the basic concept of heat treatment of VPS deposits for use as other than furnace cartridges is also not new; however, prior to this investigation, experimental crucibles and furnace cartridges fabricated by VPS had not been heat treated and had been found to be relatively weak and brittle. Accordingly, the investigation was directed toward determining whether certain combinations of (1) refractory alloy compositions, (2) VPS parameters, and (3) heat-treatment parameters could result in VPS-fabricated components with increased ductility