Movement patterns of Westslope Cutthroat Trout populations in isolated headwater streams of Montana

A long-held belief regarding stream-resident salmonid populations is that fish are predominately sedentary, termed the restricted movement paradigm. The existing literature has addressed whether fish are mobile and undergo long-range movements, or are sedentary and remain in small (20-50 m) reaches of the stream, or a combination of both. The restricted movement paradigm suggests resident salmonid populations are sedentary, however, limited studies exist on the restricted movement paradigm with respect to small, isolated riverine salmonid populations. We tested the restricted movement paradigm in four isolated Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi )populations on the east side of the continental divide in Montana in the summers of 2017 and 2018. We conducted a mark/recapture study using electrofishing and recorded the stream segment fish were captured, using a 40-m resolution per stream reach. We will calculate the mean and variability in fish movements to determine if these populations align with the restricted movement paradigm. Movement distributions will be compared for short-term (seasonal) versus long-term (annual) movement. Additionally, we will examine how individual fish length and fish density influences movement using generalized linear models. This study will give us a detailed understanding of the movement patterns of Westslope Cutthroat Trout in these isolated systems, something that has not been well-studied. Movement is a critical ecological and evolutionary process that can give us a better understanding of population dynamics. As our study streams are fragmented and fish are restricted to available habitat, limited movement within the isolated habitat could suggest further implications to the persistence of these valuable populations

Lacunarity as a texture measure for a tropical forest landscape

Fragmentation and loss of tropical forest cover alters terrestrial plant and animal population dynamics, reduces biodiversity and carbon storage capacity, and, as a global phenomenon could affect regional and global climate patterns. Lacunarity as a texture measure can offer a simple solution to characterize the texture of tropical forest landscape and determine spatial patterns associated with ecological processes. Lacunarity quantifies the deviation from translational invariance by describing the distribution of gaps within a binary image at multiple scales. As lacunarity increases, the spatial arrangement of tropical forest gaps will also increase. In this study, we used the Spatial Modeler in Imagine as a graphic programming tool to calculate lacunarity indices for a tropical forest landscape in Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala. Lacunarity indices were derived from classified Landsat MSS images acquired in 1974 and 1984. Random-generated binary images were also used to derive lacunarity indices and compared with the lacunarity of forest patterns derived from the classified MSS images. Tropical forest area declined about 17%, with most of the forest areas converted into pasture/grassland for grazing. During this period, lacunarity increased about 25%. Results of this study suggest that tropical forest fragmentation could be quantified with lacunarity measures. The study also demonstrated that the Spatial Modeler can be useful as a programming tool to quantify spatial patterns of tropical forest landscape by using remotely sensed data

Characterization of uncertainties in atmospheric trace gas inversions using hierarchical Bayesian methods

We present a hierarchical Bayesian method for atmospheric trace gas inversions. This method is used to estimate emissions of trace gases as well as "hyper-parameters" that characterize the probability density functions (PDFs) of the a priori emissions and model-measurement covariances. By exploring the space of "uncertainties in uncertainties", we show that the hierarchical method results in a more complete estimation of emissions and their uncertainties than traditional Bayesian inversions, which rely heavily on expert judgment. We present an analysis that shows the effect of including hyper-parameters, which are themselves informed by the data, and show that this method can serve to reduce the effect of errors in assumptions made about the a priori emissions and model-measurement uncertainties. We then apply this method to the estimation of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) emissions over 2012 for the regions surrounding four Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) stations. We find that improper accounting of model representation uncertainties, in particular, can lead to the derivation of emissions and associated uncertainties that are unrealistic and show that those derived using the hierarchical method are likely to be more representative of the true uncertainties in the system. We demonstrate through this SF6 case study that this method is less sensitive to outliers in the data and to subjective assumptions about a priori emissions and model-measurement uncertainties than traditional methods

Recent and future trends in synthetic greenhouse gas radiative forcing

Atmospheric measurements show that emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons are now the primary drivers of the positive growth in synthetic greenhouse gas (SGHG) radiative forcing. We infer recent SGHG emissions and examine the impact of future emissions scenarios, with a particular focus on proposals to reduce HFC use under the Montreal Protocol. If these proposals are implemented, overall SGHG radiative forcing could peak at around 355 mW m[superscript −2] in 2020, before declining by approximately 26% by 2050, despite continued growth of fully fluorinated greenhouse gas emissions. Compared to “no HFC policy” projections, this amounts to a reduction in radiative forcing of between 50 and 240 mW m[superscript −2] by 2050 or a cumulative emissions saving equivalent to 0.5 to 2.8 years of CO2 emissions at current levels. However, more complete reporting of global HFC emissions is required, as less than half of global emissions are currently accounted for.Natural Environment Research Council (Great Britain) (Advanced Research Fellowship NE/I021365/1)United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Upper Atmospheric Research Program Grant NNX11AF17G)United States. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administratio

Engineering Crystal Packing in RNA-Protein Complexes II: A Historical Perspective from the Structural Studies of the Spliceosome

Cryo-electron microscopy has greatly advanced our understanding of how the spliceosome cycles through different conformational states to conduct the chemical reactions that remove introns from pre-mRNA transcripts. The Cryo-EM structures were built upon decades of crystallographic studies of various spliceosomal RNA-protein complexes. In this review we give an overview of the crystal structures solved in the Nagai group, utilizing many of the strategies to design crystal packing as described in the accompanying paper

Spectral analysis of the Forel-Ule ocean colour comparator scale

François Alphonse Forel (1890) and Willi Ule (1892) composed a colour comparator scale, with tints varying from indigo-blue to coca-cola brown, to quantify the colour of natural waters, like seas, lakes and rivers. For each measurement, the observer compares the colour of the water above a submersed white disc (Secchi disc) with the hand-held scale of pre-defined colours. The scale can be well reproduced from a simple recipe for twenty-one coloured chemical solutions and because the ease of its use, the Forel-Ule (FU) scale has been applied globally and intensively by oceanographers and limnologists from the year 1890. Indeed, the archived FU data belong to the oldest oceanographic data sets and do contain information on the changes in geobiophysical properties of natural waters during the last century. In this article we describe the optical properties of the FU-scale and its ability to cover the colours of natural waters, as observed by the human eye. The recipe of the scale and its reproduction is described. The spectral transmission of the tubes, with belonging chromaticity coordinates, is presented. The FU scale, in all its simplicity, is found to be an adequate ocean colour comparator scale. The scale is well characterized, is stable and observations are reproducible. This supports the idea that the large historic data base of FU measurements is coherent and well calibrated. Moreover, the scale can be coupled to contemporary multi-spectral observations with hand-held and satellite-based spectrometers

Social Imaginaries in Debate

A collaborative article by the Editorial Collective of Social Imaginaries. Investigations into social imaginaries have burgeoned in recent years. From ‘the capitalist imaginary’ to the ‘democratic imaginary’, from the ‘ecological imaginary’ to ‘the global imaginary’ – and beyond – the social imaginaries field has expanded across disciplines and beyond the academy. The recent debates on social imaginaries and potential new imaginaries reveal a recognisable field and paradigm-in-the-making. We argue that Castoriadis, Ricoeur, and Taylor have articulated the most important theoretical frameworks for understanding social imaginaries, although the field as a whole remains heterogeneous. We further argue that the notion of social imaginaries draws on the modern understanding of the imagination as authentically creative. We contend that an elaboration of social imaginaries involves a significant, qualitative shift in the understanding of societies as collectively and politically-instituted formations that are irreducible to inter-subjectivity or systemic logics. After marking out the contours of the field and recounting a philosophical history of the imagination, the essay turns to debates on social imaginaries in more concrete contexts, specifically political-economic imaginaries, the ecological imaginary, multiple modernities and their inter-civilisational encounters. The social imaginaries field imparts powerful messages for the human sciences and wider publics. In particular, social imaginaries hold significant implications for ontological, phenomenological and philosophical anthropological questions; for the cultural, social, and political horizons of contemporary worlds; and for ecological and economic phenomena. The essay concludes with the argument that social imaginaries as a paradigm-in-the-making offers valuable means by which movements towards social change can be elucidated as well providing an open horizon for the critiques of existing social practice

TransCom N2O model inter-comparison - Part 2:Atmospheric inversion estimates of N2O emissions

This study examines N2O emission estimates from five different atmospheric inversion frameworks based on chemistry transport models (CTMs). The five frameworks differ in the choice of CTM, meteorological data, prior uncertainties and inversion method but use the same prior emissions and observation data set. The posterior modelled atmospheric N2O mole fractions are compared to observations to assess the performance of the inversions and to help diagnose problems in the modelled transport. Additionally, the mean emissions for 2006 to 2008 are compared in terms of the spatial distribution and seasonality. Overall, there is a good agreement among the inversions for the mean global total emission, which ranges from 16.1 to 18.7 TgN yr(-1) and is consistent with previous estimates. Ocean emissions represent between 31 and 38% of the global total compared to widely varying previous estimates of 24 to 38%. Emissions from the northern mid- to high latitudes are likely to be more important, with a consistent shift in emissions from the tropics and subtropics to the mid- to high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere; the emission ratio for 0-30A degrees N to 30-90A degrees N ranges from 1.5 to 1.9 compared with 2.9 to 3.0 in previous estimates. The largest discrepancies across inversions are seen for the regions of South and East Asia and for tropical and South America owing to the poor observational constraint for these areas and to considerable differences in the modelled transport, especially inter-hemispheric exchange rates and tropical convective mixing. Estimates of the seasonal cycle in N2O emissions are also sensitive to errors in modelled stratosphere-to-troposphere transport in the tropics and southern extratropics. Overall, the results show a convergence in the global and regional emissions compared to previous independent studies