Collaborative Research: Long Records of Paleoclimate from Florida

Long Records of Paleoclimate from Florida Recent research on a continuous 50,000-year sediment record from eastern North America has revealed a striking correlation between Heinrich events (large surges in flow of ice streams feeding from the Laurentide ice sheet into the North Atlantic) and major changes in vegetation in peninsular Florida. These events are expressed at Lake Tulane, Florida, as abrupt shifts between pine-dominated and oak-dominated communities, which likely correspond with times of moist climate alternating with periods of extreme drought. Those results suggest that the Heinrich events involved important changes in ocean-atmosphere circulation, and thus forcing other than internal dynamics of the ice sheet. This award supports a research project designed with the following objectives: (1) To establish a higher-resolution AMS-radiocarbon chronology for the sediments of Lake Tulane. The record will verify whether the vegetational shifts in Florida are indeed synchronous with Heinrich events; (2) To reconstruct the history of lake-level fluctuations in Lake Tulane; (3) To extend the regional and temporal records of vegetation and climate for peninsular Florida by studying the pollen stratigraphy of new long cores (already collected) from several in-filled sinkholes. These sediments appear likely to span much more than the 50,000 years covered by the Lake Tulane record, and thus have excellent potential to produce the first record of changes in vegetation and climate spanning the last complete glacial/interglacial cycle in eastern North America

Jumpstart 2000—The Maine Economic Improvement Strategy: A Targeted Investment in Research and Development

In recent years Maine has ranked 50th in per capita spending on university-based research and development in the United States, a distinction that an increasing number of Maine policymakers, citizens, business representatives and researchers find alarming. Citing the positive gains R&D investments have shown in other states, not the least of which is improved economic performance, the authors set forth an argument for investing in Maine’s public R&D infrastructure. Whether and how to make such investments have been the subjects of recent debate in many states

B830: An Atlas of the Native Woody Plants of Maine: A Revision of the Hyland Maps

In 1944 Fay Hyland and Ferdinand Steinmetz published The Woody Plants of Maine: Their Occurrence and Distribution. This small bulletin catalogs the state\u27s native and exotic trees, shrubs, and woody vines. In-state distributions are given for 513 taxa, including 366 species, Ill varieties and named forms, and 36 hybrids. Hyland collected information for this comprehensive work from three sources: a systematic field survey of the state which he personally conducted between 1933 and 1939; a review of botanical publications on Maine flora; and herbarium records from the New England Botanical Club, Gray Herbarium, Arnold Arboretum, the Boston Society of Natural History, the Portland Society of Natural History, and several private collections. Eighteen thousand records were assembled through the field survey alone. These records, along with those tabulated from herbaria, were plotted by species on small-scale (1:1,000,000) maps of Maine. Written descriptions of each taxon were summarized from the resulting maps and compiled into the bulletin described above. The distribution maps themselves, however, were never published. The single (original) copy of Hyland\u27s maps has been kept in the Special Collections of the University of Maine\u27s Fogler Library since 1944. The ink used to mark species occurrences on those maps is now fading sufficiently to endanger the records. To preserve this valuable resource and to evaluate patterns of species\u27 richness in Maine, maps of all native species were digitized using AUTOCAD (1988). In all, 240 species meet Hyland\u27s definition of woody plants ( those plants with ligneous, perennial [biennial in Rubus] stems which increase in diameter each year by formation of annual rings ) and the criterion of natural occurrence. This includes varieties and subspecies that are the sole representative of a given species as well as 10 taxa whose distributions were not documented by Hyland (Table 1). Because new stations have been documented for many species in the nearly 50 years since the original distribution maps were prepared, specimens in the University of Maine Herbarium and the publication Rare Vascular Plants of Maine were used to update Hyland\u27s maps. A new record was noted only if it clarified or extended the range boundary of a species.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_bulletin/1130/thumbnail.jp

New Use for a Corn By-product

Iowa farmers can expect satisfactory results when Iowa-produced hydrol is fed to dairy cows

Maine’s Climate Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Recent evidence suggests that climate change is occurring at an accelerated rate as a result of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions and associated pollutants. Based on a recently completed study, the authors describe the changes Maine’s climate is likely to undergo over the next century. They suggest that while reduction of greenhouse gases is crucial, Maine needs to be prepared to adapt to the impact that our already changing climate will have on various ecosystems and economic sectors within the stat

Maine\u27s climate future: an initial assessment

Earth’s atmosphere is experiencing unprecedented changes that are modifying global climate. Discussions continue around the world, the nation, and in Maine on how to reduce and eventually eliminate emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), other greenhouse gases, and other pollutants to the atmosphere, land, and oceans. These efforts are vitally important and urgent. However, even if a coordinated response succeeds in eliminating excess greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the century, something that appears highly unlikely today, climate change will continue, because the elevated levels of CO2 can persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years to come. In late 2007, Governor Baldacci asked the University of Maine and its ClimateChange Institute to lead a wide-ranging analysis of the state’s future in the context of changing climate during the 21st century. The assignment involved making use of existing knowledge and understanding of climate change; the terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems that characterize our environment; and the socioeconomic characteristics of the state. The project involved no financial support for new research or data collection, but participating scientists contributed their time and expertise to initiate a process that could lead to systematic planning and thoughtful decisions for the future. Based on considerable prior research, this report serves as a preliminary step designed to frame future detailed analyses focused on Maine by teams that will likely continue for years

Observation of Amounts of Movement Practice Provided during Stroke Rehabilitation

Objective To investigate how much movement practice occurred during stroke rehabilitation, and what factors might influence doses of practice provided. Design Observational survey of stroke therapy sessions. Setting Seven inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation sites. Participants We observed a convenience sample of 312 physical and occupational therapy sessions for people with stroke. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures We recorded numbers of repetitions in specific movement categories and data on potential modifying factors (patient age, side affected, time since stroke, FIM item scores, years of therapist experience). Descriptive statistics were used to characterize amounts of practice. Correlation and regression analyses were used to determine whether potential factors were related to the amount of practice in the 2 important categories of upper extremity functional movements and gait steps. Results Practice of task-specific, functional upper extremity movements occurred in 51% of the sessions that addressed upper limb rehabilitation, and the average number of repetitions/session was 32 (95% confidence interval [CI]=20–44). Practice of gait occurred in 84% of sessions that addressed lower limb rehabilitation and the average number of gait steps/session was 357 (95% CI=296–418). None of the potential factors listed accounted for significant variance in the amount of practice in either of these 2 categories. Conclusions The amount of practice provided during poststroke rehabilitation is small compared with animal models. It is possible that current doses of task-specific practice during rehabilitation are not adequate to drive the neural reorganization needed to promote function poststroke optimally