Impacts of artificial reef addition on the nekton community of Louisiana marsh ponds: a before-after-control-impact analysis

Louisiana’s coastal estuaries are dynamic, highly variable environments that provide nursery areas for numerous recreationally and commercially important species. Louisiana’s coastline is constantly changing due to natural and anthropogenic processes, and it is important to know how nektonic species are impacted by such changes. This study sought to assess the effects of introducing a hard substrate artificial reef on the nekton community of a Louisiana estuary. A before-after-control-impact (BACI) design was used to assess the impacts of artificial reef addition on nektonic fishes and crustaceans in four shallow marsh ponds near Empire, Louisiana. Marsh ponds were sampled by purse seine and fyke nets every other month from May 2009 to November 2010. Five sites within each pond, four consisting of soft-bottom habitat and one of marsh edge habitat, were sampled. Midway through the study period (March 2010), 110 tons of limestone cobble were distributed across two soft-bottom sites in two of the ponds to mimic oyster reefs. Over 113,000 individuals comprising 57 species were collected. A combination of statistical analyses, including ANOVA, PERMANOVA, and ANOSIM, were used on a variety of nekton community parameters, including species richness, diversity, nekton density, and community structure, to determine the impacts of artificial reef addition on the nekton community. Individual species shown to contribute to changes at impacted areas were also examined. Overall, the addition of artificial reefs had no significant effect on the nekton community as a whole. Select life-stages of estuarine nekton may be positively or negatively affected by reef presence depending on ontogenetic shifts in prey and habitat selection of each species. Once colonized and evolved into functioning oyster reefs, I believe in the absence of natural oyster reefs that the artificial reefs constructed in this study can act as quality nekton habitat. Longer study periods as well as further information on the movement behavior and habitat utilization of individual estuarine species may help elucidate the relationship between estuarine nekton and the habitats they occupy

Historical and visual analysis with design recommendations for storefronts facing the Madison County Courthouse square, Winterset, Iowa

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2436904

THE MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEM WEB SITE

Agribusiness,

E-BUSINESS APPLICATIONS OF THE MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS WEBSITE

Agribusiness, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

President Trump’s Executive Order No. 13780: Impact on Refugee Resettlement Organizations in Buffalo

On March 6th, 2017 President Trump signed Executive Order 13780: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into The United States. This effectively lowered the refugee admissions cap by more than half and thus had an impact on the work of local refugee resettlement organizations. This change is especially relevant to Buffalo, as the city has a significant refugee population which relies on these organizations for various services. There are many components which must be taken into consideration in order to understand how this public policy has tangible impacts on local resettlement organizations. International refugee law and domestic refugee policy set the framework for how these organizations interact with one another and with government. The U.S. federal government is responsible for adhering to the 1951 United Nations Convention Related to the Status of Refugees. The Refugee Act of 1980 formalized the domestic policy towards refugees which before was primarily ad hoc in nature. The nature of the relationship between government and nongovernmental resettlement agencies is cooperative, with government relying on organizations to provide services and organizations relying on government for funding. Because of this, NGOs must embrace strategies to remain sustainable during hard times when funding is cut. This research includes a qualitative and quantitative study of the local resettlement organizations in Buffalo: The International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Catholic Charities, and Jewish Family Services. These organizations undoubtedly felt the impact of President Trump’s Executive Order and the subsequent loss in funding. An analysis of their funding information along with open-ended interviews with organizational administrators revealed the relationship that from mission drift to staffing cuts, they have had to find ways to cope with the changes. Moving forward, new strategies need to be embraced while the organizations continue to prepare themselves for future policy changes under the Trump administration

North Atlantic seasonal hurricane prediction: underlying science and an evaluation of statistical models

Statistically-based seasonal hurricane outlooks for the North Atlantic were initiated by Colorado State University (CSU) in 1984, and have been issued every year since that time by CSU. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center and the UK-based Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) have the next longest records (1998-present) of continuous outlooks. This chapter describes how these three forecasts have evolved with time, and documents the approaches, the environmental fields, and the lead times which underpin the models’ operation. Some of the environmental parameters used in early seasonal outlooks are no longer employed, but new predictive fields have been found which appear to be more important for seasonal hurricane prediction. An assessment is made of the deterministic skill of the seasonal hurricane outlooks issued in real-time by CSU, NOAA, and TSR between 2003 and 2014. All methods show moderate-to-good skill for early August outlooks (prior to the most active portion of the hurricane season), low-to-moderate skill for outlooks issued in early June, and lesser skill for outlooks issued in early April. Overall, the TSR model has the most skillful predictions of Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), while NOAA has the best named storm predictions issued in early August

Classes on the Internet: A How to Guide

Presenting PowerPoint slides on the Internet let Extension educators reach a widespread and time-stressed audience 24/7. This article explains the software needed, gives some pointers on developing such a presentation, and describes some examples from Rutgers Cooperative Extension