Baseline Assessment of the Coral Reef Habitat in Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park Adjacent to the Proposed Honokohau Harbor Expansion and Development, Kona Kai Ola, 2006-2007

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Coral reefs are ecologically and economically important ecosystems, but highly susceptible to impacts of coastal development and, therefore, indicative of environmental degradation. A detrimental impact of coastal development is the stimulation of a benthic community shift to algal dominance from coral dominance. To identify reef degradation before it has advanced too far to be readily reversed, it is important that a sound monitoring program is initiated and maintained, and that procedures are in place to rapidly take mitigation measures if coral-reef condition metrics indicate negative change. In 2006, at the southern boundary of Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park, 530 acres of public land were proposed to be developed into a mixed-use development that includes an almost 300% expansion of the existing Honokohau Small Boat Harbor. This proposed large-scale development has the potential to affect cultural and natural resources in Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP. A baseline study of the reefs in the vicinity of Honokohau Harbor was undertaken in order to generate a reliable and comprehensive assessment of the current (pre-harbor expansion) condition of the benthic communities within the Park. The study is comprised of three coral reef areas close to the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor and two reference sites presumed to be unaffected by onshore development. An overview of the current state of the benthic habitat for each site is presented, focusing on coral cover, algal cover, species composition, coral health, and macro-invertebrate abundance. Average coral cover across all sites was 47.4% +/- 6.4 SD and macroalgae were virtually absent (<0.5%). Coral cover at the five sites ranged between 31% and 58%, which is well within the range typically found on the west coast of Hawai'i. Dominant macroinvertebrates were large urchins, which are important herbivores. Additionally, individual coral colonies were identified to monitor coral mortality. A similar study is being conducted at the northern boundary of the Park where a residential development and a golf course are under construction. The results of both studies will be comparable, and provide baseline useful in monitoring for potential impacts of these nearshore developments.This study was funded by the National Park Service under Task Agreement # J8320060008 through the Hawaii-Pacific Islands Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Cooperative Agreement #H8080040012. We thank I. Williams, E. Brown, and W. J. Miller for their assistance with sampling design and statistics. We are grateful to I. Williams, DAR; E. Grossman, USGS; K. Knee and M. Parsons for letting us use their data. We thank R. Gmirkin and K. Wong for assistance in the field work and D. Duffy for his support. We thank two peer-reviewers for their review and comments. This work was performed under Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources Special Activity Permit number PRO-2006-84 and PRO-2007-16. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this report does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the National Park Service or the University of Hawaii

Immune mechanisms of protection: can adjuvants rise to the challenge?

For many diseases vaccines are lacking or only partly effective. Research on protective immunity and adjuvants that generate vigorous immune responses may help generate effective vaccines against such pathogens

Loss of the proapoptotic protein, Bim, breaks B cell anergy

Although B cells that respond with high avidity to self-antigen are eliminated early in their development, many autoreactive B cells escape elimination and are tolerized later in their lives via anergy. Anergic B cells are unresponsive to antigen and die prematurely. It has been suggested that the proapoptotic protein, Bim, controls the fate of anergic B cells. To test this idea, mice lacking Bim were crossed with mice that express soluble hen egg lysozyme and whose B cells bear receptors specific for the protein. In Bim+/+ mice these B cells are anergic and die rapidly. If the mice lack Bim, however, the B cells live longer, are more mature, respond to antigen, and secrete anti–hen egg lysozyme antibodies. This break of tolerance is not due to expression of endogenous B cell receptors, nor is it dependent on T cells. Rather, it appears to be due to a reduced requirement for the cytokine BAFF. Normal B cells require BAFF both for differentiation and survival. Bim−/− B cells, on the other hand, require BAFF only for differentiation. Therefore, autoreactive B cells are allowed to survive if they lack Bim and thus accumulate sufficient signals from differentiating factors to drive their maturation and production of autoantibodies

Predicting Impacts of Sea Level Rise for Cultural and Natural Resources in Five National Park Units on the Island of Hawai‘i

Reports were scanned in black and white at a resolution of 600 dots per inch and were converted to text using Adobe Paper Capture Plug-in.Various climate change models predict that global sea levels will rise up to 1.9 m by 2100. Sea level rise and changes in storm run up during large surf events will affect nearshore habitats, cultural resources, water resources and infra-structure worldwide. Tide gauges on the island of Hawaii have shown an average sea level rise of 3.5 mm/yr over recent decades and future accelerated rates are expected. The Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail includes an approximately 280 km portion of prehistoric trail on or parallel to the Hawai'i Island shoreline and passes through numerous significant cultural and biological resources including resources within four national parks (Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historical Site, Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, and Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park), all of which will be impacted by sea level rise. Incorporating detailed elevation data and sea level rise predictions in the early stages of planning could lessen impacts and aid in long term management of the trail. In this project, investigators at University of California, Berkeley collaborated with National Park Service staff to model the effects of future sea level rise on present cultural and natural resources within the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail corridor. Specifically, LiDAR and other existing spatial data were used to create high resolution Digital Elevation Models. Then a Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to create visualizations of resource inundation likely to occur by the year 2100 using a range of more conservative to more extreme sea-level rise predictions. Spatial analysis was also used to determine areas where particular habitats such as anchialine pools, fishponds, and wetlands will most likely occur in 2100 so that these future habitats can be protected. The inundation models are conservative because they do not include projections of wave run-up during storms, erosion, or groundwater elevations above sea level. Additionally, comparisons of LiDAR points to National Geodetic Survey Benchmarks indicates LiDAR elevations are offset by an average of + 0.25 m. Correction of this error in DEMs resulted in greater inundation at each sea level rise scenario compared to the models without the correction. Final sea level rise scenarios incorporate corrections for the offset. Detailed elevation data and model results for the NPS units are provided in a GIS geodatabase format for trail planning, park management and resource protection within the ALKA corridor.We are grateful to Rick Gmirkin, Aric Arakaki, Sallie Beavers, Nancy Erger, Darcy Hu, and others for their support. We are also grateful to Maggi Kelly, Chip Fletcher’s Lab group, Kirk Waters, and Maria Caffrey for their comments on the project and manuscript. Finally, Ed Carlson, John Marra, and Doug Harper generously conducted and shared data from surveys of National Geodetic Survey benchmarks. This project is a Californian Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit Project of the National Park Service and the University of California Regents at Berkeley (Task Agreement J8C07100018). The funding sources had no role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data

Structural Basis of Cytochrome c Presentation by IEk

The COOH-terminal peptides of pigeon and moth cytochrome c, bound to mouse IEk, are two of the most thoroughly studied T cell antigens. We have solved the crystal structures of the moth peptide and a weak agonist–antagonist variant of the pigeon peptide bound to IEk. The moth peptide and all other peptides whose structures have been solved bound to IEk, have a lysine filling the p9 pocket of IEk. However, the pigeon peptide has an alanine at p9 shifting the lysine to p10. Rather than kinking to place the lysine in the anchor pocket, the pigeon peptide takes the extended course through the binding groove, which is characteristic of all other peptides bound to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II. Thus, unlike MHC class I, in which peptides often kink to place optimally anchoring side chains, MHC class II imposes an extended peptide conformation even at the cost of a highly conserved anchor residue. The substitution of Ser for Thr at p8 in the variant pigeon peptide induces no detectable surface change other than the loss of the side chain methyl group, despite the dramatic change in recognition by T cells. Finally, these structures can be used to interpret the many published mutational studies of these ligands and the T cell receptors that recognize them