Morfologi Sargassum SP Di Kepulauan Raja Ampat, Papua Barat

Sargassum sp. merupakan salah satu sumberdaya alam pesisir yang memiliki fungsi ekologis dan ekonomis bagi masyarakat pesisir. Di Kepulauan Raja Ampat ini belum banyak alga Sargassum yang di eksplorasi. Alga Sargassum memiliki berbagai macam bentuk morfologi tallus, misalnya ada yang berbentuk seperti benang yang halus, bercabang banyak, berbentuk gelembung, daun yang lebar, bergerigi pada bagian daun dan bertalus lebar.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui jenis dan mendeskripsikan morfologi Sargassum yang ditemukan di Kepulauan Raja Ampat, Papua Barat. Dari hasil penelitian ditemukan ada 4 spesies di Pulau Yeftip Yefnawam (S. paniculatum, S. grevillei, S. cristaefolium), dan yang ditemukan di Pulau Salawati (S. polycystum)

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF 58 TRANSPORTATION CONTROL MEASURES

Often when public agencies allocate funding for transportation programs, evaluation of a project\u27s performance becomes an afterthought, if a consideration at all. Relatively recently, evaluation of project performance has garnered attention as a means for both assessing how cost effectively public funds help attain transportation and air quality objectives and guiding future public investment decisions. Nonetheless, these efforts suffer at times from a lack of coordination and would benefit from the application of a standardized method. Such a standardized method is applied to evaluate the cost effectiveness of three categories of transportation control measure (TCM) projects: fixed-route transit, transportation demand management (TDM), and alternative fuel projects. The method provides a means for estimating and quantifying travel mode effects and converting them to net emissions benefits. Three sets of funding programs implemented in California were the subjects of evaluation efforts in which the standardized method was applied. The results of these evaluations are presented, and conclusions are suggested about project cost effectiveness on the basis of project data and comparisons across categories of projects. On the basis of the evaluation of 58 projects, TDM projects other than telecommunications projects were cost effective compared with alternative fuel and fixed-route transit projects. In light of the key evaluation findings, an approach and framework for future evaluations of TCM projects to ensure consistency and comparability are proposed. Some future uses of the evaluation data in the form of a centralized database are also suggested

Whitebark Pine Prevalence and Ecological Function in Treeline Communities of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, U.S.A.: Potential Disruption by White Pine Blister Rust

In the northern Rocky Mountains of the U.S. and Canada, whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is a functionally important species in treeline communities. The introduced fungal pathogen Cronartium ribicola, which causes white pine blister rust, has led to extensive whitebark pine mortality nearly rangewide. We examined four treeline communities within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) to assess structure and composition, whitebark pine prevalence and functional role, differences in growing season mesoclimate among study areas, and blister rust infection incidence. We found that (1) whitebark pine frequently serves as the majority overall, solitary, and leeward tree island conifer; (2) the prevalence of different tree species in the windward position in tree islands, and thus their potential as tree island initiators, may be predicted from their relative abundance as solitary trees; and (3) white pine blister rust infection incidence ranged from 0.6% to 18.0% across study areas. White pine blister rust poses a threat to treeline development and structure and the provision of ecosystem services in the GYE. Increasing blister rust resistance in nearby subalpine whitebark pine communities through seedling planting or direct seeding projects should eventually result in higher levels of blister rust resistance in whitebark pine in treeline communities

Community Structure, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services in Treeline Whitebark Pine Communities: Potential Impacts from a Non-Native Pathogen

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) has the largest and most northerly distribution of any white pine (Subgenus Strobus) in North America, encompassing 18° latitude and 21° longitude in western mountains. Within this broad range, however, whitebark pine occurs within a narrow elevational zone, including upper subalpine and treeline forests, and functions generally as an important keystone and foundation species. In the Rocky Mountains, whitebark pine facilitates the development of krummholz conifer communities in the alpine-treeline ecotone (ATE), and thus potentially provides capacity for critical ecosystem services such as snow retention and soil stabilization. The invasive, exotic pathogen Cronartium ribicola, which causes white pine blister rust, now occurs nearly rangewide in whitebark pine communities, to their northern limits. Here, we synthesize data from 10 studies to document geographic variation in structure, conifer species, and understory plants in whitebark pine treeline communities, and examine the potential role of these communities in snow retention and regulating downstream flows. Whitebark pine mortality is predicted to alter treeline community composition, structure, and function. Whitebark pine losses in the ATE may also alter response to climate warming. Efforts to restore whitebark pine have thus far been limited to subalpine communities, particularly through planting seedlings with potential blister rust resistance. We discuss whether restoration strategies might be appropriate for treeline communities

Dichoptic viewing methods for binocular rivalry research: prospects for large-scale clinical and genetic studies

Binocular rivalry (BR) is an intriguing phenomenon that occurs when two different images are presented, one to each eye, resulting in alternation or rivalry between the percepts. The phenomenon has been studied for nearly 200 years, with renewed and intensive investigation over recent decades. The rate of perceptual switching has long been known to vary widely between individuals but to be relatively stable within individuals. A recent twin study demonstrated that individual variation in BR rate is under substantial genetic control, a finding that also represented the first report, using a large study, of genetic contribution for any post-retinal visual processing phenomenon. The twin study had been prompted by earlier work showing BR rate was slow in the heritable psychiatric condition, bipolar disorder (BD). Together, these studies suggested that slow BR may represent an endophenotype for BD, and heralded the advent of modern clinical and genetic studies of rivalry. This new focus has coincided with rapid advances in 3D display technology, but despite such progress, specific development of technology for rivalry research has been lacking. This review therefore compares different display methods for BR research across several factors, including viewing parameters, image quality, equipment cost, compatibility with other investigative methods, subject group, and sample size, with a focus on requirements specific to large-scale clinical and genetic studies. It is intended to be a resource for investigators new to BR research, such as clinicians and geneticists, and to stimulate the development of 3D display technology for advancing interdisciplinary studies of rivalry