Survey of a snow petrel nesting site in a remote high mountain region to inform designation of an Antarctic Specially Protected Area

Despite the sensitivity of ecosystems in extreme conditions, only 0.029% of the Antarctic continent is currently granted special protection as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA). Additionally, protected areas are unevenly distributed and unrepresentative of the biodiversity of Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties are thus striving to establish a more coherent network of protected areas. In this context, the Otto-von-Gruber-Gebirge was identified as an area highly worthy of protection due to its unique ecosystem including one of the largest snow petrel breeding sites, and relative pristine nature. However, in the process of designation, an update of knowledge, particularly of the population status of snow petrel in the area, was recognized to be needed. This study was aimed at estimating a population census of snow petrel breeding pairs in the Lake Untersee catchment, an important subarea of the potentially protected area. Investigations were severely limited by the remoteness and harsh conditions of the area, enabling only a short fieldwork period with limited resources. Thus, a combination of remote sensing and traditional methods was applied. We conducted a ground survey of a smaller reference area, including locating nest sites and assessing nest site characteristics. Snow petrels usually nest in the cavities of large boulders and we thus classified habitat suitability based on boulder presence. To do so, the study area was remotely surveyed by unpiloted aerial vehicles to gain orthophotomosaics in sufficient resolution to distinguish on-ground conditions for breeding. We then calculated nest site densities for the reference area. We also studied nest site data such as nest cavity depth, orientation, and attendance to gain basic knowledge of the characteristics of the breeding site. Finally, we measured a sample of four live snow petrels to determine which morph was present at the site. We were able to obtain nest site data and to extrapolate it, which produced population numbers of 11,765 breeding pairs for the whole study area. This underpins the size of the breeding site and thereby its importance for the species

Ökologische und ökonomische Bewertung von Faserverbund-Montageprozessen mit dem Eco-Efficiency-Assessment-Model (EEAM)

Zur Verbesserung der Ökobilanz der Betriebsphase von Flugzeugen geht seit Jahren der Trend dazu über, immer größere Anteile der Strukturmasse aus karbonfaserverstärkten Kunststoffen (CFK) zu fertigen. Dabei stehen dem technischen Nutzen des CFKs relativ hohe Kosten und Umweltauswirkungen insbesondere in der Produktionsphase entgegen. Eine Entwicklung eines kombinierten Bewertungsmodells für ökonomische und ökologische Aspekte der CFK-Herstellung ist deswegen notwendig, um Entscheidungsträger:innen mit Informationen zu versorgen, die bei der Realisierung nachhaltiger Entwicklungsprozesse die Entscheidungen unterstützen. Das Eco-Efficiency-Assessment-Model (EEAM) stellt ein solches Modell für den Fertigungsprozess von Faserverbundbauteilen dar. Darauf aufbauend wird in dieser Arbeit der Montageprozess betrachtet. Es wird ein generisches Modell zur Bewertung der Ökoeffizienz verschiedener Montagetechnologien erstellt. Die Bewertung wird mithilfe der Cradle-To-Gate Ökobilanzierung durchgeführt und beinhaltet den ökonomischen Indikator der Direktkosten (DC) und die ökologischen Indikatoren des Kumulierten Energiebedarfs (CED) sowie 18 Midpoint-Indikatoren der ReCiPe-Methode. Angewandt wurde dieses Modell in einer Fallstudie zur Bewertung der Fertigung und Montage von Probekörpern eines Holmsegments für einen Flügel eines unbemannten Ultraleicht-Stratosphärenflugzeugs. Die Fertigung erfolgte über das Wickeln von PrepregMaterial und anschließendem Aushärten in einem Autoklav. Die Montage wurde mittels Klebung realisiert. Die Prozesse fanden unter Laborbedingung mit niedrigem Produktionsvolumen statt

RV POSEIDON 516 [POS516] Cruise Report / Fahrtbericht, Ponta Delgada (Azores) 29.07.2017 - Ponta Delgada (Azores) 18.08.2017, POS516 – ENERGY TRANSFER

The RV Poseidon cruise 516 (POS516) is part of the observational program of the TRR 181 'Energy Transfers in Atmosphere and Ocean', and focussed on the energy transfer by low-mode internal waves. The goals of the cruise were to deploy a mooring to record the temporal variability of the internal wave field and associated energy fluxes, and to use time series CTD/LADCP stations to assess locally the temporal variability of mixing, dissipation, and internal wave fluxes. The region south of the Azores in the east Atlantic is ideally suited for this kind of process study, because it is an area of a strong internal tide signal radiating away from the islands. The cruise track is located along a convergence of tidal beams south of the archipelago, crossing a chain of sea mounts as well as the critical latitude for parametric subharmonic instability (PSI). During the cruise, we collected CTD/LADCP time series between 39h and 52h length on 7 stations in up to 5000 m water depth along the tidal beam between 27°30’N and 37°N latitude, a total of 92 casts. The mooring equipped with of 7 current meter/temperature logger pairs and an acoustic Doppler current profiler was deployed along the track at 30°29.04’N, 30°11.7’W in a water depth of 4500 m (to be retrieved in 2018). All anticipated goals of the cruise were accomplished

Determination of Pericardial Adipose Tissue Increases the Prognostic Accuracy of Coronary Artery Calcification for Future Cardiovascular Events

Objectives: Pericardial adipose tissue (PAT) is associated with coronary artery plaque accumulation and the incidence of coronary heart disease. We evaluated the possible incremental prognostic value of PAT for future cardiovascular events. Methods: 145 patients (94 males, age 60 10 years) with stable coronary artery disease underwent coronary artery calcification (CAC) scanning in a multislice CT scanner, and the volume of pericardial fat was measured. Mean observation time was 5.4 years. Results: 34 patients experienced a severe cardiac event. They had a significantly higher CAC score (1,708 +/- 2,269 vs. 538 +/- 1,150, p 400, 3.5 (1.9-5.4; p = 0.007) for scores > 800 and 5.9 (3.7-7.8; p = 0.005) for scores > 1,600. When additionally a PAT volume > 200 cm(3) was determined, there was a significant increase in the event rate and relative risk. We calculated a relative risk of 2.9 (1.9-4.2; p = 0.01) for scores > 400, 4.0 (2.1-5.0; p = 0.006) for scores > 800 and 7.1 (4.1-10.2; p = 0.005) for scores > 1,600. Conclusions:The additional determination of PAT increases the predictive power of CAC for future cardiovascular events. PAT might therefore be used as a further parameter for risk stratification. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

DETECTING ANTARCTIC SEALS AND FLYING SEABIRDS BY UAV

In recent years Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) became a fast-developing technology with manifold fields of application. In the field of wildlife biology, it offers the opportunity to quantify populations, to map the spatial distribution of species and to observe the behavior of animals with no or low disturbance. Moreover, UAV based mapping allows to obtain data from sites which are hardly or not accessible and to cover much larger areas than by traditional ground based methods. The advantages of UAV based mapping are of particular relevance under the harsh conditions of Antarctic fieldwork. Whether certain species qualify for UAV based monitoring depends on their detectability from the distance and the distinctiveness of their characteristics in comparison to other species, which has not been studied for Antarctic species in detail so far. This study aims to evaluate how and under which conditions, particularly flight height, Antarctic flying seabird and seal species are detectable in aerial imagery. A trial was conducted comparing the detection rate of different observers for several Antarctic species in aerial images of different ground sample distances. Descriptions of individual appearance as well as body size dimensions are delivered for all species. For most of the investigated species, monitoring proves to be possible from practical flight heights, while others are still very hard to detect even in low altitudes. A concluding table is given aiming to provide a guide for future surveys on which flight altitudes to chose and how to identify focal study objects

Unmanned aircraft systems as a new source of disturbance for wildlife: A systematic review.

The use of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS; also known as "drones") for professional and personal-leisure use is increasing enormously. UAS operate at low altitudes (<500 m) and in any terrain, thus they are susceptible to interact with local fauna, generating a new type of anthropogenic disturbance that has not been systematically evaluated. To address this gap, we performed a review of the existent literature about animals' responses to UAS flights and conducted a pooled analysis of the data to determine the probability and intensity of the disturbance, and to identify the factors influencing animals' reactions towards the small aircraft. We found that wildlife reactions depended on both the UAS attributes (flight pattern, engine type and size of aircraft) and the characteristics of animals themselves (type of animal, life-history stage and level of aggregation). Target-oriented flight patterns, larger UAS sizes, and fuel-powered (noisier) engines evoked the strongest reactions in wildlife. Animals during the non-breeding period and in large groups were more likely to show behavioral reactions to UAS, and birds are more prone to react than other taxa. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of wildlife disturbance and suggest guidelines for conservationists, users and manufacturers to minimize the impact of UAS. In addition, we propose that the legal framework needs to be adapted so that appropriate actions can be undertaken when wildlife is negatively affected by these emergent practices