Forcing and Dynamics of Seafloor-Water Column Exchange on a Broad Continental Shelf

Relict sediments of elevated permeability characterize the majority of continental shelves globally (Emery, 1968). In these settings, interactions between benthic boundary layer (BBL) flows and seabed topography generate pressure fluctuations that drive advective and dispersive porewater transport, dramatically increasing the magnitude and variability of porewater solute and particulate exchange across the sediment-water interface (Huettel et al., 1996; Huettel and Rusch, 2000). On broad shallow shelves with a relatively large area-to-volume ratio, the seafloor’s role is magnified. Energetic events may reorganize bedforms across a significant fraction of the shelf, leading to altered exchange dynamics that may persist long after the organizing event. Ecosystem-based management of both resources and environmental status requires improved fundamental understanding of dynamic benthic exchange processes. Scattered, short-time-scale observations are unlikely to capture the full spectrum of events that affect sediment-water exchanges; a persistent observational presence on the seafloor is required

Anatomy of a Langmuir supercell event

Langmuir supercells (LS), which are Langmuir circulations (LC) extending over full water column depth during storms and revealed by high water column backscatter from surface-origin microbubbles and bottom-origin sediment, were discovered in 2003 during several months of measurements in 15 m of water near the coast of New Jersey. Both the structures themselves and the specific forcing conditions under which they occur have been documented elsewhere. This paper provides an account of the broader oceanographic setting of supercell events, focusing on conditions at the start and end. The start of events is associated with the presence of surface waves of intermediate type that “feel bottom” with amplitudes sufficiently large to resuspend sediment and achievement of three conditions for full-depth LC: an unstratified water column, La \u3c ∼0.3 and |Ra| \u3c 105, where Ra and La are dimensionless parameters derived from scaling of the wave-averaged momentum equation. Event cessation is associated with failure of one of the latter two conditions or the reappearance of stratification. There is no fixed order in which conditions necessary for full-depth LC are met or fail. Comparison with data from a deeper site off Georgia suggests that coherent full-depth Langmuir circulations will not generally be observed in unstratified water columns much deeper than 25–30 m, a depth determined primarily by the wavelength of surface waves generated by typical storms. We also document two features of LC acting in the surface layer of the stratified water column that existed prior to onset of the prototype LS event. First, LC confined to the surface layer generated first mode internal waves with frequency that of the stratified interior. Secondly, active surface layer LC did not act efficiently as direct agents of mixed layer deepening, which occurred primarily in two separate episodes of Richardson number lowered by increased shear. Instead, as a result of quasi-organized structure and enhanced vertical penetration relative to stress-driven turbulence, the primary role of LC may be to increase efficiency of momentum transfer to the surface layer, enhancing surface layer acceleration and contributing to onset of the shear instability that does deepen the surface layer

Ontogenetic and ecological variation in invasion risk of Brown Treesnakes (\u3ci\u3eBoiga irregularis\u3c/i\u3e) on Guam

Size structure within populations of invasive species may have consequences for relative risk at all stages of the invasion process, with implications for management interventions such as interdiction, suppression, and eradication. To assess relative distributions of invasive Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) among demographic categories of management interest, we undertook the most comprehensive and controlled sampling in \u3e 25 years of research into this ecologically and economically destructive introduced predator. We collected a seasonally-balanced sample of 100 snakes from each of 18 sites, stratified by six habitat types, encompassing the species’ entire extralimital range. Samples indicated significant differences in distributions of female and male snakes among management classes (juvenile, transitional, and mature) by site and habitat. We found substantial heterogeneity in localized population characteristics over relatively small geographic distances, only modest influence of habitat type, higher prevalence of reproductively mature snakes in savanna and urban habitats, and an alarmingly high proportion of snakes that are too small to be effectively targeted by current rodent-baited control tools (mean = 38.2%, range = 19 to 72%). Failure to account for such variability in high risk demographic fractions may hinder successful interventions

To cross or not to cross: modeling wildlife road crossings as a binary response variable with contextual predictors

Roads are significant barriers to landscape-scale movements of individuals or populations of many wildlife taxa. The decision by an animal near a road to either cross or not cross may be influenced by characteristics of the road, environmental conditions, traits of the individual animal, and other aspects of the context within which the decision is made. We considered such factors in a mixed-effects logistic regression model describing the nightly road crossing probabilities of invasive nocturnal Brown Treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) through short-term radiotracking of 691 snakes within close proximity to 50 road segments across the island of Guam. All measures of road magnitude (traffic volume, gap width, surface type, etc.) were significantly negatively correlated with crossing probabilities. Snake body size was the only intrinsic factor associated with crossing rates, with larger snakes crossing roads more frequently. Humidity was the only environmental variable affecting crossing rate. The distance of the snake from the road at the start of nightly movement trials was the most significant predictor of crossings. The presence of snake traps with live mouse lures during a portion of the trials indicated that localized prey cues reduced the probability of a snake crossing the road away from the traps, suggesting that a snake’s decision to cross roads is influenced by local foraging opportunities. Per capita road crossing rates of Brown Treesnakes were very low, and comparisons to historical records suggest that crossing rates have declined in the 60+ yr since introduction to Guam. We report a simplified model that will allow managers to predict road crossing rates based on snake, road, and contextual characteristics. Road crossing simulations based on actual snake size distributions demonstrate that populations with size distributions skewed toward larger snakes will result in a higher number of road crossings. Our method of modeling per capita road crossing probabilities as a binary response variable, influenced by contextual factors, may be useful for describing or predicting road crossings by individuals of other taxa provided that appropriate spatial and temporal resolution can be achieved and that potentially influential covariate data can be obtained

Quantile regression of microgeographic variation in population characteristics of an invasive vertebrate predator

Localized ecological conditions have the potential to induce variation in population characteristics such as size distributions and body conditions. The ability to generalize the influence of ecological characteristics on such population traits may be particularly meaningful when those traits influence prospects for successful management interventions. To characterize variability in invasive Brown Treesnake population attributes within and among habitat types, we conducted systematic and seasonally-balanced surveys, collecting 100 snakes from each of 18 sites: three replicates within each of six major habitat types comprising 95% of Guam\u27s geographic expanse. Our study constitutes one of the most comprehensive and controlled samplings of any published snake study. Quantile regression on snake size and body condition indicated significant ecological heterogeneity, with a general trend of relative consistency of size classes and body conditions within and among scrub and Leucaena forest habitat types and more heterogeneity among ravine forest, savanna, and urban residential sites. Larger and more robust snakes were found within some savanna and urban habitat replicates, likely due to relative availability of larger prey. Compared to more homogeneous samples in the wet season, variability in size distributions and body conditions was greater during the dry season. Although there is evidence of habitat influencing Brown Treesnake populations at localized scales (e.g., the higher prevalence of larger snakes- particularly males-in savanna and urban sites), the level of variability among sites within habitat types indicates little ability to make meaningful predictions about these traits at unsampled locations. Seasonal variability within sites and habitats indicates that localized population characterization should include sampling in both wet and dry seasons. Extreme values at single replicates occasionally influenced overall habitat patterns, while pooling replicates masked variability among sites. A full understanding of population characteristics should include an assessment of variability both at the site and habitat level

Development of a Methodology for the Quantitative Assessment of Ireland’s Inshore Kelp Resource

Lead Partner: Queen’s University, Belfast. Project Partners: University College Cork and Envision Mapping Ltd.The main aim of the project was to develop and demonstrate an acoustic methodology for the estimation of kelp biomass based on a low-cost commercial marine acoustic system and modification of the standard software. The approach will be of significant value to regulatory authorities for the monitoring of healthy kelp beds and their associated fauna and flora. It will also provide a scientific basis for future kelp harvesting trials, be instrumental in developing appropriate management plans for such practices and will aid in the evaluation of the recovery in harvested areas.This project (Grant-Aid Agreement No. PBA/SW/07/002(01)) was carried out under the Sea Change strategy with the support of the Marine Institute and the Marine Research Sub-Programme of the National Development Plan 2007–2013.Funder: Marine Institut

Wintertime polynya structure and variability from thermal remote sensing and seal-borne observations at Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica

Funding: This work was enabled by the NSF-NERC International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration: Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network (ITGC: TARSAN; NERC Grant: NE/S006419/1, NE/S006591/1, NSF Grant: 1738992) and the NERC Ice Sheet Stability Programme (iSTAR; NERC Grant: NE/J005703/1).Antarctica’s ice shelves play a critical role in modulating ice loss to the ocean by buttressing grounded ice upstream. With the potential to impact ice-shelf stability, persistent polynyas (open-water areas surrounded by sea ice, persisting for multiple years at the same location) at the edge of many ice-shelf fronts, are maintained by winds and/or ocean heat, and are locations of strong ice-ocean-atmosphere interactions. However, in situ observations of polynyas are sparse due to the logistical constraints of collecting Antarctic field measurements. Here, we used wintertime (May–August) temperature and salinity observations derived from seal-borne tags deployed in 2014, 2019, and 2020, in conjunction with thermal imagery from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) to investigate the spatial, temporal, and thermal structural variability of polynyas near Pine Island Glacier (PIG). Across the three winters considered, there were 148 anomalously warm (>3σ from background) seal dives near the PIG ice front, including 24 dives that coincided with MODIS images with minimal cloud cover that also showed a warm surface temperature anomaly. These warm surface temperatures correlated with ocean temperatures down to 150 m depth or deeper, depending on the year, suggesting that MODISderived surface thermal anomalies can be used for monitoring polynya presence and structure during polar night. The finer spatial resolution (100 m) of TIRS wintertime thermal imagery captures more detailed thermal structural variability within these polynyas, which may provide year-round insight into sub-ice-shelf processes if this dataset is collected operationally.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Characterisation of the muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment

A novel single-particle technique to measure emittance has been developed and used to characterise seventeen different muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE). The muon beams, whose mean momenta vary from 171 to 281 MeV/c, have emittances of approximately 1.2–2.3 π mm-rad horizontally and 0.6–1.0 π mm-rad vertically, a horizontal dispersion of 90–190 mm and momentum spreads of about 25 MeV/c. There is reasonable agreement between the measured parameters of the beams and the results of simulations. The beams are found to meet the requirements of MICE

Increased S-nitrosylation and proteasomal degradation of caspase-3 during infection contribute to the persistence of adherent invasive escherichia coli (AIEC) in immune cells

Adherent invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) have been implicated as a causative agent of Crohn's disease (CD) due to their isolation from the intestines of CD sufferers and their ability to persist in macrophages inducing granulomas. The rapid intracellular multiplication of AIEC sets it apart from other enteric pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium which after limited replication induce programmed cell death (PCD). Understanding the response of infected cells to the increased AIEC bacterial load and associated metabolic stress may offer insights into AIEC pathogenesis and its association with CD. Here we show that AIEC persistence within macrophages and dendritic cells is facilitated by increased proteasomal degradation of caspase-3. In addition S-nitrosylation of pro- and active forms of caspase-3, which can inhibit the enzymes activity, is increased in AIEC infected macrophages. This S-nitrosylated caspase-3 was seen to accumulate upon inhibition of the proteasome indicating an additional role for S-nitrosylation in inducing caspase-3 degradation in a manner independent of ubiquitination. In addition to the autophagic genetic defects that are linked to CD, this delay in apoptosis mediated in AIEC infected cells through increased degradation of caspase-3, may be an essential factor in its prolonged persistence in CD patients