Effects of elevated temperature on juvenile Coho salmon and benthic invertebrates in model stream communities

Juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum)) and aquatic invertebrates were subjected to experimentally increased, but naturally fluctuating, temperatures in a model stream channel. Coho of the 1969, 1970, and 1971 year classes were reared in the heated model stream and in an unheated control stream, both located at the Oak Creek laboratory west of Corvallis, Oregon. The average increment of experimental over control temperature was 4.3 C over the entire experimental period of 22 months. Temperatures in the control stream were generally favorable for growth of coho if food organisms were scarce, while temperatures in the heated stream were favorable for growth if food organisms were abundant. Coho of the 1969 year class were reared for one winter as yearlings, and total production of this group was approximately the same in the two streams. Coho of the 1970 year class were reared from small fry to smolts over a one-year period. In this group, total production in the control stream was approximately twice as great as in the heated stream. While population size was nearly the same in the two streams, coho in the control stream grew much more rapidly than in the heated stream. Total production of coho of the 1971 year class, which were reared from the egg stage, was approximately five times as great in the control as in the heated stream when the experiment was terminated in August 1971. The difference in production resulted from larger population size and higher growth rate in the control stream. Production of aquatic stages of insects was approximately twice as great in the control as in the heated stream over the period May 1970-May 1971. This difference between streams was especially marked in mayfly and stonefly nymphs, which were the most abundant insects in both streams, and which appeared to be the major sources of food for coho. The reduced growth rates of coho in the heated as compared to the control stream probably resulted from effects of temperature on the invertebrate food supply as well as from direct effects of temperature on the coho in raising their standard metabolic rates so that energy available for growth was reduced. Winter growth rates of coho in the heated stream were generally higher than in the control, probably as a result of an increase in appetite with increased temperature. Winter growth rates of the 1969 year class were high, probably because young coho fry were available as food. Winter growth rates of coho of the 1970 year class, which had a more natural food supply, were low in both streams. The insect fauna of the Oak Creek area is probably adapted to cool water temperatures, and this adaptation presumably contributed to the reduced insect production in the heated model stream. If heat tolerant species of insects were present in or able to migrate into a stream receiving a heated effluent, the simplication of the invertebrate fauna caused by the thermal pollution might increase the amount of food available to the top carnivore. Such heat-tolerant forms apparently were not present in the model streams or, if present, were not able to contribute significantly to total production

Communications Between Pregnant Women and Maternity Care Clinicians

This survey study assesses patients’ self-reported communication experiences with their maternity care clinicians and examines the association of these experiences with women’s reports of feeling pressure to have interventions during delivery

Solicitation and Selection of Partner Projects, Technical Team Leads, and Measurement and Validation Contractors for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funded Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP-2)

In March 2010, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) joined two other labs receiving ARRA funding, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the National Renewable National Laboratory (NREL), to began weekly conference calls with the goal of coordinating a joint lab solicitation to support the ARRA-funded CBP project. Two solicitations were identified for: 1) new CBP Partners; 2) technical contractors to provide technical assistance and measurement and verification (M&V) contractors. The M&V contractors support the work by providing model reviews and conducting monitoring studies to verify building performance. This report documents the process used by the labs for the solicitations, and describes the process and outcomes for PNNL, selection of candidate Partners, technical teams, and M&V contractors

Altered spring phenology of North American freshwater turtles and the importance of representative populations

Globally, populations of diverse taxa have altered phenology in response to climate change. However, most research has focused on a single population of a given taxon, which may be unrepresentative for comparative analyses, and few long‐term studies of phenology in ectothermic amniotes have been published. We test for climate‐altered phenology using long‐term studies (10–36 years) of nesting behavior in 14 populations representing six genera of freshwater turtles (Chelydra, Chrysemys, Kinosternon,Malaclemys, Sternotherus, and Trachemys). Nesting season initiation occurs earlier in more recent years, with 11 of the populations advancing phenology. The onset of nesting for nearly all populations correlated well with temperatures during the month preceding nesting. Still, certain populations of some species have not advanced phenology as might be expected from global patterns of climate change. This collection of findings suggests a proximate link between local climate and reproduction that is potentially caused by variation in spring emergence from hibernation, ability to process food, and thermoregulatory opportunities prior to nesting. However, even though all species had populations with at least some evidence of phenological advancement, geographic variation in phenology within and among turtle species underscores the critical importance of representative data for accurate comprehensive assessments of the biotic impacts of climate change

Altered spring phenology of North American freshwater turtles and the importance of representative populations

Globally, populations of diverse taxa have altered phenology in response to climate change. However, most research has focused on a single population of a given taxon, which may be unrepresentative for comparative analyses, and few long-term studies of phenology in ectothermic amniotes have been published. We test for climate- altered phenology using long-term studies (10–36 years) of nesting behavior in 14 populations representing six genera of freshwater turtles (Chelydra, Chrysemys, Kinosternon, Malaclemys, Sternotherus, and Trachemys). Nesting season initiation oc- curs earlier in more recent years, with 11 of the populations advancing phenology. The onset of nesting for nearly all populations correlated well with temperatures during the month preceding nesting. Still, certain populations of some species have not advanced phenology as might be expected from global patterns of climate change. This collection of findings suggests a proximate link between local climate and reproduction that is potentially caused by variation in spring emergence from hibernation, ability to process food, and thermoregulatory opportunities prior to nesting. However, even though all species had populations with at least some evi- dence of phenological advancement, geographic variation in phenology within and among turtle species underscores the critical importance of representative data for accurate comprehensive assessments of the biotic impacts of climate change

Taxonomy based on science is necessary for global conservation

Peer reviewe

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016