325 research outputs found

    Distribution and production of midges (Tendipedidae) in an alpine lake

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    June 1967Includes bibliographical references (pages 59-63).Covers not scanned.Print version deaccessioned 2021.Larval populations and emergence of midges were sampled during the summer of 1966 in Emmaline Lake, Colorado. The fish population was removed from this alpine lake in 1964. Emergence was sampled using surface cone traps. Midge emergence was extremely variable in time and space; greatest numbers emerged in early summer over broken rock and sandy shoreline areas. Weight of emerging midges was often greatest over the mud lake bottom where it bordered rocky slopes. Taxonomic diversity was high; at least 10 species of midges occurred in emergence samples. Statistically, emergence counts followed the negative binomial distribution with ”k” usually in the range 0.1 to 0.2. Larval populations in mud bottoms were not clearly correlated with emergence over mud areas. Survival of preemergent larvae to adulthood was low, but 20 to 50 adults emerging per m2 in late July were apparently enough to yield larval populations of over 5000 per m2 by late September. Larval growth and net biomass production were greatest in early summer and fall. Detectable larval mortality occurred only in late fall

    Challenges in adaptive management of riparian and coastal ecosystems

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    Saving large fish through harvest slots outperforms the classical minimum‐length limit when the aim is to achieve multiple harvest and catch‐related fisheries objectives

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    We address the problem of optimal size-selective exploitation in an age-structured fish population model by systematically examining how density and size dependency in growth, mortality and fecundity affect optimal harvesting patterns when judged against a set of fisheries objectives. The study offers five key insights. First, while minimum-length limits often maximize the biomass yield, exploitation using harvest slots (i.e. regulations that protect both immature and very large individuals) can generate within 95% of maximum yield; harvest slots also generally maximize the number of fish that are harvested. Second, density dependence in growth and size-dependent mortality predict more liberal optimal size limits than those derived under assumptions of no density and size dependence. Third, strong density dependence in growth maximizes the catch of trophy fish only when modest harvest is introduced; the same holds for numbers harvested, when the stock–recruitment function follows the Ricker type. Fourth, the inclusion of size-dependent maternal effects on fecundity or egg viability has only limited effects on optimal size limits, unless the increase in fecundity with mass (“hyperallometry”) is very large. However, large hyperallometry in fecundity shifts the optimal size limit for biomass yield from the traditional minimum-length limit to a harvest slot. Fifth, harvest slots generally provide the best compromises among multiple objectives. We conclude that harvest slots, or more generally dome-shaped selectivity to harvest, can outperform the standard minimum-length selectivity. The exact configuration of optimal size limits crucially depends on objectives, local fishing pressure, the stock–recruitment function, and the density and size dependency of growth, mortality and fecundity.European Maritime Fisheries Fund and State of Mecklenburg‐VorpommernPeer Reviewe

    Spacecraft design project: High latitude communications satellite

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    The spacecraft design project was part of AE-4871, Advanced Spacecraft Design. The project was intended to provide experience in the design of all major components of a satellite. Each member of the class was given primary responsibility for a subsystem or design support function. Support was requested from the Naval Research Laboratory to augment the Naval Postgraduate School faculty. Analysis and design of each subsystem was done to the extent possible within the constraints of an eleven week quarter and the design facilities (hardware and software) available. The project team chose to evaluate the design of a high latitude communications satellite as representative of the design issues and tradeoffs necessary for a wide range of satellites. The High-Latitude Communications Satellite (HILACS) will provide a continuous UHF communications link between stations located north of the region covered by geosynchronous communications satellites, i.e., the area above approximately 60 N latitude. HILACS will also provide a communications link to stations below 60 N via a relay Net Control Station (NCS), which is located with access to both the HILACS and geosynchronous communications satellites. The communications payload will operate only for that portion of the orbit necessary to provide specified coverage

    Spatio-Temporal Migration Patterns of Pacific Salmon Smolts in Rivers and Coastal Marine Waters

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    BACKGROUND: Migrations allow animals to find food resources, rearing habitats, or mates, but often impose considerable predation risk. Several behavioural strategies may reduce this risk, including faster travel speed and taking routes with shorter total distance. Descriptions of the natural range of variation in migration strategies among individuals and populations is necessary before the ecological consequences of such variation can be established. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Movements of tagged juvenile coho, steelhead, sockeye, and Chinook salmon were quantified using a large-scale acoustic tracking array in southern British Columbia, Canada. Smolts from 13 watersheds (49 watershed/species/year combinations) were tagged between 2004-2008 and combined into a mixed-effects model analysis of travel speed. During the downstream migration, steelhead were slower on average than other species, possibly related to freshwater residualization. During the migration through the Strait of Georgia, coho were slower than steelhead and sockeye, likely related to some degree of inshore summer residency. Hatchery-reared smolts were slower than wild smolts during the downstream migration, but after ocean entry, average speeds were similar. In small rivers, downstream travel speed increased with body length, but in the larger Fraser River and during the coastal migration, average speed was independent of body length. Smolts leaving rivers located towards the northern end of the Strait of Georgia ecosystem migrated strictly northwards after ocean entry, but those from rivers towards the southern end displayed split-route migration patterns within populations, with some moving southward. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results reveal a tremendous diversity of behavioural migration strategies used by juvenile salmon, across species, rearing histories, and habitats, as well as within individual populations. During the downstream migration, factors that had strong effects on travel speeds included species, wild or hatchery-rearing history, watershed size and, in smaller rivers, body length. During the coastal migration, travel speeds were only strongly affected by species differences

    Library Discussion Panel Part I

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    Interview 1. The Library Interview Series is a set of interviews with a variety of personnel involved with the planning and building of the new Jerry Falwell Library building. The building’s history and planning are discussed as well as the history of the library in general. The recordings were made just before the opening of the new building in early 2014. Lowell Walters; Carl Merat; Abigail Sattler; Greg Smit

    Foundations of space-time finite element methods: polytopes, interpolation, and integration

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    The main purpose of this article is to facilitate the implementation of space-time finite element methods in four-dimensional space. In order to develop a finite element method in this setting, it is necessary to create a numerical foundation, or equivalently a numerical infrastructure. This foundation should include a collection of suitable elements (usually hypercubes, simplices, or closely related polytopes), numerical interpolation procedures (usually orthonormal polynomial bases), and numerical integration procedures (usually quadrature rules). It is well known that each of these areas has yet to be fully explored, and in the present article, we attempt to directly address this issue. We begin by developing a concrete, sequential procedure for constructing generic four-dimensional elements (4-polytopes). Thereafter, we review the key numerical properties of several canonical elements: the tesseract, tetrahedral prism, and pentatope. Here, we provide explicit expressions for orthonormal polynomial bases on these elements. Next, we construct fully symmetric quadrature rules with positive weights that are capable of exactly integrating high-degree polynomials, e.g. up to degree 17 on the tesseract. Finally, the quadrature rules are successfully tested using a set of canonical numerical experiments on polynomial and transcendental functions.Comment: 34 pages, 18 figure

    A critique of the balanced harvesting approach to fishing

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    The approach to fisheries termed “balanced harvesting” (BH) calls for fishing across the widest possible range of species, stocks, and sizes in an ecosystem, in proportion to their natural productivity, so that the relative size and species composition is maintained. Such fishing is proposed to result in higher catches with less negative impact on exploited populations and ecosystems. This study examines the models and the empirical evidence put forward in support of BH. It finds that the models used unrealistic settings with regard to life history (peak of cohort biomass at small sizes), response to fishing (strong compensation of fishing mortality by reduced natural mortality), and economics (uniform high cost of fishing and same ex-vessel price for all species and sizes), and that empirical evidence of BH is scarce and questionable. It concludes that evolutionary theory, population dynamics theory, ecosystem models with realistic assumptions and settings, and widespread empirical evidence do not support the BH proposal. Rather, this body of evidence suggests that BH will not help but will hinder the policy changes needed for the rebuilding of ecosystems, healthy fish populations, and sustainable fisheries
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