Review of Deep Alberta: Fossil Facts and Dinosaur Digs

We tend to rate smarter animals, like crows and naturalists, by their degree of behavioral versatility. If polymathic interest correlates with intellect, John Acorn is a very bright naturalist indeed. He has written field guides to insects and birds of Alberta\u27s prairies, mountains, and badlands. His versatility emerges through media popularization of these topics, in series like The Nature Nut and more recently Deep Alberta, a set of radio vignettes about Alberta\u27s fossilized past. But does Acorn\u27s range skim the surface like a light breeze, or does his insight scour deep to Cretaceous bedrock? Judging by Acorn\u27s Deep Alberta: Fossil Facts and Dinosaur Digs, the answer, happily, is both

Ecological Complexity of Coral Recruitment Processes: Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores on Coral Recruitment and Growth Depends Upon Substratum Properties and Coral Species

Sarah W. Davies, Mikhail V. Matz, Integrative Biology Section, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States of AmericaSarah W. Davies, Peter D. Vize, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaBackground: The transition from planktonic planula to sessile adult corals occurs at low frequencies and post settlement mortality is extremely high. Herbivores promote settlement by reducing algal competition. This study investigates whether invertebrate herbivory might be modulated by other ecological factors such as substrata variations and coral species identity. Methodology/Principal Findings: The experiment was conducted at the Flower Garden Banks, one of the few Atlantic reefs not experiencing considerable degradation. Tiles of differing texture and orientation were kept in bins surrounded by reef (24 m). Controls contained no herbivores while treatment bins contained urchins (Diadema antillarum) or herbivorous gastropods (Cerithium litteratum). Juvenile corals settling naturally were monitored by photography for 14 months to evaluate the effects of invertebrate herbivory and substratum properties. Herbivory reduced algae cover in urchin treatments. Two genera of brooding coral juveniles were observed, Agaricia and Porites, both of which are common but not dominant on adjacent reef. No broadcast spawning corals were observed on tiles. Overall, juveniles were more abundant in urchin treatments and on vertical, rough textured surfaces. Although more abundant, Agaricia juveniles were smaller in urchin treatments, presumably due to destructive overgrazing. Still, Agaricia growth increased with herbivory and substrata texture-orientation interactions were observed with reduced growth on rough tiles in control treatments and increased growth on vertical tiles in herbivore treatments. In contrast to Agaricia, Porites juveniles were larger on horizontal tiles, irrespective of herbivore treatment. Mortality was affected by substrata orientation with vertical surfaces increasing coral survival. Conclusions/Significance: We further substantiate that invertebrate herbivores play major roles in early settlement processes of corals and highlight the need for deeper understanding of ecological interactions modulating these effects. The absence of broadcast-spawning corals, even on a reef with consistently high coral cover, continues to expose the recruitment failure of these reef-building corals throughout the Caribbean.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) PGS-M to SWD; ACCESS Funding from the University of Calgary to SWD; National Science Foundation grant DEB-1054766 to MVM. Boat time provided by FGBNMS under permit# FGBNMS-2007-006. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Biological Sciences, School ofIntegrative BiologyEmail: [email protected]

Annual Narrative Report of Mrs. M. Alberta Harris, Home Demonstration Agent, Pinal County, Arizona, From December 1, 1935 - November 30, 1936

Bound typescripts of agents reports, including photographs, charts, clippings, and examples of publications, 1935 to 1936. Also includes statistical summaries for 1935-36.This material from the University of Arizona Agricultural Extension Service is made available by University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections. Contact us at [email protected], or (520) 621-6423

Annual Narrative Report of Mrs. M. Alberta Harris, Home Demonstration Agent, Gila County, Arizona, From December 1, 1936 - November 30, 1937

Bound typescripts of agents reports, including photographs, charts, clippings, and examples of publications, 1936 to 1937. Also includes statistical summaries for 1936-37.This material from the University of Arizona Agricultural Extension Service is made available by University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections. Contact us at [email protected], or (520) 621-6423

Annual Narrative Report of Mrs. M. Alberta Harris, Home Demonstration Agent, Pinal County, Arizona, From December 1, 1936 - November 30, 1937

Bound typescripts of agents reports, including photographs, charts, clippings, and examples of publications, 1936 to 1937. Also includes statistical summaries for 1936-37.This material from the University of Arizona Agricultural Extension Service is made available by University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections. Contact us at [email protected], or (520) 621-6423