Fish Habitat Utilization Patterns and Evaluation of the Efficacy of Marine Protected Areas in Hawaii: Integration of NOAA Digital Benthic Habitat Mapping and Coral Reef Ecological Studies

Over the past four decades, the state of Hawaii has developed a system of eleven Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs) to conserve and replenish marine resources around the state. Initially established to provide opportunities for public interaction with the marine environment, these MLCDs vary in size, habitat quality, and management regimes, providing an excellent opportunity to test hypotheses concerning marine protected area (MPA) design and function using multiple discreet sampling units. NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s Biogeography Team developed digital benthic habitat maps for all MLCD and adjacent habitats. These maps were used to evaluate the efficacy of existing MLCDs for biodiversity conservation and fisheries replenishment, using a spatially explicit stratified random sampling design. Coupling the distribution of habitats and species habitat affinities using GIS technology elucidates species habitat utilization patterns at scales that are commensurate with ecosystem processes and is useful in defining essential fish habitat and biologically relevant boundaries for MPAs. Analysis of benthic cover validated the a priori classification of habitat types and provided justification for using these habitat strata to conduct stratified random sampling and analyses of fish habitat utilization patterns. Results showed that the abundance and distribution of species and assemblages exhibited strong correlations with habitat types. Fish assemblages in the colonized and uncolonized hardbottom habitats were found to be most similar among all of the habitat types. Much of the macroalgae habitat sampled was macroalgae growing on hard substrate, and as a result showed similarities with the other hardbottom assemblages. The fish assemblages in the sand habitats were highly variable but distinct from the other habitat types. Management regime also played an important role in the abundance and distribution of fish assemblages. MLCDs had higher values for most fish assemblage characteristics (e.g. biomass, size, diversity) compared with adjacent fished areas and Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs) across all habitat types. In addition, apex predators and other targeted resources species were more abundant and larger in the MLCDs, illustrating the effectiveness of these closures in conserving fish populations. Habitat complexity, quality, size and level of protection from fishing were important determinates of MLCD effectiveness with respect to their associated fish assemblages. (PDF contains 217 pages

Biomaterial Properties of Titanium in Dentistry

Background Among various dental materials and their successful restorative uses, titanium provides an excellent example of integrating science and technology involving multiple disciplines of dentistry including biomaterials, prosthodontics and surgical sciences. Titanium and its alloys have emerged as a material of choice for dental implants fulfilling all requirements biologically, chemically and mechanically. Several excellent reviews have discussed the properties of titanium and its surface characteristics that render it biocompatible. However, in most patients, titanium implants are used alongside several other metals. Presence of different metals in the same oral environment can alter the properties of titanium. Other influencing factors include intra-oral pH, salivary content, and effect of fluorides. Highlight This review discusses the effect of the above-mentioned conditions on the properties of titanium and its alloys. An extensive literature search encompassing the properties of titanium in an altered oral environment and its interaction with other restorative materials is presented. Specific conditions that could cause titanium to corrode, specifically due to interaction with other dental materials used in oral rehabilitation, as well as methods that can be employed for passivation of titanium are discussed. Conclusion This review presents an overview of the properties of titanium that are vital for its use in implant dentistry. From a restorative perspective, interaction between implant restoration metals, intra-oral fluorides and pH may cause titanium to corrode. Therefore, in order to avoid the resulting deleterious effects, an understanding of these interactions is important for long-term prognosis of implant restorations

Induction of Immunological Tolerance to Tissue Allografts with Antilymphocyte Serum

Our interest in the problem of tolerance induction is directly concerned with clinical organ transplantation. ALS is highly effective in depressing cellular immunities. Since at least initial allograft rejection is predominantly a cellular phenomenon, one would expect ALS to be highly effective clinically. Our initial observations in this regard support this concept. However, non-specific depression of cellular immunity may also lead to an increased number or viral, fungal, and protozoan infections. Experiments, such as these presented, strongly suggest that a specific state of tolerance to organ grafts in man should be attainable with the aid of ALS followed by introduction of appropriate antigen

A point for comparison: the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

A reoccurring goal listed during the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is to return the region to a former state. However, limited data is available that describes or characterizes this former condition. Data collected from ecosystems with comparatively limited anthropogenic impacts, can provide invaluable information in suggesting what former states may have looked like. One example is the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary which is located 180 kilometers off the coast of Texas. These relatively isolated and pristine banks are capped by substantial scleractinian coral communities, forming excellent habitat for over 200 species of fish. While fishing is permitted, it is limited by difficulty of access. In 2006, NOAA’s Biogeography Branch, in collaboration with the Sanctuary, initiated the first quantitative assessment of fish resources throughout the diveable portions of the Sanctuary. The sampling design and methodologies employed were identical to those that the Branch has utilized in other more impacted regions of the US Caribbean. Initial analyses reveal that fish density and species richness at the Sanctuary were almost two times greater than that found within the US Caribbean and biomass was approximately six times higher. This was due in large part to the presence of sizeable piscivores of the genera Mycteroperca and Dermatolepis. The Sanctuary is one of few minimally impacted locations remaining within the Tropical Western Atlantic. As such, these findings should be considered when attempting to establish a former state or evaluate effectiveness of an MPA in meeting its management goals

Analysis of Sample Frames and Subsampling Methods for Reef Fish Surveys

Introduction: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Biogeography Branch has conducted surveys of reef fish in the Caribbean since 1999. Surveys were initially undertaken to identify essential fish habitat, but later were used to characterize and monitor reef fish populations and benthic communities over time. The Branch’s goals are to develop knowledge and products on the distribution and ecology of living marine resources and provide resource managers, scientists and the public with an improved ecosystem basis for making decisions. The Biogeography Branch monitors reef fishes and benthic communities in three study areas: (1) St. John, USVI, (2) Buck Island, St. Croix, USVI, and (3) La Parguera, Puerto Rico. In addition, the Branch has characterized the reef fish and benthic communities in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary and around the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Reef fish data are collected using a stratified random sampling design and stringent measurement protocols. Over time, the sampling design has changed in order to meet different management objectives (i.e. identification of essential fish habitat vs. monitoring), but the designs have always remained: • Probabilistic – to allow inferences to a larger targeted population, • Objective – to satisfy management objectives, and • Stratified – to reduce sampling costs and obtain population estimates for strata. There are two aspects of the sampling design which are now under consideration and are the focus of this report: first, the application of a sample frame, identified as a set of points or grid elements from which a sample is selected; and second, the application of subsampling in a two-stage sampling design. To evaluate these considerations, the pros and cons of implementing a sampling frame and subsampling are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the impacts of each design on accuracy (bias), feasibility and sampling cost (precision). Further, this report presents an analysis of data to determine the optimal number of subsamples to collect if subsampling were used. (PDF contains 19 pages

An Index to Assess the Sensitivity of Gulf of Mexico Species to Changes in Estuarine Salinity Regimes

An index of biological sensitivity to changes in freshwater inflow was developed for 44 species in 22 Gulf of Mexico estuaries for adult and juvenile life stages of fishes and macroinvertebrates. The BioSalinity Index (BSI) provides an innovative approach to quantify estuary-specific sensitivity of organisms to changes in estuarine salinity regimes based upon our knowledge of species salinity habitat preferences, the availability of this preferred habitat, and the relative abundance and distribution of species in time and space. We found that a significant difference exists between adult and juvenile life stage sensitivity, with juveniles exhibiting a lower sensitivity to salinity changes than adults, and that a considerable disparity exists in species-specific sensitivities among Gulf estuaries. Likewise, when the full complement of 44 species-level BSIs are averaged, marked differences in assemblage-wide sensitivity are evident across estuaries. The availability of preferred salinity habitat had a greater influence on the BSI for estuarine species than did their relative abundance and temporal distribution. The BSI was applied by members of a 1995 Gulf of Mexico freshwater inflow workshop to identify a subset of estuaries which appear more sensitive to freshwater inflow changes and are candidates for further study

An assessment of chemical contaminants in the marine sediments of southwest Puerto Rico

This report summarizes the results of a characterization of chemical contaminants in the sediments in southwest Puerto Rico. The report is part of a project to integrate various analytical specialties to assess linkages between chemical contaminants and the condition of coral reefs. In this phase of the project, over 120 chemical contaminants were analyzed in sediments collected, including a number of organic (e.g., hydrocarbons), inorganic (e.g., metals), and biological (bacterial) compounds/analytes. The report also provides a preliminary analysis of the association between sediment contaminants and coral species richness. Overall, the levels of chemical contaminants in the study area between Guanica Bay and the town of La Parguera were fairly low. At most of the sites sampled, particularly adjacent to the town of La Parguera, concentrations of organic and inorganic contaminants were below the median values from NOAA’s National Status and Trends Program, which monitors the Nation’s coastal and estuarine waters for chemical contaminants. Elevated levels of a number of contaminant classes were seen at the two sites sampled within Guanica Bay. An initial analysis of modeled PAH (hydrocarbon) data and coral species richness (reef building species) indicated a strong negative correlation between the presence of PAHs in the sediments and coral species richness. Additional work is needed to assess possible reasons for this observed pattern. (PDF contains 126 pages)

Evolution of the Mass Function of Dark Matter Haloes

We use a high resolution $\Lambda$CDM numerical simulation to calculate the mass function of dark matter haloes down to the scale of dwarf galaxies, back to a redshift of fifteen, in a 50 $h^{-1}$Mpc volume containing 80 million particles. Our low redshift results allow us to probe low $\sigma$ density fluctuations significantly beyond the range of previous cosmological simulations. The Sheth and Tormen mass function provides an excellent match to all of our data except for redshifts of ten and higher, where it overpredicts halo numbers increasingly with redshift, reaching roughly 50 percent for the 10^{10}-10^{11} \msun haloes sampled at redshift 15. Our results confirm previous findings that the simulated halo mass function can be described solely by the variance of the mass distribution, and thus has no explicit redshift dependence. We provide an empirical fit to our data that corrects for the overprediction of extremely rare objects by the Sheth and Tormen mass function. This overprediction has implications for studies that use the number densities of similarly rare objects as cosmological probes. For example, the number density of high redshift (z $\simeq$ 6) QSOs, which are thought to be hosted by haloes at 5$\sigma$ peaks in the fluctuation field, are likely to be overpredicted by at least a factor of 50%. We test the sensitivity of our results to force accuracy, starting redshift, and halo finding algorithm.Comment: v2: 9 pages, 11 figures, accepted by MNRAS with revisions. Includes additional numerical tests and error discussion, clarifications, and referee suggestion

Spatial and temporal patterns of coral bleaching around Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Since 2001, biannual fish and habitat monitoring has been conducted for the shallow (> 30 m), colonized pavement and gorgonian dominated Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM) St. Croix, USVI and adjacent waters. during October, 2005, widespread coral bleaching was observed within the ∼50 square-kilometer study area that was preceded by 10 wks of higher than average water temperatures (28.9–30.1 °C). Random transects (100 square meters) were conducted on linear reefs, patch reefs, bedrock, pavement, and scattered coral/rock habitats during October 2005, and April and October 2006, and species specific bleaching patterns were documented. During October 2005 approximately 51% of live coral cover was bleached. Nineteen of 23 coral species within 16 genera and two hydrocoral species exhibited signs of bleaching. Coral cover for Montastraea annularis and species of the genus Agaricia were the most affected, while other species exhibited variability in their susceptibility to bleaching. Bleaching was evident at all depths (1.5–28 m), was negatively correlated with depth, and positively correlated with habitat complexity. Bleaching was less prevalent at all depths and habitat types upon subsequent monitoring during April (15%) and October (3%) 2006. Four species and one genus did not exhibit signs of bleaching throughout the study period (Dendrogyra cylindrus, Eusmilia fastigata, Mussa angulosa, Mycetophyllia aliciae, Scolymia spp.)