Regional and species specific sexual reproductive patterns of three zooxanthellate scleractinian corals across the Eastern Tropical Pacific

Sexual reproduction of zooxanthellate scleractinian corals in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) is influenced by the interactive effects of regional and local oceanographic conditions, as well as a variety of other environmental factors. Differences in spatial and temporal gamete development and reproductive patterns of three widespread scleractinian corals of this region—Pocillopora damicornis (branching colony morphology, characterized as hermaphrodite broadcaster), Pavona gigantea (massive colonies, characterized as gonochoric broadcaster/sequential co‐sexually hermaphroditic) and Porites panamensis (encrusting colonies, characterized as gonochoric brooder)—were evaluated at local and regional scales across the ETP. This area extended from the Gulf of California (24°N) to the southern coast of Ecuador (–1°S), including offshore islands, using existing data pooled from prior studies. Predictive models were employed based on environmental variables: sea surface temperature, daylight hours, diffuse attenuation co‐efficient at 490 nm and photosynthetically active radiation. Datasets were extracted from satellite images ( https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov ) and analysed using WAM_STATIST ver. 6.33® software to obtain monthly average data from each site. The spatial (region, sub‐region and site) and seasonal (wet, dry) variation in reproductive activity (% colonies with gametes) differed among the three species; significant interactions were season × sub‐region for P. damicornis, season × site (sub‐region) for P. gigantea, and season × site for P. panamensis, for which sub‐region was not considered as a factor. The predictive models also suggest that gamete production/maturation of P. damicornis and P. gigantea is influenced by local differences in sea surface temperature and daylight hours. Porites panamensis was not correlated with any environmental variable examined. Variations in local and regional reproductive developmental patterns are likely an acclimatization response by each species imposed by the timing and duration of local stressor events. This analysis has provided insights into the diverse local and regional physical drivers that affect species responses and acclimatization in sexual reproduction across the ETP.     

A Bayesian method for missing rainfall estimation using a conceptual rainfall–runoff model

The estimation of missing rainfall data is an important problem for data analysis and modelling studies in hydrology. This paper develops a Bayesian method to address missing rainfall estimation from runoff measurements based on a pre-calibrated conceptual rainfall–runoff model. The Bayesian method assigns posterior probability of rainfall estimates proportional to the likelihood function of measured runoff flows and prior rainfall information, which is presented by uniform distributions in the absence of rainfall data. The likelihood function of measured runoff can be determined via the test of different residual error models in the calibration phase. The application of this method to a French urban catchment indicates that the proposed Bayesian method is able to assess missing rainfall and its uncertainty based only on runoff measurements, which provides an alternative to the reverse model for missing rainfall estimates.     

Scale dependence in habitat selection: the case of the endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) in the Cantabrian Range (NW Spain)

Animals select habitat resources at multiple spatial scales. Thus, explicit attention to scale dependency in species–habitat relationships is critical to understand the habitat suitability patterns as perceived by organisms in complex landscapes. Identification of the scales at which particular environmental variables influence habitat selection may be as important as the selection of variables themselves. In this study, we combined bivariate scaling and Maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling to investigate multiscale habitat selection of endangered brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations in northwest Spain. Bivariate scaling showed that the strength of apparent habitat relationships was highly sensitive to the scale at which predictor variables are evaluated. Maxent models on the optimal scale for each variable suggested that landscape composition together with human disturbances was dominant drivers of bear habitat selection, while habitat configuration and edge effects were substantially less influential. We found that explicitly optimizing the scale of habitat suitability models considerably improved single-scale modeling in terms of model performance and spatial prediction. We found that patterns of brown bear habitat suitability represent the cumulative influence of habitat selection across a broad range of scales, from local resources within habitat patches to the landscape composition at broader spatial scales.     

A Scincomorpha lizard from the Campanian of Patagonia

The terrestrial lizard fossil record of Gondwana is very scarce. Few lizards, from mostly fragmentary fossils, have been identified in Madagascar, Tanzania, Morocco, South Africa, India and South America. Among the South American specimens there are basal Squamata forms (Olindalacerta and Tijubina) and a possible iguanid (Pristiguana) form Brazil. In Argentina gondwanian terrestrial lizards are represented by a putative iguanid and a small, poorly preserved dentary. This last specimen, recovered from the Anacleto Formation (Neuquén Group, Río Colorado Subgroup) in vicinity of the locality of Cinco Saltos (Río Negro Province), is here described formally. Comparisons with extant lizards indicate more affinity of the fossil with the Scincomorpha (non Scincophidia) than with any other group of lizards. This finding suggests that lizards were probably better represented and more diverse in the Mesozoic of South America than previously thought, although the fossil record is, at the moment, much poorer than in Laurasia.     

Modeling aquifer�Criver interactions under the influence of groundwater abstraction in the Mancha Oriental System (SE Spain)

The Mancha Oriental System (MOS, 7,260?km²) is one of the largest aquifers within Spain, and is encompassed by the Jucar River Basin. Over the past 30?years, socioeconomic development within the region has been largely due to intensive use of groundwater resources for irrigating crops (1,000?km²). Groundwater pumping (406 million m³/year) has provoked a steady drop in the groundwater level and a reduction of MOS discharge to the Jucar River. The study aims to characterize the river?Caquifer relationship, to determine the influence that groundwater abstraction has on the river discharge. This research has advanced a three-dimensional large-scale numerical groundwater-flow model (MODFLOW 2000) in order to spatially and temporally evaluate, quantify and predict the river?Caquifer interactions that are influenced by groundwater abstraction in MOS. It is demonstrated that although groundwater abstraction increased considerably from the early 1980s to 2000, the depletion of water stored in the aquifer was lower than might be expected. This is mainly due to aquifer recharge from the Jucar River, induced by groundwater abstraction. The area of disconnection between the river and the water table (i.e. where groundwater head is lower than the riverbed) is found to have spread 20?km downstream from its position before pumping started.     

The Imaging and Slitless Spectroscopy Instrument for Surveys (ISSIS): expected radiometric performance,operation modes and data handling

ISSIS is the instrument for imaging and slitless spectroscopy on-board WSO-UV. In this article, a detailed comparison between ISSIS expected radiometric performance and other ultraviolet instruments is shown. In addition, we present preliminary information on the performance verification tests and on the foreseen procedures for in-flight operation and data handling.     

Young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud: NGC 1805 and 1818

We present colour–magnitude diagrams for two rich (≈10⁴ M_⊙) Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters with ages ≈10⁷ yr, constructed from optical and near-infrared data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope . These data are part of an HST project to study LMC clusters with a range of ages. In this paper we investigate the massive star content of the young clusters, and determine the cluster ages and metallicities, paying particular attention to Be-star and blue-straggler populations and evidence of age spreads. We compare our data with detailed stellar-population simulations to investigate the turn-off structure of ≈25 Myr stellar systems, highlighting the complexity of the blue-straggler phenomenon.