Spatial Variation in the Structure of Kelp Forest Communities Along a Wave Exposure Gradient

Abstract. Four sites were sampled in kelp (Macrocysiis pyrifera) forests occupying rocky bottom habitats along a wave exposure gradient in central California. Consistent betwecn-site differences were found in the three major structural elements - the surface canopy, the undcrstory assemblage, and the ground cover/turf assemblage - of kelp forest communities. Macrocysiis pyrifera was found at all four sites. Nereucyslis tuelkeana only at the most exposed site. The understory kelps Laminaria setchellii and Pterygopltora californica were also characteristic of exposed sites. Articulated coralline algae were more abundant at exposed sites than protected, while fleshy red algae showed the opposite pattern. All four study sites were located along 8.5 km of coastline, and thus were assumed to have available to them the same species pool for colonization. The substrate composition was the same and the amount of unconsolidated substrate was similar at all four sites. We suggest that exposure to wave-generated water motion, through its influence on the surface canopy and therefore on the amount of light reaching the bottom, is responsible for these between-site differences.     

User participation and fishery management performance within the pacific fishery management council

Fish populations have the potential to contribute to the long-term economic and social benefit of humans, but to do so they must be managed in ways which maintain ecological health. There are many ways that management performance can be assessed, but four measures are particularly pertinent to sustainability: equity, stewardship, regulatory resilience, and efficiency. A key factor in management performance is the process by which management tools are developed and implemented. One approach that has been recommended to improve performance is to structure the management process around user participation. The paper analyzes three case studies of user participation in ad hoc processes of Pacific groundfish management: the development of a license limitation program; an inter-gear sablefish allocation; and the development of a sablefish individual quota (IQ) program. The case studies illustrate the role played by participation in contributing to the equity, stewardship, resilience, and efficiency of the management process. The effect of user participation was mixed in the three cases, depending on the history of participation, the structure and process of participation, on resource conditions and on the characteristics of the program under consideration. Participation can contribute positively to fishery management performance when there is a history of collective decision-making, the time line is slow enough to allow a full consideration of the issues, educational possibilities are pursued and the condition of the resource allows equitable compromises.     

Solar flares: The impulsive phase

Only during the previous solar cycle have systematic observations begun to be made with the sensitivity and time resolution, and the continuous coverage required to catch the impulsive phase and measure the rapid variations present in many wavelength ranges. Observations in X-rays, gamma-rays, UV, H, and radio wavelengths all reveal rapid variations during the impulsive phase and have contributed to our understanding of the different phenomena involved. Results have been obtained from several spacecraft, from rocket and balloon flights, and from ground-based observations. These are reviewed in the context of a simple single loop flare model with a view to showing what results are consistent with this model and what the major problems are in our understanding of the impulsive phase. New instrumentation planned for observations during the present Cycle 22 will provide a concerted attack on the impulsive phase as part of the Max '91 program.     

Is the ‘superhot’ hard x-ray component in solar flares consistent with a thermal source?

It has been shown by Brown and Emslie (1988) that any optically thin thermal bremsstrahlung source must emit an energy spectrumL () (keV s^–1 keV^–1) which has the property that higher derivatives alternate in sign, i.e., (–) ^j L(^j)() > 0 for allj. In this short note, we apply this test to the superhot component discussed by Linet al. (1981) in order to determine whether a strictly thermal interpretation of this component is valid. We find that all statistically significant higher derivatives do indeed have the correct sign; this strengthens the identification of this component as due to a thermal source.Presidential Young Investigator.     

Light Requirements for Growth and Survival of Eelgrass (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Zostera marina</Emphasis> L.) in Pacific Northwest (USA) Estuaries

We developed light requirements for eelgrass in the Pacific Northwest, USA, to evaluate the effects of short- and long-term reductions in irradiance reaching eelgrass, especially related to turbidity and overwater structures. Photosynthesis-irradiance experiments and depth distribution field studies indicated that eelgrass productivity was maximum at a photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of about 350–550 μmol quanta m⁻² s⁻¹. Winter plants had approximately threefold greater net apparent primary productivity rate at the same irradiance as summer plants. Growth studies using artificial shading as well as field monitoring of light and eelgrass growth indicated that long-term survival required at least 3 mol quanta m⁻² day⁻¹ on average during spring and summer (i.e., May-September), and that growth was saturated above about 7 mol quanta m⁻² day⁻¹. We conclude that non-light-limited growth of eelgrass in the Pacific Northwest requires an average of at least 7 mol quanta m⁻² day⁻¹ during spring and summer and that long-term survival requires a minimum average of 3 mol quanta m⁻² day⁻¹.     

Characterisation of riparian woodlands and their potential water loss in the distal Okavango Delta, Botswana

An analysis is undertaken to develop techniques to remotely sense relative evapotranspiration outputs in the distal Okavango Delta using enhanced thematic mapper and ground based techniques to help quantify water loss. Much of this work focuses on riparian woodlands which, especially in the distal portion of the Delta, are regarded as being significant in terms of groundwater removal by transpiration. This was confirmed as vegetation cover mapping led to the identification of two riparian classes which, by association with high resistivity aeromagnetic data, were found to be rooted in near surface fresh groundwater. This paper indicates that riparian trees which remain green year long, partly sustain their growth as a result of groundwater uptake. A comparison of frequently flooded and dry floodplains with distinct riparian zones was undertaken using spectral techniques (pixel radiance values and leaf water content indices) to determine whether flooding and lateral groundwater flow stimulated growth (and therefore transpiration rate) following dormancy. Results indicate a basic similarity between the two systems with mixed evidence of assumed leaf growth. Related phenological observations in the riparian zone of the dry floodplain show that renewal of leaf growth is primarily related to rainfall, not flood events in the distal Delta. The results of this work should help effect both surface and groundwater management in the vicinity of population centres in the distal Delta.     

GI Science, Disasters, and Emergency Management

Societal responses to disasters begin with the initial post‐event rescue and relief operations, followed by recovery, reconstruction, and then transcend into mitigation actions including the development of pre‐impact preparedness measures, collectively known as the emergency response cycle. This paper highlights some of the applications of GI Science to the emergency response cycle, citing examples from natural hazards and from the World Trade Center disaster on 11th September 2001. More importantly, the paper describes some of the constraints on the utilization of GI Science by the practitioner community: understandable user interfaces; data quantity, quality, and integration; real‐time data and information. Finally, the paper suggests some important GI Science research areas based on the needs of the disasters and emergency management research and practitioner communities.     

Replacing carbon lost from forests: an assessment of insurance, reserves, and expiring credits

Concern over the “non-permanence” or reversibility of carbon sequestration projects has been prominent in discussions over how to develop guidelines for forest project investments under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol. Accordingly, a number of approaches have been proposed that aim to help ensure that parties do not receive credit for carbon that is lost before project obligations are fulfilled. These approaches include forest carbon insurance, land reserves, and issuance of expiring credits. The potential costs of each of these different approaches are evaluated using a range of assumptions about project length, risk and discount rate, and a comparison of costs is ventured based on the estimated reduction in value of these credits compared with uninsured, and permanent credits. Obstacles to participation in the different approaches are discussed related to problems of long-term commitments, project scale, rising replacement costs, and low credit value. It is concluded that a system of expiring credits, which could be coupled with insurance or reserves, could guarantee obligations that span time-scales longer than that of conventional insurance policies while maintaining incentives for long-term sequestration.     

Trends In U.S. Hazardous Materials Transportation Spills

This paper examines historical and spatial trends in hazardous materials transportation spills from 1971 to 1991. While the number of spills Inc.reased steadily during the 1970s, peaking in 1978–1979, there has been a decline in frequency sInc.e then largely due to modifications in reporting. Monetary damages have the opposite temporal pattern, with major Inc.reases recorded from 1982 onward. Death and injury statistics are more variable. Spatially, accidents are more prevalent in the Rust Belt extending from the Northeast corridor westward to the Great Lakes states, as well as in the Southeast. The greatest potential risk to the public is found in smaller, more densely populated industrial states such as New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. The spatial distribution, however, has not changed. Potential risk sources (e.g., chemical industry, number of hazardous waste facilities, number of railroad miles) are the best predictors of hazmat Inc.ident frequency. Mitigation efforts (statewide regulatory and/or management policies) also help explain the variability in hazmat Inc.idents.