Predation and Functional Responses of Carcinus maenas and Cancer magister in the Presence of the Introduced Cephalaspidean Philine orientalis

An increasing number of examples suggest that interactions among introduced species are ecologically important and relevant to the management of invaded systems. We investigated the potential for the introduced cephalaspidean sea slug Philine orientalis to interfere with the feeding of the introduced European green crab (Carcinus maenas) and the native Dungeness crab (Cancer magister). We observed co-occurrence of crab species and P. orientalis at field sites in Bodega Harbor and Tomales, San Pablo, and San Francisco Bays. In laboratory and field experiments, we determined whether crab feeding was suppressed by P. orientalis and the duration of this suppression for individual crabs. We also used foraging response models to explore changes in the feeding rate of crabs with varying densities of P. orientalis and small bivalve prey. We found that P. orientalis deterred predation by green and Dungeness crabs on small clams in laboratory feeding trials, but not in field experiments with green crabs and P. orientalis. Foraging models predicted that P. orientalis would only affect crab feeding in the field under specific conditions of crab, P. orientalis, and prey densities. These foraging models bridged an important gap between lab and field experiments and allowed us to predict how changes in species abundances at two trophic levels might alter the importance of crab suppression by P. orientalis.     

Stage‐dependent transient storage of phosphorus in alluvial floodplains

Models for contaminant transport in streams commonly idealize transient storage as a well mixed but immobile system. These transient storage models capture rapid (near‐stream) hyporheic storage and transport, but do not account for large‐scale, stage‐dependent interaction with the alluvial aquifer. The objective of this research was to document transient storage of phosphorus (P) in coarse gravel alluvium potentially influenced by large‐scale, stage‐dependent preferential flow pathways (PFPs). Long‐term monitoring was performed at floodplain sites adjacent to the Barren Fork Creek and Honey Creek in northeastern Oklahoma. Based on results from subsurface electrical resistivity mapping which was correlated to hydraulic conductivity data, observation wells were installed both in higher hydraulic conductivity and lower hydraulic conductivity subsoils. Water levels in the wells were monitored over time, and water samples were obtained from the observation wells and the stream to document P concentrations at multiple times during high flow events. Contour plots indicating direction of flow were developed using water table elevation data. Contour plots of total P concentrations showed the alluvial aquifer acting as a transient storage zone, with P‐laden stream water heterogeneously entering the aquifer during the passage of a storm pulse, and subsequently re‐entering the stream during baseflow conditions. Some groundwater in the alluvial floodplains had total P concentrations that mirrored the streams' total P concentrations. A detailed analysis of P forms indicated that particulate P (i.e. P attached to particulates greater than 0·45 µm) was a significant portion of the P transport. This research suggests the need for more controlled studies on stage‐dependent transient storage in alluvial systems. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental and Cultural Implications of Visitor Access in the Kimberley Region,Australia

The Kimberley coast in Australia's far north-west is the traditional country and home of a number of Indigenous groups and hosts some of the country's richest cultural heritage, most spectacular rock art, scenery and wildlife, making it an attractive tourism destination. A growing expedition cruise industry provides the main means of visitor access to remote coastal sites and offers excursions to shore-based attractions in what are mostly Aboriginal Reserve lands. In light of concerns about environmental and cultural site impacts resulting from increasing visitor numbers, this study examined biophysical site impacts along access trails to shore-based attractions and used qualitative methods to ascertain cultural impacts. The synthesis of the findings highlights that cultural concerns arising from visitor access without having sought traditional owner consent for such access, combined with a lack of traditional owner involvement in the planning, management or running of visitor activities, overshadow currently low environmental impacts of onshore expedition cruise activities. To overcome the continuing impasse regarding the issue of unsanctioned visitor access, the Kimberley urgently needs a coordinated approach by key stakeholders and the traditional owners which recognises and acknowledges the historical context. Such a process would facilitate tourism activities to become culturally sustainable.     

The icy Galilean satellites: ultraviolet phase curve analysis

Ultraviolet disk-integrated solar phase curves of the icy galilean satellites Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are presented, using combined data sets from the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the Galileo Ultraviolet Spectrometer. Global, disk-integrated solar phase curves for all three satellites, in addition to disk-integrated solar phase curves for Europa's leading, trailing, jovian, and anti-jovian hemispheres, are modeled using Hapke's equations for 7 broadband UV wavelengths between 260 and 320 nm. The sparse coverage in solar phase angle, particularly for Ganymede and Callisto, and the noise in the data sets poorly constrain some of the photometric parameter values in the model. However, the results are sufficient for forming a preliminary relationship between the effects of particle bombardment on icy surfaces and photometric scattering properties at ultraviolet wavelengths. Callisto exhibits a large UV opposition surge and a surface comprised of relatively low-backward scattering particles. Europa's surface displays a dichotomy between the jovian and anti-jovian hemispheres (the anti-jovian hemisphere is more backward scattering), while a less pronounced hemispherical variation was detected between the leading and trailing hemispheres. Europa's surface, with the exception of the trailing hemisphere region, appears to have become less backscattering between the late-1970s-early-1980s and the mid-1990s. These results are commensurate with the bombardment history of these surfaces by magnetospheric charged particles.     

Vesta’s UV lightcurve: hemispheric variationin brightness and spectral reversal

Spectra of asteroid 4 Vesta obtained in October 1990 with the International Ultraviolet Explorer are reanalyzed and reinterpreted. A large portion of the eastern hemisphere (based on the prime meridian definition of Thomas et al., 1997a) is darker at UV wavelengths than much of the western hemisphere. The UV lightcurve is in contrast with the visible lightcurve, which shows that the eastern hemisphere is brighter than the western. These IUE spectra of Vesta thus may be evidence for the “spectral reversal,” first seen on the Moon by Apollo 17, where the visibly brighter lunar highlands are darker than the maria at far-UV wavelengths. This effect was linked to space weathering when it was noted (Wagner et al., 1987) that the spectral reversal appears in the laboratory spectra of lunar soils but not powdered lunar rocks.We investigate Vesta’s UV lightcurve and spectral reversal, and its possible connection with space weathering. The addition to grain coatings of small amounts of submicroscopic iron (SMFe) through vapor deposition causes drastic spectral changes at UV-visible wavelengths (Hapke, 2001), while the longer wavelength spectrum remains largely unaffected. Other laboratory results (e.g., Hiroi and Pieters, 1998) indicate that the UV-visible wavelength range is affected by simulated weathering processes in a manner similar to what is seen on Vesta. It is likely that Vesta has experienced relatively minor amounts of space weathering, as indicated by the spectral reversal, along with the subtle visible-near infrared weathering effects (e.g., Binzel et al., 1997).     

UV spectrum of Enceladus

We present a far ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum of Saturn’s moon Enceladus from the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We have put upper limits on emission from C, N, and O lines in Enceladus’ atmosphere and column densities for the C lines assuming solar resonance scattering. We find these upper limits to be relatively low—on the order of tens to thousands of Rayleighs and with C column densities on the order of 10⁸–10¹⁵ cm^?2, depending on the assumed source size. We also present a segment of a reflectance spectrum in the FUV from ～1900–2130 Å. This region was sensitive to the different ice mixtures in the model spectra reported by Hendrix et al. (Hendrix, A.R., Hansen, C.J., Holsclaw, G.M. [2010]. Icarus, 206, 608). We find the spectrum brightens quickly longward of ～1900 Å, constraining the absorption band observed by Hendrix et al. from ～170 to 190 nm. We find our data is consistent with the suggestion of Hendrix et al. of the presence of ammonia ice (or ammonia hydrate) to darken that region, and also possibly tholins to darken the mid-UV, as reported by Verbiscer et al. (Verbiscer, A.J., French, R.G., McGhee, C.A. [2005]. Icarus, 173, 66).