Population trends of New Zealand fur seals in the Rakiura region based on long-term population surveys and traditional ecological knowledge

We estimated population abundance of New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri) pups on Bench Island off Stewart Island, New Zealand seven times between 1996 and 2012. Overall, there was a 29% increase in pup abundance from 1996 to 2012 at the Main Beach colony, corresponding to a mean annual growth rate of 1.6% and a doubling time of approximately 40 years. At the Sprat Point colony, there was an overall increase of 29% between 2003 and 2012 corresponding to a mean annual growth rate of 2.9% and a doubling time of approximately 25 years. The area occupied by both colonies has also increased. In 2006, we surveyed East Beach and counted a total of 201 pups. We obtained traditional ecological knowledge of fur seal distribution and breeding status from local Māori for 46 locations around Stewart Island, 36 of which have not been surveyed since Wilson in 1971–1974; this supports an expansion of fur seal presence and breeding areas in the region in the last 41 years.     

Use of ultrasonic telemetry to determine the area of bait influence and trapping area of American lobster,Homarus americanus,traps

Using ultrasonic telemetry, we measured the distance of attraction to a baited trap and then used this value to calculate the “area of bait influence”. This value, along with the mean daily home range for the same animals, was used to calculate the “trapping area” of an individual trap. Lobsters (n = 25) were tracked inside a large underwater mesocosm containing a single baited lobster trap. During the study, 14 of the 25 lobsters approached the trap from a mean (+SEM) distance of 11.0 ± 0.7 m. Using this distance as the radius of a circle, the resulting circular area of bait influence was 380 m². The movements of 18 lobsters were used to calculate a mean daily home range of 1002.4 ± 195.7 m². The radius of a circle with this area (17.8 m) was then combined with the mean distance of bait attraction to calculate the trapping area, defined as: the total area from which the catch is drawn (2604.0 m²; a circle with a radius of 28.8 m or 17.8 m + 11.0 m). A demonstration of the potential use of empirical data about lobster home ranges, trap dynamics and area of bait influence to improve our understanding of the relationship between the density of lobsters on the bottom and catch is included.     

A Multi-wavelength Analysis of Active Regions and Sunspots by Comparison of Automatic Detection Algorithms

Since the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) began recording ≈?1 TB of data per day, there has been an increased need to automatically extract features and events for further analysis. Here we compare the overall detection performance, correlations between extracted properties, and usability for feature tracking of four solar feature-detection algorithms: the Solar Monitor Active Region Tracker (SMART) detects active regions in line-of-sight magnetograms; the Automated Solar Activity Prediction code (ASAP) detects sunspots and pores in white-light continuum images; the Sunspot Tracking And Recognition Algorithm (STARA) detects sunspots in white-light continuum images; the Spatial Possibilistic Clustering Algorithm (SPoCA) automatically segments solar EUV images into active regions (AR), coronal holes (CH), and quiet Sun (QS). One month of data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and SOHO/Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) instruments during 12 May?–?23 June 2003 is analysed. The overall detection performance of each algorithm is benchmarked against National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (SIDC) catalogues using various feature properties such as total sunspot area, which shows good agreement, and the number of features detected, which shows poor agreement. Principal Component Analysis indicates a clear distinction between photospheric properties, which are highly correlated to the first component and account for 52.86% of variability in the data set, and coronal properties, which are moderately correlated to both the first and second principal components. Finally, case studies of NOAA 10377 and 10365 are conducted to determine algorithm stability for tracking the evolution of individual features. We find that magnetic flux and total sunspot area are the best indicators of active-region emergence. Additionally, for NOAA 10365, it is shown that the onset of flaring occurs during both periods of magnetic-flux emergence and complexity development.     

Late Holocene Marsh Expansion in Southern San Francisco Bay, California

Currently, the largest tidal wetlands restoration project on the US Pacific Coast is being planned and implemented in southern San Francisco Bay; however, knowledge of baseline conditions of salt marsh extent in the region prior to European settlement is limited. Here, analysis of 24 sediment cores collected from ten intact southern San Francisco Bay tidal marshes were used to reconstruct spatio-temporal patterns of marsh expansion to provide historic context for current restoration efforts. A process-based marsh elevation simulation model was used to identify interactions between sediment supply, sea-level rise, and marsh formation rates. A distinct age gradient was found: expansion of marshes in the central portion of southern San Francisco Bay dated to 500 to 1500 calendar years before present, while expansion of marshes in southernmost San Francisco Bay dated to 200 to 700 calendar years before present. Thus, much of the tidal marsh area mapped by US Coast Survey during the 1853–1857 period were in fact not primeval tidal marshes that had persisted for millennia but were recently formed landscapes. Marsh expansion increased during the Little Ice Age, when freshwater inflow and sediment influx were higher than during the previous millennium, and also during settlement, when land use changes, such as introduction of livestock, increased watershed erosion, and sediment delivery.     

Optical/IR studies of Be stars in NGC 6834 with emphasis on two specific stars

We present optical and infrared photometric and spectroscopic studies of two Be stars in the 70–80-Myr-old open cluster NGC 6834. NGC 6834(1) has been reported as a binary from speckle interferometric studies whereas NGC 6834(2) may possibly be a γ Cas-like variable. Infrared photometry and spectroscopy from the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope(UKIRT), and optical data from various facilities are combined with archival data to understand the nature of these candidates.High signal-to-noise near-IR spectra obtained from UKIRT have enabled us to study the optical depth effects in the hydrogen emission lines of these stars. We have explored the spectral classification scheme based on the intensity of emission lines in the H and K bands and contrasted it with the conventional classification based on the intensity of hydrogen and helium absorption lines. This work also presents hitherto unavailable UBV CCD photometry of NGC 6834, from which the evolutionary state of the Be stars is identified.     

Chironomid‐inferred late‐glacial summer air temperatures from Lough Nadourcan,Co. Donegal,Ireland

Western Ireland, located adjacent to the North Atlantic, and with a strongly oceanic climate, is potentially sensitive to rapid and extreme climate change. We present the first high‐resolution chironomid‐inferred mean July temperature reconstruction for Ireland, spanning the late‐glacial and early Holocene (LGIT, 15–10 ka BP). The reconstruction suggests an initial rapid warming followed by a short cool phase early in the interstadial. During the interstadial there are oscillations in the inferred temperatures which may relate to Greenland Interstadial events GI‐1a–e. The temperature decrease into the stadial occurs in two stages. This two‐stage drop can also be seen in other late‐glacial chironomid‐inferred temperature records from the British Isles. A stepped rise in temperatures into the Holocene, consistent with present‐day temperatures in Donegal, is inferred. The results show strong similarities with previously published LGIT chironomid‐inferred temperature reconstructions, and with the NGRIP oxygen‐isotope curve, which indicates that the oscillations observed in the NGRIP record are of hemispherical significance. The results also highlight the influence of the North Atlantic on the Irish climate throughout the LGIT. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radio imaging of the Subaru/XMM–Newton Deep Field – I. The 100-μJy catalogue, optical identifications, and the nature of the faint radio source population

We describe deep radio imaging at 1.4 GHz of the 1.3-deg² Subaru/ XMM–Newton Deep Field (SXDF), made with the Very Large Array in B and C configurations. We present a radio map of the entire field, and a catalogue of 505 sources covering 0.8 deg² to a peak flux density limit of 100 μJy. Robust optical identifications are provided for 90 per cent of the sources, and suggested identifications are presented for all but 14 (of which seven are optically blank, and seven are close to bright contaminating objects). We show that the optical properties of the radio sources do not change with flux density, suggesting that active galactic nuclei (AGN) continue to contribute significantly at faint flux densities. We test this assertion by cross-correlating our radio catalogue with the X-ray source catalogue and conclude that radio-quiet AGN become a significant population at flux densities below 300 μJy, and may dominate the population responsible for the flattening of the radio source counts if a significant fraction of them are Compton-thick.