A Conceptual Model of Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers and Their Influence on the Prince William Sound,Alaska, Ecosystem

Prince William Sound (PWS) is a semi-enclosed fjord estuary on the coast of Alaska adjoining the northern Gulf of Alaska (GOA). PWS is highly productive and diverse, with primary productivity strongly coupled to nutrient dynamics driven by variability in the climate and oceanography of the GOA and North Pacific Ocean. The pelagic and nearshore primary productivity supports a complex and diverse trophic structure, including large populations of forage and large fish that support many species of marine birds and mammals. High intra-annual, inter-annual, and interdecadal variability in climatic and oceanographic processes as drives high variability in the biological populations. A risk-based conceptual ecosystem model (CEM) is presented describing the natural processes, anthropogenic drivers, and resultant stressors that affect PWS, including stressors caused by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. A trophodynamic model incorporating PWS valued ecosystem components is integrated into the CEM. By representing the relative strengths of driver/stressors/effects, the CEM graphically demonstrates the fundamental dynamics of the PWS ecosystem, the natural forces that control the ecological condition of the Sound, and the relative contribution of natural processes and human activities to the health of the ecosystem. The CEM illustrates the dominance of natural processes in shaping the structure and functioning of the GOA and PWS ecosystems.     

DISTRIBUTION OF KILLER WHALE PODS IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, ALASKA 1984–1996

Thirteen years of encounter data (1984–1996) were used to examine killer whale distribution within Prince William Sound, Alaska. Four patterns of area use were found, which comprised differences between resident pods and transient groups and differences among resident groups. Resident pods frequented large open passages, while transient groups used the narrow passages and bays in the southwest. This dichotomy likely reflects resident use of salmon and transient use of pinniped prey resources, as well as the different foraging strategies required for these prey types. Four resident pods (AB, AI, AJ, and AN) used Knight Island Passage more than other areas of the Sound; two (AE and AK) used all areas of the Sound more evenly. Use of the Sound by the AT1 transient whales declined in the latter part of the study. Nearshore foraging for pinniped prey by the AT1 transient whales was more common in areas where these whales spend a disproportionate amount of time, suggesting that these areas were critical foraging habitat for them. No similar pattern emerged for Open-water Foraging for cetaceans by AT1 whales, nor for foraging by the resident whales.     

Interaction of hemopexin with water-soluble porphyrins.

Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and filtration on Bio-Gel P-10 indicate that rabbit hemopexin binds deuteroporphyrin and 2,4-disulfonic acid deuteroporphyrin (dsDp) but not ethylenediamine-substituted protoporphyrin. Formation of the dsDp-hemopexin complex, produces a red shift in Soret maxima from 402 to 426 nm. Concomitant with this shift, the four-banded spectrum in the visible region changes to one with two absorption maxima at 554 and 590 nm. Fluorescence quenching data indicate the formation of an equimolar complex of hemopexin and dsDp with apparent dissociation constant of 1.8 × 10^?6m. The fluorescence emission maxima are at 623 nm for dsDp, at 603 nm for dsDp di-cation and at 590 nm for dsDp-hemopexin. The spectral changes following the interaction of dsDp with hemopexin may be interpreted to indicate that the porphyrin is in a less polar environment with an altered symmetry of the porphyrin nucleus. Since the dsDp-hemopexin spectrum resembles that of the di-cation we suggest that the pyrrole nitrogens of dsDp are protonated by or hydrogen bonded to two amino acids in the heme-binding site of hemopexin.     

Who speaks for the dispossessed?

This commentary articulates three perspectives on race in America: economic determinism, institutionalism and a field-theoretic approach. It argues that William Julius Wilson's masterwork, The Declining Significance of Race, was informed by the first and anticipated the latter two. Wilson's most profound and enduring legacy is his unwavering concern for the dispossessed.     

Sir William Jardine and the Ichnology of Annandale

ABSTRACT

Sir William Jardine was a polymath; he was one of the world's foremost ornithologists, and ichthyologists, as well as a knowledgeable geologist, entomologist and botanist. He was a talented and skilled artist and engraver and a keen hunter and fisherman. He was also the author of the book The Ichnology of Annandale that represents the first book ever published on the subject of ichnology. It was here in this volume that Jardine coined the word ichnology. It is also one of the rarest ichnology publications, as it is believed that only 135–140 copies were ever printed. This volume remains the most lavishly illustrated book in vertebrate ichnology literature. This paper discusses the work of Jardine, the finds from his estate and his role in defining ichnology as a science.     

The Role of a Modern Botanic Garden: the Evolution of Kew

The history of botanic gardens in the United Kingdom is sketched out with particular reference to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and its changing role to meet societal requirements over 250 years. Kew's position as a modem scientific institution confronting today's environmental issues through its Breathing Planet Programme yet retaining its heritage buildings and collections is pinpointed.     

The Arhopala butterflies described by Fabricius: A. centaurus is from Java, A. democritus from Phuket (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)

The origins and identities of two Fabrician butterfly species now included in the genus Arhopala Boisduval, 1832, are examined; the species are Papilio centaurus Fabricius, 1775, and Hesperia democritus Fabricius, 1793 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). To dispel recent confusion, complete taxonomic histories are presented for both. The type locality of Arhopala centaurus is established as near Jakarta, Java, and that of Arhopala democritus as Phuket Island, south‐western peninsular Thailand. Amblypodia pseudocentaurus Doubleday, 1847, described from Java, is re‐established as a subjective synonym of Arhopala centaurus sensu stricto. The subspecies of centaurus that flies in the Malay Peninsula is re‐established as A. centaurus nakula (Felder & Felder, 1860). The distinct Australian species misidentified in recent literature as Arhopala centaurus should be known as Arhopala eupolis (Miskin, 1890). Lectotype designations are made for the nominal species Papilio centaurus, Hesperia democritus, Amblypodia pseudocentaurus and Amblypodia nakula.     

William Borrer's lichens in the Supplement to the English Botany 1829–1866

Fifty-seven lichens were documented in Hooker's Supplement to the English Botany , published in five volumes from 1829 to 1866, when British lichenology was, until 1851, largely in a state of stagnation. These included 26 new lichens described by William Borrer, one of which, Verrucaria Hookeri (now Dacampia hookeri ), has proved to be a lichenicolous lichen. The merit of his work is discussed. One new species, namely Strigula Babingtonii , was described by the Reverend Miles Joseph Berkeley, but this is now regarded as a non-lichenized ascomycete fungus. An attempt was made to trace the whereabouts of all the type specimens, and only one could not be located. The current taxonomic status of the new species was investigated by the critical study of original references. No names require correction, but the authorities for Bacidia incompta (Borrer) Anzi and Verrucaria fuscella (Turner) Winch & Thornhill need emendation. The copyright dates of the plates are given, which should be accepted as those of publication.  © 2007 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 154 , 381–392.     

The saga of the false fossil foram Eozoon

Eozoon canadense, 'the dawn animal of Canada', a large foraminifera, was announced in 1864 as the oldest fossil organism known. Camps soon formed into disbelievers of its fossil nature, agnostics, and “Eozoonists”. Eozoon would number among its proponents major figures of the time. The saga of Eozoon, or more precisely the dispute as to its actual nature, spawned hundreds of publications. Here the story is told with a new focus, one on the stature and roles of the major personalities involved, and the evidence they presented. Eozoon is considered to have been 'de-bunked' in the late 19th century. However, it will be shown that it was never indisputably proven to be inorganic. Rather Eozoon simply faded away after its most ardent defenders died. As late as 1947, it was shown as the primordial organism in a biology textbook. The saga of Eozoon remains as a valuable cautionary tale. It is an example of an artifact accepted as fact because it filled a troubling void in knowledge, i.e., at that time, the first traces of life before Cambrian, and it endured because it was promoted by only a few, but powerful, figures in the scientific establishment of the era.