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Beautiful Warnings….

Posted on February 24, 2015 by TheMorningTomatoReport

The cherry trees lining the street where I work now are in bloom.  I have the privilege of walking by them several days a week.  Many of the buds have opened.

The "For Rent" sign was removed from this nest on Monday afternoon. Renovations are underway and the new tenants are noisy and cheeky....

The “For Rent” sign was removed from this nest on Monday afternoon. Renovations are underway and the new tenants are noisy and cheeky….

 

This afternoon, there are more blossoms open.  Tomorrow the show of pink against blue should be stunning.

Tuesday Blossoms and the sky is even bluer....

Tuesday Blossoms and the sky is even bluer….

 

I have been privileged to stand watch as a four hour sunset turned into a four hour sunrise.  That was many July’s ago during a 12 hour graveyard shift on the roof of a coker at Syncrude.

I do not have a photograph, only memories…  Inside the plant, personal cameras are not allowed to be carried by employees.

 

Today is February 23, 2014.

The photos of the cherry blossoms were taken in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where in February’s past we have huddled under umbrellas, pulling our jackets close as the cold winds blew in off of the water.  I grew up here.  The cold winds and wet weather of winter are what is necessary to keep the rain forests green.

 

Climate change is real.

 

I have recently read Naomi Klein’s newest book, This Changes Everything:  Capitalism vs. The Climate.  I do not believe that she exaggerates any point.

 

Every small thing we do (or don’t do) to stop the change helps.

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An Oilspill on December 15th, 2014 in the World’s Largest Mangrove Forest. Why isn’t this on the news?

Posted on December 21, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

The oilspill in the Sundarbans National Park seems to have been all but ignored by world news services.  I heard about it on a blog, SkyTruth, and decided that there must be information out there that would help me to understand the area, the damage, and the responsibility.

There is.  There is a lot out there to read!  Scientists and other concerned people have been writing about pollution, oil spills and clean-ups for a very long time.

Here is some of what I have been reading as well as some of what I will be reading:

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The Sundarbans National Park – A UNESCO Heritage Site

The Sundarbans is an area composed of rivers, some arable land and the largest mangrove forest on earth.  It is also home to some of the poorest people on earth.  There is no industry here.  There are no resource friendly alternatives to illegal fishing and hunting.  There are no jobs.  This is an area where caste restricts choices.

Abhiroop Chowdhury and Subodh Kumar Maiti.  2014.  Mangrove Reforestation through Participation of Vulnerable Population:  Engineering a Sustainable Management Solution for Resource Conservation.  International Journal of Environmental Research and Development, Vol 4, No 1, pp. 1-8.  Link

There is a novel that depicts the Sundarbans as treacherous with humans holding on to a tenuous existence in the presence of an untamed nature.  (The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, 2005.)  Even the islands that dot the waterways are not constant but change, grow, disappear and reappear with seasons and storms.

Louise Squire.  2014. The Thoughts in our Head: A World.  Alluvium, Vol. 3, No. 1.  Link

Huma Yaqub.  2014.  Tides of Change Breaking against the World of Sundarbans:  A Study of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.  International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities, Vol. II, Issue V, pages 104-113.  Link

Mangrove Forests:

Ken W. Krauss, Karen L. McKee, Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Neil Saintilan, Ruth Reef, and Luzehn Chen.  2013.  How mangrove forests adjust to rising sea level.  New Phytologist, doi:  10.1111/nph.12605  Link

Daniel M. Alongi.  2008.  Mangrove forests:  Resilience, protection from tsunamis, and responses to global climate change.  Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 76. pages 1-13.  Link

Kandasamy Kathiresan and Narayanasamy Rajendran.  2005.  Coastal mangrove forests mitigated tsunami.  Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science Vol. 65, pages 601-606.  Link

Daniel M. Alongi.  2002.  Present state and future of the world’s mangrove forests.  Environmental Conservation, Vol. 29, No. 3, pages 331-349.  Link

Ivan Valiela, Jennifer L. Bowen, and Joanna K. York.  2001.  Mangrove Forests:  One of the World’s Threatened Major Tropical Environments.  BioScience, Vol. 51, No. 10, pages 807-815.  Link

Tigers:

Chloe Inskip, Zubair Fahad, Rowan Tully, Thomas Roberts, and Douglas MacMillan.  2014. Understanding carnivore killing behaviour: Exploring the motivations for tiger killing in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh.  Biological Conservation, 180, pages 42-50.  Link

Chandan Kumar Mondal, Bholanath Mondal, and Debashis Sarkar.  2014.  Study on Utility and Revival through Community approach in Sundarbans Mangrove.  International Journal of Social Science, Vol. 3, No. 2, pages 191-203.  Link

R. Mani Murali, P.J. Vidya, Poonam Modi, and Seelam Jaya Kumar.  2014.  Site selection for offshore wind farms along the Indian coast.  Indian Journal of Marine Sciences.  Vol. 43(7).  Link

Dolphins:

B.E. Smith, G. Braulik, S. Strindberg, R. Mansur, M.A.A. Diyan, and B.Ahmed.  2012.  Habitat selection of freshwater-dependent cetaceans and the potential effects of declining freshwater flows and sea-level rise in waterways of the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bangladesh.  Aquatic Conservation:  Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Vol 19, pages 209-225.  Link 

Ram Boojh.  2014.  Ensuring Sustainability of Wetlands in the Global Context, in International Conference on Lakes & Wetlands:  Bhopal, India.  Link

UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

This Link will take you to a map of all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  Just point and click or, search for the Sundarbans.  Link

~~~~~

How did we find out about this spill?  Satellite images!  I would like to find something a little more current but, for now this is interesting….

Mervin F. Fingas and Carl E. Brown.  2000.  Review of Oil Spill Remote Sensing.  Emergencies Science Division, Environment Canada.  Environmental Technology Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  Link

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What have we learned and what do we do?  Whatever it is, we must do it carefully and with thought for the future….

Luis A. Soto, Alfonso V. Botello, Sergio Licea-Duran, Marcial L. Liarraga-Partida, and Alejandro Yanez-Arancibia.  2014.  The environmental legacy of the Ixtoc-I oil spill in Campeche Sound, southwestern Gulf of Mexico.  Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol. 1, Art. 57, pages 1-9.  Link

Naomi Klein.  2014.  Chapter 13: The Right to Regenerate.  In, This Changes Everything:  Capitalism vs. The Climate:  Canada:  Alfred A. Knopf.  Pages 419-448.  Link

Dagmar Schmidt Etkin.  2000.  Worldwide Analysis of Marine Oil Spill Cleanup Cost Factors.  Presented at:  Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program Technical Seminar.  Link

S.R. Pezeshki, M.W. Hester, Q. Lin, and J.A. Nyman.  1999.  The effects of oil spill and clean-up on dominant US Gulf coast marsh macrophytes:  a review.  Environmental Pollution 108, pp. 129-139.  Link

~~~~~

Where does the information in these papers come from?  Research!  Research by the authors of these papers and by researchers and authors before them.  A selected bibliography is here (this will be a large file!):  Soon….

 

~~~

Added on February 8, 2015.

A collected bibliography, most gathered from the above articles but not all, for you to peruse.  Possibly, this bibliography could be called ‘second generation’ as it provided the writers of the above research papers with documented research that they could use and further….

Reading List – Blog Post Dec 21, 2014

This document is fairly long.  There is a lot of good information in there, research and writing by many very qualified science specialists and others…..  I began to put links in to the articles in this list but, there are just too many.  If you have trouble finding anything on this list just leave a comment below I would be more than happy to take a look and see if I can help.

 

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Are Barrier Islands Worth Protecting? What Makes This Type of Island Special?

Posted on December 6, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

Barrier islands are islands that form a barrier between open water and a larger body of land.  They form a “first defense” of protection from sea born storms such as hurricanes.  They protect the mainland against unceasing tidal action and waves.  They are breeding and nesting grounds for numerous vertebrates and invertebrates.  They form some of the loveliest places, visually, on this planet.  But, are they special?  When they are in trouble, are they worth saving?

Cat Islands, Mississippi Delta

I may or may not agree with what is in the following articles but, every one of these articles is important.  I have arranged them in chronological order.  My choices have taken into account the inclusions of maps and photographs (it is an easy way to compare today with yesterday).  I hope that you open one or two (or all) of them.  These research papers are more than just interesting and they are worth a browse through….

A blog worth browsing!  SkyTruth  Last Chance for Cat Island?

 

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The following are links to grey papers, peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.  Together, these publications form a body of work that is more than just interesting, it is historical and most are scientific in their approach to finding out answers to questions about things like barrier islands and what they do for this planet.

 

~~~~~

Thesis:  Quantifying the Impact of Hurricanes, Mid-Latitude Cyclones and other Weather and Climate Extreme Events on the Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands Using Remotely Sensed Data.  pdf

Author:  Rebekah Jones

Published in:  2014

Thesis:  Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Department of Geography and Anthropology.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access text2.pdf

 

~~~~~

Chapter:  Hurricane Katrina, the Role of US National Parks on the Northern Gulf of Mexico and Post Storm Wetland Restoration.  pdf

Author:  Mark Ford.  National Park Service Southeast Regional Office, New Orleans, LA.

Book:  Safe Havens:  Protected Areas for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.  Edited by Radhika Murti and Camille Buyck.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Safe%20Havens.pdf#page=155

This is Chapter 16.  The book is worth finding!

 

~~~~~

Article:  Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  link

Author:  Cutler J. Cleveland, (ed. Peter Saundry

Published in:  The Encyclopedia of the Earth

Published on:  December 5, 2010 and updated on February 22, 2013

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/51cbf0267896bb431f6a0797/

 

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Article:  What are Barrier Islands Worth?  Estimates of Willingness to Pay for Restoration.  pdf

Authors:

Published in:  2009

Journal:  Marine Resource Economics (link), Vol. 24, pages 131-146.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1889277

 

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Article:  Geomorphologic Evolution of Barrier Islands along the Northern U.S. Guld of Mexico and Implications for Engineering Design in Barrier Restoration.  pdf

Authors:

  • Julie Dean Rosati, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (Publications)
  • Gregory W. Stone, Louisiana State University (Publications)

Published in:  January 2009

Journal:  Journal of Coastal Research (link), Vol. 25, No. 1, pages 8-22.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access JCRv25-1_Rosati_Stone.pdf

 

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Article:  Historical Changes in the Mississippi-Alabama Barrier-Island Chain and the Roles of Extreme Storms, Sea Level, and Human Activities.  pdf

Author:  Robert A. Morton, U.S. Geological Survey

Published in: November 2008.

Journal:  Journal of Coastal Research (link), Vol. 24, No. 6, pages 1587-1600.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access historical.changes.in.the.MS.AL.barrier.islands.pdf

 

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Article:  Hurricane Katrina Storm Surge Distribution and Field Observations on the Mississippi Barrier Islands.  pdf

Authors:

  • Hermann M. Fritz, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (publications)
  • Chris Blount, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Robert Sokoloski, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Justin Singleton, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Andrew Fuggle, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Brian G. McAdoo, Department of Geology and Geography, Vassar College (publications)
  • Andrew Moore, Department of Geology, Kent State University (publications)
  • Chad Grass, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Banks Tate, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology (Publications)

Published in:  2007

Journal:  Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science (link), 2007, pages 1-9.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access ECSS_HurricaneKatrina_Fz.pdf

 

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Article:  National Assessment of Shoreline Change:  Part 1 Historical Shoreline Changes and Associated Coastal Land Loss Along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.  pdf

Authors:

  • Robert A. Morton
  • Tara L. Miller
  • Laura J. Moore (publications)

Published in:  2004

Journal:  USGS:  Science for a Changing World, Open File Report 2004-1043

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2004/1043/

Just a quick note.  The front cover of this report is stamped “Distribution Unlimited.”  There are publishing companies who want to charge to let you see this.  It is available for free, just a bit tricky to find….

 

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Article:  Land Loss Rates:  Mississippi River Deltaic Plain.  pdf

Authors:

  • Louis D. Britsch, Geotechnical Laboratory, Department of the Army
  • E. Burton Kemp III, US Army Engineer District, New Orleans

Published in:  April 1990

Publisher:  U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it by using a Google Scholar Search

If this article is not showing in the link, try copying and pasting the full title (Land Loss Rates: Mississippi River Deltaic Plain) into a search box on your browser.  This is a wonderful publication for photographs!

 

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Article:  The Flank Margin Model for Dissolution Cave Development in Carbonate Platforms.  pdf

Authors:

  • John E. Mylroie, Department of Geology and Geography, Mississippi State University (publications)
  • James L. Carew, Department of Geology, The College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina

Published in:  1990

Journal:  Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, Vol. 15, pages 413-424.

My copy was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access Mylroie_Carew_1990_ESPL%20flank%20margin%20caves.pdf

 

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Chapter:  Sediments of the Eastern Mississippi Delta.  pdf

Author:  P.C. Scruton

Book information:  Finding Ancient Shorelines, edited by Jack L. Hough and Henry W. Menard.  Published by SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology.  1955

My copy of this chapter was downloaded in December, 2014.  I found it here

Click to access SEC2.body.pdf

 

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Get Involved!

Posted on November 21, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

Citizen Science Projects

… also known as Networked Science, Community Science and Public Science projects, there are groups that have long histories and a lot of success at keeping an eye on things and figuring things out!

Find out how you can get involved in your community by checking out the links provided here or, by doing a community-based Google search using your home town, along with ‘Citizen Science’ as keywords.  Do you know of or are you involved in any community science projects that are not listed here?  Let me know in the comments section and we can get them linked!

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Global Projects

Air Quality Egg  –  This project does cost a little bit to get started as it requires you to own an air quality sensing device.  But, check it out anyways!  The data being collected by the volunteers in this project, is available to everyone.  The project is providing real time, live data on the air that we breath.

The Great Backyard Bird Count  –  People around the world are counting the birds, every February since 1988!  Get involved, make it an event, count birds, share your data!  In 2013 birds were counted in 111 countries.  With your participation, we can make it all countries…..

The Morning Tomato Report  –  This is a community networking and engagement project.  Help further our understanding on all sorts of topics by engaging in discussions about relevant subjects by commenting on or or writing a precis (a summary) of a non-fiction article, book or speech.

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North American Projects

Bug Guide  –  Capturing bugs with photographs and posting not just the photos but the where and when is helping entomologists learn about bug behaviour.

Bumble Bee Watch  –  Take a photo, upload it to this site, record the where and when, find the species, and you are helping to track and locate rare and endangered species of bees as well as to record their habits.

Celebrate Urban Birds  –  Pick a place and then just watch for birds for 10 minutes.  Report your observations.  Your data set will help the scientists at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology determine how urban birds are doing.

Christmas Bird Count  –  Started in 1900 by the Audubon Society, volunteering for the Bird Count is as easy as letting them know you are interested!  Make it a family event and check out your feathery neighbors….

eBird  –  Join the community, record the birds you see, share your sightings with others!  Another Cornelle University Citizen Science project.  This project is about sighting rare and endangered species.  There is also tracking of migratory birds and some amazing pages and photographs!

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South American Projects

Celebrate Urban Birds  –  Pick a place and hen just watch birds for 10 minutes.  Report your observations.  Your data set will help the scientists at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology determine how urban birds are doing.

Christmas Bird Count  –  Started in 1900 by the Audubon Society, volunteering for the Bird Count is as easy as letting them know you are interested!  Make it a family event and check out your feathery neighbors….

eBird  –  Join the community, record the birds you see, share your sightings with others!  Another Cornelle University Citizen Science project.  This project is about sighting rare and endangered species.  There is also tracking of migratory birds and some amazing pages and photographs!

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Canadian Projects

British Columbia

Wild Whales BC Cetacean Sightings Network  –  This is a project where individuals provide information on whale, dolphin, porpoise and turtle sightings along the coast of British Columbia.  If you are on or near the coast, you can be involved.

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USA Projects

Project BudBurst  –  This is a climate mapping project that has citizens all over the US watching and recording plant growth and change.  The data collected is being used to help climatologists understand what is happening to growing seasons as our climate changes.

New York

Woodland Pool Project –  The Hudson River Estuary Program and the Cornell University Department of Natural Resources have a way for you to enlist as a citizen scientist by volunteering to observe woodland pools and wildlife in your area.

Gowanus Canal Project  –  This one is important and fun!  Participant tagging.  There is a robot taking pictures of the canal as the canal is undergoing cleanup.  There are lots of pictures and what has been captured needs to be identified and tagged.  Just log in and lend a hand….

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Annotated List (with Links) of University Lab, Publications Lists – This is a Work in Progress…

Posted on November 19, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

This is a Work in Progress…

Searching is easy, until we can’t find something that we need….  This list might help.  It takes us to places that Google generally cannot get into unless you know very specific key words to use.  This is usually the entire title of the article!  In fact, if there is something on one of these list that you have trouble finding, try copying and pasting the ‘entire’ title into this search box.  If that doesn’t work, send me a note and I will try to help….

This will be a very long list and it will be added to whenever I find new and interesting lists to add to it!  If you know of a publication list that you would like to see added here, please let me know  —  this type of list can be really hard to find….

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Anthropology

Kwantlen Polytechnic University 

The Anthropology Faculty  –  Most of the instructors and professors in this department and are published.  Most have also provided at least a partial list of their writing and there is some very interesting writing here!

Anthropology Department Resource List  –  There are some amazing links here.  If you are looking for information on pretty much anything anthropology related, spend a few free clicks through this page.

~~~~~

Biology

Michigan State University

Richard E. Lenski  –  The Experimental Evolution page is a very long list of some incredibly amazing work!  Track the progress of the 50,000 Generation Project by going back through time (and articles) to get real details and real information!

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Chemistry

Kwantlen Polytechnic University  –  There is a good list of web sites, databases and other university chemistry departments here.    I will be checking some of these links out soon.

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Classical Studies

University of Winnipeg

Classic Studies Faculty  –  Full and partial publication lists of faculty members.  I just found these lists and have not gone through them too thoroughly yet.

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Criminology

Kwantlen Polytechnic University  –  There is only one faculty showing off their writing skills here.  Greg Jenion.   However, the Resources page here is fairly well stocked with good links!

University of Winnipeg  –  Criminal Justice Department Resource List.  I have checked out a few of these links and, if you are willing to put in a few clicks, you may find some publications lists that are absolutely amazing!

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Ecology

University of British Columbia  –  The Hinch Lab is an incredible source of information on Wild Salmon!   The articles listed here are from 1986 to present and every article I have looked at is well written with an excellent reference list!

University of Winnipeg  – 

The Publications List at the Lingle Lab is a good source for interesting local information.

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Environmental Protection

Kwantlen Polytechnic University  –  A good starting place for information on protecting the environment and staying safe doing it!

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Gender Studies

University of Winnipeg  –  Most of the professors and instructors listed here have a biography which includes some very interesting publications lists.

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Geography

Kwantlen Polytechnic University  –  The Geography Department has a fair resources page.    Several of the links will take you to resources pages of larger universities.  I will be checking them out!

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History

University of Winnipeg  –  There are a couple of professors teaching Mennonite history here.  There are publications lists.

–  German-Canadian Studies.  This department has compiled an excellent list of articles and books.

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Mathematics

Kwantlen Polytechnic University  –  There are some sources here that you will find very helpful whether you are studying for exams or just trying to figure out the math that the local newspaper is using to convince you of something (well, maybe not…)

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Political Science

University of Winnipeg  –  The faculty list has a bio for every professor and many of the bios do include publication lists.

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Urban and Inner-City Studies

University of Winnipeg  –  This goes to the  faculty page for Urban and Inner-City Studies.  There are some well published professors here.

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Arctic Pollution from Unexpected Sources

Posted on October 24, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

A summary of the article, Sea Birds Fly Pollution to the Arctic, by Andreas von Bubnoff.

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The Original Article:  Sea Birds Fly Pollution to the Arctic:  Bird Guano Makes for Hotspots of Toxins

Author: Andreas von Bubnoff

Source:  Nature, 14 July 2005 , doi:10.1038/news050711-13

My copy was downloaded on , October 24, 2014

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My Precis

We know that pollution is being carried to the Arctic by wind and tides and now we also know, through scientific investigation and the testing of lake water, that pollution is carried into the Arctic by migrating birds.

~~~

My Precis Expanded:

Arctic lakes that are used by birds such as Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) have been found to contain higher concentrations of toxins such as mercury, DDT, and hexachlorobenzen (HCB) than lakes with lower bird populations. To determine the extent that birds are bringing pollution with them, eleven Arctic lakes, located both near and at a distance from, nesting sites were tested for chemical pollutants. Some of these lakes were found to have very high mercury concentrations.

Birds eating contaminated prey or carrion become contaminated themselves as chemicals such as HCB, DDT and PCBs collect in an animal’s fatty tissues. These chemicals then pass on to other predators when the contaminated meat is eaten. Indigenous peoples living in the Arctic and relying on game for food are eating contaminated animals. “Mercury and PCBs can cause immune system dysfunction, adverse neurological effects and IQ deficits.”

Wind and sea currents are major sources of pollution in the Arctic. The best way to fix this problem is to prevent more contamination “from entering the environment in the first place.”

~~~

I found the original article through a search using Google.

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050711/full/news050711-13.html

If you have any trouble locating the article please contact me or, call your local college or university library for assistance.

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The Most Complete Titanosaur ever Discovered….

Posted on September 27, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

Sometimes it is simply the size of some of nature’s creatures leaves me in awe…  And, it was still growing!  Wow!

Lacovara, K.J., Lamanna, M.C., Ibiricu, L.M., Poole, J.C., Schroeter, E.R., Ullmann, P.V., Voegele, K.K., Boles, Z.M., Carter, A.M., Fowler, E.K., Egerton, V.M., Moyer, A.E., Coughenour, C.L., Schein, J.P., Harris, J.D., Martinez, R.D., & Novas, F.E.  2014. A Gigantic, Exceptionally Complete Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from Southern Patagonia, Argentina. Scientific Reports 4 (6196).

My Precis

The 2/3’s complete skeleton of a titanosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani, found recently in Argentina, would have been approximately 26m in length and weighed 593 metric tons and, may have still been growing when it died.

My Precis Expanded

Not much is known or understood about titanosaurs, the largest of the dinosaurs, as the only skeletons that have been found have been fragmentary, frustrating attempts to estimate size and other characteristics but the recent discovery of a titanosaur in Argentina has given scientists an almost 2/3’s complete and extremely well preserved skeleton to work with. This is the most complete titanosaur ever found and was given the name Dreadnoughtus schrani; Dreadnought from Old English, meaning ‘fearing nothing’. Schrani, honouring Adam Schran for his support of this research.

When the skeleton of Dreadnoughtus was compared to the skeletons of other titanosaurs, differences in the shapes and sizes of the bones were found that make Dreadnoughtus unique. This is one of the largest of these giants with an estimated length of 26m and a weight of 593 metric tons. Examinations of the bones have revealed that even at this size, this titanosaur may still have been growing!

I found the original article here: http://www.nature.com/srep/2014/140904/srep06196/full/srep06196.html

If you have any trouble locating the article please contact me or, call your local college or university library for assistance.

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A Precis on Pink Salmon

Posted on September 18, 2014 by TheMorningTomatoReport

We enjoy watching birds in bird houses!

Bees get bee boxes…

Salmon have a better chance of successfully spawning in purpose-built spawning channels.

I have written a precis.  I write very short summaries when I am doing research papers for the classes I take at the local polytechnic.  I think it might make sense to put some of them here.

It is salmon season in British Columbia and so I have randomly chosen a research article on salmon spawning.

The Article:

Cook, K.V., McConnachie, S.H., Gilmour, K.M., Hinch, S.G., Cooke, S.J., 2011. Fitness and Behavioral Correlates of Pre-Stress and Stress-Induced Plasma Cortisol Titers in Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Upon Arrival at Spawning Grounds. Hormones and Behavior, 60, 489-497.

My Precis

Aiding Pacific Pink Salmon with purpose-built spawning channels lowers stress levels and increases the chances of successful spawning.

My precis, expanded:

The hormone cortisol is produced by Pacific salmon en route to spawning grounds as a response to coping with the necessary imperative of spawning. As Pacific salmon have only a single breeding opportunity in their lifetime the natural stress effect of “natal stream homing” produces large amounts of cortisol and results in an early death.

The salmon in this study arrived in a fully monitored holding area where they were counted and examined before being released into an artificial spawning channel. Continued observation showed that the longer a female was in the spawning channel, the greater the chance she had of dropping and defending her eggs successfully. This study links reproductive success to cortisol levels and the findings are consistent with other studies and with evolutionary theory in that cortisol levels and stress response are indicators of sexual maturity and spawning success.

More variability in cortisol levels have been found in salmon spawning in the wild than in artificial spawning runs suggests that there may be factors for success other than cortisol levels to be taken into account. Comparatively, there is a greater chance of spawning success in purpose-built spawning channels than in the wild.

Find the original article here:

http://www.fecpl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HB-Cook-et-al-2011.pdf

If you have any trouble locating the article please contact me or, call your local college or university library for assistance.

Please leave a comment.  Whether you agree or disagree with what I have understood from this article, your thoughts are of interest to me.  All published articles are, or should be, available to everyone.  Sometimes it takes a bit of effort…

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