A comparative assessment of approaches and outcomes for seagrass revegetation in Shark Bay and Florida Bay

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 984 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Statton ◽  
Kingsley W. Dixon ◽  
Renae K. Hovey ◽  
Gary A. Kendrick

Here, we review the literature to evaluate seagrass revegetation projects focussed on Posidonia australis and Amphibolis antarctica, the main affected species in Shark Bay in the World Heritage Area in Western Australia, together with projects from Florida Bay, an analogous system with a long history of seagrass revegetation. We assessed the effectiveness of anchoring planting units, plant-unit density and size on planting-unit survival. We found no positive trends in our assessment, suggesting that there is no discrete technique, approach or technology that could be used with confidence to deliver cost-effective, scalable revegetation. Of concern was that revegetation success was evaluated over comparatively short time frames (1–3 years), driven by the strict time frames or deadlines of governing grant funding and commercial activities, leading to concerns that long-term revegetation outcomes may be difficult to assess with confidence. Several factors influenced revegetation outcomes which were grouped into three ‘filter’ categories; abiotic, biotic and socioeconomic. We recommend that future revegetation programs involving seagrass have greater emphasis on understanding how these filters act independently or collectively to drive successful revegetation as well as developing cost-effective, proven and scalable technology supported by longer-term monitoring to ensure revegetation programs do achieve the desired ecological outcomes.

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 1129 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Wise ◽  
C. F. Telfer ◽  
E. K. M. Lai ◽  
N. G. Hall ◽  
G. Jackson

Effective management of a recreational fishery must include long-term monitoring programs that allow determination of trends in temporal and spatial variability of catch and effort data. Such monitoring becomes of inherently greater importance when managing a recreational fishery in a World Heritage Area, such as Shark Bay, Western Australia. Between 1998 and 2010, 11 12-month bus-route surveys of boat-based recreational fishing were undertaken at three key boat ramps in Shark Bay. These surveys demonstrated that, in response to the progressive implementation of new management measures, the estimated annual recreational fishing-boat effort decreased by 46%. As a consequence, the estimated annual retained and released catches of the key species, pink snapper (Pagrus auratus), declined and the proportions of the catches of this species that were released each year increased. Annual catches of other species also declined, however, the composition of species retained and released each year varied. The study demonstrated that monitoring of the recreational fishery within Shark Bay provided both immediate and longer-term data on the responses by recreational fishers to changes in management. This produced the information necessary to assess the effectiveness of management measures that were introduced and to modify these as required.


Author(s):  
Morgan W. Tingley

Documenting long-term changes in biological systems requires empirical studies that span time frames from decades to centuries. Such time spans generally preclude planned experiments, but revisiting historical research programs or sites and repeating past methods or resurveying sites are being used to infer long-term changes. However, the unplanned nature of such resurveys, along with the uncontrolled environment, in which time becomes one of the treatments, results in imperfectly repeated samples. This chapter reviews inherent problems of resurveys and summarizes methods that help account for imprecision and biases in methods for the design of resurveys and analysis of the resulting data. These methods can also be used to compare repeated measurements taken over short time spans (e.g., days, months, years), although such replicates often minimize bias by having been designed when the first sample was collected. Without such careful planning, however, methodological bias increases with the time elapsed between samples.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 594-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Chernoff ◽  
Terri Combs-Orme ◽  
Christina Risley-Curtiss ◽  
Alice Heisler

Objective. Most research on health problems of children in foster care has been cross-sectional, resulting in overselection of children who have been in care long-term and underrepresentation of children who are in care for a short time. Methodology. This paper reports on the health of a large cohort of children who had complete health examinations at the time of entry into foster care in a middle-size city during a 2-year period. Results. Results indicate that >90% of the children had an abnormality in atleast one body system, 25% failed the vision screen, and 15% failed the hearing screen. The children were also lighter and shorter than the norm. Mental health screening revealed that 75% had a family history of mental illness or drug or alcohol abuse. Of children older than 3 years of age, 15% admitted to or were suspect for suicidal ideation and 7% for homicidal ideation. Of the children younger than 5 years of age, 23% had abnormal or suspect results on developmental screening examinations. At the time of entry into foster care, 12% of the children required an antibiotic. More than half needed urgent or nonurgent referrals for medical services and, for children >3 years of age, more than half needed urgent or nonurgent referrals for dental and mental health services. Just 12% of the children required only routine follow-up care. Conclusions. The high prevalence and broad range of health needs of children at the time they enter foster care necessitate the design and implementation of better models of health care delivery for children in foster care.


Author(s):  
Beata Lindholm ◽  
Christina Brogårdh ◽  
Per Odin ◽  
Peter Hagell

Abstract Introduction and objective Several prediction models for falls/near falls in Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been proposed. However, longitudinal predictors of frequency of falls/near falls are poorly investigated. Therefore, we aimed to identify short- and long-term predictors of the number of falls/near falls in PD. Methods A prospective cohort of 58 persons with PD was assessed at baseline (mean age and PD duration, 65 and 3.2 years, respectively) and 3.5 years later. Potential predictors were history of falls and near falls, comfortable gait speed, freezing of gate, dyskinesia, retropulsion, tandem gait (TG), pain, and cognition (Mini-Mental State Exam, MMSE). After each assessment, the participants registered a number of falls/near falls during the following 6 months. Multivariate Poisson regression was used to identify short- and long-term predictors of a number of falls/near falls. Results Baseline median (q1–q3) motor (UPDRS) and MMSE scores were 10 (6.75–14) and 28.5 (27–29), respectively. History of falls was the only significant short-time predictor [incidence rate ratio (IRR), 15.17] for the number of falls/near falls during 6 months following baseline. Abnormal TG (IRR, 3.77) and lower MMSE scores (IRR, 1.17) were short-term predictors 3.5 years later. Abnormal TG (IRR, 7.79) and lower MMSE scores (IRR, 1.49) at baseline were long-term predictors of the number of falls/near falls 3.5 years later. Conclusion Abnormal TG and MMSE scores predict the number of falls/near falls in short and long term, and may be indicative of disease progression. Our observations provide important additions to the evidence base for clinical fall prediction in PD.


2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Cannon

AbstractCoring of shell-midden sites provides a regional chronology of site settlement in the Namu vicinity on the central coast of British Columbia. Coring proved an accurate and cost-effective alternative to traditional test-excavation, and its application in only two short field seasons doubled the number of sites tested in this region. The dating of basal cultural deposits from the cores shows initial occupation of sites ranging from 10,000 to 800 B.P. These dates exhibit a strong linear relationship with the current elevation of deposits above average high tide, suggesting that the settlement history of known shell-midden sites in this region is strongly linked to gradual long-term decline in relative sea levels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1789-1805 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane Heriot ◽  
John Asher ◽  
Matthew R. Williams ◽  
Dorian Moro

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 36-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Kanta Panthi

Cost effective, safe and long term sustainable hydropower development is key for the lasting economic growth in the Himalayan region. Increasing pressure towards the use of renewal and environmentally friendly energy for industrial growth and daily household use will force the Himalayan region to exploit hydropower energy more extensively. The traditionally used design approach of fully lined underground waterway system is costly and financially unfeasible as well as an obstacle to attract investment in the hydropower sector in the Himalaya. Hence, more innovative solutions are needed to make hydro generated energy more cost effective and as a sustainable energy solution in the long term. This paper briefly describes the geological set-up of Scandinavia, history of Norwegian Hydropower and reviews the design principle used to develop the underground waterway system in Norway. Brief comments are also made on the applicability of these principles in the Himalayan region. It is anticipated that more discussions will be made in the future on the geo-tectonic environment of the Himalaya and suitability of Norwegian design principle in the Himalayan region.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v14i0.11254HYDRO Nepal JournalJournal of Water, Energy and EnvironmentVolume: 14, 2014 JanuaryPage: 36-40


AI Magazine ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Grudin

Although AI and HCI explore computing and intelligent behavior and the fields have seen some cross-over, until recently there was not very much. This article outlines a history of the fields that identifies some of the forces that kept the fields at arm’s length. AI was generally marked by a very ambitious, long-term vision requiring expensive systems, although the term was rarely envisioned as being as long as it proved to be, whereas HCI focused more on innovation and improvement of widely-used hardware within a short time-scale. These differences led to different priorities, methods, and assessment approaches.  A consequence was competition for resources, with HCI flourishing in AI winters and moving more slowly when AI was in favor. The situation today is much more promising, in part because of platform convergence: AI can be exploited on widely-used systems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 665 ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
JC Jarvis ◽  
SA McKenna ◽  
MA Rahseed

We examined the spatial structure (distribution, density) and function (viability) of the seagrass sediment seed bank, the storage of viable propagules (e.g. seeds, tubers, diaspores) in the sediment over time,in the northern Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area in Cairns, Queensland, following a large-scale decline in seagrass area. A spatially explicit seagrass seed bank analysis was paired with a long-term annual assessment of seagrass distribution to assess seed bank spatial patterns and their relationship with the recovery and presence of seagrass, and water depth. Four years post-decline, the seed bank contained Zostera muelleri, Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis and Cymodocea serrulata seeds. Seed banks reflected adjacent meadow community composition; however, the density of seeds for all recorded species was significantly lower than analogous seagrass populations, indicating a reduction in the capacity for recovery from the seed bank. A spatial structure existed in both the total (viable + non-viable) and viable seed bank, and distance between seed clusters ranged from 50-550 m depending on species and seed type. Observed patterns in clustering may be explained by variation in water depth and the past distribution of seagrass in these meadows. These results demonstrate that the distribution of seagrass seeds within the seed bank, which directly influences the natural recovery of seagrass communities, is not uniform across species and may result in patchy recovery of the meadows. Therefore, the resilience provided by the seed bank in seagrass communities should not be viewed as a static level of insurance for the entire meadow, but rather as dynamic and species-specific, with variability over both space and time.


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