Life Sciences Commons^™

Emergent Behavior In A Coupled Economic And Coastline Model For Beach Nourishment, Eli D. Lazarus, D E. Mcnamara, M D. Smith, S Gopalakrishnan, A B. Murray

Publications

Developed coastal areas often exhibit a strong systemic coupling between shoreline dynamics and economic dynamics. "Beach nourishment", a common erosion-control practice, involves mechanically depositing sediment from outside the local littoral system onto an actively eroding shoreline to alter shoreline morphology. Natural sediment-transport processes quickly rework the newly engineered beach, causing further changes to the shoreline that in turn affect subsequent beach-nourishment decisions. To the limited extent that this landscape/economic coupling has been considered, evidence suggests that towns tend to employ spatially myopic economic strategies under which individual towns make isolated decisions that do not account for their neighbors. What happens …

Minerva 2011, The Honors College

Minerva

This issue of Minerva includes an article on four newly-hired Honors preceptors, Rob Glover, Sarah Harlan-Haughey, Jordan LaBouff, and Justin Martin; a feature on Honors award, scholarship, and fellowship winners; and an article on the Honors College collaboration with the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Infrastructure (INBRE) National Genomics Research Initiative.

The Impact Of Category Separation On Unsupervised Categorization, Shawn W. Ell, Gregoryh F. Ashby

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Most previous research on unsupervised categorization has used unconstrained tasks in which no instructions are provided about the underlying category structure or the stimuli are not clustered into categories. Few studies have investigated constrained tasks in which the goal is to learn pre-defined stimulus clusters in the absence of feedback. These studies have generally reported good performance when the stimulus clusters could be separated by a one-dimensional rule. The present study investigated the limits of this ability. Results suggest that even when two stimulus clusters are as widely separated as in previous studies, performance is poor if within-category variance on …

Collaborative Research: Gymnosperms On The Tree Of Life: Resolving The Phylogeny Of Seed Plants, Christopher S. Campbell

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

An award is made to Sarah Mathews (Lead PI), Jianhua Li (Co-PI), Harvard University; Reed S. Beaman (PI), Nico Cellinese (Co-PI), Yale University; Christopher S. Campbell (PI), University of Maine; Richard C. Cronn (Collaborator), USDA Forest Service; Sean W. Graham (Co-PI), University of British Columbia; Stefanie M. Ickert-Bond (PI), University of Alaska; Dean G. Kelch (PI), University of California-Berkeley and California State Herbarium; Aaron I. Liston (PI), Oregon State University; Linda A. Raubeson (PI), Central Washington University; Gar W. Rothwell (PI), Gene Mapes (Co-PI), Ohio University; Andrea E. Schwarzbach (PI), University of Texas-Brownsville; Dennis W. Stevenson (PI), New York Botanical …

The Lobster Bulletin, Fall 2011, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Fall 2011 issue include:

• Lobster Institute to Present Two Workshops at the Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association Weekend
• Number of Right Whales Up in Bay of Fundy
• Coming 2012 The Lobster Institute's 25th Anniversary
• A Full House for the Lobster Institute's Holiday Lobster & Wine Fest
• Research Report: Squid Outweighs Lobster in Rhode Island Fishery
• Research …

Beals Historical Society Fall 2011 Newsletter, Carol Davis

Downeast Fisheries Trail

A quarterly newsletter from the Beals Island Historical Society.

Photodissolution Of Sedimentary Organic Matter, Lawrence M. Mayer

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The field of marine photochemistry has previously focused on dissolved organic matter and trace metals. However, recent studies have shown that sediment suspensions in the ocean are also affected by sunlight and have the potential to dissolve most of their particulate organic carbon to the dissolved organic phase.

A researcher from the University of Maine will determine the importance of photodissolution in the coastal Louisiana area, where riverine particulates are quickly deposited in shallow waters. Optical properties of the particulates will be examined to assess the photon fluxes and to determine the quantum yields of this photodissolution reaction. To determine …

U.S. Forest Service Northern Conifer Experimental Forests: Historical Review And Examples Of Silvicultural Research Applications, Kate Berven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates U.S. Forest Service silvicultural research in the northern mixed-conifer forest of the Northeast. Chapter 1 is an overview of three closed experimental forests and is a cautionary tale regarding lost research opportunities. The Paul Smith, Finch-Pryun, and Gale River Experimental Forests (EFs) were established in the early to mid 1900s. Changing societal needs and research priorities led to redirected staffing and funding; all three were disestablished. Initial investments were lost and outcomes of the experiments not fully realized. This chapter highlights the importance of retaining and properly storing records. The Penobscot EF is an exemplary illustration of …

The Lobster Bulletin, Summer 2011, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Summer 2011 issue include:

• Lobster Institute Cooperating Experts Directory a Valuable Asset
• Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation Hosts First Lobster Science Symposium
• Research Report: Using the Invasive Green Crab in Food Product Development
• Research Report: Progress in the war against sea lice
• Maine Lobster Chef of the Year Finalists to Compete in Portland

The Physiological Ecology Of Seasonal Interactions: How Do Wintering Ground Events Constrain Breeding Success In Neotropical Migrants?, Rebecca L. Holberton

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Migratory birds breed throughout the temperate regions of North America but winter in very different habitats further south. Although 1000 km or more may separate wintering from breeding areas, recent research has revealed that ecological conditions during winter can influence subsequent reproductive success. The major objective of this research is to investigate the underlying physiological factors linking winter events with an individual's ability to breed. The American redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is an excellent study animal: its ecology and behavior during the wintering and breeding periods have been intensively studied. The degree to which redstarts prepare for breeding, and …

Tb205: Cost Of Supplemental Irrigation For Potato Production In Maine, David Silver, Ermias Afeworki, George K. Criner

Technical Bulletins

This report presents estimated irrigation costs for potato production in Maine. The variability of the weather in Maine (particularly precipitation) has a large influence on crop yields and overall farm profitability. The use of supplemental irrigation on high-value agricultural crops can improve the economic situation of farmers who use this equipment efficiently. Costs considered in this report include capital costs (equipment, interest, water development (pond construction, permitting, engineering), and operating and maintenance costs (labor, power, repair).

Clearcutting Has A Long-Lasting Effect On Habitat Connectivity For A Forest Amphibian By Decreasing Permeability To Juvenile Movements, Viorel Popescu, Malcolm L. Hunter Jr.

Publications

Conservation of forest amphibians is dependent on finding the right balance between management for timber production and meeting species' habitat requirements. For many pond-breeding amphibians, successful dispersal of the juvenile stage is essential for long-term population persistence. We investigated the influence of timber-harvesting practices on the movements of juvenile wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). We used a chronosequence of stands produced by clear-cutting to evaluate how stand age affects habitat permeability to movements. We conducted experimental releases of juveniles in 2008 (n = 350) and 2009 (n = 528) in unidirectional runways in four treatments: mature forest, recent clearcut, …

Pathogen-Mediated Evolution Of Immunogenetic Variation In Plains Zebra (Equus Quagga) Of Southern Africa, Pauline L. Kamath

Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Investigating patterns of variability in functional protein-coding genes is fundamental to identifying the basis for population and species adaptation and ultimately, for predicting evolutionary potential in the face of environmental change. The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), a family of immune genes, has been one of the most emphasized gene systems for studying selection and adaptation in vertebrates due to its significance in pathogen recognition and consequently, in eliciting host immune response. Pathogen evasion of host resistance is thought to be the primary mechanism preserving extreme levels of MHC polymorphism and shaping immunogenetic patterns across host populations and species. In this …

Interannual Variability In American Lobster Settlement: Correlations With Sea Surface Temperature, Wind Stress And River Discharge, Mahima Jaini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recruitment to benthic marine populations is fundamentally a biophysical problem. The American Lobster Settlement Index is an annual diver-based survey of the young-of-year American lobsters (Homarus americanus) found in inshore nurseries in New England, USA and Atlantic Canada at the end of the postlarval settlement season. The considerable interannual variability in the settlement index suggests that environmental factors play an important role in regulating planktonic larval supply and transport. In this study, I focused on the longest settlement time series from three oceanographically contrasting regions: Midcoast Maine, coastal Rhode Island and the lower Bay of Fundy. Sampling in these regions …

Characterization Of The Microbial Associates Of Nematodes Pathogenic To Myrmica Rubra, Jonathan E. Dumont

Honors College

Pristionchus entomophagus is a necromenic nematode commonly associated with dung beetles (Geotrupes spp.) in Europe. Recently, it has been found in Maine emerging from cadavers of M. rubra, an ant native to Europe that is currently established and pestiferous in Maine (Groden and Stack 2011). Laboratory assays inoculating M. rubra with these nematodes caused significant mortality. This study aimed to characterize the bacterial associates of P. entomophagus in order to further understand its pathogenic relationship with M. rubra. Bacterial samples were collected from the cuticle and gut of the nematodes, and the hemolymph of infected hosts. Single spore isolates were …

The Lobster Bulletin, Spring 2011, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Spring 2011 include:

• “Give Back” Programs Becoming a Popular Way to Support the Lobster Institute
• 2011 Canadian/U.S. Lobstermen’s Town Meeting Transcript Now Available
• Lobster Institute on Facebook
• Research Report: Gardner Pinfold Long-term Value Strategy for the Canadian Lobster Fishery report discussed at Town Meeting

Research Report: Right whale population monitoring explained at Town Meeting …

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The Dandy Scroll, Spring 2011, University Of Maine Pulp And Paper Foundation

General University of Maine Publications

The Spring 2011 issue of The Dandy Scroll newsletter produced by the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation.

2010-2011 Piscataquis County Cooperative Extension Annual Report, Donna Coffin

Maine County Extension Associations

2010-2011 annual report of activities for the Piscataquis County Cooperative Extension Office.

The Lobster Bulletin, Winter 2011, Lobster Institute, University Of Maine

Lobster Bulletin

The Lobster Bulletin newsletter includes research updates, and information on lobsters and the lobster industry. The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine is dedicated to protecting and conserving the lobster resource, and enhancing lobstering as an industry and a way of life.

Headlines in the Winter 2011 issue include:

• Massachusetts Lobster Fishery Invited to Participate in New "Commonwealth Quality" Program
• Laitram Machinery Donates Lobster Cooking Equipment to the Lobster Institute & University of Maine
• 2010 Friends of the Lobster Institute
• Research Report: Does less bait mean fewer lobsters?
• Lobster Institute to Host 2011 Canadian/U.S. Lobstermen's Town Meeting - March …

Can Ecosystem-Based Deep-Sea Fishing Be Sustained?, Les Watling, R L. Haedrich, J Devine, J Drazen, M R. Dunn, M Gianni, K Baker, G Cailliet, I Figueiredo, P M. Kyne, G Menezes, F Neat, A Orlov, P Duran, J A. Perez, J A. Ardon, J Bezaury, C Revenga, C Nouvian

Marine Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Can there ever be a truly sustainable deep-sea fishery and if

so, where and under what conditions? Ecosystembased

fisheries management requires that this question be

addressed such that habitat, bycatch species, and targeted

fish populations are considered together within an ecosystem

context.

To this end, we convened the first workshop to develop an

ecosystem approach to deep-sea fisheries and to ask whether

deep-sea species could be fished sustainably. The workshop

participants were able to integrate bycatch information into

their framework but found it more difficult to integrate other

ecosystem indicators such as habitat characteristics.

(First two paragraphs from the Executive …

Lower Limb Acceleration During The Block-Start Vs. Selected Power And Strength Exercises, Thomas A. Ordelt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of load changes on angular accelerations of the ankle, knee and hip joints. Accelerations were measured in the squat (S), power clean (PC) and power hang clean (PHC), and compared to the accelerations in the push-off phase of the sprint start (SS). Methods: Nine female Division I college track athletes performed block sprint-starts, single-leg squat jumps (1S0) with 0% of 1RM, squats (jump) with 0, 25, 40% of 1RM, and PC and PHC with 30, 50, 75, 100% of 1RM. The fastest trial of each exercise was analyzed for minimum …

Forest Succession And Amphibian Migrations: Implications For Landscape Connectivity, Viorel Dan Popescu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation of forest-dependent amphibians is dependent on finding a balance between timber management and species’ habitat requirements. Accurate predictions of the response of amphibian communities to disturbance rely on a good understanding of the scales at which ecological processes affect distribution and abundance through space and time. I investigated the response of 14 species to four different forestry treatments (partial harvest, clearcut with coarse woody debris [CWD] removed, clearcut with CWD retained, and uncut control) over a six-year period, using 2.1-ha experimental treatments. Forest amphibians showed a strong negative response to complete canopy removal at a broad spatial scale, but …

It’S Growing Season For Maine’S Food System, Deborah Felder

Maine Policy Review

In the introduction to this special issue, guest editor Deb Felder lays out the elements of a sustainable food system. She notes that the increased interest in more ecologically sustainable, safe, humane, and economical community-supported food systems has “put Maine in the forefront of the food movement.”

Bringing Local Foods To The Farm Bill, Chellie Pingree

Maine Policy Review

U.S. House Representative Chellie Pingree addresses the importance of revising the Federal Farm Bill to provide greater support to small, local farms if Maine and the nation are to have a sustainable food system..

An Abundant Food System, Russell Libby

Maine Policy Review

Russell Libby imagines what an abundant food system would look like for Maine and what it would take to get there. His recommendations include expanding the production and financing base, encouraging year-round production systems, building up mid-sized markets, and integrating farms into the ecosystem

Maine’S Dairy Relief Program, Tim Drake

Maine Policy Review

This short article looks at Maine’s dairy-relief program, which is viewed as national model of good public policy that can save jobs, support traditional industry, and keep a critical link in our food system

Getting What We Pay For (And Other Unintended Consequences): An Overview Of Federal Agricultural Policy, Maryann Hayes

Maine Policy Review

The reauthoriza­tion of the Federal Farm Bill in 2012 means that activity is heating up to reform U.S. agricultural, nutrition, and energy policy. Mary Ann Hayes provides an overview of the Farm Bill’s history, its intended and unintended consequences, and what can be hoped for in 2012.

Toward A Working- Waterfront Ethic: Preserving Access To Maine’S Coastal Economy, Heritage, And Local Seafood, Robert Snyder

Maine Policy Review

Maine has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, one for which people are willing to pay a premium. But for Maine fisherman, the coast is how they access their liveli­hood. In 2002 only 25 miles of Maine’s 5,300-mile coastline supported working-waterfront access. This article discusses creative and innovative strategies to preserve Maine’s working waterfront, including current-use taxation, purchase of development rights, and community-supported fisheries (CSF).

Building A Sustainable Seafood System For Maine, Robin Alden

Maine Policy Review

In this article, Robin Alden notes that Maine could have one of the premier marine food systems in the world. However, that means adequate steward­ship of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and diversifying the fishing industry beyond lobster by creating innovative public policy and a food system that supports community fishing.

Maine’S Food System: An Overview And Assessment, D. Robin Beck, Nikkilee Carleton, Hedda Steinhoff, Daniel Wallace, Mark Lapping

Maine Policy Review

From an agrarian and seafaring past, Maine’s food system has seen profound changes over the past two centuries. Grain, milk, livestock, fish, potatoes, vegetables and fruits used to come from small, family farms. Today, most people in Maine don’t know where their food comes from. Many are dependent on federal, state and local “emergency food systems” such as food stamps, food pantries, and childhood nutrition programs. Food-processing facilities, distribution systems, and value-added products are in short supply. Nevertheless, Maine has a diversity and abundance of food prod­ucts. In this article, the authors provide a historical overview and current analysis of …