Water Worries -- Nitrogen From Septic Tanks, Fertilizer, Poor Sewage Treatmen...Save The Great South Bay
Prof Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University, a global expert on algal blooms and their causes, presents his overview of Long Island's nitrogen pollution problem and how that is triggering destructive algal blooms throughout our bays. The main culprit? 500,000 septic tanks.
Water Matters , Episode II 1-29-2016 Prof Sarah Meyland on Managing Long Isl...Save The Great South Bay
Long Island does nothing to manage its drinking water supply, even as we are poisoning it with toxic spills and wasting it through overuse, chiefly by wasting it on our lawns. We need at last to have a policy, or risk the future of our aquifer, and of Long Island itself.
Nitrogen Pollution and The Future of Long Island By Prof. Christopher GoblerSave The Great South Bay
How does excessive nitrogen loading effect the health and resiliency of Long Island’s coastal ecosystems?
Loss of critical habitats: Eelgrass, salt marshes
Low dissolved oxygen levels, hypoxia
Acidification, low pH
Macroalgal blooms: Sea lettuce, Ulva
Toxic algal blooms: Red, rust, brown tides
Loss or depletion of shellfisheries and finfisheries
For Episode One of Water Matters, Prof. Gobler presents on overview of nitrogen pollution in Long Island's waters, how it feeds algal blooms and destroys habitat and endangers drinking water. Prof. Gobler also offers some potential solutions to these challenges
Scott Doney's Ocean Acidification presentation, April 2013 Hourglass BrasserieEatingwiththeEcosystem
Dr. Scott Doney from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joined a group of guests at the Hourglass Brasserie, Bristol RI, in April 2013 to offer some thoughts on the effects of ocean acidification on New England's treasured seafood.
Water Worries -- Nitrogen From Septic Tanks, Fertilizer, Poor Sewage Treatmen...Save The Great South Bay
Prof Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University, a global expert on algal blooms and their causes, presents his overview of Long Island's nitrogen pollution problem and how that is triggering destructive algal blooms throughout our bays. The main culprit? 500,000 septic tanks.
Water Matters , Episode II 1-29-2016 Prof Sarah Meyland on Managing Long Isl...Save The Great South Bay
Long Island does nothing to manage its drinking water supply, even as we are poisoning it with toxic spills and wasting it through overuse, chiefly by wasting it on our lawns. We need at last to have a policy, or risk the future of our aquifer, and of Long Island itself.
Nitrogen Pollution and The Future of Long Island By Prof. Christopher GoblerSave The Great South Bay
How does excessive nitrogen loading effect the health and resiliency of Long Island’s coastal ecosystems?
Loss of critical habitats: Eelgrass, salt marshes
Low dissolved oxygen levels, hypoxia
Acidification, low pH
Macroalgal blooms: Sea lettuce, Ulva
Toxic algal blooms: Red, rust, brown tides
Loss or depletion of shellfisheries and finfisheries
For Episode One of Water Matters, Prof. Gobler presents on overview of nitrogen pollution in Long Island's waters, how it feeds algal blooms and destroys habitat and endangers drinking water. Prof. Gobler also offers some potential solutions to these challenges
Scott Doney's Ocean Acidification presentation, April 2013 Hourglass BrasserieEatingwiththeEcosystem
Dr. Scott Doney from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution joined a group of guests at the Hourglass Brasserie, Bristol RI, in April 2013 to offer some thoughts on the effects of ocean acidification on New England's treasured seafood.
The Upwell #Acidinar: Ocean Acidification Through the Eyes of the InternetMatthew Fitzgerald
From the twisted minds who brought you the Upwell Sharkinar, comes the latest in our infamous webinar-inar series. The Acidinar is about using the internet for ocean acidification communications, including what can be done about it.
If you talk about acidification online, or if you're acidification-curious, check out the Acidinar and join our merry band of activists, scientists, bloggers, journalists, super-tweeters, and nonprofits to discuss how we can change the online conversation about ocean acidification in the best way, together.
The Acidinar was held on Wednesday, February 4th, at 11am pacific / 2pm eastern.
A video recording and related resources are available at http://upwell.us/oceanacidification
During the Acidinar we:
• Shared findings from Upwell’s new report, Ocean Acidification: The State of the Online Conversation (http://upwell.us/oceanacidification)
• Answered your questions and discussed your takeaways, with an eye toward mutual communications support
• Provided tips for increasing the volume and engagement level of ocean acidification online mentions
Response aquatic systems and livelihoods to climate change presentation finalCANAAFRICA
This presentation shares lessons from around Africa on the response of inland aquatic ecosystems, fisheries productivity and livelihoods to climate variability.
The world’s oceans are home to an incredibly diverse array of life and are vital to human health, livelihood, and culture. Despite these rich benefits, oceans, marine wildlife, and their ecosystems continue to be damaged by human activities. Watch this presentation to learn more!
This presentation was made in order for people to gain an understanding of the nature of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and river hydrology and ecosystems and the costs and benefits of industrial petroleum exploration and extraction in the area.
Credits: Emily and Patrick
Abstract: Microplastics in fish from the KwaZulu-Natal BightMACE Lab
Authors: Sipho Mkhize (MACE Lab NRF Intern 2015), Dr Deborah Robertson-Andersson, Gan Moodley.
Submitted and accepted for the Symposium of Contemporary Conservation Symposium (SCCP) 2016.
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste.” ~Wallace Stegner, letter to David E. Pesonen of the Wildland Research Center, 3 December 1960 (Thanks, Bekah)
The Upwell #Acidinar: Ocean Acidification Through the Eyes of the InternetMatthew Fitzgerald
From the twisted minds who brought you the Upwell Sharkinar, comes the latest in our infamous webinar-inar series. The Acidinar is about using the internet for ocean acidification communications, including what can be done about it.
If you talk about acidification online, or if you're acidification-curious, check out the Acidinar and join our merry band of activists, scientists, bloggers, journalists, super-tweeters, and nonprofits to discuss how we can change the online conversation about ocean acidification in the best way, together.
The Acidinar was held on Wednesday, February 4th, at 11am pacific / 2pm eastern.
A video recording and related resources are available at http://upwell.us/oceanacidification
During the Acidinar we:
• Shared findings from Upwell’s new report, Ocean Acidification: The State of the Online Conversation (http://upwell.us/oceanacidification)
• Answered your questions and discussed your takeaways, with an eye toward mutual communications support
• Provided tips for increasing the volume and engagement level of ocean acidification online mentions
Response aquatic systems and livelihoods to climate change presentation finalCANAAFRICA
This presentation shares lessons from around Africa on the response of inland aquatic ecosystems, fisheries productivity and livelihoods to climate variability.
The world’s oceans are home to an incredibly diverse array of life and are vital to human health, livelihood, and culture. Despite these rich benefits, oceans, marine wildlife, and their ecosystems continue to be damaged by human activities. Watch this presentation to learn more!
This presentation was made in order for people to gain an understanding of the nature of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and river hydrology and ecosystems and the costs and benefits of industrial petroleum exploration and extraction in the area.
Credits: Emily and Patrick
Abstract: Microplastics in fish from the KwaZulu-Natal BightMACE Lab
Authors: Sipho Mkhize (MACE Lab NRF Intern 2015), Dr Deborah Robertson-Andersson, Gan Moodley.
Submitted and accepted for the Symposium of Contemporary Conservation Symposium (SCCP) 2016.
“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste.” ~Wallace Stegner, letter to David E. Pesonen of the Wildland Research Center, 3 December 1960 (Thanks, Bekah)
What can the mental health sector learn from business blogging?Engage Comms Ltd
Blogging workshop at Leeds Mind's social media surgery 19 Sept 2012. Aimed at mental health practitioners, researchers and patients, the presentation looks at what the sector can learn from business blogging.
This presentation provides an overview of a grass-roots oyster restoration effort by a non-profit. The Massachusetts Oyster Project For Clean Water entity is seeking to establish reefs of the water cleansing mollusks in the estuaries of Boston Harbor. An oyster can filter 30 gallons of water per day. For more information visit www.massoyster.org
The immense region of the world’s seas has long enraptured human interest, filling in as both a wellspring of secret and a boondocks for logical investigation. Throughout the long term, propels in sea life science have unfurled like the pages of a convincing story, uncovering the complexities of maritime environments, the elements of marine life, and the significant impact of the seas on Earth’s environment. From the beginning of sea investigation to the present state of the art advancements, the excursion of understanding our seas has been set apart by constant development and disclosure.
This gathering plans to diagram the momentous advances in sea life science, giving a thorough outline of the developing scene of maritime exploration. We will investigate the pivotal moments, revolutionary technologies, and collaborative efforts that have shaped our understanding of the oceans as we delve into the depths of this multidisciplinary field. From the revelation of aqueous vents and the planning of sea flows to the investigation of outrageous remote ocean conditions, every part in this investigation of sea life science mirrors the vigorous quest for information that drives researchers, specialists, and pioneers the same.
The job of sea life science reaches out past the domains of unadulterated interest. It assumes a critical part in tending to squeezing worldwide difficulties, for example, environmental change, overfishing, and the protection of biodiversity. As we face a period of exceptional ecological change, the bits of knowledge acquired from sea life science become progressively crucial for educated independent direction and supportable administration regarding our seas.
Integrated Water Resource Planning - Water, Forests, People and PolicyGeoEngineers, Inc.
This slideshow presents a series of graphics, photographs and statements reflective of integrated water resource management with specific reference to forest management in a changing climate. We are already experiencing the migration of animals and humans with climate shifts. The severity and frequency of wildfires, droughts, floods and ocean acidification are also increasing. Impacts to our economy, infrastructure and atmosphere have lead us to difficult choices regarding land use and future policy development to better manage our natural resources.
Wayne Wright, CFP, PWS
Sr. Principal, Fisheries & Wetland Scientist, Market Intelligence Leader at GeoEngineers
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Let's dive deeper into the world of ODC! Ricardo Alves (OutSystems) will join us to tell all about the new Data Fabric. After that, Sezen de Bruijn (OutSystems) will get into the details on how to best design a sturdy architecture within ODC.
LF Energy Webinar: Electrical Grid Modelling and Simulation Through PowSyBl -...DanBrown980551
Do you want to learn how to model and simulate an electrical network from scratch in under an hour?
Then welcome to this PowSyBl workshop, hosted by Rte, the French Transmission System Operator (TSO)!
During the webinar, you will discover the PowSyBl ecosystem as well as handle and study an electrical network through an interactive Python notebook.
PowSyBl is an open source project hosted by LF Energy, which offers a comprehensive set of features for electrical grid modelling and simulation. Among other advanced features, PowSyBl provides:
- A fully editable and extendable library for grid component modelling;
- Visualization tools to display your network;
- Grid simulation tools, such as power flows, security analyses (with or without remedial actions) and sensitivity analyses;
The framework is mostly written in Java, with a Python binding so that Python developers can access PowSyBl functionalities as well.
What you will learn during the webinar:
- For beginners: discover PowSyBl's functionalities through a quick general presentation and the notebook, without needing any expert coding skills;
- For advanced developers: master the skills to efficiently apply PowSyBl functionalities to your real-world scenarios.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
PHP Frameworks: I want to break free (IPC Berlin 2024)Ralf Eggert
In this presentation, we examine the challenges and limitations of relying too heavily on PHP frameworks in web development. We discuss the history of PHP and its frameworks to understand how this dependence has evolved. The focus will be on providing concrete tips and strategies to reduce reliance on these frameworks, based on real-world examples and practical considerations. The goal is to equip developers with the skills and knowledge to create more flexible and future-proof web applications. We'll explore the importance of maintaining autonomy in a rapidly changing tech landscape and how to make informed decisions in PHP development.
This talk is aimed at encouraging a more independent approach to using PHP frameworks, moving towards a more flexible and future-proof approach to PHP development.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Builder.ai Founder Sachin Dev Duggal's Strategic Approach to Create an Innova...Ramesh Iyer
In today's fast-changing business world, Companies that adapt and embrace new ideas often need help to keep up with the competition. However, fostering a culture of innovation takes much work. It takes vision, leadership and willingness to take risks in the right proportion. Sachin Dev Duggal, co-founder of Builder.ai, has perfected the art of this balance, creating a company culture where creativity and growth are nurtured at each stage.
Essentials of Automations: Optimizing FME Workflows with ParametersSafe Software
Are you looking to streamline your workflows and boost your projects’ efficiency? Do you find yourself searching for ways to add flexibility and control over your FME workflows? If so, you’re in the right place.
Join us for an insightful dive into the world of FME parameters, a critical element in optimizing workflow efficiency. This webinar marks the beginning of our three-part “Essentials of Automation” series. This first webinar is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills to utilize parameters effectively: enhancing the flexibility, maintainability, and user control of your FME projects.
Here’s what you’ll gain:
- Essentials of FME Parameters: Understand the pivotal role of parameters, including Reader/Writer, Transformer, User, and FME Flow categories. Discover how they are the key to unlocking automation and optimization within your workflows.
- Practical Applications in FME Form: Delve into key user parameter types including choice, connections, and file URLs. Allow users to control how a workflow runs, making your workflows more reusable. Learn to import values and deliver the best user experience for your workflows while enhancing accuracy.
- Optimization Strategies in FME Flow: Explore the creation and strategic deployment of parameters in FME Flow, including the use of deployment and geometry parameters, to maximize workflow efficiency.
- Pro Tips for Success: Gain insights on parameterizing connections and leveraging new features like Conditional Visibility for clarity and simplicity.
We’ll wrap up with a glimpse into future webinars, followed by a Q&A session to address your specific questions surrounding this topic.
Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your FME expertise and drive your projects to new heights of efficiency.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*Frank van Harmelen
Neuro-symbolic (NeSy) AI is on the rise. However, simply machine learning on just any symbolic structure is not sufficient to really harvest the gains of NeSy. These will only be gained when the symbolic structures have an actual semantics. I give an operational definition of semantics as “predictable inference”.
All of this illustrated with link prediction over knowledge graphs, but the argument is general.
Neuro-symbolic is not enough, we need neuro-*semantic*
Nearshore Study Presentation 2011 Project Meeting Overviewkknew
1.
2. Coastalecosystemresponses to influences from land and sea Mike Murray, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seth Newsome, Univ. Of Wyoming Linda Nichol, DFO Canada Shawn Larson, Seattle Aquarium Heather Coletti, National Park Service North Pacific ResearchBoard Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council USFWS CaliforniaDept. Fish and Game CaliforniaCoastalConservancy Partners
3. Pacific Nearshore Project The Question: What factors are contributing to the status and trends of contemporary sea otter populations, and by extension to the nearshore?
42. WatershedGeoaccounting OUTPUT Discharge: 156 m3 / s Silviculture Agriculture Human density Urbanization Industrialization Coastal development Invasive species Hydrology Sediment/nutrient flux Lead: 0.03 kg Phosphorous: 0.156 kg Nitrogen: 0.468 kg Suspended Sediment: 125 kg
55. Sex / Repr. stat. / Age Watershed factors Blood, serum, gene expression Data Analyses? Hierarchical model Energy Recovery rate Pollution & Pathogens Nutrients Prey availability Regression (site-month level) Health Factor 2 Health Factor 3 Health factor 1
59. invertebrates invertebrates invertebrates Watershed inputs Data Analyses? Ecosystem SEM SST Pollution & Pathogens Ocean temperature color Nutrients Ocean chlorophyll Food web (other) Food web (kelp based) Sea otter health fac. 2 Short-term, multi-site data Sea otter Health fac. 1 Prey availability Sea otter diet & energy recovery Population status (growth, l)
Editor's Notes
I’ll be giving an overview of a large USGS study being led by Jim Bodkin of the Alaska Science Center, but with co-PIs and collaborators from several other USGS centers and many other federal, state, native, university, and private institutions. This study is indebted to Leslie Holland-Bartels of the USGS office of Alaska Area Regional Executive for scientific inspiration and financial support.
With answers to this simple-sounding, yet incredibly complex question, the study design allows for forecasting system responses to climate change (global and oceanic), although we are not at that stage forecasting is not currently part of the study itself.
The questions we’re attempting to address are in no way new questions– they form the basis of ecological studies on sea otters since humans were interested in otters. The difference is that today we benefit from the development and incremental improvements in new technologies– allowing unprecedented inquiries and novel approaches to seeking answers. I’ll point these new technologies out as I go along.
The study area encompasses a large extent of the current range of the sea otter– ~4000km from the Big Sur California coast, northward to Monterey, CA, the Washington state outer coast, the west coast of Vancouver Island, BC Canada, southeast AK , PWS, and the Katmai AK coast.
Along this range of sea otters….Are a number of geographically distinct populations that have undergone different patterns of recovery following protection or translocation after the end of the fur trade --and current population trajectories range from increase to rapid decline, including two threatened populations within our study. There are even different population trajectories evident within individual populations.
The image of the study area might make it seem as though we’re looking at the entire eastern Pacific ocean– yet we’re primarily focusing on the narrow nearshore band out to approximately 40m depth, that is under the influence of the continents and their watersheds. We’re interested in how oceanic influences might affect the nearshore, but we are studying the nearshore.Here’s a short swim in the nearshore, brought to you by 2 divers during one of our sea otter capture trips. I’ll explain why sea otters are captured as part of this study in a bit, but for now here is the nearshore: note the extensive understory – nutrients & habitat for many spp & diff trophic levels eelgrass beds- nursery grounds for pelagic fish and other spp, food source for migratory birds note the light penetration and clear water (not always this way!) note the 3-d bottom topography- important habitat for many plants, inverts, fishes– see the school of fish– nearshoremacroalgae and canopy forming kelps (such as this nereo bed) are havens for fish, snails, crabs, as well as many other spp
I want to take a few minutes to describe more fully the nearshore/offshore/watershed systems. Many people automatically think of offshore/pelagic systems when they think “ocean”. Yet Nearshore marine ecosystems face unprecedented challenges at global and regional scales, with threats arising from both the adjacent lands and oceans. So it important to understand how different the nearshore system is and why it needs to be studied on its own, not lumped in with ocean studies. From the ocean, challenges include acidification, sea level rise, and warming. These are cascading effects arising from increased atmospheric CO2 emissions since the onset of the industrial age. In some nearshore systems, such as those in our sampling universe, kelps, seagrasses, and macroalgae provide the bulk of the carbon fixation– they are the primary producers capturing the sun’s energy to form the base of the trophic web.
From the continents, challenges include elevated biological and chemical pollutants associated with burgeoning human populations along coastlines. Expected consequences of climate change include modifications to the hydrological processes responsible for transporting pollutants, nutrients, and sediments across watersheds that ultimately deposit into nearshore environments which can have adverse biological effects.
As we sample from AK south to California, there will be a range of influence levels on the nearshore derived from increasing human densities and actions and decreasing glacial inputs. Additionally, differences will exist in watershed inputs with respect to freshwater and sediment influxes (and what may be transported & deposited with the waters & sediment particles) and these will likely be influenced by climate change.
This last photo was chosen for its value as an extreme “worst-case’ scenario as far as human influenced inputs into the marine nearshore. It may not be far from the truth however– we might not see such visible signs of human inputs today, but the soup of chemicals flowing into our nearshore is simply staggering.
The study design incorporates ecosystem productivity, watershed inputs, and diet and nutrition as primary factors potentially regulating population abundance and growth rates.
Ecosystem productivity will be estimated through 1) growth rates of nearshore fishes and 2) satellite imagery (e.g., chlorophyll and temperature) and remotely sensed data (e.g., oceanographic stations).
I’m not really going into results today– this is just to illustrate the types of remotely sensed data that can be brought in to our analyses of oceanic inputs to the nearshore. Here is a time series of cholorphyll data from a north to south set of our study sites.This is one of the new & constantly improving technologies that make this project possible.
Two nearshore resident fishes (black rockfish & kelp greenling) have been chosen to aid in quantifying productivity of the nearshore at our study sites. These fish have small home ranges similar to sea otters and are long-lived. The fishes annual growth rates are a reflection of nearshore productivity. Fish have ear bones called otoliths which have annual growth lines –similar to tree rings– the width of the line is representative of the amount of food available to the fish. The rings can be counted to get the age of the animal, then productivity estimates established for each year. Additionally, stable isotope alalysis can be conducted on material from each band, to determine if the productivity of the system in a given year is nearshore derived, offshore derived, watershed-derived carbon-sources.BLRO = 20 yrs. Diet = pelagic nekton, zooplankton, juv fishKEGR = 12 yrs. Diet = seaworms, crustaceans, small fishHabitats = kelp holdfasts, understory & kelp canopy.
Sea otter diet and nutrition will be estimated through direct observation of foraging.
Direct observations of foraging is exactly what it sounds like. We can quantify what otters eat because they do so at the surface. With this information we can calculate how many hours in a day an otter needs to forage to meet its energetic requirements. Where food is limited, it will take longer. Body condition is also a useful parameter for assessing food resources available to populations.
Watershed modifications and inputs into the nearshore will be estimated through satellite imagery (e.g. Landsat & MODIS) and hydrographic stations.
Similar to the chlorophyll slide, this is provided to give a conceptual idea of how data can be integrated into our analyses– this time from watershed inputs. Here is a listing of the many data layers and processes that will be evaluated for inclusion into the models.
Concurrently, we will evaluate the health as reflected in sea otter health assessments and the expression of genes (as novel biomarkers) specific to: 1) organic pollutants, 2) metals, 3) parasites, 4) bacterial infection, 5) viral infection, and 6) thermal stress, in each sea otter population.
Vet screenings are analgous to what many of us undergo at annual checkups– a routine physical, serum chemistry looking at liver enzymes, and other analytes, as well as testing blood for infectious diseases known to occur in marine mammals. Cuts, abrasions, broken bones or teeth, lumps/masses/tumors– all are noted by the veterinary staff. The vet exams serve 2 purposes– to asses the health and well-being of each individual otter as well as provide validation for gene expression results. There are >20 years of captive & wild-caught otter health related data sets available to generate reference ranges.Gene expression analysis is perhaps one of the most exciting emergent technologies that has helped drive the creation of this project. In a nutshell- genes have been identified that are produced in response to varying stressors. The production of these genes can be measured. This is a minimally invasive technique, that measures actual response– not just body burden, and there are diagnostic capabilities associated with the technology already in use in human cancer medicine.
The combined data sets on: 1) nearshore productivity, 2) watershed inputs, 3) sea otter diet and nutrition, and 4) sea otter gene expression will support a multivariate analysis of empirical factors likely responsible for directing the present status and trend of geographically distinct sea otter population, and by inference, the nearshore ecosystem generally.
This slide is just to show that the analysis and modeling of all this data & information is not inconsequential, nor simple– yet again, thanks to new technology– such as increased computer memory, storage, and speed, as well as helpful interfaces such as SAS and matlab and GIS analysis tools– the modeling and analysis is feasible.
We expect that the data we acquire will support future modeling efforts to forecast nearshore ecosystem responses to anticipated environmental change such as increasing temperature, sea level rise, ocean acidification, contaminants, and disease.