Naturally occurring bacteraemia in American lobsters, Homarus americanus Milne-Edwards, in Long Island Sound

The health status of the American lobster, Homarus americanus Milne-Edwards, in Long Island Sound (LIS) has been in decline, with seasonal mortality events occurring since 1998. In order to assess the potential effects of environmental conditions on lobster health via haemolymph analysis, lobsters collected from various sites in LIS were examined and sampled while concurrent environmental data (water temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen) were recorded. The pH of the haemolymph of each lobster was tested, followed by a collection of haemolymph for serum biochemistry analysis and bacterial culture. This report focuses on the results of the bacterial sampling. The majority of bacteria cultured were opportunistic pathogens commonly found in the environment, including some that are associated with sewage and pollution. The prevalence of bacteraemia was correlated with the site of collection, the month in which the lobsters were sampled, and water temperature.     

Reducing elasmobranch bycatch: Laboratory investigation of rare earth metal and magnetic deterrents with spiny dogfish and Pacific halibut

Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthius) comprises a significant unwanted bycatch on demersal longlines set for halibut and cod in shelf waters of the east and west coasts of North America. In this laboratory study, attacks on baits were tested in the presence of two different rare earth materials (neodymium–iron–boride magnets and cerium mischmetal) believed to deter elasmobranch catch. Experiments were made with spiny dogfish and with Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in pairwise tests of the rare earth materials and inert metal controls. Dogfish attacked and consumed baits tested with cerium mischmetal at a lower frequency than controls. Times to attack the baits were significantly higher in the presence of mischmetal, as were numbers of approaches before first attack. The time differential between mischmetal and control treatments and the number of baits consumed converged with increasing food deprivation (1 h, 2 d, and 4 d), but treatment differences were always significant. Cerium mischmetal appeared to be irritating to dogfish and may disrupt their bait detection and orientation abilities. Magnets also appeared to irritate dogfish but provided no protection for baits in feeding trials. Pacific halibut showed no reaction whatsoever to the rare earth magnets or cerium mischmetal. Mischmetal, therefore, may be useful in reducing spiny dogfish bycatch in the halibut fishery. Disadvantages in using mischmetal in commercial operations are expense, hazardous nature, and relatively rapid hydrolysis in seawater.     

Application of sperm cryopreservation in selective breeding of the Pacific oyster,Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg)

The robustness of Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), sperm cryopreservation in the context of selective breeding based on family lines was investigated. Irrespective of egg density, high fertilization success was achieved with cryopreserved sperm when sperm:egg ratios of 1000:1 to 10 000:1 were used. Variation among replicate runs on the same oyster batches was minimal, indicating that cryopreservation and larval rearing procedures were repeatable. Twenty independent single male–female crosses were made to assess the utility of cryopreserved sperm in selective breeding. The fertility of unfrozen sperm was generally a poor predictor of cryopreserved sperm fertility. Based on D‐larval yields, 17 of the 20 crosses were likely to yield adequate spat for selective breeding (>10⁵ D‐larvae from 1 million eggs), two were marginal (5 × 10⁴ D‐larvae) and one was inadequate (4 × 10³ D‐larvae). An alternative fertilization strategy to improve D‐yield from a given number of sperm was then tested. Fertilizing 10 million eggs at a sperm:egg ratio of 200:1 increased the total D‐yield when compared with fertilizing 1 million eggs at a sperm:egg ratio of 2000:1 for the same male–female pair. We conclude that, despite wide variation in fertility, cryopreserved sperm is useful for family production.     

Interannual variation in the availability and utilization of euphausiids as prey for Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) along the south-west coast of Vancouver Island

The species and size composition of euphausiids consumed by Pacific hake ( Merluccius productus ) along the south-west coast of Vancouver Island were monitored during the 1989, 1990 and 1995–97 summer feeding seasons. Thysanoessa spinifera and Euphausia pacifica were the only euphausiid species eaten by hake. Hake persisted in selecting krill longer than 17 mm and consistently preferred T. spinifera, even though there was a substantial reduction in euphausiid abundance, a change in species composition and a shift in the size distribution to smaller individuals after the 1992–93 warm water years. The biomass of euphausiids available to hake after 1993 averaged 27% of that for 1991, the pre-ENSO year, and was 12% of the 1991 value in 1996. Hake predation was not responsible for the reduction in euphausiid abundance, as it was already low at euphausiid sizes smaller than those eaten by hake.     

Establishing climate–growth relationships for yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) in the northeast Pacific using a dendrochronological approach

We applied dendrochronology (tree‐ring) methods to develop multidecadal growth chronologies from the increment widths of yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) otoliths. Chronologies were developed for the central California coast, a site just north of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and at Bowie Seamount west of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. At each site, synchronous growth patterns were matched among otoliths via the process of cross‐dating, ensuring that the correct calendar year was assigned to all increments. Each time series of growth‐increment measurements was divided by the values predicted by a best‐fit negative exponential function, thereby removing age‐related trends. These detrended time series were averaged into a master chronology for each site, and chronologies were correlated with monthly averages of sea surface temperatures, upwelling, the Northern Oscillation Index, and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. The two northern growth chronologies positively correlated with indices of warm ocean conditions, especially from the prior summer through the spring of the current year. During the same period, the California chronology positively correlated with indices of cool ocean conditions, indicating an opposing productivity regime for yelloweye rockfish between the California Current and the Gulf of Alaska. Overall, this study demonstrates how tree‐ring techniques can be applied to quickly develop annually resolved chronologies and establish climate–growth relationships across various temporal and spatial scales.     

Potential futures for road transportation CO2 emissions in the Asia Pacific

Abstract: Will future transportation carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per capita in Asia Pacific economies follow historical trends of the now developed world? Evidence to date is inconclusive. A comparison at similar income levels (purchasing power parity) between recent emissions in Asia Pacific countries and historical emissions in developed countries suggests diverging patterns. (A) High‐income Asia economies (Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore –‘low emitters’) exhibit lower emissions than a selected sample of seven developed countries (United States, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and United Kingdom). (B) Another set of Asian countries (South Korea and Taiwan –‘medium emitters’) follow the emissions trends of European countries, which are lower than those of Australia and the United States. (C) A third Asian group (Malaysia and Thailand –‘high emitters’) exhibit emission trends comparable to that of Australia. We describe these trends, examine their causes and extrapolate likely futures for emissions in low‐income Asia Pacific economies (China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam). Although such predictions are speculative, the available evidence suggests that road CO₂ emissions for Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam will follow those of the third group (high emitters), while those for China may follow either Group B or Group C.     

Agroforestry in the management of sloping lands in Asia and the Pacific

Steeply sloping lands are widespread in the tropics. An estimated 500 million people practice subsistence agriculture in these marginal areas. Continued population growth has led to the intensified cultivation of large areas of the sloping lands, exacerbating the problem of soil erosion. Although research shows that alley cropping and other contour agroforestry systems can stabilize the sloping lands, these systems have not been widely adopted by farmers. The Framework for Evaluating Sustainable Land Management (FESLM) has been tested in sloping land areas in the Philippines. Sustainable land management must be productive, stable, viable, and acceptable to farmers, while protecting soil and water resources. Farms on which contour hedgerow intercropping has been adopted meet the multifaceted requirements of FESLM, whereas the farmers' current practice does not. Appropriate land management measures for particular locations depend on a complex suite of social, economic, and biophysical factors, and need to be developed in participation with farmers. The role of agroforestry in sustainable management of sloping lands is the subject of networks coordinated by the International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM) in seven countries in Asia (ASIALAND) and four countries in the Pacific (PACIFICLAND). We review selected outcomes from a wealth of network data. From these results the following conclusions about the sustainability of various agroforestry systems for sloping lands can be drawn: • In the Pacific, soil loss from sloping lands due to water erosion under farmers' current practices is episodic, unpredictable, and possibly not severe; • Agroforestry systems that utilize legume shrubs, fruit trees, coffee (Coffea spp.) or rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) provide useful economic returns, but are not an essential component in terms of soil protection because grass or pineapple (Ananas comosus) planted on the contour are equally effective in reducing erosion; • Agricultural intensification will lead to nutrient mining, reduction of aboveground biomass, declining yields, and less soil protection unless external sources of nutrients are used; • nitrogen can be effectively supplied using legumes; • Cash derived from hedgerow trees and/or shrubs may providean incentive for their adoption by farmers, as well as funds to purchase external inputs such as fertilizers; • Labor may be a major constraint to the adoption of complex agroforestry systems. We also discuss the information management systems required to effectively manage and utilize the extensive sets of experimental and indigenous data being accumulated. We believe such information systems can facilitate technology transfer across and between regions, and improve the efficiency of research into agroforestry and other land-management approaches. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Annualized diameter and height growth equations for Pacific Northwest plantation-grown Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and red alder

Simulating the influence of intensive management and annual weather fluctuations on tree growth requires a shorter time step than currently employed by most regional growth models. High-quality data sets are available for several plantation species in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, but the growth periods ranged from 2 to 12 years in length. Measurement periods of varying length complicate efforts to fit growth models because observed growth rates must be interpolated to a common length growth period or those growth periods longer or shorter than the desired model time step must be discarded. A variation of the iterative technique suggested by Cao [Cao, Q.V., 2000. Prediction of annual diameter growth and survival for individual trees from periodic measurements. Forest Sci. 46, 127–131] was applied to estimate annualized diameter and height growth equations for pure plantations of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and red alder. Using this technique, fits were significantly improved for all three species by embedding a multi-level nonlinear mixed-effects framework (likelihood ratio test: p < 0.0001). The final models were consistent with expected biological behavior of diameter and height growth over tree, stand, and site variables. The random effects showed some correlation with key physiographic variables such as slope and aspect for Douglas-fir and red alder, but these relationships were not observed for western hemlock. Further, the random effects were more correlated with physiographic variables than actual climate or soils information. Long-term simulations (12–16 years) on an independent dataset using these annualized equations showed that the multi-level mixed effects models were more accurate and precise than those fitted without random effects as mean square error (MSE) was reduced by 13 and 21% for diameter and height growth prediction, respectively. The level of prediction error was also smaller than an existing similar growth model with a longer time step (ORGANON v8) as the annualized equations reduced MSE by 17 and 38% for diameter and height growth prediction, respectively. These models will prove to be quite useful for understanding the interaction of weather and silviculture in the Pacific Northwest and refining the precision of future growth model projections.     

Promoting old-growth characteristics and long-term wood production in Douglas-fir forests

Trade-offs among wood production, wood quality and ecological characteristics in the management of harvested forest stands are explored through model simulation of various silvicultural regimes. Long-term production of merchantable wood, production of various types of high-quality wood, and the level of certain quantitative ecological indicators are projected for coniferous forests of Pacific Northwestern USA. The set of ecological indicators used is based on the species composition and physical structure of old, unlogged forest stands. Simulations are performed with an ecological model of forest stand dynamics that tracks the fate of live and dead trees. Short rotations (<50 years) produce the least amount of high-quality wood over the multi-century simulation period. They also fail to generate ecological attributes resembling those of old forest stands. Production of high-quality wood is moderate to high under all rotations of 80 years or more; however, most ecological indicators require longer rotations unless alternatives to clearcutting are applied. Alternatives examined include retention of 15% cover of live tree canopy at each harvest in combination with artificial thinning between harvests. Thinning from below can expedite the development of large live and dead trees, and canopy height diversity without greatly diminishing wood quantity or quality. Proportional thinning retains understory stems, thereby expediting the recruitment of shade-tolerant trees. A possible drawback to thinning, particularly proportional thinning, is the diminished production of clean-bole wood at rotations of 150 and 260 years. It is concluded that most wood quantity, wood quality and ecological objectives can be met with long rotations (ca. 260 years). Certain objectives can be met with shorter rotations (80–150 years) when treatments of thinning and canopy tree retention are applied.     

Short-term response of salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh) to commercial harvesting for floral greenery

Salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh), which is widely used for floral greenery, is an important non-timber forest product (NTFP) from the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest of North America. However, there are no known studies on the impacts of commercial salal harvesting on subsequent growth. A study was therefore initiated to quantify the growth of salal 1 year after commercial harvesting, and to compare this with growth of unharvested salal. The amount of biomass removed from shrubs through commercial harvesting (131 g m⁻²) was the same as the amount of annual growth in adjacent undisturbed plots (135 g m⁻²). One year later, the amount of regrowth in previously harvested plots (144 g m⁻²) was greater than the amount of new growth in adjacent undisturbed plots (111 g m⁻²). As there was little difference in the weight per current stem, the increased biomass after commercial harvesting was attributed to the observed increase in stem number (60 stems m⁻²) as compared to undisturbed salal (50 stems m⁻²). Our study does not incorporate either repeated annual harvesting or variable harvesting intensities, both of which have been anecdotally reported to affect levels of re-growth and therefore sustainability.