Noah Moves to Boston: The Beginnings of Grad School
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on August 21, 2012 11:08 AM | No TrackBacks
And thus begins part two of the NoahBlog epic: My move to Boston, MA. Next week, I begin grad school at Brandeis University, in their Hornstein program for Jewish Professional Leadership. (I'll end up with two Masters degrees - a Nonprofit-focused MBA, and an MA in Jewish Professional Leadership.) Today I fly from San Francisco to Boston. As I write this, I'm sitting in the airport, watching this 777 (sadly, not my plane) get loaded with food and luggage, which is basically the most exciting thing ever...
Once I arrive, I'll move into my new apartment near Porter Square. (If you're not familiar with Boston, it's the slightly hipper area outside of the actual city, where a lot of young professionals and grad students live.) My roommate is a new UCSC grad named Hannah, who's also starting the Hornstein program this fall. While I haven't met her, various sources have told me that she's cool. J We'll spend the next couple of days setting up the apartment, and finding a sofabed that will fit up the staircase without smashing through a window...
Practically, I'm obviously very excited about these new developments in my life. On the more philosophical side, I've noticed that several friends and colleagues have recently written about their impending moves as new chapters in their lives. I see it differently - this grad school experience is simply an extension of the work I've been doing over the last three years (really, since high school). I've been finding innovative and exciting ways to teach about Judaism, and meanwhile I've run Jewish projects, organizations, and marketing efforts of various types and sizes.
The Hornstein program is the perfect opportunity for me to continue my growth in those areas, and learn more about formal budgeting and accounting. I'm also incredibly excited to learn alongside Jewish professionals from all around the country. And most importantly, I'm traveling with Cookie, one of my oldest stuffed animals.
SF Symphony: Music for Ordinary Citizens
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on September 24, 2010 7:06 PM | No TrackBacks
Today's outdoor SF Symphony concert in Justin Herman Plaza was fun and exciting, but for vastly different reasons than their usual concerts. The amplified sound quality was impeccable, and the playing was great, but - most importantly - the Symphony got to share their music with a much wider audience than they normally access.
The concert was markedly informal, even for famously-lax conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, and its outdoor nature added a fresh flavor of unpredictability. At one point, Tilson Thomas held a particular note for 15 seconds when the wind flipped a page in his score. A few moments later, he continued conducting with his right hand, while reaching over and grabbing a binder clip from the concertmaster's music stand.
The general atmosphere of the concert was also dramatically unpredictable. Sirens and horns mixed periodically with Beethoven and Berlioz, and bells from the Ferry Building delayed the start of two separate pieces (at the hour and half-hour). Add that to the mixed audience of families, businesspeople on their lunch breaks, schoolchildren, homeless people, and one guy in a baseball cap tap-dancing along to the music, and you've got yourself a cross-section of San Francisco's population.
Still, I'm not sure that the schoolchildren were a good choice for this event. While I (obviously) encourage schools to involve students in the arts, especially music, these students were utterly uninterested in the concert. Instead, the students - from the Edison Charter Academy - amused themselves by pushing each other and walking back and forth across the pathway. I don't blame them, sitting in direct sun in the broiling heat, but I do blame their teachers, clicking away on their Blackberries and completely ignoring both the concert and their students. Perhaps the Edison Charter Academy should do a better job of choosing locations for their field trips, and the teachers (do you need a credential to teach at a charter school?) should pay more attention to their kids' experience. It's never a bad thing to admit that a field trip isn't working, and take the kids to go look at the water instead...
(Cross-posted with an alternate ending at the East Bay Arts and Culture Review.)
JWA Institute for Educators - Day 5 and Closing Thoughts
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on July 30, 2010 7:52 AM | No TrackBacks
The conference is now over, and my final thoughts are as much about the participants as about the content and the new curriculum. I was struck by the passion and positivity of every one of the participants, even the ones who were from generations older than mine. The set of participants struck such a contrast with my own Hebrew school teachers, who were largely stuffy, academic, and boring.
Everyone I met at the Institute has such a passion for Jewish education. They're the sort of teachers that students automatically love, and want to learn from, and the sort of teachers who can inspire students to develop a lifelong connection to Judaism. True, it's somewhat of a self-selected bunch (only the coolest teachers would want to come to a conference about Judaism in the Civil Rights movement), but I got the feeling that these teachers will effectively spread the curriculum throughout the community.
That task will be easier because of the diversity among participants. They represented many different kinds of schools, including day schools, supplemental schools, Hebrew high programs, youth groups, and secular schools (not to mention summer camps), across most of the mainstream and alternative movements. The participants also spanned a remarkable age range, which led to a tremendous panoply of perspectives. I'm so excited for each of the participants to bring the curriculum to all of their communities, and to spread the good word.
Finally, I was struck by the passion and excitement of the conference's coordinators, Emily and Judith, who had also written the curriculum. It was clear that they were genuinely enthused about the material, and that developing these lesson plans had been fun for them. As an educator, I've discovered that so many curricula are dry and overly academic, but Living the Legacy overflows with the liveliness of the movement itself, and the vibrancy of this organization that decided to explore Jewish women's role in the Civil Rights movement. I can't wait to start trying the lesson plans next week at camp (look for some updates here), and for this amazing new curriculum to spread throughout the American Jewish education community.
JWA Institute for Educators - Day 4
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on July 28, 2010 8:57 PM | No TrackBacks
Today was a little slower on the workshop front, but I got to do some serious thinking about implementing the Living the Legacy curriculum. I'm planning to use a three-pronged approach to share the lessons with the different organizations for which I work.
As soon as I return to Camp Tawonga this Sunday, I'll start running the lessons as single-block programs. I've picked a few (focusing on participation in the civil rights movement, and general race/oppression philosophy), and adjusted them to fit the tone and time constraints of summer camp.
After camp, I'll use the lessons in my 7th grade classroom in Walnut Creek. The curriculum is a split between the mitzvot and family history, so a number of the lessons will fit nicely with our mid-century Jewish life unit. I'll also use a series of lessons to lead into our experiential service learning activities.
Concurrently, I'm teaching a Jewish American music class at Oakland Midrasha. The lessons that I've chosen will illustrate the importance of music as a tool for social change, and also provide cultural context for a number of mid-century American musical innovations.
I'm also excited about sharing the curriculum with my colleagues around the Bay Area. As soon as the web site goes live, I'll suggest individual lessons for certain classes and schools, and I'll also familiarize teachers with the resources on the JWA web site. It has so many useful (and interactive) learning tools, like amazing numbers of primary source documents, and it highlights in a unique way the contributions of women to history.
Also today: The JWA is in the early stages of developing a resource to engage girls before their bat mitzvahs. The idea is to help them find the ceremony's meaning (and the meaning of Judaism) beforehand, so that it's more than just a party with some memorizing tacked on. The project will likely include ideas for innovative bat mitzvah projects, contemporary female Jewish role models, and activities to help girls connect with their heritage and family history. Can't wait for this to come around!
The highlight of today's program was a session on recording oral histories, culminating in a live oral history interview of Freedom Rider Judy Frieze Wright. This was a new experience for me, because I've never (to my knowledge) been in the same room as someone who actively participated in the Civil Rights movement by going south.
I particularly enjoyed the part where Ms. Frieze Wright talked about the impact of her Freedom Ride. Riding the bus, and during her monthlong stay in jail, she had no sense of the importance of her actions. It was only later, she said, once integration began to take hold, that she realized the significance of what they'd done. She recognized how oppression had changed since the time of her childhood, and she knew that real progress was being made.
The tone of today's interview was markedly different from that of Holocaust-survivor interviews, which are the only oral histories that I've seen conducted live. (I used a number of early-1900s Portland-area oral histories for my senior thesis, but they had been done many years earlier.) I suppose the difference between the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement is that the latter succeeded, so participants can allow themselves to see the value (the meaning?) in the pain, struggle and danger that they endured. I'm not entirely satisfied with this explanation of the difference, but it feels necessary in my mind to distinguish between the two common "categories" of survivors of recent Jewish history.
Also today (though unrelated): I had a great discussion with three other educators about experiential service learning, and how to adapt the Living the Legacy curriculum to such situations. We talked about the point of service learning, and how to facilitate real sustainable change (instead of simple one-time community service). We also brainstormed ways to interface with community organizations in need, to work productively and constructively, and avoid coming off as patronizing. Allison (an educator from the south) put together an amazing series of four lessons to prep the service learning experience, and I can't wait to try it this year.
Personal note: Night out in Boston today. Blueberry beer (served with real blueberries in it) next to Fenway Park, and canolis in the North End. I still don't want to live here, but if I did, the North End would SO be my neighborhood.
JWA Institute for Educators - Jewish Feminism
Today at lunch, I sat in on an optional session exploring Jewish feminism. It seems that the original generation of feminists (the First Wave?) thinks that women today actively oppose the "feminist" label, or identify as "stiletto feminists." (Did we just get that term from West Wing?)
From my perspective, working at Camp Tawonga and the Midrasha teen school, I see feminism on a daily basis, but in a new incarnation. My friends and I are proud to identify as feminists, but women face different challenges today than they did in the Sixties and Seventies. Women have the vote, and they can work at (almost) any job, and they face far less explicit challenges than they did 40 years ago.
Still, today's women, and especially today's teenage girls, face a male-dominated culture of expectations and double standards. They are bombarded by a fairly consistent set of media images telling them what to wear, how to carry themselves, and how they're supposed to act. This, I suppose, is the new liberation that women need - they must have the freedom to interact with the world in a genuine and positive manner, free from the negative and constant influences of today's popular media.
From a Jewish perspective, this problem is not nearly as visible. At least among Jewish organizations (in the Bay Area), religious observance has become consistently egalitarian. Women have not only the freedom to participate and lead, but the expectation that women are consistently in charge of Jewish organizations. This is in marked contrast with the secular world, where women still face obstacles to their advancement, and too few women are running companies and organizations.
This is the value of Jewish summer camps. Mine, in particular. We consciously choose our language to empower our female campers (saying "you all" instead of "you guys"), and we constantly challenge assumptions that "that's a boys' sport," or "girls aren't strong enough to lift that." One of my favorite lines is "I'm not holding the door for you because you're a girl - I'm just doing it to be nice."
In fact, our female empowerment programs have come so far (a Red Tent to discuss adolescence, programs on women's role in society) that we've become developing "male empowerment" as well. It looks different, frequently focusing on competition and aggression, and the Spectrum of Masculinity, but it's a welcome part of Camp Tawonga's thoughtful and intentional culture, where all of our interactions, decisions, and programs are carefully measured to benefit the entire community.
I realized at today's lunch conversation, with educators from around that country, that the Bay Area may be unique in this regard. They reported that the young people in their communities shy away from the "feminist" label, and that they no longer see the importance of fighting for women's rights. How fortunate I am to live in an area where I've been brought up to recognize and fight the institution oppression that all women experience, and to identify as a feminist.
Today was the first full day of the conference, and two sessions were particularly remarkable. Debra Schultz, the author of Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement, spoke about the people in her book, and detailed the importance of the struggles in the civil rights movement. She also provided some fascinating insight into the sources in her book, and the choices she made while constructing her narrative.
Ms. Schultz is not just a skilled academic, but a dynamic presenter as well. You get the sense that her scholarship has a deeper significance for her, and that she really enjoys her work. She also had some comments on the pre-release American Experience civil rights documentary that they screened for us later this evening. (It's coming out in spring of 2011, and it's crazy solid.)
I also got excited about a session where we were paired with another educator in a similar teaching situation. I worked with Abby Sendak of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, where she is a faculty advisor for the Cornerstone Fellowship (of third-year Jewish sleepaway summer camp counselors). It was great to theorize about how we can tweak the lessons to work in a summer camp environment, both time-wise and tone-wise, and she had some great ideas for a longer-term camp program focusing on social justice and activism. I'm super-excited about the possibilities, and I can't wait to get back to camp to begin testing these lessons!
Also today, I was featured on the JWA blog "Jewesses with Attitude." I'm not a Jewess, but I gave a really great video quote during lunch, and they posted it with some fancy titles:
Technology update: I'm now on Twitter so I can tweet my live updates during this conference. (Really, I just got excited about this hashtag business, because it means that someone is guaranteed to read it.) Check me out @noahzaves, and follow me - I really do seek technological validation and approval. :-)
Today was the first day of the Jewish Women's Archive's Institute for Educators. They wrote a new curriculum for Jewish high school students, about Judaism, social justice, and the civil rights movement, and I was selected to come to Boston to learn how to use the curriculum.
The sessions today were mostly introductory, but it was fun to get to know the other 24 participants. I knew one of them from Berkeley Midrasha, but I'm closely connected to several others. (I remain convinced that Jewish geography requires only 3 degrees of separation.)
In the after-dinner program, we each presented an artifact from an important woman in our life, and I showed some antique spice containers from my grandmother's kitchen. (Note: This wasn't a stunt. I actually pulled them off her shelf last Friday.) They were different levels of old (two were pretty old, one was old, and one was super-old), and the spices inside had definitely tasted like sawdust for a while. I used the spice containers to describe how awesome my grandmother is, and the things in her life that she's experienced as she's moved from place to place.
We're exploring the curricula in more detail tomorrow, but I read a few of them in preparation for the Institute. My favorite part (so far) is the stories of individual participants in the civil rights movement, and their reflections (both currently and at the time) on what was happening. One particular passage blew me completely away, from 60's activist Paul Cowan about his activist mother:
"She was too much of an egalitarian to admit she subscribed to the religious idea that the Jews were a chosen people. Yet the subtext of her words carried that message. We were chosen to suffer; chosen to achieve brilliance; chosen to wage a ceaseless war for social justice. Indeed, to her, the struggle for justice was nothing less than a commandment, even though she had no interest at all in the concept of halacha - the intricate system of laws that have bound the Jewish nation together for five thousand years. I don't think she could imagine living without fighting for the oppressed."
Isn't that amazing? I can't wait to learn more about these lessons, and get to know these incredible educators!
How the Rays Beat the Yankees
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on May 22, 2010 7:16 PM | No TrackBacks
The New York Philharmonic is arguably the best classical ensemble in America, perhaps the world. Critics have revered it for more than a century, and you can always depend on the New York Phil for a clean, accurate, skillful performance.
But if the Ramones were to hop up on stage next to the Phil with a couple of amplifiers, they could easily drown out the entire orchestra. Less skill, less training, less experience, more noise and energy.
Such was the case with the Yankees-Tampa Bay match this past week. Where the Yankees would hold, the Rays would run for the extra base. Where the Yankees would wait, the Rays would aggressively swing at a pitch. The Rays and the Yankees were essentially playing two different games, and the interaction between the two was telling.
In each game, the Rays scored in the first couple innings, staying one step ahead of the Yankees. Against a team like Boston, or even the Mets this weekend, the Yankees are playing at the same speed, with the same energy. But the Rays play a faster, more dangerous brand of baseball, so they were able to rush past the Yankees. The New York Phil just got overtaken by the Ramones.
The Brightness of Worship
By Noah, Noahblog Editor on March 17, 2010 11:08 AM | No TrackBacks
Last night, I had the unique opportunity to visit an Orthodox synagogue while substituting for an Oakland Midrasha class. The building was cool to see, including the mikvah, and I enjoyed learning more about the Orthodox philosophy, but the rabbi said one thing that really resonated with me.
We were sitting in a small chapel, and the rabbi asked us what looked different from our own (non-Orthodox) synagogues. One kid, probably jokingly, remarked that the walls are white. But the rabbi said that there was an important story there: the walls used to be paneled with a very dark wood, and he pointed out some trim that was still dark. But all of the paneling had been painted a bright white.
Why? Because you shouldn't feel closed-in and dreary when you worship. You should feel happy and inspired, and bright paint on the walls directly affects the mood within. This struck me, because the synagogue I grew up going to was a prime example. Dark wood paneling, dark red velvet seats, only a few dim lights for the entire sanctuary. I felt incapable of joy when I was inside, so I stopped going.
When I returned from college, I was surprised by a newly-completed renovation of the sanctuary. Someone I know says it looks trendy like a hotel lobby, but I'm in love with all of the bright, happy colors. Tan carpets and walls, light-colored wood on the pews, and enough lighting to - OMG - read a prayerbook. You can't repair a synagogue's sprititual base with a simple remodel, but it sure didn't hurt.
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Entrepreneur Characteristics – The 5 "C's" of Success
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It's all happening at the ecotone
December 30, 2019 by fredsingerecology
In an effort to make order out of the chaos of existence, scientists often resort to classifying stuff. To make order of the natural world, ecologists classify different regions of the world into distinct biomes – large geographical areas with characteristic groups of organisms adapted to that particular environment. Familiar examples of terrestrial biomes are tropical forests, temperate grasslands and desert, and in the aquatic world examples include open ocean, coral reefs and rivers. But what happens at ecotones, where two or more biomes come together? Research has shown that ecotones can be biodiversity hotspots, as the diverse habitats attract many different species, and may also attract edge specialists – species that are particularly adapted to conditions on the border between the two biomes.
Sara Weinstein collects data at the ocean to land ecotone. Credit: Anand Varma.
Sara Weinstein's graduate research explored the ecology and transmission of raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, a widespread raccoon parasite that causes severe disease in other animals (including humans). She was dissecting raccoons to study infection patterns and as she describes "it would have been a waste of perfectly good raccoon guts to not also examine the rest of the parasite community." This examination would allow her to determine whether the generalization that ecotones are biodiversity hotspots for terrestrial and aquatic organisms also applies to the much more murky world of gut parasites.
A raccoon poses next to a culvert. Credit: SB Weinstein.
Working with four other researchers, Weinstein compiled a database of published accounts of gastrointestinal parasites from surveys of 256 raccoon populations. They then used this database to classify parasites as either core or satellite. Core parasites are locally abundant, common over a large region and can occupy a broad ecological niche. Satellite parasites are rare, restricted to a small portion of a region and have narrow ecological niches.
Microphallus sp. – a group of relatively rare satellite trematodes collected from a raccoon gut. Credit: SB Weinstein.
Weinstein and her colleagues found that the data divided raccoon gut parasites into two distinct groups.
Top graph. Parasite frequency across raccoon populations. Most parasite genera were found in less than 10% of the raccoon populations. Dashed line indicates 30% cutoff between satellite and core genera. Bottom graph. Proportion of raccoons infected with each parasite in relation to range-wide prevalence. Larger data points indicate more populations surveyed for a given parasite.
There were eight taxa (genera) that were found in more than 40% of raccoon populations. In contrast there were 51 genera that were found in fewer than 30% of raccoon populations, with the vast majority of these found in fewer than 10% of raccoon populations in the survey (top graph on left). The eight common taxa – core parasites – also tended to be present in more individuals within each population than did the 51 less common genera of satellite parasites (bottom graph on left).
Having defined core and satellite parasites, the researchers then did a thorough analysis of the gut contents of 180 raccoon collected by trappers and animal control agents in Santa Barbara County between 2012 – 2015. They hypothesized that the prevalence of core parasites should not be overly affected by ecotones. In contrast, satellite parasites should increase in ecotones, because ecotones provide unique environmental conditions that would be suitable to some of the less common species in the parasite community.
In Santa Barbara County, Weinstein and her colleagues identified four core parasites and nine satellite parasites within the population, with a mean of 2.24 parasite species per raccoon. Racoons nearer to the marine ecotone harbored more parasite species than did raccoons more distant from the marine ecotone, a result of much greater richness of satellite species (left graph below). The story was very different for the freshwater ecotone. Overall, parasite richness was relatively constant in relation to distance from the freshwater ecotone. There were actually fewer core parasites but more satellite parasites near the freshwater ecotone (right graph below).
Left graph. Total parasite richness (orange line) in relation to distance from shore. Satellites (orange fill) increased in abundance near the shore, while core parasites (maroon line) were steady. Right graph. Total parasite richness in relation to distance from freshwater.
Why did core parasite richness decline near the freshwater ecotone? Weinstein and her colleagues believe that diet may play an important role. For example, the core parasites Atriotaenia procyonis and Physoloptera rara were more common in raccoons far from freshwater, probably because racoons are infected by these two parasites as a result of eating terrestrial (but not aquatic) insect species that are intermediate hosts for these two parasite species. As it turns out, these intermediate insect hosts prefer upland habitats that tend to be located relatively distant from the freshwater ecotone.
Increased abundance of rare parasites at ecotones has important implications for human health. Several emerging infectious diseases, such as lyme disease, yellow fever and Nipoh virus are associated with ecotones. Habitat development by the expanding human population is causing increased habitat fragmentation, creating more ecotones, and potentially increasing the prevalence of these and other, equally unfriendly, parasites.
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Ecology. The reference is Weinstein, S. B., J. C. Van Wert, M. Kinsella, V. V. Tkach, and K. D. Lafferty. 2019. Infection at an ecotone: cross-system foraging increases satellite parasites but decreases core parasites in raccoons. Ecology 100(9):e02808. 10.1002/ecy.2808. Thanks to the Ecological Society of America for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2019 by the Ecological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Posted in Disease, Diversity and stability, Ecology, Environment, Uncategorized	| Tagged Beach, Biodiversity, California, Disease, Ecotone, Parasite, Raccoon, Species Richness | Leave a comment |
Invasive crayfish depress dragonflies and boost mosquitoes
June 9, 2019 by fredsingerecology
Paradoxically, obliviousness and intense focus can be two sides of the same coin, as the following story highlights. As a new graduate student at the University of Minnesota, I took a field ecology course at the University's field station at Lake Itasca (famously known as headwaters of the Mississippi River). One afternoon we watched dragonflies at a small pond; the male dragonflies were obviously patrolling territories and behaving thuggishly whenever intruders came by, and amorously whenever females of their species approached. Surprisingly, territorial males chased off male intruders of any species, even though they posed no reproductive threat to them. Why, I wondered… So I sat there for many hours and kept very careful track of who chased whom, and for how long. Big focus time. Ultimately, these observations blossomed into my doctoral dissertation. Unfortunately, these observations also blossomed into the most virulent case of poison ivy known to humanity, as my intense focus on dragonflies obliviousized me to the luxurious patch of poison ivy, which served as my observation perch.
Anax junius dragonflies in copula. The male has the bright blue abdomen. Credit: Henry Hartley.
Despite this ignoble incident, dragonflies remain one of my favorite animal groups. They are strikingly beautiful, brilliant flyers, and fun to try to catch. In addition, they have so many wonderful adaptations, including males with penises that are shaped to scoop out sperm (previously introduced by another male) from their mate's spermatheca, and females who go to extremes to avoid repeated copulation attempts, for example, by playing dead when approached by a male. Thus I was delighted to come across research by Gary Bucciarelli and his colleagues that highlighted the important role dragonflies play in stream ecosystems just west of Los Angeles, California.
Captured dragonfly nymph. Dragonflies require from one to four years to develop in aquatic systems, before they metamorphose into terrestrial winged adults. As nymphs, they are fearsome predators on aquatic invertebrates. As adults, they specialize on winged insects, though there are stories of them killing small birds. Credit: Gary Bucciarelli
Bucciarelli and his colleagues came up with their research question as a result of working in local streams with students on a different project. They wanted to know if invasive non-native crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) affect the composition of stream invertebrates and whether removal of crayfish could lead to rapid recovery of these invertebrate communities.
Invasive crayfish, P. clarkii, sits on the stream bottom. Credit: Gary Bucciarelli
The researchers collected stream invertebrate samples and noticed a dramatic pattern – in all the streams with crayfish there were numerous mosquito larvae, but in all of the streams without crayfish there were no mosquito larvae and much greater numbers of dragonfly nymphs. This led them to formulate and test two related hypotheses. First, dragonfly nymphs (Aeshnaspecies) are more efficient predators on mosquitoes (Anopheles species) than are the invasive crayfish. Second, crayfish interfere with dragonfly predation on mosquitoes in streams where crayfish and dragonflies are both present.
Student researchers collect stream samples. Credit: Gary Bucciarelli
Bucciarelli and his colleagues systematically sampled 13 streams monthly from March to October 2016 in the Santa Monica Mountains. Eight streams have had crayfish populations since the 1960s, while four streams never had crayfish, and one stream had crayfish removed as part of a restoration effort in 2015. Overall, streams with crayfish had a much lower number of dragonfly nymphs than did streams without crayfish. In addition, streams with crayfish had substantial populations of Anopheles mosquitoes, while streams without crayfish (but much higher dragonfly populations) had no Anopheles mosquitoes in the samples.
Number of mosquito larvae (MSQ) and dragonfly nymphs (DF) by month in streams with crayfish (CF – top row of data) or without crayfish (CF Absent – bottom row)
This field finding supports both of the hypotheses, but the evidence is purely correlational. So the researchers brought the animals into the laboratory to test predation under more controlled conditions. They introduced 15 mosquito larvae into tanks, and exposed them to one of four treatments: (1) a single crayfish, (2) a single dragonfly nymph, (3) one crayfish and one dragonfly nymph, or (4) no predators. The researchers counted the numbers of survivors periodically over the three day trials. As the graph below indicates, dragonflies are vastly superior consumers of mosquito larvae compared to crayfish. However, when forced to share a tank with crayfish, dragonflies stop hunting, either huddling in corners or actually perching on the crayfish. By 36 hours into the experiment, all of the dragonflies had been eaten by the crayfish. After three days, mosquito survival was similar when comparing tanks with crayfish alone with tanks that had both a crayfish and a dragonfly.
Mean number of surviving mosquito larvae in tanks with a lone dragonfly (DF), a lone crayfish (CF), one crayfish and one dragonfly (CF+DF) in comparison to controls with no predators.
Bucciarelli and his colleagues conclude that dragonfly nymphs are much more efficient predators of mosquito larvae than are crayfish. But when placed together with crayfish, dragonfly foraging efficiency plummeted. Field surveys showed a negative correlation between crayfish abundance and dragonfly larvae, and much greater mosquito larva populations in streams with crayfish. This supports the conclusion that invasive crayfish cause mosquito populations to increase sharply by depressing dragonfly populations and foraging efficiency. This is a complex trophic cascade because crayfish increase mosquito populations despite eating a substantial number of mosquito individuals.
The researchers argue that crayfish probably relegate dragonfly larvae to inferior foraging habitats, thereby limiting their efficiency as mosquito predators. As such, ecosystem services provided by dragonflies to humans are greatly diminished. Recently, several new mosquito species that are disease vectors have moved into California. Thus the loss of dragonfly predation services could pose a public health threat to the human population. Bucciarelli and his colleagues recommend removing the invasive crayfish to restore the natural community of predators, including dragonflies, which will then naturally regulate the increased number of potential disease vectors.
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Conservation Biology. The reference is Bucciarelli, G. M., Suh, D. , Lamb, A. D., Roberts, D. , Sharpton, D. , Shaffer, H. B., Fisher, R. N. and Kats, L. B. (2019), Assessing effects of non‐native crayfish on mosquito survival. Conservation Biology, 33: 122-131. doi:10.1111/cobi.13198. Thanks to the Society for Conservation Biology for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2019 by the Society for Conservation Biology. All rights reserved.
Posted in Communities and ecosystems, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Environmental education, Interactions, Invasive Species, Uncategorized	| Tagged California, Crayfish, Disease, Dragonflies, Invasive Species, Mosquitoes, Streams | 4 Comments |
Kelp consumption curtailed by señorita
July 10, 2018 by fredsingerecology
Miranda Haggerty was diving through a kelp forest, and noticed that many kelp bore a large number of tiny limpets that were housed in small scars that they (or a fellow-limpet) had excavated on the kelp's surface. This got her thinking about how these scars might affect the kelp, and equally relevant, whether there were any limpet predators that might lend the kelp a hand (or a mouth) by removing limpets.
A limpet grazes on a kelp frond. Credit: Jerry Kirkhart
Feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii) is a foundation species within the subtidal marine system off the California coast, providing food and habitat for many species that live on or among its fronds. The tiny seaweed limpet, Lottia insessa, specializes on feather boa kelp, grazing on its fronds and living within the scars. Many invertebrates and fish live within the kelp forest, but the most abundant fish is the señorita, Oxyjulis californica. Haggerty wondered whether the señorita might benefit the kelp (directly) by removing limpets, or (indirectly) by scaring limpets away – what ecologists call a trait-mediated indirect interaction.
The señorita – a fearsome predator of limpets. Credit: Miranda Haggerty
The first order of business was to determine whether the limpets were actually harming the kelp. Haggerty and her colleagues approached this in two ways. First they chose 94 kelp plants from kelp forests off the California coast. From each individual they chose one grazed and one ungrazed frond (each 3 m long). Grazed fronds averaged 5-10 scars and at least 2 limpets per meter of length. Every three weeks they visited their kelp to score for broken fronds. In 29 of 30 cases, the grazed frond broke before the ungrazed frond (in the remaining cases the entire plant was missing, or both fronds broke and the researchers could not tell which had broken first).
Photo of feather boa kelp showing grazing scars, including one housing a limpet (left). Diagram of feather boa kelp showing multiple fronds (right).
But the researchers were concerned that perhaps limpets chose to graze on weaker fronds, so the breakage was not caused by grazing scars, but by limpet choice. To account for this concern, Haggerty and her colleagues chose 43 ungrazed kelp plants, placed three limpets on one frond, and chose a second, equal-sized frond as an unmanipulated control. Once again, they visited their plants every three weeks, and discovered that grazed fronds broke first in all 20 pairs that the sequence of frond breakage could be determined. Clearly, limpet grazing is bad news for feather boa kelp.
How does the señorita fit into this system? The researchers designed a laboratory experiment to address this question. They used 10 large tanks (1700 L), and set up five different experimental treatments to compare direct effects of predation, and indirect effects of predator presence, on limpet grazing, and ultimately on kelp survival. To isolate the direct effects of predation from the indirect effects of predator cues on limpets, Haggerty and her colleagues placed four kelp fronds into fish exclosure cages, which were housed in the large tanks, and placed three limpets onto some of these fronds. To mimic actual predation (CE treatment in Table below), they removed limpets by hand at a constant rate typical of señorita predation. For the NCE treatment (testing indirect effects of predator presence) they introduced señorita into the large tank so the limpets experienced the predator cues, but were not eaten. The different treatments are summarized in the table below. These experiments ran for one week and each treatment was replicated 10 times.
Each day the researchers monitored the number of limpets and grazing scars. After one week, Haggerty and her colleagues counted the number of grazing scars, and measured the breaking strength of each frond by clamping the frond's end to a table and pulling on the opposite end with a spring scale until it broke. They then recorded the amount of force needed to break the frond.
Clamped kelp frond whose breaking strength has been tested. Notice that the frond broke at a grazing scar (right). Credit Miranda Haggerty.
Not surprisingly, the predator control (PC) kelp (limpets present without señorita) had the most scars and lost the greatest amount of tissue. Kelp receiving the consumptive predator effect treatment (CE) had fewer scars and lost less tissue than PC. But interestingly, kelp receiving NCE and TPE treatments had significantly fewer scars than the CE kelp, and were statistically indistinguishable from each other. Thus, in the laboratory, the presence of señorita cues (NCE treatment) was more important than actual predation (CE treatment) in reducing kelp scarring and tissue consumption (top and middle graph below). As a result, the NCE treated kelp were stronger (had greater breaking strength) than were the CE treated kelp (bottom graph below).
Mean (+ standard error) number of grazing scars (top), mass of tissue consumed (middle) and breaking strength (bottom) of kelp in response to five experimental treatments. CE = consumptive effect, NCE = non-consumptive effect, TPE = total predator effect, PC = predator control, LC = limpet control. Different letters above bars indicate significant differences between the means when comparing treatments.
Haggerty and her colleagues replicated this experiment, with a few experimental design modifications, in a field setting. As with the laboratory experiment we've just discussed, the researchers found a very strong non-consumptive effect. The researchers suspect that these limpets respond to chemical cues emitted by their señorita predators. They could not respond to many types of sensory cues because they lack auditory organs, and the experimental design prevented fish from transmitting any shadows (visual cues) or vibrational cues. In addition previous studies have shown that some limpet species use chemoreception for predator avoidance, foraging and homing. However, the nature of this chemical cue is yet to be discovered for this predator-prey system.
Schooling señorita. Credit: Miranda Haggerty
Trophic cascades occur when the effects of one species on another species cascade down through the ecosystem. In this case, señorita predators directly and indirectly reduce limpet density, which increases the survival of kelp – a foundation species for this ecosystem. The researchers point out that this trophic cascade only occurs in the southern feather boa kelp range, because señorita are absent further north. We don't know if limpets have other predators in the northern range, but we do know that the kelp are structurally more robust further north, so they (and the ecosystem) may be relatively immune to limpet-induced destruction.
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Ecology. The reference is Haggerty, M. B., Anderson, T. W. and Long, J. D. (2018), Fish predators reduce kelp frond loss via a trait‐mediated trophic cascade. Ecology, 99: 1574-1583. doi:10.1002/ecy.2380. Thanks to the Ecological Society of America for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Posted in Communities and ecosystems, Ecology, Environment, Interactions, Uncategorized	| Tagged California, Fish, Indirect effects, Kelp, Limpets, Non-consumptive effects, Predation, Señorita, trophic cascades | 2 Comments |
Seaweed defense – location, location, location.
June 13, 2018 by fredsingerecology
If you're ever feeling sorry for yourself, you should know that things could have been much worse; you could have been the brown seaweed, Silvetia compressa. So many problems! Ocean waves come crashing over you, threatening to pull you off your life-sustaining substrate. Ocean tides recede, exposing you to harsh sun and dangerously dry conditions. Perhaps worst of all, the fearsome predator Tegula funebralis eats away at your body, and you are powerless to defend yourself from its savage ravages.
Tegula snails chomp away on Silvetia seaweed in northern California. Credit: Emily Jones.
As it turns out, Silvetia is not so powerless after all. After being partially grazed by Tegula, the seaweed can induce defenses that reduce its palatability. From prior work, Emily Jones noticed that seaweed from northern California shorelines was much more sensitive to grazing than was seaweed from southern California shorelines. It took fewer grazing snails to elicit palatability reduction in northern Silvetia than it did in southern Silvetia. She decided to focus her PhD work with Jeremy Long on documenting these geographic differences, and figuring out why they exist.
Emily Matthews (near) and Grace Ha (far) survey snails and seaweed in a northern California site. Credit: Emily Jones.
Environmental conditions vary along the California coast. Northern seaweed populations experience cooler temperatures (air ~5-20 °C; water ~10-12 °C) and more nutrients (nitrate levels up to 40 umol/L) than do southern populations (air 5-37 °C; water ~14-20 °C; nitrate levels < 2 umol/L). In addition, Jones and Long surveyed Tegula abundance at three northern California and three southern California sites, counting every snail in 20 quadrats placed in the low, mid and high intertidal zone at each of the six sites (360 0.25 X 0.25m quadrats in total) . They discovered that seaweed was much more likely to encounter Tegula along northern coastlines.
Percent of plots with Tegula snails in northern sites (Stornetta, Moat Creek and Sea Ranch – blue bars) and southern sites (Coast, Calumet and Cabrillo – orange bars). High, Mid and Low refer to location within the intertidal zone (high is closest to shore and regularly exposed at low tide).
Given these differences in snail abundance, we can now understand why Silvetia is more sensitive in its northern range to Tegula grazing. But how strong are these differences in sensitivity? Jones and Long developed a simple paired-choice feeding preference assay to test for differences in palatability. At each location (north and south), the researchers gave test snails a choice between feeding on seaweed that had been previously grazed by either 1, 4, 7, 10 or 13 Tegula snails, or to feed on seaweed with no grazing history. The test snails grazed for five days, and the researchers measured the amount of seaweed consumed for each group. They discovered that even a little bit of previous grazing (the 1-snail treatment) made northern test snails prefer non-grazed northern Silvetia, while only high levels of previous grazing (the 10 and 13-snail treatments) had similar effects on southern snails tested on southern Silvetia.
Amount of previously-grazed and non-grazed Silvetia eaten by Tegula in paired choice tests. (Top) Northern Selvetia, (Bottom) Southern Silvetia. Error bars are 1SE. * indicates significant differences in consumption rate.
These findings raised the question of whether the cooler and more nutrient-rich environmental conditions at the northern site were somehow causing this difference in consumption of previously-grazed seaweed. The researchers designed a series of common garden experiments at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, in which seaweed from both locations were tested in the same environment. Silvetia was exposed to grazing by two snails, or by no snails for 14 days. When test snails were given the choice of non-grazed or previously-grazed northern Silvetia, they much preferred eating non-grazed Silvetia. In contrast, they showed no preference when given a similar choice between non-grazed or previously-grazed southern Silvetia. This indicates that seaweed from the north are responding more to grazing by reducing palatability than are seaweed from the southern locations.
Amount of previously-grazed and non-grazed northern and southern Silvetia eaten by Tegula in paired choice tests.
In theory, there could be a tradeoff between induced defenses, such as reduction in palatability in response to grazing, and constitutive defenses, which an organism expresses all of the time. Examples of constitutive defenses are thorns or spines in plants, and cryptic coloration or body shape in many insects. Jones and Long found no evidence for such a tradeoff; in contrast southern Silvetia actually had lower levels of constitutive defenses, as both northern and southern Tegula strongly preferred eating southern Silvetia in paired choice tests.
Amount of northern and southern Silvetia eaten by northern and southern Tegula in paired choice tests.
These geographic differences in seaweed sensitivity to grazing are probably due to long-term differences in environmental history. Southern Silvetia seaweeds live in stressful conditions (high temperatures and low nutrients), and the physiological cost of mounting an induced defense against low and moderate levels of grazing may be too high to be worthwhile. We also don't know what the overall grazing rates are in the north versus the south, and importantly, how variable the grazing rates are in each location. Highly variable grazing rates would select for a strong set of induced responses, which could be turned on and off as needed, allowing seaweed, or any plant, to defend itself against new or more hungry herbivores moving into their environment.
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Ecology. The reference is Jones, Emily and Long, Jeremy D. 2018. Geographic variation in the sensitivity of an herbivore-induced seaweed defense. Ecology. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2407. Thanks to the Ecological Society of America for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Posted in Ecology, Environment, Environmental education, Evolution, Interactions, Uncategorized	| Tagged Brown algae, California, Environment, Frogs, Geographic variation, Induced defense, Palatability, Sensitivity, Silvetia, Snails, Tegula | Leave a comment |
Plant communities bank against drought
Many plants shed their young embryos (seeds) into the soil where they may accumulate in a dormant (non-growth) state over years before germinating (resuming growth and development). Ecologists describe this collection of seeds as a seed bank. Marina LaForgia describes how scientists were able to germinate and grow to maturity some 32,000 year old Silene stenophylla seeds that was stashed, probably by an ancient squirrel, in the permafrost! With increased climatic variation predicted by most climate models, she wanted to know how environmental variability might affect germination of particular groups of species within a community. In addition, she and her colleagues recognized that most ecological studies investigate community responses to disturbances by looking at the aboveground species. It stands to reason that we should consider the below-surface seed bank as a window to how a community might respond in the future.
Some seedlings coming up from the seed bank. Credit:Marina LaForgia.
Seed banks can be viewed as a bet-hedging strategy that spreads out germination over several (or many) years to reduce the probability of catastrophic population decline in response to one severe disturbance, such as drought, flood or fire. In some California annual grassland communities, species diversity is dominated by annual forbs – nonwoody flowering plants that are not grasses. Many forbs produce seeds that can lie dormant in the seed banks for several years. Though these forbs are the most diverse group, there are also about 15 species of exotic annual grasses that dominate the landscape in abundance and cover. These grasses dominate because they produce up to 60,000 seeds per m2, they grow very quickly, and they build up a layer of thatch that suppresses native forbs. However, seeds from these grasses cannot lie dormant in the seed bank for very long.
Area of field site dominated by Delphinium (purple flower) and Lasthenia (yellow flower). Looking closely you can also see some tall grasses rising. Credit Marina LaForgia.
How is drought affecting these two major components of the plant community? LaForgia and her colleagues answered this question by collecting seeds from a northern California grassland at the University of California McLaughlin Natural Reserve in fall 2012 (beginning of the drought) and fall 2014 (near the end of the drought). They used a 5-cm diameter 10-cm deep cylindrical sampler to collect soil and associated seeds from 80 different plots. The researchers also used these same plots to estimate aboveground-cover, and to identify the aboveground species that were present. The research team germinated and identified more than 11,000 seeds.
Plants germinating in the greenhouse. Credit Marina LaForgia.
The researchers knew from previous work on aboveground vegetation that exotic annual grasses declined very sharply in response to drought. In contrast, the native forbs did relatively well, in part depending on their specific leaf area (SLA) – a measure of relative leaf size, with low SLA plants conserving water more efficiently. It seemed reasonable that these same patterns would be reflected belowground. Recall that most grass seeds are incapable of extended dormancy, while many forbs can remain dormant for several years. Consequently, LaForgia and her colleagues expected that grass abundance in the seed bank would decline more sharply than would forb abundance. In addition, they expected that high SLA forbs would not do as well as low SLA forbs during drought.
The researchers discovered very sharp differences between the two groups over the course of the drought. Exotic annual grasses declined sharply in the seed bank, while native annual forb abundance tripled. Aboveground cover of grasses declined considerably, while aboveground cover of forbs increased modestly. Clearly the exotic grasses were suffering from the drought, while the forbs were doing quite well.
(a) Seed bank abundance of grasses (red circles) and forbs (blue triangles) at beginning of drought (2012) and near end of drought (2014). (b) Percent cover of grasses (red circles) and forbs (blue triangles) at beginning of drought (2012) and near end of drought (2014). Data are based on samples from 80 plots. Error bars indicate one standard error.
We can see these differences on an individual species basis, with most of the grasses declining modestly or sharply in abundance, while most of the forbs increased.
Mean change in seed bank abundance per species based on 15 exotic grass species and 81 native forb species.
It is not surprising that the grasses do so poorly during the drought. Presumably, less water causes poorer germination, growth, survival and seed production. In addition, because grass seeds have a low capacity for dormancy, grass abundance will tend to decrease in the seed bank very quickly with such a low infusion of new seeds.
But why are the forbs actually doing better with less water available to them? One explanation is that grass abundance and cover declined sharply, causing the forbs to experience reduced competition with grasses that might otherwise inhibit their growth, development and reproductive success. The tripling of native forbs in the seed bank was much greater than the 14% increase in aboveground forb cover. The researchers reason that the drought caused many of the forb seeds to remain dormant, leading to them building up in the seed bank. This was particularly the case for low SLA forbs, which increased much more than did high SLA forbs in the seed bank.
We can understand exotic grass behavior in the context of their place of origin – the Mediterranean basin, which tends to have wet winters. In that environment, natural selection favored individuals that germinated quickly, grew fast and made lots of babies. Since their introduction to California in the mid 1800s, 2014 was the driest year on record. It will be fascinating to see if these exotic grasses can recover when, and if, wetter conditions return. Can we bank on it?
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Ecology. The reference is LaForgia, M.L., Spasojevic, M.J., Case, E.J., Latimer, A.M. and Harrison, S.P., 2018. Seed banks of native forbs, but not exotic grasses, increase during extreme drought. Ecology99 (4): 896-903. Thanks to the Ecological Society of America for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Posted in Communities and ecosystems, Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Environmental education, Evolution, Resources and abiotic factors, Uncategorized	| Tagged California, Competition, Drought, Ecology, Environment, Forb, Grass, Seed bank | Leave a comment |
"Notes from Underground" – cicadas as living rain gauges
Given recent discussions between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un about whose button is bigger, many of us with entomological leanings have revisited the question of what insects are most likely to dominate a post-nuclear world. Cicadas have a developmental life history that predisposes them to survival in the long term because some species in the eastern United States spend many subterranean years as juveniles (nymphs), feeding on the xylem sap within plants' root systems. Magicicada nymphs live underground for 13 or 17 years, depending on the species, before digging out en masse, undergoing one final molt, and then going about the adult business of reproduction. This life history of spending many years underground followed by a mass emergence has not evolved to avoid nuclear holocausts while underground, but rather to synchronize emergence of billions of animals. Mass emergence causes predator satiation, an anti-predator adaptation in which predators are gastronomically overwhelmed by the number of prey items, so even if they eat only cicadas and nothing else, they still are able to consume only a small fraction of the cicada population.
Mass Magicicada emergence picturing recently-emerged winged adults, and the smaller lighter-colored exuviae (exoskeletons) that are shed during emergence. Credit: Arthur D. Guilani.
Less well-known are the protoperiodical cicadas (subfamily Tettigadinae) of the western United States that are abundant in some years, and may be entirely absent in others. Jeffrey Cole has studied cicada courtship songs for many years, and during his 2003 field season noted that localities that had previously been devoid of cicadas now (in 2003) hosted huge numbers of six or seven different species. He returned to those sites every year and high diversity and abundance reappeared in 2008 and 2014. This flexible periodicity contrasted with their eastern Magicicada cousins, and he wanted to know what stimulated mass emergence.
Protoperiodical cicadas studied by Chatfield-Taylor and Cole. Okanagana cruentifera (top) and Clidophleps wrighti (bottom). Credit Jeffrey A. Cole.
Cole and his graduate student, Will Chatfield-Taylor, considered two hypotheses that might explain protoperiodicity in southern California (where they focused their efforts). The first hypothesis is that cicada emergence is triggered by heavy rains generated by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a large-scale atmospheric system characterized by high sea temperature and low barometric pressure over the eastern Pacific Ocean. ENSO has a variable periodicity of 4.9 years, which roughly corresponds to the timing Cole observed while doing fieldwork. The second hypothesis recognized that nymphs must accumulate a set amount of xylem sap from their host plants to complete development. Sap availability depends on precipitation, and this accumulation takes several years in arid habitats. So while ENSO may hasten the process, the key to emergence is a threshold amount of precipitation over a several year timespan.
Working together, the researchers were able to identify seven protoperiodical species by downloading museum specimen data (including where and when each individual was collected) from two databases (iDigBio and SCAN). They also used data from several large museum collections, which gave them evidence of protoperiodical cicada emergences back to 1909. Based on these data, Chatfield-Taylor and Cole constructed a map of where these protoperiodical cicadas emerge.
Maps of five emergence localities discussed in this study.
The researchers tested the hypothesis that protoperiodical cicada emergences follow heavy rains triggered by ENSO by going through their dataset to see if there was a correlation between ENSO years and mass cicada emergences. Of 20 mass cicada emergences since 1918, only five coincided with ENSO events, which is approximately what would be expected with a random association between mass emergences and ENSO. Scratch hypothesis 1.
Let's look at the second hypothesis. The researchers needed reliable precipitation data between years for which they had good evidence that there were mass emergences of their seven species. Using a statistical model, they discovered that 1181 mm was a threshold for mass emergences, and that three years was the minimum emergence interval regardless of precipitation. Only after 1181 mm of rain fell since the last mass emergence, summed over at least three years, would a new mass emergence be triggered.
Cumulative precipitation over seven time periods preceding cicada emergence.
The nice feature of this model is that it makes predictions about the future. For example, the last emergence occurred in the Devil's punchbowl vicinity in 2014. Since then that area has averaged 182.2 mm of precipitation per year. If those drought conditions continue, the next mass emergence will occur in 2021 at that locality, which is longer than its historical average. Only time will tell. Hopefully Mr. Trump and Mr. Jong-un will be able to keep their fingers off of their respective buttons until then.
note: the paper that describes this research is from the journal Ecology. The reference is Chatfield-Taylor, W. and Cole, J. A. (2017), Living rain gauges: cumulative precipitation explains the emergence schedules of California protoperiodical cicadas. Ecology, 98: 2521–2527. doi:10.1002/ecy.1980. Thanks to the Ecological Society of America for allowing me to use figures from the paper. Copyright © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America. All rights reserved.
Posted in Ecology, Environment, Environmental education, Global processes/Climate change, Populations, Resources and abiotic factors, Uncategorized	| Tagged Adaptation, California, Cicadas, Ecology, El Nino, Environment, Protoperiodicity | 2 Comments |


Huge volcanic eruption didn't cause climate change and mass extinction 140 million years ago
Mass extinctions are times in Earth's past when large proportions of life suddenly and catastrophically died.
Huge volcanic eruption didn't cause climate change and mass extinction 140 million years ago : Read more
Reactions: rod
After watching a Smithsonian tv prog on mass extinctions, I googled and found this.
Interesting though this is, I did not see any mention (admittedly on a quick scan) of the biggest extinction of them all - the Permian/Triassic which was about 252 million ya.
Incidentally, one quote from the prog was that humanity is now challenging asteroids and volcanism as causes of mass extinctions.
Other sources indicate 10 mass extinctions in the past 260 million years. Earth's geologic 'pulse' happens every 27.5 million years, says study, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/earth-s-geologic-pulse-happens-every-27-5-million-years-says-study/ar-AALgmPf?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531, June 2021.
The report also documented 5 other mass extinctions. "FIVE GREAT EXTINCTION EVENTS Five times, a vast majority of the world's life has been snuffed out in what have been called mass extinctions, often associated with giant meteor strikes. End-Ordovician mass extinction the first of the traditional big five extinction events, around 440 million years ago, was probably the second most severe. Virtually all life was in the sea at the time and around 85% of these species vanished. Late Devonian mass extinction About 375-359 million years ago, major environmental changes caused a drawn-out extinction event that wiped out major fish groups and stopped new coral reefs forming for 100 million years. End-Permian mass extinction (the Great Dying) The largest extinction event and the one that affected the Earth's ecology most profoundly took place 252 million years ago. As much as 97% of species that leave a fossil record disappeared forever. End-Triassic mass extinction Dinosaurs first appeared in the Early Triassic, but large amphibians and mammal-like reptiles were the dominant land animals. The rapid mass extinction that occurred 201 million years ago changed that. End-Cretaceous mass extinction An asteroid slammed down on Earth 65 million years ago..."
My opinion. The fossil record points to death and mass extinction, not slow, gradual evolutionary transformation of one life form into another preserving the missing links required. The fossil record shows sudden, abrupt, and massive burial in many places; thus, the fossil record demonstrates catastrophism at work in Earth's past.
Reactions: Catastrophe
But I believe that it did 252 mya
Dire Wolf Moon
Started by bwana4swahili


Photographs of crown jewels in situ
David Chalmers celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation.
In June 2013 I went up to Scarborough to catch up with David Chalmers for a talk he was giving about his work on the Crown Jewels. It took place at the Scarborough Art Gallery. There's a nice write-up in The Yorkshire Post headed 'Ice work if you can get it'. The picture of Her Majesty accompanying the article isn't by David unfortunately. But the crown shown on this screen is one of his.
David had only been working for a year as a professional photographer when, on behalf of Historic Royal Palaces, I commissioned him to take the photography for a new souvenir guide about the Crown Jewels housed in the Tower of London. But the work in his portfolio had a confidence and quality that belied his relative inexperience. And now that he has more than twenty years behind the camera it's heart-warming to see that he still regards this project as a significant moment in his career.
The guide's production coincided with the jewels' imminent move to a new jewel house. This added significantly to the technical and logistical difficulties. We could only shoot at night after the Tower was closed to the public. Unable to be removed from the jewel house, the Crown Jewels had to be photographed in-situ – a cramped environment at the best of times. No one other than the crown jeweller, David Thomas, could touch the jewels and even he wore white gloves at all times as he patiently followed instructions to move a piece a little more to the left… a little more… just a little more… too much… back a bit. a little more… (repeat for a few more minutes). Our shooting schedule was not based on a photographic ideal but instead had to fit in with a quite separate schedule relating to the cleaning of individual pieces prior to being put into storage for relocation to the new jewel house. A few pieces had to be brought forward in the schedule because they were due to go 'on-tour' to other collections. Consequently the same photographic set would be made and broken many times rather than allowing us the luxury of shooting all the items using a particular set in sequence. Fortunately none of these problems show in the final images. And in many instances David managed to convey a sense of volume, scale and space that simply wasn't there in the old jewel house.
English Riviera
Tate by Tube
'Switch' 3650
CFAB
Fundraising film
Crown Jewels souvenir brochure
Anthony Bryant
Press Ad in Campaign for IFA
Airport Carshare
Flora pro.activ
Scottish & Newcastle
Becks Bier
Environmental reporting
Night Nurse
Africa Practice


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Chris Gurski - Public Participation Coordinator – Golder Associates
31 Jan 2018 7:01 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
How long have you been in P2, and where have you worked?
I got into P2 three-and-a-half years ago, when I first started my job at Golder. They hired me straight out of my undergrad at the University of Toronto.
What turned you on to P2 in the first place?
When I was at University of Toronto, I was in the Geography Department, I was doing an undergrad degree in Human Geography and taking a course in Environmental and Resource Management. Our professor introduced us to Sherry Arnstein's Ladder of Public Participation and introduced us to the P2 process. That was the moment I fell in love with the idea of P2. One of the assignments was to audit a public information centre, and that was when I fell in love with P2 as a potential career. From then on, anytime there was an opportunity to write an assignment (on any topic) through the lens of P2, I would take it.
The "AHA!" moment for me was when I went to audit one of those meetings. It was for the City of Toronto's Wet Weather Flow Master Plan. In sections of Toronto, the stormwater drains and sewers are combined: everything goes into the same pipe, but then there's a division so stormwater goes one way and the sewage goes another. But when there's a severe storm event, they mix into each other and everything winds up going into Lake Ontario. The meetings were to form the basis for a 25-year master plan.
The moderator was Tracey Ehl (now IAP2 Great Lakes Past-President), and that was when I realized that people run P2 processes 24/7 – this is their career. I love people, I love the process: I loved auditing these meetings and seeing what could be done better.
My 2nd AHA moment was when my wife found the job description for me at Golder: Public Participation Coordinator and Aboriginal Engagement specialist; and that's the job I'm in now.
Have you had a "Golden Learning Moment"?
The first time I went to a public meeting with Caitlin Burley (Chris' co-worker at Golder and co-chair of the 2012 IAP2 North American Conference). She's the one who got me into IAP2. I was eight months into my new job and this was my first time engaging with the public. It was for a controversial wind project in SW Ontario. I learned so much from Caitlin, particularly, how to deal with people who have their lawyers there; people who are yelling and quite unhappy. I learned that sometimes people just need to vent, and they're not mad at you. Your job is to help them get less angry: you're there to listen to them and find out what their concerns are. It was a real wild and exciting scene for me.
The project is going ahead, by the way: the community is still somewhat divided but the company we're working for did a lot of outreach and community-building, which has alleviated a lot of their concerns. Many of [the citizens'] problems are with the Renewable Energy Approvals process that was put in place by the Provincial Government – not so much with the project itself.
What "big wins" have you had?
I'm currently working on a community energy plan for the municipality of Chatham-Kent. The town's staff are onside, but also importantly, the industrial and commercial stakeholders are also onside and we're developing the plan with them over the next four to six months. Everyone seems very happy with the process. We keep going back to them every four months or so telling them, "Here's what we've heard, here's what we've done, what do you think now?" Everyone feels like we've struck a right balance between not going too often: every time we go back, we show them substantial differences and having the municipal government in support of the P2 process is a big help.
If you had anything to say to someone just getting into the P2 business …
I would say 2 things: 1 – get to know your local IAP2 chapter, go to the events, get to know the executive AND the other local members … they're wonderful people and just as passionate about P2 as you are.
The second thing I would say is, go to as many public meetings as you can, both as an engaged citizen wanting to partake in the process locally, but also to to see how people are doing things. The more varieties of an open house you see, the better.
I know I said two things but I can think of a few more. Get involved in the IAP2 Mentorship Program, it was a fantastic experience for me. Go to the conferences, meeting people from other countries who are into P2: what ties us together is our passion and commitment to good P2 and you're able to share your experience with others. Most importantly have fun with whatever project you are working on, always remember that you got into P2 because you love it and it can be a lot of fun.
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Home News Anti-Trump protests turn to riots across country, led by Portland, Oakland
Anti-Trump protests turn to riots across country, led by Portland, Oakland
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump fired back on social media after demonstrators in both red and blue states hit the streets for another round of protests, showing outrage over the Republican's unexpected win.
Demonstrations occurred from Portland, Oregon, to Chicago, to New York and parts in between and each typically drew a few hundred people, less than the thousands that gathered in various protests that surged after it became clear Trump had won Tuesday's election.
Multiple fires are seen in dumpsters and trash cans after being lit by protesters on Broadway and 20th Street in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the presidential race. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
Late Thursday night, Trump went on Twitter to take on the protesters. Trump tweets: "Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!"
In Portland Thursday night hundreds of people marched throughout the city as protests turned violent, with people smashing store windows and lighting off firecrackers. Police declared the protests a riot, said there were people with baseball bats in the crowd and told people via loudspeaker to move on.
Oregon Department of Transportation officials closed portions of Interstate 5 and Interstate 84 in the area intermittently as a precaution.
In Denver, protesters managed to shut down Interstate 25 near downtown Denver briefly Thursday night.
Denver police tweeted around 10 p.m. that demonstrators made their way onto the freeway and traffic was halted in the northbound and southbound lanes. Police say the interstate was reopened about half an hour later as the crowd moved back downtown.
Earlier protests in Denver, Boulder and Colorado Springs on Wednesday and Thursday went off peacefully.
In San Francisco's downtown, high-spirited high school students marched through, chanting "not my president" and holding signs urging a Donald Trump eviction. They waved rainbow banners and Mexican flags, as bystanders in the heavily Democratic city high-fived the marchers from the sidelines.
"As a white, queer person, we need unity with people of color, we need to stand up," said Claire Bye, a 15-year-old sophomore at Academy High School. "I'm fighting for my rights as an LGBTQ person. I'm fighting for the rights of brown people, black people, Muslim people."
In New York City, a large group of demonstrators once again gathered outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue Thursday night. They chanted angry slogans and waved banners baring anti-Trump messages.
"You got everything straight up and down the line," demonstrator David Thomas said. "You got climate change, you got the Iran deal. You got gay rights, you got mass deportations. Just everything, straight up and down the line, the guy is wrong on every issue."
Protesters briefly shut down interstate highways in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon. In Philadelphia, protesters near City Hall held signs bearing slogans like "Not Our President," "Trans Against Trump" and "Make America Safe For All." About 500 people turned out at a protest in Louisville, Kentucky and in Baltimore, hundreds of people marched to the stadium where the Ravens were playing a football game.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside Trump Tower in Chicago and a growing group was getting into some shoving matches with police in Oakland, California.
Another protest was building in Los Angeles, where 28 people were arrested Wednesday for blocking traffic during a demonstration that also saw vandalism to some buildings and a news truck.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, a Democrat, condemned what he called a "very, very small group of people" that caused problems in that demonstration but said he was proud of the thousands more that peacefully protested.
"I actually thought it was a beautiful expression of democracy. I think it was a marvelous thing to see the next generation of this country get engaged and involved," he said at a news conference, adding that at one time in his life he might have joined them.
As expected, the demonstrations prompted some social media blowback from Trump supporters accusing protesters of sour grapes or worse, though there were no significant counter-protests.
Trump supporters said the protesters were not respecting the democratic process.
As of Thursday, Democrat Hillary Clinton was leading Trump in votes nationwide 47.7 percent to 47.5 percent, but Trump secured victory in the Electoral College.
Associated Press writers Deepti Hajela in New York, Janie Har in San Francisco and Lisa Baumann in Seattle contributed to this report.
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The Most Dangerous City in America Is...
By Chloe Pantazi Published On 02/10/2015
@ChloePantazi
By Chloe Pantazi @ChloePantazi Published On 02/10/2015
Name a big city, and there's likely a cop show spinoff set there. But so far, NCIS and CSI haven't set up shop in the country's most dangerous city. Hell, they haven't even scratched the top 10 most dangerous... well, not yet, anyway. Give it a few months. So what city's the most violent in America?
Camden, NJ.
According to a new report by data analysts Neighborhood Scout, a staggering 1 in 39 Camden residents risks becoming a victim of a violent crime, defined by the study as murder, armed robbery, rape, and assault. The rankings come from the number of physically aggressive crimes reported to authorities per 1,000 residents in cities with more than 25,000 residents.
Chester, PA, in New Jersey's neighboring state, was named the second-most dangerous metropole, and Detroit, MI, which has previously been named one of the most violent cities in the world, took third place.
Michigan overall looked pretty bleak, with Saginaw and Flint also appearing in the top 10. New Jersey was the only other state with multiple cities at the top of the list, with Atlantic City joining Camden as the eight-most dangerous city in the country.
Keep your eyes peeled for "CSI: Flint" and "NCIS: Chester" in your local TV listings. Or, if you live in any of these 10 places, just keep your eyes peeled in general.
10. Memphis, TN
9. Wilmington, DE
8. Atlantic City, NJ
7. Flint, MI
6. Bessemer, AL
5. Oakland, CA
4. Saginaw, MI
3. Detroit, MI
2. Chester, PA
1. Camden, NJ


You are here: Home / Articles / Has Cameron Carter-Vickers made desired Swans impact?
Has Cameron Carter-Vickers made desired Swans impact?
December 3, 2018 by Jordan Newhouse
When Cameron Carter-Vickers arrived at Tottenham back in the summer of 2016, there were many high hopes and expectations immediately placed on his young shoulders.
The American native was seen as one of the most promising and quickly rising defensive talents in world football and it was Spurs that managed to lure him to their ranks.
However, the 20-year-old centre-back has been sent out on many loan spells away from the London club and his current stint sees him playing for Swansea in the tough and testing EFL Championship.
The Swans were clearly gaining a huge talent when they secured the loan signing of Carter-Vickers this past summer, acquiring him in the hope that he would begin to realise his potential and develop into the strong defensive unit that Spurs see him as for the future.
The highly-rated defender's parent club Tottenham Hotspur are currently involved in a dramatic European group campaign and are regarded as huge outsiders in Betfair's Champions League predictions to go all the way and lift the famous trophy next year.
It's unlikely Carter-Vickers will be returning to Wembley after his current loan spell finishes next summer to join up with the latest Champions League victors, with Spurs still in need of a big result against Barcelona to edge into the knockout stage this term.
For the Swans, though, Carter-Vickers has endured an indifferent beginning to life at the Liberty Stadium, having only started 4 times and made 2 appearances from the bench during the club's domestic league campaign in the second tier of English football.
The highly rated centre-back holds plenty of experience, having become a full United States of America international player at a very young age.
This is despite the defender being born in Southend-on-Sea in England in December 1997.
Carter-Vickers evidently has plenty of potential but he will need more consistency if he is to achieve the heights that Spurs are hoping for him in the near future, while the Swans are expecting him to get there swiftly in order to help them in their Championship ventures this term.
The young Spurs-owned prospect has only featured on five occasions in the division for Swansea so far this current campaign, while also having made three international outings for the US against Mexico, Peru and Italy.
So are Swansea getting a good deal with their season-long loan spell for Cameron Carter-Vickers at the moment?
Only time will tell how good he can become at the Liberty Stadium but, in such a challenging division, the Welsh outfit are in desperate need of big performances and consistency from their young starlet as soon as possible, especially given the lacklustre defensive displays over the last 10 days.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino may not be too happy with his lack of playing time granted so far on Welsh territory either, but his young defensive prospect must rise to the occasions and begin living up to his potential if he is to carve out a place at Swansea and a long-term future at Spur's new White Hart Lane home.
Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: 2018-2019, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Championship


MMPI CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DSM-III BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER IN A FORENSIC POPULATION
LARRY W WELCH, Tennessee State University
This investigation attempted to determine whether a distinct borderline MMPI profile would emerge in a forensic population, whether the borderline group could be significantly differentiated from three comparison groups selected from the same population, and whether group membership (diagnosis) could be predicted using discriminant analysis solutions based on MMPI variables. The groups were constructed from 154 adult male psychiatric inpatients committed to the Forensic Services Division (FSD) of Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute. The mean borderline MMPI profile consisted of elevations on the Sc(8), Pa(6), D(2), Pd(4) and Pt(7) scales. While only 9 of the 39 individuals (23%) in the borderline group actually possessed such a profile, the cumulative total was raised to 89% where two-point combinations of 8-6, 8-4, 8-2, or 8-7 were included. Secondly, multivariate and univariate analyses of variance were performed to determine whether the borderline group differed significantly from the three comparison groups. A highly significant MANOVA indicated an overall significant difference in MMPI T score profile elevations in relation to the four diagnostic groupings. Scheffe's tests revealed the significance was between the borderline and antisocial/malingering groups. A second MANOVA was conducted using two groups. The original 39 borderline patients were compared to the remaining 115 patients collapsed into one group. An overall significance was again obtained through a Wilk's lambda. As a follow-up to the significant MANOVA's several discriminant function analyses were performed. Function I was highly loaded from the antisocial/malingerer group; Function II was loaded by the borderline group. The resulting classification analysis was successful in predicting group membership (diagnosis) for 17 of 39 (43.6%) of the borderline patients and for 26 of 36 (72.2%) of the antisocial/malingering patients. The overall four groups hit rate was 50.65%. Finally, a two-group discriminant Function was identified by using the original borderline group and combining the remaining 115 patients. The resulting function was found to have the most loading from the L scale. The major findings suggested that while a characteristic "borderline" MMPI profile was identified, this profile did not distinguish the borderline group from the comparison groups as found in the literature. The validity scale L was the only variable that appeared to discriminate the borderline groups from the present comparison groups. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)
Educational psychology|Criminology|Psychological tests
LARRY W WELCH, "MMPI CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DSM-III BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER IN A FORENSIC POPULATION" (1987). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI8802639.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI8802639


Topics: awareness, controversy, Hispanic, latino, latino rebels, mall, mexican, Mexican-American, shopping, stores, Urban Outfitters
The use of an iconic image by hipster retailer Urban Outfitters has ignited controversy. (Photo/courtesy of Voto Latino)
Urban Outfitters will remove César Chávez United Farm Workers logo shirts from stores
10:38 am on 08/06/2013
They say that fashion trends are cyclical in nature, but hipster chain Urban Outfitters will no longer be selling denim shirts with a logo extremely similar to the iconic symbol that has been used to represent the agricultural workers union United Farm Workers (UFW) for nearly four decades.
The UFW – founded by civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta in 1966 – has used the logo of a dark eagle as a symbol of struggle, and was featured on a blue denim shirt that retailed for $64.00 in Urban Outfitter stores nationwide and online.
"It is never our intention to appropriate a culture or infringe on trademarked material. Urban Outfitters takes these matters very seriously, therefore, we have taken action to have the Koto Cross-Stitch Denim Button-Down shirt removed immediately from our stores and our website," wrote Urban Outfitters in a comment on Voto Latino's Facebook page. "Urban Outfitters is currently working with the UFW directly to rectify this matter."
RELATED: How Latinas are increasingly influencing what products you will be buying
The logo was first trademarked in 1970 and renewed in 2011, reports Voto Latino, and is featured on the Urban Outfitters shirt with one small edit: the Urban Outfitters eagle is facing left, while the eagle logo designed by Chávez and family members Richard and Manuel in 1962 looks to the right.
@votolatino UFW attorneys sent a Cease & Desist letter to Urban Outfitters & they told us they are removing shirt from stores & website
— United Farm Workers (@UFWupdates) August 5, 2013
Action by Urban Outfitters follows a social media awareness campaign that began Monday morning when a photo of the shirt in question was posted on Voto Latino's Facebook page, inciting comments disparaging the brand of its use of the logo without permission from the UFW.
The post was then publicized by Latino Rebels, bringing the shirt to the attention of the UFW. After the UFW announced on Voto Latino's Facebook page that their legal department was "preparing action" against Urban Outfitters, the mall chain followed up within 24 hours via Facebook comment that they would remove the shirt from stores.
The controversy follows Urban Outfitters' sale of a "Juan at WalMart" shirt earlier this year notes Latino Rebels; in 2012, the Navajo Nation sued Urban Outfitters for use of the "Navajo" name on products ranging from a liquor flask to women's underwear.


Despite their dilapidated condition, dumps can serve useful purposes. As pigeon nests, for example. Or practice for the fire department.
This election season, we discovered a new use for beat-up buildings: propaganda holder.
Heading up Fox Street in Portland to Washington Avenue, one comes face-to-façade with this month's specimen. The building at 131 Washington Ave., a former print shop, has the telltale signs of dumpiness: chipped paint, boarded-up windows, a concave roof. But it also has two signs you don't normally see on such structures: campaign signs promoting Jed Rathband's candidacy for mayor.
Built in 1928, the building is owned by Kenneth Dalton of New Jersey, but his daughter, Jill Dalton, and her husband, Ernie Paterno, both of East Bayside, are the ones in charge of the property. The couple formerly ran Filament Gallery on Munjoy Hill, which closed a few years ago.
Paterno said he and his wife plan to reopen Filament at 131 Washington and use other parts of the rambling structure for their glass and metal studios. Additional studios for visual artists and a performance space are also planned. (Although it's not an official venue yet, an all-ages punk show with Huak, Mouth Washington and two or three other bands is scheduled to take place at this dump on Oct. 8.)
The renovation was delayed by the recession and the birth of their daughter, Paterno said, but they've made some headway and hope to make more progress in the months ahead. The improvements made thus far have mostly been behind the building, out of sight.
"It was a bum haven in the back," said Paterno, who noted the irony of having a social club for recovering alcoholics next door (The Sahara Club) while "living behind my building was bum-hobo village, where [homeless men] were drinking all day. We cleaned that up and removed that behavior."
Paterno has known Rathaband, who also lives in East Bayside, since they were kids. When the candidate asked if he could put signs on the dump, Paterno agreed.
Rival candidate Markos Miller of Munjoy Hill asked Jill Dalton if he could also put signs on the front, and she agreed. Miller's signs, placed below Rathband's, were up for a day or so, but then came down.
Campaign sabotage? No. Turns out they were affixed to the building with duct tape (which apparently has its limits after all). Miller's signs were leaning in the building's doorway as this issue went to press.
The presence of Rathband's signs doesn't mean he's got his old buddy's vote. "At this point I don't know who I'm supporting," Paterno said. Other rival candidates are also welcome to post their propaganda on the property, provided they contact Paterno or Dalton first.
Are you reading this, Ethan?
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