52 research outputs found
Tie Makers at Camp
No full textPhotograph - A group standing in the snow in front of a log cabin, Pelican Portage, Alberta. Left to right: unknown, unknown, Elsie Goetsch, Bruno Goetsch, unknown and Joe Laflamm
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Illuminating the Twilight Zone: Diet and Foraging Strategies of a Deep-Sea Predator, the Northern Elephant Seal
No full textMarine top predators are often keystone species, having a considerable impact on community structure and ecosystem function due to their large population sizes, wide-ranging behavior, and high energy requirements. To effectively evaluate the susceptibility of marine predators and ecosystems to changing environmental conditions, whether natural or anthropogenic in origin, it is critical to understand predator diet and foraging behavior over space and time. Moreover, intraspecific variation in foraging behavior, including diet specialization and individual foraging strategies, may influence the ability of predator populations to respond to environmental change and may safeguard species during conditions when preferred prey are scarce or unavailable. However, in marine systems, especially the deep ocean, predator trophic dynamics, such as diet, food web interconnections, and predator-prey interactions, are poorly understood and logistically challenging to study. Studies on the diet and foraging strategies for wide-ranging marine predators are often highly localized in space and time and limited to small subsets of the total population. Advances in biologging technology have enabled the documentation of in situ foraging behavior, using animal-borne still and video cameras to obtain snap-shots of the diet for marine predators. Yet, while this approach provides invaluable data on the diet composition for a few individuals over short time-spans, it does not provide comprehensive diet information over broader spatiotemporal scales. In contrast, biochemical methods of diet determination, like fatty acid analysis, allow for the quantification of population diet trends over long time periods, while overcoming well-known biases of traditional methods, like stomach contents and fecal analyses. Combining diet composition data derived from biochemical analysis with concurrent movement and diving data collected by biologging instruments allows for a comprehensive approach in assessing the foraging ecology of deep ocean predators. My dissertation is an extensive analysis of the diet and foraging behavior, from population-level to individual, of a deep ocean predator, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). Female northern elephant seals range across the entire eastern North Pacific, diving deeply into mesopelagic (200-1000 m) and bathpelagic (> 1000 m) zones to forage on prey in the deep acoustic scattering layers. While much is known about elephant seal physiology, diving behavior, and movement patterns, comprehensive information on their at-sea diet has been frustratingly difficult to obtain. In Chapter 1, I used quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) to quantify the diet composition of 155 adult female northern elephant seals over five years. This is the first study to show that deep-sea fishes, particularly energy-rich myctophids, are a critical prey resource for northern elephant seals, refuting the long-held view that elephant seals are squid specialists. Moreover, I was able extend the applicability of the QFASA method for species with scant a priori diet data and large variety of potential prey available in their foraging habitat. In Chapter 2, using the QFASA-derived diet data, I tested for spatiotemporal differences in diet composition. I found evidence of seasonal, spatial, and interannual diet differences for female seals and that these differences are likely driven by the spatiotemporal dynamics of the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern north Pacific and interannual variation in climate phenomena. Finally, in Chapter 3, I quantified vertical foraging strategies for female elephant seals and tested whether those foraging strategies were correlated with diet composition or diet specialization. I found that female seals are generalists in both their vertical foraging behavior and individual diet composition. Further, their flexibility in foraging tactics appears to be tied to in to broad-scale spatiotemporal variation in their deep ocean habitat, reflecting differences in the distribution and availability of their prey. Overall, my dissertation provides critical insights to the trophodynamics of a deep-diving top predator in the North Pacific deep-sea ecosystem
An occupational survey to determine the entry level CAD skills and competencies required by employers of civil engineering technicians in the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College district
No full textIncludes bibliographical references.The purpose of this study was to identify the CAD related technical skills and
competencies that are required for employability at an entry-level position as a civil engineering technician. The majority of employers represented in this study are civil engineering firms, governmental agencies, and surveying firms. Overall, civil engineering firms along with governmental agencies employ the greatest number of drafters. Civil drawings, survey maps, and topographical drawings are the most commonly prepared drawings by the respondents. Other reported drawing types include architectural, electrical/electronic, landscaping, structural, and technical illustrations. Almost all of the respondents use a CAD system for drafting functions. AutoCAD is
the primary CAD platform used. MicroStation is also used, but to a much lesser extent. Of the employers that use CAD software, most use at least one collaborative software package with their primary CAD platform. Eagle Point is the most common collaborative software utilized. AutoCAD Land Development Desktop (ALDD) was noted to be the next commonly used collaborative software. Out of the 24 basic CAD skills that were listed on the survey, 14 were considered to be valid curriculum items and will be either retained or added to the program curriculum. Six of the 24 items will be reviewed for being valid curriculum items, and four of the items will not be included in the curriculum. Overall, most basic CAD skills were performed frequently or considered important. Out of the 29 advanced CAD skills that were listed on the survey, none were considered to be valid curriculum items. Sixteen of the 29 items will be reviewed for being valid curriculum items, and 13 of the items will not be included in the curriculum. Overall, most advanced CAD skills were not performed frequently nor considered important. Out of the 15 basic architectural drawing skills that were listed on the survey, none were considered to be valid curriculum items. Eight of the 15 items will be reviewed for being valid curriculum items, and seven of the items will not be included in the curriculum. Overall, most basic architectural drawing skills were not performed frequently nor considered important. None of the six basic structural drawing skills that were listed on the survey were considered to be valid curriculum items. One of the six items will be reviewed for being a valid curriculum item, and five of the items will not be included in the curriculum. Overall, most basic structural drawing skills were not performed frequently nor considered important
Evaluation of current wastewater treatment practices at Company XYZ
No full textIncludes bibliographical references
How do seals swim? Swimming behavior constrained by biomechanical and ecological factors
No full text第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第34回極域生物シンポジウム
11月26日（月） 国立極地研究所 ３階ラウンジconference objec
How do seals swim? Swimming behavior constrained by biomechanical and ecological factors
No full textChronic over browsing and biodiversity collapse in a forest understory in Pennsylvania: Results from a 60 year-old deer exclusion plot
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Connecting theory and fiction: Margaret Atwood's novels and second wave feminism
No full textThis thesis undertakes an examination of the manner in which a novelist interacts with a contemporary theoretical discourse. I argue that the novelist and the theoretical discourse enter into a symbiotic relationship in which each influences and is influenced by the other. This process, I suggest, is simultaneous and complex. The thesis demonstrates how the prevailing theoretical discourse is absorbed by the contemporary author, is developed and redefined in conjunction with alternative concerns, and comes to permeate the narrative in an altered state. The novelist's new perspectives, frequently problematising theoretical claims, are then disseminated by the novel, promoting further discussion and development of the theoretical discourse. The thesis focuses on the novels of Margaret Atwood, considering them in relation to the history and development of second wave feminism. "Second wave feminism" is understood as an umbrella term that incorporates a wide variety of related but diverse and occasionally contradictory discourses, centring on the subjects of gender, femininity, and sexuality. The focus of the discussion is dual and presented simultaneously. Atwood's novels are analysed chronologically, and within the parameter of this analysis I demonstrate how her work has been influenced by earlier feminist theories, how it comments upon a variety of contemporary feminist ideas, and how it can be seen to anticipate further discussions within feminist discourse. Finally, I identify moments in Atwood's writing when alternative discourses compete with feminism to create new directions for feminist criticism. Examples of these discourses include Canadian nationalism, liberalism, communitarianism and environmentalism. The specificity of the novelist's interests and politics create a unique site of interaction for feminism which, I argue, benefits feminist theory by challenging, broadening and diversifying its focus. The thesis concludes that the symbiotic relationship of the theorist and the novelist is self-perpetuating and is also necessary and beneficial to both parties
Fisheries Exploitation by Albatross Quantified With Lipid Analysis
No full textMortality from incidental bycatch in longline fishery operations is a global threat to seabird populations, and especially so for the albatross family (Diomedeidae) in which 15 out of 22 species are threatened with extinction. Despite the risks, fisheries remain attractive to many species of seabird by providing access to high-energy foods in the form of discarded fish and offal, target fish, and baited hooks. Current policy regarding fisheries management is increasingly aimed at discard reform, exemplified by a discard ban initiated in the European Union Common Fisheries Policy in 2014. While there is global agreement on the importance of minimizing the waste inherent in bycatch and discards, there is also growing concern that there is a need to understand the extent to which marine animals rely on fisheries-associated resources, especially at the colony and individual levels. We used a novel adaptation of quantitative fatty acid signature analysis (QFASA) to quantify fisheries-associated prey in the diet of two threatened North Pacific albatross species. Diet was estimated with QFASA using multiple lipid classes from stomach oil collected from incubating and chick-brooding Laysan and black-footed albatrosses across three breeding seasons. Prey-specific error was estimated by comparing QFASA estimated diets from known “simulated” diets, which informed the level of precaution appropriate when interpreting model results. Fisheries-associated diet occurred in both albatross species across both the incubation and chick-brood stages; however, neither species relied on fisheries food as the dominant food source (consisting of <10% of the total pooled proportional diet in each species). While total diet proportion was low, the incidence of fisheries-associated resources in albatross diets was highest in the 2009–2010 breeding season when there was a strong central Pacific El Niño. Additionally, the diets of a few individuals consisted almost entirely of fisheries-associated food, indicating that some birds might specialize on this foraging tactic. QFASA proved a tractable method for estimating the importance of fisheries-associated resources in albatross diet, and, as a tool, has the potential to enable long-term monitoring of diet and fisheries reliance of breeding colonies in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands
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