1,708 research outputs found
Western Indian Ocean coral and fish normalized site richness collected between 1991 to 2000
No full text<p><strong>Aim</strong>: Strong social-ecological trade-offs between resource extraction and protection have created challenges for large, protected area management in natural-resource-dependent countries. Therefore, <span>local governments and </span>community conservation activities <span>are becoming common and need information about </span>low <span>environmental</span> exposure <span>and high biodiversity</span> for <span>planning localized </span>conservation<span> activities</span>.</p>
<p><strong>Location</strong>: the western Indian Ocean</p>
<p><strong>Methods</strong>: <span>C</span>oral reef sites <span>were</span> evaluate<span>d for</span> local scale <span>environmental and species richness to elucidate local patterns in spatial </span>heterogeneity. Local coral and fish taxonomic richness were normalized to partially account for <span>common and heterogeneous </span>disturbances to coral cover and fish biomass<span>. Residuals were evaluated for patterns of local diversity with geography, environmental stress, and by machine learning to evaluate the </span>relationship <span>with </span>21 specific environmental variables<span>.</span></p>
<p><strong>Results</strong>: <span>High</span> variability <span>in richness </span>was <span>found at similar latitudes where richness was high</span>. <span>R</span>elationships with <span>specific </span>environmental and human influences variables were <span>complex and </span>spatially heterogeneous. Expected large-scale biogeographic variables <span>influenced</span> richness but variability and environmental influences were highly <span>specific and </span>localized. Among the environmental and human influence variables examined, ~ 8 variables contributed 8 to 25% of the variance <span>to the richness of both coral and fishes</span>.</p>
<p><strong>Main conclusions</strong>: <span>Decisions to focus s</span>mall-scale conservation <span>on locally biodiverse locations </span>could contribute to species persistence <span>by planning for local heterogeneity</span> i<span>n</span> richness<span> and stress.</span> From this specific data set, sites in the Pemba Channel between the Tanzanian mainland and Pemba Island, and northern Mozambique and Madagascar<span> fit these characteristics</span>.</p><p>Funding provided by: Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association<br>Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/01xnrs054<br>Award Number: </p><p>Field study sites were<span> undertaken</span> in 4 ecoregions and <span>7</span> countries that ranged in latitude from 2.04°S (Kenya) to 26.08°S (Mozambique) and longitudes of 32.96°E (Mozambique) to 57.71°E in (Mauritius). Sites were located on the windward and leeward sides of coral reefs in depths from 1.5 to 20 meters depth at low tide (the region's tidal range <span>is</span> ~1 to 4 meters). Sites were all located on calcium carbonate coral bottoms colonized by hard and soft corals and various algae, with sand and seagrass being a smaller portion of the benthic cover (McClanahan & Muthiga 2016). Sites were distributed among four fisheries management categories, namely, high compliance reserves (no-take closures), low compliance reserves, and restricted and unrestricted fishing, as previously described (McClanahan et al. 2015). Low compliance closures were areas legally gazetted as marine reserves but where fishing was evident by personal observations or reports in the literature. Restricted fishing locations had restrictions on the usage of small-meshed nets or spearguns. Sites were not randomly selected but biased towards sampling marine protected areas and comparable reference sites.</p>
<p>At each location, coral surveys <span>were conducted in 7 countries (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, and Tanzania) using</span> a roving observer method<span>. T</span>wo experienced observers (N.A. Muthiga and T.R. McClanahan)<span> sampled ~40 m<sup>2</sup> over a broad range</span> <span>of ~1000 meters or 40 minutes of sampling</span>. For each survey, an observer assessed the coral community in a series of haphazardly selected replicate quadrats (~2 m<sup>2</sup>), such that <span>richness was the</span> number of taxa <span>encountered </span>per ~40 m<sup>2</sup> (McClanahan et al. 2007). Within each quadrat, hard coral colonies (>5 cm) were identified to genus and the coverage of hard coral was estimated to the nearest 5%. <span>One</span> <span>identification </span>exception<span> was</span> <em>Porites</em>, which was classified as either branching, massive, or <em>Porites rus</em><span>. A second was </span><em>Galaxea</em>, which was classified as <em>G. astreata</em> or <em>G. fasciscularis</em>. These divisions were made because of the different life <span>histories</span> and possible functions of these two common genera.</p>
<p>Fish families were sampled <span>by snorkel and scuba diving </span>using two separate belt transect methods<span>. The first</span> <span>method </span>estimated the number of species and biomass<span> for the </span>same 500 m<sup>2</sup> belt <span>(5-m x 100-m) </span>transect (McClanahan 2019). <span>One</span> to 9 belt transect replicates were completed <span>per study site </span>between 1991 and 2020<span>.</span> <span>I</span>ndividual<span> fish were counted</span> in 9 <span>pre</span>selected families <span>that included the</span> Acanthuridae, Balistidae, Chaetodontidae, Diodontidae, Labridae, Monacanthidae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, and Scaridae. These 9 families contain a mix of life histories and fished and unfished species<span> and were </span>chosen for their high number of species and as indicators of the total species richness in a location or region (Allen and Werner 2002). <span>I</span>ndividuals from the different families were counted during subsequent passes of the same belt transect<span> and combined to create a metric of richness as the number of species per</span> <span>500 m<sup>2</sup> in these 9 families.</span></p>
<p>The number of coral and fish species were counted in 657 site x <span>transect x </span>time replications<span>. Subsequently, replicated transects within sites were pooled into unique 346 sites of which 2 were outliers. Following outlier and pooling procedure, </span>the final<span> dataset of 344 unique sites</span> <span>had </span>286 coral and 320 fish replicates. <span>Taxonomic richness</span> <span>was </span>normalized <span>to </span>z-scores (i.e., -3 to +3 SDs) <span>using</span> the residuals of the <span>best-fit </span>species-coral cover and fish species-biomass relationships. <span>The residuals were derived from a best-fit to a </span>logistic model <span>where residuals were</span> <span>extracted</span> and normalize<span>d. R</span>esiduals<span> are </span>hereafter referred to as residual richness. <span>S</span>tandardization was also applied to the GSM and site susceptibility metrics. <span>The normalization</span> reduce<span>d</span> sampling bias <span>that might influence</span> testing for associations with environmental factors.</p>
Evaluating Citebase, an open access Web-based citation-ranked search and impact discovery service
No full textCitebase is a new citation-ranked search and impact discovery service that measures citations of scholarly research papers which are openly accessible on the Web, i.e. papers that are assessable continuously online. Other services, such as ResearchIndex, have emerged in recent years to offer citation indexing of Web research papers. In the first detailed user evaluation of an open access Web citation indexing service, Citebase has been evaluated by nearly 200 users from different backgrounds. The paper details the procedures used in the evaluation, and analyses the results of this study, which took place between June and October 2002. It was found that within the scope of its primary components, the search interface and services available from its rich bibliographic records, Citebase can be used simply and reliably for the purpose intended, and that it compares favourably with other bibliographic services. It is shown tasks can be accomplished efficiently with Citebase regardless of the background of the user. More data need to be collected and the process refined before it is as reliable for measuring citation impact of indexed papers. Better explanations and guidance are required for first-time users. Coverage is seen as a limiting factor, even though Citebase indexes over 200,000 papers from arXiv. Non-physicists were frustrated at the lack of papers from other sciences. The principle of citation searching of open access archives has thus been demonstrated and need not be restricted to current users. Since the evaluation, Citebase has become a featured service of the ArXiv physics eprint archives
Global gradients of coral exposure to environmental stresses and implications for local management
No full textBackground: The decline of coral reefs globally underscores the need for a spatial assessment of their exposure to multiple
environmental stressors to estimate vulnerability and evaluate potential counter-measures.
Methodology/Principal Findings: This study combined global spatial gradients of coral exposure to radiation stress factors
(temperature, UV light and doldrums), stress-reinforcing factors (sedimentation and eutrophication), and stress-reducing
factors (temperature variability and tidal amplitude) to produce a global map of coral exposure and identify areas where
exposure depends on factors that can be locally managed. A systems analytical approach was used to define interactions
between radiation stress variables, stress reinforcing variables and stress reducing variables. Fuzzy logic and spatial
ordinations were employed to quantify coral exposure to these stressors. Globally, corals are exposed to radiation and
reinforcing stress, albeit with high spatial variability within regions. Based on ordination of exposure grades, regions group
into two clusters. The first cluster was composed of severely exposed regions with high radiation and low reducing stress
scores (South East Asia, Micronesia, Eastern Pacific and the central Indian Ocean) or alternatively high reinforcing stress
scores (the Middle East and the Western Australia). The second cluster was composed of moderately to highly exposed
regions with moderate to high scores in both radiation and reducing factors (Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Central
Pacific, Polynesia and the western Indian Ocean) where the GBR was strongly associated with reinforcing stress.
Conclusions/Significance: Despite radiation stress being the most dominant stressor, the exposure of coral reefs could be
reduced by locally managing chronic human impacts that act to reinforce radiation stress. Future research and management
efforts should focus on incorporating the factors that mitigate the effect of coral stressors until long-term carbon reductions
are achieved through global negotiations
From crisis to institutional sustainability in the Chilean sea urchin fishery
No full textArtisanal and small-scale fisheries are frequently characterized as low-investment, part-time family operations, conducted by fishers who fish close to their villages mainly for subsistence, occasionally selling or bartering the surplus at local markets. Commercial diving for sea urchins in Chile is no doubt a small-scale fishery, if gauged by the size of the fishing units, and ‘artisanal’ according to the country’s fisheries legislation. Yet, it could not be more different from the above stereotype. Above all, this small-scale fishery has astounding dimensions along several axes...Fil: Moreno, Carlos A.. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Barahona, Nancy. Instituto de Fomento Pesquero; ChileFil: Molinet, Carlos. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Orensanz, Jose Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Parma, Ana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Zuleta, Alejandro. Universidad Austral de Chile; Chil
Biogeography and change among regional coral communities across the western Indian Ocean
No full textCoral reefs are biodiverse ecosystems structured by abiotic and biotic factors operating across many spatial scales. Regional-scale interactions between climate change, biogeography and fisheries management remain poorly understood. Here, we evaluated large-scale patterns of coral communities in the western Indian Ocean after a major coral bleaching event in 1998. We surveyed 291 coral reef sites in 11 countries and over 30° of latitude between 2004 and 2011 to evaluate variations in coral communities post 1998 across gradients in latitude, mainland-island geography and fisheries management. We used linear mixed-effect hierarchical models to assess total coral cover, the abundance of four major coral families (acroporids, faviids, pocilloporids and poritiids), coral genus richness and diversity, and the bleaching susceptibility of the coral communities. We found strong latitudinal and geographic gradients in coral community structure and composition that supports the presence of a high coral cover and diversity area that harbours temperature-sensitive taxa in the northern Mozambique Channel between Tanzania, northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar. Coral communities in the more northern latitudes of Kenya, Seychelles and the Maldives were generally composed of fewer bleaching-tolerant coral taxa and with reduced richness and diversity. There was also evidence for continued declines in the abundance of temperature-sensitive taxa and community change after 2004. While there are limitations of our regional dataset in terms of spatial and temporal replication, these patterns suggest that large-scale interactions between biogeographic factors and strong temperature anomalies influence coral communities while smaller-scale factors, such as the effect of fisheries closures, were weak. The northern Mozambique Channel, while not immune to temperature disturbances, shows continued signs of resistance to climate disturbances and remains a priority for future regional conservation and management actions
Achievements and setbacks in the commercial diving fishery of San Jose Gulf, Argentine Patagonia
No full textThe management of natural resources is highly demanding of scientific support and, therefore, applied scientists often become involved in the management process, whether as providers of technical advice for decision-making or as scientists-turned-managers. But scientists, including ourselves, are used to the directed progress of knowledge: we know the process of research and discovery can be meandering, but a sense of progress is always there. It is not surprising therefore if scientists become frustrated with management as it moves forward and backwards, and breakthroughs are too often followed by setbacks. Furthermore, management decisions are not based solely on scientific support, with its emphasis on ecological sustainability, but have to compromise with other societal values and agendas, and are inevitably exposed to pressure from politicians, power brokers, and lobbies. Scientists involved with fisheries management tend to be pessimistic, as they perceive compromising as irrational, setbacks as lack of success, and progress as insufficient. In this brief essay we discuss a series of "rounds" in the 40 years of history of a small-scale scallop fishery from: two were won, two lost, and round five is on. In the terms of Oscar Avilez, fisher and friend, this is not the history of a definitive success, but one of hardly-fought, significant achievements, and some setbacks. On balance, we argue, the former set the compass in the direction of success.Fil: Orensanz, Jose Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Parma, Ana María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Ciocco, Nestor Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cinti, Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentin
Evolution and lessons from fisheries and coastal management in the Philippines
No full textOver the last three decades, Philippine institutions and communities have been experimenting with new approaches to coastal management to try to stem the increasing tide of destruction to coastal habitats and the decline of fisheries. Many attempts at coastal and fisheries management have been conducted, ranging from broad-area management planning for whole bays to small community-based marine protected area (MPA) projects (Courtney et al. 2000). The impetus driving coastal and fisheries management projects and MPAs is attributed to the interest of local and national government through devolution of authority under national policies to promote protection and management of coastal resources. Municipal, city, and provincial governments have thus become the key players in the implementation of integrated coastal management (reM) and MPA projects in association with national government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), people's organizations, research institutions, and multilateral and bilateral donor organizations, employing different strategies and approaches (White et al. 2002, 2005a). The many useful lessons being learned in the context of ICM programs are summarized in this chapter
Accepting Optimally in Automated Negotiation with Incomplete Information (abstract)
No full textIntelligent SystemsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Dr. Tim Brock
No full textTimothy R. Brock, PhD, CPT, CRP, ID(S&L+)
Dr. Tim Brock is the Founder and CEO of The Institute 4 Worthy Performance, a company dedicated to helping organizations apply the evidence-based principles, practices, and 10 international standards of performance improvement using 21st Century human capital big data analytics to achieve sustainable organizational and mission goals and objectives.
Dr. Brock’s PhD is in Education with a specialization in Training and Performance Improvement. He wrote his dissertation, “Training NASA Astronauts for Deep Space Exploration Missions: A Research Study to Develop and Validate a Competency-Based Training Framework” while he was the Senior Training and Human Performance Architect author for Lockheed Martin’s (LM) winning Crew Exploration Vehicle (now known as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)) proposal selected by NASA. His learning and sustainment architecture included the initial training and competency sustainment/development for all managers, mission maintainers, ground and mission controllers, and astronauts. Dr. Brock was also led a team of human performance engineers to JSC to conduct a training situation analysis of mission controller training that resulted in a white paper of options NASA could adopt to decrease time and cost to proficiency. He also supported LM’s Facility Development and Operations Contract (FDOC) with NASA with the NASA Constellation Training Facility (CxTF) leadership team. During his Air Force career, Dr. Brock was also a US Air Force missile launch officer for two ICBM weapon systems and was responsible for the initial qualification weapon system academic classroom and high fidelity simulation curriculum for all missile launch officer candidates for all five of the US Air Force’s ICBM fleet.
In addition, while he was manager of LM’s Global Training and Science of Learning and Performance Improvement initiatives, Dr. Brock established and led a R&D and analysis team of distinguished, PhD-level, multi-disciplinary team of behavioral, social, cognitive, learning, and technology scientists and practitioners. His team crafted proprietary thought leadership (e.g., R&D, white papers, patents, etc.) in Human Cognitive and Behavior Modeling research to improve the effectiveness of the Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) within complex organization and technical systems. Dr. Brock’s team also provided innovative discriminator capabilities to solve complex, 100M+ bottom line learning and human performance challenges for existing and potential customers. For example, he was also the Principal Investigator for an R&D initiative that collaborated with a major health care provider to conduct a proof-of-concept prototype that integrated simulation technologies in an immersive learning environment to rapidly develop the affective, cognitive, and metacognitive skills of novice and experienced nurses. As a result of this proof-of-concept study, Dr. Brock was the lead inventor of a company-sponsored, patent-pending “Method and System for Accelerated Guided Experiential Learning and Performance Improvement” innovative instructional architecture. The invention created a method and system to generate a competency continuum of increasing competency levels, by interviewing a plurality of competency exemplar sets to elicit knowledge associated with a terminal skills and identifying cognitive discriminators associated with each competency level from the knowledge to establish cue-action schema norms to assess cognitive development.
Dr. Brock is a Certified Performance Improvement Practitioner through the International Society for Performance Improvement, a Certified Return on Investment Professional through the ROI Institute, and a Certified Instructional Designer with a specialization in high-fidelity simulations and labs through The Institute for Performance Improvement.
Dr. Brock’s PhD is in Education with a specialization in Training and Performance Improvement. He wrote his dissertation, “Training NASA Astronauts for Deep Space Exploration Missions: A Research Study to Develop and Validate a Competency-Based Training Framework” while he was the Senior Training and Human Performance Architect author for Lockheed Martin’s (LM) winning Crew Exploration Vehicle (now known as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV)) proposal selected by NASA. His learning and sustainment architecture included the initial training and competency sustainment/development for all managers, mission maintainers, ground and mission controllers, and astronauts. Dr. Brock was also led a team of human performance engineers to JSC to conduct a training situation analysis of mission controller training that resulted in a white paper of options NASA could adopt to decrease time and cost to proficiency. He also supported LM’s Facility Development and Operations Contract (FDOC) with NASA with the NASA Constellation Training Facility (CxTF) leadership team. During his Air Force career, Dr. Brock was also a US Air Force missile launch officer for two ICBM weapon systems and was responsible for the initial qualification weapon system academic classroom and high fidelity simulation curriculum for all missile launch officer candidates for all five of the US Air Force’s ICBM fleet.
In addition, while he was manager of LM’s Global Training and Science of Learning and Performance Improvement initiatives, Dr. Brock established and led a R&D and analysis team of distinguished, PhD-level, multi-disciplinary team of behavioral, social, cognitive, learning, and technology scientists and practitioners. His team crafted proprietary thought leadership (e.g., R&D, white papers, patents, etc.) in Human Cognitive and Behavior Modeling research to improve the effectiveness of the Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) within complex organization and technical systems. Dr. Brock’s team also provided innovative discriminator capabilities to solve complex, 100M+ bottom line learning and human performance challenges for existing and potential customers. For example, he was also the Principal Investigator for an R&D initiative that collaborated with a major health care provider to conduct a proof-of-concept prototype that integrated simulation technologies in an immersive learning environment to rapidly develop the affective, cognitive, and metacognitive skills of novice and experienced nurses. As a result of this proof-of-concept study, Dr. Brock was the lead inventor of a company-sponsored, patent-pending “Method and System for Accelerated Guided Experiential Learning and Performance Improvement” innovative instructional architecture. The invention created a method and system to generate a competency continuum of increasing competency levels, by interviewing a plurality of competency exemplar sets to elicit knowledge associated with a terminal skills and identifying cognitive discriminators associated with each competency level from the knowledge to establish cue-action schema norms to assess cognitive development.
Dr. Brock is a Certified Performance Improvement Practitioner through the International Society for Performance Improvement, a Certified Return on Investment Professional through the ROI Institute, and a Certified Instructional Designer with a specialization in high-fidelity simulations and labs through The Institute for Performance Improvement.https://commons.erau.edu/space-congress-bios-2016/1027/thumbnail.jp
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