Digital data can replace dog-eared notebooks in forestry

There are big steps, but often to get to the big steps, there need to be a lot of little steps.

These don't get much attention, but they're important.

A group of forest researchers in Hawai`i recently challenged the old paradigm of marching into the woods to measure forest productivity with little more than a dog-eared notebook, a pencil, and some measuring tools.

Their goal: to see whether the digital age could be brought to forestry fieldwork.

Their conclusion, yes, it can, and it can save significant amounts of time, but you need to take precautions against downpours, dropped equipment, system crashes and dead batteries.

The researchers are Faith Inman-Narahari and Lawren Sack of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at University of California Los Angeles ,Christian Giardina and Susan Cordell of the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry of the USDA Forest Service in Hilo, and Rebecca Ostertag of the Department of Biology at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo. The published their findings in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution, under the title “Digital data collection in forest dynamics plots.”

With the caveats that you use tough field computers, that you pay attention to battery life issues, and back up your data on drives that don't die with battery failure, they said going digital makes sense.

“Use of digital methods resulted in an average 11-8% reduction in total effort due to reduced secondary data entry time,” they wrote.

That means you save all the time transferring data from those dog-eared notebooks to your computer, since the information is already in digital form.

This all may seem obvious, but most researchers continue to use paper notebooks, the authors say, because of those issues of data loss.

“Electronic data collection holds great promise for enhancing ecological research capacity, yet researchers may be reluctant to adopt digital methods for many reasons including concerns of losing large amounts of data, the money and time needed to buy and implement a new system, the weather-resistance of electronic devices, and the lack of familiarity with digital options,” they wrote.

In fact, the advent of waterproof, shock-resistant computers with all-day batteries should be able to resolve many of those issues, and the time savings may outweigh the financial cost off the equipment.

© Jan TenBruggencate

Want to keep your brainpower? Exercise, Hawai`i!

Hawai`i has among the most active citizens in the nation, but there's way more to do, according to a cluster of recent scientific and research reports.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports all four counties in the Islands have among the lowest rates of physical inactivity in the nation.

Is there a benefit to that exercise? The CDC study says it's good for reduced diabetes risk, but new studies indicate it's also significant for a healthy brain.

Regular physical activity is linked to lower loss of cognitive function in older adults, according to two studies in Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA/Archives journal.

There has long been an association between exercise and good mental function, but much of the previous research has been based on self-reported data and thus questionable. The newest information addresses those shortfalls and still comes to a similar result.

In a French study, researchers followed a group of nearly 3,000 women with risk factors for heart disease, part of the Women's Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study. They found increased exercise resulted in reduced brainpower loss. The lead researcher was Marie-Noël Vercambre, of Foundation of Public Health, Mutuelle Generale de l'Education Nationale, Paris.

Briefly, the report found that something equivalent to a half-hour walk daily was associated with a statistically reduced risk of cognitive function loss.

"Various biologic mechanisms may explain the positive relation between physical activity and cognitive health," said Vercambre's group, in a press release from the Archives of Internal Medicine, of the Journal of the American Medical Association. "If confirmed in future studies, physical activity recommendations could yield substantial public health benefits given the growing number of older persons with vascular conditions and their high risk of cognitive impairment."

A second report looked at 197 participants averaging nearly 75 years of age in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study in Canada. Researchers were led by Laura E. Middleton, of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto.

Interestingly, these researchers subtracted the individuals' resting metabolic rate from their total energy expenditure. They found that the participants who had the highest net energy expenditure tended to have the lowest cognitive loss.

"The mechanisms by which physical activity is related to late-life cognition are likely to be multifactorial,” Middleton's group said. "We are optimistic that even low-intensity activity of daily living may be protective against incident cognitive impairment."

Find the studies here: Arch Intern Med. Published July 19, 2011. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.282; doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.277.

In an Alzheimer's study, exercise was listed as one of the keys to reducing the likelihood of suffering from the disease. A report in the journal Lancet said the key risk factors internationally for Alzheimer's disease are, in this order: low education, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, hypertension in midlife, diabetes and mid-life obesity. They are associated with half of all cases of Alzheirmer's.

Mental health researcher Deborah Barnes, of the San Francisco VA Medical Center, analyzed data from a massive pool of patients internationally—hundreds of thousands.

Among Americans, physical activity rises to the top as the biggest single modifiable risk factor listed in the study.

"What's exciting is that this suggests that some very simple lifestyle changes, such as increasing physical activity and quitting smoking, could have a tremendous impact on preventing Alzheimer's and other dementias in the United States and worldwide," said Barnes, who is also an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco.

She had one caution about the research: "We are assuming that when you change the risk factor, then you change the risk," Barnes said. "What we need to do now is figure out whether that assumption is correct."

In the Islands, although we do well on the activity scale, we can do far better.

According to the state Department of Health's Hawai`i Physical Activity and Nutrition Plan:

“In 2005, almost 48 percent of adults in Hawaii did not meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity (moderate intensity physical activity for at least 30 minutes on five or more days of the week or vigorous intensity physical activity for 20 or more minutes on three or more days per week).”

© Jan TenBruggencate 2011

Hawai`i causes vast ocean eddies, and whales take advantage of them

As winds and currents sweep across the central Pacific, the Islands cause disruptions in their flow—creating vast eddies.

Those eddies can bring nutrient-rich waters up from the deep, and create an extensive food chain.

(Image: Three melon-headed whales. Credit: © Robin W. Baird.)

New research indicates that melon-headed whales take advantage of this food resource. Satellite tagging indicates they regularly feed around the fringes of some eddies, and near the centers of others.

Researchers placed satellite tags on 10 adult melon-headed whales that are part of a population that stays around the main Hawaiian Islands.

In analyzing the tracks of the whales, they found that several of them spent significant amounts of time around several of the major eddies around the Hawaiian Islands, and were presumably feeding there, since it is known that these eddies concentrate fishery resources.

The whales tended to use the edges of counter-clockwise (cyclonic) eddies that have cold centers, and to go to the hearts of clockwise-turning (anticyclonic) eddies that have warm centers.

What’s going on at these locations? The authors write of the fringes of one such eddy: “This edge region is characterized by convergence of nutrients and phytoplankton upwelled in the eddy’s divergent center. Several studies identify this convergence zone as a fruitful foraging ground for species such as sea turtles, marlin and tuna, seabirds, and cetaceans.”

The paper, “Eddies as offshore foraging grounds for melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra),” was written by: Phoebe Woodworth of NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu; Gregory Schorr, Robin Baird and Daniel Webster off the Cascadia Research Cooperative; Daniel McSweeney of Wild Whale Research Foundation; Bradley Hanson of NOIAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle; Russel Andrews of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences; and Jeffrey Polovina, of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu. It was published in the journal Marine Mammal Science.

“Both warm and cold core eddies are continually recurring features in the lee of the Hawaiian Islands. Wind stress from easterly trade winds is intensified by the islands’ topography, leading to the formation of eddies,” the paper says.

These kinds of research often turn up other mysteries that need solving. In this case, some of the whales went to feed in an area west of Ni`ihau, where no eddies are known to occur. What’s happening there? That’s a new subject for inquiry.

“The melon-headed whale tracks … indicate a potentially favorable habitat southwest of the Hawaiian island of Ni‘ihau, although the factors contributing to this area’s desirability are unclear,” the authors wrote.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2011

New `opihi science: lots to know about limpets

An 'opihi came to the Hawaiian archipelago, and evolved into three distinct species, each with specific characteristics built for their specific habitats.

You may not have thought much about 'opihi, but there's a lot to know about these limpets--besides that they are growing so rare due to overharvesting that they're priced like gold. That's because `opihi is a prized item at any Hawai`i gathering--a salty, crunchy condiment served raw, and delicious grilled with a little butter and garlic.

But we digress. Back to the science.

One thing: There's nothing to prevent their seagoing larvae from invading other shores, but Hawai`i's three edible `opihi are only found in Hawai`i.

Another: Since the original migrants could readily cross with others of their species, how and why did they evolve into three distinct species.

“Speciation seems highly improbable under these circumstances,” writes author Christopher E. Bird, of the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai`i. His paper is “Morphological and Behavioral Evidence for Adaptive Diversification of Sympatric Hawaiian Limpets (Cellana spp.)” The paper is in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology: Integrative and Comparative Biology, pp. 1–8 doi:10.1093/icb/icr050

But they did evolve, and probably they did it, he argues, due to natural selection—the individuals found environments to which they could adapt, and they and their offspring stayed there.

Still, it seems odd that you can find three different species of 'opihi on the same slab of rock—the exarata or makaiauli baking in the sun above the tide; the sandwicensis, `alinalina or yellowfoot taking the brunt of the wave force at the interface between air and sea; and the talcosa or ko`ele fighting off marine predators below the surface.

Bird argues that those locations below to above the water define their ecological niches: “Overall, C. talcosa is regularly exposed to pelagic predatory fish, C. sandwicensis is subject to the greatest amount of wave energy and mechanical stress, and C. exarata is subject to the most extreme temperatures and desiccating conditions.”

The ko`ele is sometimes called the kneecap `opihi. It's much bigger than the others, and its shell can be very thick—perhaps a trait developed to protect it from marine snails and predatory fish.

In another just-published article, this one in Molecular Ecology, Bird teamed up with Brenden Holland, Brian Bowen and Robert Toonen, all of the University of Hawai'i. This paper is “Diversification of sympatric broadcast-spawning limpets (Cellana spp.) within the Hawaiian archipelago,” Molecular Ecology (2011) 20, 2128–2141 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05081.x

They say genetic studies suggest that the limpets first arrived in the Hawaiian archipelago between 3.4 and 7.2 million years ago—back in a time when Kaua`i, Ni`ihau and Nihoa were young islands

They probably arrived from the vicinity of Japan as free-floating larvae, and the original migrant was probably an inhabitant of the high shoreline, like Cellana exarata. Their nearest relative outside Hawai`i are probably the Japanese limpets, Cellana nigrolineata, C. mazatlandica and C. grata.

As little as six years ago, when this article was written, those things weren't known. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Jun/01/ln/ln08p.html

The researchers found that the Hawaiian 'opihi technically can hybridize but rarely do. They also found that they have different ranges throughout the island chain. All three are found in the main Hawaiian Islands, but talcosa doesn't go beyond Kaua`i and Ni`ihau. Sandwicensis stops at the basalt bastion, La Perouse Pinnacle. And exarata extends to the northewestern most Hawaiian land that still has volcanic rock above the surface, Gardner Pinnacles.

To confuse things, there are a couple of other `opihi reported from Hawaii. One is the small false `opihi, `opihi `awa, or Siphonaria normalis, which isn't eaten and isn't closely related to the others. The other is sometimes called Cellana melanostoma, which characteristically has steep sided shells, but genetic tests suggest it's a form of exarata.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2011

Midway's golden gooney fledges

Midway Atoll's golden gooney chick, the first of its species hatched outside Japan, has fledged—flown out to sea, most likely to the rich waters to the northwest.

(Image: The golden gooney chick is still mostly black, but eventually will develop white plumage and a striking yellow-gold head, like its papa, shown here. The chick is seen here sitting under its dad. For more recent shots of the chick, check our previous posts (see links at the end of this story.) Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

“It happened just as most followers of the bird’s short life drama expected, the bird slipping away from the Atoll’s Eastern Island sometime during the day, with no one there to watch,” said a press release from John Klavitter of the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

Midway and the other Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, all part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, are home to hundreds of thousands of Laysan albatross and black-footed albatross, but only within recent years have these cousins been joined by a handful of short-tailed albatross—also known as golden goonies for their yellow heads.

In January this year, a courtship between an 8-year-old male and 24-year-old female produced an egg that hatched into a healthy young bird. The chick has been knocked around some during its brief life, and was washed from its nest by the recent Japan tsunami.

In May it began stretching and flapping its wings, and in early June began paddling out to sea.

“The chick’s first swim in the ocean lasted 15 minutes. It walked into the lapping waters, paddled out 50 meters, submerged its head for a quick look, sipped some sea water, and then practiced flapping before paddling back to the shore. The chick was last seen the evening of June 15. By June 17 it was gone, most likely headed in a northwesterly direction to the rich and productive waters near Hokkaido, Japan, perhaps to join others of its kind,” a Fish and Wildlife Service release said.

Although its parents are both from Japanese-controlled islands, the birds normally return to their home islands to nest, and wildlife officials hope the chick will eventually settle on Midway for its own family.

“This event is a milestone in our international efforts to expand the range and population of this species,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Superintendent Tom Edgerton, one of seven co-stewards of the marine national monument.

“Once one of the world’s rarest birds, the endangered short-tailed albatross continues to recover,” said Refuge Manager Sue Schulmeister. “Sightings of the species have been relatively rare over the years, even on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. In the years to come, following this event, perhaps that will start to change.”

See earlier stories on the young golden gooney at RaisingIslands here, here, here and here.

© Jan TenBruggencate 2011