American Lobster Settlement Index Celebrates 25 Years Research

American Lobster Settlement Index Celebrates 25 Years Research

Making Wat the Daarlingv Mariene Ces nter • December 2014 American Lobster SettlAes mlarveae,n Atm eIrnicadn elobxst eCrs (eHlomeabrusr aametriecansus ) 2ar5e p lYanektoanrics, DLeeart Atleumrs from the Director floating in the surface waters and riding the currents as they grow. and Friends of After 4-6 weeks, postlarval lobsters settle out of the water the DMC, column and take up a benthic existence amongst cobble and rocks. Can that yearly pulse of baby lobsters become an early Welcome to warning system for future trends in Maine’s most valuable fishery? Making Waves; This is the question Dr. Rick Wahle has been asking for most of I hope you his career and the answers may lie in the America Lobster enjoy reading Settlement Index (ALSI). just a few of the highlights In 1987, using a technique called “airlift suction sampling,” of 2014. The Rick and a team of SCUBA divers “vacuumed” cobble habitat Darling Marine at several locations in coastal Maine revealing large numbers of Center supports newly settled young-of-year lobsters along with older juveniles the University’s that had to date eluded quantification. In subsequent years, Rick tripartite mis - and collaborator Lew Incze (also now at the DMC) began moni- sion of educa - toring eight sites on Maine’s outer coast to evaluate the coupling tion, research, of lobster’s planktonic larval supply and settlement to the seabed. and service, and These first surveys expanded south to Rhode Island and north to has been very active in all three. This autumn the Newfoundland to include over 100 sites that are now surveyed Semester-by-the-Sea program (SBS) celebrated its annually as part of the ALSI collaborative of marine resource 21 st year with it’s largest enrollment ever— Divers using airlift suction sampling to agencies and fishermen contributing to this unique 23 students are enrolled in the unique experiential quantify newly settled lobsters. Photo by international monitoring effort. Continued on page 6. learning program that includes a very strong field Rick Wahle. component. This summer the dorm was also overflowing with students studying in six May term classes, working on Capstone projects, and interning with faculty. Online learning is ever DRr.e Dsoueglas rRcasher Arecweivead rthde piresst igaio uSs Migercner of Great Things to Come expanding through the activities of “Broadening Award from the Ecological Society of America. First the Reach of Ocean Science,” whose goal is to awarded in 1948, the Mercer Award is given each year improve ocean literacy and broaden impacts of for the World’s most outstanding ecological research scientific research. paper published by a researcher under the age of 40. DMC research tackles problems at the heart of Now a postdoctoral research associate at the DMC, the local economy, including measuring juvenile Rasher received the 2014 Mercer Award for his eye- lobster settlement and improving techniques for opening study on Fiji’s coral reefs he conducted as a bivalve aquaculture. Discovery-based research graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. includes topics as diverse as organism movement The work shows that a diverse collection of grazing fish through mud, reproductive biology, response of is essential to keep coral reefs clean and free of harmful macroalgae and zooplankton to ocean acidifica - seaweeds that quickly outcompete baby corals for space tion, and analysis of phytoplankton from space. on the reef. Clean reefs are healthy reefs that are better Field research and conferences continue to take able to recover from hurricanes or other disturbances. faculty and students all over the globe—from The results provide further insight for the management tropical coral reefs to the polar ice cap. and conservation of coral reefs. Interaction with the local community occurs at all Joining the ranks of such prestigious ecologists as E.O. levels, from K-12 explorations to citizen science Wilson, Jane Lubchenco, Robert MacArthur and Joseph collaborations on estuarine water quality. As the Connell makes the award that much more meaningful to Center moves into 2015, it plans to hire a new permanent Director and up to four new faculty. Rasher, who explains, “Over the past half century, many Dr. Doug Rasher well known ecologists received this award for publishing The Center will also celebrate its 50th anniversary what are now considered "classic"papers; these studies shaped who I am as a scientist and how I view the this summer with a lecture series, an alumni natural world. That makes receiving this award very personal and special to me." reunion day, a symposium for alumni, faculty, and friends of the Darling Center, and a public open In his accolades to Rasher, Dr. Bob Steneck, notes “some awards are for a lifetime of achievements—for a job house with hands-on activities. You’ll be receiving well done. Others are bellwethers of great things to come. The Ecological Society of America’s Mercer Award updates in the coming months and I hope that is clearly in the latter camp.” Rasher’s receipt of the Mercer Award is an indication of “great things to come.” you can join us next summer. The awarding-winning research paper “Consumer diversity interacts with prey defenses to drive ecosystem My best wishes for the holidays and the New Year, function,” can be read at esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/12-0389.1 . Mary Jane UDMMainCe a nPnorunoceud tdhe lPauancrh tonf teher S EiAnN ESTu staiUnnaivebrslitey o Af Nqewu Eangclaundl. t“uThrise pr oIjnecti tisi ianhteir -ve When Dr. Herb Hidu was hired in 1970, he spear - program thanks to a $20 million National Science ently about how to make aquaculture sustainable headed research on the cultivation of blue mussels Foundation EPSCoR (Experimental Program to in Maine, both socially and environmentally,” says and oysters. And just around the corner from the Stimulate Competitive Research) grant. Dr. Damian Brady, Assistant Director of Research DMC, in Clarks Cove, Ed Myers was granted the first for Maine Sea Grant and a lead investigator in aquaculture lease in 1974. In subsequent years, such The August announcement won the accolades of SEANET. “The Damariscotta [River Estuary] will be a local institutions as Dodge Cove Marine Farm, Senators Susan Collins and Angus King, and region of focus for the project.” Pemaquid Oyster Company, Mook Sea Farm and Representatives Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree; Glidden Point Oyster Company, to name a few, were all noted the benefits of this funding to our state, The Damariscotta River estuary is the home of established by UMaine students. to our working waterfronts, and to our workforce. shellfish aquaculture in Maine and “has long been a Through SEANET, the University expects to hire model for the rest of the state about how to integrate “The DMC's role over time is exemplary of what 20 graduate students, 3 faculty, and up to 3 education, research and industry,” notes Dana Morse, could be accomplished with the SEANET program,” postdoctoral fellows with some expected to be Extension Associate for the Maine Sea Grant College says Morse. “The application of science to an resident at the DMC. Program at the DMC. industry, the integration of that industry with the community, and both the educational and workforce SEANET is a multi-institutional, public-private The DMC was founded in 1965 and the National training that comes along with it—the DMC got this partnership led by UMaine, in collaboration with the Sea Grant College Program was established in 1966. started in Maine.” 1 Publications & Accolades R i Buried beneath N ork City for more than 200 years… e s s w In January 1982, archaeologists conducting a pre- ish EEmpire’smpire’s eighteenth-century ggrowth,rowth, colonial i t h cconstructiononstruction excavation at 175 SStreettreet in Low- America’’ss industry and andand Manhattan’s S er Manhattananhattan found the remains of aann eighteenth- ddevelopment.evelopment. The ship’s bow timberstimbers and artifacts m i century ship.ship. Uncertain what they hhadad found or are now hhousedoused at the Mariners’ Museumuseum in New- t h The Ship That A Distinguished Maine Professor what its value might be, they called in two nautical port News, Virginia. archaeologists—W Riess and SheliSheli Smith—to The bbookook does more than just detaildetail the find- Mary Jane Perry, Professor of Oceanography and Interim Director of the DMC, direct the excavationexcavation and analysis of thethe ship’s re- ings of tthishis particular investigation, It T mains. As itit turned out, the mystery shipship’s age and also gives the reader a better sense of what a nauti- h e was bestowed the 2014 Distinguished Maine Professor award. Presented by the type meant that its careful study wwouldould help answer cal aarchaeologist’srchaeologist’s job entails. Writtenritten in an engag- some importantimportant questions about tthehe commerce ing style, The Ship that Held Up Street provides S and transportationtransportation of an earlier era of American easily accessibleaccessible description and eexplanationxplanation of this h i Held Up Wall Street University of Maine Alumni Association, the award is recognition of outstanding history. important excavation and study. p In January 1982, construction was The ShipShip that Held Up Street ttellsells the whole t h story of the excavation, and sstudytudy of what Warren C. Riess, a research aassociatessociate professor a achievement in the university's mission of teaching, research and public service. t about to begin on Howard Ronson’s came to be called the “Ronson ship ssite,”ite,” named for in the departments of anthropology and the site’s developer Howard Ronson. EntombedEntombed for marine ssciencesciences at the University ofof Maine, was H more than 200 years, the Princess CarolinaCarolina proved principal iinvestigatornvestigator of the Ronson sshiphip site.

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    8 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us