Search

Copyright of International Online Journal of Educational Sciences is the property of International Online Journal of Educational Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Presents a study which documented the changes in nutrient fluxes associated with internal tidal bores arriving on Florida Keys coral reefs. Background of studies on the anthropogenic factors associated with reductions in herbivore populations and the input of dissolved nutrients to reef environments; Methods used; Characteristics of temperature variability across reef sites; Analysis of hydrography and nutrients; Estimates of nitrogen and phosphorus input.

Concern about declining trends in coral reef habitats and reef fish stocks in the Florida Keys contributed to the implementation of a network of no-take marine protected areas in 1997. In support of the efforts of the Dry Tortugas National Park and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to implement additional no-take areas in the Tortugas region in 2001, we expanded the scale of our fisheries independent monitoring program for coral reef fishes in the region. To provide a foundation for the habitat-based, stratified random sampling design of the program, we created a digital benthic habitat map of coral reef and hard-bottom habitats in a geographic information system by synthesizing data from bathymetric surveys, side-scan sonar imagery, aerial photogrammetry, existing habitat maps, and in situ visual surveys. Existing habitat maps prior to 1999 were limited to shallow-water (< 20 m depth) soft-sediment, coral reef, and hard-bottom habitats within Dry Tortugas National Park and did not include deeper areas such as the Tortugas Bank, now partially contained within no-take marine protected area boundaries. From diver observations made during the 1999 survey, we developed a classification scheme based on habitat relief and patchiness to describe nine hard-bottom and coral reef habitats encountered from 1-33 m depth. We provide estimates of area by habitat type for no-take marine protected areas in the Tortugas region. Updated information on the spatial distribution and characteristics of benthic habitats will be used to guide future monitoring, assessment, and management activities in the region. Significant data gaps still exist for the western area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and are a priority for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article critiques the texts in high school U.S. history textbooks based on a review of the treatment of the Great Depression in sixteen recent texts. The reviewed texts failed to incorporate research of economists on the causes of the Great Depression and presented information to students, which has rejected by the economics profession. Moreover, the article suggests several strategies that social studies educators might adopt to improve the quality of economic analysis in textbook, in light the issues surrounding the quality of social studies textbook and the importance of textbooks as the primary teaching tools.

Octocorals, also known as gorgonians and soft corals, were previously managed by the U.S. South Atlantic (SAFMC) and Gulf of Mexico (GMFMC) Fishery Management Councils through a joint Coral Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Because octocorals are mostly collected from Florida waters, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is currently tasked with managing octocoral collection, including the monitoring of colony landings, in the Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) adjacent to Florida. Collection of 70,000 colonies per year total, which applies to both state and EEZ waters off Florida, is permitted under Rule 68B- 42.006 of the Florida Administrative Code, but has never been exceeded according to available landings data. Before octocoral management responsibility was transferred to the State of Florida, the SAFMC was concerned that octocoral landings data, as opposed to population data, were being used to set Acceptable Biological Catch limits and Overfishing limits under the new Federal fishery management standards. An additional concern with the octocoral fishery and other organisms captured for the marine aquarium and ornamental fisheries is that large taxonomic groups are lumped together, including species with potentially different life histories and ecological functions. This study assessed some of the characteristics of the octocoral fishery by evaluating FWC Trip Ticket data, conducting interviews with octocoral collectors, and analyzing octocoral life history information and available fishery-independent data on population densities and sizes. Based on interviews with collectors, a synthesis of trip ticket results, and population abundance estimates, the long-term stability of the octocoral fishery is not likely to change significantly. The social dynamics of the aquarium industry to seek colorful, rare, and exotic marine species for home aquaria places octocorals at the lower end of the list of desired species. Octocoral distribution and abundance information obtained from an extensive search of the literature, along with available age, growth, and habitat data, suggests that current information is comprehensive and definitive, such that stock assessment or population dynamic modeling could be considered but are probably not required to assess the status of collected octocoral species. For multiple sampling periods, over a decadal period (1999-09) in the Florida Keys, where most octocoral collection occurs, abundance estimates presented for 15 species illustrate that population sizes are large (tens of millions to hundreds of millions of colonies, per species) and abundance is stable or increasing. For example, the numbers of colonies collected in the Florida Keys in two of the collector categories represented < 0.004% of the estimated population sizes. The collectors and aquarium hobbyists interviewed stated that they would welcome and use a field guide to help with octocoral identification, which would ultimately provide better fishery-dependent taxonomic resolution for collected species. The collection of octocorals below the State of Florida quota of 70,000 colonies per year threshold, which has yet to be reached according to landings data, likely does not adversely affect the octocoral populations targeted. This conclusion is based upon the large population estimates determined for octocorals relative to the small number of colonies collected. This conclusion assumes that the distribution and population sizes of targeted species will continue to be relatively stable or increase. Information collected by the State of Florida through trip tickets is probably adequate to understand and manage the octocoral fishery. Minor reporting clarifications and better taxonomic resolution in reporting would help improve the accuracy of collecting data, but improved accuracy is not required to assess the current state of the fishery-the octocoral fishery is sustainable and would likely remain sustainable at colony collection levels orders of magnitude larger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem supports multimillion-dollar commercial and recreational fisheries. The ecological effects caused by fishing gear that is lost when cut or broken after snagging on the bottom is a growing concern to managers and scientists. Few data exist, however, to assess the impacts of lost fishing gear to benthic organisms and habitat structure. In this study, 63 offshore coral reef and hard-bottom sites were surveyed during 2001 to quantify the impacts of lost fishing gear to coral reef sessile invertebrates. Lost hook-and-line fishing gear accounted for 87% of all debris (N=298 incidences) encountered and was responsible for 84% of the 321 documented impacts to sponges and benthic cnidarians, predominantly consisting of tissue abrasion causing partial individual or colony mortality. Branching gorgonians (Octocorallia) were the most frequently affected (56%), followed by milleporid hydrocorals (19%) and sponges (13%). Factors affecting the impacts of lost fishing gear include sessile invertebrate density, the density of lost fishing gear, and gear length. While lost hook-and-line fishing gear is ubiquitous in the Florida Keys, less than 0.2% of the available milleporid hydrocorals, stony corals, and gorgonians in the habitats studied are adversely affected in terms of colony abrasions and partial mortality. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]