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Climatic changes during the late Quaternary have resulted in substantial, often abrupt, rearrangements of terrestrial ecosystems, but the relationship between these environmental changes and prehistoric human culture and population size remains unclear. Using a database of archaeological radiocarbon dates alongside a network of paleoecological records (sedimentary pollen and charcoal) and paleoclimatic reconstructions, we show that periods of cultural and demographic change in the northeastern United States occurred at the same times as the major environmental-climatic transitions of that region. At 11.6, 8.2, 5.4, and 3.0 kyr BP ([10.sup.3] calendar years before present), changes in forest composition altered the distribution, availability, and predictability of food resources which triggered technological adjustments manifested in the archaeological record. Human population level has varied in response to these external changes in ecosystems, but the adoption of maize agriculture during the late Holocene also resulted in a substantial population increase. This study demonstrates the long-term interconnectedness of prehistoric human cultures and the ecosystems they inhabited, and provides a consolidated environmental-cultural framework from which more interdisciplinary research and discussion can develop. Moreover, it emphasizes the complex nature of human responses to environmental change in a temperate region. climate change | data synthesis | paleoecology | prehistoric cultures doi/ 10.1073/pnas.1005764107

A new study examines the potential for wolf recovery in the northeastern US and determines whether it could be achieved naturally via dispersal from southeast Canada or through managed reintroduction. Biological factors considered include dispersal habitat, habitat conditions and distance to source populations. It is shown that recovery is a possibility, although there are serious limitations, including negative human attitudes towards predators.

A new study analyses the extent and connectivity of potential habitat for wolves in eastern North America. The study includes an evaluation of whether certain contiguous areas in the northeastern US are suitable for a recovery plan for eastern timber wolves. It is suggested that before recovery strategies can be enacted, significant public education in the projects is required.

This study examines the relationship between mesoscale meteorological conditions and high-ozone days in the northeastern United States. It is proposed that the leeside trough and the sea-breeze front are two mesoscale features that can be important on these high-ozone days. The 19 June and 4 July 1995 case studies are presented to illustrate the role of each feature, respectively. The 19 June case revealed that the leeside trough initially formed to the lee of the high terrain from southeast Pennsylvania to the Maine coast but shifted southeastward during the course of the day. As the trough advanced toward the coast, the surface winds ahead of the trough remained southwesterly, paralleling the source regions of the major metropolitan areas. It appears that the surface flow near the trough acted to elevate and concentrate ozone and its precursors in a narrow band along and just south of the trough, with much lower values north and west of the trough, where cleaner trajectories were encountered. In the 4 July case, the sea-breeze front initially formed parallel to the Atlantic coast and advanced northward through southeast New York and southern New England as the larger-scale flow became more southerly. High ozone concentrations developed in a narrow, east-west band along, and just south of, the northward-moving boundary. The combination of the boundary's initial location near a major source region, confluent airflow along the front, and a capping inversion on the front's cool side is presented as the likely cause for the observed pattern of high ozone. The high ozone values occurred despite relatively low peak values up and down the coast the previous day.

Numerous roof collapses throughout the Middle Atlantic and New England States followed the occurrence of two winter storms during the period of Jan. 6-15, 1996. Cumulative horizontal ground-measured snow loads for these two storms are derived by analyzing dally liquid-equivalent precipitation measurements and preexisting snow depth observations at approximately 300 stations. The resulting values are compared to published 50-year recurrence interval snow loads that define the minimum design criteria for roof structures. In general, snow loads were found to exceed the 50-year recurrence interval value along a band encompassing the Boston to Washington corridor. Snow loads in excess of the 100-year recurrence interval value were estimated near Baltimore, Md; in central New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania; over the Lower Hudson Valley and extreme eastern Long Island in New York; and south of Boston, Mass. Snow loads in southern New Jersey, central Massachusetts, and most of Rhode Island did not to exceed the 50-year return period amount.

The use of northeastern US wetlands by river otters (Lutra canadensis) was studied to determine the effects of wetland dynamics on river otter populations. Wetland types and seasonal variation in wetland use was characterized, using river otter latrine revisitation rates as an index of total habitat use. Results showed that river otter wetland habitats are those created by beavers and humans by impoundment, as well as lotic or unimpounded wetlands. Techniques for identifying river otter habitats are presented.

In the northeast region of the United States the Ophioglossaceae are represented by 12 species of Botrychium and 3 species of Ophioglossum. Botrychium includes 6 species of moonworts (subgenus Botrychium), 5 species of grapeferns (Sceptridium), and rattlesnake fern (Osmundopteris). No species is federally listed as threatened or endangered. Five species of Botrychium and all 3 species of Ophioglossum are listed as endangered, threatened or vulnerable in one or more states. All of these represent species at or near their geographic range limits. Some are probably more common than recognized because of their small size and the disappearance of the single leaf produced in a year due to herbivory.

This study, part of a broader investigation of the history of exploitation of right whales, Balaena glacialis, in the western North Atlantic, emphasizes U.S. shore whaling from Maine to Delaware (from lat. 45 ° N to 38 ° 30'N) in the period 1620-1924. Our broader study of the entire catch history is intended to provide an empirical basis for assessing past distribution and abundance of this whale population. Shore whaling may have begun at Cape Cod, Mass., in the 1620's or 1630's; it was certainly underway there by 1668. Right whale catches in New England waters peaked before 1725, and shore whaling at Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket continued to decline through the rest of the 18th century. Right whales continued to be taken opportunistically in Massachusetts, however, until the early 20th century. They were hunted in Narragansett Bay, R.I., as early as 1662, and desultory whaling continued in Rhode Island until at least 1828. Shore whaling in Connecticut may have begun in the middle 1600's, continuing there until at least 1718. Long Island shore whaling spanned the period 1650-1924. From its Dutch origins in the 1630's, a persistent shore whaling enterprise developed in Delaware Bay and along the New Jersey shore. Although this activity was most profitable in New Jersey in the early 1700's, it continued there until at least the 1820's. Whaling in all areas of the northeastern United States was seasonal with most catches in the winter and spring. Historically, right whales appear to have been essentially absent from coastal waters south of Maine during the summer and autumn. Based on documented references to specific whale kills, about 750-950 right whales were taken between Maine and Delaware, from 1620 to 1924. Using production statistics in British customs records, the estimated total secured catch of right whales in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania between 1696 and 1734 was 3,839 whales based on oil and 2,049 based on baleen. After adjusting these totals for hunting loss (loss-rate correction factor = 1.2), we estimate that 4,607 (oil) or 2,459 (baleen) right whales were removed from the stock in this region during the 38-year period 1696-1734. A cumulative catch estimate of the stock's size in 1724 is 1,100-1,200. Although recent evidence of occurrence and movements suggests that right whales continue to use their traditional migratory corridor along the U.S. east coast, the catch history indicates that this stock was much larger in the 1600's and early 1700's than it is today. Right whale hunting in the eastern United States ended by the early 1900's, and the species has been protected throughout the North Atlantic since the mid 1930's. Among the possible reasons for the relatively slow stock recovery are: the very small number of whales that survived the whaling era to become founders, a decline in environmental carrying capacity, and, especially in recent decades, mortality from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear., Introduction This study of shore whaling for right whales, Balaena glacialis(1) (Fig. 1), along the U.S. east coast is part of a broad review of the history of right whaling [...]

An overview is presented on the continuing drought in the northeastern United States, with some states reporting their driest months on record. The drought is attributed to below-normal snowfall, which will create water debts in the region's reservoirs. Although drought conditions are worse in the West, their impact is worse in the East due to inadequate infrastructure to maximize water resources.