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Strand-feeding is a unique foraging technique used by Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)) in salt marshes of the southeastern USA wherein a group of dolphins rushes a creek bank, temporarily stranding themselves to capture fish that have been pushed ashore by their bow wave. Wading birds are attracted to these events to forage on stranded fish. We hypothesized that birds foraging in association with dolphins experience greater foraging efficiency than birds foraging away from dolphins and that some birds are able to meet their entire daily metabolic needs by foraging at strand-feeding events. The species composition, abundance, and foraging success of birds at 569 strand- feeding events were compared with the same parameters from marsh surveys of birds not associated with dolphins. Only Great Egrets (Ardea alba L., 1758) were proportionately more common at strand-feeding events than in the marsh overall (p < 0.001). During peak strand-feeding hours, energy intake per hour was higher for Great Egrets foraging with strand- feeding dolphins than for birds foraging away from dolphins (p = 0.04). Bioenergetic models indicated that prey intake by Great Egrets at strand-feeding events was sufficient to meet their existence and likely their active metabolic requirements. Key words: strand-feeding, bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, Great Egret, Ardea alba, Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, foraging, energetics, commensalism. La chasse par echouage est une technique d'alimentation particuliere aux grands dauphins (Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)) dans les marais sales du sud-est des Etats-Unis, selon laquelle un groupe de dauphins se rue vers les berges d'une crique pour s'y echouer provisoirement afin d'y capturer les poissons pousses vers la rive par leur vague d'avant. Les echassiers sont attires vers les lieux de telles activites pour s'y nourrir de poissons echoues. Nous avons postule que la quete de nourriture des oiseaux qui se nourrissent en association avec les dauphins est plus efficace que celle d'oiseaux qui se nourrissent a distance des dauphins et que certains oiseaux peuvent satisfaire tous leurs besoins metaboliques quotidiens en se nourrissant dans des sites de chasse par echouage. La composition specifique, l' abondance d'oiseaux et le succes de la quete de nourriture d'oiseaux dans 569 sites de chasse par echouage ont ete compares a ces memes parametres obtenus de releves d'oiseaux de marais non associes a des dauphins. Seules les grandes aigrettes (Ardea alba L., 1758) se sont averees proportionnellement plus abondantes dans les sites de chasse par echouage que dans les marais en general (p < 0,001). Durant les heures de pointe de chasse par echouage, l'apport energetique horaire etait plus eleve pour les grandes aigrettes se nourrissant dans des sites de chasse par echouage que pour les oiseaux se nourrissant a distance des dauphins (p = 0,04). Des modeles bioenergetiques indiquent que la consommation de proies par les grandes aigrettes aux sites de chasse par echouage est suffisante pour assurer leur subsistance et, vraisemblablement, maintenir un metabolisme actif. Mots-cles : chasse par echouage, grand dauphin, Tursiops truncatus, grande aigrette, Ardea alba, grand heron, Ardea herodias, quete de nourriture, energetique, commensalisme. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)) in mesotidal salt marshes of South Carolina and Georgia, USA, employ a unique foraging tactic called strand-feeding, in which a coordinated group [...]

American Soil Inc (ASI) was given permission on Apr 1991 by the New Jersey Dept of Environmental Protection and Energy (NJDEPE) to conduct a six-month pilot project which involved the full participation of commercial waste generators such as supermarkets and a food processor. The ASI project was geared toward the successful composting of source separated food and paper from supermarkets to help the state reach its recycling goal of 60%. With this effort, the state's waste management problems have been abated and both economic and environmental concerns were jointly addressed.

Conservation biologists outline the damage to global biodiversity that climate change will wreak. As a contribution towards the emergence of postpetroleum agriculture, some of the strategies and technologies that are experimented are presented.

Under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, common bottlenose dolphins along the United States Atlantic coast are managed as a series of 17 distinct stocks. To determine the status of each stock, the Potential Biological Removal (PBR) is compared with anthropogenic removals, primarily as a result of fisheries bycatch. Estimates of abundance, with associated measures of variance, are required to generate the PBR for each stock. The objectives of the current study were to estimate abundance for the Southern North Carolina Estuarine System Stock (SNCESS) of common bottlenose dolphins and to better define the southern boundary of this stock. To meet these objectives, photo-identification surveys were conducted during the summer and winter of 2014 in estuarine and nearshore coastal waters in southern North Carolina. The surveys extended 25km South of the defined southern stock boundary, along the northern South Carolina coast. One mark and one recapture survey were conducted for each season. Each survey was completed in four or five days and covered over 300km of survey tracklines. Dorsal fin images were processed and managed using FinBase, and only images of suitable quality and distinctiveness were used for estimates of abundance. A three-step decision tree was used to assign each dolphin group to either the SNCESS or an adjacent coastal stock, based on sighting location, ranging patterns derived from matches to photo-identification catalogues and statistical modelling. Only sightings classified as SNCESS were used to estimate stock abundance. Abundance estimates were calculated using three approaches: the Chapman modification to the Lincoln-Petersen method, package Rcapture in program R and program MARK 6.2. The most parsimonious approach was the Chapman LP method yielding an estimate of 272 dolphins (95% CI 189--390, CV = 0.32) in the summer of 2014. The distribution of SNCESS dolphins shifted South in the winter and several individuals were observed up to 70km southwest of the currently recognised southern boundary. The results of this study support the current definition of the SNCESS but suggest revisions to the southern boundary. The SNCESS is the smallest bottlenose dolphin stock off the East coast of the USA and is at risk of population decline as a result of fisheries-related mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and policy makers have proposed "smart cities" as one approach to an evolutionary transformation in urban infrastructure and management, focusing on optimizing planning and coordination through information technology systems and real-time data. How does the smart city approach compare with a potentially competing approach-ecological wisdom (EW), which is defined as a property of good design requiring minimal ecological and social intervention? Do the two approaches offer potential for productive synthesis for planning practice? We analyze academic, corporate, public intellectual, and public policy sources to present a comparative review of smart cities with "wise cities," based on an EW framework. Through our analysis, we derive basic definitions of these two planning approaches, outline the general goals and objectives of each, and develop an overall multi-tiered framework of analysis for both approaches. We conclude by proposing potential areas of synthesis, applications for planning practice, and areas of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Oregon’s attempts to transcend the boom/bust cycles of its historically natural resource–based economy to establish a more diversified, resilient economy based upon advanced manufacturing and sustainable technology and practices. Drawing upon Fredrick Turner’s and Harold Innis’s theses of North American development, I explore Oregon’s economic dynamics through state and federal data and Oregon’s recent economic initiatives. Results reflect an Oregon still reliant upon natural resource and industrial commodities, leaving it highly vulnerable to global markets. Efforts toward “greening” the state’s economy, although embryonic, show signs of setting Oregon on a more independent, self-reliant economic trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]