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Data gathered by citizen scientists can help ecologists understand long-term trends and can improve the quality and quantity of data about a resource. In Maine and Massachusetts, numerous citizen science programs collect data on river herring, anadromous fish that migrate each spring from the ocean to spawn in rivers and lakes. In collaboration with state and local resource managers and academic institutions, these programs aim to protect and restore river herring, improve local watersheds, and in some cases, support commercial harvesting. To better understand how programs are run and how data are used by managers, we interviewed program coordinators and resource managers. Interviews revealed that resource managers consider citizen science–generated river herring data in decision making, but that their concerns about data quality affect if and how data are used. Although not without challenges, standardizing monitoring approaches could improve data collection and use. We offer six considerations related to standardization for managers.more » « less
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Abstract Paleobiological and paleoecological interpretations rely on constraining the temporal resolution of the fossil record. The taphonomic clock, that is, a correlation between the alteration of skeletal material and its age, is an approach for quantifying time-averaging scales. We test the taphonomic clock hypothesis for marine demersal and pelagic fish otoliths from a 10–40 m depth transect on the Mediterranean siliciclastic Israeli shelf by radiocarbon dating and taphonomic scoring. Otolith ages span the last ~8000 yr, with considerable variation in median and range along the transect. Severely altered otoliths, contrary to pristine otoliths, are likely to be older than 1000 yr. For pelagic fish otoliths, at 30 m depth, taphonomic degradation correlates positively with postmortem age. In contrast, no correlation occurs for demersal fishes at 10 and 30 m depth, mostly because of the paucity of very young pristine (<150 yr) otoliths, possibly due to a drop in production over the last few centuries. Contrary to molluscan and brachiopod shells, young otoliths at these depths are little affected and do not show a broad spectrum of taphonomic damage, because those that derive from predation are excreted in calcium- and phosphate-rich feces forming an insoluble crystallic matrix that increases their preservation potential. At 40 m depth, all dated otoliths are very young but rather damaged because of locally chemically aggressive sediments, thus showing no correlation between taphonomic grade and postmortem age. Our results show that local conditions and the target species population dynamics must be considered when testing the taphonomic clock hypothesis.more » « less
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Most of us have heard birds sing during the spring breeding season. Did you know that some fish also sing to attract mates? We study plainfin midshipman fish, a fascinating fish that makes its home along the Pacific Coast of North America. The big male fish sing during the summer months and their sound-producing muscles get bigger in the summer, probably to make them sound more attractive to females. Female midshipman fish go through seasonal changes, too. In the summer their hearing improves, which helps them pick the right male to mate with. We study hearing in female plainfin midshipman, measuring how their ears respond to sound and how the number of hearing cells in their ears changes between winter and summer. We want to know how seasonal changes in hormones affect hearing in this “songbird of the sea”.
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0034499
