MARINE RESERVES WITH ENDOGENOUS PORTS: EMPIRICAL BIOECONOMICS OF THE CALIFORNIA SEA URCHIN FISHERY

Marine reserves are gaining substantial public support as tools for commercial fisheries management Harvest sector responses will influence policy performance, yet biological studies often depict harvester behavior as spread uniformly over fishing grounds and unresponsive to economic opportunities. Previous bioeconomic analyses show that these behavioral assumptions are inconsistent with empirical data and, more importantly, lead to overly optimistic predictions about harvest gains from reserves. This paper adds another layer of behavioral realism to the bioeconomics of marine reserves by endogenizing fisher home port choices with a partial adjustment share model. Estimated with Seemingly Unrelated Regression over monthly data, this approach allows simulation of both short- and long-run behavioral response to changes induced by marine reserve formation. The findings cast further doubt on the notion that marine reserves generate long-run harvest benefits.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

TROPHIC PORTFOLIOS IN MARINE FISHERIES: A STEP TOWARDS ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Marine ecologists warn that humans are "fishing down marine food webs." To explore the economic implications of this phenomenon, this paper applies portfolio theory to aggregate fisheries data. It poses two definitions of a sustainable mean-variance catch frontier. It computes a mean-variance frontier for catch using UNFAO historical fisheries data. Finally, the paper discusses the historical trend in inefficiency.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

ANALYSIS OF A SPATIAL ROTATION PLAN FOR THE TULE LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

This paper examines the joint agro-wildfowl regulation of the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge in California. The area is jointly managed by the Bureau of Reclamation for both farming and wildfowl benefits. Production in both sectors has been declining recently, in farming due to nematode and soil pathogen buildup and in wildfowl production due to climax vegetation choking the lake. A novel spatial rotation plan has surfaced to solve both problems. We develop a simple model of the rotation option to identify critical variables and then we estimate some of these using data on lease bids.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

An Approach to Ecosystem-Based Fishery Management

Marine scientists and policymakers are encouraging ecosystem-based fishery management (EBFM), but there is limited guidance on how to operationalize the concept. We adapt financial portfolio theory as a method for EBFM that accounts for species interdependencies, uncertainty, and sustainability constraints. Illustrating our method with routinely collected data available from the Chesapeake Bay, we demonstrate the gains from taking into account species variances and covariances in setting species total allowable catches. We find over the period from 1962–2003 that managers could have increased the revenues from fishing and reduced the variance by employing ecosystem frontiers in setting catch levels.ecosystem-based fishery management, portfolio, trophic modeling, precaution

Is the Cepheus E Outflow driven by a Class 0 Protostar?

New early release observations of the Cepheus E outflow and its embedded source, obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, are presented. We show the driving source is detected in all 4 IRAC bands, which suggests that traditional Class 0 classification, although essentially correct, needs to accommodate the new high sensitivity infrared arrays and their ability to detected deeply embedded sources. The IRAC, MIPS 24 and 70 microns new photometric points are consistent with a spectral energy distribution dominated by a cold, dense envelope surrounding the protostar. The Cep E outflow, unlike its more famous cousin the HH 46/47 outflow, displays a very similar morphology in the near and mid-infrared wavelengths, and is detected at 24 microns. The interface between the dense molecular gas (where Cep E lies) and less dense interstellar medium, is well traced by the emission at 8 and 24 microns, and is one of the most exotic features of the new IRAC and MIPS images. IRS observations of the North lobe of the flow confirm that most of the emission is due to the excitation of pure H2 rotational transitions arising from a relatively cold (Tex~700 K) and dense (N{H}~9.6E20 cm-2 molecular gas.Comment: 14 pages (pre-print format), including 6 figures. Published in ApJ Special Spitzer Issue (2004

Evaluating spatial normalization methods for the human brain

Cortical stimulation mapping (CSM) studies have shown cortical locations for language function are highly variable from one subject to the next. If individual variation can be normalized, patterns of language organization may emerge that were heretofore hidden. In order to uncover this pattern, computer-aided spatial normalization to a common atlas is required. Our problem was how to determine which spatial normalization method was best for the given research application. We developed key metrics to measure accuracy of a surface-based (Caret) and volume-based (SPM2) method. We specified that the optimal method would i) minimize variation as measured by spread reduction between CSM language sites across subjects while also ii) preserving anatomical localization of all CSM sites. Eleven subject’s structural MR data and corresponding CSM site coordinates were registered to the colin27 human brain atlas using each method. Local analysis showed that mapping error rates for both methods were highest in morphological regions with the greatest difference between source and target. Also, SPM2 mapped significantly less type 2 errors. Although our experiment did not show statistically significant global differences between the methods, our methodology provided valuable insights into the pros and cons of each

The Extreme Hosts of Extreme Supernovae

We use GALEX ultraviolet (UV) and optical integrated photometry of the hosts of seventeen luminous supernovae (LSNe, having peak M_V < -21) and compare them to a sample of 26,000 galaxies from a cross-match between the SDSS DR4 spectral catalog and GALEX interim release 1.1. We place the LSNe hosts on the galaxy NUV-r versus M_r color magnitude diagram (CMD) with the larger sample to illustrate how extreme they are. The LSN hosts appear to favor low-density regions of the galaxy CMD falling on the blue edge of the blue cloud toward the low luminosity end. From the UV-optical photometry, we estimate the star formation history of the LSN hosts. The hosts have moderately low star formation rates (SFRs) and low stellar masses (M_*) resulting in high specific star formation rates (sSFR). Compared with the larger sample, the LSN hosts occupy low-density regions of a diagram plotting sSFR versus M_* in the area having higher sSFR and lower M_*. This preference for low M_*, high sSFR hosts implies the LSNe are produced by an effect having to do with their local environment. The correlation of mass with metallicity suggests that perhaps wind-driven mass loss is the factor that prevents LSNe from arising in higher-mass, higher-metallicity hosts. The massive progenitors of the LSNe (>100 M_sun), by appearing in low-SFR hosts, are potential tests for theories of the initial mass function that limit the maximum mass of a star based on the SFR.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted to ApJ, amended references and updated SN designation

A complete view of galaxy evolution: panchromatic luminosity functions and the generation of metals

When and how did galaxies form and their metals accumulate? Over the last decade, this has moved from an archeological question to a live investigation: there is now a broad picture of the evolution of galaxies in dark matter halos: their masses, stars, metals and supermassive blackholes. Galaxies have been found and studied in which these formation processes are taking place most vigorously, all the way back in cosmic time to when the intergalactic medium (IGM) was still largely neutral. However, the details of how and why the interstellar medium (ISM) in distant galaxies cools, is processed, recycled and enriched in metals by stars, and fuels active galactic nuclei (AGNs) remain uncertain. In particular, the cooling of gas to fuel star formation, and the chemistry and physics of the most intensely active regions is hidden from view at optical wavelengths, but can be seen and diagnosed at mid- & far-infrared (IR) wavelengths. Rest-frame IR observations are important first to identify the most luminous, interesting and important galaxies, secondly to quantify accurately their total luminosity, and finally to use spectroscopy to trace the conditions in the molecular and atomic gas out of which stars form. In order to map out these processes over the full range of environments and large-scale structures found in the universe - from the densest clusters of galaxies to the emptiest voids - we require tools for deep, large area surveys, of millions of galaxies out to z~5, and for detailed follow-up spectroscopy. The necessary tools can be realized technically. Here, we outline the requirements for gathering the crucial information to build, validate and challenge models of galaxy evolution.Comment: A whitepaper submitted on 15th February 2009 in response to the call from the Astro2010 panel: astro2010.org; uploaded as an 8-page pdf fil