ALBERT

Description: The overall purpose of this project was to collect available information on the characteristics of essential fish habitats in protected and non-protected marine areas around the islands of Puerto Rico. Specifically, this project compiled historical information on benthic habitats and the status of marine resources into a Geographic Information System (GIS) by digitizing paper copies of existing marine geologic maps that were developed for the Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) for areas around the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In addition, information on benthic habitat types, Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) requirements, and fishing and non-fishing impacts to marine resources were compiled for two priority areas: La Parguera and Vieques. The information obtained will help to characterize and select habitats for future monitoring of impacts of fishing and non-fishing activities and to develop management recommendations for conservation of important marine habitats. The project focused specifically on areas identified as priorities for conservation by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) and the Local Action Strategy Overfishing Group.

Description: Coral reef ecosystems of the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, Virgin Islands National Park and the surrounding waters of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands are a precious natural resource worthy of special protection and conservation. The mosaic of habitats including coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves, are home to a diversity of marine organisms. These benthic habitats and their associated inhabitants provide many important ecosystem services to the community of St. John, such as fishing, tourism and shoreline protection. However, coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S. Caribbean are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors that threaten to destroy the natural heritage of these marine habitats.Mapping of benthic habitats is an integral component of any effective ecosystem-based management approach. Through the implementation of a multi-year interagency agreement, NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment - Biogeography Branch and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) have completed benthic habitat mapping, field validation and accuracy assessment of maps for the nearshore marine environment of St. John. This work is an expansion of ongoing mapping and monitoring efforts conducted by NOAA and NPS in the U.S. Caribbean and replaces previous NOAA maps generated by Kendall et al. (2001) for the waters around St. John. The use of standardized protocols enables the condition of the coral reef ecosystems around St. John to be evaluated in context to the rest of the Virgin Island Territories and other U.S. coral ecosystems. The products from this effort provide an accurate assessment of the abundance and distribution of marine habitats surrounding St. John to support more effective management and conservation of ocean resources within the National Park system.This report documents the entire process of benthic habitat mapping in St. John. Chapter 1 provides a description of the benthic habitat classification scheme used to categorize the different habitats existing in the nearshore environment. Chapter 2 describes the steps required to create a benthic habitat map from visual interpretation of remotely sensed imagery. Chapter 3 details the process of accuracy assessment and reports on the thematic accuracy of the final maps. Finally, Chapter 4 is a summary of the basic map content and compares the new maps to a previous NOAA effort.Benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of remotely sensed imagery. Overhead imagery, including color orthophotography and IKONOS satellite imagery, proved to be an excellent source from which to visually interpret the location, extent and attributes of marine habitats. NOAA scientists were able to accurately and reliably delineate the boundaries of features on digital imagery using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and fi eld investigations.The St. John habitat classification scheme defined benthic communities on the basis of four primary coral reef ecosystem attributes: 1) broad geographic zone, 2) geomorphological structure type, 3) dominant biological cover, and 4) degree of live coral cover. Every feature in the benthic habitat map was assigned a designation at each level of the scheme. The ability to apply any component of this scheme was dependent on being able to identify and delineate a given feature in remotely sensed imagery.

Description: Project report produced by NOAA’s Biogeography Branch in cooperation with U.S. National Park Service.

Description: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s (CCMA) Biogeography Branch and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) have completed mapping the moderate-depth marine environment south of St. John. This work is an expansion of ongoing mapping and monitoring efforts conducted by NOAA and NPS in the U.S. Caribbean. The standardized protocols used in this effort will enable scientists and managers to quantitatively compare moderate-depth coral reef ecosystems around St. John to those throughout the U.S. Territories. These protocols and products will also help support the effective management and conservation of the marine resources within the National Park system.

Description: Mit Koneprusia dongesi n. sp. wird eine neue Trilobitenart aus dem tiefen Rupbach- Schiefer der Fundlokalität „Heckelmann-Mühle“ beschrieben. Mit ihrer charakteristischen siebenzähligen Bedornung der thorakalen Axis unterscheidet sich die neue Art von allen bisher bekannten Arten ihrer Gattung.

Description: Abstract: With Koneprusia dongesi n. sp. a new trilobite species from the lower Rupbach Shales of the „Heckelmann-Mühle“ fossil site is described. The new species differs from all known representatives of its genus by a characteristic pattern of only seven solitary spines on the axis of its thorax.

Description: research

Description: Im Zusammenhang mit paläobiogeografischen Ermittlungen können Trilobiten wichtige Hinweise liefern. Voraussetzung für ihre Eignung ist eine nachvollziehbare Taxonomie auf der Basis von umfangreichem Material. Für den Scutelluidae Paralejurus aus dem rechtsrheinischen Schiefergebirge suggerieren zahlreiche Taxonomien der älteren Literatur enge Beziehungen zum Pragbecken (Tschechien). Eine Neubewertung entsprechender Zitate zeigt, es gibt dazu Alternativen. Auch, weil Paralejurus inzwischen aus Marokko gut dokumentiert ist, was die Situation komplexer macht. Die Neubewertung impliziert, dass aus dem Gros der gegenwärtigen rechtsrheinischen Arten erhaltungsbedingt überhaupt keine sicheren paläobiogeografischen Schlüsse gezogen werden können. Im Harz und besonders im Saxothuringikum ist die Situation noch unbefriedigender. Paralejurus rupbachensis n. sp. aus dem Ober-Emsium der Lahnmulde ist die erste Art der Gattung in Deutschland, die auf umfangreiches Material gegründet ist. Mit Paralejurus sp. L aus demselben Gebiet ist ein bestimmter Morphotyp der Gattung erstmals für Deutschland nachgewiesen. Paralejurus schalkeae n. sp. repräsentiert eine zweite Morphologie neben Paralejurus intumescens im Eifelium des Oberharzes. Dieser Beitrag setzt die 2016 durch die Autoren begonnene Revision von Trilobitentaxa aus dem Unter- und Mitteldevon des Lahn-Dill-Gebiets fort.

Description: Abstract: Trilobites can provide important data for investigations on palaeobiogeographical matters, given that numerous finds are present guaranteeing acceptable taxonomy. For many Paralejurus from the eastern Rhenish Massif the species concept in the elder literature may signal close connections between the latter and the Prague Basin (Czech Republic). However, a revision of related quotations and the increasing knowledge in the Lower Devonian of Morocco with similar species show that the situation is much more complex. This revision demonstrates that the majority of the species from the eastern Rhenish Massif is too badly preserved to serve as safe palaeobiogeographical indicator. In the Harz Mountains and especially in the Saxothuringian Zone, the situation is much more difficult. Paralejurus rupbachensis n. sp. from the Upper Emsian of the Lahn Syncline is the first Paralejurus from Germany based on a fairly large number of specimens. Paralejurus sp. L from the same area represents morphological features of Paralejurus hitherto unknown in Germany. Paralejurus schalkeae n. sp. stands for a second paralejurine morphology beside Paralejurus intumescens in the early Eifelian of the Upper Harz Mountains. This contribution continues the revision of trilobites from the Lower and Middle Devonian of the Lahn-Dill area initiated by the authors in the year 2016.

Description: 1. Einleitung 2. Allgemeiner Teil 3. Systematischer Teil Gattung Paralejurus HAWLE & CORDA, 1847 Taxonomisch-nomenklatorische Neubewertung von Taxa der Artgruppe von Paralejurus aus deutschen Vorkommen Beschreibung neuer Arten von Paralejurus aus der Lahnmulde und dem Oberharz als Folge der Neubewertungen und nach neuen Funden 4. Zusammenfassung und Diskussion Danksagung Schriften Appendix: Datenblätter für das Untersuchungsmaterial

Description: research

Description: Bei der Klärung regionaltektonischer Fragen, hier (par)autochthone versus allochthone Gesteinskörper im deutschen Variszikum, liefern Trilobiten wichtige Hinweise auf ursprüngliche Zusammenhänge. Vorausgesetzt, ihre Systematik ist revidiert. Tafilaltaspis ahrensi n. sp. aus dem autochthonen Leun-Kalk der mittleren Lahnmulde trägt potenziell zur Erfassung der Beziehungen zur Typuslokalität des synchronen, parautochthonen Ballersbach-Kalks („exotic limestone“) in der Bicken-Ense/Wildestein-Faltungszone des Dillgebiets bei. Ihr Holotypus ist bisher der einzige veröffentlichte Panzer der Gattung außerhalb Marokkos. „Kettneraspis pigra“ aus dem parautochthonen Greifenstein- Kalk („exotic limestone“) der Hörre-Decke und dem autochthonen Rupbach- Schiefer der südwestlichen Lahnmulde interpretieren wir als Kettneraspis knoppi n. sp. bzw. Kettneraspis ralphi n. sp. Dagegen scheint Kettneraspis aff. pigra aus dem „exotic limestone“ Günterod-Kalk des Dillgebiets und des Kellerwalds näher verwandt. So entfallen drei Nachweise von K. pigra (Typuslokalität: Pragmulde) im Rheinischen Schiefergebirge. Kettneraspis knoppi dürfte auch im autochthonen Leun-Schiefer der mittleren Lahnmulde auftreten.

Description: Abstract: If well investigated, trilobites can serve as powerful tool to discriminate (par) autochthonus and allochthonous rock units in complex regional tectonic settings as outcropping, e.g., in the German Variscides east of the river Rhine. Tafilaltaspis ahrensi n. sp. comes from the autochthonus Leun Limestone of the middle Lahn Syncline. It contributes potentially to questions dealing with the relations between this limestone and the parautochthonus Ballersbach Limestone, a so-called “exotic limestone”, at its type locality in the Bicken-Ense/Wildestein imbrication zone of the Dill area. The holotype of the new species is the first (almost) complete carapace recorded from outside Morocco. Both the parautochthonous Greifenstein Limestone (another “exotic limestone”) of the Hörre nappe and the autochthonous Rupbach Shale of the southwestern Lahn Syncline have yielded odontopleurines hitherto named Kettneraspis pigra (the type locality of which lies in the Prague basin). We identify related recent finds providing new details as Kettneraspis knoppi n. sp. and Kettneraspis ralphi n. sp., respectively. A taxon seemingly closer related to K. pigra, K. sp. aff. K. pigra, occurs in the parautochthonous “exotic limestone” Günterod Limestone of the Bicken-Ense/Wildestein imbrication zone of the Dill area and the Kellerwald area. Thus the number of notifications of K. pigra in the Rhenish Massif is massively diminished. Kettneraspis knoppi may occur also in the autochthonous Leun Shale of the middle Lahn Syncline.

Description: 1. Einführung 2. Allgemeiner Teil Charakterisierung der untersuchten Lokalitäten (dazu Abb. 1B–D) 2.1 Dillgebiet 2.1.1 Bicken-Ense/Wildestein-Schuppenzone (rhenoherzynische Decke) 2.1.2 Hörre-Decke (allochthon) 2.2 Lahnmulde (rhenoherzynische Decke) 2.2.1 Äquivalent des Ballersbach-Kalks [= Leun-Kalk] im Leun-Schiefer (spätes Ober- Emsium bis frühes Eifelium) von Leun I in der mittleren Lahnmulde – autochthon 2.2.2 Steinbruch bei Gutenacker, Rupbach-Schiefer (Anteil des frühen Eifeliums) der südwestlichen Lahnmulde – autochthon 3. Systematischer Teil 3.1 Ordnung Proetida 3.2 Ordnung Odontopleurida 4. Zusammenfassung und Diskussion Danksagung Schriften Appendix: Datenblätter für das Untersuchungsmaterial

Description: research