ALBERT

Description: Immobilization and anaesthesia of adult male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) is potentially risky for animals and scientists. A tiletamine/zolazepam injection is considered the most appropriate drug combination for field application in this species. Since appropriate dosages are difficult to assess due to uncertainties in weight estimation, we used photogrammetry-derived weight estimates to ensure precise post hoc calculations of dosages. We report on 15 intramuscular tiletamine/zolazepam immobilizations of post-moult males of the upper weight class at King George Island/Isla 25 de Mayo, in April 2010. Initial injections were made using blowpipe syringes. Mean tiletamine/zolazepam combined dosages of 0.71 mg/kg (SD ± 0.16) ranged between 0.46 and 1.01 mg/kg. In four cases, ketamine was added in dosages between 0.96 and 2.61 mg/kg. Mean induction period was 23 min (± 15), and the mean duration of the procedures from first injection to release of the animals required 96 min (± 51). Four seals exhibited periods of apnoea, and one case of an extended, repetitive, and potentially critical apnoea (〉 25 and 8 min) required intervention in order to successfully re-initiate spontaneous respiration. All procedures resulted in proper immobilizations allowing for the deployment of the satellite tags on the seals' heads. The fact that even substantial deviations between the initial weight estimates and the photogrammetry-derived weight estimates had no apparent effect on the course of the immobilization underlines the drugs' wide safety margin in this species.

Description: Understanding the distribution and foraging ecology of major consumers within pelagic systems, specifically in relation to physical parameters, can be important for the management of bentho-pelagic systems undergoing rapid change associated with global climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances such as fishing (i.e., the Antarctic Peninsula and Scotia Sea). We tracked 11 adult male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), during their five-month post-moult foraging migrations from King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), northern Antarctic Peninsula, using tags capable of recording and transmitting behavioural data and in situ temperature and salinity data. Seals foraged mostly within the Weddell-Scotia Confluence, while a few foraged along the western Antarctic Peninsula shelf of the Bellingshausen Sea. Mixed model outputs suggest that the at-sea behaviour of seals was associated with a number of environmental parameters, especially seafloor depth, sea-ice concentrations and the temperature structure of the water column. Seals increased dive bottom times and travelled at slower speeds in shallower areas and areas with increased sea-ice concentrations. Changes in dive depth and durations, as well as relative amount of time spent during the bottom phases of dives, were observed in relation to differences in overall temperature gradient, likely as a response to vertical changes in prey distribution associated with temperature stratification in the water column. Our results illustrate the likely complex influences of bathymetry, hydrography and sea ice on the behaviour of male southern elephant seals in a changing environment and highlight the need for region-specific approaches to studying environmental influences on behaviour.

Description: Objective: The objective of this database is to measure and identify the seasonal variation of meteorological and hydrological conditions on the southern coastal line of the Northwestern Mexican State of Sonora. This dataset is part of a larger project entitled "Environmental Controls on the temporal evolution of Energy and CO2 fluxes on an Arid Mangrove of Northwestern Mexico". Both the project and the meteorological station are managed and operated by the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON) and funded by the National Laboratory of Coastal Resilience (LANRESC) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). ---- Study site The study site is found at the coastal intertidal zone of the northern edge of Mazocarit Island, approximately 400 meters east of the Navopatia Field Station, both located in northwestern state of Sonora, México. The site is characterized by the presence of two dominant species of mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) rooted on salt-silt-clayey sediments. The Mazocarit Island is found within the coastal lagoon system known as the Agiabampo-Bacorehuis-Rio Fuerte system encompassing an area of 90,804 ha in the boundaries of the Mexican States of Sonora and Sinaloa. The navopatia meteorological station is in the northern tip of the Mazocarit Island characterized by the presence of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) with the following location: UTM Coordinate system Easting: 675582.80 Northing: 2921170.99, UTM zone: 12 N, Datum: WGS84 Geographic location: Latitude: 26.3999, Longitude: -109.2397, Datum: WGS84. ---- The meteorological sensors are installed in an 8-meter high tower above the mangrove canopy (mean canopy height = 5 meters), and the hydrological sensors are installed 100 meters north of the tower.

Description: Objective: ----- The objective of this database is to measure and identify the seasonal variation of meteorological conditions at a site on the southern coastal line of Sonora, Mexico. This meteorological dataset is part of a larger project entitled "Seasonal variability of vertical exchange fluxes of CO2, water and energy in a semiarid mangrove site located in Northwestern Mexico". Both the project and the meteorological station are managed and operated by the Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON) and funded by the National Laboratory of Coastal Resilience (LANRESC) with funding from the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). ------------------ Study site ----- The meteorological tower is located at the coastal intertidal zone of the northern edge of Mazocarit Island, approximately 400 meters west of the Navopatia field station, both located in northwestern state of Sonora, México. The site is characterized by the presence of two dominant species of mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) rooted on salt-silt-clayey sediments. The Mazocarit Island is found within the coastal lagoon system known as the Agiabampo-Bacorehuis-Rio Fuerte system encompassing an area of 90,804 ha in the boundaries of the Mexican States of Sonora and Sinaloa. UTM Coordinate system Easting: 675582.80 Northing: 2921170.99, UTM zone: 12 N, Datum: WGS84 Geographic location: Latitude: 26.3999, Longitude: -109.2397, Datum: WGS84. -------------------- The meteorological instruments are mounted on a tower at approximately 3 meters above the mangrove canopy (mean canopy height = 3.5 meters).

Description: Objective: ----- The objective of this database is to measure and identify the seasonal variation of atmospheric exchange fluxes of carbon, water, and energy in a mangrove site in the southern coastal line of the Northwestern Mexican State of Sonora. This fluxes dataset is part of a larger project entitled "Environmental Controls on the temporal evolution of Energy and CO~2~ fluxes on an Arid Mangrove of Northwestern Mexico". Both the project and the eddy covariance (EC) station are managed and operated by the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (ITSON) and funded by the National Laboratory of Coastal Resilience (LANRESC) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). ------------------ Study site ----- The study site is found at the coastal intertidal zone of the northern edge of Mazocarit Island, approximately 400 meters east of the Navopatia Field Station, both located in northwestern state of Sonora, México. The site is characterized by the presence of two dominant species of mangroves (Avicennia germinans and Rhizophora mangle) rooted on salt-silt-clayey sediments. The Mazocarit Island is found within the coastal lagoon system known as the Agiabampo-Bacorehuis-Rio Fuerte system encompassing an area of 90,804 ha in the boundaries of the Mexican States of Sonora and Sinaloa. The navopatia meteorological station is in the northern tip of the Mazocarit Island characterized by the presence of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) with the following location: UTM Coordinate system Easting: 675582.80 Northing: 2921170.99, UTM zone: 12 N, Datum: WGS84 Geographic location: Latitude: 26.3999, Longitude: -109.2397, Datum: WGS84. The eddy covariance system are installed in an 8 meter height tower on 6.5 meters above the mangrove canopy (mean canopy height = 5 meters), with a sampling rate 10 Hz. ------------------ Data ----- Sensible heat (H), latent heat (λE), net exchange ecosystem (NEE) and Bowen relation data. Processed under the protocols of Burba & Anderson (2010) with corrections for density variations caused by temperature, precipitation, and air humidity (Webb et al., 1980). And a quality control of the flows under the system of Mauder and Foken (2004). The missing data in the time series of energy fluxes and CO2 (NEE) corresponded to 42% of the entire data set and were completed with the methods developed by Reichstein et al. (2005) and Falge et al. (2001) and executed using the R-based processing tool REddyProc (Wutzler et al., 2018). This tool was developed by the Department of Biogeochemical Integration of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and performs the filling of gap data considering both the covariation of vertical flows with meteorological variables and their temporal autocorrelation. Finally, flows below a friction velocity threshold (u *) of 0.29 m s-1 were discarded for the entire data set.

Description: West Antarctic ice shelves have thinned dramatically over recent decades. Oceanographic measurements that explore connections between offshore warming and transport across a continental shelf with variable bathymetry toward ice shelves are needed to constrain future changes in melt rates. Six years of seal-acquired observations provide extensive hydrographic coverage in the Bellingshausen Sea, where ship-based measurements are scarce. Warm but modified Circumpolar Deep Water floods the shelf and establishes a cyclonic circulation within the Belgica Trough with flow extending toward the coast along the eastern boundaries and returning to the shelf break along western boundaries. These boundary currents are the primary water mass pathways that carry heat toward the coast and advect ice shelf meltwater offshore. The modified Circumpolar Deep Water and meltwater mixtures shoal and thin as they approach the continental slope before flowing westward at the shelf break, suggesting the presence of the Antarctic Slope Current. Constraining meltwater pathways is a key step in monitoring the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.