ALBERT

Description: In February 2010, a hydrometric station was installed at the ''Qasser al-Yahud'' baptism site (740992E, 3525198N UTM Z36) in the Lower Jordan River, including an automatic water sampler (Andress and Hauser Liquiport 2000), and an independent EC-sensor (Condumax CLS12). In total, 428 water samples representing the time period 2010/03/26- 2012/07/09 were collected, filtered (0.22 µm PVDF) and analyzed for anions (Cl, Br, NO3, SO4) applying IC Dionex DX-320 and for cations (Na, K, Mg, Ca) applying IC Dionex DX-500, both with conductometric detection.

Description: It is widely recognized that climate change poses significant challenges to the conservation of biodiversity. The need of dealing with relatively rapid and uncertain environmental change calls for the enhancement of adaptive capacity of both biodiversity and conservation management systems. Under the hypothesis that most of the conventional biodiversity conservation tools do not sufficiently stimulate a dynamic protected area management, which takes rapid environmental change into account, we evaluated almost 900 of The Nature Conservancy's site-based conservation action plans. These were elaborated before a so-called climate clinic in 2009, an intensive revision of existing plans and a climate change training of the planning teams. We also compare these results with plans elaborated after the climate clinic. Before 2009, 20% of the CAPs employed the term “climate change” in their description of the site viability, and 45% identified key ecological attributes that are related to climate. 8% of the conservation strategies were directly or indirectly related to climate change adaptation. After 2009, a significantly higher percentage of plans took climate change into account. Our data show that many planning teams face difficulties in integrating climate change in their management and planning. However, technical guidance and concrete training can facilitate management teams learning processes. Arising new tools of adaptive conservation management that explicitly incorporate options for handling future scenarios, vulnerability analyses and risk management into the management process have the potential of further making protected area management more proactive and robust against change.

Description: In February 2010, a hydrometric station was installed at the ''Qasser al-Yahud'' baptism site (740992E, 3525198N UTM Z36) at the Lower Jordan River, including a pressure sensors (Waterpilot FMX21, Schlumberger) and a turbidity sensor (TurbiMax WCUS41).

Description: We present a quantitative NAO reconstruction for the central Iberian Peninsula (IP) over the last two millennia, along with its uncertainties, by applying a Bayesian approach.

Description: Knowledge of the local and migratory movements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from New Caledonia is very limited. To investigate this topic, we attached satellite-monitored tags to 12 whales off southern New Caledonia. Tag longevity ranged from 1 to 52 days (X = 22.5 days). Tagged whales generally moved to the south or southeast, with several spending time in a previously unknown seamount habitat named Antigonia before resuming movement, generally toward Norfolk Island or New Zealand. However, 1 female with a calf traveled the entire length of the western coast of New Caledonia (~450 km) and then west in the direction of the Chesterfield Reefs, a 19th century American (''Yankee'') whaling ground. None of the New Caledonia whales traveled to or toward eastern Australia, which is broadly consistent with the low rate of interchange observed from photo-identification comparisons between these 2 areas. The connections between New Caledonia and New Zealand, together with the relatively low numbers of whales seen in these places generally, support the idea that whales from these 2 areas constitute a single population that remains small and unrecovered.

Description: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) undertake extensive seasonal migrations from summer feeding areas in high latitudes to winter mating and calving grounds in tropical waters (Clapham and Mead 1999, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3504352). In the Southern Hemisphere, seven populations are recognized by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In this study, we report the movements of seven whales satellite-tagged in the Cook Islands, including the first documented migration to an antarctic feeding ground. In September 2006 and 2007 we attached Argos satellite-monitored tags to eight humpback whales of various sex and behavioral classes. All whales were tagged in the nearshore waters of Rarotonga (the largest island in the Cooks group).

Description: Airborne infrared detection device for use in oceanography

Description: Central static invertor used to establish 1250-va, 115/200-v, three-phase 400-cps AC power distribution for Apollo Spacecraft Command and Service Module