bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Mevlana Ceremony [Turkey]
Authors: And Metin
Published: April 2006

Come, come whoever you are,An unbeliever, a fire-worshipper come.Our convent is not of desperation.Even if you have broken your vows a hundred times,Come, come again.

On December 17, 1273 A.D., a universal genius, one of the greatest servants of humanity, the founder of the Mevlevi Sufi Brotherhood, the poet Mevlana Jalal al-din Rumi died at Konya. He was a philosopher and mystic of Islam, but not a Muslim of the orthodox type. His doctrine advocates unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness and charity, awareness through love. To him and to his disciples all religions are more or less good, as all are roads leading to the truth. Looking with the same eye on Muslim, Jew and Christian alike, his peaceful and tolerant teaching has reached men of all sects and creeds.
Soon 3's Black Water Echo
Authors: Simmer Bill
Published: April 2006

Alan Finneran, the director of Soon 3, came from San Francisco to the festival with a new piece called Black Water Echo. Finneran refers to the piece as a “task activated performance landscape.” He means that the performance consists primarily of a series of precise tasks, the performance of which alters the space (or landscape) of the piece, thereby dictating a new series of tasks that will further alter the landscape, dictating yet another series of tasks, and so on. By the end, the landscape has been radically changed and the audience has witnessed an entire biography of that change.

The basic landscape of Black Water Echo is a twenty foot square, marked on the floor with a covering of dark plastic. As the audience enters, the square is nearly empty: along its edges are arranged a series of objects that will be used throughout the performance.
Cfr.'s Ostal
Authors: Parnes Uzi
Published: April 2006

Ostal, the home environment as a workshop in madness, is a series of performance pieces produced by the Italian experimental group Cfr., directed by Aldo Rostagno. Ostal was performed by the group in New York for two weeks in April 1977.

Ostal [pr.: oo-stou’(t)] is a word of Languedocien, the dialectal variant of Old Provencal spoken in Southern France west of the Rhone. Ostal meant house, when the house was abode and temple at the same time, a sacred place where life was celebrated as a ritual—as opposed to the home of present days, a jungle of electrical appliances in which we cultivate our private neurosis.

The Cfr. (short for confrontation) was founded by Rostagno in 1975, after leaving the U.S. and returning to his native Italy.
Ouroboros’ The Death of Geometry
Authors: Prosperi Mario
Published: April 2006

The group Ouroboros takes its name from an alchemical symbol: a dragon that forms a perfect circle by holding its tail in its mouth. The symbol, according to the group, alludes to the structuralist tenet of the perfect autonomy of the signifier.

Pier Luigi Pieralli, the director of Ouroboros, created The Death of Geometry from a poem by Giuliano Scabia. The poem has the same relationship to the performance as it might have, for example, to a musical composition by Morton Feldman. The words are rendered “musical” by being stripped of any verbal value. Syllables are isolated, protracted and repeated; they proliferate other sounds (some of which are on tape) and the cumulative effect is rather meditative in a way that recalls Cage.
Squat Theatre's Andy Warhol's Last Love
Authors: Shank Adele Edling , Shank Theodore
Published: April 2006

Andy Warhol's Last Love, the first play made by Squat Theatre in the U.S.A., opened in their New York storefront theatre and home on West 23rd Street on June 2, 1978. Pig, Child, Fire! (T75), their previous production seen in New York, had been created largely in Holland, although one scene was originally done in their apartment in Budapest after they had been banned from performing in the theatre there. The new work of the group reflects their experience in New York. And, as in Pig, Child, Fire!, the spontaneous New York street events seen through the front window become an important part of the performance. In fact, two performances take place simultaneously—the one seen from inside by the paying audience and the one seen free by the spectators outside. The first section of Andy Warhol's Last Love takes place in a room on the second floor.
The Shaggy Dog Animation
Authors: Nyeboe Ingrid
Published: April 2006

The group Mabou Mines is named after a small town in Nova Scotia. The members are Lee Breuer, Ruth Maleczech, David Warrilow, JoAnne Akalaitis, Frederick Neumann, William Raymond and Terry O'Reilly. The Shaggy Dog Animation is the third piece by Lee Breuer in a series of animation plays that began in early 1970 with The Red Horse Animation; The B. Beaver Animation followed some years later.

The term “animation” is used both in its original definition “to make alive,” as well as in relation to the animated cartoon. In The Shaggy Dog Animation, the actors come “alive” primarily through being hooked up to the sound system. This means that they are not controlling the final sound output. Volume, amplification and distortion are controlled by an Eden Harmonizer. Thus the actors can refrain from projecting their voices. The employment of a puppet manipulated by several actors is another example of “making alive.”
Trans-Semiotic Analysis: Shaggy Codes
Authors: Lotringer Sylvere
Published: April 2006

What I am proposing here in relation to the The Shaggy Dog Animation is not, strictly speaking, a semiotic analysis. Rather, I would call it if the term was not even more intimidating, because it does not exist yet, trans-semiotic. Any other approach, including traditional semiotics, could make sense—lots of sense—but I am convinced that sense, good sense, normal neurotic sense, is precisely what Shaggy Dog is up against. So should I enforce conformity by means of an already existing theory or alter the approach itself in order to record the impact of a specific production? This obviously raises a somewhat ethical question about the function of criticism. Can we devise a battery of approaches independently of the pieces they are meant to elucidate? Is it advisable to try to establish a “library” of methods that could be used eventually by other critics no matter what type of production they might intend to study?
The Actual As Bizarre: Assaulting the Sensibilities of the Audience
Authors: Shank Theodore
Published: April 2006

Some bizarre elements used in recent English performances are so startling or threatening or shocking to audience sensibilities that the dramatic illusion is broken. The spectator becomes aware of himself as being in the same time and space as the element rather than relating to it as if it were only fictional. In such instances the viewer responds as he would to other real-world events.

Traditionally, a theatre performance consists of an illusion created out of various actual materials including sound, paint, furniture, the bodies of performers, makeup, etc. Care is taken not to call attention to these materials because focus on them would break the fictional-world illusion. An attempt is made to assimilate into the illusion everything that falls within the space and time delineated by the work, although occasionally a mistake may cause the actual material to break out of the illusion—for example if an actor obviously forgets a line or a chair accidentally falls over. Such disruptions of the illusion are obstacles to the spectator's psychic absorption in the fictional world.
Playing With the Past: Visitation and Illusion in the Mask Theatre of Bali
Authors: Emigh John
Published: April 2006

What follows is a detailed account of a single performance of topeng pajegan performed by I Nyoman Kakul In the village of Tusan, Ball, on Feb. 6, 1975. Topeng is a popular form of masked theatre in Bali, and topeng pajegan an old and particularly demanding version of that form, in which one man portrays all of the characters—dancing, telling stories, making Jokes, and performing rituals.

When we met in January 1975, Kakul checked a calendar, found it to be a particularly propitious hour to begin study, gave me my first lesson, and invited me to live in his family compound for the next several months while I studied masked dance.
Becoming A Clown in Bali
Authors: Jenkins Ron
Published: April 2006

Frogs flourish in the wet rlcefields of Bali. Their sounds and rhythms are mimicked with vivid comic precision by clowns in the temple dramas. Continuity between performance and everyday events is a powerful element in Balinese community life. The links are reflected in numerous forms other than dancing frogs, but it was the frogs I noticed first.

I arrived in Bali for a year of theatre research not knowing how I would proceed. Having been a circus clown in the U.S. I was attracted by the comic characters in the Balinese temple dramas. Eventually I moved into a small village, attended numerous performances, and became a regular follower of Topeng masked dancer Made Dlimat.

Although I did not know it at the time, my presence as a spectator of Balinese temple dramas was the first step along the way to my becoming part of the performance.
Pak Rajeg's Life in Art
Authors: deBoer Fredrik
Published: April 2006

This is a brief account of the life thus far of I Nyoman Rajeg, a Balinese dalang, or shadow-puppeteer. Pak Rajeg, now in his early 60's, grew up and was educated under the Dutch regime, lived through the Japanese occupation, participated actively in the independence movement, and subsequently has lived through the rapid and deep changes brought on as Bali experiences modernization. And yet, for all the changes that have come to pass in his lifetime, Pak Rajeg lives a life in the traditional performing arts of his culture that is well-founded and (it would seem) secure, a life moreover that is integral with the main fabric of the society in which he lives.

Pak Rajeg is a professional dalang. He and his four musicians and two assistants form a small troupe that has its base of operations in his houseyard. From there they go forth to perform, usually in the nearby vicinity.
Structural Film: Ten Years Later
Authors: Cornwell Regina
Published: April 2006

Is it a: 1) critical method, 2) an artistic process, 3) neither or 4) both?

We can in fact presume that there exist certain writers, painters, musicians in whose eyes a certain exercise of structure (and no longer merely its thought) represents a distinctive experience, and that both analysts and creators must be placed under the common sign of what we might call structural man, defined not by his ideas or his languages, but by his imagination—in other words, by the way in which he mentally experiences structure.

…we recompose the object in order to make certain functions appear…this is why we must speak of the structuralist activity rather than the structuralist work.

(Roland Barthes “The Structuralist Activity” 1963)

The correct answer to the original question is—structuralism is both, as Barthes so succinctly states. But what of the phenomenon referred to as “structural film“? Is “structural film” “structuralist film” in disguise?
Three Places In Rhode Island
Authors: Bierman James
Published: April 2006

Sakonnet Point, Rumstick Road, and Nayatt School were first presented by the Performance Group at the Performing Garage in New York City in the spring of 1975, 1977, and 1978 respectively. They opened again as a trilogy of theatre pieces in December of 1978 under the collective title of Three Places in Rhode Island. Each production came about as a result of concentrated preparations that were begun the fall prior to their opening, and they demonstrate a final result that only a generous amount of time and effort could have produced. The process involved not only Spalding Gray and Elizabeth Le Compte, the chief collaborators, but also Ron Vawter, Libby Howes, Bruce Porter, Bruce Rayvid, Gabrielle Lansner, and a variety of other participants. In form and style, the pieces differ widely, but all three concentrate on a single subject: the development of a character named Spalding Gray as a person and as an artist.
Amy Taubin: The Solo Self
Authors: Carroll Noel
Published: April 2006

Psychologically, the solo can be seen as the quintessential form of performance. The audience's relationship to the soloist is undivided, gratifying the performer's deepest desires not only to be seen but to be the center of attention. The solo is a means of presenting the self to others, generally in terms of a display of virtuosity designed to elicit the spectator's admiration and awe. Traditionally, the personal, psychological significance of the solo form remains unacknowledged in the performance, shielded, so to speak, by the display of virtuosity. But in the work of Jack Smith, Stuart Sherman and others, the submerged motives of the solo become apparent because it is the play of private obsessions that commands the audience's attention. Amy Taubin's solos are less personal than Smith's or Sherman's. But they are also concerned with emphasizing the solo as a representation of the self.
Writing For My Performances
Authors: Deak Norma Jean
Published: April 2006

For the past two and a half years I have been writing, staging and performing in my own work. Most of these performances have taken place in galleries and museums. Before I began doing my own performances, I worked for short periods of time with different theatre artists in New York. Because I considered myself primarily a performer rather than a writer or director, my first performance began with an idea for a particular character. After making the costume and collecting a few props, I went into the space dressed as the character and improvised different actions. I had a vague idea of possible situations beforehand, but I did not write a scenario or make any notes in advance. Although I wrote a small amount of text as I went along, the final performance was based primarily on the improvisations I did during rehearsals. The performance was a vehicle for the character and a vehicle for me as the performer.
The Solo Performances of Winston Tong
Authors: Blumenthal Eileen
Published: April 2006

Winston Tong's solo theatre works—he has created more than half a dozen—meld widely divergent forms and sensibilities: his extreme economy of means is akin to types of traditional Chinese theatre; his use of puppets, dolls, and silhouettes recalls elements of Japanese Bunraku and Javanese shadow puppets; and his startling, pervasive eroticism has roots in nineteenth century French Symbolism.

“A Rimbaud,” which dates from 1976, Is a phantasmagory of tortured sensuality. It came, Tong says, “out of terrible alienation and a desire to make connection with some more ethereal thing. I wondered what love was. And I was kind of anguished.”

Seven small votive candles are lit as footlights. Then Tong quietly, solemnly walks on stage carrying an overnight-size black suitcase.
Paul Margueritte and Pierrot Assassin of His Wife
Authors: Gerould Daniel
Published: April 2006

The pantomime, Pierrot Assassin of His Wife—one of the most extraordinary solo performances of the late 19th century—was first created in 1881 by a stage-struck twenty-one-year-old Parisian student, Paul Margueritte, who spent his summer vacations outside the city putting on amateur theatre in an old barn loft. For the rest of the decade, Margueritte, although embarked upon a successful literary career, continued to present his pantomime whenever and wherever he could—for friends and relatives, before peasants in rented rural ballrooms, in fashionable Parisian salons for elite private audiences of artists and writers, and at special showings in professional theatres.

A radically new interpretation of the traditional comic figure derived from cornmedia dell'arte, Margueritte's macabre Pierrot contributed directly to the revival of pantomime that characterized the 1880's: Margueritte quickly became celebrated, and his work was written up in popular magazines; Stéphane Mallarmé, Edmond de Goncourt, Alphonsé Daudet, and André Antolne were among the admirers of Pierrot Assassin of His Wife.
John Zorn's Theatre of Musical Optics
Authors: Troyano Ela
Published: April 2006

This is when I founded the Theatre of Musical Optics. What you see and what you hear is the same thing, music. Music had never anything to do with sound… In my shows the objects in performance are like solid sounds...different shapes and textures.

John Zorn

John Zorn founded the Theatre of Musical Optics in 1975. Since then he has developed two different types of concerts. In one he plays a musical instrument. As a saxophone player and composer, he appears regularly with a group of musicians working with “improvised music” or “music for improvisers.” In other concerts he performs alone in intimate situations using small objects visually as though they were musical “notes.” Though he has performed these shows with objects at Anthology Film Archives, the Collective for the Living Cinema and the Ontological-Hysteric Theatre, most of the work has taken place at his small studios on Lafayette Street and, more recently, on the Lower East Side.
The Audience of One: Jamie Leo
Authors: Scott Trudy
Published: April 2006

The invitation to see Bye Bye Blacksheep came privately. It was the summer of 1976 and Jamie Leo, then a member of Iowa Theatre Lab, invited me to view a short piece he had written and directed for actor Mark Bronnenberg. The performance was private, not in the sense of excluding the public, but in that the audience was limited to one observer.

The invitation came at the last moment—I was to be there in 20 minutes—an action that belied the elaborate timing and logistical complexity of the performance. I arrived at the large, old apartment house and waited in Jamie's living room until he came in, blindfolded me with a black silk scarf, and led me into the corridor. As he carefully guided me down the long passage, he gave me the following information and directions:

The scene you are about to see is entitled Bye Bye Blacksheep. Mark Bronnenberg, an actor from Iowa city, and I have been working on it since the beginning of the summer. What you are seeing this evening is a rehearsal, and since it is a rehearsal, I will be there with you to take notes on Mark's performance. Please try not to be bothered by me; I will be sitting just behind you.
Anne Bogart's Journeys
Authors: Abbe Jessica
Published: April 2006

Anne Bogart creates and directs experimental theatre pieces. She combines her regard for the individual esthetics of the actors with her own strong structural vision to produce eclectic and unique plays. Her most recent works include Out of Sync, performed in March of this year; Hauptstadt, in May of 1979; and Inhabitat, a play in a house (February 1979 production).

Bogart was born in 1951 into a Navy family. As a child brought up in the military, the longest she stayed in one place was two and a half years in Tokyo between the ages of about six and eight. The frequent moves “from coast to coast and country to country” produced a stream of different schools—private, public, military and boarding. At 14, Bogart got involved in the backstage work of a school play.
Yvonne Rainer's Journeys from Berlin/1971
Authors: Sargent-Wooster Ann
Published: April 2006

Before 1970 Yvonne Rainer's career conformed to the general outlines of the other dancers of the Judson Church group (T30). The dance sections of her multimedia events combined formal dance steps with everyday movements in a nonhierarchical order. In 1970 she traveled to India with the Grand Union. There she became fascinated with the classical theatre of India and for a time followed the touring Kathakali, whose performances lasted all night (T50). This experience with the impact of a storytelling form caused her to focus on narrative and on film. Both had previously been in her work, but they were now given greater prominence. By the mid-1970s she had stopped performing entirely and devoted herself exclusively to film. In a 1971 essay she wrote,

I'm no longer Interested in mixed media. You can either make a movie or you don't make a movie. I didn't make movies. I made choreographic exercises that were meant to be viewed with one's peripheral vision.

(Yvonne Rainer Work 1961-73)
Max Reinhardt's Sumurun
Authors: Kueppers Brigitte
Published: April 2006

Sumurun, a wordless play in nine scenes directed by Max Reinhardt, was conceived as an experiment. It opened at Reinhardt's 300-seat Kammerspiele Theatre on April 22, 1910. Because of its opening night success it was moved to the 1000-seat house next door, the Deutsches Theatre, where it entered the repertory in May 1910. In 1911 the pantomime was presented in Vienna and twice in London. On January 16, 1912, it opened in New York. After 62 performances at the Casino Theatre it toured Chicago in March and Boston in April, again in Shubert houses, and left for a Paris engagement. In 1913 Sumurun returned to the London Coliseum for another short run, less enthusiastically received, and was presented, not to Reinhardt's satisfaction, on the relief stage of the Munich Art Theatre.
Contraband: Performance, Text and Analysis of a Purim-shpil
Authors: Kirshenblatt-Gimblett Barbara
Published: April 2006

In the fifth century B.C., the Jews of Persia were saved from a plot to murder them. Their deliverance, narrated in the Scroll of Esther, is celebrated each year on the holiday of Purim in the Hebrew month of Adar (February/March). The holiday includes a variety of performances: masquerade, pranks, intoxication and general licentiousness pervade the holiday and contribute to the inversion of the social order that is its hallmark. One major performance is the ceremonial public reading of the Scroll of Esther, where the ralson d'être for the holiday is retold. During the reading, the villain Haman is smitten by the listeners, who make loud noises to kill the sound of his name each time it is mentioned. A second opportunity for performance is the festive meal, which may feature extended parodies and folk plays.
Angna Enters: American Dance-Mime
Authors: Cocuzza Ginnine
Published: April 2006

Anita Enters came to New York City from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, late in 1919 to begin study at the Art Students League. (According to personal correspondence and various newspaper interviews, her given name is Angna, although she was addressed by her family, her early friends, and her husband by the nickname Anita.) She was probably 18 years old at the time, although her birth date is usually given as April 28, 1907. If the description of her life before arriving in New York, as told in her fictionalized biography Silly Girl, is only partially true, it is certain that she was a precocious, withdrawn, independent child.

After the first quarter at the Art Students League, she became discouraged with her artwork and did not register for the next quarter's classes.
Size‐Association Analysis of Forest Successional Trends in Wisconsin
Authors: Zedler Paul H. , Goff F. Glenn
Published: April 2006

A method for quantitatively evaluating the successional relationships which exist between species was tested on data from Menominee County, Wisconsin. The method is based upon an examination of the changes in interspecific association which occur when successively larger diameter classes of one or both species are used as the basis for the calculation of an association index. With this method it is possible in most cases to determine which species tend to replace which others. In addition, by averaging replacement tendencies in various ways, index values can be arrived at which express the degree to which a particular species may be characterized as pioneer or climax. The results of the analysis agree well with other studies on succession in these forests. This method should prove useful in elucidating successional relationships, especially in areas where these are not well understood.
Computer Analyses of Petersen's Original Data on Bottom Communities
Authors: Stephenson W. , Williams W. T. , Cook S. D.
Published: April 2006

Petersen—type bottom communities (a concept based on Petersen's 1914 data) are characterized by constant species which are dominant in terms of numbers and weight. Some workers recently have questioned the existence of these communities, in which quantitative data upon very few of the species present have been analyzed subjectively, and other potentially important species have been neglected. Various computer techniques were used to analyze Petersen's data. For the majority of species only presence—absence data can be used; for quantitative data 88 species from 193 stations were processed. The final methods involved transformed data of numbers and weights, respectively, the Canberra metric coefficient, and a combination of flexible and group—average sorting followed by allocation. The presentation of results is difficult because, even after classification, the complexity of the data–for example, the lists of species of different grades of constancy and abundance which characterize site groups–lies beyond human ability to comprehend adequately. Results are compared with Petersen's and with each other. Petersen's classification compares most closely with ours involving binary data. Our "numbers" and "weights" classifications both reveal Petersen—type communities, but they differ markedly from each other and more markedly still from Petersen's results
Nutrient Release From Decomposing Leaf and Branch Litter in the Hubbard Brook Forest, New Hampshire
Authors: Gosz James R. , Likens Gene E. , Bormann F. Herbert
Published: April 2006

Rates of weight loss and nutrient release (N, P, S, K, Mn, Ca, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cu, Na) were measured in decomposing leaf and branch tissue form yellow birch, sugar maple, and beech, and in branch tissue from red spruce and balsam fir. Neither leaf nor branch decomposition differed significantly over an elevational range of 220 m. Decomposition rates for leaves varied with yellow birch > sugar maple > beech. The decomposition rate for hardwood branches was greater than that for conifer branches, but differences between hardwoods were not significant. Maximum decomposition rates occurred during the summer for both branch and leaf tissue. The rate of nutrient release from decomposing branch and leaf litter appears to be correlated with nutrient concentration in current litter fall, precipitation, and leaf wash. The concentration and absolute weight of N. S. and P in the leaf litter of all species increased with time. The amount of the increase as well as the initiation of nutrient release was influenced by C: element ratios in the leaf tissue. These studies also indicate that P levels can influence the mineralization or immobilization of other important nutrients. Carbon—to—element ratios in decomposing litter varied between species and elevation at different times of the year, but element: P ratios were much more uniform. In branch tissue the physical loss of N— and P—rich bark and buds offset any increase in concentration that would have occurred through decomposition. Potassium and magnesium were rapidly released from the litter by leaching. Similar minimum concentrations in leaf tissue indicate that critical C: element ratios also exist for these elements. Calcium release was similar to dry weight loss, indicating that it is a structural component primarily released by decomposition. Maximum nutrient release from current litter occurred in the autumn and summer. It was not correlated with the nutrient output from the ecosystem which occurred primarily during the spring. The net output of Ca, Mg, and K from the watershed was very small compared to quantities released from current litter. Factors which contribute to the complex nature of decomposition are: seasonal heterotroph activity, heterotroph nutrient demand, environmental conditions regulations heterotroph activity, species tissue palatability, species composition of litter, tissue composition of litter, nutrient content of litter, nutrient mobility, and nutrient input (i.e., leafwash, litter fall).
Responses of Continuous‐Series Estuarine Microecosystems to Point‐Source Input Variations
Authors: Cooper David C. , Copeland B. J.
Published: April 2006

Six continuous—series microecosystems, each containing five cells, were constructed to simulate hydrological factors of estuarine regions. Exchange and retention characteristics were adjusted to closely model the hydrological conditions of Trinity Bay, Texas. The metabolic and structural responses of the microecosystem communities to quantitative and qualitative changes in freshwater input were investigated. Primary production and community respiration in the first three cells of the microecosystems were dependent on both quantity and quality of freshwater input, whereas primary production and community respiration in the saltwater portions (cells 4, 5) of the microecosystems were virtually independent of the quantity and quality of freshwater input. Metabolism of the freshwater portions of the microecosystems was heterotrophic under normal flow conditions and autotrophic under drought conditions. Addition of an industrial effluent to the freshwater inputs resulted in extensive shifts towards metabolic heterotrophy of the more freshwater portions of the microecosystems. Metabolism of the saltwater cells was heterotrophic under all conditions of freshwater input. The upstream communities were adapted to a dependency on allochthonous materials input for production and respiration maintenance. Retarding freshwater input resulted in tying up larger portions of the nutrient pool within the systems in living components. Addition of industrial effluent increased the community maintenance requirements. Retarding freshwater input acted as an environmental stress on the first three cells of the microecosystems. Magnitudes of production and respiration were significantly lower, and zooplankton standing crops and species diversity decreased significantly. Addition of industrial effluent produced similar effects. Decreased freshwater input rate (primary stress) rendered the receiving communities more susceptible to the industrial effluent addition (secondary stress). The organismal composition of the microecosystems was qualitatively similar but quantitatively dissimilar to the organismal composition of Trinity Bay. Because of fundamental similarities in all living systems, the observed responses might be especially representative of those which would occur in Trinity Bay if subjected to similar hydrological alterations.
Interrelations among Plankton, Attached Algae, and the Phosphorus Cycle in Artificial Open Systems
Authors: Confer John L.
Published: April 2006

The circulation of phosphorus in 200—liter aquaria, continuously supplied with tap water, was analyzed by means of analytical and tracer methods. This open—system design ultimately resulted in a steady—state system whereby the influx of phosphorus to various biological compartments was equaled by a corresponding outflow. This model of phosphorus circulation is believed to apply to small lakes with extensive littoral vegetation during summer stratification, but contrasts with models proposed from other tracer studies on such lakes. The other models are considered to be feasible, but unlikely and based on incorrect analyses of data. Previous estimates of the rate of phosphorus circulation based on tracer analyses are reanalyzed and appear to be of the correct magnitude. The 200—liter system developed two communities of attached and planktonic organisms, with the former rapidly removing a large percentage of the phosphorus from the latter. With this removal any direct relationship between the phosphorus concentration of the open water and the influx concentration was obscured. A major means by which phosphorus was removed from the open water was shown to be trapping of particles by the community associated with the sides of the aquaria. The rate of such removal varied widely, depending on the extent of "littoral" growth and the nature of the particle. These results suggest that a multicompartment analysis of nutrient circulation is significantly more realistic than a simplistic assumption of homogeneity. Considering succession to be the total change in physical and biological conditions over prolonged time, this open—system design developed from a one—community, few—species system into a two—community, several—species system. The rate of nutrient circulation greatly increased with time and developed into a steady state, not an equilibrium system which depended on a continual phosphorus influx to maintain the concentrations and circulation rates.
Foraging Strategy of a Starfish in Relation to Actual Prey Availability and Environmental Predictability
Authors: Menge Bruce A.
Published: April 2006

The foraging ecology of the asteroid Leptasterias hexactis was studied at five rocky intertidal areas in the San Juan Islands, Washington, for 2—2¾ years. Feeding activity during high tides reaches a high point in mid— to late summer (July and August) and a low point in the winter (January). Three probable factors selecting for this cycle are (1) reproduction, virtually immobilizing the females, during the winter; (2) low food availability in winter compared to summer; and (3) violent winter storms. Persistently reduced low tide feeding during all but autumnal night low tides indicates that some light—related factor(s) select for a tidal cycle of feeding also. Factors believed responsible are desiccation stress and possibly predation by visual predators. A graphic model of foraging behavior is presented. Analysis of the diet of Leptasterias by both numbers and calories of prey consumed indicates that this starfish is a food generalist. Moreover, numbers of prey consumed, when compared to prey available, indicate those prey chosen selectively and those which are avoided. Lastly, calories consumed compared to calories available indicate why particular prey are chosen. Many factors are involved in prey choice including ease of capture, relative sizes of predator and prey, and caloric yield of the prey. Actual availability is defined as that portion of available prey (i.e., prey physically present) which could be consumed by a predator. The factors affecting prey choice, coupled with prey and predator distribution, abundance, and behavior must be considered when determining actual availability of prey. Actual availability coefficients are computed and suggest that (1) hard—to—capture prey are least available; (2) Leptasterias is more selective in summer and autumn, when food is more abundant; and (3) prey are more available to large starfish. Calculations suggest that, under normal conditions, Leptasterias would be severely energy—limited in winter if it foraged at rates similar to those of spring or summer, or both. Thus, food limitation may be partially responsible for reduced feeding in winter. Comparison of numerical patterns of consumption of energy—rich and energy—poor prey indicates that energy—rich prey are most important except in summer when energy—poor prey become the most important prey, presumably because of their tremendous numerical increase and domination. Comparisons between the foraging strategy of this starfish and theoretical models previously proposed support some predictions but not others, indicating that complex natural systems require more comprehensive and precise models. Predictability of resources in time and space probably determines the degree of resource specialization or generalization in animals.
Macrobenthos of the Pamlico River Estuary, North Carolina
Authors: Tenore Kenneth R.
Published: April 2006

A study of the macrobenthos and its environment in the Pamlico River estuary, North Carolina, included measurements of salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen, as well as the particle size and concentrations of organic matter of the sediments. Salinity ranged from 1% to 20%, and temperature from 5° to 31° C. Anoxic conditions in the bottom water over—lying the deeper portions of the estuary occurred in the late summer. Two distinct sediment types were found: a sand substrate in the shallow area and a silty clay substrate in the deep area of the estuary. A preliminary sampling program in July 1968 showed that the macrobenthos was characterized by both low diversity and low density because of unfavorable environmental conditions of salinity and sediment. The statistical sampling design for this study was stratification of the estuary and equal random allocation of samples. Only 18 species were found, and the Shannon—Weaver information diversity index (H) showed low values of 0.66—1.77. In addition, low density values (maximum number of organisms at any station was 629/m2) further indicated that stressing salinity conditions and unstable sediments are factors that make this estuary unfavorable for the benthos. The absence of benthic life in much of the deeper portions of the estuary correlated directly with anoxic conditions in these areas. On the basis of trellis diagrams, the estuary was divided into three areas: (1) and oligohaline zone dominated by Rangia cuneata and Nereis succinea; (2) a mesohaline zone with a Macoma balthica—Heteromastus filiformis—Nereis succinea association; and (3) a polyhaline zone at the mouth of the estuary characterized by a Macoma phenax—Mulinia lateralis—Glycera dibranchiata association. A seasonal sampling program, with transects located in these communities, showed vast seasonal changes in species composition, range of distribution, density, and community delimitation caused by larva set in the estuary. A total of 36 species was found during this 1968—69 sampling program. Although a few species, such as Rangia cuneata and Nereis sucinea, showed relatively little change in densities and range of distribution, most of the benthos underwent great fluctuations due to recruitment from new set. Settling periods in the fall and spring added large numbers of juveniles to the benthos, not only in the deeper portions where re—establishment of life was found after the late fall mixing destroyed the anoxic conditions, but also in the shallow areas. Due to this recruitment, the distribution of communities in the estuary changed so drastically during the year that a great homogeneity was found throughout the estuary during the winter and spring sampling periods. Ho ever, the communities noted in the preliminary sampling reappeared in the summer. Thus the macrobenthos undergoes significant seasonal cycles in the Pamlico River estuary.
The Foraging Strategy of Vermivorous Conid Gastropods
Authors: Leviten Paul J.
Published: April 2006

A heuristic model, developed from simple assumptions, generates testable hypotheses that predict the foraging patterns of predators which invest a significantly greater amount of energy in search for, as compared to pursuit and handling of, prey. Given: (1) the environmental distribution of potential food size, (2) the environmental distribution of potential food diversity within food size, and (3) the manner in which the limits of consumable food size vary with predator size; food and microhabitat niche breadths as a function of predator size can be predicted. The assumptions and derived hypotheses of the model are tested with data from vermivorous prosobranch gastropods of the genus Conus, ubiquitous associates of tropical Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean coral reefs. Predictions are: (1) small Conus (<10 mm shell length) are trophic specialists; (2) medium—sized Conus (10—25 mm shell length), trophic generalists; and (3) large Conus (> 25 mm shell length), trophic specialists. This pattern is supported by both within— and between—species comparisons of Conus populations of different mean sizes. Relationships of food niche breadth with predator size are interpreted in light of the marked behavioral and morphological stereotypy of Conus, probably evolved in response to evolutionary and proximate predictability of available prey.
Polychaete Abundance Patterns in a Marine Soft‐Sediment Environment: The Importance of Biological Interactions
Authors: Woodin Sarah Ann
Published: April 2006

Samples of infauna and measurements of temperature, oxygen, salinity, and algal cover were taken from January 1969 to December 1970 at —1.2—ft tidal elevation in a mud flat dominated by polychaetes in Mitchell Bay, San Juan Island, Washington. Mortality of adults after spawning and variable larval settlement success probably explained much of the variation in population numbers of the four large and numerically important polychaete species, Lumbrineris inflata, Axiothella rubrocincta, Platynereis bicanaliculata, and Armandia brevis. No correlations were found between the abundances of numerically important species and physical factors. Exclosures constructed of 3—mm mesh plastic screening placed on the flat became covered with diatoms. Settling juveniles of tube—building species, such as P. bicanaliculata, Axiothella rubrocincta, and L. inflata, built tubes in this layer of diatoms and thus did not reach the enclosed sediment, while settling juveniles of a burrowing species, Armandia brevis, burrowed through the diatom layer and reached the sediment. Thus, cleaning the cage surfaces or removing the cage after settlement reduced abundances of tube—building species without disturbing the sediment since adults of all three numerically important tube builders experience mortality after spawning. The manipulation of tube—builder abundances showed that the burrowing species responded to space vacated by tube builders by increased settlement success. Results from experimental variation of A. brevis numbers per unit volume of sediment in the laboratory and abundance data from unmanipulated natural areas also demonstrated the presence of interspecific and intraspecific competition for space. Changes in physical factors due to algal cover had some impact on population levels but the competitive interactions and behavior patterns, revealed only by observations on the behavior of living organisms and manipulation of the infauna, demonstrated the importance of biological interactions to the determination of species abundance patterns in a soft—sediment environment.
A Population Study of Irradiated Desert Rodents
Authors: French N. R. , Maza B. G. , Hill H. O. , Aschwanden A. P. , Kaaz H. W.
Published: April 2006

An experiment was begun in 1963 to evaluate effects of long—term low—level radiation exposure on desert populations of plants and animals. Monthly censuses of four species of heteromyid rodents in three 9—ha enclosures and one non—enclosed area indicate great year—to—year changes in densities of the nonirradiated populations and even greater fluctuations in the irradiated populations. Although magnitude of density changes varied, timing of fluctuations was similar. In a good growing season a population may increase by a factor of 5 or more. In a poor growing season there may be no reproduction. Chronic radiation exposure to Perognathus formosus was measured to be 211—360 r/year. This reduced survival, particularly before the age of 6 mo. The instantaneous rate of death for the irratiated population during this period was 0.219, and for the control populations was .075 and 0.104. Future life expectancy at age 1 mo in the irradiated population was 9.2 mo, and for the control populations was 11.4 and 14.4 mo. The computed intrinsic rate of increase for the irradiated population was 0.314, compared to 0.493 and 0.498 for the two control populations. Demographic and histologic evidence indicate an increased birth rate in the irradiated population. A population consisting of animals 3 yr old and older, having been subjected to a lifetime of such radiation exposure, would likely be incapable of reproduction. Therefore, only in the most unfavorable periods, when reproduction is curtailed by natural factors, will the threshold levels of artificial radiation insult on the natural population be discernible. A rapid turnover of generations prevents a population from accumulating damaging effects of low—level exposure. The diets of rodents were analyzed, and the production of important foods was measured over 3 yr. Seeds and vegetative parts of plants made up approximately equal portions of the diet. All parts of the small annual plant Thelypodium were highly selected at all seasons. Total production of food shows a lag effect in relation to precipitation. Estimates of food requirements of the rodent population, based on laboratory feeding trials, suggest that food supply may be an important limiting factor. Populations respond strikingly to periods of favorable vegetative growth. Desert rodent populations are adapted to withstanding periods of unfavorable conditions. They have comparatively long life—spans and maintain fertility. These adaptations make them vulnerable to changed conditions, such as environmental contamination.
The Role of Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.) in the Maintenance of Stability in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems
Authors: Marks P. L.
Published: April 2006

The design of the life cycle of pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica L.), a successional species common on disturbed sites throughout much of the northern hardwood and boreal forest ecosystems, assures that its occurrence is integrated into the pattern of disturbance in the climax ecosystem. The combination of buried seed strategy and the mobility offered through avian consumption of fruits ensures reasonably large populations of buried, viable seeds in the soils of forests well after the disappearance of pin cherry from a particular site. Soil sampling data indicate that sufficient numbers of viable pin cherry seeds reside in the soils of second—growth forests in central New Hampshire to account for the dense stands frequently observed after cutting or burning. Further, germination of these buried seeds is apparently triggered by some factor(s) associated with formation of a large gap. By age 25 or 30, when pin cherry individuals are dying rapidly, sufficient numbers of seeds have been produced and disseminated in a dormant condition for the cycle to renew itself with the subsequent occurrence of major disturbance. In high density stands pin cherry grows rapidly, with early attainment of canopy closure (high leaf area index), and rapid attainment of high values of net annual production and nutrient accumulation.