title: Estimating the numbers of aquatic birds affected by oil spills: pre-planning, response, and post-incident considerations

authors: Fraser, G.S.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Oil spills most visibly affect waterbirds and often the number of birds affected, a key measure of environmental damage from an incident, is required for public communication, population management, and legal reasons. We review and outline steps that can be taken to improve accuracy in the estimation of the number of birds affected in each of three phases: (1) pre-planning; (2) during a response; and (3) post-response. The more pre-planning undertaken, the more robust the estimates will be. Personnel involved in damage assessment efforts must have training in quantitative biology and need support during all three phases. The main approaches currently used to estimate the number of birds affected include probability exposure models and carcass sampling — both onshore and on the water. Probability exposure models can be used in the post-incident phase, particularly in offshore scenarios where beached bird surveys are not possible, and requires three datasets: (1) at-sea bird densities; (2) bird mortality; and (3) the spill trajectory. Carcass sampling using beached bird surveys is appropriate if trajectories indicate affected birds will reach shore. Carcass sampling can also occur via on-water transects and may overlap with risk assessment efforts. Damage assessment efforts should include a measure of sublethal effects following the post-acute phase of spills, yet this area has significant knowledge gaps. We urge jurisdictions worldwide to improve pre-incident planning. We provide guidance on how, in the absence of pre-incident data, quality data can be obtained during or after an incident. These recommendations are relevant for areas with aquatic-based industrial activities which can result in a spill of substances that could injure or kill waterbirds.

text: Estimating the numbers of aquatic birds affected by oil spills: pre-planning, response, and post-incident considerations Oil spills most visibly affect waterbirds and often the number of birds affected, a key measure of environmental damage from an incident, is required for public communication, population management, and legal reasons. We review and outline steps that can be taken to improve accuracy in the estimation of the number of birds affected in each of three phases: (1) pre-planning; (2) during a response; and (3) post-response. The more pre-planning undertaken, the more robust the estimates will be. Personnel involved in damage assessment efforts must have training in quantitative biology and need support during all three phases. The main approaches currently used to estimate the number of birds affected include probability exposure models and carcass sampling — both onshore and on the water. Probability exposure models can be used in the post-incident phase, particularly in offshore scenarios where beached bird surveys are not possible, and requires three datasets: (1) at-sea bird densities; (2) bird mortality; and (3) the spill trajectory. Carcass sampling using beached bird surveys is appropriate if trajectories indicate affected birds will reach shore. Carcass sampling can also occur via on-water transects and may overlap with risk assessment efforts. Damage assessment efforts should include a measure of sublethal effects following the post-acute phase of spills, yet this area has significant knowledge gaps. We urge jurisdictions worldwide to improve pre-incident planning. We provide guidance on how, in the absence of pre-incident data, quality data can be obtained during or after an incident. These recommendations are relevant for areas with aquatic-based industrial activities which can result in a spill of substances that could injure or kill waterbirds.

year: 2022

title: Racing committees for large datasets

authors: Frank, Eibe

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: This paper proposes a method for generating classifiers from large datasets by building a committee of simple base classifiers using a standard boosting algorithm. It permits the processing of large datasets even if the underlying base learning algorithm cannot efficiently do so. The basic idea is to split incoming data into chunks and build a committee based on classifiers built from these individual chunks. Our method extends earlier work by introducing a method for adaptively pruning the committee. This is essential when applying the algorithm in practice because it dramatically reduces the algorithm’s running time and memory consumption. It also makes it possible to efficiently “race” committees corresponding to different chunk sizes. This is important because our empirical results show that the accuracy of the resulting committee can vary significantly with the chunk size. They also show that pruning is indeed crucial to make the method practical for large datasets in terms of running time and memory requirements. Surprisingly, the results demonstrate that pruning can also improve accuracy.

text: Racing committees for large datasets This paper proposes a method for generating classifiers from large datasets by building a committee of simple base classifiers using a standard boosting algorithm. It permits the processing of large datasets even if the underlying base learning algorithm cannot efficiently do so. The basic idea is to split incoming data into chunks and build a committee based on classifiers built from these individual chunks. Our method extends earlier work by introducing a method for adaptively pruning the committee. This is essential when applying the algorithm in practice because it dramatically reduces the algorithm’s running time and memory consumption. It also makes it possible to efficiently “race” committees corresponding to different chunk sizes. This is important because our empirical results show that the accuracy of the resulting committee can vary significantly with the chunk size. They also show that pruning is indeed crucial to make the method practical for large datasets in terms of running time and memory requirements. Surprisingly, the results demonstrate that pruning can also improve accuracy.

year: 2002-01-01

title: Curriculum integration as treaty praxis.

authors: Fraser, Deborah

subjects: curricula

abstract: The article discusses the significance of curriculum integration on the promotion of principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement signed in 1840 by the Maori and the Crown people in New Zealand. It explores the challenges linked with this curriculum theory design. It also highlights a case study which analyzes the impact of curriculum integration in education.

text: Curriculum integration as treaty praxis. The article discusses the significance of curriculum integration on the promotion of principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement signed in 1840 by the Maori and the Crown people in New Zealand. It explores the challenges linked with this curriculum theory design. It also highlights a case study which analyzes the impact of curriculum integration in education.

year: 2002