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Neotropical Ichthyology
Neotrop. ichthyol. vol.11 no.2 Porto Alegre June 2013 Epub June 18, 2013
Development of habitat suitability criteria for Neotropical stream fishes and an assessment of their transferability to streams with different conservation status
Fabrício Barreto Teresa1
Lilian Casatti2
1Universidade Estadual de Goiás - UEG, Unidade Universitária de Porangatu, Avenida Brasília, 32, 76550-000 Porangatu, GO, Brazil. fabricioteresa@yahoo.com.br
2Universidade Estadual Paulista - UNESP, Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, IBILCE, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265, 15054-000 São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil. licasatti@gmail.com
We assessed the preference of 10 fish species for depth and velocity conditions in forested streams from southeastern Brazil using habitat suitability criteria (HSC curves). We also tested whether preference patterns observed in forested streams can be transferred to deforested streams. We used data from fish sampled in 62 five-meter sites in three forested streams to construct preference curves. Astyanax altiparanae, A. fasciatus, Knodus moenkhausii, and Piabina argentea showed a preference for deep slow habitats, whereas Aspidoras fuscoguttatus, Characidium zebra, Cetopsorhamdia iheringi, Pseudopimelodus pulcher, and Hypostomus nigromaculatus showed an opposite pattern: preference for shallow fast habitats. Hypostomus ancistroides showed a multimodal pattern of preference for depth and velocity. To evaluate whether patterns observed in forested streams may be transferred to deforested streams, we sampled 64 five-meters sites in three deforested streams using the same methodology. The preference for velocity was more consistent than for depth, as success in the transferability criterion was 86% and 29% of species, respectively. This indicates that velocity is a good predictor of species abundance in streams, regardless of their condition
Key words: Depth; Fish assemblages; Habitat preference; Riparian forest; Velocity
Neste estudo avaliamos a preferência de 10 espécies de peixes por condições de profundidade e fluxo em riachos florestados do sudeste do Brasil por meio do critério de adequabilidade de habitat (habitat suitability criteria - curvas HSC). Testamos também se os padrões de preferência observados nos riachos florestados podem ser transferidos para riachos desmatados. Foram realizadas amostragens da ictiofauna em 62 trechos de cinco metros de extensão em três riachos florestados para a construção das curvas de preferência. Astyanax altiparanae, A. fasciatus, Knodus moenkhausii e Piabina argentea apresentaram preferência por habitats lentos e profundos, enquanto Aspidoras fuscoguttatus, Characidium zebra, Cetopsorhamdia iheringi, Pseudopimelodus pulcher e Hypostomus nigromaculatus apresentaram um padrão oposto de preferência por habitats rasos e de fluxo rápido. Hypostomus ancistroides apresentou um padrão de preferência por profundidade e fluxo multimodal. Para avaliar se os padrões observados nos riachos florestados podem ser transferidos para riachos desmatados foram realizadas amostragens da ictiofauna em 64 trechos de cinco metros de extensão em três riachos desmatados utilizando a mesma metodologia aplicada aos riachos florestados. O sucesso na transferência do critério foi de 86% e 29% para fluxo e profundidade, ou seja, a preferência por fluxo foi mais consistente do que por profundidade. Isso indica que o fluxo é um bom preditor da abundância das espécies em riachos, independentemente do seu estado de conservação
The recognition that species are distributed non-randomly in habitats, preferentially occupying suitable sites for feeding, reproduction, and survival (Grinnell, 1917; Hutchinson, 1957), constitutes the basis for developing predictive models of species distribution along environmental gradients (e.g., Ahmadi-Nedushan et al., 2006). This approach has a broad application for natural resources management, since it allows prediction of changes in biological communities from changes in environmental conditions caused by human activities. However, the predictive power of these models depends on knowledge of the response of species in relation to the gradient of environmental conditions. This information can be obtained by developing habitat suitability criteria (HSC) (Bovee, 1982, 1986), a component for conducting physical habitat simulation (PHABSIM), a tool used to assess the consequences of changes in river flows on habitat availability (Bovee, 1982).
The HSC can be assessed by curves defining the degree of preference by a given species in relation to habitat variables alone, such as depth, velocity, substrate, and cover. Efforts to develop HSC for multiple species have increased, owing to the degradation of water resources and growing concern over biodiversity loss (e.g., Lamouroux et al., 1999; Vadas & Orth, 2001; Strakosh et al., 2003). However, this approach has not been applied in Neotropical environments, limiting the use of predictive models and the ability to quantitatively predict the biological impacts from changes in hydraulic variables of aquatic environments. This is especially alarming because changes in the natural flow regime are among the major anthropogenic threats for fish conservation in Neotropical lotic environments (Barletta et al., 2010).
Several factors, such as environmental heterogeneity, food availability, predation, competition, and habitat availability influence the patterns of species occupancy in riverine patches (Power, 1984; Thomas & Bovee, 1993; Jackson et al., 2001; Leal et al., 2011). The differential effects of these factors may limit the applicability of HSC in environments or conditions other than that for which it was developed (Groshens & Orth, 1993; Freeman et al., 1997; Vadas & Orth, 2001). In these cases, the development of specific criteria for each type of stream or condition is recommended (Bovee, 1986), which brings high costs and operational difficulties. However, other studies have found consistency in preference patterns across streams (Thomas & Bovee, 1993; Strakosh et al., 2003). This highlights the importance to validate HSC to the site of interest (transferability) before developing new criteria.
Our present goal was to evaluate the preference of different fish species for depth and velocity conditions in forested streams from southeastern Brazil, based on the development of HSC curves. Here, we also evaluated the consistency of habitat preference patterns of species in forested streams and test HSC transferability to deforested streams. In our study region, the clearing of native vegetation was a consequence of economic and social processes that occurred in the past, affecting about 75% of the riparian zones (Silva et al., 2007), and most streams have some degradation of their physical integrity that is directly or indirectly related to deforestation (Casatti et al., 2006). We focused on depth and velocity because they represent important predictors of fish community structure in streams (Lamouroux et al., 1999; Bürhnheim, 2002). Moreover, both forested and deforested streams had similar conditions considering these two variables, an important condition for the test of transferability (Freeman et al., 1997).
All streams studied (second and third order) are located in the drainage of the São José dos Dourados River, upper Paraná River basin, northwestern region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil (Fig. 1). The climate of the region is influenced by equatorial and tropical masses, resulting in a tropical climate with dry and rainy periods, with higher rainfall and higher temperatures from December to February and lower rainfall and milder temperatures between June and August (IPT, 1999). The forested streams are located within the greatest forest fragment (Seasonal Semideciduous Forest > 1.600 ha) of the basin and represent what is best preserved in the region (Fig. 1). The deforested streams are located in areas dominated by pasture, completely lacking arboreal vegetation in their riparian zone, presenting grass (Brachiaria spp.) proliferation on the banks (Fig. 1), with no evidence of chemical pollution. There are no representative forest remnants associated with deforested streams upstream or downstream of the study stretches. Both forested and deforested streams had similar conditions considering depth and velocity. Sites presented variation of 10.4 to 70.5 cm for depth and of 0.02 to 1.41 m/s for velocity. The width was also variable (1.65 to 4.62 m) such that depth and velocity was not perfectly correlated, although significant correlations between these variables has been verified in both forested and deforested streams (Pearson's product-moment correlation, r = 0.57, p < 0.01; r = 0.29, p < 0.01, respectively).
Fig. 1 Location of the study sites in the São José dos Dourados River basin, São Paulo State, Brazil (a and b). Forested sites (dark circles) are located within the greatest forest fragments and deforested (gray circles) streams lack arboreal vegetation in their riparian zone and are located in areas dominated by pasture (c).
Fish sampling and environmental variables
We collectively sampled 62 five-meter sites in three forested streams to identify the preference of fish species for depth and velocity and thus define habitat suitability criteria. In each stream we selected between 19 and 24 sites in order to represent the structural variation present in each stream. The fish samplings were carried out during the dry season (September to November 2009 and April to July 2010). The collection of fish was performed using electric fishing (stationary generator, AC, 220 V, 50-60 Hz, 3.4-4.1 A, 1000 W, as detailed by Castro et al., 2003) and consisted of successive passes from shore to shore along the site's lenght, until no individual was captured after a complete passage. Fish caught were fixed in a 10% formalin solution and after 48 hours transferred to a 70% ethanol solution. Voucher specimens of all species were deposited at the fish collection of the Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica da Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" (DZSJRP), São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil (Table 1).
Table 1 Voucher number, number of sites at which the species was recorded and number of individuals (in parentheses) of species occurring in at least 10 sites in forested streams (F1 to F3).
Family Species Code Voucher number (DZSJRP) F1 F2 F3
Characidae Astyanax altiparanae Astalt 8282 15 (97) 9 (26) 8 (30)
Astyanax fasciatus Astfas 6032 6 (20) 14 (36) 17 (192)
Knodus moenkhausii Knomoe 6079 8 (17) 10 (30) 8 (13)
Piabina argentea Piaarg 8055 13 (35) 11 (34) 12 (42)
Crenuchidae Characidium zebra Chazeb 6034 16 (31) 20 (66) 19 (89)
Callichthyidae Aspidoras fuscoguttatus Aspfus 8169 0 (0) 6 (11) 10 (23)
Heptapteridae Cetopsorhamdia iheringi Cetihe 5995 5 (8) 4 (9) 6 (25)
Pseudopimelodus pulcher Psepul 6173 11 (42) 9 (38) 0 (0)
Loricariidae Hypostomus ancistroides Hypanc 6036 6 (10) 10 (23) 16 (38)
Hypostomus nigromaculatus Hypnig 8280 18(69) 14 (47) 11 (87)
Each site was isolated upstream and downstream with block nets before sampling to prevent fish emigration or immigration while electric fishing sampling. The distance among sites in each stream was variable (~ 3 to 300 meters). To verify if the distance among sites influenced the biological patterns observed within each stream, the relation between site distance and fish composition, represented by the similarity matrix based on Jaccard coefficient, was tested by a Relate routine (test for seriation). This analysis was used to test if changes in community composition exactly match the spatial sequence of sites (for example, community composition of first site on the longitudinal gradient is more similar to second site and less similar to third site, and so on with more distant sites being the most dissimilar). Additionally, significance was evaluated by permutation testing (Clarke & Warwick, 2001). This analysis was not statistically significant (p > 0.07), revealing that the distance among sampled sites did not influence the results.
After fish sampling, we characterized the site in relation to depth and velocity. We divided each site into four equidistant, transverse transects, where depth measurements were obtained at five equidistant points from one margin to another. We used a mechanical flowmeter model 2030 (General Oceanics(r)) to measure water velocity at ~ 0.6 times the total depth at the center of each transect. The values of depth and velocity for the whole site were obtained by calculating the mean values in each transect (depth) and across transects (velocity and depth).
Development of habitat suitability criteria and test for transferability
Only species that occurred in at least 10 samples in forested streams were included in the habitat suitability criteria for depth and velocity. We adopted this procedure because infrequent species may have been under-sampled, resulting in higher estimated errors of preference. We classified the depth gradient into five classes (D1 = 0 to 0.2 m; D2 = 0.21 to 0.30 m; D3 = 0.31 to 0.40 m; D4 = 0.41 to 0.50 m; D5 > 0.51 m) and velocity into four classes (V1 = 0 to 0.20 m/s; V2 = 0.21 to 0.40 m/s; V3 = 0.41 to 0.60 m/s; V4 > 0.61 m/s). The limits for the classes were defined to represent discrete units of the hydrological gradient while ensuring a comparable number of samples in each class. We built HSC curves (type III, sensu Bovee, 1986) from preference values for each class of depth and velocity that were calculated as proportional abundance of species in each class of depth and velocity relative to total abundance, divided by the proportional number of sites in the class in relation to all sites sampled (1) (Freeman et al., 1997). With this procedure, we considered both the relative abundance of species in the habitats and habitat availability. Next, we standardized the preference values to vary from 0 to 1, thereby obtaining the suitability index (SI). For the class with the highest preference value, we assigned an index of 1 and proportionally smaller values to other classes (2):
where (1) Pi is the preference value for the class i, Ni is the proportional abundance of the species in the sites of class i in relation to specimens sampled considering all sites and Hi is the proportional number of sites of the class i in relation to all sites sampled; (2) SIi is the suitability index for the class i and Pmax is the highest preference value obtained for a class.
We tested if the HSC developed for forested streams could be transferred to deforested streams. To do this, we sampled fish and environmental descriptors in 64 five-meter sites in three deforested streams (between 16 and 24 sites in each stream) during the same period and using the same methodology applied to forested streams. To test the transferability of HSC from forested to deforested streams, we considered only species that occurred in at least 10 sites in the deforested streams. We classified the deforested sites in optimum or non-optimum according to the threshold defined from the HSC curves from forested streams. We considered optimal those deforested sites whose depth and velocity values fell into the classes that presented SI values greater than 0.7 in the forested streams. We choose 0.7 as a reference value because it included most of the raw values of habitat preference higher than 1.0, i.e., whose relative abundance is higher than the proportional availability of habitats. In fact, 97.8% of depth and velocity classes with suitability index greater than 0.7 had preference scores of 1.0 or higher (scores combined across all species and sites). Conversely, only 5.5% of depth and velocity intervals with preference scores higher than 1.0 had SIs lower than 0.7. The definition of a threshold that defines optimal versus non-optimal sites goals to distinguish those habitat conditions with the greatest probability of sustaining populations of the target species (Freeman et al., 1997). For the criterion to be considered transferable, the abundance of a species should be higher in "optimal" than in "non-optimal" sites of deforested streams. Thus, we conducted a comparison of the mean species abundance between optimum and non-optimum sites of deforested streams using a one-tailed t-test (0.05 of significance level).
We recorded 31 species in forested streams, of which 10 occurred in at least 10 samples (Table 1). The evaluation of the HSC curves for these species for depth and velocity demonstrated three main patterns (Fig. 2). Astyanax altiparanae, A. fasciatus, Knodus moenkhausii, and Piabina argentea had high SI values in slow-flowing and deep sites. Another four species showed an opposite pattern, with higher SI values associated with shallow and fast-flowing habitats. This was the case of Characidium zebra, Cetopsorhamdia iheringi, Pseudopimelodus pulcher, and Hypostomus nigromaculatus. Aspidoras fuscoguttatus and Hypostomus ancistroides showed distinct patterns from the above species and had the highest SI values in multiple classes of depth and in habitats with high and low water velocity, respectively (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 Habitat suitability criteria for depth and velocity of 10 species (codes in Table 1) developed for forested streams, considering five classes of depth (D1 = 0 to 0.2 m; D2 = 0.21 to 0.30 m; D3 = 0.31 to 0.40 m; D4 = 0.41 to 0.50 m; D5 > 0.51 m) and four classes of velocity (V1 = > 0.0 to 0.2 m/s; V2 = 0.21 to 0.40 m/s; V3 = 0.41 to 0.60 m/s; V4 > 0.61 m/s). The dotted lines indicate SI = 0.7, above which conditions were considered optimal.
Only seven species to which we built HSC curves for forested streams also occurred in deforested streams (Table 2). In relation to depth, the mean abundance of A. altiparanae and A. fuscoguttatus was higher in optimal habitats of deforested streams, considering the threshold established in forested streams (t test, P < 0.01; Table 2). The abundance of the other species did not differ between optimal and non-optimal habitats in deforested streams (t test, P > 0.15; Table 2). In relation to water velocity, all species, except H. ancistroides, had higher abundances in optimal habitats of deforested streams, according to the criteria established for forested streams (t test, P < 0.02; Table 2).
Table 2 Transferability test of HSC from forested to deforested streams. The + sign indicates that the HSC developed for forested streams was able to predict the abundance of a given species in deforested streams, and the - sign indicates the opposite.
Species Abundance
Depth Velocity
Astyanax altiparanae + +
Astyanax fasciatus - +
Piabina argentea - +
Characidium zebra - +
Aspidoras fuscoguttatus + +
Hypostomus ancistroides - -
Hypostomus nigromaculatus - +
In this study we established the preference of ten species of stream fishes for depth and velocity conditions. In general, species showed well-defined preference patterns for depth and velocity, reinforcing the importance of hydraulic variables as predictors of fish distribution in lotic environments (Lamouroux et al., 1999; Vadas & Orth, 2001; Schwartz & Herricks, 2008; Leal et al., 2011). One of the patterns was the association of A. altiparanae, A. fasciatus, K. moenkhausii, and P. argentea in deep, slow-flowing habitats. Indeed, the morphology of these species is compatible with this habitat preference, as their compressed bodies, well-developed anal fins, short caudal peduncle,lateral eyes represent morphological adaptations to live in lentic and slow-flowing waters (Gatz, 1979; Oliveira et al., 2010). Behavioral patterns displayed by these species also favor the occupation of lentic and deep habitats, as they are mid-water swimmers that feed on drift items in the water column (Casatti & Castro, 1998; Casatti et al., 2001; Ceneviva-Bastos et al., 2010). Probably they are also favored in deep habitats with a higher habitat volume (i.e., water column) and where slow velocity requires less energy expenditure for movement and feeding (Casatti & Castro, 1998; Bürhnheim, 2002).
An opposite pattern was observed for C. zebra, C. iheringi, P. pulcher, and H. nigromaculatus that showed preference for shallow and fast-flowing habitats. These fish have morphological and behavioral adaptations congruent with life in these conditions. For example, these species share depressed bodies and expanded pectoral fins (Casatti et al. 2005; Casatti & Castro, 2006), which allow short movements in fast-flowing environments (Watson & Balon, 1984). In addition, the diet composed of periphyton (H. nigromaculatus) and aquatic insects (remaining species) is consistent with the high availability of these items in shallow, fast-flowing environments (Angermeier & Karr, 1983).
The habitat suitability criteria obtained for H. ancistroides and A. fuscoguttatus were distinct from other species with respect to depth. Normally, a species response to environment is expected to be either monotonic or unimodal (Thomas & Bovee, 1993; Vadas & Orth, 2001; Strakosh et al., 2003), although different patterns can also be observed (Freeman et al., 1997). The bimodal pattern observed for A. fuscoguttatus might be an artifact of small sample sizes. Because this species occurred only in two forested streams, we did not consider the samples from the stream in which it was absent to calculate the habitat availability. Consequently, only five samples fell into the deepest depth class. Because the calculation of SI involves the relative abundance ratio of the proportional availability of habitat, the occurrence of a few individuals (seven) in two samples resulted in high SI values. One of the procedures that can be adopted in this case is either group together two adjacent classes to increase sample size or not take into account the SI value obtained (see Freeman et al., 1997). With the adoption of these procedures, the preference pattern of A. fuscoguttatus would be similar to species with a preference for shallow habitats, and therefore consistent with the pattern of habitat use reported for this species (Araujo & Garutti, 2003). Although the criterion developed here is consistent in deforested streams, this was due to the preference of this fish for shallowest depth class, as no individual was recorded in the deepest depth class. This strengthens our suggestion that the second peak of the HSC curve for this species has no biological basis. The habitat use criterion for velocity indicated a preference for fast-flowing habitats, but similar to C. zebra, other velocity conditions were considered habitable (SI values > 0.32). This is consistent with the plasticity of this species, which occurs in streams with different hydrological characteristics (Casatti et al., 2009a,b).
The multimodal pattern observed in the depth preference curve of H. ancistroides suggests that this factor has little influence in determining its abundance patterns. On the other hand, velocity seems to be a good predictor of its abundance in forested streams, via a more uniform relationship, indicating a preference for lentic habitats, as also found by Uieda et al. (1997) and Casatti et al. (2005). Interestingly, this pattern is uncommon for species of Hypostomus, which are usually associated with fast-flowing habitats, like H. nigromaculatus in this study.
The conditions considered non-optimal in this study (SI < 0.7) are not necessarily uninhabitable. Within this range, one could still discriminate between a range of habitable or marginal conditions and another as uninhabitable (Thomas & Bovee, 1993), which would represent the conditions in which a given species would avoid to live. Most species that preferred shallow, fast-flowing habitats were less plastic, since there are a wider range of conditions that may be considered uninhabitable to them (SI values close to zero in two classes of depth and velocity), compared with species that preferred deep, slow-flowing habitats. The only exception to this pattern was C. zebra, whose non-optimal, but occupied conditions could be considered habitable, as the SI values were higher than 0.37. Species that preferred deep, slow-flowing habitats showed SI values close to zero in a maximum of one class of depth and velocity. This indicates that species that preferred shallow, fast-flowing habitats are more specialized and probably more sensitive to changes in hydraulic conditions. In fact, the loss of rheophilic species in streams from our study region has been attributed to changes in hydraulic conditions and simplification of habitats (Casatti et al., 2006; Casatti et al., 2009a; Teresa & Casatti, 2010). For example, C. iheringi and P. pulcher did not occur in the degraded streams studied by Casatti et al. (2009a), a fact that they attributed to the loss of riffles from siltation and habitat simplification.
The analysis of HSC transferability from forested to deforested streams revealed that the preference of fish species is partially consistent across environments of different conservation status. Depth HSCs could be transferred to only two out of seven species (29%), whereas velocity HSCs could be transferred to six out of seven species (86%). These results indicate that the need to develop specific criteria for each condition depend on the variable considered, with velocity having higher transferability than depth. The failure to transfer HSCs may be due to different factors, such as (i) the preferred conditions are not available, (ii) interaction with other factors in deforested streams and (iii) failure of the criterion to describe optimal habitats. The first explanation may, at least partially, justify the failure in transferring the criteria for depth, especially for species whose optimum condition was assigned to the last depth class (> 0.51 m) like A. fasciatus. In deforested streams, only four sites (~ 6%), three of which in the same stream, fell into the deepest depth class. According to Bovee (1986), the successful transfer of HSC is dependent on the availability of conditions in the site to which one wants to transfer the criterion.
The second explanation (interaction with other factors) may also apply if environmental factors influenced fish differently in forested as opposed to deforested streams. For example, the high abundance of marginal submerged vegetation in deforested streams, as a result of the proliferation of exotic grasses, provide favorable microhabitats for some species (Casatti et al., 2009a) and may influence their response to other variables. Such grasses can attenuate water flow along stream banks, providing slow-flowing microhabitats even in sites with high velocities. As a result, species with preferences for slow-flowing habitats would be favored, notably H. ancistroides in our study. In fact, individuals of this species were observed in the vegetation on the banks of deforested streams, even in sites with high water flow. On the other hand, this species was restricted to the mid-channel in forested streams, where submerged grasses are lacking and supposedly the influence of velocity is higher. This could explain the failure to transfer the criterion for flow velocity to H. ancistroides.
The failure in transferring HSCs also may be related to the fact that they do not always describe a habitat preferred by species. For example, in this study, depth and velocity co-varied in both forested and deforested streams, so that the preference patterns observed for a variable (e.g., depth) can be influenced by a second variable (velocity). If the pattern for depth preference of species is an artifact of their association with velocity, then one would expect a distinct preference pattern for this variable (i.e., failure to transfer HSCs) only if the velocity-depth relationship was different between forested and deforested streams. In fact this happened, as a higher proportion of sites classified into the fourth velocity class (> 0.6 m/s) were grouped into classes with higher depth (D2, D3, and D4) in the deforested streams. This could explain the failure to transfer depth HSCs among streams for species that showed preference for fast-flowing habitats, like H. nigromaculatus and C. zebra.
The results indicated a high consistency in the response of species for velocity, suggesting that this variable is a good predictor of species abundance and that its HSC has great potential to be transferred to streams of different conservation status. Despite the criteria developed and tested in this study were based on samples collected over a dry season, it is expected that the same patterns emerge in wet season. This expectation is based on the weak effect of seasonality on the fish composition and assemblage structure in the studied region (Ferreira & Casatti, 2006; Rocha et al., 2009). The successful transference of criteria in a landscape scale as shown in this study is relevant, mainly considering that transferability of criteria is usually tested between streams (Thomas & Bovee, 1993) or between regional models built for individual streams (Lamouroux et al., 1999). The data presented in this study should represent part of an effort to develop criteria for Neotropical species, encompassing a broader spectrum of conditions, as well as other variables known to be important for fish, like substrate and cover (Vadas & Orth, 2001; Wright & Flecker, 2004; Leal et al., 2011).
We are grateful to many people in the São Paulo State University who helped during data collection; to Gabriel L. Brejão for figure 1; to Fábio Cop Ferreira (São Paulo State University), Robert L. Vadas Jr (Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife), Fernando M. Pelicice (Federal University of Tocantins) and two anonymous referees for comments and suggestions that improved the manuscript. This project is part of the thematic project "Fauna e Flora de Remanescentes Florestais do Noroeste Paulista" funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP (process #2008/03583-9). Diogo B. Provete and Robert L. Vadas Jr reviewed the English language. FBT received a doctoral fellowship from São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP (2008/03583-9) and LC receives a research productivity grant from the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq (306758/2010-5).
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Ceneviva-Bastos, M., L. Casatti & D. C. Rossa-Feres. 2010. Meso and microhabitat analysis and feeding habits of small nektonic characins (Teleostei: Characiformes) in Neotropical streams. Zoologia, 27: 191-200. [ Links ]
Clarke, K. R. & R. M. Warwick. 2001. Change in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK. [ Links ]
Ferreira, C. P. & L. Casatti. 2006. Influência da estrutura do hábitat sobre a ictiofauna de um riacho em uma micro-bacia de pastagem, São Paulo, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia, 23: 642-651. [ Links ]
Freeman, M. C., Z. H. Bowen & J.H. Crance. 1997. Transferability of habitat suitability criteria for fishes in warmwater streams. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 17: 20-31. [ Links ]
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Oliveira, E. F., E. Goulart, L. Breda, C. V. Minte-Vera, L. R. S. Paiva & M. R. Vismara. 2010. Ecomorphological patterns of the fish assemblage in a tropical floodplain: effects of trophic, spatial and phylogenetic structures. Neotropical Ichthyology, 8: 569-586. [ Links ]
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Received: September 16, 2012; Accepted: March 23, 2013
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura/Coleção Ictiologia
Av. Colombo, 5790
87020-900 Maringá, PR, Brasil
Tel.: (55 44)3011 4632
neoichth@nupelia.uem.br


text:
Q: Fluid 960: Weird Alpha/Omega behavior I'm using Fluid 960 at the moment, and I'm getting some weird behavior with alpha/omega. My understanding of alpha/omega is that it's used to fix left/right margins in nested grids.
However, when I apply alpha/omega to a pair of nested grids, the left hand side grid has a really shallow indent while the right hand side grid has a large right-hand side indent (visual observations). Anyone know what's going on?

A: Its only needed for nested grids eg.

sidebar

            1

            2

            3

photo's

advertisement

Works as expected now.

A: I think nested grids won't work in Fluid 960. Widths of grid are defined in term of percentage, instead of exact pixel.
Take previous answer as example, grid_6 will translate to 48% of width, then a grid_2 inside grid_6 will translate to 14.666% * 48%, but the expected of 14.466%.
I am also facing the same problem and may have to revert to non-fluid version. Please suggest if there is a solution or I am wrong.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


History: 37-30-203, MCA; IMP, 2-4-201, MCA; Eff. 12/31/72; TRANS, from Dept. of Prof. & Occup. Lic. , Ch. 274, L. 1981, Eff. 7/1/81; TRANS, from Commerce, 2002 MAR p. 393; REP, 2004 MAR p. 2813, Eff. 11/19/04.
11/19/2004 Current History: 37-30-203, MCA; IMP, 2-4-201, MCA; Eff. 12/31/72; TRANS, from Dept. of Prof. & Occup. Lic. , Ch. 274, L. 1981, Eff. 7/1/81; TRANS, from Commerce, 2002 MAR p. 393; REP, 2004 MAR p. 2813, Eff. 11/19/04.


(Sheridan, Wyo.) - Here are all the arrests from around the county on July 26. All persons arrested or cited are presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law.
Joseph Jeffrey Bolin, 50, Sheridan, DUI and Communicating a Threat of Bodily Injury.
Erik Winther Bale, 21, Sheridan, DUI.
Tamara Lei Littlebear, 27, Sheridan, Valid Insurance Violation, Eluding an Officer, DUI, Speeding and No Valid Driver's License.
Tommilyn P. Bullcoming, 38, Sheridan, Valid Insurance Violation, DUI, Speeding and No Valid Driver's License.


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Home >News >World >US defence secretary Ashton Carter to visit India next week
US defence secretary Ashton Carter, left, would meet with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parikkar during the next week's visit. Photo: AFP
US defence secretary Ashton Carter to visit India next week
2 min read . Updated: 02 Dec 2016, 01:50 PM IST Lalit K Jha
Ashton Carter will be in India on 8 December, becoming the first outgoing US defence secretary to include India in his itinerary for the final overseas trip
Washington: Reflecting a new bonhomie of Indo-US defence ties, the Pentagon on Friday announced that outgoing defence secretary Ashton Carter would be visiting India next week on his final around the world trip. Slated to be in India on 8 December, Carter would travel to Japan, Bahrain, Israel, Italy and Great Britain before returning to the US on 16 December. This is for the first time that an outgoing American Defence Secretary has included India in his itinerary for the final overseas trip.
"He (Carter) will look to build on the strategic handshake between the two nations and to continue the momentum in the relationship over the past decade, including expanded defence cooperation during his time as Secretary," the Pentagon said in a statement. Carter among others would meet defence minister Manohar Parrikar.
Ahead of his visit, informed sources said India has made maritime security a significant priority and in discussion with the US for sale of Predator drones from General Atomics. The outgoing Obama administration is trying to concretise steps taken with India in the defence domain as they transition the efforts to the Trump administration, sources noted, adding that on Carter's agenda include M777 and Predator Guardian for the Indian Navy.
Early this year, India was able to join the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) with support from the US. Subsequently, India was also designated a "a major defence partner" when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the US and met President Barack Obama at the Oval Office this Summer.
The first opportunity for US Government to showcase this would be in the maritime domain surveillance area with the export of Predator Guardian, informed sources pointed out, adding that Obama and Carter are keen to establish a concrete legacy with India.
Vivek Lall, chief executive, US and International Strategic Development at General Atomics, are among the US leaders that have been advocating greater convergence between the US and India. It is under his leadership that, India had acquired Boeing P8I aircraft in 2009 which would complement the Guardian aircraft for maritime security.
Noting that Obama and Modi have repeatedly stressed that cooperation in the Indian Ocean is key to both countries national security interests, it is anticipated that both sides will discuss the Avenger drones for the Indian Air Force. India requires more than 100 such drones, sources said. The combined value of Guardian and Avengers could be almost equivalent to the MMRCA requirement in value.
Most militaries around the world are focusing their budgets and efforts to acquire unmanned platforms in the future.
Modi spoke to President-elect Donald Trump on 9 November to congratulate and build on the strong Indo-US relations. Both leaders are believed to be keen to take the strategic partnership to a new heights. India hopes that Trump will pursue a strategy in South Asia making India truly a priority and an anchor in the region. PTI

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The report includes over 950 letters from assorted cranky Peninsula NIMBYs, hippies, and Howard Jarvis looking Ayn Rand worshippers demanding that the high speed rail project be squashed underfoot like a pesky insect. That, or the rail authority should put the train in a tunnel all the way down the Peninsula from San Francisco to San Jose, because, you know, that would be like cost effective and practical and everything.
So, have a look at the document and post your thoughts in the comments. I'll have a fuller analysis on this either tonight or tomorrow.
The US Congress is getting a reputation as the place where good ideas go to die. Although currently held by the Democratic Party, the real power lies with center-right Democrats who are generally skittish about significant change, and certainly wary of either spending money, finding new revenues for programs, or both.
We can see this in the health care and the climate change bill - but we can also see it in the discussion of the reauthorization of the Transportation Bill, due in 2009. In the House, Jim Oberstar has been pushing to produce a bill that would better fund public transit and shift the government's priorities away from roads and sprawl. Transportation for America has an analysis of his efforts here - it's a mixed bag so far.
In 2001, knowing the next highway reauthorization was set for 2003, we developed a six-year funding mechanism that called for a 2-cent-a-gallon gas tax increase in the first year, a 2-cent-a-gallon increase in the third year, and another 2-cent-a-gallon increase in the fifth year. As I recall, that would have been a $330 billion proposal and left us with a $7 billion unobligated trust fund balance after six years. We went to the Oval Office, and after we went through the entire presentation, President Bush takes a marker, circles the gas tax increases, and says, "Norm, I don't want any of those tax increases. Get those out."
So we went back and put a CPI inflator on the gas tax in the fifth year. Keep in mind that the gas tax had not been raised since 1993. We returned to the Oval Office, went through the presentation, and afterward President Bush said, "Norm, that's a tax increase. Get that out."
I wholly agree with these statements, and it is certainly time to provide general fund support for transportation projects. Infrastructure, especially mass transit infrastructure including high speed rail, is at the center of this nation's economic recovery effort and our 21st century prosperity. Unfortunately, Congress seems to have totally abandoned any interest in economic recovery or long-term planning, and is instead dominated by obsolete 20th century concerns about the politics of taxes and user fees.
Barbara Boxer's reluctance to propose revenue solutions, and her desire to kick the can down the curb, is part of a growing trend in her approach to policymaking that is much more risk-averse and centrist than we are used to seeing from the more liberal of our two senators. Facing re-election in 2010, Boxer appears to have concluded that she needs to play to an assumed political center, seeking bipartisanship (with James Inhofe? ha!) and avoiding anything resembling a tax increase for fear of how it would play with California voters.
These concerns are misplaced. Californians have shown they will support raising revenue for sustainable transportation solutions, as the November 2008 election made clear. Not just in the passage of Prop 1A, which after all was a bond, but in the passage of outright sales tax increases in Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Marin and Sonoma counties. Those counties have nearly 15 million residents, and over 67% of voters in those counties supported the concept Yonah Freemark described above, of asking everyone to subsidize mass transit, not just those who use it.
Boxer's unwillingness to lead is sadly being matched by President Barack Obama. Over the first six months of the Obama Administration a disturbing trend has made itself clear. Obama likes to talk a big game, and will make public statements promising a new era, broad reform, and an embrace of policy change. He then leaves all the details up to Congress, refusing to get involved in the nitty gritty of the negotiations. As a result Congress's natural tendency to either do nothing or do the wrong thing is asserted, and we get outcomes like an 18-month postponement.
How this affects HSR is unclear. High speed rail will be a part of the new Transportation Bill. How it will be funded remains totally unclear. Obama wants to see a long-term HSR program come out of Congress, but as with so many other aspects of his agenda, Obama is going to have to learn that if he wants Congress to do something, he is going to have to force the issue and make it happen himself.
Until Obama does, the US Congress will remain a graveyard for common sense and smart, proven, effective policy.
Back in the USA after two wonderful weeks in Portugal. There was a fair bit of HSR news while I was over there - the ruling Socialist Party made the surprising announcement that the final decision to move ahead with the planned HSR line to connect Lisboa to Madrid was going to be postponed until 2010, after this year's legislative elections. The PS and its prime minister, José Sócrates, are worried about losing to the rival Social Democrats (PSD), who are not exactly strong supporters of the line even though Portugal and Spain have signed agreements to build it, and even though the EU has already planned to contribute financially to the project.
The PS wants to make the PSD look uninterested in solving the economic crisis, and Sócrates seems to think that making an election issue out of the HSR project would give his party a boost, as the proposal is generally popular with the public, and Portugal doesn't have to foot the entire bill. But the nakedly political ploy could well backfire. The EU was not pleased with the postponement, and Portugal's president, Aníbal Cavaco Silva (of the PSD), had to step in to ease concerns and promised that the project would still go forward. News reports spun it as a sign of weakness on the part of Sócrates and the PS.
So we will see what happens. I'm still getting over jet lag, so use this as an open thread. Tomorrow I'll be back to discuss our own HSR project here in California.
It´s mid-afternoon here on the Algarve in Portugal. Beautiful weather, cool clear water, and a nice breeze making the last week of my visit here quite enjoyable. So what am I doing online? Other than being a total nerd, and taking a kind of siesta, I´m catching up on HSR stuff. Thanks so much to Rafael for his ongoing work in keeping the blog updated.
AB 153 by Fiona Ma will be heard in the Assembly Transportation and Housing Committee today - the bill would clarify the eminent domain power of the CHSRA, to emphasize the agency does indeed have such power.
Apologies if this has been discussed before - it is a few days old - but the Mercury News has an article on two Menlo Park/Atherton moms who have organized to fundraise for the anti-HSR lawsuit, having collected over $30,000 (note: the original version of this post misstated the sum as $300,000) toward the legal bills. I´m really pleased to see that in this economic crisis there are people with that much money to waste, especially mothers who apparently don´t have to worry about the severe attacks on public education taking place in this state. Wouldn´t $30,000 be rather useful to local schools or to help feed the hungry?!
A new High Speed Commuter Train enters service in the UK today. Traveling at a top speed of 140mph, the Japanese-built "Javelin" is extremely light (for a train) and equipped with powerful electric motors. These permit rapid acceleration and deceleration such that the service can share the expensive HS1 tracks with Eurostar, whose trackage fees on the UK side have long been 10 times higher than in France. This is oneI reason why tickets are so much more expensive than those for similar distances within France. The new regional HSR service should reduce Eurostar's costs in the UK.
For more on the concept of running both long-distance and purely regional HSR trains on the same tracks, see also our earlier post on "HiSpeed Services And Branding".
Meanwhile, Greengauge 21, a prominent HSR advocacy group in the UK, warns that the government's proposed top speed of 250km/h (155mph) for HS2 (the extension to London Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester) will be insufficient to attract enough ridership. For the extension to be a commercial success, it claims the line will need to support top speeds of at least 300km/h.
VIA Rail, Canada's counterpart to Amtrak, wants to upgrade service to 125mph in the core Windsor-Quebec City corridor. This could eventually connect to the Midwest HSR network that proponents think was given a boost by the FRA guidelines published yesterday since it will eventually link eight US states. However, much like the hoped-for Pacific Northwest link between Vancouver BC and Portland (perhaps Eugene), there are simply no public funds on the table. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a conservative, remains opposed to improved passenger rail service in his country. In addition, the Canadian border agency is demanding C$500,000 per year to man the new border post at the train station in Vancouver. This was enough to derailed the effort to get at least the Amtrak Cascades route extended.
JR East has officially unveiled its new E5 series trains, which will serve the Tokyo-Shin Aomori route at a top speed of 320km/h (199mph) starting in 2013. The advanced active-tilt design will run on the existing Tohoku shinkansen line, which was built for a much lower top speed decades ago. While the Fastech 360 development platform for the E5 did achieve the desired top speed of 360km/h (224mph) on the same tracks, it failed to meet very ambitious targets for noise emissions and emergency braking distance. The signature retractable air brakes are not needed at the lower top speed defined for the E5 and were therefore cut from the final design.
A new report on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv HSR line in Israel has uncovered cost overruns and inadequate planning in a key section. It seems likely that heads will roll in the agencies responsible.
Yesterday, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued a joint press release announcing the Bay Area region's preference for stimulus and other HSR spending the Bay Area to be directed towards upgrades to the Caltrain corridor, the expansion of SJ Diridon Station, and the establishment of the new SF Transbay Terminal as the SF terminus.
Newsom had already come out in support of Transbay. Enhancing Diridon was a foregone conclusion. But the announcement apparently portends a broader regional agreement.
The proposal would turn the Diridon Station in downtown San Jose and the planned new Transbay Terminal in downtown San Francisco into major regional transit hubs.
In addition, the Caltrain Station at Fourth and King streets in San Francisco's South of Market would be expanded to accommodate high-speed rail.
The proposed package also seeks funding to electrify Caltrain and to equip its rail cars with automated train-control equipment that senses impending danger on the tracks. The train tracks in San Bruno would be separated from truck and auto traffic.
Together the projects would cost $3.4 billion, said Randy Rentschler, government affairs manager for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The region will ask for $1.6 billion in new federal stimulus money to help pay for the improvements. Additional funds would come from the nearly $10 billion funding pot backed by California voters for high-speed rail.
The Bay Area will seek additional funding later to pay for other projects.
It's encouraging to see a regional consensus emerging around Transbay, which should hopefully end the public political squabbles. What do you think? Will this announcement put an end to the issue, or merely galvanize opposing forces and bring the funding and technical challenges of Transbay further into the fore?
At a study session, council members discussed outreach efforts for high-speed rail and whether it should join the Peninsula Cities Consortium.
The consortium currently includes Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Burlingame and Belmont — cities that have been largely critical of the authority's plans for a major high-speed train running through the state.
Though no formal vote was taken, a small majority of the seven council members — including Mayor Margaret Abe-Koga and Council Members Tom Means, John Inks and Mike Kasperzak — said they were hesitant to join the consortium at this time.
Though consortium cities don't have to follow any particular viewpoint and are free to disagree with the other cities, Mountain View council members said they would rather stay independent.
"I'm not necessarily sure I want to have my voice drowned out or watered down by the other cities," Abe-Koga said.
The current member cities share essentially the same opinion of high-speed rail, Means said, and Mountain View would likely be outvoted on controversial issues.
Reading between the lines here, it sounds like Mountain View doesn't want to get locked into an anti-HSR NIMBY position as is being advocated by the Peninsula consortium. Good for them! It's nice to see cities along the Caltrain/HSR line understanding and welcoming the benefits of electrified, fast passenger trains, instead of blithely assuming in the face of all available evidence that the status quo is just fine and doesn't need to change; or assuming that there will magically appear the money to tunnel from Bayshore to Mountain View.
Not everyone on the Mountain View city council agreed with the inclination to stay out of the consortium, but even those who suggested the city participate did so out of a "rather be inside the tent than outside" mentality.
Still, I think the opponents of joining the consortium have it right. That Peninsula consortium has no real useful or productive purpose and is headed down a blind alley. They don't want an above-grade solution, but they are unwilling to admit the reality that a tunnel will cost too much money. So they'll ultimately be stuck fighting over whether to oppose the whole Caltrain/HSR project or whether to support it, instead of offering constructive feedback.
If that was the goal of the consortium - to explore ways to integrate an above-grade solution with the Peninsula corridor communities in the most effective ways possible - then the consortium would have a lot of value. But we all know that isn't its purpose. Mountain View is better off talking directly with the CHSRA, instead of wasting time on a consortium that is not likely to produce any productive outcomes given its current attitudes and composition.
I'm headed to Portugal for two weeks this coming Thursday and am spending the day getting my preparations done. Our trip will take us all over the country, from Porto to Coimbra to Lisboa to Faro and the Algarve (where I'm hoping it won't yet be totally overwhelmed with British tourists). Not only will it be representative of the various regions of Portugal, but it's a trip that can be done via high speed rail. Comboios de Portugal operates the Alfa Pendular, a tilting train of the pendolino family. The trains have a top speed of 220 km/h (136 mph) which isn't exactly TGV or AVE speed, but certainly qualifies as a kind of HSR. It connects Porto to Lisboa (the nation's two largest cities) in about 2 hours. So I'll get to see the Portuguese HSR system in action, although before the planned upgrades of the Porto-Lisboa line to 300 km/h (to be completed by 2015) and before the HSR link from Lisboa to Madrid is completed (due in 2013).
The FRA presentations from the Sacramento meeting have been posted online (h/t to Matt Melzer). Haven't yet had a chance to look these over, but if you do, be sure to offer your thoughts in the comments.
The Bay Area Council Economic Institute has proposed $7 billion in infrastructure stimulus for the region, including HSR-related projects such as upgrading Diridon Station.
The board took no action on the $99.4 million budget plan Thursday - that will come later this month or early next month - but voted unanimously to declare a fiscal emergency. That move allows the transit agency to bypass state environmental reviews and enact service cuts and fare hikes at an accelerated pace.
The decision follows similar ones by BART, SF Muni and AC Transit in the East Bay. Squeezed by cuts in the state budget, reduced commuter ridership and lower sales tax revenues at the county level, all of these bureaucrats essentially have no choice but to increase revenue and/or cut services to plug rapidly expanding holes in their respective budgets.
Down south, Metrolink is also raising fares, but LA Metro will maintain both fares and service levels in FY2010. Indeed, it boasts of service enhancements, even as it cuts expenses by $130 million and taps into reserves. Note that many of these "enhancements" are actually cuts in selected bus routes.
NCTD also intends to maintain both service levels and (most) fares in the coming fiscal year, having already implemented cuts and fare hikes in the current one. MTS in San Diego has passed a framework budget but warns of further cuts to come as it fills in the details.
The mixed picture suggests that Southern California, long considered a bastion of the automobile, now actually has a mass transit network in better fiscal health than the Bay Area. However, the reprieve will only be temporary if the recession last longer than expected.
Amtrak California aka Caltrans' Division of Rail is funded by the state of California, which is all but bankrupt. Since voters rejected a delicate compromise in a complex package of propositions put to them last month, chances are subsidies for the Pacific Surfliner, Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin may well be slashed severely in coming weeks as lawmakers in Sacramento figure out how to balance their budget through cuts alone. Unfortunately, while service cuts and/or fare increases are required at multiple levels in the short term, they also set in motion a vicious circle of ever-decreasing ridership and ever-greater traffic on the state's highways. That's exactly the opposite of what is required for a sustainable recovery and population/economic growth in the long term.
Of course, California is hardly alone in its budget woes, but very few states require a 2/3 majority to pass a balanced budget. Considering its population now exceeds that of Canada, which requires just a simple majority, perhaps it's time to admit the obvious and amend the pertinent sections of the state constitution in 2010 such that the change is hard to reverse. You can either have high taxes and high-quality public services (e.g. dense transit networks at multiple distance scales) or, low taxes and few public services. The other permutations are simply not sustainable, there is no tooth fairy and also no prospect of reasonable compromise.
Having sole authority and responsibility for balancing the budget tends to concentrate the minds of politicians on both sides on drafting feasible, coherent multi-year policies instead of engaging in ideological trench warfare. In addition, there could well be a drop in the number of spending decisions taken via single-issue ballot propositions, especially expensive ones without a dedicated revenue stream. And yes, while I am in favor of California HSR, I do believe direct democracy was a bad way to get it off the ground. Such mega-projects ought to be proposed and promoted not by bureaucrats but by elected officials who are directly accountable to the people.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is trying to plug a hole of his own in the federal highway trust fund. With healthcare and electricity infrastructure high on the President's domestic agenda, it is possible the next major transportation bill won't be passed before the 2010 midterm elections. For now, expect Congress to kick the can down the road, i.e. to take on more debt rather than raise federal fuel taxes, a concept that is widely perceived as politically impossible. Then again, so was electing an African-American POTUS a couple of years ago.
However, at some point, both the state of California and the Obama administration will have to reconcile their lofty ambitions of green energy and transportation systems with the hard reality that investments in such infrastructure will only pay off if perpetuating the status quo becomes prohibitively expensive for private businesses and consumers alike. No pain, no gain. Both should cut other taxes if and when they can, but they really need to ramp up those on petroleum-based fuels to gradually reduce total vehicle-miles traveled per capita, to partially shield consumers from oil price volatility and, to boost the utilization rates of fixed-cost transit infrastructure (incl. bicycle paths).
Ironically, sharply higher gas prices are also exactly what the domestic auto industry needs to increase profits per sale after it sheds excess unit volume capacity in the context of its present restructuring effort. GM in particular is risking the farm - soon to be your farm - on its expensive E-Flex architecture, essentially electric drive with an "emergency" generator to extend the range.
Meanwhile, HSR already has a proven track record of returning operating surpluses after an initial ramp-up period, overseas and even in the Acela corridor. There is every reason to believe it will thrive without annual subsidies and perhaps even cross-subsidize local and regional connecting transit operations. In the long run, HSR will prove a far superior investment to paving over ever more land with asphalt, precisely because it promotes an alternative to land development patterns that rely on cheap oil while creating additional new opportunities for the US manufacturing sector.
Though California is in the throes of a budget crisis, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the state's high-speed rail project is well-positioned to compete for a significant share of the $8 billion that the Obama administration set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for rail lines.
..."The reason why California is looked at so closely -- it's been a priority of your governor, it's been a priority of your Legislature, they've talked about it, a lot of planning has been done," Biden said in a conference call with reporters.
The vice president said the administration wants "to get shovel-ready projects out the door as quickly as we can. . . . So California is in the game," he said.
This reinforces Ray LaHood's previous comments that CA is going to get a ton of HSR money from the federal government. Again, we don't quite know how much, but the amount is likely to be significant.
There was some debate back in 2008 and early 2009 about whether the promised federal commitment to HSR would actually materialize. Clearly, it has. Obviously that needs to be an ongoing commitment, and that is where the battle over the 2009 Transportation Bill will become so important. But with Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Ray LaHood, we seem to have the right team in place to ensure that the feds will follow through on HSR.


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June 2017 Weather Summary
The Ministry's Meteorological Directorate reported in their monthly weather summary that the month of June 2017 was warmer than normal with below average relative humidities.
The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications' Meteorological Directorate reported in their monthly weather summary that the month of June 2017 was warmer than normal with below average relative humidities.
The mean temperature of the month was 34.5°C which is 2.1°C above the long-term normal and goes on record as the sixth highest mean monthly temperature for June since 1902. This is the same as June 2010 and 2016 and exceeded by June 2009 which was 35.2°C, June 1999 which was 35.1°C, June 1998 which was 34.8°C, June 2012 which was 34.7°C and June 2011 which was 34.6°C.
The mean maximum temperature of the month was 38.6°C with the highest temperature during the month being 42.9°C which was recorded on the 11th of June at Bahrain International Airport. It is worth noting that the highest temperature ever recorded for June was 46.6°C which occurred on the 20th of June 2010. The highest temperature recorded at Durrat Al Bahrain was 47.1°C on the 18th of June.
During the month, Bahrain had 8 days with maximum temperatures reaching 40°C or more.
The mean minimum temperature of the month was 30.5°C which goes on record as the sixth highest mean minimum temperature for June since 1946. This is the same as June 2016 and was exceeded by June 2011 at 31.6°C, June 2010 at 31.3°C, June 2012 at 31.2°C, June 2009 and 2015 at 31.0°C and June 1979 and 2014 at 30.8°C.
The lowest temperature was 27.7°C which was recorded on the 15th of June at Bahrain International Airport and 23.7°C on the 4th and 6th of June at Durrat Al Bahrain.
The mean relative humidity for June was 44%. The mean maximum relative humidity for the month was 65% whereas the mean minimum relative humidity was 26%.
The month of June 2017 was the sunniest month for all June's since the sunshine records began in 1968. The total hours of sunshine for the month was 371.4 hours with the old record being 369.8 hours which was recorded in June 1974.
Shamal winds which are known locally as (Al-Barreh) continued affecting the Kingdom throughout the month of June and gusts reached 35 knots on the 1st of June at Bahrain International Airport and 44 knots at southern areas. Winds started to decrease towards the end of the month.
Fog was reported on the 15th of June which reduced visibility to 100 meters at Bahrain International Airport. This phenomenon has not occurred since June 1976 where fog was reported on the 16th of June 1976 which reduced visibility to 600 meters at Bahrain International Airport and 300 meters at Manama.


To sync your drums, make sure your Wireless Adapter is plugged securely into a USB port on your PlayStation 3 or Wii. Press the sync button on the Wireless Adapter, followed by the sync button on the wireless drum set. A successful sync is indicated by both devices maintaining a solid red light rather than a blinking red light.
The sync button on your drum set is located on the controller box towards the front.
If this process is unsuccessful after multiple attempts, please contact Mad Catz about your hardware. The associates there will be able to walk you through the warranty replacement process and make sure you qualify for a replacement under our 90 day warranty.


Do you enjoy elegant style? Allow your darling English Bulldog take joy in wearing such accessories on! Present him this awesome leather dog collar with decorations from FDT Artisan . This gear is crafted for those who just is fond of stylish collars. In this exceptional collar, your doggie will have more severe, but stylish look. Your attractive four-legged friend will get the finest treatment when wearing this accessory. Full grain genuine leather is soft and absolutely safe.
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Sonstiges » my teammates." Cabrera capped his big
Bom Chicka Wah Wah » Forum » Sonstiges » my teammates." Cabrera capped his big
#1 | my teammates." Cabrera capped his big 22.08.2018 04:29
DETROIT -- Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in powerful fashion: a four-hit day highlighted by a home run for his 2,000th hit. Sua Cravens Jersey . "I never expected I was going to hit 1,000 hits," the 30-year-old slugger said after the game. "I never expect something personal. I expect to go out there and ... try to find a way to help my teammates." Cabrera capped his big day with an eighth-inning homer, and the Detroit Tigers rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. Cabreras two-run drive made him the ninth player to reach 2,000 hits before turning 31. "Miguel and I have combined for over 3,000," said Brad Ausmus, the former catcher who is now Detroits manager. "Were a Hall of Famer, combined." Rajai Davis and Torii Hunter also homered for the Tigers. Drew Smyly (1-0) relieved Anibal Sanchez after a fourth-inning rain delay and pitched three scoreless innings. Miguel Gonzalez (0-1) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings. Baltimore arrived in Detroit in the wee hours of the morning after a night game at home Thursday. The Orioles looked fine while scoring two runs in the first against Sanchez, but Gonzalez couldnt hold the lead for long. "Obviously, we were facing a lot of challenges today, including a few that I hope we dont have to face very often," Showalter said. "When you are playing on 3 1/2 hours of sleep, it makes it tough, but thats what happens when you are playing so many day games at this time of the year." Gonzalez allowed two doubles, a single and a walk and hit two batters in the second, allowing Detroit to score three runs. Rookie Nick Castellanos hit an RBI double and, after a run-scoring single by Ian Kinsler tied the game, the Tigers went ahead when Davis scored on a wild pitch. After singles by Castellanos and Andrew Romine to start the Detroit fourth, the game was delayed by rain with Davis batting. When play resumed, the Orioles left Gonzalez in, and Davis made it 6-2 with a three-run homer. More known for his speed than his power, Davis had a chance to trot around the bases slowly this time. "That actually felt comfortable," he said. "I wouldnt mind getting used to that." Gonzalez allowed a solo shot to Hunter later that inning and was pulled. Cabreras RBI single in the sixth added another Detroit run, and his first homer of the season made it 10-2. "What else can you say about Miguel as a hitter? Eventually you run out of adjectives," Ausmus said. "Ive only been here for a short period of time, and Im already running out of words to describe him." Detroit won its first two games against Kansas City, and the series finale Thursday was rained out. The postponement caused Detroit to push its starting rotation back a day, meaning Smylys start Saturday would be skipped. The Tigers needed him Friday, as it turned out. Sanchez allowed two runs and two hits in four innings, walking three and striking out three. Smyly pitched out of a jam in the fifth when an unsuccessful replay challenge by the Tigers left men at first and second with no outs. The Orioles couldnt capitalize. Chris Davis hit a two-run double in the first for Baltimore. NOTES: The game was delayed 10 minutes at the start and 34 minutes in the fourth on a chilly day. The temperature at game time was 42 degrees ... Orioles SS J.J. Hardy sat out because of light spasms in his lower back. ... Tigers LHP Ian Krol, acquired from Washington for Doug Fister in the off-season, made his Detroit debut with a scoreless eighth. Steve Lombardozzi, who also went to Detroit in that deal, was then traded to Baltimore shortly before the start of the season. He started at 2B for the Orioles on Friday and singled twice. ... Lombardozzi was called safe at second on a force play in the fifth when Romine, the SS, lost control of the ball. The call was upheld after a Detroit challenge. ... Detroit RHP Rick Porcello faces Baltimore RHP Bud Norris on Saturday. Marquette King Jersey . Unfortunately for Toronto, that surge was too much to handle as the Stars scored six straight goals and ended the Marlies season with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday. Toronto had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Frazer McLaren and Peter Holland, but Texas charged back with a wild rally late in the second period to spark its trip to the Calder Cup final. Tramaine Brock Jersey . The injury will keep the Finnish forward out of the Olympics. The 29-year-old has 20 goals and 41 points in 56 games this season, his first with Tampa Bay. http://www.broncosproauthentic.com/Black-Friday-Courtland-Sutton-Jersey/ . Cleveland released the troubled wide receiver on Wednesday, an expected ending after Bess was arrested in January for assaulting a law enforcement officer at an airport and other bizarre behaviour.KINDERSLEY, Sask. — World Junior A ChallengeAt Kindersley, Sask.All Times EasternPRELIMINARY ROUNDGroup AGroup BNote: Three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime/shootout win, one for an overtime/shootout loss. PLAYOFFSThursdays resultsSemifinalsDenmark 5 Russia 1U.S. 7 Canada EEast 1Wednesdays resultsQuarter-finalsRussia 3 Switzerland 2Canada East 4 Canada West 2Fridays gamesFifth-place GameCanada West vs. Courtland Sutton Broncos Jersey. . 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He had 38 saves each of the past two s » « act with former Notre Dame and Carolina Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen. [url=http://www.authenticspursauthority.com/hats-c-3/]Spurs Hats[/url] . The move was announce


Style Options could be a little bit modified type of the current variant system.
Users could enable each "Option" just as they like. Currently we use different variants in our frugal style (http://jeenaparadies.net/projects/frugal). For example when he don't like our "unique timestamp" feature, he can switch to a variant where that thing is turned off.
It would be nice when there would be an menu item for each "Option" and the user could turn it on or off - just as he likes.
As Implementation I would recommend just another folder with the name Options inside the style folder. Each css file would represend an option from the theme.


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Q: Setup SSL on remote MySQL server for mobile app I am new to setting up SSL certificates on servers and would need some help to secure a MySQL database connection. I have a simple mobile app (client) which needs to connect to a remote MySQL database (server) connection. I am using AWS EC2 for the remote server and I have installed Let's Encrypt SSL certificates on a domain that I am hosting there. The machine runs on Ubuntu 18.04 and NGINX.
The same server also runs a MySQL database and I want to connect to it securely using a  mobile app client. How can I encrypt the connection between the mobile app aclient and the MySQL database server?
I do have a static ip address for the database server but I am unable to install SSL certificates on the ip address directly. Only the domain name has an associated SSL certificate.
I did some digging around but was unable to find anything that serves my purpose. Any suggestion or reference to an article would greatly help.

A: This article provides a detailed step by step procedure for securing the connection between a remote MySQL database server and a client.
Securing a remote MySQL database server connection


This year, New Holland celebrates three historical achievements—the 50th anniversary of Speedrower self-propelled windrowers, the 40th anniversary of Twin Rotor combines and the 40th anniversary of Roll-Belt round balers.
"The continuing popularity of these products are a testament to New Holland's dedication to provide productivity-enhancing innovations on behalf of our customers," says Mark Hooper, North American marketing director.
Tires and tracks. With wheels in front and tracks in back, the Tier 4 Final T8 SmartTrax series includes the T8.380, T8.410 and T8.435, with 311 hp, 340 hp and 379 hp, respectfully. Unique design differences, such as high torque axles that match larger diameter front wheels with rear tracks, help distinguish the SmartTrax series. This enables full power to be delivered between front wheels and rear tracks for optimum performance. A T8 SmartTrax's larger contact patch enhances traction and reduces compaction. The 18" SmartTrax system is 35% larger than a set of 480/95R50 rear dual tires. By offering a choice of under carriage, T8 SmartTrax tractors can be customized in several working widths, with track spacing ranging from 76" to 152".
Harvest heavyweights. New Holland's Speedrower self-propelled windrowers raise the bar with the latest Tier 4B engine offering and cab upgrades. More cooling capacity results in increased horsepower and fuel efficiency. The QuickMax knife-change system saves time on maintenance.
The all-new Roll-Belt variable chamber round balers will increase bale capacity by 20%. The ActiveSweep, SuperFeed and CropCutter pickups have been redesigned. The standard-duty four-tine bar pickup on the ActiveSweep balers is 23% larger in diameter and has a 10% larger center hex shaft.


For over 15 years, Josh has worked with students, parents, educators, schools, and nonprofits building avenues for meaningful student and parent involvement in schools and communities. Josh completed his master's degree in education from the University of Denver in 2004. During this time, he also became licensed in Brain Gym® or movement-based learning. In 2004, Josh and Clara traveled to Thailand to study Thai Massage with Master Pichet Boonthume. Pichet inspired Josh to begin a meditation practice, which has led to a deep connection to Tibetan Buddhism. Josh completed his massage certification at Denver Integrated Massage School in 2011, where they emphasized Thai Massage in addition to table massage. Josh brings his complete presence to his massage sessions. In addition to being meditative and relaxing, Josh's massages are strong and effective.
I bring a variety of approaches that meet my clients' individual needs and concerns. I believe Educational Kinesiology and Massage helps us better understand ourselves, which empowers us to be in charge of our lives and learning.
Regarding Edu-K/Brain Gym, I enjoy working with ADD/ADHD, anxiety, and motivation issues, as well as improving academic skills (reading, writing, speaking, memory) and physical skills (hand-eye coordination, eye teaming, balance). As a Massage Therapist, I enjoy working with acute and chronic pain, athletes, injuries and prevention, as well as improving flexibility, posture, and balance.


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NASA's Opportunity Rover is stuck in a giant dust storm, and it won't end for months
By Display Port Admin on	 July 22, 2018 Technology
It's been a decade and a half since NASA's Opportunity rover left the Earth. For the last 15 years, this trusty robot has roamed the Red Planet, but now we may have lost her — at least temporarily. A massive dust storm about the size of the North American continent has shrouded Mars and covered Opportunity, and it's showing no signs of letting up.
In the latest images of Mars, captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, it's clear that the entirety of the Red Planet has now turned…brown. A dust storm that began in late May is raging on, and storms of its ilk apparently engulf the planet every six to eight years.
"It's exciting because it's the strongest dust storm we've ever seen on Mars," Tanya Harrison, director of Arizona State University's NewSpace Initiative, told Gizmodo via Twitter direct message. "It's worrisome for Opportunity because she's not getting enough sunlight to keep her batteries charged, but thermal models tell us temperature is on our side."
Not only is much of the planet in the dark, but so too is Earth about Opportunity's whereabouts and status. Because the robot's solar panels have been unable to receive light, its battery status has dropped to the point where Opportunity has gone to sleep, which means it's no longer transmitting information to Earth. But luckily, the Curiosity rover is doing enough transmitting for the both of them — in fact, Curiosity managed to snap a selfie in the middle of the storm, and looks pretty great.
Seán Doran
But while Curiosity is out and about, looking fabulous, poor Opportunity isn't faring so well. "It's gotten so bad she's not talking to us," Bill Nelson, chief of the Opportunity mission's engineering team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told Mashable. "It's a bit scary — we like to hear from our rover."
On June 8, NASA announced that Opportunity had been covered by the veil of "perpetual night" due to the massive dust storm. And although Opportunity has weathered many a storm since it first touched down on the Red Planet's surface in 2004, this one is particularly bad. NASA is waiting with bated breath to see whether the rover will be able to repower once the storm finally calms.
"If they go completely dead, you're usually in trouble," Nelson noted.
But Opportunity has beaten the odds before. After all, the 400-pound rover was only meant to be operational for 90 days. It's exceeded that expectation thus far by a factor of more than 56, and it's possible that it will keep defying expectations.
As Nelson said, "I'm fairly optimistic at this point. I'm hopeful that we may be able to recover."
That said, the dust storm Opportunity faces is exactly what scientists initially thought would kill the rover. With Martian dust and grime accumulation, it seemed only a matter of time before the solar panels were obscured enough to make it impossible for Opportunity to keep on keepin' on. "We've been lucky that winds or dust devils have come and blown off the arrays," Nelson explained. "The wind blows off the bulk of the dust. We've been fairly fortunate in missing the regional and global dust storms."
The same could not be said for Opportunity's sister, Spirit, who met her end in 2010. That poor rover ended up getting stuck in a part of Mars that didn't receive as much sunlight, and before engineers could move Spirit to a more advantageous location, time ran out.
Apparently, Spirit froze to death.
Opportunity will remain asleep until the dust storm is over, but don't hold your breath for that. Scientists believe it could be September before everything has settled and the rover is nudged awake. In the meantime, NASA noted in a release, "the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiters are all tailoring their observations of the Red Planet to study this global storm and learn more about Mars' weather patterns…the Curiosity rover is studying the dust storm from the Martian surface."
Updated on July 21: The dust storm on Mars is far from over, but NASA and its equipment are coping.
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Published at Sun, 22 Jul 2018 11:38:34 +0000
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The Drenching of Light from the Full Moon!!
I do see some serious Light energies seeping into the ground of earth, igniting so many potentials that have been unrealized until now. Potentials that COULD NOT be realized until now.
I have come to realize there is so little we truly understand about the multidimensional universe we exist within. That includes everything, especially planet earth!! …I suppose that imaginary line that I kept seeing that separated the two planes in readings, was not so imaginary.
It was explained the color was representing the emerald city. It was explained that it took this long for the quantity of the collective (enough people) to raise their heart frequency to this level. Which also happens to coincide with the release of the fragments.
There seems to be so much "opportunity" that is coming with this new moon energy. I do want to clarify what spirit said "opportunity" means to them thru several of the readings. Keeping in mind, spirits focus is always on the soul growth as opposed to the humans idea of survival and prosperity.
The one thing that has been consistent with the readings so far in April, this is a very circular month. Most of the months/energy systems build what we perceive as our future. Not this one tho. April is drawing everything into its (new) core energy.
I could see what represented a high voltage line at that (imaginary) line that separates the mental planes from the physically created world in my readings. The electricity running back and forth, sometimes at the same time in either direction, was intense!!
The Power of Love and The Center of Earth's Alternate Planes.
In one of the readings the other day, my lady took us to one of the many (and I do mean many) parallel earths happening. She showed up looking very much like a monkey with these really huge ears. Then we were taken to their/her plane of incarnation which was in the center of what her team said was well over 150 thousand versions of earth.
Super Powers from the Soul.
We have a tendency to focus our energies on love and what we conceive as spiritual love. Containment fields are important. Its funny (not ha ha funny) the visual I get is when a nuclear plant has a leak, the first thing they do is create a containment field around the leak.
Feeling vs Emoting (plus) Consciousness is Crucial!!
The biggest take away from yesterday, is being CONSCIOUS of your mastery. If you are just waiting for something to show up, you will wait thru the next lifetime. If you are deliberately participating at your highest consciousness level, you are going to receive personal gifts at the speed of light!!
The Sudden Movements of 2018 and the Shedding of 2017 Energies.
The one thing I am absolutely sure of, given all the readings the last few days and now my daughter sudden and unexpected turn of events, we are getting a precursor to the sudden changes that will be happening to all of us next year. When the energy nodules line up, things will move so fast there is little time to react.
2018 Intensifies the Game of Light Thru Your Placement and Action!!
2017 was designed to be a complete surrender to the will of spirit, of soul. Those that allowed total surrender could be seen as the lights on the left side of my ladies bow, emerging game board of life.
The Winds of the Solstice Blow into ChristMass Day!! Use Them!!
The Solstice Splits the Realms of Earth in 2.
Yesterdays mix of gases targeting the base heart centers. Changing radically at the cellular level of All Life. Today, the planetary choices have been sealed as we start to experience realm 1 and realm 2.
Sometimes, the choice is to take neither path set before you, but to create a brand new one that only the soul can see.
Multidimensional Self, Altering Timelines and Stationary Outcomes.
I was told, that we can move and alter timelines to assist the events playing out, but we cannot change the events purpose, for they are meant for soul evolution, personal and/or en masse.
The Intensity of 2018 and More.
What we are not willing to let go of, remove from our energy fields, the sun itself will do for us. In my in between moment, it is when the information came thru that "this" is what causes the floodings next year.
This is how there are so many stories, so many ideas out there in life, of life itself. No one is "wrong" they are just seeing and experiencing thru their filters. Once they release even just one filter, the field of light changes, enhances, reveals more than they ever thought they could experience or know.
As the readings are all showing up (and even the non readings) we are all in massive preparation for the energy field I call, 2018. 2017 not only concludes a year, but all of earths history as we know it. This is a constant declaration, tho I cannot conceive how that even works out in our minds or our lives.
From 2013 to 2038: A Generation of Change into FREEDOM!!
If we look at this cleanup as a hurricane coming in, we started to feel and experience the outer bands of this hurricane January 2013. 2013 plus 25 years is the year 2038. ...2018 hurricane Gaia starts to come ashore. It will come ashore as a cat 5! Change is on the horizon.
The filters, when in place, allows you to see something as good or bad, just or unjust, when removed and we are able to see thru the eyes of our soul, we can see the wonder, the beauty, even in something we once perceived as bad, wrong, destructive.
The New Operating System Being Installed: The AO System!
I heard that thru this full moon, our Operating Systems are changing out. As I settled into that understanding, I started to see the vast and many various "sub directories" forming for each person.