Aerial surveys were conducted annually in June 1978-87 near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to determine changes in the distribution of calving caribou (Rangifer tarandus granfi) that accompanied petroleum-related development. With construction of an oil field access road through a calving concentration area, mean caribou density (no./km2) decreased from 1.41 to 0.31 (P = 0.05) within 1 km and increased from 1.41 to 4.53 (P = 0.04) 5-6 km from the road. Concurrently, relative caribou use of the adjacent area declined (P < 0.02), apparently in response to increasing surface development. We suggest that perturbed distribution associated with roads reduced the capacity of the nearby area to sustain parturient females and that insufficient spacing of roads may have depressed overall calving activity. Use of traditional calving grounds and of certain areas therein appears to favor calf survival, principally through lower predation risk and improved foraging conditions. Given the possible loss of those habitats through displacement and the crucial importance of the reproductive process, a cautious approach to petroleum development on the Arctic Slope is warranted.

We analyzed scarring data for Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort (BCB) Seas bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) harvested by Alaska Native hunters to quantify the frequency of line entanglement, ship strikes, and killer whale-inflicted injuries. We had 904 records in our database for whales landed between 1990 and 2012, and after data quality screening, we found 521 records containing information on scarring. Logistic regression was used to evaluate different combinations of explanatory variables (i.e., body length, sex, year, year-group) to develop a prediction model for each scar type. We also list bowhead whales that were harvested, found dead, or observed alive entangled in commercial line/fishing gear. Our findings suggest that about 12% of harvested bowheads show entanglement scars. Their frequency is highly correlated with body length and sex: about 50% of very large bowheads (> 17 m) show such scars, while whales under 9 m rarely do, and males show a significantly higher rate than females. Scars associated with ship strikes are infrequent and occur on ~2% of all harvested whales; body length, sex, and year were not significant factors. Scarring from attempted killer whale predation was evident on ~8% of landed whales. As with entanglement injuries, the frequency of killer whale scars was much higher (> 40%) on whales more than 16 m in length and statistically more frequent in the second half of the study (2002 – 12). Increased killer whale injuries in the recent decade are consistent with studies conducted on bowheads of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland population. The findings presented here reflect the most thorough analysis of injury rates from entanglement, ships, and killer whales for the BCB bowheads conducted to date. They indicate that (1) entanglement rates primarily from pot fishing gear (crab or cod or both) are relatively high for very large and presumably older bowheads, (2) collisions with ships are infrequent at present, and (3) scarring from killer whales is frequent on very large adult whales (> 17 m). Considering that bowhead habitat is changing rapidly (e.g., sea ice reduction), industrial ship traffic in the Arctic is increasing, and commercial fishing operations are expanding to the north, we strongly recommend that monitoring of scarring and injuries on harvested bowheads continue into the future as a means of documenting change.

The Reaction Coordinate Diagram Inventory (RCDI) has been developed to measure student thinking and confidence with reaction coordinate diagrams (RCDs) and their correspondence to reaction mechanisms. The RCDI was designed using a sequential mixed-methods protocol, such that the questions and distractors in the instrument were generated based on an analysis of qualitative semi-structured interviews in which general chemistry and organic chemistry students were asked to describe the concepts embedded in the surface features of RCDs and to use the mechanistic information encoded in RCDs. The RCDI was administered to second-semester general chemistry students (n = 443), second-semester organic chemistry students (n = 227), and second-semester physical/biophysical chemistry students (n = 45). Descriptive statistics and item function are presented for each of the three samples. Qualitative and quantitative evidence for the validity and reliability of the data generated by the RCDI are also presented. Major categories of misconceptions assessed by the RCDI and data demonstrating the prevalence of these misconceptions for all three groups of students are presented.

The effectiveness of deepwater release at improving the 17‐d survival of discarded yelloweye rockfish Sebastes ruberrimus was determined by comparing an estimate of survival for individuals released at depth with an estimate of submergence probability for individuals released at the water's surface. A mark–recapture study was used to generate a maximum likelihood estimate of the 17‐d survival probability of yelloweye rockfish (n = 182) caught by hook and line (depth = 18–72 m) and subsequently released at depth. The average Cormack–Jolly–Seber survival probability for yelloweye rockfish released at depth was remarkably high (0.988; 95% confidence interval = 0.478–0.999) and positively correlated with individual total length. Survival probability was not significantly influenced by the range of capture depths explored in this study or by exposure to barotrauma and other capture stressors. The submergence success of yelloweye rockfish released at the water's surface was 0.221 (95% confidence interval = 0.149–0.315), suggesting that the maximum survival potential of individuals released at the surface is low. The results of this study indicate that the average survival of discarded yelloweye rockfish can be substantially improved by deepwater release. Received March 25, 2011; accepted June 22, 2011

We examined the distribution and movements of 141 radiocollared female caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) of the Central Arctic Herd during summer, 1980-1993. Numbers of caribou locations within each of 5 quadrats along the arctic coast were totalled separately for days during which insects were active and inactive, and numbers of east-west and west-east crossings of each quadrat mid-line were determined from sequential observations. Both abundance and lateral movements of radiocollared females in the quadrat encompassing the intensively-developed Prudhoe Bay oilfield complex were significantly lower than in other quadrats (P < 0.001 and P < 0.00001, respectively). Avoidance of, and fewer movements within, the complex by female caribou are ostensibly in response to the dense network of production and support facilities, roads, above-ground pipelines, and the associated vehicular and human activity. Impaired access to this area constitutes a functional loss of habitat