Balanced fishing across a range of species, stocks, and sizes could mitigate adverse effects and address food security better than increased selectivity.
Concern about the impact of fishing on ...ecosystems and fisheries production is increasing (
1
,
2
). Strategies to reduce these impacts while addressing the growing need for food security (
3
) include increasing selectivity (
1
,
2
): capturing species, sexes, and sizes in proportions that differ from their occurrence in the ecosystem. Increasing evidence suggests that more selective fishing neither maximizes production nor minimizes impacts (
4
–
7
). Balanced harvesting would more effectively mitigate adverse ecological effects of fishing while supporting sustainable fisheries. This strategy, which challenges present management paradigms, distributes a moderate mortality from fishing across the widest possible range of species, stocks, and sizes in an ecosystem, in proportion to their natural productivity (
8
), so that the relative size and species composition is maintained.
Abstract
We present the deep and wide V and Ic photometry of the Sextans dwarf spheroidal galaxy (dSph) taken by the Suprime-Cam imager on the Subaru Telescope, which extends out to the tidal radius. ...The colour–magnitude diagram (CMD) reaches two magnitudes below the main-sequence (MS) turn-off, showing a steep red giant branch, a blue and a red horizontal branch (BHB and RHB, respectively), a sub-giant branch (SGB), an MS and blue stragglers (BSs). We construct the radial profile of each evolutionary phase and demonstrate that blue HB stars are more spatially extended, while red HB stars are more centrally concentrated than the other components. The colour distribution of SGB stars also varies with the galactocentric distance; the inner SGB stars shift bluer than those in the outskirts. The radial differences in the CMD morphology indicate the existence of the age gradient. The relatively younger stars (∼10 Gyr) are more centrally concentrated than the older ones (∼13 Gyr). The spatial contour maps of stars in different age bins also show that the younger population has a higher concentration and higher ellipticity than the older one. We also detect the centrally concentrated bright BS stars, the number of which is consistent with the idea that a part of these stars belongs to the remnant of a disrupted star cluster discovered in the previous spectroscopic studies.
As part of the Dwarf galaxies Abundances and Radial-velocities Team (DART) program, we have measured the metallicities of a large sample of stars in four nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSph's): ...Sculptor, Sextans, Fornax, and Carina. The low mean metal abundances and the presence of very old stellar populations in these galaxies have supported the view that they are fossils from the early universe. However, contrary to naive expectations, we find a significant lack of stars with metallicities below Fe/H 6 -3 dex in all four systems. This suggests that the gas that made up the stars in these systems had been uniformly enriched prior to their formation. Furthermore, the metal-poor tail of the dSph metallicity distribution is significantly different from that of the Galactic halo. These findings show that the progenitors of nearby dSph's appear to have been fundamentally different from the building blocks of the Milky Way, even at the earliest epochs.
Ground-based surveys have mapped the stellar outskirts of Local Group disc galaxies in unprecedented detail, but extending this work to other galaxies is necessary in order to overcome stochastic ...variations in evolutionary history and provide more stringent constraints on cosmological galaxy formation models. As part of our continuing programme of ultra-deep imagery of galaxies beyond the Local Group, we present a wide-field analysis of the isolated late-type spiral NGC 2403 using data obtained with Suprime-Cam on the Subaru telescope. The surveyed area reaches a maximum projected radius of 30 kpc or a deprojected radius of R
dp∼ 60 kpc. The colour-magnitude diagram reaches 1.5 mag below the tip of the metal-poor red giant branch (RGB) at a completeness rate >50 per cent for R
dp > rsim 12 kpc. Using the combination of diffuse light photometry and resolved star counts, we are able to trace the radial surface brightness (SB) profile over a much larger range of radii and SB than is possible with either technique alone. The exponential disc as traced by RGB stars dominates the SB profile out to ≳8 disc scalelengths, or R
dp∼ 18 kpc, and reaches a V-band SB of μ
V
∼ 29 mag arcsec−2. Beyond this radius, we find evidence for an extended structural component with a significantly flatter SB profile than the inner disc and which we trace to R
dp∼ 40 kpc and μ
V
∼ 32 mag arcsec−2. This component can be fit with a power-law index of γ∼ 3, has an axial ratio consistent with that of the inner disc and has a V-band luminosity integrated over all radii of 1-7 per cent that of the whole galaxy. At R
dp∼ 20 − 30 kpc, we estimate a peak metallicity M/H =−1.0 ± 0.3 assuming an age of 10 Gyr and zero α-element enhancement. Although the extant data are unable to discriminate between stellar halo or thick disc interpretations of this component, our results support the notion that faint, extended stellar structures are a common feature of all disc galaxies, even isolated, low-mass systems.
We present the first survey of resolved stellar populations in the remote outer halo of our nearest giant elliptical (gE), Centaurus A (D = 3.8 Mpc). Using the VIsible Multi Object Spectrograph ...(VIMOS)/Very Large Telescope (VLT) optical camera, we obtained deep photometry for four fields along the major and minor axes at projected elliptical radii of ∼30-85 kpc (corresponding to ∼5-14R
eff). We use resolved star counts to map the spatial and colour distribution of red giant branch (RGB) stars down to ∼2 mag below the RGB tip. We detect an extended halo out to the furthermost elliptical radius probed (∼85 kpc or ∼14R
eff), demonstrating the vast extent of this system. We detect a localized substructure in these parts, visible in both (old) RGB and (intermediate-age) luminous asymptotic giant branch stars, and there is some evidence that the outer halo becomes more elliptical and has a shallower surface brightness profile. We derive photometric metallicity distribution functions for halo RGB stars and find relatively high median metallicity values (〈Fe/H〉med ∼ −0.9 to −1.0 dex) that change very little with radius over the extent of our survey. Radial metallicity gradients are measured to be −0.002-0.004 dex kpc−1, and the fraction of metal-poor stars (defined as Fe/H < −1.0) is 40-50 per cent at all radii. We discuss these findings in the context of galaxy formation models for the buildup of gE haloes.
Aims. As part of the DART project we have used the ESO/2.2m Wide Field Imager in conjunction with the VLT/FLAMES GIRAFFE spectrograph to study the detailed properties of the resolved stellar ...population of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy out to and beyond its tidal radius. Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy has had a complicated evolution and contains significant numbers of young, intermediate age and old stars. We investigate the relation between these different components by studying their photometric, kinematic and abundance distributions. Methods. We re-derived the structural parameters of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal using our wide field imaging covering the galaxy out to its tidal radius, and analysed the spatial distribution of the Fornax stars of different ages as selected from colour- magnitude diagram analysis. We have obtained accurate velocities and metallicities from spectra in the Ca II triplet wavelength region for 562 Red Giant Branch stars which have velocities consistent with membership of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal. Results. We have found evidence for the presence of at least three distinct stellar components: a young population (few 100 Myr old) concentrated in the centre of the galaxy, visible as a Main Sequence in the colour-magnitude diagram; an intermediate age population (2-8 Gyr old) ; and an ancient population (>10 Gyr), which are distinguishable from each other kinematically, from the metallicity distribution and in the spatial distribution of stars found in the colour-magnitude diagram. Conclusions. From our spectroscopic analysis we find that the "metal rich" stars (-1.3$--> \rm Fe/H>-1.3) show a less extended and more concentrated spatial distribution, and display colder kinematics than the "metal poor" stars ( \rm Fe/H<-1.3). There is tentative evidence that the ancient stellar population in the centre of Fornax does not exhibit equilibrium kinematics. This could be a sign of a relatively recent accretion of external material, such as the merger of another galaxy or other means of gas accretion at some point in the fairly recent past, consistent with other recent evidence of substructure (Coleman et al. 2004, AJ, 127, 832; 2005, AJ, 129, 1443).
For the first time we show the detailed, late-stage, chemical evolution history of a small nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxy in the Local Group. We present the results of a high-resolution (R ~ 20000, ...λ = 5340–5620; 6120–6701) FLAMES/GIRAFFE abundance study at ESO/VLT of 81 photometrically selected, red giant branch stars in the central 25′ of the Fornax dwarf spheroidal galaxy. We also carried out a detailed comparison of the effects of recent developments in abundance analysis (e.g., spherical models vs. plane-parallel) and the automation that is required to efficiently deal with such large data sets. We present abundances of α-elements (Mg, Si, Ca, and Ti), iron-peak elements (Fe, Ni, and Cr), and heavy elements (Y, Ba, La, Nd, and Eu). Our sample was randomly selected and is clearly dominated by the younger and more metal-rich component of Fornax, which represents the major fraction of stars in the central region. This means that the majority of our stars are 1−4 Gyr old, and thus represent the end phase of chemical evolution in this system. Our sample of stars has unusually low α/Fe, Ni/Fe, and Na/Fe compared to the Milky Way stellar populations at the same Fe/H. The particularly important role of stellar winds from low-metallicity AGB stars in the creation of s-process elements is clearly seen from the high Ba/Y. Furthermore, we present evidence of an s-processorigin of Eu.
Neuronal plasticity is regulated by the ovarian steroids estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) in many normal brain functions, as well as in acute response to injury and chronic neurodegenerative ...disease. In a female rat model of axotomy, the E2-dependent compensatory neuronal sprouting is antagonized by P4. To resolve complex glial-neuronal cell interactions, we used the “wounding-in-a-dish” model of neurons cocultured with astrocytes or mixed glia (microglia to astrocytes, 1:3). Although both astrocytes and mixed glia supported E2-enhanced neurite outgrowth, P4 antagonized E2-induced neurite outgrowth only with mixed glia, but not astrocytes alone. We now show that P4-E2 antagonism of neurite outgrowth is mediated by microglial expression of progesterone receptor (Pgr) membrane component 1 (Pgrmc1)/S2R, a putative nonclassical Pgr mediator with multiple functions. The P4-E2 antagonism of neurite outgrowth was restored by add-back of microglia to astrocyte-neuron cocultures. Because microglia do not express the classical Pgr, we examined the role of Pgrmc1, which is expressed in microglia in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown by siRNA-Pgrmc1 in microglia before add-back to astrocyte-neuron cocultures suppressed the P4-E2 antagonism of neurite outgrowth. Conditioned media from microglia restored the P4-E2 activity, but only if microglia were activated by lipopolysaccharide or by wounding. Moreover, the microglial activation was blocked by Pgmrc1-siRNA knockdown. These findings explain why nonwounded cultures without microglial activation lack P4 antagonism of E2-induced neurite outgrowth. We suggest that microglial activation may influence brain responses to exogenous P4, which is a prospective therapy in traumatic brain injury.
We investigate the relationships between stellar mass, gas-phase oxygen abundance (metallicity), star formation rate (SFR), and dust content of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1.6 using Subaru/FMOS ...spectroscopy in the COSMOS field. The mass-metallicity (MZ) relation at z ~ 1.6 is steeper than the relation observed in the local universe. The steeper MZ relation at z ~ 1.6 is mainly due to evolution in die stellar mass where the MZ relation begins to turnover and flatten. This turnover mass is 1.2 dex larger at z ~ 1.6. The most massive galaxies at z ~ 1.6(~10 super(11) M sub(middot in circle)) are enriched to the level observed in massive galaxies in the local universe. The MZ relation we measure at z ~ 1.6 supports the suggestion of an empirical upper metallicity limit that does not significantly evolve with redshift. We find an anti-correlation between metallicity and SFR for galaxies at a fixed stellar mass at z ~ 1.6, which is similar to trends observed in the local universe. We do not find a relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and SFR that is independent of redshift; rather, our data suggest that there is redshift evolution in this relation. We examine the relation between stellar mass, metallicity, and dust extinction, and find that at a fixed stellar mass, dustier galaxies tend to be more metal rich. From examination of the stellar masses, metallicities, SFRs, and dust extinctions, we conclude that stellar mass is most closely related to dust extinction.
PDF
