Conservation biology
Conservation biology is the management of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, the practice of natural resource management; the conservation ethic is based on the findings of conservation biology. The term conservation biology and its conception as a new field originated with the convening of "The First International Conference on Research in Conservation Biology" held at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California in 1978 led by American biologists Bruce A. Wilcox and Michael E. Soulé with a group of leading university and zoo researchers and conservationists including Kurt Benirschke, Sir Otto Frankel, Thomas Lovejoy, Jared Diamond; the meeting was prompted by the concern over tropical deforestation, disappearing species, eroding genetic diversity within species.
The conference and proceedings that resulted sought to initiate the bridging of a gap between theory in ecology and evolutionary genetics on the one hand and conservation policy and practice on the other. Conservation biology and the concept of biological diversity emerged together, helping crystallize the modern era of conservation science and policy; the inherent multidisciplinary basis for conservation biology has led to new subdisciplines including conservation social science, conservation behavior and conservation physiology. It stimulated further development of conservation genetics which Otto Frankel had originated first but is now considered a subdiscipline as well; the rapid decline of established biological systems around the world means that conservation biology is referred to as a "Discipline with a deadline". Conservation biology is tied to ecology in researching the population ecology of rare or endangered species. Conservation biology is concerned with phenomena that affect the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity and the science of sustaining evolutionary processes that engender genetic, population and ecosystem diversity.
The concern stems from estimates suggesting that up to 50% of all species on the planet will disappear within the next 50 years, which has contributed to poverty and will reset the course of evolution on this planet. Conservation biologists research and educate on the trends and process of biodiversity loss, species extinctions, the negative effect these are having on our capabilities to sustain the well-being of human society. Conservation biologists work in the field and office, in government, non-profit organizations and industry; the topics of their research are diverse, because this is an interdisciplinary network with professional alliances in the biological as well as social sciences. Those dedicated to the cause and profession advocate for a global response to the current biodiversity crisis based on morals and scientific reason. Organizations and citizens are responding to the biodiversity crisis through conservation action plans that direct research and education programs that engage concerns at local through global scales.
Conscious efforts to conserve and protect global biodiversity are a recent phenomenon. Natural resource conservation, has a history that extends prior to the age of conservation. Resource ethics grew out of necessity through direct relations with nature. Regulation or communal restraint became necessary to prevent selfish motives from taking more than could be locally sustained, therefore compromising the long-term supply for the rest of the community; this social dilemma with respect to natural resource management is called the "Tragedy of the Commons". From this principle, conservation biologists can trace communal resource based ethics throughout cultures as a solution to communal resource conflict. For example, the Alaskan Tlingit peoples and the Haida of the Pacific Northwest had resource boundaries and restrictions among clans with respect to the fishing of sockeye salmon; these rules were guided by clan elders who knew lifelong details of each river and stream they managed. There are numerous examples in history where cultures have followed rules and organized practice with respect to communal natural resource management.
The Mauryan emperor Ashoka around 250 B. C. issued edicts restricting the slaughter of animals and certain kinds of birds, as well as opened veterinary clinics. Conservation ethics are found in early religious and philosophical writings. There are examples in the Tao, Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In Greek philosophy, Plato lamented about pasture land degradation: "What is left now is, so to say, the skeleton of a body wasted by disease. In the bible, through Moses, God commanded to let the land rest from cultivation every seventh year. Before the 18th century, much of European culture considered it a pagan view to admire nature. Wilderness was denigrated. However, as early as AD 680 a wildlife sanctuary was founded on the Farne Islands by St Cuthbert in response to his religious beliefs. Natural history was a major preoccupation in the 18th century, with grand expeditions and the opening of popular public displays in Europe and North America. By 1900 there were 150 natural history museums in Germany, 250 in Great Britain, 250 in the United States, 300 in France.
Preservationist or conservationist sentiments are a development of the late 18th to early 20th centuries. Before C
Pain in fish
Whether fish feel pain similar to humans or differently is a contentious issue. Pain is a complex mental state, with a distinct perceptual quality but associated with suffering, an emotional state; because of this complexity, the presence of pain in an animal, or another human for that matter, cannot be determined unambiguously using observational methods, but the conclusion that animals experience pain is inferred on the basis of presence of phenomenal consciousness, deduced from comparative brain physiology as well as physical and behavioural reactions. Fish fulfil several criteria proposed as indicating; these fulfilled criteria include a suitable nervous system and sensory receptors, opioid receptors and reduced responses to noxious stimuli when given analgesics and local anaesthetics, physiological changes to noxious stimuli, displaying protective motor reactions, exhibiting avoidance learning and making trade-offs between noxious stimulus avoidance and other motivational requirements.
If fish feel pain, there are ethical and animal welfare implications including the consequences of exposure to pollutants, practices involving commercial and recreational fishing, aquaculture, in ornamental fish and genetically modified fish and for fish used in scientific research. The possibility that fish and other non-human animals may experience pain has a long history; this was based around theoretical and philosophical argument, but more has turned to scientific investigation. The idea that non-human animals might not feel pain goes back to the 17th-century French philosopher, René Descartes, who argued that animals do not experience pain and suffering because they lack consciousness. In 1789, the British philosopher and social reformist, Jeremy Bentham, addressed in his book An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation the issue of our treatment of animals with the following quoted words: "The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?"Peter Singer, a bioethicist and author of Animal Liberation published in 1975, suggested that consciousness is not the key issue: just because animals have smaller brains, or are ‘less conscious’ than humans, does not mean that they are not capable of feeling pain.
He goes on further to argue that we do not assume newborn infants, people suffering from neurodegenerative brain diseases or people with learning disabilities experience less pain than we would. Bernard Rollin, the principal author of two U. S. federal laws regulating pain relief for animals, writes that researchers remained unsure into the 1980s as to whether animals experience pain, veterinarians trained in the U. S. before 1989 were taught to ignore animal pain. In his interactions with scientists and other veterinarians, Rollin was asked to "prove" that animals are conscious, to provide "scientifically acceptable" grounds for claiming that they feel pain. Continuing into the 1990s, discussions were further developed on the roles that philosophy and science had in understanding animal cognition and mentality. In subsequent years, it was argued there was strong support for the suggestion that some animals have at least simple conscious thoughts and feelings and that the view animals feel pain differently to humans is now a minority view.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, there were many scientific investigations of pain in non-human animals. At the turn of the century, studies were published showing that arthritic rats self-select analgesic opiates. In 2014, the veterinary Journal of Small Animal Practice published an article on the recognition of pain which started – "The ability to experience pain is universally shared by all mammals..." and in 2015, it was reported in the science journal Pain, that several mammalian species adopt a facial expression in response to a noxious stimulus, consistent with the expression of pain in humans. At the same time as the investigations using arthritic rats, studies were published showing that birds with gait abnormalities self-select for a diet that contains carprofen, a human analgesic. In 2005, it was written "Avian pain is analogous to pain experienced by most mammals" and in 2014, "...it is accepted that birds perceive and respond to noxious stimuli and that birds feel pain" Veterinary articles have been published stating both reptiles and amphibians experience pain in a way analogous to humans, that analgesics are effective in these two classes of vertebrates.
In 2012 the American philosopher Gary Varner reviewed the research literature on pain in animals. His findings are summarised in the following table. Arguing by analogy, Varner claims that any animal which exhibits the properties listed in the table could be said to experience pain. On that basis, he concludes that all vertebrates, including fish experience pain, but invertebrates apart from cephalopods do not experience pain. Although there are numerous definitions of pain all involve two key components. First, nociception is required; this is the ability to detect noxious stimuli which evoke a reflex response that moves the entire animal, or the affected part of its body, away from the source of the stimulus. The concept of nociception does not imply any adverse, subjective "feeling" – it is a reflex action. An example in humans would be the rapid withdrawal of a finger that has touched something hot – the withdrawal occurs before any sensation of pain is experienced; the second component is the experience of "pain" itself, or suffering – the internal, emotional interpretation of the nociceptive experience.
Again in humans, this is when the withdrawn finger begins to hurt, moments after the w
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,220 feet, between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university; the university was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming is unusual in that its location within the state is written into the state's constitution; the university offers outreach education in communities throughout Wyoming and online. The University of Wyoming consists of seven colleges: agriculture and natural resources and sciences, education and applied sciences, health sciences, law; the university offers over 120 undergraduate and certificate programs including Doctor of Pharmacy and Juris Doctor. The University of Wyoming was featured in the 2011 Princeton Review Best 373 Colleges. In addition to on-campus classes in Laramie, the university's Outreach School offers more than 41 degree and endorsement programs to distance learners across the state and beyond.
These programs are delivered through the use of technology, such as online and video conferencing classes. The Outreach School has nine regional centers in the state, with several on community college campuses, to give Wyoming residents access to a university education without relocating to Laramie. On September 27, 1886, the cornerstone of Old Main was laid marking the beginning of the University of Wyoming; the stone is inscribed Domi Habuit Unde Disceret, translated, "He need not go away from home for instruction." The following year, the first class of women began their college education. For the next decade the building housed a library and administration offices; the style of Old Main set a precedent for all future University buildings. The main stone used is rough-cut sandstone from a quarry east of Laramie and the trim stone is smooth Potsdam Sandstone from a quarry near Rawlins. Old Main was designed to be a monumental structure and was designed to be a symmetrical building with a prominent central spire as the focal point.
The building was designed to reflect the character of Wyoming and the rough stone and smooth trim represented the progressing frontier. The design of Old Main had a lasting effect on university structures, most visible by the use of sandstone façade on nearly every building. In 1916, the central spire was removed due to structural concerns and the auditorium was reduced in size during a 1936 renovation. In 1949, the building was remodeled—the auditorium and exterior stairs were removed, it became known as Old Main and the name was carved above the east entrance. Old Main houses university administration including the President's Office and the board room where the Trustees meet. Prexy's Pasture is a large grassy area located within a ring of classroom and administrative buildings and serves as the center mall of the campus; the name is attributed to an obscure rule that the university president, or "prexy", is given exclusive use of the area for livestock grazing. During the administration of Arthur G. Crane the name, "Prexy's Pasture", was formally declared.
Prexy's, as it is called today, is known for the unique pattern formed by concrete pathways that students and faculty use to cross the pasture. When the University of Wyoming first opened its doors in 1887, Prexy's Pasture was nothing more than an actual pasture covered in native grasses; the football team played their games on the pasture until 1922, when Corbett Field opened at the southeast corner of campus. Over time, as the needs of the university has changed, the area has been redesigned; the original design was established in 1924 and in 1949 the area was landscaped with Blue Spruce and Mugo Pine. In February 1965, the Board of Trustees decided to construct the new science center on the west side of Prexy's Pasture; the board president, Harold F. Newton, concerned about the location, leaked the decision to the local press; the uproar that followed caused the board to decide on a new location for the science center and resulted in a new state statute making it necessary for any new structure built on the pasture to receive legislative approval.
The statue known as "University of Wyoming Family" was installed in 1983 by UW Professor Robert Russin in anticipation of the centennial celebration. In the summer of 2004, Prexy's Pasture was remodeled as the first step in a two part redesign project; this step involved removing the asphalt roadway that circled the pasture and replacing it with concrete walkways to make the area a walking campus, as recommended by the 1966 and 1991 Campus Master Plans. The grassy area was increased and new lampposts were installed for better lighting; the second phase of the project involves the construction of a plaza at each corner featuring trees and rocks styled after the rocky outcrops of nearby Vedauwoo. Two of the plazas, Simpson Plaza and Cheney Plaza, have been completed. Several exhibits from the exhibition Sculpture: A Wyoming Invitational are featured along the exterior walkway. Outside of its primary use by students travelling to and from classes or socializing, the area is host to campus barbecues and fall welcome events.
In September 1937, the university obtained a Public Works Administration loan during the Great Depression for $149,250 for construction of a student union. On March 3, 1938, ground was broken and construction began on what would become the Wyoming Union. Many students were involved in the construction and twenty-five students were trained to be stone-cutters. From the begin
Wester Ross
Wester Ross is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is regarded as lying to the west of the main watershed of Ross, thus forming the western half of the county of Ross and Cromarty; the southwesternmost part of Ross and Cromarty, Lochalsh, is not considered part of Wester Ross by the local tourist organisation, Visit Wester Ross, but is included within the definition used for the Wester Ross Biosphere Reserve. Wester Ross is renowned for the scenic splendour of its mountains and coastline, the range of wildlife that can be seen; the area is a popular tourist destination. Tourism forms a major part of the economic activity of the area, accounting for 35 % of all employment. Other major economic activities in the area include commercial fishing, renewable energy and fish farming; the area gives its name to the Wester Ross National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland, which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure their protection from inappropriate development.
Scenic spots including Loch Maree, Inverewe Garden, Corrieshalloch Gorge, Glen Docherty and the Bealach na Bà. Wester Ross was designated as a Biosphere Reserve in April 2016; the geology of Wester Ross consists predominantly of Torridonian Lewisian gneiss. The latter was formed during the Precambrian period, is the oldest rock type found in Scotland; the Torridonian sandstone was formed by the deposition of sediment on top of the gneiss around 750 million years ago. The linear geological feature of Moine Thrust Belt runs northeast across the area from near Kyle of Lochalsh; the area was glaciated during the ice age, with all but the highest peaks being covered by glaciers, leading to the steep-sided glens and deep sea lochs that characterise the area today. Wester Ross is well known for its spectacular mountain scenery the Torridon Hills which includes such peaks as Beinn Eighe and Liathach. Although many peaks in the Northwest highlands exhibit Torridonian geology, the Torridon Hills are considered only to be those in the Torridon Forest to the north of Glen Torridon: the Munros of Liathach, Beinn Eighe, Beinn Alligin.
Other notable "Torridonian" peaks in Wester Ross include An Teallach and Slioch, in the Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest in the north of the area, the hills of the Coulin Forest between Glen Torridon and Strathcarron. Torridonian hills exhibit some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the British Isles, surpassed in grandeur only by the Cuillin of Skye; the hills sit apart from each other, are likened to castles. They have steep terraced sides, broken summit crests, riven into many pinnacles. There are many steep gullies running down the terraced sides; the summit ridges provide excellent scrambling, are popular with hill walkers and mountaineers. However, like many ridge routes, there are few escape points, so once committed, the scrambler or hillwalker must complete the entire ridge before descent. Under winter conditions, many walking routes in Wester Ross become serious expeditions. In contrast to the isolated Torridonian peaks that characterise much of Wester Ross, the mountains of Kintail in the south of the area take the form of peaks linked by ridges that rise steeply from narrow glens and the sea.
Most of the major roads in the area radiate out from the more populated areas of Easter Ross, link the settlements on the western coast to Inverness. Less major roads link these east-west routes to form a north-south route along the coast between Kyle of Lochalsh and Ullapool; this route has been marketed to tourists as the Wester Ross Coastal Trail, forms part of the North Coast 500 tourist route. The only railway line in Wester Ross is the Kyle of Lochalsh line, operated by ScotRail and provides a link between the southern part of the region and Inverness. Four services a day operate on the line, calling at stations at Achnasheen, Strathcarron, Stromeferry, Duncraig and Duirinish, terminating at Kyle of Lochalsh. Wester Ross experiences a mild maritime climate despite being located at a latitude of between 57.2° and 58.0° North due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The tables below provide data for three locations within the area: Aultbea, located on the coast near Poolewe. There are traces of Mesolithic occupation at several sites in Wester Ross, including at Redpoint and Shieldaig.
Excavations of a Mesolithic rock shelter and shell midden at Sand on the Applecross peninsula revealed a variety of tools made from bone and antler, together with waste from tool manufacture and food processing. The Mesolithic people were nomadic, permanent settlements were first built during the Neolithic era, when trees were felled to create land for farming; the area was inhabited by Picts in late antiquity, was Christian by the 7th Century. From the 8th Century Wester Ross, along with much of the western seaboard of Scotland, came under Norse domination, placename evidence suggests that the Pictish language seems to have been replaced wherever the Norsemen encountered it, with most names considered to be of Medieval rather than pre-Norse origin. F
Michigan
Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The state's name, originates from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". With a population of about 10 million, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area, is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River, its capital is Lansing, its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's largest metropolitan economies. Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas; the Lower Peninsula is noted as shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan; the Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair; as a result, it is one of the leading U.
S. states for recreational boating. Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline; the area was first occupied by a succession of Native American tribes over thousands of years. Inhabited by Natives, Métis, French explorers in the 17th century, it was claimed as part of New France colony. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded this territory to the newly independent United States after Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War; the area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as a free one, it soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Although Michigan developed a diverse economy, it is known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry, which developed as a major economic force in the early 20th century. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies. While sparsely populated, the Upper Peninsula is important for tourism thanks to its abundance of natural resources, while the Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, agriculture and high-tech industry; when the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires; the Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest. The Ojibwe were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern and central Michigan, inhabited Ontario and southern Manitoba, Canada; the Ottawa lived south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and southern Michigan, but in southern Ontario, northern Ohio and eastern Wisconsin.
The Potawatomi were in southern and western Michigan, in addition to northern and central Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, southern Ontario. Other Algonquian tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, the Sac, the Fox; the Wyandot were an Iroquoian-speaking people in this area. French voyageurs and coureurs des bois settled in Michigan in the 17th century; the first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions. Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the area's Indian populations, with few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph. In 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present-day city of Niles.
In 1701, French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Pontchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage British aspirations; the hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in what was considered the wilderness of Michigan; the town became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active. Cadillac departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716.
French attempts to consol
West Yellowstone, Montana
West Yellowstone is a town in Gallatin County, adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. The population was 1,271 at the 2010 census; the town is served by Yellowstone Airport. It is part of MT Micropolitan Statistical Area, it was founded in June 1908. The town's name changed several times until West Yellowstone was settled upon in 1920. For many, the town of West Yellowstone is a place to stay while traveling through Yellowstone National Park; the town is separated into two parts and commercial at the road D Parkway. South of D Parkway is a business area; the area north of D Parkway is known to locals as the "Madison Addition". The town has one school, serving kindergarten through 12th grade; as of the census of 2010, there were 1,271 people, 617 households, 298 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,588.8 inhabitants per square mile. There were 969 housing units at an average density of 1,211.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 86.6% White, 0.4% African American, 1.1% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 7.5% from other races, 3.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.9% of the population. There were 617 households, of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.7% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.2% had a male householder with no wife present, 51.7% were non-families. 42.1% of all households were made up of individuals, 5.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06, the average family size was 2.86. The median age in the town was 39.4 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the town was 53.1% male and 46.9% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,177 people, 518 households, 289 families residing in the town; the population density was 1,458.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 806 housing units at an average density of 999.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 91.93% White, 0.34% African American, 0.85% Native American, 0.76% Asian, 4.84% from other races, 1.27% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.73% of the population. There were 518 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 44.2% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.5% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.76. In the town, the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 35.9% from 25 to 44, 28.5% from 45 to 64, 5.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 123.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 121.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $30,703, the median income for a family was $37,250. Males had a median income of $24,297 versus $20,909 for females; the per capita income for the town was $19,136. About 9.1% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.
West Yellowstone is located at 44°39′45″N 111°6′21″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.80 square miles, all of it land. At 7,000 feet above sea level and exactly halfway between the equator and the North Pole, West Yellowstone experiences a subarctic climate, with cold — sometimes bitterly cold — winters and brief but warm summers. West Yellowstone is snow-covered from the beginning of November until the beginning of May. At the peak of the snowpack, which occurs in early March, there are 3.5 – 4 feet of snow on the ground. In 2007-2008, West Yellowstone had snow on the ground from late October until mid May, with 4.5 feet of snow by late March. During the summer, the average low is 41 °F, the average high is 78 °F. During the winter, the average low is 1 °F, the average high is 24 °F. West Yellowstone holds the record low of any community in the lower 48 states at −66 °F, although Rogers Pass, Montana is colder, at −70 °F. However, the town's December record low of −59 °F is the monthly record low for the lower 48 states.
Because of its proximity to Yellowstone National Park, the town receives a large amount of tourism from China. To cater to these tourists, the town has commercial signage in six Chinese restaurants, it is estimated to receive more than half its annual business from Chinese tourists. The West Yellowstone Airport, a summer-operating airport, is to the west of town. U. S. Route 20 and U. S. Route 191 pass through the town; the Union Pacific Railroad operated the Butte Special, which linked with a coordinated train, the Yellowstone Special, which ran from Pocatello, Idaho to West Yellowstone. The two trains ran linked from Pocatello to Idaho Falls, where the latter train split off for West Yellowstone. Service ended in 1971. KWYS, broadcasting at 920 kHz and locally owned by Radio West, LLC, is located in and licensed to West Yellowstone. Angling in Yellowstone National Park Town of West Yellowstone West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center Gallat
Murray cod
The Murray cod is a large Australian predatory freshwater fish of the genus Maccullochella in the family Percichthyidae. Although the species is called a cod in the vernacular, it is not related to the Northern Hemisphere marine cod species; the Murray cod is an important part of Australia's vertebrate wildlife—as an apex predator in the Murray-Darling River system—and significant in Australia's human culture. The Murray cod is the largest freshwater fish in Australia, one of the largest in the world. Other common names for Murray cod include cod, goodoo, Mary River cod, Murray perch, ponde and Queensland freshwater cod; the scientific name of Murray cod derives from an early Australian fish researcher with the surname McCulloch and the river from which the explorer Major Mitchell first scientifically described the species, the Peel River. This was for a number of years changed to M. peelii peelii to differentiate Murray cod from Mary River cod, which were designated as a subspecies of Murray cod.
However, as of 2010, Mary River cod have been raised to full species status, thus Murray cod have reverted to M. peelii. Murray cod populations have declined since European colonisation of Australia due to a number of causes, including severe overfishing, river regulation, habitat degradation and are now a listed threatened species. However, they once inhabited the entire Murray-Darling basin, Australia's largest river system, in great numbers. A long-lived fish, adult Murray cod are carnivorous and eat other fish; the species exhibits a high degree of parental care for their eggs, which are spawned in the spring and are laid in hollow logs or on other hard surfaces. Murray cod are aquaculture species. Available through the aquarium trade, they are a popular aquarium species in Australia; the Murray cod is a large grouper-like fish with a deep, elongated body, round in cross section. It has a broad, scooped head, a large mouth lined with pads of small, needle-like teeth; the jaws of the Murray cod are equal.
The spiny dorsal fin of Murray cod is moderate to low in height and is separated by a notch from the high, rounded soft dorsal fin. Soft dorsal and caudal fins are all large and rounded, are dusky grey or black with distinct white edges; the large, rounded pectoral fins are similar in colour to the flanks. The pelvic fins are large and set forward of the pectoral fins; the leading white-coloured rays on the pelvic fins split into two trailing white filaments, while the pelvic fins themselves are a translucent white or cream, tending toward opacity in large fish. Murray cod are white to cream on their ventral surfaces, their backs and flanks are yellowish-green to green, overlain with heavy darker green, but brown or black, mottling. The effect is a marbled appearance sometimes reminiscent of a leopard's markings. Colouration is related to water clarity. Small to medium-sized Murray cod from clear-water habitats have striking and distinct colouration. Large fish tend towards a speckled grey-green colouration.
Murray cod are large fish, with adult fish reaching 80–100 cm in length in all but the smallest waterways. Murray cod are capable of growing well over 1 m in length and the largest on record was over 1.8 m and about 113 kg in weight. Large breeding fish are rare in most wild populations today due to overfishing. Murray cod continue a pattern present in Murray-Darling native fish genera of speciation into lowland and specialist upland species: Murray cod are the lowland species and the endangered trout cod are the specialist upland species; the pattern is blurred in the cod species because, being adaptable and successful fish, Murray cod push significant distances into upland habitats, while the now endangered trout cod stray well down the upland/lowland transition zone, which can be extensive in Murray-Darling Rivers. The basic pattern of speciation into a lowland species and a specialist upland species is present. Murray cod, like a number of other Murray-Darling native fish species, have managed to cross the Great Dividing Range at least once through natural river capture events, leading to several species and subspecies of coastal cod.
The best known are eastern freshwater cod of the Clarence River system in northern New South Wales, Mary River cod of the Mary River system in south eastern Queensland, both of which are endangered, but survive today. Coastal cod were found in the Richmond River system in northern New South Wales and the Brisbane River system in southern Queensland, but are now extinct. In the 1800s and early 1900s, commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, riverside residents, some fisheries scientists distinctly recognised two species of cod in the southern Murray-Darling basin, Murray cod and trout cod or "blue nose cod". Taxonomically however, confusion abounded. Ignoring glaring differences in size at sexual maturity, via some rather unscientific reasoning, some prominent fisheries scientists insisted on recognising only one species of cod—the Murray cod; as trout cod declined into near extinction over the 1900s, the distinction between the two species was further eroded and questioned. I
