Eastern mudminnow
The eastern mudminnow is a species of freshwater fish belonging to the family Umbridae. It has been introduced to Europe, it feeds on insect larvae and other small aquatic invertebrates. It is an elongated, stout-bodied fish, brown or yellow-green in color, with about 10 or more dark, lateral stripes separated by pale spaces, although there is no lateral line on the fish; the pelvic fin lies somewhat farther back such that it rests below the dorsal fin. The body is elongated, the maximum size of the fish is 15 cm; the native range of the eastern mudminnow is from New York to Florida, found as west as Georgia. It has been introduced to Europe, where it can be found in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, it is found in still or slow-moving waters in dense vegetation over vegetated streams and ponds. The eastern mudminnow has show great adaptability to poor habitats with low pH, presence of oxygen. At least one incident has been documented where an eastern mudminnow has survived an entire night out of water.
The fish can be found in waters with a pH ranging from 3.5 to 8.1 in natural environments. The optimal pH for growth is 4.5, detrimental or fatal for most fish. The eastern mudminnow are bottom-feeders and feed on insect larvae, worms and crustaceans; the eastern muddow are known to leap from the water while feeding. Eastern mudminnows have been known to exhibit more complex reproductive behaviors. Males participate in courtship and the fish build nests. Nests can be found in cavities of algae, under loose rocks, in depressions in the sand. Females guard nests, males may as well. During courtship, males will show their fins. In North America, the eastern mudminnow is viewed upon with little concern; the eastern mudminnow is viewed as a invasive species in much of Europe. The spread of the fish to six European countries in the 20th century is attribute to popularity in the aquaculture and aquarium trades; the presence of eastern mudminnows in Europe can undermine the conservation efforts of vulnerable species such as the european mudminnow.
The spread of the eastern mudminnow in these parts of Europe seems to be slow and human mediated. Smith, L. C; the Inland Fishes of New York State. New York: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. 1985, pp. 242. "Umbra pygmaea". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 4 August 2008
Nantahala National Forest
The Nantahala National Forest, established in 1920, is a national forest located in the American state of North Carolina. The word "Nantahala" is a Cherokee word meaning "Land of the Noonday Sun." The name is appropriate as, in some spots, the sun only reaches the floors of the deep gorges of the forest when high overhead at midday. The Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto explored the area in 1540, as did William Bartram in the 18th century; the Nantahala River flows through the Nantahala National Forest. The Nantahala National Forest is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture; the forest is managed together with the other three North Carolina National Forests from common headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina. Nantahala National Forest is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina; the terrain varies in elevation from 5,800 feet at Lone Bald in Jackson County, to 1,200 feet in Cherokee County along the Hiwassee River below the Appalachian Dam.
It is the home of many western NC waterfalls. The last part of the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway travels through this forest; the total area under management is 531,270 acres. In descending order of land area it is located in parts of Macon, Cherokee, Jackson and Swain counties. Nantahala National Forest is divided into three Ranger Districts: The Cheoah Ranger District, the Nantahala Ranger District, the Tusquitee Ranger District. All district names come from the Cherokee language; the Cheoah Ranger District has 120,110 acres in Graham and Swain Counties, it is headquartered in Robbinsville, North Carolina. The district's name, Cheoah, is the Cherokee word for "otter," because the lands adjoin four large mountain reservoirs and contain numerous streams; the Appalachian Trail winds through the Cheoah Ranger District after leaving the Nantahala Ranger District on its way to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The district contains the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and part of the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness.
The Nantahala Ranger District is the largest of the forest's districts, covering an area of about 250,000 acres in Macon and Swain counties. It was formed in 2007 by consolidating the former Highlands Ranger District and Wayah Ranger District; the headquarters are in North Carolina. Part of the district is adjacent to the Cherokee Indian Reservation; this district's features include the 5,499-foot Standing Indian Mountain, the Nantahala Gorge and Wayah Bald. Four long distance trails pass through the district: the Appalachian, Bartram and Mountains-to-Sea Trails; the district contains the 40,000-acre Roy Taylor Forest located in Jackson County, southwest of and adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway, that it acquired in 1981. The rugged and scenic Tuckasegee Gorge is within the Roy Taylor Forest. During the consolidation, all the lands of the former Highlands Ranger District within Transylvania County, were transferred to the Pisgah Ranger District; the 158,348-acre Tusquitee Ranger District is the forest's second largest district, it is located in far southwestern tip of North Carolina, within Cherokee and Clay Counties.
Tusquitee is Cherokee for "where the water dogs laughed," and the district is headquartered in Murphy, North Carolina. The district's features include the Hiawassee River, Jackrabbit Mountain as well as Lake Chatuge, Lake Hiawassee, Lake Appalachia. All the lakes on or bordering the Tusquitee Ranger District are managed by TVA; the highest point on the district is Tusquitee Bald located in Clay County. Three Wilderness areas are located within the Nantahala National Forest. Ellicott Rock Wilderness is located near Highlands, North Carolina at the intersection of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia state lines, with 3,900 acres in the North Carolina portion; the Southern Nantahala Wilderness includes 10,900 acres in the North Carolina portion and lies in the Tusquitee and Nantahala Ranger Districts. Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness; these wilderness areas provide an opportunity for solitude in a natural setting. The Forest manages two Off - Highway Vehicle areas; the most famous being Tellico OHV area located in the Tusquitee Ranger District an additional OHV area is located in the Nantahala Ranger District.
Many miles of trout water exist in the forest. The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest within the National Forest was dedicated on July 30, 1936 to poet Joyce Kilmer. Several areas of old-growth forest have been identified in the Nantahala National Forest, totaling some 30,800 acres; the Joyce Kilmer Wilderness in particular contains nearly 6,000 acres of old-growth forest. List of U. S. national forests National Forest Management Act of 1976 Map of Nantahala National Forest Sherpa Guides' webpage on the Nantahala National Forest Franklin Chamber of Commerce page USDA Forest Service Read Congressional Research Service Reports regarding US policy on National Forests
Bald eagle
The bald eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle, its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting; the bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m deep, 2.5 m wide, 1 metric ton in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years. Bald eagles are not bald; the adult is brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage; the beak is hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown; the bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States.
Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U. S. government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the Lower 48 States on June 28, 2007; the plumage of an adult bald eagle is evenly dark brown with a white tail. The tail is moderately long and wedge-shaped. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration, but sexual dimorphism is evident in the species, in that females are 25% larger than males; the beak and irises are bright yellow. The legs are feather-free, the toes are short and powerful with large talons; the developed talon of the hind toe is used to pierce the vital areas of prey while it is held immobile by the front toes. The beak is hooked, with a yellow cere; the adult bald eagle is unmistakable in its native range. The related African fish eagle has a brown body, white head and tail, but differs from the bald in having a white chest and black tip to the bill.
The plumage of the immature is a dark brown overlaid with messy white streaking until the fifth year, when it reaches sexual maturity. Immature bald eagles are distinguishable from the golden eagle, the only other large, non-vulturine raptorial bird in North America, in that the former has a larger, more protruding head with a larger beak, straighter edged wings which are held flat and with a stiffer wing beat and feathers which do not cover the legs; when seen well, the golden eagle is distinctive in plumage with a more solid warm brown color than an immature bald eagle, with a reddish-golden patch to its nape and a contrasting set of white squares on the wing. Another distinguishing feature of the immature bald eagle over the mature bird is its black, yellow-tipped beak; the bald eagle has sometimes been considered the largest true raptor in North America. The only larger species of raptor-like bird is the California condor, a New World vulture which today is not considered a taxonomic ally of true accipitrids.
However, the golden eagle, averaging 4.18 kg and 63 cm in wing chord length in its American race, is 455 g lighter in mean body mass and exceeds the bald eagle in mean wing chord length by around 3 cm. Additionally, the bald eagle's close cousins, the longer-winged but shorter-tailed white-tailed eagle and the overall larger Steller's sea eagle, may wander to coastal Alaska from Asia; the bald eagle has a body length of 70–102 cm. Typical wingspan is between 1.8 and 2.3 m and mass is between 3 and 6.3 kg. Females are about 25% larger than males, averaging as much as 5.6 kg, against the males' average weight of 4.1 kg. The size of the bird varies by location and corresponds with Bergmann's rule, since the species increases in size further away from the Equator and the tropics. For example, eagles from South Carolina average 3.27 kg in mass and 1.88 m in wingspan, smaller than their northern counterparts. One field guide in Florida listed small sizes for bald eagles there, at about 4.13 kg. Of intermediate size, 117 migrant bald eagles in Glacier National Park were found to average 4.22 kg but this was juvenile eagles, with 6 adults here averaging 4.3 kg.
Wintering eagles in Arizona were found to average 4.74 kg. The largest eagles are from Alaska, where large females may weigh more than 7 kg and span 2.44 m across the wings. A survey of adult weights in Alaska showed that females there weighed on average 5.35 kg and males weighed 4.23 kg against immatures which averaged 5.09 kg and 4.05 kg in the two sexes. An Alaskan adult female eagle, considered outsized we
Havelock, North Carolina
Havelock is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,735 at the 2010 census; the city is home to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the world's largest Marine Corps air station, home to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The city is the home of Havelock High School, who have won the NCHSAA 3A State Championship in football four times. Havelock is part of the New Bern Metropolitan Statistical Area. Havelock is one of eight cities in the world named after Sir Henry Havelock, a British officer in India, who distinguished himself in 1857 during what was known as the Indian Mutiny; the area was named "Havelock Station" in the late 1850s, when the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad built a depot where its right-of-way crossed what is now Miller Boulevard. The town was the initial landing point for a Civil War battle known as the Battle of New Bern. On March 11, 1862, Brigadier General Ambrose Burnside's command embarked from Roanoke Island to rendezvous with Union gunboats at Hatteras Inlet for an expedition against New Bern.
On March 13, the fleet sailed up the Neuse River, anchored at Slocum Creek, disembarked infantry on the river's south bank. Elements of the Rhode Island Heavy Artillery came ashore near the present-day location of the Officers' Club on Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station and near the Carolina Pines Golf and Country Club. After the capture of New Bern, the Federals transited Havelock on their way to the Battle of Fort Macon. Despite several Confederate attempts to reclaim New Bern and the surrounding area, the Federals did not withdraw until after the end of the war. During one of the attempts, the Union-built blockhouse fort on Havelock's Slocom Creek was burned in 1864. A diorama model of the Civil War fort is on exhibit at the Havelock Tourist & Events Center along with other displays of Havelock and Cherry Point history. Existing records indicate that the production of naval supplies including turpentine and tar were important in the local economy during the 19th century. With the invention of the steam engine, the demand for tar and turpentine evaporated as fewer wooden ships were constructed.
Many distillers of turpentine turned to the production of moonshine to make ends meet. In 1940, Havelock became the home of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. MCAS Cherry Point's Fleet Readiness Center East employs many residents of the town. In 1959 the town was established. Jimmy Sanders served as the mayor of the city from 1987 until the election of former city commissioner William L. Lewis, Jr. in 2013 by a vote of 624-319. A park in Havelock is named after Rep. Walter B. Jones, Jr.. Havelock is located in southern Craven County at 34°52′58″N 76°54′33″W; the city limits encompass most of Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and extend as far north as the tidal Neuse River. Slocum Creek is a tidal inlet. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.6 square miles, of which 16.8 square miles is land and 0.81 square miles, or 4.56%, is water. At the 2010 United States Census there were 20,735 people, 6,409 households, 5,073 families residing in the city; the racial makeup of the city was 70.0% White, 0.7% Native American, 17.4% African American, 2.9% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 4.0% from other races, 4.7% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.6% of the population. As of the census of 2000, there were 22,442 people, 6,411 households, 5,276 families residing in the city; the population density was 1,342.9 people per square mile. There were 6,783 housing units at an average density of 405.9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the city was 70.48% White, 18.53% African American, 0.78% Native American, 2.54% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 3.94% from other races, 3.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.01% of the population. There were 6,411 households out of which 52.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.3% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 17.7% were non-families. 13.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.5% have someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.19. In the city, the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 29.0% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 9.6% from 45 to 64, 3.1% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females, there were 133.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 147.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,351, the median income for a family was $37,000. Males had a median income of $22,048 versus $18,322 for females; the per capita income for the city was $15,586. About 6.8% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.0% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over. Havelock's main highway is U. S. 70, which runs west to east through the center of town. There is N. C. 101 from which two entrances to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point are located. A U. S. 70 bypass around the city is scheduled to begin construction in winter 2017. New Bern, the Craven County seat, is 19 miles to the northwest via U. S. 70, while Morehead City, gateway to the Crystal Coast beaches along the Atlantic Ocean, is 17 miles to the southeast. The city of Havelock began building out in the 1970s.
Some homes in the town were built over a landfill in the 1970s, which land at that time was still owned by Craven County and no
Cupressaceae
Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera, which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total, they are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious shrubs up to 116 m tall. The bark of mature trees is orange- to red- brown and of stringy texture flaking or peeling in vertical strips, but smooth, scaly or hard and square-cracked in some species; the leaves are arranged either spirally, in decussate pairs or in decussate whorls of three or four, depending on the genus. On young plants, the leaves are needle-like, becoming small and scale-like on mature plants of many genera. Old leaves are not shed individually, but in small sprays of foliage; these leaves fall off individually when the bark starts to flake. Most are evergreen with the leaves persisting 2–10 years, but three genera are deciduous or include deciduous species; the seed cones are either woody, leathery, or berry-like and fleshy, with one to several ovules per scale.
The bract scale and ovuliferous scale are fused together except at the apex, where the bract scale is visible as a short spine on the ovuliferous scale. As with the foliage, the cone scales are arranged spirally, decussate or whorled, depending on the genus; the seeds are small and somewhat flattened, with two narrow wings, one down each side of the seed. The seedlings have two cotyledons, but in some species up to six; the pollen cones are more uniform in structure across the family, 1–20 mm long, with the scales again arranged spirally, decussate or whorled, depending on the genus. Cupressaceae is a distributed conifer family, with a near-global range in all continents except for Antarctica, stretching from 71°N in arctic Norway south to 55°S in southernmost Chile, while Juniperus indica reaches 5200 m altitude in Tibet, the highest altitude reported for any woody plant. Most habitats on land are occupied, with the exceptions of polar tundra and tropical lowland rainforest. Despite the wide overall distribution, many genera and species show restricted relictual distributions, many are endangered species.
The family Cupressaceae is now regarded as including the Taxodiaceae treated as a distinct family, but now shown not to differ from the Cupressaceae in any consistent characteristics. The one exception in the former Taxodiaceae is the genus Sciadopitys, genetically distinct from the rest of the Cupressaceae, is now treated in its own family, Sciadopityaceae; the family is divided into seven subfamilies, based on genetic and morphological analysis as follows: A 2010 study of Actinostrobus and Callitris places the three species of Actinostrobus within an expanded Callitris based on analysis of 42 morphological and anatomical characters. The family is notable for including the largest and stoutest individual trees in the world, the second longest lived species in the world: Largest - General Sherman, a giant sequoia with 1486.9 m³ trunk volume Tallest - Hyperion, a coast redwood, 115.55 m tall Stoutest - Árbol del Tule, a Montezuma cypress or ahuehuete, 14.05 m diameter Second oldest - Sarv-e Abarkuh, a Mediterranean cypress estimated to be 4000 years old In addition to the above, many other members of the family list among the tallest, most massive and most long-lived tree species in the world, including Taiwania, western redcedar, incense cedar, Tibetan cypress, Formosan cypress among others.
Many of the species are important timber sources in the genera Calocedrus, Cryptomeria, Cupressus, Sequoia and Thuja. These and several other genera are important in horticulture. Junipers are among the most important evergreen shrubs and small evergreen trees, with hundreds of cultivars selected, including plants with blue, grey, or yellow foliage. Chamaecyparis and Thuja provide hundreds of dwarf cultivars as well as trees, including Lawson's cypress and the infamous hybrid Leyland cypress. Dawn redwood is planted as an ornamental tree because of its excellent horticultural qualities, rapid growth and status as a living fossil. Giant sequoia is a popular ornamental tree and is grown for timber. Giant sequoia, Leyland cypress, Arizona cypress are grown to a small extent as Christmas trees. Sugi is the national tree of Japan, ahuehuete the national tree of Mexico. Coast redwood and giant sequoia were jointly designated the state tree of California and are famous California tourist att
Enneacanthus gloriosus
Enneacanthus gloriosus is a species of fish in the family Centrarchidae, the sunfishes, known by the common name blue-spotted sunfish. It is native to the southeastern and eastern United States, its distribution extending as far north as New Jersey and far southern New York, it is native throughout most of its range, but some populations represent introductions, such as those in Lake Ontario and the upper Susquehanna River system. This fish reaches about 9.5 centimetres in maximum length. It is one of the smallest fish in its family, it has spines in its anal fins. Its tail fin is rounded in outline, its body is covered in blue dots. Some individuals have iridescent spots. There may be a few pale bars on its sides, but these are rare in adults. Several aspects of the life history of the fish vary geographically. Fish on the East Coast and in Florida are larger for example; the fish becomes sexually mature at larger sizes in more northern latitudes. This may be because fish in milder climates can begin reproductive investment earlier, putting their energy into gonadal growth instead of body growth at younger ages.
Fish in the east can reach a maximum age around 5 years, but fish in the south do not reach that age. The spawning season is much longer in southern regions because of warmer temperatures and longer photoperiod; this freshwater fish occupies ponds, creeks and medium-sized rivers. It can tolerate brackish water in areas near the coast, it thrives in small backwaters filled with tree roots. The fish spawns several times in a season, sometimes daily for a long period of time; the male builds a nest in plant matter. Clutch sizes of 42 to 216 have been observed; the diet of the fish is rich in plankton. It consumes cyclopoid copepods, water fleas, midge larvae, ostracods and snails, its preference for tiny aquatic larvae makes it a suitable mosquito control agent. In many areas, this fish is sympatric with a related member of its genus, the banded sunfish; the two species are hard to tell apart. They are known to hybridize. A number of parasitic flatworms have been observed in this fish, such as Gyrodactylus gloriosi and several Urocleidus species.
This species is sometimes kept as an aquarium pet
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