Eversgerd Post Oak Flatwoods is a 16 ha woodlot that is part of an extensive band of timber associated with the broad Kaskaskia River valley in the Southern Till Plain Natural Division of Illinois. This flatwoods was studied to determine its woody composition and structure, and the effects of fire suppression on canopy closure and plant succession. Tree density within the site averaged 266 trees/ha with a basal area of 24.8 m2/ha. Quercus stellata Wang. (post oak) dominated the overstory and woody understory with an importance value of 171 (200 possible). Quercus bicolor Willd. (swamp white oak) and Q. palustris Muenchh. (pin oak) were common species in a shallow depression, accounting for their second and third in importance value ranking. The forest has an open, park-like appearance. Small woody saplings averaged 820 stems/ha and large saplings averaged 221 stems/ha. Grasses and sedges dominated the herbaceous layer; Danthonia spicata (L.) Roem. & Schultes and Carex cephalophora Willd. were the dominant species. The large number of post oaks with low branches and branch scars indicate that this forest was more open in the past.

Lily Fen is a 6 hectare, well-developed, patterned fen located on Swans Island, Maine. In contrast to other patterned fens in Maine, Lily Fen occupies a coastal location and lies approximately 100 kilometers south of the geographic area where these landforms commonly occur. It is a poor fen dominated by Sphagnum species, including S. pulchrum, S. papillosum, and S. cf. flavicomans, with some intermediate or rich fen taxa such as Cladium mariscoides and Carex exilis. Calcium concentrations are less than 2 mg/L, and the pH is relatively high (ca. 6.0), both probably as a result of enhanced cation inputs from marine aerosols and complete nitrate reduction. High summer precipitation, input of nutrient-rich marine aerosols, a large catchment to basin ratio, highly permeable catchment soils, and a relatively steeply sloping surface likely contribute to the well-developed strings, flarks, and pools at this site.

Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina Linnaeus) abundance and distribution were examined in the Saint John Harbour, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, from May–August of 1999 and 2000. Seal counts in the water were made with respect to tide, time of day, season, and weather. Maximum seal counts per week were compared to peaks in fish runs of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus Wilson) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar Linnaeus). Significantly greater numbers of seals were observed at high tide and with lower temperatures. Seal abundance peaked in early May and coincided directly with the presence of alewife. Seal numbers were not found to be significantly related to adult Atlantic salmon migration through the harbor.

We counted the numbers of seals hauled out at low tide on two near-shore ledges in a protected cove in Casco Bay, Gulf of Maine a minimum of 12 times per month, for four years starting in August 1997. The highest mean monthly counts were in August (molting season) and the lowest in either January or February. Counts during pupping season (May and June) were lower than during April or July. As no mother-pup pairs were observed, these ledges are molting but not pupping ledges. Time-series analysis revealed no overall trend in the number of seals present, but did show a decreasing trend in the fraction of days each month that seals were present. Further observations are needed to determine if this trend is continuing and if it is present in other locations on the Maine coast.

Ectoparasites of various species of bats, carnivores, insectivores, and rodents were examined from the Newport Chemical Depot in Vermillion County, Indiana. A total of 16 species of hosts was examined for ectoparasites, including Blarina brevicauda, Eptesicus fuscus, Microtus ochrogaster, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Mus musculus, Mustela frenata, Mustela vison, Myotis lucifugus, Myotis septentrionalis, Peromyscus leucopus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Reithrodontomys megalotis, Sorex cinereus, Synaptomys cooperi, Tamias striatus, and Zapus hudsonius. The 49 species of ectoparasites recovered included four fleas, four sucking lice, one true bug, two ticks, and 38 mites. Thirty-two new ectoparasitic host records are reported for Indiana, of which 16 are new records for respective hosts throughout their entire range.

A review of literature, museum specimens, and records from four recent National Marine Fisheries Service deepwater surveys allows us to present an annotated list of 591 species in 132 families that live below 200 meters in the area between the Scotian Shelf and the southern New England Shelf south to about 38½N. Three orders (Stomiiformes, Perciformes, and Myctophiformes) of the 24 in the area account for 41% of the species. New area records for 111 species are included; the majority (83%) represent extensions from the south, with only 17% from the north and east. Although the deep-sea ichthyofauna off eastern North America is quite well known, it is noted that 96 new species have been described since 1950 and 34 since 1975.