This investigation was conducted in order to identify the heavy minerals of the beach sands of Carmel Bay, and to analyze the distribution of these minerals, Carmel Bay offers the opportunity to study heavy mineral assemblages in a small isolated bay, internally divided by a submarine canyon, containing smaller pocket beaches influenced by several geological formations and two fresh water strea...

The island of Jamaica covers an area of 10,991 km2 and lies about 885 kms south of Miami (United States of America) and 145 kms south of Cuba. It is the largest of the English-speaking Commonwealth Caribbean Islands, and the third-largest island in the region. The island is divided into 14 parishes and there are two major urban centers—Kingston on the southeast coast and Montego Bay on the nort...

Consequences of reef phase shifts on fish communities remain poorly understood. Studies on the causes, effects and consequences of phase shifts on reef fish communities have only been considered for coral-to-macroalgae shifts. Therefore, there is a large information gap regarding the consequences of novel phase shifts and how these kinds of phase shifts impact on fish assemblages. This study ai...

Bairdoppilata scaura, n. sp. and five species of Bairdoppilata and Paranesidea in open nomenclature are described from encrusting communities on French Frigate Shoals and Kane'ohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Some poorly documented anatomical traits (carapace setae, hingement, antennal claws, genitalia) are examined for their potential taxonomic significance, in order to confirm the coherence o...

Water turbidity and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) are commonly used as part of marine monitoring and water quality plans. Current management plans utilise threshold SSC values derived from mean-annual turbidity concentrations. Little published work documents typical ranges of turbidity for reefs within open coastal waters. Here, time-series turbidity measurements from 61 sites in the G...

The accurate identification of bay leaf in natural products commerce may often be confusing as the name is applied to several different species of aromatic plants. The true "bay leaf", also known as "bay laurel" or "sweet bay", is sourced from the tree Laurus nobilis, a native of the Mediterranean region. Nevertheless, the leaves of several other species including Cinnamomum tamala, Litsea glau...

Medicinal and aromatic plants are used since ancient times in folk medicine and traditional food, but also in novel pharmaceutical preparations. The controversy lies in the use of cultivated and/or wild plants presenting both advantages and disadvantages in biological, ecological but also economic terms. Herein, cultivated and wild samples of Laurus nobilis L. were chemically characterized rega...

Laurus nobilis L. (sweet laurel) is one of the volatile oil bearing plants of Lauraceae family. It is cultivated in different parts of Iran and its leaves and fruits have been used in food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. There are a few reports about the effects of some environmental conditions on the quality and quantity of laurel volatiles. The goal of our work was to search the sea...

The ability of juvenile Laurus nobilis and Acer negundo plants to refill embolized xylem vessels was tested under conditions of soil drought when xylem sap pressure was substantially negative, thus violating the expected condition that pressure must rise to near atmospheric for refilling. Intact potted plants were dried to a stem water potential ( Y W ) corresponding with approximately 80% loss...