Improving Off-Season Research Access to Shoals Marine Laboratory, Appledore Island, Maine

康奈尔大学获得了一笔赠款，用于开发淡季进入浅滩海洋实验室（SML）的机会。浅滩海洋实验室是一个季节性野外站，位于缅因州海湾95英亩的阿普尔多尔岛上，与新罕布什尔州大学合作（http：//www.sml.cornell.edu/）。自1973年岛上建立研究设施以来，由于缺乏可靠的电力来源和海上通道有限，该岛从9月到5月一直对研究活动关闭。该项目涉及增加大型电池存储容量，以增加岛上可以进行的研究和培训的广度。电力系统的改进将通过由现有风能和太阳能电源充电的非常大的电池阵列组成的不间断电源，可靠地提供500平方英尺干燥实验室的淡季住房和实验室需求。该系统的安装位置靠近现有的主发电机，将利用集中电路，目标是为岛上的24座建筑物和设施开发一个绿色电网。通过这些改进，阿普尔多尔岛的研究人员和研究鸟类栖息地利用和迁移的学生可以全季节进入，海洋哺乳动物的季节性分布和繁殖，如斑海豹和灰海豹，以及海洋无脊椎动物幼虫的潮间带定居模式。这些改进还将使SML能够继续在可持续工程方面取得进展，减少其碳足迹，并限制其燃料支出。向淡季研究人员和学生开放SML将扩大对该岛植物群和动物群及其独特位置的新的和/或扩大的研究的机会，并可进入各种实地。 例如，阿普尔多尔环志站已经运营了25年多，环志了10万多只鸟，但由于只能从春末到初秋进入岛屿，因此受到限制。对大黑背鸥（Larus marinus）和银鸥（L.阿根廷）进行的研究，并将扩大到冬季更深入的迁徙和生境利用研究。 另一个正在发展的研究领域涉及缅因州南部海湾的灰海豹（Halichoerus grypus）和斑海豹（Phoca vitulina）。观察附近种群生殖行为的关键月份是从12月到4月，当时唯一的通道是从大陆长途旅行，因此在淡季进入阿普尔多尔岛将使人们有可能开始全年监测这一种群。

Cornell University is awarded a grant to develop off-season access to the Shoals Marine Laboratory (SML), a seasonal field-station on 95-acre Appledore Island in the Gulf of Maine and co-operated with the University of New Hampshire (http://www.sml.cornell.edu/). Since inception of research facilities at the island in 1973, the island has been closed to research activity from September to May due to lack of reliable power sources and limited sea access. This project involves adding large battery storage capacity to increase the breadth of research and training that can be undertaken at the island. The improvements to the electrical system will reliably provide for offseason housing and laboratory needs at a 500 square foot dry laboratory via an uninterruptible power supply consisting of a very large array of batteries chargeable by existing wind and solar power sources. The location of the system's installation near existing main generators will take advantage of centralized circuits with the goal of developing a green grid for the 24 buildings and facilities on the island.All-season access for research on Appledore Island via these improvements will increase the effectiveness of SML to researchers and students who study bird habitat utilization and migration, seasonal distribution and reproduction of marine mammals such as harbor and gray seals, and intertidal settlement patterns of marine invertebrate larvae. The improvements will also enable SML to continue progress in sustainable engineering, reducing its carbon footprint, and limit its fuel expenditures. Opening SML to off-season researchers and students will expand opportunities for new and/or expanded studies of the flora and fauna of the island and its unique location and access to a variety of field sites. For example, the Appledore Banding Station has operated for more than 25 years and banded more than 100,000 birds, yet is limited by only having island access from late spring to early fall. Intensive research on the populations of great black backed gulls (Larus marinus) and herring gulls (L. argentatus) on the island during the summer will be expanded to more intensive migratory and habitat usage studies over the winter months. Another developing research area concerns gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) in the southern Gulf of Maine. The critical months for observing reproductive behaviors of the nearby population span from December through April, when the only access is long trips from the mainland thus offseason access to Appledore Island will make it possible to begin monitoring this population throughout the year.