9418306 Butler This award will partially support travel and communications expenses for Dr. Mark J. Butler of the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, to enable him to make a six month stay at the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute in Wellington, New Zealand to conduct cooperative research with Dr. Alistair MacDiarmid. The research will focus on field and laboratory experimentation to test hypotheses concerning recruitment and sustainable resource use of spiny or rock lobsters in the coastal waters of New Zealand and the Florida Keys. The research will initiate investigations of the potential factors limiting recruitment of the common New Zealand spiny lobster and compare results with similar studies of the Caribbean lobster. The study will also consider the effects of male size on mating success and fertilization rates in populations of spiny lobsters that differ in size due to heavy exploitation. This proposal is part of a joint request for activity under the U.S.-New Zealand Cooperative Science Program. The reciprocal visit to the United States by Dr. MacDiarmid will occur in early 1996 and is to be supported through the New Zealand Ministry of Research, Science and Technology.
