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Disseminated neoplasia (DN) is a form of cancer in bivalve molluscs that can be transmissible between individuals and in some cases across species. Neoplastic cells are highly proliferative, and infection is usually lethal. Commercially valuable bivalve species (mussels, cockles, softshell clams, and oysters) are affected by outbreaks of DN, making disease diagnosis and mitigation an important issue in ecological restoration efforts and aquaculture. Basket cockles (Clinocardiwn nuttallii) are native to the North American Pacific coast from California to Alaska. Recent concern from some Coast Salish Tribes regarding an observed long-term decline in basket cockle populations in Puget Sound. WA has increased interest in monitoring efforts and subsequent collection for aquarium-reared broodstock. Disseminated neoplasia was detected in Puget Sound basket cockle populations, delaying aquaculture efforts so that potential broodstock could be assessed for the presence of DN. This study details a minimally invasive, inexpensive, nonlethal method for high-throughput screening for DN in adult basket cockles. The hemolymph smear screening method to diagnose DN in C. nuttallii can be applied at field sites at low financial cost. Results of the hemolymph smear technique were validated against whole tissue histology, the standard method for DN diagnosis. Due to the similar cellular morphologies of DN in different bivalve species, it is proposed that hemolymph histology can likely be applied for diagnosing DN in other bivalves. KEY WORDS: disseminated neoplasia, Cltnocardiwn nuttallii, disease screening, tissue histology, basket cockle, INTRODUCTION Diverse bivalve species worldwide are susceptible to disseminated neoplasia (DN), a disease in which cancerous cells proliferate in the hemolymph--the blood-like fluid in molluscs containing a mixture of nutrients, [...]

Restoring Midwestern oak savannas and woodlands over the long term requires balancing mortality of large oaks with recruitment of oaks into large size classes. At restoration sites in northwestern Ohio, we tracked survival of large oak trees ([greater than or equal to] 20 cm in stem diameter) and recruitment between 2002 and 2015 after initial tree thinning and prescribed burning treatments. The 24 study sites spanned a gradient of canopy cover from unrestored forests to restored woodlands and savannas. Of 141 large black oak (Quercus velutina) and white oak (Quercus alba) trees alive in 2002, 79% were alive 14 y later. Large oak survival varied among vegetation types, with restored savannas not losing a single tree, compared with 18% mortality in unrestored forests and 28% mortality in restored woodlands. At least some mortality in the woodlands was associated with a tornado that damaged two sites. Diameter distributions changed over the 14 y in all three vegetation types. Unrestored forests shifted toward proportionally greater large and fewer small diameter oaks. Meanwhile, restored woodlands, despite having the highest mortality of large oaks, still exceeded, via recruitment of new large oaks, the reconstructed pre-Euro-American-settlement tree density. Restored woodlands and savannas exhibited four-fold increases in oak recruitment potential (saplings 1 to 10 cm in diameter) between 2002 and 2015. Ecological restoration processes have been compatible with conserving large oaks and sustaining oak recruitment potential., INTRODUCTION Since the early 1900s, oak (Quercus) dominated ecosystems in eastern North America have been transitioning to dominance by other tree species (Lorimer, 1993; Abrams, 2005; Arthur et al, 2012). [...]