Associated skeletons of a new middle Triassic "Rauisuchia" from Brazil

For more than 30 million years, in early Mesozoic Pangea, ??rauisuchian?? archosaurs were the apex predators in most terrestrial ecosystems, but their biology and evolutionary history remain poorly understood. We describe a new ??rauisuchian?? based on ten individuals found in a single locality from the Middle Triassic (Ladinian) Santa Maria Formation of southern Brazil. Nine articulated and associated skeletons were discovered, three of which have nearly complete skulls. Along with sedimentological and taphonomic data, this suggests that those highly successful predators exhibited some kind of intraspecific interaction. Other monotaxic assemblages of Triassic archosaurs are Late Triassic (Norian-Rhaetian) in age, approximately 10 million years younger than the material described here. Indeed, the studied assemblage may represent the earliest evidence of gregariousness among archosaurs, adding to our knowledge on the origin of a behavior pattern typical of extant taxa.     

Seasonality and microhabitat selection in a forest-dwelling salamander

Many small terrestrial vertebrates exhibit limited spatial movement and are considerably exposed to changes in local environmental variables. Among such vertebrates, amphibians at present experience a dramatic decline due to their limited resilience to environmental change. Since the local survival and abundance of amphibians is intrinsically related to the availability of shelters, conservation plans need to take microhabitat requirements into account. In order to gain insight into the terrestrial ecology of the spectacled salamander Salamandrina perspicillata and to identify appropriate forest management strategies, we investigated the salamander’s seasonal variability in habitat use of trees as shelters in relation to tree features (size, buttresses, basal holes) and environmental variables in a beech forest in Italy. We used the occupancy approach to assess tree suitability on a non-conventional spatial scale. Our approach provides fine-grained parameters of microhabitat suitability and elucidates many aspects of the salamander’s terrestrial ecology. Occupancy changed with the annual life cycle and was higher in autumn than in spring, when females were found closer to the stream in the study area. Salamanders showed a seasonal pattern regarding the trees they occupied and a clear preference for trees with a larger diameter and more burrows. With respect to forest management, we suggest maintaining a suitable number of trees with a trunk diameter exceeding 30 cm. A practice of selective logging along the banks of streams could help maintain an adequate quantity of the appropriate microhabitat. Furthermore, in areas with a presence of salamanders, a good forest management plan requires leaving an adequate buffer zone around streams, which should be wider in autumn than in spring.     

Monitoring of marine mucilage formation in Italian seas investigated by infrared spectroscopy and independent component analysis

The aim of this study is to present and to discuss some characteristics of recalcitrant organic matter mechanism and formation. These aggregates called mucilages that are produced by the degradation reactions of several algae, have been investigated by infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR spectra of macroaggregates produced by different algal samples have been daily collected in order to investigate the steps of aggregation. Afterwards, they have been elaborated by means of Independent Component Analysis (ICA). ICA investigation of FTIR spectra showed that the global aggregation process of marine mucilage always consisted of two different phases or independent components (ICs). One IC is related to the first degradation step of algal cells leading to the production of mono and oligosaccharides with aminoacids and oligopeptides. The second IC is related to the polymerization of oligosaccharides with aminoacids and oligopeptides and to their interaction with less polar compounds such as lipids thus producing supramolecular structures. The emerging mechanisms of anomalous size aggregates of organic matter match those of natural organic matter aggregation. The approach we suggest is to use synthetic mucilages which allows to monitor the macroaggregates formation because it can hardly be performed by means of natural marine macroaggregates.     

Synoptic patterns associated with extreme dust events in the Mediterranean Basin

Extreme dust events over the western, central and eastern Mediterranean are identified analysing the aerosol optical depth remote-sensed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in 2001–2010 and simulated by the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model in 2000–2007. The seasonal variability of the dust events and the evolution of the synoptic circulation patterns before and during the events are studied. Results show that the highest occurrence of short events (1–3 days) is in the eastern Mediterranean, while long events (more than 4 days) are more frequent in the western Mediterranean. Short events are concentrated in spring, while long events do not show a clear seasonality. The synoptic circulation patterns accompanying short and long events are similar, and the occurrence across the Mediterranean Basin is related to westerly low-pressure systems. Dust events in the western Mediterranean are associated with high-pressure conditions limiting the development of lows to the western North Africa, while the eastward evolution of cyclones over the central Mediterranean and Northern Africa accompanies dust events in the central and eastern Mediterranean.     

Determination of direct and fugitive PM emissions in a Mediterranean harbour by means of classic and novel tracer methods

Remodelling works are frequent in harbour areas, given that they must adapt to rapidly changing market requirements. Depending on their nature (construction, demolition, etc.), these works may be carried out during long periods of time and thus exert a significant impact on the air quality at the harbours and their surroundings. The air quality at the Valencia harbour was studied during an enlargement project. Four sampling stations aimed to cover the major dust-emitting activities in the harbour. In addition, a sampling campaign was carried out to collect dust materials at their emission sources (e.g., loading and unloading of clinker and petroleum coke, as well as the enlargement works). Differences obtained between PM levels at the monitoring sites were correlated with the distance between sampling stations and enlargement works and/or harbour operations, as well as with the preferential wind direction. In all cases, the days with the highest PM_10 levels were linked to wind directions coinciding with the location of the enlargement works or the clinker and petroleum coke stocks. Classic source apportionment methodologies (PCA and CMB) were applied to the data, but their interpretation was complex due to the similar chemical signatures of PM originating from direct and fugitive emissions from stocked materials (e.g., clinker), and the enlargement works. To overcome this difficulty, a novel non-statistical approach was used to obtain quantitative estimations of the contributions from sources (petroleum coke and clinker), based on the correlation between specific PM components (e.g., carbonaceous species) and source tracers (e.g., V). Finally, a qualitative test using phenolphthalein was devised to identify the presence of clinker on the filters, which provided positive results. This novel tracer approach is thus recommended for harbour authorities.     

Sellers' Hedging Incentives at EPA's Emission Trading Auction

Cason (1993, J. Environ. Econom. Management25, 177–195, doi:10.1006/jeem 1993.1041) argued that the auction which the EPA used in order to start the market for sulfur allowances may reduce the efficiency of the market since it gives sellers an incentive to understate their valuation. In this paper we show that the sellers' incentives are even more perverse than Cason suggested when we take into account that sellers can also submit a bid. We show that sellers have an incentive to set their asking price equal to 0 while simultaneously hedging their bets by submitting a positive bid.     

A methodology to identify representative configurations of sensors for monitoring soil moisture

Soil moisture is the key link among hydroecological compartments, responding dynamically to sequences of atmospheric processes and management conditions and modulating physical, chemical, and biological processes in the soil. Currently, there are a variety of monitoring techniques to measure, directly or indirectly, the soil moisture. However, some practical issues remain open like the definition a priori of the number, location and depth of the monitoring points, and the impact of failing or poor performance soil moisture sensors. Here, we present a set of techniques, namely Δθ time series, wavelet filtering, and time stability, to identify representative points and monitoring depths through an analysis of hourly soil moisture time series for different configuration of the monitoring network. We used real data from a monitoring network consisting of seven monitoring points, each one with four EC-5 probes (Decagon Devices Inc., Pullman, WA) at 20, 40, 60, and 100?cm. The use of simple time series of Δθ allowed us to assess the spatiotemporal influence of the monitoring points, while the wavelet periodograms allowed us to get insight about the response of the monitoring points at different time scales. Both methods are easy to implement or adapt to specific conditions, being coherent to the results derived from time stability analysis. For our case study, we concluded that we could reallocate 16 sensors (out of 28) without a significant loss of information. However, the final decision strongly relies on a deep knowledge of the site features and the objectives of the monitoring network.     

A new neosuchian with Asian affinities from the Jurassic of northeastern Brazil

Phylogenetic relationships near the origin of extant crocodylians are weakly supported, and this lack of resolution makes for poor estimates of taxonomic and morphological diversity. Previously known taxa are found throughout the Cretaceous in Laurasia and at a few sites from Brazil, Australia, and northern Africa. Here, we report Batrachomimus pastosbonensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Jurassic of northeastern Brazil, which is deeply nested within Neosuchia and associated to the Cretaceous Asian paralligatorids. The new taxon predates all other members of Paralligatoridae and its immediate sister group (including Eusuchia) by 30 million years. A nearly complete skull, osteoderms, and limb bones were recovered, and autapomorphies of B. pastosbonensis include a scalloped lateral margin of the rostrum in dorsal view, unsculpted alveolar margin at the caudalmost portion of the maxilla, blunt lateral prongs on the jugal at the base of the postorbital bar, hourglass shaped choanae, and pterygoid choanal septum extended between the palatal shelves of the palatines. The crocodyloid-like skull proportions and the slender, conical teeth suggest an amphibious and piscivorous life history to this 1 m long animal.

     

Manganese in the urban atmosphere: identifying anomalous concentrations and sources

Purpose  

Industrial emissions can raise urban background levels of inhalable Mn particles in an order of magnitude above normal, eclipsing the contribution made by natural sources and traffic.     

Pesticide removal from waste spray-tank water by organoclay adsorption after field application: an approach for a formulation of cyprodinil containing antifoaming/defoaming agents

Purpose  

Many reports on purification of water containing pesticides are based on studies using unformulated active ingredients. However, most commercial formulations contain additives/adjuvants or are manufactured using microencapsulation which may influence the purification process. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to develop and test a pilot scheme for decontaminating water containing pesticides formulated with antifoaming/defoaming agents.