Microbial degradation of usnic acid in the reindeer rumen

Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) eat and utilize lichens as an important source of energy and nutrients in winter. Lichens synthesize and accumulate a wide variety of phenolic secondary compounds, such as usnic acid, as a defense against herbivores and to protect against damage by UV-light in solar radiation. We have examined where and to what extent these phenolic compounds are degraded in the digestive tract of the reindeer, with particular focus on usnic acid. Three male reindeer were given ad libitum access to a control diet containing no usnic acid for three weeks and then fed lichens ad libitum (primarily Cladonia stellaris) containing 9.1 mg/g DM usnic acid for 4 weeks. Usnic acid intake in reindeer on the lichen diet was 91–117 mg/kg BM/day. In spite of this, no trace of usnic acid or conjugates of usnic acid was found either in fresh rumen fluid, urine, or feces. This suggests that usnic acid is rapidly degraded by rumen microbes, and that it consequently is not absorbed by the animal. This apparent ability to detoxify lichen phenolic compounds may gain increased importance with future enhanced UV-B radiation expected to cause increased protective usnic acid/phenol production in lichens.     

Vertical growth in a coastal city: an analysis of Boa Viagem (Recife,Brazil)

Coastal zones around the world have experienced urban growth in the last 50 years. This landscape change brings new aspects for those zones and the environment. Real estate speculation is a decisive factor that changes landscape, with urban growth that occurs both in the extent and volume of construction. Boa Viagem (BV) beach at Recife, Northeast Brazil was just a sand bar covered by an Atlantic Forest until middle of the 1800s. Today, it has turned into a busy area of the city where residences, services and commerce co-exist in a densely packed arrangement. This work demonstrates and analyses vertical growth in BV and urban changes from 1961 to 2011. It was developed using digital image processing and visual analysis of satellite imagery and aerial photos. A GIS was created using SPRING and ArcScene, to calculate variations in area and volume creating a Volumetric Index (VI). The Minimal Mapping Area was used in sixteen census tract as samples of the area. Occupation and vertical growth were especially accentuated from 1981 to 1996 with the peak at 2011. Increases in vertical growth from shore to inland are evident in all parts of the district. This finding was confirmed by three-dimensional GIS representations of the study area and the VI during the period of this work, showing the potential of 3D GIS models for studying dense urbanization areas in coastal zones.     

Experimental evidence for internal predation in microzooplankton communities

The fate of microzooplankton production, whether it is channeled to mesozooplankton or recycled within the microbial food web, has major implications for the oceanic carbon cycle. The aim of this study was to estimate internal predation within naturally occurring microzooplankton communities. A dilution series based on the Landry and Hasset technique was created by mixing 200-μm-screened water (used as whole water) with 5-μm-screened seawater due to the dominance of pico- and small nanoplankton at our study site. This modification of the original technique allows for gradual reduction in microzooplankton abundance and thus internal predation while maintaining sufficient phytoplankton prey levels for microzooplankton growth in diluted treatments. Microzooplankton growth and mortality rates were calculated based on the changes in abundance during 24-h incubation. In the diluted treatments, microzooplankton growth rates were significantly higher (1.21 ± 0.20 day^?1 for ciliates and 0.88 ± 0.05 day^?1 for heterotrophic dinoflagellates) compared to those in whole seawater where microzooplankton abundance remained unchanged or even declined over time. Approximately 79 % of microzooplankton production was consumed within the microzooplankton, with aloricate ciliates being the most vulnerable to predation. These findings support the assumption that trophic interactions between microzooplankton can be an important factor controlling their production and, thus, energy transfer in picoplankton-dominated pelagic ecosystems.     

Disturbance and landscape dynamics in a changing world

Disturbance regimes are changing rapidly, and the consequences of such changes for ecosystems and linked social-ecological systems will be profound. This paper synthesizes current understanding of disturbance with an emphasis on fundamental contributions to contemporary landscape and ecosystem ecology, then identifies future research priorities. Studies of disturbance led to insights about heterogeneity, scale, and thresholds in space and time and catalyzed new paradigms in ecology. Because they create vegetation patterns, disturbances also establish spatial patterns of many ecosystem processes on the landscape. Drivers of global change will produce new spatial patterns, altered disturbance regimes, novel trajectories of change, and surprises. Future disturbances will continue to provide valuable opportunities for studying pattern-process interactions. Changing disturbance regimes will produce acute changes in ecosystems and ecosystem services over the short (years to decades) and long-term (centuries and beyond). Future research should address questions related to (1) disturbances as catalysts of rapid ecological change, (2) interactions among disturbances, (3) relationships between disturbance and society, especially the intersection of land use and disturbance, and (4) feedbacks from disturbance to other global drivers. Ecologists should make a renewed and concerted effort to understand and anticipate the causes and consequences of changing disturbance regimes.     

Impact of repeated irrigation of lettuce cultures with municipal wastewater on soil bacterial community diversity and composition

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The effect of wastewater irrigation on the diversity and composition of bacterial communities of soil mesocosms planted with lettuces was studied over...     

Spatial variation of otolith elemental signatures among juvenile gray snapper (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lutjanus griseus</Emphasis>) inhabiting southern Florida waters

Juvenile gray snapper, Lutjanus griseus, are believed to use bays and estuaries in southern Florida as nurseries before moving out to the adjoining reef tract as adults. Using high-resolution sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS), the elemental chemistry of the otoliths of juveniles from five nursery regions was resolved by establishing elemental “signatures” for each region. In this study we simultaneously analyzed 32 elements including a suite of rare earth elements. A stepwise variable selection procedure retained a subset of eight elements that contributed substantially to separating otolith samples, including two rare earth elements; this is one of the first studies in which rare earth elements in otoliths have contributed to separation of fish stocks. The classification success rate in assigning fishes to the correct region of origin was 82%. Resolution of sites less than 10 km apart suggested high site fidelity in juvenile gray snapper and little mixing of water masses between sites. The juvenile nursery signatures will be used to determine the relative contribution of different nurseries to the adult population on an adjoining reef tract.     

Different compensatory mechanisms in two metal-accumulating aquatic macrophytes exposed to acute cadmium stress in outdoor artificial lakes

Mechanisms underlying cadmium (Cd) detoxification were compared in two aquatic macrophytes commonly used in phytoremediation, namely Pistia stratiotes L. and Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms. To simulate Cd pollution in the open environment, plants growing in outdoor artificial lakes were exposed for 21d to either 25 or 100microM Cd, in two consecutive years. Toxicity symptoms were absent or mild in both species. Metal accumulation was much higher in the roots of P. stratiotes, whereas in E. crassipes a comparatively higher fraction was translocated to the leaves. In both species, Cd was neither included in phenolic polymers or Ca-oxalate crystals, nor altered the levels of Cd-complexing organic acids. Glutathione levels were constitutively remarkably higher and much more responsive to Cd exposure in P. stratiotes than in E. crassipes. Abundant phytochelatin synthesis occurred only in P. stratiotes, both in roots and in leaves. In E. crassipes, on the other side, the constitutive levels of some antioxidant enzymes and ascorbate were higher and more responsive to Cd than in P. stratiotes. Thus, in these two aquatic plants grown in the open, different detoxification mechanisms might come into play to counterbalance Cd acute stress.     

Impact of Gold mining on the Environment and Human Health: A Case Study in the Migori Gold Belt, Kenya

The study of gold sites in the Migori Gold Belt, Kenya, revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals, mainly Hg, Pb and As are above acceptable levels. Tailings at the panning sites recorded values of 6.5–510 mg kg^–1 Pb, 0.06–76.0 mg kg^–1 As and 0.46–1920 mg kg^–1 Hg. Stream sediments had values of 3.0–11075 mg kg^–1 Pb, 0.014–1.87 mg kg^–1 As and 0.28–348 mg kg^–1 Hg. The highest metal contamination was recorded in sediments from the Macalder stream (11075 mg kg^–1 Pb), Nairobi mine tailings (76.0 mg kg^–1 As) and Mickey tailings (1920 mg kg^–1 Hg). Mercury has a long residence time in the environment and this makes its emissions from artisan mining a threat to health. Inhaling large amounts of siliceous dust, careless handling of mercury during gold panning and Au/Hg amalgam processing, existence of water logged pits and trenches; and large number of miners sharing poor quality air in the mines are the major causes of health hazards among miners. The amount of mercury used by miners for gold amalgamation during peak mining periods varies from 150 to 200 kg per month. Out of this, about 40% are lost during panning and 60% lost during heating Au/Hg amalgam. The use of pressure burners to weaken the reef is a deadly mining procedure as hot particles of Pb, As and other sulphide minerals burn the body. Burns become septic. This, apparently, leads to death within 2–3 years. On-site training of miners on safe mining practices met with enthusiasm and acceptance. The use of dust masks, air filters and heavy chemical gloves during mining and mineral processing were readily accepted. Miners were thus advised to purchase such protective gear, and to continue using them for the sake of their health. The miners' workshop, which was held at the end of the project is likely to bear fruit. The Migori District Commissioner and other Government officials, including medical officers attended this workshop. As a result of this, the Government is seriously considering setting up a clinic at Masara, which is one of the mining centres in the district. This would improve the health of the mining community.