Differential timing and latitudinal variation in sex ratio of Aquatic Warblers during the autumn migration

Differential migration has been extensively reported in spring, but less so in autumn, particularly in relation to sex in monomorphic bird species. Here, we analysed the autumn passage of a monomorphic, globally threatened passerine, the Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola throughout Western Europe, with regard to age and sex. We showed that, overall, adults migrated earlier than first-year birds, and males migrated earlier than females during the autumn migration. This may be caused by an overall social dominance of adults over immatures, and differentiated migration strategy of males and females. In addition, we found male-skewed sex proportions, with a tendency to an equalised ratio in more southern stopover sites. This may indicate a male bias in the global population or different migration strategies of the sexes. Differential migration may cause the age and sex classes to be exposed differently to various threats affecting demographic structure of the species.     

Unusually high-pitched neonate distress calls of the open-habitat Mongolian gazelle (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Procapra gutturosa</Emphasis>) and their anatomical and hormonal predictors

In neonate ruminants, the acoustic structure of vocalizations may depend on sex, vocal anatomy, hormonal profiles and body mass and on environmental factors. In neonate wild-living Mongolian gazelles Procapra gutturosa, hand-captured during biomedical monitoring in the Daurian steppes at the Russian-Mongolian border, we spectrographically analysed distress calls and measured body mass of 22 individuals (6 males, 16 females). For 20 (5 male, 15 female) of these individuals, serum testosterone levels were also analysed. In addition, we measured relevant dimensions of the vocal apparatus (larynx, vocal folds, vocal tract) in one stillborn male Mongolian gazelle specimen. Neonate distress calls of either sex were high in maximum fundamental frequency (800–900 Hz), but the beginning and minimum fundamental frequencies were significantly lower in males than in females. Body mass was larger in males than in females. The levels of serum testosterone were marginally higher in males. No correlations were found between either body mass or serum testosterone values and any acoustic variable for males and females analysed together or separately. We discuss that the high-frequency calls of neonate Mongolian gazelles are more typical for closed-habitat neonate ruminants, whereas other open-habitat neonate ruminants (goitred gazelle Gazella subgutturosa, saiga antelope Saiga tatarica and reindeer Rangifer tarandus) produce low-frequency (<200 Hz) distress calls. Proximate cause for the high fundamental frequency of distress calls of neonate Mongolian gazelles is their very short, atypical vocal folds (4 mm) compared to the 7-mm vocal folds of neonate goitred gazelles, producing distress calls as low as 120 Hz.     

Three-year lifecycle,large body,and very high threshold temperature in the cricket <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gryllus argenteus</Emphasis> for special adaptation to desiccation cycle in Malawi

In temperate climates, the initiation and termination of diapause synchronize the stress-tolerant stage with the stressful season and reproduction with the non-stressful season in many insects. Synchronization is often regulated by photoperiodism.Voltinism and the ultimate size of adults are also important determinants for their lifecycle, and different diapause stages and voltinism patterns are known in crickets.Here, we investigated the life history of the African cricket Gryllus argenteus from Malawi, which is a typical arid tropical highland. The climate is characterized by alternating arid and wet seasons, each of which lasts for half a year, and where the available heat mass is much less than lowlands at the same latitude. We first measured the nymphal duration at each rearing temperature and calculated the lower developmental threshold (t ₀) to be 20.19 °C based on Ikemoto and Takai (2000) and 19.38 °C based on a conventional line-fitting method. These values are very high relative to many other insects. The local temperature in winter does not fall below 15 °C, but this is much higher than the lethal limit. This suggested that critical stress in this locality was not coldness but low precipitation in winter. We estimated, based both on local temperature change and the Ikemoto and Takai’s t ₀, that G. argenteus required 3 years to complete its lifecycle unlike wet lowland species, where univoltinism or multi-voltinism are commonplace. Photoperiodism was observed in this species, but due to a lag between annual cycles in photoperiod, temperature, and humidity, photoperiodism alone cannot atune their lifecycle with local conditions.Synchronization in this species was achieved by three different adaptations: photoperiodism, high t ₀, and large body size, which give it a long lifecycle. Although the species cannot achieve a univoltine lifecycle because of its high t₀ value, it can escape from dry season by entering diapause at moderate temperatures, probably thereby achieving adaptive synchrony of lifecycle with both favorable and unfavorable seasons. A comparison between a conventional photothermogram and a newly formulated photohydrogram or photohygrogram demonstrates that even though sufficient heat is available, scarcity of water and thus scarcity of foliage should force the cricket to maintain diapause at intermediate temperature. The results suggested that high t ₀, large body size, and multi-ennial lifecycle mutually affect each other and formulate a unique adaptation under such an extreme environment.     

Use of native mosses as biomonitors of heavy metals and nitrogen deposition in the surroundings of two steel works

A biomonitoring survey using the moss species Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. was conducted in the surroundings of two steel plants located in the North of Spain. Levels of V, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, Pb and N were determined. Very high concentrations in the areas of study were detected when compared to nearby unaffected regions. Similar trends were observed for all the elements in the differently orientated transects, showing an appreciable influence of the NW prevailing winds of the region in the dispersion of pollutants, as well as a clear decreasing gradient in the concentrations of metals in mosses within a distance of 1500 meters from the facilities. A differentiation between the elements emitted by the chimney as result of the industrial activity (V, Cr, Ni, Cu and As) and those with a high presence in steel slag deposits (Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb) was observed. The range of contamination was also established by means of the Contamination Factor, indicating a category 4 out of 6 categories, which shows the high levels reported in the areas of study. A different dynamic was registered for nitrogen regarding the rest of the heavy metals analysed except for Hg, probably due to the elevated volatility and mobility of both elements, as well as their high persistence in the atmosphere.     

Fractions and background concentrations of potentially toxic elements in Hungarian surface soils

This work established background concentrations for the pseudo total (HNO₃ + H₂O₂-soluble), mobilisable (NH₄-acetate + EDTA-soluble) and mobile (1?M NH₄NO₃-soluble) element fractions of Hungarian surface soils that can be used as reference values for the soil quality standards. The 193 soils investigated were taken from the Hungarian Soil Information and Monitoring System. The background values for Al, As, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr and Zn were given as a range covering 95% of the variance of the representative samples. The differences between observed element concentrations and the calculated background values indicated anthropogenic or pedogenic impact in each fraction. The comparison of the calculated background values with the Hungarian quality standards and the contamination limit values of other countries showed that the limit values of a certain region or country are not suitable for other areas. Generally, Mn and Al had the highest, while Cd had the lowest concentration in each fraction. Cr and Al were the least and Sr was the most mobile element. The principal component analysis indicated different geochemical and physico-chemical behaviour of the elements in the fractions; the pseudo total fraction was influenced more by the geological behaviour, while mobilisable and mobile fraction explained a much higher proportion of the total variance of soil physico-chemical properties than soil geochemical properties. The Cd–Ni and Co–Mn element pairs were always in the same principal component in each fractions indicating similar geogenic origin and showing that their solubility changes are similar in function of soil properties.     

Modeling linkages between sediment resuspension and water quality in a shallow,eutrophic, wind-exposed lake

The interactions between bed sediments and the water column in shallow, eutrophic lakes have tremendous implications for the fate and transport of nutrients in those water bodies. This has resulted in the development of water quality models for lakes incorporating the processes of sediment resuspension. Reliable resuspension models are thus needed to accurately represent this phenomenon. In this paper, three different sediment-resuspension models are combined with a hydrodynamic and water quality model, dynamic lake model-water quality (DLM-WQ), and the resulting models are used to simulate nutrient distributions in the highly eutrophic Salton Sea, California, USA. One of the resuspension formulas is based upon sediment characteristics as well as the bed shear stress exerted by wind-induced waves and currents, while the other two are standard, power-law-type formulas for cohesive sediments with two different exponents. The outputs for water quality variables, such as temperature, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen and nutrients, obtained from the three resulting models and from an earlier DLM-WQ run with a simple empirical sediment-resuspension model are compared with measured data. The level of agreement between the simulations and the measured data is assessed by using both statistical and graphical model evaluation methods, including measures of residual errors, sample autocorrelations, t-tests, and box plots. Based on these assessments, DLM-WQ with an extended version of the García and Parker [García, M.H., Parker, G., 1993. Experiments on the entrainment of sediment into suspension by a dense bottom current. J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans 98, 4793–4807] relationship gave the best results for water quality in the Salton Sea, confirming that the use of formulas with more information on the sediment characteristics yields more accurate results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort to combine water quality models for lakes and reservoirs with a sediment-resuspension model which was originally intended for open-channel flows. The simulations confirm that sediment resuspension is the most dominant process in the Salton Sea's nutrient cycling. The effect of proposed physical changes to the Salton Sea on water quality characteristics is also addressed.     

Effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of metallic compounds on the flatfish Scophthalmus maximus: biomarkers of neurotoxicity,oxidative stress and metabolism

Flatfish species, such as the turbot (Scophthalmus maximus), are common targets for toxic effects, since they are exposed through the food chain (ingestion of contaminated preys) and are in direct contact with the waterborne contaminant and sediments. Furthermore, these fish species live in close proximity to interstitial water that frequently dissolves high amounts of contaminants, including metals. Despite this significant set of characteristics, the present knowledge concerning flatfish contamination and toxicity by metals is still scarce. To attain the objective of assessing the effects of metals on a flatfish species, S. maximus specimens were chronically exposed to lead, copper and zinc, at ecologically relevant concentrations, and biochemical (oxidative stress: catalase and glutathione S-transferases activities, and lipid peroxidation; neurotoxicity: cholinesterase activity) parameters were assessed on selected tissues (gills and liver). Copper had no significant effects on all tested parameters; lead was causative of significant increases in liver GSTs activities and also in lipoperoxidation of gill tissue; exposure to zinc caused a significant increase in catalase activity of gill tissue. None of the tested metals elicited noteworthy effects in terms of neurotoxicity. The obtained results showed that only the metal lead is of some environmental importance, since it was able to cause deleterious modifications of oxidative nature at relevant concentrations.