Geographic variation and behavioral evolution in marine plankton: the case of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Mastigias</Emphasis> (Scyphozoa,Rhizostomeae)

Although complex behavior in marine zooplankton has been considered strong evidence of adaptation, ethological studies of marine zooplankton generally have not employed either the comparative approach or evolutionary perspective necessary to distinguish adaptation from any alternative. Consequently, the potential for intra-specific variation in the behavior of marine zooplankton has received insufficient attention and conclusions of adaptation remain poorly substantiated. Intra-specific comparison of patterns of migration and behavior for seven populations of golden jellyfish, Mastigias (Scyphozoa: Rhizostomeae), inhabiting isolated marine lakes and semi-enclosed lagoon coves in Palau document population specific differences in patterns of horizontal migration, vertical migration, pulse rate, swimming speed, and turning behavior. Evidence was found for symplesiomorphic behaviors, canalization, exaptation, adaptation, and probably once-deleterious traits. Behavioral evolution likely proceeded via, at least, relaxation of selection, trade-offs with morphology, and natural selection effected by predation. Behavioral patterns also may change with ontogeny. Geographic variation in the behavior of marine plankton therefore can be substantial and patterns of evolution complex. Behavioral evolution can rapidly generate coastal biodiversity. Thus, geographic variation in marine plankton is of potential interest to ethologists, evolutionary biologists, biogeographers, and conservation biologists.Electronic Supplementary Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Communicated by G.F. Humphrey, Sydney     

Effects of copper and cadmium on osmoregulation and oxygen consumption in two species of estuarine crabs

Green crabs (Carcinus maenas) and rock crabs (Cancer irroratus) were exposed to various concentrations of copper as cupric chloride (CuCl₂ · 2 H₂O), and cadmium as cadmium chloride (CdCl₂ · 21/2 H₂O) for 48 h. The exposures were conducted at 5 different salinities. At the end of each exposure period, tests of blood-serum osmolality and gill-tissue oxygen consumption were performed. Copper-exposed crabs exhibited loss of osmoregulatory function with increasing copper concentration until normally hyperosmotic serum became isosmotic with the surrounding medium. Cadmium elevated greencrab serum above its normal hyperosmotic state. Copper had no effect on gill-tissue oxygen consumption; however, cadmium reduced the rate of oxygen consumption in both species tested.     

Long-term temporal-spatial dynamics of marine coastal water quality in the Tolo Harbor, Hong Kong, China

IntroductionToloHarborislocatedinthenortheasternpartofHongKong .Itisanearlyland lockedwaterbodywithonlyonenarrowexittotheopenseaatMirsBay(Fig .1) .Itslengthandsurfaceareaareapproximately 15kmand 5 2km2 ,respectively .Theaveragedepthvariesfromlessthan10min…     

Provenance, life span, and phylogeny do not affect grass species' responses to nitrogen and phosphorus

Successful conservation management requires an understanding of how species respond to intervention. Native and exotic species may respond differently to management interventions due to differences arising directly from their origin (i.e., provenance) or indirectly due to biased representations of different life history types (e.g., annual vs. perennial life span) or phylogenetic lineages among provenance (i.e., native or exotic origin) groups. Thus, selection of a successful management regime requires knowledge of the life history and provenance-bias in the local flora and an understanding of the interplay between species characteristics across existing environmental gradients in the landscape. Here we tested whether provenance, phylogeny, and life span interact to determine species distributions along natural gradients of soil chemistry (e.g., soil nitrogen and phosphorus) in 10 upland prairie sites along a 600-km latitudinal transect running from southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, USA. We found that soil nitrate, phosphorus, and pH exerted strong control over community composition. However, species distributions along environmental gradients were unrelated to provenance, life span, or phylogenetic groupings. We then used a greenhouse experiment to more precisely measure the response of common grass species to nitrogen and phosphorus supply. As with the field data, species responses to nutrient additions did not vary as a function of provenance, life span, or phylogeny. Native and exotic species differed strongly in the relationship between greenhouse-measured tolerance of low nutrients and field abundance. Native species with the greatest ability to maintain biomass production at low nutrient supply rates were most abundant in field surveys, as predicted by resource competition theory. In contrast, there was no relationship between exotic-species biomass at low nutrient levels and field abundance. The implications of these findings for management of invasive species are substantial in that they overturn a general belief that reduction of nutrient supplies favors native species. The idiosyncratic nature of species response to nutrients in this study suggests that manipulation of nutrient supplies is unlikely to alter the overall balance between native and exotic species, although it may well be useful to control specific exotic species.     

Genomic erosion in a demographically recovered bird species during conservation rescue

The pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri) is an endemic species of Mauritius that has made a remarkable recovery after a severe population bottleneck in the 1970s to early 1990s. Prior to this bottleneck, an ex situ population was established from which captive-bred individuals were released into free-living subpopulations to increase population size and genetic variation. This conservation rescue led to rapid population recovery to 400–480 individuals, and the species was twice downlisted on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. We analyzed the impacts of the bottleneck and genetic rescue on neutral genetic variation during and after population recovery (1993–2008) with restriction site-associated sequencing, microsatellite analyses, and quantitative genetic analysis of studbook data of 1112 birds from zoos in Europe and the United States. We used computer simulations to study the predicted changes in genetic variation and population viability from the past into the future. Genetic variation declined rapidly, despite the population rebound, and the effective population size was approximately an order of magnitude smaller than census size. The species carried a high genetic load of circa 15 lethal equivalents for longevity. Our computer simulations predicted continued inbreeding will likely result in increased expression of deleterious mutations (i.e., a high realized load) and severe inbreeding depression. Without continued conservation actions, it is likely that the pink pigeon will go extinct in the wild within 100 years. Conservation rescue of the pink pigeon has been instrumental in the recovery of the free-living population. However, further genetic rescue with captive-bred birds from zoos is required to recover lost variation, reduce expression of harmful deleterious variation, and prevent extinction. The use of genomics and modeling data can inform IUCN assessments of the viability and extinction risk of species, and it helps in assessments of the conservation dependency of populations.     

Adsorption and absorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to rice roots

Rice roots and surrounding air, soil and water samples were collected for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) analysis. The rice roots were separated into lateral roots and nodal roots, and the PAH concentration in the former was found to be higher than that in the latter. In addition, root physiological characteristics including root biotic mass, root lipid content and specific surface area are also discussed. When normalizing the total, adsorption and absorption PAH fractions on a dry root weight basis to root biomass, root lipid, and surface area bases respectively, the differences between PAHs in the two types of roots diminished by 2 to 3 times on average. Results from sequential extraction indicated that PAHs were more easily absorbed by interior rice roots than adsorbed on the surface. In addition, more than 60% of total PAHs accumulated in root tissue for both lateral and nodal roots. However, the results were highly related to the solvent used, extraction time and methodology. Correlation analysis between bioconcentration factors (root over environment) and K(OA), K(OW) showed water to be more significant for PAH adsorption in rice roots than other environmental media.     

Gastrointestinal pH and development of the acid digestion in larvae and early juveniles of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Sparus aurata</Emphasis> (Pisces: Teleostei)

Changes in digestive pH and protease activity have been determined throughout the transition from larvae to the juvenile stage in Sparus aurata in rearing conditions (from 0.04 to 100 g wet weight). Measurements of pH have been taken in the stomach and different segments along the length of the intestine using a pH microelectrode. In starved fish, the gastric pH ranged between 6.0 and 8.0 approximately, except in juveniles of intermediate size (between 1.0 and 7.0 g wet weight), which exhibited a wider pH range of 2.0–8.0. Fed fish with digestive content showed, in general, lower pH values in the stomach. A progressive decrease was observed from a pH range of 5.5–8.0 in the youngest animals (0.04 g) to a pH range of 2.0–6.2 when juveniles were approaching 1.0 g wet weight. Above this weight, the gastric pH remained constant (between 2.0 and 6.0 approximately). The pH values in the intestine ranged between 6.7 and 8.4. They were similar in the different segments and weight classes examined, and there were no significant differences between fed and starved animals. Specific acid protease activity (units per milligram soluble protein) in fed animals increased from small (0.04–1.0 g) to intermediate juveniles (1.0 and 7.0 g), but then remained similar in larger juveniles. On the contrary, specific alkaline protease activity in fed animals decreased from small to intermediate juveniles, and then remained at a similar level in larger juveniles. The results reflect a progressive transition during several months from alkaline digestion in larvae with undeveloped stomachs to the acid digestion in juveniles with fully developed stomachs. Full gastric capacity is developed in seabream juveniles of 1 g wet weight, which represents approximately 100 days post-hatching in cultured populations. Nevertheless, in the following 2.5 months, during which the intestine reaches the appropriate length, juveniles still show a transitional period in the regulatory mechanism of digestion, probably linked to the adaptation to a different feeding habit.Communicated by S.A. Poulet, RoscoffThis revised version was published in December 2003 with corrections to the legend of Fig. 3.     

Treatment of atrazine by integrating photocatalytic and biological processes

This research examines the degradation of atrazine by photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) under different experimental conditions. Deisopropylatrazine, deethylatrazine and deethyldeisopropylatrazine were formed as major intermediates based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The reaction mixture was found to be toxic towards two bioassays, i.e. the Microtox and amphipods survival tests even when atrazine was completely degraded by PCO within 2 h under optimized conditions. The results indicate that adding H2O2 could significantly enhance the degradation of atrazine by PCO. Ammeline, ammelide and cyanuric acid (CA) became the major intermediates/products as detected by high performance liquid chromatography from 6th to the 40th h of PCO treatment. After 72 h PCO treatment, only CA was detectable in the reaction mixture. Further degradation of CA was carried out by a newly isolated CA-degrading bacterium, Sphingomonas capsulata. The photochemical pretreatment integrated with microbial degradation lead to the complete degradation and detoxification of atrazine.     

Toward a high-rate enhanced biological phosphorus removal process in a membrane-assisted bioreactor.

A membrane enhanced biological phosphorus removal (MEBPR) process was studied to determine the impact of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and solids retention time (SRT) on the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus from municipal wastewater. The MEBPR process was capable of delivering complete nitrification independent of the prevailing operating conditions, whereas a significant improvement in COD removal efficiency was observed at longer SRTs. In the absence of carbon-limiting conditions, the MEBPR process was able to achieve low phosphorus concentrations in the effluent at increasingly higher hydraulic loads, with the lowest HRT being 5 hours. The MEBPR process was also able to maintain optimal phosphorus removal when the SRT was increased from 12 to 20 days. However, at higher suspended solids concentrations, a substantial increase was observed in carbon utilization per unit mass of phosphorus removed from the influent. These results offer critical insights to the application of membrane technology for biological nutrient removal systems.     

Level and distribution of DDT in surface soils from Tianjin, China

One hundred and eighty eight surface soil samples were collected from the Tianjin area to study the contamination of DDT and its metabolites. Measurements were taken for p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDT, o,p'-DDE, o,p'-DDD and o,p'-DDT for all samples. The results indicated that p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE were the predominant contaminant compounds in the surface soil samples, with mean concentrations of 27.5 and 18.8 ng g(-1) respectively. No significant differences in DDT concentrations were found between the soils from wastewater treated irrigated areas and other areas, suggesting that wastewater irrigation is not an important source of DDT in the area. However, the spatial distribution of soil DDTs levels in the area did correlate well with early direct application rates of pesticides. In addition, both pH level and organic carbon content are also known factors affecting the level of DDT and its metabolites. Although it was assumed that the use of these chemicals was banned in the early 1980s, the current concentration levels appear to be too high to be mere residuals after 20 years degradation.