Relationship between larval and juvenile growth rates in two marine gastropods,Crepidula plana and C. fornicata

Previous studies on various marine mollusc species have shown that both larval and juvenile growth rates are substantially heritable, but few workers have examined the extent to which larval and juvenile growth rates covary. We examined the relationship between larval and juvenile growth rates in seven laboratory experiments conducted between 1986 and 1993, using the prosobranch gastropods Crepidula plana Say and C. fornicata (L.). In most experiments larvae were reared individually, measured twice nondestructively to determine larval grwoth rate, allowed or stimulated (daily 5-h exposure to 20 mM excess K⁺ in seawater) to metamophose, and then measured at least twice after metamorphosis to determine juvenile growth rates. Generally, there was no significant (p >0.10) relationship between larval and juvenile growth rates, suggesting that in these two species selection can act independently on the two stages of development. A positive correlation (p=0.007) between larval and juvenile growth rates was observed for C. fornicata in one experiment, but only for offspring from females maturing the most rapidly in laboratory culture. Even for these larvae, however, variation in larval growth rate explained<2% of the variation in juvenile growth rate, so that larval and juvenile growth rates are at most only weakly associated in this species.     

Application of Biochemical and Physiological Indicators for Assessing Recovery of Fish Populations in a Disturbed Stream

Recovery dynamics in a previously disturbed stream were investigated to determine the influence of a series of remedial actions on stream recovery and to evaluate the potential application of bioindicators as an environmental management tool. A suite of bioindicators, representing five different functional response groups, were measured annually for a sentinel fish species over a 15 year period during which a variety of remedial and pollution abatement actions were implemented. Trends in biochemical, physiological, condition, growth, bioenergetic, and nutritional responses demonstrated that the health status of a sentinel fish species in the disturbed stream approached that of fish in the reference stream by the end of the study. Two major remedial actions, dechlorination and water flow management, had large effects on stream recovery resulting in an improvement in the bioenergetic, disease, nutritional, and organ condition status of the sentinel fish species. A subset of bioindicators responded rather dramatically to temporal trends affecting all sites, but some indicators showed little response to disturbance or to restoration activities. In assessing recovery of aquatic systems, application of appropriate integrative structural indices along with a variety of sensitive functional bioindicators should be used to understand the mechanistic basis of stress and recovery and to reduce the risk of false positives. Understanding the mechanistic processes involved between stressors, stress responses of biota, and the recovery dynamics of aquatic systems reduces the uncertainty involved in environmental management and regulatory decisions resulting in an increased ability to predict the consequences of restoration and remedial actions for aquatic systems.     

Urban ecological systems: scientific foundations and a decade of progress

Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.     

Climatic, socio-economic, and health factors affecting human vulnerability to cholera in the Lake Victoria basin, East Africa

Cholera epidemics have a recorded history in the eastern Africa region dating to 1836. Cholera is now endemic in the Lake Victoria basin, a region with one of the poorest and fastest growing populations in the world. Analyses of precipitation, temperatures, and hydrological characteristics of selected stations in the Lake Victoria basin show that cholera epidemics are closely associated with El Ni?o years. Similarly, sustained temperatures high above normal (T(max)) in two consecutive seasons, followed by a slight cooling in the second season, trigger an outbreak of a cholera epidemic. The health and socioeconomic systems that the lake basin communities rely upon are not robust enough to cope with cholera outbreaks, thus rendering them vulnerable to the impact of climate variability and change. Collectively, this report argues that communities living around the Lake Victoria basin are vulnerable to climate-induced cholera that is aggravated by the low socioeconomic status and lack of an adequate health care system. In assessing the communities' adaptive capacity, the report concludes that persistent levels of poverty have made these communities vulnerable to cholera epidemics.     

Phytotoxic risk assessment of ambient air pollution on agricultural crops in Selangor State, Malaysia

The phytotoxic risk of ambient air pollution to local vegetation was assessed in Selangor State, Malaysia. The AOT40 value was calculated by means of the continuously monitored daily maximum concentration and the local diurnal pattern of O3. Together with minor risks associated with the levels of NO2 and SO2, the study found that the monthly AOT40 values in these peri-urban sites were consistently over 1.0 ppm.h, which is well in exceedance of the given European critical level. Linking the O3 level to actual agricultural crop production in Selangor State also indicated that the extent of yield losses could have ranged from 1.6 to 5.0% (by weight) in 2000. Despite a number of uncertainties, the study showed a simple but useful methodological framework for phytotoxic risk assessment with a limited data set, which could contribute to appropriate policy discussion and countermeasures in countries under similar conditions.     

Genetic mechanisms of pollution resistance in a marine invertebrate.

Pollution is a common stress in the marine environment and one of today's most powerful agents of selection, yet we have little understanding of how anthropogenic toxicants influence mechanisms of adaptation in marine populations. Due to their life history strategies, marine invertebrates are unable to avoid stress and must adapt to variable environments. We examined the genetic basis of pollution resistance across multiple environments using the marine invertebrate, Styela plicata. Gametes were crossed in a quantitative genetic breeding design to enable partitioning of additive genetic variance across a concentration gradient of a common marine pollutant, copper. Hatching success was scored as a measure of stress resistance in copper concentrations of 0, 75, 150, and 350 microg/L. There was a significant genotype x environment interaction in hatching success across copper concentrations. Further analysis using factor analytic modeling confirmed a significant dimension of across-environment genetic variation where the genetic basis of resistance to stress in the first three environments differed from that in the environment of highest copper concentration. A second genetic dimension further differentiated between the genetic basis of resistance to low and high stress environments. These results suggest that marine organisms use different genetic mechanisms to adapt to different levels of pollution and that the level of genetic variation to adapt to intense pollution stresses may be limited.     

Cost sharing to induce efficient techniques of abating wastewater pollution

This paper analyzes existing cost-sharing rules for wastewater pollution grants administered by the Environmental Protection Agency under the 1972 Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. It identifies and measures biases in the existing cost-sharing rules that encourage nonfederal interests to select particular techniques (e.g., capital-intensive techniques) over others even when the selected techniques are not the least costly to the nation. The paper develops theoretically a cost-sharing condition—that the same percentage cost share be applied to all abatement techniques—that would eliminate the cost-sharing bias. Alternative cost-sharing approaches are evaluated in terms of their biasing effects and their absolute dollar costs for federal and nonfederal project participants.