Postautotomy tail activity in the Balearic lizard, Podarcis lilfordi

Caudal autotomy is an effective antipredator strategy widespread among lizards. The shed tail thrashes vigorously for long periods to distract the predator and facilitate the lizard's escape. This movement is maintained by energy supplied by the anaerobic conversion of glycogen into lactate. It has been suggested that lactate accumulation serves as an index for the vigor of tail thrashing. We made three predictions: (1) tail loss frequency should be higher under heavier predation regime, (2) the duration of postautotomy tail movement should be extended in populations under heavy predation pressure as an adaptation to the higher risk and the increased need for defense, and (3) as result, lactate in these tail tissues should be concentrated at higher levels. To eliminate the impact of phylogeny and environmental factors on the interpretation of our result, we focused exclusively on one species, the Balearic lizard (Podarcis lilfordi). We studied three populations under different predation pressure but sharing the same climatic conditions. We found no differences among the studied populations either in postautotomy duration of tail movement or in levels of final lactate accumulation while autotomy frequency was higher where predation pressure was more intense. Tail loss effectiveness is directly influenced by the level of predation, while secondary features of the trait appear to remain independent from the impact of environment.     

Adapting to climate change: reducing water-related risks in Europe – EU policy and research considerations

Climate change impacts on the hydrological cycle, e.g. leading to changes of precipitation patterns, have been observed over several decades. Higher water temperatures and changes in extremes hydrometeorological events (including floods and droughts) are likely to exacerbate different types of pressures on water resources with possible negative impacts on ecosystems and human health. In addition, sea-level rise is expected to extend areas of salinisation of groundwater and estuaries, resulting in a decrease of freshwater availability for humans and ecosystems in coastal areas. Furthermore, climate-related changes in water quantity and quality are expected to affect food availability, water access and utilisation, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, as well as the operation of water infrastructure (e.g. hydropower, flood defences, and irrigation systems). This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of Environment Science & Policy dealing with climate change impacts on water-related disasters. It provides a brief background about relevant EU water policies and examples of EU-funded research trends which illustrate on-going efforts to improve understanding and modelling of climate changes related to the hydrological cycles at scales that are relevant to decision making (possibly linked to policy).     

好氧颗粒污泥降解氯苯胺类化合物的作用模式

好氧颗粒污泥能有效降解氯苯胺类化合物,然而,其同步高效降解的性能和基质间作用模式尚不清楚。文章考察好氧颗粒污泥体系降解和矿化氯苯胺类化合物的性能,并深入探讨同步降解过程中,各基质间的促进或抑制效应。实验结果表明,该体系降解单一氯苯胺类化合物遵循合Luong动力学模型,邻氯苯胺(2-CA)、间氯苯胺(3-CA)、对氯苯胺(4-CA)最大降解浓度(Sm)分别为:678.1 mg/L,837.7 mg//L和819.8 mg/L;好氧颗粒污泥体系能够完全降解和矿化总浓度低于750 mg/L的氯苯胺混合物,各化合物间降解速率符合3-CA>4-CA>2-CA。当氯苯胺类化合物共存时,相互间存在竞争性抑制作用,其中,2-CA对3-CA和4-CA的抑制作用明显小于后两者混合的相互抑制作用;对于2-CA的生物降解,3-CA的抑制作用小于4-CA。     

Seasonal and Flood‐Induced Variations in Groundwater–Surface Water Exchange in a Northern Coldwater Fishery

Groundwater upwelling is important to coldwater fisheries survival. This study used stable isotopes to identify upwelling zones within a watershed, then combined isotope analyses with reach‐scale monitoring to measure surface water–groundwater exchange over time. Research focused on Amity Creek, Minnesota, a basin that exemplifies conditions limiting coldwater species survival along Lake Superior's North Shore where shallow bedrock limits groundwater capacity, lowering baseflows and increasing temperatures. Groundwater‐fed reaches were identified through synoptic isotope sampling, with results highlighting the importance of isolated shallow surficial aquifers (glacially derived sands and gravels) for providing cold baseflow waters. In an alluvial reach, monitoring well results show groundwater was stored in two reservoirs: one that reacts quickly to changes in stream levels, and one that remained isotopically isolated under most flow conditions, but which helps sustain summer baseflows for weeks to months. A 500‐year flood demonstrated the capacity of high‐flow events to alter surface water–groundwater connectivity. The previously isolated reservoir was exchanged or mixed during the flood pulse, while incision lowered the water table for years. The results here provide insight for streams that lack substantial groundwater inputs yet maintain coldwater species at risk in a warming climate and an approach for managers seeking to protect cold baseflow sources.     

Streamflow Depletion Modeling: Methods for an Adaptable and Conjunctive Water Management Decision Support Tool

Groundwater pumping depletes streamflow, which can have significant ecological impacts depending on the magnitude of depletion relative to environmental flow needs. Streamflow depletion estimates from groundwater pumping have been quantified using both analytical and numerical methods, but are not routinely compared to environmental flow needs or used in practical water management tools. Decision support tools that incorporate groundwater dynamics are becoming increasingly necessary for water managers as groundwater regulations become more important in environmental policy, particularly concerning the preservation of environmental flow needs. We develop and apply methods for a web‐based decision support tool for conjunctive groundwater and surface water management, demonstrated using a case study watershed in British Columbia, Canada. Open‐source data are analyzed with a combination of spatial algorithms and previously developed analytical models, such that the tool can be applied to other regions. Streamflow depletion estimates are calculated in four regions in the largely undeveloped Bulkley Valley, British Columbia. Our transparent methodology has geographic and data input flexibility which is a significant improvement on currently existing water management tool methods.     

Instream Restoration to Improve the Ecohydrologic Function of a Subalpine Meadow: Pre‐implementation Modeling with HEC‐RAS

Vegetation in subalpine meadows in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is particularly vulnerable to lowering of groundwater levels because wet meadow vegetation is reliant upon shallow groundwater during the dry summer growing season. These ecosystems are especially vulnerable to channel incision as meadow aquifers are hydrologically connected to tributaries, and many have not yet recovered from previous anthropogenic influences. While instream restoration projects have become a common approach, lack of postrestoration monitoring and communication often result in a trial‐and‐error approach. In this study we demonstrate that preimplementation modeling of possible instream restoration solutions, chosen to raise stream stage and subsequently groundwater levels, is a useful tool for evaluating and comparing potential channel modifications. Modeling allows us to identify strategic locations and specific methods. Results show additional sediment depth and roughness on tributaries along with introduced woody debris (simulated by high roughness) on the Tuolumne River are the most effective means of raising stream stage. Results demonstrate that restoration efforts are most efficient in tributary streams. Managers and planners can more efficiently direct resources while minimizing the potential for negative impacts or failed restoration projects by modeling the possible effects of multiple restoration scenarios before implementation.     

杂草五爪金龙对入侵地植物群落和土壤肥力的影响

五爪金龙（Ipomoeacairica）是粤东地区入侵性极强的外来杂草。在野外调查的基础上,选取5个被五爪金龙种群重度入侵地作为样地,并以5个相邻的无五爪金龙和其他外来植物入侵的地段作为对照,采用样方法对样地内的植物进行群落学调查并计算多样性指数,采集样地内的土壤样品进行土壤酶活性与理化指标测定,探讨五爪金龙入侵地生态因子间的相互作用关系,评价五爪金龙入侵对入侵地生态系统的影响。结果表明,与未入侵对照样地比较,五爪金龙入侵导致入侵地植物丰富度和多样性显著或极显著下降（P〈0．05或P〈0．01）,对本土植物的排斥效应明显;除森林公园样地外,其余样地与土壤肥力密切相关的土壤蔗糖酶、脲酶、磷酸酶及硝酸还原酶4种酶活性均明显升高,增幅为26．91％～55．52％;五爪金龙种群的入侵明显提高了其入侵地土壤全氮、碱解氮、全钾及有效钾含量,降低了全磷、有效磷及有机质含量,且与对照样地间差异均达显著或极显著水平（P〈0．05或P〈0．01）。推测五爪金龙可能通过改变其入侵地的植物群落结构,改善土壤酶活性及养分水平,从而形成对自身生长发育和种群扩张有利的微生态环境。     

Exploring community assembly through an individual-based model for trophic interactions

Traditionally, the dynamics of community assembly has been analyzed by means of deterministic models of differential equations. Despite the theoretical advances provided by such models, they are restricted to questions about community-wide features. The individual-based modeling offers an opportunity to link bionomic features to patterns at the community scale, allowing us to understand how trait-based assembly rules can arise by dynamical processes. The present paper introduces an individual-based model of community assembly, and discusses some of the major advantages and drawbacks of this approach. The model was framed to deal with predation among size-structured populations, incorporating allometric constraints to energetic requirements, movement, life-history features and interaction relationships among individuals. A protocol of assembly procedure is proposed, in which a period of intense species introductions is followed by a period without introductions. The resultant communities did not present any pattern of trait over-dispersion, meaning that the multivariate distances of bionomic features among co-occurring species were neither larger nor more regular than expected in a random collection of species. It suggests a weak influence of interspecific interactions in the model environment and individualistic rules of coexistence, driven mainly by the spatial structure. This highlights that trait over-dispersion and resource partitioning should not be considered a necessary condition for coexistence, even in communities entirely structured by internal processes like predation and competition.     

Animal social networks: an introduction

Network analysis has a long history in the mathematical and social sciences and the aim of this introduction is to provide a brief overview of the potential that it holds for the study of animal behaviour. One of the most attractive features of the network paradigm is that it provides a single conceptual framework with which we can study the social organisation of animals at all levels (individual, dyad, group, population) and for all types of interaction (aggressive, cooperative, sexual etc.). Graphical tools allow a visual inspection of networks which often helps inspire ideas for testable hypotheses. Network analysis itself provides a multitude of novel statistical tools that can be used to characterise social patterns in animal populations. Among the important insights that networks have facilitated is that indirect social connections matter. Interactions between individuals generate a social environment at the population level which in turn selects for behavioural strategies at the individual level. A social network is often a perfect means by which to represent heterogeneous relationships in a population. Probing the biological drivers for these heterogeneities, often as a function of time, forms the basis of many of the current uses of network analysis in the behavioural sciences. This special issue on social networks brings together a diverse group of practitioners whose study systems range from social insects over reptiles to birds, cetaceans, ungulates and primates in order to illustrate the wide-ranging applications of network analysis. This contribution is part of the special issue “Social Networks: new perspectives” (Guest Editors: J. Krause, D. Lusseau and R. James).     

The influence of slope collapse on water exchange between a pit lake and a heterogeneous aquifer

Slope collapse will reduce the water exchange. Slope collapse will affect the spatial distribution of the water exchange. Precipitation have the most impact on the dynamics of the water exchange. Due to the increase in open pit mining, pit lakes have become common surface water features, posing a potential risk to subsurface aquifer. In this study, a pit lake–groundwater interaction model is built based on the general program MODFLOW with the LAK3 package. For the first time, the effects of lake-slope collapse and aquifer heterogeneity on pit lake–groundwater interactions are analyzed by dividing the lake into six water exchange zones based on the aquifer lithology and groundwater level. Our investigation and simulations reveal a total water exchange from groundwater to the lake of 349000 m³/a without collapse of the pit lake slope, while the total net water exchange under slope collapse conditions is 248000 m³/a (i.e., a reduction of 1.40-fold). The monthly net water exchange per unit width from groundwater to the lake reaches the largest in April, shifting to negative values in zone IV from June to August and in zone V in June and July. Moreover, the monthly net water exchange per unit width decreases from north to south, and the direction and magnitude of water exchange are found to depend on the hydraulic gradients between the lake and groundwater and the hydraulic conductivity of the slope collapse.