波罗的海的鱼类类群:是有限资源还是无限资源?

人类引起的环境变化,特别是富营养化和由于气候变化和太阳活动而导致的自然环境条件的波动影响着波罗的海各鱼类和群体的繁殖和生长.在过去几十年间,人类影响的重要性明显增加,在很多情况下掩盖了自然因素.高速的开发降低了一些有价值的鱼的种类,影响了一些种类的支配层次.海洋深层的氧消耗使得某些海洋种类的生存条件日益恶化.随着船舶压舱水而引入的大量非本地种类严重地影响着生态系统和鱼类类群.对于海洋的这些变化的总体影响、残留的和淡水种类可能会产生预想不到的结果.鱼类资源应该根据其自然单元(种群)进行适当的评价和管理.根据全球气候过程的周期性波动,应该着手进行鱼类区系结构和丰度变化的长期预报工作.     

Seasonal polydomy and unicoloniality in a polygynous population of the red wood ant Formica truncorum

Ant colonies may have a single or several reproductive queens (monogyny and polygyny, respectively). In polygynous colonies, colony reproduction may occur by budding, forming multinest, polydomous colonies. In most cases, budding leads to strong genetic structuring within populations, and positive relatedness among nestmates. However, in a few cases, polydomous populations may be unicolonial, with no structuring and intra-nest relatedness approaching zero. We investigated the spatial organisation and genetic structure of a polygynous, polydomous population of Formica truncorum in Finland. F. truncorum shifts nest sites between hibernation and the reproductive season, which raises the following question: are colonies maintained as genetic entities throughout the seasons, or is the population unicolonial throughout the season? Using nest-specific marking and five microsatellite loci, we found a high degree of mixing between individuals of the population, and no evidence for a biologically significant genetic structuring. The nestmate relatedness was also indistinguishable from zero. Taken together, the results show that the population is unicolonial. In addition, we found that the population has undergone a recent bottleneck, suggesting that the entire population may have been founded by a very limited number of females. The precise causes for unicoloniality in this species remain open, but we discuss the potential influence of intra-specific competition, disintegration of recognition cues and the particular hibernation habits of this species.     

Acidification-induced chemical changes in coniferous forest soils in southern Sweden 1988-1999

Thirty-two Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in southern Sweden were studied for a period of 12 years to evaluate acidification-induced chemical changes in the soil. Soil, at 20-30 cm depth in the mineral layer, was sampled three times during this period (1988, 1993 and 1999). The results show that pH(BaCl2) in mineral soil decreased by, on average, 0.17 units between 1988 and 1999, accompanied by an increase in aluminium (Al) concentration and a decrease in base saturation in the soil. In 1999, the base saturation was below 5% in 58% of the 32 sites compared with 16% in 1988 and 7% in 1993. Concentrations of calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) are low and decreasing. Based on C/N ratios in humus, 45% of the sites may be subjected to leaching of considerable amounts of nitrate. The results show that the acidification of coniferous forest soils in southern Sweden is continuing, and that the negative effects on the nutrient status in soil are extensive. The results are compared with reference values for productive, long-term sustainably managed boreal coniferous or mixed forest soils and implications for long-term sustainability are discussed.     

Assessing gait changes in firefighters due to fatigue and protective clothing

Each year, roughly 11,000 firefighters are injured as a result of slips, trips and falls, which account for over 25% of all fireground injuries. Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) can increase risk of fall-related injuries due to its weight, restrictiveness, and increased heat stress. Modification of PPE may serve to mitigate firefighter injuries related to loss of balance and falls. We examined the effects of choosing ‘enhanced’ protective clothing (lightweight, breathable, and less restrictive compared to typical firefighting PPE) and simulated firefighting tasks (18-min bout over four activities) on subsequent gait performance. To assess the effect of wearing protective clothing and firefighting activity, seven gait parameters and three movement errors were assessed during level and obstacle-crossing walking tasks. Forty-four firefighters wore one of two types of PPE (‘Standard’, ‘Enhanced’) during three testing conditions (baseline in station uniform, pre-firefighting activity in PPE, and post-firefighting activity in PPE). The effect of donning any PPE was found to significantly impair gait performance. Fatigue may impact effective mobility since more movement errors were observed during post-activity than pre-activity assessments. Although the Enhanced PPE did not lead to any significant differences in gait parameters compared to Standard PPE, participants in Enhanced PPE made twice as many movement errors, potentially attributed to lack of familiarity with the gear. These results suggest that wearing firefighting PPE and heat-stress induced fatigue are associated with reduced gait performance and increased risk for tripping over obstacles.