Analysis of ecotoxic influence of waste from the biomass gasification process

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The purpose of this research was evaluation of the effect of soil contamination with waste coming from biomass gasification on chosen indicators of...     

Assessment of health risk associated with persistent organic pollutants in water

This paper presents the results of analyses of water samples taken from water intakes supplying one of the districts located near the city of Wroc?aw. Surprisingly high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls and chloroorganic pesticides, classified as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), were detected in the monitored sites. Basing on the analytical and toxicological data, the individual health risks related to carcinogenic effects (excess cancer risk over a lifetime) in humans were assessed, resulting from direct ingestion of community water. Also noncarcinogenic effects resulting from exposure to the examined POPs were determined. The conservative approach to risk assessment, taking into account a safety margin for data incompleteness, was adopted. The carcinogenic risk was found to slightly exceed the unconditionally acceptable risk of 10^?6 in the case of polychlorinated biphenyls and hexachlorocyclohexane, for all the inhabitant populations. The determined values of noncarcinogenic effects expressed by hazard quotient and hazard index indicate that the water pollutants and their concentrations do not cause an increase in noncarcinogenic incidences in the inhabitants using the monitored water sources.     

The first Neanderthal tooth found North of the Carpathian Mountains

An upper second permanent molar from a human was found alongside numerous tools of the Micoquian tradition and was excavated in Stajnia Cave, which is located over 100 km North of the Carpathian Mountains in southern Poland. The age of these finds has been established within a time-span of late Saalian to early Weichselian, most likely to OIS 5c or 5a, according to the palaeontological, geological, archaeological and absolute dating of the layer from which they were obtained. An examination of the morphology of the human molar indicates that this tooth exhibits many traits frequently occurring in Neanderthal upper molars. Although the occurrence of derived Neanderthal traits in the Stajnia molar cannot be firmly established because of degradation of its cusps, the presence of the above-mentioned features allows the assertion that this tooth belonged to a Neanderthal. The age of the Stajnia tooth and the archaeological context of this find also indicate that this molar is of Neanderthal origin.     

Does mating experience of male house crickets affect their behavior to subsequent females and female choice?

Male mating experience was shown to play an important role in settling conflicts between males; however, little is known about whether and how prior access to females influences male behavior during intersexual interactions and female choice itself. Here, I experimentally test this relationship in the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) by combining one-on-one interaction between the male and female with direct comparison of males by the female, but precluding aggression between males. I found that solitary males were more active during subsequent courtship displays than paired males, suggesting the detrimental effect of mating on courtship performance. At the same time, females spent significantly more time close to solitary males or playbacks of male's natural courtship songs, and responded positively to the condition of males, ignoring body size of males. In contrast, females responded similarly to computer-modified playbacks of courtship songs of solitary and paired males with standardized rate of phrases and amplitudes; however, when females were additionally allowed to contact with anesthetized males they spent more time close to bigger males, irrespective of the acoustic parameters of courtship songs. These results show that although females were able to differentiate between many behavioral and morphological characteristics of males, including voluntary and intrinsic ones, they preferred traits conditional upon the costliness of male's displays. In addition, mating experience appeared to be a crucial factor in the choice of a particular costly mating strategy by males.     

New international long-term ecological research on air pollution effects on the Carpathian Mountain forests,Central Europe

An international cooperative project on distribution of ozone in the Carpathian Mountains, Central Europe was conducted from 1997 to 1999. Results of that project indicated that in large parts of the Carpathian Mountains, concentrations of ozone were elevated and potentially phytotoxic to forest vegetation. That study led to the establishment of new long-term studies on ecological changes in forests and other ecosystems caused by air pollution in the Retezat Mountains, Southern Carpathians, Romania and in the Tatra Mountains, Western Carpathians on the Polish-Slovak border. Both of these important mountain ranges have the status of national parks and are Man & the Biosphere Reserves. In the Retezat Mountains, the primary research objective was to evaluate how air pollution may affect forest health and biodiversity. The main research objective in the Tatra Mountains was to evaluate responses of natural and managed Norway spruce forests to air pollution and other stresses. Ambient concentrations of ozone (O(3)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen oxides (NO(x)) as well as forest health and biodiversity changes were monitored on densely distributed research sites. Initial monitoring of pollutants indicated low levels of O(3), SO(2), and NO(x) in the Retezat Mountains, while elevated levels of O(3) and high deposition of atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) have characterized the Tatra Mountains. In the Retezat Mountains, air pollution seems to have little effect on forest health; however, there was concern that over a long time, even low levels of pollution may affect biodiversity of this important ecosystem. In contrast, severe decline of Norway spruce has been observed in the Tatra Mountains. Although bark beetle seems to be the immediate cause of that decline, long-term elevated levels of atmospheric N and S depositions and elevated O(3) could predispose trees to insect attacks and other stresses. European and US scientists studied pollution deposition, soil and plant chemistry, O(3)-sensitive plant species, forest insects, and genetic changes in the Retezat and Tatra Mountains. Results of these investigations are presented in a GIS format to allow for a better understanding of the changes and the recommendations for effective management in these two areas.     

Changes of the phytoplankton community as symptoms of deterioration of water quality in a shallow lake

Covering more than 60% of the lake surface, macrophytes determined the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton. We have found numerous indications of ecological deterioration and an increased trophic level year to year: an increased total number of taxa; a significantly increased number of species of Chlorophyta, Bacillariophyceae and Cyanoprokaryota; a decreased number of Chrysophyceae; increased Nygaard index, and high diversity and variability of phytoplankton functional groups. Within 2 years (2002 and 2003) algal biomass doubled: from 3.616 to 7.968 mg l^?1. An increased contribution of Chlorococcales and Cyanoprokaryota indicates progressive eutrophication of the lake. The average size of planktonic algae increased, particularly Cyanoprokaryota, where small-celled decreased dramatically and were replaced by large colonies. Cyanoprokaryota remained the dominant group of phytoplankton after 10 years, and the ecosystem of the lake remained in the turbid state. This group of algae had the average biomass 9.734 mg l^?1, which constituted almost 92% of the total biomass.     

From past to future: impact of climate change on range shifts and genetic diversity patterns of circumboreal plants

Climate change is projected to influence the genetic resources of plant species. Recent research has examined genetic diversity patterns under current climate conditions, with little attention to the future genetic consequences for species. In this study, we combined ecological niche modeling and population genetic approaches to project future changes in genetic diversity using plastid and nuclear DNA and reconstructed distribution patterns of three circumboreal plants (Chamaedaphne calyculata, Linnaea borealis ssp. borealis, and Pedicularis sceptrum-carolinum ssp. sceptrum-carolinum) in the last glacial maximum. We found that circumboreal plants could potentially lose their geographic ranges in the future (2070; 35–52% in RCP 4.5 (representative concentration pathways), 37–53% in RCP 6.0, and 56–69% in RCP 8.5), only slightly compensated by a predicted range gain of 18–33% (across the three RCPs). It is expected that future genetic diversity level could remain similar or lower than the present level. On the other hand, the homogeneity of the genetic background—a lack of admixture and domination of one gene pool in most populations of C. calyculata and L. borealis ssp. borealis—was predicted to become more pronounced in the future. Combining the paleoecological niche modeling and genetic data revealed, more precisely, the climate refugia for circumboreal plants in the Alps, central Asia, Beringia, and southern North America and the macrorefugia more restricted to the northern part of Eurasia and North America, reaching the arctic zone.

     

Aphanizomenon gracile (Nostocales), a cylindrospermopsin-producing cyanobacterium in Polish lakes

The cyanobacterial cytotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN) has become increasingly common in fresh waters worldwide. It was originally isolated from Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in Australia; however, in European waters, its occurrence is associated with other cyanobacterial species belonging to the genera Aphanizomenon and Anabaena. Moreover, cylindrospermopsin-producing strains of widely distributed C. raciborskii have not yet been observed in European waters. The aims of this work were to assess the occurrence of CYN in lakes of western Poland and to identify the CYN producers. The ELISA tests, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-DAD, and HPLC-mass spectrometry (MS)/MS were conducted to assess the occurrence of CYN in 36 lakes. The cyrJ, cyrA, and pks genes were amplified to identify toxigenic genotypes of cyanobacteria that are capable of producing CYN. The toxicity and toxigenicity of the C. raciborskii and Aphanizomenon gracile strains isolated from the studied lakes were examined. Overall, CYN was detected in 13 lakes using HPLC-MS/MS, and its concentrations varied from trace levels to 3.0 μg?L^?1. CYN was widely observed in lakes of western Poland during the whole summer under different environmental conditions. Mineral forms of nutrients and temperature were related to CYN production. The molecular studies confirmed the presence of toxigenic cyanobacterial populations in all of the samples where CYN was detected. The toxicity and toxigenicity analyses of isolated cyanobacteria strains revealed that A. gracile was the major producer of CYN.     

Effect of selected environmental factors on hunting methods and hunting success in the lesser spotted eagle <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aquila pomarina</Emphasis> in North-Eastern Poland

Hunting methods and hunting success and their associations with some environmental factors were studied in Lesser Spotted Eagle. Birds hunted mostly by patrol-flights (73.6%), secondary by perchhunting (23.8%). In the morning-noon period birds hunted using patrol flights more frequently than in the afternoon, while in the afternoon they more often used perch-hunting. Average hunting success reached 24% (n = 37), but it was much greater on freshly mown meadows.