Examining the “evolution of increased competitive ability” hypothesis in response to parasites and pathogens in the invasive paper wasp Polistes dominula

Successful invaders often become established in new ranges by outcompeting native species. The “evolution of increased competitive ability” hypothesis predicts that invasive species are subjected to less predation and parasitization than sympatric native species, and thus can allocate resources from defence and immunity to growth and fecundity, thereby achieving higher fitness. In this study, we examined whether American invasive Polistes dominula paper wasps have reduced immunocompetence. To explore this scenario, we tested their susceptibility towards parasites and pathogens at both the individual (immune defence) and colony levels, i.e. hygienic behaviour (removal of diseased individuals by nestmates). First, we examined the response to the specific coevolved parasite Xenos vesparum (lost after invasion) in terms of individual host susceptibility and hygienic behaviour. Second, we explored the response against general pathogens by quantifying the bacterial clearance in individual wasps after a challenge with Escherichia coli and hygienic behaviour after a challenge with the fungus Beauveria bassiana. Our results show that American invasive P. dominula have a higher response against X. vesparum at the colony level, but at the individual level their susceptibility is not significantly different from conspecifics of the native range. On the other hand, invasive P. dominula display lower response after a challenge with general pathogens at both the individual and colony levels. While supporting the hypothesis of a reduction of immunocompetence towards general pathogens in invasive species, these findings also suggest that the response against coevolved parasites might follow different evolutionary pathways which are not always easily predictable.     

Vulnerability and behavioral response to ultraviolet radiation in the components of a foliar mite prey–predator system

Ambient ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation impacts plant-dwelling arthropods including herbivorous and predatory mites. However, the effects of UVB on prey?Cpredator systems, such as that between the herbivorous spider mite and predatory phytoseiid mite, are poorly understood. A comparative study was conducted to determine the vulnerability and behavioral responses of these mites to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. First, we analyzed dose?Cresponse (cumulative irradiance-mortality) curves for the eggs of phytoseiid mites (Neoseiulus californicus, Neoseiulus womersleyi, and Phytoseiulus persimilis) and the spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) to UVB radiation from a UV lamp. This indicated that the phytoseiid mites were more vulnerable than the spider mite, although P. persimilis was slightly more tolerant than the other two phytoseiid mites. Second, we compared the avoidance behavior of adult female N. californicus and two spider mite species (T. urticae, a lower leaf surface user; Panonychus citri, an upper leaf surface user) in response to solar UV and visible light. N. californicus actively avoided both types of radiation, whereas P. citri showed only minimal avoidance behavior. T. urticae actively avoided UV as well as N. californicus but exhibited a slow response to visible light as well as P. citri. Such variation in vulnerability and avoidance behavior accounts for differences in the species adaptations to solar UVB radiation. This may be the primary factor determining habitat use among these mites on host plant leaves, subsequently affecting accessibility by predators and also intraguild competition.     

Prediction and coordination of the man-environment system—a case study in Jiaozuo City

In this paper, the new systematical theory and methodology have been applied to the research on the structure, development and coordination of man-environment system in Jiaozuo City. It has been proved that the application of self-organization theory of synergism is successful. Furthermore, on the basis of self-organization theory, a series of mathematical models have been established. The prediction of the status of man-environment system in Jiaozuo City by the year 2010, was made, and the trend of population growth, industrial development, environmental pollution were given. Finally, suggestions for the future development of Jiaozuo City were mentioned.     

Application of the “Climafor” baseline to determine leakage: the case of Scolel Té

The acceptance of forestry-based project activities to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions has been subjected to a number of methodological questions to be answered, of which the most challenging are baseline establishment and identification of and measuring leakage. Here we pose hypotheses for and quantify leakage of the Scolel Té project in Chiapas, Mexico. In this project small-scale farmers are implementing forestry, agroforestry, and forest conservation activities, with carbon sequestration as one of the goals. The main leakage monitoring domain is defined as the area owned by the participating farmers or communities outside the area where the specific project activities take place. The null-hypothesis (no leakage) is that non-project land owned by the farmer or community will experience the same carbon stock changes as predicted by the regional baseline, specifically developed for the project. First we assessed the most likely causes and sources of leakage that may occur in the project. From this analysis, one type of leakage seems to be important, i.e., activity shifting. Second we estimated the leakage of a sample of participating farmers and communities. Actual land use was then compared with expected land use derived from the baseline. The Plan Vivo of each participant, complemented with readily available tools to identify the main sources and drivers of leakage are used to develop simple leakage assessment procedures, as demonstrated in this paper. Negative leakage was estimated to be negligible in this study. Incorporating these procedures already in the project planning stage will reduce the uncertainties related to the actual carbon mitigation potential of any forestry project.

Correction to: Identification of structural breaks in the forest product markets: how sensitive are to changes in the Nordic region?

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - This paper was published on March 2017, Volume 22, Issue 3, 469–483pp, titled “Identification of structural breaks in the forest...     

Impact assessment in the European Commission – a system with multiple objectives

Impact assessment (IA) is an instrument that is gradually making inroads into European Union policy making. Great ambitions are tied to the introduction of a compulsory system of IA as a way to achieve better regulation but also as a tool to improve legitimacy of government and increase unity in European politics. In order to raise the quality of the assessments, which has been questioned, there is a call for application of more evidence-based methods. As a result, there might be a window of opportunity for greater use of scientific support in impact assessment work.However, the EC's IA system has several overlapping and partly contradictory objectives – to produce estimates about possible future impacts is only one of them. The IA system should be understood as a political instrument shaped by its multiple objectives and the political context of permanent negotiations in which it is situated.The arguments put forward emanate from a close reading of EC documents concerning IA procedures and the ambitions they display paired with assessment practices as revealed in interviews with officials in the main EU institutions, trying to perform IAs and to cope with the political balancing act they are embedded in.     

Variable virulence among isolates of Ascosphaera apis: testing the parasite–pathogen hypothesis for the evolution of polyandry in social insects

The queens of many eusocial insect species are polyandrous. The evolution of polyandry from ancestral monoandry is intriguing because polyandry undermines the kin-selected benefits of high intracolonial relatedness that are understood to have been central to the evolution of eusociality. An accumulating body of evidence suggests that polyandry evolved from monoandry in part because genetically diverse colonies better resist infection by pathogens. However, a core assumption of the “parasite–pathogen hypothesis”, that there is variation in virulence among strains of pathogens, remains largely untested in vivo. Here, we demonstrate variation in virulence among isolates of Ascosphaera apis, the causative organism of chalkbrood disease in its honey bee (Apis mellifera) host. More importantly, we show a pathogen–host genotypic interaction for resistance and pathogenicity. Our findings therefore support the parasite-parasite hypothesis as a factor in the evolution of polyandry among eusocial insects.     

Performance of a water hyacinth （Eichhornia crassipes） system in the treatment of wastewater from a duck farm and the effects of using water hyacinth as duck feed

Nowadays, intensive breeding of poultry and livestock of large scale has made the treatment of its waste and wastewater an urgentenvironmental issue, which motivated this study. A wetland of 688 m2 was constructed on an egg duck farm, and water hyacinth(Eichhornia crassipes) was chosen as an aquatic plant for the wetland and used as food for duck production. The objectives of thisstudy were to test the role of water hyacinth in purifying nutrient-rich wastewater and its effects on the ducks’ feed intake, egg layingperformance and egg quality. This paper shows that the constructed wetland removed as much as 64.44% of chemical oxygen demand(COD), 21.78% of total nitrogen (TN) and 23.02% of total phosphorus (TP). Both dissolved oxygen (DO) and the transparency of thewastewater were remarkably improved, with its transparency 2.5 times higher than that of the untreated wastewater. After the duckswere fed with water hyacinth, the average daily feed intake and the egg-laying ratio in the test group were 5.86% and 9.79% higher,respectively, than in the control group; the di erences were both significant at the 0.01 probability level. The egg weight in the test groupwas 2.36% higher than in the control group (P < 0.05), but the feed conversion ratios were almost the same. The eggshell thicknessand strength were among the egg qualities significantly increased in ducks fed with water hyacinth.We concluded that a water hyacinthsystem was e ective for purifying wastewater from an intensive duck farm during the water hyacinth growing season, as harvestedwater hyacinth had an excellent performance as duck feed. We also discussed the limitations of the experiment.     

Potential Risk of Norovirus Infection Due to the Consumption of “Ready to Eat” Food

In this study, we investigated the presence of enteric viruses such as norovirus (NoV), hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis E virus (HEV), and adenovirus (HAdV), in vegetables available on the Italian markets. For this aim, 110 national and international ??ready to eat?? samples were collected and analyzed by biomolecular tests and positive samples were confirmed by sequencing. All samples (100?%) were negative for HAV, HEV, and HAdV, while 13.6?% (15/110) were positive for NoV. Actually there is not a formal surveillance system for NoV infections in Italy but we clearly demonstrated a potential risk associated with the consumption of ??ready to eat?? vegetables. This study confirmed for the first time in Italy the presence of norovirus in semi-dried tomatoes by PCR technique.     

Identification of structural breaks in the forest product markets: how sensitive are to changes in the Nordic region?

Forests play a fundamental role in the global carbon cycle and can be managed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and conserve or sequester carbon. Global policy and environmental changes can affect regional consumption of forest products, as well as inter-regional trade of forest goods and services. This study analyzes global and regional change impacts on the production, consumption and trade of forest products in two Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden. Annual data on removal and trade (1964–2012) for roundwood and sawnwood is used to identify structural breaks based on Chow tests. According to the analysis, the time period is divided into two periods: t1 (1964–1980) and t2 (1981–2012). In the first period, breaks occurred in 1975 and 1976 in the Finnish model and no break is found in the Swedish model. In the second period, we identify breaks in 1991 and 1992 for the Finnish model and in 2004, 2005 and 2006 for the Swedish model. Although our findings have broad empirical support, we do not identify any specific incident as a direct cause of the changes in the consumption and trade patterns of the two types of wood in these countries. The models and analysis presented here can serve as methodological tools for policymakers to better understand the effects of structural changes in the production of forest goods and services in the Nordic region and globally.     

Scaling down the “Netherlands Fallacy”: a local-level quantitative study of the effect of affluence on the carbon footprint across the United States

Much quantitative research examining the determinants of the ecological footprint has been conducted cross-nationally, where data on cross-boundary flows have been readily available. While local-level studies of the footprint do exist for specific localities, most quantitative research at this scale has examined direct environmental impacts attributed to the internal activities of the locality, for instance, carbon emissions. Our analysis builds on this previous work by exploiting a local-level carbon footprint dataset with coverage for 28,321 zip codes across the United States. Following prior research, we focus on the effect of local affluence, measured in terms of median household income. In spatial regression models, we regress the per capita carbon footprint on local affluence, controlling for a variety of other factors. Consistent with previous work, we find that affluence is positively correlated the carbon footprint and there is no evidence of an environmental Kuznets curve. In the conclusion, we review the results of the study and discuss their implications for policy, specifically in terms of cross-boundary environmental problems.     

“The governance and practice of change of sustainable consumption and production.” Introduction to the ideas and recommendations presented in the articles in this special issue of the journal of cleaner production

This special issue is a result of work of Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges (SCORE!). This EU supported network project under the 6th Framework Program engaged a few hundred professionals interested in sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in Europe and beyond. A key goal of the network is to enhance understanding how radical reductions of environmental impacts and at global level a more equitable growth can be realised. In April 2006, SCORE! organised a workshop in Copenhagen with support of the European Environment Agency, titled ‘Governance of change to Sustainable Consumption and Production’. This special issue contains 7 papers based on presentations during that workshop. It further contains a summary of the main conclusions drawn by the SCORE! project team on the basis of a broader review of radical change to SCP from a business, design, consumer and system innovation perspective. The conclusion is unambiguously that governments cannot ‘outsource politics’, but must form a ‘triangle of change’ with business and consumers. We have further to understand the systemic nature of the change required. Some policies are currently more viable than others, given existing mega-trends, mega-structures and mega-views, which cannot be changed easily in the short-term and usually cannot be tackled head-on. Such issues, like paradigms on the possibility of continuous exponential growth, the belief in free markets and trade, need a longer-term deliberative process before change is possible.     

Field and laboratory evaluations of the effects of “cold shock” on fish resident in and around a thermal discharge: an overview

In the 1970s, resource agencies suggested that thermal discharges could affect aquatic life including macrophytes, plankton, and fish. It was suspected that heat and cold shock would affect fish health and behavior, and that thermal plumes might affect migration. From 1978 to 1985, Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation (RG&E) conducted field and laboratory studies on fish to evaluate a power plant’s rapid winter shutdown. Lake Ontario studies included observations of fish in the near-field plume during a shutdown, and resident fish were tagged and used to study immediate and acclimated cold shock. Over 500 fish representing 17 species, captured in and around a power station plume, were used in these cold-shock studies. Five coldwater species accounted for approximately 65% of the tested fish, although clupeids, and coolwater and warmwater fish were evaluated when captured. The internal temperature of many fish was recorded upon capture. Survival for the dominant species was ≃100%, although clupeid survival was ≤10% (n=128). Tagged fish also provided long-term survival, migration, and plume-residence data. To confirm field data, laboratory cold-shock tests were conducted under controlled conditions using hatchery-reared juvenile rainbow trout. The results indicated, for example, that the lower lethal limit for rainbow trout was slightly below 1.0°C, corroborating field data for rainbow trout. These cold-shock studies suggest that previous generic guidelines, such as those provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), are probably too conservative.     

Adopting an ecological view of metropolitan landscape: the case of “three circles\" system for ecological construction and restoration in Beijing area

Ecological construction and restoration for sustainable development are now a driving paradigm. It is increasingly recognized that ecological principles, especially landscape ecology theory, are not only necessary but also essential to maintain the long-term sustainability worldwide. Key landscape ecology principles--element,structure and process, dynamics, heterogeneity, hierarchies, connectivity, place and time were reviewed, and use Beijing area as a case study to illustrate how these principles might be applied to ecological construction and restoration, to eventually achieve sustainability. An example to more effectively incorporate the ecological principles in sustainable planning in China was presented.