Threat-sensitive foraging by larval threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Summary The threat-sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis predicts that prey can assess the relative threat posed by a predator and adjust their behaviour to reflect the magnitude of the threat. We tested the ability of larval threespine sticklebacks to adjust their foraging in the presence of predators by exposing them to conspecific predators of various sizes and recording their foraging and predator avoidance behaviours. Larvae (<30 days post-hatch) displayed predator escape behaviours only towards attacking predators. At 3 weeks post-hatch larvae approached the predator after fleeing, a behaviour which may be the precursor to predator inspection. Larvae reduced foraging and spent less time in the proximity of large and medium-sized predators compared to small predators. The reduction in foraging was negatively correlated to the predator/larva size ratio, indicating that larvae increased their foraging as they increased in size relative to the predator. We conclude that larval sticklebacks can assess the threat of predation early in their ontogeny and adjust their behaviour accordingly.Correspondence to: J.A. Brown     

Microscale genetic differentiation in a sessile invertebrate with cloned larvae: investigating the role of polyembryony

Microscale genetic differentiation of sessile organisms can arise from restricted dispersal of sexual propagules, leading to isolation by distance, or from localised cloning. Cyclostome bryozoans offer a possible combination of both: the localised transfer of spermatozoa between mates with limited dispersal of the resulting larvae, in association with the splitting of each sexually produced embryo into many clonal copies (polyembryony). We spatially sampled 157 colonies of Crisia denticulata from subtidal rock overhangs from one shore in Devon, England at a geographic scale of ca. 0.05 to 130 m plus a further 21 colonies from Pembrokeshire, Wales as an outgroup. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the majority (67%) of genetic variation was distributed among individuals within single rock overhangs, with only 16% of variation among different overhangs within each shore and 17% of variation between the ingroup and outgroup shores. Despite local genetic variation, pairwise genetic similarity analysed by spatial autocorrelation was greatest at the smallest inter-individual distance we tested (5 cm) and remained significant and positive across generally within-overhang comparisons (<4 m). Spatial autocorrelation and AMOVA analyses both indicated that patches of C. denticulata located on different rock overhangs tended to be genetically distinct, with the switch from positive to negative autocorrelation, which is often considered to be the distance within which individuals reproduce with their close relatives or the radius of a patch, occurring at the 4–8 m distance class. Rerunning analyses with twenty data sets that only included one individual of each multilocus genotype (n = 97) or the single data set that contained just the unique genotypes (n = 67) revealed that the presence of repeat genotypes had an impact on genetic structuring (PhiPT values were reduced when shared genotypes were removed from the dataset) but that it was not great and only statistically evident at distances between individuals of 1–2 m. Comparisons to a further 20 randomisations of the data set that were performed irrespective of genotype (n = 97) suggested that this conclusion is not an artefact of reduced sample size. A resampling procedure using kinship coefficients, implemented by the software package GENCLONE gave broadly similar results but the greater statistical power allowed small but significant impacts of repeat genotypes on genetic structure to be also detected at 0.125–0.5 and 4–16 m. Although we predict that a proportion of the repeat multilocus genotypes are shared by chance, such generally within-overhang distances may represent a common distance of cloned larval dispersal. These results suggests that closely situated potential mates include a significant proportion of the available genetic diversity within a population, making it unlikely that, as previously hypothesised, the potential disadvantage of producing clonal broods through polyembryony is offset by genetic uniformity within the mating neighbourhood. We also report an error in the published primer note of Craig et al. (Mol Ecol Notes 1:281–282, 2001): loci Cd5 and Cd6 appear to be the same microsatellite. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Buffering processes in a boreal dissolved organic carbon-rich stream during experimental acidification

The role of organic acids on surface water acidity as well as their buffering during anthropogenic acidification and subsequent recovery was studied in a field experiment on a total organic carbon (TOC)-rich stream draining the Svartberget catchment in northern Sweden. H(2)SO(4) was added to the stream to increase SO(4)(2-) concentration by 90 microeq l(-1) for 30 h. About 60% of the added H(+) was buffered by protonation of organic acids, another 20% was buffered by base cations released from the surface of the stream channel and only ca. 20% of the added acid remained unbuffered. TOC concentrations (27 mg l(-1)), and site density of carboxylic groups--8.6 microeq (mg TOC)(-1)--remained stable during the experiment. Two models of organic acid dissociation (a triprotic model and a monoprotic pH-dependent pKa model) were fitted to the experimental results. These models explained the observed variations in organic anions, but the model parameters were quite different from those reported by studies in Northern America and Central Europe. This experiment had substantially more buffering effect of TOC between pH 4.4 and 5.3, which is an environmentally important pH range.     

Oxidation-reduction potential changes in aeration tanks and microprofiles of activated sludge floc in medium- and low-strength wastewaters.

Real-time control of aeration tank operation is key to high-efficiency pollutant removal and energy savings. One of the aims of this study was to examine the potential for using redox potential (oxidation-reduction potential [ORP]) to indicate wastewater quality online in aeration tanks treating medium (chemical oxygen demand [COD] of 70 to 150 mg/L) and low (COD of 15 to 30 mg/L) pollutant-concentration wastewaters. The field-scale data provide a good relationship between ORP values and nutrient removal along the length of the aeration tanks. The ORP values increased dramatically as organic matter was removed along the aeration tanks, indicating the improvement of the bulk liquor redox status. Dissolved oxygen higher than 1.0 mg/L was necessary for good biodegradation and improvement of the liquid redox status. Nitrification occurred at higher ORP values (380 to 420 mV) than was the case for organic substrate oxidation (250 to 300 mV). The microprofiles obtained from microelectrode measurements substantiate the heterogeneity of the microbial processes inside activated sludge flocs. Because of microbial oxygen utilization, the aerobic region in the activated sludge floc was limited to the top layer (0.1 to 0.2 mm) of the activated sludge aggregate present in medium-strength wastewater, with an anoxic zone dominating inside the flocs. When dissolved oxygen in the bulk water was higher than 4.0 mg/L, the anoxic zone inside the floc disappeared. At low wastewater pollutant concentrations, the ORP and dissolved oxygen inside the activated sludge aggregates were higher than those from medium-strength wastewater. The prospect of using ORP as an online control approach for aeration tank operation and the potential reasons for activated sludge floc size varying with pollutant strengths are also discussed.     

Assessing the benefits of community forests: an evaluation of the recreational use benefits of two urban fringe Woodlands

In 1989 the Countryside and Forestry Commissions launched a national programme to create Community Forests on the fringes of major towns and cities in England and Wales. The assumption that such forests will be of benefit to the community at large was tested by means of surveys of two existing multi‐purpose woodlands adjacent to major conurbations. Contingent valuation, travel cost and time cost methods of environmental valuation were used to estimate the existing user benefits of the two woodlands for recreation. The study highlights weaknesses in the travel cost approach when applied to recreational facilities located near urban fringe areas which can be accessed on foot. The results of the two surveys are discussed and compared with similar results for more rural woodlands/ forests. The study suggests that on social grounds at least the concept of Community Forests should be pursued with recreation benefits alone exceeding management costs by a factor of three.     

Development of a High-Speed Ultraviolet Spectrometer for Remote Sensing of Mobile Source Nitric Oxide Emissions

ABSTRACT

The University of Denver (DU) has developed a new remote sensor for the measurement of mobile source nitric oxide (NO). This system is integrated with an existing infrared remote sensor and is capable of measuring carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in addition to NO, at a rate of more than 1000 vehicles/hr. The detection limit on a low-emitting vehicle under typical measurement conditions is 24 parts per million NO (3σ). Measurements from this instrument correlated well in a side-by-side comparison with the previous NO remote sensor developed at DU, and we have used this study to confirm a suspected interference by aromatic hydrocarbons in the older instrument. The results of an extended field experiment using the new instrument, conducted in fall 1997, are also presented. The NO emissions of the fleet measured in this study (averaging 15.0 g NO/gal) exhibit a skewed distribution typical of mobile sources. This paper also describes the relationship between NO emissions and model year and NO emissions and vehicle acceleration, as measured by the new remote sensor.     

Acidification Remediation Alternatives: Exploring the Temporal Dimension with Cost Benefit Analysis

Acidification of soils and surface waters caused by acid deposition is still a major problem in southern Scandinavia, despite clear signs of recovery. Besides emission control, liming of lakes, streams, and wetlands is currently used to ameliorate acidification in Sweden. An alternative strategy is forest soil liming to restore the acidified upland soils from which much acidified runoff originates. This cost–benefit analysis compared these liming strategies with a special emphasis on the time perspective for expected benefits. Benefits transfer was used to estimate use values for sport ffishing and nonuse values in terms of existence values. The results show that large-scale forest soil liming is not socioeconomically profitable, while lake liming is, if it is done efficiently—in other words, if only acidified surface waters are treated. The beguiling logic of “solving” an environmental problem at its source (soils), rather than continuing to treat the symptoms (surface waters), is thus misleading.     

Forest Cover and Stream Flow in a Headwater of the Blue Nile: Complementing Observational Data Analysis with Community Perception

This study analyses the relation of forest cover and stream flow on the 266 km² Koga watershed in a headwater of Blue Nile Basin using both observed hydrological data and community perception. The watershed declined from 16% forest cover in 1957 to 1% by 1986. The hydrological record did not reveal changes in the flow regime between 1960 and 2002 despite the reduction in forest area. This agrees with the perception of the downstream community living near the gauging station. The upstream community, however, reported both decreases in low flows and increases in high flows shortly after the forest cover was reduced. The upstream deforestation effect appeared to have been buffered by a wetland lower in the watershed. This study concludes that community perception can be a complement to observational data for better understanding how forest cover influences the flow regime.     

A Stream–Wetland–Riparian (SWR) index for assessing condition of aquatic ecosystems in small watersheds along the Atlantic slope of the eastern U.S.

As part of a regional study by the Atlantic Slope Consortium (ASC) to develop ecological and socioeconomic indicators of aquatic ecosystem condition, we developed and tested a protocol for rapidly assessing condition of the stream, wetland, and riparian components of freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Aspects of hydrology, vegetation, in-stream and wetland characteristics, and on-site stressors were measured in the field. The resulting metrics were used to develop an index of overall condition, termed the Stream–Wetland–Riparian (SWR) Index. Values of this Index were compared to existing biotic indices and chemical measures, and to a Landscape Index created using satellite-based land cover data and a geographic information system (GIS). Comparisons were made at several levels of spatial aggregation and resolution, from site to small watershed. The SWR Index and associated Landscape Indices were shown to correlate highly with biological indicators of stream condition at the site level and for small contributing areas. The landscape patterns prevalent throughout the entire watershed do not necessarily match the patterns found adjacent to the stream network. We suggest a top-down approach that managers can use to sequentially apply these methods, to first prioritize watersheds based on a relative condition measure provided by the Landscape Index, and then assess condition and diagnose stressors of aquatic resources at the subwatershed and site level.