Sexual selection in a monomorphic lek-breeding bird: correlates of male mating success in the great snipe Gallinago media

Summary In the lek-breeding great snipe, male morphology, behaviour, and territory features were recorded for individually marked birds on two adjacent leks. Partial correlation sshowed that male mating success, expressed as the number of female solicitations and copulations, was negatively correlated with the distance of a display territory to the lek center and positively correlated with the number of displays per unit time given by a male. No other variables were directly correlated with male matin success. Thus, central males obtain more matings than peripheral males and successful males display more per unit time than do less successful males, independently of position on the lek. Central males were found to be older than peripheral ones and were present more often on the lek. Furthermore, central males had a larger number of white tail feathers, which are usea as visual signals in the displays, but this may be explained by the fact that these males were older. It is suggested that male great snipe are subject to sexual selection mainly in behavioural and vocal cues and that this may explain the absence of size and plumage dimorphism in this species.     

A qualitative systematic review of governance principles for mangrove conservation

Management of mangrove ecosystems is complex, given that mangroves are both terrestrial and marine, often cross regional or national boundaries, and are valued by local stakeholders in different ways than they are valued on national and international scales. Thus, mangrove governance has had varying levels of success, analyzed through concepts such as principles of good governance and procedural justice in decision-making. Although there is substantial research on case studies of mangrove management, global comparisons of mangrove governance are lacking. This research aims to fill this gap by comparing relationships among qualities of governance across mangrove social-ecological systems worldwide. Through a systematic literature search and screening process, we identified 65 articles that discussed mangrove governance and conservation. Case studies in these articles, drawn from 39 countries, were categorized as top-down, bottom-up, or comanaged and thematically coded to assess the influence of eight principles of good governance in mangrove conservation success. Across all three governance systems, the principles of legitimacy, fairness, and integration were most important in determining conservation success or failure. These principles are closely related to the concept of procedural justice, highlighting the importance of stakeholder inclusion throughout all stages of mangrove management. Thus, we recommend clearly defined roles for all governance actors, transparent communication of policy development to stakeholders, fairness in both process and outcome, and careful consideration of sustainable access to conservation resources.     

Direct and indirect effects of climate and fishing on changes in coastal ecosystem services: a historical perspective from the North Sea

Humanity depends on the marine environment for a range of vital ecosystem services, at global (e.g. climate regulation), regional (e.g. commercial fisheries) and local scales (e.g. coastal defence and recreation). At the same time, marine ecosystems have been exploited for centuries, and many systems today are under stress from multiple sources. Recent studies have shown how both climate change and fishing have caused long-term changes in the marine environment. However, there is still poor understanding of how these changes influence change in coastal ecosystem services. In this paper, an integrated modelling approach is used to assess how the final delivery of marine ecosystem services to coastal communities is influenced by the direct and indirect effects of changes in ecosystem processes brought about by climate and human impacts, using fisheries of the North Sea region as a case study. Partial least squares path analysis is used to explore the relationships between drivers of change, marine ecosystem processes and services (landings). A simple conceptual model with four variables—climate, fishing effort, ecosystem process and ecosystem services—is applied to the English North Sea using historic ecological, climatic and fisheries time series spanning 1924–2010 to identify the multiple pathways that might exist. As expected, direct and indirect links between fishing effort, ecosystem processes and service provision were significant. However, links between climate and ecosystem processes were weak. This paper highlights how path analysis can be used for analysing long-term temporal links between ecosystem processes and services following a simplified pathway.     

Land cover dynamics in the Simien Mountains (Ethiopia), half a century after establishment of the National Park

Regional Environmental Change - The Simien Mountains house several endangered and endemic wildlife species and provide important ecosystem services. Despite its regional environmental importance,...     

Emergency drills for agricultural drought response: a case study in Guatemala

Drills are an important element of disaster management, helping to increase preparedness and reduce the risk of real‐time failure. Yet, they are not applied systematically to slow‐onset disasters such as a drought, which causes damage that is not instantly apparent and thus does not solicit immediate action. This case study evaluates how drills inform institutional responses to slow‐onset disasters. It spotlights Guatemala, a country where drought has severe impacts on livelihoods and the food security of small farmers. By implementing part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food's institutional response plan for drought, it explores how drills can help to detect issues in emergency response and to foster an institutional focus on improvements in preparedness. The results reveal that drills alone do not trigger institutional improvements if unsupported by a wider strategy that seeks to enhance capacities and protocols. These findings are valuable, however, in making problems transparent and in creating the space for discussion.     

Ecotoxicology of glyphosate and recent advances in its mitigation by adsorption

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Glyphosate (N-[phosphonomethyl]glycine) is one of the most popular herbicides now used in agricultural practice. The aim of this paper was to discuss...     

Determination of brominated flame retardants,with emphasis on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in environmental and human samples--a review

Analytical methods for the determination of brominated flame retardants (BFRs), with a special emphasis on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are reviewed. A number of procedures, which can be applied to the analysis of PBDEs and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), and in some cases for hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), in environmental and human samples are described. Because several BFRs, such as tetrabromobisphenol-A (TBBP-A), BDE 209 and, to some extent, HBCD, may require a different approach, specific advice on their analysis is given separately when needed. Sample pretreatment, extraction, cleanup and fractionation, injection techniques, chromatographic separation, detection methods, quality control and method validation are discussed. For each topic, an overview is given of the current status of the field and recommendations for an appropriate analytical approach are presented.     

The perpetual state of emergency that sacrifices protected areas in a changing climate

A modern challenge for conservation biology is to assess the consequences of policies that adhere to assumptions of stationarity (e.g., historic norms) in an era of global environmental change. Such policies may result in unexpected and surprising levels of mitigation given future climate‐change trajectories, especially as agriculture looks to protected areas to buffer against production losses during periods of environmental extremes. We assessed the potential impact of climate‐change scenarios on the rates at which grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are authorized for emergency harvesting (i.e., biomass removal) for agricultural use, which can occur when precipitation for the previous 4 months is below 40% of the normal or historical mean precipitation for that 4‐month period. We developed and analyzed scenarios under the condition that policy will continue to operate under assumptions of stationarity, thereby authorizing emergency biomass harvesting solely as a function of precipitation departure from historic norms. Model projections showed the historical likelihood of authorizing emergency biomass harvesting in any given year in the northern Great Plains was 33.28% based on long‐term weather records. Emergency biomass harvesting became the norm (>50% of years) in the scenario that reflected continued increases in emissions and a decrease in growing‐season precipitation, and areas in the Great Plains with higher historical mean annual rainfall were disproportionately affected and were subject to a greater increase in emergency biomass removal. Emergency biomass harvesting decreased only in the scenario with rapid reductions in emissions. Our scenario‐impact analysis indicated that biomass from lands enrolled in the CRP would be used primarily as a buffer for agriculture in an era of climatic change unless policy guidelines are adapted or climate‐change projections significantly depart from the current consensus.     

Does the antidiabetic drug metformin affect embryo development and the health of brown trout (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmo trutta</Emphasis> f. <Emphasis Type="Italic">fario</Emphasis>)?

Background

Due to the rising number of type 2 diabetes patients, the antidiabetic drug, metformin is currently among those pharmaceuticals with the highest consumption rates worldwide. Via sewage-treatment plants, metformin enters surface waters where it is frequently detected in low concentrations (µg/L). Since possible adverse effects of this substance in aquatic organisms have been insufficiently explored to date, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of metformin on health and development in brown trout (Salmo trutta f. fario) and its microbiome.

Results

Brown trout embryos were exposed to 0, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 µg/L metformin over a period from 48 days post fertilisation (dpf) until 8 weeks post-yolk sac consumption at 7 °C (156 dpf) and 11 °C (143 dpf). Chemical analyses in tissues of exposed fish showed the concentration-dependent presence of metformin in the larvae. Mortality, embryonic development, body length, liver tissue integrity, stress protein levels and swimming behaviour were not influenced. However, compared to the controls, the amount of hepatic glycogen was higher in larvae exposed to metformin, especially in fish exposed to the lowest metformin concentration of 1 µg/L, which is environmentally relevant. At higher metformin concentrations, the glycogen content in the liver showed a high variability, especially for larvae exposed to 1000 µg/L metformin. Furthermore, the body weight of fish exposed to 10 and 100 µg/L metformin at 7 °C and to 1 µg/L metformin at 11 °C was decreased compared with the respective controls. The results of the microbiome analyses indicated a shift in the bacteria distribution in fish exposed to 1 and 10 µg/L metformin at 7 °C and to 100 µg/L metformin at 11 °C, leading to an increase of Proteobacteria and a reduction of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria.

Conclusions

Overall, weight reduction and the increased glycogen content belong to the described pharmaceutical effects of the drug in humans, but this study showed that they also occur in brown trout larvae. The impact of a shift in the intestinal microbiome caused by metformin on the immune system and vitality of the host organism should be the subject of further research before assessing the environmental relevance of the pharmaceutical.

     

Iron-based flow batteries to store renewable energies

The development of cost-effective and eco-friendly alternatives of energy storage systems is needed to solve the actual energy crisis. Although technologies such as flywheels, supercapacitors, pumped hydropower and compressed air are efficient, they have shortcomings because they require long planning horizons to be cost-effective. Renewable energy storage systems such as redox flow batteries are actually of high interest for grid-level energy storage, in particular iron-based flow batteries. Here we review all-iron redox flow battery alternatives for storing renewable energies. The role of components such as electrolyte, electrode and membranes in the overall functioning of all-iron redox flow batteries is discussed. The effect of iron–ligand chemistry on the performance of battery is highlighted. Additionally, a brief contextual background and fundamentals of redox flow batteries are provided. The design aspects, progress in research, mathematical modeling, cost estimations and future prospects of using all-iron energy systems are discussed in the context of future grid-level energy storage.