Ranking ecosystem services delivered by trees in urban and rural areas

Policies and strategies for tree management and protection on a national, regional, and local level have not sufficiently considered differences between rural and urban areas. We used expert knowledge to compare rural and urban areas in a case study evaluating the relative importance of ecosystem services (ES) in policy development. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and focus group discussions were used to rank 17 ES, representing four classes of services: provisioning, regulating, habitat, and cultural. The results indicated that effective protection strategies, beyond simply increasing general tree cover, should consider specific benefits trees provide to local communities. We discuss the role of objective prioritization of ES delivered by trees in urban and rural areas and their consequences for decision-making processes.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-022-01722-2.     

The effects of temperature and pressure acclimation on the temperature and pressure tolerance of the shallow-water shrimp Palaemonetes varians

Anthropogenic effects on marine ecosystems (e.g. hypoxia, warming) at and beyond continental margins are assumed to affect physiological and biochemical boundaries to species’ distributions, potentially leading to habitat contraction across depth. Whether or not shallow-water benthic invertebrates are capable of undergoing depth-related migrations in response to such perturbations remains largely unknown. The few studies available have focused solely on whether colonisation of deep waters may be ongoing and on the ability of shallow-water species to tolerate low temperatures and high hydrostatic pressures: two physical parameters, which are thought to limit the depth range of a species. Those studies did not consider the effects of acclimation to low temperature and, especially, acclimation to high hydrostatic pressure on pressure tolerance. We demonstrate that acclimation to both low temperature (5 °C) and to high hydrostatic pressure (10 MPa) increases the pressure tolerance within the shallow-water shrimp Palaemonetes varians. Previous studies have demonstrated the impressive temperature and pressure tolerance of this shallow-water shrimp. Here, we provide evidence that a shallow-water species may acclimate to low temperature and high pressure and show greater pressure tolerance, suggesting that shallow-water organisms may be able to rapidly—and potentially stepwise—acclimate to the low temperature and high pressure conditions typical of the deep sea. These findings are of importance for understanding phylogenetic development from shallow- to deep-water species and the processes behind past, present and future bathymetric range shifts in species.     

Volatilisation of o-xylene from sandy soil

The diffusive release of o-xylene from two soils with different contents of organic carbon (1.1 % and 0.11 % TOC) and with two different water contents (app. 5 % w/w and 15 % w/w was studied in the laboratory. The soils were spiked with o-xylene in the laboratory. The fluxes were measured over a period of 24 hours. The measured fluxes were compared to predictions by two models. Model I, which is an analytical model, assumed instant local equilibrium between soil air, water and solids. The distribution coefficients were measured for the two soils, and Henry's constant and the diffusion coefficient in air were taken from the literature. This model overestimated the flux for o-xylene for all the tested combinations. The ratios between estimated and observed fluxes at 1 h were between 1.7 and 7.3. Model II assumed that the mass transfer of o-xylene between the solids and the water phase was kinetically controlled and was solved numerically. However, the predictions by the more advanced model were not significantly better than the prediction by the simple analytical model. The results indicate that prediction of o-xylene volatilisation from unsaturated soil is associated with substantial uncertainty.     

The relationship between metal concentrations and phenotypes in the Baltic clam Macoma balthica (L.) from the Gulf of Gdansk, southern Baltic

Soft tissue accumulated concentrations of nine metals (V, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Pb, Mn, Cu and Zn) were studied in two main phenotypes (1) according to external shell colour (white and pink), and (2) according to shell shape (shell with a rounded posterior end--"regular" and with an elongate posterior end and a notable flexure--"irregular") of the Baltic clam Macoma balthica from southern Baltic Sea off Poland. No differences in metal concentrations were observed between colour-based phenotypes. By contrast, "irregular" clams exhibited generally higher concentrations of all elements in their tissues than "regular" bivalves. This finding provides the first reference on a potential linkage of shell deformation with tissue metal concentrations within one entire population of clams living in the same habitat. Different ability of metal handling in the shape-based phenotypes is presumably related to different physiological capacity of the bivalves induced by the selection effect of specific environmental conditions. It is suggested that unfavourable conditions in deep waters of the Gulf of Gdansk (e.g. hypoxia/anoxia, hydrogen sulphide, elevated bioavailability of metals) induces, in a certain part of the population, morphological deformation of shell (thereby leading to irregular shape) and in parallel physiological adaptations which result in greater sensitivity to trace metals of "irregular" clams. This hypothesis however, requires further investigation with special focus on genetic divergences between phenotypes because till now we cannot exclude the co-occurrence of two types (semi-species) of clams in the Gulf: an Atlantic type and a Baltic type. Genetic analysis with a use of DALP technique revealed strong intrapopulational polymorphism but no fingerprints or intraspecific polymorphism characterising any of the phenotypes considered (both colour- and shape-based). Since eight polymorphic loci were clearly identified further studies of population genetic structure hold optimistic promise.     

Survey of dioxin sources in the Baltic Region (extended summary)

The present paper summarises the results of the project: 'Survey of Anthropogenic Sources of Dioxins and Furans in the Baltic Region'. As a part of the project, inventories have been carried out in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland by applying the toolkit for quantification of dioxin and furan releases developed by UNEP Chemicals. The main route of direct releases to the environment is emission to air. Total emission to air from Poland was estimated at 490 (88-1,300) g I-TEQ/year, whereas the emissions from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were estimated as being 14 (2.4-54), 23 (2.6-63) and 17 (2.6-38) g I-TEQ, respectively. In general, the uncertainty on the estimates is very high, and recommendations regarding further development of the inventories have been made, and measures for reducing the releases have been provided.     

Female association preferences based on olfactory cues in the guppy,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Poecilia reticulata</Emphasis>

Guppies are highly sexually dimorphic. Females have been shown to mate preferentially with males with various visible traits and previous studies investigating mate choice have focussed on these visual cues. However, guppies have been shown to respond behaviourally to odour cues from conspecifics as well as from predators. Therefore, sexual selection in guppies may act on multiple sensory modalities, but so far only visual cues have been investigated. Here, we used a specially designed olfactory choice tank to determine whether females could detect other guppies on the basis of their olfactory cues only, and to determine whether females preferred to associate with males or females and whether they could distinguish between different males. We show that female guppies associated preferentially with other females when given a choice between water containing the odour cues from another fish and water containing no odour cues. When females were presented with olfactory cues from a male and a female, they investigated the female initially, but then most reversed their decision and swam to the male. Furthermore, we demonstrate that females associated preferentially with certain males based upon olfactory cues alone, but that this choice was in direct opposition to that made when the females received only visual cues from the same males.Communicated by: M. Abrahams     

Effect of Diesel Fuel on Growth of Selected Plant Species

Diesel oil is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with an average carbon number of C8–C26. The majority of components consist of alkanes, both straight chained and branched and aromatic compounds including mono-, di- and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Regardless of this complexity, diesel oil can be readily degraded by a number of soil microorganisms making it a likely candidate for bioremediation. The concept of using plants to enhance bioremediation, termed phytoremediation, is a relatively new area of scientific interest. It is particularly applicable to diesel oil contamination as diesel oil generally contaminates the top few metres of soil (surface soil) and contamination is not uniform throughout the site. By encouraging plants to grow on diesel oil contaminated soil, conditions are improved for the microbial degradation of the contaminant. During this study, establishing plants on diesel oil contaminated soil proved difficult. Diesel oil is phytotoxic to plants at relatively low concentrations. At concentrations below this phytotoxic level, the development of plants grown in diesel oil contaminated soil differs greatly from plants grown in uncontaminated soil. Tolerance of plants to diesel oil and ability to germinate in diesel oil contaminated soil varied greatly between plant species as well as within plant species. The broadest differences in germination were seen within the grasses with certain species thriving in low levels of contamination (e.g. Creeping bent) while others were intolerant of diesel oil contamination (e.g. Rough meadow grass). The herbs, legumes and commercial crops screened appeared to be largely unaffected by low levels of diesel oil contamination (25g dieselkg^–1). At the higher level of contamination (50g dieselkg^–1), half of the twenty two plants species screened failed to reach a germination rate equal to 50% of the control rate. Two species of grass failed to germinate at all at this contamination level. Plant species that successfully germinated and grew were studied further to determine the effect of diesel oil contamination on the later stages of plant development. This work investigates the effect of diesel oil on plant growth and development.     

The dual functions of sea urchin gonads are reflected in the temporal variations of their biochemistry

Fatty acid analyses are emerging as a powerful technique to probe trophic interactions between organisms. In this paper, the application of both this procedure and gonad index (GI) determination on two populations (intertidal and subtidal) of the echinoid Psammechinus miliaris is reported. The investigation spanned the 3-month spawning period of Scottish west coast populations. In both populations a progressive decrease in the GI was found, coupled with an increasing maturity stage (from mature to spent). Sexual maturation and decrease in GI was synchronous between the two populations. In conjunction, there were distinct changes in gonad biochemistry. Differences in the fatty acid composition of the gonad reflected the changes in sexual maturation. Mature males and females had significant differences in the fatty acid composition of their gonads, whereas post-spawned individuals showed no gender differences. Male urchins had higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) compared to females, and there was a dramatic reduction in the fatty acids 22:6(n−3) and 20:5(n−3) with increasing maturity stage. Using multivariate statistical techniques, these changes in the fatty acid composition of the sea urchin gonad were linked to habitat related diet differences combined with gender differences. These changes in the fatty acid signatures clearly reflect the dual function of the gonad as both a nutrient store and a reproductive organ.