A far-near sparse covariance model with application in climatology

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - Teleconnection, the strong dependence between two distant locations, provides interesting information for discovering the structures in spatial data. While...     

Chemometrical analysis and quality control of pot water and its sources from Athens,Greece

The present study describes a chemometrical interpretation of a large data set from pot water quality control results. Sixteen chemical and physicochemical parameters constantly checked throughout the year were involved in the classification procedure. The data originate from seventeen sampling stations (pot water sources and pot water purification stations) and were collected in the period January ‐December 1993. Mean values for two months periods were introduced to the chemometrical procedure, so finally a data set 101x16 was formed. Additionally, quality control requirements of the European Union for pot water were added to the set to form an information input matrix of 103x16 elements. Hierarchical and non‐hierarchical clustering procedures were applied in order to reveal the internal structure of the data set. Some interesting conclusions like special water quality of lake Mornos, possibility of quality monitoring with lesser number of components etc., concerning the quality and stability of the pot water sources and quality characteristics of the samples are made.     

Synergy between pheromone trails and quorum thresholds underlies consensus decisions in the ant Myrmecina nipponica

Coordination of group actions in social organisms is often a self-organised process lacking central control. These collective behaviours are driven by mechanisms of positive feedback generated through information exchange. Understanding how different methods of communication generate positive feedback is an essential step in comprehending the functional mechanisms underlying complex systems. The Japanese small-colony ant, Myrmecina nipponica uses both pheromone trails and an apparent quorum response during consensus decisions over a new home. Both of these mechanisms have been shown to generate positive feedback and are effective means of selecting among mutually exclusive courses of action. In this study, I investigate how pheromone trails and quorum thresholds contribute to consensus decisions during house-hunting in this species through experimental manipulations of pheromone trails, colony size and environmental context. Results demonstrate that (1) providing colonies with pre-established pheromone trails increased the number of ants finding the new site and led to higher quorum thresholds and more rapid relocations, (2) experimentally halving colony size resulted in a proportional decrease in quorum thresholds and (3) colonies relocating long distances had higher quorums than those relocating short distances. Taken together, these data indicate that pheromone trails are important for recruitment and navigation during nest site selection, but that decision making is contingent on a quorum response. Such synergy between mechanisms of positive feedback may be a common means of optimising collective behaviours.     

Elevated CO2 affects the behavior of an ecologically and economically important coral reef fish

We tested the effect of near-future CO₂ levels (≈490, 570, 700, and 960 μatm CO₂) on the olfactory responses and activity levels of juvenile coral trout, Plectropomus leopardus, a piscivorous reef fish that is also one of the most important fisheries species on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Juvenile coral trout reared for 4 weeks at 570 μatm CO₂ exhibited similar sensory responses and behaviors to juveniles reared at 490 μatm CO₂ (control). In contrast, juveniles reared at 700 and 960 μatm CO₂ exhibited dramatically altered sensory function and behaviors. At these higher CO₂ concentrations, juveniles became attracted to the odor of potential predators, as has been observed in other reef fishes. They were more active, spent less time in shelter, ventured further from shelter, and were bolder than fish reared at 490 or 570 μatm CO₂. These results demonstrate that behavioral impairment of coral trout is unlikely if pCO₂ remains below 600 μatm; however, at higher levels, there are significant impacts on juvenile performance that are likely to affect survival and energy budgets, with consequences for predator–prey interactions and commercial fisheries.     

Uncommon heavy metals,metalloids and their plant toxicity: a review

Heavy metals still represent a group of dangerous pollutants, to which close attention is paid. Many heavy metals are essential as important constituents of pigments and enzymes, mainly zinc, nickel and copper. However, all metals, especially cadmium, lead, mercury and copper, are toxic at high concentration because of disrupting enzyme functions, replacing essential metals in pigments or producing reactive oxygen species. The toxicity of less common heavy metals and metalloids, such as thallium, arsenic, chromium, antimony, selenium and bismuth, has been investigated. Here, we review the phytotoxicity of thallium, chromium, antimony, selenium, bismuth, and other rare heavy metals and metalloids such as tellurium, germanium, gallium, scandium, gold, platinum group metals (palladium, platinum and rhodium), technetium, tungsten, uranium, thorium, and rare earth elements yttrium and lanthanum, and the 14 lanthanides cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lutetium, neodymium, promethium, praseodymium, samarium, terbium, thulium and ytterbium.     

Rove beetles (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) collected during the long term ecological research in a Hungarian oak forest

Along term ecological research was carried out in a Hungarian oak forest, in "Bükk" National Park starting with 1972. During the faunistical studies 3,602 insect species and more than 200,000 individuals were collected. The dominant orders were Coleoptera (1,051 species), Lepidoptera (803 species), Hymenoptera (470 species) and Diptera (400 species). The relative species abundance (RSA) for all insects collected in all years of sampling period suggests a rather J shape curve than a not clear scaling property. This means that we were able to identify almost three quarters of the insect species from one ha European oak forest during the survey (from 1987 to 2003), and two third of the staphylinides expected. Considering the staphylinid fauna a total number of 160 species and 4,022 individuals were collected. The most widely occurring species in dominance order were: Ocypus biharicus, Pseudocypus mus, Atheta gagatina, Philonthus quisquiliarius, Oxypoda acuminate, Platydracus chalcocephalus, Atheta crassicomis, Latrimaeum atrocephalum, Haploglossa puncticollis, Philonthus succicola and Anotylus mutator. The pooled value of alpha diversity was 1.51. The Shannon-Weiner Index (H') was relatively high (3.29) in comparison with other studies.     

Hybridization,agency discretion,and implementation of the U.S. Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires that the “best available scientific and commercial data” be used to protect imperiled species from extinction and preserve biodiversity. However, it does not provide specific guidance on how to apply this mandate. Scientific data can be uncertain and controversial, particularly regarding species delineation and hybridization issues. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) had an evolving hybrid policy to guide protection decisions for individuals of hybrid origin. Currently, this policy is in limbo because it resulted in several controversial conservation decisions in the past. Biologists from FWS must interpret and apply the best available science to their recommendations and likely use considerable discretion in making recommendations for what species to list, how to define those species, and how to recover them. We used semistructured interviews to collect data on FWS biologists’ use of discretion to make recommendations for listed species with hybridization issues. These biologists had a large amount of discretion to determine the best available science and how to interpret it but generally deferred to the scientific consensus on the taxonomic status of an organism. Respondents viewed hybridization primarily as a problem in the context of the ESA, although biologists who had experience with hybridization issues were more likely to describe it in more nuanced terms. Many interviewees expressed a desire to continue the current case‐by‐case approach for handling hybridization issues, but some wanted more guidance on procedures (i.e., a “flexible” hybrid policy). Field‐level information can provide critical insight into which policies are working (or not working) and why. The FWS biologists’ we interviewed had a high level of discretion, which greatly influenced ESA implementation, particularly in the context of hybridization.     

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.     

Characterization of water extractable organic matter in a deep soil profile

The aim of this study was to identify qualitative and quantitative differences of water extractable organic matter (WEOM) isolated from each horizon along a deep soil profile and to evaluate any relationship between the WEOC and the total organic carbon (TOC) content. The soil profile "Monte Pietroso" is located in the Murge area, Apulia region in Southern Italy. Samples from the eight horizons (Ap1, Ap2, Ab1, Ab2, Bt1, 2B, 2Bt2, and 2B/C) were collected in October 2002. The WEOM characterization was carried out by means of UV absorbance, fluorescence spectroscopy in the emission and excitation/emission matrix (EEM) modes, and additional spectroscopic derived indexes. Soil organic carbon was shown to accumulate in the top horizons (Ap) and, in general, to decrease with depth, whereas, the WEOM/TOC ratio increases with increasing depth. The aromaticity and the humification index of the WEOM decrease dramatically downward the soil profile, whereas the fluorescence efficiency index tends to increase markedly. The WEOM fractions feature three main fluorophores with different wavelength and relative intensity. In general WEOM transport phenomena are suggested to occur downward the soil profile, depending on the nature of the organic material and on the chemical and mineral characteristics of the various horizons.