Genetic diversity and population structure of the Chinese mitten crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eriocheir sinensis</Emphasis> in its native range

The Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis is an indigenous and economically important species in China, but can also be found as invasive species in Europe and America. Mitten crabs have been exploited extensively as a food resource since the 1990s. Despite its ecological and economic importance, the genetic structure of native mitten crab populations is not well understood. In this paper, we investigated the genetic structure of mitten crab populations in China by screening samples from ten locations covering six river systems at six microsatellite loci. Our results provide further evidence that mitten crabs from the River Nanliujiang in Southern China are a genetically differentiated population within the native range of Eriocheir, and should be recognized as a separate taxonomic unit. In contrast, extremely low levels of genetic differentiation and no significant geographic population structure were found among the samples located north of the River Nanliujiang. Based on the reproductive biology of mitten crabs and the geography of their habitat we argue that both natural and human-mediated gene flow are unlikely to fully account for the similar allele frequency distributions at microsatellite loci. Large population sizes of mitten crabs suggest instead that a virtual absence of genetic drift and significant homoplasy of microsatellite alleles have contributed to the observed pattern. Furthermore, a coalescent-based maximum likelihood method indicated a more than two-fold lower effective population size of the Southern population compared to the Northern Group and low but significant levels of gene flow between both areas.     

Aggregation and foraging behavior of whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae)

Summary Whirligig beetles aggregate in the daytime into dense single-and multispecies groups (rafts) of hundreds or thousands of individuals. On the 22km shoreline of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, these aggregations were on the average 0.8 km apart, and they were usually found day after day in the same ocations.Most beetles apparently do not home to the aggregation of their origin after dispersing at night because (a) the species composition of some aggregations changed greatly, and (b) paint-marked beetles (Dineutus horni) moved overnight from one aggregation as far as 4km, joining 11 of the 14 large (>300 beetles) D. horni groups on the lake.Throughout the night, the largest concentrations of beetles remained within 100m of the diurnal aggregation sites. Beetles reconvened into the compact rafts before daybreak, in part by following each other in sometimes long single files or trains. Their forward motion stopped after they joined large number of other beetles. We infer that following behavior enables those individuals that have dispersed from their original aggregations (during their nocturnal foraging) to find and join other aggregations before daylight.Naive fish ate the beetles despite their noxious secretions. However, fish living near rafting sites and feeding on insects on the water surface in daylight should soon learn to avoid the beetles. The rafting sites would then become safe places. We observed fish attacking only those beetles that had been either dispersed from their rafts or released into open water away from raft sites in the daytime. We speculate that the evolutionary significance of the aggregation behavior is related to predator (fish) avoidance.     

Early maps as stepping stones for the reconstruction of historic ecological conditions and biota

We reconstructed the flora of a European region at a historical point in time from historical topographical maps that contain rather precise information about the condition and composition of habitats. The ecological information obtained from these maps can be enriched through the potential of broadly diversified archival information. This study is confined to grassland communities. Considerations in terms of phytosociology make historical lists of plant species a good starting point for the reconstruction of grassland communities. The combination of historical and scientific methods proves suitable for reconstructing specific historical environmental conditions. Taking into account the frequency of relevant historical sources in European archives as well as in archives abroad, this approach claims for far-reaching application to ecosystem restoration matters, especially if ecological information from natural sources is missing.     

Der deutsch-britisch-französische Höchstflußreaktor in Grenoble und sein Forschungsprogramm

The 57-MW high-flux reactor of the Institute Max von Laue-Paul Langevin at Grenoble serves as a central neutron-beam facility for laboratories and research institutes in the three member countries, the United Kingdom, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany. The heavy-water-moderated and -cooled reactor is equipped with hot, thermal, and cold moderators, providing neutrons with high intensity over an unusual wide range of energies (wavelengths) extending from some 0.1 meV (30 Å) up to some 500 meV (0.4 Å). An extensive system of neutron guides with different curvatures permits the transport of neutrons over distances ranging up to 140 m with minimal intensity losses for neutrons in the useful wavelength band. The transmitted beams, in addition, exhibit very low background contamination by fast and epithermal neutrons, and γ-radiation. A large variety of high-resolution neutron spectrometers provide unique opportunities in fields such as nuclear physics, crystallography, solid-state physics, chemistry, metallurgy, and biology.     

Ein Moosbiomonitoring zur Ermittlung atmosph?rischer Elementeintr?ge in die Euroregion Nei?e (D, PL, CZ)

Zusammenfassung  Durch ein Moosbiomonitoring sollte die H?he und die Verteilung der atmosph?rischen Deposition von 37 Elementen in der Euroregion Nei?e (ERN) nach den politischen und wirtschaftlichen Ver?nderungen erfasst und mit anderen Regionen verglichen werden. Weiterhin sollten die Akkumulationseigenschaften vonPleurozium schreberi undPolytrichum formosum, den in dieser Studie verwendeten Moosarten, miteinander verglichen werden. Bis Anfang der 90er Jahre war diese Region Teil des “Schwarzen Dreiecks”, das sich durch eine extrem hohe atmosph?rische Staubbelastung auszeichnete. Durch die Schlie?ung zahlreicher Betriebe, der Ausrüstung der Kraftwerke mit Filteranlagen, der abnehmenden Bedeutung der Braunkohle als h?uslicher Energietr?ger ver?nderte sich die Situation drastisch. Die Elementkonzentrationen in den Moosen der ERN lassen sich heute mit denen der alten Bundesl?nder vergleichen. Lediglich für Fe und Ti konnten deutlich h?here Gehalte ermittelt werden. Dies ist auf den h?heren Anteil der Braunkohle als Energietr?ger zurückzuführen. In der Region um Katowice in Oberschlesien konnten für einige Elemente mehr als 10 fach h?here Gehalte in den Moosen als in der ERN ermittelt werden. Das Oberschlesische Industrierevier weist eine derart hobe atmosph?rische Belastungen auf, dass hier ein dringender Handlungsbedarf besteht. Online-First: 21. Juni 2000