Air Quality Monitoring and Management in Lisbon

The environmental decision-making process is related with the interpretation of data both in spatial and temporal dimensions. This paper presents a methodology that integrates the time-space framework of air quality data to infer the temporal pattern and spatial variability that could be interpreted for environmental decision purposes. Variograms that accommodate time and space lags were used for the analysis and proved to be effective. Its environmental meaning, in particular its relationship with traffic patterns is discussed. Data from air quality monitoring stations located in the central part of Lisbon were used in this study. It describes a strategy to identify the type of vehicles responsible for certain pollutant levels, particularly for nitrogen oxides, and discusses the application of new air quality European legislation to the city of Lisbon, Portugal.     

Nucella lapillus L. imposex levels after legislation prohibiting TBT antifoulants: temporal trends from 2003 to 2008 along the Portuguese coast

Nucella lapillus (dog whelk) imposex levels were assessed along the mainland Portuguese coast in 2006 and 2008 and were compared with available data from 2003 for the same area. Given that specimen size has been described as a factor inducing variation in some of the imposex assessment indices, and thus resulting in less reliable results, new monitoring and data analysis procedures are described and applied to study change of imposex levels from 2003 to 2008. A significant decline in imposex intensity was observed in the study area during the study period, and the Portuguese coast ecological status (under the terms defined by the OSPAR Commission) notably improved after 2003, confirming the effectiveness of the Regulation (EC) No. 782/2003 in reducing TBT pollution. Nevertheless, N. lapillus populations are still extensively affected by imposex, and fresh TBT inputs were detected in seawater throughout the coast in 2006. These recent inputs are attributed to vessels still carrying TBT antifoulants applied before 2003, as their presence in vessels was only forbidden in 2008. Considering that Regulation (EC) No. 782/2003 is an anticipation of the IMO global ban entered into force in September 2008, a worldwide-scale decrease in TBT pollution can be expected in the near future.     

Microbiological and physical–chemical water quality of the rice fields in Sinos River’s basin, Southern Brazil

In this study, we evaluate spatial and temporal variations of the water’s quality used in rice fields. Every 15 days during the different phases of cultivation of the rice—vegetative, reproductive, and maturity—samples were collected from the main irrigation channel, from the surface water in the field, and from the excess-water drainage channel. The differences in the values of 13 variables were analyzed by the analysis of variance system and by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique. The results demonstrate that the values observed for the presence of total coliforms, heat-tolerant coliforms, and pH were higher in the irrigation water and that the calcium and magnesium components were greater in the drainage water. The PCA results indicate that three groups of variance exist and that these three account for 77 % of the observed variances. The first principal component, (39 % of the variances), includes the variables pH, phosphorus, potassium, carbon, and turbidity; the second (28.1 %), calcium, magnesium, and conductivity; while the third accounts for only 9.9 % of the variation and incorporates the variable biological thermotolerant coliforms. The spatial pattern resulting from the distribution of the sampling locations as regards the first two principal components indicates a difference between the irrigation and drainage waters. The variables of the first and third items (except for the turbidity in the second component) reach higher values in the irrigation water, while the variables associated with the second component have higher values in the drainage water. The information provided is important for the analysis of the influence exercised by plantation management decisions on the microbiological, physical, and chemical quality of the water. The results confirm the ability of paddy rice field to filter out some of the chemicals and coliforms from the irrigation water as it passes through the agro ecosystem.     

Sand as a relevant fraction in geochemical studies in intertidal environments

Soil and sediment samples from several intertidal environment exposed to different types of contamination were studied to investigate the importance of grain size in relation to the capacity of the substrates to retain trace metals. The unfractionated samples (referred to as bulk samples) were separated into the following grain/size fractions: fine–coarse sand (2?0.100 mm), very fine sand (0.100?0.050 mm), silt (0.050?0.002 mm), and clay (0.002 mm). The sample into its fractions was carried out was in a glove box under high-purity N₂ atmosphere in order to minimize any alterations to the samples. The bulk samples were characterized in terms of physicochemical properties such as pH, redox potential, and grain size. The total organic carbon (TOC), total sulfur (S), iron (Fe) pyrite, Fe, and manganese (Mn), and trace metals lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) were analyzed in the bulk samples and in each fraction. The sand fractions were also examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Comparisons of the above parameters were made between fractions and between each fraction and the corresponding bulk sample. The fine–coarse sand fraction contained high levels of the primary elements of the geochemical processes that occur in marine sedimentary environments such as TOC, total Fe, Mn, and S. The net concentrations of these four elements were higher in the fine-coarse sand fraction than in the very fine sand fraction and were similar to the net concentrations in the silt and clay fractions. Detailed SEM analysis of the sand coarse fraction revealed the presence of Fe and aluminum oxyhydroxide coatings in the oxic layers, whereas the framboidal pyrites and coatings observed in the anoxic layers were Fe sulfides. The presence of the various coatings explains why the trace metal concentrations in the sand fine–coarse fraction were similar to those in the clay fraction and higher than those in the very fine sand fraction. The present results highlight the importance of the sand fraction, which is generally disregarded in geochemical and environmental studies of sedimentary layers.     

Alarming decline of freshwater trigger species in western Mediterranean key biodiversity areas

Theidentification of key biodiversity areas (KBA) was initiated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2004 to overcome taxonomic biases in the selection of important areas for conservation, including freshwater ecosystems. Since then, several KBAs have been identified mainly based on the presence of trigger species (i.e., species that trigger either the vulnerability and or the irreplaceability criterion and thus identify a site as a KBA). However, to our knowledge, many of these KBAs have not been validated. Therefore, classical surveys of the taxa used to identify freshwater KBAs (fishes, molluscs, odonates, and aquatic plants) were conducted in Douro (Iberian Peninsula) and Sebou (Morocco) River basins in the Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot. Environmental DNA analyses were undertaken in the Moroccan KBAs. There was a mismatch between the supposed and actual presence of trigger species. None of the trigger species were found in 43% and 50% of all KBAs surveyed in the Douro and Sebou basins, respectively. Shortcomings of freshwater KBA identification relate to flawed or lack of distribution data for trigger species. This situation results from a misleading initial identification of KBAs based on poor (or even inaccurate) ecological information or due to increased human disturbance between initial KBA identification and the present. To improve identification of future freshwater KBAs, we suggest selecting trigger species with a more conservative approach; use of local expert knowledge and digital data (to assess habitat quality, species distribution, and potential threats); consideration of the subcatchment when delineating KBAs boundaries; thoughtful consideration of terrestrial special areas for conservation limits; and periodic field validation.     

Copulatory plugs do not assure high first male fertilisation success: sperm displacement in a lizard

Sperm competition selects for opposing male defensive and offensive reproductive traits, and its outcome may be determined by the effectiveness to which one trait has evolved to out-compete the other. We tested the effectiveness of a first male plug physical interference with a second male insemination (defence) vs the effectiveness of plug and associated sperm displacement by a second male (offence) on the outcome of sperm competition in Iberian rock lizards. We conducted a double mating experiment where we compared the proportion of eggs per clutch fertilised by the same second males (against the same first males) when they copulated with females 30 min (first male plug adhered firmly inside the female cloaca) and 4 h (first male plug loosely adhered or shed from the female cloaca) after first males. We found that second males fertilised the majority of the eggs per clutch in the 30-min treatment, whereas fertilisations were equally shared between the two males in the 4-h treatment. These results show that plugs have little defensive effectiveness, and thus, do not assure high first male fertilisation success. Instead, sperm displacement appears to be associated with plug displacement. That is, because sperm embedded in first male plugs, and displaced from competition for fertilisations by second males, is expected to increase in number with decreasing time allowed for female sperm transport, second males thus enjoy higher fertilisation success. This study shows that offensive plug displacement out-competes plug defensive role in Iberian rock lizards. Moreover, it reveals sperm displacement as a novel sperm competition mechanism in reptiles.     

Altai pika (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ochotona alpina</Emphasis>) alarm calls: individual acoustic variation and the phenomenon of call-synchronous ear folding behavior

Non-hibernating pikas collect winter food reserves and store them in hay piles. Individualization of alarm calls might allow discrimination between colony members and conspecifics trying to steal food items from a colony pile. We investigated vocal posture, vocal tract length, and individual acoustic variation of alarm calls, emitted by wild-living Altai pikas Ochotona alpina toward a researcher. Recording started when a pika started calling and lasted as long as possible. The alarm call series of 442 individual callers from different colonies consisted of discrete short (0.073–0.157 s), high-frequency (7.31–15.46 kHz), and frequency-modulated calls separated by irregular intervals. Analysis of 442 discrete calls, the second of each series, revealed that 44.34% calls lacked nonlinear phenomena, in 7.02% nonlinear phenomena covered less than half of call duration, and in 48.64% nonlinear phenomena covered more than half of call duration. Peak frequencies varied among individuals but always fitted one of three maxima corresponding to the vocal tract resonance frequencies (formants) calculated for an estimated 45-mm oral vocal tract. Discriminant analysis using variables of 8 calls per series of 36 different callers, each from a different colony, correctly assigned over 90% of the calls to individuals. Consequently, Altai pika alarm calls are individualistic and nonlinear phenomena might further increase this acoustic individualization. Additionally, video analysis revealed a call-synchronous, very fast (0.13–0.23 s) folding, depression, and subsequent re-expansion of the pinna confirming an earlier report of this behavior that apparently contributes to protecting the hearing apparatus from damage by the self-generated high-intensity alarm calls.