Lipid deposition and sexual maturation in cohorts of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Calanus finmarchicus</Emphasis> (Gunnerus) originating from Bergen (60°N) and Tromsø (69°N) reared in Tromsø, Norway

Two cohorts of Calanus finmarchicus (Gunnerus), with habitats in Bergen (60°N) and Tromsø (69°N), were reared from copepodite stage III (CIII) in mesocosms in Tromsø from April 24 1998 to June 30 1998. The aim was to study whether the two cohorts diverged phenotypically with respect to indication of physiological preparation for diapause as opposed to initiating another generation. At the end of the experiment the fractions of the cohorts that had reached sexual maturation, based on observed stage shifts to adults, was ~45% within the Bergen cohort and ~35% for the Tromsø cohort, within which males appeared before females. Examination of the mandibular gnathobase of copepodites at stage V (CV) revealed that <10% of the Bergen cohort, but >40% of the Tromsø cohort were ready for ecdysis, eventually to become adults in the same year. The physiological expression of the range in individual maturity within the cohorts was revealed in individual carbon and nitrogen content. Both cohorts incorporated the storage lipids wax esters (WE) and triacylglycerols (TAG) rapidly, primarily during CV (0.16–0.21 µg total neutral lipid ind ^-1 day ^-1), with no significant difference. Lipid storage was incorporated from CIII and the maximum was reached at the CV stage. Presumably due to excess food, high WE, TAG and free fatty acid levels were observed in both cohorts. A relative decrease in neutral lipids was observed later in females from both cohorts. We suggest that part of the Bergen population, but also a fraction of the Tromsø population, prepared for diapause in CV. A possible reason for the sexual maturation among the rest of the CV copepodites could be a shift in life "strategy" caused by an unusually high rise in temperature in the mesocosms during the last 10 days of the experiment.     

Social cohesion and foraging decrease with group size in fallow deer (Dama dama)

We studied the impact of group size on foraging behaviour and level of movement synchronisation among female herdmates of a fallow deer population in Central Italy. Both proportion of foraging events and movement synchronisation decreased with increasing group size. The proportion of foraging events was higher for animals on the edge of the group than for deer in the centre of the group; hence, there appears to be a trade-off between protection against predators and foraging interference, both of which decrease from the centre to the periphery of the group. This is the first time this type of behaviour has been recorded for wild ungulates. As expected, we also found that the movement of peripheral animals was less synchronised than that of central animals. Consequently, peripheral animals may lose contact with their herdmates and split off the group. We conclude that social inequalities may lead to conflicting requirements among group members and instability of large groups. Movement synchronisation (as a function of group size) appears to interact with habitat openness to produce variations of group size (which appear to be adaptive for individuals) as an emergent property of these aggregations.     

Factors inducing the intense burrowing activity of the red-swamp crayfish,<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Procambarus clarkii</Emphasis>, an invasive species

The burrowing activity of the invasive red-swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii, was studied along a 25-m-long transect in an irrigation ditch system in Italy. Our objective was to understand the factors inducing this species intense digging, which can result in bank collapse and consequently in severe damage to both agricultural fields and natural ecosystems. Burrow morphology and position, together with their occupancy by crayfish and digging, were recorded once every 6 h for 10 consecutive days. The majority of burrows were simple, although a few had a chimney and were constructed at a farther distance from the water surface than simple burrows. Burrow occupancy and digging, together with their plugged/unplugged status, were constant throughout a 24-h cycle and were not related to any abiotic parameter of the habitat. Crayfish occupied and dug a burrow for a relatively short time (6 h on average). Once abandoned, old burrows were rarely reoccupied and often collapsed, while crayfish excavated new ones. As a result, the overall number of burrows increased. This massive use of banks by P. clarkii seems to be related to soil composition and humidity, which favour crayfish digging but also cause the easy collapse of burrows.     

Numerical evaluation of the PCBs transport over the Northern Hemisphere

The numerical evaluation of selected PCB congener (28, 118, 153, 180) transport over the Northern Hemisphere is carried out for 1996 using MSCE-POP model. This model is a multicompartment three-dimensional one and includes various environmental media such as the atmosphere, soil, vegetation, seawater, and sea ice. The spatial resolution is 2.5 degrees x2.5 degrees for all media except marine one (1.25 degrees x1.25 degrees ). The main model output information is deposition fluxes, spatial distribution of concentrations in environmental media, pathways and source-receptor relationships. Calculation results are analysed for the whole hemisphere and the Arctic region. In particular, this gives an opportunity to estimate the contributions of individual emission source groups to the Arctic pollution. The reliability of the model assessment is analysed by comparison between calculated and observed data.     

Kinship, familiarity and social status modulate social learning about “micropredators” (biting flies) in deer mice

Animals can learn to recognize and respond to dangerous, threatening factors through either individual or social learning, whereby an individual learns and acquires the defensive behaviors and avoidance responses of another. Here we show that kinship, familiarity, and relative dominance of the interacting individuals affect social learning of defensive responses to micropredators in deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus. Brief exposure of individual male deer mice to biting flies (stable fly, Stomoxys calcitrans) induced a decrease in pain sensitivity, or analgesia, and active self-burying avoidance responses. The defensive analgesic responses and their fear/anxiety/stress associated correlates facilitate the display of behavioral avoidance responses. Preparatory analgesia and avoidance responses were evident 1–3 days later when the mice were exposed to biting flies that were altered to be incapable of biting but were not displayed to similar-sized non-biting house flies. These anticipatory avoidance and analgesic responses to biting flies were also acquired through social learning—without direct individual aversive experience with biting flies. Fly-naive mice (observers) that witnessed other mice (demonstrators) being attacked by biting flies but themselves were not bitten did not display any avoidance responses. However, when exposed 1–3 days later to altered flies with biting mouth parts removed, the observers displayed socially acquired analgesic and self-burying avoidance responses. Observers whose demonstrators were either kin (siblings) and, or members of a familiar pair (kin or non-kin) displayed enhanced social learning of defensive responses. Also, within the familiar pairs, social status affected learning with subordinate observers displaying better social learning than dominant observers. These findings indicate that kinship, familiarity and social status modulate social learning of defensive responses to, and the recognition of, dangerous and threatening stimuli, likely including that of predators.Communicated by G. Wilkinson     

Hydrochemical,isotopic and microbiota characterization of telese mineral waters (Southern Italy)

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The study deals with the analyses of springs and wells at the base of Montepugliano Hill that represents the SE edge of the wide carbonate Matese massif...     

Geochemistry and therapeutic properties of Caucasian mineral waters: a review

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The Caucasian mineral water (CMW) region is a unique area where mineral waters differ by their chemical composition and balneological properties. The...     

Characterization of bacterial contaminants in the air of a duck hatchery by cultivation based and molecular methods

Today's large-scale poultry production is often accompanied by high concentrations of airborne microorganisms at working places. However, the microbial communities in those bioaerosols are rarely characterised. In this study, we investigated the bacterial population in bioaerosols from a duck hatchery by both cultivation based and molecular methods and compared the results. Depending on used media, concentrations of airborne culturable bacteria varied between 6 × 10(1) and 7 × 10(6) CFU per m(3) air. The corresponding total cell count of DAPI stained cells was 2 × 10(7) cells per m(3) air. 16S rRNA gene analyses of bacterial isolates and clone libraries revealed a low species richness in hatcheries air, respectively. More than 50% of bacterial isolates were phylogenetically most closely related to bacterial species of the risk group 2 (German TRBA). The sequence composition in clone libraries supported the result of cultivation based approaches, whereby sequences assigned to Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter and Enterococcus are the most common. The high concentration of airborne bacteria which are most closely related to species of potential health risk requires further detailed investigations for these bacterial species.     

Anticipatory capacity in response to global change across an extreme elevation gradient in the Ica Basin,Peru

Regional Environmental Change - Mountainous areas with extreme elevation gradients and corresponding ranges of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions are highly vulnerable to global change. We...     

Mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic biodegradability of water hyacinth pre-treated at 80 °C

Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is a fast growing aquatic plant which causes environmental problems in continental water bodies. Harvesting and handling this plant becomes an issue, and focus has been put on the research of treatment alternatives. Amongst others, energy production through biomethanation has been proposed. The aim of this study was to assess the anaerobic biodegradability of water hyacinth under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. The effect of a thermal sludge pre-treatment at 80 °C was also evaluated. To this end, anaerobic biodegradability tests were carried out at 35 °C and 55 °C, with raw and pre-treated water hyacinth. According to the results, the thermal pre-treatment enhanced the solubilisation of water hyacinth (i.e. increase in the soluble to total chemical oxygen demand (COD)) from 4% to 12% after 30 min. However, no significant effect was observed on the methane yields (150–190 L CH₄/kg volatile solids). Initial methane production rates for thermophilic treatments were two fold those of mesophilic ones (6–6.5 L vs. 3–3.5 L CH₄/kg COD·day). Thus, higher methane production rates might be expected from thermophilic reactors working at short retention times. The study of longer low temperature pre-treatments or pre-treatments at elevated temperatures coupled to thermophilic reactors should be considered in the future.