Conditional sex allocation in the Red Mason bee, Osmia rufa

Trivers' and Willard's hypothesis that natural selection favors sex allocation in relation to maternal condition assumes iteropary. Though this assumption is not met in most solitary Aculeata, the reproductive life span of semelparous females may be divided into discrete successive cycles by the risk of open-cell parasitism. Females can avoid losing their investment to parasites attacking the open cell only by limiting the provision time for each cell. The restriction of time available for the investment in a single progeny irrespective of the condition of the female leads to de facto iteropary. Moreover, in Hymenoptera, there are no costs for sex allocation due to the haplodiploid mode of sex determination. In sexually size dimorphic species, females in poor condition are predicted to invest in the smaller sex and vice versa. The resulting prediction of a conditional sex allocation in solitary Aculeata was tested in the Red Mason bee, Osmia rufa (Osmia bicornis), a stem or hole-nesting, polylectic, univoltine megachilid bee. Body size is a key component of condition in females of nest-constructing solitary bees. Large females collect the same amount of pollen and nectar in a shorter time than small ones and should suffer less from parasitism. We found that small females dealt with their handicap of a low provisioning performance by shifting the sex ratio toward sons (the smaller sex) and by reducing the body size of daughters. Large females, however, shifted their offspring sex ratio toward daughters, the sex that depends more on body size in its reproductive value. The sex ratio in the population met the expected Fisherian sex ratio. Although females allocated their investment in the sexes according to their body mass, the population-level investment was balanced.     

Made in conflict. Local residents' construction of a local environmental problem

The aim of this paper is to understand how local residents participate in the construction of local environmental problems and to evaluate a particular analytical approach in environmental sociology to study this phenomenon. The paper is based on an interview study with a sample of local residents. The analysis demonstrates how the local residents attempt to construct a local environmental problem. In particular, the study focuses on how involved actors are positioned, how different sorts of knowledge claims are used, and how the neglect the residents perceive from the authorities affects the attempt to construct a local environmental problem. The study shows that the local residents play a central role in the construction of the situation and that the evaluated model could be very helpful as an analytical tool in the investigation of local residents' participation in the construction of environmental problems.     

Climate change in mountain regions: how local communities adapt to extreme events

This paper examines how local communities adapt to climate change and how governance structures can foster or undermine adaptive capacity. Climate change policies, in general, and disaster risk management in mountain regions, in particular, are characterised by their multi-level and multi-sectoral nature during formulation and implementation. The involvement of numerous state and non-state actors at local to national levels produces a variety of networks of interaction and communication. The paper argues that the structure of these relational patterns is critical for understanding adaptive capacity. It thus proposes an expanded concept of adaptive capacity that incorporates (horizontal and vertical) actor integration and communication flow between these actors. The paper further advocates the use of formal social network analysis to assess these relational patterns. Preliminary results from research on adaptation to climate change in a Swiss mountain region vulnerable to floods and other natural hazards illustrate the conceptual and empirical significance of the main arguments.     

Evaluating the success of functional restoration after reintroduction of a lost avian pollinator

Conservation translocation is a common method for species recovery, for which one increasingly frequent objective is restoring lost ecological functions to promote ecosystem recovery. However, few conservation translocation programs explicitly state or monitor function as an objective, limiting the ability to test assumptions, learn from past efforts, and improve management. We evaluated whether translocations of hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a threatened New Zealand passerine, achieved their implicit objective of restoring lost pollination function. Through a pollinator-exclusion experiment, we quantified, with log response ratios (lnR), the effects of birds on fruit set and seed quality in hangehange (Geniostoma ligustrifolium), a native flowering shrub. We isolated the contributions of hihi by making comparisons across sites with and without hihi. Birds improved fruit set more at sites without hihi (lnR = 1.27) than sites with hihi (lnR = 0.50), suggesting other avian pollinators compensated for and even exceeded hihi contributions to fruit set. Although birds improved seed germination only at hihi sites (lnR = 0.22–0.41), plants at sites without hihi had germination rates similar to hihi sites because they produced 26% more filled seeds, regardless of pollination condition. Therefore, although our results showed hihi improved seed quality, they also highlighted the complexity of ecological functions. When an important species is lost, ecosystems may be able to achieve similar function through different means. Our results underscore the importance of stating and monitoring the ecological benefits of conservation translocations when functional restoration is a motivation to ensure these programs are achieving their objectives.     

Tissue distribution of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and non-ortho chlorinated biphenyls (non-ortho CBs) in harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from Swedish waters

Polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and non-ortho chlorinated biphenyls (non-ortho CBs) were analysed in blubber, nuchal fat, liver, muscle, kidney and brain of three male harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from the west coast of Sweden. To estimate spatial variation, PCNs and non-ortho CBs were analysed in six blubber samples collected at different anatomical sites of each animal. Highest wet weight concentrations of ΣPCNs were detected in the lipid rich tissues (blubber and nuchal fat) and liver (520–730 and 520 pg/g, respectively) and lowest in brain (22 pg/g). TetraCNs were most abundant in muscle, kidney and brain, while the hexaCNs were most abundant in the lipid rich tissues and liver. The highest lipid weight concentration recorded (11 ng/g) was for the hexaCN congeners no. 66/67 in liver. These coeluting hexaCN congeners accounted for 80–100% of total hexaCNs in all tissues examined.Concentrations of Σnon-ortho CBs were highest in lipid rich tissues (220–280 pg/g wet weight). Non-ortho CB no. 77 and 169 constituted between 62–86% and 4.9–9.3%, respectively, of total Σnon-ortho CBs. No major variation of Σnon-ortho CB concentrations was found between the six different blubber sites but higher ΣPCN concentrations (wet weight) were found dorsally at the peduncle. Toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQs) showed that non-ortho CB no. 126 was the main contributor to total TEQs in all tissues, except liver in which hexaCN congener nos. 66/67 contributed to about 50% of total TEQs.     

Cryptic prey colouration increases search time in brown trout (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Salmo trutta</Emphasis>): effects of learning and body size

Little is known about how cryptic colouration influences prey search in near-surface aquatic habitats, although such knowledge is critical for understanding the adaptive value of colour crypsis as well as the perceptive constraints influencing foraging behaviour in these environments. This study had two main aims: (1) to investigate how background colour matching by prey affects foraging efficiency by brown trout parr and (2) to investigate how foraging ability on cryptic and conspicuous prey is affected by fish size at age (reflecting dominance). We addressed these questions by training wild brown trout parr to forage individually on live brown-coloured maggots on a cryptic (brown) or conspicuous (green) background. A separate experiment confirmed the absence of trout preference for brown or green substrate. The results show that prey background colour matching increases search time in brown trout. Search time generally decreased by learning, but conspicuous prey remained an easier prey to find throughout the six training trials. Thus, perceptive constraints appear to limit search efficiency for cryptic prey, suggesting that cryptic colouration can confer survival benefits to prey in natural environments. Smaller fish generally found conspicuous prey faster than larger individuals, whereas search time for cryptic prey was not influenced by body size. This suggests that smaller individuals compensate for inferior competitive ability by increasing foraging activity rather than improving cognitive ability. The technique of varying cognitive demands in behavioural tasks could be used more in future studies aimed at distinguishing motivational effects from cognitive explanations for variation in behavioural performance.     

Why Milk Consumption is the Bigger Problem: Ethical Implications and Deaths per Calorie Created of Milk Compared to Meat Production

Pictures of sides of beef, hanging from overhead rails in refrigerated warehouses and meat-processing plants, often leave a feeling of unease. These pictures provoke the notion that human beings have no right to inflict suffering and death on other sentient beings for the sole purpose of providing food. However, the ethical analysis conducted in this study shows that meat production, if animal welfare and deaths per calorie created are considered, is less of a pressing problem compared to the production of milk. While meat can be provided with minimal suffering to animals, the consumption of milk is always associated with considerable suffering during the dairy cow’s life-span and the lives of their offspring. Moreover, more bovine deaths per unit of calorific value created are associated with milk production compared to meat production. The vegan movement, which is currently growing, wishes to minimise farm animal suffering as much as possible. However, if a vegan diet is not possible, consumers should make an informed decision about the products they consume. Replacement of the calories obtained from meat with those from milk and dairy products is not rational if animal welfare is considered.     

Investigation of contact vacuuming for remediation of fungally contaminated duct materials

Environmental fungi become a potential Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) problem when adequate moisture and nutrients are present in building materials. Because of their potential to rapidly spread contamination throughout a building, ventilation system materials are of particular significance as potential microbial contamination sources. Current recommendations are to discard fibrous glass insulation that appears to be wet or moldy. Unfortunately, this advice is not always followed. Instead, cleaning is sometimes being used in buildings to remediate fibrous glass duct liner that is already contaminated with microbial growth. The objectives of this research program were to: 1) determine, under dynamic test conditions, whether fungal spore levels on heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) duct material surfaces could be substantially reduced by thorough vacuum cleaning, 2) evaluate whether subsequent fungal growth could be limited or contained by mechanical cleaning, and 3) provide data concerning the advisability of cleaning duct materials. The constant high relative humidity (RH) environment to which the test materials were exposed during this study was selected as a favorable growth environment that is frequently found in Southeastern United States HVAC systems. The results showed that, following cleaning, the levels of the two test fungi, A. versicolor and P. chrysogenum, recovered to preclean levels within 6 weeks. Therefore, mechanical cleaning by contact vacuuming alone was able to only temporarily reduce the surface fungal load. The current guidelines to discard contaminated materials should be followed.