The effects of burn severity on avian communities are poorly understood, yet this information is crucial to fire management programs. To quantify avian response patterns along a burn severity gradient, we sampled 49 random plots (2001-2002) at the 17351-ha Cerro Grande Fire (2000) in New Mexico, USA. Additionally, pre-fire avian surveys (1986-1988, 1990) created a unique opportunity to quantify avifaunal changes in 13 pre-fire transects (resampled in 2002) and to compare two designs for analyzing the effects of unplanned disturbances: after-only analysis and before-after comparisons. Distance analysis was used to calculate densities. We analyzed after-only densities for 21 species using gradient analysis, which detected a broad range of responses to increasing burn severity: (I) large significant declines, (II) weak, but significant declines, (III) no significant density changes, (IV) peak densities in low- or moderate-severity patches, (V) weak, but significant increases, and (VI) large significant increases. Overall, 71% of the species included in the after-only gradient analysis exhibited either positive or neutral density responses to fire effects across all or portions of the severity gradient (responses III-VI). We used pre/post pairs analysis to quantify density changes for 15 species using before-after comparisons; spatiotemporal variation in densities was large and confounded fire effects for most species. Only four species demonstrated significant effects of burn severity, and their densities were all higher in burned compared to unburned forests. Pre- and post-fire community similarity was high except in high-severity areas. Species richness was similar pre- and post-fire across all burn severities. Thus, ecosystem restoration programs based on the assumption that recent severe fires in Southwestern ponderosa pine forests have overriding negative ecological effects are not supported by our study of post-fire avian communities. This study illustrates the importance of quantifying burn severity and controlling confounding sources of spatiotemporal variation in studies of fire effects. After-only gradient analysis can be an efficient tool for quantifying fire effects. This analysis can also augment historical data sets that have small samples sizes coupled with high non-process variation, which limits the power of before-after comparisons. 相似文献
Floral scents are important information cues used to organize foraging-related tasks in honeybees. The waggle dance, apart
from encoding spatial information about food sources, might facilitate the transfer of olfactory information by increasing
the dissipation of volatiles brought back by successful foragers. By assuming that food scents are more intensive on specific
body parts of returning foragers, i.e., the posterior legs of pollen foragers and mouthparts of nectar foragers, we quantified
the interactions between hive mates and foragers during dances advertising different types of food sources. For natural sources,
a higher proportion of hive mates contacted the hind legs of pollen dancers (where the pollen loads were located) with their
heads compared to non-pollen dancers. On the other hand, the proportion of head-to-head contacts was higher for non-pollen
foragers during the waggle runs. When the food scent was manipulated, dancers collecting scented sugar solution had a higher
proportion of head-to-head contacts and a lower proportion around their hind legs compared to dancers collecting unscented
solution. The presence of food odors did not affect in-hive behaviors of dancers, but it increased the number of trophallaxes
in-between waggle runs (i.e., during circle phases). These results suggest that the honeybee dance facilitates the olfactory
information transfer between incoming foragers and hive mates, and we propose that excitatory displays in other social insect
species serve the same purpose. While recent empirical and theoretical findings suggested that the colony level foraging benefits
of the spatial information encoded in the waggle dance vary seasonally and with habitats, the role of the dance as a compound
signal not only indicating the presence of a profitable resource but also amplifying the information transfer regarding floral
odors may be important under any ecological circumstances. 相似文献
Atmospheric contamination by heavy metal(loid)–enriched particulate matter (metal-PM) is highly topical these days because of its high persistence, toxic nature, and health risks. Globally, foliar uptake of metal(loid)s occurs for vegetables/crops grown in the vicinity of industrial or urban areas with a metal-PM-contaminated atmosphere. The current study evaluated the foliar uptake of arsenic (As), accumulation of As in different plant organs, its toxicity (in terms of ROS generation, chlorophyll degradation, and lipid peroxidation), and its defensive mechanism (antioxidant enzymes) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea) after foliar application of As in the form of nanoparticles (As-NPs). The As-NPs were prepared using a chemical method. Results indicate that spinach can absorb As via foliar pathways (0.50 to 0.73 mg/kg in leaves) and can translocate it towards root tissues (0.35 to 0.68 mg/kg). However, health risk assessment parameters showed that the As level in the edible parts of spinach was below the critical limit (hazard quotient <?1). Despite low tissue level, As-NP exposure caused phytotoxicity in terms of a decrease in plant dry biomass (up to 84%) and pigment contents (up to 38%). Furthermore, several-fold higher activities of antioxidant enzymes were observed under metal stress than control. However, no significant variation was observed in the level of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which can be its possible transformation to other forms of reactive oxygen species (ROS). It is proposed that As can be absorbed by spinach via foliar pathway and then disturbs the plant metabolism. Therefore, air quality needs to be considered and monitored continuously for the human health risk assessment and quality of vegetables cultivated on polluted soils (roadside and industrial vicinity).
Zusammenfassung Um zu einer sachgerechten und nachvollziehbar quantifizierbaren Beurteilung der m?glichen Gesundheitsbelastungen des Menschen
durch Schadstoffe zu gelangen, ist es von grundlegender Bedeutung dessen ?u?ere Schadstoffexposition absch?tzen zu k?nnen.
Um die Durchführung derartiger Absch?tzungen zu erm?glichen, werden nutzergruppen- und expositionsszenariospezifisch orale,
inhalative und dermale Aufnahmeraten für die Kontaktmedien Boden, Pflanzen aus Haus- und Schreberg?rten, Trinkwasser, Staub,
Hausstaub und Innenraumluft vorgeschlagen. Diese Aufnahmeraten dienen, gemeinsam mit gemessenen oder berechneten Schadstoffkonzentrationen
in den entsprechenden Kontaktmedien, zur Absch?tzung der von Menschen aufgenommenen Schadstoffdosen und erm?glichen durch
einen Vergleich mit tolerierbaren Schadstoffdosen eine stoff-, nutzungs- und standortbezogene Beurteilung von Schadstoffexpositionen,
auch für komplexe Nutzungen.
相似文献
According to directive 93/67/EEC of the European Commission, this paper deals with the generic exposition evaluation of the environmental concentration of cooling Lubricant chemicals from the metal working industry into the hydrosphere. After considering the relevant life-cycle steps and the selection of a representative point source for the 'reasonable worst case', the emission per day Elocal(water) is determined. It leads to the predicted environmental concentration (PEClocal(water)) for the local stage in the compartment water. In order to gain the PEClocal(water) for an example--a corrosion inhibitor as additive in a cooling lubricant--, the relevant emission paths and the corresponding representative point source are described for the reasonable worst case. For non-water-miscible cooling lubricants, none of the operations in the life cycle leads to a release into the compartment water. To evaluate the hazard potential for cooling lubricant chemicals, the complete risk assessment has to be done. Also, the assessment has to be done for all high production volume chemicals, new substances and existing hazard chemicals. This means that even industrial categories like chemicals used in the textile industry or biocides and others have to be evaluated. 相似文献
Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Minaret) was exposed to three CO(2) levels, in combination with two nitrogen fertilizer levels and two levels of tropospheric ozone, from sowing to ripening in open-top chambers. Three additional nitrogen fertilizer treatments were carried out at the lowest and the highest CO(2) level, respectively. Plants were harvested at growth stages 31, 65 and 93 and separated into up to eight fractions to gain information about biomass partitioning. CO(2) enrichment (263 microl litre(-1) above ambient levels) drastically increased biomass of organs serving as long-term carbohydrate pools. Peduncle weight increased by 92%, stem weight by 73% and flag leaf sheath weight by 59% at growth stage 65. Average increase in shoot biomass due to CO(2) enrichment amounted to 51% at growth stage 65 and 36% at final harvest. Average yield increase was 34%. Elevated nitrogen application was most effective on biomass of green tissues. Yield was increased by 30% when nitrogen application was increased from 150 to 270 kg N ha(-1). Significant interactions were observed between CO(2) enrichment and nitrogen application. Yield increase due to CO(2) ranged from 23% at 120 kg N to 47% at 330 kg N. Triticum aestivum cv. Minaret was not very responsive to ozone at 1.5 times ambient levels. 1000 grain weight was slightly decreased, which was compensated by an increased number of grains. 相似文献
Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cv. Turbo was exposed to different levels of ozone and water supply in open-top chambers in 1991. The plants were grown either in charcoal filtered air (CF), not filtered air (NF), in charcoal filtered air with proportional addition of ambient ozone (CF1), or in charcoal filtered air with twice proportional addition of ambient ozone (CF2). The mean seasonal ozone concentrations (24 h mean) were 2.3, 20.6, 17.3, and 24.5 nl litre(-1) for CF, NF, CF1, and CF2 treatments, respectively. Ozone enhanced senescence and reduced growth and yield of the wheat plants. At final harvest, dry weight reductions were mainly due to reductions in ear weight. Grain yield loss by ozone mainly resulted from depressions of 1000 grain weight, whereas numbers of ears per plant and of grains per ear remained unchanged. Pollutants other than ozone did not alter the response to ozone, as was obvious from comparisons between CF1 and NF responses. Water stress alone did not enhance senescence, but also reduced growth and yield. However, yield loss mainly resulted from reductions in the number of ears per plant; 1000 grain weight was not influenced by water stress. No water supply by ozone treatment interactions were detected for any of the estimated parameters. 相似文献
Otoliths have frequently been used to reconstruct growth histories in larval, juvenile and adult fish. However, there is growing
evidence that otolith growth is directly determined by metabolic intensity and, consequently, only indirectly related to somatic
growth. By performing measurements of oxygen consumption rate and other early life-history traits on individual eggs of zebrafish
(Danio rerio), we found that oxygen consumption explained residual variance in otolith size that is not accounted for by egg size. Total
oxygen consumption during the embryonic stage explained 34% of the variance in sagitta size at hatch, whereas larval size
at hatch (as a proxy for growth during the embryonic period) was not significantly correlated with sagitta size. This strongly
suggests that otolith growth is directly related to metabolic rate, and yields a mechanism that may explain recent observations
of a link between otolith size at hatch and viability in larval fish. 相似文献
The activity and surface sediment displacement by the terebellid polychaete Eupolymnia nebulosa were monitored, using new image acquisition and image analysis procedures. We used a video sensor mounted on a motorized
table, to acquire adjacent images of the whole studied aquarium within about 2 s. These images were then grouped within a
composite image acquired every 15 s. Consecutive composite images were compared to infer activity and surface sediment displacement.
This procedure proved efficient for E. nebulosa as indicated by (1) the continuity of the tentacles within composite images, and (2) the direct comparison of images and
detected activities. There were important temporal changes in the relative importance of the three main types of activity:
feeding, tube-building and (both partial and total) emergence from the tube, accounting, respectively, for 75, 15 and 10%
of the entire experiment duration. Activity intensity (cm2 min-1) was assessed through the surface of pixels with grey levels differing by more than 20 (on a 0–255 scale) between two consecutive
images. Feeding was associated with low activity intensity, whereas tube-building and emergence from the tubes were associated
with high activity intensities. Surface sediment displacement mostly resulted from tentacle activity both during feeding and
tube-building and was almost zero when worms emerged from their tube. We used our experimental set up to assess spatial changes
in activity intensity and particle displacements along the tentacles. Most of the activity occurred within the first 4–6 cm
from the tube aperture. Particle loss during their transfer along the tentacles preferentially affected larger particles as
postulated by the model of particle selection and transport in tentaculate deposit-feeders. Moreover, the speed of the particles
along the tentacles correlated negatively with their size. This contributed to increase in the residence time of larger particles
on the tentacles and thus, to further enhance their probability of being lost. The size distributions of particles during
feeding and tube-building did not differ significantly although visual observations confirmed the preferential use of larger
particles for tube-building. This suggests the existence of a sorting step occurring elsewhere than on the tentacles as already
demonstrated for spionid polychaetes. 相似文献
Introduced populations can cause ecological and economic damage and are difficult to eradicate once they have established.
It is therefore important to be able to predict both where species may become established and their capacity to spread within
recipient regions. Here, we use a new method to assess potential for intraregional spread of a marine crab introduced to North
America, Carcinus maenas. We determined survivorship and development rates throughout a range of temperatures in the laboratory for C. maenas larvae from non-native populations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America. The larvae exhibited narrower physiological
tolerances than adults, and no lab-cultured larvae completed larval development below 10.0°C or above 22.5°C. Survivorship
peaked at intermediate water temperatures of 12.5–20.0°C, and development time decreased with increasing temperatures within
this range. Based upon these laboratory development rates, we used nearshore sea-surface temperature data from both coasts
of North America to predict development times required for larvae at different months and sites. Taken together, survivorship
and development data indicate that C. maenas has the capacity to continue its northward spread and establish populations at numerous additional sites in North America.
Moreover, decadal temperature data at two Alaskan sites predicted little variability in development duration across years,
suggesting that development duration predictions are robust to interannual water temperature differences. 相似文献