Evidence of a 2-day periodicity of striae formation in the tropical scallop Comptopallium radula using calcein marking

The periodicity of striae formation in the tropical scallop Comptopallium radula (Indo-West Pacific Ocean) was investigated with an in situ marking technique, using the calcein fluorochrome. To minimize scallop stress caused by excessive handling, in situ benthic chambers were used for marking experiments. Once marked, scallops (shell height range: 38.4–75.8 mm) remained on site in a large benthic enclosure and were collected at regular time intervals to count new striae formed after marking, over a period of 3 months. A 3-h exposure period with calcein (150 mg l⁻¹) was sufficiently long to create a detectable mark in nearly all shells. It was, however, impossible to count the striae in 48.2% of the shells (mainly large specimens) because of a very small growth after marking. Lack of significant mortality during the experiments indicated that tested calcein concentrations were not lethal. A decrease in shell growth rate was observed after marking but the respective impacts of calcein toxicity and changes in environmental conditions could not be discriminated. Our results suggest that in situ calcein marking inside benthic chambers is suitable for shell growth studies of scallops, provided the latter are not too old. After marking, the juvenile C. radula formed an average of one stria every 2.1 days in summer. Reports of 2-day periodicity in biological rhythms are rare. Striae formation in C. radula may be controlled by an endogenous oscillator, synchronized by an environmental cue acting as a zeitgeber, such as seawater temperature or sea level pressure, both of which exhibit 2-day variations in the Pacific Ocean. As in many other scallop species, C. radula forms striae periodically under natural conditions, but this study shows that in pectinid juveniles, this periodicity can deviate from a daily cycle. These results suggest that C. radula shells have tremendous potential for recording environmental conditions during periods ranging from months to a few years and with a resolution of 2 days.     

生物质组成差异对生活垃圾厌氧产甲烷化的影响

采用批式实验,通过分析液相性质和产气过程,比较了生活垃圾中2 类主要的生物质组分(食物类废物和纤维类废物)及其不同含量在厌氧降解时甲烷生成过程的差异.结果表明,食物类废物累积产甲烷量远高于纤维类废物,其有机物的快速水解酸化,为快速产甲烷化提供了必要的底物.纤维类废物产甲烷速率相对较低,水解是其厌氧产甲烷化过程的控制步骤.生活垃圾的产甲烷量可以根据食物类废物和纤维类废物的比例推算而得,食物类废物含量越高,其累积产甲烷量越大.采用厌氧消化工艺有利于含食物类废物量高的垃圾的能量回收,而因食物类废物快速水解导致的液相挥发性有机酸积累是该工艺必须解决的关键性技术问题.     

含水率对生活垃圾甲烷化过程的影响

采用批式实验,通过分析产气量和气、液相组成的变化,比较了含水率分别在35%、65%～70%（田间持水率）、 80%和>95%（饱和含水率）的条件下,不同食物类废物和纤维素类废物含量的典型法国生活垃圾和中国生活垃圾以及纤维素类废物厌氧产甲烷过程的差异.结果表明,对于含易腐有机物的生活垃圾,提高含水率能够削弱VFA等中间产物对水解酸化和甲烷化的抑制作用：典型法国生活垃圾大量产甲烷所需的含水率不应低于80%,而有机物含量更高的典型中国生活垃圾直至含水率达到96%时,反应体系内快速产甲烷过程才能得以进行;同时,提高生活垃圾的含水率也有利于加速其厌氧产甲烷过程和提高甲烷的最终产量,含水率>95%的法国生活垃圾反应体系的最终甲烷产量是含水率为80%时产量的1.6倍.而对于纤维素类废物,提高含水率则能改善水分在水解和酸化过程中的可获得性,从而增大甲烷化的底物可获得量,含水率>95%的纤维素类废物反应体系的甲烷最终产量是含水率为65%时产量的3.8倍.     

Insecticide resistance may enhance the response to a host-plant volatile kairomone for the codling moth, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cydia pomonella</Emphasis> (L.)

The behavioral and electroantennographic responses of Cydia pomonella (L.) to the ripe pear volatile ethyl (2E,4Z)-2,4-decadienoate (Et-E,Z-DD), were compared in insecticide-susceptible and -resistant populations originating from southern France. A dose–response relationship to this kairomonal attractant was established for antennal activity and did not reveal differences between susceptible and resistant strains. Conversely, males of the laboratory strains expressing metabolic [cytochrome P450-dependent mixed-function oxidases (mfo)] or physiological (kdr-type mutation of the sodium-channel gene) resistance mechanisms exhibited a significantly higher response to Et-E,Z-DD than those of the susceptible strain in a wind tunnel experiment. No response of the females to this kairomone could be obtained in our wind-tunnel conditions. In apple orchards, mfo-resistant male moths were captured at significantly higher rates in kairomone-baited traps than in traps baited with the sex pheromone of C. pomonella. Such a differential phenomenon was not verified for the kdr-resistant insects, which exhibited a similar response to both the sex pheromone and the kairomonal attractant in apple orchards. Considering the widespread distribution of metabolic resistance in European populations of C. pomonella and the enhanced behavioral response to Et-E,Z-DD in resistant moths, the development of control measures based on this kairomonal compound would be of great interest for the management of insecticide resistance in this species.     

Assessing aboveground tropical forest biomass using Google Earth canopy images

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) in efforts to combat climate change requires participating countries to periodically assess their forest resources on a national scale. Such a process is particularly challenging in the tropics because of technical difficulties related to large aboveground forest biomass stocks, restricted availability of affordable, appropriate remote-sensing images, and a lack of accurate forest inventory data. In this paper, we apply the Fourier-based FOTO method of canopy texture analysis to Google Earth's very-high-resolution images of the wet evergreen forests in the Western Ghats of India in order to (1) assess the predictive power of the method on aboveground biomass of tropical forests, (2) test the merits of free Google Earth images relative to their native commercial IKONOS counterparts and (3) highlight further research needs for affordable, accurate regional aboveground biomass estimations. We used the FOTO method to ordinate Fourier spectra of 1436 square canopy images (125 x 125 m) with respect to a canopy grain texture gradient (i.e., a combination of size distribution and spatial pattern of tree crowns), benchmarked against virtual canopy scenes simulated from a set of known forest structure parameters and a 3-D light interception model. We then used 15 1-ha ground plots to demonstrate that both texture gradients provided by Google Earth and IKONOS images strongly correlated with field-observed stand structure parameters such as the density of large trees, total basal area, and aboveground biomass estimated from a regional allometric model. Our results highlight the great potential of the FOTO method applied to Google Earth data for biomass retrieval because the texture-biomass relationship is only subject to 15% relative error, on average, and does not show obvious saturation trends at large biomass values. We also provide the first reliable map of tropical forest aboveground biomass predicted from free Google Earth images.     

A comparison of transport-related gill enzyme activities and tissue-specific free amino acid concentrations of Baltic Sea (brackish water) and freshwater threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, after salinity and temperature acclimation

The osmoregulatory abilities of one freshwater and two brackish water (Baltic Sea) populations of the euryhaline teleost fish Gasterosteus aculeatus were studied with respect to evolutionary physiology. Plasma osmolality, activities of Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, citrate synthase, creatine kinase in the gill and free amino acids in liver, axial muscle and pectoral fin muscle were measured. After transfer from 10 to 35 ppt at 15 °C, time-course changes of plasma osmolality and gill Na⁺K⁺-ATPase showed no significant fundamental differences between the freshwater and one of the Baltic Sea populations. In a multi-factorial experiment, each population was exposed to four different abiotic regimes. Both brackish water populations had high mortality in freshwater at 4 °C, which is discussed as a failure of osmotic regulation (reduced taurine concentrations). Freshwater specimens had higher levels of glycine in the axial and pectoral fin muscles compared to the brackish water populations. This is interpreted as a genetically based effect. In brackish (20 ppt) water of 15 °C, the freshwater population had high activities of Na⁺K⁺-ATPase, but low activities of creatine kinase, whereas both brackish water populations behaved in the opposite way. A fundamental difference between the freshwater and brackish water populations on the level of the osmoregulatory machinery was not observed. Received: 10 December 1998 / Accepted: 22 September 1999