Composition of green turtle feeding aggregations along the Japanese archipelago: implications for changes in composition with current flow

In order to develop effective conservation strategies for endangered migratory species, the link between feeding and breeding grounds needs to be clarified. In this study, the genetic compositions of consecutive Japanese feeding aggregations of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) along the Kuroshio Current were examined by mixed-stock analyses of mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences. The results indicated that the southern feeding aggregation around Yaeyama (24.3°N, 124.0°E) was sourced from various Pacific rookeries in the Yaeyama, Ogasawara, Western Pacific, and Indian Oceans and Southeast Asia. Among northern feeding aggregations, the Ginoza (26.5°N, 128.0°E) aggregation was also sourced from the Western Pacific Ocean, but the Nomaike (31.4°N, 130.1°E), Muroto (33.2°N, 134.2°E), and Kanto (35.6°N, 140.5°E) aggregations were contributed mostly by the closer Ogasawara rookeries. The reduced contribution from tropical Pacific rookeries to northern feeding aggregations and the significant correlation between genetic differentiation and geographical distance matrices of feeding aggregations indicated that most hatchlings from these regions transported by the Kuroshio Current settle in upstream feeding grounds along the Japanese archipelago, implying that current flow influences the composition of feeding aggregations. Differences in the composition of relatively close neritic feeding aggregations have important conservation implications, for which both regional and multinational conservation strategies are needed.     

Validation of an automated data collection method for quantifying social networks in collective behaviours

The social network of preferences among group members can affect the distribution and consequences of collective behaviours. However, the behavioural contexts and taxa in which social network structure has been described are still limited because such studies require extensive data. Here, we highlight the use of an automated passive integrated transponder (PIT)-tag monitoring system for social network analyses and do so in a novel context—nestling provisioning in an avian cooperative breeder, for which direct observation of social behaviours is difficult. First, we used observers and cameras to arrive at a suitable metric of nest visit synchrony in the PIT-tag data. Second, we validated the use of this metric for social network analyses using internal nest video cameras. Third, we used hierarchical regression models with ‘sociality’ parameter to investigate structure of networks collected from multiple groups. Use of PIT tags led to nest visitation duration and frequency being obtained with a high degree of accuracy for all group members, except for the breeding female for whom accurate estimations required the use of a video camera due to her high variability in visitation time. The PIT-tag dataset uncovered significant variability in social network structure. Our results highlight the importance of combining complementary observation methods when conducting social network analyses of wild animals. Our methods can also be generalised to multiple contexts in social systems wherever repeated encounters with other individuals in closed space have ecological implications.     

日本的医疗垃圾处理系统

由于医疗垃圾具有较强的感染性，所以日本在法律上规定禁止其回收再利用，必须进行彻底销毁处理。文章介绍了日本的医疗卫生单位垃圾的分类，处理过程，对策及法律制度，为中国医疗垃圾处理业的顺利发展提供借鉴。使之尽快形成一个完整的运行体系。     

Migration of C in the paddy soil-to-rice plant system after C-acetic acid breakdown by microorganisms below the plow layer

Migration of ¹⁴C derived from ¹⁴C-acetic acid was examined by using soils sampled from paddies in four administrative areas in Japan (Aomori, Yamanashi, Ehime and Okinawa) and rice plant in a tracer experiment to understand the fate of ¹⁴C in the paddy soil-to-rice plant system. The loss of ¹⁴C radioactivity levels derived from ¹⁴C-acetic acid was caused by soil microorganism breakdown. A part of the ¹⁴C fixation to soil was caused by microbial assimilation into the fatty acid fraction. ¹⁴C moved upward via two different types of ¹⁴C dynamics in soil: quick movement upward; and constant but slow movement upward. ¹⁴C was highly assimilated into the plant panicle and that was caused by the root-uptake and the transfer of ¹⁴C. Migration of ¹⁴C derived from ¹⁴C-acetic acid relied heavily upon changes of chemical forms and characteristics of ¹⁴C-compound as caused by microorganisms in soil.     

Heart rate changes reveal that little blue penguin chicks (Eudyptula minor) can use vocal signatures to discriminate familiar from unfamiliar chicks

Researchers investigating social recognition typically measure only behavioural responses during discrimination tests - physiological changes have been largely ignored. We examined whether little blue penguin chicks (Eudyptula minor) could distinguish siblings from other chicks using auditory cues, by measuring behavioural and heart rate changes during playback experiments. Chicks were exposed to five treatments: the begging calls of siblings, neighbouring chicks and unfamiliar chicks, and two controls (heterospecific begging calls and music). We also determined if chicks developed distinctive begging calls, by using F-ratios to quantify inter- versus intra-individual variability in a range of acoustic parameters, and applying a discriminant-function analysis. Inter-individual variation was greater for pitch than for temporal or amplitude parameters, suggesting that call pitch may be important for individual recognition. The discriminant-function analysis showed each chick's calls were distinctive and could act as a vocal signature. Treatments did not instigate different behavioural responses. However, chick heart rates during playback of sibling calls were significantly higher than those recorded during stranger, but not neighbour, playback. A simple recognition system based on familiarity may allow this plesiomorphic and loosely colonial penguin to gain at least some of the benefits associated with more advanced sibling recognition systems (some highly colonial seabirds discriminate siblings from neighbouring chicks). Heart rate could be a useful measure of social recognition abilities, particularly in species where changes in behaviour are not always evident or are difficult to observe.     

Comparison of diving behavior and foraging habitat use between chinstrap and gentoo penguins breeding in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Chinstrap, Pygoscelis antarctica, and gentoo, P. papua, penguins are sympatric species that inhabit the Antarctic Peninsula. To evaluate differences in the foraging habitat of these two species, we recorded their foraging locations and diving behavior using recently developed GPS-depth data loggers. The study was conducted on King George Island, Antarctica during the chick-guarding period of both species, from December 2006 to January 2007. The area used for foraging, estimated as the 95% kernel density of dive (>5 m) locations, overlapped partially between the two species (26.4 and 68.5% of the area overlapped for chinstrap and gentoo penguins, respectively). However, the core foraging area, estimated as the 50% kernel density, was mostly separate (12.8 and 25.0% of the area overlapped for chinstrap and gentoo penguins, respectively). Chinstrap penguins tended to use off-shelf (water depth > 200 m) regions (77% of the locations for dives >5 m), whereas gentoo penguins mainly used on-shelf (water depth < 200 m) areas (71% of dive locations). The data on foraging locations, diving behavior, and bathymetry indicated that gentoo penguins often performed benthic dives (28% of dives >5 m), whereas chinstrap penguins almost always used the epipelagic/mid-water layer (96% of dives >5 m). Diving parameters such as diving bottom duration or diving efficiency differed between the species, reflecting differences in the use of foraging habitat. The diving parameters also suggested that the on-shelf benthic layer was profitable foraging habitat for gentoo penguins. Conversely, the relationship between trip duration, date, and stomach content mass suggested that the chinstrap penguins went further from the colony to forage as the season progressed, possibly reflecting a reduction in prey availability near the colony. Our results suggest that chinstrap and gentoo penguins segregated their foraging habitat in the Antarctic coastal marine environment, possibly due to inter- and intra-specific competition for common prey resources.     

Time-lapse carbon dioxide monitoring with pulsed neutron logging

Elevated levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere have been linked to the rise in land and sea temperature [Climate Change, 2001. In: Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Noguer, M., van der Linden, P.J., Xiaosu, D. (Eds.), The Scientific Basis Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Cambridge University Press, UK, p. 944]. To demonstrate geological carbon sequestration as a mitigation technique, a carbon dioxide injection experiment was conducted in East Texas. The target – Frio formation – is a highly porous, permeable and unconsolidated sandstone. The specific interval is the Frio C sand, which originally was saturated with saline formation water. At the injection location, the Frio C sand dips 18° to the south. To monitor the injected CO₂ spreading in the formation, an old well from 1956 drilled into the deeper Yegua formation was selected as the observation well. The injection well was drilled at a distance of 100 ft downdip from the monitoring well. Several borehole measurement methods were available to monitor the CO₂ injection, but the most suitable technology was thought to be the pulsed neutron logging. This logging is used widely in cased hole, and the measured macroscopic thermal absorption cross-section (Σ) is sensitive to CO₂ saturation in high porosity saline water environments. Several log examples are given demonstrating successful the monitoring of the CO₂ plume moving through the two boreholes and the resulting saturation changes.     

城区飞散致敏花粉与大气细/超细颗粒物的协同生物效应研究

城市大气颗粒物污染和致敏花粉的污染已经对人群健康和城市空气质量产生了较为严重的影响.这2种污染物的协同生物效应正在成为大气环境科学、环境毒理学、免疫学等学科研究的前沿和热点研究领域.以上海大气中的细/超细颗粒物和日本关东地区致敏花粉(柳杉)为例,阐述了大气细/超细颗粒物的表征以及花粉致敏的过程.在研究中,观察到了日本柳杉花粉壁附着有直径0.7μm的含变应原蛋白的微粒(Ubisch body),并用ELISA法揭示了日本关东地区大气颗粒物中含变应原蛋白的颗粒主要分布在1μm的粒径范围内;而在上海大气颗粒物中,化学元素总量的最大值出现在细/超细粒径颗粒物(0.3～0.18μm)范围,污染元素S和Pb的质量浓度在超细(纳米尺度)/细颗粒物中比在其他粒径范围颗粒物中要高,另外还发现在上海大气颗粒物中有植物花粉的存在.城市大气颗粒物中的主要组分,柴油机车尾气颗粒物(DEPs)与飞散花粉之间存在协同生物效应,但其机制和过程还不清楚,在最新研究成果的基础上并结合国内外相关研究领域的进展,对飞散花粉与大气细/超细颗粒物的协同生物效应的研究进行了总结并提出今后研究的方向.     

Japan’s greenhouse gas reduction scenarios toward net zero by 2050 in the material cycles and waste management sector

The first draft scenario toward net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 for the material cycles and waste management sector was presented by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan in August 2021. The details of the future GHG emission estimation used to create the draft scenario are described in this document. For multiple scenarios where more aggressive measures, such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), were included in addition to business-as-usual and the current policy continuity scenario, future GHG emissions were estimated as the sum of the products of activities and emission factors indicating changes in measures between scenarios. The estimation outcomes demonstrated that future GHG emissions from the solid waste management sector could be anticipated to be zero or even negative when material conversion to biomass, primarily for plastics, recycling to raw materials, and installation of CCUS at incineration facilities are assumed. Extensions of prior plans are not enough to reach the goal of net zero emissions, according to the measures necessary and the volume and pace of their implementation suggested in this study. Stakeholders should collaborate with great ambition.