Male-biased predation of western green lizards by Eurasian kestrels

Selective predation can be an important force driving the evolution of organisms. In particular, sex-biased predation is expected to have implications for sexual selection, sex allocation and population dynamics. In this study, we analysed sex differences in the predation of the western green lizard (Lacerta bilineata) by the Eurasian kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) during the reproductive season. In addition, we investigated whether the rate of predation differed during the 8-year study period and among the three habitats studied. We collected lizard remains from nest boxes of kestrels. Freshly killed lizards were sexed by visual inspection, whilst the sex of head remains was assigned by analysing the cephalic scale morphology using geometric morphometrics. Our results show that the risk of being predated by a kestrel in our population was overall about 3.55 times higher for males than for females. To our knowledge this is the first study showing a male-biased predation in a lizard species. The selective predation of males was consistent between years over the 8-year study period (1999-2006) and also consistent between the three types of kestrel hunting habitat. Overall predation rates on lizards differed between habitats, depending on the year. We propose that the observed sex-biased predation is mainly due to sex differences in lizard behaviour.     

Sublethal toxicity of the Prestige oil spill on yellow-legged gulls

The Prestige oil spill in November 2002 is considered the biggest large-scale catastrophe of its type in Europe, thousands of seabirds dying in the subsequent months. Here, the total concentration of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (TPAH) was measured in the blood cell fraction of adult and chick yellow-legged gulls (Larus michahellis) from unoiled and oiled coastal areas in North Western Spain. In addition, hematocrit, plasma metabolites, electrolytes and enzymes, as well as body mass were determined in the same individuals. Our results strongly suggest the presence of health damages of sublethal nature in adult gulls breeding in oiled colonies 17 months after the Prestige oil spill. This is supported by the following evidences: (1) gulls sampled in unoiled and oiled colonies differed in blood TPAH levels, (2) gulls sampled in unoiled and oiled colonies differed in several blood parameters indicative of physiological disorders, and (3) TPAH in blood was significantly related to several of these parameters. Differences in the level of asparatate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), total protein, glucose and inorganic phosphorus suggest damages on some vital organs (i.e. liver and kidney) in adult birds from oiled areas. Meanwhile, chicks presented weaker effects than adults, showing only between-area differences in hematocrit. Since TPAH levels in blood did not differ between both age-groups, the stronger effects on adults should be due to their longer exposure to these pollutants and/or to severe exposure in the months following the spill. The presence of PAHs in chicks indicates that these pollutants were incorporated into the food chain because nestlings would have been only exposed to contaminated organisms in the diet (e.g. fishes and crustaceans). Our findings support the view that PAHs may deeply alter the physiology of seabirds, and emphasize the necessity of quantifying the circulating levels of these compounds in order to evaluate the sublethal effects associated to large oil spills.     

Determining sediment quality for regulatory proposes using fish chronic bioassays

Sediment quality assessments for regulatory purposes (i.e. dredged material disposal) are characterized by linking chemical and acute ecotoxicological data. The design of chronic bioassays that incorporate more sensible endpoints than acute tests is discussed to address sediment quality for environmental quality assessment and regulatory proposes. The chronic tests use juveniles of commercial species of fish Sparus aurata and Solea senegalensis, to assess sediment toxicity in samples collected along different littoral areas in the North and the South of Spain. The organisms were exposed during 60 days and sublethal endpoints were selected including biomarkers of exposure to metals (metallothioneins - MTs) and to organic contaminants (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity - EROD activity) and biomarkers of effect (histopathology in different tissues, gill and liver). A Multivariate Analysis Approach was conducted in order to associate these biological responses with sediment metal concentration from the ports and with chemical residues in biological tissues exposed to sediments under laboratory conditions.     

Detecting Insect Pollinator Declines on Regional and Global Scales

Recently there has been considerable concern about declines in bee communities in agricultural and natural habitats. The value of pollination to agriculture, provided primarily by bees, is >$200 billion/year worldwide, and in natural ecosystems it is thought to be even greater. However, no monitoring program exists to accurately detect declines in abundance of insect pollinators; thus, it is difficult to quantify the status of bee communities or estimate the extent of declines. We used data from 11 multiyear studies of bee communities to devise a program to monitor pollinators at regional, national, or international scales. In these studies, 7 different methods for sampling bees were used and bees were sampled on 3 different continents. We estimated that a monitoring program with 200–250 sampling locations each sampled twice over 5 years would provide sufficient power to detect small (2–5%) annual declines in the number of species and in total abundance and would cost U.S.$2,000,000. To detect declines as small as 1% annually over the same period would require >300 sampling locations. Given the role of pollinators in food security and ecosystem function, we recommend establishment of integrated regional and international monitoring programs to detect changes in pollinator communities. Detección de Declinaciones de Insectos Polinizadores a Escalas Regional y Global     

Cocoa Intensification Scenarios and Their Predicted Impact on CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Emissions,Biodiversity Conservation,and Rural Livelihoods in the Guinea Rain Forest of West Africa

The Guinean rain forest (GRF) of West Africa, identified over 20 years ago as a global biodiversity hotspot, had reduced to 113,000 km² at the start of the new millennium which was 18% of its original area. The principal driver of this environmental change has been the expansion of extensive smallholder agriculture. From 1988 to 2007, the area harvested in the GRF by smallholders of cocoa, cassava, and oil palm increased by 68,000 km². Field results suggest a high potential for significantly increasing crop yields through increased application of seed-fertilizer technologies. Analyzing land-use change scenarios, it was estimated that had intensified cocoa technology, already developed in the 1960s, been pursued in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon that over 21,000 km² of deforestation and forest degradation could have been avoided along with the emission of nearly 1.4 billion t of CO₂. Addressing the low productivity of agriculture in the GRF should be one of the principal objectives of REDD climate mitigation programs.     

Spatial and temporal features of density-dependent contaminant transport: Experimental investigation and numerical modeling

We investigate the spatial and temporal features of variable-density contaminant plumes migration in porous materials. Our analysis is supported by novel experimental results concerning concentration profiles inside a vertical column setup that has been conceived at CEA to this aim. The experimental method relies on X-ray spectrometry, which allows determining solute profiles as a function of time at several positions along the column. The salient outcomes of the measurements are elucidated, with focus on miscible fluids in homogeneous saturated media. The role of the injected solution molarity is evidenced. As molarity increases, the solutes plume transport progressively deviates from the usual Fickian behavior, and pollutants distribution becomes skewed in the direction dictated by gravity. By resorting to a finite elements approach, we numerically solve the nonlinear equations that rule the pollutants migration: a good agreement is found between the simulated profiles and the experimental data. At high molarity, a strong dependence on initial conditions is found. Finally, we qualitatively explore the (unstable) interfacial dynamics between the dense contaminant plume and the lighter resident fluid that saturates the column, and detail its evolution for finite-duration contaminant injections.     

Assessment and regulation of odour impacts

Decades of experience support the inclusion of odours in the list of contaminant types that must be regulated by government. In many jurisdictions, odour impacts are regulated under the nuisance provisions of common law. However, the explicit conditions that establish whether a nuisance condition exists are not easily defined. Due to this shortcoming, there is a need to introduce objectivity into odour impact assessments and odour limits. While individual responses to odours are highly variable and can result in a variety of effects, generally the impacts of odours arise from a variety of interacting factors, collectively known as FIDOL: frequency, intensity, duration, offensiveness, and location. In view of the need to prevent or mitigate such impacts, an approach to odour regulation is proposed in which the protection of the public from odour impacts is accomplished based on the FIDOL approach. This involves the introduction of an objective odour limit, as follows: “Facilities that are identified as sources of potentially offensive odours shall ensure that the 10-min average concentration of odour resulting from all sources at the facility and determined in accordance with accepted procedures, shall be less than 1 odour unit 99.5% of the time at the most impacted sensitive receptor”. It is argued that the proposed limit would provide the public with an understanding of the degree of protection from odours that is to be provided through regulations and would provide industries with a basis for designing their facilities to minimize impact at the design stage. Such limits would also provide industries with benchmarks against which they can gauge their success at preventing or mitigating odour impacts and for evaluating the effectiveness of odour control technologies.     

The role of physical processes controlling the behaviour of radionuclide contaminants in the aquatic environment: a review of state-of-the-art modelling approaches

This paper is aimed at presenting and discussing the methodologies implemented in state-of-the-art models for predicting the physical processes of radionuclide migration through the aquatic environment, including transport due to water currents, diffusion, settling and re-suspension. Models are briefly described, model parameter values reviewed and values recommended. The different modelling approaches are briefly classified and the advantages and disadvantages of the various model approaches and methodologies are assessed.