Trophic niche overlap among dolphinfish and co-occurring tunas near the northern edge of their range in the western North Atlantic

We present the first quantitative analyses of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) foraging habits and trophic interactions with co-occurring yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) and albacore (T. alalunga) tunas in the Southern New England region of the western North Atlantic Ocean. Fish caught by recreational anglers in offshore waters of Massachusetts were sampled during the summers of 2007–2010. Diet analysis revealed that shortfin squid (Illex illecebrosus) and small pelagic crustaceans were principal prey to dolphinfish, yellowfin tuna, and albacore tuna. A wide variety of Sargassum-associated fishes were also important to dolphinfish and yellowfin tuna diets. Dietary (Schoener’s index: 0.82–0.86) and isotopic niche (isotopic ellipse overlap: 53.6–64.7 %) overlap was high, and dolphinfish and tunas occupied equivalent trophic positions (TP = 3.4–3.6). Relative prey size in dolphinfish and yellowfin tuna diets exhibited convergence with ontogeny. Overall, dolphinfish had the greatest isotopic niche width, which was twice as large as yellowfin tuna and three times as large as albacore tuna; dolphinfish also consumed the greatest range of prey sizes. Results quantify dolphinfish trophic interactions in the western Atlantic near the northern extent of their geographical range, and are relevant for ecosystem-based management of the offshore pelagic guild in the context of shifting fish populations and fisheries in response to climate and ecological change.     

New regulatory requirements for class v underground injection control wells

New EPA regulations will require closure of certain Class V wells, and will impose significant costs on some well owners and operators. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Waterborne cues from crabs induce thicker skeletons, smaller gonads and size-specific changes in growth rate in sea urchins

Indirect predator-induced effects on growth, morphology and reproduction have been extensively studied in marine invertebrates but usually without consideration of size-specific effects and not at all in post-metamorphic echinoids. Urchins are an unusually good system, in which, to study size effects because individuals of various ages within one species span four orders of magnitude in weight while retaining a nearly isometric morphology. We tracked growth of urchins, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (0.013–161.385 g), in the presence or absence of waterborne cues from predatory Jonah crabs, Cancer borealis. We ran experiments at ambient temperatures, once for 4 weeks during summer and again, with a second set of urchins, for 22 weeks over winter. We used a scaled, cube-root transformation of weight for measuring size more precisely and for equalizing variance across sizes. Growth rate of the smallest urchins (summer: <17 mm diameter; winter: <7 mm diameter) decreased by 40–42% in response to crab cues. In contrast, growth rate of larger urchins was unaffected in the summer and increased in response to crab scent by 7% in the winter. At the end of the 22-week experiment, additional gonadal and skeletal variables were measured. Cue-exposed urchins developed heavier, thicker skeletons and smaller gonads, but no differences in spine length or jaw size. The differences depended on urchin size, suggesting that there are size-specific shifts in gonadal and somatic investment in urchins.     

A Heuristic Method for Determining Changes of Source Loads to Comply with Water Quality Limits in Catchments

A common land and water management task is to determine where and by how much source loadings need to change to meet water quality limits in receiving environments. This paper addresses the problem of quantifying changes in loading when limits are specified in many locations in a large and spatially heterogeneous catchment, accounting for cumulative downstream impacts. Current approaches to this problem tend to use either scenario analysis or optimization, which suffer from difficulties of generating scenarios that meet the limits, or high complexity of optimization approaches. In contrast, we present a novel method in which simple catchment models, load limits, upstream/downstream spatial relationships and spatial allocation rules are combined to arrive at source load changes. The process iteratively establishes the critical location (river segment or lake) where the limits are most constraining, and then adjusts sources upstream of the critical location to meet the limit at that location. The method is demonstrated with application to New Zealand (268,000 km2) for nutrients and the microbial indicator E. coli, which was conducted to support policy development regarding water quality limits. The model provided useful insights, such as a source load excess (the need for source load reduction) even after mitigation measures are introduced in order to comply with E. coli limits. On the other hand, there was headroom (ability to increase source loading) for nutrients. The method enables assessment of the necessary source load reductions to achieve water quality limits over broad areas such as large catchments or whole regions.     

Local vs. national: Epidemiology of pedestrian injury in a mid-Atlantic city

Objective: Understanding pedestrian injury trends at the local level is essential for program planning and allocation of funds for urban planning and improvement. Because we hypothesize that local injury trends differ from national trends in significant and meaningful ways, we investigated citywide pedestrian injury trends to assess injury risk among nationally identified risk groups, as well as identify risk groups and locations specific to Baltimore City.

Methods: Pedestrian injury data, obtained from the Baltimore City Fire Department, were gathered through emergency medical services (EMS) records collected from January 1 to December 31, 2014. Locations of pedestrian injuries were geocoded and mapped. Pearson's chi-square test of independence was used to investigate differences in injury severity level across risk groups. Pedestrian injury rates by age group, gender, and race were compared to national rates.

Results: A total of 699 pedestrians were involved in motor vehicle crashes in 2014—an average of 2 EMS transports each day. The distribution of injuries throughout the city did not coincide with population or income distributions, indicating that there was not a consistent correlation between areas of concentrated population or concentrated poverty and areas of concentrated pedestrian injury. Twenty percent (n = 138) of all injuries occurred among children age ≤14, and 22% (n = 73) of severe injuries occurred among young children. The rate of injury in this age group was 5 times the national rate (Incident Rate Ratio [IRR] = 4.81, 95% confidence interval [CI], [4.05, 5.71]). Injury rates for adults ≥65 were less than the national average.

Conclusions: As the urban landscape and associated pedestrian behavior transform, continued investigation of local pedestrian injury trends and evolving public health prevention strategies is necessary to ensure pedestrian safety.     

关于欧盟植物保护品对鸟类和哺乳动物的风险评估的反思：过去、现在和未来

植物保护品在农作物上的使用会导致鸟类和哺乳动物接触有毒化学物质。在欧盟,关于此类暴露的风险评估均以当前(2009)欧洲食品安全局(EFSA)颁布的指导性文件为依据,与之前的版本相比,该文件在理论风险评估的可实现性方面有所提高(SANCO/4145/2000)。自从7年前实施2009 EFSA 指导性文件以来,基于此已经对众多植物保护品的毒性进行了成功地评估。然而,在今后的修订版本中仍然存在需要改进的重要方面。这篇焦点文章讨论了目前方案的风险评估经验,包括输入参数的保守水平和监管当局的解释以及如何在不远的将来对指导性文件进行修订提出建议。明确了推进指导文件的几方面建议,例如与生态相关的鸟类和哺乳动物生殖端点的推导和情境风险评估中建模方法的使用。在完善现有数据库方面,本文也有所强调,包括校对全欧洲相关焦点物种和扩大食物残留数据库。为了能够在将来形成一个真实可用的指导性文件,强烈建议在产业、监管和欧洲食品安全局等部门之间进行开放和建设性的沟通和交流。这样的合作也将鼓励会员国之间的融合,从而减轻产业和监管机构工作负荷。
精选自Amy C. Brooks, Mike Fryer, Alan Lawrence, Juan Pascual, Rachel Sharp. Reflections on bird and mammal risk assessment for plant protection products in the European Union: past, present and future. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: Volume 36, Issue 3, pages 565–575, July 2017. DOI: 10.1002/etc.3719
详情请见http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/etc.3719/full
     

Assessment of prenatal mercury exposure in a predominately Caribbean immigrant community in Brooklyn, NY

Prenatal mercury exposure and its fetotoxic effects may be of particular concern in urban immigrant communities as a result of possible contributing cultural factors. The most common source of exposure in these communities is ingestion of fish and shellfish contaminated with methylmercury. Other sources of exposure may occur in ritualistic practices associated with Hispanic and Caribbean-based religions. This study 1) assessed total mercury levels in both random urine specimens from pregnant women, and in cord blood; and 2) examined environmental sources of exposure from a convenience sample in a predominantly Caribbean immigrant population in Brooklyn, New York. A questionnaire designed in collaboration with health professionals from the Caribbean community assessed the frequency of fish consumption, ritualistic practices, occupational exposures, and use of dental amalgams and mercury-containing skin and household products. The geometric mean for total mercury in cord blood was 2.14 μg L(-1) (95%CI: 1.76-2.60) (n = 78), and 0.45 μg L(-1) (95%CI: 0.37-0.55) (n = 183) in maternal urine corrected for creatinine (μg g(-1)). Sixteen percent of cord blood mercury levels exceeded the estimated equivalent of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Reference Dose (5.8 μg L(-1) blood). Predictors of cord blood mercury included maternal fish consumption and foreign birth of the mother. Predictors of urine mercury included foreign birth of the mother, number of dental amalgams, and special product use. There were no reports of mercury use in ritualistic practices or in cosmetics; however some women reported use of religious medals and charms. This study characterized risk factors for mercury exposure in a sample of urban, predominantly Caribbean-born blacks. Findings may help target interventions in this population, which might include appropriate fish selection and consumption frequency during pregnancy, and safe handling of mercury-containing products in the home.     

Environmental monitoring to enhance comprehension and control of infectious diseases

In a world of emerging and resurging infectious diseases, dominated by zoonoses, environmental monitoring plays a vital role in our understanding their dynamics and their spillover to humans. Here, we critically review the ecology, epidemiology and need for monitoring of a variety of directly transmitted (Sin Nombre virus, Avian Influenza) and vector-borne (Ross River virus, West Nile virus, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis) zoonoses. We focus on the valuable role that existing monitoring plays in the understanding of these zoonoses, the demands for new monitoring, and how improvements can be made to existing monitoring. We also identify the fruitful outcomes which would result from implementation of the monitoring demands we have highlighted. This review aims to promote improvements in our understanding of zoonoses, their management, and public health by encouraging discussion among researchers and public health officials.     

Treatment of polychlorinated biphenyls in two surface soils using catalyzed H₂O₂ propagations

Two surface soils contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) collected from Superfund sites in the New England region of the United States, Fletcher Paints and Merrimack Industrial Metals, were evaluated for field treatment at the bench level using catalyzed H₂O₂ propagations (CHP—modified Fenton’s reagent). The two soils were first evaluated for the potential for in situ treatment based on two criteria: (1) temperature (<40 °C after CHP reagent addition), and (2) hydrogen peroxide longevity (>24 h). In situ CHP remediation was more applicable to the Fletcher soil, while the Merrimack soil was better suited to ex situ treatment based on temperature increases and hydrogen peroxide lifetimes. Using the highest hydrogen peroxide concentrations appropriate for in situ treatment in each soil, PCB destruction was 94% in the Fletcher soil but only 48% in the Merrimack soil. However, 98% PCB destruction was achieved in the Merrimack soil using conditions more applicable to ex situ treatment (higher hydrogen peroxide concentrations with temperatures >40 °C). Analysis of degradation products by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy showed no detectable chlorinated degradation products, suggesting that the products of PCB oxidation were rapidly dechlorinated and degraded. The results of this research document that the two PCB-contaminated soils studied can be effectively treated using aggressive CHP conditions, and that such a detailed bench study provides important information before implementing field treatment.