Aerosol particle number concentration measurements in five European cities using TSI-3022 condensation particle counter over a three-year period during health effects of air pollution on susceptible subpopulations

In this study, long-term aerosol particle total number concentration measurements in five metropolitan areas across Europe are presented. The measurements have been carried out in Augsburg, Barcelona, Helsinki, Rome, and Stockholm using the same instrument, a condensation particle counter (TSI model 3022). The results show that in all of the studied cities, the winter concentrations are higher than the summer concentrations. In Helsinki and in Stockholm, winter concentrations are higher by a factor of two and in Augsburg almost by a factor of three compared with summer months. The winter maximum of the monthly average concentrations in these cities is between 10,000 cm(-3) and 20,000 cm(-3), whereas the summer min is approximately 5000-6000 cm(-3). In Rome and in Barcelona, the winters are more polluted compared with summers by as much as a factor of 4-10. The winter maximum in both Rome and Barcelona is close to 100,000 cm(-3), whereas the summer minimum is > 10,000 cm(-3). During the weekdays the maximum of the hourly average concentrations in all of the cities is detected during the morning hours between 7 and 10 a.m. The evening maxima were present in Barcelona, Rome, and Augsburg, but these were not as pronounced as the morning ones. The daily maxima in Helsinki and Stockholm are close or even lower than the daily minima in the more polluted cities. The concentrations between these two groups of cities are different with a factor of about five during the whole day. The study pointed out the influence of the selection of the measurement site and the configuration of the sampling line on the observed concentrations.     

Geographic variation in maternal investment: acidity affects egg size and fecundity in Rana arvalis

Environmental-stress-mediated geographic variation in reproductive parameters has been little studied in natural vertebrate populations outside the context of climatic variation. Based on life-history theory, an increase in the degree of environmental stress experienced by a population should lead to (1) a shift in reproductive allocation from fecundity to offspring quality, (2) stronger trade-offs between reproductive parameters, and (3) changes in the relationship between female phenotype and maternal investment. To test these predictions, we investigated geographic variation in maternal investment of moor frogs (Rana arvalis) in relation to breeding site acidity (pH 4-8). We found that mean egg size increased and clutch size and total reproductive output (TRO) decreased with increasing acidity among 19 Swedish moor frog populations. Tests for variation and co-variation in maternal investment and female size and age in 233 females from a subset of four acid origin (AO) and four neutral origin (NO) populations revealed that clutch size and TRO increased with female size in both acid and neutral environments. However, in AO populations, egg size also increased with female size, and clutch size and TRO with female age, whereas in NO populations, egg size increased with female age. The strength of the egg-size-clutch-size tradeoff tended to be stronger in AO than in NO females as expected if the former experience stronger environmental constraints. All in all, these results suggest that environmental acidification selects for investment in larger eggs at a cost to fecundity, imposes negative effects on reproductive output, and alters the relationship between female phenotype and maternal investment.     

自然保护区、恢复力和动态景观

在这个日益被人类活动所改变的世界里,保护生物多样性对于维持有恢复力的生态系统和确保生态系统产品的可持续流动以及对社会的服务是至关重要的.但是,现有的自然保护区和国家公园不大可能结合生态系统的长期和大尺度的动态.因此,保护策略必须包括大面积的人类利用经营的土地.为了能使生态系统在大规模的自然和人为干扰之后得以重组,以生态存储形式出现的空间恢复力是必备的前提.生态存储包括那些能使生态系统得以重组的物种、相互作用和结构,它的组成部分可能出现在干扰斑块中,也可能出现在周围的景观中.现有的静态自然保护区应该由动态自然保护区加以补充,例如生态休闲地和动态演替保护区,这些都是在景观尺度上模拟自然干扰状况,进行生态系统经营的组成部分.     

Reserves, resilience and dynamic landscapes

In a world increasingly modified by human activities, the conservation of biodiversity is essential as insurance to maintain resilient ecosystems and ensure a sustainable flow of ecosystem goods and services to society. However, existing reserves and national parks are unlikely to incorporate the long-term and large-scale dynamics of ecosystems. Hence, conservation strategies have to actively incorporate the large areas of land that are managed for human use. For ecosystems to reorganize after large-scale natural and human-induced disturbances, spatial resilience in the form of ecological memory is a prerequisite. The ecological memory is composed of the species, interactions and structures that make ecosystem reorganization possible, and its components may be found within disturbed patches as well in the surrounding landscape. Present static reserves should be complemented with dynamic reserves, such as ecological fallows and dynamic successional reserves, that are part of ecosystem management mimicking natural disturbance regimes at the landscape level.     

Stereoisomeric composition of the sex pheromone of the pine sawfly <Emphasis Type="Italic">Microdiprion pallipes</Emphasis> (Hym., Diprionidae)

Summary. The basic chemical structure of the sex pheromone of the pine sawfly Microdiprion pallipes (Fallén) has earlier been identified as the propionate ester of (2S,3S,7R/S,11R/S)/(2R,3R,7R/S,11R/S)-3,7,11- trimethyl-2-tridecanol. We now report the results from further investigations on the male response to individual stereoisomers and to blends of stereoisomers, both in electroantennographic (EAG) recordings and in field trapping experiments. We also present our attempts to determine the stereochemistry of the compounds present in females of M. pallipes. By comparing gas chromatograms and mass spectra obtained from natural extracts with those from synthetic compounds it was found that the females contain one or more of the four (2S,3S,7R/S,11R/S)-3,7,11-trimethyl-2- tridecanol isomers (SS++-1). The active pheromone component is the corresponding propionate ester 2. In EAG experiments, males responded most strongly to five propionate ester samples, namely two four-isomer blends: SS++-2 and SR++-2, and three individual stereoisomers: SSSR-, SRRR- and SRSR-2. In a series of field trapping experiments it was found that males were attracted to the SR++-2 four-isomer blend and to the individual isomer SSSR-2. Based on the EAG-recordings and field responses of males and the stereoisomers found in the females, we suggest that the propionate ester of (2S,3S,7S,11R)-3,7,11-trimethyl-2- tridecanol (SSSR-2) is used as a main component of the sex pheromone in M. pallipes. Apparently the males react to other stereoisomers in addition to that or those produced by the females.     

Optimum spatial analysis of monitoring data on temperature,salinity and nutrient concentrations in the Baltic Proper

In spite of the large number of monitoring data on hydrography and nutrients collected from the Baltic Sea, it is still difficult to describe large-scale distribution patterns of these variables. We therefore suggest a stochastic approach that allows the spatial reconstruction of the fields for the entire sea. The Baltic Sea monitoring data on temperature, salinity and nutrient concentrations from the years 1972–1991 are each divided into twenty data sets: five regions, times four seasons. The spatial regions are the Southern Baltic Proper, the Northern and Central Baltic Proper, both above and below halocline, and the region of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga. The four seasons consist of three-month periods: January–March (winter), April–June (spring), July–September (summer) and October–December (fall). Each monthly subset of a regional and seasonal data set is modeled as a sample out of a monthly realization of a random field. The data sets are decomposed into mean and fluctuational components. The mean is determined as an average over the space cells with dimensions of standard sampling depth intervals vertically, 10 in meridional (south-north), 20 in zonal (west-east) directions and over five-year periods in time. The fluctuation fields are considered second-order stationary, homogeneous and horizontally isotropic. Estimated horizontal (surface) and vertical (depth) components of the spatial correlations are approximated by Gaussian functions. The correlation scales for the fields of the Baltic Proper are mostly larger than 100 nautical miles horizontally and 40 m vertically and their dependence on the sea region or season is relatively weak. The most probable noise-to-signal ratio values of the data lie in the interval 0.6 to 1.2. The estimated correlation functions and noise-to-signal ratios allow the optimum analysis technique to assess the correctness of each datum of a sample on the background of the field statistics. The outliers of each monthly sample are excluded from the analysis. The observed fluctuations are interpolated into locations with missing data by an optimum interpolation procedure. The discrete cell-and-five-year mean values are interpolated by a different, piece-wise linear technique. Since the data number for the mean interpolation considerably exceeds the data number for the fluctuation interpolation, the interpolation errors for the mean are assumed negligible compared to the interpolation errors for the fluctuation. The sums of the mean and fluctuation, interpolated into the withheld observation points, are compared to the actually observed values and to some other linear interpolation estimates. In all test cases the optimum interpolation procedure performs the best.     

Environmental impact of packaging and food losses in a life cycle perspective: a comparative analysis of five food items

The environmental concern and development issues regarding packaging has for 20 years to a high extent been on packaging when it has become waste. To reduce the environmental impact from the whole food packaging system it is also important to develop the packaging’s ability to reduce food waste. In some cases it may be necessary to increase the environmental impact of packaging in order to reduce food waste. In this paper, the environmental impact of packaging and food losses and the balance between the two has been examined for five different food items. The results show that packaging’s that reduce food waste can be an important tool to reduce the total environmental impact, even if there is an increase in impact from the packaging itself. This is especially true for food items where the environmental impact of the food is high relative the packaging, for example cheese, and for food items with high losses, for example bread. It is important to analyse the risk of increasing food losses when packaging design changes, for example, when the aim is less packaging material, which is the main intention of the packaging and packaging waste directive of the European Union.     

Testing a post-copulatory pre-zygotic reproductive barrier in a passerine species pair

Sexual selection may drive speciation, but most research focuses on pre-copulatory sexual selection, overlooking post-copulatory processes. Post-copulatory sexual selection in allopatric populations could drive divergence in post-copulatory pre-zygotic (PCPZ) phenotypes, limiting gene flow upon secondary contact. Here, we performed in vitro experiments examining one potential PCPZ barrier between two closely related passerine species, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis). In birds, crossing in the vagina may be particularly challenging for sperm, so we tested the effect of female reproductive tract fluids on sperm swimming speed and motility. If a PCPZ barrier exists at this stage of the fertilization process, heterospecific female fluids are predicted to reduce sperm swimming speed or motility relative to conspecific female fluid. We found that house sparrow female fluids affected the two species’ sperm asymmetrically, depending on the control sperm velocity and male species. Overall, however, sperm performed equally in conspecific and heterospecific female fluids, and the species had similar sperm morphology and sperm swimming performance. Low divergence in PCPZ phenotypes between species, perhaps because post-copulatory sexual selection is stabilizing or only moderately strong in these taxa, may be insufficient to cause an overall PCPZ barrier. Reinforcement may be unlikely to drive PCPZ barriers for this species pair, because relatively effective pre-copulatory barriers exist between the species, and because hybrids can be quite successful. Testing the role of PCPZ barriers in birds with more divergent PCPZ phenotypes will improve our understanding of speciation in passerines.