Memory dynamics and foraging strategies of honeybees

Summary The foraging behavior of a single bee in a patch of four electronic flower dummies (feeders) was studied with the aim of analyzing the informational components in the choice process. In different experimental combinations of reward rates, color marks, odors and distances of the feeders, the behavior of the test bee was monitored by a computer in real time by several devices installed in each feeder. The test bee optimizes by partially matching its choice behavior to the reward rates of the feeders. The matching behavior differs strongly between stay flights (the bee chooses the feeder just visited) and shift flights (the bee chooses one of the three alternative feeders). The probability of stay and shift flights depends on the reward sequence and on the time interval between successive visits. Since functions describing the rising probability of stay flights with rising amounts of sucrose solution just experienced differ for the four feeders, it is concluded that bees develop feeder-specific memories. The choice profiles of shift flights between the three alternative feeders depend on the mean reward rate of the feeder last visited. Good matching is found after visits to the low-reward feeders and poor matching following departure from the high-reward feeders. These results indicate that bees use two different kinds of memories to guide their choice behavior: a transient short-term working memory that is not feeder-specific, and a feeder-specific long-term reference memory. Model calculations were carried out to test this hypothesis. The model was based on a learning rule (the difference rule) developed by Rescorla and Wagner (1972), which was extended to the two forms of memories to predict this operant behavior. The experiments show that a foraging honeybee learns the properties of a food source (its signals and rewards) so effectively that specific expectations guide the choice behavior. Correspondence to: R. Menzel     

Accumulation of orally administered cadmium by the eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Eels were fed on gammarids (Amphipoda: Crustacea) containing high levels of cadmium for 30 days, then the cadmium distribution in the various organs of the fish was investigated. A retention value was calculated for liver + kidney and for whole-body.     

Second german heavy-metal survey by means of mosses,and comparison of the first and second approach in germany and other european countries

This paper shows the geographic distribution in Germany of iron (Fe), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) analyzed in mosses in 1995/96 and compares it with the results of the 1990/91 pilot study within a European moss-monitoring programme. Other elements (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ti, V, Zn) are compared on basis of the overall element medians for Germany of the 1990/91 and 1995/96 survey. Samples of Pleurozium schreberi, Scleropodium purum, Hypnum cupressiforme and Hylocomium splendens were taken at a total of 1026 sites. In the 1995/96 monitoring campaign, 95% of the original sites of the 1990/91 study were resampled. The results from 1995/96 display local elevated values and many cases of areas affected by known sources of heavy-metal emissions. The industrialized and urban regions of Germany are shown up clearly by the 1995/96 moss-monitoring results: the Ruhr area, parts of Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, as well as areas in eastern Germany. Relatively low values for many elements were found in large areas of Lower Saxony and Bavaria. A comparison of the results of the 1990/91 and 1995/96 moss-monitoring programmes shows a fall in the concentration of the presented elements (except cadmium, copper and zinc) over the relevant period. Especially in the former GDR, chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), titanium (Ti) and vanadium (V) decreased significantly. This is, firstly, a reflection of the closure of and/or technological improvements to large power plants; secondly it is due to the fact that lignite has given way to other fuels. Vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni), typical constituents of crude oil, also show a decrease in the western part and thus document changes in the type of fuel consumed. The significant fall in lead concentration in 1995/96 as compared to 1990/91 in what used to be East and West Germany probably results from the increasing use of lead-free petrol. A comparison of the median values for 1990/91 and 1995/96 in mosses to the rate of emission of heavy metals in Germany for 1990 and 1995 shows similar trends in the case of elements such as arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb). The comparison of the medians of the elements analyzed for 19 European countries indicates for most of the elements a general tendency to lower values in 1995, except for Lithuania, Netherlands, Portugal, Italy and United Kingdom.     

The use of Microtox to assess toxicity removal of industrial effluents from the industrial district of Camaçari (BA, Brazil)

The treatment efficiency, as toxicity removal, of complex effluents from the Industrial District of Cama?ari (BA, Brazil), after biological treatment with activated sludge was evaluated using Microtox. Samples of the equalised effluent (EE) were collected prior to treatment together with samples of the treated effluent (TE), which remained 24 h in the treatment plant. Rehydrated colonies of Vibrio fischeri were exposed to sequential dilutions of EE and TE to assess luminosity interference. Values for EC50 were calculated, together with the respective toxicity units. In all, twenty assays of each effluent type were carried out and the mean toxicity removal was 92.71%, while the chemical oxygen demand (COD) presented mean reduction of 83.04%. There was a variability of an order of magnitude between the Microtox results for the two types of effluents. The mean EC50 values were 2.12 for EE and 47.78% for TE. In spite of its weakness in some conditions, the Microtox system demonstrated to work adequately in assessing effluent toxicity removal in this treatment plant and therefore can be used for further toxicity removal programs.     

Evaluation of food industry by-products as feed in semi-arid dairy farming systems: the case of Jordan

Dairy feeding systems in many semi-arid countries are based on imported concentrates and forages. This has economic and ecological implications given the increase in global feed prices and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land use change. This paper aims to explore alternative dairy feeding systems under semi-arid conditions, using Jordan as an example. The feedings systems under investigation vary in their share of food industry by-products (replacing concentrates in the diet) and are compared against the current concentrate-based feeding systems. The systems are evaluated against three criteria: their nutritional value, their impact on the cost of milk production, and their GHG mitigation potential. Feed samples from eleven food industry by-products and ten conventional feeds were collected from food factories and from three typical dairy farms, representing the typical large-, medium- and small-scale farm types, respectively. Feed samples were analysed for their chemical composition and metabolisable energy contents. In addition, economic and production farm data were collected and entered into a model for GHGs calculation and economic evaluation. The results suggest that inclusion of locally available food industry by-products in the rations of milk cows in semi-arid production systems can be instrumental in reducing production costs and mitigating GHG emissions. Cost of milk production in the model farms can be lowered by up to 14 %; mitigation of CO₂ eq. emission ranged between 70 and 290 g CO₂ eq./kg milk. The degree to which these benefits can be reaped is positively related to the level of inclusion of by-product feeds in lactating cows’ diets.     

Maternal UPD 20 in an infant from a pregnancy with mosaic trisomy 20

Maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) 20 was found in a 35-month-old girl, the product of a pregnancy complicated by a prenatal diagnosis of mosaic trisomy 20. Phenotypic abnormalities included pre- and postnatal growth failure, microcephaly, minor dysmorphic features and psychomotor developmental delay. Chromosomal analysis on cord blood revealed only a normal 46,XX karyotype. Microsatellite analysis of 27 chromosome 20 loci confirmed maternal UPD for all 11 informative markers. Maternal heterodisomy was detected in two and maternal isodisomy in three loci. In the remaining six loci, a non-informative maternal UPD pattern was displayed, as mother and proband are homozygous for the same allele. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of maternal disomy 20 with normal karyotype ascertained by a mosaic trisomy 20 pregnancy. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.