Uncommon diversity in developmental mode and larval form in the genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrophiothrix</Emphasis> (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea)

Development mode in the ophiuroid genus Macrophiothrix includes an unusual diversity of planktonic larval forms and feeding types. The modes of development for seven congeners that coexist in coral reef habitats at Lizard Island, Australia were compared using larvae generated from crosses over several reproductive seasons from 1999 to 2003. Three species (Macrophiothrix koehleri Clark, Macrophiothrix longipeda Lamarck, Macrophiothrix lorioli Clark) develop from small eggs (<170 μm) into typical obligately feeding planktonic (planktotrophic) pluteus larvae with four larval arm pairs. The remaining four species develop from larger eggs (≥230 μm) into either facultatively-feeding or non-feeding (lecithotrophic) larval forms. The facultative planktotroph (Macrophiothrix rhabdota Clark) retains the ability to digest and benefit from food but does not require particulate food to complete metamorphosis. Among the lecithotrophic species, Macrophiothrix caenosa Hoggett retains the pluteus morphology with four pairs of larval arms, but is incapable of feeding, depending instead on maternal provisions for larval development. The remaining two lecithotrophs have simplified larval morphologies with only a single pair of full length (Macrophiothrix nereidina Lamarck) or highly reduced (Macrophiothrix belli Doderlein) larval arms and no functional mouth or gut. This genus includes the first example of facultative planktotrophy in ophiuroids, the first example in echinoderms of a complete pluteus morphology retained by a lecithotrophic larva, and three degrees of morphological simplification among lecithotrophic larval forms. Egg volume varies 20-fold among species and is related to variation in feeding mode, larval form, and development time, as predicted for the transition from planktotrophic to lecithotrophic development.     

Hot-blooded singers: endothermy facilitates crepuscular signaling in African platypleurine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae:<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Platypleura</Emphasis> spp.)

The cicada genus Platypleura has a wide distribution across Africa and southern Asia. We describe endothermic thermoregulation in four South African species that show crepuscular signaling behavior. This is the first evidence of thermoregulation in platypleurine cicadas. Field measurements of body temperature ( T _b) show that these animals regulate T _b through endogenous heat production. Maximum T _b measured was 22.1°C above ambient temperature during calling activity at dusk. The mean T _b during dusk activity did not differ from the mean T _b during diurnal activity. A unique behavior for cicadas, a temperature-dependent telescoping pulsation of the abdomen, was observed in the laboratory during endogenous warm-up. This behavior is part of a unique method of heat generation in endothermic cicadas. Males generally call from trunks and branches within the canopy and appear to use endothermy even when the sun is available to elevate T _b. Endothermy may provide the cicadas with the advantage of decreasing predation and acoustic competition by permitting calling from perches that most complement their cryptic coloration patterns and that ectotherms cannot use due to thermal constraints. In addition, endothermy may permit calling activity during crepuscular hours when atmospheric conditions are optimal for acoustic communication and predation risks are minimal.     

Urea Fluctuations in Stream Baseflow across Land Cover Gradients and Seasons in a Coastal Plain River System

Urea‐N is a component of bioavailable dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) that contributes to coastal eutrophication. In this study, we assessed urea‐N in baseflow across land cover gradients and seasons in the Manokin River Basin on the Delmarva Peninsula. From March 2010 to June 2011, we conducted monthly sampling of 11 streams (4 tidal and 7 nontidal), 2 wastewater treatment plants, an agricultural drainage ditch, and groundwater underlying a cropped field. At each site, we measured urea‐N, DON, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), NO₃^?‐N, and NH₄⁺‐N. In general, urea‐N comprised between 1% and 6% of TDN, with the highest urea‐N levels in drainage ditches (0.054 mg N/L) and wetland‐dominated streams (0.035–0.045 mg N/L). While urea‐N did not vary seasonally in tidal rivers, nontidal streams saw distinct urea‐N peaks in summer (0.038 mg N/L) that occurred several months after cropland fertilization in spring. Notably, the proportion of wetlands explained 78% of the variance in baseflow urea‐N levels across the Manokin watershed. In wetland‐dominated basins, we found urea‐N was positively related to water temperature and negatively related to DOC:DON ratios, indicating short‐term urea‐N dynamics at baseflow were more likely influenced by instream and wetland‐driven processes than by recent agricultural urea‐N inputs. Findings demonstrate important controls of wetlands on baseflow urea‐N concentrations in mixed land‐use basins.     

Representing the Connectivity of Upland Areas to Floodplains and Streams in SWAT+

In recent years, watershed modelers have put increasing emphasis on capturing the interaction of landscape hydrologic processes instead of focusing on streamflow at the watershed outlet alone. Understanding the hydrologic connectivity between landscape elements is important to explain the hydrologic response of a watershed to rainfall events. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool+ (SWAT+) is a new version of SWAT with improved runoff routing capabilities. Subbasins may be divided into landscape units (LSUs), e.g., upland areas and floodplains, and flow can be routed between these LSUs. We ran three scenarios representing different extents of connectivity between uplands, floodplains, and streams. In the first and second scenarios, the ratio of channelized flow from the upland to the stream and sheet flow from the upland to the floodplain was 70/30 and 30/70, respectively, for all upland/floodplain pairs. In the third scenario, the ratio was calculated for each upland/floodplain pair based on the upland/floodplain area ratio. Results indicate differences in streamflow were small, but the relative importance of flow components and upland areas and floodplains as sources of surface runoff changed. Also, the soil moisture in the floodplains was impacted. The third scenario was found to provide more realistic results than the other two. A realistic representation of connectivity in watershed models has important implications for the identification of pollution sources and sinks.     

Long‐term mercury accumulation in the presence of cadmium and lead in oseochromis aureus (Steindachner)

Abstract

The effects of cadmium and lead on chronic mercury accumulation were investigated in O. aureus. After 140 days’ exposure the accumulation of mercury in the liver, brain, gill filaments, intestine, caudal muscle, spleen, trunk kidney and eye was analysed. The exposure concentrations were 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 mg/L for mercury alone. O. aureus was also exposed to mixtures of 0.05 mg/L mercury with lead (0.05 mg/L and 0.50 mg/L or cadmium (0.05 mg/L) and 0.10 mg/L mercury with 0.10 mg/L cadmium. In food fish, a knowledge of toxic metal accumulation patterns is of great importance because of their contribution to the human diet and, as fishmeal, to the diet of agricultural animals. The trunk kidney consistently accumulated higher concentrations of mercury than any of the other tissues investigated.     

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Ozone Exposure in Forested Areas of the United States and Canada: 1978—1988

Ambient O₃ exposures have reduced growth rates of tree genotypes in some areas of the United States. For characterizing O₃ exposures in forested areas, data from primarily population-oriented sites have been used. It has been speculated that exposures calculated from population-oriented sites provide estimates greater than those that would actually be experienced in the majority of forested areas. Accordingly, we compared 1988 O₃ data from three remote forested sites with data from several population-oriented monitoring sites in and around the mid? and southern Appalachian Mountains. The number of hours ≥0.08 ppm was lower at the remote forested sites than at the nearby population-oriented locations. In addition, we characterized the temporal variability of O₃ exposures in forested regions of the United States and Canada for the period 1978-1988. We found that the years of highest O₃ exposure in the eastern United States during 1978-1988 were 1978, 1980, 1983, and 1988, with 1988 being the worst year in four of seven eastern forest regions. In 1988, the Whiteface Mountain summit site (1483 m) experienced approximately 10 percent more hourly average concentrations ≥0.08 ppm than in the second highest O₃ exposure year (i.e., 1979). Consistently throughout the 11-year period, the highest O₃ exposures at the Whiteface Mountain site occurred during the late evening and early morning hours, with the result that the longterm 7-h (0900-1559h) exposure index could not distinguish those years in which the highest exposures occurred from those in which the lowest occurred. Similar to the Whiteface Mountain site, two high-elevation Shenandoah National Park sites experienced their highest O₃ exposures in 1988. With the exception of 1986, the lower elevation site (Dickey Ridge) consistently experienced more frequent occurrences of hourly average concentrations ≥0.08 ppm than the higher elevation site (Big Meadows).     

Simulating PM concentration during a winter episode in a subtropical valley: Sensitivity simulations and evaluation methods

We investigated a two-week episode with high PM concentrations in California Central Valley during the Christmas–New Year of 2000–2001 using a modeling system that consists of a computationally efficient, 3-D photochemical–microphysical transport model, a mesoscale meteorological model, emission models, and an evaluation package. One hundred simulations were conducted with fine resolutions and observational constraints, to reproduce spatial and temporal features of observed PM concentrations and to understand the formation mechanism of the episode. Simulated PM concentrations consist of secondary inorganic components, mainly ammonium nitrate, and total carbon in areas with elevated concentrations in the accumulation mode, and consist of mainly dust and sea salt in the coarse mode. Simulated oxidants and nitrate were significantly elevated over the valley, and the latter showed much less amplitude than the former. Simulated PM concentrations were evaluated with observations systematically with spatially and temporally paired method, a more restrictive multivariate method (NMFROC), and a more flexible “gradient evaluation” method. The paired evaluation shows that high correlation coefficient (R = ～0.8) and low fractional error (FE = ～0.1) could be achieved at stations with elevated 24-h concentration of PM in the accumulation mode in some simulations. The NMFROC method was used to extract useful information from seemingly failed simulations. A “gradient evaluation” method is introduced here to extract additional information from simulations. We found that emission reductions of NO_x and AVOC showed similar effects on percentage basis in different areas, and both are more effective than reducing NH₃ for abating elevated concentrations of accumulation mode PM in California Central Valley during the winter episode.