Pigeon navigation: Charcoal filter removes relevant information from environmental air

Summary Homing pigeons were displaced and kept until they were released in airtight containers ventilated with environmental air that could be passed through: (a) a filter made of fiberglass paper retaining large portions of the solid and liquid aerosol particles, (b) an additional filter consisting of activated charcoal, or (c) no filter (controls). Before its release, each bird was taken out of the container, and its olfactory epithelium was immediately anesthetized by lidocaine (Xylocaine). Thus, neither experimentals nor controls were able to smell while their initial orientation behavior was being observed.The controls' initial bearings were better homeward-oriented than those of pigeons ventilated with charcoal-filtered air in 14 of 17 releases conducted in Italy and Germany, at distances of 24–155 km. In the final analysis, the bearings of the charcoal-filter birds did not show any relation to the direction toward home, whereas those of the controls did. Pigeons ventilated with air that had passed through only the paper filter did not behave noticeably differently from control pigeons.It is concluded that the material bases of olfactory navigation in pigeons are substances dispersed in the atmosphere, most probably in a molecular state.     

Effects of Amazonian flying rivers on frog biodiversity and populations in the Atlantic rainforest

Given the speed at which humans are changing the climate, species with high degrees of endemism may not have time to avoid extinction through adaptation. We investigated through teleconnection analysis the origin of rainfall that determines the phylogenetic diversity of rainforest frogs and the effects of microclimate differences in shaping the morphological traits of isolated populations (which contribute to greater phylogenetic diversity and speciation). We also investigated through teleconnection analysis how deforestation in Amazonia can affect ecosystem services that are fundamental to maintaining the climate of the Atlantic rainforest biodiversity hotspot. Seasonal winds known as flying rivers carry water vapor from Amazonia to the Atlantic Forest, and the breaking of this ecosystem service could lead Atlantic Forest species to population decline and extinction in the short term. Our results suggest that the selection of morphological traits that shape Atlantic Forest frog diversity and their population dynamics are influenced by the Amazonian flying rivers. Our results also suggest that the increases of temperature anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean due to global warming and in the Amazon forest due to deforestation are already breaking this cycle and threaten the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest hotspot.     

Predator–prey models: an application for the plankton dynamics of lake Geneva

In this paper we present a hierarchical Bayesian analysis for a predator–prey model applied to ecology considering the use of Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. We consider the introduction of a random effect in the model and the presence of a covariate vector. An application to ecology is considered using a data set related to the plankton dynamics of lake Geneva for the year 1990. We also discuss some aspects of discrimination of the proposed models.     

Causes of change in nitrophytic and oligotrophic lichen species in a Mediterranean climate: impact of land cover and atmospheric pollutants

With the aim of determining the main drivers of changes in nitrophytic and oligotrophic macro-lichen communities in an industrial region with a Mediterranean climate, we considered both land-cover types and atmospheric pollutants. We determined the relation between the abundance of nitrophytic and oligotrophic species with environmental factors considering the distance of influence of land-cover types. The results showed that oligotrophic species decreased in the proximity of artificial areas, barren land and agricultural areas, associated with higher concentrations of NO₂ and Zn, and Ti, probably dust of industrial and agricultural origin. Nitrophytic species were positively related to all the mentioned land-cover types, and with higher concentrations of Fe and N. Magnesium, probably from ocean aerosols, was negatively related to oligotrophic species and positively to nitrophytic.     

Effect of vegetation type on throughfall deposition and seepage flux

This paper compares different vegetation types (coniferous and deciduous forest, grassed and pure heathland) in terms of input (throughfall deposition) and output (seepage flux) in a region with intermediate nitrogen load (+/-20kg Nha(-1)y(-1) via bulk precipitation) in comparable conditions in north Belgium. Coniferous forest (two plots Pinus sylvestris and two plots Pinus nigra) received significantly higher nitrogen and sulphur throughfall deposition than deciduous forest and heathland. Grassed and pure heathland had significantly highest throughfall quantities of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+), respectively. The observed differences in throughfall deposition between the different vegetation types were not univocally reflected in the ion seepage flux. Considerable seepage fluxes of NO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), Ca(2+) and Al(III) were only found under the P. nigra plots. We discuss our hypothesis that the P. nigra forests already evolved to a situation of N saturation, while the other vegetation types did not.     

库里提巴市的可持续性与规划程序

可持续性是一个关于人与自然或社会与环境平衡的概念。根据自身历史、地理或社会文化背景的不同,每个人或社会对这一概念的理解也不相同。虽然在理论上缺乏一致性,但是可持续发展概念一直存在于社会的自然与人为空间适应和变化过程中,以及以生存和发展为目的的生产过程中。当涉及到城市或城市空间时,这些过程反映了一个社会认可、支配和确定保证满足基本需求范围的方式,同时确保城市随着时间的发展而生存下来。     

The role of private rural properties for conserving native vegetation in Brazilian Southern Amazonia

Regional Environmental Change - The State of Mato Grosso in Brazil has undergone intensive land use changes over the past decades. Native ecosystems have been converted into agrosystems for the...     

Forest Management Patterns in the Floodplain of the Amazon Estuary

In the Amazon basin, few studies have focused on environmentally sound land-use alternatives that are linked to markets. This paper analyzes land uses carried out by traditional inhabitants ( ribeirinhos ) on three islands in the Amazon estuary. Management of the native floodplain forest is the most extensive form of land use on these islands. Such management varies in response to local economic and ecological conditions but invariably targets key nontimber forest resources destined for local markets, requires minimal input of labor and capital, and maintains a considerable stock of biotic resources. While restricted to a specific forest type, this form of land use is associated with relatively high population densities and, if supported by appropriate development policies, could provide an environmentally sound land-use alternative for hundreds of thousands of rural inhabitants of Amazonia.