During gestation, essential and non-essential trace elements are transferred from the pregnant females to embryos. This study aimed to determine and compare the concentrations of seven essential trace elements (Fe, Zn, Se, Cu, Mn, Cr, Co) and six non-essential trace elements (As, Cd, V, U, Tl, Ag) in the muscle and the liver of a Munk’s pygmy devil ray pregnant female, Mobula munkiana, and its embryo. Transfer evidence of essential and non-essential trace elements was detected in M. munkiana tissues. Arsenic was found in elevated concentrations in the pregnant female and the embryo tissues. Elevated levels of Cd, V, U, and Ag were found in the pregnant female liver, but were minimal in the embryo tissue. This is the first study to investigate maternal transfer of essential and non-essential trace elements in these species and their reproductive strategy.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Activated carbon prepared from grape branches was used as a remarkable adsorbent to uptake naproxen and treat a synthetic mixture from aqueous... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites of filamentous fungi; they are common contaminants in numerous foods and beverages. Cyclodextrins are ring-shaped... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cadmium (Cd) is known for its many toxic effects on male population such as hypogonadism and fertility difficulties, which are oftenly associated with... 相似文献
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper discussed the possibility of replacing the internal combustion engine of the series plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powered by... 相似文献
Environmental Modeling & Assessment - Evapotranspiration (ET) plays an important role in agricultural water management and crop modeling. The highest mean annual ET values (889–1016 mm)... 相似文献
Temporally variable production of seed crops by perennial plants (masting) has been hypothesized to be a valuable mechanism in the reduction of seed predation by satiating and starving seed consumers. To achieve these benefits, coexisting species subjected to the same predator would benefit from a similar pattern of seeding fluctuation over time that could lead to a reduction in predation at the within-species level. We tested for the existence of an environmental factor enforcing synchrony in acorn production in two sympatric Mediterranean oaks (Quercus ilex and Q. humilis) and the consequences on within-species and between-species acorn predation, by monitoring 15 mixed forests (450 trees) over seven years. Acorn production in Q. ilex and Q. humilis was highly variable among years, with high population variability (CVp) values. The two species exhibited a very different pattern across years in their initial acorn crop size (sum of aborted, depredated, and sound acorns). Nevertheless, interannual differences in summer water stress modified the likelihood of abortion during acorn ripening and enforced within- and, particularly, between-species synchrony and population variability in acorn production. The increase in CVp from initial to mature acorn crop (after summer) accounted for 33% in Q. ilex, 59% in Q. humilis, and 60% in the two species together. Mean yearly acorn pre-dispersal predation by invertebrates was considerably higher in Q. humilis than in Q. ilex. Satiation and starvation of predators was recorded for the two oaks, and this effect was increased by the year-to-year variability in the size of the acorn crop of the two species combined. Moreover, at a longer time scale (over seven years), we observed a significant reduction in the mean proportion of acorns depredated for each oak and the variability in both species' acorn production combined. Therefore, our results demonstrate that similar patterns of seeding fluctuation over time in coexisting species mediated by an environmental cue (summer drought) may contribute to the reduction of the impact of seed predation at a within-species level. Future research should be aimed at addressing whether this process could be a factor assisting in the coexistence of Q. ilex and Q. humilis. 相似文献
Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT; Thunnus thynnus) is a migrating species straddling the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is assumed that this species is divided
into a western and an eastern stock, which spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, respectively. To learn more
about the reproductive behavior of the eastern BFT stock, we tracked gonadal development in adult fish that were sampled between
April and July during three consecutive years (2003–2005). Sampling campaigns were carried out using common fishing methods
at selected locations within the Mediterranean Sea, namely Levantine Sea, Malta, and Balearic Islands. An additional sampling
point, Barbate, was situated northwest of the Straits of Gibraltar along the Atlantic coast. Morphometric parameters such
as the total body mass (MB) and the weights of the gonads (MG) were recorded, and the respective gonadosomatic index (GSI) values were calculated. The data collected revealed two important
trends: (1) GSI values are higher in fish caught in the eastern rather than the western locations across the Mediterranean
Sea, and (2) the GSI reaches maximum values between late May and early June in Levantine Sea (eastern Mediterranean Sea),
and only 2 and 4 weeks later in the central (Malta) and western (Balearic Islands) locations, respectively. The advanced gonadal
development in BFT correlates well with higher sea surface temperatures. Our findings also distinguish the northern Levantine
Sea BFT population (mean MB 78.41 ± 4.13 kg), and the Barbate BFT population with the greatest MB (all fish sampled > 100 kg). These data reflect a situation in which the eastern Mediterranean basin may function as a habitat
for young BFT, until they gain a larger MB and are able to move to the Atlantic Ocean. However, the existence of genetically discrete BFT populations in the Mediterranean
Sea cannot be ruled out. 相似文献
Limited empirical studies have elucidated the daily egg production and associated reproductive processes of egg bearing copepod. Herein, we present an individual-based model which constitutes a realistic representation of the reproduction in egg bearing copepods. The model has been parameterized using an extensive set of experimental data obtained from the literature and from the laboratory and field experiments on the estuarine copepod Eurytemora affinis. The proposed model takes into account the adult female longevity, the clutch size and interclutch duration, which is a function of egg maturation time and latency time required by the female after egg hatching to produce a new clutch. The embryonic development time and hatching success are also taken into account. The effect of temperature on the means and variances of above-mentioned reproductive parameters has been also incorporated. A multi agent system based generic platform “Mobidyc” has been used to generate and calibrate the model. The model demonstrates the reproductive parameters of females of E. affinis which is validated through individual based experiments. Temperature specific simulations provide a dynamical explanation of temperature effect on the cumulative egg production. The daily survival principally affects the number of clutches produced per female during its life span. The results obtained in the present study by combining temperature and survival effects reveal the relatively greater importance of the first factor on the daily egg production of egg-carrying copepods. The present model is generic and hence easily applicable to other animals with comparable reproductive strategy. 相似文献
Size advantage in male–male competition over mates, combined with male preference over large females, is a common feature
that can drive to size assortative mating and, eventually, sexual selection. In crabs, appendage autotomy can affect assortative
mating and opportunity for sexual selection by affecting size advantage in mating contests. In this work, we evaluate the
effect of size and appendage autotomy in generating assortative mating in the mud crab Cyrtograpsus angulatus. Field observations of guarding pairs in two different populations show a positive correlation between carapace width of
males and females in both the populations. In one of the populations, incidence of appendage autotomy was low and the variability
in the size of reproductive males was lower than the variability in the size of randomly collected males (i.e. only larger
males were successful in getting a female), whereas there was no differences in the other population (i.e. most male sizes
were successful) where the incidence of appendage autotomy was very high, indicating that the importance of size is higher
when the incidence of autotomy is low. In this context, experiments (in both populations) show that, in contests for a female,
larger males outcompete smaller ones only when they had intact appendages. When males had missing chelipeds, winning or loosing
against smaller males was random. This may lead to a decrease in the importance of male size in populations with high incidence
of cheliped autotomy, affecting assortative mating and opportunity for selection and, thus, affecting selective pressures. 相似文献