Occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in surface microlayer and subsurface seawater of Lagos Lagoon,Nigeria

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface microlayer (SML) and subsurface water (SSW) of Lagos Lagoon were investigated using gas chromatography-electron capture detector (GC-ECD) technique to ascertain their occurrence and spatial distribution, origin, enrichment, and carcinogenicity. Total PAH (ΣPAH) concentrations ranged from 9.10 to 16.20 μg L^?1 in the SML and 8.90 to 13.30 μg L^?1 in the SSW. ΣPAH concentrations were relatively higher in the SML than the underlying SSW samples. The enrichment factors (EFs) of ΣPAHs ranged from 0.76 to 1.74 while the EFs of the individual PAHs varied from 0.50 to 2.09. In general, the EFs values calculated in this study were consistent or slightly less than the EFs reported for similar coastal seawater ecosystems. A correlation between the EFs of fluoranthene and pyrene indicated a positive significant value (R?=?0.9828, p?<?0.0001, n?=?6). Source analyses using the phenanthrene/anthracene and fluoranthene/pyrene ratios indicated the dominance of petrogenic-derived PAHs. Furthermore, enhanced concentrations of BaP (strong carcinogenicity) in SML and SSW samples, which resulted in higher EFs, could pose serious ecological and human health risks.     

The Asiatic clam,Corbicula spp., as a biological monitor in freshwater environments

Asiatic clams, Corbicula spp., are filter-feeding freshwater bivalves that are widely distributed, abundant, and fast growing with a lifespan of 1–3 yrs. A review of the existing literature demonstrates that Asiatic clams can concentrate organic pollutants from both water and sediment and heavy metals from water. In conjunction with these traits, they exhibit a high tolerance for the effects resulting from exposure to toxic substances. While an organism must possess these traits to serve as an effective biological monitor, they have also permitted the Asiatic clam to rapidly colonize natural and industrial environments resulting in purported ecological disturbances and severe economic repurcussions, respectively. Its invasive biofouling attributes therefore restrict the use of Asiatic clams for biomonitoring purposes from Corbicula-free drainage systems.     

Metal speciation in landfill leachates with a focus on the influence of organic matter

This study characterises the heavy-metal content in leachates collected from eight landfills in France. In order to identify heavy metal occurrence in the different size fractions of leachates, a cascade filtration protocol was applied directly in the field, under a nitrogen gas atmosphere to avoid metal oxidation. The results of analyses performed on the leachates suggest that most of the metals are concentrated in the <30 kDa fraction, while lead, copper and cadmium show an association with larger particles. Initial speciation calculations, without considering metal association with organic matter, suggest that leachate concentrations in lead, copper, nickel and zinc are super-saturated with respect to sulphur phases. Speciation calculations that account for metal complexation with organic matter, considered as fulvic acids based on C1(s) NEXAFS spectroscopy, show that this mechanism is not sufficient to explain such deviation from equilibrium conditions. It is therefore hypothesized that the deviation results also from the influence of biological activity on the kinetics of mineral phase precipitation and dissolution, thus providing a dynamic system. The results of chemical analyses of sampled fluids are compared with speciation calculations and some implications for the assessment of metal mobility and natural attenuation in a context of landfill risk assessment are discussed.     

Decision making in ant foragers (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lasius niger</Emphasis>) facing conflicting private and social information

Foragers of many ant species use pheromone trails to guide nestmates to food sources. During foraging, individual workers can also learn the route to a food source. Foragers of the mass-recruiting ant Lasius niger use both pheromone trails and memory to locate a food source. As a result, an experienced forager can have a conflict between social information (trail pheromones) and private information (route memory) at trail bifurcations. We tested decision making in L. niger foragers facing such an informational conflict in situations where both the strength of the pheromone trail and the number of previous visits to the food source varied. Foragers quickly learned the branch at a T bifurcation that leads to a food source, with 74.6% choosing correctly after one previous visit and 95.3% after three visits. Pheromone trails had a weaker effect on choice behaviour of naïve ants, with only 61.6% and 70.2% choosing the branch that had been marked by one or 20 foragers versus an unmarked branch. When there was a conflict between private and social information, memory overrides pheromone after just one previous visit to a food source. Most ants, 82–100%, chose the branch where they had collected food during previous foraging trips, with the proportion depending on the number of previous trips (1 v. 3) but not on the strength of the pheromone trail (1 v. 20). In addition, the presence of a pheromone trail at one branch in a bifurcation had no effect on the time it took an experienced ant to choose the correct branch (the branch without pheromone). These results suggest that private information (navigational memory) dominates over social information (chemical tail) in orientation decisions during foraging activities in experienced L. niger foragers.     

Co-occurrence of three types of egg policing in the Norwegian wasp <Emphasis Type=Italic>Dolichovespula norwegica</Emphasis>

In insect societies, workers often try to challenge the reproductive monopoly of the queen by laying their own eggs. Successful worker reproduction, however, is frequently prevented by queen policing or worker policing, whereby either the mother queen or non-reproductive workers selectively kill worker-laid eggs. Recently, a third mechanism—“selfish” worker policing—has also been described in which the workers selectively police worker-laid eggs but also lay eggs themselves. Here, we present results from the monogynous wasp Dolichovespula norwegica, which show that all three kinds of policing—queen policing, worker policing and “selfish” worker policing—co-occur. The net effect of these three kinds of policing collectively favoured the queen’s reproduction, as within 1 day 44% of the worker-laid eggs versus only 8% of the queen-laid eggs were eaten. Of the worker-laid eggs that were killed by workers, approximately two thirds were eaten by the reproductive workers even though these made up only a small proportion, 8%, of the work force. This means that policing workers obtained both direct fitness benefits as well as indirect (inclusive) fitness. In addition, we show that worker policing was carried out by a limited, specialised set of workers that was estimated to constitute approximately one quarter of the whole colony and of which 66% were non-reproductive.     

Fish predation selects for reduced foraging activity

Despite the importance of foraging activity for the growth/predation risk trade-off, studies that demonstrated predator-induced survival selection on foraging activity under semi-natural conditions are relatively rare. Here, we tested for fish-induced selection for reduced foraging activity in two larval Enallagma damselflies using a field enclosure experiment. Fish imposed considerable mortality in both damselfly species and survival selection on foraging activity could be detected in Enallagma geminatum. We did not detect selection in Enallagma hageni, probably because this species already was not eating very much in the absence of fish compared to E. geminatum. Both species responded strongly to the presence of predators by reducing their foraging activity. The documented survival selection on foraging activity was detected despite the already low activity levels in fish lake prey species and despite strong predator-induced plasticity in this trait.     

手性农药丁氟螨酯对斑马鱼胚胎的选择性发育毒性

近年来丁氟螨酯（CYF）对非靶标生物的发育毒性已成为一个值得关注的问题,但其对水生生物的对映选择性效应尚不清晰.为评估丁氟螨酯对斑马鱼胚胎的对映选择性毒性,通过96 h的暴露试验,研究了梯度浓度的丁氟螨酯消旋体及对映体对斑马鱼胚胎的急性毒性.此外,试验还研究了丁氟螨酯对斑马鱼胚胎孵化率、卵黄囊水肿、心包囊水肿和身体弯曲的影响.根据急性毒性结果可知,毒性大小为S-CYF > Rac-CYF > R-CYF,其中S-CYF的毒性是R-CYF的2.3倍.72 hpf,500 mg·L^-1的S-CYF可显著诱导胚胎产生卵黄囊水肿（YSE）、体轴弯曲（CB）等畸形效应（p<0.05）,而Rac-CYF降低了斑马鱼胚胎的孵化成功率.在本研究中发育毒性效应结果与急性毒性结果一致,均为S-CYF > Rac-CYF > R-CYF,表明丁氟螨酯对斑马鱼胚胎存在显著的对映选择性发育毒性,研究结果为丁氟螨酯的环境风险评估提供了理论依据.