Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in the United Kingdom environment: a preliminary source inventory and budget

This paper presents the first attempt to quantify the production, cycling, storage and loss of PAHs in the UK environment. Over 53 000 tonnes of sigmaPAHs (sum of 12 individual compounds) are estimated to reside in the contemporary UK environment, with soil being the major repository. If soils at contaminated sites are included, this estimate increases dramatically. Emission of PAHs to the UK atmosphere from primary combustion sources are estimated to be greater than 1000 tonnes sigmaPAHs per annum, with over 95% coming from domestic coal combustion, unregulated fires and vehicle emissions. It is estimated that approximately 210 tonnes of sigmaPAH are delivered to terrestrial surfaces each year via atmospheric deposition. Therefore, inputs of PAHs to the UK atmosphere outweigh the outputs by a factor of over 4. This may be explained by enhanced particulate deposition near point sources, PAH degradation in the atmosphere and transport away from the UK with prevailing winds. Disposal of waste residues is estimated to contribute a further 1000 tonnes of sigmaPAH per year to the terrestrial environment. It is illustrated that the use of creosote has the potential to release considerable quantities of PAHs to the UK environment. Temporal trends in PAH cycling are then considered. There is good evidence to suggest that air concentrations and fluxes to the UK surface are now lower than at any time throughout this century. Nonetheless, the UK sigmaPAH burden is still increasing at the present time, principally through retention by soils. However, there are marked differences in the behaviour of individual compounds: there is evidence, for example, that phenanthrene concentrations in soils have declined since the 1960s, although soil concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene and other heavier PAHs have continued to increase through this century. Volatilisation of low molecular weight PAHs accumulated in soils over previous decades may be making an important contribution to the current atmospheric burden. The major uncertainties identified by data on this budget are: (1) the lack of PAH concentrations in some environmental matrices; (2) the possible importance of contaminated soils as a major repository and source of PAHs; (3) the lack of emission data (especially vapour phase releases) for some PAH sources; (4) the importance of biodegradation and volatilisation as loss mechanisms for low molecular weight PAHs in soils; and (5) the importance of creosote use in the PAH cycle.     

Modelling the fate of persistent organic pollutants in Europe: parameterisation of a gridded distribution model

A regionally segmented multimedia fate model for the European continent is described together with an illustrative steady-state case study examining the fate of gamma-HCH (lindane) based on 1998 emission data. The study builds on the regionally segmented BETR North America model structure and describes the regional segmentation and parameterisation for Europe. The European continent is described by a 5 degrees x5 degrees grid, leading to 50 regions together with four perimetric boxes representing regions buffering the European environment. Each zone comprises seven compartments including; upper and lower atmosphere, soil, vegetation, fresh water and sediment and coastal water. Inter-regions flows of air and water are described, exploiting information originating from GIS databases and other georeferenced data. The model is primarily designed to describe the fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) within the European environment by examining chemical partitioning and degradation in each region, and inter-region transport either under steady-state conditions or fully dynamically. A test case scenario is presented which examines the fate of estimated spatially resolved atmospheric emissions of lindane throughout Europe within the lower atmosphere and surface soil compartments. In accordance with the predominant wind direction in Europe, the model predicts high concentrations close to the major sources as well as towards Central and Northeast regions. Elevated soil concentrations in Scandinavian soils provide further evidence of the potential of increased scavenging by forests and subsequent accumulation by organic-rich terrestrial surfaces. Initial model predictions have revealed a factor of 5-10 underestimation of lindane concentrations in the atmosphere. This is explained by an underestimation of source strength and/or an underestimation of European background levels. The model presented can further be used to predict deposition fluxes and chemical inventories, and it can also be adapted to provide characteristic travel distances and overall environmental persistence, which can be compared with other long-range transport prediction methods.     

Role of iron chemistry in controlling the release of pollutants from resuspended sediments

Aquatic sediments often contain a large number of chemical contaminants that are potential pollutants. It is often presumed that such contaminants are released to the water column during sediment resuspension and, in there, adversely impact aquatic life and other beneficial uses of the water. However, extensive laboratory and field studies of about 100 contaminated sediments from across the United States that specifically addressed this type of release showed that of about 30 common heavy metals, organic compounds, and other potential pollutants, only manganese II and ammonia were released to then remain in the water column after sediment resuspension. These results indicated that the chemistry of aqueous iron controls the availability of many contaminants in resuspended sediment. The formation of ferric hydroxide during sediment suspension into the water column, as a result of the reaction between ferrous iron in the sediments and dissolved oxygen in the water column, leads to rapid scavenging of many contaminants in the Fe(OH)₃ precipitate. The scavenged contaminants are redeposited in the sediments. This article reviews the role of the aqueous chemistry of iron as it relates to controlling the release of potential pollutants from resuspended sediments. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The effect of perceived female parasite load on post-copulatory male choice in a sex-role-reversed pipefish

The last several decades of research in behavioral ecology have resulted in a deeper appreciation of post-mating processes and sexual conflict in sexual selection. One of the most controversial aspects of sexual selection is cryptic mate choice. Here, we take advantage of male pregnancy in a sex-role-reversed pipefish (Syngnathus typhle) to quantify cryptic choice based on perceived parasite load and other sources of variance in female fitness. Studies have shown that S. typhle males preferentially mate with females with lower parasite loads and that a male’s perception of female parasite load can be altered by tattooing females. We manipulated the apparent parasite load of females in controlled mating experiments to test the hypothesis that post-copulatory sexual selection is dependent on a male’s perception of female parasite load in pipefish. Our results provided no evidence for cryptic male choice based on perceived female parasite load. However, we found evidence that eggs from larger females were more likely to result in viable offspring than eggs from smaller females and that the first female to mate with a male transferred more eggs per copulation on average. Overall, our results show that potential for post-copulatory sexual selection does exist in pipefish, but the male’s perception of female parasite load does not play a major role in this process.     

Adaptations in a hierarchical food web of southeastern Lake Michigan

Two issues in ecological network theory are: (1) how to construct an ecological network model and (2) how do entire networks (as opposed to individual species) adapt to changing conditions? We present a novel method for constructing an ecological network model for the food web of southeastern Lake Michigan (USA) and we identify changes in key system properties that are large relative to their uncertainty as this ecological network adapts from one time point to a second time point in response to multiple perturbations. To construct our food web for southeastern Lake Michigan, we followed the list of seven recommendations outlined in Cohen et al. [Cohen, J.E., et al., 1993. Improving food webs. Ecology 74, 252–258] for improving food webs. We explored two inter-related extensions of hierarchical system theory with our food web; the first one was that subsystems react to perturbations independently in the short-term and the second one was that a system's properties change at a slower rate than its subsystems’ properties. We used Shannon's equations to provide quantitative versions of the basic food web properties: number of prey, number of predators, number of feeding links, and connectance (or density). We then compared these properties between the two time-periods by developing distributions of each property for each time period that took uncertainty about the property into account. We compared these distributions, and concluded that non-overlapping distributions indicated changes in these properties that were large relative to their uncertainty. Two subsystems were identified within our food web system structure (p < 0.001). One subsystem had more non-overlapping distributions in food web properties between Time 1 and Time 2 than the other subsystem. The overall system had all overlapping distributions in food web properties between Time 1 and Time 2. These results supported both extensions of hierarchical systems theory. Interestingly, the subsystem with more non-overlapping distributions in food web properties was the subsystem that contained primarily benthic taxa, contrary to expectations that the identified major perturbations (lower phosphorous inputs and invasive species) would more greatly affect the subsystem containing primarily pelagic taxa. Future food-web research should employ rigorous statistical analysis and incorporate uncertainty in food web properties for a better understanding of how ecological networks adapt.     

A female preference for experienced males in the almond moth, Cadra cautella

Male mating status can affect female reproductive output if male ejaculate investment declines over consecutive matings. Accordingly, females are predicted to mate preferentially with virgin males. In mildly polyandrous lepidopterans, female fitness is less affected by reduced male investment than in more polyandrous species, and so the predictions for female mating preferences are less clear. We examined female mating preferences in the mildly polyandrous almond moth, Cadra cautella, in which ejaculate size does not affect female reproductive output. First, we allowed females to mate with virgin or once-mated males, in which the males were presented individually or simultaneously. We recorded the latency to mating and, in the case of the simultaneously presented trials, the identity of the successful, copulating male. We found that females mated more frequently with mated males (when simultaneously presented with both males), yet females did not differ in the time taken to initiate copulation with any male. We further examined if this mated male advantage was due to differential mate detection or locomotory behaviour of the male treatments. We tested the ability of virgin and mated males to locate a receptive female within a wind tunnel using long-distance pheromone cues and recorded their activity budget. We found no difference in the ability of mated or virgin males to locate or approach a receptive female, or in their activity levels. These data suggest a female preference for mated males in this species, a preference that may minimise other potential costs of mating.     

Compositional stability and diversity of vascular plant communities following logging disturbance in Appalachian forests

Human-caused changes in disturbance regimes and introductions of nonnative species have the potential to result in widespread, directional changes in forest community structure. The degree that plant community composition persists or changes following disturbances depends on the balance between local extirpation and colonization by new species, including nonnatives. In this study, we examined species losses and gains, and entry of native vs. exotic species to determine how oak forests in the Appalachian Mountains might shift in species composition following a gradient of pulse disturbances (timber harvesting). We asked (1) how compositional stability of the plant community (resistance and resilience) was influenced by disturbance intensity, (2) whether community responses were driven by extirpation or colonization of species, and (3) how disturbance intensity influenced total and functional group diversity, including the nonnative proportion of the flora through time. We collected data at three spatial scales and three times, including just before, one year post-disturbance, and 10 years post-disturbance. Resistance was estimated using community distance measures between pre- and one year post-disturbance, and resilience using community distance between pre- and 10-year post-disturbance conditions. The number of colonizing and extirpated species between sampling times was analyzed for all species combined and for six functional groups. Resistance and resilience decreased with increasing timber-harvesting disturbance; compositional stability was lower in the most disturbed plots, which was driven by colonization, but not extirpation, of species. Colonization of species also led to increases in diversity after disturbance that was typically maintained after 10 years following disturbance. Most of the community-level responses were driven by post-disturbance colonization of native forbs and graminoids. The nonnative proportion of plant species tended to increase following disturbance, especially at large spatial scales in the most disturbed treatments, but tended to decrease through time following disturbance due to canopy development. The results of this study are consistent with the theory that resources released by disturbance have strong influences on species colonization and community composition. The effects of management activities tested in this study, which span a gradient of timber-harvesting disturbance, shift species composition largely via an increase in species colonization and diversity.     

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and furans (PCDFs) in urban air and deposition in the United Kingdom

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) have been monitored in air and deposition at four UK urban sites (London, Cardiff, Manchester and Stevenage) since the beginning of 1991; data from the first 2 years are presented here. Median Σ2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/F concentrations in air were 3.2, 4.0, 3.5 and 2.6 pg/m³ respectively for London, Cardiff, Manchester and Stevenage. Median Σ2,3,7,8-substituted PCDD/F deposition fluxes were 1.5 ng/m²/day in London, 1.4 ng/m²/day in Cardiff and Manchester and 0.79 ng/m²/day in Stevenage. Seasonal variations in the PCDD/F concentrations were observed at all sites for both air and deposition, with concentrations/fluxes generally elevated during the winter.