Environmental impact of two successive chemical treatments in a small shallow eutrophied lake: Part I. Case of aluminium sulphate

This paper deals with the efficiency and effects of addition of aluminium sulphate on soft water quality of a shallow eutrophic lake. Almost all the controlled variables improved with treatment, especially nutrient concentrations such as soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and transparency. However, aluminium sulphate was not added in sufficient quantity to reduce the total phosphorus content. SRP concentration was significantly reduced in the short term. Moreover, external loading of phosphorus was high and not taken into account by the in-lake treatments. Finally, resuspension of sediment (polymictic lake) removed the alum hydroxide layer on the sediment surface, which reduced treatment effectiveness. No significant pH decrease was noted following alum addition. According to bibliographical toxicological data, monomeric aluminium content does not show any toxic effect on aquatic fauna and flora. In spite of low SRP in the water column, the treatment did not prevent appearance of Microcystis sp. colony (> 10 colony per ml) approximately 30 days after alum application.     

Forests in the time of peace

ABSTRACT

The signing of Colombia’s peace agreement in 2016 signaled the end of a decades-long war between the government and the FARC (Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), but also an emerging assault against the country’s forests. This article aims to understand the interactions between forests and peace. In doing so, it traces landscape transformations of deforestation and possibilities for making landscapes livable in the midst of disturbance. Drawing on field research, including interviews and participant observation carried out in Colombia from 2016 to 2018, it reveals how deforestation is driven by ongoing colonization and land grabbing, mostly dedicated to extensive cattle ranching, coca cultivation, and campesinos’ transition to ‘licit’ agricultural alternatives. The article also shows how emerging coordination among farmers and forests following forest disturbance contributes to an interpretation of peace in which forests are integral. The article concludes with a call to incorporate forests in the construction of peace.     

Contest behaviour in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria): seasonal phenotypic plasticity and the functional significance of flight performance

Although contemporary animal contest theory emphasises the importance of physical asymmetries in resolving disputes, such asymmetries do not obviously settle fights in all groups. Territorial male butterflies, for example, compete via elaborate non-contact aerial interactions in which success is determined by relative persistence. Prior research suggests that the resolution of these contests is not clearly related to physical variables such as body size or energy reserves. However, given that the contests involve elaborate aerial manoeuvres, one long-standing suggestion is that asymmetries in flight performance, and thus flight morphology, may be important. We addressed this hypothesis via a manipulative investigation into the biophysical correlates of contest success in the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria. This species possesses the ability for significant adaptive phenotypic plasticity in relevant flight morphological parameters. We took advantage of this plasticity to rear 90 individuals of markedly varying flight morphologies, which we then pitted against each other in a semi-controlled experimental fashion. Multiple logistic and lognormal analyses provided little evidence for the relevance of morphological parameters, including relative flight musculature, wing loading and wing aspect ratio (wing length relative to area), to the outcome and/or duration of experimental contests. Instead, we found a positive effect of age upon contest success. Given that ability for high acceleration is strongly linked to variation in these morphological parameters, our findings suggest that flight performance is not a strong determinant of resource-holding potential in this notably territorial butterfly.     

Health-dependent vulnerability to predation affects escape responses of unguarded chinstrap penguin chicks

Predators may select more often to attack the more vulnerable prey or those with an inferior health status. Thus, prey should be able to assess their own vulnerability to predation and modify their antipredatory behavior accordingly. When approached by predator skuas, unguarded penguin chicks flee short distances, and usually aggregate in dense packs, but there is a clear interindividual variability in their responses under similar conditions. We hypothesized that this variability in escape responses might be related to the perceived vulnerability to predation of each individual chick. We simulated predator attacks to chinstrap penguin chicks and analyzed the sources of variation in their escape response, such as the presence of adults or the density of other chicks, and the sex, age, body condition, and health status of responding chicks. Chicks allowed shorter approach distances when they had a better health condition (i.e., a greater T-cell-mediated immunity, CMI), when they were younger, and when the density of adults around was higher. Sex and density of other chicks were not important. Similarly, chicks fled from the experimenter to longer distances when they had a lower CMI and when the density of adults was lower. Therefore, escape characteristics of chicks depended on the presence of adults that can deter predators and on the health-dependent vulnerability of chicks.     

Effect of oxygen and salt on haemolymph oxygen binding in the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana

The oxygen-binding properties of haemolymph from laboratory-reared Artemia franciscana were investigated in vitro. Adult female brine shrimp without eggs were acclimated to seven different combinations of salinity and oxygen. The oxygen affinity (P₅₀) of unprocessed haemolymph rises with acclimation oxygen partial pressure (PO₂) up to normoxic values, after which no influence of oxygen occurs. The increase in P₅₀ with acclimation PO₂ can be explained by the change in proportion of each of three different haemoglobins in the haemolymph. Salinity acclimation has no effect on haemolymph P₅₀. The effects of the different major salts [NaNO₃, NaCl, Ca(NO₃)₂, Mg(NO₃)₂], pH, and the metal-binding ligand EGTA on the oxygen-binding properties of buffered haemolymph (of shrimp acclimated to 10 salinity) were also studied. Little or no effect of these salts could be found. A small Bohr effect (pH 6.5 to 9.1, =-0.11) was noted. Addition of EGTA caused a significant decrease of the oxygen affinity at concentrations up to 50 mmoll^-1.     

Innate immune defense of the sponge<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Suberites domuncula</Emphasis> against gram-positive bacteria: induction of lysozyme and AdaPTin

Sponges are filter feeders that are exposed to large amounts of bacteria present in their surrounding aqueous milieu. The characteristic cell wall component of gram-positive bacteria, peptidoglycan (PPG), was used as a model molecule to study the responsiveness of cells from the marine demosponge Suberites domuncula toward gram-positive bacteria. The sponge lysozyme, which hydrolyzes PPG, was isolated from the living sponge; in addition its gene was cloned (SDLYS) and expressed in Escherichia coli. Antibodies were raised against the recombinant protein to demonstrate that in the Western blot both molecules give the same signal. In situ hybridization with SDLYS as a probe showed that cells in the mesohyl, the gray cells, strongly react with SDLYS. Subsequent immunofluorescence studies with antibodies raised against lysozyme revealed that only bacteria react with anti-lysozyme and only those that are scattered within the mesohyl of the tissue. An adaptor gene (AdaPTin-1) was isolated from the same sponge species that encodes a putative protein involved in endosome formation. Based on its differential expression we conclude that sponge cells react to PPG with a rapid activation of endocytosis, followed by the release of lysozyme.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/LuheThe cDNA sequences from Suberites domuncula have been deposited (EMBL/GenBank): cDNA for the lysozyme (SDLYS) under the accession number AJ699166 and the AdaPTin-1 cDNA (SDAP1) under AJ699167.     

Is benthic trophic structure affected by food quality? The Dogger Bank example

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between food quality and trophic structure of macrobenthic communities of the Dogger Bank. Therefore, 21 stations along different depth gradients (a transect across the central Dogger Bank and at a station cross in the north-eastern part) were sampled and analysed for macrofauna trophic structure and food supply, indicated by phytopigment composition and organic matter contents of the sediment. The study revealed differences in the trophic structure of the benthic community in areas with contrasting food supply. The trophic structure reflected differences in relative quality of organic matter. The sandy sediments on top of the bank receiving intermediate quantities of high food quality were inhabited by high abundances of interface feeders and sand-licking amphipods of the genus Bathyporeia. The southern stations characterised by a comparatively high amount of intermediate food quality were dominated by interface feeders such as Amphiura filiformis. The northern and north-eastern stations showing the highest diversity of feeding types were characterised by a comparatively low, but highly variable input of intermediate-quality organic matter consisting of both fresh and degraded organic matter. Results are discussed with a special emphasis on specific Dogger Bank features such as benthic primary production and frontal system characteristics.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe