Golden Eagle fatalities and the continental‐scale consequences of local wind‐energy generation

Renewable energy production is expanding rapidly despite mostly unknown environmental effects on wildlife and habitats. We used genetic and stable isotope data collected from Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) killed at the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area (APWRA) in California in demographic models to test hypotheses about the geographic extent and demographic consequences of fatalities caused by renewable energy facilities. Geospatial analyses of δ²H values obtained from feathers showed that ≥25% of these APWRA‐killed eagles were recent immigrants to the population, most from long distances away (>100 km). Data from nuclear genes indicated this subset of immigrant eagles was genetically similar to birds identified as locals from the δ²H data. Demographic models implied that in the face of this mortality, the apparent stability of the local Golden Eagle population was maintained by continental‐scale immigration. These analyses demonstrate that ecosystem management decisions concerning the effects of local‐scale renewable energy can have continental‐scale consequences.     

Karyotype,phenotype and parental origin in 19 cases of triploidy

The parental origin of triploidy in 19 cases was examined by inheritance of DNA microsatellites and by methylation patterns of SNRPN or PW71 (where parents' blood was unavailable). The fetal and placental morphology on these cases was reviewed. The phenotype of the fetuses with non-mosaic triploidy was assessed in relation to the two types described by McFadden and Kalousek. Of the diandric fetuses three of the six showed mild-to-moderate symmetrical growth retardation and the other three had growth characteristics in accordance with their gestational ages. This study would suggest the fetal triploid ‘Type 1’ definition be modified to ‘well grown to moderate symmetrical IUGR’ to allow for such variation. In the digynic fetuses (McFadden/Kalousek Type 2) there were poor growth characteristics with IUGR being more severe and asymmetrical. The diandric fetuses were as common as digynic fetuses in this series. The ratio of diandric to digynic specimens was 11:8 but if only fetal specimens (not embryos or mosaic children) were included the ratio was 6:5. Many diandric conceptions end as partial moles but later in gestation diandric fetuses may be well grown. It is proposed that there may be a survival barrier for diandric fetuses early in gestation (possibly based on the proportion of vascularised placental villi), although once this is passed the diandric fetuses are comparatively more viable and better grown than digynic fetuses. In the XXY triploid fetuses, 5/6 had hypoplastic or ambiguous external genitalia (two were recorded as of female phenotype) as has been reported previously. In these, the gonadal histology was testicular in all the diandrics but in the single digynic XXY case, sex reversal was complete with normal uterus and Fallopian tubes and the gonads were histologically ovaries. Two triploid/diploid mosaics were proven to be due to digyny. The probable cause is delayed incorporation of the second polar body into a blastomere and there was evidence of identical alleles from the same sperm being present in both diploid and triploid cells. In one of these triploid/diploid mosaics in which there was a termination of pregnancy (TOP) after prenatal karyotyping the diploid cell line had trisomy 16 which was not evident in the triploid line. This trisomy was probably of post-zygotic origin and we suggest the fetus was rescued by the prominence of the triploid line. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tutor choice and imitation accuracy during song learning in a wild population of the Puget Sound white-crowned sparrow

Songbirds learn to sing by modeling their songs on the songs of other males through a process of social learning. Models of social learning predict that animals should be selective in what and when they learn. In this study, we asked whether young males in a wild population of the Puget Sound white-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys pugetensis, were selective in their choice of tutor models and what factors influenced how accurately they imitated tutors’ songs. We first examined two strategies for tutor choice: whether pupils have a conformity bias and/or a preference for high-quality tutors. In keeping with a conformity bias, tutors that sang song types that were relatively common within a radius of about 500 m of their territory were more likely to be imitated than were tutors that sang rarer song types. Most potential tutors were not imitated by pupils. Aspects of tutor quality, such as age, pairing status, and survival to the next year had no effect on whether a tutor’s song was imitated. Secondly, we tested whether pupil repertoire size, pupil quality, and local abundance of tutor models affected the accuracy of song imitations. We found a trade-off between repertoire size and tutor imitation accuracy with males that sang two or more song types developing significantly poorer imitations than males that sang one type. We discuss possible functions of a conformity learning strategy and factors that could produce a trade-off between imitation accuracy and repertoire size.     

Emissions of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and odor before, during, and after slurry removal from a deep-pit swine finisher

It is a common practice in the midwestern United States to raise swine in buildings with under-floor slurry storage systems designed to store manure for up to one year. These so-called "deep-pit" systems are a concentrated source for the emissions of ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and odors. As part of a larger six-state research effort (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems Project, "Aerial Pollutant Emissions from Confined Animal Buildings"), realtime NH3 and H2S with incremental odor emission data were collected for two annual slurry removal events. For this study, two 1000-head deep-pit swine finishing facilities in central Iowa were monitored with one-year storage of slurry maintained in a 2.4 m-deep concrete pit (or holding tank) below the animal-occupied zone. Results show that the H2S emission, measured during four independent slurry removal events over two years, increased by an average of 61.9 times relative to the before-removal H2S emission levels. This increase persisted during the agitation process of the slurry that on average occurred over an 8-hr time period. At the conclusion of slurry agitation, the H2S emission decreased by an average of 10.4 times the before-removal emission level. NH3 emission during agitation increased by an average of 4.6 times the before-removal emission level and increased by an average of 1.5 times the before-removal emission level after slurry removal was completed. Odor emission increased by a factor of 3.4 times the before-removal odor emission level and decreased after the slurry-removal event by a factor of 5.6 times the before-removal emission level. The results indicate that maintaining an adequate barn ventilation rate regardless of animal comfort demand is essential to keeping gas levels inside the barn below hazardous levels.     

Influence of pyrolysis temperature on production and nutrient properties of wastewater sludge biochar

The important challenge for effective management of wastewater sludge materials in an environmentally and economically acceptable way can be addressed through pyrolytic conversion of the sludge to biochar and agricultural applications of the biochar. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of pyrolysis temperature on production of wastewater sludge biochar and evaluate the properties required for agronomic applications. Wastewater sludge collected from an urban wastewater treatment plant was pyrolysed in a laboratory scale reactor. It was found that by increasing the pyrolysis temperature (over the range from 300 °C to 700 °C) the yield of biochar decreased. Biochar produced at low temperature was acidic whereas at high temperature it was alkaline in nature. The concentration of nitrogen was found to decrease while micronutrients increased with increasing temperature. Concentrations of trace metals present in wastewater sludge varied with temperature and were found to primarily enriched in the biochar.     

Inputs of heavy metals due to agrochemical use in tobacco fields in Brazil’s Southern Region

Only a few studies have assessed the joint incorporation of heavy metals into agricultural systems based on the range of agrochemicals used on a specific agricultural crop. This study was conducted to assess the heavy metals input through application of the main agrochemicals used in Brazilian tobacco fields. A total of 56 samples of different batches of 5 fertilizers, 3 substrates, 8 insecticides, 3 fungicides, 2 herbicides, and 1 growth regulator commonly used in the cultivation of tobacco in Brazil’s Southern Region were collected from 3 warehouses located in the States of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná. The total As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn content of the samples was then determined and compared with the regulations of different countries and information found in the available literature. The fertilizers were identified as the primary source of heavy metals among the agrochemicals used. Application of pesticides directly to the shoots of tobacco plants contributed very little to the supply of heavy metals. The agrochemicals used in Brazilian tobacco fields provide lower inputs of the main heavy metals that are nonessential for plants than those registered in the international literature for the majority of crop fields in different regions of the world.     

Phytotoxic effects of phenolic acids from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Merostachys riedeliana,</Emphasis> a native and overabundant Brazilian bamboo

Merostachys riedeliana Rupr. is a native and overabundant bamboo species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Moderate to strong allelopathic activity may be one mechanism that explains this super-dominance and the changes in structure and composition of forest areas occupied by bamboo. This study evaluated the phytotoxic effect of M. riedeliana extracts and fractions and identified their putative allelochemicals. We investigated the presence of allelochemicals in soil collected from stands occupied by M. riedeliana. Furthermore, we evaluated the putative effect of tree allelochemicals, individually and combined, on germination and growth. The aqueous extract of leaves and its ethyl acetate fraction presented the highest inhibitory effects on seed germination and seedling growth. The effect of the extracts and fractions on the target species was species-specific. Neither the individual nor the combined phenolic acids significantly inhibited seed germination; however, a pronounced growth inhibition was observed in M. bimucronata seedlings treated with vanillic acid and in E. verna and M. bimucronata seedlings treated with combined phenolic acids. Isovitexin, vitexin, isoorientin, orientin, and their O-glycoside derivatives, the lactonic dimer of the p-hydroxybenzoic acid and 3,4-methylenedioxymandelic acid were identified in the aqueous extracts and ethyl acetate fraction by Liquid Chromatography-Diode Array Dectector/Electrospray Ionization/Mass Spectrometry (LC-DAD/ESI–MS/MS). The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC–MS) profile of the same extract and fraction showed the presence of benzoic, benzeneacetic, salicylic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-hydroxyphenylacetic, vanillic, p-coumaric, protocatechuic, syringic, gallic, m-coumaric vanillylmandelic, 4-methylmandelic, 3,4-methylenedioxymandelic and trans-ferulic acids. The p-benzoic acid and the apigenin 6-C-glucoside (isovitexin) were identified in the soil extract collected from under bamboo-growing areas. Even though laboratory bioassays are not completely predictive of the allelopathic effects that occur in nature, the results of this study provide preliminary evidence of allelopathy as a possible species-specific inhibition mechanism of native species that explain the impoverishment of floristic richness and the functional groups in areas where M. riedeliana is overabundant.     

灰色聚类法对太湖地区农村地下水水质的评价

以太湖流域典型水稻种植地区-宜兴、常熟王庄和辛庄9月份农村地下水水质为研究对象,分析了地下水样的硝态氮、铵态氮、亚硝态氮、总磷、高锰酸钾指数、硫酸盐、氯化物、总硬度等常规项目,确定硝态氮、铵态氮、亚硝态氮、总磷、高锰酸钾指数为该地区地下水的主要污染因子.运用灰色聚类法对地下水水质现状进行了评价.结果表明:太湖地区农村地下水普遍受到了污染,仅有10%的地下水水质勉强达到Ⅲ类水标准;80%的地下水达到Ⅳ类或劣Ⅳ类水标准;10%的地下水达Ⅴ类水标准,已不适合饮用.地下水中的主要超标项目是铵态氮、亚硝态氮和高锰酸钾指数,其中铵态氮和亚硝态氮超标十分严重.宜兴地区铵态氮和亚硝态氮污染最严重;个别监测点地下水中硝态氮含量较高,超过世界卫生组织规定的生活饮用水硝态氮质量浓度10 mg/L的上限.总硬度、硫酸盐、氯化物、砷和硒的含量较正常,但是发展趋势值得关注.     

Growth and competition of the marine diatoms Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira pseudonana. I. Nutrient effects

Two marine diatoms, Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Bohlin) and Thalassiosira pseudonana (Hasle and Heimdal), were grown both separately and together in batch cultures on a mixture of waste water and seawater enriched with different components of f medium. At 17°C, the maximum division rates of the two species were statistically indistinguishable. The waste water-seawater mixture used proved to have insufficient Si, relative to N and P, for the growth of T. pseudonana, which requires approximately 5x10^-14 g-at Si cell^-1 to divide at a maximum rate. P. tricornutum, on the other hand, although capable of taking up nearly 9x10^-15 g-at Si cell^-1, could sustain maximum rates of division with 4.3x10^-18 g-at Si cell^-1 or less. No allelopathic interaction between the two species could be detected. We conclude that P. tricornutum enjoys a considerable competitive advantage over T. pseudonana in a waste water-seawater-based mariculture system that is not supplemented with Si. Although Si proved necessary for T. pseudonana to complete more successfully with the other diatom, the presence of excess amounts of Si is not necessarily sufficient for the maintenance of T. pseudonana in mixed continuous culture with P. tricornutum: other factors, such as light-related or photoperiod-related growth response, are believed to determine the ultimate outcome of competition between these algae in light-limited continuous culture.Contribution No. 3999, from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.Communicated by M.R. Tripp, Newark