Liver histological changes and lipid peroxidation in the amphibian Ambystoma mexicanum induced by sediment elutriates from the Lake Xochimilco

Lacustrine sediments accumulate pollutants that input from the lake watershed and can be released to the water column by sediment resuspension; thus, pollutants can change their bioavailability and exert adverse effects to aquatic biota. Shallow-urban lakes are particularly susceptible to receive pollutants from urban discharges and sediment resuspension. Lake Xochimilco, in Mexico City, an urban-shallow lake, faces multiple problems: urban sprawl, overexploitation of aquifers, drying of springs, discharge of wastewater from treatment plants, and sediment resuspension. The aquatic biota living in this ecosystem is continuously exposed to the release of pollutants from the sediments. We assessed the risk that pollutants released from sediments from Lake Xochimilco, Touristic (TZ) and Agriculture zone (AZ), can exert on a native amphibian species of the lake (Ambystoma mexicanum) through exposure bioassays to sediment elutriates. We evaluate alterations in the amphibian by three approaches: biochemical (level of lipid peroxidation, LPO), cellular (ultrastructure) and the liver histology of A. mexicanum and we compare them with a batch control. Additionally, we assessed heavy metals (Pb, Cd and Hg) in elutriates. Elutriates from TZ showed the highest concentrations of the metals assessed. Organisms exposed to sediment elutriates from either study sites showed higher LPO values than control organisms (p < 0.05). Organisms exposed to elutriates from the TZ showed the most conspicuous damages: hepatic vasodilation of sinusoids, capillaries with erythrocytes, leukocyte infiltration and cytoplasmic vacuolation in hepatocytes. The biological responses assessed reflected the risk that faces A. mexicanum when is exposed for prolonged periods to sediment resuspension in Lake Xochimilco.     

Adaptation in a multi-stressor environment: perceptions and responses to climatic and economic risks by coffee growers in Mesoamerica

While climate change adaptation policy has tended to focus on planned adaptation interventions, in many vulnerable communities, adaptation will consist of autonomous, “unplanned” actions by individuals who are responding to multiple simultaneous sources of change. Their actions are likely not only to affect their own future vulnerability, but, through changes in livelihoods and resource use, the vulnerability of their community and resource base. In this paper, we document the autonomous changes to livelihood strategies adopted by smallholder coffee farmers in four Mesoamerican countries (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica). Our aim is to gain insight into the process of autonomous adaptation by proxy: through an assessment of how farmers explain their choices in relation to distinct stressors; and an understanding of the set of choices available to farmers. We find that climatic stress is a feature in decision making, but not the dominant driver. Nevertheless, the farmers in our sample are evidently flexible, adaptive, and experimental in relation to changing circumstances. Whether their autonomous responses to diverse stressors will result in a reduction in risk over time may well depend on the extent to which policy, agricultural research, and rural investments build on the inherent logic of these strategies.     

Assessing the impact of petrol stations on their immediate surroundings

This paper describes a novel methodology for evaluating the extent to which petrol stations affect their surroundings. The method is based on the fact that the ratio of the concentrations of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants in the air of the petrol stations and their surroundings (basically determined by vapor emissions from unburned gasoline) differs from the ratio found in urban air, which is mainly influenced by traffic emissions. Bearing this in mind, the spatial limit of influence of petrol stations in any direction would be the first point, moving away from the station, where the ratio becomes equal to the urban background ratio. Application of the methodology involves multipoint measuring campaigns of the air at the studied petrol station and built-up area in general and processing the data with software capable of providing isoconcentration contours. The procedure should help local authorities in terms of land management, so that a “belt” can be established around petrol stations where housing or vulnerable populations and activities such as those in schools, hospitals and community centers should be restricted.     

Diet selection of the Chilean stone crab Homalaspis plana

Diet selection of the Chilean stone crab Homolaspis plana (Milne-Edwards, 1834) was studied using the optimal foraging theory to explain its feeding strategy. The hypothesis that H. plana prefers prey species of the highest prey (“energy”) value was experimentally tested on adult crabs during 1980–1981. Food value was defined as the ratio between caloric content and consumption time, according to energy maximization as the criterion to optimize diet selection. Diet composition of adult crabs from the littoral of Valparaíso (Chile) and ingestion under laboratory conditions were studied to determine type, size and quantity of food to be offered in experiments on prey-type preference. Porcellanid crabs, barnacles and bivalves were the most frequently occurring items in stomachs from in situ conditions. In the aquaria, daily ingestion rates were quite variable among crabs and among days. H. plana showed no size preference for molluscs (Tegula atra, Semimytilus algosus) but preferred larger sizes of porcellanids. The order of preference for prey type was S. algosus>T. atra> porcellanids. However, no differences between their energy values were found and, therefore, the optimal foraging hypothesis was rejected. By extension, the energy maximization criterion alone may not explain the diet selection of H. plana under experimental conditions.     

Annual life cycle of the copepod<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Eucalanus inermis</Emphasis> at a coastal upwelling site off Mejillones (23°S), northern Chile

Eucalanus inermis is an abundant species in the eastern tropical and subtropical South Pacific, including the oceanic and coastal waters off Chile and Peru. Its annual life cycle was studied through a time-series sampling (weekly intervals) during 2002, at a fixed coastal station at an upwelling site (Mejillones Bay, 23°S) off northern Chile. The more-or-less continuous occurrence and abundance of naupliar and copepodid stages indicated that the species reproduces during most of the year, with two peaks: one during the austral spring and the other during the summer. Thereafter, an abrupt decline in the population was observed during winter. The abundances of E. inermis copepodids and nauplii were positively correlated with sea surface temperature, suggesting temperature-dependent development and growth during the spring–summer period. Three cohorts could be distinguished during one annual cycle, with generation times >30 days. The estimate of mean weight-specific daily growth (0.12 day^–1) is lower than that of other species in the area, but it is consistent with a slower development rate. The distribution of this copepod is associated with the equatorial subsurface waters characterized by low-oxygen content (<0.5 ml l^–1). The ascent of this water mass to the near-surface during coastal upwelling in the spring–summer period and the presence of E. inermis adults favor their reproduction and the development of cohorts in the food-rich upwelling environment. The wintertime disappearance of E. inermis from shallow waters is, thus, interpreted as a movement to deep waters (>200 m depth), probably in a lethargic mode, within the oxygen minimum zone in the adjacent oceanic area.Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin     

Pigment allocation to eggs decreases plasma antioxidants in a songbird

Although evidence is accumulating on the adaptive function of female ornamentation, very little is known about maternal allocation decisions involving sexual signaling and other reproductive functions. Blue egg coloration has been suggested as a sexually selected signal of female quality to males, and some recent studies are in accordance with this hypothesis. Blue eggshell coloration results from the deposition of biliverdin pigment by laying females, which is a potent antioxidant. Thus, egg pigmentation should be costly in terms of antioxidants, an assumption of the signaling hypothesis that has not been tested yet. We induced increased reproductive effort in a set of female pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca through nest removal and measured egg pigmentation and plasma antioxidant levels in relation with a control group. Experimental females showed a negative association between egg color and plasma antioxidant levels, while there was no relationship for control birds. This supports that egg pigmentation is costly in terms of general antioxidant defenses and suggests a tradeoff between the allocations to both traits. Furthermore, experimental females with more colorful eggs raised more fledglings, especially when breeding early. Controls did not show a relationship between egg color and reproductive success. Females laying more colorful eggs could have shifted their allocation decisions towards current reproduction, at the expense of their own antioxidant defenses. Our results highlight that blue egg coloration is a life-history trait, subject to tradeoffs with other attributes, and seems to be especially informative under harsh breeding conditions.     

Organotin contamination in the Atlantic Ocean off the Iberian Peninsula in relation to shipping

Imposex in female snails, a bioindicator of TBT contamination, and the presence of organotins in snails' tissue and sediments were studied at nine sites off the western Iberian Peninsula. The study was part of a European project (acronym HIC-TBT) co-financed by the EU-LIFE programme, intending to investigate and communicate the impact of organotins from ships in marine ecosystems. Snails and sediments were sampled during two cruises in May/June 1999 and in January 2000 in areas of high, intermediate and low-shipping density. Imposex was found in female snails from several sampling sites, some of which had an imposex incidence of 100%. Differences in sensitivity were found between species; hence comparison of imposex levels between locations where different species were collected was not straightforward. Total organotin concentrations in sediments (sum of butyl and phenyltin compounds) ranged from 21 to 185 ng Sn g(-1) with higher values for most sites sampled in the vicinity of shipping lanes. Organotin concentration in snails' tissue ranged from <5 to 196 ng Sn g(-1), which are similar to those found in snails from other offshore areas contaminated by TBT. Overall, these results give further support to the recent ban on the use of organotin based antifouling paints to all ship size.