Run for your life,but bite for your rights? How interactions between natural and sexual selection shape functional morphology across habitats

A central issue in evolutionary biology is how morphology, performance, and habitat use coevolve. If morphological variation is tightly associated with habitat use, then differences in morphology should affect fitness through their effect on performance within specific habitats. In this study, we investigate how evolutionary forces mold morphological traits and performance differently given the surrounding environment, at the intraspecific level. For this purpose, we selected populations of the lizard Podarcis bocagei from two different habitat types, agricultural walls and dunes, which we expected to reflect saxicolous vs ground-dwelling habits. In the laboratory, we recorded morphological traits as well as performance traits by measuring sprint speed, climbing capacity, maneuverability, and bite force. Our results revealed fast-evolving ecomorphological variation among populations of P. bocagei, where a direct association existed between head morphology and bite performance. However, we could not establish links between limb morphology and locomotor performance at the individual level. Lizards from walls were better climbers than those from dunes, suggesting a very fast evolutionary response. Interestingly, a significant interaction between habitat and sex was detected in climbing performance. In addition, lizards from dunes bit harder than those from walls, although sexual differentiation was definitely the main factor driving variation in head functional morphology. Taking into account all the results, we found a complex interaction between natural and sexual selection on whole-organism performance, which are, in some cases, reflected in morphological variation.     

Integrated nanofiltration and upflow anaerobic sludge blanket treatment of textile wastewater for in-plant reuse.

The filtration characteristics of simulated dyeing effluents containing Acid Orange 7, sodium sulfate, and a pH buffer made of acetic acid and sodium acetate is described using a commercially available nanofiltration membrane. The original membrane filtration properties were characterized with deionized water to provide a baseline of membrane performance. At high volumetric concentration of the test solutions, greater than 98% rejection of dye and sodium sulfate were obtained. Rejection of buffering chemicals was approximately 50% in all experiments, giving a permeate water not suitable for reuse in most dyeing operations. The final composite concentrate had a chemical oxygen demand (COD) value > 2000 mg/L. No problems were encountered with anaerobic treatment of the concentrate obtained from the dyeing wastewater. Adjusting the sulfate concentration to give COD-to-sulfate ratios to 2.9, 5.4, and 18.2 in the reactor feed had no significant alterations in the performance of the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.     

Removal of organic contaminants from soils by an electrokinetic process: the case of atrazine. Experimental and modeling

The atrazine behaviour in soils when submitted to an electric field was studied and the applicability of the electrokinetic process in atrazine soil remediation was evaluated. Two polluted soils were used, respectively with and without atrazine residues, being the last one spiked. Four electrokinetic experiments were carried out at a laboratory scale. Determination of atrazine residues were performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results show that the electrokinetic process is able to remove efficiently atrazine in soil solution, mainly towards the anode compartment: Estimations show that 30-50% of its initial amount is removed from the soil within the first 24h. A one-dimensional model is developed for simulating the electrokinetic treatment of a saturated soil containing atrazine. The movement of atrazine is modelized taking into account the diffusion transport resulting from atrazine concentration gradients and the reversed electro-osmotic flow at acidic soil pH.     

Wildlife corridors as a connected subgraph problem

Wildlife corridors connect areas of biological significance to mitigate the negative ecological impacts of habitat fragmentation. In this article we formalize the optimal corridor design as a connected subgraph problem, which maximizes the amount of suitable habitat in a fully connected parcel network linking core habitat areas, subject to a constraint on the funds available for land acquisition. To solve this challenging computational problem, we propose a hybrid approach that combines graph algorithms with Mixed Integer Programming-based optimization. We apply this technique to the design of corridors for grizzly bears in the U.S. Northern Rockies, illustrating the underlying computational complexities by varying the granularity of the parcels available for acquisition. The approach that is introduced is general and can be applied to other species or other similar problems, such as those occurring in social networks.     

Estimating the safety performance of urban intersections in Lisbon,Portugal

According to official statistics, a large percentage of crashes in Portugal are reported on urban roads. For instance, from 2004 to 2007, about 70% of all injury accidents and 43% of the fatalities occurred inside urban agglomerations. This important safety problem has also been observed on the urban network of Lisbon. Understanding this significant problem, the Government of the Portuguese Republic via its research grant agency – The Foundation for Science and Technology – funded a project whose primary objective consists of developing tools that would help estimating the safety performance of various components of the urban highway system in Lisbon. This paper documents one component of the safety tools that were developed and describes the steps that were taken to develop predictive models for estimating the safety performance of signalized and unsignalized intersections of Lisbon. Several crash predictive models were developed using the Poisson-gamma modeling framework. Two types of models were estimated: flow-only and models with covariates. They were estimated using crash and other related data collected at 44 three-legged and 50 four-legged intersections for the years 2004–2007, inclusively. It was found that some highway geometric design characteristics were associated with the crashes occurring at urban three- and four-legged intersections in Lisbon.