Foreword

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change -     

Context dependency and generality of fever in insects

Fever can reduce mortality in infected animals. Yet, despite its fitness-enhancing qualities, fever often varies among animals. We used several approaches to examine this variation in insects. Texas field crickets (Gryllus texensis) exhibited a modest fever (1 °C increase in preferred body temperature, T _pref) after injection of prostaglandin, which putatively mediates fever in both vertebrates and invertebrates, but they did not exhibit fever during chronic exposure to heat-killed bacteria. Further, chronic food limitation and mating status did not affect T _pref or the expression of behavioural fever, suggesting limited context dependency of fever in G. texensis. Our meta-analysis of behavioural fever studies indicated that behavioural fever occurs in many insects, but it is not ubiquitous. Thus, both empirical and meta-analytical results suggest that the fever response in insects ‘is widespread, although certainly not inevitable’ (Moore 2002). We highlight the need for future work focusing on standardizing an experimental protocol to measure behavioural fever, understanding the specific mechanism(s) underlying fever in insects, and examining whether ecological or physiological costs often outweigh the benefits of fever and can explain the sporadic nature of fever in insects.     

Detection of Viruses in Coastal Seawater Using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mytilus Galloprovincialis</Emphasis> as an Accumulation Matrix

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that shellfish can be used to detect enteric viruses in marine waters where they are present at very low concentrations. Aqua-cultured mussels were placed in the sea just off the mouth of a drainage channel affected by human and animal faecal contamination. Samples were taken from the channel, the sea and the mussels at intervals over two 4-week periods. The samples were tested to verify the presence of both rotaviruses and E. coli. Rotaviruses were detected by Real Time-PCR, typed by multiplex PCR and subsequently sequenced. E. coli was enumerated in water matrices by a filtering method and in mussels by the MPN method. The presence of E. coli in the examined matrices demonstrates contamination of faecal origin throughout the studied environments. Rotaviruses were recorded in channel waters, but not in sea water. In both experiments, rotaviruses were detected in mussels 21 and 28 days after being placed in the sea water off the channel mouth. The use of mussels thus enabled the detection of rotaviruses in waters where the high dilution rendered direct investigation impossible. This study indicates that mussels can be used in marine virological surveillance programs.     

Incorporating stakeholder decision support needs into an integrated regional Earth system model

A new modeling effort exploring the opportunities, constraints, and interactions between mitigation and adaptation at regional scale is utilizing stakeholder engagement in an innovative approach to guide model development and demonstration, including uncertainty characterization, to effectively inform regional decision making. This project, the integrated Regional Earth System Model (iRESM), employs structured stakeholder interactions and literature reviews to identify the most relevant adaptation and mitigation alternatives and decision criteria for each regional application of the framework. The information is used to identify important model capabilities and to provide a focus for numerical experiments. This paper presents the stakeholder research results from the first iRESM pilot region. The pilot region includes the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwest portion of the United States as well as other contiguous states. This geographic area (14 states in total) permits cohesive modeling of hydrologic systems while also providing strong gradients in climate, demography, land cover/land use, and energy supply and demand. The results from the stakeholder research indicate that, for this region, iRESM should prioritize addressing adaptation alternatives in the water resources, urban infrastructure, and agriculture sectors, including water conservation, expanded water quality monitoring, altered reservoir releases, lowered water intakes, urban infrastructure upgrades, increased electric power reserves in urban areas, and land use management/crop selection changes. For mitigation in this region, the stakeholder research implies that iRESM should focus on policies affecting the penetration of renewable energy technologies, and the costs and effectiveness of energy efficiency, bioenergy production, wind energy, and carbon capture and sequestration.     

Detection Method for Avian Influenza Viruses in Water

Recent events have shown that humans may become infected with some pathogenic avian influenza A viruses (AIV). Since soil and water, including lakes, rivers, and seashores, may be contaminated by AIV excreted by birds, effective methods are needed for monitoring water for emerging viruses. Combining water filtration with molecular methods such as PCR is a fast and effective way for detecting viruses. The objective of this study was to apply a convenient method for the detection of AIV in natural water samples. Distilled water and lake, river, and seawater were artificially contaminated with AIV (H5N3) and passed through a filter system. AIV was detected from filter membrane by real-time RT-PCR. The performance of Zetapor, SMWP, and Sartobind D5F membranes in recovering influenza viruses was first evaluated using contaminated distilled water. SWMP, which gave the highest virus recoveries, was then compared with a pre-filter combined GF/F filter membrane in a trial using natural water samples. In this study, the cellulose membrane SMWP was found to be practical for recovery of AIVs in water. Viral yields varied between 62.1 and 65.9% in distilled water and between 1 and 16.7% in natural water samples. The borosilicate glass membrane GF/F combined with pre-filter was also feasible in filtering natural water samples with viral yields from 1.98 to 7.33%. The methods described can be used for monitoring fresh and seawater samples for the presence of AIV and to determine the source of AIV transmission in an outbreak situation.     

Torpor and energetic consequences in free-ranging grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus): a comparison of dry and wet forests

Many endotherms save energy during food and water shortage or unpredictable environment using controlled reductions in body temperature and metabolism called torpor. In this study, we measured energy metabolism and water turnover in free-ranging grey mouse lemurs Microcebus murinus (approximately 60 g) using doubly labelled water during the austral winter in the rain forest of southeastern Madagascar. We then compared patterns of thermal biology between grey mouse lemurs from the rain forest and a population from the dry forest. M. murinus from the rain forest, without a distinct dry season, entered daily torpor independent of ambient temperature (T _a). There were no differences in torpor occurrence, duration and depth between M. murinus from the rain and dry forest. Mouse lemurs using daily torpor reduced their energy expenditure by 11% in the rain forest and by 10.5% in the dry forest, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean water flux rates of mouse lemurs remaining normothermic between populations of both sites. In contrast, mean water flux rate of individuals from the dry forest that used torpor was significantly lower than those from the rain forest. This study represents the first account of energy expenditure, water flux and skin temperature (T _sk) in free-ranging M. murinus from the rain forest. Our comparative findings suggest that water turnover and therefore water requirement during the austral winter months plays a more restricting role on grey mouse lemurs from the dry forest than on those from the rain forest.     

European scale application of atmospheric reactive nitrogen measurements in a low-cost approach to infer dry deposition fluxes

A European scale network was established in 2006 as part of the NitroEurope Integrated Project to infer reactive nitrogen (Nr) dry deposition fluxes, based on low-cost sampling of gaseous and aerosol species and inferential modelling. The network provides monthly measurements of NH₃, NH₄⁺, HNO₃ and NO₃⁻, as well as SO₂, SO₄²⁻, HCl, Cl⁻ and base cations at 58 sites. Measurements are made with an established low-cost denuder methodology (DELTA) as a basis to: (1) examine temporal trends and spatial patterns across Europe, (2) improve and calibrate inferential modelling techniques to estimate exchange of Nr species, (3) provide best estimates of atmospheric dry N deposition, and (4) permit an analysis of net GHG exchange in relation to atmospheric and agricultural N inputs at the European scale. Responsibility for measurements is shared among seven European laboratories. An inter-comparison of the DELTA implementation by 6 laboratories at 4 test sites (Montelibretti, Italy; Braunschweig, Germany; Paterna, Spain and Auchencorth, UK) from July to October 2006 provided training for the laboratories and showed that good agreement was achieved in different climatic conditions (87% of laboratory site-means within 20% of the inter-laboratory median). Results obtained from the first year of measurements show substantial spatial variability in atmospheric Nr concentrations, illustrating the major local (NH₃) and regional (HNO₃, NO₃⁻, and NH₄⁺) differences in Nr concentrations. These results provide the basis to develop future estimates of site-based Nr dry deposition fluxes across Europe, and highlight the role of NH₃, largely of agricultural origin, which was the largest single constituent and will dominate dry Nr fluxes at most sites.     

Litter decomposition and nitrogen release in a sloping Mediterranean subtropical agroecosystem on the coast of Granada (SE, Spain): Effects of floristic and topographic alteration on the slope

On the coast of Granada (SE, Spain), an economically important area for subtropical fruit cultivation, the crops are grown on orchard terraces. Also, high amounts of fertilizers, often excessive, are used in this type of intensive agriculture. However, each year significant fractions of nutrients taken up by the trees return to the soil by fallen leaves. Using a litter-bag technique, we assessed the decomposition rates and N-release in various types of litter. Our main purpose was to compare two different agroecosystem scenarios: (1) an unaltered slope consisting mainly of a mixture of herbaceous plants (Papaver rhoeas, Convolvulus sp., Malva sylvestris, Reseda phyteuma, Anacyclus sp., Sinapis arvensis, Medicago sp.) among spontaneous perennial woody shrubs (Genista umbellata, Olea europaea, Lavandula officinalis, Phlomis purpurea, Retama sphaerocarpa), and (2) an altered slope cultivated with subtropical trees on terraces: loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), mango (Mangifera indica), avocado (Persea americana), and cherimoya (Annona cherimola), with groundcover plantings of aromatic, medicinal, and melliferous plants (AMMPs) on the taluses of the terraces, which are usually used for erosion control: Lavandula dentata, Thymus mastichina, Satureja obovata, Rosmarinus officinalis, Anthyllis cytisoides. In the leaves from the subtropical crops, we found the highest decomposition rates in cherimoya and the lowest in mango (1.30 and 0.64 years⁻¹, respectively). Leaves from mango and loquat registered initial peaks of N immobilization and later N-release, which was highest in cherimoya and avocado leaves (71.2 and 56.8% of the initial remaining N). In the spontaneous woody shrubs, O. europaea and G. umbellata were the slowest in decomposing (1.18 and 1.01 years⁻¹, respectively) contrary to L. officinalis, which decomposed fastest (2.22 years⁻¹). Only L. officinalis and P. purpurea registered a net N-release at the end of the study. The AMMPs showed different decomposition patterns: L. dentata registered the highest decomposition rates and Rosmarinus the lowest (1.9 and 1.1 years⁻¹, respectively). T. mastichina, L. dentata, and S. obovata had the highest N-release, whereas R. officinalis and A. cytisoides showed N immobilization (183 and 122% of the initial N). Knowledge of the dynamics of nutrient release and litter decomposition will be useful for predicting nutrient availability and nutrient cycles in these types of agroecosystems where subtropical orchards are grown on terraces.