Effects of Illegal Harvest of Eggs on the Population Decline of Leatherback Turtles in Las Baulas Marine National Park,Costa Rica

Abstract: Within 19 years the nesting population of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) at Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas declined from 1500 turtles nesting per year to about 100. We analyzed the effects of fishery bycatch and illegal harvesting (poaching) of eggs on this population. We modeled the population response to different levels of egg harvest (90, 75, 50, and 25%) and the effect of eradicating poaching at different times during the population decline. We compared effects of 90% poaching with those of 20% adult mortality because both of these processes were present in the population at Las Baulas. There was a stepwise decline in number of nesting turtles at all levels of egg harvest. Extirpation times for different levels of poaching ranged from 45 to 282 years. The nesting population declined more slowly and survived longer with 20% adult mortality (146 years) than it did with 90% poaching (45 years). Time that elapsed until poaching stopped determined the average population size at which the population stabilized, ranging from 90 to 420 nesting turtles. Our model predicted that saving clutches lost naturally would restore the population when adult mortality rates were low and would contribute more to population recovery when there were short remigration intervals between nesting seasons and a large proportion of natural loss of clutches. Because the model indicated that poaching was the most important cause of the leatherback decline at Las Baulas, protecting nests on the beach and protecting the beach from development are critical for survival of this population. Nevertheless, the model predicted that current high mortality rates of adults will prevent population recovery. Therefore, protection of the beach habitat and nests must be continued and fishery bycatch must be reduced to save this population.     

Standardizing the Methodology of Sperm Cell Test with Paracentrotus Lividus

The sperm cell toxicity test with Paracentrotus lividus is widely used in Italy to assess the quality of complex aqueous matrices, but at present there is a shortage of standardized methodologies for the bioassay performance. In this work several critical points were considered, in order to verify the reliability of this bioassay and to improve its standardization.In particular, we have studied the differences in EC50 values at different sperm: egg ratios and with different quantities of gametes; the influence of sperm and eggs on fertilization rate and the influence of different recipients materials (plastic or glass). At the same time, it was evaluated if the obtained EC50 values were in accordance with those reported in literature.Experiments performed yielded EC50 values for copper ranging from 16.54 μ g/l to 69.59 μ g/l, with a total mean value ± SD of 39.79 μ g/l ± 11.17. These data fit with those found in literature for other echinoid species. According to the same authors, poor fertilization was probably due to the effects on sperm and not on eggs, and moreover the linear regression analysis performed on each experiment suggested that the best amount of eggs to use in the test was 1000.Results from the comparison between the performance of the test in plastic or glass tubes showed an higher success in fertilization rate using borosilicate glass tubes.     

A plea to implement robustness into a breeding goal: poultry as an example

The combination of breeding for increased production and the intensification of housing conditions have resulted in increased occurrence of behavioral, physiological, and immunological disorders. These disorders affect health and welfare of production animals negatively. For future livestock systems, it is important to consider how to manage and breed production animals. In this paper, we will focus on selective breeding of laying hens. Selective breeding should not only be defined in terms of production, but should also include traits related to animal health and welfare. For this we like to introduce the concept of robustness. The concept of robustness includes individual traits of an animal that are relevant for health and welfare. Improving robustness by selective breeding will increase (or restore) the ability of animals to interact successfully with the environment and thereby to make them more able to adapt to an appropriate husbandry system. Application of robustness into a breeding goal will result in animals with improved health and welfare without affecting their integrity. Therefore, in order to be ethically acceptable, selective breeding in animal production should accept robustness as a breeding goal. L. Star, E. D. Ellen contributed equally to this work. Star belongs to the Adaptation Physiology Group, Wageningen University, and the rest of the authors belong to the Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University.     

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in chicken tissues and eggs from an electronic waste recycling area in southeast China

The levels and distributions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in chicken tissues from an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling area in southeast China were investigated. Human dietary intake by local residents via chicken muscle and eggs was estimated. The mean PBDEs concentrations in tissues ranged from 15.2 to 3138.1 ng/g lipid weight (lw) and in egg the concentration was 563.5 ng/g lw. The results showed that the level of total PBDEs (PPBDEs) in the chicken tissue was 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than those reported in the literature. The large di erence of PPBDEs concentrations between tissues confirmed that the distribution of PBDEs in tissues depend on tissue-specificity rather than the “lipid-compartment”. BDE-209 was the predominant congener (82.5%– 94.7% of PPBDEs) in all chicken tissues except in brain (34.7% of PPBDEs), which indicated that deca-BDE (the major commercial PBDE formulation comprising 65%–70% of total production) was major pollution source in this area and could be bioaccumulated in terrestrial animals. The dietary PBDEs intake of the local residents from chicken muscle and egg, assuming only local bred chickens and eggs were consumed, ranged from 2.2 to 22.5 ng/(day kg body weight (bw)) with a mean value of 13.5 ng/(day kg bw), which was one order of magnitude higher than the value reported in previous studies for consumption of all foodstu s.     

光纤光栅感温火灾报警系统探测器在外浮顶原油罐上敷设间距的研究

光纤光栅感温火灾报警系统在石油化工行业储罐区等易燃易爆场所得到应用,但目前尚没有相关的国家级设计规范,且安徽省和湖北省地方设计规范关于感温探测器敷设间距的要求存在较大差异,有必要开展深入研究。以外浮顶原油罐为例进行研究,获得了差温和定温两种探测方式在两种敷设高度下,其敷设间距与罐径之间的关系表达式,二者呈正相关。研究结果表明,初起阶段火源功率与罐径呈线性关系且火源功率较小,按照地方规范设置敷设间距时,难以对其进行及时探测,应加大敷设密度;差温探测比定温探测方式具有更为快速探测报警优势且可以设置较大的敷设间距。     

Nest-Site Selection in Individual Loggerhead Turtles and Consequences for Doomed-Egg Relocation

Abstract:  Relocation of eggs is a common strategy for conservation of declining reptilian populations around the world. If individuals exhibit consistency in their nest-site selection and if nest-site selection is a heritable trait, relocating eggs deposited in vulnerable locations may impose artificial selection that would maintain traits favoring unsuccessful nest-site selection. Conversely, if most individuals scatter their nesting effort and individuals that consistently select unsuccessful nest sites are uncommon, then artificial selection would be less of a concern. During the 2005 nesting season of loggerhead turtles ( Caretta caretta ) at Mon Repos beach, Queensland, Australia, we measured the perpendicular distance from the original nest site to a stationary dune baseline for in situ (unrelocated) and relocated clutches of eggs. We observed the fate of in situ clutches and predicted what would have been the fate of relocated clutches if they had not been moved by mapping tidal inundation and storm erosion lines. In 2005 turtles deposited an average of 3.84 nests and did not consistently select nest sites at particular distances from the stationary dune baseline. Selection of unsuccessful nest sites was distributed across the nesting population; 80.3% of the turtles selected at least one unsuccessful nest site and when previous breeding seasons were included, 97% selected at least one unsuccessful nest site. Females with nesting experience selected more successful nest sites than females with little or no experience. Relocating eggs vulnerable to tidal inundation and erosion saves the progeny from a large percentage of the population and the progeny from individuals who may in subsequent years nest successfully. Our results suggest that doomed-egg relocation does not substantially distort the gene pool in the eastern Australian loggerhead stock and should not be abandoned as a strategy for the conservation of marine turtle populations.     

不同年龄夜鹭卵中有机氯农药污染的生物指示

通过对太湖鼋头渚 2 0 0 0年采集的二龄、三龄和四龄夜鹭卵以及相应年龄组夜鹭的捕食物中有机氯残留的检测 ,发现捕食物中HCH和DDT的平均残留量随年龄增加而增加 .除γ HCH外 ,其它 15种有机氯农药在卵样中均有检出 ,残留水平最高的为p ,p′ DDE ,占有机氯农药残留总量的 85 %以上 .β HCH是六六六类中持留性最强的组分 ,其残留量仅次于p ,p′ DDE .研究发现 ,p ,p DDT和 β HCH检出率为 10 0 % ,而其它类型农药只有很低的检出率 ,这与我国有机氯农药使用的历史情况相吻合 .随着亲鸟年龄增加 ,卵中 β HCH残留量有所提高 ,p ,p′ DDE残留量似有先升后稍降的趋势 .统计结果表明 :各年龄组有机氯残留量差异不明显 ,因此在用夜鹭卵作有机氯污染的生物指示时可以不考虑年龄差异所带来的影响 .     

鼋头渚不同年龄夜鹭卵中多氯联苯污染状况及分布特征

通过对太湖鼋头渚2000年采集的2龄、3龄和4龄夜鹭所产卵中15种多氯联苯同系物残留状况的研究,发现所有样品中均检出多氯联苯,残留量最高的为PCB₁₁₈,PCB₈₇,PCB₁₀₁和PCB₁₅₃,占PCBs残留量的75%～85%.含5～6个氯原子的同系物在夜鹭卵中的PCBs残留量明显高于其它类型的同系物.同时,多氯联苯残留量随亲鸟年龄增加而明显增加.4龄卵样分别比3龄、2龄卵样中PCBs残留量高出47.5%和60.9%.统计处理结果表明:多氯联苯残留总量与亲鸟年龄呈正相关(p=0.05).PCBs总量与亲鸟年龄呈正相关(p=0.05).与欧美日等国家同类研究结果中PCB₁₅₃残留量最高的情况略有不同,本研究在夜鹭卵中发现残留量最高的是PCB₁₁₈,占PCBs残留总量的30%左右,PCB₁₅₃含量仅为PCBs残留总量的17%左右.     

Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in local waterbird eggs from Hong Kong: risk assessment to local waterbirds

The contamination status of the marine environment in Hong Kong was studied by measuring concentrations of organochlorine (OC) pollutants (i.e., hexachlorobenzene, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, mirex, total heptachlor, total chlordane, total DDTs, total PCBs, and total toxaphenes) in the eggs of selected waterbird species from different locations around the city: Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) and Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus) from Mai Po Village, Great Egret (Ardea alba) and Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) from A Chau, and Chinese Pond Heron (A. bacchus) from Ho Sheung Heung. The mean concentrations of total PCBs and total DDTs ranged from 191-11 100 ng g⁻¹ lipid and 453-49 000 ng g⁻¹ lipid, respectively. Recent exposure of waterbirds to technical chlordane was found in Hong Kong. The risk characterization demonstrated potential risks to birds associated with exposure to DDE, which was found to cause a reduction in survival of young in Hong Kong Ardeids based on the endpoint in the risk assessment.     

新型复合混凝吸附药剂对无铅皮蛋废水的处理

皮蛋废水水质相当复杂,既属于含重金属离子废水,又属于中等浓度含盐有机废水.针对皮蛋废水特点,采用混凝+吸附方法预处理皮蛋废水,将PAC与粉煤灰按2:5的投加比混合复制成一种新型复合混凝吸附剂,通过正交实验考察了复合药剂的较佳处理条件.结果表明,在投加量为5 g/L,pH为6.5左右,搅拌时间约为14 min,处理温度为...