Fractionation of butyltin species during sample extraction and preparation for analysis

Solvent extraction and evaporative concentration steps are often used in procedures for the measurement of butyltins in environmental samples. As part of a larger study utilizing radiolabeled butyltins, the loss and fractionation of butyltins during sample preparation was investigated. TBT, DBT, and MBT were extracted from acidified seawater by hexane with efficiencies of about 95–99, 50–60 and 11% respectively. In addition, losses of about 70% of DBT were found during evaporative concentration of hexane. A variety of sediment extraction procedures were tested and none were found to be highly efficient for total butyltin extraction.     

Combining demographic and count-based approaches to identify source-sink dynamics of a threatened seabird.

Identifying source-sink dynamics is of fundamental importance for conservation but is often limited by an inability to determine how immigration and emigration influence population processes. We demonstrate two ways to assess the role of immigration on population processes without directly observing individuals dispersing from one population to another and apply these methods to a population of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in California (USA). In the first method, the rate of immigration (i) is estimated by subtracting local recruitment (recruitment from within the population due to reproduction) estimated with demographic data from total recruitment (f; recruitment from within the population plus recruitment from other populations) estimated using temporal symmetry mark-recapture models developed by R. Pradel. The second method compares population growth rates estimated with temporal symmetry models (lambdaTS) and/or population growth rates estimated from counts of individuals over multiple sampling periods (lambdaC) with growth estimates from a stage-structured projection matrix model (lambdaM). Both lambdaTS and lambdaC incorporate all demographic processes affecting population change (birth, death, immigration, and emigration), whereas matrix models are usually constructed without incorporating immigration. Thus, if lambdaTS and lambdaC are > or = 1 and lambdaM < 1, the population is sustained by immigration and is considered to be a sink. Using the first method, recruitment estimated with temporal symmetry models was high (f= 0.182, SE = 0.058), the mean adult birth rate, as estimated using the ratio of juveniles to > or = 1 year old individuals (observed during ship-based surveys) was low (bA = 0.039, SE = 0.014), and immigration was 0.160 (SE = 0.057). Using the second method, murrelet numbers in central California were stable (lambdaC = 1.058, SE = 0.047; lambdaTS = 1.064, SE = 0.033), but were projected to decline 9.5% annually in the absence of immigration (lambdaM = 0.905, SE = 0.053). Our results suggest that Marbled Murrelets in central California represent a sink population that is stable but would decline in the absence of immigration from larger populations to the north. However, the extent to which modeled immigration is due to permanent recruitment or temporarily dispersing individuals that simply mask population declines is uncertain.     

A SUCCESSFUL WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM IN A SEMIARID REGION OF NEBRASKA1

ABSTRACT: Ground water irrigation pumpage of the High Plains Aquifer is controlled at the state level in Texas and Oklahoma but at the regional level in Kansas and Nebraska. Critical declines in the aquifer that threatened the reliability of local public water supply wells prompted Nebraska's Upper Republican Natural Resources District (URNRD) to mandate water restrictions in 1978. Under current regulations, irrigators may not extract more than 1,842 millimeters of water per certified hectare (ha) in any five‐year period. Meter monitoring ensures that irrigators comply with restrictions. Farmers now incorporate irrigation scheduling into their cropping practices in order to meet URNRD controls. This study examines whether irrigators are using ground water efficiently while complying with pumpage limits. Crop irrigation requirements (CIR) from 1986 to 1999 were derived from a water balance approach incorporating Penman‐Monteith evapotranspira‐tion (ET) calculations from weather data supplied by the High Plains Climate Center automated weather station network. A ratio of average water pumped per well to the CIR was developed to verify irrigation efficiency. Results indicate that irrigation applications were less than CIR during most irrigation seasons. Irrigation efficiency increases can be attributed to crop rotations, favorable growing season precipitation, use of ET estimates to schedule irrigation, and water allocations limited to less than all certified hectares.     

Time Series Analysis of Nebraska Daily Rainfall Data to Simulate Atrazine Runoff1

Abstract: Measured atrazine concentrations in Nebraska surface water have been shown to exceed water‐quality standards, posing risks to humans and to the ecosystem. To assess this risk, atrazine runoff was simulated at the field‐scale in Nebraska based on the pesticide component of the AGNPS model. This project’s objective was to determine the frequency that the atrazine concentration at the field outlet exceeded three different atrazine water‐quality criteria. The simulation was conducted for different farm management practices, soil moisture conditions, and five Nebraska topographic regions. If the criteria were exceeded, a risk to the drinking water consumer or freshwater aquatic life was hypothesized to exist. Three pesticide fate and transport processes were simulated with the model. Degradation was simulated using first‐order kinetics. Adsorption/desorption was modeled assuming a linear soil‐water partitioning coefficient. Advection (runoff) was based primarily on the USDA‐NRCS curve number method. Daily rainfall from the National Weather Service was used to compute the soil moisture conditions for the 1985‐2000 growing seasons. After each runoff event, the pesticide runoff concentration was compared with each of the three atrazine water‐quality criteria. The results show that environmental receptors (i.e., freshwater aquatic species) are exposed to unacceptable atrazine runoff concentrations in 20‐50% of the runoff events.     

Ground level volume mixing ratio of methane in a tropical coastal city

Urban regions are hotspots of greenhouse gas emissions which include CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, etc. Methane is a strong greenhouse gas which is produced from a number of sources including fossil fuel combustion, municipal waste, and sewage processing, etc. Ground level mixing ratio of methane in the tropical coastal city of Thiruvananthapuram in South India, during calm early morning period was measured. Measurements were done during both winter and summer seasons. Concentrations were significantly higher than global average value. Intra-city variation in ground level mixing ratio was also significant. Ground level methane concentration at Thiruvananthapuram urban area showed maximum value of 3.16 ppmV. Under stable atmospheric conditions in early morning, ground level mixing ratio of methane was 2.79 ppmV in winter and 2.54 ppmV during summer. The spatial distribution of methane concentration shows correlation with urban heat island.     

Demography of Two Mexican Spotted Owl Populations

Abstract: The Mexican Spotted Owl ( Strix occidentalis lucida ) is a threatened subspecies of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Although threatened, little is known about its population status. We studied the demography of the Mexican Spotted Owl in one study area in Arizona and one in New Mexico from 1991 to 1997. We estimated annual survival rates (φ), fecundity rates (   b ), and abundance (   N ) to test the hypothesis that population trends were stationary. Although annual fecundity rates (   b ^ = 0.494 for Arizona and 0.380 for New Mexico) and annual juvenile survival rates ( φ^ = 0.179 for Arizona and 0.109 for New Mexico) differed in magnitude between the study areas, they exhibited similar temporal patterns. Annual survival for territorial owls varied randomly in Arizona but declined linearly in New Mexico. Mean annual survival for territorial owls was 0.814 in Arizona and 0.832 for owls ≥3 years old and 0.644 for owls 1–2 years old in New Mexico. Based on survival and fecundity estimates, the annual rates of change (λ^) indicated that both populations were declining at ≥10% a year. These estimates were corroborated by observed declines in abundance. Some regional factor may have been affecting fecundity, whereas a combination of factors may have been affecting survival. Two possible reasons for the population declines are declines in habitat quality and regional trends in climate.     

Characterizing source-sink dynamics with genetic parentage assignments

Source-sink dynamics have been suggested to characterize the population structure of many species, but the prevalence of source-sink systems in nature is uncertain because of inherent challenges in estimating migration rates among populations. Migration rates are often difficult to estimate directly with demographic methods, and indirect genetic methods are subject to a variety of assumptions that are difficult to meet or to apply to evolutionary timescales. Furthermore, such methods cannot be rigorously applied to high-gene-flow species. Here, we employ genetic parentage assignments in conjunction with demographic simulations to infer the level of immigration into a putative sink population. We use individual-based demographic models to estimate expected distributions of parent-offspring dyads under competing sink and closed-population models. By comparing the actual number of parent-offspring dyads (identified from multilocus genetic profiles) in a random sample of individuals taken from a population to expectations under these two contrasting demographic models, it is possible to estimate the rate of immigration and test hypotheses related to the role of immigration on population processes on an ecological timescale. The difference in the expected number of parent-offspring dyads between the two population models was greatest when immigration into the sink population was high, indicating that unlike traditional population genetic inference models, the highest degree of statistical power is achieved for the approach presented here when migration rates are high. We used the proposed genetic parentage approach to demonstrate that a threatened population of Marbled Murrelets (Braclhyrarmphus marmotus) appears to be supplemented by a low level of immigration (approximately 2-6% annually) from other populations.     

Social context modulates sickness behavior

Sickness behaviors constitute an array of symptoms exhibited by an animal during the course of an infection, including reduced activity, reduced food and water intake, and reduced social interactions. It is hypothesized that these symptoms enable reallocation of finite energy resources to fight infection. In this way, by focusing energy on healing, available resources are being removed from other activities, potentially reducing adaptive opportunities, such as mating. Hence, to achieve increased reproductive success, animals might be able to adjust the expression of sickness behaviors to their environmental circumstances. While abiotic conditions such as temperature and season can modulate sickness behaviors, no studies in passerines have linked modulation of sickness behaviors to social settings. Here, it is demonstrated that social surroundings affect the extent to which animals exhibit symptoms of sickness. After an immune challenge, zebra finches kept in isolation markedly reduced activity, but those kept in a colony setting did not. The same trend is verified when looking at the time they spent resting. Additionally, a proinflammatory cytokine (interleukin-6) was quantified in plasma samples and all animals that had been immune challenged showed increased levels of this marker, showing that the physiological response was similar. Hence, birds in a social context were able to overcome the behavioral, but not physiological, symptoms usually associated with an inflammatory response. These findings suggest a trade-off between allowing the body to respond to an infection and taking advantage of being in a social situation.     

Investigations on enhanced in situ bioxidation of methane from landfill gas (LFG) in a lab-scale model

The performance of an exogenous bacterium, Methylobacterium extorquens, in inducing bioxidation of methane from landfill gas (LFG) was assessed in a laboratory scale bioreactor. The study show that enhanced oxidation of methane is attained when the bacteria are introduced into the landfill soil. The maximum percentage reduction of methane fraction from LFG when the bioreactor was inoculated with the methanotrophic bacteria was 94.24 % in aerobic treatment process and 99.97 % in anaerobic process. In the experiments with only the indigenous microorganisms present in the landfill soil, the maximum percentage reduction of methane for the same flow rate of LFG was 59.67 % in aerobic treatment and 45 % in anaerobic treatment. The methane oxidation efficiency of this exogenous methanotrophic bacterium can be considered to be the optimum in anaerobic condition and at a flow rate of 0.6 L/m²/min when the removal percentage is 99.95 %. The results substantiate the use of exogenous microorganisms as potential remediation agents of methane in LFG.