Performance of Encounternet Tags: Field Tests of Miniaturized Proximity Loggers for Use on Small Birds

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, Iris I.; Zonana, David M.; Burt, John M.; Safran, Rebecca J.

2015-01-01

Proximity logging is a new tool for understanding social behavior as it allows for accurate quantification of social networks. We report results from field calibration and deployment tests of miniaturized proximity tags (Encounternet), digital transceivers that log encounters between tagged individuals. We examined radio signal behavior in relation to tag attachment (tag, tag on bird, tag on saline-filled balloon) to understand how radio signal strength is affected by the tag mounting technique used for calibration tests. We investigated inter-tag and inter-receiver station variability, and in each calibration test we accounted for the effects of antennae orientation. Additionally, we used data from a live deployment on breeding barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster) to analyze the quality of the logs, including reciprocal agreement in dyadic logs. We evaluated the impact (in terms of mass changes) of tag attachment on the birds. We were able to statistically distinguish between RSSI values associated with different close-proximity (station variability. Reciprocal agreement of dyadic logs was high and social networks were constructed from proximity tag logs based on two different RSSI thresholds. There was no evidence of significant mass loss in the time birds were wearing tags. We conclude that proximity loggers are accurate and effective for quantifying social behavior. However, because RSSI and distance cannot be perfectly resolved, data from proximity loggers are most appropriate for comparing networks based on specific RSSI thresholds. The Encounternet system is flexible and customizable, and tags are now light enough for use on small animals (<50g). PMID:26348329

Performance of Encounternet Tags: Field Tests of Miniaturized Proximity Loggers for Use on Small Birds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iris I Levin

Full Text Available Proximity logging is a new tool for understanding social behavior as it allows for accurate quantification of social networks. We report results from field calibration and deployment tests of miniaturized proximity tags (Encounternet, digital transceivers that log encounters between tagged individuals. We examined radio signal behavior in relation to tag attachment (tag, tag on bird, tag on saline-filled balloon to understand how radio signal strength is affected by the tag mounting technique used for calibration tests. We investigated inter-tag and inter-receiver station variability, and in each calibration test we accounted for the effects of antennae orientation. Additionally, we used data from a live deployment on breeding barn swallows (Hirundo rustica erythrogaster to analyze the quality of the logs, including reciprocal agreement in dyadic logs. We evaluated the impact (in terms of mass changes of tag attachment on the birds. We were able to statistically distinguish between RSSI values associated with different close-proximity (<5 m tag-tag distances regardless of antennae orientation. Inter-tag variability was low, but we did find significant inter-receiver station variability. Reciprocal agreement of dyadic logs was high and social networks were constructed from proximity tag logs based on two different RSSI thresholds. There was no evidence of significant mass loss in the time birds were wearing tags. We conclude that proximity loggers are accurate and effective for quantifying social behavior. However, because RSSI and distance cannot be perfectly resolved, data from proximity loggers are most appropriate for comparing networks based on specific RSSI thresholds. The Encounternet system is flexible and customizable, and tags are now light enough for use on small animals (<50 g.

Resistance of Feather-Associated Bacteria to Intermediate Levels of Ionizing Radiation near Chernobyl

OpenAIRE

Ruiz-Gonz?lez, Mario Xavier; Czirj?k, G?bor ?rp?d; Genevaux, Pierre; M?ller, Anders Pape; Mousseau, Timothy Alexander; Heeb, Philipp

2016-01-01

Ionizing radiation has been shown to produce negative effects on organisms, although little is known about its ecological and evolutionary effects. As a study model, we isolated bacteria associated with feathers from barn swallows Hirundo rustica from three study areas around Chernobyl differing in background ionizing radiation levels and one control study site in Denmark. Each bacterial community was exposed to four different ? radiation doses ranging from 0.46 to 3.96 kGy to test whether ch...

No evidence of extra-pair paternity in a colonial seabird, the common tern (Sterna hirundo)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griggio, M.; Matessi, Giuliano; Marin, G.

2004-01-01

The incidence of extra-pair paternity and egg dumping was investigated in a colony of common terns (Sterna hirundo), a colonial seabird, in the Venetian lagoon. Ten families were sampled and multilocus DNA fingerprinting analysis was performed. No indication of extra-pair paternity or egg dumping...... was found in any of the families. The results are discussed in the light of life-history strategies, the benefits of coloniality and the evolution of adoption behaviour in the species.......The incidence of extra-pair paternity and egg dumping was investigated in a colony of common terns (Sterna hirundo), a colonial seabird, in the Venetian lagoon. Ten families were sampled and multilocus DNA fingerprinting analysis was performed. No indication of extra-pair paternity or egg dumping...

Espaço, poder e escravidão no De Re Rustica de Columela

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Fábio Duarte Joly

2003-07-01

Full Text Available Este artigo analisa a configuração do espaço e a organização do trabalho escravo na propriedade rural (uilla descrita por Columela em seu tratado De Re Rustica, tendo como hipótese que ambos os aspectos não são regidos por critérios exclusivamente econômicos, como a historiografia geralmente entende, mas sobretudo políticos, uma vez que remetem ao entendimento que Columela tinha da política romana na época do principado de Nero.This article examines the space configuration and the organization of slave work in the rural property (uilla as described by Columela in his treaty De Re Rustica. The related hypothesis is that both aspects are not solely governed by financial criteria, as historiography usually perceives, but also political, given it refers to Columela´s understanding of Roman politics during Nero's principality.

Recent results from Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica ringing in Iringa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

the lake, we found that capture rates improved when nets were opened just before dawn to ... Obrowiec in Gogolin, Poland, and at Lake Atanasovsko in Burgas, Bulgaria. (Table 1). ... Notes on nesting herons and other birds of interest at Lake.

Bird flight characteristics near wind turbines in Minnesota

Science.gov (United States)

Osborn, R.G.; Dieter, C.D.; Higgins, K.F.; Usgaard, R.E.

1998-01-01

During 1994-1995, we saw 70 species of birds on the Buffalo Ridge Wind Resource Area. In both years bird abundance peaked in spring. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), and barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) were the species most commonly seen. Most birds (82-84%) flew above or below the height range of wind turbine blades (22-55 m). The Buffalo Ridge Wind Resource Area poses little threat to resident or migrating birds at its current operating level.

Bird ringing in Slovenia in 2014 and results of the first telemetry study of an African migrant

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Vrezec Al

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In 2014, 162 bird species were recorded during the bird ringing activities in Slovenia. Of 155 species, 62,275 birds were ringed, and 107 recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia and found abroad, 148 foreign recoveries in Slovenia and 1395 local recoveries were recorded. The most frequently ringed species were Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and Great Tit Parus major. As far as ringed nestlings are concerned, Great Tits and Barn Swalllows Hirundo rustica predominated. Considering the recoveries ringed of found birds abroad, the commonest were Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus and Mute Swans Cygnus olor. The farthest recovery was a Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (5171 km away. Among the more interesting finds was also the so far southernmost recovery of a Sand Martin Riparia riparia found in Israel. Let us also mention the first recovery of a Corncrake Crex crex, which bred and was ringed in 2013 at Planinsko polje (central Slovenia and was found in the 2014 breeding season in the Czech Republic. Among rare species, two Little Buntings Emberiza pusilla were caught and ringed. After nine years, the Roller Coracias garrulus bred again in Slovenia in 2014 and its nestlings were ringed. The paper also brings the description of the migration route of the first African migrant, the Black Stork Ciconia nigra, marked with a GPS/GSM telemetric device, which migrated across the Adriatic Sea, Sicily and Sahara to Nigeria.

No evidence of extra-pair paternity in a colonial seabird, the common tern (Sterna hirundo)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griggio, M.; Matessi, Giuliano; Marin, G.

2004-01-01

The incidence of extra-pair paternity and egg dumping was investigated in a colony of common terns (Sterna hirundo), a colonial seabird, in the Venetian lagoon. Ten families were sampled and multilocus DNA fingerprinting analysis was performed. No indication of extra-pair paternity or egg dumping...

Growth and survival of the pearl oyster Pteria hirundo (L.,1758) in an intermediate stage of culture in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Albuquerque, M C P; Alves, R; Zanandrea, A C V; Ferreira, J F; Melo, C M R; Magalhães, A R M

2012-02-01

There are no records in Brazil for the culture of Pteridae family oysters, genus Pteria and Pinctada. The intermediate culture can be considered one of the critical stages during the oyster farming. The changes in life conditions from a semi-closed environment provided by the collector to the structures utilized for the growth represents a considerable stress factor to which the animals are subjected. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the growth and survival of the pearl oyster Pteria hirundo (Linnaeus, 1758) kept in intermediate lanterns. Seeds of P. hirundo, obtained through larviculture carried out at the Marine Molluscs Laboratory (UFSC), southern Brazil were detached from the collectors, transferred and kept in an intermediate culture system (oyster lantern). During 6 months, growth (dorso-ventral height - DVH in mm) and survival (%) were evaluated. Two size classes were tested: medium (M), between 3.4 and 4.4 mm, and large (L), bigger than 4.5 mm. The density of occupation in each floor of the lantern was 50%. At the end of the experiment, the survivals observed were 90 and 94% for the sizes M and L, respectively. Medium juveniles of Pteria hirundo had an average (Std) increase of 16.1 (±4.38) mm in the dorso-ventral height, and large juveniles an average increase of 11.4 (±3.77) mm after six months of experiment. The results observed during the intermediate stage of cultivation indicate that Pteria hirundo presents survival and growth similar to other species of pearl oysters traditionally used in the pearl industry in several countries.

Stable isotope analysis of migratory connectivity in a threatened intra-African migrant, the Blue Swallow (Hirundo atrocaerulea)

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wakelin, J

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The Blue Swallow (Hirundo atrocaerulea) is a threatened intra-African migrant with breeding populations in three geographically disjunct regions. We analysed stable hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios in feather keratin to determine whether...

Growth and survival of the pearl oyster Pteria hirundo (L.,1758 in an intermediate stage of culture in Santa Catarina, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MCP Albuquerque

Full Text Available There are no records in Brazil for the culture of Pteridae family oysters, genus Pteria and Pinctada. The intermediate culture can be considered one of the critical stages during the oyster farming. The changes in life conditions from a semi-closed environment provided by the collector to the structures utilized for the growth represents a considerable stress factor to which the animals are subjected. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the growth and survival of the pearl oyster Pteria hirundo (Linnaeus, 1758 kept in intermediate lanterns. Seeds of P. hirundo, obtained through larviculture carried out at the Marine Molluscs Laboratory (UFSC, southern Brazil were detached from the collectors, transferred and kept in an intermediate culture system (oyster lantern. During 6 months, growth (dorso-ventral height - DVH in mm and survival (% were evaluated. Two size classes were tested: medium (M, between 3.4 and 4.4 mm, and large (L, bigger than 4.5 mm. The density of occupation in each floor of the lantern was 50%. At the end of the experiment, the survivals observed were 90 and 94% for the sizes M and L, respectively. Medium juveniles of Pteria hirundo had an average (Std increase of 16.1 (±4.38 mm in the dorso-ventral height, and large juveniles an average increase of 11.4 (±3.77 mm after six months of experiment. The results observed during the intermediate stage of cultivation indicate that Pteria hirundo presents survival and growth similar to other species of pearl oysters traditionally used in the pearl industry in several countries.

PCB concentrations and metabolism patterns in common terns (Sterna hirundo) from different breeding colonies in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brink, van den N.W.; Bosveld, A.T.C.

2001-01-01

PCB levels in blood of common terns (Sterna hirundo) from Terneuzen, a breeding colony in The Netherlands with relatively low breeding success, were significantly higher than in birds from two Dutch reference colonies, one nearby (Oesterdam) and one further away (the Isle of Griend). However, a

Schizocordulia gen. nov. related to Aeschnosom Selys with description of the female and additional data on the male of Schizocordulia rustica (Selys comb. nov. (Odonata, Corduliidae Schizocordulia gen. nov. relacionado a Aeschnosoma Selys com descrição da fêmea e dados adicionais sobre o macho de Schizocordulia rustica (Selys comb. nov. (Odonata, Corduliidae

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Angelo B.M. Machado

2005-09-01

Full Text Available The monotypical genus Schizocordulia is created for Schizocordulia rustica (Selys, 1871 comb. nov. known from a single male from Bahia, Brazil lacking the anal appendages. The female is described and the redescription of the male made by GEIJKES (1970 is completed by the description and illustration of the penis, the anal appendages and the pilose plate. The main characters separating the new genus from the closely related Aeschnosoma Selys, 1870 are the bifid male inferior appendage, the very long internal branch of the hamulus, the presence of a pilose plate on the male 7th abdominal segment, and the large and complex valvula vulvae of the female. The study was based on 33 males and 2 females, which allowed an evaluation of the intraspecific variations in Schizocordulia rustica.Cria-se o gênero monotípico Schizocordulia para Schizocordulia rustica (Selys, 1871 comb. nov. espécie conhecida de um único exemplar macho sem os apêndices anais. Descreve-se a fêmea e a redescrição do macho feita por GEIJKES (1970 é completada pela descrição e ilustração do pênis, da placa pilosa e dos apêndices anais. Os principais caracteres utilizados para separar Schizocordulia do gênero afim Aeschnosoma Selys, 1870 são o apêndice inferior do macho bífido, o ramo interno do hâmulo muito longo, a presença de uma placa pilosa no 7º segmento abdominal e a válvula da vulva da fêmea grande e complexa. Este estudo foi baseado em 33 machos e 2 fêmeas, o que permitiu uma avaliação das variações intraespecíficas em Schizocordulia rustica.

Phylogeography of Partamona rustica (Hymenoptera, Apidae), an Endemic Stingless Bee from the Neotropical Dry Forest Diagonal.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Elder Assis; Batalha-Filho, Henrique; Congrains, Carlos; Carvalho, Antônio Freire; Ferreira, Kátia Maria; Del Lama, Marco Antonio

2016-01-01

The South America encompasses the highest levels of biodiversity found anywhere in the world and its rich biota is distributed among many different biogeographical regions. However, many regions of South America are still poorly studied, including its xeric environments, such as the threatened Caatinga and Cerrado phytogeographical domains. In particular, the effects of Quaternary climatic events on the demography of endemic species from xeric habitats are poorly understood. The present study uses an integrative approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Partamona rustica, an endemic stingless bee from dry forest diagonal in Brazil, in a spatial-temporal framework. In this sense, we sequenced four mitochondrial genes and genotyped eight microsatellite loci. Our results identified two population groups: one to the west and the other to the east of the São Francisco River Valley (SFRV). These groups split in the late Pleistocene, and the Approximate Bayesian Computation approach and phylogenetic reconstruction indicated that P. rustica originated in the west of the SFRV, subsequently colonising eastern region. Our tests of migration detected reduced gene flow between these groups. Finally, our results also indicated that the inferences both from the genetic data analyses and from the spatial distribution modelling are compatible with historical demographic stability.

Phylogeography of Partamona rustica (Hymenoptera, Apidae, an Endemic Stingless Bee from the Neotropical Dry Forest Diagonal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elder Assis Miranda

Full Text Available The South America encompasses the highest levels of biodiversity found anywhere in the world and its rich biota is distributed among many different biogeographical regions. However, many regions of South America are still poorly studied, including its xeric environments, such as the threatened Caatinga and Cerrado phytogeographical domains. In particular, the effects of Quaternary climatic events on the demography of endemic species from xeric habitats are poorly understood. The present study uses an integrative approach to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Partamona rustica, an endemic stingless bee from dry forest diagonal in Brazil, in a spatial-temporal framework. In this sense, we sequenced four mitochondrial genes and genotyped eight microsatellite loci. Our results identified two population groups: one to the west and the other to the east of the São Francisco River Valley (SFRV. These groups split in the late Pleistocene, and the Approximate Bayesian Computation approach and phylogenetic reconstruction indicated that P. rustica originated in the west of the SFRV, subsequently colonising eastern region. Our tests of migration detected reduced gene flow between these groups. Finally, our results also indicated that the inferences both from the genetic data analyses and from the spatial distribution modelling are compatible with historical demographic stability.

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica parents work harder when foraging conditions are good

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schifferli, Luc; Grueebler, Martin U.; Meijer, Harro A. J.; Visser, G. Henk; Naef-Daenzer, Beat

2014-01-01

In altricial birds, the great effort involved in supplying food to nestlings can create trade-offs in the allocation of resources between the current brood and parental self-maintenance. In poor foraging conditions, parents have to adjust their energy expenditure in relation to the increased

Een onderzoek naar verschillen in fourageeractiviteit tussen Visdief Sterna hirundo en Noordse Stern Sterna paradisaea op de Engelsmanplaat (NL)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mes, Ron; Schuckard, Rot

1976-01-01

The foraging activity of Common Tern Sterna hirundo and Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea was studied on the low sandy island of Engelsmanplaat in the Dutch Waddensea area (53°28’N – 06°30’E). The foraging activity was measured by counting birds carrying food to the colony and birds flying towards the

Evolutionary divergence in sexual signals: Insights from within and among barn swallow populations

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Matthew Reed

A wealth of studies across diverse animal groups indicate the importance of sexual selection in shaping phenotypes within and across breeding populations. In recent decades, much research has focused on how divergent sexual selection pressures among populations may lead to speciation. For my first dissertation chapter, I performed a literature review on the causes and consequences of evolutionary divergence in acoustic signals and developed the acoustic window conceptual framework for understanding the contributions of selection, genetic drift, and evolutionary constraint to signal divergence. Further, I found that sexual selection explains acoustic differences between recently diverged populations of the best-studied taxa. However, the relative contributions of ecological selection, sexual selection, and drift to acoustic divergence have not typically been considered within the same study systems. The remainder of my dissertation used the Northern Hemisphere-distributed barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica) species complex as a model system to study sender-receiver dynamics, intra- and intersexual selection pressures, and visual and acoustic signal interactions at the local scale, and signal divergence across populations at the global scale. From song recordings taken across 19 sampling sites, spanning five of six described subspecies, I demonstrated considerable conservation in song structure. However, temporal traits were highly divergent across subspecies, and in particular, the speed of the terminal trill of songs. In a detailed study of the multimodal communication system of the barn swallow (including visual and acoustic traits), I demonstrated that males and females use different types of signals to mediate competition and mate choice. One of the only exceptions to this rule was trill rate, which was also implicated in song divergence across populations. In order to test the function of trill rate in communication, I performed a two-year playback study within the

Hematology and absence of hemoparasites in breeding common terns (Sterna hirundo) from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiorello, Christine V; Nisbet, Ian C T; Hatch, Jeremy J; Corsiglia, Carolyn; Pokras, Mark A

2009-09-01

In June and July 1995, 98 breeding common terns (Sterna hirundo) were captured, weighed, and bled as a part of ongoing research on the population health and reproductive biology of this species of special concern. Packed cell volume, total and differential white blood cell counts, and blood smears were obtained. Blood smears from 75 terns were examined. No hemoparasites were found. There were some significant differences among hematologic parameters in birds from different islands, and between birds nesting earlier versus later in the season, but there were no significant differences associated with body mass, sex, or age. The absence of hemoparasites in the blood smears of these terns is noteworthy, especially because other studies of seabirds (including Charadriiformes) have revealed low prevalences of hematozoa.

INTEGRATED DIGITAL SURVEY OF THE "FONTANA RUSTICA" IN THE GARDENS OF THE QUIRINALE.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Paris

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The paper illustrates the results of a research on integrated digital survey of the "Fontana Rustica" in the gardens of the Quirinale, artifact somewhat atypical for its particular organical configuration, and whose history is still to be discovered. The activity is performed by Critevat, interdepartmental research center in Rieti, within of the scientific collaboration with the Office for the conservation of artistic heritage of the Quirinale Palace. The integrated digital survey in recent years has had a strong impulse thanks to the technological development of the shape acquisition instruments. The research has analyzed the problems of interaction and integration of digital data obtainable using the latest digital technologies such as 3D laser-scanner and digital photogrammetry. A further level of research has focused on the possibility of management of 3D models in relation to data obtained by instruments and methods of investigation of different scientific culture such as seismic transmission tomography and thermografy.

Integrated Digital Survey of the "FONTANA RUSTICA" in the Gardens of the Quirinale.

Science.gov (United States)

Paris, L.; Troiano, W.

2013-07-01

The paper illustrates the results of a research on integrated digital survey of the "Fontana Rustica" in the gardens of the Quirinale, artifact somewhat atypical for its particular organical configuration, and whose history is still to be discovered. The activity is performed by Critevat, interdepartmental research center in Rieti, within of the scientific collaboration with the Office for the conservation of artistic heritage of the Quirinale Palace. The integrated digital survey in recent years has had a strong impulse thanks to the technological development of the shape acquisition instruments. The research has analyzed the problems of interaction and integration of digital data obtainable using the latest digital technologies such as 3D laser-scanner and digital photogrammetry. A further level of research has focused on the possibility of management of 3D models in relation to data obtained by instruments and methods of investigation of different scientific culture such as seismic transmission tomography and thermografy.

The effect of dairy farm management regime on swallow (Hirundo rustica) abundance in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lubbe, S.K.; Snoo, de G.R.

2007-01-01

Aim To identify differences in Swallow abundance between organically and conventionally managed dairy farms, by examining three factors: farm buildings, food availability and farmer attitudes to Swallows. Methods Organic and conventional dairy farm holdings were compared in pairwise fashion. On

Assessment of tributyltin contamination based on imposex in Stramonita rustica (Mollusca: Gastropoda) along southern Bahia coast, northeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeidan, G C; Boehs, G

2017-03-01

This study investigated the effects of tributyltin (TBT) on the morphology of the genital system of the gastropod Stramonita rustica in southern Bahia, Brazil. For this, 330 specimens were collected during the summer of 2014 at eight sampling points to ascertain whether male sex organs had developed in addition to the complete female genital tract in females (= imposex). The analyses were made under a stereoscopic microscope. Imposex and their associated indexes, and the sterile females, exhibited the highest rates in harbors and shipyards areas. Despite the total ban of TBT in anti-fouling paints on a global scale since 2003, the results of this and other studies indicate the continued use of those paints on the Brazilian coast. This shows the inefficiency of existing legislation and the need to strengthen enforcement of the ban.

Assessment of tributyltin contamination based on imposex in Stramonita rustica (Mollusca: Gastropoda along southern Bahia coast, northeastern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. C. Zeidan

Full Text Available Abstract This study investigated the effects of tributyltin (TBT on the morphology of the genital system of the gastropod Stramonita rustica in southern Bahia, Brazil. For this, 330 specimens were collected during the summer of 2014 at eight sampling points to ascertain whether male sex organs had developed in addition to the complete female genital tract in females (= imposex. The analyses were made under a stereoscopic microscope. Imposex and their associated indexes, and the sterile females, exhibited the highest rates in harbors and shipyards areas. Despite the total ban of TBT in anti-fouling paints on a global scale since 2003, the results of this and other studies indicate the continued use of those paints on the Brazilian coast. This shows the inefficiency of existing legislation and the need to strengthen enforcement of the ban.

Fitness loss and germline mutations in barn swallows breeding in Chernobyl

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellegren, Hans; Lindgren, Gabriella; Primmer, C.R. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Animal Breeding and Genetics Dept., Uppsala (Sweden); Moeller, A.P. [Universite Pierre et Marie Curie. Lab. d`Ecologie, Paris, 75 (France)

1997-10-09

The severe nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 resulted in the worst reported accidental exposure of radioactive material to free-living organisms. Short-term effects on human populations inhabiting polluted areas include increased incidence of thyroid cancer, infant leukaemia, and congenital malformations in newborns. Two recent studies have reported, although with some controversy, that germline mutation rates were increased in humans and voles living close to Chernobyl, but little is known about the viability of the organisms affected. Here we report an increased frequency of partial albinism, a morphological aberration associated with a loss of fitness, among barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, breeding close to Chernobyl. Heretability estimates indicate that mutations causing albinism were at least partly of germline origin. Furthermore, evidence for an increased germline mutation rate was obtained from segregation analysis at two hypervariable microsatellite loci, indicating that mutation events in barn swallows from Chernobyl were two- to tenfold higher than in birds from control areas in Ukraine and Italy. (author).

Fitness loss and germline mutations in barn swallows breeding in Chernobyl

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellegren, Hans; Lindgren, Gabriella; Primmer, C.R.; Moeller, A.P.

1997-01-01

The severe nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 resulted in the worst reported accidental exposure of radioactive material to free-living organisms. Short-term effects on human populations inhabiting polluted areas include increased incidence of thyroid cancer, infant leukaemia, and congenital malformations in newborns. Two recent studies have reported, although with some controversy, that germline mutation rates were increased in humans and voles living close to Chernobyl, but little is known about the viability of the organisms affected. Here we report an increased frequency of partial albinism, a morphological aberration associated with a loss of fitness, among barn swallows, Hirundo rustica, breeding close to Chernobyl. Heretability estimates indicate that mutations causing albinism were at least partly of germline origin. Furthermore, evidence for an increased germline mutation rate was obtained from segregation analysis at two hypervariable microsatellite loci, indicating that mutation events in barn swallows from Chernobyl were two- to tenfold higher than in birds from control areas in Ukraine and Italy. (author)

Records of new or poorly known migratory birds from Laguna del Otun, Los Nevados National Natural Park, Risaralda, Colombia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acevedo Charry, Orlando; Matta Camacho, Nubia E; Moncada Alvarez, Ligia Ines

2013-01-01

Colombia is important for migratory birds. Despite this, we do not know where they are during their crossing or residency in the country, and which species use paramo. We registered new migratory bird species for Laguna Del Otun, immersed in a complex of wetlands declared a Ramsar site since 2008. The lagoon is located in the Los Nevados National Natural Park at 3932 m asl, in paramo ecosystems of the Central Andes of Colombia. During five field trips between 2010-2012 we recorded four new migratory bird species for the park: Anas acuta, Pandion haliaetus, Riparia riparia, and Dendroica petechia. We also registered an altitudinal range extension for two additional migratory species which had only been recorded below 3500 m: Tringa flavipes and Hirundo rustica. These findings suggest these species could tolerate high mountain conditions and use the paramo. It's needed inquiry about migratory dynamics and high mountain habitat use by migratory birds.

Biological export of radioactive materials from a leaching pond in SE Idaho

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millard, Jere B.

1978-01-01

A radioecological investigation was conducted to quantify biological export of radioactive materials from a test reactor area leaching pond located on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory site in southeast Idaho. An estimated 42,000 Ci have been discharged to the pond since 1952. Approximately 35 gamma emitting radionuclides are detectable in unfiltered water. Biomass estimates and mean radionuclide concentrations were determined for major pond compartments. A radionuclide inventory of the pond ecosystem was constructed listing totals for radioactivity present in each compartment. Mean concentrations of predominant radionuclides and population census data were used to estimate biologically exported materials. Particular attention was paid to migrant waterfowl, a resident population of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), and nesting shore birds. Whole body gamma spectra indicated 15 or more detectable fission and activation products associated with swallows and shore birds, and 20 or more for waterfowl. Concentration factors relative to filtered pond water were also calculated. Finally, biologically exported radioactive materials were compared with total amounts present in the pond. (author)

Lead concentrations and reproduction in highway-nesting barn swallows

Science.gov (United States)

Grue, C.E.; O'Shea, T.J.; Hoffman, D.J.

1984-01-01

Swallows (Hirundo rustica) collected within the right-of-way of a major Maryland highway were greater than those found in Barn Swallows nesting within a rural area. Lead concentrations in the feathers of adults from the highway colony were also greater than Lead concentrations in the carcasses and stomach contents of adult and nestling Barn those of rural adults, but concentrations in the feathers of nestlings from the two locations were similar. Activity of u-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase in red blood cells was lower in highway-nesting adults and their young than in their rural counterparts, although hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrits did not differ. The number of eggs, nestlings, and body weights of the latter at 16-18 days of age were similar in the two colonies, as were body weights of adults from the two areas. These results suggest that contamination of roadside habitats by lead from automotive emissions does not pose a serious hazard to birds that are aerial feeders.

Thais (Stramonita rustica (Lamarck, 1822 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Thaididae, a potential bioindicator of contamination by organotin northeast Brazil

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Ítalo Braga de Castro

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The use of antifouling paints containing the biocide compound tributyltin (TBT has been shown as an inductor of imposex in neogastropods mollusks. Imposex is characterized by the development of male features in females, mainly the appearance of a no functional vas deferens and penis. Samples of Thais rustica were collected in eight sites in the metropolitan area of Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte state, northeast Brazil, and examined for occurrence of imposex, which was found in many females. The higher imposex levels were presented by samples from sites near city harbor.A utilização de tintas antiincrustrantes contendo o composto biocida tributilestanho (TBT tem induzido moluscos neogastrópodes ao imposex. O imposex é caracterizado pelo surgimento de caracteres sexuais masculinos, sobretudo, pênis e vaso deferente não funcionais em fêmeas desses moluscos. Foram coletadas amostras de Thais rústica em oito estações ao longo da costa da cidade de Natal no Rio Grande do Norte. Esses animais foram analisados quanto a presença e o grau de imposex que apresentavam. Os níveis mais elevados de imposex foram observados na estação mais próxima ao porto.

Imposex in Thais rustica (Mollusca: Neogastropoda (Lamark, 1822 as an indicator of organotin compounds pollution at Maceio coast (Northeastern Brazil

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Edmundo Camillo

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The use of OTC (organotin compounds as biocides in naval antifouling paints causes impacts on non-target organisms. One of these impacts is a syndrome called imposex in gastropod molluscs. Imposex is the imposition of male secondary sexual characteristics in female gastropods as result of endocrine disruption. In this preliminary study, imposex was observed in four out of ten sampled stations in Maceió: the city Port (100% females exhibited imposex, the Marine Emissary (23% females exhibited imposex, the Marine Terminal (35% females exhibited imposex and Saco da Pedra beach (12% females exhibited imposex. These stations were distributed in a NE-SW orientation from the Port southwards along the coastline, following the general circulation pattern of the area. The low values of VDSI, RPSI and RPLI indicate that Maceió Coast is a less contaminated area, probably because of low shipping activities together with the fact that the sampling zone is an open coastal system and not an enclosed bay. These results suggest that the imposex development in Thais rustica may be used as a biological indicator of OTC pollution.O uso de COE (compostos orgânicos de estanho como biocida em tintas antiincrustantes para embarcações causa impactos em organismos não-alvos. Um destes impactos é a síndrome chamada imposex, em moluscos gastrópodos. Imposex é a imposição de caracteres sexuais secundários masculinos em fêmeas de gastrópodos como resultado de desregulação endócrina. Neste estudo preliminar, o imposex foi observado em quatro de dez estações de amostragem em Maceió: o Porto de Maceió (100% de fêmeas imposexadas, o Emissário Submarino (23% de fêmeas imposexadas, o Terminal Marítimo (35% de fêmeas imposexadas e a praia do Saco da Pedra (12% de fêmeas imposexadas. Estas estações estão distribuídas no litoral no sentido NE/SW a partir do Porto, seguindo o padrão de circulação local. Os valores relativamente baixos dos �

Quantitative genetics of migration syndromes: a study of two barn swallow populations.

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Teplitsky, C; Mouawad, N G; Balbontin, J; De Lope, F; Møller, A P

2011-09-01

Migration is a complex trait although little is known about genetic correlations between traits involved in such migration syndromes. To assess the migratory responses to climate change, we need information on genetic constraints on evolutionary potential of arrival dates in migratory birds. Using two long-term data sets on barn swallows Hirundo rustica (from Spain and Denmark), we show for the first time in wild populations that spring arrival dates are phenotypically and genetically correlated with morphological and life history traits. In the Danish population, length of outermost tail feathers and wing length were negatively genetically correlated with arrival date. In the Spanish population, we found a negative genetic correlation between arrival date and time elapsed between arrival date and laying date, constraining response to selection that favours both early arrival and shorter delays. This results in a decreased rate of adaptation, not because of constraints on arrival date, but constraints on delay before breeding, that is, a trait that can be equally important in the context of climate change. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2011 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Resistance of Feather-Associated Bacteria to Intermediate Levels of Ionizing Radiation near Chernobyl.

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Ruiz-González, Mario Xavier; Czirják, Gábor Árpád; Genevaux, Pierre; Møller, Anders Pape; Mousseau, Timothy Alexander; Heeb, Philipp

2016-03-15

Ionizing radiation has been shown to produce negative effects on organisms, although little is known about its ecological and evolutionary effects. As a study model, we isolated bacteria associated with feathers from barn swallows Hirundo rustica from three study areas around Chernobyl differing in background ionizing radiation levels and one control study site in Denmark. Each bacterial community was exposed to four different γ radiation doses ranging from 0.46 to 3.96 kGy to test whether chronic exposure to radiation had selected for resistant bacterial strains. Experimental radiation duration had an increasingly overall negative effect on the survival of all bacterial communities. After exposure to γ radiation, bacteria isolated from the site with intermediate background radiation levels survived better and produced more colonies than the bacterial communities from other study sites with higher or lower background radiation levels. Long-term effects of radiation in natural populations might be an important selective pressure on traits of bacteria that facilitate survival in certain environments. Our findings indicate the importance of further studies to understand the proximate mechanisms acting to buffer the negative effects of ionizing radiation in natural populations.

Mineralogical and microstructural studies of mortars from the bath complex of the Roman villa rustica near Mosnje (Slovenia)

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Kramar, Sabina; Zalar, Vesna; Urosevic, Maja; Koerner, Wilfried; Mauko, Alenka; Mirtic, Breda; Lux, Judita; Mladenovic, Ana

2011-01-01

This study deals with the characterization of mortars collected from bath complex of the Roman villa rustica from an archeological site near Mosnje (Slovenia). The mortar layers of the mosaics, wall paintings and mortar floors were investigated. A special aggregate consisting of brick fragments was present in the mortars studied. The mineralogical and petrographic compositions of the mortars were determined by means of optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. Analysis of aggregate-binder interfaces using SEM-EDS revealed various types of reactivity rims. In order to assess the hydraulic characteristics of the mortars, the acid-soluble fractions were determined by ICP-OES. Furthermore, the results of Hg-porosimetry and gas sorption isotherms showed that mortars with a higher content of brick fragments particles exhibited a higher porosity and a greater BET surface area but a lower average pore diameter compared to mortars lacking this special aggregate. - Highlights: → Mineral and microstructural characterizations of brick-lime mortars. → Hydraulic character of mortars in Roman baths complex. → Reaction rims were observed around brick fragments and dolomitic grains. → Higher content of brick particles yielded a higher BET surface area. → Addition of brick particles increased porosity and diminished pore size diameter.

Expression of multiple sexual signals by fathers and sons in the East-Mediterranean barn swallow: are advertising strategies heritable?

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Vortman, Yoni; Safran, Rebecca J; Reiner Brodetzki, Tali; Dor, Roi; Lotem, Arnon

2015-01-01

The level of expression of sexually selected traits is generally determined by genes, environment and their interaction. In species that use multiple sexual signals which may be costly to produce, investing in the expression of one sexual signal may limit the expression of the other, favoring the evolution of a strategy for resource allocation among signals. As a result, even when the expression of sexual signals is condition dependent, the relative level of expression of each signal may be heritable. We tested this hypothesis in the East-Mediterranean barn swallow (Hirundo rustica transitiva), in which males have been shown to express two uncorrelated sexual signals: red-brown ventral coloration, and long tail streamers. We show that variation in both signals may partially be explained by age, as well as by paternal origin (genetic father-son regressions), but that the strongest similarity between fathers and sons is the relative allocation towards one trait or the other (relative expression index), rather than the expression of the traits themselves. These results suggest that the expression of one signal is not independent of the other, and that genetic strategies for resource allocation among sexual signals may be selected for during the evolution of multiple sexual signals.

Comparative embryotoxicity of a pentabrominated diphenyl ether mixture to common terns (Sterna hirundo) and American kestrels (Falco sparverius)

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Rattner, Barnett A.; Lazarus, Rebecca S.; Heinz, Gary H.; Karouna-Reiner, Natalie K.; Schultz, Sandra L.; Hale, Robert C.

2013-01-01

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Forster’s tern (Sterna forsteri) eggs from San Francisco Bay have been reported to range up to 63 μg g−1 lipid weight. This value exceeds the lowest-observed-adverse-effect level (1.8 μg g−1 egg wet weight; ∼32 μg−1 lipid weight) reported in an embryotoxicity study with American kestrels (Falco sparverius). As a surrogate for Forster’s terns, common tern (Sterna hirundo) eggs were treated by air cell injection with corn oil vehicle (control) or a commercial penta-BDE formulation (DE-71) at nominal concentrations of 0.2, 2, and 20 μg g−1 egg. As a positive control, kestrel eggs received vehicle or 20 μg DE-71 g−1 egg. In terns, there were no effects of DE-71 on embryonic survival, and pipping or hatching success; however, treated eggs hatched later (0.44 d) than controls. Organ weights, organ-to-body weight ratios, and bone lengths did not differ, and histopathological observations were unremarkable. Several measures of hepatic oxidative stress in hatchling terns were not affected by DE-71, although there was some evidence of oxidative DNA damage (8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine; 8-OH-dG). Although DE-71 did not impair pipping and hatching of kestrels, it did result in a delay in hatch, shorter humerus length, and reduced total thyroid weight. Concentrations of oxidized glutathione, reduced glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, and 8-OH-dG in liver were greater in DE-71-treated kestrels compared to controls. Our findings suggest common tern embryos, and perhaps other tern species, are less sensitive to PBDEs than kestrel embryos.

Microorganisms associated with feathers of barn swallows in radioactively contaminated areas around chernobyl.

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Czirják, Gábor Arpád; Møller, Anders Pape; Mousseau, Timothy A; Heeb, Philipp

2010-08-01

The Chernobyl catastrophe provides a rare opportunity to study the ecological and evolutionary consequences of low-level, environmental radiation on living organisms. Despite some recent studies about negative effects of environmental radiation on macroorganisms, there is little knowledge about the effect of radioactive contamination on diversity and abundance of microorganisms. We examined abundance patterns of total cultivable bacteria and fungi and the abundance of feather-degrading bacterial subset present on feathers of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), a colonial migratory passerine, around Chernobyl in relation to levels of ground level environmental radiation. After controlling for confounding variables, total cultivable bacterial loads were negatively correlated with environmental radioactivity, whereas abundance of fungi and feather-degrading bacteria was not significantly related to contamination levels. Abundance of both total and feather-degrading bacteria increased with barn swallow colony size, showing a potential cost of sociality. Males had lower abundance of feather-degrading bacteria than females. Our results show the detrimental effects of low-level environmental radiation on total cultivable bacterial assemblage on feathers, while the abundance of other microorganism groups living on barn swallow feathers, such as feather-degrading bacteria, are shaped by other factors like host sociality or host sex. These data lead us to conclude that the ecological effects of Chernobyl may be more general than previously assumed and may have long-term implications for host-microbe interactions and overall ecosystem functioning.

Diversity, abundance and conservation of birds in an agroecosystem in the Ica desert, Peru

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Letty Salinas

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Present work investigates the impact of the agricultural activity in the Peruvian coast on the biodiversity of birds. The study includes the monitoring of birds in asparagus and grapes farms of Ica valley, from January-2004 to January-2006. We evaluated eight types of habitats distributed in a total of 1288 has. Throughout the period of study we registered 93 species of birds. The abundance, richness and diversity were greater in the summers. The greater abundance happened in the habitats of land of asparagus, river brushwood and live fences. The greater richness and diversity happened in January-2006 in alfalfa cultures with huarangos and live fences. The most abundant species were the residents, as Zenaida meloda (6,6 ind./it has, Pygochelidon cyanoleuca (5,9 and the migratory Hirundo rustica (5,9. We registered 12 migratory species. From the conservationist point of view, the number of species catalogued in some degree of threat, at national and international level, is very high. We can emphasize the vulnerable Xenospingus concolor, the Peruvian endemic Colaptes atricollis and the species of desert Geositta peruviana, Sporophila simplex and Burhinus superciliaris. This study demonstrates the importance of agroecosystems in the conservation of the Peruvian Coastal Desert biodiversity, in particular if the enterprise carries out a policy of respect to environment.

Regulation of breeding behavior: do energy-demanding periods induce a change in prolactin or corticosterone baseline levels in the common tern (Sterna hirundo)?

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Riechert, Juliane; Chastel, Olivier; Becker, Peter H

2014-01-01

Hormones are involved in reproductive decisions, linking environmental cues and body condition and adapting behavior. Mass loss is often accompanied by decreased prolactin and increased corticosterone concentrations, influencing incubation and brooding behavior and ultimately triggering nest desertion. Using blood-sucking bugs (Dipetalogaster maxima), we measured baseline prolactin, corticosterone, and ketone body values in incubating common terns (Sterna hirundo) between 2006 and 2009 during energy-demanding periods: 50 pairs were sampled hungry (after an incubation bout) and again fed (after foraging). In a second approach, we sampled 57 other pairs (experienced and inexperienced birds) three times over their individual breeding period, because reproduction, especially chick rearing, is a very energy-demanding process. In line with the common physiological pattern of fasting, we found significantly lower baseline prolactin values in hungry terns, which were negatively related to mass loss over the incubation bout, whereas corticosterone and ketone body levels were marginally increased. Compared to that in the incubation phase, the prolactin level dropped after hatching of chicks in inexperienced birds, perhaps indicating lower parental expenditure. Corticosterone, on the other hand, increased after hatching in males, probably linked to higher foraging activity, as males mainly deliver food during the first days. These energy-demanding periods clearly influenced hormones and ketone bodies, maybe reinforced by the low energy margin of this small seabird species, but energy reserves were not depleted to a level affecting behavior or reproductive success.

With a little help from my kin: barn swallow nestlings modulate solicitation of parental care according to nestmates' need.

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Romano, Andrea; Caprioli, M; Boncoraglio, G; Saino, N; Rubolini, D

2012-09-01

In altricial species, offspring competing for access to limiting parental resources (e.g. food) are selected to achieve an optimal balance between the costs of scrambling for food, the benefits of being fed and the indirect costs of subtracting food to relatives. As the marginal benefits of acquiring additional food decrease with decreasing levels of need, satiated offspring should be prone to favour access to food by their needy kin, thus enhancing their own indirect fitness, while concomitantly reducing costs of harsh competition with hungry broodmates. We tested this prediction in feeding trials of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings by comparing begging behaviour and food intake of two similar-sized nestmates, one of which was food-deprived (FD). Non-food-deprived (NFD) offspring modulated begging intensity depending on their nestmate's need: when competing with FD nestmates, NFD nestlings reduced both the intensity and frequency of begging displays compared to themselves in the control trial before food deprivation. Hence, NFD nestlings reduced their competitiveness to the advantage of FD nestmates, which obtained more feedings and showed a threefold larger increase in body mass. Moderation of individual selfishness can therefore be adaptive in the presence of a needier kin, because the indirect fitness benefits of promoting its condition can outweigh the costs of forgoing being fed, and because it limits the cost of begging escalation against a vigorous competitor. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2012 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Blood-feeding patterns of the Culex pipiens complex in Sacramento and Yolo Counties, California.

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Montgomery, Matthew J; Thiemann, Tara; Macedo, Paula; Brown, David A; Scott, Thomas W

2011-03-01

Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are competent vectors of West Nile virus (WNV; family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) in the laboratory, and field-collected mosquitoes have tested positive for the virus in California and elsewhere. A better understanding of Cx. pipiens complex blood-feeding patterns will help define the threat that these mosquitoes pose to human health and their role in WNV amplification in northern California. We collected blood-engorged Cx. pipiens complex mosquitoes from resting sites near and away from human habitation in Sacramento and Yolo Counties. Cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene sequences were used to identify the vertebrate species from which blood meals were taken. Of 330 engorged mosquitoes collected at 28 sites from June through August 2007 and May through August 2008, >99% fed on an avian host. Three mosquitoes contained bovine blood and none had fed on a human. American Robins (Turdus migratorius) were bitten most often, and the proportion of American Robin blood meals increased significantly over the summer. Other important avian hosts included House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), Western Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta), and Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura). In rural areas, Barn Swallows, Brewer's Blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus), and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) were frequent hosts. In settings near human habitation, Mourning Doves and Western Meadowlarks were common hosts. Our data indicate that in north central California mosquitoes in the Cx. pipiens complex may be more important as epiornitic than epidemic vectors of WNV.

Are morphometrics sufficient for estimating age of pre-fledging birds in the field? A test using common terns (Sterna hirundo.

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Christy N Wails

Full Text Available Age is a key component of fitness, affecting survival and reproductive capacities. Where it is not possible to study known individuals from birth, morphometrics (predominantly patterns of plumage development for birds are most often used to estimate age. Although criteria for age estimations exist for many species, the degree to which these criteria improve the precision of estimates remains to be tested, restricting their widespread acceptance. We develop a photographic tool for estimating ages of Common Tern (Sterna hirundo chicks and test it using 100 human observers of varying prior experience across four breeding colonies (three North American sites and one European site and under controlled laboratory conditions. We followed the design approach of other morphometric tools, expanding it to create a user-friendly guide (divided into six age groupings. The majority (86% of observers improved in chick-aging accuracy when using the tool by an average of 20.1% (±1.4 SE and correctly estimated 60.3% (±1.4 of chick ages. This was similar to the intrinsic aging ability of our best field observer (63.3%. Observers with limited experience showed the greatest increases in chick-aging accuracy over experienced observers who likely had established a method for estimating chick ages prior to using the tool. Even the best observers only correctly estimated ages of chicks 62.9% (±2.8 of the time in the field and 84.0% (±2.9 of the time in the lab when using the tool and typically underestimated ages. This indicates that developmental variation between individual chicks can prevent completely reliable age estimates and corroborates the few existing data that suggest that morphometric criteria fail to achieve robust levels of accuracy and may introduce error into studies that rely on them. We conclude that novel approaches for estimating age, not only morphometric criteria, must be pursued.

Survival benefits of post-fledging care: experimental approach to a critical part of avian reproductive strategies.

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Grüebler, Martin U; Naef-Daenzer, Beat

2010-03-01

1. Caring for offspring beyond leaving the nest is an important but under-studied part of avian life histories. Theory predicts that prolonged post-fledging parental care should yield fitness benefits such as increased fledgling survival. Post-fledging care is also costly in terms of time and energy available for subsequent reproduction, moult or migration. So far, direct measurements of the fitness effects of the duration of post-fledging parental care are lacking. 2. In a partial cross-fostering experiment, barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) chicks were exchanged among broods close to fledging. Thereby, we separated the effects of post-fledging care from those of pre-fledging origin on juvenile survival. 3. Prolonging post-fledging care substantially increased juvenile survival up to 3 weeks post-fledging. Juvenile mortality was maximal in the days following the termination of parental care, and prolonging care delayed and reduced this peak mortality. Survival of fledglings experiencing 6 days of care was Phi = 0.227, whereas fledglings experiencing 14 days of care showed a survival of Phi = 0.571. 4. Offspring from pairs providing short care showed lower post-fledging survival than did offspring from pairs providing long care, irrespective of the actual duration of care experienced. This gives evidence for an additional survival effect of pre-fledging factors associated with the parental duration of care. 5. The results suggest that differential survival in relation to post-fledging parental care is a major fitness component. This relationship has profound effects on the reproductive trade-offs underlying the evolution of avian life histories.

The bird species of Kumasir lake (Kahramanmaras-Turkey) and a view of environmental ethics on sustainable wetland management.

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Inac, S; Gorucu, O; Pinar, A H

2008-05-01

Kumasir lake is located next to towns of Donuklu and Fatih, nine km west of Kahramanmaras city center the region of east Mediterranean, Turkey This lake is of crucial importance from the point of native and immigrant birds. We located 17 birdspecies in this area during our observations carried out in the spring and autumn of 2005-2006. These were Ciconia ciconia L., Anas platyrhynchos L., Accipiter nisus L., Accipiter brevipes L., Fulica atra L., Columba palumbus L., Merops apiaster L., Upupa epops L., Alauda arvensis L., Motacilla flava L., Turdus merula L., Acrocephalus scirpaceus L., Regulus regulus L., Garrulus glandarius L., Corvus corax L., Fringilla coelebs L., Hirundo rustica L.. Among observed 17 species; 6 of them were immigrant and remaining 11 of them were native birds. Kumasir lake is surrounded by wetland of Amik and Gavur lake. Since it was greatly dried, it was transformed to farmland. Consequently the birds lost most of theirnests and settlements. However not taken in the care of environmental ethic values, the wastewaters of the villages drain to lake reservoir; herbicides and insecticides used for agriculture are polluting the water reeds have been burned, the lake's reeds are getting dry by the irrigation for the farmland. So, the wetland ecosystem is being affected negatively by these factors. On the other hand, the birds are exposed to illegal and unlawful hunting. For this reasons, this lake must be taken into a management regime of sustainable wetland (protection profiting balance) and used techniques of participation planning via the process of sustainable natural resources and planning.

Bridge hosts for avian influenza viruses at the wildlife/domestic interface: an eco-epidemiological framework implemented in southern Africa.

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Caron, A; Grosbois, V; Etter, E; Gaidet, N; de Garine-Wichatitsky, M

2014-12-01

Wild terrestrial birds can act as potential local spreaders or bridge hosts for avian influenza viruses (AIVs) between waterfowl (the maintenance hosts of AIVs) and domestic avian populations in which AIVs may cause disease. Few studies have investigated this hypothesis, although it is an important knowledge gap in our understanding of AIV spread within socio-ecosystems. We designed a simple and reproducible approach in an agro-ecosystem in Zimbabwe based on: (1) bird counts at key target sites (i.e., wetlands, villages, intensive poultry production buildings and ostrich farms) to identify which wild birds species co-occur in these different sites and seasons when the risk of AIV transmission through these potential bridge hosts is maximal and (2) targeted sampling and testing for AIV infection in the identified potential bridge hosts. We found that 12 wild bird species represented the vast majority (79%) of co-occurrences in the different sites, whereas 230 bird species were recorded in this ecosystem. Specifically, three species - barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, red-billed quelea, Quelea quelea and cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis - represented the main potential bridge host species (65% of co-occurrences). In two out of these three species (i.e., barn swallow and red-billed quelea), we detected AIV infections, confirming that they can play a bridge function between waterfowl and domestic species in the ecosystem. Our approach can be easily implemented in other ecosystems to identify potential bridge hosts, and our results have implications in terms of surveillance, risk management and control of AIV spread in socio-ecosystems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Eggshell bacterial load is related to antimicrobial properties of feathers lining barn swallow nests.

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Peralta-Sánchez, Juan Manuel; Soler, Juan José; Martín-Platero, Antonio Manuel; Knight, Rob; Martínez-Bueno, Manuel; Møller, Anders Pape

2014-02-01

The use of feathers to line bird's nests has traditionally been interpreted as having a thermoregulatory function. Feather-degrading bacteria growing on feathers lining nests may have antimicrobial properties, which may provide an additional benefit to lining nests with feathers. We test the hypothesis that the production of antimicrobial substances by feather bacteria affects the microbiological environment of the nest, and therefore the bacterial density on eggshells and, indirectly, hatching success. These effects would be expected to differ between nests lined with pigmented and white feathers, because bacteria grow differently on feathers of different colors. We experimentally manipulated the composition of pigmented and unpigmented feathers in nests of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) and studied the antimicrobial properties against the keratin-degrading bacterium Bacillus licheniformis of bacteria isolated from feathers of each color. Analyzed feathers were collected at the end of the incubation period, and antimicrobial activity was defined as the proportion of bacteria from the feathers that produce antibacterial substances effective against B. licheniformis. Our experimental manipulation affected antimicrobial activity, which was higher in nests with only white feathers at the beginning of incubation. Moreover, white feathers showed higher antimicrobial activity than black ones. Interestingly, antimicrobial activity in feathers of one of the colors correlated negatively with bacterial density on feather of the opposite color. Finally, antimicrobial activity of white feathers was negatively related to eggshell bacterial load. These results suggest that antimicrobial properties of feathers in general and of white feathers in particular affect the bacterial environment in nests. This environment in turn affects the bacterial load on eggshells, which may affect hatching success.

Sex-related effects of an immune challenge on growth and begging behavior of barn swallow nestlings.

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Andrea Romano

Full Text Available Parent-offspring conflicts lead the offspring to evolve reliable signals of individual quality, including parasite burden, which may allow parents to adaptively modulate investment in the progeny. Sex-related variation in offspring reproductive value, however, may entail differential investment in sons and daughters. Here, we experimentally manipulated offspring condition in the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica by subjecting nestlings to an immune challenge (injection with bacterial lipopolysaccharide, LPS that simulates a bacterial infection, and assessed the effects on growth, feather quality, expression of morphological (gape coloration and behavioral (posture begging displays involved in parent-offspring communication, as well as on food allocation by parents. Compared to sham-injected controls, LPS-treated chicks suffered a depression of body mass and a reduction of palate color saturation. In addition, LPS treatment resulted in lower feather quality, with an increase in the occurrence of fault bars on wing feathers. The color of beak flanges, feather growth and the intensity of postural begging were affected by LPS treatment only in females, suggesting that chicks of either sex are differently susceptible to the immune challenge. However, irrespective of the effects of LPS, parents equally allocated food among control and challenged offspring both under normal food provisioning and after a short period of food deprivation of the chicks. These results indicate that bacterial infection and the associated immune response entail different costs to offspring of either sex, but a decrease in nestling conditions does not affect parental care allocation, possibly because the barn swallow adopts a brood-survival strategy. Finally, we showed that physiological stress induced by pathogens impairs plumage quality, a previously neglected major negative impact of bacterial infection which could severely affect fitness, particularly among long

Antioxidant defenses predict long-term survival in a passerine bird.

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Nicola Saino

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Normal and pathological processes entail the production of oxidative substances that can damage biological molecules and harm physiological functions. Organisms have evolved complex mechanisms of antioxidant defense, and any imbalance between oxidative challenge and antioxidant protection can depress fitness components and accelerate senescence. While the role of oxidative stress in pathogenesis and aging has been studied intensively in humans and model animal species under laboratory conditions, there is a dearth of knowledge on its role in shaping life-histories of animals under natural selection regimes. Yet, given the pervasive nature and likely fitness consequences of oxidative damage, it can be expected that the need to secure efficient antioxidant protection is powerful in molding the evolutionary ecology of animals. Here, we test whether overall antioxidant defense varies with age and predicts long-term survival, using a wild population of a migratory passerine bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica, as a model.Plasma antioxidant capacity (AOC of breeding individuals was measured using standard protocols and annual survival was monitored over five years (2006-2010 on a large sample of selection episodes. AOC did not covary with age in longitudinal analyses after discounting the effect of selection. AOC positively predicted annual survival independently of sex. Individuals were highly consistent in their relative levels of AOC, implying the existence of additive genetic variance and/or environmental (including early maternal components consistently acting through their lives.Using longitudinal data we showed that high levels of antioxidant protection positively predict long-term survival in a wild animal population. Present results are therefore novel in disclosing a role for antioxidant protection in determining survival under natural conditions, strongly demanding for more longitudinal eco-physiological studies of life-histories in

Long-term trends in first arrival and first egg laying dates of some migrant and resident bird species in northern Italy

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Rubolini, Diego; Ambrosini, Roberto; Caffi, Mario; Brichetti, Pierandrea; Armiraglio, Stefano; Saino, Nicola

2007-08-01

Climate change is affecting the phenology of seasonal events in Europe and the Northern Hemisphere, as shown by several studies of birds’ timing of migration and reproduction. Here, we analyse the long-term (1982-2006) trends of first arrival dates of four long-distance migratory birds [swift ( Apus apus), nightingale ( Luscinia megarhynchos), barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica), and house martin ( Delichon urbicum)] and first egg laying dates of two migrant (swift, barn swallow) and two resident species [starling ( Sturnus vulgaris), Italian sparrow ( Passer italiae)] at a study site in northern Italy. We also addressed the effects of local weather (temperature and precipitation) and a climate index (the North Atlantic Oscillation, NAO) on the interannual variability of phenological events. We found that the swift and the barn swallow significantly advanced both arrival and laying dates, whereas all other species did not show any significant temporal trend in either arrival or laying date. The earlier arrival of swifts was explained by increasing local temperatures in April, whereas this was not the case for arrival dates of swallows and first egg laying dates of both species. In addition, arrival dates of house martins were earlier following high NAO winters, while nightingale arrival was earlier when local spring rainfall was greater. Finally, Italian sparrow onset of reproduction was anticipated by greater spring rainfall, but delayed by high spring NAO anomalies, and swift’s onset of reproduction was anticipated by abundant rainfall prior to reproduction. There were no significant temporal trends in the interval between onset of laying and arrival in either the swift or the barn swallow. Our findings therefore indicate that birds may show idiosyncratic responses to climate variability at different spatial scales, though some species may be adjusting their calendar to rapidly changing climatic conditions.

Survival and reproductive rate of mites in relation to resistance of their barn swallow hosts.

Science.gov (United States)

Møller, A P

2000-08-01

Parasite resistance may act via a number of different mechanisms that regulate or control the survival and the reproductive rate of parasites. Observations and experiments were used to test for effects of host resistance on parasite survival and rate of reproduction. Natural levels of infestation of barn swallow Hirundo rustica nests by the tropical fowl mite Ornithonyssus bursa were positively related to brood size, inversely related to the length of the outermost tail feathers of male nest owners (a secondary sexual character) and affected by time of reproduction by the host. A mite inoculation experiment, in which 50 adult mites were introduced into nests during the laying period of the host, was used to test for differential survival and reproduction of mites as a function of host resistance. The relationship between survival and reproduction of parasites, male tail length and host resistance was investigated. There was a negative relationship between mite numbers per nest after fledging of nestlings and male tail length. This relationship was mainly caused by a reduction in the number of mites in the first and second nymph stage with increasing tail length of male hosts, implying a reduction in rate of reproduction of mites. The proportion of mites that had recently fed was inversely related to tail length of male hosts. The proportion of nymph stages was positively related to the proportion of mites that had recently had a blood meal. Parasite resistance of barn swallows to the tropical fowl mite thus appeared to act through increased mortality rate of adult and nymph stages of mites, and through reduced reproductive rates of mites on resistant hosts. This is the first study demonstating a direct relationship between fitness components of a parasite and the expression of a secondary sexual character of a host.

Forecasting the poleward range expansion of an intertidal species driven by climate alterations

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Raquel Xavier

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Accurate distributional models can be used to reliably predict the response of organisms to climatic changes. Though such models have been extensively applied to terrestrial organisms, they have hardly ever been applied to the marine environment. Recent changes in the distribution of the marine gastropod Patella rustica (L. were previously modelled with Classification and Regression Tree (CART and the results revealed that increases in temperature were the major driver of those changes. However, the accuracy scores during the validation of the model were unsatisfactory, preventing its use for forecasting purposes. To fulfil this objective, in the present study a more robust method, Artificial Neural Network (ANN, was employed to produce a model suited to forecasting changes in the distribution of P. rustica. Results confirmed that the ANN model behaved better than the CART, and that it could be used for forecasting future distributional scenarios. The model forecasts that by the 2020s P. rustica is likely to expand its range at least 1000 km northwards. These results should be interpreted with caution considering the dispersal limitations of this species, but if such an expansion took place, major changes in the colonized ecosystems are expected due to the key role of limpets in intertidal communities.

Nicotiana rustica L. var. Souffi

African Journals Online (AJOL)

edoja

2013-03-20

Mar 20, 2013 ... Key words: Assimilation, growth, salt stress, nitrogen, mineral nutrition, tobacco ... to its ability to compete with K+ for binding site essential .... salinity leads to a constant root to shoot DW ratio (R/S ..... the interaction between relative K+ and Na+ concentration .... Cadmium toxicity induced changes in nitrogen.

Population and colony-level determinants of tertiary sex ratio in the declining barn swallow.

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Nicola Saino

Full Text Available Sex ratio of adults (tertiary sex ratio, TSR is a major feature of animal populations with consequences for their behaviour, genetic structure and viability. Spatial and temporal variation in TSR occurs within species but the mechanisms behind it are poorly understood. In this long-term study of a declining population of a socially monogamous, colonial, migratory bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica, we first analyzed population-level variation in TSR ( =  proportion of males of yearlings at sexual maturation in relation to ecological conditions as gauged by annual survival rate of adults. TSR was male-biased both among yearlings and older individuals, but male bias of yearlings was more pronounced after years with larger decline in adult survival. Thus, male offspring were less susceptible to the adverse ecological conditions that cause increased mortality. Dispersal and settling site decisions can have major consequences on fitness via the effects of local TSR on mating and sperm competition. Breeding barn swallows are highly philopatric while natal dispersal is high and, together with mortality, is the main determinant of colony TSR. We thus also investigated the mechanisms of breeding colony choice by yearlings and found that TSR of new-settlers in a given colony and year was negatively predicted by TSR of returning, early arriving older individuals in that year, but not by overall TSR at the colony in the previous year. This suggests that in our male-biased population new-settler males respond to local TSR upon arrival to choose the sites with larger breeding opportunities. Hence, variation in ecological conditions as reflected by adult survival can shift the TSR of individuals recruiting into a local population, with potentially various demographic consequences. However, breeding site choice based on TSR tends to homogenize TSR at a population level likely by facilitating settling of dispersing males in colonies with less male

Radionuclide uptake and growth of barn swallows nesting by radioactive leaching ponds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millard, J.B.; Whicker, F.W.; Markham, O.D.

1990-01-01

Populations of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) nested seasonally near the Test Reactor Area (TRA) radioactive leaching ponds on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. These birds utilized leaching pond arthropods as a food source and contaminated mud for nest construction. Over 20 fission and activation products were detected in immature and adult TRA birds. The radionuclide exhibiting the highest mean concentration in adult birds was 51Cr, with 16.1 Bq g-1. Mean concentrations of detectable radionuclides were used to calculate internal dose rates. Approximately 72% of the total dose rate of 219 microGy d-1 (22 mrad d-1) for adult birds was due to 24Na. Swallow thyroids contained a mean 131I concentration of 3330 Bq g-1. An average dose rate to the thyroid was calculated to be 4300 microGy d-1 or 450 mGy (45 rad) for the entire breeding season. Data from LiF-700 thermoluminescent dosimeters in swallow nests indicated that average dose rates were 840 microGy d-1 for eggs and 2200 Gy d-1 for nestlings, for a total of 54 mGy (5.4 rad) during the nesting period. The breeding biology and growth rate were investigated for TRA swallows and comparison group located 15 km and 100 km away. Total mortality rates for the comparison group vs. 1976 and 1977 TRA populations were not found to be significantly (p greater than 0.9) different. Nonlinear regression was used to fit individual growth curves and estimate parameters using a logistic model. First clutch TRA swallows were found to have a significantly lower mean growth rate compared to either the first clutch comparison group or the second clutch of TRA birds. Mean asymptotic weights achieved by immature TRA birds were also found to be significantly lower than those achieved by comparison group birds. Both growth rate and asymptotic weights for TRA birds were within the normal range reported in the literature

Differential contribution of demographic rate synchrony to population synchrony in barn swallows.

Science.gov (United States)

Schaub, Michael; von Hirschheydt, Johann; Grüebler, Martin U

2015-11-01

Populations of many species show temporally synchronous dynamics over some range, mostly caused by spatial autocorrelation of the environment that affects demographic rates. Synchronous fluctuation of a demographic rate is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for population synchrony because population growth is differentially sensitive to variation in demographic rates. Little is known about the relative effects of demographic rates to population synchrony, because it is rare that all demographic rates from several populations are known. We develop a hierarchical integrated population model with which all relevant demographic rates from all study populations can be estimated and apply it to demographic data of barn swallows Hirundo rustica from nine sites that were between 19 and 224 km apart from each other. We decompose the variation of the population growth and of the demographic rates (apparent survival, components of productivity, immigration) into global and local temporal components using random effects which allowed the estimation of synchrony of these rates. The barn swallow populations fluctuated synchronously, but less so than most demographic rates. The highest synchrony showed the probability of double brooding, while fledging success was highly asynchronous. Apparent survival, immigration and total productivity achieved intermediate levels of synchrony. The growth of all populations was most sensitive to changes in immigration and adult apparent survival, and both of them contributed to the observed temporal variation of population growth rates. Using a simulation model, we show that immigration and apparent survival of juveniles and adults were able to induce population synchrony, but not components of local productivity due to their low population growth rate sensitivity. Immigrants are mostly first-time breeders, and consequently, their number depends on the productivity of neighbouring populations. Since total productivity was synchronized

The Environmental Assessment and Management (TEAM) Guide: New Mexico Supplement

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

dace, Phoxinus erythrogaster (j) Colorado pikeminnow, Ptychocheilus lucius (k) loach minnow, Tiaroga cobitis 5-13 Natural Resources Management...writing by the Department, off-site at a readily available location. ST.4.38.NM. Corrective actions must be ta ken u pon a release involving a...cause a public nuisance or threat to human health, safety and welfare, or the environment. Verify th at when c ontaminated s oil is ta ken o ff s ite

Growth and nitrogen metabolism changes in NaCl-stressed tobacco ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Growth and nitrogen metabolism changes in NaCl-stressed tobacco (Nicotiana rustica L. var. Souffi) seedlings. Chokri Zaghdoud, Houda Maâroufi-Dguimi, Youssef Ouni, Mokhtar Guerfel, Houda Gouia, Kamel-Eddine Negaz, Ali Ferchichi, Mohamed Debouba ...

The genera Boiruna and Clelia (serpentes: pseudoboini in Paraguay and Argentina

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Norman J. Scott Jr.

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Snakes of the pseudoboine genera Clelia, which is probably polyphyletic, and Boiruna are distributed from southern Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay northwards into central México. Six members occur in Paraguay and Argentina: B. maculata, Clelia bicolor, C. clelia, C. plumbea, C. quimi, and C. rustica. Historically, there has been taxonomic confusion among the larger species (B. maculata, C. clelia, C. plumbea, and C. rustica and between the small species (C. bicolor and C. quimi. All of the species except C. rustica have distinct ontogenetic color changes. Species can be distinguished on the bases of size, color, hemipenial spines, and loreal, supralabial, and ventral scale counts. Much of the morphological evolutionary differentiation in Boiruna and Clelia seems to have taken place in the snout region, as evidenced by the differing proportions of the scales of the loreal region. Boiruna maculata has the widest ecological amplitude. It is broadly distributed in most vegetation types north of the 38th parallel in central Argentina, being absent only from the deltaic sediments of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina and the broad valleys and rolling hills of eastern Paraguay. Clelia bicolor is most common in the Paraguay and Paraná river valleys, with a few records from the Andean foothills in northern Argentina. Clelia clelia is distributed along the Río Paraguay and the lower Paraná, and is also found throughout much of eastern Paraguay. Clelia plumbea is apparently parapatric with C. clelia along the Río Paraná in southeastern Paraguay and Misiones Province, Argentina. The ranges of C. quimi to the east and C. bicolor in the west about in this same region without apparent overlap. There are no vouchered records of Clelia rustica from Paraguay. In Argentina, it is a species of temperate climates; north of the 30th parallel, it occurs in the Andean foothills and the wet forests of Misiones Province. Southwards, it is widely distributed

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Polybrominated Diphenol Ethers (PBDEs) in Current and Historical Samples of Avian Eggs from Nesting Sites in Buzzards Bay, MA, USA

Science.gov (United States)

We measured concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in eggs from breeding colonies in Buzzards Bay, MA, USA. Eggs from two piscivorous bird species, common (Sterna hirundo) and roseate (Sterna dougallii) terns, were collected...

TBT pollution and effects in molluscs at US Virgin Islands, Caribbean Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Jakob; Jørgensen, Anne; Tairova, Zhanna

2009-01-01

Thais deltoidea, Thais rustica and Purpura patula all seem to have potential as suitable and sensitive bioindicators for assessing levels and effects of TBT pollution in coastal areas including coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea. However, considerable interspecies differences in especially accumulation...

The influence of vegetation structure on bird communities in a Karoo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The commonest species nesting in gardens during this study was the Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus), followed by the Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis), and Greater Striped Swallow (Hirundo cucullata). Bar-throated Apalis (Apalis thoracica), Namaqua Warbler (Phragmacia substriata), Fiscal Flycatcher ...

Explorations in Aeolian Ecology: Radar and Visual Studies of the Aerofauna during the Convection and Precipitation/electrification (cape) Experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Robert William

I studied the ecology of aerial insects and birds (the "aerofauna") during the Convection and Precipitation/Electrification (CaPE) Experiment in Florida during the summer of 1991. Visual observations were coordinated with simultaneous measurements of atmospheric motions, permitting novel explorations of: (1) patterns and processes in the distribution of "aerial plankton" (i.e., small, weakly flying insects that drift with boundary-layer winds); (2) the feeding ecology of "aerial planktivores" (i.e., predators that feed on aerial plankton); and (3) the flight tactics of soaring birds. Sensitive Doppler radars regularly detected fine lines of enhanced reflectivity in boundary-layer convergence zones. These "fine lines" were attributable to dense concentrations of aerial plankton entrained by the convergent airflow. Insect densities were inferred to be about an order of magnitude higher inside convergence zones then elsewhere. Anecdotal observations suggested that large quantities of aerial plankton entrained in convergence zones were sometimes "scrubbed" from the boundary layer by precipitation. Radar images clearly depicted the rapid aeolian transport of aerial plankton across the landscape, but also showed that densities of aerial plankton became concentrated along coastlines when winds blew toward the sea. In contrast, airspace over the adjacent ocean remained largely free of radar echoes under all wind conditions. The coastal concentrations, together with the absence of overwater echoes, indicate that the organisms comprising the aerial plankton respond behaviorally to coastlines to avoid being blown out to sea. Several species of aerial insectivorous predators commonly exploited boundary-layer fine lines as food resources. Chimney swifts (Chaetura pelagica), barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), and wandering gliders (Pantala flavescens) showed significant responses to fine lines. Details of these responses differed, but this variation clearly reflected species

Short Note Ground cavity nest temperatures and their relevance to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Blue Swallows Hirundo atrocaerulea are Critically Endangered within South Africa. They nest in natural underground holes in mist-belt grasslands. Temperature dataloggers were used to record ground cavity nest (Tn) and ambient temperature (Ta) for one artificial and 11 natural Blue Swallow nests. Mean ground cavity Tn ...

Ashtabula Breakwater Common Tern (Sterna Hirundo) Nesting

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-01

spring . ERDC TN-EWN-16-1 May 2016 8 Figure 7. Carabineers and links used to attach the cabling for easy assembly and disassembly. were all...from Mad River Decoy, Waitsfield, VT were made of hollow , rotomolded polyethylene material, filled with sand, and sealed with duct tape in order to

Chemische en structurele eigenschappen van het bronsvlekkenvirus van de tomaat

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tas, P.W.L.

1975-01-01

The distribution and rate of accumulation of TSWV in N. rustica was compared at two different times of the year, February and September (Table 3.1 and 3.2). In February the overall rate of accumulation was slower than in September. From this observation it was concluded that the optimal

The effect of water saturation deficit on the volume of intercellular space in laeves

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J. Czerski

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The volume of intercellular spaces in leaves at various stages of water saturation was determined by method of Czerski (1964, 1968. The investigation were performed with the following plant species: Vicia faba L., Nicotiana tabacum L. var. rustica, Solarium tuberosum L. var. Flisak, Helichrysum bracteatum Wild., Bmssica napus L. var. oleifera, Beta vulgaris L. var. saccharifera.

Kinetin Reversal of NaCl Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Katz, Adriana; Dehan, Klara; Itai, Chanan

1978-01-01

Leaf discs of Nicotiana rustica L. were floated on NaCl in the presence of kinetin or abscisic acid. On the 5th day 14CO2 fixation, [3H]leucine incorporation, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content were determined. Kinetin either partially or completely reversed the inhibitory effects of NaCl while ABA had no effect. PMID:16660618

The Phenological Network of Catalonia: an historical perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Busto, Montserrat; Cunillera, Jordi; de Yzaguirre, Xavier

2017-04-01

The Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) began systematic phenological observation in 1932. Forty-four observers registered the phenophases of 45 plant species, the first or last sighting of six bird species and the first sighting of one species of butterfly. The study First results of phenological observation in Catalonia was published in 1936, showing the different behaviour of the vegetal species and birds according to geographical location. The SMC worked against the military fascist uprising during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Therefore, once the war was finished, the organisation was quickly closed by the Franco dictatorship and the National Meteorological Service became the official institution in Spain. This organization created the Spanish Phenological Network in 1943 following similar standards to the former Catalan network. The reintroduction of democracy and the return of the Catalan self-government structures (1977) allowed the re-foundation of the SMC in 1996. The Climatology Department needed phenological data to complement the study of climatic indicators and realised the fragile situation of phenology observations in Catalonia, with very few operational series. Following a preliminary analysis of the different systems of recording and saving data, the Phenological network of Catalonia (Fenocat) was re-established in 2013. Fenocat is an active partner of the Pan European Phenology Database (PEP725) that uses BBCH-scale coding and the USA National Phenology Network observation system. It is an example of citizen science. As at December 2016, Fenocat had recorded more than 450,000 data. The extension of summer climatic conditions in the Western Mediterranean region has resulted in repetition of phenopases in the same year, such as the second flowering of the holm oak (Quercus ilex), almond tree (Prunus dulcis) and sweet cherry tree (Prunus avium), or the delay in the departure data of the swallow (Hirundo rustica) and hoopoe (Upupa epops

Short communications: Recent results from Barn Swallow Hirundo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Scopus: Journal of East African Ornithology. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 29 (2009) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads.

Current conservation status of the Blue Swallow Hirundo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The overall probability of extinction of the species in the wild is 3%. Minimum viable population size analysis suggests that a goal for the long-term conservation of the Blue Swallow should be to mitigate current threats that are driving declines such that the population increases to a minimum of 3 600 individuals. This should ...

Piojos (Phthiraptera: Insecta) de aves de la familia Laridae (Aves: Charadriiformes) en Chile

OpenAIRE

GONZÁLEZ-ACUÑA, DANIEL; FISCHER, CHRISTOF; PALMA, RICARDO; MORENO, LUCILA; BARRIENTOS, CARLOS; MUÑOZ, LISANDRO; ARDILES, KAREN; CICCHINO, ARMANDO

2006-01-01

Seis especies de piojos (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae, Menoponidae) fueron colectadas sobre cuatro especies de aves marinas de la familia Laridae en la costa de Chile. Se registran: Saemundssonia sternae (Linnaeus, 1758) y Quadraceps sellatus (Burmeister, 1838) sobre el gaviotín boreal (Sterna hirundo, Linnaeus, 1758); Saemundssonia lari (O. Fabricius, 1780), Quadraceps punctatus (Burmeister, 1838) y Quadraceps ornatus (Grube, 1851) parasitando a la gaviota dominicana (Larus dominicanus Lichte...

Food preferences of the common tern, sterna hirundo (Linnaeus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Seabirds are important in the dynamics of marine ecosystems because they recycle important biomass of lower trophic level organisms. Their faeces and carcasses provide important food sources for terrestrial and benthic scavengers. As a result of the abundance of food resources along the coast of Ghana, common terns ...

Ácaros nasais (Mesostigmata, Rhinonyssidae) em Sternidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) na Costa do Extremo Sul do Brasil

OpenAIRE

Silva, Diego Silva da; Scheer, Simone; Muller, Gertrud

2018-01-01

Abstract Six species of birds of the family Sternidae are often found on the southern coast of South America. Sterna trudeaui, S. hirundinacea, Thalasseus maximus, T. acuflavidus and Sternula superciliaris are South American residents and Sterna hirundo, a Nearctic migrant. At least 500 species of nasal mites have been described around the world, and Rhinonyssidae is the most diverse family. These mites are bloodsucking endoparasites that inhabit the respiratory system of birds. This study ai...

Body size, reproductive biology and abundance of the rare pseudoboini snakes genera Clelia and Boiruna (Serpentes, Colubridae) in Brazil

OpenAIRE

Lígia Pizzatto

2005-01-01

Pseudoboini snakes of the genera Clelia and Boiruna are apparently rare in nature and certainly rare in collections. This work presents data on body size, reproduction and abundance of five Brazilian species of these genera, in the largest collection of snakes in Latin America, the Instituto Butantan. Despite scarcity of data, follicular cycle seems to be continuous in most species, except Clelia rustica, which occurs in highlands. Females are largerthan males in all species, and fecundity is...

Kontinuitet i diskontinuitet naseljenosti Istre na razmeđu prapovijest i antike

OpenAIRE

Bulić, Davor

2014-01-01

Naseljavanje Italika na Istarski poluotok krajem republikanskog i početkom carskog razdoblja uvjetovalo je u znatnoj mjeri i promjene mjesta naseljavanja, kao i vrste naselja. Ove je promjene moguće sagledati u procesu napuštanja gradinskih naselja i naseljavanja lokacija u nizinskim predjelima u okviru rimskih ruralnih stambeno-gospodarskih kompleksa (villa rustica). Iako je napuštanje predrimskih naselja na području kolonijskih agera očit i prevladavajući oblik promjene mjesta naseljavanja,...

Current distribution and population size of the Blue Swallow Hirundo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

, the crops, natural pastures, livestock and their dung possibly provide the food source for the aerial arthropods on which the Blue Swallows feed. In total, 151 Blue Swallows were recorded consisting of 62 males, 68 females and 21 unsexed ...

Predators and Parasitoids of Cacopsylla pyri (L. (Hemiptera: Psyllidae in Serbia

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Dušanka Jerinić Prodanović

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The presence of C. pyri and its natural enemies was studied in both treated and untreated pear orchards in Serbia from 2005 to 2009. Five parasitoid and 21 predator species were identified as present on a considerable number of sites. The following parasitoid species were found: Prionomitus mitratus (Dalman,Psyllaephagus procerus Marcet,Syrphophagus ariantes (Walker,Syrphophagus taeniatus Förster and Tamarixia sp. In the study, the species Psyllaephagus procerus,Syrphophagus ariantes and Tamarixia sp. were forthe first time identified as parasitoids of C. pyri and as new species in the Serbian fauna.Among the parasitoids determined, Prionomitus mitratus predominated. Of the predators, the following species in four orders were registered: Dermaptera [Forficula auricularia Linnaeus (Forficulidae], Heteroptera [Anthocoris nemoralis(Fabricius, Anthocoris nemorum (Linnaeus, Orius (Heterorius minutus (Linnaeus, Orius (Heterorius nigerWolff (Anthocoridae, Campylomma verbasci (Mayer-Dür, Deraeocoris (Deraeocorisruber(Linnaeusand Deraeocoris(Knightocarsuslutescens (Schilling(Miridae],Neuroptera[Chrysopa pallens Rambur,Chrysoperla carnea(Stephens,Chrysopa sp.(Chrysopidae], and Coleoptera [Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, Adalia bipunctata Linnaeus, Adalia decempunctata(Linnaeus, Hippodamia tredecimpunctata (Linnaeus,Hippodamia variegata(Goeze,Propylea quatuordecimpunctata (Linnaeus, Calvia (Anisocalvia quatuordecimguttata(Linnaeus(Coccinellidae, Cantharis rustica Fallén, Rhagonycha fulva (Scopoli and Rh. testacea(Linnaeus (Cantharidae]. Of the predators determined, 12 species were registered for the first time as predators of C. pyri in Serbia, while C. rustica, Rhagonycha fulva and Rh.testacea have so far been known neither in Serbia nor in the world as predators of pear suckers.

Bjelovar prije Bjelovara

OpenAIRE

Jakovljević, Goran

2008-01-01

Problematika urbanizacije prostora na kojemu je danas smješten Bjelovar ne započinje njegovim formalnim ustrojem 1755. g., već u antičko doba, kada na tome prostoru nastaju naselja u zaleđu dravskog limesa bilo kao vojni logori koji su štitili važne komunikacijske pravce, bilo kao villae rusticae vojnih veterana koji su ovdje dobili zemlju. Arheološki nalazi s užeg područja grada svjedoče o postojanju naselja od 2. do 4. st. koje se nalazilo uz važnu longitudinalnu i transverzalnu cestovnu ko...

Spatiotemporal appraisal of TBT contamination and imposex along a tropical bay (Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil).

Science.gov (United States)

Artifon, Vanda; Castro, Ítalo Braga; Fillmann, Gilberto

2016-08-01

A spatiotemporal evaluation of butyltin contamination was performed between 2010 and 2012 along Todos os Santos Bay (Northeast Brazil) using surface sediments, bivalve tissues (Anomalocardia brasiliana and Mytella guyanensis), and imposex occurrence (Stramonita rustica). The spatial study detected high tributyltin (TBT) levels (maximum values of 262 ng Sn g (-1) - 21,833 ng Sn g(-1) of total organic carbon - for surface sediments and 421 ng Sn g(-1) for bivalve tissues) in the innermost part of the bay. The TBT levels detected in M. guyanensis tissues might cause human health risk since local population consumes these organisms. These high concentrations observed in the bivalves might result in ingestions higher than the safe limits established by European Food Safety Authority (250 ng TBT kg(-1) day(-1)). Considering the temporal evaluation, no difference (p > 0.05) was observed between TBT concentrations in sediments obtained during the two sampling campaigns (2010/2011 and 2012). However, the increasing predominance of TBT metabolites (butyltin degradation index (BDI) >1) in more recent sediments indicates further degradation of old TBT inputs. In spite of that, recent inputs are still evident at this region. Nevertheless, a reduction of imposex parameters in S. rustica over the last decade suggests an overall decline in the TBT contamination, at least in the outermost and possible less impacted region of the bay. The TBT contamination is probably reducing due to the national and international legislative restrictions on the use of TBT as antifouling biocide. The contamination levels, however, are still relevant especially in the inner part of Todos os Santos Bay since they are above those that are likely to cause toxicity to the biota.

Caracterización preliminar de la "comunidad" de reptiles de un sector de la Serranía del Perijá, Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hernández Ruz José

2001-12-01

Full Text Available En marzo de 1996, mediante búsqueda libre y captura manual se efectuaron muestreos de lagartos y serpientes en manchas de bosque y en áreas abiertas en sectores del Municipio de La Jagua de Ibirico, Serranía del Perijá, Cesar, Colombia, en un corte altitudinal entre los 140 y 1800 m. Se registraron 28 especies: 17 de lagartos y 11 de serpientes. Las familias dominantes en número de géneros y especies fueron Polychrotidae para lagartos y Colubridae para serpientes; se encontraron 12 especies en áreas deforestadas, ocho en áreas boscosas y ocho comunes a ambos tipos de ambientes. La comunidad mostró preferencia por los hábitats alterados, actividad diurna y comúnmente se les encontró en el piso. La comunidad de reptiles de la Serranía del Perijá se relaciona mejor con las de la región caribe y andina que con la chocoana o amazónica; no se encontraron diferencias en las faunas de reptiles entre los flancos colombiano y venezolano de la Serranía. En este trabajo se adicionan nueve especies a la fauna de reptiles de la región: seis de saurios, Ameiva bifrontata, Anolis auratus, Anolis apollinaris, Leposoma rugiceps, Stenocercus erythrogaster y Lepidoblepharis sp. y tres de serpientes Chironius monticola, Rhadinaeafulviceps y Stenorrhina degenardtii.In March 1996, by means of free search and manual capture samplings oflizards and snakes were made in stains of forests and areas opened up in La Jagua de Ibirico, Serranía del Perijá, Departamento del Cesar, Colombia, in an altitudinal range be tween the 140 and 1800 m. 28 species were registered: 17 oflizards and II of snakes. The dominant families in number of genera and species were Polychrotidae for lizards and Colubridae for snakes. There were 12 species in non-forest areas, eight in forest areas and eight common to both types of environments. The community showed preference for altered habitats, day activity and cornmonly they were found on the floor. It was found that the

Cerámica común tardorromana, imitación de sigillata, en la provincia de Segovia. Aproximación al estudio de las producciones cerámicas del siglo V en la Meseta Norte y su transición al mundo hispano-visigodo

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Juan Tovar, Luis Carlos

1997-12-01

Full Text Available The Vth century A.D. is possibly the least known period of Roman Hispania, especially as far as its material culture is concerned: town planning, architecture, pottery, metalwork, glass, and so on. In this paper we tackle a particular area of that material culture within a specific region: the common pottery (table and kitchen ware, imitation of the terra sigillata, in the Segovia province. Our essential aim has been to define its technical, typological and decorative characteristics, as well as the features it bears in common with the terra sigillata, and its significance in the origin of Hispanic-Visigothic pottery. In order to do so, we have taken into account ceramics from towns such as Cauca, Cerro del Castillo (in Bernardos or Cerro de la Virgen de Tormejón (in Armuña, as well as rural settlements (villae rusticae?, burying grounds (El Cantosal, Aguilafuente, Duratón, etc., and single findings.De la Hispania romana tal vez el periodo más desconocido sea el siglo V, sobre todo en los aspectos referidos a sus restos materiales: urbanismo, arquitectura, cerámica, metalistería, vidrio, etc. En este trabajo hemos abordado una parte concreta de esta cultura material en una zona determinada: la cerámica común (tanto de mesa, como de cocina, imitación de sigillata, en la provincia de Segovia. Definir sus características técnicas, tipológicas, decorativas, así como su similitud con la terra sigillata y su significado en la formación de la cerámica hispano-visigoda, ha sido nuestro objetivo básico. Para ello, hemos tenido en cuenta tanto cerámica proveniente de núcleos urbanos como Cauca, el Cerro del Castillo (en Bernardos o el Cerro de la Virgen de Tormejón (en Armuña, como de asentamientos rurales (¿villae rusticae?, necrópolis (El Cantosal, Aguilafuente, Duratón, etc. y hallazgos aislados.

Ornithological aspects on the swamp Herghelie – Mangalia (Romania

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GACHE Carmen

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This ornithological notice present information on the avifauna recorded in the swamp Herghelie – Mangalia beginning with the 1998’s summer. We identified 132 species of birds. The reedbeds cover about 35% of the swamp’s surface, offering good conditions for the breeding season (Ixobrychus minutus, Botaurus stellaris, Cygnus olor, Himantopus himantopus, Recurvirostra avosetta and Sterna hirundo but also for migration period. The breeding population is low due the high level of the human pressure. Due the presence of sulphurous sources and peat bed, the water is not freezing during the winter, transforming this territory in an important wintering site in the southeastern Dobroudja. Interesting is also the presence in this area during the winter of some summer visitors’ species for Romania like: Phalacrocorax pygmeus, Botaurus stellaris and Rallus aquaticus.

Comportamento alimentar e dieta de serpentes, gêneros Boiruna e Clelia (Serpentes, Colubridae

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Pinto Carla da Costa

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Boiruna maculata Boulenger, 1896 and Clelia rustica (Cope, 1878 were observed in captivity feeding snakes and rodents, respectively. Both species have shown a similar procedure in relation to the prey. Major behavior differences among the two species were: rodents killed before being swallowed, and snakes were mostly swallowed alive; both species are able to find the rodents head faster than the snake one; the coils formed during constriction were also used to hold the prey, specially the last coil, while swallowing rodents. Informations on stomach contents was gathered by dissection of preserved specimens of Clelia clelia (Daudin, 1803 and C. plumbea (Wied, 1820 were also included in the dietary study. The majority of preys consisted on snakes and lizards. Other prey items were mammals and birds. Adult snakes prey relatively smaller animals than the juvenile snakes do.

Freyinae, a major new subfamily of Neotropical jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, G B

2015-11-02

) albosignata (F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901) = Xanthofreya albosignata; Freya arraijanica Chickering, 1946 = Xanthofreya arraijanica; Phiale (sub Cyrene) bicuspidata (F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901) = Xantho-freya bicuspidata; Freya chionopogon Simon, 1902 = Xanthofreya chionopogon; Freya (sub Heraclea) rustica (Peckham & Peckham, 1896) = Xanthofreya rustica. Combinations restored: Phiale (sub Pachomius) flavescens (Peckham & Peckham, 1896) = Pachomius flavescens; Phiale (sub Pachomius) similis (Peckham & Peckham, 1896) = Pachomius similis. Invalid name: Freya dyali Roewer 1951 is an invalid replacement name for Euophrys trifasciata "Dyal 1935", which was a redescription of Euophrys trifasciata C.L. Koch, 1846, not a homonym. New species: Drizztius geminensis. First female descriptions and transfers of mismatched females: First descriptions for Asaracus megacephalus C.L. Koch, 1846, Capidava biuncata Simon, 1902, and Phiale formosa (Banks, 1909); the true female of Eustiromastix spinipes is described, and its mismatched female is identified as the female of Eustiromastix falcatus Galiano, 1981; the mismatched female of Freya (sub Cyrene) prominens (F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901) is identified as the female of Xanthofreya rustica; the misidentified female of X. rustica is identified as the female of Leptofreya bifurcata. Lectotypes: designated for Cyrene bifida F.O.P.-Cambridge, 1901 and Cyrene formosa Banks, 1909. New synapomorphy: a constricted proximal end of the cymbium of the male palp is an apparent new synapomorphy for Salticoida.

Reactividad inmunoquímica de sueros anti- Caiman yacare y Caiman latirostris frente a sueros de diferentes especies

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de Roodt, Adolfo Rafael

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Se estudió la reactividad inmunoquímica entre los sueros de distintas especies de reptiles frente a sueros hiperinmunes experimentales anti-suero de Caiman yacare y anti-suero de Caiman latirostris. Los sueros que se probaron fueron los homólogos de Caiman yacare, Caiman latirostris y los heterólogos de Alligator missisipiensis, Tupinambis merinae, Tupinambis rufescens, Chelonoidis chilensis, Clelia rustica, Waglerophis merremii, Lystrophys dorbignyi, Phyton molurus, Boa constrictor occidentalis, Eunectes notaeus, Crotalus durissus terrificus, Bothrops alternatus, Bothrops diporus, Bothrops jararaca, Bothrops jararacussu, Bothrops moojeni, Pitangus sulphuratus y Gallus gallus. La reactividad inmunoquímica se determinó mediante las técnicas de doble inmunodifusión y ELISA, mostrándose importante entre los sueros de los crocodrílidos y baja entre estos y los de las otras especies de reptiles estudiadas. Se observó mayor reactividad entre los antisueros anti-Caiman respecto a los sueros de Caiman latirostris y Caiman yacare que frente al suero de Alligator missisipiensis. Además, se encontró una fuerte reactividad entre ambos sueros anti-Caiman y el de Gallus gallus poniendo en evidencia la fuerte reactividad entre los sueros de arcosaurios. In order to study the immunochemical reactivity among sera from different species of reptiles regarding sera from Caiman, the immunoreactivity of sera from reptiles against antisera to Caiman yacare or anti-Caiman latirostris sera was studied. These hiperimmune sera were tested against sera from Alligator missisipiensis, Tupinambis merinae, Tupinambis rufescens, Chelonoidis chilensis, Clelia rustica, Waglerophis merremii, Lystrophys dorbignyi, Phyton molurus, Boa constrictor occidentalis, Eunectes notaeus, Crotalus durissus terrificus, Bothrops alternatus, Bothrops neuwiedii, Bothrops jararaca, Bothrops jararacussu, Bothrops moojeni, Pitangus sulphuratus and Gallus gallus. The immunochemical

Body size, reproductive biology and abundance of the rare pseudoboini snakes genera Clelia and Boiruna (Serpentes, Colubridae in Brazil

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Lígia Pizzatto

2005-12-01

Full Text Available Pseudoboini snakes of the genera Clelia and Boiruna are apparently rare in nature and certainly rare in collections. This work presents data on body size, reproduction and abundance of five Brazilian species of these genera, in the largest collection of snakes in Latin America, the Instituto Butantan. Despite scarcity of data, follicular cycle seems to be continuous in most species, except Clelia rustica, which occurs in highlands. Females are largerthan males in all species, and fecundity is low when compared to other pseudoboini. Abundance is very low for all species even considering 100 years of collecting, and it is decreasing in recent decades when compared to other snakes (Bothrops jararaca, Oxyrhopus guibei, O. clathratus, Philodryas patagoniensis, Sibynomorphus mikanii, and Spilotes pullatus. The studied species present at least five traits of commonly threatened species and require more attention in researches and conservation policies.

Coastal waterbirds of El Chorro and Majahuas, Jalisco, México, during the non-breeding season, 1995-1996

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Salvador Hernández-Vázquez

2001-03-01

Full Text Available We studied how waterbirds used two small estuaries during the non-breeding season of 1995-1996. These estuaries, El Chorro and Majahuas, were located in the middle of a large span of non-wetland habitat along the Pacific coast of México. Whereas El Chorro was basically a large and open waterbody, Majahuas was a long and narrow corridor flanked by mangroves. The two estuaries had 77 species throughout our study, but shared only 58, due to differences in their habitat. Seabirds comprised 66% of all the birds; grebes, ducks and rails 16%; shorebirds 12% and herons and egrets 5%. During late winter and early spring a very reduced number of migratory species accounted for the dominance of seabirds. Sterna hirundo and Phalacrocorax brasilianus accounted for 40 and 33%, respectively, of all the seabirds. Opening or closure of the estuary mouth at El Chorro affected the bird communities at both sites, by exposing or inundating a large mudflat in that estuary. Overall, however, time of the year was more important in the composition of the bird assemblages. Both estuaries should be considered as a single unit.Durante la estación no reproductiva de 1995-1996 estudiamos las aves acuáticas de los estuarios El Chorro y Majahuas, Jalisco, México. El Chorro es un cuerpo de agua más abierto, mientras que Majahuas está formado por canales rodeados por manglares. Registramos 77 especies de aves. Las aves marinas comprendieron el 66%, los patos y similares el 16%, las aves playeras el 12% y las garzas el 5%. Sterna hirundo y Phalacrocorax brasilianus representaron el 40 y 33%, respectivamente, del total de aves marinas. El que la bocabarra de El Chorro estuviera abierta o cerrada influyó en la concentración de aves en los dos esteros, debido a la exposición o inundación de áreas lodosas y arenosas. A pesar de las diferencias entre los dos estuarios, la época del año fue más importante en la composición de las comunidades de aves. Ambos esteros deben

Determination of gold and arsenic in Indian tobacco leaves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Purkayastha, B.C.; Bhattacharyya, D.K.

1975-01-01

Two varieties of Indian Tobacco leaves have been analysed for gold and arsenic by neutron activation ( 76 As, 198 Au). Nicotiana rustica variety from North Bengal was found to contain 3.7x10 -1 ppm of gold and 4.0x10 -3 ppm of arsenic and the nicotiana tabaccum variety from Andhra Pradesh contains 1.26x10 -1 ppm of gold and 5.1x10 -3 ppm of arsenic, respectively. Unlike those in other countries Indian tobacco leaves seem to be enriched in the gold content and depleted in the arsenic content. The soil of North Bengal is richer in gold than the soil of Andhra Pradesh which requires further investigation, and the amount of arsenic in both soils is physiologically insignificant. Irradiation of leaf samples was done in a CIRUS reactor at a neutron flux of 10 13 n cm -2 s -1 for seven days. (F.G.)

Nasal mites (Mesostigmata, Rhinonyssidae in Sternidae (Aves: Charadriiformes on the southern Coast of Brazil

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Diego Silva da Silva

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Six species of birds of the family Sternidae are often found on the southern coast of South America. Sterna trudeaui, S. hirundinacea, Thalasseus maximus, T. acuflavidus and Sternula superciliaris are South American residents and Sterna hirundo, a Nearctic migrant. At least 500 species of nasal mites have been described around the world, and Rhinonyssidae is the most diverse family. These mites are bloodsucking endoparasites that inhabit the respiratory system of birds. This study aimed to report on occurrences of nasal mites in Sternidae on the southern coast of Brazil. Of the 106 birds analyzed, 8.5% (9 birds were parasitized by nasal mites. This report provides the first record in the Neotropical region for two mite species, Sternostoma boydi and Larinyssus orbicularis parasitizing Thalasseus acuflavidus and Sternula superciliaris. No nasal mites were found in Sterna trudeaui or Thalasseus maximus. One host individual (T. acuflavidus was parasitized by two species of nasal mites, S. boydi and L. orbicularis.

Meliponini neotropicais: o gênero Partamona Schwarz, 1939 (Hymenoptera, Apidae

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Pedro Silvia R. M.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Neotropical Meliponini: the genus Partamona Schwarz, 1939 (Hymenoptera, Apidae. The systematics and biogeography of Partamona Schwarz, a Neotropical genus of stingless bees (Meliponini, Apinae, Apidae, are revised. Seventeen new species are described: P. epiphytophila sp. nov., P. subtilis sp. nov., P. nhambiquara sp. nov., P. batesi sp. nov., P. yungarum sp. nov., P. vitae sp. nov., P. ferreirai sp. nov., P. gregaria sp. nov., P. auripennis sp. nov., P. nigrilabris sp. nov., P. combinata sp. nov., P. chapadicola sp. nov., P. seridoensis sp. nov., P. littoralis sp. nov., P. criptica sp. nov., P. rustica sp. nov. and P. sooretamae sp. nov. Partamona pseudomusarum Camargo, 1980, is considered as junior synonym of P. vicina Camargo, 1980. Types of P. grandipennis (Schwarz, 1951, P. xanthogastra Pedro & Camargo, 1996-1997, P. pearsoni (Schwarz, 1938, P. ailyae Camargo, 1980, P. pseudomusarum, P. vicina, P. mulata Moure in Camargo, 1980, P. aequatoriana Camargo, 1980, P. mourei Camargo, 1980, P. peckolti, (Friese, 1901, P. testacea (Klug, 1807, P. helleri (Friese, 1900 and P. musarum (Cockerell, 1917 were examined. Lectotypes of P. orizabaensis (Strand, 1919, and P. cupira (Smith, 1863 are designated. An identification key for the species and drawings of morphological characters are presented. A phylogenetic hypothesis, based mainly on morphological characters is proposed. Four groups are defined, considering the shape of mandible of workers and sternum VII of males: bilineata / epiphytophila group (western Amazon to México, including P. bilineata (Say, P. grandipennis, P. xanthogastra P. orizabaensis P. peckolti P. epiphytophila sp. nov., P. subtilis sp. nov., P. nhambiquara sp. nov., P. batesi sp. nov., P. yungarum sp. nov. and P. vitae sp. nov.; musarum group (Central Brazil, north of South America to Central America, including P. musarum, P. aequatoriana, P. vicina, P. mourei, P. pearsoni, P. ferreirai sp. nov., P. gregaria sp. nov. and P

Bioaccumulation factor of 137Cs in some marine biotas from West Bangka Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Suseno, Heny

2014-03-01

Radionuclides may be released from nuclear facilities to the marine environment. Concentrations of radionuclides within marine biotic systems can be influenced by a number of factors, including the type of biota, its source, the radionuclide, and specific characteristics of the sampled specimens and the marine environment (salinity, etc.). The bioconcentration factor for a marine organism is the ratio of the concentration of a radionuclide in that organism to the concentration found in its marine water environment - under conditions of equilibrium. Information on the bioaccumulation of Cs-137 in marine organisms is required to risk assessment evaluates the potential risks to human health. Bioaccumulation of Cs was investigated in marine biota from west Bangka such as Marine cat fish (Arius thalassinus), Baramundi (Lates calcarifer), Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), Striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus), eel tailed fish (Euristhmus microceps), Yellowtail fusilier (Caesio erythrogaster), Coastal crab (Scylla sp), White shrimp (Penaeus merguiensis) and marine bivalve mollusk (Anadara granosa). Muscle of these marine biota, sediments and water were assayed for Cs-137 by HPGe gamma spectrometer. The bioaccumulation factor for fishes were calculated by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in water. The bioaccumulation factor for mollusks were calculates by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in sediments. The bioaccumulation factor were range 4.99 to 136.34.

Environmental contaminants in Texas, USA, wetland reptiles: Evaluation using blood samples

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, D.R.; Bickham, J.W.; Baker, D.L.; Cowman, D.F.

2000-01-01

Four species of reptiles (diamondback water snake [Nerodia rhombifer], blotched water snake [N. erythrogaster], cottonmouth [Agkistrodon piscivorus], and red-eared slider [Trachemys scripta]) were collected at two contaminated and three reference sites in Texas, USA. Old River Slough has received intensive applications of agricultural chemicals since the 1950s. Municipal Lake received industrial arsenic wastes continuously from 1940 to 1993. Blood samples were analyzed for organochlorines, potentially toxic elements, genetic damage, and plasma cholinesterase (ChE). Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) concentrations reached as high as 3.0 ppm (wet weight) in whole blood of a diamondback water snake at Old River Slough, a level probably roughly equivalent to the maximum concentration found in plasma of peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) in 1978 to 1979 when DDE peaked in this sensitive species. Possible impacts on diamondback water snakes are unknown, but at least one diamondback water snake was gravid when captured, indicating active reproduction. Arsenic was not found in red-eared sliders (only species sampled) from Municipal Lake. Red-eared sliders of both sexes at Old River Slough showed declining levels of ChE with increasing mass, suggesting a life-long decrease of ChE levels. Possible negative population consequences are unknown, but no evidence was found in body condition (mass relative to carapace length) that red-eared sliders at either contaminated site were harmed.

Bioaccumulation factor of {sup 137}Cs in some marine biotas from West Bangka Indonesia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suseno, Heny, E-mail: henis@batan.go.id [Radioactive Waste Technology Center - The Indonesia Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) (Indonesia)

2014-03-24

Radionuclides may be released from nuclear facilities to the marine environment. Concentrations of radionuclides within marine biotic systems can be influenced by a number of factors, including the type of biota, its source, the radionuclide, and specific characteristics of the sampled specimens and the marine environment (salinity, etc.). The bioconcentration factor for a marine organism is the ratio of the concentration of a radionuclide in that organism to the concentration found in its marine water environment - under conditions of equilibrium. Information on the bioaccumulation of Cs-137 in marine organisms is required to risk assessment evaluates the potential risks to human health. Bioaccumulation of Cs was investigated in marine biota from west Bangka such as Marine cat fish (Arius thalassinus), Baramundi (Lates calcarifer), Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), Striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus), eel tailed fish (Euristhmus microceps), Yellowtail fusilier (Caesio erythrogaster), Coastal crab (Scylla sp), White shrimp (Penaeus merguiensis) and marine bivalve mollusk (Anadara granosa). Muscle of these marine biota, sediments and water were assayed for Cs-137 by HPGe gamma spectrometer. The bioaccumulation factor for fishes were calculated by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in water. The bioaccumulation factor for mollusks were calculates by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in sediments. The bioaccumulation factor were range 4.99 to 136.34.

Bioaccumulation factor of 137Cs in some marine biotas from West Bangka Indonesia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suseno, Heny

2014-01-01

Radionuclides may be released from nuclear facilities to the marine environment. Concentrations of radionuclides within marine biotic systems can be influenced by a number of factors, including the type of biota, its source, the radionuclide, and specific characteristics of the sampled specimens and the marine environment (salinity, etc.). The bioconcentration factor for a marine organism is the ratio of the concentration of a radionuclide in that organism to the concentration found in its marine water environment - under conditions of equilibrium. Information on the bioaccumulation of Cs-137 in marine organisms is required to risk assessment evaluates the potential risks to human health. Bioaccumulation of Cs was investigated in marine biota from west Bangka such as Marine cat fish (Arius thalassinus), Baramundi (Lates calcarifer), Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), Striped eel catfish (Plotosus lineatus), eel tailed fish (Euristhmus microceps), Yellowtail fusilier (Caesio erythrogaster), Coastal crab (Scylla sp), White shrimp (Penaeus merguiensis) and marine bivalve mollusk (Anadara granosa). Muscle of these marine biota, sediments and water were assayed for Cs-137 by HPGe gamma spectrometer. The bioaccumulation factor for fishes were calculated by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in water. The bioaccumulation factor for mollusks were calculates by ratio of concentration Cs-137 in muscle biota to the its concentration in sediments. The bioaccumulation factor were range 4.99 to 136.34

Protein and alkaloid patterns of the floral nectar in some solanaceous species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerchner, András; Darók, Judit; Bacskay, Ivett; Felinger, Attila; Jakab, Gábor; Farkas, Ágnes

2015-09-01

The family Solanaceae includes several melliferous plants, which tend to produce copious amounts of nectar. Floral nectar is a chemically complex aqueous solution, dominated by sugars, but minor components such as amino acids, proteins, flavonoids and alkaloids are present as well. This study aimed at analysing the protein and alkaloid profile of the nectar in seven solanaceous species. Proteins were examined with SDS-PAGE and alkaloids were analyzed with HPLC. The investigation of protein profile revealed significant differences in nectar-protein patterns not only between different plant genera, but also between the three Nicotiana species investigated. SDS-PAGE suggested the presence of several Nectarin proteins with antimicrobial activity in Nicotiana species. The nectar of all tobacco species contained the alkaloid nicotine, N. tabacum having the highest nicotine content. The nectar of Brugmansia suaveolens, Datura stramonium, Hyoscyamus niger and Lycium barbarum contained scopolamine, the highest content of which was measured in B. suaveolens. The alkaloid concentrations in the nectars of most solanaceous species investigated can cause deterrence in honeybees, and the nectar of N. rustica and N. tabacum can be considered toxic for honeybees.

Effect of potassium application in drought-stressed tobacco (Nicotiana rustica L. plants: Comparison of root with foliar application

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Sara Bahrami-Rad

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Effect of potassium (K application through leaves (LA or roots (RA was studied in tobacco plants grown under K deficiency and drought stress conditions. Application of K was effective in improving the shoot growth only under drought conditions, whereas root biomass and length responded under both watering regimes. Under drought conditions, photosynthesis and transpiration activities increased upon K application leading to a reduced water use efficiency. Both RA and LA increased the leaf water potential, relative water content and turgor under both well-watered and drought conditions; RA was more effective than LA in the recovery of leaf turgor. Analyses of water relation parameters in different aged leaves showed lower susceptibility of the middle-aged leaves to both K deficiency and drought stresses than the upper and lower leaves; this phenomenon was accompanied by a more conservative control of water loss in the middle-aged leaves. In contrast, proline was accumulated in the young leaves, and K application increased it further. Although various organic osmolytes were accumulated under the combinative effect of K deficiency and drought stress, they did not exceed the amounts found in the control (well-watered +K plants and were merely a result of the concentration effect. Collectively, our results revealed that the majority of leaf biochemical responses to drought stress are developmentally regulated processes. In addition, the alleviating effect of both RA and LA despite higher water loss indicated that an improved stomatal function upon K application allowed carbohydrates synthesis, thus, enhancing plant growth under water stress.

Imposex in endemic volutid from Northeast Brazil (Mollusca: Gastropoda

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Ítalo Braga de Castro

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Imposex is characterized by the development of masculine sexual organs in neogastropod females. Almost 120 mollusk species are known to present imposex when exposed to organic tin compounds as tributyltin (TBT and triphenyltin (TPT. These compounds are used as biocide agents in antifouling paints to prevent the incrustations on boats. Five gastropod species are known to present imposex in Brazil: Stramonita haemastoma, Stramonita rustica, Leucozonia nassa, Cymathium parthenopeum and Olivancillaria vesica. This paper reports the first record of imposex observed in the endemic gastropod Voluta ebraea from Pacheco Beach, Northeast Brazil. Animals presenting imposex had regular female reproductive organs (capsule gland, oviduct and sperm-ingesting gland and an abnormal penis. As imposex occurs in mollusks exposed to organotin compounds typically found at harbors, marinas, shipyards and areas with high shipping activities, probably contamination of Pacheco Beach is a consequence of a shipyard activity located in the nearest areas.O imposex caracteriza-se pelo surgimento de estruturas sexuais masculinas, em fêmeas de gastrópodes. Cerca de 120 espécies de moluscos que exibem o fenômeno quando expostas a contaminação por compostos orgânicos de estanho tais como o Tributilestanho (TBT e o Trifenilestanho (TPT. Esses compostos são utilizados, sobretudo em embarcações, no intuito de evitar a bioincrustração que danifica as embarcações e eleva os custos das viagens marítimas. No Brasil se conhecem 5 espécies de moluscos gastrópodes que manifestam imposex, são elas: Stramonita haemastoma, Stramonita rustica, Leucozonia nassa, Cymathium parthenopeum e Olivancillaria vesica. No Nordeste, monitoramentos da contaminação por organoestânicos foram realizados utilizando o imposex em gastrópodes como biomarcador. O presente estudo tem por objetivo notificar a primeira ocorrência de imposex na espécie endêmica do Nordeste brasileiro, Voluta

Biología reproductiva de Eschweilera bogotensis (Lecythidaceae, en la Cordillera Occidental de Colombia

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Gamboa Gaitán Miguel Ángel

1997-11-01

Full Text Available The reproductiva biology of Eschweilera bogotensis (Lecythidaceae was studied in a premontane forest at Los Farallones de Cali National Park (1650 m from november 1993 to march 1994. A great number of insects visit the flowers of this tree. Curculionidae and Nitidulidae (Coleoptera larvae, as well as Cecidomyidae (Diptera larvae feed on immature flowers, while Pyralidae and Blastobasidae (Lepidoptera larvae eat ripening fruits. Adult individual s of Staphylinidae (Coleoptera and Phlaethripidae (Thysanoptera were observed feeding on pollen. Loss of floral buds due to larval parasitism was as high as 70%. Three species of Hymenoptera were identified as visitors: Trigona amalthea, Eulaema meriana (Apidae, and Epicharis rustica (Anthophoridae. The latter was identifiedas the main pollinator. Fruit set per inflorescence is quite low (three max., and over 50% of inflorescences get lost. Seed release is carried out by transversal dehiscence of the fruit, releasing 4-7 seeds. Seed dispersal by animals, which eat part of the peel and seeds, is significant. Bites on the fruits observed in the field suggest that the disperser is a rodent, probably a squirrel, common at the study site. Germination of bitten seeds was observed.Se estudió la biología reproductiva de Eschweilere bogotensis (Lecyhidaceae, en un bosque muy húmedo premontano del Parque Nacional Los Farallones de Cali (1650 m, entre noviembre de 1993 y marzo de 1994. Numerosos insectos visitan las inflorescencias de este árbol. Las larvas de Curculionidae, Nitidulidae (Coleoptera y Cecidomyidae (Diptera depredan flores inmaduras, mientras que las de Pyralidae y Blastobasidae (Lepidoptera depredan frutos maduros. También se observaron adultos de Staphylinidae (Coleoptera, los cuales se alimentan de polen al igual que los Phlaethripidae (Thysanoptera. Las pérdidas de botones florales por parasitismo alcanzaron el 70%. Se identificaron tres especies de himenópteros como visitantes regulares

Maternal steroids and contaminants in common tern eggs: A mechanism of endocrine disruption?

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French, J.B.; Nisbet, I.C.T.; Schwabl, H.

2001-01-01

We looked for evidence for the hypothesis that exposure of female birds to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) results in alteration of blood steroid hormone concentrations and alters subsequent hormone transfer of steroids to eggs. Eggs of three-egg clutches were collected from a PCB-exposed common tern (Sterna hirundo) colony (Ram Island, Buzzards Bay, MA, USA) and from a relatively clean colony (Bodkin Island, Chesapeake Bay, MD, USA), and were analyzed for concentrations of organochlorine contaminants and steroid hormones (17β-estradiol, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, testosterone and androstenedione). There was no relationship between total PCBs and steroid concentrations considering all eggs together, considering eggs of different laying order or considering differences between sequentially laid eggs in a clutch. Similarly, concentrations of di- and tri-chlorinated biphenyls and steroids in eggs were not related. The concentrations of PCBs, mercury and selenium were below estimated thresholds for toxicity to embryos. Maternal steroids, except estradiol, were present in yolk of all eggs, with increasing concentrations in the second and third eggs laid. Our data provided no evidence for a maternal toxicological event that might alter the amount of maternal steroid hormone transferred to eggs.

Barriers to gene flow in the marine environment: insights from two common intertidal limpet species of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

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Alexandra Sá-Pinto

Full Text Available Knowledge of the scale of dispersal and the mechanisms governing gene flow in marine environments remains fragmentary despite being essential for understanding evolution of marine biota and to design management plans. We use the limpets Patella ulyssiponensis and Patella rustica as models for identifying factors affecting gene flow in marine organisms across the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. A set of allozyme loci and a fragment of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome C oxidase subunit I were screened for genetic variation through starch gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing, respectively. An approach combining clustering algorithms with clinal analyses was used to test for the existence of barriers to gene flow and estimate their geographic location and abruptness. Sharp breaks in the genetic composition of individuals were observed in the transitions between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and across southern Italian shores. An additional break within the Atlantic cluster separates samples from the Alboran Sea and Atlantic African shores from those of the Iberian Atlantic shores. The geographic congruence of the genetic breaks detected in these two limpet species strongly supports the existence of transpecific barriers to gene flow in the Mediterranean Sea and Northeastern Atlantic. This leads to testable hypotheses regarding factors restricting gene flow across the study area.

Revisión del género de mariposas Forsterinaria Gray, 1973 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae

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Carlos Peña

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Se presenta una revisión taxonómica de las mariposas satírinas neotropicales incluidas en el género Forsterinaria Gray, 1973, comprendiendo una discusión de la clasificación y distribución geográfica de sus especies componentes, ilustraciones de los adultos de todos los taxones y de sus genitalias masculinas, así como descripciones de 12 especies y dos subespecies nuevas: Forsterinaria antje sp. n., F. coipa sp. n., F. enjuerma sp. n., F. falcata sp. n., F. guaniloi sp. n., F. itatiaia sp. n., F. pallida sp. n., F. pallida aurita ssp. n., F. pichita sp. n., F. pilosa sp. n., F. punctata sp. n., F. pyrczi sp. n., F. rotunda sp. n. y F. rustica glendita ssp. n. Euptychia stelligera Butler y E. fabiana Butler son considerados sinónimos (syn. n. de Forsterinaria quantius (Godart. Euptychia magdalena Hayward y E. pseudonecys Strand son considerados sinónimos (syn. n. de F. inornata (C. Felder & R. Felder y F. necys (Godart, respectivamente. Se designa lectotipos para 14 taxones nominales. Se reconoce un total de 23 especies. Se ofrece una clave para la identificación de todos los taxones.

Meliponini neotropicais: o gênero Partamona Schwarz, 1939 (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Apinae - bionomia e biogeografia

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Camargo João M. F.

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This work, dedicated to the study of nesting habits of the species of the Neotropical genus Partamona Schwarz, is a sequence to the taxonomic revision recently published elsewhere. A total of 214 nests and nest aggregations of 18 species [Partamona epiphytophila Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. testacea (Klug, 1807; P. mourei Camargo, 1980; P. vicina Camargo, 1980; P. auripennis Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. combinata Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. chapadicola Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. nhambiquara Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. ferreirai Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. pearsoni (Schwarz, 1938; P. gregaria Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. batesi Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. ailyae Camargo, 1980; P. cupira (Smith, 1863; P. mulata Moure in Camargo, 1980; P. seridoensis Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. criptica Pedro & Camargo, 2003; P. helleri (Friese, 1900] were studied , including data about habitat, substrate, structural characteristics, construction materials and behavior. The descriptions of the nests are illustrated with 48 drawings. Partial data of the nests of P. bilineata (Say, 1837, P. xanthogastra Pedro & Camargo, 1997, P. orizabaensis (Strand, 1919, P. peckolti (Friese, 1901, P. aequatoriana Camargo, 1980, P. musarum (Cockerell, 1917 and P. rustica Pedro & Camargo, 2003 are also presented. Nests of P. grandipennis (Schwarz, 1951, P. yungarum Pedro & Camargo, 2003, P. subtilis Pedro & Camargo, 2003, P. vitae Pedro & Camargo, 2003, P. nigrior (Cockerell, 1925, P. sooretamae Pedro & Camargo, 2003 and P. littoralis Pedro & Camargo, 2003 are unknown. The species of Partamona build notable nest entrance structures, with special surfaces for incoming / exiting bees; some of them are extremely well-elaborated and ornamented, serving as flight orientation targets. All species endemic to western Ecuador to Mexico with known nesting habits (P. orizabaensis, P. peckolti, P. xanthogastra, P. bilineata, P. aequatoriana and P. musarum build their nests in several substrates, non-associated with

Factors Affecting Element Concentrations in Eggshells of Three Sympatrically Nesting Waterbirds in Northern Poland.

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Kitowski, Ignacy; Jakubas, Dariusz; Indykiewicz, Piotr; Wiącek, Dariusz

2018-02-01

Avian eggshells are convenient samples in biomonitoring studies, because they are easily accessible, especially from colonially or semicolonially breeding birds. In the present study, concentrations of 17 elements, including heavy metals and essential elements in post-hatch eggshells, were compared among three species of waterbirds of differing strategies for gaining reserves for egg production and diet: mallard, Anas platyrhynchos (ML, a capital breeder, mainly herbivorous), common tern, Sterna hirundo (CT, an income breeder, piscivorous) and black-headed gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus (BHG, mixed strategy, omnivorous) and breeding sympatrically in three sites in North Poland. Analyses revealed that Fe, Zn, and Cu levels differed the most in the studied species, which may be explained by various contributions of fish, aquatic plants, and soil invertebrates in their diets. Generally, the studied species' eggshells accumulated amounts of elements comparable to those reported for other waterbirds without putting the growth and development of the embryo at risk. The only exception was very high levels of Cr in ML and CT, which may be explained by their foraging on aquatic organisms in waterbodies polluted by this element. Intersite differences in eggshell concentrations of Ni, Sr, Hg and Cr in CT (an income breeder) may be explained by the influence of local pollution sources (small factories, polluted river).

Predator removal enhances waterbird restoration in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland)

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Erwin, R. Michael; McGowan, Peter C.; Reese, Jan

2011-01-01

This report represents an update to an earlier report(Erwin et al. 2007a) on wildlife restoration on the largest dredge material island project in the United States underway in Talbot County, Maryland (Figure 1) in the mid–Chesapeake Bay region, referred to as the Paul Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island (www.nab.usace.army.mil/projects/Maryland/PoplarIsland/documents.html). An important component of this largescale restoration effort focused on water birds, as many of these species have undergone significant declines in the Chesapeake region over the past 30 years (Erwin et al. 2007b). The priority waterbird species include common terns (Sterna hirundo), least terns (S. antillarum), snowy egrets (Egretta thula), and ospreys (Pandion haliaetus). Although significant numbers of common terns (more than 800 pairs in 2003), least terns (62 pairs in 2003), snowy egrets (50 or more pairs by 2005), and ospreys (7 to 10 pairs) have nested on Poplar Island since early 2000, tern productivity especially had been strongly limited by a combination of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) predation. Fox trapping began in 2004, and four were removed that year; no more evidence of fox presence was found in 2005 or subsequently. The owls proved to be more problematic.

Poročilo o obročkanju ptic v Sloveniji v letu 2016 in pojavljanje mušje listnice Phylloscopus inornatus v 25 letih v Sloveniji

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Vrezec Al

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In 2016, data on 176 bird species were gathered during bird ringing activities in Slovenia. A total of 65,711 birds of 165 different species were ringed. Furthermore, 148 recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia and found abroad, 245 foreign recoveries in Slovenia and 1840 local recoveries were made. The most frequently ringed species was the Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. Among the ringed nestlings, Great Tits Parus major, Tree Sparrows Passer montanus and White Storks Ciconia ciconia predominated. Considering recoveries of birds ringed or found abroad, the most frequent were finds based on colour rings, especially of Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus, Mute Swans Cygnus olor and Common Terns Sterna hirundo. As far as local recoveries are concerned, most data were collected for Great Tit and Siskin Spinus spinus. Among rare species, two Yellow-browed Warblers Phylloscopus inornatus were ringed, one Paddyfield Warbler Acrocephalus agricola, one Little Emberiza pusilla and one Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala, the latter as a singing male, which probably also bred in 2016. The catch frequency of the Yellow-browed Warblers has indeed been increasing in Slovenia in the last 25 years, but this is still a rare and irregular vagrant on autumn migration.

Timing of initial arrival at the breeding site predicts age at first reproduction in a long-lived migratory bird

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Becker, Peter H.; Dittmann, Tobias; Ludwigs, Jan-Dieter; Limmer, Bente; Ludwig, Sonja C.; Bauch, Christina; Braasch, Alexander; Wendeln, Helmut

2008-01-01

In long-lived vertebrates, individuals generally visit potential breeding areas or populations during one or more seasons before reproducing for the first time. During these years of prospecting, they select a future breeding site, colony, or mate and improve various skills and their physical condition to meet the requirements of reproduction. One precondition of successful reproduction is arrival in time on the breeding grounds. Here, we study the intricate links among the date of initial spring arrival, body mass, sex, and the age of first breeding in the common tern Sterna hirundo, a long-lived migratory colonial seabird. The study is based on a unique, individual-based, long-term dataset of sexed birds, marked with transponders, which allow recording their individual arrival, overall attendance, and clutch initiation remotely and automatically year by year over the entire lifetime at the natal colony site. We show that the seasonal date of initial arrival at the breeding grounds predicts the individual age at first reproduction, which mostly occurs years later. Late first-time arrivals remain delayed birds throughout subsequent years. Our findings reveal that timing of arrival at the site of reproduction and timing of reproduction itself are coherent parameters of individual quality, which are linked with the prospects of the breeding career and may have consequences for fitness. PMID:18711134

Hallucinogenic drugs in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.

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Carod-Artal, F J

2015-01-01

The American continent is very rich in psychoactive plants and fungi, and many pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures used them for magical, therapeutic and religious purposes. The archaeological, ethno-historical and ethnographic evidence of the use of hallucinogenic substances in Mesoamerica is reviewed. Hallucinogenic cactus, plants and mushrooms were used to induce altered states of consciousness in healing rituals and religious ceremonies. The Maya drank balché (a mixture of honey and extracts of Lonchocarpus) in group ceremonies to achieve intoxication. Ritual enemas and other psychoactive substances were also used to induce states of trance. Olmec, Zapotec, Maya and Aztec used peyote, hallucinogenic mushrooms (teonanacatl: Psilocybe spp) and the seeds of ololiuhqui (Turbina corymbosa), that contain mescaline, psilocybin and lysergic acid amide, respectively. The skin of the toad Bufo spp contains bufotoxins with hallucinogenic properties, and was used since the Olmec period. Jimson weed (Datura stramonium), wild tobacco (Nicotiana rustica), water lily (Nymphaea ampla) and Salvia divinorum were used for their psychoactive effects. Mushroom stones dating from 3000 BC have been found in ritual contexts in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence of peyote use dates back to over 5000 years. Several chroniclers, mainly Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, described their effects in the sixteenth century. The use of psychoactive substances was common in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican societies. Today, local shamans and healers still use them in ritual ceremonies in Mesoamerica. Copyright © 2011 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

SPECIFICITY OF THE PRECIPITIN REACTION IN TOBACCO MOSAIC DISEASE.

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Beale, H P

1931-09-30

1. Leaf extracts of Sudan grass, Hippeastrum equestre Herb., lily, and Abutilon striatum Dicks. (A. Thompsoni hort.), each affected with its respective mosaic disease, and peach affected with yellows disease, were tested for their ability to precipitate antiserum for virus extract of tobacco mosaic disease. No precipitate occurred. 2. Nicotiana glutinosa L., N. rustica L., and Martynia louisiana Mill. were added to the list of hosts of tobacco mosaic virus which have been tested with antiserum for the same virus in N. tabacum L. var. Turkish. The object was to determine the presence or absence of material reacting with the specific precipitins such as that already demonstrated in extracts of tomato, pepper, and petunia affected with the same virus. The presence of specific substances was demonstrated in every case. 3. The viruses of ringspot and cucumber mosaic diseases were multiplied in Turkish tobacco and leaf extracts of the affected plants were used in turn as antigens in precipitin tests with antiserum for tobacco mosaic virus extract of Turkish tobacco. A slight precipitation resulted in the tubes containing undiluted antiserum and virus extract such as occurs when juice from normal tobacco is used with undiluted antiserum. No precipitate was demonstrable that was specific for virus extracts of tobacco affected with either ringspot or cucumber mosaic disease. 4. The results favor the interpretation that the specific antigenic substance in virus extract of tobacco mosaic disease is foreign antigenic material, possibly virus itself, not altered host protein.

Áreas productivas y zonas de servicio de la villa romana de Los Cipreses (Jumilla, Murcia

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Noguera Celdrán, José Miguel

2009-12-01

Full Text Available In this article we present a preview of the results obtained in the recent campaigns of archaeological excavation at the Roman villa of Los Cipreses (Jumilla, Murcia, in particular referring to the partes fructuaria, where several installations related with wine and oil production have been documented, and rustic, where a series of rooms of domestic and craft use for the service staff of the enclave have been confirmed. The settlement, without a doubt the heart of a fundus devoted to agricultural exploitation and production, shows three phases of construction and development embedded in a time line from the I and V century A.D.En el presente artículo exponemos un avance de los resultados obtenidos en las recientes campañas de excavación arqueológica en la villa romana de Los Cipreses (Jumilla, Murcia, en particular referidos a las partes fructuaria, donde se ha documentado varias instalaciones relacionadas con la producción de vino y aceite, y rustica, donde se ha constatado una serie de dependencias de uso doméstico y artesanal para la población servil del enclave. El asentamiento, sin duda el corazón de un fundus dedicado a la explotación y manufacturación agropecuaria, muestra tres fases constructivas y de desarrollo insertas en un horizonte cronológico comprendido entre los siglos I y V d.C.

Fish species of greatest conservation need in wadeable Iowa streams: current status and effectiveness of Aquatic Gap Program distribution models

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Sindt, Anthony R.; Pierce, Clay; Quist, Michael C.

2012-01-01

Effective conservation of fish species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) requires an understanding of species–habitat relationships and distributional trends. Thus, modeling the distribution of fish species across large spatial scales may be a valuable tool for conservation planning. Our goals were to evaluate the status of 10 fish SGCN in wadeable Iowa streams and to test the effectiveness of Iowa Aquatic Gap Analysis Project (IAGAP) species distribution models. We sampled fish assemblages from 86 wadeable stream segments in the Mississippi River drainage of Iowa during 2009 and 2010 to provide contemporary, independent fish species presence–absence data. The frequencies of occurrence in stream segments where species were historically documented varied from 0.0% for redfin shiner Lythrurus umbratilis to 100.0% for American brook lampreyLampetra appendix, with a mean of 53.0%, suggesting that the status of Iowa fish SGCN is highly variable. Cohen's kappa values and other model performance measures were calculated by comparing field-collected presence–absence data with IAGAP model–predicted presences and absences for 12 fish SGCN. Kappa values varied from 0.00 to 0.50, with a mean of 0.15. The models only predicted the occurrences of banded darterEtheostoma zonale, southern redbelly dace Phoxinus erythrogaster, and longnose daceRhinichthys cataractae more accurately than would be expected by chance. Overall, the accuracy of the twelve models was low, with a mean correct classification rate of 58.3%. Poor model performance probably reflects the difficulties associated with modeling the distribution of rare species and the inability of the large-scale habitat variables used in IAGAP models to explain the variation in fish species occurrences. Our results highlight the importance of quantifying the confidence in species distribution model predictions with an independent data set and the need for long-term monitoring to better understand the

Water and Salt Stresses, Kinetin and Protein Synthesis in Tobacco Leaves 1

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Ben-Zioni, Aliza; Itai, C.; Vaadia, Y.

1967-01-01

The capacity of tobacco (Nicotiana rustica) leaf discs to incorporate l-leucine 14C into proteins was measured. Leaf discs were obtained from plants which experienced soil water depletion, or which were exposed to a saline or osmotic stress in the root medium. The stresses were brief of relatively short duration and water potential did not decrease below 4 bars in the root media. Leaf discs were sampled 2 hours after stress removal, achieved by reirrigation, or replacement of saline and osmotic solutions with normal nutrient solution. Plants were always turgid when leaves were sampled. All stressed tissues showed reduced capacity to incorporate l-leucine 14C into protein. The reduction was about 50% and could not be attributed either to reduced uptake into the discs, or to possible isotopic dilution. Incorporation decreased progressively with leaf age in control discs as well as in stressed leaf discs. At all ages tested, incorporation in stressed discs was lower than that of the control. Full recovery of incorporation capacity in stressed discs was obtained when discs were sampled 72 hours after stress removal but not earlier. Kinetin pretreatment prior to incubation with labelled leucine partially restored incorporation in stressed discs. The differences in response to kinetin of stressed and control discs suggest a lower endogenous level of cytokinins in the stressed discs. The results were qualitatively similar regardless of the kind of stress given to the plants during pretreatment. This supports the hypothesis that the normal supply of root cytokinins is important in shoot metabolism. PMID:16656515

Reproductive Behavior and Inbreeding Depression in Endangered Eremostachys superba Royle ex Benth. (Labiatae in Dehra Dun Population, India

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Arti Garg

2004-12-01

Full Text Available An assessment of reproductive behavior and inbreeding depression, if any, in critically endangered Eremostachys superba Royle ex Benth. (Labiatae was made to unveil the factors playing vital role in it’s reproductive biology and which may be responsible for the loss of fitness, viability and vigor of the species. Breeding experiments portrayed a failure of self-fertilization and a strong tendency towards out-breeding as seed set by xenogamy was highest (44.4%. However, the narrow restricted population of the type locality in Dehra Dun Siwaliks was just a ramet population sustained by clonal propagation of rhizomatous root stock, hence any out-crossing within these homozygous individuals also amounted to inbreeding. Further, there is no other population available within the range of normal seed dispersal mechanism or insect-pollinator-flight-range. The other populations reported are only from geographically distant region of Jammu and Kashmir state of India, which is too far a distance to be covered by the Nomia rustica West. and Ceratina heiroglyphica Sm., the oligophilic pollinators of E. superba, hence any crossing taking place also amounts to selfing in strict sense. Chances of induction of genetic variation by crossing between two different populations are remote. This was also supported by the data of seed production and germination experiments. Even the healthy seeds suffered from loss of fitness and failed to germinate under natural conditions. This strongly indicated prevalence of inbreeding depression and loss of fitness of the progeny right from the stage of germination, a phenomenon hazardous for sustenance and perpetuation of species leading to rarity.

Attendance of scavenging seabirds at trawler discards off Galicia, Spain

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Julio Valeiras

2003-07-01

Full Text Available The occurrence of scavenger seabirds at fishing trawlers was studied off Galicia, Spain. A total of 9,368 seabirds of 23 species were recorded during 92 fishing operations in 1998 and 1999. The most common species were the yellow-legged and lesser black-backed gull (Larus cachinnans and L. fuscus, Sabine´s gull (L. sabini, the northern gannet (Morus bassanus, the great shearwater (Puffinus gravis, sooty shearwater (P. griseus, the Manx and Balearic shearwater (P. puffinus and P. mauretanicus, the great skua (Catharacta skua and terns (mainly Sterna hirundo and S. paradisaea. Other species occurred in small numbers: Leach´s petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa, the storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus, the little shearwater (Puffinus assimilis, Cory´s shearwater (Calonectris diomedea, the parasitic skua (Stercorarius parasiticus, the pomarine skua (S. pomarinus, the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus, the glaucous gull (L. hyperboreus, the kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla, the sandwich tern (Sterna sandvicensis, the black tern (Chlidonias niger, the guillemot (Uria aalge and the little auk (Alle alle. The maximum number of seabirds recorded at a haul was 320. The maximum number of a particular species ranged from 120 great shearwaters to 250 yellow-legged/lesser black-backed gulls during a single haul. The differences in ship-follower species abundance are related to migratory movements but fisheries could also have a strong influence at a smaller scale on the distribution of seabirds off Galicia. The degree to which seabirds rely on fishery discards as food was not quantified, but may be important for several species.

A Markov model for planning and permitting offshore wind energy: A case study of radio-tracked terns in the Gulf of Maine, USA.

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Cranmer, Alexana; Smetzer, Jennifer R; Welch, Linda; Baker, Erin

2017-05-15

Quantifying and managing the potential adverse wildlife impacts of offshore wind energy is critical for developing offshore wind energy in a sustainable and timely manner, but poses a significant challenge, particularly for small marine birds that are difficult to monitor. We developed a discrete-time Markov model of seabird movement around a colony site parameterized by automated radio telemetry data from common terns (Sterna hirundo) and Arctic terns (S. paradisaea), and derived impact functions that estimate the probability of collision fatality as a function of the distance and bearing of wind turbines from a colony. Our purpose was to develop and demonstrate a new, flexible tool that can be used for specific management and wind-energy planning applications when adequate data are available, rather than inform wind-energy development at this site. We demonstrate how the tool can be used 1) in marine spatial planning exercises to quantitatively identify setback distances under development scenarios given a risk threshold, 2) to examine the ecological and technical trade-offs of development alternatives to facilitate negotiation between objectives, and 3) in the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process to estimate collision fatality under alternative scenarios. We discuss model limitations and data needs, and highlight opportunities for future model extension and development. We present a highly flexible tool for wind energy planning that can be easily extended to other central place foragers and data sources, and can be updated and improved as new monitoring data arises. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative developmental toxicity of planar polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in chickens, American kestrels, and common terns

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Hoffman, D.J.; Melancon, M.J.; Klein, P.N.; Eisemann, J.D.; Spann, J.W.

1998-01-01

The effects of PCB congeners, PCB 126 (3,3',4,4',5-pentaCB) and PCB 77 (3,3'4,4'-tetraCB), were examined in chicken (Gallus gallus), American kestrel (Falco sparverius), and common tern (Sterna hirundo) embryos through hatching, following air cell injections on day 4. PCB 126 caused malformations and edema in chickens starting at 0.3 ppb, in kestrels at 2.3 ppb, but in terns only at levels affecting hatching success (44 ppb). Extent of edema was most severe in chickens and least in terns. Defects of the beak were common in all species, but with crossed beak most prevalent in terns. Effects on embryo growth were most apparent for PCB 126 in chickens and kestrels. The approximate LD50 for PCB 126 in chickens was 0.4 ppb, in kestrels was 65 ppb, and in terns was 104 ppb. The approximate LD50 for PCB 77 in chickens was 2.6 ppb and in kestrels was 316 ppb. Induction of cytochrome P450 associated monooxygenase activity (EROD activity) by PCB 126 in chick embryo liver was about 800 times more responsive than in tern and at least 1000 times more responsive than in kestrel. High concentrations of PCB 126 found in bald eagle eggs are nearly 20-fold higher than the lowest toxic concentration tested in kestrels. Concentrations of PCB 126 causing low level toxic effects in common tern eggs are comparable to highest levels in common terns and Forster's terns in the field, suggesting additional involvement of other compounds in the Great Lakes.

Response of testosterone and corticosterone plasma levels to the challenge of sibling competition: a study in common terns.

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Braasch, Alexander; Becker, Peter H; Groothuis, Ton G G

2014-08-01

The hormonal response to social challenges has been widely studied, however, most work focused on adult behavior in a reproductive context although developing animals also encounter important social challenges early in life. We studied the relationship between acute sibling competition and plasma corticosterone (CORT) and testosterone (T) in common tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks, a species whose young compete for access to food by scramble interactions. Blood samples were taken in nests with two and only one single chick both immediately after a feeding bout and in non-challenged controls. We found that T levels were lower in siblings challenged by a feeding bout as compared to controls, which may be explained by the fact that T suppresses begging behavior and is only elevated in response to territorial intrusion but not sibling competition in a related species. Singletons had, corrected for body condition, generally lower CORT levels than siblings suggesting that growing up with siblings creates a competitive environment in which high CORT levels are sustained irrespective of a social challenge. CORT levels were also negatively correlated with body condition and were higher in males than in females. The latter may be related to sex-specific food requirements and susceptibility to stress. Our results suggest a possible suppressive effect of acute sibling competition on T secretion, and a positive effect on CORT levels by longer term sibling competition. The degree to which these dynamics are related to begging or aggression, or both, needs further experimental work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mercury concentrations in seabird tissues from Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick, Canada

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Bond, Alexander L., E-mail: abond@mun.ca [Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3 (Canada); Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3 (Canada); Diamond, Antony W. [Atlantic Cooperative Wildlife Ecology Research Network, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3 (Canada); Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5A3 (Canada)

2009-07-01

Mercury is a pervasive environmental contaminant, the anthropogenic portion of which is increasing globally, and in northeastern North America in particular. Seabirds frequently are used as indicators of the marine environment, including mercury contamination. We analysed paired samples for total mercury (Hg) concentrations in feathers and blood from adult and chick, albumen, and lipid-free yolk of seven seabirds breeding on Machias Seal Island, New Brunswick, Canada - Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Common Murre (Uria aalge), Common Tern (Sterna hirundo), Leach's Storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), and Razorbill (Alca torda). We also used stable-isotope ratios of carbon ({delta}{sup 13}C), and nitrogen ({delta}{sup 15}N) to evaluate the relationship between carbon source and trophic position and mercury. We found high Hg concentrations across tissue types in Leach's Storm-petrels, and Razorbills, with lower concentrations in other species, the lowest being in Common Eiders. Storm-petrels prey on mesopelagic fish that accumulate mercury, and Razorbills feed on larger, older fish that bioaccumulate heavy metals. Biomagnification of Hg, or the increase in Hg concentration with trophic position as measured by {delta}{sup 15}N, was significant and greater in albumen than other tissues, whereas in other tissues, {delta}{sup 15}N explained little of the overall variation in Hg concentration. Hg concentrations in egg components are higher on Machias Seal Island than other sites globally and in the Gulf of Maine region, but only for some species. Further detailed investigations are required to determine the cause of this trend.

Provenance analysis of Roman stone artefacts from sedimentary rocks from the archaeological site near Mošnje, NW Slovenia

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Snježana Miletić

2016-08-01

Full Text Available This study deals with the macroscopic and microfacies characterisation of Roman stone artefacts excavated in 2006 from a Roman villa rustica near Mošnje (NW Slovenia with the aim of defiing their provenance. A total of 28 representative fids (querns, mortars, whetstones, tooled and rounded stones, a fragment of stone slab, mosaic tesserae and two architectural elements - one with a relief made of clastic and carbonate sedimentary rocks were examined. Comparison was made with rock samples taken from quarries and gravel bars close to the archaeological site, as well as from larger distance to the site. The majority of artefact sampled is composed of Upper Palaeozoic quartz sandstones, which are found as pebbles in gravel bars close to the archaeological site; while 2 samples were from Quaternary coarse grained clastic rocks which can be found in local glacio-flvial sediments. Other fids were made of four different Mesozoic shallow-water limestones which outcrop in different areas of Central and SW Slovenia. The nearest Lower Jurassic biopelmicritic limestones are found at the western periphery of Ljubljana in Podutik. Cretaceous miliolid limestones and biocalcarenitic limestones with rudists are common in the successions of the Dinaric Carbonate Platform in SW Slovenia (for example, on the Trieste-Komen Plateau, NE Italy and SW Croatia. This indicates that the limestones for architectural elements, stone mortars and tesserae were brought to Mošnje from distant locations. Smaller stone tools are likely to have been made at the location of the archaeological site from material gathered locally, mostly pebbles from clastic rocks, which were accessible and suitable for tooling.

Uptake of planar polychlorinated biphenyls and 2,3,7,8-substituted polychlorinated dibenzofurans and dibenzo-p-dioxins by birds nesting in the lower Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA

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Ankley, Gerald T.; Niemi, Gerald J.; Lodge, Keith B.; Harris, Hallett J.; Beaver, Donald L.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Schwartz, Ted R.; Giesy, John P.; Jones, Paul D.; Hagley, Cynthia

1993-01-01

The uptake of persistent polychlorinated hydrocarbons (PCHs) by four avian species was investigated at upper trophic levels of two aquatic food chains of the lower Fox River and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Accumulation of total and specific planar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDDs), and H411E rat hepatoma cell bioassay-derived 2,37,8-tetrachlorodibenzop-dioxin equivalents (TCDD-EQ) was evaluated in Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri) and common tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks, and in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) and red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) nestlings from colonies nesting in several locations within the watershed. Concentrations of the PCHs were greatest in eggs and chicks of the two tern species, less in the tree swallows and least in the red-winged blackbirds. Young of all four species accumulated total PCBs, PCB congeners 77, 105, 126, and 169, and TCDD-EQ. The young birds also accumulated small concentrations of several 2,3,7,8-sbustituted PCDF and PCDD congeners. Uptake rates for certain of the PCHs for the Forster's tern chicks were: 15 μg/day for total PCBs, 70, 200, 6.5, and 0.14 ng/day for PCB congeners 77, 105, 126, and 169, respectively, and 270 μg/day for TCDD-EQ. Principal components analysis revealed that the patterns of PCH concentrations in the samples were influenced by species of bird, their age (or length of exposure) and nesting location. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that exposure of avian species to contaminants derived from aquatic food chains can be characterized and quantified for the purposes of ecological risk assessment.

Fitness prospects: effects of age, sex and recruitment age on reproductive value in a long-lived seabird.

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Zhang, He; Rebke, Maren; Becker, Peter H; Bouwhuis, Sandra

2015-01-01

Reproductive value is an integrated measure of survival and reproduction fundamental to understanding life-history evolution and population dynamics, but little is known about intraspecific variation in reproductive value and factors explaining such variation, if any. By applying generalized additive mixed models to longitudinal individual-based data of the common tern Sterna hirundo, we estimated age-specific annual survival probability, breeding probability and reproductive performance, based on which we calculated age-specific reproductive values. We investigated effects of sex and recruitment age (RA) on each trait. We found age effects on all traits, with survival and breeding probability declining with age, while reproductive performance first improved with age before levelling off. We only found a very small, marginally significant, sex effect on survival probability, but evidence for decreasing age-specific breeding probability and reproductive performance with RA. As a result, males had slightly lower age-specific reproductive values than females, while birds of both sexes that recruited at the earliest ages of 2 and 3 years (i.e. 54% of the tern population) had somewhat higher fitness prospects than birds recruiting at later ages. While the RA effects on breeding probability and reproductive performance were statistically significant, these effects were not large enough to translate to significant effects on reproductive value. Age-specific reproductive values provided evidence for senescence, which came with fitness costs in a range of 17-21% for the sex-RA groups. Our study suggests that intraspecific variation in reproductive value may exist, but that, in the common tern, the differences are small. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2014 British Ecological Society.

Changes in cytochrome P4501A activity during development in common tern chicks fed polychlorinated biphenyls, as measured by the caffeine breath test

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Feyk, L.A.; Giesy, J.P.; Bosveld, A.T.C.; Van den Berg, M.

2000-03-01

Cytochrome P4501A (CYPIA) activity is often used as a biomarker of exposure of wildlife to polyhalogenated diaromatic hydrocarbons and is usually measured ex vivo in liver tissue. A caffeine breath test (CBT) with radiolabeled substrate ({sup 14}C-caffeine) was used to measure in vivo CYP1A activity twice during development in 14 common tern (Sterna hirundo) chicks treated with polyhalogenated diaromatic hydrocarbons. Tern hatchlings were fed fish spiked with 3,3{prime}, 4,4{prime},5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126) and 2,2{prime},4,4{prime},5,5{prime}-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB 153) such that the diet contained an average of 23, 99, or 561 pg of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin equivalents per gram of fish for 21 d. Sixteen additional common tern chicks were similarly dosed with polyhalogenated diaromatic hydrocarbons but were not subjected to the CBT procedure. In weeks 1 and 2, caffeine N-demethylation and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylation activity on day 21 were elevated in birds that received the greatest PCB dose. There was less constitutive and greater induction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylation activity than caffeine N-demethylation. The {sup 14}C-CBT was less invasive than the ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase assay. Only one morphological parameter differed significantly between CBT subjects and no-CBT subjects fed the same level of PCBs. Bursa weight was significantly less in control CBT subjects than in control no-CBT subjects, but bursa weights did not differ among CBT and no-CBT birds from the two PCB treatment groups. No alterations of survival or growth occurred in CBT subjects compared with no-CBT subjects.

Premature feather loss among common tern chicks in Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly

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Jennifer M. Arnold

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In July 2014, we observed premature feather loss (PFL among non-sibling, common tern Sterna hirundo chicks between two and four weeks of age at Gull Island in northern Lake Ontario, Canada. Rarely observed in wild birds, to our knowledge PFL has not been recorded in terns since 1974, despite the subsequent banding of hundreds of thousands of tern chicks across North America alone. The prevalence, 5% of chicks (9/167, and extent of feather loss we report is more extreme than in previous reports for common terns but was not accompanied by other aberrant developmental or physical deformities. Complete feather loss from all body areas (wing, tail, head and body occurred over a period of a few days but all affected chicks appeared vigorous and quickly began to grow replacement feathers. All but one chick (recovered dead and submitted for post-mortem most likely fledged 10–20 days after normal fledging age. We found no evidence of feather dystrophy or concurrent developmental abnormalities unusual among affected chicks. Thus, the PFL we observed among common terns in 2014 was largely of unknown origin. There was striking temporal association between the onset of PFL and persistent strong southwesterly winds that caused extensive mixing of near-shore surface water with cool, deep lake waters. One hypothesis is that PFL may have been caused by unidentified pathogens or toxins welling up from these deep waters along the shoreline but current data are insufficient to test this. PFL was not observed among common terns at Gull Island in 2015, although we did observe similar feather loss in a herring gull Larus argentatus chick in that year. Comparison with sporadic records of PFL in other seabirds suggests that PFL may be a rare, but non-specific, response to a range of potential stressors. PFL is now known for gulls, penguins and terns.

Population census of a large common tern colony with a small unmanned aircraft.

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Dominique Chabot

Full Text Available Small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS may be useful for conducting high-precision, low-disturbance waterbird surveys, but limited data exist on their effectiveness. We evaluated the capacity of a small UAS to census a large (>6,000 nests coastal Common tern (Sterna hirundo colony of which ground surveys are particularly disruptive and time-consuming. We compared aerial photographic tern counts to ground nest counts in 45 plots (5-m radius throughout the colony at three intervals over a nine-day period in order to identify sources of variation and establish a coefficient to estimate nest numbers from UAS surveys. We also compared a full colony ground count to full counts from two UAS surveys conducted the following day. Finally, we compared colony disturbance levels over the course of UAS flights to matched control periods. Linear regressions between aerial and ground counts in plots had very strong correlations in all three comparison periods (R2 = 0.972-0.989, P < 0.001 and regression coefficients ranged from 0.928-0.977 terns/nest. Full colony aerial counts were 93.6% and 94.0%, respectively, of the ground count. Varying visibility of terns with ground cover, weather conditions and image quality, and changing nest attendance rates throughout incubation were likely sources of variation in aerial detection rates. Optimally timed UAS surveys of Common tern colonies following our method should yield population estimates in the 93-96% range of ground counts. Although the terns were initially disturbed by the UAS flying overhead, they rapidly habituated to it. Overall, we found no evidence of sustained disturbance to the colony by the UAS. We encourage colonial waterbird researchers and managers to consider taking advantage of this burgeoning technology.

Variation in Population Synchrony in a Multi-Species Seabird Community: Response to Changes in Predator Abundance.

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Gail S Robertson

Full Text Available Ecologically similar sympatric species, subject to typical environmental conditions, may be expected to exhibit synchronous temporal fluctuations in demographic parameters, while populations of dissimilar species might be expected to show less synchrony. Previous studies have tested for synchrony in different populations of single species, and those including data from more than one species have compared fluctuations in only one demographic parameter. We tested for synchrony in inter-annual changes in breeding population abundance and productivity among four tern species on Coquet Island, northeast England. We also examined how manipulation of one independent environmental variable (predator abundance influenced temporal changes in ecologically similar and dissimilar tern species. Changes in breeding abundance and productivity of ecologically similar species (Arctic Sterna paradisaea, Common S. hirundo and Roseate Terns S. dougallii were synchronous with one another over time, but not with a species with different foraging and breeding behaviour (Sandwich Terns Thalasseus sandvicensis. With respect to changes in predator abundance, there was no clear pattern. Roseate Tern abundance was negatively correlated with that of large gulls breeding on the island from 1975 to 2013, while Common Tern abundance was positively correlated with number of large gulls, and no significant correlations were found between large gull and Arctic and Sandwich Tern populations. Large gull abundance was negatively correlated with productivity of Arctic and Common Terns two years later, possibly due to predation risk after fledging, while no correlation with Roseate Tern productivity was found. The varying effect of predator abundance is most likely due to specific differences in the behaviour and ecology of even these closely-related species. Examining synchrony in multi-species assemblages improves our understanding of how whole communities react to long-term changes

Estimating migratory connectivity of birds when re-encounter probabilities are heterogeneous

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Cohen, Emily B.; Hostelter, Jeffrey A.; Royle, J. Andrew; Marra, Peter P.

2014-01-01

Understanding the biology and conducting effective conservation of migratory species requires an understanding of migratory connectivity – the geographic linkages of populations between stages of the annual cycle. Unfortunately, for most species, we are lacking such information. The North American Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL) houses an extensive database of marking, recaptures and recoveries, and such data could provide migratory connectivity information for many species. To date, however, few species have been analyzed for migratory connectivity largely because heterogeneous re-encounter probabilities make interpretation problematic. We accounted for regional variation in re-encounter probabilities by borrowing information across species and by using effort covariates on recapture and recovery probabilities in a multistate capture–recapture and recovery model. The effort covariates were derived from recaptures and recoveries of species within the same regions. We estimated the migratory connectivity for three tern species breeding in North America and over-wintering in the tropics, common (Sterna hirundo), roseate (Sterna dougallii), and Caspian terns (Hydroprogne caspia). For western breeding terns, model-derived estimates of migratory connectivity differed considerably from those derived directly from the proportions of re-encounters. Conversely, for eastern breeding terns, estimates were merely refined by the inclusion of re-encounter probabilities. In general, eastern breeding terns were strongly connected to eastern South America, and western breeding terns were strongly linked to the more western parts of the nonbreeding range under both models. Through simulation, we found this approach is likely useful for many species in the BBL database, although precision improved with higher re-encounter probabilities and stronger migratory connectivity. We describe an approach to deal with the inherent biases in BBL banding and re-encounter data to demonstrate

Two hybrid common x roseate terns fledge at Falkner Island, Connecticut

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Zingo, James M.; Church, Christopher A.; Spendelow, Jeffrey A.

1994-01-01

Although these two similarly-sized species are sympatric throughout much of their breeding range, there are few published records of hybridization between Roseate (Sterna dougallii) and Common (S. hirundo) Terns. Records include at least five from Europe (Witherby and Ticehurst 1908, Perry 1972, Robbins 1974, Burggraeve 1977, van den Berg 1980) and only one from North America (Hays 1975), but we are aware of several unpublished records of hybridization at colonies in Massachusetts (I. Nisbet, pers. comm.) and New York (J. Burger, pers. comm.). Differences in sexual display probably serve as the principal barrier to hybridization (Palmer 1941 ), and in the northeastem United States where both species breed, Common Terns tend to nest in more open areas while Roseate Terns tend to nest in or under cover (Hays 1975, Nisbet 1981, Spendelow 1982, Burger and Gochfeld 1988).From 1984 through 1993, we recorded several instances of interbreeding in a mixed colony of several thousand Common Terns and a few hundred Roseates at the Falkner Island Unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. This 2-ha island is located at 41 °13'N and 72° 39'W in Long Island Sound, approximately 5 km off the coast of Guilford, Connecticut. Spendelow (1982) briefly described the island and the areas used by the nesting terns; a more detailed description of the island is in Helander (1988). The mixed pair we observed in 1993 nested in a subcolony of about 25 pairs of Roseates on the southeast section of the island's rocky beach, where we put out 30 boxes to create more protected nest sites for Roseate Terns. Here we present a summary of their successful nesting, which we followed almost daily from several days prior to the laying of the first egg until departure of these birds from the colony site.

Frequência de Lettuce big-vein associated virus e Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus em Plantas de alface no Estado de São Paulo e transmissão através de extrato vegetal e solo Frequency of Lettuce big-vein associated virus and Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus in symptomatic and assymptomatic lettuce plants and sap and soil transmission

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Márcio Martinello Sanches

2007-12-01

Full Text Available A presença de sintomas de 'big vein' ou engrossamento das nervuras em alface e a associação do Lettuce big-vein associated virus (LBVaV e Mirafiori lettuce big-vein virus (MLBVV foram verificadas por RT-PCR utilizando-se oligonucleotídeos específicos para ambos os vírus. Foram coletadas 366 plantas sintomáticas nas regiões de Bauru, Campinas e Mogi das Cruzes no estado de São Paulo nos meses de junho e setembro de 2004 e abril e julho de 2005, e 18 plantas assintomáticas na região de Mogi das Cruzes no mês de dezembro de 2004. Infecção mista do LBVaV e MLBVV foi detectada em 76,2% das plantas sintomáticas, em 11,5% somente o MLBVV foi detectado e em 6,6% somente o LBVaV. Nas plantas assintomáticas coletadas em dezembro na região de Mogi das Cruzes, em áreas de alta incidência da doença durante o inverno, foi detectada a presença de MLBVV em 9 amostras e LBVaV em 7 amostras. Quatro dessas amostras apresentaram infecção mista, indicando que o desenvolvimento de sintomas depende de fatores abióticos, como temperatura. A inoculação via extrato vegetal a partir de plantas de alface com infecção mista pelo MLBVV e LBVaV foi realizada a 16°C/ 10°C (dia/noite e fotoperíodo de 11 horas, verificando-se que o MLBVV foi transmitido para Nicotiana tabacum TNN, N. rustica, N. occidentalis, Chenopodium quinoa e para as cultivares de alface Trocadero e White Boston, enquanto o LBVaV foi transmitido apenas para a alface White Boston. Entretanto, nenhuma destas plantas apresentou sintomas da doença, com exceção de C. quinoa que apresentou sintomas de lesões locais. Plantio em solo proveniente de áreas com histórico da doença de Mogi das Cruzes permitiu a transmissão do LBVaV para alface cv. White Boston e do MLBVV para alface cv. Trocadero e White Boston, embora apenas a cv. White Boston tenha apresentado sintomas da doença. Em conjunto, estes resultados demonstram a dificuldade de transmissão de ambos os vírus, mesmo em

Wild Nicotiana Species as a Source of Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Nicotianatabacum

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Nikova V

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The results of our experiments executed to obtain tobacco male sterile lines through interspecific hybridization are summarized. Ten wild species from the genus Nicotiana: N. excelsior (exc, N. amplexicaulis (amp, N. rustica (rus, Nicotianaglauca (gla, N. velutina (vel, N. benthamiana (ben, N. maritima (mar, N. paniculata (pan, N. longiflora (lon and N. africana (afr were used as cytoplasmic donors and N. tabacum, cv. HarmanliiskaBasma (HB as a donor of the nucleus. Genetic effects of cytoplasmic-nuclear interaction of the studied species are discussed. Our results suggested that cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS was expressed when the cytoplasms of the above mentioned wild Nicotiana species were combined with the nucleus of N. tabacum. The 10 sources of CMS obtained in tobacco were characterized by altered flower phenotypes. Flowers are classified into types according the stamen, pistil and corolla modification. All these CMS sources were backcrossed to Oriental tobaccos, cvs. Tekne, Nevrokop B-12, Kroumovgrad 90 and Djebel 576, to develop corresponding CMS lines. The investigated cytoplasms produced compete male sterility in all those cultivars. The CMS lines preserved flower types, specific for every “sterile” cytoplasm. The extent of male organ modifications varied from apparently normal (but pollenless stamens in CMS (pan, (afr, some plants of (vel (mar through different degrees of malformations (shriveled anther on shortened filaments (lon, pinnate-like anthers on filaments of normal length (amp, petal - (ben, pistil- or stigma-like structures (rus, (gla to lack of male reproductive organs in (exc and in some plants of (vel, (mar, (rus and (gla. Most of the above mentioned cytoplasms had normal female gametophyte and good seed productivity. Alterations of the pistils were observed in CMS (rus, (exc and (ben causing reduction of the seed set. Electrophoresis of seed proteins of the tobacco cultivars and their CMS lines also suggested that

Millennial-scale variations of late Pleistocene radiolarian assemblages in the Bering Sea related to environments in shallow and deep waters

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Itaki, Takuya; Kim, Sunghan; Rella, Stephan F.; Uchida, Masao; Tada, Ryuji; Khim, Boo-Keun

2012-02-01

A high-resolution record of the radiolarian assemblage from 60 to 10 ka was investigated using a piston core (PC-23A) obtained from the northern slope of the Bering Sea. Faunal changes based on the 29 major radiolarian taxa demonstrated that the surface and deep water conditions in the Bering Sea were related to the orbital and millennial-scale climatic variations known as glacial-interglacial and Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) cycles, respectively. During interstadial periods of the D-O cycles, the assemblage was characterized by increases in the high-latitude coastal species Rhizoplegma boreale and the upper-intermediate water species Cycladophora davisiana, while the sea-ice related species Actinomma boreale and A. leptodermum and many deep-water species such as Dictyophimus crisiae and D. hirundo tended to be reduced. This trend was more apparent in two laminated intervals at 15-13.5 and 11.5-11 ka, which were correlated with well-known ice-sheet collapse events that occurred during the last deglaciation: melt-water pulse (MWP)-1A and MWP-1B, respectively. The radiolarian faunal composition in these periods suggests that oceanic conditions were different from today: (1) surface water was affected by increased melt-water discharge from continental ice-sheet, occurring at the same time as an abrupt increase in atmospheric temperature, (2) upper-intermediate water (ca. 200-500 m) was well-ventilated and organic-rich, and (3) lower-intermediate water (ca. 500-1000 m) was oxygen-poor. Conversely, the sea-ice season might have been longer during stadial periods of the D-O cycles and the last glacial maximum (LGM) compared to the interstadial periods and the earliest Holocene. In these colder periods, deep-water species were very abundant, and this corresponded to increases in the oxygen isotope value of benthic foraminifera. Our findings suggest that the oxygen-rich water was present in the lower-intermediate layer resulting from intensified ventilation.

Are arrival date and body mass after spring migration influenced by large-scale environmental factors in a migratory seabird?

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K. Lesley eSzostek

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Changes in the timing of migratory events have been observed recently in many migratory species, most likely in response to climatic change. In the common tern Sterna hirundo we examined such changes in spring arrival date and body mass based on a 19 year individual-based longitudinal data from a transponder marked colony from 1994 - 2012. Although no long-term trend was observed in either trait, strong inter-annual and age-specific variation in arrival date and mass was evident. We investigated whether environmental factors such as (i global climate phenomena North Atlantic and Southern Oscillation Indices NAOI and SOI, or (ii local factors, such as food abundance in the wintering and breeding area, represented by fish stock or marine primary productivity, could explain this variation. We found that 2-year-old birds on their first spring migration advanced arrival relative to spring NAOI and delayed arrival relative to sprat Sprattus sprattus abundance. The arrival date of 3-year-olds also advanced in relation to NAOI and delayed in relation to winter SOI. In contrast, adults delayed arrival with NAOI and advanced relative to SOI. Within age groups, earlier annual arrival coincided with higher mass, indicating that a fast and/or early migration did not come at a cost to body condition. Changes in arrival mass relative to environmental covariates were found only in 2-year-olds on their first spring migration: in these birds arrival mass was positively related to herring Clupea harengus and sprat abundance in the breeding area as well as spring NAOI and negatively related to SOI. In conclusion, traits related to migration of common terns were linked with environmental conditions, but showed no long-term trends over the past two decades. Age-related differences were marked, suggesting that common terns might be subject to differing environmental constraints or respond differently to conditions during their annual cycle depending on age.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SOME WILD SPECIES OF THE GENUS NICOTINA AND OF SOME VARIETIES OF NICOTIANA TABACUM L. AND N. RUSTICA L. TO BLUE MOULD (PERONOSPORA TABACINA ADAM) -- PULAWY 1962

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Nicotiana , no manifestations of the mould were observed on the species of N. debneyi and N. exigua. Very weak symptoms appeared in N. paniculata and N... plumbaginifolia . In the group of cigarette-tobacco varieties only the Hicks Resistant and Hicks fixed A2 (varieties of Australian origin, obtained by

Surface elevation dynamics in vegetated Spartina marshes versus unvegetated tidal ponds along the mid-Atlantic coast, USA, with implications to waterbirds

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Erwin, R. Michael; Cahoon, Donald R.; Prosser, Diann J.; Sanders, Geoffrey; Hensel, Philippe

2006-01-01

-dependent seaside sparrows Ammodramus maritimus, saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrows A. caudacutus, black rails Laterallus jamaicensis, clapper rails Rallus longirostris, Forster's terns Sterna forsteri, common terns Sterna hirundo, and gull-billed terns Sterna nilotica. Although short-term inundation of many lagoonal marshes may benefit some open-water feeding ducks, geese, and swans during winter, the long-term ecosystem effects may be detrimental, as wildlife resources will be lost or displaced. With the reduction in area of emergent marsh, estuarine secondary productivity and biotic diversity will also be reduced.

Comparison of Reflectance Measurements Acquired with a Contact Probe and an Integration Sphere: Implications for the Spectral Properties of Vegetation at a Leaf Level

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Markéta Potůčková

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Laboratory spectroscopy in visible and infrared regions is an important tool for studies dealing with plant ecophysiology and early recognition of plant stress due to changing environmental conditions. Leaf optical properties are typically acquired with a spectroradiometer coupled with an integration sphere (IS in a laboratory or with a contact probe (CP, which has the advantage of operating flexibility and the provision of repetitive in-situ reflectance measurements. Experiments comparing reflectance spectra measured with different devices and device settings are rarely reported in literature. Thus, in our study we focused on a comparison of spectra collected with two ISs on identical samples ranging from a Spectralon and coloured papers as reference standards to vegetation samples with broadleaved (Nicotiana Rustica L. and coniferous (Picea abies L. Karst. leaf types. First, statistical measures such as mean absolute difference, median of differences, standard deviation and paired-sample t-test were applied in order to evaluate differences between collected reflectance values. The possibility of linear transformation between spectra was also tested. Moreover, correlation between normalised differential indexes (NDI derived for each device and all combinations of wavelengths between 450 nm and 1800 nm were assessed. Finally, relationships between laboratory measured leaf compounds (total chlorophyll, carotenoids and water content, NDI and selected spectral indices often used in remote sensing were studied. The results showed differences between spectra acquired with different devices. While differences were negligible in the case of the Spectralon and they were possible to be modelled with a linear transformation in the case of coloured papers, the spectra collected with the CP and the ISs differed significantly in the case of vegetation samples. Regarding the spectral indices calculated from the reflectance data collected with the three

Diversidad alfa y beta de la comunidad de reptiles en el complejo cenagoso de Zapatosa, Colombia

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Guido Fabián Medina-Rangel

2011-06-01

the families Polychrotidae, Gekkonidae and Teiidae, in that order. The reptile species composition was not different between the tree-lined savanna and the chasmophyte forest, but differed among the tree-lined savanna and the riparian forest, palm-grove and dry forest habitats. The most important differences in the species composition among almost all the habitats were influenced by the species Anolis tropidogaster and Gonatodes albogularis, and the higher occurrence of Stenocercus erythrogaster in the chasmophyte forest. The species replacement had an average value of 50%; the biggest amounts of shared species were the lizards, while the snake Leptodeira septentrionalis was the only one present in all habitat types. The forest grows-among-rocks showed the biggest complementarity and number of unique species compared to the other habitats. The wetland complex provides two thirds of the reptile´s species reported until now for the Caribbean region, and more than 80% of those reported for the El Cesar department. This wetland complex seems to behave as a center for low land species concentration as it hosts a high proportion of species from those places. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (2: 935-968. Epub 2011

Esta que "é uma das delícias, e mimos desta terra...": o uso indígena do tabaco (N. rustica e N. tabacum nos relatos de cronistas, viajantes e filósofos naturais dos séculos XVI e XVII

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Christian Fausto Moraes dos Santos

Full Text Available O tabaco (Nicotiana sp. foi um dos elementos botânicos do Novo Mundo que mais aguçaram a curiosidade de diversos viajantes, eruditos, médicos e filósofos naturais em ambos os lados do Atlântico. As plantas do gênero Nicotiana rapidamente ganharam notoriedade entre homens de letras. O hiato entre as primeiras descrições sobre os diversos predicados do tabaco e sua introdução na Europa foi consideravelmente curto. É provável que os rumores a respeito das propriedades das plantas de Nicotiana tenham chegado à Europa concomitantente às primeiras folhas ou sementes. Muitos destes relatos incluíam informações a respeito de seu uso pelos povos indígenas. Sua relevância, em meio aos ameríndios, suscitou nos europeus, mesmo com todas as barreiras culturais, um considerável interesse por suas possíveis aplicações e uma irresistível disposição em justificar seu uso.

Species differences in the sensitivity of avian embryos to methylmercury

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Heinz, G.H.; Hoffman, D.J.; Klimstra, J.D.; Stebbins, K.R.; Kondrad, S.L.; Erwin, C.A.

2009-01-01

We injected doses of methylmercury into the air cells of eggs of 26 species of birds and examined the dose-response curves of embryo survival. For 23 species we had adequate data to calculate the median lethal concentration (LC50). Based on the dose-response curves and LC50s, we ranked species according to their sensitivity to injected methylmercury. Although the previously published embryotoxic threshold of mercury in game farm mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) has been used as a default value to protect wild species of birds, we found that, relative to other species, mallard embryos are not very sensitive to injected methylmercury; their LC50 was 1.79 ug/g mercury on a wet-weight basis. Other species we categorized as also exhibiting relatively low sensitivity to injected methylmercury (their LC50s were 1 ug/g mercury or higher) were the hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), Canada goose (Branta canadensis), double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), and laughing gull (Larus atricilla). Species we categorized as having medium sensitivity (their LC50s were greater than 0.25 ug/g mercury but less than 1 ug/g mercury) were the clapper rail (Rallus longirostris), sandhill crane (Grus canadensis), ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), chicken (Gallus gallus), common grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), herring gull (Larus argentatus), common tern (S terna hirundo), royal tern (Sterna maxima), Caspian tern (Sterna caspia), great egret (Ardea alba), brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis), and anhinga (Anhinga anhinga). Species we categorized as exhibiting high sensitivity (their LC50s were less than 0.25 ug/g mercury) were the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), white ibis (Eudocimus albus), snowy egret (Egretta thula), and tri-colored heron (Egretta tricolor). For mallards, chickens, and ring-necked pheasants (all species for which we could compare the toxicity of our

Combined impacts of Black-crowned Night-Heron predation/disturbance and various management activities on Roseate Tern productivity in 2003, and testing of a video surveillance system for recording the diurnal and nocturnal behavior of terns and night-herons at Falkner Island, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut, in 2004: Report to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Westbrook, Connecticut and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 5 Regional Office, Hadley, Massachusetts

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Spendelow, J.A.; Kuter, M.

2004-01-01

Falkner Island (FICT), a unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (SBMNWR) since 1985, is located in Long Island Sound 5 km south of Guilford, CT. For more than three decades it has been the site of the only large breeding colony in Connecticut of the federally endangered Northwest Atlantic population of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) and the state's largest colony of Common Terns (S. hirundo). Both species have been studied at this site since 1978 as part of the Falkner Island Tern Project (FITP), and since 1987 also as part of a regional Cooperative Roseate Tern Metapopulation Dynamics and Ecology Project (CRTMP), both coordinated by Dr. Jeffrey A. Spendelow of the U.S. Geological Survey's Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (USGS-PWRC). From 1997-2002 the Roseate Tern breeding population at this site declined by more than 50% from about 150 to about 70 nesting pairs, mostly as a result of the nocturnal predation and disturbance of tern chicks and eggs by Black-crowned Night-Herons (Nycticorax nycticorax). Here we report the results of research done with the goal of improving management of nocturnal predators and developing new practices/structures to reduce losses of tern eggs and chicks so as to prevent the abandonment of this site by Roseate Terns. Notification of release of the USGS 'Quick Response Funds' (QRF) that were to be used to support the part of this study entitled 'Nocturnal behavior/interactions of endangered Roseate Terns and Black-crowned Night-Herons', and final approval of the Study Plan for this research did not occur until after the breeding season in 2003 was well underway. As a result, some work will need to be completed during the 2004 field season. There are two major objectives of this study. The first is to collect basic information (a) on the nocturnal behavior and interactions of Roseate (and Common) Terns with predatory Black-crowned Night-Herons, and (b) on how the behavior of the

Response of roseate tern to a shoreline protection project on Falkner Island, Connecticut

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, C.J.; Spendelow, J.A.; Guilfoyle, Michael P.; Fischer, Richard A.; Pashley, David N.; Lott, Casey A.

2007-01-01

Construction was initiated following the 2000 tern breeding season for Phase 1 of a planned two-phase ?Shoreline Protection and Erosion Control Project? at the Falkner Island Unit of the USFWS Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge located in Long Island Sound off the coast of Guilford, CT. When the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) and federally endangered Roseate Tern (S. dougallii) arrived in spring 2001, they encountered several major habitat changes from what had existed in previous years. These changes included: a rock revetment covering most of the former nesting habitat on the beach from the northwestern section around the northern tip and covering about 60% of the eastern side; an elevated 60- ? 4-m shelf covering the beach and lower bank of the southwestern section; and about 2,000 sq m of devegetated areas on top of the island on the northeast side above the revetment, and about one-third of the southern half of the island. The southwest shelf was created by bulldozing and compacting extra construction fill and in situ materials. This shelf differed in internal structure from the main revetment on the north and eastern sections of the island because it lacked the deep internal crevices of the revetment. The deep internal crevices were created from the large stones and boulders (up to 2 tons) used in the construction of the main revetment. Small rock and gravel was used to fill the crevices to within 3 feet (0.9 m) of the surface of the revetment. Because half-buried tires and nest boxes for the six Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) sub-colony areas were deployed in similar patterns on the remaining beach, and nest boxes were placed on the newly elevated shelf areas several meters above previous locations on the now-covered beach areas, the distribution of Roseate Tern nests did not change much from 2000 to 2001. However, the movements of Roseate Tern chicks ? in many cases led by their parents towards traditional hiding places ? into the labyrinth of

THE BIOGRAPHY OF JÁNOS NAGYVÁTHY - THE FIRST HUNGARIAN AGRICULTURAL WRITER

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Gábor LUKÁCS

2002-03-01

experience and the regularities regarding animals and plants discovered by the developing sciences. His main source is ’Elementa rei rusticae’ by Mitterpacher but he also mentioned 51 different books as sources, (34 of them in the section about plant cultivation. Plant cultivation had the same importance and number of pages as in the work of Mitterpacher but animal husbandry had twice as many pages. He wrote about the breeding of all farm animals but it was not the chapters on animal husbandry that pointed ahead but his remarks to help the rationalization of farming and the fact that he wrote about plant cultivation and animal husbandry as a whole. The book made him well-known in the country. He was offered the post of a land steward by Széchenyi Ferenc and Festetics György. Accepting the latter he moved to Keszthely and he took over the management of the domain of 162ooo acres. The earl left the army at that time and started to restore his neglected domain. Nagyváthy’s main task was to improve farm management. He introduced strict accountancy and applied double-entry book-keeping for the first time and Hungary and his main principle was to put down all farming activities in writing. The farm managers were not suitable for this task so he convinced Festetics to found a school for them and an other secondary grammar school in the other centre of the domain in Csurgó. By 1797 the condition of the domain improved significantly and the Earl founded ’Georgikon’ the first agricultural college in Europe though without the land steward who favoured the idea of enlightment (the court in Vienna would not approve it. After the expiration of his contract he retired and moved to Csurgó, where he inspected the secondary grammar school as a secular inspector. He spent the last 22 years of his life here ’hard working in respectable poverty’. He died on 13th February 1819 (according to other sources on 24th. His posthumous books are as follows: ’Hungarian housewife on the farm

Findings from the villages of Gradac and Ubosko on the road communication Narona-Ad Zizio

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Samardžić Gligor M.

2014-01-01

direction of the road. The direction of the road communication in the field was determined by a number of milestones previously found in some parts of the communication and the remains of settlements. In conclusion to this study, we believe that the route communication Narona-Ad Zizio, proposed by D. Sergejevski and I. Bojanovski, generally cannot be put in doubt. However, changes are possible only on some sections, as indicated by the facts from the field. In the vicinity of the place of the findings of milestones in the southwestern part of Ubosko polje, there is a road passing along the southern rim from west to east, so it is possible that the Roman road went along this edge where a milestone with the implant was found in situ. This route runs along the southern edge of the field, 300 m more to the south of the road line suggested by I. Bojanovski. An alternative route passed some tens of meters in front of the remnants of the settlements on the location of the Križava tilth field and Grebuša which are located on the southwestern edge of the field. At this location there is a number of buildings with fragments of Roman pottery everywhere. Slightly to the east at distance of about 200 m from the first milestone, we found, with the help of the antiques patrons, another milestone on this section of the road, near the medieval inscriptions dedicated to the deceased Dabiživ Radovanović. The fragment of the milestone is 110 cm long with a diameter of about 40 cm, and it is located on the left side of the Ubosko-Hrđusi road at exiting the Ubosko polje. It is possible that the remains of these buildings suggest that they were the ancient complex, the so-called villa rustica. However, nothing more precise could be said about the perceived remains of these buildings foundations without detailed research. This section is a part of the Salona-Dyrrhachium-via Egnatia road and it was probably built during the Dolabella's Regency of the province of Dalmatia (years 16 to 20

Analyse séquentielle de l'Eocène et de l'Oligocène du bassin Parisien (France Sequence Analysis of the Eocene-Oligocene Paris Basin, France

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Gely J. P.

2006-11-01

essentially carbonate formations. The case of the Meretrix rustica limestones in the Vexin region, which are contemporary with the Auvers sandstones, is an exemplary one (Fig. 9, Map 10. The regions sheltered from sandy influxes (the Vexin region at the time was a marginal marine domain backed up against a chalky hinterland and isolated from the main gulf by the Pays de Bray Island and the Sables d'Auversoffshore bars could at the same time gather in a purely carbonate sedimentation. These same limestones east of Vexin become calcareous sandstones associated with Auvers sandstones. A sequence analysis of the Eocene-Oligocene in the Paris Basin also reveals that the Soisson lignites were deposited in the midst of an upper highstand systems tract and then were marked at the level of the paleosols by the presence of a late highstand systems tract (Fig. 1, Map 2. Initially, they were in a coastal plain environment associated with prograding coastal deltaic systems and then with fluvial outwash plains. On the contrary, the Epernay lignites belong to a late lowstand wedge (Fig. 3, Map 4 and indicated the presence of palustrine environment between the emerged areas and the oyster lagoons, which themselves were sheltered by offshore bars present in the aggrading Laon sands. Elsewhere, when the gypsums in the Paris Basin are of marine origine [Lutetian gypsums (Figs. 6 and 7, fourth, third and second Gypsum Masses (Figs. 14, 15 and 16], they belong to an early highstand systems tract. However, the first Gypsum Mass and the Marabet Bank, which are of continental origin, are part of a late highstand systems tract (Figs. 16 and 17. The great central subsidence of the basin at that time left a log of space available, but the slight subsidence of the edges, especially in the NW, and the great lowering of the sea level served to isolate a very thick continental evaporitic basin in the depocenter area. The depositional sequences thus described show, on the whole, a very close correlation