Movement and habitat use of the freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) in a remnant floodplain wetland

Knowledge of the movement and habitat use of fishes is important in identifying and understanding the causes of population declines and predicting how populations are likely to respond to management interventions. In this study, radiotelemetry was used to examine the spring and summer movement and habitat use patterns of the freshwater catfish (Tandanus tandanus) in a remnant wetland to inform the development of recovery actions for this threatened species. Twenty‐one adult fish were tagged and released within Tahbilk Lagoon, Victoria, Australia, in September 2009. Fish were located every 1–2 weeks between September 2009 and February 2010, a period which coincides with the spawning period for the species. Eleven of the fish were also tracked every 2 h for 68 consecutive hours in December 2009 to examine diel movements. The study revealed that freshwater catfish make extensive use of cover (e.g. wood and macrophytes) and typically have limited ranges (median total linear range and 90% linear range 599 and 173 m respectively), although they occasionally moved more extensively (up to 1.5 km) between floodplain and riverine habitats. Fish moved over much greater areas at night compared with during the day. There was also evidence of sex‐specific variation in movement, with a trend for greater movement of female fish at night compared with males. The results of the study suggest that strategies that protect macrophyte and wood habitats and improve connectivity between riverine and floodplain habitats are likely to be important in maintaining and restoring remnant populations of this species.     

Creative Industries and Regional Productivity Growth in the Developing Economy: Evidence from Indonesia

This paper examines the degree to which creative industries stimulate regional productivity growth in a developing country, Indonesia. The Indonesian government promotes long‐established “traditional” craft businesses as creative industries, but they pay less attention to new knowledge creation and focus on highlighting heritage values as selling points. Our findings show that the “real” creative industries are still scarce and found mostly in fairly advanced urban regions. These industries are more likely to be an indicator than a driver of regional economic development. Meanwhile, those traditional businesses are much larger than creative industries and potentially contribute to regional productivity through consumption activities, thereby requiring different policy strategies.     

Copper in the terrestrial environment: Verification of a laboratory-derived terrestrial biotic ligand model to predict earthworm mortality with toxicity observed in field soils

This study was set up for validation of a regression model to predict mortality in the terrestrial earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa following exposure to copper. This model was derived from a terrestrial biotic ligand model and incorporates the protective effects of H⁺ and Na⁺ on copper toxicity.Three soil sets were used for the experiments, all of which had a different copper contamination history over more than 20 years and were considered to be aged field soils. The soils were characterized by analysis of various copper pools in the solid phase and in the pore water, analysis of physical and chemical soil properties and by regression analysis. Measured and calculated copper activities (expressed as pCu) correlated reasonably well. Measured copper activities correlated with the total copper concentration in the pore water and the pH. The organic matter in the solid phase had no influence on the pCu in these soil sets.Earthworms were exposed to the soils for 28 days, after which survival was scored. Observed earthworm mortality after 28-days exposure was plotted as a function of the log-transformed difference between predicted (log₁₀ transformed) LC50-values and measured values of pCu for validation of the regression model. The results obtained were in agreement with the assumption that mortality is to be observed in those soils where the predicted LC50 exceeds the measured pCu. However, a structural underestimation of toxicity was apparent, which is most likely due to mixture effects related to the presence of additional substances in field soils. Nevertheless, the trend of the results in the validation tests demonstrates that the newly developed toxicity model is a useful tool in predicting lethality of copper contamination to earthworms in field soils.     

On the cause of the 1930s Dust Bowl

During the 1930s, the United States experienced one of the most devastating droughts of the past century. The drought affected almost two-thirds of the country and parts of Mexico and Canada and was infamous for the numerous dust storms that occurred in the southern Great Plains. In this study, we present model results that indicate that the drought was caused by anomalous tropical sea surface temperatures during that decade and that interactions between the atmosphere and the land surface increased its severity. We also contrast the 1930s drought with other North American droughts of the 20th century.     

Equivalent effects of snake PLA2 neurotoxins and lysophospholipid-fatty acid mixtures

Snake presynaptic phospholipase A2 neurotoxins (SPANs) paralyze the neuromuscular junction (NMJ). Upon intoxication, the NMJ enlarges and has a reduced content of synaptic vesicles, and primary neuronal cultures show synaptic swelling with surface exposure of the lumenal domain of the synaptic vesicle protein synaptotagmin I. Concomitantly, these neurotoxins induce exocytosis of neurotransmitters. We found that an equimolar mixture of lysophospholipids and fatty acids closely mimics all of the biological effects of SPANs. These results draw attention to the possible role of local lipid changes in synaptic vesicle release and provide new tools for the study of exocytosis.     

Rat thoracic duct lymphocytes: types that participate in inflammation

Newly formed small lymphocytes with a short life-span in the blood are the only cells from thoracic duct lymph which accumulate in acutely inflamed tissue. This conclusion is drawn from studies in which rats with induced peritonieal exudates were injected intravenously with radioactively labeled thoracic duct cells. Radioactivity, originally vested in newly formed donor small lymphocytes, was found later in a small number of similar exudate cells. Small lymphocytes generated 10 days or more before the thoracic ducts were cannulated failed to localize in peritoneal exudates, although the cells moved in large numbers from the blood in to lymph nodes.     

Genome-wide association for milk production and lactation curve parameters in Holstein dairy cows

The aim of this study was to identify genomic regions associated with 305-day milk yield and lactation curve parameters on primiparous (n = 9,910) and multiparous (n = 11,158) Holstein cows. The SNP solutions were estimated using a weighted single-step genomic BLUP approach and imputed high-density panel (777k) genotypes. The proportion of genetic variance explained by windows of 50 consecutive SNP (with an average of 165 Kb) was calculated, and regions that accounted for more than 0.50% of the variance were used to search for candidate genes. Estimated heritabilities were 0.37, 0.34, 0.17, 0.12, 0.30 and 0.19, respectively, for 305-day milk yield, peak yield, peak time, ramp, scale and decay for primiparous cows. Genetic correlations of 305-day milk yield with peak yield, peak time, ramp, scale and decay in primiparous cows were 0.99, 0.63, 0.20, 0.97 and −0.52, respectively. The results identified three windows on BTA14 associated with 305-day milk yield and the parameters of lactation curve in primi- and multiparous cows. Previously proposed candidate genes for milk yield supported by this work include GRINA, CYHR1, FOXH1, TONSL, PPP1R16A, ARHGAP39, MAF1, OPLAH and MROH1, whereas newly identified candidate genes are MIR2308, ZNF7, ZNF34, SLURP1, MAFA and KIFC2 (BTA14). The protein lipidation biological process term, which plays a key role in controlling protein localization and function, was identified as the most important term enriched by the identified genes.     

Flow‐mediated movement of freshwater catfish,Tandanus bostocki,in a regulated semi‐urban river,to inform environmental water releases

Movement and migration of fish are critical for sustaining riverine fish populations. Water resource development alters natural flow regimes and can disconnect habitats and interfere with hydrological cues for fish movement. Environmental flow releases can counter these impacts, but to be effective they must be based on quantitative flow–biota relationships. We used radio‐telemetry to investigate the association between flow and movement of Tandanus bostocki, a plotosid fish endemic to south‐western Australia. Movement was assessed for 15 adult fish at three temporal scales: weekly, daily and bihourly to reveal seasonal patterns in movement, movement around individual flow pulses, and to describe changes in home range respectively. We used a predictive modelling approach to assess the importance of discharge and other covariates on the directional distance travelled or linear home range size. Our seasonal and flow pulse study revealed that T. bostocki undertook larger downstream movements during higher flows and smaller upstream movements during lower flows. Daily movements tended to be downstream on the ascending limb of flow pulses and upstream on the descending limb. Flow‐dependent movements at weekly or daily time scales were relatively modest (typically hundreds of metres) and were moderated by time of year and gender; however, fish underwent a synchronised 1‐km movement upstream during the known reproductive period in October. The home range study revealed that T. bostocki had larger home ranges (night‐time foraging) when baseflow was elevated. These results can assist the design of customised environmental flows in the study river and other flow‐regulated rivers.