Damming insights: Variable impacts and implications of river regulation on platypus populations

1. River regulation has extensively changed the ecology and hydrology of rivers worldwide, particularly downstream of dams, affecting the viability of freshwater species. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semiaquatic monotreme, endemic to eastern Australia, with a distribution overlapping Australia’s most regulated rivers.
2. Dams and changes to flow regimes have affected critical platypus habitat, yet our understanding of the impacts of these threatening processes on platypus ecology remains poor. Over a period of 3 years (2016–2018), platypuses were surveyed across three regions (Upper Murray, Snowy, and Border river regions), above and below large dams, and in adjacent unregulated rivers, comparing captures, demographics, abundances, and densities. We hypothesized that platypus captures and abundances would be lower downstream of dams, owing to altered flow regimes that have secondary impacts on the demographics of these populations.
3. In the Upper Murray Rivers region, captures were significantly lower in the Mitta Mitta River below Dartmouth Dam, compared with captures upstream of the dam and the unregulated Ovens River, probably reflecting significant alteration to the seasonality and temperature of flows caused by the dam. Conversely, there were no significant differences in captures or abundance and density estimates above and below the dams in the Snowy or Border river regions, where the extent of regulation was less severe, probably as a result of restoration efforts in recent years on some rivers.
4. Low proportions of juveniles on the Snowy River and Mitta Mitta River downstream of the dams, compared with upstream, raises concerns of other impacts of altered flow regimes to platypus breeding success and juvenile survival, given the sensitivity of juveniles to unseasonably high flows.
5. The results highlighted the potential impact of river regulation, with direct implications for the management of regulated rivers, providing opportunities to mitigate impacts through improved management of the seasonality and temperature of flows, to the benefit of platypuses and other freshwater species.

     

Genetic analysis of absolute growth measurements, relative growth rate and restricted selection indices in red Angus cattle

Performance records on 41,184 Red Angus cattle were analyzed and estimates of parameters calculated for absolute growth rate, relative growth rate and restricted selection indices. Heritability estimates for birth weight, 205-d weight, 365-d weight and postweaning gain were .46 +/- .02, .39 +/- .02, .40 +/- .02 and .36 +/- .02, respectively. Heritability estimates for preweaning, postweaning and postnatal relative growth rates were identical (.33 +/- .02). Heritability estimates for restricted selection indices were .31 +/- .02, .33 +/- .02 and .31 +/- .02 for weaning index, yearling index and postweaning index, respectively. The genetic correlation between preweaning and postweaning absolute growth rate was .15. The genetic correlation between consecutive measurements of relative growth rate (RGR) was -.33. Genetic correlations of birth weight with preweaning RGR and postnatal RGR were -.68 and -.71, respectively. Correlations among measures of relative growth rate using simulated data were similar to correlations of actual data, indicating that these relationships are the result of numerator/denominator relationships and not biological causes. The genetic correlation between weaning and postweaning indices was near zero. Small genetic coefficients of variation for preweaning and postnatal relative growth rates indicate further problems with the expression of growth in this manner. Restricted selection indices exhibited much larger genetic coefficients of variation than measurements of RGR. Genetic standard deviations were 7.8%, 7.2% and 13.7% of the means for weaning, yearling and postweaning indices, respectively.     

Heterogeneous atmospheric reactions: sulfuric Acid aerosols as tropospheric sinks

The collisional reaction probabilities of several atmospheric species on bulk sulfuric acid surfaces indicate that heterogeneous processes may be important in tropospheric chemistry.     

Mutation to herbicide resistance maps within the psbA gene of Anacystis nidulans R2

A psbA gene encoding the target of photosystem II herbicide inhibition, the 32,000-dalton thylakoid membrane protein, has been cloned from a mutant of Anacystis nidulans R2, which is resistant to 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea-(diuron). A cloned DNA fragment from within the coding region of this gene transforms wild-type cells to herbicide resistance, proving that mutation within psbA is responsible for that phenotype. The mutation consists of a single nucleotide change that replaces serine at position 264 of the wild-type protein with alanine in that of the diuron-resistant mutant.     

Sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants: their effect on air quality

A modeling study of atmospheric diffusion indicates that emission from power plants contributed only a modest percentage of the yearly average concentration of sulfur dioxide at ground level in the most polluted areas of Cook County, Illinois, during 1968.     

Subnanometer-Diameter Wires Isolated in a Polymer Matrix by Fast Polymerization

The preparation and analysis of inorganic-organic polymer nanocomposites consisting of inorganic nanowires and multiwire "cables" in a random-coil organic polymer host is reported. Dissolution of inorganic (LiMo3Se3)n wires in a strongly coordinating monomer, vinylene carbonate, and the use of a rapid polymerization in the presence of a cross-linking agent produce nanocomposites without phase separation. Polymerization of dilute solutions yields a material containing mostly (Mo3Se3(-))n mono- and biwires, 6 to 20 angstroms in diameter and 50 to 100 nanometers long. Polymerization of more concentrated liquid crystalline solutions yields a nanocomposite containing oriented multiwire cables, 20 to 40 angstroms in diameter and up to 1500 nanometers long, that display optical anisotropy and electrical conductivity.