Tracking escaped Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) aggregated around Norwegian farms: Considerations for management strategies

To examine site fidelity and potential for ecosystem impacts, 20 escapee cod (Gadus morhua L.) from fjord‐based cod farms were tagged with acoustic transmitters, released in the vicinity of the same farm, and their subsequent behaviour and survival monitored using a fixed array of acoustic receivers. Most individuals demonstrated high fidelity to their farm where tagged, and this increased during the polar night. Only five individuals (25%) were occasionally detected at another farm (4 km distance), and only three cod (15%) migrated out of the fjord during the 6‐month study period. Vertical movements were consistently greater in the hours around noon than at night, a behaviour inconsistent with that observed for wild fish. A high mortality rate (40%) was observed during the first 4 months post‐release, and actual mortality may have been even higher, limiting the potential for negative ecosystem effects from cod escapees. Findings from this study are used to discuss the development of recapture strategies for minimising potential impacts from cod escapees to ensure sustainable farming activity.     

Performance and welfare of Atlantic salmon,Salmo salar L. post-smolts in recirculating aquaculture systems: Importance of salinity and water velocity

Producing a larger post-smolt in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) could shorten the production time in sea cages and potentially reduce mortality. Knowledge of the biological requirements of post-smolts in closed-containment systems is however lacking. In the present study, the effects of salinity and water velocity on growth, survival, health, and welfare of Atlantic salmon reared in RAS were examined. Salmon smolts were stocked in three separate RAS with salinities of 12, 22, and 32‰ and subjected to high (1.0 body lengths per s⁻¹) or low (0.3 body lengths second⁻¹) water velocity. Growth performance, survival, welfare, and physiological stress responses were monitored until the fish reached a bodyweight of around 450 g. Growth rate was higher at lower salinity and higher water velocity generally had a positive effect on growth in all salinities. Feed conversion ratio was lower at 12‰ compared to the 22 and 32‰ when the fish were between 250 and 450 g. Higher mortality, elevated plasma cortisol levels, higher incidence of cataract, and a higher expression of stress-induced genes in the skin (iNOS, Muc5ac-like) indicated a negative effect of higher salinity on fish welfare. Male maturation was low (<1%), and not affected by salinity or water velocity.     

Properties of chalconaringenin and rutin isolated from cherry tomatoes

Fresh cherry tomatoes cv. 'Susanne' contain more of the two flavonoids chalconaringenin (CN) and rutin than lycopene. Therefore some properties including antioxidant behavior of the flavonoids were studied. The two flavonoids were extracted from peel and isolated by use of different chromatographic methods. Molecular absorbtivities were found to be 26907 for CN and 20328 abs M(-1) cm(-1) for rutin. Both compounds exhibited properties as antioxidants through several assays, and rutin was found to be the strongest antioxidant except in one assay. None of the assays revealed pro-oxidative effects. As naringenin rather than CN is frequently reported as a tomato constituent, the stability of CN was investigated in order to detect potential ways of isomerization during sample preparation. CN isomerized slowly both under UVB radiation and in alkaline solutions. Thus, such factors do not explain the occurrence of naringenin in tomato samples. The deficiency in reports on CN may be explained by the similarity in chromatographic behaviors of CN and naringenin, and due to the fact that they have same molecular weights.     

Can plot edge bias be reduced by means of airborne laser scanning?

This paper presents new methods for plot edge bias (PEB) correction of individual tree competition indices (CIs) using airborne laser scanning (ALS) as auxiliary information in multivariate ratio and multivariate regression models. I applied the methods to 557 plots from the Norwegian National Forest Inventory located in Hedmark County in South East Norway and compared them to the benchmarks methods linear expansion and simulated annealing by studying the individual tree growth predictions before and after PEB correction. Generally, the simulated annealing method seemed to improve growth prediction most and overall the existing methods performed better than those based on ALS. All PEB-correction methods tested gave minor changes in growth predictions and the absolute change in percent in adj. R² and Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) was numerically small, with an average percentage change for the tested CIs between 1.8 for adj. R² and 0.6 for AIC of the observed values in the original data. The small differences in the results between the original data and the PEB-corrected data show that on average PEB remains a minor problem for individual tree growth prediction. Whether the results are valid for forests with significantly different spatial composition than that of this database remains to be confirmed.     

Disturbance‐induced responses of VHF and satellite tagged harbour seals

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Thinning intensity effects on carbon and nitrogen stores and fluxes in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand after 33 years

The present paper deals with C and N storage in soil and vegetation, litter fall and CO₂ efflux from the soil 32–33 years after early thinning in a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stand in order to evaluate the effect of thinning regime on C sequestration. At 22 years old, the stand was reduced from 3190 to 2070, 1100 and 820 trees per hectare in four replicates. The N2070 treatment represents the recommended start density in practical forestry, while the other represent a moderate to large reduction in tree number at the present stand age. Aboveground biomass was estimated from single tree measurements of diameter and height based on allometric functions. Litter fall was collected during one and a half years and soil respiration was measured on five occasions during one summer. Ground vegetation was mapped and sampled for biomass, C and N determination. A significant decrease in aboveground tree (including stump-root system) C storage of 27% and 22% due to thinning was found in the N820 and N1100 treatments, respectively, compared to the N2070 treatment. Ground vegetation C storage was little affected by treatment, while litter fall C showed a non-significant decrease in the N820 and N1100 treatments compared to the N2070 treatment. Soil respiration was significantly lower in parts of the summer in the N2070 treatment compared to the N820 treatment. The reason for this is still unexplained since no differences in soil temperature, soil moisture or litter fall chemistry was found between the treatments. No significant treatment effects on humus and mineral soil C storage could be detected. With the present soil variability, the time period of 32 years is probably too short to detect soil C differences due to thinning. The N storage followed the same pattern as for C.     

Leaching of nitrogen from a forest catchment at söder»sen in southern Sweden

Water balance and leaching of plant nutrients, with special reference to N, were described for a 46-ha catchment consisting mainly of coniferous forest (one third of it clear-cut) during the period January 1982-August 1988. The atmospheric N load in this region is high compared with most other parts of Scandinavia. On average, annual N leaching amounted to 9.5 kg ha^?1 in the form of NO₃-N (83%), org-N (15%) and NH₄-N (2%). The highest monthly rate of N transport observed was 3.9 kg ha^?1. The NO₃-N levels in groundwater in the 60-yr-old coniferous stand ranged from 0.5 to 3.1 mg L^?1. The effect of clear-cutting on groundwater-NO₃-N levels lasted 4 yr. The highest annual NO₃-N transport from the clear-cut area observed was 18 kg ha^?1. The groundwater in the spruce forest was very acidic (pH=4.3) in contrast to the stream water (pH=6.3). The relatively higher pH-value of the stream water was probably a result of chemical and biological processes occurring in the highly humified, periodically waterlogged peat soil (alder swamp) in the vicinity of the small stream.     

Effect of CO2 enrichment on photosynthesis,growth and yield of tomato

Net photosynthesis of tomato plants was measured as CO₂ uptake in various light intensities, CO₂ concentrations, O₂ concentrations and temperatures during short-term experiments. Net photosynthesis increased significantly with increasing CO₂ concentration at all light intensities, even at the lowest one. The optimal temperature for photosynthesis increased with CO₂ enrichment. The changes in photosynthesis when the $\text{CO}{}_2\text{O}{}_2$ ratio was varied suggest that the effect of CO₂ enrichment is a result of a reduction in photorespiration.To determine whether the increase in photosynthesis caused by CO₂ enrichment would produce a greater yield, tomato plants were cultivated from seed to harvest in a tightly-closed greenhouse that was enriched with CO₂ continuously during the entire growing-period. The control greenhouse was ventilated by openings in the roof and door. The temperature of the 2 greenhouses was kept the same. Plants enriched with CO₂ showed a significant increase in fresh and dry weight and yield of tomatoes. The results are discussed in relation to earlier work in which CO₂ enrichment was discontinued when there was a need for ventilation.     

Allelic losses and gains during translocations of a high conservation value fish,Coregonus lavaretus

1. The use of translocations to establish new or ‘refuge’ populations for species with high conservation value is controversial but widely used in conservation management. One of the risks of this approach is that an establishing population does not adequately capture the genetic diversity of the donor gene pool. This effect, rarely examined, is tested here.
2. In this study the genetic consequences of two conservation translocations after five generations (16 years) of the European whitefish, Coregonus lavaretus, were quantified. Both translocations were made using almost the same genetic groups and thus represent a partly replicated natural study.
3. Analysis of 12 informative microsatellites showed that expected heterozygosity, the mean number of alleles per locus and allelic richness did not differ between donor and translocated populations. There was also no loss of heterozygosity in the translocated populations, nor deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations, nor signs of linkage disequilibrium.
4. All populations were genetically differentiated but pairwise F_ST values were low, indicating that the magnitude of divergence was small.
5. There was no evidence of inbreeding but there were significant differences in private allelic richness between donor and translocated populations. Of 50 alleles found in the donor population, 16% of the rarer alleles were lost in one translocated population and 8% in the other.
6. Allele loss without a reduction in heterozygosity strongly points to stochastic drift effects having occurred following translocation. The evidence indicates that alleles that were not detected in the donor population have arisen de novo in the translocated populations.
7. It is concluded that conservation translocations comprising even a modest number of propagules can successfully capture a high proportion of genetic variation of the host population, and that reduced genetic variation in the translocated population may be mitigated by the emergence of new variation over short time periods.