Global Advances in Conservation and Management of Marine Ornamental Resources

Currently, as many as 30 million coral reef fish belonging to 1,000 species are collected annually to supply private and public aquaria around the world. In addition, over 100 species of invertebrate are used, involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of individuals. The majority of these specimens come from coral reefs and associated habitats, with about 45 countries supplying the ornamental market. Considering the many pressures currently faced by reefs it is vital that ornamental fisheries are investigated and monitored, and management strategies formulated to ensure they are sustainable. This requires research, monitoring, training, use of non-damaging collecting methods and adoption of conservation strategies for controlling catch, such as reserves, quotas and closed seasons. There are also a number of possibilities for enhancing the fishery, such as mariculture and construction of artificial reefs. This paper concentrates on some of the conservation measures that can be taken and discusses their application and effectiveness. Such measures include limiting collecting effort, establishment of species-based or overall quotas, restrictions on rare and/or endemic species, temporary closures and establishment of fisherybreak reserves.     

Chronosequence of Technosols at the Peña Colorada mine in Colima,Mexico: a short-term remediation alternative

Journal of Soils and Sediments - The objective of this study was to examine the pedogenetic evolution occurring in technic hard materials from an iron mine through the characterization of a...     

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.

     

Population trends in northern spotted owls: Associations with climate in the Pacific Northwest

We used reverse time capture-mark-recapture models to describe associations between rate of population change (λ) and climate for northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) at six long-term study areas in Washington and Oregon, USA. Populations in three of six areas showed strong evidence of declining populations, while populations in two additional areas were likely declining as well. At four areas, λ was positively associated with wetter-than-normal conditions during the growing season, which likely affects prey availability. Lambda was also negatively associated with cold, wet winters and nesting seasons, and the number of hot summer days. The amount of annual variation in λ accounted for by climate varied across study areas (3-85%). Rate of population change was more sensitive to adult survival than to recruitment; however, there was considerable variation among years and across study areas for all demographic rates. While annual survival was more closely related to regional climate conditions, recruitment was often associated with local weather. In addition to climate, declines in recruitment at four of six areas were associated with increased presence of barred owls. Climate change models predict warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers for the Pacific Northwest in the first half of the 21st century. Our results indicate that these conditions have the potential to negatively affect annual survival, recruitment, and consequently population growth rates for northern spotted owls.     

The degradation of pirimiphas-methyl on stored grains

The degradation of pirimiphos-methyl on grains stored at moisture contents of ≈ 13 and ≈20% has been investigated. Wheat and rice grains were sprayed with [¹⁴C]- pirimiphos-methyl and stored at 20°C under controlled humidity conditions for periods of 12 and 24 weeks. At a moisture content of 13%, degradation was slow, so that at least 70% of the radioactive residue was unchanged pirimiphos-methyl after 24 weeks. Faster degradation occurred at 20% moisture content, but the major component of the radioactive residue (at least 52%) was still unchanged pirimiphos-methyl after 24 weeks. Two major degradation products were formed on the grains; one (18–23.4% of the residue) was characterised as 2-diethylamino-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-ol, and the other (1.0–9.7% of the residue) was converted to the first by acid hydrolysis. In addition, trace amounts of O-2-ethylamino-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-yl OO-dimethyl phosphorothioate, 2-ethylamino-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-ol, 2- amino-6-methyl-pyrimidin-4-ol and an unidentified compound were also detected.     

Projecting future habitat quality of three midwestern reservoir fishes under warming conditions

Rising temperatures caused by climate change are likely to affect cool‐water and warm‐water fishes differently. Yet, forecasts of anticipated temperature effects on fishes of different thermal guilds are lacking, especially in freshwater ecosystems. Towards this end, we used spatially explicit, growth rate potential (GRP) models to project changes in seasonal habitat quality for a warm‐water piscivore (largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides), a cool‐water piscivore (walleye Sander vitreus) and a hybrid piscivore (saugeye S. vitreus × S. canadensis) in two Midwestern reservoirs. We assessed habitat quality for two periods (early and middle 21st century) under two realistic greenhouse gas emission scenarios (a mid‐century emissions peak and a rapid continuous increase in emissions). Largemouth bass were projected to experience enhanced or slightly reduced habitat during all seasons, and throughout the mid‐21st century. By contrast, walleye habitat was projected to decline with anticipated warming, except during the spring in the smaller of our two study reservoirs and during the fall in the larger of our two study reservoirs. Saugeye habitat was projected to either increase modestly or decline slightly during the spring and fall and declines in habitat quality and quantity that were smaller than those for walleye were identified during summer. Collectively, our findings indicate that climate warming will differentially alter habitat suitability for reservoir piscivores, favouring warm‐water species over cool‐water species. We expect these changes in habitat quality to impact the dynamics of reservoir fish populations to varying degrees necessitating the consideration of climate when making future management decisions.     

Modulation of canine immunosenescence by life-long caloric restriction

Caloric restriction (CR) has been shown to retard immunosenescence and to extend median and maximum life span in rodent species. Longitudinal effects of CR on the canine immune system are presented in this report. A group of 48 Labrador Retrievers, divided at weaning into weight- and sex-matched pairs, were maintained on a diet restriction protocol from age 8 weeks until death. Each restricted dog received 75% of the total food consumed by its control-fed pair mate. Immune parameters were monitored from 4 to 13 years. CR retarded age-related declines in both lymphoproliferative responses and absolute numbers of lymphocytes and the T, CD4, and CD8-cell subsets. In females, CR attenuated the age-related increase in T-cell percentages and marginally retarded the age-related increase in memory cell percentages. Age-related changes in B-cell percentages and numbers were augmented by CR. No direct effect of CR on phagocytic activity of PMN, antibody production or NK cell activity, was observed. Lower lymphoproliferative responses, lower numbers of lymphocytes, T, CD4 and CD8 cells, lower CD8 percentages and higher B-cell percentages were all found to be significantly associated with a decreased likelihood of survival in these dogs.     

Patient and tumour factors influencing canine mast cell tumour histological grade and mitotic index

The aim of this study was to identify patient and tumour factors most frequently associated with high histological grades of canine mast cell tumours (MCTs). Search criteria in a shared database of multiple Animal Referral Hospital locations within Australia generated 400 canine MCTs in 286 patients. Patient and tumour data were extrapolated and the association between a tumour being histologically high grade and patient and tumour factors, including: patient breed, patient gender and neuter status, patient age at MCT excision, tumour location and tumour size was assessed using univariate analysis. The study consisted of 90 (21.9%) tumours meeting histological high‐grade criteria. Shar peis were the most likely breed to have high grade MCTs, whereas the Pug and the Golden Retriever were the least likely breeds to develop high‐grade MCTs. No significant difference in risks could be established between the age at which the tumour was excised, or the gender and neuter status of patients. MCTs of the inguinal region were the most likely single location to be high grade. Tumour size did not influence the likelihood of a tumour being high grade or low grade. The results of this study suggest that patient and tumour factors may play a role in the histological grades of canine MCTs.