1. In February 2002, France, Italy and Monaco agreed to establish an international sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals. The resulting Pelagos Sanctuary encompasses over 87500 km2 of the north‐western Mediterranean Sea, extending between south‐eastern France, Monaco, north‐western Italy and northern Sardinia, and surrounding Corsica and the Tuscan Archipelago.
2. The Pelagos Sanctuary illustrates how the tenets of Marine Protected Area (MPA) design can be reconciled with the dynamic nature of oceanic systems, because its spatial scale was defined by oceanographic and ecological considerations, specifically the location of the Ligurian permanent frontal system.
3. By expanding protective measures beyond national waters, the Pelagos Sanctuary also sets a precedent for the implementation of pelagic protected areas in the high seas. The Pelagos Sanctuary will contribute to the conservation of the Mediterranean Sea at two scales: (i) locally, by protecting important cetacean foraging and breeding grounds in the Ligurian Sea, and by providing ‘umbrella’ protection to other marine predators in this area; and (ii) regionally, by empowering other conservation measures, such as the Specially Protected Areas Protocol of the Barcelona Convention and the wider goals of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black and Mediterranean Seas (ACCOBAMS).
4. However, because few cetacean species are resident within the Sanctuary, their effective long‐term conservation will require large‐scale management and coordinated monitoring throughout the Mediterranean basin.
Spinefoot rabbitfish, Siganus rivulatus, is an economically important species of herbivorous fish that is relatively easy to rear and thus considered to be suitable
for aquaculture. Juveniles are generally reared in nursery systems before being stocked into growout cages or ponds. We report
here our evaluation of the effects of stocking density on the survival, growth, feed efficiency and condition index of S. rivulatus juveniles in nursery tanks. The experiment was conducted in a recirculating system of twelve 52-l aquaria connected to a
biological filter and a sand filter. Juvenile fish (average weight 6.5 g) were stocked into aquaria at four stocking densities
(10, 20, 30, and 40 fish/aquarium) with three replicate aquaria per treatment. Diet was provided at 3% body weight daily divided
into two feedings. Fish were weighed weekly for 8 weeks and the diet increased accordingly. Survival was greater than 95%
in all treatments, with no significant differences observed among treatments. There were also no differences in specific growth
rate (SGR 2.12–2.27) of the fish among treatments. Growth rate was linear during the 8 weeks in all treatments, and harvested
biomass increased proportionally to stocking density (198, 401, 600 and 785 g per increasing stocking density, respectively).
Feed efficiency (FE 0.67–0.71) of the fish did not vary significantly among treatments. The coefficient of variation was high
(35–41%) among the harvested fish, but it also did not differ significantly among treatments. The final condition indices
of the fish in all treatments were similar to each other but significantly greater than the initial values (P < 0.05). The results suggest that there is no apparent effect of stocking density at the levels tested on the survival and
growth of juvenile rabbitfish. 相似文献
A set of putative marker genes to study plant defense responses against Polyphagotarsonemus latus, a key pest in the production of Rhododendron simsii hybrids, was selected and validated. Genes belonged to the biosynthetic pathway of phytohormones jasmonic acid (JA) (RsLOX, RsAOS, RsAOC, RsOPR3 and RsJMT) and salicylic acid (SA) (RsPAL and RsICS). Furthermore, RsPPO, a putative marker gene for oxidative stress response was successfully cloned from R. simsii. A CTAB-based extraction protocol was optimized to assure excellent RNA quality for subsequent RT-qPCR analysis. The RT-qPCR protocol was extensively tested and RsRG7 and RsRG14 were selected as reference genes from a geNorm pilot study. Validation of the marker genes was done after application with elicitors [methyl jasmonate (MeJA), coronatine, β-aminobutyric acid and acibenzolar-Smethyl] or wounding. Both 100 μM MeJA and 0.1 μM coronatine had a significant effect on the expression of all marker genes. Foliar application of MeJA on the shoots resulted in a significantly earlier response when compared to root application and subsequent sampling of the shoots. Expression patterns after MeJA treatment were generally the same in six R. simsii genotypes: ‘Nordlicht’, ‘Elien’, ‘Aiko Pink’, ‘Michelle Marie’, ‘Mevrouw Gerard Kint’ and ‘Sachsenstern’. Wounding resulted in the same expression patterns as MeJA treatment except for RsJMT. None of the genotypes showed a significant induction of the latter gene 6 h upon wounding. Findings of these experiments indicated that the tolerant genotype ‘Elien’ has low basal expression levels of RsPPO. This might be the first step towards the breeding of mite-tolerant genotypes. 相似文献
Landscape Ecology - Agricultural expansion is a principal driver of biodiversity loss, but the impacts on community assembly in agro-ecosystems are less clear, especially across regional scales at... 相似文献
With underrepresentation of habitats in publicly protected areas, attention has focused on the function of alternative land conservation mechanisms. Private conservation easements (CEs) have proliferated in the United States, yet assessing landscape-level function is confounded by varying extent, resolution, and temporal scale.
Objectives
We developed and tested an assessment tool to evaluate interacting spatial, social, and environmental attributes of easements relative to the degree of human modification (HM). We hypothesized that on both private and public conservation properties HM would be lower than on non-conserved parcels, and that for fine-scale features (most CEs), the level of HM would be driven by the variables used to create the coarser scale HM measure.
Methods
Variation in HM between private, public, and non-conserved was tested via pairwise parcel sampling. Composition was evaluated using multiple geographic bounds and edge characteristics. We assessed both environmental and social predictors using multinomial logistic regression.
Results
Privately conserved lands did not differ significantly from non-conserved lands. Publicly conserved lands had lower HM than both privately conserved and non-conserved lands. Edge contrast was similar between private and matched non-conserved patches. The level of HM was not driven by distance to roads, or by elevation in this mixed-use setting.
Conclusions
Variation in tests for differences, land characteristics, and HM variables confirmed the significantly lower HM of publicly protected lands, and opens the question as to naturalness of easements in some contexts. CEs in this location may be representative of the mixed rural-forested landscape instead of more natural land cover.
This study compared soil physical, chemical, and biological characteristics between natural grassland and recently abandoned rice fields in order to identify those variables that might explain the observed increase of Camponotus punctulatus anthills in abandoned rice paddy fields from Northern Argentina. Mainly due to a reduction of macropores and mesopores, overall porosity decreased by around 6% and bulk density was about 7% greater, in the 0- to 10- and 10- to 20-cm layers of the abandoned rice fields. Carbon and nitrogen content from organic matter increased (29% and 41% respectively for the 0- to 20-cm horizon) during cultivation but decreased (38% and 24%) 2 years after the last rice harvest. Forty percent of natural grassland-organic matter and 30% of abandoned rice-organic matter mineralized in less than 2 years. There was a different community structure between the abandoned rice fields and the undisturbed natural grassland and only a 20.6% (i.e. only 19 species from a total of 92) overlap in species composition. The abundance of macrofauna was greater in abandoned rice fields (2,208 individuals m–2) in comparison to natural grasslands (288 ind m–2) due to higher densities of small earthworms and Camponotus punctulatus ants; however, the Shannon index showed lower values in comparison to natural grasslands. Earthworms and C. punctulatus in the abandoned rice fields showed a change in their 13C signature indicating a switch in diet from natural grassland organic matter (C4) to organic matter from rice (C3). Our results indicate that the effects of rice cultivation practices did not seem to produce any physical or trophic limitations to recolonization by the macrofauna. It seems that changes in overall soil conditions have favored a change in the construction behavior of C. punctulatus which, in combination with population increases, could explain the explosion in number of anthills. 相似文献
Immunoglobulin-rich foods may provide health benefits to consumers. To extend the refrigerated shelf life of functional foods enriched with bovine immunoglobulin G (IgG), nonthermal alternatives such as high-pressure processing (HPP) may offer advantages to thermal processing for microbial reduction. To evaluate the effects of HPP on the immunoactivity of bovine IgG, a soymilk product enriched with milk protein concentrates, derived from dairy cows that were hyperimmunized with 26 human pathogens, was subjected to HPP or heat treatment. To achieve a 5 log reduction in inoculated Escherichia coli 8739, the HPP or heat treatment requirements were 345 MPa for 4 min at 30 degrees C or for 20 s at 70 degrees C, respectively. To achieve a 5 log reduction in natural flora in the enriched soymilk, the HPP or heat treatments needed were 552 MPa for 4 min at 30 degrees C or for 120 s at 78.2 degrees C, respectively. At equivalent levels for a 5 log reduction in E. coli, HPP and heat treatment caused 25% and no detectable loss in bovine IgG activity, respectively. However, at equivalent levels for a 5 log reduction in natural flora, HPP and heat resulted in 65 and 85% loss of bovine IgG activity, respectively. Results of combined pressure-thermal kinetic studies of bovine milk IgG activity were provided to determine the optimal process conditions to preserve product function. 相似文献
The global phenolic content of argan oil and press cake samples (alimentary and cosmetic) was evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu colorimetric method and the phenolic composition of argan oil (alimentary and cosmetic) and press cake (alimentary) samples were analyzed by GC-MS after extraction with 80:20 (v/v) methanol:water and silylation. Identification of chromatographic peaks was made by mass selective detection. Nineteen simple phenols were detected, 16 in press cake, 6 in the alimentary oil, and 7 in the cosmetic oil, among which 15 compounds [3-hydroxypyridine (3-pyridinol), 6-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine, catechol, resorcinol, 4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, vanillin, 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid, vanillyl alcohol, 3,4-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenethyl alcohol, methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate, hydroxytyrosol, protocatechuic acid, epicatechin, and catechin] were identified for the first time in such materials. 相似文献
To prepare composite films from biopolymers with anti-listerial activity and moisture barrier properties, the antimicrobial efficiency of chitosan-hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) films, chitosan-HPMC films associated with lipid, and chitosan-HPMC films chemically modified by cross-linking were evaluated. In addition, the physicochemical properties of composite films were evaluated to determine their potential for food applications. The incorporation of stearic acid into the composite chitosan-HPMC film formulation decreased water sensitivity such as initial solubility in water and water drop angle. Thus, cross-linking of composite chitosan-HPMC, using citric acid as the cross-linking agent, led to a 40% reduction in solubility in water. The water vapor transfer rate of HPMC film, approximately 270 g x m(-2) x day(-1) x atm(-1), was improved by incorporating chitosan and was further reduced 40% by the addition of stearic acid and/or cross-linking. Anti-listerial activity of films was determined on solid medium by a numeration technique. Chitosan-HPMC-based films, with and without stearic acid, inhibited the growth of Listeria monocytogenes completely. On the other hand, a loss of antimicrobial activity after chemical cross-linking modification was observed. FTIR and 13C NMR analyses were then conducted in order to study a potential chemical modification of biopolymers such as a chemical reaction with the amino group of chitosan. To complete the study, the mechanical properties of composite films were determined from tensile strength assays. 相似文献