Channels and ditches as the last shelter for freshwater mussels: the case of Margaritifera auricularia and other naiads inhabiting the mid Ebro River Basin,Spain

• 1. Freshwater mussels or naiads are generally considered to thrive in river habitats, provided the ecological conditions are good. The presence of populations of these bivalves in artificial channels and ditches with natural bottoms has only scarcely been reported. The aim of this paper was to present the idea that these ‘channel’ and ‘ditch’ habitats could in fact be a sanctuary for naiads.
• 2. Approximately 80 km of several of these waterways fed by the mid Ebro River were sampled in Spain to monitor their naiad populations. Observations indicate that these habitats harbour substantial colonies of freshwater mussels (including two populations of adult specimens of the endangered species Margaritifera auricularia), much more so than the corresponding river.
• 3. The authors wish to alert conservation authorities and freshwater mussel experts to the extreme fragility and importance of this kind of habitat for the long‐term conservation of these imperilled molluscs.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) vertical movements in the Azores Islands determined with pop-up satellite archival tags

Movement patterns of 17 bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) near the Azores Islands were analyzed between April and May 2001 and 2002 using pop‐up satellite archival tags. Despite short attachment durations (1 to 21 days, 8.2 days on average), their vertical movements revealed much shallower distribution of bigeye tuna in comparison with previous studies in the tropical Pacific and tropical Atlantic. Depth and temperature histograms were unimodal, although overall depth distribution during the day was deeper than during the night due to daily incursions in deeper waters. Although generalized additive models showed significant non‐linear relationships with weight of the fish and sea level anomaly (as a proxy for variability of thermocline depth), the effect of these variables on bigeye depth appeared minor, suggesting that vertical movements of bigeye in the Azores during the spring migration may be influenced by food availability in upper water layers.     

Morphological and molecular analysis of androgenetic, selfed and backcrossed plants produced from a Hordeum vulgare x H, bulbosum hybrid

Anther culture (AC) was carried out on a fertile triploid hybrid between Hordeum vulgare L. (cultivated barley) and H. bulbosum L, (bulbous barley grass) to determine whether AC-derived regenerants differed from progeny obtained through selfing and backcrossing. Chromosome counts were carried out on all plants and DNA was extracted from them to prepare Southern blots for molecular analysis. To identify true recombinants, the blots were probed with rye repetitive sequence probes (pSc119.1 and pScl19.2). which hybridize strongly and specifically to H. bulbosum DNA. Twenty probes that detect single- or low-copy sequences were hybridized with Southern blots containing restricted DNA extracted from 25 AC-derived plants, 11 selfed and six backcrossed progeny that showed hybridizations with pScll9. Although restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) were only observed using probes that map to four of the possible 14 chromosome arms, an introgression associated with chromosome 6HS was frequently observed among plants derived from AC. selfing and backcrossing. Plants from AC differed from selfed and backcrossed progeny in their chromosome number; unique RFLP bands that were occasionally observed may indicate chromosomal rearrangements.     

Holocene deglaciation of Marie Byrd Land,West Antarctica

Surface exposure ages of glacial deposits in the Ford Ranges of western Marie Byrd Land indicate continuous thinning of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by more than 700 meters near the coast throughout the past 10,000 years. Deglaciation lagged the disappearance of ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere by thousands of years and may still be under way. These results provide further evidence that parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet are on a long-term trajectory of decline. West Antarctic melting contributed water to the oceans in the late Holocene and may continue to do so in the future.