Gravel pits as new wetland habitats for the conservation of breeding bird communities

Gravel pit wetland habitats are a new and rapidly expanding feature of the contemporary environment in Britain. This paper investigates and emphasises their value as potential conservation areas for breeding bird communities. Most gravel pits are characterised by close proximity to man in an urban-agricultural environment, but contain a variety of aquatic, marshland and terrestrial habitats. Their breeding bird communities contain a wide variety of species, often at high breeding densities. As natural wetlands come under increasing pressure, it is suggested that these new wetlands are important for the future conservation of marshland and aquatic species, and may also act as reservoirs of diversity and abundance in a rapidly changing environment. Conservation of some gravel pits should be based on their overall value as conservation, education and recreation areas near urban centres, and others could relieve the increasing public pressure on natural wetlands. Present trends in the utilisation of gravel pits for recreation are discussed and ultimately it is hoped to show how conservation and recreation may or may not co-exist in the new wetlands of the future.     

Recruitment ecology of pelagic‐broadcast spawning minnows: paradigms from the ocean advance science and conservation of an imperilled freshwater fauna

Pelagic‐broadcast spawning is a dominant mode of fish reproduction in the oceans and is associated with Fundamental Triad (i.e. nutrient enrichment, nutrient concentration, propagule retention) and Loophole (i.e. disruption of larval competition and predation) processes that are mediated by water currents. Pelagic‐broadcast spawning is uncommon in freshwater, but is employed by an evolutionarily convergent spawning guild in rivers on the Great Plains, North America. We reviewed ecological studies of pelagic‐broadcast spawning minnows to evaluate whether Fundamental Triad and Loophole concepts explain the adaptive significance of this behaviour. Pelagic‐broadcast spawning minnows exhibit spawning periodicity dependent on floods. Nutrient enrichment, nutrient concentration and propagule retention are enhanced during flood recession. Retention is also enhanced by high fecundity and rapid development of pelagic‐broadcast propagules. Predation and competition threats are relatively low in temporary, patchily distributed nurseries present during flood recession. Extended spawning periods and diffusive spread of juveniles and adults ensure annual recruitment despite the unpredictable and often harsh conditions in rivers on the plains. Over the last century, pelagic‐broadcast spawners have suffered declines due to dewatering, flood control and sediment deprivation that disrupt natural Fundamental Triad and Loophole processes. We propose that restoration of conditions necessary for Fundamental Triad and Loophole processes to operate will be most successful at stopping decline and extinction of pelagic‐broadcast spawning minnows of the Great Plains.     

Ionizing radiation and antioxidants affect volatile sulfur compounds, lipid oxidation, and color of ready-to-eat Turkey bologna

Bologna was processed from ground turkey breast meats containing one of four antioxidant treatments (none, rosemary extract, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite). After it was cooked, the bologna was sliced, sealed in gas impermeable bags, exposed to 0, 1.5, and 3.0 kGy gamma-radiation, and then stored at 5 degrees C for up to 8 weeks. Thiobarbuturic acid reactive substances (TBARS), color, and volatile sulfur compounds were measured every 2 weeks during storage. Irradiation had no consistent effect on TBARS values. The rosemary extract and sodium nitrite inhibited, while erythorbate increased, TBARS values, independent of radiation dose or storage time. Irradiation promoted redness and reduced yellowness of the control (no antioxidant) bologna at weeks 0 and 2. The use of nitrite and rosemary extract inhibited the changes in color due to irradiation. Several volatile sulfur compounds (hydrogen sulfide, methanethiol, methyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide), measured using a pulsed flame photometric detector, increased with radiation dose. However, none of the antioxidants had any substantial effect on volatile sulfur compounds induced by irradiation. Our results suggest that antioxidants did not consistently affect irradiation-induced volatile sulfur compounds of turkey bologna although they did significantly impact color and lipid oxidation.     

Ester variability in apple varieties as determined by solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) with a polydimethylsiloxane fiber coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied to the study of variability in volatiles released by 13 apple varieties. The relative amounts of 40 esters and alpha-farnesene were determined. Principal component analyses of these results clustered the apples into three groups according to skin color: red, green, and red-green. Total ester contents were highest with the red cluster apples, and the green cluster apples had the highest alpha-farnesene levels. This technology was also applied to the monitoring of changes in volatiles for apples removed from controlled-atmosphere storage with subsequent storage at 4 degrees C and room temperature. Total ester contents increased 25-fold, with the greater increases coming at room temperature, whereas alpha-farnesene levels increased only 5-fold. For apples stored at room temperature, after 11 days, the amount of increase was inversely proportional to the size of the ester: levels of smallest esters (molecular weight 116) increased 12.5-fold, and the largest esters (molecular weight 228) increased approximately 1.3-fold.     

Can catch shares prevent fisheries collapse?

Recent reports suggest that most of the world's commercial fisheries could collapse within decades. Although poor fisheries governance is often implicated, evaluation of solutions remains rare. Bioeconomic theory and case studies suggest that rights-based catch shares can provide individual incentives for sustainable harvest that is less prone to collapse. To test whether catch-share fishery reforms achieve these hypothetical benefits, we have compiled a global database of fisheries institutions and catch statistics in 11,135 fisheries from 1950 to 2003. Implementation of catch shares halts, and even reverses, the global trend toward widespread collapse. Institutional change has the potential for greatly altering the future of global fisheries.     

Flavonol Polymer Technology for Encapsulation of Liquid Phosphorus Fertilizers for Enabling A Slow-Release Process in Soil to Extend Usability and Reduce Leaching

A proprietary Flavonol Polymer Technology (FPT), designed by AgroLiquid, is an agent for encapsulating different chemistries on the polymer by impregnation to provide extended release of nutrients and optimize yield. Based on FPT, FPT-Product (Pro-Germinator®) a 9-24-3 (% N, % P₂O₅, and % K₂O w/w) manufactured to slow the phosphorus release process in soil and extends its usability by the plant. Phosphorus release was evaluated using micro-lysimeters installed in soil and used as a tool for the collection of the plant-usable phosphorus dissolved in the soil solution. A rate of 22 kg of P₂O₅/hectare of liquid formulations was banded in-furrow with four phosphorus liquid fertilizer treatments: (1) orthophosphate (9-18-9), (2) ammonium polyphosphate (10-34-0), (3) FPT-Product (9-24-3), and (4) a control. In-field measurements were collected at 20–60 days after the application for two successive years (2015 and 2016). In both years, averages of measured dissolved phosphorus in the soil solution and exchangeable soil phosphorus at 10-cm soil depth, 20–60 days after planting reported higher values in the FPT-Product treatments while lower values were measured in the other treatments. The results proved that the FPT extended the release mechanism for phosphorus in the FPT-Product at 10 cm depth in the soil, and rendered phosphorus in both the soil and the solution to be used by plants for an extended period after corn planting.     

用CFD方法模拟日光温室温度环境初探

日光温室温度环境为一动态变化过程，该文建立了求解晴天室内温度环境的计算模型。将室外的水平面太阳辐照度、天空辐射温度、室外空气相对湿度、空气温度、风速及室内1.0m深土壤温度作为边界条件，采用计算流体动力学技术（CFD）中的非稳态方法求解控制方程，模拟了晴天室内温度随外界气候条件的变化，结果显示模拟得到的室内空气温度及土壤温度变化规律与实测值变化规律相同，盖帘后室内空气温度及土壤0.2 m深土层的温度模拟值与实测值相差约在1℃以内；探讨了边界条件中冷风渗透、土壤表面太阳能转换显热份额及1.0 m深土壤温度的取值变化对室内温度的影响。日光温室内温度动态变化模拟模型的建立对优化温室设计参数和预测不同天气情况下室内的温度环境变化具有参考意义。     

Reproductive ecology of the threatened and endemic freshwater mussel Lampsilis bracteata

相似文献   

Assessment of temperature or salinity effects on larval development by catecholamine‐induced metamorphosis of hatchery‐reared flat oyster,Ostrea angasi (Sowerby 1871) larvae

A need to improve larval rearing techniques led to the development of protocols for catecholamine‐induced settlement of flat oyster, Ostrea angasi, larvae. To further refine these techniques and optimize settlement percentages, the influence of salinity or temperature on development of O. angasi larvae was assessed using epinephrine‐induced metamorphosis. Larvae were reared between salinities of 15–35 and temperatures between 14.5 and 31°C. The greatest percentage survival, growth, development occurred when larvae were reared between 26 and 29°C and between salinities of 30 and 35. Larvae reared outside this salinity and temperature range exhibited reduced growth, survival and/or delayed development. Short‐term (1 h) reduction in larval rearing temperature from 26°C to 23.5°C significantly increased larval metamorphosis without affecting larval survival. Short‐term (1 h) increase in larval rearing temperature from 26°C to 29 and 31°C decreased larval survival and metamorphosis. To ensure repeatability in outcomes, tests showed that larvae sourced from different estuaries did not vary significantly in their metamorphic response to short‐term temperature manipulation and epinephrine‐induced metamorphosis.