Degradation of the crocodile population in the Olifants River Gorge of Kruger National Park,South Africa

• 1. Top predators such as crocodiles often reflect ecosystem degradation. The recent spate of close to 200 Nile crocodile deaths may reflect the ecosystem state of the Olifants–Letaba River system in the Kruger National Park. This paper investigates whether the crocodile deaths were indeed the consequence of a rare and perhaps acute event given the variability in annual population growth rates of crocodilians.
• 2. Spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based surveys designed to correct for availability and detectability bias were used to estimate population sizes of crocodiles from 2008 to 2010 in and around the Olifants River Gorge, the focal area of crocodile deaths.
• 3. Correction factors derived from individually observed crocodiles for both spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based counts were lower than those typically used for Nile crocodiles as well as other crocodile species. Even so, corrected spotlight‐ and helicopter‐based estimates were comparable and the number of crocodiles in the focal study area declined significantly from 780 (95% CI: 637–1222) to between 460 (spotlight estimate, 95% CI 375–665) and 505 (aerial estimate, 95% CI: 559–1746) during the period of crocodile deaths. The average annual decline of 35% was at the lower end of the distribution of annual population growth rates across the rivers of Kruger National Park.
• 4. The crocodile deaths reflect a possible rare event that suggests a degraded crocodile population, possibly the consequences of broad‐scale cascades of environmental deterioration of the Olifants–Letaba River system.
• 5. Even so, the potential risk of local demise of the population in the focal study area in the short term may be diminished through evolutionary, demographic and spatial resilience inherent within crocodiles that can accommodate the as yet unknown disease dynamics of pansteatitis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Sardine and anchovy regime fluctuations of abundance in four regions of the world oceans: a workshop report

Regimes of high abundance of sardine (Sardinops sagax and Sardina pilchardus) have alternated with regimes of high abundance of anchovy (Engraulis spp.) in each of the five regions of the world where these taxa co-occur and have been extensively fished. When one taxon has been plentiful, the other has usually been at a reduced level of abundance, and vice versa. Changes in the four heavily fished regions that support S. sagax–the Japanese, Californian, Humboldt, and Benguela systems–from a regime dominated by one taxon to a high level of abundance of the other have occurred more or less simultaneously. In the Pacific Ocean, sardines have tended to increase during periods of increasing global air and sea temperatures and anchovies to decrease. The Japanese system is dominated by sardines to a greater extent than the other systems, and sardines off Japan appear to increase as the Kuroshio Current cools. At the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean, sardines colonize cooler areas during periods of warming. The Benguela system is out of phase with the three Pacific systems. The four systems all appeared to be in a state of flux in the 1980s. Increased abundance of the subdominant taxon is often one of the first signs of change. Sardines are relatively sedentary in refuge areas when scarce but change behavior to become highly migratory and colonize cooler areas when abundant. Anchovies, by contrast, expand around a fixed geographic center.     

南沙群岛重要珊瑚礁水域鱼类资源数量分布

1998年3—5月和1999年5—6月．采用手钓、延绳钓和流刺网3种作业方式在南沙群岛的渚碧、南薰、东门、美济、赤瓜、永署和华阳等7座珊瑚礁水域进行了2个航次的鱼类资源调查。结果表明,7座珊瑚礁水域不同作业方式的鱼类资源相对丰盛度差别较大,其中刺网以永暑礁最高,手钓以华阳礁最高,延绳钓以南薰礁最高;同时．刺网和手钓不同水深区域鱼类资源的相对丰盛度也不相同．其中刺网以11～30m区域最高．手钓以10m以浅和51～80m区域较高;分析认为,造成礁区之间鱼类相对丰盛度差异的主要原因不是初级生产力．而是生态环境因素,主要是礁盘形态和大型海藻的数量。另外．各礁区水域的优势类群有明显不同．这主要与洞穴的大小和数量、大型海藻及珊瑚的种类和数量等生物和非生物环境有关。     

Reconstructing the history of the sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) in the Mediterranean Sea

1. Sharks are globally exposed to several anthropogenic threats, which, in many cases, have severely reduced their distribution and have impacted populations. In the Mediterranean Sea, because of its long history of exploitation and the relatively short span of scientific monitoring, reconstructing shark baselines is challenging. Many vulnerable species declined in population abundance and geographic distribution before it was possible to adequately track these changes. Consequently, for many of these species, current conservation assessments are now suffering from a severe case of shifting baseline syndrome, whereby their historical occurrence in the area is questioned.
2. The sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) is one of these cases. Characterized by high philopatry, restricted home range, and low interchange between populations, its Mediterranean population may have been severely impacted by the high historical fishing pressure in the region before scientific monitoring began.
3. In this study, the history of the abundance and distribution of C. taurus in the Mediterranean Sea was reconstructed through a comprehensive search of occurrence records in the literature and in museum collections. Between 1810 and 2008, 31 occurrence records and 54 publications provided information on the presence of the species in the area. These records were sparse but systematic over time and indicated occurrence hot spots in the south‐western Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Adriatic Sea.
4. The presence of ten sightings of juveniles from a total of 18 sightings with length information suggested local parturition. Habitat and extinction models indicate that the area has suitable oceanographic conditions for the occurrence of the species and that the species cannot be considered extinct in the Mediterranean Sea. Our study suggests that there is still hope for the recovery of the species and underlines the crucial role of historical investigations to reconstruct the history of large elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean Sea.

     

Impact of litter quality on mineralization processes in managed and abandoned pasture soils in Southern Ecuador

Tropical regions are currently undergoing remarkable rates of land use change accompanied by altered litter inputs to soil. In vast areas of Southern Ecuador forests are clear cut and converted for use as cattle pastures. Frequently these pasture sites are invaded by bracken fern, when bracken becomes dominant pasture productivity decreases and the sites are abandoned. In the present study implications of invasive bracken on soil biogeochemical properties were investigated. Soil samples (0-5 cm) were taken from an active pasture with Setaria sphacelata as predominant grass and from an abandoned pasture overgrown by bracken. Grass (C₄ plant) and bracken (C₃ plant) litter, differing in C:N ratio (33 and 77, respectively) and lignin content (Klason-lignin: 18% and 45%, respectively), were incubated in soils of their corresponding sites and vice versa for 28 days at 22 °C. Unamended microcosms containing only the respective soil or litter were taken as controls. During incubation the amount of CO₂ and its δ¹³C-signature were determined at different time intervals. Additionally, the soil microbial community structure (PLFA-analysis) as well as the concentrations of KCl-extractable C and N were monitored. The comparison between the control soils of active and abandoned pasture sites showed that the massive displacement of Setaria-grass by bracken after pasture abandonment was characterized by decreased pH values accompanied by decreased amounts of readily available organic carbon and nitrogen, a lower microbial biomass and decreased activity as well as a higher relative abundance of actinomycetes. The δ¹³C-signature of CO₂ indicated a preferential mineralization of grass-derived organic carbon in pasture control soils. In soils amended with grass litter the mineralization of soil organic matter was retarded (negative priming effect) and also a preferential utilization of easily available organic substances derived from the grass litter was evident. Compared to the other treatments, the pasture soil amended with grass litter showed an opposite shift in the microbial community structure towards a lower relative abundance of fungi. After addition of bracken litter to the abandoned pasture soil a positive priming effect seemed to be supported by an N limitation at the end of incubation. This was accompanied by an increase in the ratio of Gram-positive to Gram-negative bacterial PLFA marker. The differences in litter quality between grass and bracken are important triggers of changes in soil biogeochemical and soil microbial properties after land use conversion.     

Unfrozen water content moderates temperature dependence of sub-zero microbial respiration

Abrupt increases in the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration below 0 °C have been interpreted as a change in the dominance of other co-dependent environmental controls, such as the availability of liquid-state water. Yet the relationship between unfrozen water content and soil respiration at sub-zero temperatures has received little attention because of difficulties in measuring unfrozen water contents. Using a recently-developed semi-solid ²H NMR technique the unfrozen water content present in seasonally frozen boreal forest soils was quantified and related to biotic CO₂ efflux in laboratory microcosms maintained at temperatures between −0.5 and −8 °C. In both soils the unfrozen water content had an exponential relationship with temperature and was increased by addition of KCl solutions of defined osmotic potential. Approximately 13% unfrozen water was required to release the dependence of soil respiration on unfrozen water content. Depending on the osmotic potential of soil solution, this threshold unfrozen water content was associated with temperatures down to −6 °C; yet if temperature were the predictor of CO₂ efflux, then the abrupt increase in the temperature sensitivity of CO₂ efflux was associated with −2 °C, except in soils amended with −1500 kPa KCl which did not show any abrupt changes in temperature sensitivity. The KCl-amendments also had the effect of decreasing Q₁₀ values and activation energies (Ea) by factors of 100 and three, respectively, to values comparable with those for soil respiration in unfrozen soil. The disparity between the threshold temperatures and the reductions in Q₁₀ values and activation energies after KCl amendment indicates the significance of unfrozen water availability as an environmental control of equal importance to temperature acting on sub-zero soil respiration. However, this significance was diminished when soils were supplied with abundant labile C (sucrose) and the influences of other environmental controls, allied to the solubility and diffusion of respiratory substrates and gases, are considered to increase.     

Temporal and spatial distribution of an invasive thrips species Scirtothrips dorsalis (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)

Dispersion of a new invasive thrips species in the United States, chilli thrips Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood, was studied on three plant hosts, i.e., cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), peanut (Arachis hypogeal L.) and pepper (Capsicum annum L.) in the greenhouse and under field conditions in Homestead, Florida. In the vertical distribution study, a strong negative relationship was observed between thrips density and height, with the significantly highest mean number of larvae and adults reported on host plants placed at the lowest height (45.7 cm) above ground. The study of horizontal distribution showed that S. dorsalis has weak dispersal potential and aggregates in open areas. During the entire six week study period, thrips were found to move a maximum of 12 m from their reservoir population. During two years (2009–2010 and 2010–2011) of study, a high abundance of thrips population was observed during May–October with the highest mean count during July and August in both years. Flight activity of adults was highest between 10:00and16:00 EST, during peak solar radiation (∼337–653 w/m²). Results from these studies will help growers and extension personnel predict farm-scale distribution of S. dorsalis and efficiently monitor the pest for management before they become a serious problem for the vegetable and ornamental industry in the United States.     

Relative abundance and damage of some insect pests of wheat under different tillage practices in rice–wheat cropping in India

Tillage changes the physical and chemical properties of soil and can also inhibit or enhance useful and harmful fauna. In agriculture, different tillage technologies are being tried to enhance crop productivity, but little concrete information seems to exist on their effects on pest abundance and damage. To address this lack of information, sowing of wheat was investigated under different tillage systems. In order to monitor pest abundance and damage in altered tillage systems, the present studies on the relative abundance and damage due to insect pests viz. pink stem borer (PSB, Sesamia inferens Walker), termites (Microtermes obesi Holmgren and Odontotermes obesus Rambur) and root aphid (Rhopalosiphum rufiabdominalis Sasaki) were undertaken in a rice–wheat cropping system during 2010–11 and 2011–12. Pest abundance and damage was monitored in four tillage systems i.e. conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT), ZT + mulch and rotary tillage (RT) under insecticide protected and unprotected conditions. The application of insecticide did not affect root aphid incidence or termite damage. However, significant differences in PSB damage in insecticide protected (0.9%) and unprotected (1.2%) conditions were observed. The investigations demonstrated that in CT, damage by PSB (0.6%) was minimum; however termite damage (2.2%) was maximum as compared to all other tillage conditions. In ZT, PSB damage (1.4%) was maximum and root aphid incidence (3.1 aphids/tiller) was minimum in comparison to other tillage conditions. ZT + mulch resulted in inter-mediate insect pest incidence/damage; however, RT was the least effective practice which showed relatively high incidence/damage of these three insects (1.2% PSB damage, 1.9% termite damage and 5.1 aphids/tiller). The insecticide × tillage interaction indicated that insecticide application is needed only in ZT and RT for PSB management.     

博斯腾湖鱼类密度季节变化及其环境影响因素

为了解博斯腾湖鱼类资源现状及其与环境因素的关系,于2019年5月（春季）、7-8月（夏季）、10月（秋季）,采用分裂波束回声探测仪（Simrad EY60, 120 kHz）开展全湖水声学探测,并对水环境指标进行现场测量。结果显示,博斯腾湖鱼类密度在夏季最高,平均值为（8 783±2 611） ind./hm²;春季和秋季间无显著性差异,平均值分别为（709±141）、（743±499） ind./hm²。根据目标强度与体长关系经验公式推算,春季、夏季和秋季鱼类的平均体长分别为8.8、4.0和5.1 cm。相关分析结果显示,博斯腾湖鱼类密度与水温和电导率呈极显著正相关（P<0.01）,而与透明度呈显著负相关（P<0.05）。随机森林模型的特征重要性排序结果显示,电导率是鱼类密度最重要的预测因子,其次为溶解氧、盐度和水温等。推测鱼类密度的季节变化与环境变化、食物来源、繁殖习性等因素密切相关,环境因子可能通过直接或间接的方式影响鱼类的生态环境需求。