Variability in the performance of juvenile Chinook salmon is explained primarily by when and where they resided in estuarine habitats

Estuarine habitats provide rearing opportunities for the juvenile life stage of anadromous fishes. Because survival is positively correlated with juvenile performance, these estuarine habitats play an important role in population abundance and productivity. To provide information for the recovery of several depressed stocks of Chinook salmon in the Columbia River Basin, we sought to identify the factors that explain variability in performance. Using otolith‐derived estimates of juvenile somatic growth rate as an index of recent performance, we observed a negative nonlinear relationship between growth rate and day of year, and a decreasing and increasing trend of growth rate over the 8 years of this study and distance from the river mouth respectively. Using a generalised linear modelling approach, we found that variability in juvenile somatic growth rate was best explained by where and when individuals were collected, their body size, contaminant loads, stock of origin, and whether a fish was hatchery produced or unmarked. Lastly, we argue that a considerable improvement to the growth rate of juveniles in estuarine habitats is physiologically possible. The results of this 8‐year study provide a baseline of the performance of juvenile Chinook salmon to evaluate habitat restoration programs and to compare against future anthropogenic conditions.     

The effect of dietary supplementation with Aurantiochytrium limacinum on lactating dairy cows in terms of animal health,productivity and milk composition

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation with the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA )‐rich microalgae, Aurantiochytrium limacinum (AURA ), on a variety of health and productivity parameters in lactating cows. Twenty‐four cows were blocked by parity and number of days in milk and then randomly assigned to a control (CON ; n  = 12) group with no algal supplementation, or a treatment group (AURA ; n  = 12) provided with 100 g AURA  cow^?1 day^?1 or 16 g DHA  cow^?1 day^?1. A variety of health and productivity measurements were taken, and results indicated that supplementation had no negative effects on animal health in terms of somatic cell count, haematological and biochemical blood parameters, while body condition was marginally improved by algal supplementation. No differences were found for the various production parameters measured; however, a tendency towards increased milk production was observed for the AURA group during the final stage of the study (+4.5 kg cow^?1 day^?1, day 78–84). The fatty acid profile of milk was improved by supplementation, with significantly lower saturated fatty acids, significantly higher omega‐3 fatty acids and an improved omega‐3/omega‐6 ratio observed when compared to the control group. The amount of DHA in the milk of cows provided 105 g AURA  head^?1 day^?1 was 4.7 mg/100 g milk with a peak transfer efficiency from feed to milk at day 49 of 8.3%. These results indicate that supplementation with 105 g AURA  head^?1 day^?1 resulted in the successful enrichment of milk with DHA without negatively impacting the health or productivity of the animals.     

Effects of a DHA‐rich unextracted microalgae as a dietary supplement on performance,carcass traits and meat fatty acid profile in growing‐finishing pigs

Two 125‐day experiments of the same design were conducted to evaluate the effects of a heterotrophically grown microalgae (AURA) containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on pig performance, carcass traits and the fatty acid composition of lean and adipose tissue. In each experiment, 144 Hypor pigs were blocked by sex, allocated to three treatment groups, and fed 0, 0.25% or 0.50% AURA in isonutritive, isocaloric diets. Pigs were weighed on days 0, 28, 56, 84 and 112. Feed and water intakes were measured every 28 days. Pigs were slaughtered on day 125. Data from the two studies were analysed as a single data set. Performance and carcass traits did not differ between treatments. Both microalgae treatment levels enriched (p < .05) Longissimus lumborum (LL) and backfat in DHA and improved (p < .05) their ratios of n‐6 to n‐3 fatty acids.     

Serum C-reactive protein concentration as an indicator of remission status in dogs with multicentric lymphoma

BACKGROUND: The acute-phase protein C-reactive protein (CRP) is used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in humans with various neoplasias, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if CRP could be used to detect different remission states in dogs with lymphoma. ANIMALS: Twenty-two dogs with untreated multicentric lymphoma. METHODS: Prospective observational study. Blood samples were collected at the time of diagnosis, before each chemotherapy session, and at follow-up visits, resulting in 287 serum samples. RESULTS: Before therapy, a statistically significant majority of the dogs (P = .0019) had CRP concentrations above the reference range (68%, 15/22). After achieving complete remission 90% (18/20) of the dogs had CRP concentrations within the reference range, and the difference in values before and after treatment was statistically significant (P < .001). CRP concentrations of dogs in complete remission (median, 1.91; range, 0.2-103) were significantly different (P = .031) from those of dogs with partial remission (median, 2.48; range, 0-89), stable disease (median, 1.77; range, 1.03-42.65), or progressive disease (median, 8.7; range, 0-82.5). There was profound variation of CRP measurements within each dog. CONCLUSIONS: CRP is useful in determining complete remission status after treatment with cytotoxic drugs. However, the individual variation between dogs means CRP concentration is not sufficiently different in other remission states to permit its use in monitoring progression of the disease. Greater reliability in determining remission status might be achieved by combining CRP concentration with other serum markers.     

Evaluating evaporation from field crops using airborne radiometry and ground-based meteorological data

Summary Airborne measurements of reflected solar and emitted thermal radiation were combined with ground-based measurements of incoming solar radiation, air temperature, windspeed, and vapor pressure to calculate instantaneous evaporation (LE) rates using a form of the Penman equation. Estimates of evaporation over cotton, wheat, and alfalfa fields were obtained on 5 days during a one-year period. A Bowen ratio apparatus, employed simultaneously, provided ground-based measurements of evaporation. Comparison of the airborne and ground techniques showed good agreement, with the greatest difference being about 12% for the instantaneous values. Estimates of daily (24 h) evaporation were made from the instantaneous data. On three of the five days, the difference between the two techniques was less than 8%, with the greatest difference being 25%. The results demonstrate that airborne remote sensing techniques can be used to obtain spatially distributed values of evaporation over agricultural fields.     

Median Lethal Concentration (LC50) of Piscicidal Plants and Their Utilization in Aquaculture

Aqueous and ethanol extracts of Acacia pennata (bark), Catunaregam uliginosa (fruit), Diospyros lenceofolia (fruit), and Sapindus mukorossi (fruit) were evaluated as piscicides on the freshwater fish Danio dangila, Danio rerio, and Puntius shalynius, and the air-breathing Heteropneustes fossilis. Catunaregam uliginosa (fruit) possessed relatively higher piscicidal potency followed by Sapindus mukorossi (fruit), Acacia pennata (bark), and lastly Diospyros lanceofolia (fruit). Catunaregam uliginosa can thus be used for eradicating unwanted wild fishes in a short time span at low concentrations so that the health of aquatic environment is maintained.     

Changes in forest soil organic matter pools after a decade of elevated CO2 and O3

The impact of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) may be mitigated, in part, by enhanced rates of net primary production and greater C storage in plant biomass and soil organic matter (SOM). However, C sequestration in forest soils may be offset by other environmental changes such as increasing tropospheric ozone (O₃) or vary based on species-specific growth responses to elevated CO₂. To understand how projected increases in atmospheric CO₂ and O₃ alter SOM formation, we used physical fractionation to characterize soil C and N at the Rhinelander Free Air CO₂-O₃ Enrichment (FACE) experiment. Tracer amounts of ¹⁵NH₄⁺ were applied to the forest floor of Populus tremuloides, P. tremuloides-Betula papyrifera and P. tremuloides-Acer saccharum communities exposed to factorial CO₂ and O₃ treatments. The ¹⁵N tracer and strongly depleted ¹³C-CO₂ were traced into SOM fractions over four years. Over time, C and N increased in coarse particulate organic matter (cPOM) and decreased in mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) under elevated CO₂ relative to ambient CO₂. As main effects, neither CO₂ nor O₃ significantly altered ¹⁵N recovery in SOM. Elevated CO₂ significantly increased new C in all SOM fractions, and significantly decreased old C in fine POM (fPOM) and MAOM over the duration of our study. Overall, our observations indicate that elevated CO₂ has altered SOM cycling at this site to favor C and N accumulation in less stable pools, with more rapid turnover. Elevated O₃ had the opposite effect, significantly reducing cPOM N by 15% and significantly increasing the C:N ratio by 7%. Our results demonstrate that CO₂ can enhance SOM turnover, potentially limiting long-term C sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems; plant community composition is an important determinant of the magnitude of this response.     

Pigeonpea improvement: An amalgam of breeding and genomic research

In the past five decades, constant research has been directed towards yield improvement in pigeonpea resulting in the deployment of several commercially acceptable cultivars in India. Though, the genesis of hybrid technology, the biggest breakthrough, enigma of stagnant productivity still remains unsolved. To sort this productivity disparity, genomic research along with conventional breeding was successfully initiated at ICRISAT. It endowed ample genomic resource providing insight in the pigeonpea genome combating production constraints in a precise and speedy manner. The availability of the draft genome sequence with a large‐scale marker resource, oriented the research towards trait mapping for flowering time, determinacy, fertility restoration, yield attributing traits and photo‐insensitivity. Defined core and mini‐core collection, still eased the pigeonpea breeding being accessible for existing genetic diversity and developing stress resistance. Modern genomic tools like next‐generation sequencing, genome‐wide selection helping in the appraisal of selection efficiency is leading towards next‐generation breeding, an awaited milestone in pigeonpea genetic enhancement. This paper emphasizes the ongoing genetic improvement in pigeonpea with an amalgam of conventional breeding as well as genomic research.     

Climate change will affect the ability of forest management to reduce gaps between current and presettlement forest composition in southeastern Canada

Landscape Ecology - Forest landscapes at the boreal–temperate ecotone have been extensively altered. Reducing the gap between current and presettlement forest conditions through...     

Connectivity and habitat type shape divergent dispersal behavior in a desert-dwelling fish

Context

Dispersal has important fitness consequences for individuals, populations, and species. Despite growing theoretical insights into the evolution of dispersal, its behavioral underpinnings remain empirically understudied, limiting our understanding of the extent and impact of responses to landscape-level heterogeneity of environments, and increasing the risk of inferring species-level responses from biased population sampling.

Objectives

We asked if predictable ecological variation among naturally fragmented arid waterbodies is correlated with disparate dispersal responses of populations of the desert goby Chlamydogobius eremius, which naturally inhabits two habitat “types” (permanent springs, ephemeral rivers), and different levels of hydrological connectivity (high and low) that potentially convey different costs and benefits of dispersal.

Methods

To test for possible behavioral divergence between such populations, we experimentally compared the movement behaviors (correlates of emigration and exploration) of wild-caught fish. We used two biologically relevant spatial scales to test movement relevant to different stages of the dispersal process.

Results

Behavior differed at both spatial scales, suggesting that alternative dispersal strategies enable desert gobies to exploit diverse habitat patches. However, while emigration was best predicted by the connectivity (flood risk) of fish habitats, exploration was linked to their habitat type (spring versus river).

Conclusions

Our findings demonstrate that despite a complex picture of ecological variation, key landscape factors have an overarching effect on among-population variation in dispersal traits. Implications include the maintenance of within-species variation, potentially divergent evolutionary trajectories of naturally or anthropogenically isolated populations, and the direction of future experimental studies on the ecology and evolution of dispersal behavior.