Macrofaunal shallow benthic communities along a discontinuous annual cycle at Admiralty Bay,King George Island,Antarctica

Temporal variations in composition and density of the benthic macrofauna at two stations (12 and 25 m depth) were studied in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. Samples where carried out using an van Veen sampler between March and December 1999 (winter) and December 2000 and March 2001 (summer), comprising a discontinuous annual cycle. Sediment organic matter showed a marked seasonal cycle, with lowest values at middle winter. Communities showed little variations in density and composition. Temporal variations were not detected at 25 m depth. Variations at 12 m were related to one iceberg impact and to wind generated hydrodinamism, as a function of wind direction, intensity and fetch. As winter scarcity of primary production did not seem to affect macrofaunal community densities, nutrient availability for the benthos in winter can be related to the remineralization of sediment organic matter by bacterial activity.

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Individual variability of behavioural responses by Wandering Albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) to human disturbance

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island has had a permanent research station for 50 years and the islands Wandering Albatrosses have been intensively studied for 20 years. The reactions of breeding birds to approaches by a human on foot were recorded. Three response variables were calculated: intensity of vocal reaction (IVR), intensity of non-vocal reaction (INR) and overall response index (ORI). At 5 m from the nest, twice as many birds stood and/or vocalised as at 15 m. Nearest neighbour distance, age and gender did not explain individual variability of responses. Study colony birds had higher IVR scores than non-study colony birds; birds at colonies closest to the station had the highest ORI scores. A better breeding record was associated with lower IVR and ORI scores, but a causative relationship remains to be demonstrated. A minimum viewing distance of 25 m is recommended for breeding Wandering Albatrosses.

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Causal Explanation of Indonesian Forest Fires: Concepts, Applications, and Research Priorities

Problems with studies, claims, and assumptions that have been made about the causes of fires in Indonesia's tropical moist forests are identified, and the kinds of concepts, methods, prioritizing, and data needed to resolve the problems are discussed. Separate sections are devoted to studying ignitions, studying fire susceptibility and fire behavior, and using the goal of causal explanation to guide interdisciplinary research.

Hennigian Phylogenetic Systematics and the ‘Groundplan’ vs. ‘Post-Groundplan’ Approaches: A Reply to Kukalová-Peck

The recent contribution by Jarmila Kukalová-Peck on Hennigian phylogenetics and hexapod limb evolution is critically evaluated.

Leitlinien zur molekulargenetischen Diagnostik: Fragiles-X und Fragiles-X assoziiertes Tremor/Ataxie Syndrom

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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Corpus Interruptus: Biotech Drugs, Insurance Providers and the Treatment of Breast Cancer

In researching the biomedically-engineered drug Neulasta (filgrastim), a breast cancer patient becomes aware of the extent to which knowledge about the development and marketing of drugs influences her decisions with regard to treatment. Time spent on understanding the commercial interests of insurers and pharmaceutical companies initially thwarts but ultimately aids the healing process. This first-person narrative calls for physicians to recognize that the alignment of commercial interests transgresses the patient’s humanity.

A single operon-encoded form of the acetyl-CoA decarbonylase/synthase multienzyme complex responsible for synthesis and cleavage of acetyl-CoA in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Methanosarcina thermophila</Emphasis>

Methanogens growing on C-1 substrates synthesize 2-carbon acetyl groups in the form of acetyl-CoA for carbon assimilation using the multienzyme complex acetyl-CoA decarbonylase/synthase (ACDS) which contains five different subunits encoded within an operon. In species growing on acetate ACDS also functions to cleave the acetate C-C bond for energy production by methanogenesis. A number of species of Methanosarcina that are capable of growth on either C-1 compounds or acetate contain two separate ACDS operons, and questions have been raised about whether or not these operons play separate roles in acetate synthesis and cleavage. Methanosarcina thermophila genomic DNA was analyzed for the presence of two ACDS operons by PCR amplifications with different primer pairs, restriction enzyme analyses, DNA sequencing and Southern blot analyses. A single ACDS operon was identified and characterized, with no evidence for more than one. MALDI mass spectrometric analyses were carried out on ACDS preparations from methanol- and acetate-grown cells. Peptide fragmentation patterns showed that the same ACDS subunits were present regardless of growth conditions. The evidence indicates that a single form of ACDS is used both for acetate cleavage during growth on acetate and for acetate synthesis during growth on C-1 substrates. Electronic Supplementary Material  Supplementary material is available for this article at

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Adaptationism and the adaptive landscape

Debates over adaptationism can be clarified and partially resolved by careful consideration of the ‘grain’ at which evolutionary processes are described. The framework of ‘adaptive landscapes’ can be used to illustrate and facilitate this investigation. We argue that natural selection may have special status at an intermediate grain of analysis of evolutionary processes. The cases of sickle-cell disease and genomic imprinting are used as case studies.

Space,Time, Rhetoric and Agricultural Change in the Transition Zone of Ghana

This paper examines change within farming systems in the Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana, and the impact of agricultural modernization and mechanization on the regional economy and local farming systems. It combines anthropological, historical, and remote sensing techniques to document changes in farming practice and land use and land cover. It argues that change is not the product of simple evolutionary sequences of responses to population pressures or adoption of modern technologies, but arises out of a complex set of factors interacting within wider regional economies, which are increasingly commodified and commercialized and subject to global market pressures. These include technical, institutional, market, movements of labor, and transport infrastructure development dimensions, which often create new opportunities for local farmers other than those envisaged in agricultural development policies. Tracing the opening up of the transition zone over the last 40–50 years through the development of state farms and mechanized synthetic agriculture, the paper examines the changing fortunes of farming systems within a radius of 30–40 km from agricultural technology hubs and the implications for models of agricultural development.

Purification and properties of Sandercyanin, a blue protein secreted in the mucus of blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus

A blue protein present in the mucus coating blue forms of walleye, Sander vitreus, was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ion exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The purified protein has a molecular mass of 87,850 and is a homotetramer with a subunit molecular mass of 21,836. Solutions of the protein are deep blue in color and show absorbance maxima at 383 and 633 nm, respectively. Acetone treatment of the protein releases a blue chromophore with the spectral characteristics of biliverdin IXα. The results suggest that the blue protein is a new biliprotein that we have termed Sandercyanin. The function of Sandercyanin is unknown, but limited amino acid sequence analysis suggests it is a lipocalin that may be involved in the transport of heme degradation products.

Hierarchical analysis of piecewise affine models of gene regulatory networks

A key point in the analysis of dynamical models of biological systems is to handle systems of relatively high dimensions. In the present paper we propose a method to hierarchically organize a certain type of piecewise affine (PWA) differential systems. This specific class of systems has been extensively studied for the past few years, as it provides a good framework to model gene regulatory networks. The method, shown on several examples, allows a qualitative analysis of the asymptotic behavior of a PWA system, decomposing it into several smaller subsystems. This technique, based on the well-known strongly connected components decomposition, is not new. However, its adaptation to the non-smooth PWA differential equations turns out to be quite relevant because of the strong discrete structure underlying these equations. Its biological relevance is shown on a 7-dimensional PWA system modeling the gene network responsible for the carbon starvation response in Escherichia coli.

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Is it a revolution?

Jablonka and Lamb's claim that evolutionary biology is undergoing a ‘revolution’ is queried. But the very concept of revolutionary change has uncertain application to a field organized in the manner of contemporary biology. The explanatory primacy of sequence properties is also discussed.

Semi-automated, Membrane-Based Protocol for DNA Isolation from Plants

Many plant species are considered difficult for DNA isolation due to their high concentrations of secondary metabolites such as polysaccharides and polyphenols. Several protocols have been developed to overcome this problem, but they are typically time-consuming, not scalable for high throughput and not compatible with automation. Although a variety of commercial kits are available for plant DNA isolation, their cost is high and these kits usually have limited taxonomic applicability. In a previous study we developed an inexpensive automation-friendly protocol for DNA extraction from animal tissues. Here we demonstrate that a similar protocol allows DNA isolation from plants.

Review of dated Late Quaternary palaeolimnological records in the Carpathian Region,east-central Europe

The Carpathian Region (including mountains and plains) has for a long time been lacking good palaeoenvironmental and especially palaeolimnological records, particularly for the Late Quaternary. In the last two decades, many new sedimentary sequences were obtained and studied using a wide range of palaeoproxies. This article reviews results from 123 sequences in the Carpathian Region, all dated by radiometric methods. Our aim was to pay attention to the existence of these data; many of them published in national periodicals and journals. Palaeoenvironmental records with at least two proxies and with palaeolimnological interpretation were compiled in both tabular form and on maps. Inspite of the density of examined sites, an assessment of the dataset led us to the following conclusions: (1) very few provide firm hydrological–limnological interpretation, such as lake level and mire water-depth fluctuation, lake productivity changes and pH changes; (2) only 47 of them are real multi-proxy studies (have at least two proxies employed on the same sediment core); (3) glacial lakes in Slovakia and Romania as well as in Ukraine are seriously under-investigated although they would be ideal objects of palaeolimnological works with the many proxies applicable on them; (4) the Hungarian lowland areas are dominated by shallow tectonic lakes or palaeochannels, often with unsatisfactory preservation of certain biological proxies (e.g. diatoms, chironomids, cladocerans). Consequently, palaeolimnological studies from this region have to apply a different combination of proxies and approach than mountain lake studies.

Scheduling mixed-parallel applications with advance reservations

This paper investigates the scheduling of mixed-parallel applications, which exhibit both task and data parallelism, in advance reservations settings. Both the problem of minimizing application turn-around time and that of meeting a deadline are studied. For each several scheduling algorithms are proposed, some of which borrow ideas from previously published work in non-reservation settings. Algorithms are compared in simulation over a wide range of application and reservation scenarios. The main finding is that schedules computed using the previously published CPA algorithm can be adapted to advance reservation settings, notably resulting in low resource consumption and thus high efficiency.

The influence of depth,site exposure and season on the intensity of iceberg scouring in nearshore Antarctic waters

Ice scour disturbance has a significant effect on the physical and biological characteristics of polar benthos. A series of grids, each consisting of 25 markers, were deployed along depth transects and replicated at two contrasting study sites at Adelaide Island, West Antarctic Peninsula. Markers were surveyed and replaced every 3 months for 2 years in order to assess the frequency and intensity of iceberg impacts. Depth, site, season and year were all highly significant factors influencing ice scouring frequency. We observed a high variation in the duration of winter fast ice between sites and years, which had a marked effect on ice scouring frequency. The ecological effects of the disturbance regime are likely to include depth zonation of benthic assemblages, patchiness of communities at varying stages of recovery and the near denudation of sessile fauna in the shallow subtidal.

Impact of an alien octocoral, Carijoa riisei, on black corals in Hawaii

In 2001 Carijoa riisei, an octocoral native to the tropical Western Atlantic, was discovered overgrowing black corals in the Au’au Channel in Hawaii. In this paper data from a 2001 survey are reanalyzed and combined with new data from 2003 and 2004 to assess the ecological impact in greater detail. C. riisei differentially affected reproductively mature black coral colonies with maximum impact between 80 and 105 m. The pattern of C. riisei overgrowth on black corals and C. riisei on the substrata appears to be bounded by high irradiance in shallow water and cold temperature in deep water. Evidence suggests that the C. riisei settlement on black corals is facilitated by other epifauna. Once established, C. riisei spreads vegetatively and smothers the coral. The success of the C. riisei invasion appears to be unaided by anthropogenic disturbance and is at least partially attributable to Hawaii’s depauperate shallow-water (<100 m) octocoral fauna.