Assessing the suitability of genetic diversity of Chironomus riparius (Meigen) as an indicator of environmental pollution

Reliable and cost-effective indicators are needed to reduce uncertainty in ecological risk assessments of chemicals so that their long-term and evolutionary impacts in the dynamics of stressed biological communities can be accounted for.In the present study we investigate the suitability of genetic diversity as an indicator of ecological disturbance of freshwater ecosystems. For that, we selected three freshwater systems with well-known histories of metal contamination and three nearby reference sites located in Northern Portugal and the effects of metal contamination were assessed both in the levels of genetic diversity of the non-biting midge Chironomus riparius Meigen (at microsatellite markers) and in the diversity and composition of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities.Results showed a remarkable impoverishment in the abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities of metal polluted sites in which most sensitive taxa were eliminated and replaced by more opportunistic ones belonging mainly to Oligochaeta and Diptera. In contrast, no evidence for pollution-induced genetic erosion was found in C. riparius populations in the studied area, with genetic diversity of the species being indeed higher in sites with impoverished macroinvertebrate communities and poor habitat quality.Our findings suggest that there are important limitations to the use of measures of genetic diversity of C. riparius per se to unravel ecological disturbance. Field studies aiming at quantifying pollutant-driven genetic erosion need to carefully consider the ecological and demographic aspects of potential target species.     

Lake macroinvertebrate assemblages and relationship with natural environment and tourism stress in Jiuzhaigou Natural Reserve,China

With increasing human population and urbanization, tourism in natural reserves and other protected lands is growing. It is critical to monitor and assess the impacts of tourism on ecosystem health. However, there is a general lack of information on biological communities in natural reserves of developing countries and of tools for assessing human impacts. In the present study, we investigated macroinvertebrate assemblages in nine lakes in Jiuzhaigou Natural Reserve of China. Both benthic (20 dips of D-net) and light-trap samples (2 h) were collected at each lake and all benthic specimens and adults of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) were identified and counted. Water temperature and water quality variables were measured on site or in the Lab. Seventy taxa were recorded and dominated by dipterans and caddisflies. Light traps contributed 47% of taxa richness and 66% of EPT richness at the lakes. Detrended Correspondence Analysis showed that water temperature and tourism index were strongly associated with the changes of assemblage composition. Taxa richness and EPT richness calculated for the composite samples (benthic + light trap) were well fit with Poisson generalized linear model (adjusted R² = 0.83 and 0.85, respectively), generally decreasing with increasing elevation, tourism index, and total-N. Tourism index was ranked as the top predictor for EPT richness based on multiple model weights, and elevation for taxa richness. In comparison, when based on benthic samples, neither of the metrics could be fitted with the seven environmental variables selected. These findings highlight the benefit of combined use of the sampling methods for lake monitoring and offered an analytical guide to developing biological indicators of lake ecosystem health in protected areas.     

Competition among the pioneers in a seasonal soft-bottom benthic succession: field experiments and analysis of the Gilpin-Ayala competition model

Summary Controlled experiments, designed to assess the effects of pioneers on succession on an intertidal sandflat, provided evidence for interspecific competition between juvenile Hobsonia florida (Polychaeta, Ampharetidae) and oligochaetes. The field data were fitted to both the linear Volterra and non-linear Gilpin-Ayala competition equations. With its greater number of parameters, the Gilpin-Ayala model must provide a better fit to observed population abundances. The Gilpin-Ayala model is flawed as an explanation of the population trajectories of the H. florida and oligochaetes, because its non-linearity parameter affects only intraspecific competion. With either model our field data demonstrate a solution to Hutchinson's paradox. With competition coefficients near unity and similar carrying capacities, the predicted population trajectories are heavily dependent on initial conditions. The predicted times to competitive exclusion are long and can easily exceed the typical period of environmental constancy. Our study offers evidence for Neill's competitive bottleneck: competition acts primarily on the developmental stages of one of a pair of competing species. The permanent meiofauna may act as a competitive bottleneck for the population growth of benthic macrofauna. The mechanism of this competitive interaction probably involves exploitative interspecific competition for benthic diatoms.     

Physical control of Eurasian watermilfoil in an oligotrophic lake

The introduction of Eurasian watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) into oligotrophic waters of high water clarity in temperate zones of North America has produced growth in excess of 6 m depth and yearly biomass approaching 1000 g m^–2 dry weight. From its initial observation in Lake George, New York, USA in 1985, by 1993 milfoil had spread to 106 discrete locations within the lake. A 7-year study of one site having no management showed milfoil to grow expansively, suppressing native plant species from 20 in 1987 to 6 in 1993 with the average number of species m^–2 quadrat declining from 5.5 in 1987 to less than 2 in 1993. Management of milfoil by means of hand harvesting, suction harvesting and benthic barrier has reduced the number of unmanaged sites from 106 in 1993 to 11. One year post-treatment at sites utilizing suction harvesting, showed a greater number of native species at all sites than pretreatment with a substantial reduction in milfoil biomass. At sites where benthic barrier was removed 1–2 years after installation, milfoil had recolonized 44% of grid squares within 30 days. Ninety days after barrier removal 74% of grid squares contained milfoil and one year later 71% of the grids supported milfoil. During the first year following mat removal, the average number of species m^–2 peaked at 4.7 and stabilized at 4.5 during the second year. Hand harvesting by SCUBA in areas of limited milfoil growth (new sites of infestation and sites of former treatment) was found to reduce the number of milfoil plants present in subsequent years. Hand harvesting did not eliminate milfoil at any of the sites and regrowth/colonization necessitated reharvesting every 3 or more years. Results of evaluations of physical plant management techniques indicate that (1) an integrated program utilizing different techniques based on plant density reduced the growth of milfoil and (2) long term commitment to aquatic plant management is necessary since none of the techniques employed singly were found to eliminate milfoil.     

Role of microorganisms in mineralization processes in intertidal surface sediments subject to high temperatures: An incubation experiment

In order to study how N, P, Fe, Mn and S concentrations in pore waters change with time at different temperatures, an incubation experiment was carried out with surficial intertidal sediment. To evaluate the importance of benthic microorganisms, an abiotic control was established by poisoning sediment. The live and poisoned sediments were incubated for ten hours at 10, 21, 30 and 40°C. Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN), Dissolved Reactive Phosphorus (DRP), NH₄ ⁺, total dissolved manganese (Mn_diss), total dissolved iron (Fe_diss) and soluble inorganic sulphide (HS^–)_t were followed in the pore water samples. Results indicated that high temperature influenced nitrification, allowing accumulation of ammonia and that microorganism activity did not seem important for Mn reduction. Anaerobic nitrification by Mn reduction was advanced as an explanation of the behaviour of DIN during the experiment.     

Two morphotypes of lacustrine threespine stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatus, in Benka Lake, Alaska

Synopsis Within freshwater fishes, a common pattern of diversification of body form and trophic structure has recently been recognized. Two different suites of co-occurring characters appear to allow fish to efficiently forage on either benthic invertebrates or plankton. For threespine stickleback,Gasterosteus aculeatus, these suites of characters have been labeled benthic and limnetic. The forms differ in several morpholoical traits, with the limnetic having a more fusiform shape, larger eyes, longer and more numerous gill rakers, and a smaller more tubular mouth. Benthic and limnetic threespine stickleback are usually found in allopatry or parapatry, and less frequently in sympatry. Within the range of the threespine stickleback, which comprises perhaps tens of thousands of lacustrine populations, the sympatric occurrence of the benthic and limnetic forms has only been established for six lakes within a small region of the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. We present the first evidence for the presence of sympatric morphotypes of threespine stickleback outside of British Columbia. We examine the nature and extent of this diversification, and present possible explanations for the sympatric occurrence of these morphotypes. We also explore possible reasons for the small number of documented sympatric benthic and limnetic forms of threespine stickleback despite the existence of thousands of apparently suitable lakes.     

Distribution of ostracod and benthic foraminiferal assemblages during the last 550 kyr in the East-Corsica basin,western Mediterranean Sea: A paleo-environmental reconstruction

The study of Quaternary sediments covering the last 550 kyr from the borehole GDEC-4-2, East-Corsica basin, was performed through the study of benthic meiofaunal assemblages (ostracoda and benthic foraminifera) whose distribution responds to climate changes, and glacial–interglacial variability in particular. The interglacial ostracod group is mainly composed of the Argilloecia acuminata, Cytheropteron alatum, Henryhowella sp., Polycope sp. and Cytherella sp., which indicate an enhanced surface productivity and possibly high bottom water temperature during these warm intervals. Benthic foraminifera, such as Hoeglundina elegans, Sigmoilopsis schlumbergeri, Bigenerina nodosaria and Hyalinea balthica are predominant during interglacial periods and also show an increasing surface productivity associated to warm intervals. Increase in surface productivity would contribute to an enhanced export of organic matter to sea floor at the GDEC-4-2 site during interglacial periods. The bottom temperature drop coupled with the important sedimentary inputs (associated to a significant quantity of refractory organic matter) during glacial periods was highlighted by the predominance of ostracoda, such as Paradoxostoma sp., Cytheropteron testudo, Bathycythere vanstraateni, Macrocypris sp., Echinocythereis echinata and benthic foraminifera as Bolivina spathulata, Bulimina costata, and Bulimina marginata. The distribution of some benthic foraminifera species describing a turnover system allowed the characterization of the last three climate cycles (MIS 8–9, MIS 6–7, MIS 1–5) probably marked by changes of bottom water paleoceanographic conditions in terms of temperature, salinity, bottom current intensity and surface productivity. The cyclic variations of the allochthonous group recorded over the last 550 kyr suggest a major role played by the eustatic factor, with the latter possibly favouring down slope transport. The distribution of this group allowed thus establishing a link between shelf-basin sediment transfer and climate, with enhanced shelf-basin sediment transfer during glacial low stands.     

Development of a quantitative PCR method to explore the historical occurrence of a nuisance microalga under expansion

A number of marine and freshwater harmful algal bloom (HAB) species have colonized new areas and expanded their habitat range in recent years. Nevertheless it is notoriously difficult to establish when colonization first occurred, what the dispersal routes are, and to separate recent invasion from increases in existent but small populations. The freshwater raphidophyte Gonyostomum semen is a nuisance species that has expanded its habitat range and increased in abundance in northern Europe during the past decades. To evaluate to what extent sediments can be used for determining historic occurrence of G. semen, a quantitative real-time PCR method for detecting cysts of this algae was developed. This paper presents a qPCR protocol with a set of primers that are specific to Gonyostomum and with PCR conditions optimized for sediment samples from humic lakes, which are the common habitat of G. semen. With this sensitive method as few as 1.6 cysts per PCR reaction could be reliably quantified, corresponding to 320 cysts per g wet weight sediment. Cysts were present in sediments with ages ranging from years to decades and their persistence allows detection of historic populations up to at least 50 years old. With this qPCR assay it will be possible to trace the presence of G. semen in environments prior to the onset of algae-specific monitoring programs as well as for quantification in water column samples.     

Distribution and molecular phylogeny of the dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis in Thailand

The toxic benthic dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis has been connected to the production of palytoxin and its analogs in many tropical and temperate areas. Although the type species, O. siamensis, was originally described from the Gulf of Thailand in 1901, little is known about the species composition and distribution of the genus Ostreopsis in Thailand. In this study, a total of 64 Ostreopsis strains isolated from the Andaman Sea as well as the Gulf of Thailand were investigated by analyzing the nucleotide sequences of the LSU rDNA D1/D2, D8/D10 and ITS-5.8S rDNA regions. Phylogenetic analyses (BI and ML) resulted in some of the strains being assigned to previously described clades, O. cf. ovata and Ostreopsis sp. 6, and revealed the existence of a novel clade named Ostreopsis sp. 7, which exhibited large genetic distances from the other clades. Among O. cf. ovata, several strains from Thailand were formed into a new subclade, the Thailand subclade, whereas a few strains belonged to the South China Sea subclade. Morphometric characteristics such as the cell sizes of the two O. cf. ovata subclades and those of Ostreopsis sp. 7 were not significantly different from each other (p > 0.05). Their characteristics were similar but slightly different from those of O. ovata and were significantly different from those of Ostreopsis sp. 6 (p < 0.05). Toxicities of Ostreopsis from Thailand were evaluated using mouse bioassay. Strains of Ostreopsis sp. 6 and Ostreopsis sp. 7 tested were highly toxic, while the two subclades of O. cf. ovata strains seemed to be nontoxic. This study suggests that toxic Ostreopsis sp. 7 is distributed in the Andaman Sea, whereas the two subclades of O. cf. ovata and toxic Ostreopsis sp. 6 are distributed in the Gulf of Thailand.