Protein variation in wild Atlantic salmon, with particular reference to southern Ireland

The extent of genetic variation in wild Atlantic salmon parr, Sulmo salur L., from river systems in Ireland, Iceland and eastern Canada, was investigated using starch gel electrophoresis. Within Ireland, seven polymorphic enzyme loci ( sAAT-4 *, GPI-1 *, IDDH-1 *, IDDH-2 *, IDHP-3 *, MDH-3 * and mMEP-2 *) were screened in nine different rivers and nine tributaries from the River Blackwater. Significant heterogeneity in gene frequencies occurred between riverine samples and between samples from tributaries of the River Blackwater. Variation between tributaries was as great as between rivers elsewhere in the country. Levels of population differentiation were comparable to those found in other regions throughout the range of the species, and temporal stability in gene frequencies was apparent when the results were compared with previously published data. Screening of riverine samples from Iceland and eastern Canada (Newfoundland and New Brunswick) allowed the Irish results to be considered in a broader context. Irish salmon cluster in the western European group, to which may be added Icelandic populations. Salmon from eastern Canada show a high level of genetic distinctiveness from the European group.     

Inland salt waters of southern Africa

Inland salt lakes are widely distributed in southern Africa: they are particularly common in South Africa, but many occur in Namibia and Botswana. All are shallow, and most are ephemeral with salinities that are not very high (mostly < 50 g l⁻¹). Fringing zones of halophytes or submerged macrophytes are neither well-developed nor taxonomically diverse. The Cyanobacteria, especially Nodularia spumigena, often dominate the phytoplankton. The fauna of the Makgadikgadi area (northeast Botswana) is diverse and is similar to that of East African salt lakes. The aquatic fauna of salt water south of the Makgadikgadi Basin, on the other hand, is extremely depauperate, has no well-defined assemblage confined to saline waters, and appears mostly to comprise tolerant freshwater forms. Lovenula falcifera and Metadiaptomus transvaalensis (diaptomid copepods), Moina micrura (Cladocera) and Brachionus plicatilis (Rotifera) are frequently encountered zooplankton species, a few species of insects (Anisops sp., beetles, chironomids and ephydrids) are the principal non-planktonic macroinvertebrates. Artemia ‘salina’ is occasionally present, but may be an introduced form. The avifauna, in contrast to the aquatic macroinvertebrate fauna, is rich, with the greater and lesser flamingo often common.     

Comparison of Reproduction by Meloidogyne graminicola and M. incognita on Trifolium Species

The reproductive potential of Meloidogyne graminicola was compared with that of M. incognita on Trifolium species in greenhouse studies. Twenty-five Trifolium plant introductions, cultivars, or populations representing 23 species were evaluated for nematode reproduction and root galling 45 days after inoculation with 3,000 eggs of M. graminicola or M. incognita. Root galling and egg production by the two root-knot nematode species was similar on most of the Trifolium species. In a separate study, the effect of initial population densities (Pi) of M. graminicola and M. incognita on the growth of white clover (T. repens) was determined. Reproductive and pathogenic capabilities of M. graminicola and M. incognita on Trifolium spp. were similar. Pi levels of both root-knot nematode species as low as 125 eggs per 10-cm-d pots severely galled white clover plants after 90 days. Meloidogyne graminicola has the potential to be a major pest of Trifolium species in the southeastern United States.     

DENSITY DEPENDENT GROWTH IN NORTH PACIFIC SPERM WHALES

Data from the North Pacific sperm whale (Physeter catodon Linnaeus, 1758) fishery were examined for a possible density dependent change in growth during 40 yr harvesting after World War II. Early in this period males from the eastern stock were 16.8 m or less in length. By the early 1970s the largest males in the catch exceeded 16.8 m in length and reached 18.9 m in the late 1970s. The proportion of males measuring over 16.8 m, among sexually mature males (≥14.0 m), increased from 0 to >20% during the 1970s. Increases in the maximum size of males were possibly preceded by a change in the frequency distribution of body lengths in the middle 1960s when only 10% of the postwar catch had been taken. Testis weights suggested an increase in body length at sexual maturity. Two of the three putative North Pacific stocks showed similar growth changes. Adult males taken in the Bering Sea did not show such changes during the exploitation which ended in 1972 because of overfishing. Females showed no detectable change in body size. It is concluded that: (1) density dependent effects on male growth are greater before sexual maturity than after it, (2) males may show density dependent changes even at a population level above 90% of the carrying capacity, (3) polygynous males acquire more mates and realize higher reproductive success because of increased body size, and (4) females appear to maximize production by maturing earlier and shortening calving intervals in response to density change.     

Relationships Between Tolerance and Resistance to Meloidogyne incognita in Cotton

The southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is the most damaging pathogen of cotton in the United States, and both resistance and tolerance to M. incognita could be valuable management approaches. Our objectives were to evaluate advanced cotton breeding lines for resistance and tolerance to M. incognita and to determine if a relationship between resistance and tolerance exists. Reproduction of M. incognita was evaluated on 17 breeding lines, a susceptible control (Delta and Pine Land DP5415), and a resistant control (M-120) in two greenhouse trials with six replications in a randomized complete block design. Two-week-old seedlings were inoculated with 8,000 M. incognita eggs and assessed for egg production 8 weeks later. Reproduction on the resistant control was only 10% of that on the susceptible control. Eight breeding lines supported 45% to 57% less (P <= 0.05) nematode reproduction than the susceptible control, and none of them were as resistant as M-120. Yield was determined in 2001 and 2002 in fumigated (1,3-dichloropropene at 56 liters/ha) and nonfumigated plots in a strip-plot design with three replications in a field naturally infested with M. incognita. Yield suppression caused by nematode infection differed among genotypes (P ≤ 0.05 for genotype × fumigation interaction). Six genotypes in 2001 and nine in 2002 were tolerant to M. incognita based on no difference in yield between the fumigated and nonfumigated plots (P ≥ 0.10). However, only three genotypes had no significant yield suppression in both years, of which two also were resistant to M. incognita. Regression analysis indicated that yield suppression decreased linearly as nematode resistance increased.     

Past and present distributions of southern right whales(Eubalaena australis)

Abstract

During the 19th century, sail whalers hunted right whales throughout the southern oceans north of 50 degrees. This review seeks to document the recovery of southern right whales by comparing the northernmost recent sightings with older sightings that survive “fossilised” in historical records of the sail whaling era. Despite a steady expansion northwards in recent years, the present distribution of right whales is still far short of that recorded by sail whalers over a century ago.     

Neural Correlates of Body Integrity Dysphoria

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1980—2018年祁连山南坡土地利用变化及其驱动力

祁连山是我国第一阶梯和第二阶梯的分界线,生态环境脆弱,对过渡地带土地利用变化及其驱动力研究具有重要的生态意义。本研究以祁连山南坡为研究区,基于1980—2018年遥感影像数据,运用空间自相关分析法、ArcGIS空间分析方法和主成分分析法分析了土地利用的时空变化特征及其驱动力。结果表明: 1980—2018年,草地是研究区土地利用类型的主体,建设用地所占比重最小,水域、草地表现为下降趋势,未利用土地、建设用地和耕地均呈现出增长态势,林地变化较小。不同地类单一土地利用动态度从大到小依次为:建设用地＞水域＞耕地＞未利用土地＞林地＞草地,综合土地利用动态度为0.9%。不同土地利用类型空间分布表现出空间集聚性特征。耕地增加的区域和林地、草地减少的区域主要分布在门源县城所处大通河谷地西北侧,天峻县东北部大通河上游地区存在工矿建设用地占用草地的现象。土地利用变化驱动力主要为人口数量、科技、城市化、经济发展水平和政策。本研究结果可为政府合理规划和利用土地资源提供依据,对祁连山南坡生态环境保护和社会经济可持续发展具有重大意义。