Cost-Effective Marine Protection - A Pragmatic Approach

This paper puts forward a framework for probabilistic and holistic cost-effectiveness analysis to provide support in selecting the least-cost set of measures to reach a multidimensional environmental objective. Following the principles of ecosystem-based management, the framework includes a flexible methodology for deriving and populating criteria for effectiveness and costs and analyzing complex ecological-economic trade-offs under uncertainty. The framework is applied in the development of the Finnish Programme of Measures (PoM) for reaching the targets of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). The numerical results demonstrate that substantial cost savings can be realized from careful consideration of the costs and multiple effects of management measures. If adopted, the proposed PoM would yield improvements in the state of the Baltic Sea, but the overall objective of the MSFD would not be reached by the target year of 2020; for various environmental and administrative reasons, it would take longer for most measures to take full effect.     

Habitat selection in rock pool corixids: the effect of local density on dispersal

The corixid species breeding in temporary rock pools of Baltic archipelago live in a highly fragmented and unpredictable habitat. Shallow rock pools can dry out and be refilled repeatedly during a summer causing high mortality of immatures. In deeper pools, young nymphs face intense competition by older stages including cannibalism. The adult corixids move frequently between rock pools and are thus able to use currently available habitat for reproduction. In this dispersal behaviour, the ability to assess the local population density and hence select the more suitable low density patches would be advantageous. We studied the effect of local population density on the frequency of dispersive flights of Arctocorisa carinata (Sahlberg) and Callicorixa producta (Reuter) experimentally, using rock pools from which nymphs of both species were removed. The dispersal rates of marked C. producta adults were significantly lower from experimental rock pools than from normal density controls, leading to a concentration of C. producta adults in the experimental rock pools. Indications of immigration rate differences between the experimental and control pools were also observed. No clear differences were found in the superior competitor A. carinata.     

Habitat characteristics contributing to local occupancy and habitat use in rock pool <Emphasis Type="Italic">Daphnia</Emphasis> metapopulations

The effects of invasive macrophytes, water level fluctuations and predation on freshwater unionids Pyganodon grandis and Utterbackia imbecillis were studied in three small impoundments in Northeastern Texas in 2003–2005. Mussel density was sampled with quadrats. Mortality, associated with the water level fluctuations and predation, was estimated by collecting dead shells on the shore at about two month intervals. In two ponds, horizontal distribution of unionids was limited by dense beds of invasive and noxious macrophytes (mainly Eurasian watermilfoil Myriophyllum spicatum and American lotus Nelumbo lutea): mussel densities were significantly lower in these macrophyte beds (P < 0.001). In the third pond with the lowest density of macrophytes (stonewort Chara sp.), unionids were distributed more evenly, and the average unionid biomass was the highest among all ponds studied. Vertical distribution of unionids in all ponds was likely limited by low oxygen at depth >2 m. The total amount of shells found on the shore per year varied from 0.1% to 28% of the total population in the pond and was negatively correlated with water level (r = −0.72 to −0.81, P < 0.005). Mammalian predators consumed up to 19% of the total unionid population and predation was facilitated by water level fluctuations. Handling editor: K. Martens     

Ornithine Decarboxylase Activity in Brain Regulated by a Specific Macromolecul, the Antizyme

Mouse brain ornithine decarboxylase activity is about 70-fold higher at the time of birth compared with that of adult mice. Enzyme activity declines rapidly after birth and reaches the adult level by 3 weeks. Immunoreactive enzyme concentration parallels very closely the decrease of enzyme activity during the first postnatal week, remaining constant thereafter. The content of brain antizyme, the macromolecular inhibitor to ornithine decarboxylase, in turn is very low during the first 7 days and starts then to increase and at the age of 3 weeks it is about six times the level of that in newborn mice. This may explain the decrease in enzyme activity during brain maturation, and suggests the regulation of polyamine biosynthesis by an antizyme-mediated mechanism in adult brain.     

Whether to have a second child or not? An integrative approach to women's reproductive decision-making in current China

The transition to low fertility worldwide has led to introduction of diverse frameworks across disciplines to understand its causes and consequences. Previous attempts to compare the relative importance of the key factors influencing women's fertility decision-making largely focused on a single rather than multiple steps of decision-making—an important problem if different factors are associated with different steps. Furthermore, insufficient attention has been paid explicitly to husband's and already-born children's influences, two potentially important factors. Here we introduce a framework covering three steps of reproductive decision-making—ideal family size, fertility desire and fertility intention—and test it using multi-level survey data collected from Chinese one-child mothers. Mother's attitudes towards having two children were paramount factors underlying her ideal family size, and husband's and the firstborn child's attitudes were critical to her desire to have a second child, which in turn played a decisive role in her intention to have a second child. Although husband's attitude was related to all steps, most factors were only relevant to one step; e.g., perceived child mortality and value for old-age security predicted ideal family size, admiration—a prerequisite for social learning—for two-child families predicted fertility desire, and physical/economic constraints primarily predicted fertility intention. Our study emphasizes multiple decision-makers in family reproduction; indicates the relative importance of fertility-influencing factors could vary with steps of decision-making; and has important implications for population policy in low-fertility societies.     

Effects of the demographic transition on the genetic variances and covariances of human life‐history traits

The recent demographic transitions to lower mortality and fertility rates in most human societies have led to changes and even quick reversals in phenotypic selection pressures. This can only result in evolutionary change if the affected traits are heritable, but changes in environmental conditions may also lead to subsequent changes in the genetic variance and covariance (the G matrix) of traits. It currently remains unclear if there have been concomitant changes in the G matrix of life‐history traits following the demographic transition. Using 300 years of genealogical data from Finland, we found that four key life‐history traits were heritable both before and after the demographic transition. The estimated heritabilities allow a quantifiable genetic response to selection during both time periods, thus facilitating continued evolutionary change. Further, the G matrices remained largely stable but revealed a trend for an increased additive genetic variance and thus evolutionary potential of the population after the transition. Our results demonstrate the validity of predictions of evolutionary change in human populations even after the recent dramatic environmental change, and facilitate predictions of how our biology interacts with changing environments, with implications for global public health and demography.     

Suppression of growth defects of α-amylase secreting Escherichia coli by signal sequence fusion

Abstract In a previous study, we have described unusual cross-reactions among monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) to bacteria and in particular to the Inaba and Ogawa serotypes of Vibrio cholerae . In this study, the extent to which the binding sites of both antibodies and antigens overlap has been investigated by competitive binding and idiotypic analysis. The competitive binding data indicate that the cross-reactive binding of the Inaba Mabs to the Ogawa vibrios can be abolished by incubation with higher affinity Ogawa Mabs. However, rabbit antiserum raised against the Inaba series does not react with the Ogawa series, indicating that anti-Inaba Mabs do not share idiotypic determinants with anti-Ogawa Mabs. The results therefore suggest that the two sets of antibodies recognise different determinants which are closely related in spatial terms, and which consequently do not permit simultaneous binding of the two types of monoclonal antibody.