The Quaternary eolian sequence of Madeira: stratigraphy, chronology, and paleoenvironmental interpretation

A thick (ca. 40 m) sequence of coastal eolian sediments occurs on a narrow peninsula on the eastern end of the island of Madeira, located in the Eastern Atlantic at 33°N latitude. The sediments consist of black volcanic sands (with or without bioclasts) as well as clay units up to 2 m thick. A series of inceptisols (Eutrochrepts) and one alfisol (a Hapludalf) are developed in these sediments. Land snail shells and secondary carbonates, in the form of well-developed rhizoliths, calcretes, fissure-fills, and soil nodules, are present in abundance. The chronology of the sequence was determined by ¹⁴C and U---Th analyses of land snail shells and secondary carbonates and amino acid epimerization analysis of land snail shells. All sediments, including the clay units, are originally of eolian origin, derived from the beach to the south of the deposit, but some have been redeposited by colluviation. Temporal variation in the lithology of the sediments relates to variations in sea-level, with black sands being deposited during lower sea level stands and clays at the lowest. It is suggested that fine marine sediments, exposed during low sea-level stands, may also be the dominant source of silty or clayey units in other coastal eolian deposits in the subtropical Atlantic and Mediterranean.

The sequence spans from 200,000–300,000 years ago up to the 20th century. Sedimentation was discontinuous and often rapid; erosional hiatuses are present. During the Holocene, eolian sands started accumulating at 8200 yr B.P. during a transgressive phase and stopped at 4500 yr B.P. as sea level approached its present height. Colluviation increased dramatically following the first human settlement of the island in the 15th century and continued up to the 20th century, as dated by amino acid epimerization analysis of land snails. Earlier periods of colluviation were identified from the age distribution of land snail shells redeposited in younger colluvium.

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction was based mainly on soil and sediment features (including rhizolith morphology) and land snail faunas but also on stable isotope variations (¹³C, ¹⁸O) in land snails and secondary carbonates, pollen (generally not well preserved), and phytoliths. Most of the portion of the Middle Pleistocene represented in the sequence was characterized by moderately dry conditions, in comparison to the late Pleistocene and Holocene. During the last interglacial, relatively wet conditions occurred, wetter than during the Holocene interglacial. Moderately moist conditions were present during the accumulation of the thick unit dating to ca. 80,000 yr B.P. As sea level fell subsequent to this period, conditions appear to have become drier. Starting ca. 50,000–55,000 yr B.P., conditions were especially wet, but prior to the last glacial maximum, markedly arid conditions ensued. Toward the end of the last glacial, wet conditions returned and produced the best-developed soil preserved in the sequence. Moderately moist conditions occurred during the early to middle Holocene but apparently become slightly drier after 4500 yr B.P. The impact of human settlement can be seen in the loss of woody vegetation and enhanced gullying and colluviation during the last ca. 500 years.     

Inhibition of common fouling organisms by marine bacterial isolates ith special reference to the role of pigmented bacteria

Two questions of relevance to the establishment of marine biofouling communities were addressed, viz (1) what is the frequency with which bacterial strains isolated from living and inanimate surfaces in the marine environment show inhibitory activity against the settlement of common fouling organisms, and (2) is the antifouling bacterium, D2, an inhabitant of different marine waters, and how unique is this bacterium, in its mode of action against different target organisms? With respect to the first question, ninety three marine bacteria isolated from various rock surfaces from the marine environment were tested against larvae of Balanus amphitrite and spores of Ulva lactuca. Settlement assays against the diatom Amphora sp. were also performed on 10 of these strains. Nine bacterial isolates were shown to be inhibitory against larval settlement and eight of these strains were also inhibitory against algal spores. Altogether 16 strains were inhibitory against the settlement of algal spores while none of the bacterial strains inhibited diatom settlement. With respect to the second question, D2, a dark green pigmented bacterium, isolated from an adult tunicate off the Swedish west coast, has been found to be a very effective inhibitor against common fouling organisms. In order to see if this bacterium can be found in other marine waters, bacteria from living surfaces of marine plants and animals from waters around Sydney, Australia, were isolated and screened for inhibitory activity against barnacle larvae. Seventy four percent of the 23 plant isolates were shown to be inhibitory against larval settlement while only 30% of the 23 isolates from marine animals reduced settlement. Twenty two of the isolates from different seaweeds were dark pigmented and 20 of these strains inhibited settlement of barnacle larvae and algal spores. Three of the strains showed the same phenotypic expression as D2, and the results indicate that these strains may be D2 or closely related strains, suggesting that D2 may be a common inhabitant in the marine environment.     

Biosynthesis of the corrin macrocycle of coenzyme B12 in Pseudomonas denitrificans.

Studies with cell-free protein preparations from a series of recombinant strains of Pseudomonas denitrificans demonstrated that precorrin-3 is converted into a further trimethylated intermediate, named precorrin-3B, along the pathway to coenzyme B12. It was then shown that the part of the pathway from precorrin-3 (called precorrin-3A hereafter) to precorrin-6x involves three intermediates, precorrin-3B, precorrin-4, and precorrin-5. Precorrin-3B was isolated in its native (reduced) as well as its oxidized (factor-IIIB) states, and precorrin-4 was isolated in its oxidized form only (factor-IV). Both factors were in vitro precursors of precorrin-6x. The synthesis of precorrin-6x from precorrin-3A was shown to be catalyzed by four enzymes, CobG, CobJ, CobM, and CobF, intervening in this order. They were purified to homogeneity. CobG, which converts precorrin-3A to precorrin-3B, was found to be an iron-sulfur protein responsible for the oxidation known to occur between precorrin-3A and precorrin-6x, and CobJ, CobM, and CobF are the C-17, C-11, and C-1 methylases, respectively. The acetate fragment is extruded after precorrin-4 formation. This study combined with our recent structural studies on factor-IV (D. Thibaut, L. Debussche, D. Fréchet, F. Herman, M. Vuilhorgne, and F. Blanche, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1993:513-515, 1993) and precorrin-3B (L. Debussche, D. Thibaut, M. Danzer, F. Debu, D. Fréchet, F. Herman, F. Blanche, and M. Vuilhorgne, J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1993:1100-1103, 1993) provides a first step-by-step picture of the sequence of the enzymatic reactions leading to the corrin ring in P. denitrificans.     

Low species turnover of upland Amazonian birds in the absence of physical barriers

Aim

One of the oldest and most powerful ways for ecologists to explain distinct biological communities is to invoke underlying environmental differences. But in hyper-diverse systems, which often display high species richness and low species abundance, these sorts of community comparisons are especially challenging. The classic view for Amazonian birds posits that riverine barriers and habitat specialization determine local and regional community composition. We test the tacit, complementary assumption that similar bird communities should therefore permeate uniform habitat between major rivers, regardless of distance.

Location

Upland (terra firme) rainforests of central Amazonia.

Methods

We conducted intensive whole-community surveys of birds in three pairs of 100-ha plots, separated by 40–60 km. We then used dissimilarity indices, cluster analysis, and ordination to characterize differences among the six avian communities.

Results

In all, we detected 244 forest-dependent birds, with an average of 190 species (78%) per plot. Species turnover was negligible, no unique indicator species were found among plot pairs, and all documented species were already known from a complete inventory at one of the three sites.

Main Conclusions

Our study corroborates the classic biogeographical pattern and suggests that turnover contributes little to regional avian diversity within upland forests. Using a grain size of 100 ha, this implies that upland birds perceive the environment as uniform, at least over distances of ~60 km. Therefore, to maximize both local species richness and population persistence, our findings support the conservation of very large tracts of upland rainforest. Our analyses also revealed that the avifauna at Reserva Ducke, encroached by urban sprawl from the city of Manaus, shows the hallmarks of a disturbed community, with fewer vulnerable insectivores. This defaunation signals that even an enormous preserve (10 × 10 km) in lowland Amazonia is not insulated from anthropogenic degradation within the surrounding landscape.     

Particle size influences decay rates of environmental DNA in aquatic systems

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis is a powerful tool for remote detection of target organisms. However, obtaining quantitative and longitudinal information from eDNA data is challenging, requiring a deep understanding of eDNA ecology. Notably, if the various size components of eDNA decay at different rates, and we can separate them within a sample, their changing proportions could be used to obtain longitudinal dynamics information on targets. To test this possibility, we conducted an aquatic mesocosm experiment in which we separated fish-derived eDNA components using sequential filtration to evaluate the decay rate and changing proportion of various eDNA particle sizes over time. We then fit four alternative mathematical decay models to the data, building towards a predictive framework to interpret eDNA data from various particle sizes. We found that medium-sized particles (1–10 μm) decayed more slowly than other size classes (i.e., <1 and > 10 μm), and thus made up an increasing proportion of eDNA particles over time. We also observed distinct eDNA particle size distribution (PSD) between our Common carp and Rainbow trout samples, suggesting that target-specific assays are required to determine starting eDNA PSDs. Additionally, we found evidence that different sizes of eDNA particles do not decay independently, with particle size conversion replenishing smaller particles over time. Nonetheless, a parsimonious mathematical model where particle sizes decay independently best explained the data. Given these results, we suggest a framework to discern target distance and abundance with eDNA data by applying sequential filtration, which theoretically has both metabarcoding and single-target applications.