Climate effects on inter‐annual variation in growth of the freshwater mussel (Anodonta beringiana) in an Alaskan lake

1. Warming trends are evident in many parts of the globe but are especially marked at higher latitudes, with complex effects on the biota that include direct effects on growth potential and indirect effects through food webs. 2. Air temperatures have been increasing over the past 50 years in southwestern Alaska, affecting the growth and population dynamics of many organisms, including a variety of aquatic species such as the freshwater mussel Anodonta beringiana. 3. We collected freshwater mussels from Iliamna Lake, in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, and measured their shells to examine climatic effects on growth patterns. 4. Linear mixed effects models and ordinary least square linear regressions revealed strong positive correlations between local air temperatures (especially in May, October and the summer months) and inter‐annual variation in mussel growth. Slower mussel growth was also significantly correlated with later date of ice break‐up, which was linked to air temperatures in late spring.     

Adenosine Triphosphate and Deoxyribonucleic Acid in the Alimentary Tract of Cattle Fed Different Nitrogen Sources

Total microbial cell counts and the content of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were determined in ruminal and abomasal digesta and in faeces from heifers fed a basal diet of barley and straw supplemented with urea, casein, soybean-protein concentrate or feather meal. The concentration of ATP in the rumen content varied independently of the DNA content and total cell count, but dependently upon the nitrogen sources, the highest ATP/DNA ratio being obtained with casein. The ATP/DNA ratio in faeces was only one-tenth of that found in the digesta of the rumen and abomasum, indicating either an extremely low level of activity of the microbial cells or more probably a very large number of dead organisms. It is suggested that DNA and ATP might be useful indices of the microbial status in terms of biomass and metabolic activity. The total cell count should still be included in routine studies to determine the proportion of protozoa to bacteria.     

Intercomparison, interpretation, and assessment of spring phenology in North America estimated from remote sensing for 1982–2006

Shifts in the timing of spring phenology are a central feature of global change research. Long‐term observations of plant phenology have been used to track vegetation responses to climate variability but are often limited to particular species and locations and may not represent synoptic patterns. Satellite remote sensing is instead used for continental to global monitoring. Although numerous methods exist to extract phenological timing, in particular start‐of‐spring (SOS), from time series of reflectance data, a comprehensive intercomparison and interpretation of SOS methods has not been conducted. Here, we assess 10 SOS methods for North America between 1982 and 2006. The techniques include consistent inputs from the 8 km Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer NDVIg dataset, independent data for snow cover, soil thaw, lake ice dynamics, spring streamflow timing, over 16 000 individual measurements of ground‐based phenology, and two temperature‐driven models of spring phenology. Compared with an ensemble of the 10 SOS methods, we found that individual methods differed in average day‐of‐year estimates by ±60 days and in standard deviation by ±20 days. The ability of the satellite methods to retrieve SOS estimates was highest in northern latitudes and lowest in arid, tropical, and Mediterranean ecoregions. The ordinal rank of SOS methods varied geographically, as did the relationships between SOS estimates and the cryospheric/hydrologic metrics. Compared with ground observations, SOS estimates were more related to the first leaf and first flowers expanding phenological stages. We found no evidence for time trends in spring arrival from ground‐ or model‐based data; using an ensemble estimate from two methods that were more closely related to ground observations than other methods, SOS trends could be detected for only 12% of North America and were divided between trends towards both earlier and later spring.     

Regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway at fertilization in sea urchin eggs

Summary

After fertilization of sea urchin eggs, there is a rapid increase in cellular levels of NADPH, a metabolite utilized in a variety of biosynthetic reactions during early development. Recent studies have shown that a dramatic increase in the activity of the pentose phosphate shunt occurs in vivo shortly after fertilization, consistent with the hypothesis mat this metabolic pathway is a major supplier of NADPH in sea urchin zygotes. One mechanism that may account, in part, for this increase in pentose shunt activity is the dissociation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), the first enzyme of the shunt, from cell structural elements. In vitro, G6PDH is associated with the insoluble matrix obtained from homogenates of unfertilized eggs, and in this state, the enzyme is inhibited. Within minutes of fertilization, G6PDH is released as an active, soluble enzyme. A similar solubilization and activation of G6PDH occurs after fertilization of eggs of other marine invertebrates and in mammalian cells in culture stimulated by growth factors. The occurrence of this phenomenon in such diverse cell types, in response to different stimuli, suggests that the redistribution of G6PDH between insoluble and soluble locations may be involved in the regulation of the pentose phosphate shunt during cell activation in general.     

A molecular characterization of the charismatic Faroe house mouse

Faroe house mice are a ‘classic’ system of rapid and dramatic morphological divergence highlighted by J. S. Huxley during the development of the Modern Synthesis. In the present study, we characterize these charismatic mice using modern molecular techniques, examining specimens from all Faroe islands occupied by mice. The aims were to classify the mice within the modern house mouse taxonomy (i.e. as either Mus musculus domesticus or Mus musculus musculus) using four molecular markers and a morphological feature, and to examine the genetic diversity and possible routes of colonization using mitochondrial (mt) control region DNA sequences and microsatellite data (15 loci). Mice on the most remote islands were characterized as M. m. domesticus and exhibited exceptionally low genetic diversity, whereas those on better connected islands were more genetically diverse and had both M. m. musculus and M. m. domesticus genetic elements, including one population which was morphologically M. m. musculus‐like. The mtDNA data indicate that the majority of the mice had their origins in south‐western Norway (or possibly southern Denmark/northern Germany), and probably arrived with the Vikings, earlier than suggested by Huxley. The M. m. musculus genetic component appears to derive from recent mouse immigration from Denmark. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 102 , 471–482.     

Competitive exclusion along climate gradients: energy efficiency influences the distribution of two salmonid fishes

We tested the importance of thermal adaptations and energy efficiency in relation to the geographical distribution of two competing freshwater salmonid fish species. Presence–absence data for Arctic char and brown trout were obtained from 1502 Norwegian lakes embracing both temperature and productivity gradients. The distributions were contrasted with laboratory‐derived temperature scaling models for food consumption, growth and energy efficiency. Thermal performances of the two species were almost identical. However, Arctic char exhibited double the growth efficiency (per unit of food) and appear to have out‐competed brown trout from cold, low‐productivity lakes, perhaps by scramble competition. Brown trout, for which previous reports have shown to be aggressive and dominant, have likely excluded the more energy‐efficient Arctic char from relatively warm, productive lakes, perhaps by contest competition. Competitive interaction changing in outcome with lake productivity, rather than thermal performance, is likely a major determinant of the range distribution of the two species. Our study highlights the need for more focus on choice of relevant ecophysiological traits in ecological climate impact studies and species distribution modelling.