Temporal habitat variability and the maintenance of sex in host populations of the pea aphid

The evolutionary maintenance of sex, despite competition from asexual reproduction, has long intrigued the evolutionary biologists owing to its numerous apparent short-term costs. In aphids, winter climate is expected to determine the maintenance of sexual lineages in the high latitude zones owing to their exclusive ability to produce frost-resistant eggs. However, diverse reproductive modes may coexist at a local scale where climatic influence is counteracted by microgeographical factors. In this study, we tested the influence of local habitat characteristics on regional coexistence of reproductive modes in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum. In the laboratory, the induction of sexual morph production of many pea aphid genotypes from the local fields of annual (pea and faba bean) and perennial (alfalfa and red clover) crops in Western France indicated that A. pisum lineages from annual crops had a significantly higher investment in sexual reproduction than A. pisum lineages from the perennial hosts. We propose that temporal habitat variability exerts a selective pressure to maintain the sexual reproduction in A. pisum. The ecological and evolutionary consequences of the association between the mode of reproduction and the host population on gene flow restriction and on ecological specialization are discussed.     

An Entangled Model for Sustainability Indicators

Nowadays the challenge for humanity is to find pathways towards sustainable development. Decision makers require a set of sustainability indicators to know if the sustainability strategies are following those pathways. There are more than one hundred sustainability indicators but they differ on their relative importance according to the size of the locality and change on time. The resources needed to follow these sustainability indicators are scarce and in some instances finite, especially in smaller regions. Therefore strategies to select set of these indicators are useful for decision makers responsible for monitoring sustainability. In this paper we propose a model for the identification and selection of a set of sustainability indicators that adequately represents human systems. In developing this model, we applied evolutionary dynamics in a space where sustainability indicators are fundamental entities interconnected by an interaction matrix. we used a fixed interaction that simulates the current context for the city of Cuernavaca, México as an example. We were able to identify and define relevant sets indicators for the system by using the Pareto principle. In this case we identified a set of sixteen sustainability indicators with more than 80% of the total strength. This set presents resilience to perturbations. For the Tangled Nature framework we provided a manner of treating different contexts (i.e., cities, counties, states, regions, countries, continents or the whole planet), dealing with small dimensions. This model provides decision makers with a valuable tool to select sustainability indicators set for towns, cities, regions, countries, continents or the entire planet according to a coevolutionary framework. The social legitimacy can arise from the fact that each individual indicator must be selected from those that are most important for the subject community.     

Treatment of Biogas Produced in Anaerobic Reactors for Domestic Wastewater: Odor Control and Energy/Resource Recovery

Anaerobic municipal wastewater treatment in developing countries has important potential applications considering their huge lack of sanitation infrastructure and their advantageous climatic conditions. At present, among the obstacles that this technology encounters, odor control and biogas utilization or disposal should be properly addressed. In fact, in most of small and medium size anaerobic municipal treatment plants, biogas is just vented, transferring pollution from water to the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse gas inventory. Anaerobic municipal sewage treatment should not be considered as an energy producer, unless a significant wastewater flow is treated. In these cases, more than half of the methane produced is dissolved and lost in the effluent so yield values will be between 0.08 and 0.18 N m³ CH₄/kg COD removed. Diverse technologies for odor control and biogas cleaning are currently available. High pollutant concentrations may be treated with physical-chemical methods, while biological processes are used mainly for odor control to prevent negative impacts on the treatment facilities or nearby areas. In general terms, biogas treatment is accomplished by physico-chemical methods, scrubbing being extensively used for H₂S and CO₂ removal. However, dilution (venting) has been an extensive disposal method in some small- and medium-size anaerobic plants treating municipal wastewaters. Simple technologies, such as biofilters, should be developed in order to avoid this practice, matching with the simplicity of anaerobic wastewater treatment processes. In any case, design and specification of biogas handling system should consider safety standards. Resource recovery can be added to anaerobic sewage treatment if methane is used as electron donor for denitrification and nitrogen control purposes. This would result in a reduction of operational cost and in an additional advantage for the application of anaerobic sewage treatment. In developing countries, biogas conversion to energy may apply for the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. This would increase the economic feasibility of the project through the marketing of certified emission reductions (CERs).     

Relative influence of habitat heterogeneity, climate, human disturbance, and spatial structure on vertebrate species richness in Spain

Many factors affect the distribution of species richness. This study examines the relative influence of habitat heterogeneity, climate, human disturbance, and spatial structure on the species-richness distribution of terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals) in mainland Spain. The results indicate that spatial structure and environment exert similar influences on species richness. For all four taxa, species richness increases southward and northward, being lower in the center of the country, when controlled for other variables. This may be the result of a peninsular effect, as found in other studies, and reflect the importance of historical events on species richness in the Iberian Peninsula. Climate is more important than habitat heterogeneity in determining species richness. Temperature is positively correlated with amphibian, reptile, and bird species richness, while mammalian species richness is highest at intermediate temperatures. This effect is stronger in ectotherms than among endotherms, perhaps reflecting physiological differences. Precipitation positively correlates with bird and mammalian species richness, but has no effect on ectotherm species richness. Amphibian species richness increases with altitudinal range, and bird species richness with habitat diversity. Human population density is positively correlated with bird and mammalian species richness, but does not affect ectotherm species richness, while amphibian and bird species richness is highest at moderate levels of human land alteration (farmland). However, unexplained variance remains, and we discuss that the effects of environmental variables on species richness may vary geographically, causing different effects to be obscured on a national scale, diminishing the explanatory power of environmental variables.     

A second-generation diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based assay, optimized to distinguish among eight poplar (Populus L.) species and their early hybrids

Rapid identification of Populus L. species and hybrids can be achieved with relatively little effort through the use of primer extension-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping assays. We present an optimized set of 36 SNP markers from 28 gene regions that diagnose eight poplar species (Populus angustifolia James, Populus balsamifera L., Populus deltoides Bartram, Populus fremontii Watson, Populus laurifolia Ledeb., Populus maximowiczii Henry, Populus nigra L., and Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray). A total of 700 DNA sequences from six Populus species (1–15 individuals per species) were used to construct the array. A set of flanking and probe oligonucleotides was developed and tested. The accuracy of the SNP assay was validated by genotyping 448 putatively “pure” individuals from 14 species of Populus. Overall, the SNP assay had a high success rate (97.6 %) and will prove useful for the identification of all Aigeiros Duby and Tacamahaca Spach. species and their early-generation hybrids within natural populations and breeding programs. Null alleles and intraspecific polymorphisms were detected for a few locus/species combinations in the Aigeiros and Tacamahaca sections. When we attempted to genotype aspens of the section Populus (Populus alba L., Populus grandidentata Michx., Populus tremula L., and Populus tremuloides Michx.), the success rate of the SNP array decreased by 13 %, demonstrating moderate cross-sectional transferability.     

Viability of the Endangered Little Bustard <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tetrax tetrax</Emphasis> Population of Western France

Stochastic computer simulations are used to evaluate the sensitivity of Little bustard population parameters, estimating the survival probabilities of the seven endangered Little bustard populations of central-western France for which conservation actions are currentlybeing or have been implemented. Different scenarios of parameter compensation for those nuclei to establish parameter levels assuring population viability are discussed. Adult survival, productivity per female, initial population size and carrying capacity were the most sensitive parameters in a hypothetical, isolated population. Juvenile survival also affected population survival, although its sensitivity was lower. Sex ratio did not have a linear effect on population survival, but probability of extinction increased for extreme values. Productivity per female and initial population size, varied strongly among the populations studied, determining their average time of extinction and growth rate. When a metapopulation scenario was simulated, the survival probabilities of each population and the metapopulations stayed close to 1.0 if no mortality was associated to migration. When mortality during migration was included in the simulations, the metapopulation's probability of survival significantly decreased under 90%. This approach may help managers to correctly address conservation measures and design effective strategies, which should be directed mainly to improve productivity, enhance female survival, and minimise mortality during migration (e.g. promoting insect-rich nesting substrates, avoiding female killing and nest destruction at harvesting, reducing the risk of collision with powerlines, or controlling poaching).     

Thermal Stability and Activity Regain of Horseradish Peroxidase in Aqueous Mixtures of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids

Thermal deactivation kinetics of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were studied from 45 to 90 °C in phosphate buffer and 5–25% (v,w/v) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [BMIM][BF₄] and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMIM][Cl]. HRP activity at 25 °C was not affected by the presence of ionic liquids up to 20% (v,w/v). Increasing the ionic liquids concentration up to 25% (v,w/v) changed the biphasic character of deactivation kinetics to an apparent single first-order step. The presence of 5–10% (v/v) [BMIM][BF₄] significantly improved HRP thermal stability with lower activation energies for the deactivation second phase (83–87 kJ mol⁻¹). After deactivation, enhanced activity regain of the enzyme, up to 70–80% of the initial activity, was found in 25% (v/v) [BMIM][BF₄] and 10% (w/v) [BMIM][Cl] and correlated to prevalence of the deactivation first phase.