Long-distance dispersal of a wolf, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Canis lupus</Emphasis>, in northwestern Europe

Several mammal species have recolonized their historical ranges across Europe during the last decades. In November 2012, a wolf-looking canid was found dead in Thy National Park (56° 56′ N, 8° 25′ E) in Jutland, Denmark. DNA from this individual and nine German wolves were genotyped using a genome-wide panel of 22,163 canine single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and compared to existing profiles based on the same marker panel obtained from northeastern Polish (n?=?13) wolves, domestic dogs (n?=?13) and known wolf-dog hybrids (n?=?4). The Thy canid was confirmed to be a wolf from the German-western Polish population, approximately 800 km to the southeast. Access to the German reference database on DNA profiles based on 13 autosomal microsatellites of German wolves made it possible to pinpoint the exact pack origin of the Thy wolf in Saxony, Germany. This was the first documented observation of a wolf in Denmark in 200 years and another example of long-distance dispersal of a carnivore.     

Effectiveness of odour repellents on red deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cervus elaphus</Emphasis>) and roe deer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Capreolus capreolus</Emphasis>): a field test

Chemical repellents are promoted as a method to reduce ungulate–vehicle collisions and ungulate browsing damages to agricultural and forestry resources. We tested the effectiveness of two odour repellents (Mota FL and Wolf Urine) on the foraging behaviour and area avoidance of free-ranging roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). The effects of the repellents were assessed by comparing deer visitation rates to sand arenas before and after application of repellents and visitation rates to control arenas. Neither of the tested products reduced deer visitation rates. Rapid habituation to olfactory stimuli and lack of sensitivity to predator odours may explain the ineffectiveness of the repellents to alter the behaviour of the deer. The results indicate that the tested products have no effects on roe deer and red deer behaviour and suggest that the effectiveness of the chemical area repellents as a measure to reduce deer–vehicle collision risk and browsing damages is questionable.     

Man and the last great wilderness: human impact on the deep sea

The deep sea, the largest ecosystem on Earth and one of the least studied, harbours high biodiversity and provides a wealth of resources. Although humans have used the oceans for millennia, technological developments now allow exploitation of fisheries resources, hydrocarbons and minerals below 2000 m depth. The remoteness of the deep seafloor has promoted the disposal of residues and litter. Ocean acidification and climate change now bring a new dimension of global effects. Thus the challenges facing the deep sea are large and accelerating, providing a new imperative for the science community, industry and national and international organizations to work together to develop successful exploitation management and conservation of the deep-sea ecosystem. This paper provides scientific expert judgement and a semi-quantitative analysis of past, present and future impacts of human-related activities on global deep-sea habitats within three categories: disposal, exploitation and climate change. The analysis is the result of a Census of Marine Life--SYNDEEP workshop (September 2008). A detailed review of known impacts and their effects is provided. The analysis shows how, in recent decades, the most significant anthropogenic activities that affect the deep sea have evolved from mainly disposal (past) to exploitation (present). We predict that from now and into the future, increases in atmospheric CO(2) and facets and consequences of climate change will have the most impact on deep-sea habitats and their fauna. Synergies between different anthropogenic pressures and associated effects are discussed, indicating that most synergies are related to increased atmospheric CO(2) and climate change effects. We identify deep-sea ecosystems we believe are at higher risk from human impacts in the near future: benthic communities on sedimentary upper slopes, cold-water corals, canyon benthic communities and seamount pelagic and benthic communities. We finalise this review with a short discussion on protection and management methods.     

Skin temperature increase caused by a mobile phone: a methodological infrared camera study

Mobile phone users often complain about burning sensations or a heating of the ear region. The increase in temperature may be due to thermal insulation by the phone, heating of the mobile phone resulting from its electrical power dissipation, and radio frequency (RF) exposure. The main objective of this study was to use infrared (IR) camera techniques to find how much each of these factors contributes to the increase in skin temperature resulting from the use of one GSM 900 phone. One subject, a healthy male, took part in the study. He was holding the phone in a normal position when the phone was switched off, when it was switched on but with the antenna replaced by a 50 Omega load to eliminate the RF exposure, and when it was transmitting RF fields. The output power could be fixed, and the minimal and the maximal power levels of the phone were used. The study was designed as a double blind experiment. The changes in temperature after 15 and 30 min of mobile phone use were calculated on the exposed side of the head relative to the unexposed side. The insulation and the electrical power dissipation led to statistically significant rises in the skin temperature, while the RF exposure did not.     

Liver concentrations of copper, cobalt, and selenium in wild Norwegian red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Liver samples from 245 wild red deer (Cervus elaphus) collected during the licensed hunting season in 2001 from five different locations in western Norway were analyzed for copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), and selenium (Se). The associations between these trace elements and geographical location, age group, and sex were studied. The median (and range of) liver concentrations (microg/g wet weight) for all the examined deer were: Cu 20 (1.7-103), Co 0.08 (<0.01-0.18), and Se 0.09 (0.04-1.0). The results indicate a generally low status of Cu and Se. In total, 15 (6%) red deer had deficient Cu levels (< 4 (microg/g). For all three elements, the liver concentrations showed a significant geographic variation. The geographic difference was most distinct for Cu. The lowest median Cu concentration was found in deer from the island Hitra, where 13% of the animals had deficient Cu levels. Significant differences between age groups were found for all elements, and generally, the adults (> or =2.5 yr) had the highest levels. No significant sex differences within the various age groups were found, with three exceptions: female calves and adults had significantly higher Co levels than male deer, and adult males had significantly higher Se levels than adult females. The Cu and Se status of wild red deer in parts of Norway is low; however, the significance of this needs to be explored further.     

Resistance to abomasal nematodes and individual genetic variability in reindeer

Resistance to parasites is believed to have a widespread influence on demographic and adaptive processes. In systems where parasites impose a fitness cost on their host, heterozygotes may be selected because they are more resistant to parasites than homozygotes. Our objective was to assess the relationships between genomewide individual heterozygosity and abomasal nematode burdens in female Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) after the effects of host age, locality, season, and year had been accounted for. Samples were obtained from 306 female reindeer that were culled and genotyped at nine microsatellite loci. Reindeer in our study populations are mainly parasitized by the gastrointestinal nematodes Ostertagia gruehneri and Marshallagia marshalli. The infection intensity of each parasite differed between subpopulations, and among host age classes, seasons and years. We found no significant relationships between abomasal worm burdens, or lumen and mucosa larvae, of either O. gruehneri or M. marshalli and individual heterozygosity (or mean d(2)) alone or in interactions with host age, locality, and year. Although we analysed one of the largest data set available to date on gastrointestinal nematodes of a wild ruminant, we used a typical data set of nine genetic neutral markers that may have had low power to detect heterozygosity-fitness correlations. We conclude that the proportion of the variance in parasite resistance explained by individual heterozygosity for neutral genetic markers is low in Svalbard reindeer and in vertebrates in general, and we suggest that the candidate-gene approach might be more fruitful for further research on gene-fitness correlations.     

Time of vaccination influences development of adhesions, growth and spinal deformities in Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

In August 1998, 3000 Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. parr were divided into 7 groups with 2 replicates. Every 6 wk until March of the following year 1 group was vaccinated. One group was held as an unvaccinated control. The fish were transferred to seawater in May 1999, and slaughtered in February 2000. Temperature, fish size and photoperiod at vaccination, and the time between vaccination and sea transfer thus varied among the groups. In all vaccinated groups, growth was reduced for 1 to 2 mo following vaccination. Intra-abdominal lesions developed faster, and stabilised at a higher level in the groups vaccinated early at the highest temperature and the smallest fish size. Growth in seawater was influenced by the time of vaccination. At the end of the experiment, the group vaccinated last (MAR) was the heaviest of the vaccinated groups (4.0 kg), and the group vaccinated first, i.e. in August (AUG) was smallest (3.2 kg). Growth rate in seawater differed only in the summer when specific growth rate was above 1.45 in all groups. There was a correlation between adhesion, condition factor and number of weeks from vaccination to sea transfer. The AUG group had the highest condition factor, with a top level of 1.64 in autumn, and this group also displayed the highest incidence of deformed vertebra. The experiment shows that side effects of vaccination can be significantly reduced when planning the vaccination strategy, by taking environmental factors and fish biology into consideration.     

Evolutionary and genetic analyses of mitochondrial translation initiation factors identify the missing mitochondrial IF3 in S. cerevisiae

Mitochondrial translation is essentially bacteria-like, reflecting the bacterial endosymbiotic ancestry of the eukaryotic organelle. However, unlike the translation system of its bacterial ancestors, mitochondrial translation is limited to just a few mRNAs, mainly coding for components of the respiratory complex. The classical bacterial initiation factors (IFs) IF1, IF2 and IF3 are universal in bacteria, but only IF2 is universal in mitochondria (mIF2). We analyse the distribution of mitochondrial translation initiation factors and their sequence features, given two well-propagated claims: first, a sequence insertion in mitochondrial IF2 (mIF2) compensates for the universal lack of IF1 in mitochondria, and secondly, no homologue of mitochondrial IF3 (mIF3) is identifiable in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our comparative sequence analysis shows that, in fact, the mIF2 insertion is highly variable and restricted in length and primary sequence conservation to vertebrates, while phylogenetic and in vivo complementation analyses reveal that an uncharacterized S. cerevisiae mitochondrial protein currently named Aim23p is a bona fide evolutionary and functional orthologue of mIF3. Our results highlight the lineage-specific nature of mitochondrial translation and emphasise that comparative analyses among diverse taxa are essential for understanding whether generalizations from model organisms can be made across eukaryotes.