Effectiveness of Wildlife Underpasses and Fencing to Reduce Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions

ABSTRACT Transportation planners are increasingly incorporating roadway design features to mitigate impacts of highways on wildlife and to increase driver safety. We used camera and track surveys to evaluate wildlife use before and after construction of 3 wildlife underpasses and associated fencing on a new section of United States Highway 64 in Washington County, North Carolina, USA. We recorded 242 occasions of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of underpass areas before highway construction began. Following completion of the highway, we collected 2,433 photographs of 9 species with deer representing 93% of all crossings. Adjusting for differences in number of monitoring days, white-tailed deer use of underpass areas averaged 6.7 times greater after the new highway and underpasses were completed. We recorded 3,614 wildlife crossings of ≥20 species based on track counts, representing most medium and large mammals known to occur in the area and several reptiles and birds. After completion of the highway, we documented wildlife mortality due to vehicle collisions during a 13-month period and recorded 128 incidences representing ≥24 species. Within fenced highway segments, mortalities were lowest near underpasses and increased with distance from the underpasses. However, we also documented more mortalities in fenced areas compared with unfenced areas. With greater distance from an underpass, animals with smaller home ranges seemed less likely to reach the underpass and instead attempted to climb over or crawl under fencing. Based on collision reports from adjacent highway sections, the new section of United States Highway 64 experienced approximately 58% fewer wildlife mortalities (primarily white-tailed deer), suggesting underpasses and fencing reduced the number of deer-vehicle collisions. Continuous fencing between underpasses may further reduce the number of vehicle collisions for deer but additional design features (e.g., buried fencing) should be considered for other wildlife species.     

Phenol-mediated improved performance of active biomass for treatment of distillery wastewater

Activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant consists of a consortium of microbes that utilize various organic molecules including persistent organic pollutants for their survival. Phenolic compounds and their derivatives along with dibenzofuran (DBF) are found as dominating pollutants in distillery waste. The acclimatization process leads to selective enrichment of the microbial community; and in this study, we report the acclimatizing effect of phenol on improving the treatment efficiency of two different distillery sludges—sludge from conventional aeration tanks (CAT), and from an extended aeration tank (EAT). The adaptation-dependent performance of activated biomass was studied by monitoring the increase in colony-forming units (CFUs) on mineral media and the utilization pattern for phenol (300×10³ and 530×10³ CFU for CAT and EAT sludge, respectively) and DBF (260×10³ and 430×10³ CFU for CAT and EAT sludge, respectively). The study showed that the acclimatization process remarkably improved the performance sludge for treatment of distillery wastewater. There was an improvement in chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency from 19% (unacclimatized sludge) to 31% in the case of acclimatized sludge (raw wastewater), which improved further to 82% and 87% with dilution of wastewater by 10 times (0.1×) and by 50 times (0.02×), respectively. Highest growth yields were observed with 0.1× wastewater (0.324 and 0.308 g g⁻¹ d⁻¹ for CAT and EAT sludges, respectively), while lower values are reported for the remaining two forms of wastewater. The study proposes that acclimatization step could be included as part of a treatment plant where the activated biomass could be intermittently metabolically charged by exposing it to selected molecules to increase treatment efficiency.     

Movement of small RNAs in and between plants and fungi

RNA interference is a biological process whereby small RNAs inhibit gene expression through neutralizing targeted mRNA molecules. This process is conserved in eukaryotes. Here, recent work regarding the mechanisms of how small RNAs move within and between organisms is examined. Small RNAs can move locally and systemically in plants through plasmodesmata and phloem, respectively. In fungi, transportation of small RNAs may also be achieved by septal pores and vesicles. Recent evidence also supports bidirectional cross-kingdom communication of small RNAs between host plants and adapted fungal pathogens to affect the outcome of infection. We discuss several mechanisms for small RNA trafficking and describe evidence for transport through naked form, combined with RNA-binding proteins or enclosed by vesicles.     

Noise footprint from personal land‐based mobility

A large part of the world population is exposed to noise levels that are unhealthy. Yet noise is often neglected when impact assessment studies are conducted and when policy interventions are designed. In this study, we provide a way to calculate the noise footprint of citizens directly determined by their use of private and public transport on land. The study combines the results of the large transport simulation model MATSim applied to Switzerland, with a noise characterization model, N‐LCA, developed in the context of life cycle assessment. MATSim results allow tracking the use of private and public transportation by agents in the model. The results after characterization provide a consumption‐based noise footprint, thus the total noise and impacts that are caused by the private mobility demand of the citizens of Switzerland. Our results confirm that road transportation is the largest contributor to the total noise footprint of land‐based mobility. We also included a scenario with a full transition to an electrified car fleet, which showed the potential for the reduction of impacts, particularly in urban areas, by about 55% as compared to the modeled regime with combustion engines.     

A carboxylic residue at the high-affinity, Mn-binding site participates in the binding of iron cations that block the site

The role of carboxylic residues at the high-affinity, Mn-binding site in the ligation of iron cations blocking the site [Biochemistry 41 (2000) 5854] was studied, using a method developed to extract the iron cations blocking the site. We found that specifically bound Fe(III) cations can be extracted with citrate buffer at pH 3.0. Furthermore, citrate can also prevent the photooxidation of Fe(II) cations by Y_Z. Participation of a COOH group(s) in the ligation of Fe(III) at the high-affinity site was investigated using 1-ethyl-3-[(3-dimethylamino)propyl] carbodiimide (EDC), a chemical modifier of carboxylic amino acid residues. Modification of the COOH groups inhibits the light-induced oxidation of exogenous Mn(II) cations by Mn-depleted photosystem II (PSII[−Mn]) membranes. The rate of Mn(II) oxidation saturates at ≥10 μM in PSII(−Mn) membranes and ≥500 μM in EDC-treated PSII (−Mn) samples. Intact PSII(−Mn) membranes have only one site for Mn(II) oxidation via Y_Z (dissociation constant, K_d = 0.64 μM), while EDC-treated PSII(−Mn) samples have two sites (K_d = 1.52 and 22 μM; the latter is the low-affinity site). When PSII(−Mn) membranes were incubated with Fe(II) before modifier treatment (to block the high-affinity site) and the blocking iron cations were extracted with citrate (pH 3.0) after modification, the membranes contained only one site (K_d = 2.3 μM) for exogenous Mn(II) oxidation by Y_Z radical. In this case, the rate of electron donation via Y_Z saturated at a Mn(II) concentration ≥15 μM. These results indicate that the carboxylic residue participating in Mn(II) coordination and the binding of oxidized manganese cations at the HA_Z site is protected from the action of the modifier by the iron cations blocking the HA_Z site. We concluded that the carboxylic residue (D1 Asp-170) participating in the coordination of the manganese cation at the HA_Z site (Mn4 in the tetranuclear manganese cluster [Science 303 (2004) 1831]) is also involved in the ligation of the Fe cation(s) blocking the high-affinity Mn-binding site.     

Micropropagation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Teucrium fruticans</Emphasis> L., an ornamental and medicinal plant

An efficient protocol for in vitro propagation of the valuable ornamental and medicinal plant Bush germander (Teucrium fruticans L.) was developed through axillary shoot proliferation. A Murashige and Skoog agar medium supplemented with benzylaminopurine (6.6 μM), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (0.053 μM), and sucrose (3%) significantly improved the production of multiple shoots directly from nodal segment explants, resulting in an average of 2.8 shoots per segment with an average of 6.8 nodes per shoot that would be potential newly formed explants. The new shoots were developed without a marked decrease in the average height of the shoots. Shoots treated with 2.5 μM indole-3-butyric acid showed the highest average root number (7.9) and the highest percentage of rooting (94%). Plantlets were hardened off and transferred to jiffy pots for acclimatization under greenhouse conditions, resulting in a 100% survival rate.     

大气C02浓度升高对稻田土壤溶液中阴离子浓度的影响

利用中国稻/麦轮作FACE(Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment)试验平台,研究了 大气CO2浓度升高对稻季各生育期耕层土壤溶液中Cl-、CO2-3、HCO-3、SO2-4、NO-3和溶解无机磷(DIP)等阴离子浓度的影响,探讨了稻田生态系统土壤元素地球化学循环对大气CO2浓度升高的响应.结果表明:大气CO2浓度升高降低了土壤溶液SO2-4浓度,提高了HCO-3浓度,与5 cm处相比,其在15 cm处的影响程度更大;大气CO2浓度升高有增加土壤溶液NO-3和溶解无机磷(DIP)的趋势;对CO2-3和Cl-未表现出明显的规律性影响.文章还分析了大气CO2浓度升高对土壤溶液阴离子浓度产生影响的可能机理.     

Man-made environmental changes affect the boundary between two taxa of Laudakia

This project tested whether, and how, man-made changes in the environment would affect the boundary between parapatric-related taxa of Laudakia ( Reptilia: Agamidae ), whose distributions meet at a boundary between ecological regions. Israel is ecologically diverse with a mesic (Mediterranean) north and an arid (Saharo-Arabian) south. The lizard hardun Laudakia stellio is represented in Israel mainly by two subspecies: the Mediterranean Lau . s . ssp. and the desert Lau. s. brachydactyla . These are conventionally distinguished by the key character, number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe, visible in museum specimens examined for the purpose. The results revealed that during 1935–1978, the boundary between the two subspecies had shifted 15 km southwards. This is interpreted as resulting from the documented southwards spread of irrigated agriculture. During this time, the average subdigital count of each subspecies near the inter-taxa boundary shifted slightly towards the average of the other subspecies. In each subspecies, in this area, at the same time, the coefficient of variation of the subdigital count increased. The last two processes are interpreted as reflecting reciprocal migration, enhanced by the documented expanded road system and intensified human transportation. Hence, in this case, anthropogenic developments have changed both the location and the genetic structure of the boundary between two parapatric taxa.