Temporal variations and pond age effect on plankton communities in semi-intensive freshwater marron (Cherax cainii,Austin and Ryan, 2002) earthen aquaculture ponds in Western Australia

The abundance and diversity of the plankton community represents the health of the aquatic ecosystem, and plays an important role in the growth of cultured animals under aquaculture conditions. The temporal variations of plankton abundance, taxonomic composition, diversity, evenness and species richness were studied in three old and three new semi-intensive marron (Cherax cainii, Austin and Ryan, 2002) ponds. Water parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, TAN, nitrite, nitrate and reactive phosphate were recorded, and plankton samples were collected every two months, for one year of juvenile production cycle. A total of twenty-six phytoplankton and seven zooplankton genera were recorded. Chlorophyceae was the dominant class of phytoplankton throughout the year, followed by Trebouxiophyceae. Rotifera comprised 49.8% of the total zooplankton community (individuals L^?1), the largest proportion of any group. Temporal variations impacted the plankton abundance and community structure, and plankton abundance were more abundant during summer. The pond age did not influence the phytoplankton abundance, whereas zooplankton abundance was higher in older ponds.     

Distribution patterns of Batrachium communities in Mediterranean hard waters

The greatest number of Batrachium plant-communities is reached in base-poor waters of SW Europe where most Batrachium species develop laminar leaves. In contrast, base-rich waters of the Western Mediterranean are characterized by few Batrachium communities and by the only one Batrachium species present in the area with only dissected leaves. This work focused initially on studying the water ecology of Iberian Batrachium communities' developing in hard waters in order to seek to what extend the water physical–chemical gradient determines the occurrence of heterophyllous or homophyllous-dissected species. Floristic data and water physical–chemical data were analyzed using multivariate and comparative methods. We found two main types of Batrachium communities: community of Ranunculus trichophyllus – homophyllous and dissected species–, and community of Ranunculus penicillatus – heterophyllous species–. Alkalinity degree is the main factor separating both communities. Our results of a tentative survey on Batrachium composition in hard waters in the Eastern Mediterranean showed a wider range of physical–chemical water features as well as a greater number of Batrachium species with only dissected leaves in comparison to Western Mediterranean. We conclude that high alkalinity is related to the occurrence of Batrachium communities characterized by species with only dissected leaves in both the western and eastern parts of Mediterranean Europe.     

Inhibition of two enzyme systems in Euchlanis dilatata (Rotifera: Monogononta) as biomarker of effect of metals and pesticides

The inhibitory effects on esterases and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) in the freshwater rotifer Euchlanis dilatata, native to Mexico, were assessed by fluorimetry after in vivo exposure (30?min) in laboratory conditions to sublethal concentrations of metals and pesticides. EC₅₀ values for esterases ranged from 7.9?×?10^?7 for DDT to 61.9 μg l^?1 for methyl parathion, while corresponding values for PLA2 ranged from 0.96?×?10^?6 for mercury to 69.2 μg l^?1 for lead. These enzyme systems in E. dilatata are very sensitive to the tested agents and suggest they would be suitable biomarkers. However, sensitivity to other environmental contaminants should be investigated in laboratory conditions and field studies to assess their potential as environmental biomarkers.     

A QUANTITATIVE SAMPLER FOR SUBMERGED AQUATIC MACROPHYTES

SUMMARY

A simple rotary sampler, capable of quantitatively harvesting submerged aquatic macrophytes is described. The sampler can be operated from a boat and consists of a central rod with a specially designed cutting blade at the base, and collecting hooks to catch the cut material. The values obtained with this sampler were not significantly different (at the 95% level of probabality) from those obtained by manual cutting underwater. The rotary sampler has great advantages in terms of time, ease of positioning, and effort over hand cutting.     

中国淡水鱼类人工增殖放流现状

随着鱼类资源的持续衰退以及保护水产学的兴起,鱼类人工增殖放流已由传统渔业增殖发展成为特有珍稀鱼类种群恢复的主要技术手段。近年来,我国淡水鱼类人工增殖放流涉及水系多、规模大且种类丰富,取得了显著效果并积累了大量基础资料和经验。为深入开展人工增殖放流基础研究,规范技术并提升生态效益,该文收集整理了国内、外相关文献资料,分别从基础理论、塘养种群管理及效果评价等方面阐述人工增殖放流的理论背景,并结合我国"四大家鱼"、中华鲟、胭脂鱼、滇池金线鲃及其他珍稀濒危鱼类人工增殖放流现状,讨论了野外监测和效果评价的作用和意义,提出放流种群遗传局限性、数量和规格权衡以及经济效益与生态效益权衡等问题,旨在为相关研究和人工放流实践提供系统资料。     

Diversity of sulfur-cycle prokaryotes in freshwater lake sediments investigated using aprA as the functional marker gene

The diversity of sulfate-reducing prokaryotes (SRPs) and sulfur-oxidizing prokaryotes (SOPs) in freshwater lake ecosystems was investigated by cloning and sequencing of the aprA gene, which encodes for a key enzyme in dissimilatory sulfate reduction and sulfur oxidation. To understand their diversity better, the spatial distribution of aprA genes was investigated in sediments collected from six geographically distant lakes in Antarctica and Japan, including a hypersaline lake for comparison. The microbial community compositions of freshwater sediments and a hypersaline sediment showed notable differences. The clones affiliated with Desulfobacteraceae and Desulfobulbaceae were frequently detected in all freshwater lake sediments. The SOP community was mainly composed of four major phylogenetic groups. One of them formed a monophyletic cluster with a sulfur-oxidizing betaproteobacterium, Sulfuricella denitrificans, but the others were not assigned to specific genera. In addition, the AprA sequences, which were not clearly affiliated to either SRP or SOP lineages, dominated the libraries from four freshwater lake sediments. The results showed the wide distribution of some sulfur-cycle prokaryotes across geographical distances and supported the idea that metabolic flexibility is an important feature for SRP survival in low-sulfate environments.     

Lignicolous freshwater fungi along a north–south latitudinal gradient in the Asian/Australian region; can we predict the impact of global warming on biodiversity and function?

Fungi play a key role in decomposition of submerged wood in streams, breaking down lignocelluloses and releasing nutrients, and are important in ecosystem functioning. These wood decay fungi are known as freshwater lignicolous fungi and are usually studied by collecting submerged woody litter, followed by incubation in a moist chamber. This review explains what are freshwater lignicolous fungi, their decay mechanisms, roles and physiological attributes. Asian/Australasian lignicolous freshwater fungi have been relatively well-surveyed and enable an account of their distribution along a latitudinal transect. Unlike freshwater leaf-dwelling fungi their diversity in water bodies is greater towards the Equator which suggests they are important for decaying submerged wood in the tropics. Riparian vegetation, disturbances such as pollution, streams drying and study methods, may all affect the diversity of freshwater lignicolous fungi, however, the overall trend is a higher diversity in the tropics and subtropics. Climate changes together with increasing deposition of woody debris from human activities, and alteration of environmental factors (such as water pollution, and dam building) will impact freshwater lignicolous fungi. Changing diversity, structure and activities of freshwater fungal communities can be expected, which will significantly impact on aquatic ecosystems, particularly on nutrient and carbon cycles. There is a great opportunity to monitor changes in freshwater fungi communities along latitudinal (north to south) and habitat gradients (from human disturbed to natural habitats), and study ecological thresholds and consequences of such changes, particularly its feedback on nutrient and carbon cycles in freshwater systems.     

No correlation between inbreeding depression and delayed selfing in the freshwater snail Physa acuta

Inbreeding depression, one of the main factors driving mating system evolution, can itself evolve as a function of the mating system (the genetic purging hypothesis). Classical models of coevolution between mating system and inbreeding depression predict negative associations between inbreeding depression and selfing rate, but more recent approaches suggest that negative correlations should usually be too weak or transient to be detected within populations. Empirical results remain unclear and restricted to plants. Here, we evaluate, for the first time, the within-population genetic correlation between inbreeding depression and a trait that controls the amount of self-fertilization (the waiting time) in a self-fertile hermaphroditic animal, the freshwater snail Physa acuta. Using a large quantitative-genetic design (36 grand-families and 348 families), we observe abundant within-population family-level genetic variation for both inbreeding depression (estimated for survival, fecundity, and size) and the degree of behavioral selfing avoidance. However, we detected no correlation between waiting time and inbreeding depression across families. In agreement with recent models, this result shows that mutational variance rather than differential purging accounts for most of the genetic variance in inbreeding depression within a population.