A methodology for applying Taxonomic Sufficiency and benthic biotic indices in two Mediterranean areas

Biotic indices have been developed to summarise information provided by benthic macroinvertebrates, but their use can require specialized taxonomic expertise as well as a time-consuming operation. Using high taxonomic level in biotic indices reduces sampling processing time but should be considered with caution, since assigning tolerance level to high taxonomic levels may cause uncertainty. A methodology for family level tolerance categorization based on the affinity of each family with disturbed or undisturbed conditions was employed. This family tolerance classification approach was tested in two different areas from Mediterranean Sea affected by sewage discharges. Biotic indices employed at family level responded correctly to sewage presence. However, in areas with different communities among stations and high diversity of species within each family, assigning the same tolerance level to a whole family could imply mistakes. Thus, use of high taxonomic level in biotic indices should be only restricted to areas where homogeneous community is presented and families across sites have similar species composition.

Desigualdades de género en salud laboral en España

Objetivos: Analizar las desigualdades de género en las condiciones de empleo, trabajo, conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar, y en los problemas de salud relacionados con el trabajo en una muestra de la población ocupada en España en el año 2007 teniendo en cuenta la clase social y el sector de actividad. Métodos: Las desigualdades de género se analizaron mediante 25 indicadores en los 11.054 trabajadores entrevistados en la VI Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Trabajo. Se calcularon las odds ratio (OR) y sus intervalos de confianza del 95% (IC95%) mediante modelos de regresión logística multivariados, estratificando por clase social ocupacional y sector de actividad. Resultados: Más mujeres que hombres trabajaban sin contrato (OR = 1,83; IC95%: 1,51-2,21), con alto esfuerzo o baja recompensa (1,14:1,05-1,25) y sufriendo acoso sexual (2,85:1,75-4,62), discriminación (1,60:1,26-2,03) y más dolores osteomusculares (1,38:1,19-1,59). Más hombres que mujeres trabajaban a turnos (0,86:0,79-0,94), con altos niveles de ruido (0,34:0,30-0,40), altas exigencias físicas (0,58:0,54-0,63) y sufriendo más lesiones por accidentes de trabajo (0,67:0,59-0,76). Las trabajadoras no manuales mostraron trabajar con un contrato temporal (1,34:1,09-1,63), expuestas a más riesgos psicosociales y sufriendo mayor discriminación (2,47:1,49-4,09) y enfermedades profesionales (1,91:1,28-2,83). En el sector de la industria las desigualdades de género fueron más marcadas. Conclusiones: En España existen importantes desigualdades de género en las condiciones de empleo, trabajo y en los problemas de salud relacionados con el trabajo, que se ven influenciadas por la clase social y el sector de actividad, y que sería necesario tener en consideración en las políticas públicas de salud laboral.

Beta diversity at multiple hierarchical levels: explaining the high diversity of scarab beetles in tropical montane forests

Aim: High gamma diversity in tropical montane forests may be ascribed to high geographical turnover of community composition, resulting from population isolation that leads to speciation. We studied the evolutionary processes responsible for diversity and turnover in assemblages of tropical scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) by assessing DNA sequence variation at multiple hierarchical levels. Location: A 300-km transect across six montane forests (900–1100 m) in Costa Rica. Methods: Assemblages of Scarabaeidae (subfamilies Dynastinae, Rutelinae, Melolonthinae) including 118 morphospecies and > 500 individuals were sequenced for the cox1 gene to establish species limits with a mixed Yule–coalescent method. A species-level phylogenetic tree was constructed from cox1 and rrnL genes. Total diversity and turnover among assemblages were then assessed at three hierarchical levels: haplotypes, species and higher clades. Results: DNA-based analyses showed high turnover among communities at all hierarchical levels. Turnover was highest at the haplotype level (community similarity 0.02–0.12) and decreased with each step of the hierarchy (species: 0.21–0.46; clades: 0.41–0.43). Both compositional and phylogenetic similarities of communities were geographically structured, but turnover was not correlated with distance among forests. When three major clades were investigated separately, communities of Dynastinae showed consistently higher alpha diversity, larger species ranges and lower turnover than Rutelinae and Melolonthinae. Main conclusions: Scarab communities of montane forests show evidence of evolutionary persistence of communities in relative isolation, presumably tracking suitable habitats elevationally to accommodate climatic changes. Patterns of diversity on all hierarchical levels seem to be determined by restricted dispersal, and differences in Dynastinae could be explained by their greater dispersal ability. Community-wide DNA sequencing across multiple lineages and hierarchical levels reveals the evolutionary processes that led to high beta diversity in tropical montane forests through time.