Effects of Temperature, Salinity and Fish in Structuring the Macroinvertebrate Community in Shallow Lakes: Implications for Effects of Climate Change

Climate warming may lead to changes in the trophic structure and diversity of shallow lakes as a combined effect of increased temperature and salinity and likely increased strength of trophic interactions. We investigated the potential effects of temperature, salinity and fish on the plant-associated macroinvertebrate community by introducing artificial plants in eight comparable shallow brackish lakes located in two climatic regions of contrasting temperature: cold-temperate and Mediterranean. In both regions, lakes covered a salinity gradient from freshwater to oligohaline waters. We undertook day and night-time sampling of macroinvertebrates associated with the artificial plants and fish and free-swimming macroinvertebrate predators within artificial plants and in pelagic areas. Our results showed marked differences in the trophic structure between cold and warm shallow lakes. Plant-associated macroinvertebrates and free-swimming macroinvertebrate predators were more abundant and the communities richer in species in the cold compared to the warm climate, most probably as a result of differences in fish predation pressure. Submerged plants in warm brackish lakes did not seem to counteract the effect of fish predation on macroinvertebrates to the same extent as in temperate freshwater lakes, since small fish were abundant and tended to aggregate within the macrophytes. The richness and abundance of most plant-associated macroinvertebrate taxa decreased with salinity. Despite the lower densities of plant-associated macroinvertebrates in the Mediterranean lakes, periphyton biomass was lower than in cold temperate systems, a fact that was mainly attributed to grazing and disturbance by fish. Our results suggest that, if the current process of warming entails higher chances of shallow lakes becoming warmer and more saline, climatic change may result in a decrease in macroinvertebrate species richness and abundance in shallow lakes

Factors influencing zooplankton size structure at contrasting temperatures in coastal shallow lakes: Implications for effects of climate change

We assessed the importance of temperature, salinity, and predation for the size structure of zooplankton and provided insight into the future ecological structure and function of shallow lakes in a warmer climate. Artificial plants were introduced in eight comparable coastal shallow brackish lakes located at two contrasting temperatures: cold-temperate and Mediterranean climate region. Zooplankton, fish, and macroinvertebrates were sampled within the plants and at open-water habitats. The fish communities of these brackish lakes were characterized by small-sized individuals, highly associated with submerged plants. Overall, higher densities of small planktivorous fish were recorded in the Mediterranean compared to the cold-temperate region, likely reflecting temperature-related differences as have been observed in freshwater lakes. Our results suggest that fish predation is the major control of zooplankton size structure in brackish lakes, since fish density was related to a decrease in mean body size and density of zooplankton and this was reflected in a unimodal shaped biomass-sizespectrum with dominance of small sizes and low size diversity. Salinity might play a more indirect role by shaping zooplankton communities toward more salt-tolerant species. In a global-warming perspective, these results suggest that changes in the trophic structure of shallow lakes in temperate regions might be expected as a result of the warmer temperatures and the potentially associated increases in salinity. The decrease in the density of largebodied zooplankton might reduce the grazing on phytoplankton and thus the chances of maintaining the clear water state in these ecosystems

Building wood debris piles benefits avian seed dispersers in burned and logged Mediterranean pine forests

Salvage logging is a common practice carried out in burned forests worldwide, and intended to mitigate the economic losses caused by wildfires. Logging implies an additional disturbance occurring shortly after fire, although its ecological effects can be somewhat mitigated by leaving wood debris on site. The composition of the bird community and its capacity to provide ecosystem services such as seed dispersal offleshy-fruited plants have been shown to be affected by postfire logging. We assessedthe effects of the habitat structure resulting from different postfire management practices on the bird community, in three burned pine forests in Catalonia (western Mediterranean). For this purpose, we focused on the group of species that is responsible for seed dispersal, a process which takes place primarily during the winter in theMediterranean basin. In addition, we assessed microhabitat selection by seed disperser birds in such environments in relation to management practices. Our results showed a significant, positive relationship between the density of wood debris piles and the abundance of seed disperser birds. Furthermore, such piles were the preferredmicrohabitat of these species. This reveals an important effect of forest management on seed disperser birds, which is likely to affect the dynamics of bird-dependent seed dispersal. Thus, building wood debris piles can be a useful practice for the conservation of both the species and their ecosystem services, while also being compatible with timber harvesting

Case-Crossover Analysis of Air Pollution Health Effects: A Systematic Review of Methodology and Application

Case-crossover is one of the most used designs for analyzing the health-related effects of air pollution. Nevertheless, no one has reviewed its application and methodology in this context. Objective: We conducted a systematic review of case-crossover (CCO) designs used to study the relationship between air pollution and morbidity and mortality, from the standpoint of methodology and application.Data sources and extraction: A search was made of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases.Reports were classified as methodologic or applied. From the latter, the following information was extracted: author, study location, year, type of population (general or patients), dependent variable(s), independent variable(s), type of CCO design, and whether effect modification was analyzed for variables at the individual level. Data synthesis: The review covered 105 reports that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 24 addressed methodological aspects, and the remainder involved the design’s application. In the methodological reports, the designs that yielded the best results in simulation were symmetric bidirectional CCO and time-stratified CCO. Furthermore, we observed an increase across time in the use of certain CCO designs, mainly symmetric bidirectional and time-stratified CCO. The dependent variables most frequently analyzed were those relating to hospital morbidity; the pollutants most often studied were those linked to particulate matter. Among the CCO-application reports, 13.6% studied effect modification for variables at the individual level.Conclusions: The use of CCO designs has undergone considerable growth; the most widely used designs were those that yielded better results in simulation studies: symmetric bidirectional and time-stratified CCO. However, the advantages of CCO as a method of analysis of variables at the individual level are put to little use

Els «criteris de visibilització de les dones» en català: límits sintacticosemàntics i discursius

L'objectiu d'aquest article és analitzar els principals criteris que les guies d'estil recomanen per visibilitzar les dones ¿o per fer un ús no sexista del llenguatge¿ des de dos punts de vista: el sintacticosemàntic i el discursiu. Des del punt de vista sintacticosemàntic, s'estudien bàsicament els fenòmens relacionats amb la coordinació, la concordança i la repetició o elisió d'elements (per exemple, especificadors del nom), i la manera com les diferents opcions afecten el significat oracional. Des del punt de vista discursiu, s'analitzen els fenòmens relacionats amb la coreferència; és a dir, la relació entre les diferents maneres d'expressar un mateix referent per mitjà d'elements nominals al llarg del text, i l'efecte que provoquen en el text en conjunt. Amb aquest objectiu, l'estudi analitza des d'un punt de vista qualitatiu les dades proporcionades per un corpus de textos procedents de tres àmbits (polític, administratiu i educatiu) en què s'apliquen sovint aquesta mena de criteris. Paraules clau: català, llenguatge no sexista, visibilització lingüística de les dones, sintaxi, cohesió, coreferència, llenguatge androcèntric, estil. The goal of this article is to analyse the main criteria recommended by style guides aimed at making women more visible or, in other words, to make a non-sexist use of language. I will concentrate on two main aspects: the syntactic-semantic and the discursive. From a syntactic-semantic point of view, the main elements being studied are those related to coordination, agreement and repetition or omission of elements (for instance, noun specifiers), and also the way the different options chosen affect the meaning of the sentence. From a discursive and stylistic point of view, the elements analysed are those related to coreference, that is, the relationship between the different ways of expressing a same referent through different elements in the text, and the effect they produce in the text as a whole. Having this as the main goal, the study analyses from a qualitative point of view the data from a corpus in three different areas (politics, administration and education), which often apply this kind of criteria. Keywords: Catalan, non-sexist language, female linguistic visibility, syntax, cohesion, co-reference, androcentric language, style

El secret del càncer més resistent

En la lluita contra el càncer, la recerca de nous fàrmacs cada cop més efectius i específics sovint troba un escull important: en molts tumors hi ha una petita fracció de cèl·lules resistents, que no es poden eliminar fàcilment. Tanmateix, el principal problema no és aquest, sinó que, a més, acostumen a respondre als fàrmacs incrementant la taxa de proliferació i la capacitat de fer metàstasi. Això fa que alguns tractaments no acabin de ser del tot efectius a llarg termini, per la presència cada cop més nombrosa i dispersa d'aquestes cèl·lules canceroses resistents. L'equip de recerca de Joan Massagué, al Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center de Nova York, ha demostrat que aquest efecte a llarg termini induït pels mateixos fàrmacs és perquè les cèl·lules sensibles, abans de morir, preparen un ambient molt favorable per a les resistents.

'Selfies' i dolor social

D'uns anys ençà m'he fixat que, cada cop amb major freqüència, moltes persones immortalitzen el moment fent-se una selfie, malgrat vagin en grup. El fenomen de les selfies ha pres molta volada, especialment però no únicament entre els joves, els quals s'afanyen a penjar-les a les xarxes socials. Segurament, la facilitat que ofereixen els mòbils i les tauletes justifica part d'aquest increment. Tanmateix, fa l'efecte que qui es fa la selfie està més enamorat d'ell mateix que no pas interessat per l'activitat que està realitzant, les persones amb qui la comparteix o la bellesa o la història de l'indret on es troba. Fins a cert punt recorda el que li passava al Narcís mitològic, enamorat del seu reflex. A mitjan març, la revista PNAS va publicar un article que començava dient: 'El nivell de narcisisme està incrementant entre la joventut occidental, i contribueix a la generació de problemes socials com ara les agressions i la violència'[...].

Instints, energia i canvi climàtic

Avui fa una setmana es va cloure la cimera del clima, sense progressos significatius. Quan es discuteix sobre canvi climàtic es posa molt èmfasi en les emissions de gasos d'efecte hivernacle, i es parla de desenvolupament, industrialització i sostenibilitat, però no es té en compte la causa primera de tot això, la nostra idiosincràsia biològica [...].

Analytical investigation of the atmospheric radiation limits in semigray atmospheres in radiative equilibrium

We model the wavelength-dependent absorption of atmospheric gases by assuming constant mass absorption coefficients in finite-width spectral bands. Such a semigray atmosphere is analytically solved by a discrete ordinate method. The general solution is analyzed for a water vapor saturated atmosphere that also contains a carbon dioxide-like absorbing gas in the infrared. A multiple stable equilibrium with a relative upper limit in the outgoing long-wave radiation is found. Differing from previous radiative–convective models, we find that the amount of carbon dioxide strongly modifies the value of this relative upper limit. This result is also obtained in a gray (i.e., equal absorption of radiation at all infrared wavelengths) water vapor saturated atmosphere. The destabilizing effect of carbon dioxide implies that massive carbon dioxide atmospheres are more likely to reach a runaway greenhouse state than thin carbon dioxide ones

Can salvage logging affect seed dispersal by birds into burned forests?

The recovery of vegetation in Mediterranean ecosystems after wildfire is mostly a result of direct regeneration, since the same species existing before the fire regenerate on-site by seeding or resprouting. However, the possibility of plant colonization by dispersal of seeds from unburned areas remains poorly studied. We addressed the role of the frugivorous, bird-dependent seed dispersal (seed rain) of fleshy-fruited plants in a burned and managed forest in the second winter after a fire, before on-site fruit production had begun. We also assessed the effect on seed rain of different microhabitats resulting from salvage logging (erosion barriers, standing snags, open areas), as well as the microhabitats of unlogged patches and an unburned control forest, taking account of the importance of perches as seed rain sites. We found considerable seed rain by birds in the burned area. Seeds, mostly from Olive trees Olea europaea and Evergreen pistaches Pistacia lentiscus, belonged to plants fruiting only in surrounding unburned areas. Seed rain was heterogeneous, and depended on microhabitat, with the highest seed density in the unburned control forest but closely followed by the wood piles of erosion barriers. In contrast, very low densities were found under perches of standing snags. Furthermore, frugivorous bird richness seemed to be higher in the erosion barriers than elsewhere. Our results highlight the importance of this specific post-fire management in bird-dependent seed rain and also may suggest a consequent heterogeneous distribution of fleshy-fruited plants in burned and managed areas. However, there needs to be more study of the establishment success of dispersed seeds before an accurate assessment can be made of the role of bird-mediated seed dispersal in post-fire regeneration

Effects of the sewage pollution in the structure and dynamics of the community of Cystoseira mediterranea (Fucales, Phaeophyceae)

We performed a study on the specific composition, structure, and dynamics of two Cystoseira mediterranea communities from the north-western Mediterranean submitted to different degrees of pollution. The structural complexity (species richness, specific distribution, and species and pattern diversity) and biomass production were lower in the polluted site. In this station, opportunistic algae (mainly Ulva rigida) loomed, and Mesophyllum lichenoides and some encrusting brown algae increased their cover. Other species (Jania rubens, and some Ceramiales) decreased their abundance when compared with the polluted site