Distributional potential of the Triatoma brasiliensis species complex at present and under scenarios of future climate conditions

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

SIMULATION OF USE AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTS ON THE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER POOLS OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST BIOME, BRAZIL

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Is hatchery stocking a help or harm? Evidence, limitations and future directions in ecological and genetic surveys

Hatchery fish stocking for stock enhancement has been operated at a massive and global scale. However, the use of hatchery fish as a means of stock enhancement is highly controversial, and little is known about its effects on wild stock and consequences for stock enhancement. Here we review the scientific literature on this subject in order to address a fundamental - question is hatchery stocking a help or harm for wild stock and stock enhancement? We summarized 266 peer-reviewed papers that were published in the last 50 years, which describe empirical case studies on ecology and genetics of hatchery stocks and their effects on stock enhancement. Specifically, we asked whether hatchery stock and wild stock differed in fitness and the level of genetic variation, and whether stocking affected population abundance. Seventy studies contained comparisons between hatchery and wild stocks, out of which 23 studies showed significantly negative effects of hatchery rearing on the fitness of stocked fish, and 28 studies showed reduced genetic variation in hatchery populations. None of these studies suggested a positive genetic effect on the fitness of hatchery-reared individuals after release. These results suggest that negative effects of hatchery rearing are not just a concern but undeniably present in many aquaculture species. In a few cases, however, no obvious effect of hatchery rearing was observed, and a positive contribution of hatchery stock to the abundance of fish populations was indicated. These examples suggest that there is a chance to improve hatchery practices and mitigate the negative effects on wild stocks, although scientific data supporting the positive effect on stock enhancement are largely missing at this moment. Technically, microsatellite-based parentage assignments have been proven as a useful tool for the evaluation of reproductive fitness in natural settings, which is a key for stock enhancement by hatchery-based stocking. We discuss implications of these results, as well as their limitations and future directions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Current and future variations of nutrient depositions and influences on tree growth

Current nutrient deposition shows episodic variations which likely may impact the local nutrient cycle at the RBSF. Comparing analyses of deposition data during present-day atmospheric circulation and phases of high biomass burning in the Amazon, characteristic relationships between remote emissions and local deposition are determined. By using projections drawn from the special report on emission scenarios (SRES) in combination with a trajectory modeling tool, future nutrient deposition conditions of the mountain ecosystem are assessed. Observations of relations between climatic variables, current time series of nutrient deposition, and tree growth point to an impact of the remote fertilization effect of atmospheric matters, emitted primarily by human activities like biomass burning and agricultural and industrial sources. The increasing emissions in the future may have adverse effects on the ecosystem in the long run.

Intensive care sedation: the past, present and the future

Despite the universal prescription of sedative drugs in the intensive care unit (ICU), current practice is not guided by high-level evidence. Landmark sedation trials have made significant contributions to our understanding of the problems associated with ICU sedation and have promoted changes to current practice. We identified challenges and limitations of clinical trials which reduced the generalizability and the universal adoption of key interventions. We present an international perspective regarding current sedation practice and a blueprint for future research, which seeks to avoid known limitations and generate much-needed high-level evidence to better guide clinicians' management and therapeutic choices of sedative agents.

The women of Israel or: characters and sketches from the holy scriptures and Jewish history : illustrative of the past history, present duties, and future destiny of the Hebrew females, as based on the words of god

by Grace Aguilar

After-effects and after-effects and after-effects of after-effects: The multiple side effects of prospective memory

In a prospective memory task responding to a prospective memory target involves switching between ongoing and prospective memory task which can result in a slowing of subsequent ongoing task performance (i.e., an after-effect). Moreover, a slowing can also occur when prospective memory targets occur after the prospective memory task is deactivated (i.e., another after-effect). In this study, we investigated both after-effects within the same study. Moreover, we also tested whether the latter after-effects even occur on subsequent ongoing task trials. The results show, in fact, after-effects of all kinds. Thus, (1) correctly responding to prospective memory targets results in after-effects, a so far neglected cost on ongoing task performance, (2) responding to deactivated prospective memory targets also slows down performance, probably due to the involuntary retrieval of the intention, and (3) this slowing is present even on subsequent ongoing task trials, suggesting that even deactivated intentions are sufficient to induce a conflict that requires subsequent adaptation. Overall, these results indicate that performance slowing in a prospective memory experiment includes various kinds of sources, not only monitoring cost, and these sources may be understood best in terms of conflict adaptation.

Global ASCII grids with daylenth values during summer and winter solstice and ASCII grids representing habitat suitability of Fucus distichus and its niche overlap with temperate macroalgae under present-day and future (2100, 2200) conditions

Abstract has to be submitted by the author!

Mesocosm experiment on warming and acidification effects in 2012: Zooplankton data

Concerns about increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations and global warming have initiated studies on the consequences of multiple-stressor interactions on marine organisms and ecosystems. We present a fully-crossed factorial mesocosm study and assess how warming and acidification affect the abundance, body size, and fatty acid composition of copepods as a measure of nutritional quality. The experimental set-up allowed us to determine whether the effects of warming and acidification act additively, synergistically, or antagonistically on the abundance, body size, and fatty acid content of copepods, a major group of lower level consumers in marine food webs. Copepodite (developmental stages 1-5) and nauplii abundance were antagonistically affected by warming and acidification. Higher temperature decreased copepodite and nauplii abundance, while acidification partially compensated for the temperature effect. The abundance of adult copepods was negatively affected by warming. The prosome length of copepods was significantly reduced by warming, and the interaction of warming and CO2 antagonistically affected prosome length. Fatty acid composition was also significantly affected by warming. The content of saturated fatty acids increased, and the ratios of the polyunsaturated essential fatty acids docosahexaenoic- (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) to total fatty acid content increased with higher temperatures. Additionally, here was a significant additive interaction effect of both parameters on arachidonic acid. Our results indicate that in a future ocean scenario, acidification might partially counteract some observed effects of increased temperature on zooplankton, while adding to others. These may be results of a fertilizing effect on phytoplankton as a copepod food source. In summary, copepod populations will be more strongly affected by warming rather than by acidifying oceans, but ocean acidification effects can modify some temperature impacts