Reproductive Patterns and Tidal Effects on Spat Settlement of Mytilus Edulis Populations in Dundrum Bay, Northern Ireland

The gametogenic and spat settlement patterns of two Mytihis edulis beds were studied in Dundrum Inner Bay, Northern Ireland. There was evidence of gonad development throughout the year with the main development period between November and March. Spawning was protracted, lasting from May to November. Slight inter-annual and inter-population differences in the riming of the phases were observed but the cycles at both beds were broadly similar to each other and to those of other British and Irish sites. Settlement occurred throughout the year and there was evidence of both primary and secondary spat settlement at both sites. Although the reproductive cycles were similar, distinct seasonal and inter-site differences in spatfall were apparent. At the Downshire Bridge bed, settlement peaked during summer and was dominated by spat in the 0•;5-1•0 mm size range. At Ballykinler, settlement levels were highest in the winter months and larger (>1 mm) spat dominated the samples. The orientation of spat collection pads also significantly affected numbers of the larger (>1 mm) spat. Collectors facing the flood tide attracted significantly more secondary settlers than ebb-facing collectors. This effect varied seasonally and was greater at the Ballykinler bed. It is suggested that hydrodynamic regimes may be an important factor in the differences in settlement patterns of M. edulis.

False-positive PCR results linked to administration of seasonal influenza vaccine

False-positive PCR results usually occur as a consequence of specimen-to-specimen or amplicon-to-specimen contamination within the laboratory. Evidence of contamination at time of specimen collection linked to influenza vaccine administration in the same location as influenza sampling is described. Clinical, circumstantial and laboratory evidence was gathered for each of five cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) with unusual patterns of PCR reactivity for seasonal H1N1, H3N2, H1N1 (2009) and influenza B viruses. Two 2010 trivalent influenza vaccines and environmental swabs of a hospital influenza vaccination room were also tested for influenza RNA. Sequencing of influenza A matrix (M) gene amplicons from the five cases and vaccines was undertaken. Four 2009 general practitioner (GP) specimens were seasonal H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B PCR positive. One 2010 GP specimen was H1N1 (2009), H3N2 and influenza B positive. PCR of 2010 trivalent vaccines showed high loads of detectable influenza A and B RNA. Sequencing of the five specimens and vaccines showed greatest homology with the M gene sequence of Influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 H1N1 virus (used in generation of influenza vaccine strains). Environmental swabs had detectable influenza A and B RNA. RNA detection studies demonstrated vaccine RNA still detectable for at least 66 days. Administration of influenza vaccines and clinical sampling in the same room resulted in the contamination with vaccine strains of surveillance swabs collected from patients with ILI. Vaccine contamination should therefore be considered, particularly where multiple influenza virus RNA PCR positive signals (e.g. H1N1, H3N2 and influenza B) are detected in the same specimen.

Palaeoenvironmental changes since the Last Glacial Maximum: Patterns, timing and dynamics throughout South America

The vast diversity of present vegetation and environments that occur throughout South America (12°N to 56°S) is the result of diverse processes that have been operating and interacting at different spatial and temporal scales. Global factors, such as the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, may have been significant for high altitude vegetation during times of lower abundance, while lower sea levels of glacial stages potentially opened areas of continental shelf for colonisation during a substantial portion of the Quaternary. Latitudinal variation in orbital forcing has operated on a regional scale. The pace of climate change in the tropics is dominated by precessional oscillations of c. 20 kyr, while the high latitudes of the south are dominated by obliquity oscillations of c. 40 kyr. In particular, seasonal insolation changes forced by precessional oscillations must have had important consequences for the distribution limits of species, with potentially different effects depending on the latitude. The availability of taxa, altitude and human impact, among other events, have locally influenced the environments. Disentangling the different forcing factors of environmental change that operate on different timescales, and understanding the underlying mechanisms leads to considerable challenges for palaeoecologists. The papers in this Special Issue present a selection of palaeoecological studies throughout South America on vegetation changes and other aspects of the environment, providing a window on the possible complexity of the nature of transitions and timings that are potentially available.

Seasonal Variation in Diurnal Atmospheric Grass Pollen Concentration Profiles

In this study, the diurnal atmospheric grass pollen concentration profile within the Danish city of Aarhus was shown to change in a systematic manner as the pollen season progressed. Although diurnal grass pollen profiles can differ greatly from day-to-day, it is common practice to establish the time of day when peak concentrations are most likely to occur using seasonally averaged diurnal profiles. Atmospheric pollen loads are highly dependent upon emissions, and different species of grass are known to flower and emit pollen at different times of the day and during different periods of the pollen season. Pollen concentrations are also influenced by meteorological factors – directly through those parameters that govern pollen dispersion and transport, and indirectly through the weather-driven flowering process. We found that three different profiles dominated the grass pollen season in Aarhus – a twin peak profile during the early season, a single evening profile during the middle of the season, and a single midday peak during the late season. Whilst this variation could not be explained by meteorological factors, no inconsistencies were found with the theory that it was driven by a succession of different grass species with different diurnal flowering patterns dominating atmospheric pollen loads as the season progressed. The potential for exposure was found to be significantly greater during the late-season period than during either the early- or mid-season periods.

Climatic patterns and physical controls of chlorophyll-a in the Northeast Atlantic

Tese de Doutoramento, Física, 17 de Dezembro de 2013, Universidade dos Açores.

Seasonal Studies on Primary Production and Associated Environmental Parameters in the Indian EEZ

The thesis describes the importance of Indian EEZ, definition and the various factors affecting primary production, general account of phytoplankton and its importance in marine ecosystem etc. In review of literature, general oceanography of Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal and hydrography of eastern Arabian Sea and western Bay of Bengal. It deals with the distribution patterns of primary production, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton composition and particulate organic carbon in the eastern Arabian Sea and western Bay of Bengal during different seasons. Factors that affect primary productivity are irradiance, temperature, stability of the surface waters, nutrients and zooplankton grazing. The differential biological response of eastern Arabian Sea and western Bay of Bengal to monsoonal regimes. A precise estimation on the primary production of the entire EEZ of India on a regional basis and on a seasonal scale would be the only way to achieve any kind of predictive assessment on the fish stock and their sustainable yield. This study mainly envisages the qualitative and quantitative aspects on the magnitude of phytoplankton standing crop and production of organic carbon and their relationship to environmental characteristics during summer monsoon, Inter monsoon and winter monsoon periods in the east and west coasts of the Indian EEZ.This study revealed that the seasonality exerts a great impact on the biological production in the eastern Arabian Sea and western Bay of Bengal. High biological production may be the reason why most of the fish landings are Concentrated in the west coast of India than east coast. The present data on Phytoplankton production rate and the species composition will provide a meaningful ground for evaluations of exploitable renewable resources of the IndianEEZ

Nonbreeding-Season Drivers of Population Dynamics in Seasonal Migrants: Conservation Parallels Across Taxa

For seasonal migrants, logistical constraints have often limited conservation efforts to improving survival and reproduction during the breeding season only. Yet, mounting empirical evidence suggests that events occurring throughout the migratory life cycle can critically alter the demography of many migrant species. Herein, we build upon recent syntheses of avian migration research to review the role of non-breeding seasons in determining the population dynamics and fitness of diverse migratory taxa, including salmonid fishes, marine mammals, ungulates, sea turtles, butterflies, and numerous bird groups. We discuss several similarities across these varied migrants: (i) non-breeding survivorship tends to be a strong driver of population growth; (ii) non-breeding events can affect fitness in subsequent seasons through seasonal interactions at individual- and population-levels; (iii) broad-scale climatic influences often alter non-breeding resources and migration timing, and may amplify population impacts through covariation among seasonal vital rates; and (iv) changes to both stationary and migratory non-breeding habitats can have important consequences for abundance and population trends. Finally, we draw on these patterns to recommend that future conservation research for seasonal migrants will benefit from: (1) more explicit recognition of the important parallels among taxonomically diverse migratory animals; (2) an expanded research perspective focused on quantification of all seasonal vital rates and their interactions; and (3) the development of detailed population projection models that account for complexity and uncertainty in migrant population dynamics.

Annual textural banding in Holocene estuarine silts, Severn Estuary Levels (SW Britain): patterns, cause and implications

A high-resolution textural study has been made of laminated and banded estuarine silts exposed intertidally at representative localities and horizons in the Holocene deposits of the Severn Estuary Levels. The laminae, on a submillimetre to millimetre scale, are sharp-based, graded couplets formed of a lower silty part overlain by a finer-textured clayey element. The centimetre- to decimetre-scale banding is formed of laminae in alternating, gradually intergrading sets of relatively coarse and relative fine-grained examples. At outcrop in the field, the banding is recognizable because the coarse sets prove to be recessive to varying degrees under the influence of weathering and current action. Independent evidence at two localities points toward an annual origin for the banding; at a third it arose during part of what appears to have been a relatively short period. Quantified physical arguments suggest that the textural banding is a response of suspended fine sediment to marked seasonal changes in sea temperature and windiness. The banded silts occur in four distinct stratigraphical contexts and record high deposition rates (order 0.01-0.1 m/yr). Because physical factors determine their textures, the silts potentially afford insights in all contexts into aspects of changing Holocene climatic conditions. In one context, the thickness of the bands points to high (order 0.01-0.1 m/yr) but comparatively short-lived (order 10s-100s yrs) rates of relative water-level rise. In the others, however, the banding has no implications for sea-level behaviour, and simply records gross environmental disequilibrium, for example, the recovery of mudflats/marshes after an erosional episode. Similarly, because on account of their rapid accumulation the banded silts preserve animal and human tracks and trackways especially well, they provide an archive of animal and human behaviour in the area during the Holocene.

Seasonal deposition of Holocene banded sediments in the Severn Estuary Levels (southwest Britain): palynological and sedimentological evidence

Banded sediments outcrop widely in the intertidal zone of the Severn Estuary and have been suggested, on the basis of textural analysis, to have formed in response to seasonal variations in sea temperature and windiness (Holocene, 14 (2004) 536). Here palynological and sedimentological analyses of banded sediments of mid-Holocene date from Gold Cliff, on the Welsh side of the Severn Estuary, are combined to test and further develop the hypothesis of seasonal deposition. Pollen percentage and concentration data are presented from a short sequence of bands to establish whether textural variations in the bands coincide with variations in pollen content reflecting seasonal flowering patterns. It is shown that fine-grained band parts contain higher total pollen concentrations, and a higher proportion of pollen from late spring- to summer-flowering plants, than coarse-grained band parts. Pollen in the coarser deposits appears primarily to reflect deposition from the buffering `reservoir' of suspended pollen in the estuarine water-body and from rivers, when there is little pollen in the air in winter, while the finer sediments contain pollen deposited from the atmosphere during the flowering season, superimposed on these `background' sources. The potential of such deposits for refining chronologies and identifying seasonality of coastal processes is noted, and the results of charcoal particle analysis of the bands presented as an example of how they have the potential to shed light on seasonal and annual patterns of human activity. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term change, interannual and intra-seasonal variability in climate and glacier mass balance in the Central Greater Caucasus, Russia

Long-term trends, interannual and intra-seasonal variability in the mass-balance record from Djankuat glacier, central Greater Caucasus, Russia, are related to local climate change, synoptic and large-scale anomalies in atmospheric circulation. A clear warming signal emerged in the central Greater Caucasus in the early 1990s, leading to a strong increase in ablation. In the absence of a compensating change in winter accumulation, the net mass balance of Djankuat has declined. The highest value of seasonal ablation on record was registered in the summer of 2000. At the beginning of the 21st century these trends reversed. Ablation was below average even in the summer of 2003, which was unusually warm in western Europe. Precipitation and winter accumulation were high, allowing for a partial recovery of net mass balance. The interannual variability in the components of mass balance is weakly related to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Scandinavian teleconnection patterns, but there is a clear link with the large-scale circulation anomalies represented by the Rossby pattern. Five synoptic categories have been identified for the ablation season of 2005, revealing a strong separation between components of radiation budget, air temperature and daily melt. Air temperature is the main control over melt. The highest values of daily ablation are related to the strongly positive NAO which forces high net radiation, and to the warm and moist advection from the Black Sea.

Toward a combined seasonal weather and crop productivity forecasting system: Determination of the working spatial scale

A methodology is presented for the development of a combined seasonal weather and crop productivity forecasting system. The first stage of the methodology is the determination of the spatial scale(s) on which the system could operate; this determination has been made for the case of groundnut production in India. Rainfall is a dominant climatic determinant of groundnut yield in India. The relationship between yield and rainfall has been explored using data from 1966 to 1995. On the all-India scale, seasonal rainfall explains 52% of the variance in yield. On the subdivisional scale, correlations vary between variance r(2) = 0.62 (significance level p < 10(-4)) and a negative correlation with r(2) = 0.1 (p = 0.13). The spatial structure of the relationship between rainfall and groundnut yield has been explored using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. A coherent, large-scale pattern emerges for both rainfall and yield. On the subdivisional scale (similar to 300 km), the first principal component (PC) of rainfall is correlated well with the first PC of yield (r(2) = 0.53, p < 10(-4)), demonstrating that the large-scale patterns picked out by the EOFs are related. The physical significance of this result is demonstrated. Use of larger averaging areas for the EOF analysis resulted in lower and (over time) less robust correlations. Because of this loss of detail when using larger spatial scales, the subdivisional scale is suggested as an upper limit on the spatial scale for the proposed forecasting system. Further, district-level EOFs of the yield data demonstrate the validity of upscaling these data to the subdivisional scale. Similar patterns have been produced using data on both of these scales, and the first PCs are very highly correlated (r(2) = 0.96). Hence, a working spatial scale has been identified, typical of that used in seasonal weather forecasting, that can form the basis of crop modeling work for the case of groundnut production in India. Last, the change in correlation between yield and seasonal rainfall during the study period has been examined using seasonal totals and monthly EOFs. A further link between yield and subseasonal variability is demonstrated via analysis of dynamical data.

Activity patterns of urban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) reduce the risk of traffic-induced mortality

Traffic collisions can be a major source of mortality in wild populations, and animals may be expected to exhibit behavioral mechanisms that reduce the risk associated with crossing roads. Animals living in urban areas in particular have to negotiate very dense road networks, often with high levels of traffic flow. We examined traffic-related mortality of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in the city of Bristol, UK, and the extent to which roads affected fox activity by comparing real and randomly generated patterns of movement. There were significant seasonal differences in the number of traffic-related fox deaths for different age and sex classes; peaks were associated with periods when individuals were likely to be moving through unfamiliar terrain and would have had to cross major roads. Mortality rates per unit road length increased with road magnitude. The number of roads crossed by foxes and the rate at which roads were crossed per hour of activity increased after midnight when traffic flow was lower. Adults and juveniles crossed 17% and 30% fewer roads, respectively, than expected from randomly generated movement. This highly mobile species appeared to reduce the mortality risk of minor category roads by changing its activity patterns, but it remained vulnerable to the effects of larger roads with higher traffic flows during periods associated with extraterritorial movements.

Movements, activity patterns and home range of a female brown bear (Ursus arctos, L.) in the Rodopi Mountain Range, Greece

Movements and activity patterns of an adult radio-tagged female brown bear accompanied by her cubs were documented for the first time in Rodopi area (NE Greece) from August 2000 to July 2002. Average daily movements were 2.45 +/- 2.26 SD km, (range 0.15-8.5 km). The longest daily range could be related to human disturbance (hunting activity). The longest seasonal distance (211 km), during Summer 2001 coincided with the dissolution of the family. With cubs, the female was more active during daytime (73 % of all radio-readings) than when solitary (28 %). The female switched to a more crepuscular behaviour, after separation from the yearling (July 2001). According to pooled data from 924 activity - recording sessions, during the whole monitoring period, the female was almost twice as active during day time while rearing cubs (51 % active) than when solitary (23 %). The autumn and early winter home range size of the family was larger (280 km(2)) than after the separation from the cubs (59 km(2)). During the family group phase, home range size varied from 258 km(2) in autumn to 40 km(2) in winter (average denning period lasted 107 days : December 2000-March 2001). The bear hibernated in the Bulgarian part of the Rodopi Range during winters of 2001 and 2002.

The impact of large scale atmospheric circulation patterns on wind power generation and its potential predictability: a case study over the UK

Over recent years there has been an increasing deployment of renewable energy generation technologies, particularly large-scale wind farms. As wind farm deployment increases, it is vital to gain a good understanding of how the energy produced is affected by climate variations, over a wide range of time-scales, from short (hours to weeks) to long (months to decades) periods. By relating wind speed at specific sites in the UK to a large-scale climate pattern (the North Atlantic Oscillation or "NAO"), the power generated by a modelled wind turbine under three different NAO states is calculated. It was found that the wind conditions under these NAO states may yield a difference in the mean wind power output of up to 10%. A simple model is used to demonstrate that forecasts of future NAO states can potentially be used to improve month-ahead statistical forecasts of monthly-mean wind power generation. The results confirm that the NAO has a significant impact on the hourly-, daily- and monthly-mean power output distributions from the turbine with important implications for (a) the use of meteorological data (e.g. their relationship to large scale climate patterns) in wind farm site assessment and, (b) the utilisation of seasonal-to-decadal climate forecasts to estimate future wind farm power output. This suggests that further research into the links between large-scale climate variability and wind power generation is both necessary and valuable.

Oxygen isotope composition of bivalve seasonal growth increments and ambient water in the rivers Rhine and Meuse

The application of oxygen isotope ratios ({delta}18O) from freshwater bivalves as a proxy for river discharge conditions in the Rhine and Meuse rivers is investigated. We compared a dataset of water temperature and water {delta}18O values with a selection of recent shell {delta}18O records for two species of the genus Unio in order to establish: (1) whether differences between the rivers in water {delta}18O values, reflecting river discharge conditions, are recorded in unionid shells; and (2) to what extent ecological parameters influence the accuracy of bivalve shell {delta}18O values as proxies of seasonal, water oxygen isotope conditions in these rivers. The results show that shells from the two rivers differ significantly in {delta}18O values, reflecting different source waters for these two rivers. The seasonal shell {delta}18O records show truncated sinusoidal patterns with narrow peaks and wide troughs, caused by temperature fractionation and winter growth cessation. Interannual growth rate reconstructions show an ontogenetic growth rate decrease. Growth lines in the shell often, but not always, coincide with winter growth cessations in the {delta}18O record, suggesting that growth cessations in the shell {delta}18O records are a better age estimator than counting internal growth lines. Seasonal predicted and measured {delta}18O values correspond well, supporting the hypothesis that these unionids precipitate their shells in oxygen isotopic equilibrium. This means that (sub-) fossil unionids can be used to reconstruct spring-summer river discharge conditions, such as Meuse low-discharge events caused by droughts and Rhine meltwater-influx events caused by melting of snow in the Alps.