Origin-related, environmental, sex, and age determinants of immunocompetence, susceptibility to ectoparasites, and disease symptoms in the barn owl

Knowledge of the role of origin-related, environmental, sex, and age factors on host defence mechanisms is important to understand variation in parasite intensity. Because alternative components of parasite defence may be differently sensitive to various factors, they may not necessarily covary. Many components should therefore be considered to tackle the evolution of host-parasite interactions. In a population of barn owls (Tyto alba), we investigated the role of origin-related, environmental (i.e. year, season, nest of rearing, and body condition), sex, and age factors on 12 traits linked to immune responses [humoral immune responses towards sheep red blood cells (SRBC), human serum albumin (HSA) and toxoid toxin TT, T-cell mediated immune response towards the mitogen phytohemagglutinin (PHA)], susceptibility to ectoparasites (number and fecundity of Carnus haemapterus, number of Ixodes ricinus), and disease symptoms (size of the bursa of Fabricius and spleen, proportion of proteins that are immunoglobulins, haematocrit and blood concentration in leucocytes). Cross-fostering experiments allowed us to detect a heritable component of variation in only four out of nine immune and parasitic parameters (i.e. SRBC- and HSA-responses, haematocrit, and number of C. haemapterus). However, because nestlings were not always cross-fostered just after hatching, the finding that 44% of the immune and parasitic parameters were heritable is probably an overestimation. These experiments also showed that five out of these nine parameters were sensitive to the nest environment (i.e. SRBC- and PHA-responses, number of C. haemapterus, haematocrit and blood concentration in leucocytes). Female nestlings were more infested by the blood-sucking fly C. haemapterus than their male nestmates, and their blood was less concentrated in leucocytes. The effect of year, season, age (i.e. reflecting the degree of maturation of the immune system), brood size, position in the within-brood age hierarchy, and body mass strongly differed between the 12 parameters. Different components of host defence mechanisms are therefore not equally heritable and sensitive to environmental, sex, and age factors, potentially explaining why most of these components did not covary.

Forest insects and environmental variation in stand edges

Summary

Plant species distributions along environmental gradients: do belowground interactions with fungi matter?

The distribution of plants along environmental gradients is constrained by abiotic and biotic factors. Cumulative evidence attests of the impact of biotic factors on plant distributions, but only few studies discuss the role of belowground communities. Soil fungi, in particular, are thought to play an important role in how plant species assemble locally into communities. We first review existing evidence, and then test the effect of the number of soil fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) on plant species distributions using a recently collected dataset of plant and metagenomic information on soil fungi in the Western Swiss Alps. Using species distribution models (SDMs), we investigated whether the distribution of individual plant species is correlated to the number of OTUs of two important soil fungal classes known to interact with plants: the Glomeromycetes, that are obligatory symbionts of plants, and the Agaricomycetes, that may be facultative plant symbionts, pathogens, or wood decayers. We show that including the fungal richness information in the models of plant species distributions improves predictive accuracy. Number of fungal OTUs is especially correlated to the distribution of high elevation plant species. We suggest that high elevation soil show greater variation in fungal assemblages that may in turn impact plant turnover among communities. We finally discuss how to move beyond correlative analyses, through the design of field experiments manipulating plant and fungal communities along environmental gradients.

Interpretation: Printed Document Examination and Evidence

The literature dealing with the interpretation of results of examinations performed on "printed" documents is very limited. The absence of published literature reflects the absence of formal guidelines to help scientists assess the relationship between a questioned document and a particular printing technology. Generally, every printout, independent of the printing technology, may bear traces induced by characteristics of manufacture and/or acquired features of the printing device. A logical approach to help the scientist in the formal interpretation of such findings involves the consideration of a likelihood ratio. Three examples aim to show the application of this approach.

Comparison of digestion methods to determine heavy metals in fertilizers

The lack of a standard method to regulate heavy metal determination in Brazilian fertilizers and the subsequent use of several digestion methods have produced variations in the results, hampering interpretation. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three digestion methods for determination of metals such as Cd, Ni, Pb, and Cr in fertilizers. Samples of 45 fertilizers marketed in northeastern Brazil were used. A fertilizer sample with heavy metal contents certified by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was used as control. The following fertilizers were tested: rock phosphate; organo-mineral fertilizer with rock phosphate; single superphosphate; triple superphosphate; mixed N-P-K fertilizer; and fertilizer with micronutrients. The substances were digested according to the method recommended by the Ministry for Agriculture, Livestock and Supply of Brazil (MAPA) and by the two methods 3051A and 3052 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). By the USEPA method 3052, higher portions of the less soluble metals such as Ni and Pb were recovered, indicating that the conventional digestion methods for fertilizers underestimate the total amount of these elements. The results of the USEPA method 3051A were very similar to those of the method currently used in Brazil (Brasil, 2006). The latter is preferable, in view of the lower cost requirement for acids, a shorter digestion period and greater reproducibility.

Particle and string fluid interpretation for the scalar sector of Kaluza-Klein theories

The scalar sector of the effective low-energy six-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory is seen to represent an anisotropic fluid composed of two perfect fluids if the extra space metric has a Euclidean signature, or a perfect fluid of geometric strings if it has an indefinite signature. The Einstein field equations with such fluids can be explicitly integrated when the four-dimensional space-time has two commuting Killing vectors.

Multitask learning of environmental spatial data

The present research deals with an application of artificial neural networks for multitask learning from spatial environmental data. The real case study (sediments contamination of Geneva Lake) consists of 8 pollutants. There are different relationships between these variables, from linear correlations to strong nonlinear dependencies. The main idea is to construct a subsets of pollutants which can be efficiently modeled together within the multitask framework. The proposed two-step approach is based on: 1) the criterion of nonlinear predictability of each variable ?k? by analyzing all possible models composed from the rest of the variables by using a General Regression Neural Network (GRNN) as a model; 2) a multitask learning of the best model using multilayer perceptron and spatial predictions. The results of the study are analyzed using both machine learning and geostatistical tools.

SPATIAL CORRELATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOIL AND WEEDS IN TWO MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

The spatial correlation between soil properties and weeds is relevant in agronomic and environmental terms. The analysis of this correlation is crucial for the interpretation of its meaning, for influencing factors such as dispersal mechanisms, seed production and survival, and the range of influence of soil management techniques. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial correlation between the physical properties of soil and weeds in no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) systems. The following physical properties of soil and weeds were analyzed: soil bulk density, macroporosity, microporosity, total porosity, aeration capacity of soil matrix, soil water content at field capacity, weed shoot biomass, weed density, Commelina benghalensis density, and Bidens pilosa density. Generally, the ranges of the spatial correlations were higher in NT than in CT. The cross-variograms showed that many variables have a structure of combined spatial variation and can therefore be mapped from one another by co-kriging. This combined variation also allows inferences about the physical and biological meanings of the study variables. Results also showed that soil management systems influence the spatial dependence structure significantly.

Growth decrease in Alpine whitefish: investigating the relative contribution of fishing induced selection and environmental change and its implication for conservation measures

La pression exercée par les activités humaines menace pratiquement tous les écosystèmes aquatiques du globe. Ainsi, sous l'effet de divers facteurs tels que la pollution, le réchauffement climatique ou encore la pêche industrielle, de nombreuses populations de poissons ont vu leurs effectifs chuter et divers changements morphologiques ont été observés. Dans cette étude, nous nous sommes intéressés à une menace particulière: la sélection induite par la pêche sur la croissance des poissons. En effet, la génétique des populations prédit que la soustraction régulière des individus les plus gros peut entraîner des modifications rapides de certains traits physiques comme la croissance individuelle. Cela a par ailleurs été observé dans de nombreuses populations marines ou lacustres, dont les populations de féras, bondelles et autres corégones des lacs suisses. Toutefois, malgré un nombre croissant d'études décrivant ce phénomène, peu de plans de gestion en tiennent compte, car l'importance des effets génétiques liés à la pêche est le plus souvent négligée par rapport à l'impact des changements environnementaux. Le but premier de cette étude a donc été de quantifier l'importance des facteurs génétiques et environnementaux. Dans le premier chapitre, nous avons étudié la population de palée du lac de Joux (Coregonus palaea). Nous avons déterminé les différentiels de sélection dus à la pêche, c'est-à-dire l'intensité de la sélection sur le taux de croissance, ainsi que les changements nets de croissance au cours du temps. Nous avons observé une baisse marquée de croissance et un différentiel de sélection important indiquant qu'au moins 30% de la diminution de croissance observée était due à la pression de sélection induite par la pêche. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous avons effectué les mêmes analyses sur deux espèces proches du lac de Brienz (C. albellus et C. fatioi) et avons observé des effets similaires dont l'intensité était spécifique à chaque espèce. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous avons analysé deux autres espèces : C. palaea et C. confusus du lac de Bienne, et avons constaté que le lien entre la pression de sélection et la diminution de croissance était influencé par des facteurs environnementaux. Finalement, dans le dernier chapitre, nous avons étudié les effets potentiels de différentes modifications de la taille des mailles des filets utilisés pour la pêche à l'aide de modèles mathématiques. Nous concluons que la pêche a un effet génétique non négligeable (et donc peu réversible) sur la croissance individuelle dans les populations observée, que cet effet est lié à la compétition pour la nourriture et à la qualité de l'environnement, et que certaines modifications simples de la taille des mailles des filets de pêche pourraient nettement diminuer l'effet de sélection et ainsi ralentir, voir même renverser la diminution de croissance observée.

Record of Decision Council Bluffs Interstate System (I-29, I-80 and I-480) Improvements Project TIER 1 Environmental Impact Statement Council Bluffs, Iowa to Omaha, Nebraska FHWA-IA- EIS-04-01F Project Number: IM-029-3(62)54—13-78 Submitted Pursuant to 42 USC 4332(2)(c) and 49 USC 303, October 2008

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approves the selection of the Reconstruction of All or Part of the Interstate (Construction Alternative) as the Preferred Alternative to provide improvements to the interstate system in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area, extending across the Missouri River on Interstate 80 to east of the Interstate 480 interchange in Omaha, Nebraska. The study considered long-term, broad-based transportation improvements along Interstate I-29 (I-29), I-80, and I-480, including approximately 18 mainline miles of interstate and 14 interchanges (3 system, 11 service), that would add capacity and correct functional issues along the mainline and interchanges and upgrade the I-80 Missouri River Crossing. FHWA also approves the decisions to provide full access between West Broadway and I-29, design the I-80/I-29 overlap section as a dual-divided freeway, and locating the new I-80 Missouri River Bridge north of the existing bridge. Improvements to the interstate system, once implemented, would bring the segments of I-80 and I-29 (see Figure 1) up to current engineering standards and accommodate future traffic needs. This Record of Decision (ROD) concludes Tier 1 of the Council Bluffs Interstate System (CBIS) Improvements Project. Tier 1 included an examination of the area’s transportation needs, a study of alternatives to satisfy them, and broad consideration of potential environmental and social impacts. The Tier 1 evaluation consisted of a sufficient level of engineering and environmental detail to assist decision makers in selecting a preferred transportation strategy. During Tier 1 a Draft EIS (FHWA-IA- EIS-04-01D) was developed which was approved by FHWA, Iowa DOT, and Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) in November 2004 with comments accepted through March 15, 2005. The Draft EIS summarized the alternatives that were considered to address the transportation needs around Council Bluffs; identified reconstruction of all or part of the interstate, the “Construction Alternative,” as the Preferred Alternative; identified three system-level decisions that needed to be made at the Tier 1 level; and invited comment on the issues. The Final EIS (FHWA-IA- EIS-04-01F) further documented the Construction Alternative as the Preferred Alternative and identified the recommended decisions for the three system level decisions that needed to be made in Tier 1. This ROD defines the Selected Alternative determined in the Tier 1 studies.