Audit report on the Great River Regional Waste Authority for the year ended June 30, 2009

Audit report on the Great River Regional Waste Authority for the year ended June 30, 2009

Audit report on the Disaster Grants – Public Assistance program of the Iowa River - Flint Creek Levee District in Des Moines County and Louisa County, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2009

Audit report on the Disaster Grants – Public Assistance program of the Iowa River - Flint Creek Levee District in Des Moines County and Louisa County, Iowa for the year ended June 30, 2009

Differences in diet between the two largest breeding colonies of Audouin's gulls: the effects of fishery activities

We analysed and compared the diet of Audouin´s gulls Larus audouinii between their two largest breeding sites in the world: the Ebro Delta and the Chafarinas Islands (western Mediterranean). These two localities showed marked differences in the features of the commercial fishing fleet: in the Ebro Delta area a large fishing fleet produced large amounts of discards, while in the Chafarinas the fleet discarded smaller amounts of fish and marine invertebrates, due to the smaller number of vessels. It is also likely that the percentage of discards from total catches is also lower around the Chafarinas than at the Ebro Delta. We distinguished two types of fishing to compare diet compositions: diurnal (only trawling activity) and diurnal and nocturnal (trawling and purse-seine activity, respectively). We also differentiated regurgitates from young nestlings (up to 20 days old) and from older nestlings or adult birds. At the two localities, fish was the main food of Audouin´s gulls, with epipelagic prey (mainly clupeoids) being more important when both diurnal and nocturnal fisheries were operating. This confirms that epipelagic prey either caught actively by the gulls or linked to fisheries was particularly important in the feeding habits of Audouin´s gulls. Nevertheless, differences between the two colonies appear mainly when only trawlers operated: while at the Ebro Delta gulls showed higher consumption of benthic-mesopelagic prey (probably linked to a higher trawler discard availability), gulls from the Chafarinas Islands consumed higher biomass of epipelagic prey probably caught actively at night. When both fleets operated around the two colonies, the average biomass of prey in a regurgitate of younger chicks was significantly higher at the Ebro Delta than at Chafarinas, and the opposite trend was recorded for older nestlings and adults. Niche width was broader in Chafarinas than in the Ebro Delta for both age classes and for any fishing fleet schedule, suggesting again that the exploitation of discards was higher at the Ebro Delta than at the Chafarinas, where gulls showed a more varied diet. Despite the fact that availability of discards was probably higher at the Ebro Delta than at Chafarinas, the per capita availability was not so different at both localities due to the increasing seabird community population at the Ebro Delta, which ca. doubled that at Chafarinas in the last decade.

Impact of fisheries on activity, diet and predatory interactions between yellow-legged and Audouin's gulls breeding at the Chafarinas Is.

Interactions between yellow-legged Larus cachinnans and Audouin´s Larus audouinii gulls and fisheries operating around the Chafarinas Islands, located 4.5 km off the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, are reviewed. At the Chafarinas archipelago two distinct types of fisheries operate: trawlers and purse seines. Gulls take advantage of both fisheries. They scavenge trawler discards and congregate around shoals of fish attracted to the surface by the purse-seine lamps. When both trawlers and purse-seine boats are in operation, the diet of both gull species is similar, with epipelagic fish accounting for over 60% of the biomass, partially collected in association with the purse-seine fishery. When only trawlers operated yellow-legged gulls, but not Audouin´s gulls, augmented their diet mainly with human waste from refuse dumps, suggesting that competition for food between the two species is mainly limited to the periods when resources made available by fishery activities are abundant. Likewise, when only trawlers operated, there was an increase in the predation pressure on eggs and chicks of Audouin´s gulls. In particular, during the week of celebrations for the holy lamb festival when neither fishery operated, egg losses of Audouin´s gull increased dramatically, suggesting that severe food shortage caused by the cessation of fishing can result in an increased predation pressure by yellow-legged gulls, affecting Audouin´s gull productivity. These results suggest a novel socio-ecological link between gulls, fisheries and local feasts.

Audit report on the Great River Regional Waste Authority for the year ended June 30, 2010

Audit report on the Great River Regional Waste Authority for the year ended June 30, 2010

Aplicabilidade do lisem (limburg soil erosion) para simulação hidrológica em uma bacia hidrográfica tropical

As variáveis de entrada do modelo LISEM, mais importantes do ponto de vista da gênese do escoamento superficial direto (umidade do solo antecedente aos eventos de precipitação pluvial (θap) e espessura da camada de solo considerada no balanço hídrico) foram calibrados para eventos individuais de precipitação pluvial ocorridos na bacia hidrográfica do ribeirão Marcela, da região Alto Rio Grande, MG. Avaliou-se, também, a influência de diferentes cenários nas variáveis do escoamento superficial direto. O modelo apresentou elevada sensibilidade à umidade do solo, sendo este sua principal variável de calibração. A influência da camada de balanço hídrico esteve associada à umidade de calibração, observando-se que, quanto maior a profundidade, maior a umidade requerida para calibrar o modelo. Os cenários mata natural, eucalipto e café, aos 35 meses após o plantio, atenuaram as vazões máximas de 37,6; 42,2; e 28,0 %, cuja intensidade de precipitação pluvial foi de 48,0 mm h-1. O modelo hidrológico LISEM apresentou resultados satisfatórios na simulação hidrológica do escoamento superficial direto, mostrando que pode ser aplicado para previsão do comportamento hidrológico de bacias hidrográficas tropicais, desde que devidamente calibrado.

Invader immunology: invasion history alters immune system function in cane toads (Rhinella marina) in tropical Australia.

Because an individual's investment into the immune system may modify its dispersal rate, immune function may evolve rapidly in an invader. We collected cane toads (Rhinella marina) from sites spanning their 75-year invasion history in Australia, bred them, and raised their progeny in standard conditions. Evolved shifts in immune function should manifest as differences in immune responses among the progeny of parents collected in different locations. Parental location did not affect the offspring's cell-mediated immune response or stress response, but blood from the offspring of invasion-front toads had more neutrophils, and was more effective at phagocytosis and killing bacteria. These latter measures of immune function are negatively correlated with rate of dispersal in free-ranging toads. Our results suggest that the invasion of tropical Australia by cane toads has resulted in rapid genetically based compensatory shifts in the aspects of immune responses that are most compromised by the rigours of long-distance dispersal.

Biodiversity of rhizobia associated with cowpea cultivars in soils of the lower half of the São Francisco River Valley

The biodiversity of rhizobium in soils of the São Francisco Valley is unknown and can be studied using cowpea as trap plants. The objective of this study was to verify the diversity of diazotrophic bacteria that nodulate cowpea in soils of the lower half of the São Francisco River Valley by morphological and genotypic characterization. Seven soil samples (A1, A2, A3, A4, C1, C2 and MC) were collected to capture bacteria associated to five cowpea cultivars (IPA 206, BRS Pujante, BRS Marataoã, Canapu Roxo, and Sempre Verde), in a 5x7 factorial design with three replications. Thirty days after plant emergence, the nodules were collected and the bacteria isolated and analyzed in relation to their growth characteristics in YMA medium. The 581 isolates were grouped in 49 morphologic groups. Of this total, 62.3 % formed colonies in up to three days, 33.4 % grew from the 6th day on, and 4.3 % began to grow 4 to 5 days after incubation. Regarding the formation of acids and alkalis, 63 % acidified the medium, 12 % made it alkaline and 25 % maintained the medium at neutral pH. The highest diversity was observed in the A3 sample and in isolates associated with the cultivars Canapu Roxo and BRS Pujante. Thirty-eight representative isolates were chosen for the genotypic characterization, clustered in four groups based on the restriction analysis of 16s rDNA. This grouping was strongly correlated with the sampling site; 13 rhizobium isolates had an electrophoretic profile distinct from the standard rhizobium strains used in this study.

The combined use of reflectance, emissivity and elevation Aster/Terra data for tropical soil studies

Reflectance, emissivity and elevation data of the sensor ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer)/Terra were used to characterize soil composition variations according to the toposequence position. Normalized data of SWIR (shortwave infrared) reflectance and TIR (thermal infrared) emissivity, coupled to a soil-fraction image from a spectral mixture model, were evaluated to separate bare soils from nonphotosynthetic vegetation. Regression relationships of some soil properties with reflectance and emissivity data were then applied on the exposed soil pixels. The resulting estimated values were plotted on the ASTER-derived digital elevation model. Results showed that the SWIR bands 5 and 6 and the TIR bands 10 and 14 measured the clay mineral absorption band and the quartz emissivity feature, respectively. These bands improved also the discrimination between nonphotosynthetic vegetation and soils. Despite the differences in pixel size and field sampling size, some soil properties were correlated with reflectance (R² of 0.65 for Al2O3 in band 6; 0.61 for Fe2O3 in band 3) and emissivity (R² of 0.65 for total sand fraction in the 10/14 band ratio). The combined use of reflectance, emissivity and elevation data revealed variations in soil composition with topography in specific parts of the landscape. From higher to lower slope positions, a general decrease in Al2O3 and increase in total sand fraction was observed, due to the prevalence of Rhodic Acrustox at the top and its gradual transition to Typic Acrustox at the bottom.

Contribution of humic substances from different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil

The contribution of humic substances of different composts to the synthesis of humin in a tropical soil was evaluated. Increasing doses (0, 13, 26, 52, and 104 Mg ha-1) of five different composts consisting of agroinpowderrial residues were applied to a Red-Yellow Latosol. These composts were chemically characterized and 13C NMR determined and the quantity of the functional alkyl groups of humic acids applied to the soil as compost was estimated. Thirty days after application of the treatments, organic matter samples were collected for fractionation of humic acids (HA), fulvic acids (FA) and humin (HU), from which the ratios HA/FA and (HA + FA)/HU were calculated. The application of the composts based on castor cake resulted in the highest HU levels in the soil; alkyl groups of the HA fraction of the composts were predominant in the organic components added to the HU soil fraction.

Emission of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from semi-arid tropical soils in Chiapas México

The semi-arid region of Chiapas is dominated by N2 -fixing shrubs, e.g., Acacia angustissima. Urea-fertilized soil samples under maize were collected from areas covered and uncovered by A. angustissima in different seasons and N2O and CO2 emissions were monitored. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of urea and of the rainy and dry season on gas emissions from semi-arid soil under laboratory conditions. Urea and soil use had no effect on CO2 production. Nitrons oxide emission from soil was three times higher in the dry than in the rainy season, while urea fertilization doubled emissions. Emissions were twice as high from soil sampled under A. angustissima canopy than from arable land, but 1.2 lower than from soil sampled outside the canopy, and five times higher from soil incubated at 40 % of the water-holding capacity (WHC) than at soil moisture content, but 15 times lower than from soil incubated at 100 WHC. It was found that the soil sampling time and water content had a significant effect on N2O emissions, while N fertilizer and sampling location were less influent.