Search results for "Epigeal"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Going underground: short- and long-term movements may reveal the fossorial spatial ecology of an amphisbaenian
2021
[Background]: The movement and spatial ecology of an animal depends on its morphological and functional adaptations to its environment. In fossorial animals, adaptations to the underground life help to face peculiar ecological challenges, very different from those of epigeal species, but may constrain their movement ability.
Short-term effects of wood ants (Formica aquilonia Yarr.) on soil animal community structure
1999
Abstract Wood ants are known to affect the structure of invertebrate communities in tree canopies but it is not clear whether wood ants can affect the structure of soil animal communities. To isolate the direct effects of wood ants on soil fauna, I manipulated wood ant density in a 6-week mesocosm experiment by placing mesocosms (O 14 cm, height 13.5 cm) permeable to ants either on or outside the ant trails. The mesocosms contained litter, humus, and a diverse soil fauna typical of coniferous forest. I controlled earthworm species composition and biomasses by inoculating 470 mg fresh mass of epigeic lumbricid Dendrobaena octaedra (Sav.) or Dendrodrilus rubidus (Sav.) to the mesocosms. A 15-…
Using moss and lichens in biomonitoring of heavy-metal contamination of forest areas in southern and north-eastern Poland.
2017
Abstract In the years 2014–2016 biomonitoring studies were conducted in the forest areas of south and north-eastern Poland: the Karkonosze Mountains, the Beskidy Mountains, the Borecka Forest, the Knyszynska Forest and the Bialowieska Forest. This study used epigeic moss Pleurozium schreberi and epiphytic lichens Hypogymnia physodes. Samples were collected in spring, summer and autumn. Approximately 500 samples of moss and lichens were collected for the study. In the samples, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations were determined. Based on the obtained results, the studied areas were ranked by extent of heavy-metal deposition: Beskidy > Karkonosze Mountains > forests of north-eastern …
Sorption of Cadmium and Zinc in Selected Species of Epigeic Mosses
2014
The sorption abilities of seven moss species growing on the area of Bory Stobrawskie forest (southern Poland) were tested in laboratory. Sorption was carried out in solutions of Zn and Cd chlorides. It has been shown that the sorption properties depend on the moss species and increases in the series as follows: Polytrichum commune < Leucobryum glaucum < Eurhynchium praelongum < Thuidium tamtariscifolium ≤ Dicranum scoparium ≤ Pleurozium schreberi < Sphagnum sp. With help of microscope images, it was also demonstrated that one of the factors affecting the sorption properties of mosses was the level of their surface development. The determined sorption capacity of Zn varies according to speci…
Mechanisms for Translocation of Heavy Metals from Soil to Epigeal Mosses
2011
The mechanisms for translocation of heavy metals from soil to epigeal mosses were investigated. The first mechanism was demonstrated for (137)Cs and involved the uplifting of the pollutant-containing dust from the soil, followed by the local secondary deposition on surfaces of epigeal mosses and epiphytic lichens. The second mechanism involved the diffusion of metal cations from the soil through water wetting the moss into the gametophyte. The mechanism was demonstrated by measuring the electric conductance of wetted gametophytes with single ends immersed in solutions of Cu and Na salts. In addition, the concentrations of Cu and Cd were compared in moss samples exposed to the natural soil a…
Lead concentrations in feathers and blood of common blackbirds (Turdus merula) and in earthworms inhabiting unpolluted and moderately polluted urban …
2006
9 pages; International audience; Despite the dramatic decrease of atmospheric lead (Pb) concentrations in urban areas of most industrialised countries, we hypothesised that urban common blackbirds (Turdus merula) may still be contaminated by Pb concentrations of toxicological concern due to transfer from soil through the food chain. We sampled blackbirds and earthworms, one of their main preys, in Besan?, a middle-size city of Eastern France (where atmospheric Pb concentrations decreased from 0.5 microg/m(3) in 1987 to nearly 0 in 2002) and in a rural reference site. Lead concentrations were determined in the tissues of the different functional groups of earthworms (anecic, epigeous and end…
Isopodes Aselloïdes stygobies d’Espagne récoltés par J. Notenboom et I. Meijers, III — Le genre Proasellus: A — Espèces oculées ou microphtalmes
1992
Samples collected in underground waters of Spain by Ine Meijers and Jos Notenboom demonstrated the presence of some oculated asellids previously known: Proasellus coiffaiti, P. coxalis, and P. meridianus, and also four new stygophilous species, more or less depigmented, with different stages of regression of the ocular system: P. beticus n. sp., P. ortizi n. sp., P. aragonensis n. sp., and P. ebrensis n. sp. These forms represent relict populations of ancient epigean species. The anophthalmous species of the Aquitanian Basin, Pyrenees, and Iberian Peninsula are more closely related to P. beticus and P. ortizi than to the Recent epigean species P. coxalis and P. meridianus.