Search results for "Fin"

Combining spatial prioritization and expert knowledge facilitates effectiveness of large-scale mire protection process in Finland

2019

Conservation resource allocation involves a complex set of considerations including species, habitats, connectivity, local to global biodiversity objectives, alternative protection and restoration actions, while requiring cost-efficiency and effective implementation. We present a national scale spatial conservation prioritization analysis for complementing the network of protected mires in Finland. We show how spatial prioritization coupled with regional targets and expert knowledge can facilitate structured decision-making. In our application, discussion between experts was structured around the prioritization model enabling integration of quantitative analysis with expert knowledge. The u…

Seasonal and ontogenetic shifts in the diet of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus in a subarctic lake.

2010

Seasonal and ontogenetic shifts in the diet of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus were studied in a deep, ultra-oligotrophic lake in subarctic Finland from both stomach contents and the stable carbon (delta(13)C) and nitrogen (delta(15)N) isotope compositions of muscle and liver tissues. Both diet and isotope results indicated that the S. alpinus population relied mainly on littoral benthic energy sources. The strong littoral reliance appeared largely independent of season or fish size, although the data lacked small (total length, L(T),130 mm) and young (3 years) S. alpinus. Liver isotope values of intermediate-sized S. alpinus (200-350 mm), however, suggested exploitation of the increase in …

Freshwater mussels (Anodonta anatina) reduce transmission of a common fish trematode (eye fluke, Diplostomum pseudospathaceum)

2017

SUMMARYRecent results suggest that bivalves can play an important role in restraining the spread of various aquatic infections. However, the ability of mussels to remove free-living stages of macroparasites and reduce their transmission is still understudied, especially for freshwater ecosystems. We investigated the influence of the common freshwater mussel (Anodonta anatina) on the transmission of a trematode (eye fluke, Diplostomum pseudospathaceum), which frequently infects fish in farms and natural habitats. In our experiments, mussels caused a significant decrease (P < 0·001) in the abundance of trematode free-living stages, from 6520 to 1770 cercariae L−1 on average (about 4-fold i…

Increasing water temperature and disease risks in aquatic systems: Climate change increases the risk of some, but not all, diseases

2010

Global warming may impose severe risks for aquatic animal health if increasing water temperature leads to an increase in the incidence of parasitic diseases. Essentially, this could take place through a temperature-driven effect on the epidemiology of the disease. For example, higher temperature may boost the rate of disease spread through positive effects on parasite fitness in a weakened host. Increased temperature may also lengthen the transmission season leading to higher total prevalence of infection and more widespread epidemics. However, to date, general understanding of these relationships is limited due to scarcity of long-term empirical data. Here, we present one of the first long…

Comparing yield and growth characteristics of four pastoral plant species under two salinity soil levels

2018

A new rationale for not picking low hanging fruits: The separation of ownership and control

2019

Recent attempts at explaining the energy-efficiency gap rely on considerations related to organizational and behavioral/cognitive failures. In this paper, we build on the strategic delegation literature to advance a complementary explanation. It is shown that strategic market interaction may encourage business owners to instill a bias against energy efficiency in managerial compensation contracts. Since managers respond to financial incentives, their decisions will reflect this bias, resulting in lack of investment.

Estimating the abundance of burrow-nesting species through the statistical analysis of combined playback and visual surveys

2016

Habitat quality is more important than matrix quality for bird communities in protected areas

2018

Protected areas are meant to preserve native local communities within their boundaries, but they are not independent from their surroundings. Impoverished habitat quality in the matrix might influence the species composition within the protected areas through biotic homogenization. The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of matrix quality on species richness and trait composition of bird communities from the Finnish reserve area network and whether the communities are being subject of biotic homogenization due to the lowered quality of the landscape matrix. We used joint species distribution modeling to study how characteristics of the Finnish forest reserves and the quality of t…

Hot-water extraction of Miscanthus × giganteus prior to soda-AQ pulping: a biorefining perspective

2018

Agricultural residues, such as giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus, a hybrid of Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus sacchariflorus), show a great potential for use in lignocellulosic biorefiner...

Aspartic proteinase from barley grains is related to mammalian lysosomal cathepsin D

1991

Resting barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grains contain acid-proteinase activity. The corresponding enzyme was purified from grain extracts by affinity chromatography on a pepstatin-Sepharose column. The pH optimum of the affinity-purified enzyme was between 3.5 and 3.9 as measured by hemoglobin hydrolysis and the enzymatic activity was completely inhibited by pepstatin a specific inhibitor of aspartic proteinases (EC 3.4.23). Further purification on a Mono S column followed by activity measurements and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the affinity-purified enzyme preparation contained two active heterodimeric aspartic proteinases: a larger 48k Da enzyme, c…