Search results for "Systematics"
showing 10 items of 6702 documents
LOCAL ADAPTATION, RESISTANCE, AND VIRULENCE IN A HEMIPARASITIC PLANT-HOST PLANT INTERACTION
2000
Coevolution may lead to local adaptation of parasites to their sympatric hosts. Locally adapted parasites are, on average, more infectious to sympatric hosts than to allopatric hosts of the same species or their fitness on the sympatric hosts is superior to that on allopatric hosts. We tested local adaptation of a hemiparasitic plant, Rhinanthus serotinus (Scrophulariaceae), to its host plant, the grass Agrostis capillaris. Using a reciprocal cross-infection experiment, we exposed host plants from four sites to hemiparasites originating from the same four sites in a common environment. The parasites were equally able to establish haustorial connections to sympatric and allopatric hosts, and…
The effects of carnitine on the growth of sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax L., fry
1986
Carnitine treatment has an appreciable effect on the hatchery-reared sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, fry. The administration of the laevorotatory isomer (1-carnitine) which is engaged in the transport of the acyl and acetyl groups through the mitochondrial membrane, stimulating lipid metabolism, increases the growth rate and the protein content of the treated fry. The dextrorotatory isomer (d-carnitine), which is an antagonist of the 1-carnitine, has an opposite effect on the growth and metabolism of the treated fry.
Design of an Herbal Preparation Composed by a Combination of Ruscus aculeatus L. and Vitis vinifera L. Extracts, Magnolol and Diosmetin to Address Ch…
2023
Chronic venous disease (CVD) is an often underestimated inflammatory pathological condition that can have a serious impact on quality of life. Many therapies have been proposed to deal with CVD, but unfortunately the symptoms recur with increasing frequency and intensity as soon as treatments are stopped. Previous studies have shown that the common inflammatory transcription factor AP-1 (activator protein-1) and nuclear factor kappa-activated B-cell light chain enhancer (NF-kB) play key roles in the initiation and progression of this vascular dysfunction. The aim of this research was to develop a herbal product that acts simultaneously on different aspects of CVD-related inflammation. Based…
Migrations of hatchling European pond turtles (Emys orbicularis) after nest emergence
2013
Distances between nest sites of Emys orbicularis and the nearest water bodies can be long. We studied whether a longer distance could affect the probability of hatchling survival, migration time, and body mass loss. In our research area (Lubuskie district, western Poland), nest sites were situated on a slope; the closest water body was in a distance of 72-290 m. Near the water body we constructed a 550 m long drift fence to recapture hatchlings migrating down the slope. We monitored 32 hatchlings from 7 different nests deposited in the years 2008-2010. The hatchlings started to emerge from their nests on 9 and 13 April 2009, 7 and 9 April 2010, 30 March, 7 and 8 April 2011. Then, hatchlings…
Pseudo-diel vertical migration in zooplankton: a whole-lake 15N tracer experiment
2012
Diel vertical migration (DVM) of zooplankton is commonly considered an adaptation for feeding in food-rich and warm surface waters at night and avoiding visual predators during the day. However, the critical assessment of migration patterns frequently suggests that: (i) zooplankton may leave deeper waters with rich, deepchlorophyll layers and move into the epilimnion where food resources are lower and/or (ii) the night-time increase in epilimnetic plankton abundance is not matched by a density decrease in deeper strata. To study these discrepancies, we measured DVM of zooplankton in a 1.3-ha Spanish karst lake (Laguna del Tejo) where the phytoplankton in the deep chlorophyll layer had been …
Vertical diversity of bacteria in an oxygen-stratified humic lake, evaluated using DNA and phospholipid analyses
2009
Microbes play a particularly important role in the food web in lakes with high dissolved organic carbon content. The bacterial community of a polyhumic lake, Mekkojarvi, was studied using DNA techniques and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis during the mid-summer period of water column strati- fication. According to the 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and length heterogeneity analysis (LH-PCR), heterotrophic bacteria dominated only in the oxic epilimnion, in which various Actinobacteria (mostly cluster acI-B) and Betaproteobacteria (especially Poly- nucleobacter subcluster PnecC) were common. Se- quences assigned to heterotrophic, methylotrophic, photoautotrophic, and chemoautotrophic ge…
Parasite-induced change in host behaviour and susceptibility to predation in an eye fluke–fish interaction
2004
Abstract Trophically transmitted parasites may increase their transmission efficiency by altering the behaviour of infected hosts to increase their susceptibility to predation by target hosts (the next host in the life cycle). The parasite Diplostomum spathaceum (Trematoda) reduces the vision of its fish intermediate hosts: its metacercariae lodge themselves in the eyes of fish and induce cataract formation, which gives them the opportunity to affect fish behaviour. We examined whether D. spathaceum eye flukes change the preference of fish for the surface layers of the water column or their escape behaviour, which could make the fish more vulnerable to predation by bird hosts. We also studi…
Effects of vegetation at different succession stages on soil properties and water flow in sandy soil
2015
The effects of vegetation at different succession stages on soil properties and water flow were assessed in sandy soil at 3 experimental sites near Sekule village (southwest Slovakia). Site S1 was a pioneer site dominated by mosses, site S2 was an early successional stage with a thin stand of grasses, and site S3 was an early successional stage (more advanced compared to the previous), richer in species, with a denser stand of grasses. It was found that vegetation at different succession stages affected soil properties and water flow in sandy soil, but the order of changes in some soil properties and water penetration depths were different from the order of succession stages.
Recognition of water masses according to geochemical signatures in the Central Mediterranean sea: Y/Ho ratio and rare earth element behaviour
2007
This study reports the results of geochemical investigations carried out in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea) during the oceanographic cruise BANSIC 2000, focusing on the area around the Pantelleria Island. We evaluate the interface processes between dissolved phase and suspended particulate matter in the water columns on the basis of Y/Ho ratio and rare earth elements and yttrium distributions that are suitable to trace the occurrence of different water layers in Central Mediterranean Area. The main source of trace elements to the sea water system was recognized in the atmospheric fallout, while different scavenging mechanisms among Y and rare earth elements occur. Cation ex…
Long-term recovery of stream habitat structure and benthic invertebrate communities from in-stream restoration
2002
Headwater streams channelized for water transport of timber in Finland are being restored to their pre-channelization state. The primary motivation is the enhancement of sport fisheries, but restoration probably has profound impacts also on other stream organisms. We assessed how such ‘‘single-goal’’ restorations affect benthic macroinvertebrate communities. We revisited the streams sampled by Laasonen et al. [Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 8 (1998)] in the early 1990s when the streams had been recently restored. In 1997, the recovery period of these streams ranged from 4 to 8 years. Habitat structure among the stream types represented a distinct recovery gradient, w…