Search results for "arctic region"
showing 10 items of 69 documents
Bioconcentration, biotransformation and elimination of pyrene in the arctic crustacean Gammarus setosus (Amphipoda) at two temperatures
2015
The influence of temperature on the bioaccumulation, toxicokinetics, biotransformation and depuration of pyrene was studied in the arctic marine amphipod Gammarus setosus. A two-compartment model was used to fit experimental values of total body burden, total metabolites and parent pyrene concentrations and to calculate toxicokinetic variables derived for two experimental treatments (2 and 8 °C). No statistically significant differences were observed with temperature for these toxicokinetic variables or bioconcentration factors. Contrarily, the Q10 values suggested that the toxicokinetic variables ke and km were temperature-dependent. This may be explained by the high standard deviation of …
Polychlorinated organic compounds in the Arctic cod liver: trends and profiles
2000
Polychlorinated organic compounds (POCs) have been measured in Arctic cod liver from Vestertana Fjord for a period of 1987-1998. Significant decrease was observed for DDD (p = 0.043), alpha-HCH (p = 0.001), and gamma-HCH (lindane; p = 0.001). Contents of DDE, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran, PCBs, chlordanes, chloronaphthalenes, hexachlorobenzene and polychlorodiphenyl ethers had no significant trend. Contents of three hexa- and two heptachlorodibenzofurans and octachlorodibenzofuran increased slightly from 1987 to 1994, but then at very high rate from 1994 to 1998. Trends of HCHs, profiles of PCBs and levels of chlordanes are in accordance with atmospheric long range transport. The hexa-, …
Bioclimatic atlas of the terrestrial Arctic
2023
AbstractThe Arctic is the region on Earth that is warming at the fastest rate. In addition to rising means of temperature-related variables, Arctic ecosystems are affected by increasingly frequent extreme weather events causing disturbance to Arctic ecosystems. Here, we introduce a new dataset of bioclimatic indices relevant for investigating the changes of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems. The dataset, called ARCLIM, consists of several climate and event-type indices for the northern high-latitude land areas > 45°N. The indices are calculated from the hourly ERA5-Land reanalysis data for 1950–2021 in a spatial grid of 0.1 degree (~9 km) resolution. The indices are provided in three subsets…
Soil legacy determines arbuscular mycorrhizal spore bank and plant performance in the low Arctic
2020
AbstractHuman impact is rapidly changing vegetation globally. The effect of plant cover that no longer exists in a site may still affect the development of future vegetation. We focused on a little studied factor—arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus spore bank—and its effect on three test plant species. In a low Arctic field site, plots were maintained for 6 years, devoid of any vegetation or with a Solidago virgaurea monoculture cover. We analysed the AM fungal morphospecies composition and identified 21 morphospecies in the field plots. The AM morphospecies community was dominated by members of Acaulosporaceae. Monoculturing under low Arctic field conditions changed the soil AM spore commun…
Assessing environmental conditions of Antarctic footpaths to support management decisions.
2016
Thousands of tourists visit certain Antarctic sites each year, generating a wide variety of environmental impacts. Scientific knowledge of human activities and their impacts can help in the effective design of management measures and impact mitigation. We present a case study from Barrientos Island in which a management measure was originally put in place with the goal of minimizing environmental impacts but resulted in new undesired impacts. Two alternative footpaths used by tourist groups were compared. Both affected extensive moss carpets that cover the middle part of the island and that are very vulnerable to trampling. The first path has been used by tourists and scientists since over …
The role ofSphagnummosses in the methane cycling of a boreal mire
2010
Peatlands are a major natural source of atmospheric methane (CH4). Emissions from Sphagnum-dominated mires are lower than those measured from other mire types. This observation may partly be due to methanotrophic (i.e., methane-consuming) bacteria associated with Sphagnum. Twenty-three of the 41 Sphagnum species in Finland can be found in the peatland at Lakkasuo. To better understand the Sphagnum-methanotroph system, we tested the following hypotheses: (1) all these Sphagnum species support methanotrophic bacteria; (2) water level is the key environmental determinant for differences in methanotrophy across habitats; (3) under dry conditions, Sphagnum species will not host methanotrophic ba…
Identification of Morphological Biosignatures in Martian Analogue Field Specimens Using In Situ Planetary Instrumentation
2008
International audience; We have investigated how morphological biosignatures (i.e., features related to life) might be identified with an array of viable instruments within the framework of robotic planetary surface operations at Mars. This is the first time such an integrated lab-based study has been conducted that incorporates space-qualified instrumentation designed for combined in situ imaging, analysis, and geotechnics ( sampling). Specimens were selected on the basis of feature morphology, scale, and analogy to Mars rocks. Two types of morphological criteria were considered: potential signatures of extinct life ( fossilized microbial filaments) and of extant life (crypto-chasmoendolit…
Ecological insights from three decades of animal movement tracking across a changing Arctic
2020
Ecological “big data” Human activities are rapidly altering the natural world. Nowhere is this more evident, perhaps, than in the Arctic, yet this region remains one of the most remote and difficult to study. Researchers have increasingly relied on animal tracking data in these regions to understand individual species' responses, but if we want to understand larger-scale change, we need to integrate our understanding across species. Davidson et al. introduce an open-source data archive that currently hosts more than 15 million location data points across 96 species and use it to show distinct climate change responses across species. Such ecological “big data” can lead to a wider understandi…
Trace elements and stable isotopes in penguin chicks and eggs: A baseline for monitoring the Ross Sea MPA and trophic transfer studies.
2021
Multi-tissue trace elements (TEs), C, N concentrations and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) of chick carcasses and eggs of Adelie and Emperor penguins were studied to i) provide reference data before the recent institution of the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (Antarctica), and ii) provide conversion factors that allow estimating C, N, δ13C and δ15N in edible tissues from non-edible ones, thus improving the use of stable isotopes in contamination and trophic transfer studies. Higher concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn and Pb were found in chick carcasses than in eggs, suggesting increasing contamination in recent decades and high toxicity risks for penguin consumers. Isotopic conversion fa…
Temnothorax pilagens sp. n. – a new slave-making species of the tribe Formicoxenini from North America (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)
2014
A new species of the ant genus Temnothorax Forel, 1890 – Temnothorax pilagens sp. n. is described from eastern North America. T. pilagens sp. n. is an obligate slave-making ant with two known hosts: T. longispinosus (Roger, 1863) and T. ambiguus (Emery, 1895). A differential diagnosis against Temnothorax duloticus (Wesson, 1937), the other dulotic congener from the Nearctic, is presented and a biological characteristics of the new species is given.