Search results for "class"

Are aquatic and semiaquatic true bugs (Hemiptera: Nepomorpha; Gerromorpha) distinct aquatic communities? A case study in homogeneous habitats

2019

We investigated the environmental factors influencing Nepomorpha and Gerromorpha in lentic, highly vegetated habitats from the Danube Delta. We collected 7032 individuals from 12 species from 23 ha...

Insights from sodium into the impacts of elevated pCO2 and temperature on bivalve shell formation

2017

Ocean acidification and warming are predicted to affect the ability of marine bivalves to build their shells, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Shell formation is an extremely complex process requiring a detailed understanding of biomineralization processes. Sodium incorporation into the shells would increase if bivalves rely on the exchange of Na+/H+ to maintain homeostasis for shell formation, thereby shedding new light on the acid-base and ionic regulation at the calcifying front. Here, we investigated the combined effects of seawater pH (8.1, 7.7 and 7.4) and temperature (16 and 22 °C) on the growth and sodium composition of the shells of the blue mussel, Mytilus edul…

2018

Climatically controlled allocation to reproduction is a key mechanism by which climate influences tree growth and may explain lagged correlations between climate and growth. We used continent-wide datasets of tree-ring chronologies and annual reproductive effort in Fagus sylvatica from 1901 to 2015 to characterise relationships between climate, reproduction and growth. Results highlight that variable allocation to reproduction is a key factor for growth in this species, and that high reproductive effort ('mast years') is associated with stem growth reduction. Additionally, high reproductive effort is associated with previous summer temperature, creating lagged climate effects on growth. Con…

Cod at drift in the North Sea

2018

Abstract There has been a large-scale geographical re-distribution of the North Sea cod stock over the past century, and recent surveys indicate a north-eastern modal distribution. Here we assess the consequences of the contemporary distribution of North Sea cod (Gadus morhua) spawning biomass to inter-ocean recruitment potential. By simulations of drifting cod eggs and larvae spawned in the northern North Sea over 16 spawning seasons (in the period 1995–2016), we show that a large portion of the North Sea produced pelagic juveniles most likely settle along the Norwegian Sea shelf. For example during the early 2000s when the North Sea cod spawning biomass was at its lowest, 20% to 27% of la…

Effects of host abundance on larch budmoth outbreaks in the European Alps

2017

Outbreaks of the larch budmoth (LBM) in the European Alps are among the most documented population cycles and their historical occurrence has been reconstructed over 1200 years. Causes and consequences of cyclic LBM outbreaks are poorly understood and little is known about populations near the margin of the host's distribution range. In the present study, we quantify historical LBM outbreaks and associated growth reductions in host trees (European larch). Tree-ring data collected from 18 sites between approximately 500 and 1700 m a.s.l. in the Northern pre-Alps are compared with data from the Western Alps and Tatra Mountains, as well as with nonhost Norway spruce. Highly synchronized host a…

Diverse growth trends and climate responses across Eurasia’s boreal forest

2016

The area covered by boreal forests accounts for similar to 16% of the global and 22% of the Northern Hemisphere landmass. Changes in the productivity and functioning of this circumpolar biome not o ...

Experimental δ13C evidence for a contribution of methane to pelagic food webs in lakes

2006

We tested the hypothesis that low stable carbon isotope (δ13C) values commonly observed for zooplankton in humic lakes are due to their feeding on isotopically light methane-oxidizing microbes, and thus that methane-derived carbon is important in the food webs of these lakes. In replicate laboratory cultures, Daphnia longispina, a common crustacean zooplankter in humic lakes, were fed microbial suspensions with or without enrichment by biogenic methane. The δ13C values of Daphnia indicated consumption of 13C-depleted methanotrophic bacteria, while growth rates, survival, and reproduction of Daphnia in cultures enriched with methane were equal to or greater than those in nonenriched cultures…

Trophic state changes can affect the importance of methane-derived carbon in aquatic food webs

2017

Methane-derived carbon, incorporated by methane-oxidizing bacteria, has been identified as a significant source of carbon in food webs of many lakes. By measuring the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C values) of particulate organic matter, Chironomidae andDaphniaspp. and their resting eggs (ephippia), we show that methane-derived carbon presently plays a relevant role in the food web of hypertrophic Lake De Waay, The Netherlands. Sediment geochemistry, diatom analyses and δ13C measurements of chironomid andDaphniaremains in the lake sediments indicate that oligotrophication and re-eutrophication of the lake during the twentieth century had a strong impact on in-lake oxygen availabili…

Using Local Ecological Knowledge of Fishers to Reconstruct Abundance Trends of Elasmobranch Populations in the Strait of Sicily

2020

Fishers “local ecological knowledge” (LEK) can be used to reconstruct long-term trends of species that are at very low biomass due to overfishing. In this study, we used historical memories of Sicilian fishers to understand their perception of change in abundance of cartilaginous fish in the Strait of Sicily over the last decades. We conducted interviews with 27 retired fishers from Mazara del Vallo harbor (SW Sicily) working in demersal fisheries, using a pre-defined questionnaire with a series of open and fixed questions related to the abundance of sharks and rays. The questionnaire included specific questions about the trends they perceived in catch or by-catch of cartilaginous fish abun…

Drivers of shell growth of the bivalve, Callista chione (L. 1758) - Combined it environmental and biological factors

2018

WOS:000426027100014; Seasonal shell growth patterns were analyzed using the stable oxygen and carbon isotope values of live-collected specimens of the bivalve Callista chione from two sites in the Adriatic Sea (Pag and Cetina, Croatia). Micromilling was performed on the shell surface of three shells per site and shell oxygen isotopes of the powder samples were measured. The timing and rate of seasonal shell growth was determined by aligning the delta O-18(shell)-derived temperatures so that the best fit was achieved with the instrumental temperature curve. According to the data, shells grew only at very low rates or not at all during the winter months, i.e., between January and March. Shell…