Reproductive traits of the freshwater shrimp Caridina fossarum Heller, 1862 (Decapoda, Caridea, Atyidae) in the Ghomp-Atashkedeh spring (Iran)

In the present study, some biological traits of Caridina fossarum reproduction are studied in the Ghomp-Atashkedeh spring (Fasa, Shiraz, Iran), for the first time. This Iranian endemic freshwater species was studied from April 2007 to March 2008. Minimum sexable size (MSS) and absolute or relative size at the onset of maturity (SOM and RSOM) in terms of carapace length (CL) was found to be 2.4 mm, 4.3 mm and 55%, respectively. Sex ratio showed variations on a monthly basis. Sex reversal is a possible scenario for C. fossarum because the size-specific sex ratio revealed a reverse pattern. Based on the proportions of ovigerous females, the main breeding season was determined to be from April to August, demonstrating a peak during early spring. There is a period of extended recruitment at water temperatures above 20 °C. The size at which 50% of females are mature was estimated at CL = 5.03 mm from the proportion of ovigerous females during the breeding season. The pleopodal egg number varied from 3 to 75 eggs per female with a mean value 34.39 ± 14.27. The results showed that although there is a significant relationship between carapace length CL and pleopodal egg number, it is not the most important factor affecting potential fecundity in C. fossarum due to the low values of slope (= 1.51) and determination coefficient (= 0.052).     

Grain-growth kinetics in wadsleyite: Effects of chemical environment

Grain-growth kinetics in wadsleyite was investigated using a multianvil high-pressure apparatus. Fine-grained wadsleyite aggregates were synthesized by isostatic hot-pressing and were subsequently annealed under high pressure and temperature in a controlled chemical environment. Wadsleyite samples show normal grain-growth characterized by a log-normal grain-size distribution following the relation, where n is a constant, L the grain-size at time t, L₀ the grain-size at time t = 0 and k is a rate constant that depends on temperature T and chemical environments (fO₂: oxygen fugacity in Pa, C_OH: water content in H/10⁶Si) as:

     

Source parameters and scaling relationships in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Northeastern Italy) region

We estimated the source parameters of 53 local earthquakes (2.0<M_L<5.7) of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Northeastern Italy) area, recorded by the short-period local seismic network of the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS), in the period 1995-2003. Data were selected on the basis of high quality locations and focal mechanisms. Standard H/V spectral ratios (HVRS) of the three-component stations of the network were performed in order to assess local amplifications, and only stations showing HVRS not exceeding two were considered for the source parameters estimation. Both velocity and acceleration data were used to compute the SH-wave spectra. Observed spectra were corrected for attenuation effects using an independent regional estimate of the quality factor Q and a station dependent estimate of the spectral decay parameter k. Only earthquakes with M_L>3.0 recorded with a sampling rate of 125 cps were used to compute k, thus allowing to visualize a linear trend of the high frequency acceleration spectrum up to 40-50 Hz. SH-wave spectra, corrected for attenuation, showed an ω⁻² shape allowing a good fit with the Brune model. Seismic moments and Brune radii ranged between 1.5×10¹² and 1.1×10¹⁷  N m and between 0.1 and 2.7 km respectively. We obtained M_o=1.1×10¹⁷  N m for the seismic moment of the Kobarid (SLO) main shock, in good agreement with the Harvard CMT solution (M_o=3.5×10¹⁷  N m). Brune stress drops were confined to the range from 0.07 to 5.31 MPa, with an average value of 0.73 MPa and seem to be approximately constant over five orders of magnitude of seismic moment. Radiated seismic energy computed from two nearby stations scales with seismic moment according to , and apparent stress values are between 0.02 and 4.26 MPa. The observed scatter of Brune stress drop data allowed to hypothesize a scaling relation between seismic moment and corner frequency in order to accommodate both Brune stress drop and apparent stress scalings. No systematic differences are evidenced between stress parameters of earthquakes with different focal mechanisms. As a consequence, a relation of the seismic stress release with the strength of rocks can be hypothesized. A high correlation (r>0.9) of Brune stress drop is found with both apparent stress and RMS stress drop, according to and respectively.     

Long-period planetary waves in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere above Davis, Antarctica

The accumulation of MF radar wind and hydroxyl temperature measurements at Davis from 1997 to 2005 has enabled the compilation of a climatology of long-period (period >1 day) wave activity. A time domain filtering technique that makes allowance for the differing sampling characteristics of the measurements is described and wave amplitudes are presented for 1.7–4, 4–8 and 8–16 day period bands. Product averages of the time series yield horizontal heat and momentum fluxes for the height of the hydroxyl layer (approximately 86 km). The climatology is then discussed in terms of current knowledge of planetary wave characteristics and forcing. Heat and momentum fluxes during the year of the southern hemisphere stratospheric warming (2002) are also presented.     

Reproductive biology of a small amphidromous shrimp Atyoida serrata on Reunion Island,south-west Indian Ocean

Atyoida serrata is a small amphidromous shrimp distributed in the south-west Indian Ocean. This species is threatened by human activities such as fisheries and river discharge withdrawals. Knowledge of its reproductive biology is essential to develop management plans and reduce the impacts of these threats. This study presents the results of a one-year survey in three stations along the Langevin River, Reunion Island. Densities of shrimps dominated by juveniles decreased with an increasing altitude. However, the largest individuals were more numerous upstream. Despite variable size structures among stations, all the largest individuals were females. Females larger than 32 mm Total Length had a probability of 50% or more of being ovigerous. Fecundities were ranged from 271 eggs for a 28 mm TL female to 4,365 eggs for a 47 mm TL female. Reproductive activity was observed throughout the year with a considerable increase from September to April. This increase was positively correlated to day-lengths and to a lesser extent to elevated water temperatures and river discharges. This study suggests a fishing restriction in the upstream areas and during the reproductive season. Attention should be paid to management of water withdrawal during low water levels to reduce impacts on the larva drift.     

Daily availability of nutrients and metals in a eutrophic meso-tidal coastal lagoon (Óbidos lagoon, Portugal)

This baseline reports daily variations of physico-chemical parameters, nutrients and metals in water of two sites [eutrophic conditions (BB) versus reference (LL)] in Óbidos coastal lagoon (Portugal). Dissolved oxygen in BB varied between 40% saturation levels (night) and 190% (daylight). , and ratios to Al of Mn, Fe and Pb in suspended particulate matter increased during the period of lower oxygenation, indicating exportation of nutrients and metals from the sediment to water at night. At LL, O₂ values oscillated always around 100%. and Mn/Al ratio at LL were always lower than at BB and no increases were found during the night. The input of and Mn provided from the sediment at BB during the night could surpass the contribution of freshwater discharges. PCA confirmed the separation of most samples from BB and LL. These results pointed to the importance of assessing chemical conditions over day-night cycles.     

Life history, growth and production of Theodoxus fluviatilis in Lake Esrom, Denmark

A population of Theodoxus fluviatilis L in the littoral zone of Lake Esrom was investigated from November 1977 to February 1979. The population was sampled every month in the winter period and twice during the rest of the year. Biomass was estimated as ash-free dry weight (AFDW) of the organic matter both of the soft parts of the animal and the shell itself. The relation between AFDW (c) and shell length (l) was log c=2.9509×log (l)−1.7120. The population comprised more than 1 year-class, which could be separated by shell length, by a narrow band on the shells and the growth of algae on the shell. The life cycle lasted years. The oldest animals had a shell length of 7.0-7.5 mm. A few individuals who were estimated to be years had a shell length up to 8.6 mm. Population density varied between 575 and 2115 individuals m⁻² on the stony substratum. The average was 1160 individuals m⁻². Mortality was low during the summer period. In winter many animals died due to the effect of ice and stormy weather on the stony substratum. Growth of the animals was estimated from the shell length. Maximum growth was observed from May to August with no growth during the winter. Egg capsules were found on the stones all year round. New capsules were found from late May to the middle of November. Most freshly laid capsules were observed in May-June and August-September. Capsules from the late summer hatched in spring and capsules laid in the spring hatched in August-September. The average annual net production for the whole population was estimated by three methods. The Allen curve method gave 1.895 AFDW m⁻², the growth-increment method gave 1.784 mg AFDW m⁻² and the Hynes method 2.284 mg AFDW m⁻². Corresponding estimated P/B ratios were 1.29, 1.30 and 1.57. Annual net-production of the four investigated year-classes was 16 mg AFDW m⁻² year⁻¹ for 1975, 224 mg AFDW m⁻² year⁻¹ for 1976, 1.258 mg AFDW m⁻² year⁻¹ for 1977 and 287 mg AFDW m⁻² year⁻¹ for 1978. P/B ratios for the three oldest year-classes were, respectively, 0.32, 0.50 and 1.67. A comparison with other investigations on gastropod life cycles, reproduction and P/B ratios is made and differences discussed. Variations are correlated to temperature, and food quality and quantity.     

Evidence for the stimulation of field-aligned electron density irregularities on a short time scale by ionospheric topside sounders

Ionospheric topside sounders can be considered to act as mobile ionospheric heating facilities. They stimulate a wide variety of plasma phenomena that suggests that significant plasma heating can be produced in the vicinity of the spacecraft following the short duration (0.1 ms) high-power (hundreds of watts) sounder pulse. Most of these phenomena are sensitive to the ambient plasma conditions, particularly to the ratio of the plasma frequency to the gyro frequency . Certain stimulated phenomena only occur, or are greatly enhanced, when where n is an integer. One example is a diffuse signal return that appears at a frequency just above the Z mode wave cutoff frequency (the L = 0 condition in the notation of Stix). This signal, which is the subject of the present paper, is present only for moderately large near-integer values for (e.g., n > 3). It is a relatively short-duration echo—usually less than about 10 ms. These characteristics are quite different from the Z mode echoes often observed between or (whichever is greater) and the upper hybrid frequency . These latter echoes occur for smaller values (not necessarily near-integer values) of and are received during the entire 30 ms listening time period following the sounder pulse. They have been attributed to the scattering of sounder Z mode signals from naturally occurring electron density fieldaligned irregularities (FAI). The short-duration echoes observed just above , on the other hand, are here attributed to the ducting of sounder-generated Z mode waves in sounder-stimulated (or sounderenhanced) FAI. These FAI are believed to be generated (or enhanced) on a very short time scale (? 1 s) by the efficient absorption of sounder energy when the plasma/gyro frequency ratio is nearly an integer value significantly greater than one. The most likely generation process is the filamentation instability driven by the ponderomotive force due to the high-power sounder pulse.