Effects of age, sex and reproductive status on persistent organic pollutant concentrations in “Southern Resident” killer whales

“Southern Resident” killer whales (Orcinus orca) that comprise three fish-eating “pods” (J, K and L) were listed as “endangered” in the US and Canada following a 20% population decline between 1996 and 2001. Blubber biopsy samples from Southern Resident juveniles had statistically higher concentrations of certain persistent organic pollutants than were found for adults. Most Southern Resident killer whales, including the four juveniles, exceeded the health-effects threshold for total PCBs in marine mammal blubber. Maternal transfer of contaminants to the juveniles during rapid development of their biological systems may put these young whales at greater risk than adults for adverse health effects (e.g., immune and endocrine system dysfunction). Pollutant ratios and field observations established that two of the pods (K- and L-pod) travel to California to forage. Nitrogen stable isotope values, supported by field observations, indicated possible changes in the diet of L-pod over the last decade.     

Evolutionary connections of biological kingdoms based on protein and nucleic acid sequence evidence

Evolutionary trees are derived based on nucleic acid and protein sequences and the methods of numerical taxonomy. From 5S ribosomal RNA sequences, molecules that participate in protein synthesis, the order of branching of many prokaryote species and the nuclear and organellar components of eukaryote species are inferred. All oxygen-evolving forms, including the chloroplasts and blue-green algae, are to be found on a single branch; the mitochondria are found with the Rhodospirillaceae, nonsulfur photosynthetic bacteria; and the eukaryote cytoplasmic components are found with the archae-bacteria, including Thermoplasma and Sulfolobus. This tree clearly supports the symbiotic origin of the eukaryote organelles. There is much redundant information available from c-type cytochromes, cytochromes c′, 4Fe-4S ferredoxins and 5.8S rRNA molecules. A gene duplication of ferredoxin, probably predating all of the species divergences, permitted us to infer an ancestral molecule that can be placed on the tree to give the base. The heterotrophic anaerobes have a sequence most resembling the ancestral sequence, suggesting that the ancestor may have been a heterotroph. Ten prokaryote species occur on both the c-type and the c′-type cytochrome trees. There is only one inconsistency in the topologies of the two trees, which may reflect a gene transfer among prokaryotes confirming that, for these genes of fundamental importance, gene transfer followed by acceptance is rare. The eukaryote trees derived from 5S and 5.8S rRNA suggest that the earliest eukaryotes were unicellular and that the multicellular forms of plants, animals, fungi and slime molds arose independently.     

Sensitivity of cool-temperate forests and their fossil pollen record to rapid temperature change

Simulations of cool-temperate forest growth in response to climatic change using the JABOWA computer model show that a decrease of 600 growing degree-days (equivalent to a 2°C decrease in mean annual temperature) causes red spruce (Picea rubens) to replace sugar maple (Acer saccharum) as the dominant tree. These changes are delayed 100–200 yr after the climatic cooling, producing gradual forest changes in response to abrupt temperature changes, and reducing the amplitude of response to brief climatic events. Soils and disturbances affect the speed and magnitude of forest response. The delayed responses are caused by the difference in sensitivity of adult trees and younger stages. The length of the delay depends on the life history characteristics of the dominant species. Delayed responses imply that fossil pollen deposits, even if they faithfully record the abundances of trees in forests, may not be able to resolve climatic changes within 100–200 yr, or to record very brief climatic events. This explains why pollen deposits do not as yet show responses to climatic changes during the past 100 yr. Only the Little Ice Age, which lasted several centuries, caused sufficient forest change to be recorded in fossil pollen, and only at certain sites.     

An objective technique for determining end-member compositions and for partitioning sediments according to their sources

A modification of Q-mode factor analysis provides an objective technique for end-member characterization of geologic mixtures. Factor analysis has not often been used to determine the actual composition of end-member sources in geologic mixtures, because transformations of the original data variables during the analysis result in negative factor scores for some variables and negative “concentrations” of some variables in the end-members. We use a non-orthogonal rotation of end-member vectors toward the mean vector to bring the end-members into the positive vector space.This technique is demonstrated on a large data set of elemental analyses of bulk sediment surface samples from the Nazca Plate in the southeast Pacific. These data were chosen because they had been studied in detail previously. Our technique identified five geologically reasonable end-members which represent detritus, siliceous biogenic sediment, hydrothermal sediment, hydrogenous or authigenic sediment, and a refractory residue left after the dissolution of biogenic debris. The number, composition, and distribution of the end-members are similar to those derived from previous extensive partitioning studies of the sediments.     

Water flow and the vertical distribution of meiofauna: A flume experiment

Laboratory experiments were conducted in a recirculating saltwater flume to determine if flow influences the vertical distribution of meiofauna within fine cohesive sediments. Replicate flume boxcores collected from a nonvegetated mudflat were exposed to either a no flow or a flow experimental treatment. After 3 h in the flume, the boxcores were sampled by taking smaller sediment cores and sectioning these cores vertically in 2-mm intervals. There was no statistical difference in the number of copepods (adults, copepodites, and nauplii) in the top 2mm of sediment in flow vs. no flow treatments. The number of nematodes and foraminiferans within the top 2 mm of sediment was significantly lower in the flow treatments than in the no flow treatments. Downward migrations may decrease the susceptibility of these fauna to passive erosion by tidal currents.     

Volunteering in catchment management groups: Empowering the volunteer

This paper discusses one aspect of a phenomenographic study that investigates experiences of individuals who volunteer their time for a variety of catchment care groups in coastal Queensland. Data were collected through group and personal interviews, which were undertaken in 2001. Interviews took place in a number of locations along the east coast of Queensland, from Brisbane to Mossman, just north of Cairns. A number of broad conceptions emerged from the data, and this paper discusses one of these, that of empowerment. Analysis of interviews revealed that some catchment volunteers became personally empowered, and developed skills that they would not otherwise have had. Other volunteers saw catchment volunteering as a vehicle for empowerment that allowed individuals to have a say in decision making and governance of local resources. Many volunteers, however, revealed the difficulties associated with public participation processes, and described power struggles that arose within groups, and at a community level, when catchment group members wanted to be directly involved in decisions affecting their local environments. These struggles were further complicated by a chronic lack of resources. Despite these setbacks, community catchment groups can provide personal and group empowerment, resulting in a 'little voice' as opposed to none.     

Forests in Limbo: Assessing Costa Rica's Forest and Land Reform Policies

In this article, we consider the stalled implementation of two state policies among recipients of land reform in Costa Rica: the transfer of authority over forests on state agrarian reform lands over to the Ministry of the Environment, and the Rural Development Institute’s requirement to issue land title to the recipients of its land reform projects. To date, neither of these policies is even partially implemented, resulting in both forests and marginalized landholders existing in a state of dual tenure limbo. In this article we draw on document analysis, interviews with policymakers, and interviews with recipients of land reform to determine why these policies have not been implemented. In addition, we assess the potential consequences for forest conservation that this situation has produced by mapping the extent and characteristics of forests that occupy this state of uncertainty.     

Isolation of CYP2L2 and two other cytochrome P450 sequences from a spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, hepatopancreas cDNA library

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases constitute an enzyme superfamily, with at least 74 known families. Members of CYP families 1–4 are important in the phase 1 metabolism of lipophilic xenobiotics, such as those found in contaminated marine environments. Previous studies (James et al. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. (1996) 329, 31–38) showed that a major form of P450 in spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, hepatopancreas was CYP2L1, a new sub-family, and that there was evidence for other P450 forms in hepatopancreas. We now report the sequence of a second member of this subfamily, named CYP2L2, present in P. Argus hepatopancreas. The deduced amino acid sequences of CYP2L1 and CYP2L2 share 54.7% sequence identity and an additional 13.6% of the sequences show conservative substitutions. Analysis of the sequences of CYP2L1, CYP2L2 and other representative CYP2 family members (from rat and mouse sub-families 2A, 2B, 2D and 2E) showed that the crustacean sequences clustered together. In addition to CYP2L2, cDNA clones of 66 to 117 base pairs from the 5′ coding region of two more P450 isoforms were isolated from the spiny lobster cDNA library. The deduced amino acid sequence of one of these additional cDNA clones was identical to the first 22 amino acids of the N-terminal sequence of a P450 protein previously isolated from hepatopancreas microsomes. These studies confirm earlier biochemical evidence that the hepatopancreas contains multiple forms of cytochrome P450.