Sea,freshwater or saltpans? Foraging ecology of terns to assess mercury inputs in a wetland landscape: The Ebro Delta

The Ebro catchment, the largest river basin in Spain, includes various heavily industrialized areas. Among these is the Flix site, where a chemical plant has been operating since the beginning of the 20th century. This extended operational period, together with the construction of a dam next to the factory around 1960, resulted in the accumulation of large amounts of heavily polluted sediments in the adjacent riverbed, many of which are contaminated by mercury. Pollutants from Flix are carried downstream by the Ebro River to its delta. In order to assess the transfer of mercury to the complex river estuary ecosystem, we studied the ecology of the tern community living there as these birds segregate into a range of habitats. For this purpose, first we used stable isotope analysis (SIA) (δ³⁴S, δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) of eggs to determine the trophic ecology and habitat partitioning of several tern species (Common, Sandwich, Little, Gull-Billed and Whiskered Tern) breeding sympatrically, in order to link their foraging ecology with habitat types. Next we measured mercury concentrations in eggs to monitor the input of this metal into the diverse habitats. With the exception of the Little Tern, the other terns used a restricted habitat range in the Ebro Delta, as shown by C and S isotopes; the Gull-Billed and Whiskered Tern foraged in freshwater habitats, while the Common and Sandwich Tern used marine habitats. This restricted feeding behavior of the Gull-Billed and Common Tern contrasts with previous reports in other breeding sites. The Little Tern, which showed a wide range of isotopic values, was found to be an opportunistic forager but fed mainly in saltpans, a feeding habitat not reported previously for this species in this area. We found that mercury concentrations are related to foraging habitat and diet, and are unexpectedly higher in species feeding on demersal prey in marine habitats and also higher in birds feeding in saltpans than in those feeding in freshwater habitats. The mercury concentrations found in the Little and Common Tern eggs sampled in “Punta de la Banya” may be sufficiently high to endanger breeding success.     

Daily Meteorological Observations in Cádiz – San Fernando. Analysis of the Documentary Sources and the Instrumental Data Content (1786–1996)

Meteorological observations in the city of Cádiz are acknowledged as having been made from the middle of the 18th century onwards although they were only recorded and preserved in documentary form from 1789 onwards. Data readings were taken at the new Naval Observatory in San Fernando, ten kilometres from Cádiz, from 1797 onwards. Continuous series for temperature and atmospheric pressure at a daily resolution have been compiled and constructed from 1817 until 1996. The data series is composed of thrice daily observations made at Cádiz (1821–1880) by local observers and hourly data from Naval Observatory at San Fernando (1870–1996).     

Stellar Populations in Bulges of Spiral Galaxies

We present a few results of a work in progress tackling the radial spectroscopic properties of bulges of spiral galaxies. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hydrogeological research on intensively exploited deep aquifers in the ‘Loma de Úbeda’ area (Jaén, southern Spain)

The intensive use of groundwater for irrigation in the area of Úbeda (‘Loma de Úbeda’, Jaén, southern Spain) has transformed an area of traditionally rain-fed dry farmland into fields with some of the highest olive oil productivity in the world. Early hydrogeological research studies, initiated just after the beginning of the groundwater exploitation, revealed that the water was collected from three different overlapping aquifers occupying an area of over 1,100 km², with the lower aquifers located at depths from 300 to over 700 m in an area of 440 km². Multidisciplinary research, based on geological characterization, and piezometric, hydrochemical and isotopic data, has led to a conceptual model of functioning in this complex hydrogeological system. The proposed model allows for the identification of the recharge areas, and the discharge, which is at present mainly associated with the groundwater pumping. Areas of mixing of waters from the different aquifers and the main hydrogeochemical processes affecting groundwater quality are described.     

Robust Regulation of Alkalinity in Highly Uncertain Continuous Anaerobic Digestion Processes

In this paper, a multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) model‐based robust control scheme is proposed for the indirect control of both total alkalinity and the ratio (intermediate alkalinity)/(total alkalinity) by regulating volatile fatty acid concentrations and strong ions concentration, while guaranteeing the so‐called operational stability in anaerobic digestion (AD) processes. The proposed MIMO regulator is an adaptive controller derived from an AD model which incorporates the physicochemical equilibrium of the system as well as the use of a robust interval observer to estimate key process bounds that are used in the computation of the control efforts. Numerical simulations were carried out for a number of operating conditions under the most uncertain scenarios. Results showed that the proposed multivariable control law is able to recover the system stability around a pre‐determined set point in the face of parameter uncertainty and load disturbances.     

Linking foraging behavior and diet in a diving seabird

Foraging behavior and diet of breeding seabirds may be analysed simultaneously with the combined use of remote sensing devices and stable isotope analysis. Imperial shag, Phalacrocorax atriceps, breeding at Punta León colony, Argentina, were equipped with global positioning system (GPS) loggers to record foraging trips and blood samples were taken after removal of the devices in order to analyse their nitrogen and carbon stable isotope composition in whole blood and plasma. Whole blood was correlated to plasma isotopic composition for each individual (n = 35), linking diet in the short and medium term. Sexes did not differ in isotopic signatures. The maximum distance reached and the total number of dives that individuals made on two consecutive foraging trips were correlated to their plasma nitrogen isotopic signature. Individuals that went further from the colony and dived fewer times presented more positive signatures, indicative of benthic prey consumption (e.g. Raneya brasiliensis). Diet was predominantly benthic with some individuals incorporating pelagic prey (Engraulis anchoita) and even cephalopods (Octopus tehuelchus). Within breeding pairs (n = 9), different combinations of foraging and prey preferences were observed. Estimated trophic levels of these individuals were similar to those of the same species in other colonies further south along the Patagonian coast.     

Integrability of motion around galactic razor-thin disks

We consider the three-dimensional bounded motion of a test particle around razor-thin disk configurations, by focusing on the adiabatic invariance of the vertical action associated with disk-crossing orbits. We find that it leads to an approximate third integral of motion predicting envelopes of the form \(Z(R)\propto [\varSigma (R)]^{-1/3}\), where R is the radial galactocentric coordinate, Z is the z-amplitude (vertical amplitude) of the orbit and \(\varSigma \) represents the surface mass density of the thin disk. This third integral, which was previously formulated for the case of flattened 3D configurations, is tested for a variety of trajectories in different thin-disk models.     

Rare earth elements and yttrium in ferromanganese deposits from the South China Sea: distribution, composition and resource considerations

Ferromanganese nodules and crusts contain relatively high concentration of rare earth elements(REE) and yttrium(REY),with a growing interest in exploitation as an alternative to land-based REY resources.On the basis of comprehensive geochemical approach,the abundance and distribution of REY in the ferromanganese nodules from the South China Sea are analyzed.The results indicate that the REY contents in ferromanganese deposits show a clear geographic regularity.Total REY contents range from 69.1×10~(–6) to 2 919.4×10~(–6),with an average value of 1 459.5×10~(–6).Especially,the enrichment rate of Ce content is high,accounting for almost 60% of the total REY.This REE enrichment is controlled mainly by the sorption of ferromanganese oxides and clay minerals in the nodules and crusts.Moreover,the total REY are higher in ferromanganese deposits of hydrogenous origin than of diagenetic origin.Finally,Light REE(LREE) and heavy REE(HREE) oxides of the ferromanganese deposits in the study area can be classified into four grades: non-enriched type,weakly enriched type,enriched type,and extremely enriched type.According to the classification criteria of rare earth resources,the Xisha and Zhongsha platform-central deep basin areas show a great potential for these rare earth metals.     

How to increase technology transfers to developing countries: a synthesis of the evidence

The existing United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has failed to deliver the rate of low-carbon technology transfer (TT) required to curb GHG emissions in developing countries. This failure has exposed the limitations of universalism and renewed interest in bilateral approaches to TT. Gaps are identified in the UNFCCC approach to climate change TT: missing links between international institutions and the national enabling environments that encourage private investment; a non-differentiated approach for (developing) country and technology characteristics; and a lack of clear measurements of the volume and effectiveness of TTs. Evidence from econometric literature and business experience on climate change TT is reviewed, so as to address the identified pitfalls of the UNFCCC process. Strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches are highlighted. International policy recommendations are offered aimed at improving the level of emission reductions achieved through TT.     

The droughts of 1996–1997 and 2004–2005 in Amazonia: hydrological response in the river main‐stem

Severe hydrological droughts in the Amazon have generally been associated with strong El Niño events. More than 100 years of stage record at Manaus harbour confirms that minimum water levels generally coincide with intense warming in the tropical Pacific sea waters. During 2005, however, the Amazon experienced a severe drought which was not associated with an El Niño event. Unless what usually occurs during strong El Niño events, when negative rainfall anomalies usually affect central and eastern Amazon drainage basin; rainfall deficiencies in the drought of 2005 were spatially constrained to the west and southwest of the basin. In spite of this, discharge stations at the main‐stem recorded minimum water levels as low as those observed during the basin‐wide 1996–1997 El Niño‐related drought. The analysis of river discharges along the main‐stem and major tributaries during the drought of 2004–2005 revealed that the recession on major tributaries began almost simultaneously. This was not the case in the 1996–1997 drought, when above‐normal contribution of some tributaries for a short period during high water was crucial to partially counterbalance high discharge deficits of the other tributaries. Since time‐lagged contributions of major tributaries are fundamental to damp the extremes in the main‐stem, an almost coincident recession in almost all tributaries caused a rapid decrease in water discharges during the 2005 event. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.