The combined influence of two agricultural contaminants on natural communities of phytoplankton and zooplankton

Ecotoxicology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1021-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne F. Baker ◽  
Joseph F. Mudge ◽  
Dean G. Thompson ◽  
Jeff E. Houlahan ◽  
Karen A. Kidd
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Contaminants ◽  
Natural Communities

Community dynamics in highland watersheds

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Jacobsen ◽  
Olivier Dangles
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Central Process ◽  
Spatial Variables ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Local Extinctions ◽  
Metacommunity Dynamics ◽  
Natural Communities

Chapter 6 presents the interaction between space and time in determining the organization of natural communities in high altitude heterogeneous waterscapes. After explaining why high altitude waters represent suitable models for examining metacommunity organization, the chapter focuses on dispersal—a central process to allow colonization and establishment of populations in remote localities and to counter local extinctions. Community organization patterns are then described for a variety of organisms living in high altitude waters, from microbes to invertebrates to fish and birds. These patterns reveal that both environmental and spatial variables are generally involved in species assembling. Examples of studies on directional spatial processes (e.g. through wind and water flow), waterscape genetics, and temporal variability (synchrony/asynchrony) are highlighted as promising research areas to increase the current knowledge on high altitude metacommunity dynamics.

scholarly journals Species functional traits and abundance as drivers of multiplex ecological networks: first empirical quantification of inter-layer edge weights

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1939) ◽  
pp. 20202127
Author(s):  
S. Hervías-Parejo ◽  
C. Tur ◽  
R. Heleno ◽  
M. Nogales ◽  
S. Timóteo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Traits ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Modular Organization ◽  
Vertebrate Species ◽  
Multilayer Network ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Seed Dispersers ◽  
Natural Communities

Many vertebrate species act as both plant pollinators and seed-dispersers, thus interconnecting these processes, particularly on islands. Ecological multilayer networks are a powerful tool to explore interdependencies between processes; however, quantifying the links between species engaging in different types of interactions (i.e. inter-layer edges) remains a great challenge. Here, we empirically measured inter-layer edge weights by quantifying the role of individually marked birds as both pollinators and seed-dispersers of Galápagos plant species over an entire year. Although most species (80%) engaged in both functions, we show that only a small proportion of individuals actually linked the two processes, highlighting the need to further consider intra-specific variability in individuals' functional roles. Furthermore, we found a high variation among species in linking both processes, i.e. some species contribute more than others to the modular organization of the multilayer network. Small and abundant species are particularly important for the cohesion of pollinator seed-dispersal networks, demonstrating the interplay between species traits and neutral processes structuring natural communities.

scholarly journals Perceived agricultural runoff impact on drinking water

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Crampton ◽  
Angela T. Ragusa
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Agricultural Runoff ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Rural Residents ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Agricultural Contaminants

Agricultural runoff into surface water is a problem in Australia, as it is in arguably all agriculturally active countries. While farm practices and resource management measures are employed to reduce downstream effects, they are often either technically insufficient or practically unsustainable. Therefore, consumers may still be exposed to agrichemicals whenever they turn on the tap. For rural residents surrounded by agriculture, the link between agriculture and water quality is easy to make and thus informed decisions about water consumption are possible. Urban residents, however, are removed from agricultural activity and indeed drinking water sources. Urban and rural residents were interviewed to identify perceptions of agriculture's impact on drinking water. Rural residents thought agriculture could impact their water quality and, in many cases, actively avoided it, often preferring tank to surface water sources. Urban residents generally did not perceive agriculture to pose health risks to their drinking water. Although there are more agricultural contaminants recognised in the latest Australian Drinking Water Guidelines than previously, we argue this is insufficient to enhance consumer protection. Health authorities may better serve the public by improving their proactivity and providing communities and water utilities with the capacity to effectively monitor and address agricultural runoff.

Complex environments alter competitive dynamics in fungi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Chan ◽  
Stephen Bonser ◽  
Michael M. Kasumovic ◽  
Jeff Powell ◽  
William Kirkham Cornwell
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Wood Block ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Biotic Factor ◽  
Pairwise Interactions ◽  
Agar Media ◽  
Contextual Environment ◽  
Natural Settings ◽  
Natural Communities

Competition is a key biotic factor that often structures natural communities. Many attempts to disentangle how competition shapes natural communities have relied on experiments on simplified systems or through simple mathematical models. But these simplified approaches are limited in their ability to represent the complexity seen in more natural settings. Here, we considered the competitive pairwise dynamics between four saprotrophic fungal species. We tested whether the contextual environment changed these dynamics, repeating competitive experiments in a simple agar media and a more ecologically realistic wood block setting. We found that the competitive outcomes on agar media differed from those within the wood blocks. While superior competitors were identified across all pairwise interactions on agar, within the wood blocks, two of six interactions resulted in deadlock, where neither competitor could breach territory of the other, and one interaction resulted in a reversed competitive outcome. These results suggest that the complexity within natural substrates can alter the strength of interspecific interactions and may contribute to coexistence and the resulting high diversity of fungi often observed within wood.

Naturalists’ Hike As a New Form of Environmental Education for Children

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Ol'ga Golovina ◽  
I. Filatova
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Environmental Literacy ◽  
Age Group ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Primary Schoolchildren ◽  
New Form ◽  
Additional Education ◽  
Natural Communities

The article highlights the experience of conducting a naturalist hike - a new form of organizing environmental education for preschoolers and primary schoolchildren. The purpose of the trip, carried out in the form of a travel game, meets the requirements for the formation of environmental literacy in children of this age group, which are stated in the standards of preschool and primary school education. Game “What can you see in a pine forest?” is intended to enrich the sensory experience of children in the process of observing plants and animals of the forest, to acquaint them with observation as a method of studying natural communities, to develop a cognitive interest in the flora and fauna of their native land, to foster a desire to protect the forest and its inhabitants by participating in nature conservation activities. The article is intended for preschool teachers, primary school teachers, and additional education specialists.

PHYLOGENY, NICHES, AND RELATIVE ABUNDANCE IN NATURAL COMMUNITIES

Ecology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 962-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen K. Kelly ◽  
Michael G. Bowler ◽  
Oliver Pybus ◽  
Paul H. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Natural Communities

scholarly journals Table scraps: inter-trophic food provisioning by pumas

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 776-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mark Elbroch ◽  
Heiko U. Wittmer
Keyword(s):  
Canis Lupus ◽  
National Park ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Large Carnivores ◽  
Food Provisioning ◽  
Ecological Functions ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Food Subsidies ◽  
Vultur Gryphus ◽  
Natural Communities

Large carnivores perform keystone ecological functions through direct predation, or indirectly, through food subsidies to scavengers or trophic cascades driven by their influence on the distributions of their prey. Pumas ( Puma concolor ) are an elusive, cryptic species difficult to study and little is known about their inter-trophic-level interactions in natural communities. Using new GPS technology, we discovered that pumas in Patagonia provided 232 ± 31 kg of edible meat/month/100 km 2 to near-threatened Andean condors ( Vultur gryphus ) and other members of a diverse scavenger community. This is up to 3.1 times the contributions by wolves ( Canis lupus ) to communities in Yellowstone National Park, USA, and highlights the keystone role large, solitary felids play in natural systems. These findings are more pertinent than ever, for managers increasingly advocate controlling pumas and other large felids to bolster prey populations and mitigate concerns over human and livestock safety, without a full understanding of the potential ecological consequences of their actions.

scholarly journals LANDSCAPE FEATURES OF ANTHROPOGENIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE BREST REGION NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

2017 ◽  
pp. 80-84
Author(s):  
A. Sokolov
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Network Optimization ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Environmental Condition ◽  
Ecological Situation ◽  
Anthropogenic Transformation ◽  
Least Disturbance ◽  
Natural Communities

This paper analyzes the patterns of anthropogenic transformation of landscapes in the Brest region, as measured by value indicators such as forest cover (and geo-ecological coefficient based on it), the density of rural population, the share of residential landscapes. Correlation between nature properties of landscapes underlying their classification, and these indicators was detected. It was found that the genera of landscapes, which represent the maximum disturbance, are secondary-moraine and moraine-outwash landscapes, the subgenera of landscapes are with a cover and a discontinuous cover of glacial sandy loams. The least disturbance is distinctive for secondary water-glacial and alluvial terraced landscapes and among genera – with superficial cover of water-glacial sands and with superficial bedding of peat and sand. The necessity of protected areas network optimization is shown. The results showed a significant imbalance between the ecological condition of the landscape which belong to certain classification groups and their representation in the protected areas system of the region. Landscapes with the worst ecological situation, as a rule, occupy a small proportion among all landscapes of protected areas. This case does not allow carrying out fully the tasks of protection and restoration of the diversity of ecosystems of the region. Among genera share of protected areas is much greater than the share of the region generally occupy wetland and floodplain landscapes. Moraine-outwash landscapes, characterized by a critical environmental condition are not represented in the protected areas system. Among subgenera areas in protected territories are far larger than in the region are characterized for landscapes with superficial stratification of peat and sand, considerably smaller – for landscapes with a cover of water-glacial sandy loams and loams, ecological condition of which is estimated as critical. Thus, the existing network of protected areas in Brest region needs to be optimized be including those genera and subgenera of landscapes, which are characterized by the worst environmental condition and restore these areas to natural communities.

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