Expansion of a localized population of the introduced Stratiotes aloides (Hydrocharitaceae) in Lough Derg, Ireland

An expansion of an introduced female clone of Stratiotes aloides L. (Water-soldier) was located in a delta region on the western side of Lough Derg, Co Galway (v.c.H15), Ireland in 2007. This population was followed over a thirteen-year period. It was initially located at three adjacent sheltered localities, within sweepback bays on either side of an emerging river and within an adjacent canal. The study involved surface observations later supplemented with aerial images. The shallow water conditions, shelter and the presence of Phragmites australis appear to have supported the early establishment by retaining small S. aloides clusters amongst its stems. These clusters later merged to produce a mainly surface expanding monoculture. This enlarged from less than 1 ha to approximately 3.3 ha to occupy much of the sheltered Rossmore Bay area during this study. Flowers were first noticed in 2008, and during subsequent visits, producing infertile seed-pods. Expansion took place with the production of daughter plants. A small nearby population, 1 km to the east, within an unused harbour, did not produce an emergent phase. A small group in a shallow cut, between the two locations, disappeared during the study. Aerial images from different sources were useful to identify the expansion of the emergent stage due to the distinctive bright green coloration of surface leaves. It is unclear how this plant arrived in Lough Derg, but might have been a garden plant release. Small drifting plants, seen during wintertime, may yet colonize other regions within this lake.

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A Transcriptomic Approach to the Metabolism of Tetrapyrrolic Photosensitizers in a Marine Annelid

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26133924 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (13) ◽

pp. 3924

Author(s):

Maria Leonor Santos ◽

Mariaelena D’Ambrosio ◽

Ana P. Rodrigo ◽

A. Jorge Parola ◽

Pedro M. Costa

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Pathways ◽

Molecular Networks ◽

Bile Pigments ◽

Rna Seq ◽

The Past ◽

Wide Range ◽

Genes Encoding ◽

Organ Specific ◽

Bright Green ◽

Green Coloration

The past decade has seen growing interest in marine natural pigments for biotechnological applications. One of the most abundant classes of biological pigments is the tetrapyrroles, which are prized targets due their photodynamic properties; porphyrins are the best known examples of this group. Many animal porphyrinoids and other tetrapyrroles are produced through heme metabolic pathways, the best known of which are the bile pigments biliverdin and bilirubin. Eulalia is a marine Polychaeta characterized by its bright green coloration resulting from a remarkably wide range of greenish and yellowish tetrapyrroles, some of which have promising photodynamic properties. The present study combined metabolomics based on HPLC-DAD with RNA-seq transcriptomics to investigate the molecular pathways of porphyrinoid metabolism by comparing the worm’s proboscis and epidermis, which display distinct pigmentation patterns. The results showed that pigments are endogenous and seemingly heme-derived. The worm possesses homologs in both organs for genes encoding enzymes involved in heme metabolism such as ALAD, FECH, UROS, and PPOX. However, the findings also indicate that variants of the canonical enzymes of the heme biosynthesis pathway can be species- and organ-specific. These differences between molecular networks contribute to explain not only the differential pigmentation patterns between organs, but also the worm’s variety of novel endogenous tetrapyrrolic compounds.

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Phylogenetic position of Alternochelata lizardensis Kornicker, 1982 within Rutidermatidae (Ostracoda: Myodocopida), with an investigation into its green coloration

Journal of Crustacean Biology ◽

10.1093/jcbiol/ruz056 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 559-566

Author(s):

James H Peniston ◽

Emily A Ellis ◽

Celia K C Churchill ◽

M Desmond Ramirez ◽

Todd H Oakley

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analysis ◽

Confocal Microscopy ◽

Genetic Markers ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Entire Body ◽

Lizard Island ◽

Sediment Sampling ◽

Bright Green ◽

Chlorophyll Autofluorescence ◽

Green Coloration

Abstract We collected the ostracod Alternochelata lizardensis Kornicker 1982 via sediment sampling and evening plankton tows at Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia. While only previously described from samples that lost their natural color, we report males of the species to have bright green bundles of pigment throughout the inner carapace membrane and at specific locations on the ostracod’s body and an unusually colorless and translucent carapace. Females have a heavier carapace and some green pigmentation. We found, in a morphological phylogenetic analysis of Rutidermatidae, that A. lizardensis is part of a paraphyletic grade with other species of Alternochelata Kornicker, 1958 and Scleraner Kornicker, 1975. The analysis also supports a monophyletic Rutiderma Brady & Norman, 1896. We also explored with microscopic and bioinformatic techniques the nature of the unusual green coloration of A. lizardensis and tested the hypothesis that it harbors photosynthetic symbionts. We first sequenced RNA extracted from the entire body of females and searched for genetic markers of possible photobionts. We found genetic matches for two species of cyanobacteria commonly found in seawater. Using fluorescent confocal microscopy to search for chlorophyll autofluorescence in the green patches, we nevertheless found no evidence for the presence of chlorophyll. From these analyses, we concluded there is no evidence that A. lizardensis harbors photosynthetic symbionts suggesting the green coloration is due to something besides photosynthetic symbionts. The framework we present here is nevertheless applicable for other taxa where photobionts are suspected.

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Citizen science data reveals the need for keeping garden plant recommendations up-to-date to help pollinators

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-77537-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Helen B. Anderson ◽

Annie Robinson ◽

Advaith Siddharthan ◽

Nirwan Sharma ◽

Helen Bostock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Citizen Science ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Food Plant ◽

Science Data ◽

Personal Learning ◽

Bumblebee Species ◽

Plant Use ◽

Pollinating Insects ◽

Garden Plant ◽

Different Sources

AbstractWidespread concern over declines in pollinating insects has led to numerous recommendations of which “pollinator-friendly” plants to grow and help turn urban environments into valuable habitat for such important wildlife. Whilst communicated widely by organisations and readily taken up by gardeners, the provenance, accuracy, specificity and timeliness of such recommendations remain unclear. Here we use data (6429 records) gathered through a UK-wide citizen science programme (BeeWatch) to determine food plant use by the nations’ bumblebee species, and show that much of the plant use recorded does not reflect practitioner recommendations: correlation between the practitioners’ bumblebee-friendly plant list (376 plants compiled from 14 different sources) and BeeWatch records (334 plants) was low (r = 0.57), and only marginally higher than the correlation between BeeWatch records and the practitioners’ pollinator-friendly plant list (465 plants from 9 different sources; r = 0.52). We found pollinator-friendly plant lists to lack independence (correlation between practitioners’ bumblebee-friendly and pollinator-friendly lists: r = 0.75), appropriateness and precision, thus failing to recognise the non-binary nature of food-plant preference (bumblebees used many plants, but only in small quantities, e.g. lavender—the most popular plant in the BeeWatch database—constituted, at most, only 11% of records for any one bumblebee species) and stark differences therein among species and pollinator groups. We call for the provision and use of up-to-date dynamic planting recommendations driven by live (citizen science) data, with the possibility to specify pollinator species or group, to powerfully support transformative personal learning journeys and pollinator-friendly management of garden spaces.

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A NEW CAPSID

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent35214-8 ◽

1903 ◽

Vol 35 (8) ◽

pp. 214-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Charles Stevenson

Keyword(s):

Orange Yellow ◽

Bright Green ◽

Green Coloration

Lygus Chagnoni, n. sp.— This species of the genus Lygus is of a form near to L. pabulinus, Linn., in appearance.It is ovate, convex bright green in living specimens, with irregular purplish-brown markings at the base of the membrane, smooth and without bristles, and a silky pubesecence on the sides of the pronotum, which has an orange-yellow border next the head, shading backwards in narrow lines into the green coloration, so as to make the reen appear in broad bands.

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U–Pb ages of single zircons within "Upernavik" metasedimentary rocks and regional implications for the tectonic evolution of the Archaean Nain Province, Labrador

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e92-024 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 260-276 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

L. Schiøtte ◽

A. P. Nutman ◽

D. Bridgwater

Keyword(s):

Granulite Facies ◽

Detrital Zircons ◽

Ion Microprobe ◽

Granulite Facies Metamorphism ◽

Late Archaean ◽

Metasedimentary Rocks ◽

Bay Area ◽

Single Grain ◽

Different Sources ◽

Rock Complex

Detrital zircons and their postdepositional overgrowths from three units of the "Upernavik" supracrustal association in the northern (Saglek) block of the Archaean Nain Province have been dated with the ion microprobe SHRIMP. In one unit, from the granulite-facies area in inner Saglek Fiord, the zircon population is dominated by early Archaean grains thought to be derived from the Uivak gneisses. Recrystallization and growth of new zircon within this metasediment took place during granulite-facies metamorphism at 2761 ± 12 Ma (2σ), which is also a younger limit on the age of deposition.In a second unit, from the amphibolite-facies area in outer Saglek Fiord, detrital zircons have predominantly mid- and late Archaean ages. The mid-Archaean zircons are comparable in age to the 3235 Ma Lister gneisses. The ages of the late Archaean detrital zircons (2800–2960 Ma) do not correspond to any known rock complex in the Saglek block, but plutonic rocks associated or correlative with the ca. 2840 Ma Kanairiktok Plutonic Suite of the southern (Hopedale) block are a possible source for many of the grains. Overgrowths were dated at 2690–2730 Ma in this sample.A third metasedimentary unit from the Okak Bay area, 100 km south of Saglek Fiord, also contains detrital zircons with ages comparable to that of the Lister gneisses (3235 Ma). The age of recrystallization and zircon overgrowths was dated at ca. 2560 Ma in this sample. A single grain dated at ca. 2780 Ma is considered most likely to be detrital, which would imply an age of deposition between ca. 2780 and 2560 Ma for this unit.The results show that although late Archaean depositional ages are possible for all three units, the "Upernavik" supracrustal association is composite and sediments in different units have widely different sources and metamorphic histories. These conclusions support a new model for the Nain Province according to which separate terranes were tectonically juxtaposed in the late Archaean. In this model, the age of plutonic and supracrustal rocks and their metamorphic histories prior to juxtaposition differ from one terrane to another.

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Importance of Official Geodata in Disaster Risk Management—Case Study of Croatia

Earth ◽

10.3390/earth2040055 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 943-959

Author(s):

Nikola Vučić ◽

Vlado Cetl ◽

Damir Šantek ◽

Mario Mađer

Keyword(s):

Risk Management ◽

Forest Fires ◽

Business Models ◽

Disaster Risk ◽

Disaster Risk Management ◽

Aerial Images ◽

Innovative Products ◽

Elevation Data ◽

Management Case Study ◽

Different Sources

Disaster risk management (DRM) has always been important, but nowadays, with the increasing number of disasters due to climate changes, it is becoming even more so. Every phase of DRM is heavily reliant on geodata. First of all, each disaster occurs at a specific location, and this location contains geodata, which can be used in DRM, e.g., cadastral data, GNSS data, aerial images, topographic data, elevation data, etc. Geodata are important for making faster and more accurate decisions in disaster situations. It is possible to collect these geodata from many different sources, e.g., the public sector, private sector and citizens. Nevertheless, official geodata coming from competent authorities should be the most accurate and reliable. In this paper, we investigate the importance of official geodata in DRM on several examples from recent disasters in Croatia. Official geodata produced by the Croatian State Geodetic Administration (SGA) were used in managing disasters such as floods, forest fires, earthquakes and war. Our research findings show that DRM is an area in which National Mapping and Cadastral Authorities (NMCAs) should focus more on collecting and sharing geodata and provide more dynamic and innovative products. In these challenging times, more and more geodata are becoming available from different sources, besides official ones. With this plethora of geodata, in order to be relevant and competitive, NMCAs must change their business models and offer more attractive and useful services in order to satisfy the increasing user needs and demands. This paper shows that the SGA in Croatia is on the path towards achieving this goal.

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