Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles in Chemical Detection: From Small Species to Large Bio-Molecules

A recompilation of applications of mesoporous silica nanoparticles in sensing from the last five years is presented. Its high potential, especially as hybrid materials combined with organic or bio-molecules, is shown. Adding to the multiplying effect of loading high amounts of the transducer into the pores, the selectivity attained by the interaction of the analyte with the layer decorating the material is described. Examples of the different methodologies are presented.

The island rule and its application to multiple plant traits

<p>The Island Rule refers to a continuum of body size changes where large mainland species evolve to become smaller and small species evolve to become larger on islands. Previous work focuses almost solely on animals, with virtually no previous tests of its predictions on plants. I tested for (1) reduced floral size diversity on islands, a logical corollary of the island rule and (2) evidence of the Island Rule in plant stature, leaf size and petiole length. Endemic island plants originated from small islands surrounding New Zealand; Antipodes, Auckland, Bounty, Campbell, Chatham, Kermadec, Lord Howe, Macquarie, Norfolk, Snares, Stewart and the Three Kings. I compared the morphology of 65 island endemics and their closest ‘mainland’ relative. Species pairs were identified. Differences between archipelagos located at various latitudes were also assessed. Floral sizes were reduced on islands relative to the ‘mainland’, consistent with predictions of the Island Rule. Plant stature, leaf size and petiole length conformed to the Island Rule, with smaller plants increasing in size, and larger plants decreasing in size. Results indicate that the conceptual umbrella of the Island Rule can be expanded to plants, accelerating understanding of how plant traits evolve on isolated islands.</p>

The island rule and its application to multiple plant traits

<p>The Island Rule refers to a continuum of body size changes where large mainland species evolve to become smaller and small species evolve to become larger on islands. Previous work focuses almost solely on animals, with virtually no previous tests of its predictions on plants. I tested for (1) reduced floral size diversity on islands, a logical corollary of the island rule and (2) evidence of the Island Rule in plant stature, leaf size and petiole length. Endemic island plants originated from small islands surrounding New Zealand; Antipodes, Auckland, Bounty, Campbell, Chatham, Kermadec, Lord Howe, Macquarie, Norfolk, Snares, Stewart and the Three Kings. I compared the morphology of 65 island endemics and their closest ‘mainland’ relative. Species pairs were identified. Differences between archipelagos located at various latitudes were also assessed. Floral sizes were reduced on islands relative to the ‘mainland’, consistent with predictions of the Island Rule. Plant stature, leaf size and petiole length conformed to the Island Rule, with smaller plants increasing in size, and larger plants decreasing in size. Results indicate that the conceptual umbrella of the Island Rule can be expanded to plants, accelerating understanding of how plant traits evolve on isolated islands.</p>

Ihtiofauna lacurilor de acumulare Dubăsari și Costești Stânca în anul 2020

The present work presents the results of the research of the ichthyofauna of the largest accumulation lakes in the Republic of Moldova (Dubăsari on the Dniester River and CosteștiStânca on the Prut River) under the conditions of climate changes and intensification of anthropogenic pressure. The state of profound change in the ichthyocenosis of the Dubasari reservoir is demonstrated, which is currently dominated by small species (gobius species, bleak, bitterling, blackstriped pipefish), and indicates the urgent need to carry out ameliorating measures of populating the ecosystems with economically valuable species of fish, among which a significant share shall be placed on ichthyophagous species of fish, such as pikeperch, northern pike, catfish, asp. The higher share of oxyphilic and reophilous fish species in the fish catches from the Costești-Stânca accumulation lake reveals a more favourable ecological status of this ecosystem compared to the Dubasari accumulation.

Smaller species experience mild adversity under shading in an old-field plant community

Plant competition experiments commonly suggest that larger species have an advantage, especially in light acquisition. However, within crowded natural vegetation, where competition evidently impacts fitness, most resident species are relatively small. It remains unclear, therefore, whether the size-advantage observed in controlled experiments is realized in habitats under intensive competition. We tested for evidence of a size-advantage in competition for light in an old-field plant community composed of herbaceous perennial species. We investigated whether larger species contributed to reduced light penetration (i.e., greater shading), and examined the impact of shade on smaller species by testing whether their abundance and richness were lower in plots with less light penetration. Light penetration in plots ranged from 0.3-72.4%. Plots with greater mean species height had significantly lower light penetration. Plots with lower light penetration had significantly lower small species abundance and richness. However, the impact of shade on small species abundance and richness was relatively small (R values between 8% and 15%) and depended on how we defined “small species”. Significant effects were more common when analyses focused on individuals that reached reproduction; focusing on only flowering plants can clarify patterns. Our results confirm that light penetration in herbaceous vegetation can be comparable to levels seen in forests, that plots with taller species cast more shade, and that smaller species are less abundant and diverse in plots where light penetration is low. However, variation in mean plot height explained less than 10% of variation in light penetration, and light penetration explained 5-15% of variation in small species abundance and richness. Coupled with the fact that reproductive small species were present even within the most heavily shaded plots, our results suggest that any advantage in light competition by large species is limited. One explanation is that some small species in these communities are shade tolerant.

Flora of railway embankments in the vicinity of Abakan station (Republic of Khakassia)

xThe studied flora of railway embankments of Abakan stations includes 60 species belonging to 23 familiesand 54 genera. Analysis of the flora by taxonomic composition showed the predominance of small-species families andgenera in the flora. The ecological and geographical structure of the flora is studied. The biomorphological spectrum ischaracterized by an increased participation of species with a short life cycle.

Two new species of Thermosbaenacea (Peracarida, Halosbaenidae and Monodellidae) from southern France

Two new species of Thermosbaenacea are described from various locations in southern France. One species is Limnosbaena occidentalis n. sp., a species that has been known since 1967 and has long been awaiting a formal description, the other is Tethysbaena exigua n. sp., a very small species that represents a new species-group within the genus and has more morphological affinities with the Caribbean Tethysbaena sanctaecrucis species-group than with any other group. Furthermore, some considerations about the origin and ecology of these species are given. Three species distributed over the families of Halosbaenidae and Monodellidae are now known in France within a radius of 80 km around Marseille, one of which has also been identified in the alluvial aquifer of the Dordogne river.

Changes of knowledge of the fauna volume: species discovery curve in case of silken-fungus beetles of the Carpathians

The approach to the analysis of the fauna composition and completeness of its detection through the concept of “species discovery curve” is considered. Beetles of the family Cryptophagidae were taken as a model group. The dynamics of the accumulation of the information about the composition and volume of the Cryptophagidae fauna of the Ukrainian Carpathians during the eight stages of their study (the middle XIX, late XIX and the end of XIX century, the beginning of the XX century, the period until 1930–1940; middle and second half of XX century, and the current state for 1999 and 2021) are presented. In general, the composition of the cryptophagid fauna in the Ukrainian Carpathians is estimated at 116 species. This is 16 % more compared to what was known 100 years ago, i.e. each stage of the study adds about 5 % to the known species richness of this group of beetles. The components of fauna changes are analysed separately: 1) due to the changes in the nomenclature of existing species, 2) as a result of finding rare species (i.e. strengthening research efforts), 3) due to division or vice versa – combining existing species into two or three “small” species that were previously considered as morphs, varieties, or were not distinguished.