Diversity, distribution and relative abundance of the mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of Malakand and Dir Lower, Pakistan

The present study was conducted to evaluate the diversity, distribution (C) and relative abundance (RA) of the mosquito fauna (Diptera: Culicidae) of Malakand and Dir Lower, Pakistan. Collection of specimens (n = 1087) was made during September 2018 to July 2019 at six different habitats including freshwater bodies, rice fields, animal sheds, indoors, drains and sewage waters. Specimens were collected through light traps, pyrethrum spray, aspirators and nets and subsequently killed, preserved and then arranged in entomological boxes for identification. Three genera were identified namely Culex, Anopheles and Aedes. A total of fourteen species were identified namely: Cx. quinquefasciatus (Say, 1823), An. stephensi (Liston, 1901), Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (Giles, 1901), Ae. vittatus (Bigot, 1861), An. maculatus (Theobald, 1901), An. fluviatilis (James, 1902), Cx. vishnui (Theobald, 1901), Ae. aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) An. subpictus (Grassi, 1899), An. dthali (Patton, 1905), An. culicifascies (Giles, 1901), An. pallidus (Theobald, 1901), Ae. albopictus (Skuse, 1894) and An. annularis (van der Wulp, 1884). Cx. quinquefasciatus was found constantly distributed in the study area with RA = 16.5% and C = 100%. An. annularis was found as a satellite species, sporadically distributed in the study area having RA = 0.9% and C = 17%. Diversity indices of mosquitoes in the studied habitats were found as, Shannon-Wiener Index (2.415), Simpson Index (9.919), Fisher’s Index (2.269) and Margalef’s Index (1.859). A statistically significant difference was recorded in mosquito diversity in the six habitats (Kruskal-Wallis, chi-squared, H = 17.5, df = 5, P = 0.003 at α = 0.05). The present study encompasses mosquito fauna of Malakand, Pakistan with respect to diversity, relative abundance and distribution in diverse habitats and all seasons of the year. This will assist scientists working in various fields related with epidemiology, medical and veterinary entomology, ecology and allied areas of biological sciences.

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus abundance, landscape coverage and spectral indices effects in a subtropical city of Argentina

The presence, abundance and distribution of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti (Linnaeus 1762) and Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse 1894) could be conditioned by different data obtained from satellite remote sensors. In this paper, we aim to estimate the effect of landscape coverage and spectral indices on the abundance of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus from the use of satellite remote sensors in Eldorado, Misiones, Argentina. Larvae of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus were collected monthly from June 2016 to April 2018, in four outdoor environments: tire repair shops, cemeteries, family dwellings, and an urban natural park. The proportion of each land cover class was determined by Sentinel-2 image classification. Furthermore spectral indices were calculated. Generalized Linear Mixed Models were developed to analyze the possible effects of landscape coverage and vegetation indices on the abundance of mosquitoes. The model's results showed the abundance of Ae. aegypti was better modeled by the minimum values of the NDVI index, the maximum values of the NDBI index and the interaction between both variables. In contrast, the abundance of Ae. albopictus has to be better explained by the model that includes the variables bare soil, low vegetation and the interaction between both variables.

The Spatial Variation of Acoustic Water Column Data and Its Relationship with Reef-Associated Fish Recorded by Baited Remote Underwater Stereo-Videos off the Western Australia Coast

Spatially explicit information on coral fish species abundance and distribution is required for effective management. Nonextractive techniques, including echosounders and video census, can be particularly useful in marine reserves where the use of extractive methods is restricted. This study aimed to investigate the possibility of combining echosounders and baited remote underwater stereo-videos (stereo-BRUVs) in providing more holistic information on the distribution of demersal and semidemersal reef-associated fish. The spatial distribution of fish biomass was assessed using both methods in two small areas, one in Cockburn Sound (CS), a temperate body of water, and the other in the tropical waters of the Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP). The results showed high correlations between the acoustic and stereo-BRUV data in CS, suggesting the potential use of both for a better estimation of biomass in the area. The results for the NMP showed weaker correlations between the two datasets and highlighted the high variability of the system. Further studies are required, but our initial findings suggest a potential benefit of combining both techniques in the reef-associated fish distribution assessment.

Effects of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Corporation Effluents on the Abundance and Distribution of Phytoplankton Community along River Rido, Kaduna, Nigeria

The effects of effluent discharged from Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Corporations (KRPC) on the Phytoplankton species distribution and abundance was studied along river Rido for a period of twelve months from February 2013 to January 2014. A total of Ninety-three (93) species of phytoplankton distributed in five divisions were recorded from four different study stations (A, B, C and D) along the river. Random sequential sampling was employed for selecting a sampling station. Physicochemical parameters were determined in accordance with the standard procedure for wastewater assessment guidelines of American Public Health Association (APHA). Phytoplankton identification was done using appropriate reference materials. The phytoplankton community was dominated by Bacillariophyta9 constituting 78.98% with 41 species, followed by Chlorophyta (6.67%) having 25 species, and then Cyanophyta (6.46%) having 12 species, while 10 species of Dinophyta and 5 species of Euglenophyta constituting 5.42% and 2.49% respectively were observed. The results from the study revealed low density of phytoplankton in station B, while high density of phytoplankton was observed in stations A and D. The physicochemical parameters showed both seasonal and spatial variations. Values of some parameters studied were observed to be above Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) limits at station B. Thus, effluent from KRPC is a source of contamination of water quality and adversely affects phytoplankton community along river Rido. Therefore, effluent retention facility should be established for long term treatment of effluent before discharge into the river

Gut Microbiota Reveals the Environmental Adaption in Gastro-intestinal Tract of Wild Boar in Karst Region of Southwest China

BackgroundGut microbes, has become one of the research hotspots in animal ecology, playing an important role in monitoring dietary adaptation and health status of host. However, there are few studies on the gut microbiota in the stomach, small intestine (ileum) and large intestine (cecum, colon and rectum) of wild boar. ResultsAlpha diversity and Beta diversity showed there were significant differences in the abundance and distribution of microbes in gastrointestinal tract of wild boar. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla in stomach, cecum, colon and rectum of wild boar, while Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the most dominant in ileum. At genus level, there were different leading genera in stomach (Prevotella and Lactobacillus), small intestine (Escherichia-Shigella and Lactobacillus) and large intestine (Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group and Escherichia-Shigella). PICRUSt function predictive analysis suggested that there were significant differences in microbial metabolic pathways among five locations of wild boar. ConclusionsThis study comprehensively revealed the differences in composition of microbial community in gastrointestinal trac of wild boar. Future work links microbes with the metabolites to accurately reveal the health of wild boar.

A novel exploration technique using the microbial fingerprint of shallow sediment to detect hydrocarbon microseepage and predict hydrocarbon charge — An Argentinian case study

The fundamental assumption of many successful geochemical and geomicrobial technologies developed in the last 80 years is that hydrocarbons leak from subsurface accumulations vertically to the surface. Driven by buoyancy, the process involves sufficiently large volumes directly measurable or indirectly inferable from their surface expressions. Even when the additional hydrocarbons are not measurable, their presence slightly changes the environment, where complex microbial communities live, and acts as an evolutionary constraint on their development. Since the ecology of this ecosystem is very complicated, we propose to use the full-microbiome analysis of the shallow sediments samples instead of targeting a selected number of known species, and the use of machine learning for uncovering the meaningful correlations in these data. We achieve this by sequencing the microbial biomass and generating its “DNA fingerprint”, and by analyzing the abundance and distribution of the microbes over the dataset. The proposed technology uses machine learning as an accurate tool for determining the detailed interactions among the various microorganisms and their environment in the presence or absence of hydrocarbons, thus overcoming data complexity. In a proof-of-technology study, we have taken more than 1000 samples in the Neuqu謠Basin in Argentina over three distinct areas, namely, an oil field, a gas field, and a dry location outside the basin, and created several successful predictive models. A subset of randomly selected samples was kept outside of the training set and blinded by the client operator, providing the means for objectively validating the prediction performance of this methodology. Uncovering the blinded dataset after estimating the prospectivity revealed that most of these samples were correctly predicted. This very encouraging result shows that analyzing the microbial ecosystem in the shallow sediment can be an additional de-risking method for assessing hydrocarbon prospects and improving the Probability Of Success(POS) of a drilling campaign.

The Distribution of Oxygen, Calcium, and Strontium Over the Surface of 21 Com

Comparison of optical high resolution high signal-to-noise ELODIE spectra of 21 Com taken in 2004 April and separated by about half of the 2 days rotational period, reveals variations of the oxygen, calcium and strontium lines between rotational phases 0.94 and 0.48. Whereas the lines of oxygen and calcium are stronger at phase 0.94, those of strontium strengthen at phase 0.48. The synthesis of strong Sr ii lines yields disk-averaged estimates of the abundances of strontium: about 200 times solar at phase 0.94 and 450 solar at phase 0.48 for strontium. However the O i and Ca ii lines are too blended to derive unambiguous quantitative information on the abundance and distribution of oxygen and calcium over the surface of 21 Com. The likely underabundance of oxygen might be quantified using stronger far-ultraviolet transitions.