Rita Radzevičiūtė, Anna Budrienė, E. Budrys, Svetlana Orlovskytė, J. Turčinavičienė
{"title":"A panel of microsatellite markers developed for solitary trap-nesting wasp Ancistrocerus trifasciatus (Müller, 1776) by cross-species amplification","authors":"Rita Radzevičiūtė, Anna Budrienė, E. Budrys, Svetlana Orlovskytė, J. Turčinavičienė","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V58I1.2345","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V58I1.2345","url":null,"abstract":"Solitary cavity-nesting Hymenoptera constitute a group of important bioindicators of terrestrial habitats. Some of them, like caterpillar-hunting potter wasp Ancistrocerus trifasciatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae), are quite abundant in both continuous and fragmented habitats and might be a promising model species for studying the impact of habitat fragmentation and landscape connectivity on genetic diversity of entomophagous insects. Highly polymorphic microsatellites are a powerful molecular tool for intraspecific studies but the development of this marker system de novo is especially laborious and time-consuming. An alternative time- and effort-effective approach to establish the microsatellite markers for the species of interest is the cross-species amplification of loci already isolated in related species. Here we present a panel of five polymorphic microsatellite loci for A. trifasciatus developed by cross-species amplification of twenty-nine microsatellite markers published so far for nearctic potter wasps.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73947864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Presence and fate of manganese substances in drinking water supply systems","authors":"M. Valentukeviciene, G. Ignatavicius","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V58I1.2347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V58I1.2347","url":null,"abstract":"A wide range of material sources may potentially contribute to contaminant loads in the potable water. The ability of water supply systems to act as emission control barriers for tap water micropollutants, thereby providing environmental benefits in addition to potable water savings, have not been fully explored. This paper investigates the sources, presence and potential fate of a selection of manganese micropollutants in laboratory scaled water supply systems. All of the investigated compounds are listed under the European Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (1998) and World Health Organization Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (2004). Significant water quality changes are identified. Hydro-chemical modelling indicates that the removal of manganese substances during water treatment is likely to be predominant due to the EC Directive manganese concentration requirement, with only minor contributions to the water supply network. Manganese compounds are resistant to biodegradation and the majority of conventional groundwater treatment plants periodically supply water with manganese residual to the potable water distribution system. Water treatment is unlikely to act as a comprehensive barrier for emission of manganese compounds. Hence, it is important to ensure that other manganese source control options (e. g. pipeline materials, manganese substance emission, and groundwater source control) for potable water supply continue to be pursued in order that emissions of manganese compounds from these sources are effectively reduced and / or phased out as required under the demands of the European Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"69 3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77149830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mechanism of arsenic resistance prevalent in Bacillus species isolated from soil and ground water sources of India","authors":"Bhoomika Saluja, Abhishek Gupta, R. Goel","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2273","url":null,"abstract":"Arsenic is a naturally occurring element and its contamination of soil and groundwater is a major threat to the environment and human health. The ubiquity of arsenic in the environment has led to the evolution of the arsenic defence mechanism in certain microbes. The present study highlights identical mechanisms of arsenic resistance in two bacterial strains, namely AG24 and AGM13, which were taken from two different ecosources and states of India. The phylogenetic analysis of the strains using 16S rDNA sequence revealed both strains to be under the genus ‘Bacillus’. Furthermore, arsC gene was amplified from the strains, cloned and sequenced. The homology of the sequences of the two strains, when compared with available database using BLASTn search, showed that the 300bp amplicons obtained in both strains possess a partial arsC gene sequence which codes for arsenate reductase, an enzyme involved in the reduction of arsenate to arsenite, which is then effluxed out of the cell. Nevertheless, atomic absorption spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy analysis of both strains also strengthen the presence of the efflux mechanism. Thus, the presence of a similar mechanism of resistance in both strains suggests the possible role of lateral gene transfer from soil to water system and vice versa which is an alarming situation for global concern.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74354454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Trophic peculiarities of the Great Cormorant, Grey Heron and Long-tailed Duck on the Baltic Sea Lithuanian coast: a stable isotope approach","authors":"R. Morkūnė","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2275","url":null,"abstract":"The stable isotopes of nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C) were analysed in the feathers of the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) and Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) staying in the different seasons at the Lithuanian Baltic Sea coast. Stable isotope ratios in bird feathers represented dietary variations and foraging habitats during the feather growth period. Adult Great Cormorants fed juveniles by smaller fish at the beginning of fledging, switching later to larger prey. The stable isotope analysis indicated that the Grey Heron diet did not change significantly during the fledging period of their juveniles. The calculated trophic levels of Great Cormorants and Grey Herons were similar (3.55 ± 0.12 and 3.57 ± 0.41, respectively). The isotopic values in Grey Herons and Great Cormorants were 14.6–16.0‰ for δ15N and –27.3–(–24.9)‰ for δ13C. These values are typical of piscivorous bird species mostly feeding in freshwater bodies, i. e. in the Curonian Lagoon. The δ15N values found in the feathers of Long-tailed Ducks ranged from 7.7 to 13.9‰ and the δ13C values ranged from –33.6 to –24.9‰ showing high variation of feeding habitats during the moulting period: from freshwater to marine environment.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86925255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A review of and some comments on the attempts to construct an overarching theory of ecosystems plasticity","authors":"Edmundas Lekevičius","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2272","url":null,"abstract":"It is generally accepted that life uses two distinct mechanisms during adaptation to the environment: evolutionary and individual. The latter is known as phenotypic plasticity. However, several decades ago, a conviction emerged and later strengthened that populations and ecological communities also tend to stabilize the essential variables (total biomass, productivity, adaptability, etc.) to a certain degree, regardless of uncertainty of environmental conditions. A response to this uncertainty is a change in the frequency of preadapted genotypes and compensatory fluctuations in population sizes. Adaptation can be regarded as a never-ending multilevel hierarchical process of individual-, population- and community-level adjustments to a changing environment. According to these concepts, adaptation is like a process during which individuals, populations and entire communities can adjust their optima to the ever-changing environmental conditions. Individual and populational rearrangements are means for a more subtle adjustment of the community optimum and the lines of defence, one following the other, on the road of stressful impacts towards the essential variables of an ecosystem. The authors of this conception, e. g. M. Conrad, V. N. Novoseltsev, H.-R. Gregorius, E. Lekevicius, also believe that these mechanisms should interact in a quite determined manner; this brings us hope that a unified theory on the plasticity of ecosystems will be developed.\u0000In this review an attempt is made to describe these concepts which are still in development and to reveal their strong, well-founded aspects as well as weak points. It is concluded that the multifarious attempts to falsify the conception are needed.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"172 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76459350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Distribution and habitats of Polypodium vulgare L. in Lithuania","authors":"Ingrida Rudnickaitė, J. Naujalis, S. Juzenas","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2276","url":null,"abstract":"Polypodium vulgare L. is a perennial evergreen rhizomatous fern of family Polypodiaceae (Bercht. et J. Presl.). The state of P. vulgare is considered to be rare or fairly rare in Lithuania. The ecological and botanico-geographical status of P. vulgare in Lithuania might be critical as this fern appears to be an oceanic–suboceanic species whose habitats correspond to hillsides.\u0000The first distribution maps of P. vulgare in Lithuania were made by P. Snarskis and A. Minkevicius in the sixth decade of the 20th century. Their works have not been continued in Lithuania until this research. The current paper presents an objective distribution of P. vulgare in Lithuania, based on herbarium material and information provided by experts of protected areas of Lithuania. The authors of the paper are stating that localities of P. vulgare, a rare or fairly rare evergreen fern in Lithuania, have increased significantly during the last 50 years.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79014034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparative analysis of monoterpene composition in four pine species with regard to suitability for needle consumer Diprion pini L","authors":"Tomas Kazlauskas, V. Apšegaitė, V. Bu̅da","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2274","url":null,"abstract":"In the needles of 4 pine species (Pinus. sylvestris, P. nigra, P. banksiana and P. strobus) 15 volatile monoterpenes were identified by GC-MS analysis using synthetic standards. Interspecific differences were established in the total amount of monoterpenes and their proportion. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the compounds revealed two clusters similar in the composition of monoterpenes. The clusters corresponded well to the oviposition preference of Diprion pini, which is among the main folivorous insects causing defoliation of Pinus spp. in Europe. One monoterpene cluster included P. banksiana and P. strobus (not suitable for D. pini oviposition, Barre et al., 2002) and another one included P. sylvestris and P. nigra (suitable for D. pini oviposition, Barre et al., 2002). The main compounds that stipulated cluster divergence were limonene, β-pinene and myrcene. Relative concentrations of these metabolites were significantly higher in P. banksiana and P. strobus. Further studies on the perception of monoterpenes and their behavioural effect on D. pini are in progress.","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88892645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"For the jubilee year – a summary of five decades of investigation (development of soil ecology in Lithuania)","authors":"A. Jakimavičius, V. Būda","doi":"10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.6001/EKOLOGIJA.V57I4.2277","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":35175,"journal":{"name":"Socijalna Ekologija","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72867499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}